Stormworks: Build and Rescue News

Dear Stormworkers,

This week would normally be an announcement week rather than update - but instead, we are adding improved controller support for players with controllers and Steamdeck!

In this minor update, we have introduced new controller support for many of the UI menus in Stormworks, to allow players to play more of the game with a controller. We plan a further update next week to introduce character movement controller support which will make most of the game playable with controller.



However, we are not "badge hunting" and simply want to improve support for players where it makes sense. For example, the vehicle editor is most comfortable with keyboard and mouse, and we don't plan to try to introduce controller support to the vehicle editor where it would not feel comfortable.

As well as new controller support, we have also been listening to the many players asking us about multiplayer support - this week we introduce new ping displays, and sort multiplayer servers by ping. Servers also display their ticks per second value. Once in game, we then display improved player list information, with current ping, frames behind server data, and bandwidth quality indicator. Players with insufficient internet connection to the server will also be automatically dropped to avoid degraded performance for other players.



We look forward to players feedback on these new features and will continue to read and take on board player feedback as we build these fixes and improvements in the future.

Much love
The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes


v1.4.9

Feature - Improved Controller support for UI and menus
Feature - Internet servers now display and sort by their ping (and show current tps)
Feature - Improved player list network information (current ping, frames behind server and bandwidth quality)
Rework - Removed old network frame numbers from the scoreboard as players often confused this with ping.

Fix - Friend servers now show their DLC status
Fix - Fish sync rate being very high and causing large bandwidth usage

Fix - MacOS Audio crackling

Dear Stormworkers,

This week we release a minor update entirely focused on bug fixes and quality improvements!

This update is the latest in a campaign of quality focused minor updates, and we have more planned for the future.

The main quality improvement is a change to how we save vehicle files - this change is backwards compatible so your existing vehicle files still work the same - but vehicles will now saved with a better compressed format, meaning their size on disk is now smaller. This has several benefits to players - some players with lower spec PCs are less likely to run out of memory if they don't have much RAM, saves are generally smaller, and vehicles should spawn faster in multiplayer.



In the patch notes below, you will see a lengthy list of all the changes we have made for this update. Some of the patch notes include an #issue number which relates to the issue id from the issue tracker. We are trying to provide this extra info so players can better see what has prompted the change, as well as look at the official issue tracker to better understand the discussion around the change.

This also clearly shows what is driving bug fixes and improvements to the game - the clear and concise issue reports that players submit - so thank you to every player who submitted an issue relating to the below. We are really pleased to have made these improvements to the game, and so thank you for your help.



This week we have been made aware of some networking issues caused by the new physics based fish system. While we were unable to patch this issue for today's update we are working on a fix that we hope to deliver by next week. In the meantime we recommend that server hosts disable wildlife in general settings to prevent network slowdown. Thank you for your patience and helping us out by reporting bugs to the issue-tracker site.

While our schedule can still be subject to change, we hope to release improved controller support next week in time for the launch of Steam Deck, and a week or two after that, return with another bug focused minor update. We also have several minor update features in the works, as well as an exciting new major update.

We hope these new fixes make a positive difference to your experience playing Stormworks, and we look forward to your thoughts and feedback!

Much love
The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.4.7

Feature - Parsing Optimization

With an update to our parsing system, you can expect save and vehicle files to be significantly smaller in size; we managed to reduce the default mission vehicles by ~50%. We are not only hoping this will save users storage space but also reduce load times when sending vehicle data in multiplayer. You may need to re-save your vehicles.

Fix - #5064 Fix health sync requests causing ragdoll on respawn
Rework - #5381 Added addon option to disable natural disasters in default missions
Fix - #5158 Adjusted default natural disaster period from 5min to 15min
Fix - Volcanic ash now affects jet engine intakes
Fix - #2943 Increased relevance threshold for radar hits by 10x
Fix - #4395 increase detection range for cargo deliveries / cargo not delivering to large zones
Fix - #2973 Added buoyancy surfaces to motors and generators / modular engines sometimes not linking correctly
Fix - #4862 Unable to un-crouch when carrying a survivor
Fix - Initialize AI Aircraft state on vehicle load (Aircraft dropping out of the sky on load)
Rework - #1986 Solid rockets lose fuel on damage and take damage anywhere along the body of the rocket

Fix - #3763 Emp warhead now uses built-in impact threshold
Fix - #3781 Rename detonate warhead nodes to Arm
Fix - #2792 SetVehiclePosSafe not accounting for target vehicle bounds size
Fix - #4061 Muzzle break -> muzzle brake spelling error
Fix - #2165 Keypads not de-focusing when leaving their range
Fix - #4727 Arctic volcano mesh fixes
Fix - #4686 Train-line mesh issue for Donkk arctic exit and track diagonal variant
Fix - #4996 All electric parts should now be disabled by EMP blasts
Fix - #4941 Fluid cannon mass increased from 1 to 11
Fix - Impeller pump preventing flow when torque slot not connected
Fix - Ocean surface render issues
Fix - Reduce particle spawn rate for lava physics contacts
Fix - Lava emissive texture ignoring fog
Fix - #3472 Projectile splash damage not affecting MP clients (Fixed for non-dedicated servers)
Fix - #4507 Emotes broken when crouched
Fix - Minor tornado position desync for mp clients
Fix - #5091 Tornados bypass damage prevention

Fix - #4930 Siren component placement surfaces removed, added to research group
Fix - #5173 Add success returns for disaster lua functions and rework volcano spawning checks
Fix - #5172 Remove success return from guaranteed functions getWeather, getTime and cancelGerstner
Fix - #5048 Add tsunami callback for meteors and add lua param to allow meteor tsunamis
Fix - #4435 remove duplicate onVehicleDespawn() lua callback call
Fix - #4510 getAiTarget returning vehicle/char ids as numbers not integers
Fix - Creative menu button not calling onVolcano
Fix - #4580 Return params for getAiTarget
Fix - #5396 Megalodons spawned with volcanic eruption button

Balance - #4925 set fish flee speed higher than player swim speed
Balance - Increased fish scare distance
Balance - Increased fish max spawn depth

Dear Stormworkers,

Thank you so much for all the love and support around the natural disasters update! The feedback has been overwhelming and it is a joy to see so many players having fun battling the meteors, volcanos, hurricanes and whirlpools!

The update was a big success, with almost record levels of concurrent players (only beaten by the Weapons DLC!). We were also pleased with the quality of release, with very little required in terms of new issues. Our new quality assurance processes and better allowances and awareness of testing is working much better for us, which is really encouraging, as it is something we have been working on a lot the last 6 months. This was probably the major update with the least friction yet.



If you joined the launch party live stream, then you will know some info about our upcoming plans! One thing to note is that the good folk at Valve have sent us a Steam Deck, and we are working on improving general controller support as well as support for the Steam Deck. The hardware is really awesome, and we are really enjoying playing with it. You can check more info at The Steam Deck website. Its worth noting that there are joysticks, but also touch pads, touch screen and even a gyro.

We are initially planning on making some improvements to controller support, which is generally much needed anyway, but will make a big difference to Steam Deck players. Many players have been asking for improved controller support as well. These updates will hopefully start to arrive over the next few weeks.



Otherwise, we are planning a big bugfix update next week which we have been working on for a while now. The whole development team remain very interested in improving the quality of the game and review issues and discuss our plans together on a daily basis. As always, if you encounter issues or have ideas for the game, be sure to give us clear info including reproduction steps using the in-game report bug / request a feature buttons.

We look forward to hearing your feedback!

Much love
The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

The Natural Disasters Major Update is out now, and to celebrate, Stormworks is 30% off, in a Steam Weekend Deal!

Natural Disasters

This update includes a host of new hazards in the world of Stormworks, including active volcanos, meteor impacts, ocean whirlpools, and hurricanes. These new events can be disabled (by turning off the necessary add-ons), and can also be accessed via the creative menu. Otherwise, they spawn naturally within the world, and sometimes even as part of missions!

Keep an eye out on the map because sometimes you may receive early warning of an impending disaster, and listen for the chilling sound of warning sirens which will fire if a disaster is imminent.

New Fish System

With this update, there is an all-new fish system, with physics based fish. These fish roam the ocean, and flee from vehicles or players. There are many new species of fish, and are now biome based, so depending on where you are in the world and how deep you are below the surface, different fish will spawn.

Being physics based means the fish can be trapped, or wash up. Out of water, the fish will flip and flap in an effort to return to the water. Please do help them back to the water as they can die if they are out of the water for too long. Many boats and ships are faster than fish and should you impact a fish, listen out for a satisfying slap sound.

Patch Notes

Please see below for the full list of patch notes. This update also includes important fixes and improvements.

We continue to work hard on other fixes and improvements that players have kindly reported on the official issue tracker. The next update will be dedicated to bug fixes.

We hope you enjoy this new free update and look forward to your thoughts and feedback!

Much love
The Stormworks Developers



v1.4.4

Feature - Natural Disasters
Feature - Weather System Rework
Feature - Disaster Relief Missions
Feature - Fish Wildlife System
Feature - Air Raid Siren Component

Radial Tsunamis
Meteor Strikes
Volcanic Eruptions
Tornados
Whirlpools

Fix - Crash in multiplayer when entering/exiting seats
Fix - Weapons addon tank damages itself when pitching turret
Fix - Default addon zones sometimes being mis-positioned
Rework - Mount Goldblum is now a volcano
Rework - Megalodon now have 5x more health

Additional Info:

Natural disasters can now spawn through the world, and are interlinked with the mission system.
Although rare, natural disasters will make missions more challenging and spawn more frequently as time passes.
A new save is recommended to enable the default_natural_disasters addon for the full experience.

Weather is no longer bound to the host's position:
- Custom menu sliders now display client-side local weather conditions when not overriding
- getWeather now correctly samples the target position

Fish can be enabled by toggling wildlife in general settings (moved from graphics settings); their spawnrate can be adjusted by the game host in general settings.

Volcanic ash can clog up air intakes, be careful when navigating them in vehicles.

We are expecting to make some balance changes on spawnrates, strength and other factors of natural disasters based on player feedback, the disasters may be very ferocious on launch day so keep a keen eye on the horizon!

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Dear Stormworkers,

The Natural Disasters Major Update is almost here! We will be hosting a launch party stream at 16:00 on Thursday February 3rd, which is 1 hour before the launch of this new major update. We will be chatting with players and answering your questions, playing and discussing the new update! Please join us for this live stream and the big launch!



The Natural Disasters Major Update includes new volcanic eruptions, tornados, meteor strikes, whirlpools, rogue waves, radial tsunamis, and new mission content. See the previous announcement for full details on the new main features!



In the live stream, we will be discussing more in detail, as well as some of the other features, improvements and fixes that have not yet been announced in full. We have finally got that new microphone that we have been promising so audio quality should be much improved.

We look forward to talking to you at the launch party live stream!

Much love
The Stormworks Developers