Stars Reach News

• [p]Frame rate improvement! We found a netcode issue and it was a biggie. You should see significant FPS improvements when you get into the game. This is probably not the only issue we need to resolve, but it’s a good fix. Enjoy![/p]
• [p]A very large overhaul of the PQRV stats on all tools. In general, the things you’ll notice most will be big improvements in the behaviors of tool and weapon batteries. In short, you can use them a lot more now before the batteries give out. But additionally:[/p]
  • [p]The Chronophaser works again to melt stuff…however…Quality controls the max heat of the beam. So you’ll need a high-quality Chronophaser to melt really tough stuff like diamonds. However, even a low-grade Chrono will melt dirt.[/p]
  • [p]Higher Quality Healix tools will heal better.[/p]
  • [p]Higher Quality Companion Orbs will do more damage.[/p]
  • [p]Higher Quality Omniblaster will also do more damage.[/p]
  • [p]Gravity Gun doesn’t get increased damage because it already had increased knockback (via Potential).[/p]
  • [p]The base Terraformer was bumped up in Excavation power slightly so that you can use the base version and dig through Dirt more effectively (which helps with those MacGuffin missions!).[/p]
  • [p]Terraformer can also enhance Hopper size (with Potential). This does stack with the skill node unlocks from Mineralogy.[/p]
• [p]You can now merge your inventory stacks (as long as each stack has two units or more in it)! If you have stacks of smaller than two units, then you can either wait until they have more in them and can be merged, or just delete them. To merge stacks:[/p]
  • [p]Drag and drop a stack onto another stack.[/p]
  • [p]The process is lossy. You will end up with fewer units of material than the sum of both stacks.[/p]
  • [p]The stats of the end-product stack will be an average of the two stacks. We add up the stats of all resources involved and then divide by the number of resources. So if you only have two units in one stack and you have 57 in the other, the end result stacks are going to be very similar to the stack of 57.[/p]
  • [p]You’ll get a dialog giving you a preview of the final stack and you can decide whether to do it or not thereafter.[/p]
• [p]Creatures that use cold projectiles no longer generate heat when those projectiles hit the terrain.[/p]
• [p]The Fire Suppressor in the first-time user experience hallway is now more effective and it’s easier to freeze the molten floor.[/p]
• [p]We’ve increased the batch sizes of many recipes (blocks, building tiles, alloys, ores, and more) so that you don’t have to sit there and hit the Craft! button so many times in a row.[/p]
• [p]Many meteor storms have been modified so they deposit different types of metal into the world to supplement the fact that you’ve mostly mined the worlds out right now. This may not be a permanent change.[/p]
• [p]The announcement text at the top, center of the screen now refreshes much more rapidly so it doesn’t get caught in such long update queues.[/p]
• [p]A small memory leak was fixed.[/p]
• [p]Companion Orbs now (correctly) require the skill nodes to be unlocked before you can use its Special attacks.[/p]
• [p]Pulse mining is dead. Oh…and did you know that you can just hold down “Q” when emptying your Hopper? Because you can! (You don’t need to pound the “Q” key.)[/p]
• [p]The Terraformer and Harvester recipes have been changed substantially. This is the first step in a big overhaul of crafted items. You now make these items by first creating interim objects, like Power Chambers, Nano-Compression Matrices, etc. The final recipe requires numbers of those interim objects. This creates a gentler path toward creating upgrades to those essential tools and it paves the way for a future feature where we take the player through a series of tasks to teach them about PQRV, how to craft, as well as how to mine, hunt and harvest. Artwork for the interim objects is placeholder and will be updated soon. If you’re interested in doing a faux test of this, then do the following:[/p]
  • [p]Make a new character[/p]
  • [p]Do missions and get Klaatu until you can have a Harvester
  • and* a Terraformer.[/p]
  • [p]Then look at the Terraformer or Harvester recipes and start working to make the new components you need for those recipes.[/p]
  • [p]By the time you make all those components, you should have enough Crafting XP to unlock both Toolmaker and either Terraformer or Harvester, whichever you prefer to upgrade.[/p]
  • [p]Enjoy![/p]
  • [p]Tips:[/p]
    • [p]Get wood from thickets (harvest)[/p]
    • [p]Get reactive gas from emberbloom torch, blushing bonnet, hexavine spires skunk cabbage, or fight gashog or velocirabbit[/p]
    • [p]Get inert gas from brimmed bonnet, lilac dandy, luminweave tendril, witch’s ringlet or hunt ballhog or skyshark[/p]
    • [p]Get hide and bone from deer, rabbits, prowlers or owldeer[/p]

[h3]KNOWN ISSUES[/h3]

• [p]When other players have their weapons equipped, we have an animation twitching issue that is new, but we're going ahead with the test and we'll fix it in the next update. It is a visual oddity only and shouldn't affect your gameplay (other than aesthetically).[/p]
• [p]The new stack merging feature doesn't work properly if you have the inventory sorted. It only works in DEFAULT view currently.[/p]
• [p]The Harvester and Terraformer tools cannot currently be crafted because a bug prevents the prerequisite ingredients from showing up in the Crafting UI.[/p]
  • [p]Stripped Down low stat versions can still be purchased from the Tools Kiosk on the Starbase[/p]

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• [p]Welcome to the Twilight Update – so named because, among many other things, we have listed to player feedback that night was too dark and slightly reduced the darkness. Please tell us if we got it about right.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Also in this update:[/p]

• [p]Tools and Weapons Refactor[/p]
• [p]We have changed almost all of the tools and weapons to a new underlying system of code that allows PQRV changes to occur (see next section).[/p]
• [p]We have also broken some tools (Terraformer, Harvester) into multiple tools (Terraformer, Depositor, Chronophaser, Harvester, Pruning Shears).[/p]
• [p]Crafting Stats Matter Now[/p]
• [p]Potential, quality, resilience, and versatility are now 4 factors to consider when selecting crafting inputs. PQRV, for short. You will hear this mentioned regularly in game.[/p]
• [p]New Shops to spend those Klaatus[/p]
• [p]The next time you visit the TPL Starbase, please visit the basic tool shop and the homesteader shop.[/p]
• [p]Homesteading Changes[/p]
• [p]Homesteading has been moved out of the Ranger skill tree and is now part of the Architect skill tree. Unlock the skills, purchase a single-use Homesteader from the TPL starbase shop, and place it in the world. Homesteaders are not refunded to you if you disband your Homestead later on. You will need to purchase a new one each time.[/p]
• [p]Resource Selection[/p]
• [p]When you are scanning for resources with your Terraformer or selecting which which resource to deposit with your Depositor, you now open a resource selection menu by tapping the Tab key. This also applies to planting sees with the Xyloslicer or Harvester.[/p]
• [p]Long-Range Scanning[/p]
• [p]At long last, there is a way to prospect for minerals or gems at long range.[/p]
• [p]And much more[/p]
• [p]You can now trade Klaatus (this is huge)[/p]
• [p]Your terraformer now ejects tailings from your hopper instead of gravel.[/p]
• [p]All professions now start with low-end tools to incentivize folks to craft better versions.[/p]

[p]Upcoming Playtest schedule[/p][p][/p]

• [p]Saturday, August 16, Dave Georgeson and Rick Reynolds will host our next Fireside Chat to introduce the new update. You can join us on [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink] at 9:00AM Pacific / noon Eastern.[/p]

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• [p]In yesterday’s Playable Worlds livestream, we jumped into the brand new Twilight Update and gave a demonstration of the all new long-range mineral scanning. Click here to watch the video with Thomas, Leric Dax, Signus, and Carneros.[/p]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

• [p]The new Transplanetary League (TPL) logo merchandise has been a big hit. Check out our licensed merch in our Web Store! https://starsreach.com/store[/p]

[p][/p][p]We also have late pledges available on payment plans at our store[/p]

• [p]Backer Invites + Discord Backer Badge. Almost all of the backers have submitted their survey, but if you haven’t then search your email box.[/p]
  • [p]New testers received an invite from FirstLook with a playtest schedule and instructions. (Check your spam folder if you don’t see it!)[/p]
  • [p]Existing testers will not get a new invite, your Discord role should now show a Backer badge. Not yet? Log into FirstLook.gg and sync.[/p]
  • [p]Can’t find it? Email [email protected][/p]
• [p]Kickstarter late pledges are still available but this may wind down soon: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/starsreach/stars-reach[/p]

• [p]Screenshots of the Week: [/p]
  • [p]Chayce discussing the finer points of design with Justa Mirage[/p]

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[p]Carneros: Are you coming to Stars Reach with your usual gaming guild? Or are you making new friends and joining a new guild in this game?[/p][p][/p][p]mrgoshdarn: I’ve talked to some friends about the game, and I’m sure they’ll hop in and try once it’s more toward the finish, but largely, since this game has shined so brightly in the social department, I’m making new connections in-game.[/p][p][/p][p]ObsidianStone: I haven’t had a proper gaming guild in a long time. This is all new friendships and a new guild to get up to shenanigans with. Although I do have a few people I annoy constantly to convince them to play.[/p][p][/p][p]Dr. Julie Wainlight: I came into Stars Reach entirely on my own! Ended up finding common ground with a few people who share the same sentiments and goals so I wound up making new friends who ended up making a new guild together! It has been very collaborative and creative, I feel really fortunate to have found a likeminded and welcoming community who have already done some amazing stuff in pre-alpha already![/p][p][/p][p]LastDitchPlan: I’ve made entirely new friends in Stars Reach! I did bring one friend along for the ride (shout out to JD!) but in referring back to the first question, I wanted what I had when I played Star Wars Galaxies: an organic community that sprung up around the game. With SWG it was easy, we all loved Star Wars! With Stars Reach it’s been a blast seeing what parts of the Playable Worlds systems people enjoy, what they’re hopeful for and what they want to see grow and change.[/p][p][/p][p]JesDyr: While I may try to convince some people to play, I don’t tend to follow guilds between games. While I do enjoy group play, I am a solo’er at heart. I like starting off on my own and going from there. It is always fun to see where I land.[/p][p][/p][p]What is something you can imagine your character doing in game one or two years from now?[/p][p][/p][p]hooby: All of the above.[/p][p]I’ve been making new friends and acquaintances on the Discord for a while now.[/p][p]I’m also in a small, tight-knit but casual clan that’s more or less active across several different games. Not actively recruiting, and only accepting new members that fit in well. We aren’t large enough to stand on our own in most games, so teaming up with or directly joining other guilds is quite common.[/p][p]Stars Reach does plan to allow me to join multiple social guilds – so I will be able to be a member of my old multi-game clan, while simultaneously also being able to join a larger, more focused, SR-centric guild. In fact, I have just recently signed up with GUNC. Now that the game is adding character specialization options, it does get increasingly interesting to coordinate with others.[/p][p][/p][p]Nadraxes: My last gaming guild disbanded, afaik a few years ago. I haven’t been doing much in MMO’s the last years, except Elder Scrolls Online, where my guild is not really into other games. I did join a guild in Stars Citizen, ages ago that seems to be still around, but I haven’t logged into that alpha in a year or two.[/p][p]When I came here, I had no expectations. I don’t even remember how Stars Reach came into view. I definitely was not looking for an MMO and I found this by accident it seems. Reading up on the game and seeing UO triggered my nostalgia I guess, so I decided to try it out. The people from GUNC were so helpful and kind, that I figured it couldn’t hurt to back the game at a low level, so I went for Explorer. Still wondering if I should go up to homesteader, but can’t find a real reason to do so.[/p][p]I am an avid VR player and have my friends in VRchat that also consume much of my time. Being a “responsible adult with a wife and kid” also means my free time is limited, so I may not be in the game enough to warrant the homesteader tier. Of course, if VR would be supported, that may change my view. [/p][p][/p][p]Keaggan: I like to build a guild within each MMO I play. Each game has its own feel and temperament. While I do try to convince long-time gaming friends to play a game I enjoy, I find people are more passionate about the guild’s success when they are already invested in the game we are playing.[/p]