Between the Stars News

Hello everyone!

There's a new update available in the Beta branch. Remember that in order to join the Beta, all you have to do is right click on Between the Stars in your library, click Properties, Betas and opt into the beta we have there.

This new update improves the performance of the game. In our test we estimate that with the new improvements the game has increased the frame rate by a 20%, but it can change depending mainly on the CPU.

We also added new event illustrations and fixed some bugs.

Please, check the new version out and let us know how it runs on your machines!

[h3]Change Log 0.2.2.0.4.0b[/h3]

• The engine has been updated to Unity 2018.4.
  
• The game now uses multithreading on some functions to improve CPU performance.
  
• The ships shader has been improved to increase performance and improve graphic quality.
  
• The use of materials has been optimized to increase performance.
  
• Particle systems have been optimized.
  
• The code of various systems has been rewritten to increase performance.
  
• We've fixed a bug that always activated motion blur when starting the game.
  
• Shotgun weapon operation has been fixed.
  
• Fixed a bug in laser weapons that caused the laser to turn on and off constantly.
  
• New illustrations have been added.
  
• Numerous texts have been corrected.
  

On a different note, the chinese translation is underway and will be available on Whisper Games behalf in the coming months!

Thanks for your support!

Hello everyone!

This update has been being worked on since October, that’s 8 months’ worth of changes, missions, quests, writing, dialogue, voicework and art. We’ve been working non-stop and are extremely proud to present you with this update!

• Experience a brand-new chapter in the Between the Stars story, with a whopping 60 new main quests to follow. This latest branch of the story takes you far behind enemy lines in an undercover mission with a number of branching narratives.
  
  
• There are also three new playable ships, alongside an additional two that we've added, and a sixth one that is only pilotable by you. This means six new ships in the game that you can pilot. That's a whopping 15 playable ships vs the 9 you could previously play as.
  
  
• Many new illustrations have been added for specific key events. Here is an example it's from the quest The White Family Farm.
  
  
  
  
  
• As stated before, we’ve also added over 1350 spoken lines of dialogue, which we feel flesh out the game very well. We hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
  
  
• We've also added a Wingman system to the game, which lets you have two additional ships that accompany you and help you out in combat, in the future we'd like to build upon this system and make it deeper!
  
  
• We have spent a lot of time listening to your feedback and added many Quality of Life improvements as well. One of the most recurring topics on the forums was the inability to view the Children of the Sun’s ships properly. We’ve corrected textures and added new outline shaders to increase their visibility considerably.
  
  
• Many people have given feedback regarding the dice rolls in the game. We've added the option to play the game with or without the dice rolls and the dice combat. You can toggle them in the options menu.
  
  
• There have been some forum posts about the negative traits your captain can obtain, and we have also added the option to turn these off now.
  
  
• In addition, there are 21 new achievements to the game, which add on to the 49 previous ones, making 71 achievements in total!
  

[h3]33% Discount[/h3]
To celebrate this massive update, we’ve decided to put the game on sale at a whopping 33% off! That’s a third off! Take advantage of this sale while it lasts!



[h3]Chinese Translation coming soon![/h3]
Last but not least, we’ve teamed up with Whisper Games to bring Between the Stars to China! They are diligently working on a Chinese localization for the game, which should be ready this year!




[h3]Change Log - v0.2.2.0.2 From the Inside[/h3]

• 60 new main story events have been added.
  
• We've added a new bounty hunter mission.
  
• We've added 4 new secondary events.
  
• Three new playable ships of the Children of the Sun are available.
  
• We've added two new ships that are available as AI ships and as playable ships.
  
• We've added a new playable ship.
  
• Three new weapons have been added:
  - 15-PAC Plasma Artillery Cannon
  - 22-PAC Plasma Artillery Cannon
  - 34-PAC Plasma Artillery Cannon
  
• The wingman system has been added. This system allows ships to accompany the player.
  
• Added the option to play without dice-based crew battles. Players who prefer to play without these bouts can disable them from the "Game" panel in options.
  
• Added option to play dice rolls. Players who prefer to play without dice rolls can disable them from the "Game" panel in options.
  
• Added an option to disable effects of captain's negative attributes. Players who prefer to play without negative attributes can disable them from the "Game" panel in options.
  
• We have added an outline to the enemy ships. You can enable or disable this in options.
  
• The textures of the ships of the Children of the Sun have been improved to increase their visibility.
  
• The event window has been increased in size to make it easier to read.
  
• Added the option “ships detail” in options. This option shows or hides side-powered engines and their effects on AI-controlled ships.
  
• We've added 21 new achievements.
  
• We've added a new song.
  
• We've replaced the voice clips for Patrick Jackson.
  
• More than 1,350 voice clips have been added.
  
• The color of the marker for allied and enemy ships has been changed, which now becomes blue and orange-red. This has been done to make it easier for people who are color blind to see.
  
• Loot marker color changed to orange.
  
  
• The number of artillery cannons that can be equipped on enemy ships has been limited.
  
• Much of the damage to shields caused by conventional artillery guns has been reduced.
  
• The accuracy of artillery guns has been reduced.
  
• The energy cost of artillery cannons has been reduced
  
• We've resolved an error in weapon balance:
  
• 200-ALC Argonic Laser Cannon
  
• 2-200-ALC Dual Argonic Laser Cannon
  
• We've resolved an error in balance in the final upgrade level of the R120 Launch Rocket System.
  
• We've readjusted the balance of some weapons.
  
  
• The bug report tool has been fixed and improved.
  
• A bug that gave wrong statistics to weapon upgrades has been solved.
  
• We’ve corrected an error in the information about crew member bonuses.
  
• Fixed a bug which did not show the captain's name when an attribute was gained.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused some enemy ships to appear scanned from the start.
  
• A bug in the language selection has been fixed.
  
• A minor bug that affected the facial animation of some characters has been fixed.
  
• A graphic bug that activated lasers when they did not have a shooting angle has been fixed.
  
• A graphic bug that caused lasers to go through ships and objects has been fixed.
  
• We've fixed a graphical glitch in the projectiles of flak weapons.
  
• We've resolved a bug that caused a station to be created without docks, impeding the player to be able to dock on it.
  
• A bug that showed duplicated information of the researched blueprints has been fixed.
  
• We’ve fixed a bug that took health off of the player ship when loading a game or changing ships.
  
• A bug that generated an error in the price of scrapping some weapons has been fixed.
  
• A bug that made the crew member bonuses not apply from the start on the player's ship has been resolved.
  
• We've fixed a bug in the recruit list buttons.
  
• An error that wouldn't update the name of your ship in the shipyard has been solved.
  
• A bug that allowed you to go to the internal view of the ship while docking has been solved.
  
• We’ve fixed a bug that was keeping points of interest active when leaving a station
  
• An error that didn't make the player chosen emblem show up on the crew member's uniforms has been solved.
  
  
• A bug that caused some events to duplicate a crew member's name has been solved.
  
• Fixed a bug in the earning of the Crew member sandwich achievement.
  
• A bug in the achievement Defective Delivery has been fixed.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the information of the reward and the item delivered to not be shown in the delivery missions.
  
• Event (#38) now gives credits as a reward.
  
• Freighter Without a Response contract (#54) now gives credits as a reward.
  
• Looter Trouble contract (#58) now gives reward credits correctly.
  
• Fixed a bug in the event "A new beginning" (#114) that kept the Hallowey family on the ship despite having left them.
  
• Fixed a bug in the event "Choosing a Future" (# 120) where a wrong contract was given avoiding continuing the story.
  
• We've re-designed buttons for the event "The Jewelry" (#156).
  
• Fixed a bug in the event "The Council" (#168) regarding the status of Dr. Banner.
  
• We've resolved an error in event 191, which made it so that by mistake it wouldn't kill a crew member.
  
• A bug that softlocked the game in the event Dinner Invitation (#208) has been fixed.
  

As you can see, we’ve been quite busy, but work isn’t stopping for us just yet, we’ll now start work on the game’s fifth and final chapter!

Hey there everyone! We have some great news. Work on Chapter 4 of Between the Stars is almost done and we are about to finish the beta phase!

The good news is that you too can join in on the Beta phase right now and try out the many new hours of content that we have prepared for you. Please, remember to use the bug report system in-game by hitting the B key.

In order to join the Beta, all you have to do is right click on Between the Stars in your library. Click Properties, Betas and opt into the beta we have there, it’s that simple!

Here is a changelog for the beta's latest build:

Beta Change Log v0.2.2.0.2.12b

• We've solved a bug that lowered the shields of a player's ship to below 20% upon loading a game.
  
• A bug in the scale of flames that appear when you destroy a station turret has been resolved.
  
• A bug in the achievement Defective Delivery has been fixed.
  
• We’ve added a new battle in the mission Heads or Tails (#254).
  
• We've added 3 new unlockable ships.
  
• We've added a new bounty hunter mission.
  
• We've added 4 new secondary events.
  
• We've fixed a graphical glitch in the projectiles of flak weapons.
  
• We've resolved an error in event 191, which made it so that by mistake it wouldn't kill a crew member.
  
• We’ve fixed a bug that kept a docking bay from being assigned in the mission Towards the Dome (#174).
  
• We've re-designed buttons for the event "The Jewelry" (#156).
  
• A bug in the crew combat of the mission "All on Black" (#239) has been fixed.
  

Expect the 4th chapter in the coming days!

Hello everyone!

We've finally finished the fourth chapter (the largest by very far!) of Between the Stars, alongside a host of new changes and additions to existing gameplay.

As this is a very large patch we would like to Beta test it for at least a few weeks in order to gather your feedback prior to releasing this into the wild.

If you would like to join the Beta Branch and play the fourth chapter, as well as all of the new features, all you have to do is click on the game in your steam library, then right click, click on properties, click BETAS and then click beta.

Please understand that this is a BETA release and that there are risk of bugs, errors and crashes. We reccomend you make a backup of your save file just in case. We don't anticipate any large issues but as with any beta, it's better to be safe than sorry.

To backup your game, save the folder C:/Users/YOUR USER/AppData/LocalLow/Isolated Games/Between the Stars/SavedData

Besides the bugs and issues you might notice, this Beta build lacks some balancing, polish and a few tweaks that will be incoming in the coming days.

The following is a changelog for this version of the game:

[h3]Beta Change Log - v0.2.2.0.2b[/h3]

• We have added an outline to the enemy ships. You can enable or disable this in options.
  
• The textures of the ships of the Children of the Sun have been improved to increase their visibility.
  
• The event window has been increased in size to make it easier to read.
  
• New playable ships of the Children of the Sun have been added.
  
• The wingman system has been added. This system allows ships to accompany the player.
  
• Added two new ships that are available as AI ships and as playable ships.
  
• 60 new main story events have been added.
  
• More than 1,300 voice clips have been added.
  
• Added the option “ships detail” in options. This option shows or hides side-powered engines and their effects on AI-controlled ships.
  
• Three new weapons have been added:
  - 15-PAC Plasma Artillery Cannon
  - 22-PAC Plasma Artillery Cannon
  - 34-PAC Plasma Artillery Cannon
  
• Added the option to play without dice-based crew battles. Players who prefer to play without these bouts can disable them from the "Game" panel in options.
  
• Added option to play dice rolls. Players who prefer to play without dice rolls can disable them from the "Game" panel in options.
  
• Added an option to disable effects of captain's negative attributes. Players who prefer to play without negative attributes can disable them from the "Game" panel in options.
  
• The number of artillery cannons that can be equipped on enemy ships has been limited.
  
• Much of the damage to shields caused by conventional artillery guns has been reduced.
  
• The accuracy of artillery guns has been reduced.
  
• The energy cost of artillery cannons has been reduced
  
• Fixed a bug which did not show the captain's name when an attribute was gained.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused some enemy ships to appear scanned from the start.
  
• Fixed a bug in the event "A new beginning" (# 114) that kept the Hallowey family on the ship despite having left them.
  
• Fixed a bug in the event "The Council" (# 168) regarding the status of Dr. Banner.
  
• Fixed a bug in the event "Choosing a Future" (# 120) where a wrong contract was given avoiding continuing the story.
  
• A bug that softlocked the game in the event Dinner Invitation (# 208) has been fixed.
  
• A bug in the language selection has been fixed.
  
• A minor bug that affected the facial animation of some characters has been fixed.
  
• A graphic bug that activated lasers when they did not have a shooting angle has been fixed.
  
• A graphic bug that caused lasers to go through ships and objects has been fixed.
  
• The bug report tool has been fixed and improved.
  

Hello everyone!

It’s been quite some time since our last update. These months have been very complicated.

As we announced on Discord, we’ve started out the year on a bad foot. At the beginning of January, both me and the other developer of Between the Stars were hospitalized. Besides that, our translator decided to leave the team in the middle of the chapter without any warning. He simply stopped responding and blocked us.

But we are happy to communicate to you that we are completely recovered and we are back on track. The translation is already well underway and next month we plan to implement a large patch in the public beta with the continuation of the third chapter, among other things.

• Fourth chapter in the main campaign: Infiltrate the ranks of the Children of the Sun as one of their Captains and reveal the true plans of Emperor Nartos.
  60 new events that continue the story, doable in different order, making up for a total of seven different endings for the chapter.
  
  
• New hand drawn event picture captions: We've hired a concept artist to work the event imagery. The intention is to have images throughout the entire game's events and we'll work them in during Early Access. Here are a few samples:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• New wingman system: Now your allies can accompany you throughout your adventure.
  
  
• New playable ships: We will be adding new ships to the latest sectors available in the game.
  
  
• Visualization of enemy ships: One of the most recurring topics on the forums was the inability to view the Children of the Sun’s ships properly. We’ve corrected textures and added new outline shaders to increase their visibility considerably.
  
  
  
  It can be turned off from the options menu so you can play as you’ve been playing up until now if you like.
  

We hope you enjoy what's coming and wanted to thank you for your time and patience.