Stars Reach News

[p]Thank you for taking this journey with us![/p][p]Some of you will remember every item below. You lived each of these moments with us. We started the year with simple game features, placeholder graphics, and prayers that the servers would stay up. We ended the year with some features refined, more user selectable options, better visuals, improved performance, and better onboarding for new players. We are excited about 2026.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]JANUARY[/p]

• [p]January Game Update (before we started giving them fancy names)[/p]
• [p]And the mad scramble to get ready for a recently decided Kickstarter campaign[/p]
• [p]We enjoyed Beanstalk City on Gaiamar[/p]

[p]FEBRUARY[/p]

• [p]Escarion & Quality-of-Life Update[/p]
• [p]Kickstarter Launched and reached its goal in less than one hour.[/p]
• [p]Many new reveals with the Kickstarter stretch goals[/p]
• [p]Megarock City was established on Rodin IV[/p]

[p]MARCH[/p]

• [p]Seasons, Skies, and Public Events Update[/p]
• [p]Procedural Creatures Update[/p]
• [p]Kickstarter officially closed – late pledges remained open[/p]
• [p]Rodney’s Western Town was established on Zaraxa[/p]

[p]APRIL[/p]

• [p]World Reset Update[/p]
• [p]Infinite Worlds merch collection released[/p]
• [p]GUNCTown was built on Rodin IV[/p]

[p]MAY[/p]

• [p]Physics Midterm Update[/p]
• [p]Better Homes & Gardens Update[/p]
• [p]Eric Goldberg spoke at GamesBeat Summit 2025 in Los Angeles[/p]
• [p]And who could forget Mycityum on Pyromycis, the amazing mushroom city?[/p]

[p]JUNE[/p]

• [p]Wild Wormholes Update[/p]

[p]JULY[/p]

• [p]Cosmic Calibration Update[/p]
• [p]Brave New Worlds Update[/p]

[p]AUGUST[/p]

• [p]Twilight Update[/p]
• [p]Niina Fujioka spoke at Gamescom 2025 in Cologne[/p]
• [p]The Transplanetary League merchandise collection launched[/p]
• [p]The GAIA Ship was first seen in deep space – the escape from the planet wipe[/p]

[p]SEPTEMBER[/p]

• [p]The Dynamic Update[/p]
• [p]The University Update[/p]
• [p]Raph Koster presented at IGDA SD Demo Days 2025[/p]
• [p]A new Stars Reach logo debuted with supporting merchandise[/p]

[p]OCTOBER[/p]

• [p]Vendor Kiosk Update[/p]
• [p]Recently begun Akavegas expanded dramatically on Akacala.[/p]

[p]NOVEMBER[/p]

• [p]GovBot Update[/p]
• [p]Four planets were claimed and developed at the same time in a first for Stars Reach.[/p]

[p]DECEMBER[/p]

• [p]Hidden Fog Update[/p]
• [p]We were mentioned in more end-of-year roundups and lists of MMORPG coming in 2026[/p]

[p]Our small team kept working hard all year, putting out game updates every 24 days, on average.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]MASSIVELY OVERPOWERED REMEMBERS OUR KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN[/h3][p]In a series of articles, MassivelyOP has been remembering important moments and stories from 2025.[/p][p]In a roundup of MMO crowdfunding stories of 2025, they remember the Stars Reach Kickstarter campaign as a standout, positive moment.[/p][p]Read it: Here[/p][h3]PLAYTEST SCHEDULE[/h3][p]Our playtest schedule resumes a more “normal” rhythm of Tuesdays & Wednesdays off, Thursdays through Tuesday mornings servers available.[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]HIDDEN FOG 1.1 & 1.2 UPDATES[/p][p]Yes, we have 2 small updates going in over the space of one week. The first one is December 18th and the second one is December 19th. [/p][p]We have not tried to patch this rapidly before so this is a test and a learning experience in and of itself. [/p][p]There are bug fixes, server-side process improvements, memory use reductions, cleanups, and other small changes. Many won’t be visible to you but some will, such as improvements to the first hallway and upgrades to the graphics settings in the escape menu. [/p][p][/p][p]More useful details can be found here: 
[/p][p][/p][p]HOLIDAY FIRESIDE CHAT[/p][p]We had a fun fireside chat with Raph Koster on livestream yesterday. [/p][p]There were leaks – some visual like concept art for Hyugons, Stokadi, and the Fae! There were other leaks like visual effects and minor details about stealth. The Bioscanner was leaked – collect all the fauna. And upcoming changes to chat. And did he mention the Corruption?[/p][p]Raph answered a bunch of questions from the audience including related to music professions, acting, Newsnet, lore, the moon Haven and its planet Crucible, reactivating previously-learned skills, and player-made missions.[/p][p][/p][p]If you missed out, you can see the video recording here: [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]HOLIDAY CHANGES TO THE PLAYTEST SCHEDULE[/p][p]The two small updates, combined with the holidays, are making us slightly rethink our test schedule for the rest of December. [/p][p][/p][p]The playtest will be available for you over most of the holidays in case you need an escape from the family. Just kidding.[/p][p][/p][p]STRESS TEST![/p][p]We need your help. If you can spare us one hour this month, please make it be 11am Pacific/2pm Eastern/20:00 CET on Saturday, December 20th.  [/p][p]Please log into the game on any character, new or existing. Come to the TPL space station and help us push our servers to the limit. Thank you in advance for this valuable service.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]LOGO MERCH AVAILABLE[/p][p]We currently have three sets of logo merchandise in stock:[/p]

• [p]The Transplanetary League set[/p]
• [p]The Stars Reach logo set[/p]
• [p]The Infinite Worlds set[/p]

[p]You can visit the store here: [/p][p]/p][/p][p] [/p][p]HOW YOU CAN HELP [/p][p]If there is one thing you can do to help us, you can wishlist us on Steam. This makes a difference for the algorithm and also helps on the day we eventually launch on Steam. Thank you for this support. [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]Improvements to Settings [/p][p]Your individual settings should now save between sessions. So tap escape, check out the menu, and get everything just the way you like it.[/p][p][/p][p]Day and Night Cycles Extended[/p][p]We have slowed down the day/night cycle to a modest degree. More tuning of this cycle may be expected in the future.[/p][p][/p][p]Simulation Modifications[/p][p]We felt that the erosion effects of water were too aggressive and we tuned this back. [/p][p][/p][p]Bugs and Bug Fixes[/p][p]The Xyloslicer now works again. [/p][p]Midotara is running a bit slow so expect to see a slight delay in terraforming operations.[/p][p][/p]

[p]We need your help. If you can spare us one hour this month, please make it be 11am Pacific/2pm Eastern/20:00 CET on Saturday, December 20th.  [/p][p][/p][p]Please log into the game on any character, new or existing. Come to the TPL space station and help us push our servers to the limit. Thank you in advance for this valuable service.[/p][p]
[/p]

[p]UI Change to Skill Window[/p][p]The first step to revising the Skill Tree window is accomplished. The aesthetics aren't where we want them yet, but the functionality is great. Take a gander. It's only going to get bigger.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Improvements to Server Memory Usage[/p][p]We've figured out a number of memory leak and optimization strategies for the servers. They should no longer require the periodic resets you've been experiencing during playtests.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Improved Graphical Settings[/p][p]The graphic improvements introduced in the last update have been further improved. Also, fog is now turned on by default (but can still be turned off in the new and improved Graphics Options.)[/p][p]NOTE: The graphics settings are not saving currently between logins. This will be fixed shortly.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Improvements to Hallway[/p][p]We've made a series of improvements to the First Time User Event Hallway scenario. They are subtle, but they are based on user feedback, so thank you for that feedback![/p][p]
[/p][p]And a number of other bug fixes[/p][p]All minor, but all useful. Enjoy![/p]