Avorion News

Hello everyone!

All the planned improvements have been implemented, the coffee has been drunk and the hype is reaching the limits! That is why we will keep it short today:

We will start the Update 2.0 Beta tomorrow!

We will inform you about the exact start time separately tomorrow. Until then, you can prepare some snacks and put the energy drinks in the fridge, because it's going to start soon!

[h3]Fighters[/h3]
We all know them - we all love them: Fighters! The only problem is that our little helpers have brought a lot of work with them until now. We want to improve on that front with Update 2.0 and save you a lot of time!

Let’s start with the fact that the fighter pilots will no longer sit in the fighter itself, but will stay on your carrier and control the fighters remotely. That way you no longer have to worry about your pilots constantly dying in combat and won't have to look for replacements anymore!

Starting with update 2.0 you will get one skin per squad and not per fighter. The new system will introduce rendering performance improvements when fighters are deployed, and network performance improvements for the mothership when they aren’t.

And on top of that: Fighters will only cost 50% of resources to produce in the future, plus they'll start boosting when flying longer distances! Yaaay!

Insiders know that Fighters can be SUPER OP, so we’ll have to introduce some restrictions, too, sorry!
In order to equip your ship with more than one squad of fighters, you will need the right subsystems installed. We want to make the carrier playstyle easier, but it will require more specialization of your ship. 10 squads on a full carrier are equal to 40 turrets! So the effort will definitely be worth it! We will also keep an eye on this feature and tweak it some more if necessary.

Finally, one more community request: Fighter squads can be grouped now!

[h3]Cargo shuttles[/h3]
Cargo shuttles the way you know them now will be removed. The effort behind them is too time-consuming and nerve-wrecking. We’ll replace the cargo shuttles with NPC shuttles to reduce the effort for transporting goods between factories. NPC shuttles will automatically fly between the factories you’ve configured to trade with each other. You will no longer have to hire pilots, create hangars and so on...

And last but not least: We are planning to start the beta for update 2.0 next week! ;)

Hello everyone!

You have actively posted your game suggestions for Avorion in our forum and voted for them. At this point, first of all, thank you from the whole team, it makes us very happy to see how much passion you all bring in!
So here's a summary of the suggestions that made it into Update 2.0:


*Right click on the Screenshot - Open in new tab*

[h3]Directly implemented suggestions: [/h3]

• Build mode: set root block manually
  
• Free camera in build mode
  
• Optionally selectable: show faction colors instead of relationships on the galaxy map
  
• Ships calling for help die too fast
  
• “Captain, do this. Even if I am there” / command your own ship - activate autopilot
  
• Improvements to Legendary turrets
  
• Pirate Carriers
  
• Improve the storage proportioning of the factories
  

[h3]Indirectly Implemented Suggestions:[/h3]

• Fighter speed (Has been improved in the Fighter Rework)
  
• Easy applying of a fighter skin to a squad (Has been improved in the Fighter Rework)
  
• Easier configuration of factory to factory trade (e.g. cargo shuttles, supply command)
  
• Easier supply of torpedoes (torpedo loot drops)
  
• Difficulty options update (scenario: free play)
  
• “We really need a better repair system” (Towing service)
  
• Bulletin board improvements (Has been improved with the sector overview)
  

Unfortunately we can't take over all your ideas,since sometimes they do not match with our vision of Avorion. Nevertheless, we have added tons of smaller improvements, which would go beyond the limits of this post. We have implemented for example a workshop filter to select materials according to already learned material knowledge and improved the unbranding of stolen goods. In addition, the trading subsystems have been buffed so that low rarities are now more effective.
It is definitely worthwhile to visit the forum from time to time, to suggest and vote, maybe next time your personal favorite will be on the list!

https://forum.avorion.net/index.php?/forum/8-suggestions-idea-voting/

[h3]Loot Transporter[/h3]
Getting really good loot usually takes a bit of work... With Update 2.0, we're making it a little easier for you, as the Loot Transporter is a sure way to know that there's some really great stuff to be captured! The transporter sometimes travels with pirates and is responsible for transporting the loot of their raids. You can imagine what he has in his bags! Since he has a lot to haul, there was unfortunately no room on his ship for turrets, so he makes a relatively quick getaway as soon as you attack him. The lucky ones among you who manage to destroy his ship despite the restricted time limit will be rewarded with a bunch of valuable loot!

[h3]Ship Reconstruction[/h3]
Who has never wrecked a ship? Nobody, probably. In such a case, the well-known reconstruction token is usually the first thing you need to get the destroyed ship ready to go again - as long as you have a token at that time.
We would like to make this feature less complicated and more comprehensible, so it should be easier to understand for Avorion beginners in the future.
The tokens will no longer exist starting with Update 2.0, instead we are implementing a new Towing Service at Repair Docks! In the future you will be able to simply fly to a Repair Dock and ask them to pick up the broken ship. The ship will then be brought to you and made ready to use (read: quickly cobbled together) again for a small price, so that you can immediately continue flying! Some additional repairs might be necessary, though. Good thing you’re already at a Repair Dock.
If you don't feel like looking for a Repair Dock first, you can purchase a Reconstruction Kit. With those you can make your ship ready to fly again on the (destruction) spot. You’ll be immediately ready to go, but will need a few more repairs.

Hello everyone!

The big update 2.0 is nearly done and we are working on the last few open points! We’d like to use this week’s announcement to update our development roadmap and show you the progress that we’ve made:

[h3]DONE:[/h3]

• Better UI visuals
• New progression system based on knowledge for different materials
• Scenario: "Classic Avorion" without the new progression
• Improvements to Independent Targeting
  • Removal of the 50% damage penalty
  • Amount of independently firing turrets can be increased with various existing and new upgrades
• Less micro-intensive commanding of ships
  • 10 new or updated commands (ie. go fly a trade route, go salvage, go explore)
  • Captains with classes & perks
  • Improved performance for remotely operating ships
• Bounties on Bulletin Boards
• More civilian ships for improved flair
• Improved visuals for busy sectors
• Tons of QoL
• More diverse faction areas on the galaxy map
  • Central vs. outer regions where different rules apply
• Player Profile w/ Milestones
• Crew Improvements
  • QoL; Sergeant, Lieutenant, etc. will be ranks within professions and no longer separate professions
• Hyperspace Jump Improvements
  • QoL; Improvements to game flow, jumps, reduction of waiting times
• Fighter Improvements
  • QoL; Fighters will be remote-controlled, will support boosting, will be cheaper to build but require stricter preconditions to have them on the ship
• Autopilots
• Scenario: "Free Play" that can be configured to your individual liking
• Torpedo loot drops
• Improvements to the tutorial
• Listing of build mode features & "tricks" in the encyclopedia

[h3]IN WORK:[/h3]

• A Secret Boss
• Various community-requested & QoL features
• Updates to the Encyclopedia
• Polishing, Bugfixing

[h3]STILL TO DO:[/h3]

• Nothing - we don’t have any other big topics that we’re not already working on! :)

[h2]Release Roadmap[/h2]
So by now, you’ve probably realized that Update 2.0 won’t release in Q2. The good news is that the big topics are done (hooray!) and we’re currently still working out some last kinks and bugs. As we’ve stated in another announcement a few weeks ago, game development is highly iterative (compared to “regular” software development) and we don’t want to burn our 5-person dev team out. That wouldn’t help anybody. We don’t want to ruin the 2.0 update hype with a buggy and rushed release. Also, we’re currently deciding which community-suggested features we’ll be adding to the game, so go vote on our forum, if you haven’t already!

So what’s coming next? One thing we can promise: It won’t be too much longer! Right now we're doing stress-testing, PR stuff like a trailer and informing influencers and media, etc. Over the coming weeks, we’ll get some closed beta-testing started (if we decide to include some community members, you will definitely hear from us), followed by the update being made available on the beta branch, just like any other regular release. After it performs well on beta, it’ll be released to the default branch.

See you next week!