Avorion News

Black Market DLC Store Page is online!

We are happy to announce that the store page for our upcoming Black Market DLC is now live!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1357160/Avorion__Black_Market/

A lot of new content and over 20 new story missions are waiting for you. You can also look forward to new bosses and new upgrades and weapons! Stay tuned and add it to your wishlist to get started right on time at the release!

We can't wait and are very excited. Right now we are working hard on optimizing the last details and polishing the update.

Free Content in the Black Market DLC Update

In our Gamescom streams, we announced Avorion’s first DLC, “Black Market”. Alongside the DLC there will also be a huge free update. Now, we want to shine some light on what’s coming alongside the DLC.

We put a lot of thought into the update and invested a lot of work to improve Avorion and to offer more content and features. In order to clean up some misconceptions about which features will be free and which will be part of the add-on, we’ve created a small summary for you.

[h2]Playing Together[/h2]
First things first: All players will still be able to play together, even if some of them own the DLC and others don’t. Also, everybody will have access to a lot of the DLC content while they play with somebody who owns it. For example, the big Convoy Event can be played by all players on a server, as long as somebody who owns the DLC starts the event.

[h2]Docking[/h2]
Ships can now dock to other objects and take them to wherever you desire - as long as the owners of said objects don’t disagree. Clever captains are now able to steal take containers to safety and they can even have stations open them to see if there is anything of value inside. You can move your own stations or those of your friends, and dock ships or asteroids to your craft and do hyperspace jumps with them.

[h2]Controlling Ships[/h2]
You will now have the ability to interfere with illegal trade and even profit from it. If you catch somebody smuggling illegal goods, you can inspect their ship and maybe earn some bribe money.

[h2]Legendary Weapons[/h2]
Starting with this update, bosses will begin to drop newer, better, awesomer, legendaryer turrets. We went a little crazy on some of those - and would like to apologize in advance.

[h2]Performance Improvements[/h2]
We’re aware that Avorion may require a lot of performance on some multiplayer servers. Of course, we want all of you to be able to play without lag. That is why we reworked the server backend engine. For you as players, this means: If there is a single laggy sector with a lot of action happening inside it, it will no longer slow down the entire server. As long as you’re not inside the problematic sector, you can continue playing without being bothered.
But please remember that Avorion is not an MMO, and just because you can increase the number of players in the server.ini, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a good idea.

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]
It is our goal to squash all bugs in the game so that you can have as much fun as possible. You as a community help us daily to improve Avorion by sending us a lot of bug reports, and we’ve been busy fixing those. We won’t be listing them all here (we’re still fixing as I’m typing this text), so you’ll find the list of fixes in the patch notes. By the way: bugs that we fixed because of a report from the community are marked with [UBR] (User Bug Report).

[h2]Many Small Features and Quality Of Life Improvements[/h2]
We want Avorion to be fun for both new players as well as veterans. That is why we added tons of small new features and QoL stuff, such as improving the Strategy Mode to have better camera controls, asteroid fields have been visually improved and we’re allowing you to assign icons to ships. Those changes will also all be listed in the patch notes.

[h2]Your Wish is Our Command[/h2]
Okay, but on a more serious note: We care a lot about your feedback and we try to add as many of your suggestions as possible to Avorion. Sadly, it’s sometimes not possible to include everything people wish for since some things simply contradict each other or are not compatible with our vision of the game. However, we are working on implementing some of the most requested features:

- Torpedo launchers that shoot straight ahead
- Improving the AI in several different contexts
- Edge blocks for crew quarters
- Ships share their scanner data
- Better RTS mode controls
- Scripting API requests (for modding)
… and more!

You can suggest features and vote for them here: https://forum.avorion.net/index.php?/forum/8-suggestions-idea-voting/

[h2]Server Performance Statistics[/h2]
We’ll continue supporting our server hosters, so in addition to regularly adding new features servers now log statistics about the their performance. Those include information like the number of players that are logged on at a time, storage used, CPU and much more. This way, hosters can see how their server is running and act accordingly.

[h2]Outlook: What happens after the DLC?[/h2]
We saw from some reactions here that we gave a somewhat wrong impression with the DLC announcement. We will, of course, continue to make and publish free updates. The next big update after the DLC will be a free update again, and it will have a similar scope as the DLC. But we’ll give you more info on that later down the line. For now, we want to concentrate on finishing the current update!

By the way: Features that are highly relevant to fights or PvP (ie. things like Stealth) will never be published in a paid DLC but will always be available to everyone for free.

That's all from us for now! We hope we could clean up some misconceptions around here. Now we'll get back to the update! See you soon!

Patch 1.2 is now live!

We're releasing a small patch to bring you a few important bugfixes and quality of life changes that were already finished while we're working on the next big update.

[h2]Client[/h2]

Lights of wreckages can now flicker independently for each block & material type

[h2]Building Mode UI[/h2]

Silhouettes of real-world monuments can now be shown in building mode for an improved sense of scale
- Silhouettes can be modded
Block template brush's blocks are no longer all red while selecting a new anchor block
Improved controls for scaling blocks and shapes

[h2]General UI[/h2]

The amount of goods is now directly visible in the fleet tab
Improved coloring of cargo overview in the fleet tab
When commanding ships, sectors reachable via gate are now highlighted
Claimed asteroids now show up on the map
Added sorting of DPS/Slot
Guidebook and its tutorials can no longer be abandoned

[h2]Server[/h2]

Added new game settings variables for maximum ships & stations of an alliance
Added file clustering options to server.ini
- When enabled, packs small files into larger ones on shutdown of server
Added a notification for when a player is assigned to be the new leader of a group

[h2]Scripting API[/h2]

All setValue() functions for objects now return the previously set value
Player.craftFaction now returns the player faction if the player is not in a craft

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]"As always, fixes marked with [UBR] are bugs that have been reported through our in-game bug reporting tool. Thanks to everyone who reported and keep it up!"

[UBR] Fixed an issue where directing ships over the galaxy map wasn't working correctly for bought maps
[UBR] Fixed a rare crash in building mode
[UBR] Fixed several issues in missions
[UBR] Fixed an issue where alliance ranks with empty names could be created
[UBR] Fixed research satellites showing nil chatter after reload
[UBR] Fixed an issue where upgrades would remain on ships after being removed from the game (ie. through enabling/disabling mods)

News: DLC - Black Market coming soon!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Hey everyone! Let's get the most important news out first. As announced in our Gamescom stream a few days ago: We are proud to announce our first DLC - the Black Markets! In addition to new content, we also added quite some improvements to the game that will be published in a free update at the same time as the DLC. Let's dive right in!

[h2]Docking[/h2]Did you know that in space, even a tiny little spacecraft can move something gigantic? Ships can now dock to something else and take it wherever you might want it to be - if the owners of said object have no objections. Move your own stations and those of your friends, dock ships and jump around or just grab the containers that you want to hack, but that are too well protected in their sectors.
And the best thing? Docking will be available for everyone as part of a free update!

[h2]Shady Business at Stations[/h2]You stole found a container that is protected by a good security system and can't hack it yet? Just take it to a Smuggler’s Market and they will open it for you - for a fee though. You should also check out the name-giving feature of this DLC: The new Black Markets. Discover the hidden identities of some inconspicuous looking stations and profit from what they have to offer!

[h2]Hacking[/h2]Have you ever wondered what might be hidden in those large container fields that can be found all over the galaxy? Now is your time to find out! Get ready to circumvent the security system of the containers and access the contents. You only need a hacking upgrade that is stronger than the container’s security level and you’re ready to go. But beware: the owners of the containers might not look too kindly on thieves.

[h2]New Events, Missions & Bosses[/h2]Experience a new storyline in over 30 new missions and events! Your actions are relevant for shaping the future of the galaxy. Make sure that you choose the right friends and make the right enemies, and most importantly: Never forget keeping an eye on your own best interests!

There's also going to be a new server-wide late-game event with a convoy venturing towards the center of the galaxy - with its own missions and opportunities. You can decide for yourselves if you want to protect them from pirates or maybe do something more ... evil - provided you have enough firepower.

[h2]New Weapons[/h2]We don’t want to spoil too much here, but we've got a few legendary turrets ready for you!

[h2]FAQ[/h2]Last but not least, we'll answer a few questions that have been coming up since our first announcement during the Gamescom stream:

Q: Will DLC owners and non-DLC owners be able to play together?
A: Yes! We don't want to split our community. Non-DLC owners will even be able to enjoy some of the DLC-only content while playing with DLC-owners.

Q: Will docking be part of the free update?
A: Yes!

Q: Can we jump around with objects or ships docked?
A: Yes!

Q: Will docking be a combat feature?
A: Docking will be a civil only feature. You'll be able to dock containers, asteroids, and the like, as well as your own or friend's ships. Docking other players (exception: alliances) will count as PvP.

Q: Will we be able to automate docking?
A: No. Due to a number of uncertain factors (AI, orientations, where to dock, which docks to use, etc), we decided against AI orders for docking. Everything else would result in finicky UI and would go beyond our scope.

Q: What else is in the update?
A: Together with the DLC content, we'll be releasing a free update for everyone which contains tons of performance improvements (servers especially!) that we spent a big portion of our time on, QoL improvements, and bugfixes.

Q: When is it coming?!
A: Fall 2020.

Q: What's the DLC going to cost?
A: We haven't decided on a final price yet, but it will be around 5 - 10 $/€.

If you have more questions, then you should definitely check out our reveal stream, where we're also talking about the DLC: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/725216666?t=00h59m22s

Beta Branch Patch 1.2 - Patchnotes

"While working on the next big update, we also added a few more quality-of-life features. We're releasing a small patch with a selection of those features that are already done."

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors.

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

[h2]Client[/h2]

Lights of wreckages can now flicker independently for each block & material type