Gaia Beyond News

Heya space travelers!

A lot has happened in the last month – new sidequests, a new ship and a lot of general improvements to the world and gameplay are here! Also, we got rid of some older tasks and did some cosmetics. Thanks to the great community feedback! Another update is already in the making and we won't stop - so stay tuned!

Anyway, have fun and let us hear your thoughts here or on Discord!




[h2]Fulfill the brutal quest for music[/h2]
This new sidequest finishes the mini storyline we began last year about the band from the future - BG5000. Discover the location of all four band instruments and retrieve them. Rumors have it that a cult of Seraphim monks got their hands on RADIOAKTIV MNNN's bass!

All the instruments come with unique sounds – most of them played by the band itself, and if you become friends with the guys, they might even play a little (and very loud) concert for you! ;)

Any other space games that feature a Casio VL-1?


[h2]Hear the tale of the lost luggage[/h2]
Help Kenak's Assistant to retrieve the lost luggage, meet an eccentric fashion designer and decide the fate of an obsessive luggage thief.




[h2]New ISA ship: Magellan[/h2]
A heavy cruiser designed by the ISA for exploration and research purposes... but easily turned into a powerful battleship with the right weapon loadout – all for science!




[h2]Weapons[/h2]

• New weapons: Plasma Missile & Plasma Missile Turret (available at ISA traders)
  
• Custom plasma hit FX for missiles
  

[h2]World[/h2]

• Containers from FTA ports now have custom-labeled container graphics
• Container freight drops are now improved
  
• Keycard drop graphics
  

They're extra BIG and extra GREEN to make it easier for your exhausted little explorer eyes! ;)


[h2]Images for readable items[/h2]
The content of readable items (what is displayed via the 'Inspect' button) now allows the use of in-text images. There already are some first ones in use, but we don't want to spoil the graphics here. However, here are some hints where you can find them – look out for:

• A "kid's" drawing ;)
• Van Gaan's exclusive fashion collection
• Harrison Cruise's movie covers

[h2]Portraits[/h2]

• Just in time: This new guy jumped on the update at the last minute and increases the Companionship of Commerce portrait count by 1.
  
  
  
• Van Gaan
  This guy is not your average space citizen – he's a fashion pioneer, a true visionary who doesn't accept any kind of failure. Find out what he's so upset about, and maybe you can give him a helping hand!
  
  
  
• FTA male head pants variation
  (too ridiculous to spoil here... :D)
  

[h2]Stats & balancing[/h2]

• Some ship and weapon balancing thanks to roogun!
  
  
  • Gylva view range increased to 1150
    
  • Jah-One view range decreased to 1200
    
  • Rook view range decreased to 800
    
  • Rook radar range increased to 1000
    
  • Kujirame engine acceleration decreased to 115
    
  • Potemkin engine acceleration increased to 60
    
  • Patriot engine eacceleration decreased to 45
    
  • Patriot max speed increased to 100
    
  • Albion engine acceleration decreased to 135
    
  • Prophet max speed increased to 138
    
  • Europa max speed decreased to 107,5
    
  • Genbu turn rate max decreased to 0,75
    
  • D-2 Launcher now has the correct amount of upgrade levels
    
• Spray paint items reduced to container level 1
  
• Quest items tradable settings reworked
  
• Increase the Inner Aegis hull regeneration
  

[h2]First (small) FTA changes[/h2]

• New agents in preparation for FTA trade mission improvements
  
• Every station now has its own and correct leading person (removed the old, faulty leading persons)
  
• Some dialog improvements, especially the introduction @Agent Xander
  
• Added O'Maley and the Lost and Found Chest to FTA Samson
  

[h2]World[/h2]

• Enable radiation damage to NPCs in outer space
  
• More shields and devices for Marcel Wallas to sell in case you've chosen "shield shop" or "devices shop" as option
  
• Added some dialog for Buren for his trade contract option
  
• Added a cheap J-12 shield for Sub-Members
  
• Added more Auxilium and Cameron dialog about pirates
  

[h2]Portrait polishing & quick fixes[/h2]

[h2]Waechter hacking[/h2]

• To make the impact of your dialog decisions during the hacking event more obvious, we've added an indicator that highlights the hacking progress bonus gained from each answer.

[h2]Mission icon visibility[/h2]

In order to avoid losing track of the mission targets, we have taken some measures:

• Mission icons don't scale down while zooming out
  
• Nearby target's mission icons are moved back to the screen if positioned off-screen
  
• Main mission icons are highlighted to make them stand out more
  

[h2]Other UI improvements[/h2]

• Improve the inspect box auto layout
  
• When a mission target is visible, limit the icon pos to the screen rect
  
• Quick Travel mission icons added
  
• Unique target icon for "destroy target" mission counter
  

• Global draw buffer corruption after loading (rare)
  
• Battleship and Capital ship classes should not AI trade
  
• Quest item counter doesn't show the correct number when dropping/selling something
  
• Removed the Raym's Runner drop from the BG5k group
  
• Jurgen's mission has to be active for the game to try to add any progress to the quest at the Ganymede Log Node
  
• Paranoid Pirate Hunting: misplaced pirate spawner
  
• Weapons/Shields/Devices should not draw in map mode
  
• Brutale Reunion: last stage is crossed out, and swapped with title, when mission is finished
  
• Ship damage emitter continues when Inventory is opened (with autopause)
  
• Ship selection is drawn behind asteroids
  
• Weapon has different price in comparison tooltip
  
• Rare level unload crash
  
• Selection hints: Changing the font size refreshes the window with a wrong text
  
• Dropped items disappear on second save
  
• Weapon/Shield/Device tooltip should be without the price coloring
  
• Only show the fire rate for laser tooltips if it is over 0
  
• Show the full range for weapon accuracy
  
• Death Seeker rockets are now labeled correctly as pirate weapon
  
• Readable item corrections (spelling, weight)
  
• Date display cut off in some resolutions
  
• Blueprint producer assignments corrected
  
• Shock Turret wrong inventory icon
  
• Imperial Justice turret had no label
  
• Some dds files removed and link corrections
  

Let's have a chat on Discord:



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What's up space travelers!

Here we are reporting back from 2021. We hope you had a pleasant start into the new year so far and enjoyed the spectacular preview of our neighboring planet Mars.

In the past two months we had a little personal business to take care of, as two of our team members moved their homes (we remain international and keep covering a span of timezones ;)) but as you will see below, this hasn't harmed the production at all. This update is no smaller than any other and we've added a lot of new content and made some changes that will greatly improve your space experience!

As always, we're looking forward to your feedback!







[h2]Turret system rework[/h2]
After some irritation, we have improved the way turrets fire at targets. The two most important changes are:

• [h3]Free aiming[/h3]
  Turrets follow your mouse cursor when no weapon target is selected, so you can shoot enemies or asteroids manually.
  
• [h3]Firing order[/h3]
  Turrets no longer automatically open fire on a focused target. They remain in 'wait' mode and display target lines until you press the fire button.
  
  Further steps are planned to improve weapon handling even more. We want to add options to the cooldown HUD that allow customizing the behavior for each weapon on the fly.

[h2]Repair laser[/h2]
The Sphere's 'Naoru Laser' fixes broken hulls of allied or neutral NPCs. Use the standard selector instead of the weapon target to focus on a ship and the repair progress will start automatically.




[h2]Drop variations[/h2]
Battles can get messy – custom drop graphics for weapons, shields, blueprints and readable documents now highlight valuable items and help you distinguish between a boss fight reward and Cheezy Poofs – unless the reward is Cheezy Poofs.




[h2]New portraits[/h2]
The character drawing frenzy hasn't ended yet and a lot of new faces have joined your solar neighborhood:

• [h3]NPCs[/h3]
  To bring more variety into the crowd and to emphasize the factions' appearance step by step, we have focused on the creation of random NPCs this time – and as many variations as possible.

(Even more new heads are already lining up and waiting to get their bodies).


• [h3]BG5000[/h3]
  The crew is complete! Theoretically. In fact they're spread all over the place and it's still up to you to reunite these rockstars from the future.
  

[h2]Chest image variations[/h2]
Chest images now indicate their status – whether they are locked or broken – and make it easier to see which skill is needed.




[h2]New sidequests + achievement[/h2]

New bounty hunter missions (more to come). Also, if you got Marcel Wallas to stay on Pluto, he's now eagerly waiting to start his business. Decide on a trade route (choose between weapons, shields and other equipment or resources) to boost Pluto's economy - and unlock the 'Home Economics' achievement!







[h2]World[/h2]

• Added some new NPCs
  
• Update NPC sorting and descriptions
  
• Stronger decel power for stations
  
• Autopilot evasion: Prioritize high mass ships (stations, capitals)
  
• Medium range evasion: do not evade anything inside or beyond the target pos
  
• Do not avoid ships/stations on autopilot with a higher engine accel
  
• Evasion: reduce speed if something is right in front
  
• Show the turret weapon max range before the turret was fired
  
• Added specific dialog reactions to some NPCs (looking at the player / moving towards the player / not reacting at all)
  
• Minor improvements on Sphere solar station graphics
  
• Do not allow saving while in a fight (because projectiles are not saved)
  

[h2]UI[/h2]

• Higher texture resolution for emitter when drawn in the GUI
  
• Show the ship weapons in the Inventory
  
• Controller: Sort the location icons index automatically
  
• Ship Trade HUD: Add a text animation
  

[h2]Portraits[/h2]

• Rajid got a whole new head!
  
  

'If my head wasn't attached to my shoulders, I would forget it every morning.' – Well bro, actually it isn't.

• Some more character portraits have been polished
  

• Ship death drops can use a wrong lowered amount
  
• Xentron Revealed: Caduceus shouldn't attack player before mission start
  
• Changed the sidequest "Sleeping Pods for Three, No Pets!" so that a quest progress reduction shouldn't be possible anymore
  
• The Isaac Family should now react accordingly after they decided to stay or leave Pluto
  
• Genocide Arrest mission progress reduced
  
• "Genocide Arrest": The transports should stop when the fight is active
  
• Crash Course can get stuck at 56% or 57% if the mission dialog is still open
  
• Pirates always respawn when loading a save
  
• Inventory HUD: MultiColumnList getItemAtGridReference crash
  
• Controller: Track the FocusBox better and also remove it when its input receiver has lost the focus
  
• Controller: FocusBox size can be wrong (MultiColumnList item selection can be hidden and other possible problems)
  
• Controller: Don't create a FocusBox for MultiColumnList windows with multi selection mode enabled
  
• Possible 1 frame delayed collisions with destroyed sprites, especially bullets
  
• Draw ship weapons/devices/shield even if ship is out of player radar range, but visible on screen
  
• Ship fight mode "back off" vector could be broken when avoidance was activated
  
• Travel group: Fighting ships don't use max speed
  
• Travel groups: Be more picky about follower repositioning (avoid constant repositioning, which blocks evasion)
  
• The ship speed reduction function does not work correctly in all situations (ship vel can be too high)
  
• Make travel group ship vel adjustments more stable
  
• Mutato-chan dialog triggers dialog switch for "the Kid" only once
  
• Tezla astronaut and FTA trade mission: timer doesn't display 1-sec steps
  
• Spawner spawned sprites need to check for visible earlier (Newly spawned ships visible for 1 frame after tutorial dialog)
  
• The person list quest target vanishes when multiple missions have the same target (If you promise Chondros his meds, but still haven't gotten his blood test)
  
• Guard Moldau only switches to dialog block 3 once
  
• Sun-Moon should switch to correct dialog block now after his brother is returned to the colony
  
• Radioactive chest explosion on Essex wreck spawns 2 human bodies
  
• Disable medium range evasion for stations
  
• Pirate ships near pirate stations can become stuck
  
• GUI Sprite Renderer: Do not draw the muzzle emitter
  
• FTA Agent License: Require 20 instead of 21 completed missions
  
• Upgrade HUD: Handle generic key events (like screenshot)
  
• Clear_Dist_Callback() is not called anymore
  
• Disable system-defaulted language for incomplete translations
  
• Do not restore a ship weapon target with a pos target (fixes Faction_Aggro_Reset)
  
• Health bars block zooming with the mouse
  
• Romancing_the_Stone_Pirate_Ambush_Callback() can be triggered multiple times
  
• Trash Panda: only allow selling trash when you have it and reduce the trash price to 4
  
• Setting the player name to an existing npc name (like Auxilium) does not switch the dialog drawable when talking with that npc
  
• Map markers are drawn behind other icons
  
• Batched map icons are not fully sorted (sun can be over stations)
  
• Don't crash if a non-templated container object exists twice
  
• Change "Kinetic Damage" to "Kinetic Repair" when dmg is negative
  
• Weapon target selection is using the last hovered sprite while left click is held down
  
• Shield damage overlay has wrong position for pirate stations
  
• Show the health bar when repairing ships
  
• Cooldown HUD: Disabling a weapon should stop shooting instantly
  
• Blueprint inventory item: frame color doesn't match font color
  
• Removed an unnecessary Pvt Feng dialog block switch
  
• Removed some duplicated entries in the ship data
  
• Removed an unnecessary dialog block switch for The Archbishop
  
• Memory Leak: Device emitter are not deleted
  
• "drop_collect_sound_group astronaut not found" when game sound is disabled
  

Let's have a chat on Discord:



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Hey space traveler,

The curse is over! Thanks to your help the hellish gates have disappeared and all those nasty eyeballs, skulls and whatever else have been banished back into the Wicked Dimension. For the moment.

The solar system is blooming again and humanity can recover, with visible impact: The unification of portrait styles is making progress and although the process may still take a while, we look into optimistic faces. Ben is getting closer to become a master shield builder (for which he could still use your help) and shiny credits and valuable goods are stocking up at the top corners of your screen.






[h2]Some QoL enhancements[/h2]

• [h3]Custom map markers[/h3]
  Where was that grind trader again? What was the password for that wreck terminal? Found some mysterious diary entries or a hidden quest location? Hit 'M' to place your map markers anywhere and never get lost in the void again!

• [h3]Permanent HUD infos[/h3]
  You now have the possibility to get useful statistics – like player credits, ship cargo or the date – permanently displayed on the screen!

[h2]New portraits[/h2]

• New female player portrait
  
• Atlantic random male
  
• J-12 random male
  
  Read more about the current portrait development below!

[h2]New sidequests[/h2]

• Ben wants to continue his shield crafting. Can you help him with his new designs? More incoming!

[h2]Character polishing[/h2]

(Click for a before-after GIF)

The characters were the focus of the graphic work for this update, with the main goal to find a way to unify the different styles that have sneaked into the character pool over the years. So instead of simply drowning them in even more effects, a daily drawing routine confronted the portraits with their essential structure of lighting and anatomy, often resulting in a complete redrawing of faces. Of course, this was not done for all portraits (100 to 200+ if you count the variations) at once and will take more time, but the direction is clearer and the process gets faster. As a nice side effect, many interesting sketches and in-progress pieces were created, which hopefully will soon bring a greater variety!





[h2]General[/h2]

• Hide ships and stations that are not in radar range
  
• Map Mode: Show enemy ships in red color (like the Radar HUD)
  
• Show the basic cargo price difference visually
  
• Many controller improvements
  
• Options menu: Add a "Pause on map attack" setting
  
• Cooldown HUD: Do not fully fade out (allow a mouse hover to restore it - so we can open it before selecting a weapon target)
  
• Basic support for healing weapons
  
• Shields initialize 6 times faster on landables (and regen faster)
  
• Another run of portrait reassignments
  
• Ferrara: Some visual improvements
  
• Map mode camera info moved to bottom
  
• Nanobots FX improvement
  

• Auxi tutorial can break when talking to Shiro
  
• Unknown mission target icon is not drawn anymore
  
• Savegame upgrade for Devi dead (older saves)
  
• Mission HUD: The last selected mission is not re-selected again if the mission percentage changes
  
• Some custom controller buttons are never saved
  
• Missing template log warning: data and template name can be incorrect
  

Let's have a chat on Discord:



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OMG, space traveler!

This is terrible. The gates have opened once again and dreadful creatures from the wicked dimension have taken over the solar system. But even worse: Restless souls have also risen from the realm of the undead, and we all know who will have to clean up this giant mess... Count Ixua is waiting next to Pluto for further instructions.

🎃 Happy Halloween! 🎃


As always, unlocked Halloween content will be saved with your character and still be available after the event.






[h2]The Osyluth[/h2]



A terrifying sight. The Bonelord has used this vessel to sneak into the world of the living – and is now terrorizing the people. Defeat him to get the blueprint and some devastating out-of-this-world weapons!


[h2]Cthulhu's Eye[/h2]



You cannot hide from this evil creature – neither can your enemies once you've tamed it! Is it really from the realm of the undead or the chunky world of another video game?


[h2]Mr. Deadhead[/h2]



Haunted weapon and ruthless enemy – this bony fella is both!


[h2]Other[/h2]

• Collectable bone item
  
• Custom inventory icons for all new Halloween gimmicks
  
• New weapons coming with custom sounds and VFX
  
• Basic muzzle effect for default projectiles
  

• Travel group path finding is more precise
  
• FTA missions: Reward based on how dangerous/complicated the route is (beta)
  
• Added animated lights to old skull turrets
  
• Added over a dozens new blueprints/blueprint drop chances and craftable ships to Rajid
  
• Undocking: Instantly undock if the distance to the target point increases
  
• Comrade Cannon energy usage increased, inaccuracy of basic level increased, min fire interval increased, weapon upgrades improved (basic weapon was way too strong after the latest weapon patch)
  
• Inventory: Drop button should be greyed-out when it can't be used (like Inspect)
  
• Mercia speed and acceleration increased, classifies now as Battleship
  
• Own faction (with logo) for the BG5K sidequest
  
• Memory usage: Do not cache landable location images
  
• Pumpkin Shredder hit / non-hit sounds swapped, reduced volume
  
• General performance improvements
  
• Update the player selection animation even when paused
  

• Ice Cubes (Flowers) are being pushed away from positions
  
• Ice Cubes (Flowers) disappear on second savegame load (spawned setting is not retained)
  
• Cargoneer and Express prices were missing
  
• Rocket trails are sometimes not drawn
  
• Cargo selected item amount is not refreshed correctly sometimes
  
• Ships can be endlessly in landing mode when the target is destroyed or save upgrade removed
  
• "Lion's Heart" and "Ansatsusha no Gusoku" shields should not be spawned
  
• BG5000 astronaut spawners were not deleted
  
• Inventory: Ships stats only show the turn rate accel, not max
  
• Ganymede Log Node does not repeat the quest stage for Xiao's sidequest
  
• Guard Numi switches dialog block after Caduceus has been defeated
  
• Erased a possibility, in which a certain dialog/event route could let Lt. Devi stay on Caduceus HQ
  
• Lucca now switches his dialog if the player fails to stop his transport from entering Caduceus Station
  
• Pirate bounty targets at Tate Tobin can now be destroyed from long range without them respawning afterwards
  
• Remove very old savegame support
  

Let's have a chat on Discord:



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Welcome back, space pilots!

It took a little time, but the ending after the Caduceus boss battle has been reworked and improved, so that later additions will be easier and the end of chapter 1 gets a better feeling all around. New transporters are available and the desired alternative control schemes have been implemented for a first test flight. Thanks for all the great feedback and bug reports, more content is already on the way.





[h2]Movement Layouts[/h2]



We know a lot of people have been waiting for it. To switch your control scheme, simply use the drop-down menu on the Controls tab, et voilá – no more dizziness for those who don't like to navigate their ship upside down! Also, the A/D rotation option has been added here in the form of a 'Tank' template.

• [h3]Rotated (default):[/h3] The ship automatically points at the cursor, with the A and D allowing us to strafe.
  
  
• [h3]Unrotated (new):[/h3]The ship directly moves towards the key direction while the rotation is still controlled by the cursor.
  
  
• [h3]Tank Controls[/h3] The 'classic' solution: At the cost of the ability to strafe, A and D rotate the ship ignoring the cursor.
  

[h2]New Ships[/h2]

'Albion' – You will no longer be laughed at when you show up at a battle with a transporter.


'Kujirame' – This high-tech transporter of the Sphere is the choice for heavy duties. Simply the biggest transporter in the game so far!


[h2]New Music[/h2]

A lot of epic new music by Miguel Johnson. This guy's output is incredible: While we were still busy implementing it, he already released his next full album Expedition Artemis, which we think is nothing less but a masterpiece. You should definitely listen to it on bandcamp and support him!

• 4 new songs for the final Caduceus story events (Rise of the Caduceus, Alien Planet, The Web, Sorrow of Gaia)
  
  
• 2 new ambient tracks (Citizen of the Stars, City Planet)

[h2]Autopilot Evasion[/h2]

• Support medium range detection

[h2]New Achievement[/h2]

• "Slayer of the Snake"

[h2]Story[/h2]

• During the course of chapter 1, patients are now vanishing from the Distribution Hall on Caduceus Station. Where are they going, what is happening to them?
  
  
• Cybille Croft is now leaving the station after you've helped her and has new dialog
  
  
• The epilog of chapter 1 has been reworked, dialogs improved and you can now explore what Caduceus have left on their station.

[h2]Dynamic cargo graphics[/h2]

This has been on the list for a long time – FTA and CoC transporters (that were actually designed for this concept) now dynamically change their appearance depending on the amount of stored freight.



[h2]General[/h2]

• Show a quest notification for finished/failed quests
  
• Near avoidance sensor range is based on ship speed and acceleration
  
• Show a message box when a very old graphics driver was detected
  
• Alternative Caduceus Distribution Hall 'takeover' image
  
• Nanobot emitters cover the whole ship
  
• Removed another auto pause after the Shiro dialog in the end sequence
  

• Lt. Devi and Kalypso are not reappearing anymore if they shouldn't
  
• Fixed one of Atlas dialog options after the ending, that could stop the scene after the boss battle from playing out correctly for some players
  
• Allow NPC ships to pos target respawning (non-targetable) stations
  
• Increase render staged buffer amount to 4 (might fix flickering)
  
• Glowing engine linked particle animation on ships (Peacekeeper / Yoddha / Invader) sometimes play from a random start pos
  
• Long Range Scan emitter is played only for the first time
  
• Trade tooltip compares equipped weapon with itself
  
• Trade HUD: Shortcut U opens amount popup for preselected item stacks
  
• Do not try to endlessly play a missing music file (remove it from the active tracks)
  
• Use the correct fade_in setting when music is enabled ingame
  
• Mechanic Work Clothes inconsistent item type / icon
  
• Some dialog corrections
  

Let's have a chat on Discord:



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