Space Impossible News

BETA 5.1 introduces some significant changes to projectiles as well as several community driven quality of life additions and fixes for bugs found in BETA 5.

You can discuss BETA 5.1 and let us know your thoughts on Discord or as usual on the Steam Discussion Topic


[h2]Projectile Protection[/h2]

With the addition of more weapons in BETA 5, we realized that more and more weapons could penetrate shields, devaluing the use of shields overall. This was partly a technical limitation as well as intended design, when projectiles were first added. Now as time has passed, and sitting down playing the game, as well as listening to player feedback, we decided to add the ability for shields to block projectiles. This addition only affects the Plasma Launchers as of right now, which can be blocked from passing through a shield. Other existing projectiles, like mines and torpedoes will still pass through shields.

While working on the ability for projectiles to hit shields we noticed another problem, even though the projectile was being blocked, the explosion was still damaging tiles. To this end, splash damage will now check "line of sight" and will not penerate nearby shields or jump across tiles, only those connected by free space should be hit. This will create more accurate explosions, but may appear to do less damage overall as less tiles may be damaged per explosion.

[h2]Zoom zoom zoom[/h2]

Due to many community suggestions we have looked into adding better zoom control. This was not quite ready for BETA 5, but with a few extra days we have it all set. Not only does this release add the much asked for zoom key and zoom speed options we have also added a new "Quick Zoom" feature.

"Quick Zoom" lets you easily zoom in to scan, inspect or change components without needing to crank the scroll wheel in and out every time. By holding down the "Quick Zoom" key (default Z) the game camera will zoom into the position around the mouse pointer, letting go of the key will return the camera to the last default position (most likely over your ship) and zoom level before it was pressed.

[h2]Community Fixes and Feedback[/h2]
Thanks to our great community here on Steam and over on our Discord we have found and fixed a number of bugs for this update. We have also listened to feedback and included several quality of life changes.

[h2]Details[/h2]
[h3]Additions[/h3]

• Added the ability for certain projectiles to hit shields intead of ignoring them. All Plasma Launchers will now hit shields and damage them rather than ignoring them, all other projectiles are untouched for now.
  
• Explosions (such as from projectiles & reactors) will now do an improved Line of Sight check. Only tiles(and suits) with a clear path to the explosion location will take damage therefore tiles behind shields or behind other tiles may no longer be damaged by an explosion.
  
• Added a 'Quick Zoom' feature. When holding down the quick zoom key (Default Z) the camera will zoom in on the mouse position until you let go. Quick zoom lets you easily switch between an overall zoom for play/combat and then quickly zoom in on objects to inspect or interact with them and their components.
  
• Added key binds to Zoom In and Zoom Out. These are unbound by default and need to be bound in options -> input screen.
  
• Added a slider in input options to control zoom speed. Further to the right is faster.
  

[h3]Fixes/Updates[/h3]

• CHANGE: Greatly optimized projectile networking, this will improve performance greatly when multiple projectiles are alive. This could have also caused projectiles to appear for longer than they should.
  
• CHANGE: Tiles can no longer be placed on top of existing objects while building. This also applies to loading templates but you will get a warning message before continuing as this can create an undesirable result.
  
• CHANGE: Optimized certain internal item lookups, this should improve performance and reduce hitching in a number of situations.
  
• CHANGE: Universe last access dates on the load game screen now better represent the date they were last loaded. Last opened universe should now show on top no matter what was done in said universe on last load.
  
• CHANGE: Added some extra logging to track down duplication issues reported by a number of players.
  
• CHANGE: Increased Assembler build radius on most assemblers.
  
• CHANGE: Game will now show a warning when removing a reactor in building if the reactor powers assembler currently being used.
  
• CHANGE: Game will now show a critical warning when launching from Construction and object is in a state that would prevent it being self-assembled in the future.
  
• CHANGE: A vessel's docking hologram should be better centered on the mouse now.
  
• CHANGE: Vessels in construction can no longer be split by external damage.
  

• FIX: Control group icons should now refresh correctly when leaving into a hangared vessel or transporting between two vessels.
  
• FIX: Construction actions that fail integrity check could cause UI to think component/tile actually placed prevent further components or tiles being added to that location.
  
• FIX: Added back missing cargo bays to 'Cruzer' trade vessel.
  
• FIX: UI Keybind elements will now display correctly when editing key.
  
• FIX: Medium/Large/Gigantic shields not collapsing correctly when certain mount tiles were destroyed.
  
• FIX: Leaving the edge of a wormhole/jumpgate while entering transit no longer causes an error and will cancel transit.
  
• FIX: Graviton beam graphics should now reach the full length of the weapons range.
  
• FIX: Warnings encountered when removing tiles in construction should no longer leave red hilight and block further tile construction on that tile position.
  
• FIX: Small graphics issue with plasma laucher muzzle flash.
  
• FIX: UI "out of inspection range" circle should no longer cut out other UI elements.
  
• FIX: Replying to dialogue of a vessel that has since been destroyed should now correctly reply with a "No Response".
  
• FIX: Arrows for an object that hailed but has since been destroyed will now be correctly removed.
  
• FIX: Fixed an error that could occur when looking for mounts after a resize.
  
• FIX: Fixed an error when filtering inventory if vessel had empty cargo bay mounts. This could cause certain UI to become unresponsive.
  
• FIX: Fixed an error when trader dialogue was closed due to a warp out while mid trade.
  
• FIX: Fixed an error when hovering over plasma projectiles in flight.
  
• FIX: Improved JSON logging and caught several bad JSON entries that were miss spelled or in the wrong place.
  
• FIX: Removed some redundant logging, this should improve performance in a number of areas.
  
• FIX: Tiles killed during construction by AI or other players will no longer leave those tiles marked as "built on" an prevent further tile placements.
  
• FIX: Altering search terms when filtering inventory should no longer leave strange gaps.
  

A Pre-Release build for BETA 5.1 is now available on the test branch. BETA 5.1 extends some features we laid the ground work for in BETA 5 but missed the release along with some long awaited quality of life additions and several fixes for bugs found by the community in BETA 5.



5.1 Adds the ability for projectiles to hit shields along with an improved line of sight check that prevents splash from explosions magically penetrating tiles or shields.

For BETA 5.1 we have also listened to much community feedback regarding zoom. Along with adding key binds for zoom in/out and a slider to control zoom speed we have introduced a "quick zoom" feature. Quick zoom lets you easily zoom in to inspect or access components etc then return to your previous zoom with a press of a button.

We would like to also thank those who have reported several bugs from BETA 5 and have included fixes to several of those in this release.

If you would like to check out this pre-release build all the usual things apply, it will have problems (some of which we know about) and it may break your universe. Let us know your thoughts via the forums or on our discord

If you still wish to give it a try check out all the changes and details here : https://steamcommunity.com/app/416240/discussions/22/4009846212734184176/
and how to access it here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/416240/discussions/22/2789369351344475415/

BETA 5 is an update that takes another pass at combat. Combat is a key part of Space Impossible, and while not the only point of the game, it needs to be as great as possible. To that end, BETA 5 adds two new elements to combat: new weapon types and a faction leader with unique components.



You can discuss BETA 5 and let us know your thoughts on Discord or as usual on the Steam Discussion Topic


[h2]Expanded Arsenal[/h2]
Several new weapons have been added along with some under-the-hood work that will make future weapon additions even easier and robust. The news weapons are:

• Rail Gun - Fixed aim, high damage, penetrating (goes through shields) gun weapon. Comes in Large and Gig. versions.
  
• Point Defense Lasers - Auto aims at projectiles within firing arc and attempts to destroy the projectile.
  
• Reflector Cannons - Reflecting variant of the Particle Cannon. This can bounce multiple times, hitting multiple tiles on the same or different targets.
  
• Plasma Launchers - Weapons that fire a salvo of projectiles and requires no ammo
  
• Graviton Beams - Pulls objects toward the shooter with a force. Different than tractor beams in that they only pull, and do not establish a constant link.
  
• Repair Beams - Fires several beams in a spread that can heal any affected tiles.
  
• Drag Field Projectiles - Projectile that when it detonates it creates drag field that will slow down any moving object that is caught within. Great for chasing escaping vessels.
  

Some of these new weapons can be manufactured, others must be found either via combat or trade. We will leave it up to you to discover which. A number of existing ship templates for various factions have been updated to use these new weapons.

[h2]The Universe has gone Madd[/h2]
Madd's Marauders, a new sub-faction see their debut along with their Captain Madd the first faction leader added to the universe. Madd's Marauders are small but efficient. They are a group of merceneries widely popular for their unconventional tactics and lack of official accountability. Their leader and founder, Captain Madd, leads with a hands-on type of approach. Madd's Marauder fleets can be found roaming other faction systems.

[h2]Details[/h2]
[h3]Additions[/h3]

• Added Madd's Marauder faction
  
• Added unique spawned system, first unique is Captain Madd himself
  
• Added new damage type, pushing, which will push or pull on an object when hit
  
• Added Rail Gun
  
• Added Point Defense Lasers
  
• Added Reflector Cannons
  
• Added Plasma Launchers
  
• Added Graviton Beams
  
• Added Repair Beams
  
• Added Drag Field Projectiles
  
• Added new tiles and items, Ferinium Rock and Maridid Deposits. These tiles produce Ferinium-A and Ferinium-B and Maridid Sludge and Maridid Crystal respectively. These are used in manufacturing and can be found on larger rock asteroids and icesteroids.
  
• Added suit position checking when spawning/placing vessels. Vessels should no longer be placed on top of living (or dead) suits.
  
• Added a small warp factor bonus to all Engine Overdrive bridge enhancements
  

[h3]Fixes/Updates[/h3]

• CHANGE: Disabled ability to zoom the background in the main menu.
  
• CHANGE: Added some additional logic to prevent an over abundance of ambushes compared to genuine distress calls. Ambush:Distress ratio should now be consistently near 1:5.
  
• CHANGE: Redid a number of the underlying systems involved with weapons. We have further modularized the weapon code to increase the ease of weapon diversity and weapon types. This has changed some of the weapon's json data but should not change the gameplay.
  
• CHANGE: Weapon damage is now applied more consistently, which should reduce most sync issues between server and client.
  
• CHANGE: Weapon range indicators will now highlight when mousing over control action groups.
  
• CHANGE: Revisited and updated the weapon tooltips. They should appear overall very similar to what they were, but some of code was improved or updated to reflect game changes since they were lasted modified sometime in Alpha development.
  
• CHANGE: Improved UI scaling when using a ui scale value above greater than 100%. UI elements should no longer appear offscreen in some situations.
  

• FIX: Addressed an issue with certain peripheral input devices setting the game into controller mode. In this instance, a player's 3D mouse was causing the mouse pointer to be hidden leading to much confusion.
  
• FIX: Tractor beams activated via weapon groups will now stay attached even if selected weapon group is switched.
  
• FIX: Fixed a number of performance issues with weapons and memory garbage generation.
  
• FIX: Improved performance with trying to destroy the same tile multiple times when multiple weapons are in use.
  
• FIX: Fixed a nullref with being kicked to menu during specific loading step which caused issues during subsequent re-loading
  
• FIX: Fixed "OK" button not working correctly on override popup when saving a template
  
• FIX: Fixed an issue where ships (or pieces) would continue to strafe in perpetuity. This was due to missing an engine count check after chunk splitting.
  
• FIX: Fixed regions generated for missions not having the correct level values.
  
• FIX: Fixed some missions having empty or broken objectives.
  
• FIX: Fixed a problem when trying to "Clear All" during building while in Creative Mode.
  
• FIX: Fixed Item Mass offset. It was incorrectly offsetting towards the objects true center as opposed to the Center-Of-Mass center.
  
• FIX: Fixed an issue with looping sounds not correctly restarting from the beginning of the sound loop. It was playing from the previous stopping point creating some confusing audio.
  
• FIX: Fixed a number of weapons that have the Drain Energy damage type. The variants did not have the correct modified damage values that they should have had based on their variant types.
  
• FIX: Dialogue popup should be better anchored now, ensuring better visibility for all screen resolutions.
  
• FIX: Fixed an issue with the region server and hangared objects. Previously certain hangared objects were causing the region server to have a bad time after certain actions were performed. A symptom of the region server breaking is objects not moving when colliding, damage no longer working, AI breaking or dialogue not updating.
  
• FIX: Added some logic to improve network performance and vessel state sync reliability when adding and removing components to/from vessels, especially when spam clicking is involved. This should definitely improve reliability of the available item count as well.
  
• FIX: Fixed an issue with the Manufacturing window not re-opening in certain situations, this was related to the UI scaling issue.
  
• FIX: Taking Control of a vessel after an accidental dupe (like after a game crash or PC power loss) should now be possible.
  
• FIX: Fixed trade slider box not hiding correctly on player warp out.
  
• FIX: Fixed an issue where fleet regions were not correctly colored red even if they were aggressive.
  

We have been discussing this for a while. There are a few things we want to do, but the top priority will be new player experience. Getting players into the game, and teaching them some of the basics is one of the biggest complaints we receive, and it is something that has been mostly neglected. We think there will also be time for something for the more seasoned players, we will take a look at improving Distress Calls.

For all willing testers out there a Pre-Release build for BETA 5 is now available on the test branch. BETA 5 takes another look at combat as well as adding a new face to the universe.



We have added six whole new weapon types and a new projectile. These are: The Reflector Cannon, the Graviton Beam, the Repair Beam, the Railgun, the Point Defense Laser, the Plasma Launcher and the Drag Field Torpedo. Many existing ships have had some of them equipped. If you wish to learn more about these please check out our previous dev post or wait for the full break down which will come with the final BETA 5 release notes.

Many Medium, Large and Gigantic Asteroids and Icesteroids now have new tiles, Ferinium Rock and Maridid Deposits. These tiles drop Ferinium-A, Ferinium-B and Maridid Sludge and Maridid Crystals, used in a number of new manufacturing recipes.

BETA 5 also sees the addition of a new faction, Madd's Marauders. They are bounty-hunter and mercenary group uninterested in star system control, who can be see patroling some of the more dangerous areas of the galaxy. Additionally, Madd himself is the first faction leader to be added to the game, and he alone is the sole possessor of the Giga Railgun Mk 2.

We have also cleared another 30 or so bugs, mostly community reported, in the on going effort to fix things as they occur.



If you would like to check out this pre-release build all the usual things apply, it will have problems (some of which we know about) and it may break your universe. Let us know your thoughts via the forums or on our discord

If you still wish to give it a try check out all the changes and details here : https://steamcommunity.com/app/416240/discussions/22/2789369351344477084/
and how to access it here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/416240/discussions/22/2789369351344475415/

Hi everyone. We hope everyone is having a nice summer so far despite all the craziness shaping up this year. BETA 5 development is well under way, but will be taking longer than BETA 4, so we're putting together this news post.

Here's what's being worked on:

[h2]New weapon types[/h2]
One of the core game elements of Space Impossible is combat. We have already come a long way from Prototype's single laser, but there is still more room to grow. BETA 5 will see the addition of:

[h3]Reflecting Cannon[/h3]
A beam weapon that will reflect off its target tile, bouncing up to four times



[h3]Plasma Launcher[/h3]
A weapon that shoots projectiles that does energy damage and does not require ammo like existing torpedoes



[h3]Point Defense Laser[/h3]
A close range anti missile defense weapon, when activated it will detect and auto fire on the closest projectile.



[h3]Graviton Beam[/h3]
An energy weapon that actively pulls the target towards the firing vessel. It is different from the Tractor Beam as the Tractor Beam's range between shooter and target is fixed length once attached.



[h3]Rail Gun[/h3]
Often asked for by you the players, the Rail Gun is a heavy damage, fixed angle weapon that has no moveable arc, and no activation angle either.



[h3]Drag Field Projectile[/h3]
This projectile when it detonates creates a localized field that slows all movement through it. Great for preventing a target's escape or allowing your escape from pursuers.



[h3]Repair Beam[/h3]
A heavy duty, full sized version of the space suit's repair weapon.

[h2]New Faction[/h2]
Additionally, we are adding in a new faction, Madd's Marauders. Madd's will be a mercenary faction, incapable of owning and possessing star systems, but showing up based on events in game, as we continue to build and expand our spawning algorithms. It will also feature the first unique spawn, Madd himself, who can only appear once per universe at any given time. He will have some distinct inventory that will be unique to him. He is the first of what will be several "boss" like unique spawns that will be expanded on in the future.

Once these are done, we will take a week or two to update the AI to be able to equip and use these new systems and elements. As usual, the Pre-Release will come during that time, and the release build shortly after. Stay cool out there!