Astra Protocol 2 News

Hello there Captains,

As we will hopefully be launching the 1.2 patch in the next couple of weeks, we have archived the patch 1.1 build onto its own branch.

As the 1.2 patch will be coming with some new features and a few other changes, we've made the decision to make old builds available to allow players the choice of playing with the new features or to be able to stick with what they're familiar with. We don't plan on supporting these older branches once a newer patch is available.

We intend to handle any future patches in the same way too.

Specifically regarding patch 1.2, we believe that all major tasks have been implemented and all major bugs have been fixed, however we have made a few deep changes which could have repercussions that are a little more difficult to detect, so we need to have a period of bug hunting. If you can't wait for release, patch 1.2 is currently available in the beta branch - however be warned that it isn't complete yet and bugs may still be present, so make sure you back up any save files.

When the patch goes live we will make an appropriate announcement.

Should you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please reply to this post of via the usual channels.

Hi All,

All major tasks for patch 1.2 have been completed but we have some bug fixing and tweaks before we roll it out properly. If you want a peek of what's to come, you should be able to see this by opting into the 'beta - Pre-Release Beta Builds' beta within Steam.

Please note that this has not been robustly tested (its what we're in the process of now!) so please ensure that any save files are backed up. Additionally, whilst the in-game help has been updated on the beta branch, the user manual has not.

Feel free to give it a go, and we welcome any and all feedback, so let us know what you think!

We'll post an update when the patch has gone live properly for those who are happy to wait a little longer.

Hi all,

With patch v1.1 released, we're starting work on the second feature patch (v1.2).
The focus of this patch is mainly around additional content and general stability / performance improvements

Usability

• Real-time position shown in Science and Navigation modules.
  
• Presence of survivors flagged on spacecraft.
  
• Missile / mine torpedo payload displayed on scan.
  
• Missing HELP entries added in.
  
• Configuration option to prevent ships spawning as part of the initial sector generation.
  
• User override of system variables.
  

Features / Gameplay

• Clouds / nebulae.
  
• Multiple system generation.
  
• Minefields.
  
• Bio-scanners.
  
• Rift anomalies.
  
• Heliosaur swarms.
  
• Adjustments to the noise system.
  
• A WINE supported build (with the TTS libraries stripped out).
  
• Minor graphical changes.
  
• General performance and stability fixes.
  

Please note that this list may change depending on development, and that we don't currently have a timescale for when this patch will release, though we will let you know as soon as it is planned.

Should you have any comments or feedback, please don't hesitate to let us know, either in the comments or via the usual channels.

Patch / Build 1.1 is now live. This patch constituted some functionality and graphical changes, and stability improvements.


[h2]Save and Load Functionality[/h2]
Two new commands to both save and restore progress.

[h2]Starchart[/h2]
A new screen showing a, not to scale, map of all celestial bodies and space stations that have been discovered.

[h2]Auto-pilot ETA[/h2]
The navigation screen will show an estimated value of the time remaining to reach the target destination.

[h2]TAB to auto-complete commands[/h2]
Pressing the TAB key will auto-complete and allow the user to cycle through commands and their sub-commands.

[h2]SHUTDOWN command[/h2]
Entering the SHUTDOWN command will prompt the user whether they want to exit and will close the terminal if Y is selected.. This is in addition to the Alt-F4 functionality.

[h2]Stars[/h2]
Cut from the initial release, Stars have been re-implemented.

[h2]User Manual Nudge[/h2]
To help point users towards the user manual, an appropriate flavour text is displayed in the command window on boot.

[h2]Reduced noise[/h2]
The amount of noise generated based on ship speed has been reduced.

[h2]Save Config[/h2]
The user config (enabled via a command line argument) now has the option to save between sessions.

[h2]User Manual Updates[/h2]
The user manual has been updated to reflect the above.


[h2]Separate command window[/h2]
The command input window is now separate to the command log due to a change in how this was implemented.

[h2]Equaliser Bars[/h2]
The signal strength display in the science module now has additional equaliser bars to help determine signal strength.

[h2]Sizing bars[/h2]
Additional size markers have been added to the expanded details screen


[h2]Enemy Ship Component Damage[/h2]
Enemy ships now take damage to their components similar to the player.

[h2]Fighter distance[/h2]
Fighters are reported as lost if they get too far from the player's ship.

[h2]Abort Self Destruct[/h2]
Aborting a self destruct that is not active will not display the message that it cannot be cancelled.

[h2]AI ship behaviour[/h2]
Fixes to some circumstances where a ship's behaviour could get stuck.

Hi All,

Due to the festive period, we'll be taking a short break from development of Patch 1.1.

All intended tasks have been implemented but we need to do some thorough testing before we release it.

However we've decided to make the progress accessible via a beta release so you can have a preview of what is coming.

If you opt in to the Steam beta, this should be available.