Stormworks: Build and Rescue News

Dear Stormworkers,

In this announcement post, we will discuss some of the new systems we are creating as part of the Space DLC, and the associated free major update.

Compressed Gasses and Liquids

As previously discussed, compressed gasses are coming to Stormworks, with a significant rework of the fluids system. This has a big impact for space, but also for deep-sea where high pressure and displacement will work slightly differently.



Gasses in the new version are able to enter and occupy compartments, and these gasses are compressible. When liquids and gasses enter or leave a compartment, they are treated as mixed evenly rather than layered by height, for the sake of usability by players, so behaviour is more consistent and it is easier to understand what is going on. This is to avoid the situation where a port on a compartment cannot capture all the contents because the port is part way up the side - its difficult to understand that the fluid level may have dropped below the port. This is also consistent with current behaviour and avoids players vehicles from breaking.



However, when it comes to doors, it is easier to understand where the water levels are relative to the door and is visually explained, so our system is a bit more in-depth. As in the current system, doors will only allow water through when the level of the water is above the bottom of the door. With new gasses, gas can also only spill through then the water level is below the top of the door.

The implications of this is quite exciting. It means that moon pools will mechanically work, and gas will not escape once water covers the door. Don't forget that the gasses are compressible, so water can still rise and compress the gas, it is just that the gas will not escape. You can pump more gas in to increase the pressure, pushing the water level back down.



The opposite is also true. If you open a door in the top of the compartment, this will allow all your compressed gas to escape, reducing the pressure and allowing more water to enter.

For submarines, this system means that you could open valves (or even a door) between a compressed air container and a ballast tank with opening at the bottom. This would rapidly increase pressure, quickly pushing the water out and displacing it with compressed gas.



Where there is a pressure difference through a door, gas or liquid will get pulled through. Physics objects including characters will be effected by this and dragged by the pressure. At high altitude or in space, a rapid depressurization event can suck you or any other physics object out of the door.

We look forward to releasing this new system and many other features, and the new Space DLC on October 12th!

We look forward to your thoughts and feedback.

Much love
The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

This week we are releasing a minor update focused on fixes and features. Please see the change notes below for info on what has changed.

Thank you to all who watched the Stormworks: Space live stream! The feedback has been fantastic and we are so excited for the release on October 12th! If you have not done so yet, please consider wishlisting below:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2383250/

As well as this weeks minor update, there will be 2 more minor updates before the launch of Stormworks: Space! These are scheduled every 2 weeks as normal.

We are working hard on the last few finishing tasks, and have already been testing for months. While the main features are in the DLC, the release will be accompanied by a major update including the gas and liquid reworks as well as others, which will be important updates for everyone.



Thank you to everyone who have helped inspire this new DLC, including all the incredible creators who have shared space content, and content creators who have made space themed content.

As well as work on the new DLC, there is work on several minor updates, major updates, as well as 'Not Stormworks 2'.



As always, we are interested to hear player thoughts, especially as we plan out what next. Please do let us know where you think our priorities should be, and what you would like to see next. If you have detailed proposals, please consider posting a feature request on the issue tracker too :-)

We are excited to do more, and so we are creating 1 or 2 new engineering jobs to expand our team! If you are a software engineer, check out the new careers section of our website.

Much love
The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.8.8

Fix - #19773 Steam Deck crashing on launch
Fix - #19460 Updated Zizo workbench interactable
Fix - #19951 Fire extinguisher particles now respect velocity
Fix - #17902 Updated Bertha cannon voxels
Fix - #20287 Added ladder to archtech survey base
Fix - #20392 Triangle errors on arid isles 18_10
Fix - #20363 Several sign positions on Arid isles
Fix - #20544 Removed physics from FJWarner dock pads
Fix - #20012 Spelling error

Dear Stormworkers,

The new Stormworks: Space DLC will release on 12th October!

Wishlist the DLC here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2383250/

Watch the trailer here:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Stormworks: Space has been years in the making, and introduces space and moon operations to the world of Stormworks:

Space and Lunar Biome

Travel from earth, up through the atmosphere, across the vacuum of space, and down to the surface of the moon in a continuous simulation. Space is infinite nothingness, while the lunar surface is 900 square kilometers of grey dust, craters, canyons, and caves.



New Simulations

Gravity will be simulated and weakens as you travel away from the earth and moon. Ascend high for a geostationary orbit, or build horizontal velocity for a lower orbit.

Vacuum and compressed gasses are introduced, as well as the oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and nitrogen component parts of air. Maintain life support and avoid over pressure or under pressure, hypoxia and hypercapnia. Equalize pressure before opening doors or risk being sucked through.



New Components

Propel through space with the new liquid fuel engines, fueled by compressed oxygen and hydrogen which can be manufactured using electrolysis. RCS thrusters and gyroscopic actuators can be used for fine control. New navigation components help orientate and position you where there is no GPS coverage. Build spacewalk kit with the new seats.

New Equipment

Operate in vacuum with the new space suits. Limited air supply can be recharged in some seats.

Limitations

Our take on space simulation has some limitations, mostly because the game engine wasn't originally designed for space. For example, while in a seat, you have 6 degrees of freedom as usual, outside of a seat, the player always orientates consistently with the same up direction (no 6-DOF first person controller).

Taking the flat planar world of Stormworks and getting this to work as a spherical body planetary simulation has required a lot of thought. The surface of the earth and moon will tile / wrap around. Our solution remaps 3d space along gravitational field lines, and mostly makes sense in quantum space but is not a true euclidean simulation and has some limitations such as not being able to travel around the back of the moon.



Major Update

As usual, this DLC is accompanied by significant updates to the base game, in order to help with compatibility, and incorporate some of the new systems to the base game where is make sense to do so (such as compressed gasses, world tiling, etc). New components will also be cosmetically available in the base game, with limited functionality to help keep the workshop unified and compatible.

We look forward to your thoughts and feedback on this new update!

Much love
The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

This week we are releasing an update focused on quality improvements. This is a smaller minor update with several fixes, addressing minor issues reported by players.



See the patch notes below for full details. You will see the support ticket numbers next to each card, which corresponds to tickets raised by players on the official issue tracker.

Please do join us next week for the big announcement and dev live stream! We will be showing the next DLC and major update, and will be answering your questions live!



We look forward to your feedback in this update :-)

Much love
The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.8.7

Rework - #19596 Updated default gantries and storage to be filter-less and instead delete incorrect fluids
Fix - #19846 Train wheel functionality when mixing flipped and rotated wheels
Fix - #19636 Reset explosion and fire buildup after repairing an engine, battery or furnace
Fix - #19748 Sawyer island terrain issues at bridge entry/exits
Fix - #19541 Emote menu background not filling wide aspect ratios
Fix - #19747 Missing rock face at airstrip base
Fix - #19606 Clear interactions when opening chat menu
Fix - #19623 Beret mesh issues
Fix - #19602 Mesh gap at Taijin dock
Fix - #1976 Removed extra cone on jet engine blade mesh

Dear Stormworkers,

On Friday 25th August at 4PM BST / 8AM PDT, we will be running a developer live stream, and debuting the announcement trailer for the new DLC!

Countdown Timer

The content of this new DLC has been a closely guarded secret, but all will be revealed in this developer live stream! We will start by showing the trailer, then some gameplay, and will be answering questions live from the chat.



This is just the announcement, and not a release. We will be discussing the DLC and will also share the release date at this event.

This new content has been years in development and we are very excited to share what we have been working on. Let us know what you think it could be in the comments :-)



Please subscribe to this event and join us in 2 weeks!

Much love
The Stormworks Developers