Star Vortex News

[p]Star Vortex is currently 15% off for the week-end![/p][p]If you missed the Spring Sale, there’s a short window to grab it again at a 15% discount. You’ve got 48 hours to pick it up before it’s gone.[/p]

[p]A lot of testing for Star Vortex happens on Steam Deck, and I recently noticed the framerate taking a dive. This update improves performance there, along with gains on all lower-end systems.[/p][p]This is ongoing work, so if you notice FPS drops during specific fights or when using certain weapons, please let me know.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Balance Changes[/h3][p]• Shield Recharge upgrade increased from +5% to +10% per level.[/p][p][/p][h3]Quality of Life / Accessibility[/h3][p]• Menu and overlay blur transitions are now faster.[/p][p]• Death screen pause delay slightly increased.[/p][p][/p][h3]Performance[/h3][p]• Steam Deck now defaults to Fastest quality, medium particles, and ship shadows off.[/p][p]• Disabled anti-aliasing on Steam Deck for improved frame rate.[/p][p]• Shaders and ship templates pre-compiled during load to prevent first-combat freezes.[/p][p]• Fixed weapon aim-assist scanning further than needed.[/p][p]• Reduced HUD redraw overhead during combat.[/p][p]• Improved pathfinding efficiency for AI ships.[/p][p]• Ship explosions now use pooled effects to prevent stutters.[/p][p]• Ship debris chunks are now pooled with simpler physics.[/p][p]• Removed dark cloud overlay layer.[/p][p]• Debris smoke trails capped per ship class to reduce lag spikes.[/p][p]• Radial display now caches slider and text values to reduce unnecessary UI redraws.[/p][p]• Clouds shader now uses a baked noise texture instead of per-pixel procedural noise.[/p][p]• Ship shadows and outlines merged into a single half-res pass.[/p][p]• HUD notices are now pooled instead of created on demand.[/p][p]• Interaction prompts now cache resolved text per controller.[/p][p]• Health bars skip positioning while hidden, reducing overhead with many ships.[/p][p][/p][h3]Bug Fixes[/h3][p]• PDLs no longer appear in the linking panel as assignable.[/p]

[p]Star Vortex is currently 15% off for the Spring Sale![/p][p][/p][h3]Sector 4 - Phase 1[/h3][p]Development on Sector 4 - Phase 1 is nearly complete, bringing 5 new levels, fresh loot, expanded story content, and two new bosses. New Game+ is also now available, giving you something to push into while the final story arcs are being built.[/p][p][/p][p]More to come soon. Enjoy![/p]

[p]This update marks the longest gap we've had between updates since Star Vortex launched into Early Access, so I’ll start by apologizing for that.[/p][p]The reason is a bit strange. I’ve made a lot of changes recently, and many of them are good / requested improvements, but none of them felt like big features on their own. Last weekend I held off pushing the update hoping to bundle it with something more exciting, but in the end this patch is really a collection of smaller improvements, bug fixes, and things I’ve wanted to address for a long time but never had the time to get to.[/p][p]That said, this will be the final update before Sector 4 - Phase 1 launches so the next update is going to be a huge! Hopefully you’ll still find something in this patch that you were hoping for.[/p][p][/p][h2]Comparison Improvement[/h2][p]The game might be on v0.6.21, but the comparison tooltip is probably on version 1,000 at this point. It turns out building a good comparison tooltip in an ARPG is a bit of a fine art.[/p][p]The new version now shows the full stats of the item you're comparing against alongside the stat differences. This should give you all the information you need at a glance... I hope![/p][p][/p][h2]Spacetime Distortion[/h2][p]Space is made of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff… or so I’m told. That idea is now reflected in faster-than-light travel within the game. Ships jumping in and out of systems now bend space around them slightly, creating a distortion ripple effect as they arrive or depart.[/p][p][/p][p]Alongside this, there are new particles and several visual tweaks to make jumping around the galaxy feel a bit more dramatic and visually satisfying.[/p][p][/p][h2]Projectiles Persistence[/h2][p]This is probably one of the most frequently mentioned issues that was never actually reported, but often came up in passing. Previously, when an enemy was destroyed, all of its active projectiles were destroyed with it, which always felt a bit odd.[/p][p]There were a few technical reasons why this happened, and fixing it required some fairly big changes under the hood, but that work is now done.[/p][p][/p][h2]Railgun Rework[/h2][p]It’s important to me that each weapon in the game it's own identity and purpose. While the Railgun had the unique ability to pierce through enemies, it always ended up feeling a bit like a slow machine gun.[/p][p][/p][p]To address that, the Railgun has been reworked. Its damage has been increased significantly, its rate of fire reduced, and its range improved. The hope is that it will now feel like a heavy-hitting, long-range sniper weapon rather than a slower automatic gun.[/p][p][/p][h2]Menu Improvements[/h2][p]This probably sums up this update quite well. The loading screens, menus, and splash screens have all received a fair amount of visual polish. It’s the sort of thing that makes the game feel nicer to use, but is hard to get anyone too excited about. Apart from me... because I like hexagons![/p][p]Mk IV Ghost Heavy Cruiser Ship Design by Absent Coffee (https://star-vortex.com/ships.php?view=146)[/p][p][/p][p]Loads of other changes below. Next update will be big, enjoy![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]New Features / Content[/h3][p]• Projectiles and pulses now finish their flight when the firing ship is destroyed.[/p][p]• Ships now emit a spacetime distortion ripple on jump arrival and departure.[/p][p][/p][h3]Balance Changes[/h3][p]• Broodnest is now also equipped with Spore Drones.[/p][p]• Railgun damage increased by 50% and fire rate reduced by 50%.[/p][p]• Railgun projectile speed increased from 30 m/s to 45 m/s.[/p][p]• Point Defense Laser range increased for both variants.[/p][p]• Deflector Shield recharge delay increased from 1.5s to 2.0s.[/p][p]• Aegis Shield now reaches minimum recharge delay at higher levels.[/p][p]• Howitzer explosive radius increased from 80m to 90m.[/p][p]• Aggressive enemies now chase 4x further before giving up.[/p][p][/p][h3]Quality of Life / Accessibility[/h3][p]• Equipment comparison now shows both items' stats side by side.[/p][p]• Unique stats are interleaved naturally instead of grouped at the bottom.[/p][p]• Increased size and variety of background nebulas.[/p][p]• Added set backdrops for Novus Prime, Genesis and Eden.[/p][p]• Added Ship Shadows graphics setting to toggle ship outlines.[/p][p]• Loot filter now hides particles and glow on filtered items.[/p][p]• Dodge blur now trails behind the ship instead of blurring both directions.[/p][p]• Dodge blur direction updates in real-time when turning mid-dodge.[/p][p]• Added Jump Distortion toggle in Graphics settings.[/p][p]• Hex grid background from loading scene added to main menu.[/p][p]• Mouse cursor now leaves a glowing trail on hex grids.[/p][p]• Added glitch effect and sound to splash screen logo transitions.[/p][p]• Added background blur effect to all menu popups and overlays.[/p][p]• Added Menu Blur graphics setting to toggle the blur effect.[/p][p][/p][h3]Performance[/h3][p]• Player saves now load one per frame instead of all at once.[/p][p]• Reduced shader variants included in builds for a smaller install size.[/p][p]• Improved physics collision accuracy for overlapping objects.[/p][p]• Fixed FPS drops during heavy combat with status effects.[/p][p]• Main menu now loads in the background during splash screen.[/p][p]• Displacement effect no longer clones entire ship object.[/p][p]• Improved damage trail cleanup efficiency.[/p][p]• Improved projectile performance during large battles.[/p][p]• Reduced ship spawning time for large squadron encounters.[/p][p][/p][h3]Bug Fixes[/h3][p]• Selected right-click activatable no longer resets after jumping to a new star.[/p][p]• Fixed weapon aim snapping not working when targeting enemies to the side or behind.[/p][p]• Dodge blur and afterimages now match scene lighting.[/p][p]• Fixed unlimited framerate setting still capping framerate sometimes.[/p][p]• Fixed ship shadow outlines detaching from ships during movement.[/p][p]• Fixed sprite transparency sorting to use the correct depth axis.[/p][p]• Fixed comparison slot numbering not matching visual slot order.[/p][p]• Fixed Phase Shift sometimes leaving ships permanently immune to damage.[/p][p]• Fixed ship outlines trailing behind ships moving at high speed.[/p][p]• Fixed warzones not completing after a Broodnest invasion if you died.[/p][p]• Fixed combat music not reverting after clearing a Broodnest.[/p][p]• Fixed elite boss music playing from the start on retry after death.[/p][p]• Fixed ships potentially getting stuck with no collisions after warping in.[/p][p]• Fixed skip tutorial option not appearing on new player screen.[/p][p]• Fixed displacement dodge outline not aligning with ship position.[/p][p]• Fixed hyperdrive jump animation sometimes not visible after loading.[/p][p]• Camera zoom now works during hyperdrive jumps.[/p][p]• Weapons now glow during hyperdrive jump instead of disappearing.[/p][p]• Displacement dash now applies its effect to the whole ship.[/p]

[p]This one hits a lot of systems. I’ve been moving across the project, revisiting older feature requests and fixing things that have quietly annoyed me for a while.[/p][p][/p][h2]Broodnests[/h2][p]Main highlight from the roadmap this update is Broodnests. I love Species-XI invasions, but I wanted some of them to turn up mid-encounter to add to the chaos.[/p][p]Broodnests will now jump into encounters while you’re already fighting, adding sudden pressure and forcing you to adapt. They will never appear during boss fights though![/p][p][/p][h2]Death Summary[/h2][p]Ever died and thought, “What just killed me?”. Now you’ll see a full breakdown of the damage sources after you are destroyed.[/p][p]This should make deaths clearer and also help highlight any weapons or enemies are are a little stronger than intended.[/p][p][/p][h2]Visuals Effects[/h2][p]All the visual effects that render on enemies has been redone. It should now very obvious when an enemy is inflicted by Corroding, Burning. Frozen, Disabled or Radioactive status effects.[/p][p][/p][p]Your ship also now gains a motion blur effect while invulnerable during dodges, so you can clearly see when you can and cannot take damage. This can be disabled in Graphics settings if you dislike it.[/p][p]Hornet Ship Design by Qryptiq (https://star-vortex.com/ships.php?view=145)[/p][p][/p][h2]Nebula Improvements[/h2][p]Nebulas now heavily impact enemy aggro and targeting range. Sensor arrows only show direction. They no longer display enemy count or range, so you’ll need to hunt in the dark.[/p][p]Large obstructions will no longer spawn inside nebulas as they added more frustration than fun.[/p][p][/p][h2]New Species-XI Music[/h2][p]All the music that plays during Species-XI fights has now been replaced by a custom soundtrack created by Eva and Simon Patterson. This will show up more prominently in Sector 4 but if you're infecting waypoints and fighting invaders early expect to hear some new music.[/p][p][/p][h2]Range Increase[/h2][p]Many weapons have had range increases to compete with the improved drones. Most notably, the Railgun now hits at truly long range. Full details are in the patch notes below.[/p][p][/p][p]There are plenty more smaller changes listed below. Species-XI Beacons and Maggot Drone Bays have been added to global loot tables, and ESA will now explain debris debuffs the first time you encounter them. More to follow. Enjoy![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]New Features / Content[/h3][p]• Species-XI now have their own soundtrack by Eva Patterson and Simon Patterson.[/p][p]• Broodnests will now spawn at random intervals in all sectors.[/p][p]• Traders now have their own music by Eva Patterson and Simon Patterson.[/p][p]• Death summary now tells you where the damage that destroyed you came from.[/p][p]• New Species-XI Beacon special weapon added.[/p][p]• New Maggot Drone Bay auto special weapon added.[/p][p]• Added first-encounter dialog for hazardous debris explaining debuffs.[/p][p][/p][h3]Balance Changes[/h3][p]• Nebula encounters no longer show distance or enemy counts on sensor arrows.[/p][p]• Nebula fog now limits enemy detection range and weapon targeting.[/p][p]• Nebula encounters no longer spawn with obstructions.[/p][p]• Azure Ion Thruster dodge increased from 8 to 10.[/p][p]• Positron Shield recharge rate increased from 135 to 175.[/p][p]• Lightning Orb Launcher damage increased from 22.5 to 30.[/p][p]• Frozen Orb Launcher velocity increased from 4 to 5s.[/p][p]• Railgun range increased from 252m to 498m.[/p][p]• Proton Torpedo velocity doubled from 80 m/s to 160 m/s.[/p][p]• Drone formation/orbit weapon range reduced from 400m to 300m.[/p][p]• Heat Ray, Skeran Laser, Freeze Ray range increased from 190m to 210m.[/p][p]• Corrosion Beam, Leech Ray range increased from 200m to 220m.[/p][p]• Spiral Laser range increased from 210m to 230m.[/p][p]• Tesla Coil range increased from 175m to 195m.[/p][p]• Cryo Lance, Thermal Lance range increased from 250m to 270m.[/p][p]• Stalker explosion radius increased from 40m to 60m.[/p][p]• Javelin explosion radius increased from 30m to 50m.[/p][p][/p][h3]Quality of Life / Accessibility[/h3][p]• Debuff effects on ships are now clearly visible and should be distinguishable in combat.[/p][p]• Ships now display a directional motion blur effect while dodging.[/p][p]• Added a Dodge Blur toggle in Graphics settings if you don't like the new effect.[/p][p]• Background nebulas are now randomized with some new designs added.[/p][p]• New full-screen blur effect when pausing or being destroyed.[/p][p]• Scroll views can now be scrolled with the right stick on controllers.[/p][p]• Sliders can now be adjusted with the right stick on controllers.[/p][p]• Loading screen now displays an animated hexagon grid background with ripple effects.[/p][p]• Loading screen now transitions using hexagon grid animation.[/p][p]• Gateway loading screens now show an animated energy tunnel effect.[/p][p]• Sliders now respond to how far the controller stick is pushed for faster movement.[/p][p]• Debuff crack lines on ships now glow steadily instead of flashing.[/p][p][/p][h3]Performance[/h3][p]• Drones are now omitted from the black outline shader applied to other ships.[/p][p]• Improved combat performance with tesla weapons.[/p][p]• Reduced memory usage during sustained tesla activation.[/p][p]• Ships no longer perform unnecessary calculations to avoid overlapping.[/p][p]• Massively reduced number of objects and components instantiated when spawning ships.[/p][p][/p][h3]Bug Fixes[/h3][p]• Players can no longer rescue the Assembler before getting the mission.[/p][p]• Schematics now correctly retain their chosen appearance after modification.[/p][p]• Modifier keys like Shift no longer trigger controller navigation mode.[/p][p]• Fixed items flickering in storage when dragged to cargo.[/p][p]• Fixed a tutorial prompt that briefly flashed during the aiming step with twin stick controls.[/p][p]• Fixed an error when pressing backspace in text input fields.[/p][p]• Fixed an error when a black hole scores a critical hit after its parent ship is destroyed.[/p][p]• Interacting with the assembler during a modifier transfer animation no longer errors.[/p][p]• Fixed a rare error when a ship with all body parts broken is destroyed.[/p][p]• Fixed an old error caused by UI layout rebuilds when clearing item containers.[/p][p]• Fixed some controller navigation issues in ship design.[/p][p]• Beam weapons no longer reset the shield hit effect every tick.[/p][p]• Shield impacts from sustained fire now hold at a natural spread.[/p]