PULSAR: Lost Colony News

Hey everyone!

Beta 20.3 is now available! It contains some fixes for reported issues and some balance changes to ship combat. Enjoy the seasonal decorations on the ships and at some of the major hubs!

Additions
-Tweaked some internal values to help slow down ship fights a little and make them slightly more survivable
-Space mines will occasionally be found around some asteroids
-Seasonal decorations have been added to various ships, planets and stations

Changes
- Asteroids should generally be closer to ships after exiting warp, giving pilots better options for cover during fights
-Inertia Thrusters now provide more rotational thrust overall, which should help make piloting more responsive. We increased the angular drag on the Intrepid and Fluffy One class vessels since they didn’t need to rotate any faster.
-Crew bots AI / navigation when selling biscuits on planets and transitioning between planet interiors has been improved
-The Burrow is now presented at night! After the holidays are over it’ll be random.

Fixes
- Artifact Mission III should now properly display a sector on the starmap (will require a new galaxy / game to take effect)
-Both rat creatures and spiders have had their attack range reduced
-Piloting area mesh seam has been fixed on the Annihilator-class starship
-Fixed a navmesh issue on the Annihilator-class starship that may have prevented AI from moving well
-Crew bots will no longer target friendly turrets in some situations (like the Sand Scar Arena)
-Layered hull armor boost now properly scales when upgraded
-Fixed an issue with the Atrium on the Destroyer-class starship that would heal and respawn players at the incorrect location
-Fixed a small visual issue in the Destroyer lounge
-Fixed a comms screen bug that would sometimes duplicate options

Thanks for your time! Progress on Beta 21 is coming along, and barring any major issues with this update, should be the next thing we release!

Best,
The Leafy Games Team

Hey everyone!

Devlog #77: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R92F1FX2I4

Firstly, we apologize for the lack of updates recently; we’ve been hard at work building some of the end-game content related to the Colonial Union. It will ultimately be a way for Colonial Union crews to get ahold of a Lost Colony data fragment and will hopefully be a climatic moment within their faction!

We’ve also taken some time to see family and do some research about future goals for the project. While the majority of that work will be coming in a few weeks (we’re doing some final testing and waiting for the sound effects) we thought we’d spend some time and put together a different update since it’s been a while. A lot of you have been requesting a lounge activity pretty much since our first devlog and we decided now would be a good opportunity! We’ve played around with some different ideas and ultimately decided on Liar’s Dice (also known as Dudo, Pirate’s Dice, Bluff, etc.)

A few of the reasons we went with this game:
-The rounds are quick and don’t involve a large time commitment so crews can pick it up when they find some free time, like while the captain is shopping for components.
-The number of players can fluidly change from 2 to 5.
-The mechanics are fairly simple and easy to network / build AI for.
-We think it’s pretty fun!

There are a ton of different variants of Liar’s Dice, so below we’ll outline the specific rules that we went with:

Liar’s dice is a bluffing game about stating the number of dice with a specific face. Each player secretly rolls 5 dice, and then betting begins. Players place bets on how many dice of a certain face are up amongst the total pool of dice, even though they can only see 5 of them. On a player’s turn, he or she can choose to raise the current bid or challenge it (if they think it’s false).

When raising a bid, players must either raise the face value or the number of dice, or both. For example, if the current bid is 4 x [3]s you can raise the bid to 5 x [3]s or 2 x [4]s. As long as either the die count or face value is raised, the other can be lowered.

Players win points through challenges. If the bid was true, the player who placed the bid receives a point. If it was false, then the challenger receives a point.

The first player to reach 5 points wins the game, and a new game will start 20 seconds later!

It can be a strange game to get used to at first, but we’ve had a lot of fun with it and we hope you all will too! A few extra things to be mindful about: the number of dice in the pool changes based on how many players are playing. For example, the odds of 7 x [6]s are far less likely to happen in a 2 player game than a 5 player game. Also, since points are only awarded during challenges, you want to make bets that others may want to challenge.

In addition to this, we’ve also build a new ship class for the W.D. Corporation: the W.D. Annihilator!
The recurring theme for this ship was “advanced prototype”. Crews manning this ship are on the bleeding edge of W.D. technology. This ship is unique in its starting configuration of components. It begins the game with numerous experimental ship components that may drastically change how crews normally operate.

- Its reactor’s output is tied to the overall ship system health.
- Its hull is layered and increases armor when integrity falls
- Its warp drive gives each and every installed program / virus a single charge per jump.
- Its shield generator has a fast charge rate but a very high minimum shield integrity
- Its main turret deals fire damage to enemy ships (starting fires), but also heats up the Annihilator’s reactor faster.
- It starts with 0 credits but 20 processed scrap.
- Its basic turrets are designed to cut pieces of hull off of enemy ships, producing extra scrap

Among those starting features, it possesses two new attributes innate to the ship itself:
- It has proprietary shield stealing technology that saps enemy shields when turrets damage them. It converts 20% of damage to an enemy ship’s shields to your own shields immediately.
- It has flaky internal systems. New technology can sometimes be unreliable, and there is a chance the ship’s systems will be damaged upon exiting warp. Crews flying this ship should pay extra attention to their ship systems.


Additions
- New Ship - W.D. Annihilator - A W.D. prototype unit that’s currently being field tested in this galaxy. Equipped with multiple experimental ship components, a starting scrap pool, and shield stealing technology. It is a prototype however, which means the systems can sometimes be flaky, and exiting from warp has the chance to damage one of your ship system instances.
- Liar’s Dice - Found in the lounge of each ship. Liar’s Dice is a competitive mini-game played amongst the crewmembers of your ship. Read more about it above!
- New talent: Armor Boost - + 1 Armor per rank
- New Talent: Armor Boost II - Can be accessed when Armor Boost is fully invested
- New Talent: Health Boost II - Can be accessed when Health Boost is fully invested
- New UI Addition - Crew health indicators can now be seen in the top left corner of the interface. They can be disabled in the game settings.
- New Weapon: Healing Beam Rifle - The Scientist now starts with a healing beam rifle instead of a phase pistol. While it damages enemies it can also be pointed at fellow crew members to heal them!
-New Crew AI behavior - At Ease - If this is the highest priority, it will prompt AI crewmembers to head to the lounge to play Liar's Dice
-Crew AI should be a bit better about choosing a teleporter location closer to the captain when there are multiple options to choose from.
-Mouse Scroll Wheel can now cycle through equipped items
-New art additions to lounge areas
-New Ship Component: Strong Point Reactor - Starting reactor for Annihilator
-New Ship Component: WD XC-7 Prototype Config 4 - Starting Shield Generator for Annihilator
-New Ship Component: WD XW-5 Prototype Config 1 - Starting Warp Drive for Annihilator
-New Ship Component: WD Prototype “FlashFire: - Starting Main Turret for Annihilator
-Captains can now issue a move order / rally point by clicking the middle mouse button / scrollwheel. To currently cancel a move order, captains can issue one into space or a place not accessible via nav-mesh. Move orders will also expire on their own after 30 seconds.


Changes
-Aux Power talent has been increased from 10% to 15%. The text description has been updated too.
-Changed dialog of Ranchelle Fieaque, Weise Quel and Remhan Zesho to accommodate for changes in lore of Outpost 448
-Talents are now arranged in alphabetical order and will show unavailable talents in grey
-Captain Order “Status Update” has been renamed to “At Attention” and is now the default order when starting a new game.
-Captain Order “At Ease” is no longer the default option. Bots will not man stations on Green alert and will join in Liar’s Dice.

Fixes
-Fixed T-pose NPC found at Outpost 448
-Fixed an incorrect character preview during class selection for factions other than Colonial Union
-Fixed the descriptive text of the Aux Power Talent
-Fixed Yiria Sali’s dialog to mention Alosius Grec as a Sylvassi, not a robot
-Fixed Grey Huntsmen bounty missions for Striker, Drafters, and Biscuit Burners to appear through long range range comms only when players have accepted the Bounty Hunter’s Contract
-Fixed Rosalia Scillo at AOG hideout to open trading window
-Fixed an issue that may have sometimes prevented players from dropping items


Like we mentioned above, there is a big update arriving in a few weeks. Thanks for your patience and support and we’re hoping long pauses like this don’t happen again.




Beta 20.1 Release Notes

Fixes
-Tweaked Annihilator to fix fire visibility errors




Beta 20.2 Release Notes

Beta 20.2 is out now!

It fixes a few of the issues recently reported, thanks to those who’ve sent us reports and screenshots!

Additions
-New sound effect for the Healing Beam

Fixes
-Experiment 72 has been contained and is no longer replacing normal slime creatures. It was not meant for this update.
-Fixed a terrain error on an alien ruins planet
-Fixed a collision issue regarding the science system instance on the Annihilator
-Fixed a collision issue regarding the reactor on the Annihilator
-Fire extinguishers should work better for the larger reactors found on the Annihilator and Roland



Thank you for your time!

Best,
The Leafy Games Team

Hey everyone!

Beta 19.4 is now out! This one should include a fix for those of you who have reported performance issues while playing in VR. Additionally it contains a few other fixes and additions.

We also tweaked the Auxiliary Reactor, making each option more powerful across the board, and added an Intruder Alert function. The Intruder Alert function should hopefully improve feedback about when the fight might be becoming more personal. For those of you who want to prevent enemies from boarding your ship (besides keeping your shield integrity up), you can pick up the new program “Quantum Defenses” which should ensure your quantum shields are online for a few crucial moments.

Additions
- Added more feedback for players when they try to customize their appearance or bot appearances, letting them know to visit a barber.
-Players can now upgrade maneuvering thrusters and inertia thrusters
-Main turrets can now be extracted
-Ship thrusters can now be extracted
-New Program: Quantum Defenses - Keeps your quantum shields online regardless on shield integrity or viruses (like gentlemens welcome) for 30 seconds. As long as a ship’s quantum shields are online, no enemies should be able to teleport.
-New NPC uniform - Human Male and Female Scientist
-New NPC uniform - Human Male and Female CU High Ranking Officer

Changes
-Extraction success rates have been slightly reduced
-Tweaked the WD HQ Station galaxy map
-Shield coprocessor charge rate has been increased

Aux Reactor Changes
-Auxiliary reactors values have been standardized based on the Intrepid
-Spotlights and Interior lights have been merged and are now named Lights
-Intruder Alarm has been added, it alerts the crew when enemies teleport onboard. It will flash a crew-wide announcement as well as add a notification to the chat box. If disabled it could provide 400 MW to the reactor.
The following information is based on an Intrepid-class ship from Beta 19.3.
-Aux Values - Atrium Healing increased from 400 to 600
-Aux Values - Oxygen Generation increased from 800 to 2000
-Aux Values - Air Filter increased from 400 to 1000
-Aux Values - Spotlights and Interior lights increased from 500 (together to 1000)
-Aux Values - Projectile Aim Assist increased from 200 to 400
-Aux Values - Cyberdefense increased from 800 to 2000
-Aux Values - Missile Lock On increased from 100 to 1200

Fixes
-Fixed a lighting issue found on Outpost 448 that would occur on lower graphics settings
-Engineering fires should now be properly displaying on the status screen, and should properly damage the engine system.
-Fixed a few issues found at WD HQ
-Fixed a bug that would occasionally allow The Swarm to drop its hull component
-Fixed a networking issue related to the Captain plotting courses on the starmap
-Fixed a sound issue regarding ship damage
-Fixed an issue with an abandoned ship not appearing
-Fixed an issue that reduced performance in VR over several minutes
-Fixed an issue related to bots getting stuck while trying to repair a system on certain ships



Beta 19.5 Release Notes

Beta 19.5 is out! This is a quick update to address some of the changes we released earlier.

Changes
-The researchable Aux Power talent’s bonus has been reduced from 40% per rank to 10%

Aux Reactor Changes
-Aux Values - Oxygen Generation decreased from 2000 to 1000
-Aux Values - Air Filter decreased from 1000 to 400
-Aux Values - Spotlights and Interior lights decreased from 1000 to 600
-Aux Values - Missile Lock On decreased from 1200 to 1000

Fixes
-Exotic shop owners should be lit correctly
-Corbin Taskerhall should now talk / sell face to face
-Bandit Drones should be less prone to attack one another
-Potentially fixed a sound effect bug related to probes




Beta 19.6 Release Notes

Beta 19.6 is out! This is just an update to fix a save issue that popped up. While working on Beta 20 we’ve been building a few new systems that involved the save-file format. Some of that code wasn’t ready to handle a pre-Beta 20 Release. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Fixes
-Saves should now load correctly.





Thank you for your time!

Best,
The Leafy Games Team

Hey everyone!

Beta 19.3 is now out! Along with some fixes, it includes changes to ship hostility which make Colonial Union space safer and neutral space more dangerous. In addition we’ve changed some ship spawning properties to make reputation loss more predictable during the course of exploring the galaxy. It also adds a new Grey Huntsmen station and bounty missions.

We have spent a lot of time working on content that will likely be added in Beta 20, mainly the faction mission chain for the Colonial Union which will conclude with a bigger piece of content focused on exploring the Wasted Wing (the section of Outpost 448 that was recently severed from the main station for mysterious reasons).

We’ve also been experimenting with new networking solutions and how we might move the project over. It’s still early on that front but we feel it’s important to jump into that one prepared.

Here is a sneak peek of our work in progress: https://imgur.com/a/x1XPAw5

Additions
-Bandit Drones can now be found across the galaxy. These ships will attack any and all ships they find. Attacking them incurs no reputation loss from any faction. Bandit drones are most common in neutral space, however there is a slight chance you can find them in Colonial Union space (blue sectors) and WD territory (orange sectors).
-In game manual has been updated and now includes sections on Ship Cloaking, Ship Sensor Dish, Item and Component Upgrade Stations, a several other tweaks.
-New Sector: Grey Huntsmen Bounty Agency
-9 NPCs added to Grey Huntsmen Bounty Agency
-5 NPCs added to Planet Crash 2 (planet with blue sand and crashed W.D. security drone)
-New Bounty Mission: WANTED: U.S.S. Xarius
-New Bounty Mission: WANTED: The Butcher
-New Bounty Mission: WANTED: Crumb Cleaners
-New Bounty Mission: WANTED: Unit 10, Div #44
-New Bounty Mission: WANTED: The Striker
-New Bounty Mission: WANTED: The Umbra
-New Bounty Mission: WANTED: The Drafters
-New Bounty Mission: WANTED: Biscuit Burners
-New Mission: Hunt Infected Carrier (given by Roka at Grey Huntsmen Bounty Agency)
-New Mission: Rid of Crawlers (given by Uleq on Planet Crash 2)
-Added a locked interior room to Cornelia Station for a bounty hunting mission

Changes
-Neutral space has been tweaked to be more dangerous, this should hopefully make it feel more chaotic and lawless.
-CU space has been tweaked to be less dangerous to ships of other factions. These sectors are meant to reflect civilization so CU ships and drones should only fire upon flagged ships.
-Crewed AOG ships now have the chance to be more directly hostile to other ships
-The Grim Cutlass sector commander is now considered flagged.
-Ship Processors should now get better when upgraded
-Updated Planet Crash 2 (planet with blue sand and crashed W.D. security drone)
-Original 5 Grey Huntsmen bounty missions have been updated with adjusted credit rewards
-It is now possible to join the Grey Huntsmen at the Grey Huntsmen Bounty Agency

Fixes
-Made some performance optimizations to the starmap when loaded
-Fixed an issue that wouldn’t prompt a mission failure in some circumstances
-Fixed an incorrectly spawning sector that should only be available during a Colonial Union mission
-Fixed an issue that could cause corruption of item unlock progress
-Fixed a visual issue regarding the Item upgrade station on the Destroyer
-Fixed some pathing issues found at Cornelia Station
-Fixed a teleportation issue found at Cornelia Station
-Ancient Sentry no longer associated with the Polytechnic Federation
-Removed two mission-related planets from generating in the base galaxy
-Fixed an issue with long range comms in “Help CU Roland in Alliance Ambush” mission

Thank you for your time!

Best,
The Leafy Games Team

Hey everyone!

Devlog #76: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y-HxPSej8w

Beta 19.2 is out now! This update contains a bit more than changes and fixes; we’ve added a few new systems which you can learn more about in the devlog or by reading further!

This update adds two new ship stations: the Installed Component Upgrader and the Item Upgrader. These systems can usually be found in the engineering room and weapons area respectively. We’ve also added a new resource: Processed Scrap, which can be collected from pieces of scrap and used to upgrade components and items.

To use the item upgrading station, equip the item you want upgraded, and press R. Then find someone who has the Item Upgrader Operator talent to perform the upgrade for you. You can also add this talent yourself, but the weapons specialist and the captain start the game with the talent already installed.

Important notes about the Item Upgrader:

• The maximum level an item can reach by upgrading is 5.
  
• Anyone can place their item on the station, but only a crewmember with the talent can perform the upgrade.
  
• The Scanner cannot currently be upgraded.
  
• Your ship does not need to be in a sector with a repair depot, you can upgrade items anywhere.

Similarly, the Engineer and Captain also begin play with the Component Upgrader Operator talent. To use the component upgrading station, be sure your ship is in a sector with a repair depot. Then use the component upgrader screen to cycle through your installed components and select which one you want to upgrade.

Important notes about the Installed Component Upgrader:

• To upgrade a ship component you must be in a sector with a repair depot.
  
• The maximum level to which you can upgrade a component is 10.
  
• Certain components are inherently better than others, so keep that in mind when deciding to upgrade. For example: a level 3 Adelaide Thruster is still less powerful than a level 1 Racing Thruster.
  
• Certain components (like programs and viruses) cannot be upgraded.
  
• Currently certain ship processors do not improve when upgraded.
  
• This ship system cannot be used to upgrade components in the cargo area.
  
• You must have the appropriate talent in order to perform the upgrade.

Additions
-New System: Process Scrap - Players with the Item or Component Upgrader Operator talents can process scrap by holding R next to the object. You’ll need to succeed at a small timing obstacle to succeed (release ‘R’ when the bar reaches the middle white line). You can fail up to three times per jump before you are prevented from processing any more scrap.
- New Ship System: Installed Component Upgrader - Found in the engineering sections of each ship, this station uses processed scrap to increase the levels of certain installed ship components.
-New Ship System: Item Upgrader - Usually found near the weapons area on each ship, this station uses processed scrap to increase the levels of most equipable items.
-New Talent: Item Upgrader Operator
-New Talent: Component Upgrader Operator
-New Captain Notifications: Item Upgraded, Component Upgraded, Crewmember Processed Scrap

Changes
-Ship component shops at Outpost 448 and WD HQ have doubled their selection of components
-Neutral reputation will no longer affect shop prices in neutral stores (including exotic shops)
-Sensor object has been added to the “Too close to star” blind jump scenario. This should help communicate to players that it’s a dangerous sector.
-Larger groups of Scout Drones are less likely to appear in sectors
-The Captain talent “Advanced Training” is replaced with “Heavy Armor Training”: a talent that boosts the crewmembers’ individual armor ratings

Fixes
-Fixed a linux keyboard input issue that caused repeated characters when typing
-Fixed a linux input issue that caused stuttering player movement
-Fixed an issue that could potentially damage players interacting with the Starmap
-Fixed an issue involving jetpacking and player movement being disabled while the Starmap was open
-Fixed an animation issue found at The Estate
-Fixed a geometry seam found on the Roland
-Fixed an issue with the Fluffy Biscuit robots not selling items on the FB automated Trading stations
-“The Trader” NPC found near a destroyed satellite relay now functions as a normal shop as well
-Fixed an issue that prevented certain bots from talking at the general automated trading stations
-Fixed the Heal Grenade explosion effect. It should now heal players correctly
-Fixed a ship hailing issue that could cause networking problems in certain situations

Thank you for your time!

Best,
The Leafy Games Team