Starfighter: Infinity News

OK, so since my last news post I have been busy working on lots of mainly small things. But I have been working on a missions revamp for a while now that should hopefully add loads more variety - basically im making a mission editor that I can use + some trusted players. Its about half way done. I'm also working on another 2 non playable races that will be for high level players. + also 3 more star systems. Ive been trying to get a linux version running, but its not there yet....

OK, so highlights of the recent updates:

SF:DG now bundled as part of the game - For the uninitiated. Starfighter: Infinity is a sequel to an older game: "Starfigther: Disputed Galaxy". This was a browser based game that has been offline for many years. Now if you go to the extras page via the main menu, then you can play it (single player only). This is mainly just for historical reasons, and it wont be supported. It is just PC for now, but I will maybe add it to Mac later

A bunch more random events. A cool one is a "Boss Fight" where 2 non playable race bosses will show up to do battle, if you keep out the crossfire then you can probably get some good loot.

New Race: Sheenites - A cool race with some cool loot. Based on the classic Flying saucer look with some retro weapons - they are a great fit for the tone of starfighter and have some interesting devices to allow you to fly your ship in different ways.

Solarions have had a facelift + a new ship to come. Also Dartians have some cool new devices that use mined Nickel to power them

Here are all the change notes from recent updates.....


[h3]Beta 0.22.6 - 20/04/2020[/h3]

• New joypad radial menu option - change it on the joypad rebinding screen (keys)
  
• Will ask you "Are you sure" before you sell a craftable/rare/seasonal weapon
  
• Fixes to VR menus
  
• VR Bug Fixed: hud disappearing when changing camera with joypad
  
• Fixed the Yellow Sun being pink
  
• Few other minor things
  

[h3]Beta 0.22.5 - 17/04/2020[/h3]

• Can now remap joypad buttons
  
• Lots more planet text (thanks Arthur)
  
• 3 new random sector events
  
• Starfighter: Disputed Galaxy included in "Extras"
  
• New Dartian Equipment/loot
  
• Can now have up to 200 slots in storage
  
• Fixed the bug with some primary weapon not being as accurate as they should
  
• VR: should be able to accept incoming messages with the Action button, and deny with the radar button - ive not properly tested
  
• Will try putting up a linux version
  
• Can switch the HUD font in the options menu - still not really happy with either, but this will make it easier to try out new ones - any ideas, let me know
  
• Fixed some issues with Boss fights
  
• Ship turrets should now ignore neutral targets
  
• Acceleration notched up a bit faster
  
• Some stat adjustments and minor fixes
  
• New star systems progressed and new mission system progressed
  

[h3]Beta 0.22.3 - 04/04/2020[/h3]

• More sheenite spawns
  
• Fixed issue with 'background' black holes sometimes being too close
  
• Generally improved background black holes.
  
• Tried some black text outlines on some things - let me know what you think
  
• 2 new Radii mines
  
• Hopefully fixed the error when completing a coop mission - but havent properly tested
  
• Couple of minor tweaks
  

[h3]Beta 0.22.2 - 03/04/2020[/h3]

• New Race: Sheenites
  
• Acceleration now much faster
  
• Distress calls - now have a little box 'ringing' so that you can show/ignore rather thjan it obscuring your view
  
• Black holes have had a facelift
  
• Black holes gravity altered
  
• Black holes & other similar things now appear in background sometimes
  
• Fixed a bug with the confetti bomb
  
• Radii: New death, Decoy added some other tweaks
  
• Added a turret to the Cronos
  
• Co-op missions in, but not properly finished - so probably buggy
  
• VR: Can now grab items from menu plinths
  
• Fixed issues with low mass systems - high mass ships appearing sometimes
  
• Fixed bug with bug reporter priorities
  
• Some other fixes
  

Just a few small things, been working on co-op missions, but its not ready yet..

• Multiplayer traffic meter - can now press ` to toggle, shows what messages are coming in/out
  
• Fixed the issue with not being able to unequip a turret
  
• Radii Skin Added
  
• New weapon: Radii Barrier
  
• Radii revealer fixes
  
• Fixed: Refinery steam coming out of windows
  
• If you are walking/running when you use a station terminal you should now stop walking
  
• Some altered ship stats medusa/oppressor
  
• Fixed anti nuclear and obstinance effect resistances
  
• Some other minor fixes as always
  

Thanks for all the continued feedback and ideas! The are invaluable and I hope you are all staying safe and staying at home where appropriate. Tough time for a lot of people and a bit hard to focus on building this game, but on the other hand its nice to get lost in my spaceships for a while... Ive added a planet to Sirius to mark the occasion...

Been a few new versions with a bunch of new changes. The most exciting I think is the new Non playable Race: The Radii a race of cyborgs with futuristic tech, a good challenge for higher level players. Another exciting new race soon to come.,..

I also going back to the Co-op missions, while still trying to work on my mission revamp. The 2 things go hand it hand. I can imaging some co-op multi stage missions being quite fun. However this is a big hurdle to get over, might take me a while. I will try and keep doing smaller fixes in the meantime...

Here are the notes from the recent versions....

[h3]Beta 0.22.0[/h3]

• AI ship levels: now higher level ships in higher systems
  
• New Andromedan skin added to Benaris
  
• New look for refinery interiors
  
• Space station carpets now owners colour scheme
  
• Can now respawn with fire button
  
• Multiplayer traffic meter added, let me know if it goes high/extreme at any point
  
• New Radii Weapon: Radii Revealer
  
• Shields now sometimes have a secondary resistance against a specific effect
  
• Can now only equip 1 augmentation of certain types e.g. only 1 ship turret
  
• Cockpit windscreens fixed
  
• Eyeblast/brainblast improved
  
• Fixed the energy balancer constantly telling you energy full
  
• Droid weapons all had a buff
  
• Repair beam range increased
  
• Some other bug fixes
  

[h3]Beta 0.21.7 [/h3]

• 
  
• Fixed the error due to the missing double thunderbolt mine
  
• New weapon: Obscurer bomb
  
• Players can no longer get the vendetta if in an older version
  
• Large weapons: now get 1 ammo when you buy, but 0 when you equip from cargo hold, to avoid free ammo exploit
  
• Minor fixes to radii (arming time on photon bomb)
  
• Forkwork egg minefields added to chaos engine
  
• Forkworm eye blast, and the brain blast should now work better when point blank
  
• Adjusted how laser sight works. When holding fine aim on keyboard, but always when not turning fast on joypad/VR
  
• New random sector event added - quite a cool one
  
• Some other small fixes as usual
  

[h3]Beta 0.21.6 [/h3]

• New Race added to IoL complete with loot etc but still more to add
  
• Fixed the issue with shield bubbles and other effects sometimes persisting after running out
  
• Summoned minions should now work correctly in FFA zones etc (e.g. wont attack you)
  
• New levels of thunderbolt torpedos
  
• New ship beam turrets: Energy extraction & tractor beam
  
• Laser turrets adjusted, now slower turning with less energy than primary weapon turrets
  
• VR tweaks + tooltip now works better
  
• Can now longer earn money using the life extender & refunds
  
• Ships should no longer try and leave via the edge of the star system and shouldnt hyperspace that way and shouldnt enter from that way
  
• Added some planets
  
• Lots of work on the other (not live) new race
  
• Some adjustments to solarion weapons
  
• Some other minor tweaks and fixes
  

[h3]Beta 0.21.5 [/h3]

• Laser beam ship turrets tweaked+ a few bugs fixed. Nerfed slightly
  
• Ship Fighting AI - have tweaked so that they are less inclined to fight round the edges of a sector
  
• If you knock an enemy off the edge of a sector, if you follow them now then theres a good chance they will be in that sector, depending on how quickly you do it - this needs more testing & work from me
  
• Selective Effect dampener fixed
  
• Some errors fixed
  

Ive done a few updates, but didn't really get round to shouting about them, so here is a post with notes from the last 4 updates. Mainly just fixes, but a few new augmentations including a laser beam ship turrets, and a repair beam ship turret. Also have been working on 2 new non playable races that are nearly ready and are pretty cool i think....



I think the current big hurdle for me to get over is to revamp the missions. I want to make the generated one much more varied. Hard to explain how, but imagine you are on an assassination mission, currently you pretty much know what to expect, but what I would like to do is have different 'events' happen during the mission e.g. maybe you get there and find they have setup some defence turrets, or perhaps after a few minutes, some reinforcements arrive. That kind of thing. Another example might be you answer a distress call to find its a trap and you get ambushed.

I would also like to add some more mission types: I was thinking of a mission type where you hear about a freighter carrying a certain mineral that you could steal. You would be rewarded with money but could keep the mineral - for those who dont like mining.

On a similar note, I thought there could be a smash and grab type mission, a bit like the 'collect and deliver', but you would just need to get one heavily guarded crate. So could do it kind of like a stealth mission.

One more idea: Hacking mission. Maybe could hack a station, or something else like a jammer for a reward.

Any other ideas, let me know!

...so those are the randomly generated ones, I also want to add more 'fixed' prewritten missions, maybe with a bit of story to them. That you can complete and 'tick off' adding another type of game progression.

I was also thinking of some 'challenge' type missions where you might have to use a particular ship (and/or weapons) to clear a sector/do something. This might add some challenge for those who just have some level 100 ship and find things easy generally + give a reason to try a different playstyle

Anyway, here are the patch notes....

[h2]Beta 0.21.4 - 06/03/2020[/h2]

• New Micro turrets: Laser Beam & Repair Beam. Might add more later, maybe energy extraction beam and others
  
• Micro turret status displayed on right with effects
  
• Null turret now uses dark charging instead of solar
  
• Some usability things e.g. spectate and kill cam keys now blocked while chatting, to stop you bringing up the map etc
  
• Minion limit fixed
  
• Hard light saw fixed
  
• Stopped a few things from ending up in loot that shouldnt have
  
• Medusa & Oppressor now have a utility slot
  
• Ingi skin added to Algol
  
• Some VR improvements
  
• Some other minor tweaks
  
• New races nearly done
  
• + seasonal weapon added for april 1st - remember to login that day
  

[h2]Beta 0.21.3 - 28/02/2020[/h2]

• Micro turrets now have their own energy and are a bit more intelligent
  
• Recoded non playable race loot - so theres probably more of it to find now (things like triple tobor pulse laser etc)
  
• New Augmentation: Shield to Energy Converter
  
• Ship stats bars on ship menu screen and ship loadout screen show effects from equipment e.g. see if your shield is boosted etc
  
• Fixed the missing/problematic items e.g. tobor factory
  
• Fixed the broken microgates
  
• Made some improvements to background planets and stars when hyperspacing
  
• Did lots of work on 2 new races, but still not properly live
  
• Some ship stat and weapon stat tweaks based on feedback
  
• Other minor fixes
  

[h2]Beta 0.21.2 - 24/02/2020[/h2]

• Fixed a game crash in minefields
  
• Hopefully the missing turret models should be back
  
• Mine formation augs now added - quite fun i think
  
• Ship name now displayed on hud
  
• Cargo screen can switch active ship with right click
  
• Jump gate org colour now correct
  
• Microgates now have better names/descriptions
  
• Fix kit out picking active augs for passive slots
  
• Fixed a few minor errors
  
• Added a new gate to CEn
  
• Power failure/frozen now depete instantly when get knocked out a sector
  

[h2]Beta 0.21.1 - 22/02/2020[/h2]

• Fixed a problem with steath where AIs could see oyu when they shouldn't have
  
• A few tweaks to torpedo ammo, some now have more
  
• Fixed an issue with the new 'kit out' button giving items that it shouldnt
  
• Fixed vortex bomb and AVB error
  
• Adjusted rodion and gao spawning to be a bit more frequent
  
• Stopped AI ships firing microgates
  
• Can no longer use microgates to get to low mass systems in high mass ship
  
• VR mode: Added some 'plinths' to the main menu
  
• Fixed dark anomalies so that they now spawn again
  
• Can no longer walk through substation walls
  
• Fixed a problem with human female bones going wonky in stations
  
• Some other minor corrections
  

AI has had another revamp and they will do things like use corkscrew to dodge incoming weapons (dumbfire and slow turning) and will also use augmentations intelligently like e.g. fire extinguisher if on fire, energy to shield converter if high on energy, but low on shields etc. The higher level the ship is the more likely they are to do this kind of stuff... They might even do a corkscrew as a taunt after killing you.... This is all on top of the recently change where they now will do things like attack from the side only + I am going to add more...

I am pleased with this as i think it makes the enemies less predictable, and more human-like. But there might be some initial issues, so let me know if anything seems off....

[h2]Changes:[/h2]

• When you respawn now, you can use the steering controls to choose where you respawn within a circle, this circle gets bigger as your lives get fewer
  
• More AI improvements will be more noticeable at higher levels and legendary enemies, they will use corkscrew and augmentations
  
• Can now sort your cargo/storage alphabetically and by price
  
• 4 New weapons: Javelin Storm, Flounder torpedo, hyperspace harvester
  
• Murk rocket
  
• Hyperspace recharging time reduced to 10 minutes (might put it back up, I dunno)
  
• Fixed a problem with the same saving ai ship locations, now if you leave a sector and immediately go back in, the same ships should be there
  
• More station textures fixed
  
• Fixed a problem with planets in the background, but there are still issues with this
  
• Can now deactivate various camera views if you dont use them
  
• Can now mouse over ship effects to see what they do
  
• Can no longer use a microgate to access a system too high level for you
  
• Close button added to incoming messages
  
• Prospector 3 now works on in station map (if equipped on your active ship)
  
• Hopefully got the hackign notification to tell you the correct level of an item now
  
• + the usual minor fixes and tweaks