Starbase News

[h2]Progress Notes Week 45[/h2]
[h3](November 2nd - 6th)[/h3]

Hello everyone! Here are the progress notes of week 45 - hope you enjoy!

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 is now the default backpack: new players will spawn with the Mining backpack
  
• Ore distribution and material progression design work continues
  
• Restricted areas regarding player stations have been configured: building a station on some key locations is forbidden and prevented
  
• Player stations have been tested and improvements designed based on the results
  
• Bolt Tool autobolt improvement has been tasked: the tool should add bolts to all port profile suggestions, ignoring the max hard cap (i.e. ore crates and generator units)
  
• Mining Laser power consumption issue resolved and fixed: it now consumes 6k power per second
  
• Economy configurations and design have been worked on:
  
  • Player progression and material availability in the belt and beyond
    
  • Spaceship Designer assembly design and assembly cost changes
    
  • New player made ships were added to the economy
    

User Interface

• Auction House buy order, service fee variants and alternative UI have been worked on
  
• Design for alternative tutorial routes has been worked on
  

Other

• Halloween ship shop has been removed
  

[h3]Code[/h3] Gameplay

• Resource Bridge transfer with a single powered bridge port has been enabled
  
• Asteroids should be loaded again before colliding into them
  
• Thruster blocked-ness checking has been extended to avoid all kinds of encapsulated thrusters
  
• Ship "acceleration" sound system has been refactored
  
• Multisource sound system has been tweaked
  
• Cargo Lock Frame's wall no longer disappears during fast travel
  

User Interface

• Ores not being stackable has been fixed
  
• A fix has been made for not being able to autobolt objects with no bolt profiles, if objects already have bolts
  

Stations

• Build restriction area configuration has been added to allow developers to specify areas where player stations cannot be built
  
• Owned station limit has been updated to 1 per user profile
  
• New permissions to station management have been added
  
  • The adjustment of how many lots a user can rent within the station has been made possible (can be specified for default users)
    
  • The possibility for a user to be exempted from rental payment has been added (can be specified for default users)
    
  • The station owner can rent any number of lots and pays no rent for them by default
    

Spaceship Designer

• Quick bar has been enabled in Spaceship Designer test mode
  
• A fix has been made for selection not working properly after rotating the camera in Spaceship Designer
  

[h3]Art[/h3] Animations and Emotes

• Work on 1st person sprint animations and general polish continues
  
• 3rd person resource port animations worked on
  

Stations and Cities

• Skyscrapers, street levels and city holograms are being worked on
  

Weapons and Armor

• Adamant armorset textures have been tweaked and paintjobs have been updated
  
• Toxine armorset colored areas have been slightly tweaked
  

Other

• Moon terrain texture tiling has been adjusted
  
• Lukium asteroid concept image has been made
  
• Inventory icons have been added for blueprint projectors, remote explosive assets and station assets (bases and beams)
  
• New 'Warp Gate entry' effect and a first version of 'Warp Gate travel' effect have been created
  

[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! 🪐

Starbase has a new Early Access release date target: Q1 2021.

Right now Starbase is in Closed Alpha, with roughly 1,200 members of the community having access to the game in addition to developers. Aiming for Q1 2021 will allow us enough time to better prepare the game for Early Access, and add a few more important gameplay loops. For example we have recently added Fast Travel gates and the beginnings of a player-based economy, and in the coming weeks we will be doing fixes and improvements to those. In addition, we will be adding other important gameplay features such as the tutorials, player stations and gravity. Once these are added, we expect to start inviting Alpha testers in larger numbers!

Here are some ways to keep up with our development progress and latest news:

• Join our official Discord
• Sign up to the mailing list
• Watch the forums

We hope to bring you the best possible experience when Early Access becomes available, so we thank you for your patience and support!

[h2]Progress Notes Week 44[/h2]
[h3](October 26th - 30th)[/h3]

Hello everyone! Here are the progress notes of week 44 - hope you enjoy!

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

• Bolt Tool autobolt-feature has been designed and first version tested
  
• Ore distribution design continues, new material sets have been worked on for areas around the safe zone
  
• Spaceship Designer virtual mass-feature has been tested, it's now possible to test ore crates with extra mass and how it affects ship's durability and behavior
  
• Minor tweak and test has been made to Spaceship Designer autobolt, there's no more fixed limit on how many bolts are placed
  
• Fast travel gate locations and other related features have been fixed
  
• New player-made ships were added to the economy
  
• Auction House terminal was removed from marketplace and added only to the Origin station
  

Other

• Auction House UI design updates have been worked on based on community suggestions
  
• Device connection issue where the cradles purchased from the shops did not work should now be fixed
  

[h3]Code[/h3] Gameplay

• First working version of station blueprint caster was implemented for testing
  
• A fix was made for grabbing devices with jointed objects, such as turrets, breaking jointed objects' device connectivity
  
• A fix was made for holograms auto-built from the station/player inventory not having their proper visuals when built, instead appearing blank
  
• An old utility box that allows transferring resources (such as power) from station storage to containers located on lots was reimplemented
  

User Interface

• A fix was made for not being able to pick up some tools/weapons with interaction pickup
  
• Auction House terminal where Auction House UI can be opened has been added
  
• Auction House UI closing when moving far enough away from Auction House terminal
  
• A fix was made for Auction House not opening with "F" when weapon is raised
  
• Station creator specific selection types were added to the Designer selection menu
  
• Basic layout for Ship Ownership UI has been made
  
• Auto-bolt single object feature has been worked on
  
  • Auto-bolting when pressing down left mouse button was added
    
  • Progress bar was added
    
  • Auto-removing bolts when pressing down right mouse button was added
    

Spaceship Designer

• Removed the Insurance Transfer button from the Spaceship Designer Esc menu
  
• Virtual mass debug tool was made for the Spaceship Designer
  
• Material costs were added to the blueprint buy -dialogue
  

[h3]Art[/h3] Animations and Emotes

• Work on 1st person sprint animations and general polish continues
  

Weapons

• Mounted AutoCannon muzzle effects were updated to be more 'focused' and less 'explosive' from the barrel itself
  
• Most weapons have reticles now, some are still incomplete but will be refined soon
  

Other

• Assets for blueprint chips and blueprint slots were added
  
• Asset for 3D printer now added and being finalized
  
• Decorational holograms being tested and approved for cities and megastations
  
• First wall sections for skyscrapers have been created and skyscraper entrance modules are also being detailed
  

[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 43[/h2]
[h3](October 19th - 23rd)[/h3]

Hello everyone! Here are the progress notes of week 43 - hope you enjoy!

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

• Right-click context menu has been tested: transferring large amounts of ore between ore crates in ship and station storages is now possible
  
• Safe zone ore distribution has been re-designed and configured (18 areas that each use their own material sets)
  
• Design of symmetrical angled beams has been finished (15, 30 and 45 degrees), matching plates will follow later
  
• Resource bridge maximum tether length has been increased to 100m (50m in jobs)
  
• Design for Bolt Tool improvements has started
  
• Economy and inflation/deflation related design plans have been worked on
  

User Interface

• Tutorial transitions between jobs have been improved with better hints and triggers
  
• Ship Ownership UI design has been worked on
  

Stations

• The Dragonfly, Chemosh Ark, Chemosh Badger and Vigo has been added to Rando 3
  
• Heptifili and Sinthgut have been added to the DURΛTΞCH shop
  
• Okim Industries spaceship shops' layouts have been updated:
  
  • Widukind, Eurypterid, Spiker and Shale have been added or relocated
    
• Halloween themed spaceship shop has been added and contains the following ships:
  
  • Skull, Mr 'Umpkin and Bat
    

[h3]Code[/h3] Gameplay

• First functional iteration of fast travel gate has been implemented
  
• Multiplayer stability improvements related to interlinked objects have been made
  
• Item purchases and sales now list localized names in the CV bank statement page
  
• The game should now remember the last zoom mode and used tab in Universal tool after quitting the game
  
• Being able to vacuum mining job nuggets to player ships was fixed
  
• A fix was made for not being able to pickup material cubes to ore crates
  

User Interface

• Auction House UI has been worked on
  
  • Single listing UI has been added to sell tab
    
  • Context menu has been added to Auction House and Storage
    

Spaceship Designer

• Placement and transformation preview no longer check for overlaps due to performance issues, overlap checking can be re-enabled from the settings
  
• YOLOL script editor will now save changes when the text field becomes unfocused
  
• Cables, sockets, bolts, weld bolts and autobolter attachment plates will now automatically attach themselves to the nearest station module in the interior designer
  

[h3]Art[/h3] Animations and Emotes

• Work on 1st person animation polish & sprint animations continues
  
• Rummage animations have been polished
  

Weapons

• A new explosion effect has been created for the upcoming Remote Explosive Tool
  
• The exploding ammo effects have been updated to be a lot more explosive
  
• Reticle/crosshair effects have been added to all the weapons
  

Other

• Preliminary tests for rich (mineral) rocks on asteroid surfaces are underway
  
• Assets for the different new modular cargo crate sizes have been added
  

[h3]Gallery[/h3]

[h3]Videos[/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[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! 🪐

[h2]Progress Notes Week 42[/h2]
[h3](October 12th - 16th)[/h3]

Hello everyone! Here are the progress notes of week 42 - hope you enjoy!

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

• Building Tool UX improvements have been tested
  
• Ore distribution design in safe zone and nearby areas continues
  
• Keybinds and usability improvements have been worked on
  
• Ship to ship propellant and power transfer configurations done and are ready for testing
  
• Auction House Buy Order design and feature planning has been worked on
  
• Electricity and power related design has been worked on
  

Stations

• 12 new player spaceships added to spaceship shops:
  
  • Beli, Fornbogi, Herfjotur, Momento, Merchantman, Nusa light shuttle, Micro, Mammoth, Eurypterid, Tabletka, Chemosh Ark I, Marlin
    

Other

• Decorative Short Interior Girder and Decorative Girder 144 cm are no longer considered as beams
  
• Ramp 72x144x144 cm is now Plate Triangle 72x144x144 cm and moved from Decorative plates to Plates/Triangle folder in asset browser
  
• Plate Triangle 72x144x144 cm default material is now Bastium
  
• Plate Triangle 72x144x144 cm Base color also changed to match with other plates
  
• Decorative column A,B,C and D are no longer available in Spaceship Designer
  
• Snap point fixes: Turret Cradle Side Armor should now snap with both Mounted Weapon Bodies (Fixed Weapon Mount 1 combination), Turret Cradle Side Armor also should now snap with Fixed Weapon Mount 2
  

[h3]Code[/h3] Gameplay

• Work on station building continues
  
• The implementation of ship-to-ship resource transfer via resource bridge was finished
  
• A fix was made for coordinate issues in ship towing that made possible to tow ships from almost everywhere
  
• Initial implementation of printer device is done
  
• The first version of repair job tutorial has been implemented
  

Spaceship/Station Designer

• A tooltip for the test flight mode in Spaceship Designer has been implemented
  

Spaceship Designer

• Lag spikes from placing cable and sockets on large ships have been fixed
  
• Entering the test mode while editing a YOLOL chip now saves the changes instead of discarding them
  
• Added localized user error messages to mega station designer if the user tries to save a station blueprint with too many parts or parts exceeding the station building area
  
• Mega station designer's rotation tools rotating around the scene origin rather than selection origin has been fixed
  
• Autosaves in Spaceship Designer were changed to show in the correct order from newest to oldest and to include dates in their names
  

[h3]Art[/h3] Animations and Emotes

• Work on 1st person animation polish and sprint animations continues
  
• Point, Yes and No emotes (1st person) are in the making
  
• Pistol stand ADS aim poses polished
  

Armor

• Praetorian textures and Adamant paintjob polishing is in progress
  

Other

• Surface objects (rocks) were reduced to a reasonable amount on largest asteroid
  
• A fix was made for a flickering issue with the surface objects in most situations
  

[h3]Gallery of the Week[/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! 🪐