Astro Colony News

Hey Astro Colonists!
[h3]The second Major update is here! You can already download it from Steam![/h3]



[h3]What's new?[/h3]


There is a new menu where you can find Player Servers & Dedicated Servers (soon).
When creating a server, you can also protect it with a password.



It really took long to bring the game to the state where all single player mechanics are working in the multiplayer game.

Here are features which got implemented:

• In game chat
  
• Blueprint Designer
  
• Vehicles Designer
  
• Stargate construction
  
• Parallel universes
  
• Cosmic events (ex. black holes)
  
• Screen player markers have nicknames, so you know where your friends are
  
• Independent chunk creation, so each player can explore and discover new planets.
  Depending on how far away the generated planet is, it will appear on the map. All planets modified by other players will also appear.
  
• Asteroids for every player - when generating asteroids, the location of each player is checked, so each player has asteroids around him
  
• Players assigned to their Steam accounts - each player is recognized by its unique Steam ID, so each time you re-join the game, your progress will be automatically restored.
  
• Each player is visible on the map
  
• Clients can now join mid-game and progress is synchronized.
  

It's already confirmed that dedicated servers by GPortal will be enabled soon!
They are making a huge difference when it comes to game synchronization and additional features like joining during the session.


Finally, to celebrate this moment with you, Astro Colony is starting a discount week (-25%).

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1614550/Astro_Colony/

Have fun grounding new colonies together!

Invite Your friends to play and join Our community:
https://discord.com/invite/EFzAA3w

To all single players, don't worry! New content features are already planned for Terraforming update.
Feel free to share your ideas on Discord #suggestions.

Thank you for all suggestions which made this update possible!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Hello, Astro Colony explorers!
Just a quick update about the work in progress over the last few months, after the Architecture Update!

As you may already know, and as I have mentioned dozens of times, I am working on the dedicated server, which is the next major update!

[h2]When can you expect a new update?[/h2]
9th of October 23rd of October


The dedicated update was basically ready this month, but I decided to push development to another level, transitioning to Unreal Engine 5! The new version of the engine gives new ways to solve existing issues like world origin rebasing, with which multiplayer has had tons of problems in the past.

[h2]What are the upcoming features?[/h2]

There are plenty of changes and improvements in stability and QOL.
Let me just share some of the upcoming changes:

• independent chunk creation, so each player can explore and discover new planets. Depending on how far away the generated planet is, it will appear on the map. All planets modified by other players will also appear.
  
• asteroids for every player - when generating asteroids, the location of each player is checked, so each player has asteroids around him
  
• players assigned to their Steam accounts - each player is recognized by its unique Steam ID, so each time you re-join the game, your progress will be automatically restored.
  
• each player is visible on the map
  
  
• screen player markers have nicknames, so you know where your friends are
  
  
• game simulation running on a dedicated server, so you can join mid-game and your progress is synchronized. You can also rejoin if you lose connection without losing progress
  
• loading savegames on dedicated server - both single player and legacy multiplayer are compatible!
  
• in game chat
  
  
• multiplayer blueprint & vehicle designer
  
• multiplayer cosmic events - black holes, stargates
  
• travel to parallel universe with your space station

If you have friends with whom you would like to play multiplayer, tell them that the game is now at a 25% discount, if they want to get acquainted in the meantime :)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1614550/Astro_Colony/

Thanks guys, so much for your support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Hey, Colonists!

The Summer Sale is slowly coming to an end, but if you still haven't decided to add Astro Colony to your Steam library, we have a small surprise for you!
You can now get Astro Colony in a bundle with Havendock - cozy colony sim, where you try to survive in the middle of the sea.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/33580/Havendock__Astro_Colony/

If you want to create your own settlement both on the ocean surface 🌊 and in space 🪐, check out our bundle!

I would love to invite you to Architecture Dev Stream #6 (the last one).
Feel free to comment if you want to see something in particular.

Start today (Wednesday) at 20:00CET (8PM)

For people who have Steam broadcasting issues, I am also streaming on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/Tefel


Thanks guys so much for support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Hello Colonists!

In today's update, more architectural features have been added to the game:

• auto-generated corners for walls
  
• the way to interact and disable auto-generated edges for floors

[h2]Auto-generated corners[/h2]

For each 90-degree wall corner the game generates edges that also match themes.

[h2]Floor interaction - disable edges possible[/h2]

Each side of the floor can be independently turned off.


It also supports big walls, so edges can be disabled there as well!

Some bugs got resolved, thanks a lot for every report!

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where a smelter could leave gates visible after removal
  
• Fixed a multiplayer crash when loading inside humans
  
• Fixed wall rotation after picking the world element
  
• Fixed a multiplayer issue where pushing items could lead to desync inventory
  
• Fixed some translucency problems (ex. water tank)
  

As you probably noticed, the Steam Summer Sale is here! Many games, including Astro Colony, are currently on sale!

In addition, the game cooperates with other developers to create bundles!

[h2]Void Train[/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/33359/New_World_Explorers/

[h2]Occupy Mars[/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/32436/Occupy_Mars__Astro_Colony_Bundle/



I would love to invite you to Dev Stream #5
Please come to say hello and share your thoughts with me!

Start today (Sunday) at 20:00CET (8:00 PM)

For people who have Steam broadcasting issues, I am also streaming on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/Tefel


Thanks guys so much for your support!
Tefel (Terad Games)

Hello Colonists!

It's time for another update regarding navigation, pathfinding and bot requests.
There are many new ways to make the navigation and request systems reliable.
In addition, many small improvements and changes.




Previously, bots were automatically locked to the nearest device that contained the desired resource.
This was creating confusion for some players and looked like a bug, where transport bots could get locked. There was a dotted line indicating that a transport bot wanted to get somewhere.

Currently, each single request (starting from the highest priority - most desired) is checked on all possible devices to make sure that it can reach its destination.


It's also working for astronauts! Previously, starving astronauts who picked food from a canteen would lock themselves to the closest dining table. Even if we tried to build closer to the astronaut, it wouldn't go there because it was locked to the first dining table. Right now, it's finding new tables when we build them.

You can still see a dotted line for a split second, indicating a closer device (more efficient), but it cannot be reached, so instead a longer path was taken.




In addition to many navigation improvements, there is an option to choose between device types providing resources (producer vs storage):

• producer is a device that is crafting new items, for example, an asteroid catcher, smelter, kitchen
  
• storage is a container that has resources via transport, e.g. a base warehouse, storage container

[h2]List of changes[/h2]

• Resource requests can now define a device type
  
• New savegame system with compression data, allowing to reduce savegame sizes by 70-80%.
  
• New water shader and updates based on the render side only
  
• Transport bot can now deliver and pick resources from devices blocked by conveyor belts
  

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where migrated bots would not save when creating a savegame
  
• Fixed an issue where asteroid catcher would not start a new crafting
  
• Fixed an issue where switching to other items when having active drag construction would cause a crash
  
• Fixed an issue where moving station would leave player behind after possessing asteroid catcher
  
• Fixed a multiplayer issue where the state was corrupted (having invalid docks)

I would love to invite you to Dev Stream #4
Please come to say hello and share your thoughts with me!

Start today (Wednesday) at 21:30CET (9:30 PM)

For people who have Steam broadcasting issues, I am also streaming on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/Tefel


Thanks guys so much for support!
Tefel (Terad Games)