Astra Protocol 2 News

[p]Attention Captains,[/p][p][/p][p]Patch 2.1 of Astra Protocol 2 is now live. This patch brings in a mix of new features and improvements alongside the usual bug fixes. We've added some new exploration options and a few ways of dealing with some tricky situations.[/p][p][/p][p]Here's all the changes:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Achievements[/h2][p]We've added eighteen brand new achievements to the game - some simple to obtain, others not so much.[/p][p][/p][h2]Speed Limiter[/h2][p]New option to limit the max speed when under the autopilot. Once the ship reaches the desired speed, the engines will stop providing thrust until required to slow down. Controlled via the SET LIMITER, ENABLE LIMITER, and DISABLE LIMITER commands.[/p][p][/p][h2]EMPs[/h2][p]The ship comes equipped with a small amount of EMP projectiles which explode either on impact or after a short period of time. If a ship or missile is caught in the explosion, systems may be temporarily deactivated and target locks lost. Controlled via the LAUNCH EMP command.[/p][p][/p][h2]Warp Drive[/h2][p]A new way to travel. Allows the player's ship to make a near instantaneous jump to another position within range. Don't over use this function though as it will rapidly increase the load on your reactor, and folding space-time may have negative effects on your ship. Controlled via the WARP and ABORT WARP commands.[/p][p][/p][h2]Escape Pods[/h2][p]New objects may be found in the void of space. What you do with this information is up to you.[/p][p][/p][h2]Safe Havens[/h2][p]A player requested setting. When enabled, will prevent new ships from spawning if close to a space station. This will not prevent ships following the player or finding them through other means...[/p][p][/p][h2]Textbox Beep[/h2][p]A new setting has been added for textboxes to produce an audio signal when displaying text on screen.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Space Station Repairs[/h2][p]Space stations are now able to replace destroyed torpedo tubes and fighter bays. Unlike repairing other components, they need to have a replacement in their cargo to be able to conduct the repairs.[/p][p][/p][h2]Resupplying Fighters[/h2][p]Space stations may also stock some replacement star-fighters. Fighters will be resupplied if the ship has lost a fighter, there's a free fighter bay, and the space station contains a fighter in their cargo.[/p][p][/p][h2]Ship Spawning[/h2][p]Another player suggested feature. The spawning logic for ships has been adjusted so that they will no longer spawn within the ship's front facing. This should prevent situations where a ship spawns in before the player has a chance to react. Won't prevent all ship-to-ship collisions however...[/p][p][/p][h2]Ship Confidence[/h2][p]Ships without weaponry will have reduced confidence, preventing them from approaching the player's ship.[/p][p][/p][h2]Adjusted Heliosaur Logic[/h2][p]Heliosaurs are now more likely to hunt down smaller ships or shield mites.[/p][p][/p][h2]Transmission Clean Up[/h2][p]Space stations will not attempt to clean Up transmissions from known sources, such as space stations, science division, or headquarters. Should make deciphering those periodic signals a little easier...[/p][p][/p][h2]Crystalline Entity Science Mission[/h2][p]The mission associated with crystalline entities has been tweaked a little to make it more achievable.[/p][p][/p][h2]Game Seed[/h2][p]You can specify a seed value for when the game launches. This should ensure that the player's starting setup is always the same. Useful if attempting a speed run, challenging other captains, or trying to overcome a tricky situation. This can be set by entering in the following LAUNCH OPTIONS within Steam:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]String Fixes[/h2][p]A few strings and transmissions have been adjusted to fit on the screen a bit better.[/p][p][/p]

• [p]Command line will no longer try to process input (such as TAB) when it is not in focus.[/p]
• [p]Fixed rendering issues with large objects.[/p]
• [p]Fixed crystalline entity spawning logic.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash that could occur when a ship was dealing with enemy fighters.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash that could occur with the ship scaling logic at higher levels.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some logical issues affecting the story completion conditions.[/p]

[p][/p][p]And we've updated the user manual to fit all this in.[/p][p][/p][p]As you can see, we've packed a lot into this patch. Hopefully you'll be able to grab some achievements and let us know what you think of the new features - feedback is important to us, as it helps us steer the direction of Astra Protocol 2 and future games.[/p][p][/p][p]Until next time, captain.[/p]

[p]Attention Captains,[/p][p][/p][p]Join us as we play through the latest beta of Astra Protocol 2 as we show off some of the new features, hunt down bugs, and possibly even grab some achievements.[/p]

[p]Attention Captains,[/p][p][/p][p]We've updated the beta branch to v2.0.5.0. This build should contain all the new features and bug fixes for the v2.1 patch, it just needs further testing and refinement before we release the final version.[/p][p]Here is a summary of the changes in the beta since the last build:[/p][p][/p][h2]Autopilot Limiter[/h2][p]You can activate / deactivate a limiter to set a top speed. Once you reach this speed, the autopilot will stop providing forward thrust, but may still provide lateral or reverse thrust.[/p][p][/p][h2]Resupply[/h2][p]Space stations can resupply fighters if you have any that have been destroyed and they have one in their inventory.[/p][p]Additionally, space stations can also hold a supply of EMPs for restocking.[/p][h2]Repair[/h2][p]Space stations can repair a torpedo tube or fighter bay if they have one in their inventory. This is triggered by the usual command.[/p][h2]Warp Jump[/h2][p]The warp jump is much more punishing on the ship's reactor.[/p][p]Performing a jump may populate the map around the ship if outside of previous radio range.[/p][p]Warp jumps cannot be performed if the Warp Drive is offline.[/p][h2]Effect of EMP / Warp Jump[/h2][p]If hit by an EMP / after performing a warp jump, ship components are temporarily deactivated. This now includes the Warp Drive component.[/p][p]Whilst under the effects of an EMP / warp jump, despite reactor load being zero, it will not cool down naturally. Coolant, or zero reactor load when not under the effects work as normal.[/p][h2]Objects Spawning[/h2][p]When an object is spawning in, it should not spawn if it is within 45 degrees of the ship's velocity. This should stop the ship crashing into small objects they weren't aware of at high speeds.[/p][p][/p][h2]Updated In-Game Help[/h2][p]All new features added in this patch should now have a help entry. These are:[/p]

• [p]ABORT WARP[/p]
• [p]DISABLE LIMITER[/p]
• [p]ENABLE LIMITER[/p]
• [p]LAUNCH EMP[/p]
• [p]SET LIMITER[/p]
• [p]WARP[/p]

[p]The user manual entries are still to be written.[/p][h2]Number of EMPs Displayed[/h2][p]The number of EMPs that the ship has in its inventory is now displayed in the Ordinance screen. [/p][p][/p][h2]Command Line[/h2][p]When the command line does not have focus, such as when performing a Manual Override, command keys, such as tab, shouldn't edit or enter commands.[/p][h2]Heliosaur Behaviour[/h2][p]Heliosaurs should now attempt to hunt Shield Mites.[/p][h2]Scientific Detail Beep[/h2][p]The Scientific Details screens will only beep if you have enabled the Textbox Beep setting.[/p][h2]Biological Matter Detected String Length[/h2][p]The Biological Matter Detected string has been reduced in length to fit the UI correctly.[/p][p][/p][p]We think that we are not too far from being able to release the v2.1 patch to live, but player feedback is important to us, so please jump onto the latest build and let us know your thoughts.[/p][p][/p][p]In case you weren't aware of how to access the beta, it can be found by right-clicking on the Astra Protocol 2 entry within your Steam library, and selecting the Manage option. Then from within, you should be able to select the Game Version & Betas tab and then select the beta branch:[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Attention Captains,[/p][p][/p][p]For those of you trying out the Astra Protocol 2 v2.1 beta, we've just uploaded a new build to it.[/p][p]We've still got a couple more features to implement, as well as all the tweaking and refinement.[/p][p][/p][p]Key features of the update include:[/p]

• [p]All achievements have been certified as collectable.[/p]
• [p]Fighters, fighter bays, and torpedo tubes can be replaced when destroyed if the space station holds them - this is a resupply action rather than a repair action.[/p]
• [p]The option to toggle 'Safe Havens' around space stations, meaning that enemy ships won't spawn if you are close to a space station - it won't stop them hunting you if they are already present however.[/p]
• [p]Adjusted transmission logic, cleaning, and how it ties into the win condition for the story.[/p]
• [p]Adjusted the crystalline entity spawn rate and reduced the number required for the related science mission.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some crashes when using ship scaling.[/p]

[p]We're still likely a few weeks out from going live with this update, so we encourage you to jump on and provide feedback where possible. We've already received some feedback about the warp drive function and whether we should keep it in the game - we'd like to hear more of your thoughts on this.[/p][p]You can access the beta from the beta options in Steam - it is the one just called 'beta'.[/p]

[p]Hi all,[/p][p][/p][p]We're working on some new features for the v2.1 update and would appreciate some user feedback. As part of this work, we've also updated the executable to be 64-bit, so there might be some knock on compatibility issues, so user feedback is even more vital for us.[/p][p]To allow for this, we've updated the main 'beta' branch to the newest build, v2.0.3. We've not updated any of the documentation yet, but here's a summary of what's included:[/p][p]We've added in 18 player achievements. Most of these have already been checked as being achievable, but we have a couple that we're yet to confirm.[/p][p]Your ship will come equipped with a few EMP charges. You can specify how long they take to detonate, but will default to 5 seconds. Upon detonation, ships within range will lose their target lock and ship functionality, and missiles may explode. Only the player can launch these at the moment, but we are considering allowing enemies to use them too. [/p][p]The command to launch an EMP is:[/p][p]LAUNCH EMP [/p][p]The player can now warp to a position rather than travel there normally. Warping takes a few seconds to trigger, and will put massive strain on the reactor. The ship will need to remain stationary to perform this, and after the jump, some loss of ship functionality will be experiences. Warp jumps may only be within a certain range (which we need to tweak).[/p][p]The command to trigger a warp jump is:[/p][p]WARP ,[/p][p]The command to stop a warp jump is:[/p][p]ABORT WARP[/p][p]A new minor addition is that you may encounter escape pods on your journey - whether jettisoned from another ship, or travelling through the void of space.[/p][p]As mentioned above, certain things can knock out your shields, radio, and other functions momentarily.[/p][p]There's a new option to enable the Textbox beep, which provided a sound whenever text is printed to a textbox / log.[/p][p]One of features which got removed when upgrading to v2 was that you can specify the game seed when launching the game. This can be used to ensure that when the game boots, you will always get the same starting setup - useful when practicing certain situations. This is enabled by entering the following:[/p][p]seed=[/p][p][/p][p]We've also fixed numerous bugs, including one where you can cheat part of the win condition by constantly asking for repairs...[/p][p][/p][p]Please jump onto the beta so we can get an opinion on these changes and whether certain things can be tweaked, or whether the achievements are too difficult to obtain. As usual, we welcome all comments and feedback[/p]