From The Depths News

What is up Depthians!

We listened to the feedback from 3.1.0 and put in this feature to help people build more freely.
This allows more freedom than ever before to plan out a build with a rough blueprint of disconnected pieces and then connect it all later. Pressing backspace in build mode de-activates the connection checks. You can then place anything literally anywhere. The connection checks will re-activate if you have been out of build mode for 30 seconds, or if a block is killed by hostile fire. You can save the vehicle with connection checks de-activated so that you can continue your disconnected building over several play sessions or save points.

The change also makes it so that the first disconnection check when a vehicle is loaded will not make blocks fall off but will simply mark them with a warning so that the player can enter build mode, disable connectivity checks, and fix the issues so that the parts never fall out. That change has been made so that we can be a bit more liberal with tidying up the connection logic of some blocks but not create a nightmare situation where the vehicle is loaded and then immediately just falls apart. Note carefully that many of the changes in the change list are for removing the connection surfaces of blocks so that in 3.1.1 some unlucky people are going to have a few designs that need to use this feature to save a few blocks from falling off.

We have also changed the way munition/laser warners and signal jammers work. They no longer need to be connected to the AI and the reason for this is that none of those parts made any usage of the AI mainframe as the munition warning manager and laser warning manager is specific to the vehicle, not an AI mainframe, so they have no reason to be coupled to an AI mainframe any more.
This allows player controlled vehicles without AI to make proper use of all countermeasures ( flare dispensers, interceptors and smoke, etc)".

I thought I should leave some basic instructions / demonstration in regards to the connection check, how to turn on off and what you should keep an eye on.

When you load up the designer mode, by default the connection check and rules are in place and therefore you would not be able to place blocks like the following pic.


In order to deactivate the connection rules, you will need to press "Backspace".
Anything you place that is not allowed, due to the connection rules would be coloured in Magenta and you will also see a warning to the left of your screen.


Once you reactivate the connection rules and you still have something connected that would potentially fall off, you will be warned.


If you come out of build mode, you will notice a timer indicating that the connection rules will be reactivated in X seconds and when it reactivates the Magenta coloured blocks will fall off, unless you pop back into build mode.






[h2]Additions[/h2]

[h3]Connections[/h3]

• Connection logic is reapplied if a block is killed by damage, or if no one is in build mode on the vehicle for 60 seconds
• If you press backspace in build mode you can disable the connection logic and build freely (even in open space away from any other block).
• The disabling of connection logic can be saved/loaded with the vehicle allowing you to continue building on disconnected vehicles over several play sessions or save/loads or play/pulls

[h3]Missiles[/h3]

• Huge missiles have been added in

[h2]Changes[/h2]

[h3]AI[/h3]

• Changed adjustments so that the max altitude can go to 2000 from 1000.
• Changed hover above so that the max altitude can go to 2000 from 1000.
• Flag post is no longer part of the AI subsystem- just a free-standing block now
• Increased AI wireless channel count from 1 empty + 4 usable to 1 + 9

[h3]APS[/h3]

• Reduced HEAT/HESH damage against non-structural blocks without a gap before them. Closer to, but still very slightly higher than the total damage against blocks after a gap

[h3]Connections[/h3]

• 16 pdr cannon - Changed - Attaches on 4 sides from 1.
• 30mm assault cannon - Changed - Attaches on 2 sides from 1.
• 32 pdr swivel gun - Changed - Attaches on 4 sides from 1.
• AI bread board - Changed - Attaches on 1 side from 6.
• Ammo controller - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 6.
• Ammo customizer 1 module - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 6.
• Ammo customizer 2 modules - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 6.
• Ammo customizer 4 modules - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 6.
• Ammo ejector - Changed - Attaches on 1 side from 6.
• Ammo ejector backwards - Changed - Attaches on 1 side from 6.
• Camera 90 - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 1.
• Control terminal - Changed - Attaches on 4 sides from 5.
• Frequency doubler - Changed - Attaches on 2 sides from 6.
• Gauge increase corner - Changed - Attaches on 4 sides from 6.
• Heat decoy - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 6.
• Interface screen - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 1.
• Invisible gantries - Changed - Attaches on 3 sides from 6.
• LAMS node - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 1.
• Large crank motor - Changed - Attaches on 4 from 6.
• Large radiator - Changed - Attaches on 6 sides from 5.
• Large rail gantry - Changed - Attaches on 3 sides from 6.
• Large rail launcher - Changed - Attaches on 3 sides from 6.
• Laser - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 1.
• Laser cutter - Changed - Attaches on 1 side from 6.
• Laser destabiliser - Changed - Attaches on 2 sides from 6.
• Medium crank motor - Changed - Attaches on 3 from 6.
• Medium rail gantry - Changed - Attaches on 3 sides from 6. 
• Medium rail launcher - Changed - Attaches on 3 sides from 6.
• Medium transmission - Changed - Attaches on 3 faces.
• Moving light - Changed - 5 sides from 6.
• Neon Light - Changed - 5 sides from 6.
• Non - AI breadboard - Changed - Attaches on 1 side from 6.
• Particle tube corner - Changed - Attaches on 4 sides from 6.
• Particle tube terminator - Attaches on 1 side from 6.
• Radar decoy - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 6.
• Radiator - Changed - Attaches on 6 sides from 5.
• Railgun charger - Changed - Attaches on 2 sides from 6.
• Sail Main Block(Square Rig!) - Changed - Attaches on 4 sides from 3.
• Signpost - Changed - Attaches on 4 sides from 1. I don't think this would do any harm.
• Signpost (long) - Changed- Attaches on 4 sides from 1. I don't think this would do any harm.
• Single input cavity - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 6.
• Small crank motor - Changed - Attaches on 3 from 6.
• Small rail gantry - Changed - Attaches on 3 sides from 6.
• Small rail launcher - Changed - Attaches on 3 sides from 6.
• Small single rail gantry - Changed - Attaches on 3 sides from 6.
• Small single rail launcher - Changed - Attaches on 3 sides from 6.
• Small steam controller - Changed - Attaches on 1 face.
• Switch - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 1.
• Text screen - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 1.
• The following connection changes are based on community feedback and a review of that.  Sail Main Block - Changed - Attaches on 4 sides from 3.
• Warp charger (2m) - Changed - Attaches on 6 from 2.
• Wireless camera - Changed - Attaches on 5 sides from 1.

[h3]Decoration[/h3]

• Changed ammo processor prop cost from 300 to 3.  Collectors are up in arms at the devaluation

[h3]Defenses[/h3]

• Munition warners, laser warners, smoke dispensers and signal jammers now aren't AI components and do not need a mainframe connection

[h3]Laser[/h3]

• If a laser has an output regulator its sliders are at the top of the stats tab
• Laser cavities and transceivers use the multipurpose laser's tooltip
• Laser optics use their combiner's Q menu stats UI
• Laser parts use their multipurpose laser's Q menu stats UI
• Multipurpose laser block got a stats UI, accessible from the Q menu

[h3]Missile[/h3]

• Harpoon cable thickness scales with missile size
• Signal processors now reduce decoy strength to 4-40% for all sizes
• Summary: decoys are better for smaller designs, multiple smaller decoys are stronger and missiles without processors are more usable
• Target simulator and flare base strength reduced from 2500 to 1600
• Target simulator and flare strength scales with surface, instead of volume. Means S decoys are 2x as strong as before, L 1/2
• Target simulators add 1/10 of their signal strength to the missile's passive detection range (sonar only underwater, IR/radar only above)

[h3]Prefabs[/h3]

•  Added new simple prefabs where appropriate.  Removed some fuel engine examples.
• Removed hull prefabs from the build menu as we plan to change how this works.

[h3]Steam[/h3]

• Added ACB control for steam valves

[h3]Tooltip[/h3]

• Repair tentacle tooltip now no longer mentions player skills.

[h2]Fixes[/h2]

[h3]AI[/h3]

• [BUGS-2789] Added control module descriptions and fixed out of date tooltips for the manoeuvre hover routine

[h3]APS[/h3]

• Fixed some setups of turreted 0 gunpowder railguns firing twice in 1 frame under AI control

[h3]Decoration[/h3]

• Changed position of the fuel processor prop.  It was overlapping crystal trays.

[h3]Gridcasts[/h3]

• Fixed another old Gridcast problem, mostly noticeable when lasers jump through the firing construct's own blocks without damaging them

[h3]Multiplayer[/h3]

• Fill operations in multiplayer depended on the orientation of the host camera, not the client trying to do the fill. Fixed now.

[h3]Steam[/h3]

• Fixed a pressure loss problem in closed-loop systems
• Fixed some valve setups not properly discovering the full pipe network
• Improved stat over time accuracy

Hey Depthians!

It has been a long road developing From The Depths which has recently come out of Early Access, however that does not mean that we will slow down in releasing new features and other tweaks!

From The Depths would have not been able to reach this point without all your support throughout Early Access, and we would love to see your support once more.

Help us achieve the "Labor of Love" award by smashing that little circle above!

Thanks as always for your support from all of us at Brilliant Skies.

What is up Depthians!
Just a quick FYI, we now have From The Depths trading cards on Steam and we have also launched our merchandise page >HERE<, for you to add some goodies to your Christmas wishlist. We hope you like the selection of items, and if you have any suggestions in terms of merch don’t hesitate to let us know!



I can’t wait to get my hands on that epic desk mat and a cosie hoody for the cold Christmas that’s on the way xD Must not forget about nutmeg in a new mug too 😛

Hey Depthians!

Some tweaks and changes to the block connection surfaces and a new block type connection strut, which comes in alloy, metal, wood and heavy armour. This will allow you to connect parts like the long side of an exhaust to the hull of your construct as well as many other blocks. We have also added a wing variant of the strut block, which also make use of - / + force like other wing parts and at the same time resolved some issues with surface drag.


[h2]Additions[/h2]
[h3]BLOCKS[/h3]

• Added an optional (off by default) visual effect for the docking station
  

[h2]Changes[/h2]
[h3]AVATAR[/h3]

• Rambot avatar texture update
  

[h3]BLOCKS[/h3]

• Added a second connection surface for AI wireless receivers
  
• Inline turbochargers now connect directly onto carbs
  
• Simple laser has a connection surface UP now (as well as DOWN)
  
• The large chain now has connection surfaces on the left and right side
  

[h3]CONNECTIONS[/h3]

• ‘Protection’ of old blocks is no longer applied to blocks that connect on all six sides anyway- this reduces the file size of the blueprint
  

What is up Depthians!

What is this new disconnection check? I hear you scream

As some of you know, some blocks can only be attached by a specific side and some of the other sides you may not be able to build on/attach blocks to(red squares). We have enforced this rule with this update as we could bypass this rule by shift+click to replace a block which initially would not be able to be put in that specific location.

Let’s take this exhaust as an example



As you can see it is only connected on the T junction and the corner. It is not attached to any of the light-alloy blocks of the construct, therefore if I delete or if the T junction gets destroyed the rest of the exhaust system will fall off.

However! Do not worry about your current blueprints already saved block placement as they will not be affected and you will see a tooltip saying that the block you are looking at is protected. Only newly placed blocks will be affected as the rule and block connection logic is enforced.

It’s a common-sense thing should a floating block be able to connect to something like this exhaust?
Not unless it has a face that can be attached to something like the corner exhaust.



You can also disable the protection on your current saves by hitting V on the construct



You may see a few blocks falling off your construct if they were placed incorrectly by using shift+click to replace. For example, this receiver and munition detector will fall off.






[h2]Additions[/h2]

[h3]Blocks[/h3]

• Added a 3m sign post and increased the display capacity of the normal sign post
  

[h3]Build mode[/h3]

• Area and block group erase now work with mirror
  
• Attempting to replace a block when the new block cannot be placed now has no effect. It used to delete the old block without placing a new one.
  
• Block group erase can now also delete a chunk of blocks of the same type if the selected block is not part of a multi-block system
  
• Option to show build marker coordinates on HUD

[h3]Undo/Redo[/h3]

• Undo/redo now works in multiplayer. Every player building on the same construct share one undo/redo list. Only the author of an action can undo/redo it.

[h2]Changes[/h2]

[h2]Blocks[/h2]

• [FTD-586] Blocks from old blueprints are spared from the strict disconnection check
  
• [FTD-586] Changed placeable faces of ACB, ship wheel, fire control computer, drone spawner, blueprint spawner, docking station, repair bot, respawn beacon, gauge block, AI wireless receiver, Lua box, stair, door, and a few other blocks.
  
• [FTD-586] Replace, repair, and disconnection check now respect placeable faces of the blocks
  

[h3]Fortress[/h3]

• In-play movement speed of a Fortress under AI / player control increased to 3m/s (from 1m/s)

[h3]Harpoons[/h3]

• Improved the rendering of missile harpoons so you can now see a sensibly thick cable rather than a constant thickness black line
  

[h3]Missile[/h3]

• Large 2x2 hatch texture replaced
  

[h3]Physics[/h3]

• 'Autosynch transforms' flag has been turned off in the Unity physics engine which should improve performance particularly for vehicles that are very close together, without affecting the simulation much

[h2]Fixes[/h2]

[h3]AI[/h3]

• Fortress manoeuvre routine will no longer try to move a fortress if it is within 3m of its waypoint, this is for performance reasons (moving large fortresses can be quite computationally expensive)

[h3]CJE[/h3]

• Custom jets with both thrust and energy/power output do not use more materials than intended

[h3]Drones[/h3]

• Docked motherships and drones will no longer activate their colliders immediately after spawning, they now correctly identify that they are connected by a tractor beam and don't need colliders.

[h3]LWC[/h3]

• Fixed a threading problem possibly causing different priority LWCs/AMCCs controlling the same turret making it twitch and not fire

[h3]Missile[/h3]

• Harpoon cable width scales width is reduced further from the camera
  

[h3]Performance[/h3]

• Air pumps calculation didn't stop when vehicle is frozen. Now fixed.
  

[h3]Steam[/h3]

• Fixed a problem causing steam propellers to be considered higher than intended relative to the water level
  
• Fixed transmissions possibly changing direction instantly when getting a sequence of 0-opposite direction rotation requests