Star Traders: Frontiers News

Update #302 continues to press on adding new scores to the game, adding new artwork for environments and addressing some quality of life UX work in buying ship components and selling Intel to Contacts. Most importantly, the new scores tracking for Conflicts opens up the possibility to add an entirely new type of player-direction mission where you're working to influence Conflicts directly -- any way you choose. That's an exciting future for a near-term update, but for now -- its Update #302!

[h2]Want more Trese Brothers sci-fi?[/h2]
We always love seeing how many of you have pieced together the lore of Star Traders from the stories within, and enjoy the flavor of this universe your Captain is a part of. In our next game, we’re telling a very different sci-fi story but with the same depth we bring to all our worlds. Check out the dark-future feel of our upcoming cyberpunk heist RPG, and wishlist it today!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]Conflict Scores[/h2]
Your captain's scores page now keeps record of exactly how much you've influenced any of the retribution justice Conflicts within the game. The scores are factionless, so they are counting only how many points you've added to *any* Solar War over your career. But, for bragging rights as the ultimate assassin, faction warrior or peacemaker these new scores are exciting record of your actions.

The latest community challenge -- Merchant Mogul -- is making good use of the some of the recently added captain's scores and we're looking at some ideas how a new challenge could be created around these 7 new scores as well. We're always open to additional community challenge ideas, so please do share :D

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/335620/view/3374906503254336022

[h2]Remote or Minor Outposts[/h2]
Update #302 adds another 5 new landing backgrounds for small urban zones nestled in among the beautiful wilderness remote environments -- small heat-shielded city in molten mountains, towers rising from misty jungles and peaceful settlements spread across idyllic garden-world scapes.

[h2]Buying and Selling Improvements[/h2]
We've received a number of posts recently on the Steam forums about improvements we could make to different buying and selling UIs in the game so we've started on some of those items with Update #302. When shopping for ship components, your sort order is now remembered and we are continuing to discuss the use cases for remembering filtering -- it is coming soon! In addition, the scroll position in your Selling Intel screen is kept so that you can much easier target and sell multiple sets of records without as much work.

[h2]v3.3.5 - 9/20/2022[/h2]
- Added 7 new Contact Scores to track your career's impact on Conflict Scores by type
- See your impact on Solar Wars, Trade Bans, etc from the Scores screen
- Added 5 new environment backgrounds for oceanic and radioactive worlds
- Sorting choice is remembered between shopping screens for components
- When selling Intel to Contact, the scroll position in the list is correctly remembered
- Fixed issues with oceanic world Urban zone artwork selection logic

[h2]End of Month Wrap Up[/h2]
(original challenge description below)

This month it’s been all about making that money in our Merchant Mogul challenge. You all have been stockpiling rare goods, making some massive trades, and building your trade empires, all while dodging those pesky pirates.

We’ve really enjoyed reading your stories and have been duly impressed at some of the trades you all have made! If you want to catch up on all of the bartering and fun, check out the challenge discussion thread and pop into our Discord and head to #merchant_mogul_challenge.

A few highlights from the month:

Tomcat for several massive trades, but 15.6m was the biggest one we saw! That’s a lot of spice. 😲

nhdkentun for this very impressive stash of trade goods. Set up to make some money when those get sold!

matt for sharing their adventures with pirates. Pirates can definitely complicate your plans for building your trade empire. 😄

RhysOnasi for this excellent meme on the struggles with the xeno. Always showing up at the worst time.

Great work, Captains! So many of you participated in the challenge, sharing your screenshots, stories and more. Thank you all! Even though September is over, we’d still love to hear about your attempt at this challenge (or any of the previous community challenges) any time!

Stay tuned for future challenges!


Hello, Captains. It’s time for the September 2022 STF challenge. This time it’s all about trade in our Merchant Mogul challenge. Brush up on your bartering skills and try to remember where you secretly stashed those valuable goods. How will you influence the universe through trade? How much money will you make?


This is a trade focused challenge. Update 301 added six new trade scores that will help you to tell the story about building your trade empire. Here are the requirements for this challenge:

• Build a respectable cargo ship with at least 100 cargo space
  
• That’s it. No really, just the one requirement. We want you to have the chance to play how you want as you grow your wealth through trade.
  

[h3]Some ideas for what we’d love to see:[/h3]

• Screenshots of your trading stats: highest single trade, number of trades over $500k
  
• Your strategies for making money, how you impacted trade conflicts
  
• Your favorite port to trade in, your most profitable trade triangle
  
• Your own creative way to tell us about how you became the greatest trader
  

No matter what you choose to share, please include one screenshot of your trade stats!

We’ve opened up a discussion here on Steam in the General Discussion forum for aIl of your posts. If you post in the discord, post in the #merchant_mogul_challenge channel found in the STF category.

Go make that money, Captain! Looking forward to hearing about your growing trade empire!

Update #301 follows closely on the release of Wing Commando profession to fix 2 small bugs with the new Captain job as well as adding 6 new fun and competitive scores tracking your skill as a trader, a new option for easier play on laptops and PC tablets and 6 new art backgrounds for wilderness zones to make your time out of the void even more beautiful.

[h2]Our upcoming heist RPG is on the way![/h2]
Speaking of new, new new -- if word hasn't trickled down from the tippity top of the New Boston spires, leaked below the streets and drip-drip-dripped into your safehouse, we're here to tell you about our upcoming turn-based cyberpunk heist RPG. Cyber Knights: Flashpoint will be coming to Steam in 2022 and mixes stealth, hacking and tactical combat with deep RPG elements and a unique heist system for missions. The wishlist button is calling your name, Knight.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]New Exchange and Black Market Scores[/h2]
With Update #301, we're prepping for an upcoming community challenge and so added 6 new exciting scores for traders and smugglers. Your Captain Scores page will now report on the number of trades you made in the Exchange and Black Market that were up to the $50,000 and $500,000 thresholds in value. Rack up a couple of those and feel like a rich any mighty trader.

In addition, the game is now tracking the value of your highest value trade in both Exchange and Black Market. Bragging rights activated -- make some hard earned credits and post up your scores!


[h2]Touch Screens Option[/h2]
For those players who have a touchscreen where right click is not easily accessible -- such as those using Microsoft Surface, ultrabooks, or PC tablets -- we've now added a new option to make the game easier to run with only a touchscreen. In the options menu, you can enable "Touch Screen" option and then make sure that the "Touch to Navigate" option is set and you should be able to play with a stylus or a finger more easily.

[h2]Mountains, Wild and Remote[/h2]
Update #301 adds another 6 new wilderness backgrounds for dangerous and remote environments -- desolate deserts, forgotten jungle clearings and towering mountain ranges. As you travel and explore the void, enjoy the new views.

[h2]Wing Commando Fixes[/h2]
Wing Commando profession launched with a few small bugs! Sometimes, they were not allowed to take command of a shuttle and the game just kept insinuating that they lacked the training to handle the high g-force. Insulting! Now fixed.

Also, the Attributes from the Profession Trait were wrong, now also fixed!

[h2]v3.3.3 - 8/25/2022[/h2]
- Added 6 new environment backgrounds for remote wilderness
- Added new Captain Scores to track highest value Exchange and Black Market trades of your career
- Added new Captain Scores to track Exchange and Black Market trades over $50K and $500K
- Added new option "Touch Screen" for desktop platforms with touch screens (Surface, etc)
- Fixed bug preventing Wing Commando from being put into a shuttle
- Fixed wrong Attributes for Wing Commando's Traits

Update #300 launches some exciting changes to the carrier meta right out of the hangar bay at screaming high speeds. Your Captain can now train to pilot an Interdictor, Shuttle or Bomber and lead your wing squadron against the enemy. it's rich territory for the recent Top Gun Community Challenge and a new and fun way to enjoy your carrier with even more on the line than ever before.

The update has also added new artwork for the worlds of the void, improved hovers and fixed bugs thanks to community input. Thanks to every captain for playing, posting reviews and telling a friend!

[h2]What’s the latest on Cyber Knights?[/h2]
Earlier this month, we launched Cyber Knights: Flashpoint’s private alpha test for Kickstarter backers, following the same tried-and-true process we used for Star Traders: Frontiers. With a thousand players in the game now, development pace has picked up and we’re on the long march to release on Steam, so make sure you’ve wishlisted (and followed!), or join us for behind-the-scenes discussion and development snapshots in our Discord.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]Wing Commando Profession[/h2]
When setting up a new captain, you can now opt in to the high-risk, semi-crazy Wing Commando Profession. You are signing up to leave the bridge in your officer's capable hands and get shot out of a hangar bay at extreme speeds, hurtling toward the enemy hull to lead a deadly boarding operation ... sounds like the life!

Wing Commando requires the challenging "Xeno Slayer" unlock or you can play the modded version of the game without mods to skip unlocks entirely. There are no starting ships in the game that come free with a Boarding Shuttle, so before you really begin your perilous and possibly short-lived career, you'll need to be able to afford one.

Don't like the unlock, just launch the modded version for no unlocks at all.

[h2]Captain, to the Hangar Bay![/h2]
Since Captains can now join the ranks of shuttle pilots, we've ripped the prohibition off all Wing jobs and now allow Captains to train into Wing Leader, Bomber or Command (as a Job, not your starting profession). Now your captain can mix with the best pilots on the crew and be a star in your Top Gun Community Challenge playthrough. Some may say it is unnecessary risk for the Captain to lead bombing runs but the Captain will tell you, there is nothing else in the void that feels quite like cracking a hull with a Buster or the pure fiery joy of intercepting a torpedo mid-flight.


[h2]Beautiful and Dangerous New Locales[/h2]
Update #300 adds 6 new backgrounds for landed environments including 2 new desert wilderness locations, two new wilderness ice world locations, an ocean wilderness location and an idyllic garden outpost.

[h2]Fuel/AU Clarification and Bug Fixes[/h2]
With Update #300, we have improved the hover over Fuel/AU to be clear that this value is an approximation which is heavily modified by travel conditions and tests. We've also fixed a bug where bonuses from Captian's Traits were not showing up in the ship status screen after ship upgrades.

[h2]v3.3.1 - 8/20/2022[/h2]
- Added new unlockable Profession: Wing Commando!
- Lead boarding assaults from your shuttle as a Captain Commando
- Adjusted carrier-captain rules, Captain can now train as Wing Leader, Bomber or Commando (even without profession)
- Added 6 new environment backgrounds for remote worlds and small settlements
- Fixed display issue causing Captain's Trait not show in ship status after upgrading ship
- Marked Fuel/AU for engines as approximation, clarified hovers
- Fixed unlock typos

Captains, it's been 4 years now since we launched Star Traders: Frontiers. 🎉 Another year of expanding this universe, welcoming new players, fun new playthrough challenges, and booming Steam, Discord, and Reddit communities that continue to impress us with your ideas for us, helpfulness to each other, and creativity in your gameplay.

Basically, we have a lot to celebrate! 😁 So this Sunday, at 8pm EDT, join us on Twitch for a celebration stream!

Tune in for...

• dev chat!
  
• Cory seeing how far some of the cheat-ier mods you all have created can get him... on Impossible Difficulty 😅...
  
• a dive into the deep lore -- bring your questions and see what secrets you can get out of Andrew.
  

And before the Sunday night stream, we'd like to invite you to hop in our Discord and share a favorite moment, a gameplay story, or even just a link to a review you've left us.

Everyone who does so may get featured in a commemorative image we're working on and will reveal during the livestream. Share your links / stories / gameplay memories before Sunday at noon Eastern for your chance to be included.

We’ll see you on https://www.twitch.tv/TreseBrothers at 8pm Eastern, this Sunday August 7th!