Star Trucker News

[p][/p][p][/p][p]It’s summer, and the deals are hot!  [/p][p][/p][p]Right now Star Trucker is taking part in the Steam Summer Sale, and the discounts aren’t going to last forever!  [/p][p][/p][p]Pick up Star Trucker for yourself, a friend, or grab that Pack that you’ve been eyeing for a while. The Steam Summer Sale discounts will last until July 10th, and you can find the following discounts:  [/p]

• [p]Star Trucker - Base Game[/p]
  • [p]35% off[/p]
• [p]Star Trucker Soundtrack[/p]
  • [p]35% off[/p]
• [p]Heavy Duty Pack[/p]
  • [p]25% off[/p]
• [p]Amped Customization Pack[/p]
  • [p]25% off[/p]
• [p]Hallow's Eve Pack[/p]
  • [p]25% off[/p]

[p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]10-44 Star Truckers!

By the time you’re reading this the latest update should be available to download!

I’d like to start this post by saying a massive thank you to the community for their patience on this one as it’s been in development for quite some time.

If you want to see the full list of changes please read the recent patch notes:



For the usual ramblings, read onwards where I’ll recap the contents of this update and talk about some new, unannounced things…

[/p][p]After reading community comments and looking through some telemetry it was clear that job rewards were little low. Cash seemed to be a bottleneck early in the game while XP payouts made late game rank-ups a slog.

To account for this we’ve increased the base payout of all jobs by +$200, fixed some issues around multi-hop and multi-trailer jobs while significantly boosting XP payouts for those with higher certification tiers unlocked.

When combined with some other balance tweaks, this should improve the experience for both new and veteran players alike. Rest assured we’ll continue to monitor these changes and if needed are prepared to take further action in future updates.

[/p][p]As you progress through the game you’ll also notice that we’ve added a new UCC variant to shops (and the salvage generator).

The Heavy Duty UCC has increased hitpoints and robustness. It’s pricier than a standard UCC but installing them will allow your systems to last much, much longer.

We also made some adjustments to the standard UCCs to make them a little less fragile as part of our overall balance tweaking.

[/p][p][/p][p]This was recently discussed in our previous blog post, so be sure to check that out for more details, but in essence we’ve made some fairly substantial changes to how damage is calculated while also fixing some long standing issues around collisions.

Overall collision damage should feel more consistent and fair but as with the reward tweaks we’ll be monitoring how players feel about these changes.

[/p][p]Another feature we recently discussed is the Rest Up mechanic. This allows you to use the cab bunk to skip time forwards and is handy for Just-in-Time jobs (e.g. turning up too early for a delivery).

There’s also lots of potential for this feature to be used in future mechanics and roleplaying.

[/p][p]I’d also like to remind players that we’ve updated stations so that they now provide free oxygen, gravity and power, thus preventing any drain on your truck systems.

Docking should now provide the perfect opportunity to replace truck components and perform pre-trip checks before your next haul.

[/p][p]Also rolling out in this update is a swish new photo mode. It works much the same as the feature in many other games and provides a bunch of options to tinker with in the pursuit of finding the perfect shot.

We’ve written a handy Photo Mode Guide that goes into the specifics and includes some handy tips on how to take different types of screenshot. Please check it out if you’re interested.

Oh, and be sure to share your best shots with us! We’ll be sharing our favorites in a Community Round-up post alongside some of the other neat things people have been sharing with us.

[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]You can read more details about the custom plates feature in this blog post.

The ability to equip plates and enter your own label rounds off our exterior customization features for the foreseeable future but we’re looking forward to seeing your trucker handles proudly on show!

We’ve also teamed up with some of our Raw Fury friends for a set of exclusive themed plates…

[/p][h3]Post Trauma[/h3][p]We met Red Soul Games founder Roberto in 2022 shortly after announcing Star Trucker and had the pleasure of hanging out with him on multiple occasions while we all toiled away towards our respective release dates.

If you’re a fan of classic console era horror and freaky vibes be sure to cast your eyes towards the Post Trauma Steam page.

[/p][h3]Kingdom[/h3][p]A long running classic. The team at Fury Studios continue to iterate on one of our favourite games in their catalogue. It also led to us attending a talk by Raw Fury co-founder Jonas waaaaay back in 2015 that made us realise they were a publisher we’d be keen to work with…

…but I digress! The Kingdom games are great and so is the latest add-on Call of Olympus that's well worth checking out if, like me, you’re a sucker for Greek Mythology themed content.

[/p][h3]Dome Keeper[/h3][p]A game that kept us entertained while we were stranded in Germany after our first Gamescom some years back! It has a fantastic gameplay loop and has had some excellent updates since launch. If it snuck past your radar previously we recommend you check it out.

We’re also eagerly awaiting Bippinbits new project PVKK - Just look at all those wonderful levers and dials!?

[/p][p][/p][p]We’ve always strived to allow players the ability to customize their game sessions and this update seemed like the perfect time to introduce this feature.

Free Play replaces Hardcore on the New Game screen and lets you start with all zones unlocked and truck features enabled. We’ve also disabled tutorials and the convoy missions. This is a great way to revisit the game without the need to play through the narrative to unlock everything.

Please keep in mind you will not be able to unlock various convoy and zone achievements in this mode.

[/p][p][/p][p]Maybe not as fun as some of the other features but we continue to try and provide players more choices in how they play the game both in terms of difficulty and accessibility.
[/p][h3]Game Options[/h3][p]When you accelerate and brake the camera drifts to give a sense of momentum. Some players noted that this made them feel a little nauseous or simply didn’t like this effect.

In this update we have introduced new options so that players can adjust the intensity of this feature to their own personal preference. Setting the value to 0% will disable camera drift / momentum completely.

Seated Camera Drift
Adjusts how much camera drift is applied when turning / braking in cab view

Ext. Camera Drift
Adjusts how much momentum the camera has when using the exterior camera
[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Control Bindings[/h3][p]We’ve also done a bunch of work around custom control bindings. PC players can now assign shortcuts to pretty much all dashboard features.

[/p][p]Please keep in mind some of these interactions were not designed with shortcuts in mind and could slightly alter how the game plays or looks (e.g. you might see some of our sneaky dev tricks that were previously hidden) but it felt like a small price to pay for greater accessibility and control customization.

At the request of a few players we also added a new shortcut binding for recentering the cab camera. This makes it a lot easier to bring back your default driving view.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Quick Look[/h3][p]Although full peripheral support isn’t quite ready for the prime-time we didn’t want to hold back the quick look feature for PC.

Once you’ve assigned custom bindings for quick look you can tap this shortcut to switch view OR tap and hold to glance - this means that releasing the shortcut will let the camera return to the default view.

[/p][p][/p][h3]Control Settings[/h3][p]We’ve also rolled out some extra control options that some players might find useful…

Auto Recenter Cab View
Enable this and the cab camera will automatically recenter after the chosen amount of time

Quick Look Recenter
This allows you to set a specific behavior for the Quick Look feature. By default “Auto” allows both switch view (tap) and glancing (tap and hold).

Brake Cutoff
Disabling this option to smoothly transition from brake to reverse without stopping.

CB Mic Auto Hold
Enable this and the CB Mic button will be automatically pressed during dialogue responses (if the mic itself is being held) allowing you to respond without holding down multiple buttons or keys.

[/p][p][/p][h3]Custom Game[/h3][p]Following up on giving players more choice in how they play the game, we’ve introduced some new options to the custom game settings screen.

Free Play
Enable this to start the game with zones and truck features unlocked

Power Consumption Rate
You can now choose “off” to prevent systems draining truck power

Consumable Usage Rate
You can now choose “off” to prevent components degrading

Shock Shield Efficiency
You can now choose “perfect” to prevent electrical storms from affecting your truck

[/p][p][/p][p]Before wrapping up we also have a small update for those who ordered the physical soundtrack. Production is officially underway! We’ve also had a sneak peak of the special edition test pressing…

[/p][p]We’re still not sure when production will finish and shipping will start but we’ll let you know as soon as we receive any new information.

Oh and a massive thank you to everyone who purchased a limited edition vinyl. We’ve officially sold out!

For those who’d still like to grab a copy of the soundtrack on vinyl we still have some regular variants available on the Laced store.

[/p][p]As mentioned at the start of this post, please take a look at the patch notes for a full list of detailed changes as there’s plenty of extra details and a list of fixes.

Rollin’ onwards we’re looking to deliver some smaller quality of life updates as we work towards a much larger update for the end of the year. We’ll also be monitoring feedback on the various changes and keeping an eye out for the best screenshots taken with the new Photo Mode.

Lastly, and I know we say this a lot, I want to thank all the Star Trucker players out there for their continued support and feedback. You rock and are the reason we get to keep working on this (not so) little indie game ❤️

- Dan & Dave ( aka Monster and Monster )


[/p]

Star Trucker has been updated to v1.0.63.0. This update focuses on job rewards and difficulty balance while adding a host of new features and improvements…

[h2]Job Rewards[/h2]

We’ve adjusted various payouts to help with cash-flow when starting out and XP progression towards the end-game.

• Increased base cash reward for all jobs by $200
  
• Increased cash bonus for Multi-trailer certifications from 5% → 20%
  
• Increased XP bonus for Multi-trailer certifications from 10% → 25%
  
• Increased XP bonus for Tier 1 certifications from 5% → 10%
  
• Increased XP bonus for Tier 2 certifications from 10% → 25%
  
• Increased XP bonus for Tier 3 certifications from 20% → 50%
  
• Fixed issue where long distance bonuses were not always awarded
  
• Fixed issue where multi-trailer certifications did not match
  
• Job board now shows estimated XP rewards
  
• Job board can now filter jobs by XP
  

[h2]Damage[/h2]

Collision calculations have been overhauled to provide fairer and more consistent damage reporting.

• New collision calculations and improved impact recognition
  
• Reduced damage received from small debris and glancing blows
  
• Updated the mass values ranges of debris, asteroids and props to better reflect their scale
  
• Multi-Trailers no longer cause collision damage with themselves
  
• Fixed issue with damage occasionally being applied multiple times on initial impact
  
• Fixed issue with some asteroids misreporting their mass
  
• Fixed issue with monitors showing incorrect trailer damage values
  
  

[h2]Resting Up[/h2]

You can now use your cab’s bed to skip time. Just be careful not to miss your delivery window!

• Use your cab’s bed to rest for up to 4 hours of in-game time
  
• Truck systems will continue to drain while you rest unless parked at a station
  
• Risk of parking tickets when resting in sectors with restricted parking
  
• Use designated parking bays to avoid tickets
  
• Stations allow free parking for a set number of hours
  
• Rest period will automatically end if a serious incident occurs
  
• 50% less oxygen is consumed in the cab while resting
  
  

[h2]License Plates[/h2]

Choose from a variety of vanity plates and display your handle loud and proud.

• New option to equip a license plate added to the body shops
  
• Customize your registration label from the License Plate screen
  
• Unlock new plates via cash or challenges
  
• Equip special collaborative license plates from our friends at Raw Fury
  
  

[h2]Free Play Mode[/h2]

A new mode for those who want to haul instead of holla.

• Free Play replaces Hardcore mode on the New Game screen
  
• Starts the game with the entire galaxy unlocked and all truck features enabled
  
• Disables Convoy side jobs and related achievements
  
  

[h2]New Options[/h2]

Extra settings to help improve accessibility and allow a greater range of custom shortcuts.

• Added lots of new shortcuts for cab interactions to custom binding screen - PC ONLY
  
• Added quick look shortcut feature - PC Only
  
• Added option to toggle quick look re-centering method - PC ONLY
  
• Added option to reduce or disable seated camera momentum
  
• Added option to reduce or disable external camera momentum
  
• Added option to disable the brake cut-off feature
  
• Added option to auto-center the cab view after a short delay
  
• Added option to enable CB mic auto-press during NPC interactions
  
  

[h2]Photo Mode[/h2]

Take great snapshots as you cruise the galaxy! For more information on how to get the most from this feature be sure to check out our handy Photo Mode Guide.

• Added a Photo Mode option to Pause Screen
  
• Added Multiple camera modes and filters
  
• Ability to save screenshots to your PC or Console
  
  

[h2]UCCs[/h2]

Balance tweaks for the standard UCC alongside a new longer lasting variant.

• Added a Heavy Duty UCC with increased hitpoints and robustness
  
• Heavy Duty UCCs added to shops and salvage generator
  
• Reduced Standard UCC fragility by 30%
  
• Reduced EMP discharge damage by 17%
  
• Reduced electrical storm damage rate by 20%
  
  

[h2]General[/h2]

• UI will now alert player when a new customization item has been unlocked
  
• Reduced how long warnings and alerts appear on cab monitor screens
  
• Improved NPC damage materials
  
• Added new User Manual options for Resting, Parking and Docked Perks
  
• DLC / Add-On screen now lists pack contents
  
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed issue with New Aspen having unavoidable debris when arriving from Crossvale
  
• Fixed various trailer UV mapping issues
  
• Fixed an issue with longer than expected pauses while listening to GRR
  
• Fixed issue where collected cone POIs would reappear using scanner
  
• Fixed issue where some trailer bounding boxes were misaligned
  
• Fixed issue where stacked pop-ups could lose input focus
  
  

[h2]Side Job Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed issue when spawning the damaged reactor in “Meltdown”
  
• Fixed issue with maglink visuals during “Full Throttle”
  
• Fixed issue with the “Bear Contingency” quest vanishing under certain conditions
  
  

Once again we thank you for your patience as we continue to work hard to improve and expand your star truckin’ experience.

As usual, please report any issues and oddities you encounter to the Raw Fury Support Desk and be sure to check the Latest News page for information on future patches and developer updates.

- Dan & Dave ( aka Monster and Monster )

Hey all,

As you’ve likely noticed from the previous blog posts, there’s been a lot of work going on for the next update. A combination of balance tweaks, features and the groundwork for future updates.

We’d reaaaally hoped this update would be in your hands by now but there’s been a lot of tricky hurdles along the way. Such is the way of game dev.

Good news is that the update has been with the Raw Fury QA team for a couple weeks and we’ve had a final thumbs for rolling out!

This update will exit warp on Tuesday, June 10th.




[h2]Damage Calculations[/h2]

I’ll save the full (and pretty long) list of changes for the upcoming patch notes but one reason this update has taken longer than intended was the rework of collision calculations.

Here’s a very high level overview of what this involved…

• We updated the collision calculations so that changes in linear and angular velocity have a greater influence on the damage output. This means you’ll be less likely to take damage from glancing blows with NPCs / debris.
  
  
• We overhauled the code that prevents collisions being reported multiple times by the game engine (despite a single impact). This should do a better job at stopping rogue damage being applied.
  
  
• We resolved issues where the mass of debris wasn’t always scaled appropriately. This means the size and weight of debris should now be more closely linked.
  
  
• We fixed some problems around multi-trailer damage propagation and fixed a bug where the monitor screen displayed the wrong damage values until a save was reloaded.
  

The result of these changes is a more consistent and fair damage report. It’ll also make it much, much easier for us to tweak damage balance and resolve any impact related issues going forwards.

Please keep in mind that colliding with static scenery (like a space station) or crashing into NPCs at high speed will still result in major damage but overall you will find you take less damage from most impacts.


[h2]Resting Up[/h2]

Another feature that ended up being a bit more work than we initially expected is the ability to use your cab bunk to skip time forwards.

This is super handy for Just In Time jobs (e.g. turning up too early for a delivery) and has plenty of potential for future gameplay features too.




It’s worth keeping in mind that your truck systems will continue to deplete unless you’ve docked with a station (which now provide free oxygen, gravity and power to prevent any drain on truck components).

Oh, and be careful where you park. Local authorities will ticket any trucks they find drifting in restricted areas or that have been docked for too long...




[h2]Survey Superstars[/h2]

Lastly we want to say a massive thanks to everyone who responded to our survey about the future of Star Trucker. The response has been incredible and there have been so many great suggestions.

We’re going to keep the survey open for a little while longer so if you haven’t seen it and would like to make your own suggestion please use the button below.




[h2]Back in a Bit[/h2]

That’s about it for this post. I know it’s fairly short but the next one will be a big-un and should drop around the same time as the update and patch notes.

10-10 until then.

- Monster Dave

Howdy all, it’s time for another update on all things Star Trucker!

Firstly a massive thanks to everyone who pre-ordered the vinyl soundtrack. The response has been amazing! Production should start soon and we’re super excited for everyone to get their copies.

Those of you with a keen eye might have also spotted a little feature tease within the album artwork 👀

[h2]Cover Art Wallpapers
[/h2]

If you didn’t, take another look at this wallpaper and see if you can spot what it might be before I explain later in this post…

Desktop 3840x2160 // 2560x1440 // 1920x1440 // 1920x1080

Mobile 887x1920 // 1080x1920 // 1440x1920




[h2]What’s in the Works[/h2]

As always there’s a lot going on at the Monster HQ. Here’s a super quick run-down of just a few of the things being worked on right now…

Extended Controller Support
Work continues on support for joysticks, wheels and HOTAS setups. Things are shaping up nicely but we have one or two more hurdles to get past before we can spill all the beans on this feature.

Job Refresh
We’re also in the middle of various tweaks and refinements around procedural jobs. The main focus is making the Just in Time jobs less frustrating but we’re also looking to spruce some other elements too.

Reward Balance
While working in this area we’ve also been adjusting rewards and skill bonuses. The goal here is to make the progression feel a little more balanced and fair, especially in the late game.

Free Play
We’ve also been testing a Free Play mode. This would disable side jobs but allow you to start the game with all truck features enabled and the entire galaxy unlocked. Some achievements might be unavailable in this mode but we feel it will be appreciated by those who want to focus more on hauling and less on story.

More Options
Allowing players to enjoy the game however they want has been a pretty core thing for us, be it roleplaying as a trucker or trying to survive the harshness of space - so alongside Free Play we’ve also been looking at ways of disabling systems such as power consumption and system degradation. Hopefully we’ll be able to roll some of these new options out soon.

Cargo Pack
We also have a new DLC pack in the works. This will feature a new set of trailers, corporations and cargo.

Remember, DLC sales help us to continue investing in free updates and features so we’re super thankful to everyone who’s supported us by picking up a pack or two ♥





[h2]License to Reveal[/h2]

Looping back around to the feature tease from earlier, you might have noticed the truck on the cover art features a license plate!

This is something we’ve wanted to add for a while and nicely rounds off our suite of exterior customizations for the time being.



You’ll be able to equip and modify license plates at any Body Shop in the galaxy.

Some designs are unlocked via cold hard cash while others become available after completing mini challenges.

There’s also two shapes, a boxy look similar to plates found across the US and an elongated European style, both can be customized with up to 8 characters.




[h2]The Future[/h2]

Alongside all of this (and more!), we've also been thinking about what’s next for Star Trucker. Our gut is telling us to add a deeper meta game while layering up new haulage mechanics…However we’re super keen to hear from the community on what matters most to you with regard to the longevity of our not-so-little-anymore indie game.

To that extent we’ve set up a little survey you can access via the button below. If you can spare a couple of minutes we’d love to hear your preferences and suggestions!




[h2]Round Up[/h2]

Alongside these features, work continues on a whole bunch of other cool new things that we’ll talk about in more detail soon. Until then, thanks again for sticking with us and taking time to read our monthly meanderings. It means a lot!

Peace out!

--Monster Dave