Starship EVO News

This update follows through on the latest effort on combat by making systems destruction a more viable strategy.
It adds a few new gameplay mechanics and some HUD feedback on players own ship and target ship systems HP.

Improvements and changes.

System Destroy chain: system blocks have a 75% of destroying a neighbor voxel.
Systems will cease to function under 50% HP.
HUD: system HP for own and target ship added.
Thruster system will emit some smoke when partly destroyed.
NB: Player will have ways to improve the previous stats through gameplay in upcoming updates.

Bugfixes:
#2741 Missing children entities on blueprint load.
#2721 #2738 Incorrect chunk information on blueprint load.
#2740 Build on a ship that is selected by the tracking cam breaks game.
#2731 Can link seat to buttons.
#2718 Mag-lock can lock to already locked entity
Mag-lock can lock circularly.
#2717 Grays paint not applied correctly on light.
#2734 Weapon spread not applied with gimbal weapons.

his update focuses at making hardpoints a more viable option for combat by adding gimbal, a target lead indicator, hitmarkers and a finer mouse control with the addition of a power curve.

Improvements and changes.

Gimbal added for fixed weapons.
Hit Marker added.
NPCs can uses fixed weapons.
Target Lead indicator for each hotkey added.
Mouse Power curve setting added: default is at 50%.
Some CPU optimizations

This build is part of the EXPERIMENTAL branch.

This update aims at addressing a few issues related to ship handling and durability for brick based ships.

Following players feedback a new Spaceship agility model is introduced:
Ship with more mass will turner slower at a given agility.
Some examples:
Up to 20T = 100% speed.
50T => 91% speed.
100T => 79% speed.
1000T => 49% speed.
10000T => 21% speed.
You might need to put more thrusters on your larger ship if it turns too slowly!

Improvements and changes.

• Ship agility rating is maxed out to 100% (it will still display score superior to 100% though).
  
• Bricks now provide some Armor and Hull Integrity according to their volume, up to 100 HP per voxel.
  
• Faster loading time.
  
• The Tracking Camera has better performance.
  
• Unstuck Command renamed to noclip mode.
  

Bugfixes:

• Weapon still visible when unequiped.
  
• Weapon on game reload when weapon is equiped
  
• #2713 Destroyed voxel during gameplay are still visible.
  
• #2711 Cant close command list menu with ESC
  
• #2712 Move faster / slower keys present in command list.
  
• #2707 Stuck message appearing in No Clip mode.
  
• #2701 Some transparent bricks are opaque in Ship Preview.
  
• #2708 Dropped weapon incorrect placement on reload.
  

This build aims at improving the character locomotion feel according to the feedback of the Early Access player. It fixes a few issues related to player movements and add a no-clip mode in case the player get stuck.

Also some fixes related to the latest rendering updates, it should be almost perfect now!

Changes

• Loading time should be a bit faster.
  
• Unstuck Mode added: press F5 to activated it.
  
• Is stuck message.
  
• Command List Menu: list all "hidden" hard keybinds like the F keys.
  
• Player stops walking faster.
  
• Fast Speed keys are now a debug toggle.
  
• Fast Speed factor HUD indicator.
  

Bugfixes:

• #2690 Wrong maglock mass limit computation.
  
• Player will be less likely to get stuck after a high fall.
  
• Inconsistent player jump.
  
• #2694 Maglock: Parented entity issue when parent is unspawned.
  
• #2700 Occlusion culling can cull close bricks.
  
• Occlusion culling can cull brick behind two closer bricks.
  
• Some decals are not visible up-close.
  

We have been hard at work on Starship EVO since the steam release!

As usual you can check the full patch list over our github.

Here is a quick recap:

• Workshop Support: you can now share your creations or try out other people ones!
  
• Starship Control improvements: a lot of new tester didnt like the starship control feel, it has been worked on and will feel much tighter and responsive!
  
• Rendering overhaul: it was a major milestone. In order to save precious CPU resources needed for gameplay we have improved the way voxel entities are rendered in game. The occlusion culling technique is now faster, decals are much improved all across the board, and all entities are batched together! You might see a significant gain in FPS depending on the scene and your PC config.
  
• Physics improvements: performances are massively improved for large build, collisions with asteroids are added and moving children entity will now lift other entity (you can make lift!)
  
• Build Accessibility: a new set of HUD elements have been added following tester feedback.
  
• Piston mechanism added: perfect for making quick landing gears!
  
• Maglock system added: you can now carry other ships in your main one.
  

Also check out the devlog on youtube:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Happy building!
Francois