Approaching Infinity News

Shipwrecks are getting more interesting every day, so it's the perfect time to introduce...



You've been able to scan planets for over a year now, and besides getting a thorough readout of their atmospheric conditions, you can also have information on monsters and loot. But shipwrecks have been a black box.

Until now.



In these examples, you're seeing *all* the information. That will not be the normal case. How much detail you get is tied to your "scanning" ability (derived from sensors, skills, and devices). A few details (like the number of decks) are freely given, but everything else, you have to work for. And I bet you notice something you don't get when scanning planets:

Deck mini-maps!

I think they're a fun way to monitor your progress. What do you think? This feature is definitely not "finished", so there's room for improvement. Either share your thoughts here on Steam, of join our Discord and let's talk!

• Origin: "Who built the ship?" One of the known alien races, or someone else?
  
• Type: "What is this ship's purpose?" And therefore, what might you find inside?
  
• Decks: "How many floors are there to explore?" This is freely known, since you could probably look out the window...
  
• Damage: "Why is it a 'wreck'?" External damage is usually related to attacks, but there are also many types of internal damage. This often relates to whether a ship will be pressurized.
  
• Systems: "What condition are the vital systems in?" Things like propulsion feed, reaction chamber, and captain's console are necessary for the ship to operate. Are they in good condition? (This relates to shipwreck salvage, which is a planned but unimplemented feature.) This information must be gained through exploration.
  
• Pressure: "Is there oxygen?" This is never scanned, but must be discovered. You can generally assume it to be "none".
  
• Explored: "How much have I seen?" This is an average of how much you've explored all available decks. In this example, 60+46+0 = 106 / 3 decks = 35%. You get specifics with the mini-maps.
  
• Cargo: "What is it carrying?" This shows what major commodities, if any, this ship might carry. It's not an exhaustive list, and ships will have more loot in rooms, lockers and other containers.
  
• Life signs: "Who or what is moving there?" You can detect up to 3 types of creatures, plus "human life signs", which is generally an officer you can hire or rescue. You can also kill them now, either accidentally or if you're a jerk.
  
• Mini-Maps: Right now, these will show walls, floors, and dangerous areas (short circuits, radiation), as much as you've explored.
  

Any shipwreck that was created *before* this update will show wrong information.
This feature doesn't (currently) look at what's actually there, only what's supposed to be there.





Shipwreck scanning isn't "done", this is just the Beta. So what ideas do you have, what would you add or change? Give it a try and let me know!





2021 is drawing to a close, and while this is not *all* I have planned for you, it's a start:

• December 11 : @!N3^f&Z
  
• December 12 : nZpfx3Ja
  
• December 13 : 7^%Zw3FK
  
• December 14 : b!239Psj
  
• December 15 : #!&iB#&R
  
• December 16 : H!73K35w
  
• December 17 : DmZfjPZH
  
• December 18 : UZwZA%oL
  
• December 19 : rmB3PpGz
  
• December 20 : R!6fzqwm
  
• December 21 : BZQfe%QG
  
• December 22 : @oSiq%m3
  

(Use these to restore your hull and shields (in space) or HP and Oxygen (on away missions), once per day.)







Have you noticed the golden-suited astronaut in the recent update artwork? Curious? Maybe you should start reading my weekly Reddit posts ;)

There was a bug, a rare catastrophic code failure...



There was a disease symptom that was supposed to make status effects last longer... Instead, it gave you every status effect at once, and they increased in severity every turn!


This version fixes that.

It also increases the selling prices of items you craft... a little bit, and fixes a minor annoyance where irradiated areas on shipwrecks were not properly pressurized.

It does NOT have shipwreck scanning yet:



This is about 3/4 through the first draft, not even ready for beta yet. But it *works*. The stuff in the scan is found on the ship, and that's very satisfying.


See you space cowboys!

Greetings space captains!

Part 1 of the shipwreck overhaul is here for everyone.

• Each shipwreck is now based on an 'archetype', like gunship, survey vessel, pleasure cruiser, etc.
  
• Ships are filled with rooms and 'furniture' that relate to their purpose.
  
• These 'furniture' items can be used as cover, get damaged or destroyed, and some can even be repaired.
  
• Ships with no holes in the outer walls now have
• air pressure*.
  

When exploring shipwrecks with air pressure, your suit oxygen will not decrease, freeing you from a significant early-game concern. Air pressure is measured on a per-tile basis, and walls and closed doors (and your holo-barrier!) will stop the airflow. That means you can depressurize some areas of a ship but leave enclosed rooms intact.


So what happens if you accidentally put a hole in a pressurized ship?








All the air in the ship will scream towards the hole, pulling loot, furniture, and monsters along with it! And you, too. This is one of those rare "real time" effects, so you really have to focus and fight against the wind. And thanks to a discussion on our Discord, you can even get hurt by stuff that blows into you ;)

• Fully repairing shipwrecks for sale or personal use.
  
• Spawning more appropriate monsters.
  
• Telling the stories of what happened to these ships.
  
• An achievement for blowing monsters into space.
  
• Scanning shipwrecks (just like you can scan planets).
  
• The introduction of "Gadgets", for repairing vital ship systems.
  
• Seeing the inside of YOUR SHIP, walking around it, and decorating it how you like!
  
• So. Much. More...
  

Racial shipwrecks do not spawn correctly... This will be hot-fixed soon.



Next week I plan to work on scanning shipwrecks. Before you dock, you'll be able to see things like:

• What kind of ship is it?
  
• How many decks does it have?
  
• What kind of life forms are there?
  
• Is the outer hull intact?
  
• What kind of cargo is it carrying?
  

What other information would you like to see?

[h2]The first big shipwreck update is here![/h2]

I'm really excited to show off all the changes made to the interiors of my favorite environment. I've spent 3 weeks laying the groundwork for a huge upgrade to all your shipwreck-exploring adventures, and it's finally ready for beta testing...

What you'll see now is that ships are divided into rooms, and the rooms have themes. The ships themselves are even designed around a "role", such as "survey vessel" or "ambush predator". I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say about it.



What you'll find is almost 150 new pieces of "furniture" that can be activated or deactivated, destroyed by various methods, sometimes repaired, sometimes opened, or interacted with in other ways. This list of items and uses will continue to grow as this phase of development progresses.


This is the first step, but it's a big one. And now that the foundation is built, rapid development and weekly releases can resume! Here are some of the features you can expect to see in the near future:

• "Hull integrity", air pressure, repairing walls, and explosive decompression.
  
• Introduction of "gadgets" and using them to fix ship systems.
  
• Shipwreck scanning to reveal type of ship, number of decks, former inhabitants, cargo, etc.
  
• Picking up, using, and interacting with new items, repairing more systems.
  
• Shipwreck stories: find out what happened on this ship, in the crew's own words.
  
• 3 kinds of shipwreck salvage: destroy it for parts, repair it and sell it, repair it and USE IT!
  

Other Changes:

• I continue to eliminate ways of destroying transit tubes!
  
• Many other kinds of loot can now be destroyed (even lockers can be damaged).
  
• ...the usual little fixes and tweaks...
  
• Every type of away team weapon now has its own image and shot sound (thanks David!).
  

This update is in the "Beta" branch only, which is free and available to anyone. It also won't break your saves, so if you're interested, give it a try today!

I've been hard at work on the shipwreck overhaul for a long time now, and it's really coming together. But there's no public release yet, I haven't even streamed it.


The first place you can see it in action will be
[h2]The Space Game Junkie Podcast[/h2]
streaming to multiple platforms on Wednesday Nov. 10th at 10am PST / 1pm EST:

• Youtube
  
• Twitch
  
• Facebook
  
• Official Website
  

I've been talking for weeks about "rooms" and "furniture", so here's what it's looking like in my build:



All these changes really make shipwrecks feel more alive, more interesting and purposeful, and I'm excited to show it off. I believe this can make it into beta soon. For now, though, join us on the SGJ podcast!


A truly observant player might notice something in that image... "The most important device in the universe". It will be a key component in shipwreck repair...