Starbase News

[h2]Progress Notes Week 18[/h2]
[h3]May 3rd - 7th[/h3]

Hello everyone. Here are the progress notes of week 18 of 2021!

Please note that the "Progress Notes" are different from the Starbase Alpha "Patch Notes". Progress Notes are snippets from the development team and what has been worked on during the previous week, and many of the features might not be present in the current or upcoming builds of the Closed Alpha. Some features, especially in the design portion, can be subject to change as the development continues.

[h3]Design[/h3] Features

• Large Generator functionality for Capital Ships has been designed and tasked
  
• Easy Build Mode has been tested and usability design improved
  

User Interface

• Shared company credits backend implementation has been worked on
  
• Progress on Company bank feature has been made
  
• New tutorial phases and rewards have been worked on
  
• Company Tag system has been tested and interface design improved
  
• Improved visual design for transponder names and player names in HUD has been made
  
• Interface design for Capital Ship screens is in progress
  

Ship Shops

• Changes in Rando 3 ship shop:
  
  • Added: Sherwood, AA Freedom, MLS-8-252 "Truzhenik" (previously removed)
    
• Changes in OKI 2 ship shop:
  
  • Added Mercury
    
• A ship mixup in Dynastar ship shop has been foxed: "Antares" Twin Frame Freighter replaced with Antares-Class
  

[h3]Code[/h3] Gameplay

• Support for Company owned ships and Company ship access rights have been worked on
  
• Work with factory halls continues: hall area detection has been worked on
  
• Improvements for tripod animation lock functionality have been worked on
  

User Interface

• Crafting UI has been worked on, tooltip info has been added to crafting tab
  
• Work on Easy Build Mode continues, issues with picking up and dropping modules have been worked on
  
• Company Ships UI has been worked on: "Add Access" side panel, "Add Operator" side panel's context menu and list sorting have been worked on
  
• UI implementation for ignored player list has started
  
• Company tag system has been worked on
  

Audio

• Device music ending and looping has been implemented
  

In-game Designers

• First version of station device assembly configuration and detection has been finished
  
• Issues with buying ships from some Ship Design terminals resulting in overlapping with previous ships have been worked on
  

[h3]Art[/h3] Animations and Emotes

• Spaceship registration tool has been rigged and 1st person animations have been worked on
  
• Socket creator tool has been rigged and 1st person animations have been worked on
  

Stations and Cities

• Hangar area module assets have been made
  
• Interior has been added to the dark variant of Skyscraper Roof 01
  
• Landing area holograms have been added to Vintage, Quasar, Dynastar and Epic Shipyards
  
• Skyscraper entrance and stem LODs have been updated
  
• LOD for Canal Bridge city slot has been created
  
• Direction indicators for station corner slots have been added
  
• Various LODs in station and city scenes have been updated to match the structures
  

Other

• Thruster converter snapping has been fixed, so that no illegal placement of converters should be possible
  
• Blueprint filler on and off icons have been created
  
• A hologram circle for waypoints has been created
  
• An issue with Laser Cutter Hit VFX not attaching to moving objects has been fixed
  
• Capital and large machinery assets now have distinctive textures
  

[h3]Gallery[/h3]

Don't forget to check our official Starbase forums and our blog for more pictures and videos of the weekly development.

Until next time! 🪐

[h2]Progress Notes Week 17[/h2]
[h3]April 26th - 30th[/h3]

Hello everyone. Here are the progress notes of week 17 of 2021!

Please note that the "Progress Notes" are different from the Starbase Alpha "Patch Notes". Progress Notes are snippets from the development team and what has been worked on during the previous week, and many of the features might not be present in the current or upcoming builds of the Closed Alpha. Some features, especially in the design portion, can be subject to change as the development continues.

[h3]Design[/h3] Features

• Mining backpack: progress bar indicating slot capacity should now be relative to the slot max capacity
  
• Large Generator design, assets and configurations have been finished
  
• Electricity per second upkeep has been updated to 250 on autocannon, laser cannon and plasma cannon (similar to rail cannon upkeep)
  
• Missiles have been tested with safety settings, they now work as intended
  

User Interface

• Asteroid belt tutorial has been worked on, tutorial objectives have been updated
  
• New shop UI with separate manufacturing price has been worked on
  

Stations and cities

• Moon city's ship spawn terminals, that were inside the landing platform's floor, have been put to their correct places
  
• Four new player ship shops have been added to Origin station
  
  • Epic Shipyards
    
  • Dynastar
    
  • Vintage Ships
    
  • Quasar Systems
    
• Many player-made ships have been added to the ship shops, and some ships have been moved to different ship shops
  

Other

• Easy Build Mode modules are being updated: updated modules will use mainly ducts instead of cables and pipes
  

[h3]Code[/h3] Gameplay

• Ship server support for granting ship access to other players has been worked on
  
• Work with factory halls continues: configurations, manager, part connections and hall area detection have been worked on
  
• Sections of structures should no longer disappear when merging them to remote content
  
• Ship thruster effect poses have been fixed
  
• Lifeline should now work better with unconventional chair environments
  
• Lifeline cannot be bound to a chair that is so damaged it cannot be sit on
  
• Many laser-like device visuals no longer have a lag when in motion
  
• Implementation of Company bank accounts has been in the works
  
• Player camera controller functionality has been changed to only allow first person while operating a tripod weapon
  
• Syncing tripod animations to remote clients has been worked on
  
• Tripod specific functionality has been added to first person arms positioning
  

User Interface

• Work on Easy Build Mode continues, new snapping feature has been worked on
  
• Work on asteroid tutorial continues, implementation of second set of objectives has started
  
• Ship UI has been worked on, ownership and access checking has been improved
  

Audio

• Music playback system for music devices has been worked on
  

In-game Designers

• Station utility pipe configuration implementation has been worked on
  
• Adding thruster auto-naming feature to the game has been worked on
  

[h3]Art[/h3] Animations and Emotes

• Tripod draw/holster animations have been worked on
  
• Weapon/tool poses have been adjusted for when tools are held in the back slot of the inventory
  

Stations and Cities

• Ship Design Workshop holograms have been updated
  

Other

• Large generator: LODs have been updated for the assets
  
• Large Machinery: tint mask areas have been added to Exorium Tank and Large Generator, tint mask changes have been updated to LODs
  
• "Ammo" canisters for the Paint Tool and the Decal Tool have been added as separate assets
  
• Art for cursor hover highlights in Spaceship Designer toolbox and toolbar icons have been created
  
• Cable and pipe duct inventory icons have been created
  
• Station Permission icons have been created for the following:
  
  • Safe Zone Access
    
  • Ship Registration Permission
    
  • Auto-build Permission
    
  • Permission for building with ready-built parts
    
  • Free-form Building Permission
    
• Spaceship Registration Deed model and textures have been created
  
• Further adjustments have been made to Tripod Autocannon VFX
  
• New Plasma Thruster damage effect has been created
  
• Work on Missile and Torpedo thruster VFX continues
  
• Updates and optimizations have been made for Plasma Rifle Hit and Reload VFX
  

[h3]Gallery[/h3]

[h3]Videos[/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Don't forget to check our official Starbase forums and our blog for more pictures and videos of the weekly development.

Until next time! 🪐

We are proud to announce that the Early Access release date for Starbase is now set in stars as June 17th, 2021!

In preparation for the Early Access release, a roadmap outlining the progress of the development has also been released. Check out what the future holds for Starbase:



We're also really excited to introduce an amazing new feature to the game – the Capital Ships. These massive, station-sized ships enable thrilling new gameplay both for solo players and bigger groups and factions, and we can’t wait for the players to experience them!

The Capital Ships are capable of fast travel and hosting hundreds, even thousands of players inside them. They can be used as exploration bases or as powerful assets in warfare and station sieges by upgrading them to Military Capital Ships. A new feature video takes a deeper look at the Capital Ships, their fast travel mechanics, and shields that double as safe zones:

[previewyoutube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QasP0r_bxJU[/previewyoutube]

The journey to the stars begins on June 17th, 2021, so stay tuned and save the date!

Keep up with Starbase development progress, upcoming features and latest news:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/454120/Starbase/

• Sign up for Closed Alpha testing
• Join the official Discord
• Read the latest announcements on the Starbase forums
• Sign up to the mailing list

[h2]Progress Notes Week 16[/h2]
[h3]April 19th - 23rd[/h3]

Hello everyone. Here are the progress notes of week 16 of 2021!

Please note that the "Progress Notes" are different from the Starbase Alpha "Patch Notes". Progress Notes are snippets from the development team and what has been worked on during the previous week, and many of the features might not be present in the current or upcoming builds of the Closed Alpha. Some features, especially in the design portion, can be subject to change as the development continues.

[h3]Design[/h3] Features

• Legacy visual instructions removed from Mining job
  
• Mining Backpack fixes tested, work on fixing bugs continues (backpack keeps collecting ore even when full)
  
• Usability improvements for Easy Build Mode designed
  
• Usability improvements for Material Point Scanner designed
  

User Interface

• Ship tutorial controls have been reworked
  
• New tutorial UI for starting tutorial and choosing tutorial phases has been designed
  
• Design for Company bank features continues
  
• Company access control design has been worked on
  
• Company missions permissions access control logic has been updated
  

Stations and cities

• Kyanite and Shale lifted higher in OKI 2 ship shop, seat mechanisms no longer clip into the floor when canopy is opened
  

Other

• Devices: A set of 10 Duct parts have been made available: Ducts are for creating resource networks and can be used to replace cables and pipes
  

[h3]Code[/h3] Gameplay

• An issue where some objects in space would move when player approached them has been fixed
  
• Occasional issue with items flinging when ungrabbing them has been worked on
  
• Beam welds close to each other in a connecting beam result in frame integrity connections between ship frame beams, reducing the need for corner attachment plates
  
• Thruster parts should no longer block their thrusters in tiny ships
  
• Jointed grabbed objects colliding with the environment has been fixed (once again)
  
• Support for printing start, printing finish and error sound effects have been added to large and small 3D Printers
  
• Animations, audio and bugfixes for tripod weapons have been worked on
  
• Sound category support for audio signal devices has been completed
  
• Work on Audio Signal Device Mark II-B ("jukebox") has started
  

User Interface

• Work on implementing company bank accounts continues
  
• Work on crafting UI continues, work on module crafting function has started
  
• Work on Mission personnel -page has started
  

[h3]Art[/h3] Animations and Emotes

• Aim animations for player operating the tripod have been made
  
• Tripod autocannon reload animation has been worked on
  

Stations and Cities

• Level art for planet city bridge slot has been finished
  
• Landing/takeoff hologram signs have been added to help better guide players to landing platforms both from space and from the ground
  

Other

• Factory area assets have been added (not yet fully implemented)
  
• Snap issues for duct pipe assets have been fixed
  
• The raised part from intersections in the bigger intersection beams has been removed
  
• New cliff material for moon type 2 (City moon)
  
• Viper armor set textures and paintjobs have been updated
  
• 25 player tag icons have been created
  
• Exorium processing unit rework has been completed
  
• An issue with Whiplash and Antigel Rifle projectiles spawning behind the weapons at low frame rates has been fixed
  
• Tripod Autocannon VFX has been updated
  
• Laser Cutter's spark and burning metal VFX have been reworked
  

[h3]Gallery[/h3]


Don't forget to check our official Starbase forums and our blog for more pictures and videos of the weekly development.

Until next time! 🪐

[h2]Progress Notes Week 15[/h2]
[h3]April 12th - 16th[/h3]

Hello everyone. Here are the progress notes of week 15 of 2021!

Please note that the "Progress Notes" are different from the Starbase Alpha "Patch Notes". Progress Notes are snippets from the development team and what has been worked on during the previous week, and many of the features might not be present in the current or upcoming builds of the Closed Alpha. Some features, especially in the design portion, can be subject to change as the development continues.

[h3]Design[/h3] Features

• Mining Backpack fixes have been tested, building/fixing now works with materials in backpack without tether connection to ore crates
  
• Mining Backpack UI tweaks have been designed, material stack size will be shown in slots when hovered over (1/1 normal stack size, 1/8 small 216kv stack).
  
• Large Generator asset improvement has been designed, module cores need to be accessible with Universal Tool
  

User Interface

• Design for station building tutorial has started
  
• New asteroid belt tutorial has been worked on
  
• Design on company bank statement, ship and station access rank rights has been worked on
  

Stations and cities

• Ship shops added to Empire Outpost B, Empire Outpost C, Pirate Base and Moon Fast Travel gate stations
  

Other

• Floating lamps and their holders on Lot Designer modules have been fixed
  
• Work on solid version of pipes and cables that can transfer resources and data continues
  

[h3]Code[/h3] Gameplay

• Objects and players now receive damage inside Plasma Thrusters
  
• Bug fixes have been made for Tripod weapons
  
• Work on ship tutorial continues
  

User Interface

• Implementing company bank accounts has been worked on
  
• Work on Company Ships have started - Ship Manager code has been refactored to make implementing Company Ships easier
  
• Tag manager UI has been worked on and support for tag icons on the server have been added
  

In-game Designers

• Foundation modules should now work properly with station refactoring
  

[h3]Art[/h3] Animations and Emotes

• Leg behavior when player flies has been improved
  
• Work on tripod animations continues
  

Stations and Cities

• Generic Spaceship shops have been finished
  
• Interior shots from one of our skyscrapers as our level artists are now decoration everything in the city slots. As a base model, most interiors are colorless as they can then be colored according to ownership
  

Other

• A snapping error with the ship diagnostic scanner has been fixed (should now snap correctly from the sides with the sockets as well)
  
• Exorium Tank: LODs have been added to the assets
  
• Icon has been added for "Launcher mount small turntable"
  
• VFX work on weapons continues
  
  • Updates to Antigel Rifle shoot, projectile, hit and reload VFX have been made
    
  • Updates to Whiplash shoot, projectile, hit and reload VFX have been made
    
  • New reload effect for Whiplash has been added
    
  • Work on Tripod Autocannon VFX has continued
    
• Various large component assets have been added to the game, which are still conceptual in design terms but are intended for bigger ships
  
• A pipe duct set for alternative ways to declutter big piles of pipe or cable has been added, this set would go into the grooves of the beams (work in progress and not yet implemented)
  
• Scope model for tripod attachment has been worked on, this would be used for many optical needs that a heave weapon would require such as magnification
  

[h3]Gallery[/h3]

Don't forget to check our official Starbase forums and our blog for more pictures and videos of the weekly development.

Until next time! 🪐