NEBULOUS: Fleet Command News

Many of your have been requesting the ability to rebind keys, and it was unfortunately one of the things that did not make the cut before EA release last Friday. You can now rebind keyboard controls, or just view them, via the settings menu under the new Controls tab.

Keyboard shortcuts have two primary contexts: widget open and widget closed. The same key can be used for multiple actions, as long as their context is different. Some keys, like the movement keys for the camera, cannot overlap with anything else.

Full patch notes below:

Changes/Features:
- Added key rebinding, accessible via the settings menu.
- Track projections on the sphere widget will now turn yellow when the tracks are inside the seeker cone representation.
- Rotated locked plane normal for sphere widget. Pressing the H key will toggle a vertical locking plane for the current azimuth.
- Default WCON status at start of the game is now FREE. If you don't want your ships to automatically return fire, set it back to TIGHT.
- Double-clicking on a lobby will now attempt to join it.
- Added a faint background to in-game chat messages.
- Weapons firing on a target that is out of range will now indicate "Out of Range" in their status tooltip instead of "Bearing To Target".
- Narration in Tutorial 6 will now pause until each waypoint is placed while arranging the first waypoint strike.

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed glitchy rendering of some widget lines.
- Fixed KIL and PRI buttons not being greyed out when not opened on a track.
- Fixed some sound effects not having the audio mixers correctly applied to them.
- Disabled threaded nameplate texture compression, they are now done on the main thread. The game will stutter a bit while generating nameplates, but should resolve some crashes.
- Camera will no longer end up inside ships when focusing from very small objects such as missiles.
- Fixed Steam rich presence showing "%map_name%" when in the tutorial missions.

Changes/Features:
- Enabled aggressive texture scaling (down to 1/8th resolution at Very Low) at lower graphics settings to further reduce video memory demand.
- Made map boundary line more obvious in tactical view.
- Lobby passwords are now masked with *'s.
- Added message log to tutorial missions, accessible through the escape menu.
- Pressing the H key when using the sphere widget will toggle locking the cursor onto the horizontal plane, for easy horizontal direction picking.
- Added player slot limit dropdown to lobby settings. Note that full lobbies (i.e. 4/4 players) will not be returned in queries when refreshing the lobby list.

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed tutorial dialog messages not waiting for the continue button to be clicked if the escape menu was opened in the middle of a line.
- Fixed players getting disconnected if they send a lobby chat message when the host is starting the game.

We've received a lot of feedback on the sphere widget in the last few days, and this patch includes a number of usability improvements, both functional and visual, to help improve its readability. Thanks for all of your support!

Changes/Features:
- Reduced unmasking driver priority for the Bullseye, so it won't override weapons.
- Sphere widget now always opens with the cursor on the far side of the sphere, regardless of initial mouse position.
- Added additional help text to all widgets to make it clear the camera can be panned while they are open.
- Added accessibility option to further exaggerate perspective fading on sphere widget target lines.
- Sphere widget target cursor and track projections now change to a box on the near side, and circle on the far side.
- Escape menu Exit buttons now say "Exit to Main Menu".

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed socket outlines in fleet editor disappearing when hitting ESC with the ammo selection menu open.
- The SIGNAL menu is no longer locked during practice mode in tutorial 6.
- Tutorial 1 will no longer hang (until you start a new formation order) if you complete setting up the formation before LT Hazel tells you where the button is.
- Corrected Mace torpedo description.
- Added missing range marks at 10km and 20km to Mk550 Mass Driver stats.

Changes/Features:
- Re-implemented perspective fading on sphere widget target lines.
- Changed Steam lobby queries to return lobbies worldwide instead of just the current region. Beware of latency with distant games!
- Added option to graphics settings to disable baking of nameplates, for computers with low video memory.

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed failing to join on friend's lobbies when using Steam invites.

Thank you everyone for a wonderful launch day! Here are a few minor changes and bug fixes based on feedback from our new players.

Changes/Features:
- Renamed "Campaign" main menu option to "Campaign/Tutorial".
- Achievements should no longer trigger in tutorial missions.
- Component palette now shows "[#x Compounding]" next to point cost when components have a compounding cost based on the number installed.
- Chat in multiplayer lobby now automatically scrolls with new messages.
- Added "exit any time" to bottom of end-game text, to make that clearer.

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed CTD when trying to form a ship with itself. The selected ship is no longer a valid Guide target.
- Fixed lollipop stick footprints on range plane not positioning correctly when using the Dial widget.
- Fixed sphere widget not consistently opening on the correct side based on the initial mouse position.
- Fixed minor typos and lore mistakes in component descriptions.