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Star Traders: Frontiers News

Indie space RPG game Star Traders: Frontiers gets mod support

Star Traders: Frontiers is an excellent space RPG game where you're the captain of a starship, making a living for yourself out among the stars. You'll need to navigate Game of Thrones-style court politics, pirates, even terrifying Xenos, all while you try to keep you and your crew paid.


It may be 2D, but it's a compelling sandbox tactical RPG that lets you play pretty much how you want, with plenty of different options to explore. You can be the eponymous trader, making an honest living or smuggling goods, you can be a mercenary for hire, you can even join a faction and fight for their military in your own warship. It left Steam Early Access three years ago, and developer Trese Brothers has been supporting it with free updates ever since, with the latest milestone introducing mod support.


You can read the details in the most recent developer update, but Star Traders: Frontiers has now been fully integrated with Steam Workshop. When you boot up the game, you'll be able to load a separate, moddable version of the game that keeps its own save files, and also comes with all of the in-game rewards automatically unlocked.


Read the rest of the story...

Major Milestone "MODS"


After months of working closely with the mod community, Star Traders: Frontiers is opening our Steam Workshop for all to contribute and enjoy. After years of interest and requests from the community, we've been able to add modding to Star Traders: Frontiers just after its 3 year anniversary. We owe a great thanks to the 100+ creators who have already started working in the modding space and helped us write documentation, improve mod capabilities and test out the entire workshop kit.

One of the first things many of you will notice is the game now offers you a choice at launch, to play either ST:F or its moddable version. These two versions of the game will both receive the same updates, but will store saves separately. Additionally, the mod version of the game comes with all of the Unlocks automatically achieved, so you may decide to play this version of the game just for that.


[h2]How to Get Started with Mods[/h2]
The Steam Workshop is now open with some of the first mods created and tested during the modding beta. This first wave of mods covers a wide gamut -- from UI, to SFX to ship design and more. The creators are hanging out with us -- and the community -- in our Discord #stf_mods channel waiting for your feedback and ideas.

To check out these mods, the process is straightforward:
  1. Visit the Steam Workshop, browse and pick some mods by clicking the green “Subscribe” button on the mod page. Your Steam client will download any subscribed mods. If you don't see the downloads queuing, then try restarting your Steam client (classic).
  2. Select Star Traders: Frontiers within your Game Library and push the big green Play button. This will pop up a choice to play the regular version of the game or the moddable version of the game.
  3. When you pick the mod version of the game, you'll see a very different main menu with your subscribed mods listed. Click "Activate" to enable any mod you'd like to include in your current game configuration.
  4. Any time your mod configuration changes, you must restart the game.



[h2]Modding Going Forward[/h2]
We've worked for 4 months with the modding creator beta team to expand modding support and build out the needed documentation. With the first crop of mods now out and the Workshop going public, we know there is a lot more coming. There are multiple story mods for vignettes in the works -- some reportedly being released soon -- and a great frontier of new content that could be added including jobs, professions, story vignettes, eras, ships, outfits and more.

Join us in Discord or on the new Modding discussion board in Steam’s community hub to post up your ideas for mods, find like minded creators and get busy! The modding documentation for players and creators is homed on the wiki.

[h2]Mod Spotlights![/h2]

[h3]Merchant Marine: Fly Casual[/h3]
Merchant Marine: Fly Casual is a game rebalance mod that was inspired by Space Opera and Western tales, small ships with small crews up against the universe. But has since broadened to include a larger number of changes to base ST:F gameplay. The mod aims to increase the options players have, while fundamentally retaining the gameplay of ST:F.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2539177784

[h3]Dave's New Ship Components[/h3]
Dave's New Component mod lives up to its name, dropping a boat load of new and awesome ship components into the game, such as new officer cabins (Quartermaster's HQ and the Shrine of Shalun), cargo holds that reduce the Mass of your ship, and the Caterpillar engine which reduces both ship encounters and fuel use drastically. Not stopping at components, Dave has also included a new ship, the Habbanya Frigate, a 5000 mass ship with a unique layout and at a price that's difficult to resist.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2560635932

[h3]Davea's Instamax[/h3]
A classic cheat mod, the Instamax Mod rockets your crew to level 40 in a blink of an eye and sets the price of every ship in the game to $1. Play with a new level of freedom and power as you cruise the void with max max max!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2500463612

[h3]Davea's Army Officer / Military Commander[/h3]
This mod moves around the Talents of the MIlitary Officer and Commander Jobs to help each better focus on a single thing -- the new Army Officer is a crew combat expert while the Naval Commander excels in ship to ship battle in the void.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2501902114

[h3]Doctor Profession[/h3]
Currently 15 of the game's nearly 40 crew jobs provide special bonus traits to a Captain who starts with one of them. Now with the Doctor Profession mod, you have a new archetype to create your captains with. Envisioning a quippy Captain McCoy, a steely-smart Simon Tam, or ...why not Zoidberg? This mod gives you medical-minded captains a nice boost.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2567607837

[h2]What's next for Star Traders?[/h2]
While we've opened the door for modders to create in the endless reach of the void, this is far from the end of our own content for Star Traders: Frontiers. We'll be updating the public roadmap in the months to come and still have more story content and Eras planned.

If you enjoy the new features and capabilities still being added to the game without charge 3 years later, we hope you'll consider telling a friend and leaving a review.

[h2]What’s the latest on Cyber Knights?[/h2]
Development on our next game, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, proceeds apace. We’re currently working toward the private alpha test for Kickstarter backers, following the same process we used for Star Traders: Frontiers. But you can view the latest updates on the CKF Steam page (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

[h2]v3.1.85 - 8/23/2021[/h2]
- Enables mod support and Steam Workshop

Update #275: Home Among the Stars


Update #275 brings a major improvement to your quadrant map to make starred zones ever-visible as well as improving ship encounter messages, fixing an Explorer card, tweaking a ship price and making final preparation for the modding upgrade. Thanks, as always, to the community for making great suggestions on how to improve the game, reporting bugs and pointing out little places where we could put on a little more polish. We wouldn't have made it to Update #275 without such an amazing community gathered around the game, so many thanks!

The launch of Steam Workshop and full mod support is very close now. We're lucky to have had such an amazing crew of creators working on different improvements, adjustments and adds to the game. It's going to be awesome to see so many new things available to everyone on the first modding day!

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?snr=1_2108_9__2107

[h2]Stars on Quadrant Map[/h2]
If you use Stars on your zones, they now appear right on the quadrant map as you pan or sail around. This really helps brings stars into constant consideration, avoids the need to use the Atlas and can help you spot and remember zones you might have otherwise forgotten. My captains are already grumbling about needing more colors!

[h2]Other Fixes[/h2]
Update #275 is more specific about the Depart messages in ship encounters for Merchants, Smugglers and Explorers, removing vague warnings about losing Reputation in the cases when that is not a possible result. We've also improved the text on the explorer card "Wild Revelations" and increase the number of crew who can possibly gain XP. The price on the Neutiquam Cruiser had to be increase a few hundred grand and finally we clarified some text in new game Templates around who can use gear (some crew!)

While we've got a really nice update here, there is a lot more work going on behind the scenes to finalize the mod support in each of these updates. If you're enjoying the pace of updates, be sure to tell a friend and leave a review!

[h2]v3.1.83 - 8/15/2021[/h2]
- Zone stars now appear on the quadrant map when sailing the void
- Improved depart messages from ship encounters for Merchants, Smugglers and Explorers
- Fixed "Wild Revelations" XP card in Explorer to reward 12 or more crew
- Fixed price issues with Neutiquam Cruiser
- Improved note about Contacts offering weapon/armor/gear in New Game Template

Update #274: Long Shifts Night


Update #274 arrives with a bevy of community requested improvements, new features, content balance and minor tweaks. A huge thanks, as always, to the big community surrounding the game, posting feedback, suggestions and reviews. As Update #274 goes live and modding is just around the corner, we're hitting our 3 year launch anniversary for the game and looking back to marvel at all that has happened. We've been busy, hitting an average update every 4.8 days if you include the 8 months of Early Access before launch.

If you've enjoyed the massive expansions and constant improvements to the game, we hope you'll take minute to leave a review and tell a friend -- there is no better way to thank us!

[h2]Live Streaming STF's Birthday[/h2]
Also, we're celebrating a major milestone -- 3 years since launch and nearly 300 updates! -- this Sunday, August 8th, on Twitch if you want to join us for a live stream party.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/335620/view/3003324016167573939

But speaking of 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?snr=1_2108_9__2107


[h2]New Mission Manifest[/h2]
With this update, we've added a new section to the Talent Manifest to cover the wealth of options within Mission Talents. There are over 13 different variations listed here, each with their own angle or bonus. It is an immediately useful section in our playtesting and helps to highlight all the ways you can build out your crew to focus on mission success.

This also gave us a chance to look closely at all the rules for the different mission Talents and we did uncover one bug. The Military Officer Talent "Power Play" Talent has long been using the wrong Attribute, relying on Resilience instead of Charisma for its Reputation bonus %. Now fixed!

[h2]Starport Boosted Discount[/h2]
The discount offered for Starport Boosted Rumor is now clearly codified into the game's Rumor list as well as displayed prominently in the starport when you're shopping. It's a solid 10% off, so you want to know in cases where that is saving you thousands of credits!


[h2]Tactician's Annex[/h2]
This one came off the presses just too good! We've removed the Armor bonus for the Tactician's Annex.

[h2]v3.1.81 - 8/5/2021[/h2]
- Added Mission Talents to Talent Manifest (13 variations)
- Corrected bug with Military Officer Talent "Power Play" which was using Resilience instead of Charisma
- Improved Starport Boosted Rumor listing to clarify 10% discount on component upgrades and make visible in starport
- Improved ship encounter bribe text for Merchants, Explorers Zealots and Bounty Hunters to be more specific
- Removed Armor Bonus from new Tactician's Annex component
- Fixed issue when enemy crew uses On Init debuff Talents such as Sniper's "Target Acquired" text printing in wrong side of screen
- Fixed issue when enemy Wing Command users "Ripcord" Talent messing up the combat order

We’re celebrating 3 years & nearly 300 updates for Star Traders: Frontiers!

It’s a crazy summer, but we didn’t want to let this milestone pass unnoticed. It’s been 3 years since Star Traders: Frontiers launched on Steam!



This Sunday, at 8pm EDT, join us on Twitch for a community party! Join us (Andrew, Cory, and a whole bunch of you awesome players) to...
  • Look back at some of the biggest changes to ST:F in the nearly 300 free updates we’ve made to the game.
  • Showcase some of our favorite player creations & achievements. (If you have fan art or screenshots of your favorite captains / crews / achievements you’d like to share, post it in our Discord!)
  • Get a preview of the upcoming Steam Workshop mod support.
  • Talk about what’s still to come for Star Traders, both in Frontiers and (potentially, some day, purely hypothetically), the next Star Traders game.
  • Hang out, meet some cool people from the community, celebrate being a part of making Star Traders and Trese Brothers Games better and better (10+ years 🎉)!

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