ΔV: Rings of Saturn News

This is a polishing release. Changes:

• You can now disable gamepad / HOTAS input in settings.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause game to become unresponsive when multiple ships approached player.
  

This is a polishing release, fixing up some small, annoying bugs.

Changelog:

• Fixed display of the tutorial messages.
  
• Changing HUD size mid-flight won't cause your ship to go off-screen now.
  
• Tweaked AI so tugships will now be more helpful.
  
• Updated the translations.
  

This release brings two important changes.

Most significantly, it replaces the engine which runs the game to a custom version with important upgrades to stability. It should get rid of crashes to desktop. While compiling a own version of the engine was quite straightforward, the challenge came from making version for all the platforms game is released on. I aim to have first-class support for both Linux and MacOS users, and that meant I needed same, native code working for everyone.

Second important change is the expansion of comms system. Now you can have full RPG-sque dialog trees. You will find some of the dialogs already in this version, and more will follow in future patches.

Changelog:

• AI can now provide support for other ships.
  
• You can talk with some of the ships now.
  
• Added extra story events.
  
• Updated the game engine. It should not crash anymore.
  

September changes were all about on-boarding new players. I released 6 new versions (and numerous patched) that added new comms/dialog system, expanded tutorials and captain's logs to aid new players. We also featured a combat review, new camera modes and other quality-of-life improvements.

Since new players got so much attention in September, it's only fair to focus October on our long-time fans.

I plan to add a crew management mechanic to the game. You will be able to hire a crew - pilot, mechanic, geologist and perhaps others specialists. You'll have a weekly wages to pay, and in exchange the crew will lend in a hand in running your ship and company.


With addition of new dialog system I have a new opportunity to flesh out the story of the game. In October I plan to add at least 3 hours of storyline and some additional hook events to get you going with the story.


At least 20 additional upgrades will be added in October. These will range from new thrusters, mineral processing equipment, exchangeable excavators, different mining tools and drones - up to software upgrades for on-board computer.


Finally I plan to take extra time to ensure stability of the game. I tracked all the crashes we had to an engine problem that requires a upgrade. The Godot Engine 3.2 (and 3.1.2) is scheduled to release in October and I plan to upgrade to it as soon as it comes out. This will, hopefully, solve all crashes you are experiencing.

This release aims to improve combat experience. It improves Smart Camera, and combat AI, introduces a new option to disable the smart camera, tweaks in the AI (both for combat and conversations) and extends the degrees of freedom for your camera movement. This should allow better tactical overview in combat, make it easier to spot enemies and either combat and avoid them.

Changelog:

• Added option to disable Smart Camera.
  
• Tweaks in combat and out-of-combat AI.
  
• Made both reactor and thrusters tougher - they will no-longer be completely destroyed by a single hit.
  
• High-energy asteroid impacts have higher chance to expose minerals now.
  
• Camera can be now zoomed out further for better overview of surrounding area.
  
• Your ship will no longer go off-screen on 4K displays in native resolution.
  
• Performance improvements.
  
• Updated translation files.