Stormworks: Build and Rescue News

Dear Stormworkers,

In this upcoming announcement, we discuss the mechanics of nuclear reactors in the next major update!

Nuclear reactors in Stormworks are designed to be a power source with very long fuel life and high energy output, but also very heavy and large. They are modular so that players can design them to the size and specification that they need, and manage their internal mechanics, from the simplest reactor to the most advanced refuelable reactors with safety features.



Safety features are important. As with real nuclear energy, the risk of melt down or radiation leak is a huge downside with significant consequences. We are adding the concept of radiation to Stormworks, where radiation can be contained within compartments, or otherwise leaked into the environment. Radiation is harmful, and will persist for a long period of time. It is essential to handle nuclear materials carefully and dispose of waste responsibly.



Nuclear reactors are created from just 3 new parts: fuel rods, fuel assemblies, and control rods.

Fuel rods are the nuclear fuel that slowly reacts and depletes, generating heat and radiation. They are radioactive. When submerged in fluid, they will pass their heat to and also irradiate that fluid.

Fuel assemblies are a sort of connector for fuel rods. Like real nuclear reactors, rods are arranged in arrays of several rods in order to achieve the critical mass required for the reaction to build up. Fuel assemblies placed next to each other allow the fuel rods within the assembly to interact with each other.

Control rods are placed adjacent to fuel assemblies to absorb reactivity and reduce the energy. They can be used to control the heat output of the reactor.

As with other reactors, this heat can be used to heat water to generate steam, to power steam turbines. We will talk more about steam power soon!



We look forward to hearing your thoughts on nuclear reactors and the upcoming major update.

In response to player feedback, we are also trailing some optimization improvements to Stormworks over on the experimental branch. If this is of interest to you, check out the experimental branch and read the experimental changelog on Discord. Be sure to check back next week, as we are trying further optimizations and we are excited to share any progress with you!

Much love
The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

The week we are adding new screens! The new screen sizes are:

• 1x2
  
• 1x3
  
• 2x3
  
• 3x3
  

This new update is in direct response to community requests, and was discussed in the most recent Q&A video.

These new screens function just like the original ones! They have the same pixel density, and work in the same way. They are in addition to the original screens rather than replacing them. This set of parts allows for players to fill their cockpits, bridges and vehicles with the correct screen size to meet their needs.



We continue hard at work with the upcoming major updates, minor updates, fixes and improvements. We are largely on-top of the upcoming major updates and are finding more time for fixes and improvements. Expect some quality and fix updates coming soon. If you have specific feedback on exactly what issues you want to be fixed, please let us know on the bug tracker, along with clear steps to reproduce the problem.



We also have new components, new features and new systems planned as part of upcoming minor updates, and we have plenty more details to announce with regard to steam and nuclear.

As always, we look forward to any thoughts and feedback you have for us!



Much love
The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.1.20-22

Feature - New Monitor Sizes: 1x2, 1x3, 2x3, 3x3
Rework - Ai aircraft vehicle updates
Rework - Fluids now spawn at ambient temperature of spawn location
Fix - Modular engine manifold temperature not saving
Fix - setBattery always setting to 100% (Now uses 0-1 range)
Fix - Equipment bar reappearing when clicking an empty item slot
Fix - Radiator fans spinning while paused
Fix - Added classic career research tiers for modular engines
Fix - Node names and descriptions for fluid radiator and air scoop
Fix - Removed broken scoop intake 1x2

Dear Stormworkers,

This week we are announcing part of the upcoming steam engines update - coal power!



Coal is a new resource in Stormworks. It takes the form of small physical particles, that can be poured through funnels, troughs, and stored in hoppers. This new resource can also be burnt in furnaces to heat up water.

Coal hoppers can be linked together by connecting their mating surfaces, merging them into larger hoppers. Some hoppers have open tops that coal can fall into, while others are closed containers.

A coal funnel allows you to pour coal from the hopper, releasing lumps of coal as individual, physically simulated particles.



Furnaces take coal and combust it along with air, produce exhaust, and heat fluid up.

This is obviously a useful component of steam engines, and we will let you know more about these new systems soon.

This week, we are also releasing a bug fix update with several much needed fixes and improvements. See the patch notes below for a full list of changes.



We look forward to hearing about what you think of coal, and the ways in which it could impact gameplay in Stormworks! Should we expand the logistics side of the game with coal transportation?

We look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback!

We are really excited for some upcoming minor updates, which include features and components requested by the community. More info due soon!

Much love
The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.1.19

Rework - Removed gearbox torque damage
Rework - Gearbox ratios 1 & 2 are now named On & Off
Rework - Increased min and max range for missions to reduce clutter
Fix - Corrected gearbox descriptions
Fix - Added new sensors to the research tree
Fix - setFire function causing instant explosions
Fix - Buoyancy damping on small bodies
Fix - Small rocket parts missing buoyancy surfaces
Fix - Fluid rate tooltip showing 10 times less than the value
Fix - Radar/Sonar small tracking issue
Fix - Sonar not correctly tracking submerged targets
Fix - Mirrored rendering and constraints for pressure sensor
Reverted fix for emissive lights underwater as it caused other render issues

Dear Stormworkers,

This week we add 2 new parts - the impact sensor and the contact sensor!

The impact sensor is simple - it measures acceleration, and if that acceleration is above the threshold you set - it outputs an ON signal.

The contact sensor is much more complex! This is a physics based push button that detects when it is depressed. The square pad on this button can be pushed in by any physics object, and you can set the spring stiffness yourself in the settings, to adjust the force required to activate.



Applications for the contact sensor includes limit switches for your robotic systems, sensing your environment, or triggering actions on contact such as warning buzzers or... detonating naval mines!

While these components were developed as part of the weapons update, we thought their use is quite broad, and all players will find useful applications outside of weapons systems.



As always, some minor fixes and improvements are included. Please see the patch notes below.

We continue to work on the new major and minor updates! Thank you to all who have provided feedback and ideas for new updates - we have plenty on the way and some new exciting parts and systems.



We are also very interested in fixing any issues or bugs with the game - if you want anything fixed - please use the "report a bug" button in game, and give a specific, clear description and exact steps to reproduce! If we can reproduce the bug, there is a good chance we can fix it. Please be patient with the existing support site which is a bit slow - we are working on a new issue tracking website!

Much love
The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.1.18

Feature - Impact sensor - triggers ON signal when acceleration exceeds the value set in properties
Feature - Contact sensor - a physics based push button with adjustable stiffness
Rework - Solid rocket nozzle parts now contain 25% fuel of a fuel part to discourage multi-nozzle rockets
Fix - Empty add-on folders no longer show in the Add-on menu
Fix - Emissive surfaces now render correctly underwater
Fix - Resolved occasional crash after using select tool on the flare launcher

Dear Stormworkers,

Thanks to all who submitted questions for the Q&A video! Sorry we couldn't answer all of the several hundred questions submitted, but this video feature is now a regular item and we will be sure to bring you more Q&A sessions in the future!

Thanks to MrNJersey for hosting. You can view the video here.



For us, the Q&A was very useful! We are considering minor updates for 1x2 and 2x3 monitors, physics detail settings, and many other ideas! It's also a great way for us to engage directly with the community which we are really enjoying.

In the Q&A, I hint at the major update schedule. It isn't good for us to give dates until we have finished the work and can be sure of a release date, but our intended schedule is to release a major update every 8-12 weeks, with minor updates every 2 weeks.

This year you can expect major updates involving nuclear power, coal and steam power, natural disasters, and of course the weapons DLC. We also want to find more time for quality improvements and bug-fix updates. We can't say which order these updates will come, but we will let you know release dates as soon as we know them!



This week is an announcement week, but we are also releasing a bugfix update which we have been testing ourselves and with the help of the experimental group.

This patch incorporates a bunch of fixes, including more performance improvements for AI aircraft. See below for the full change log.

We are hard at work developing the upcoming major updates, as well as minor updates, bug fixes and general improvements.

While developing the major updates, we have been adding some components which are generally useful in all Stormworks vehicle builds, and not specific to the nuclear, steam, or weapons features that we are working on. Expect new components arriving as minor updates in the coming weeks and months that are very useful in general use in Stormworks, but have an obvious weapons DLC application!



As always, we look forward to all your thoughts and feedback!

Much love
The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.1.14-17

Rework - Vehicle bodies that don't generate buoyancy data properly will have drag applied
Fix - Improved performance of AI aircraft add-on
Fix - Stopped ai_debug command from causing issue in multiplayer
Fix - Can now deliver survivors to the hospital correctly