Space Haven News

Space Haven Alpha 15 - Now In The Experimental Branch!

[h3]Greetings, Spacefarer![/h3]

Space Haven Alpha 15 is now available to play in the experimental branch. As a reminder, the update process is as follows:

A new Update is first available in the Experimental Branch.
Players, who do not mind playing a more unstable version, will first want to test the new update.
Once the experimental game build looks solid and stable enough we will push it out officially to all players!

NOTE! Joining experimental is completely optional, and you should only do it if you are willing to risk that some new bugs are introduced, which could affect your game play and potentially break your save.

Please do not join the experimental branch if you don't want to risk breaking your save or have the game break on you in midst of play! If you want to play a more stable version please wait for the official release of the update.

Here is how you join The Experimental Starfarer crew:

Open Steam Library
Right click Space Haven
Select Properties
Go to tab 'Betas' at the top.
Select 'Experimental' in the drop-down.

To see what has been added, check the in-game patch notes.

[h3]Giving Feedback[/h3]

[h3]Please give your feedback in the experimental branch forum. Link below:[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/5/

Let us know what you think of the new features and if something should be altered or tweaked in your mind. Perhaps something makes the game too hard or something is too annoying, let us know so we can get a feel for how the new features feel! =)

[h2]Space Haven Alpha 15 Experimental Branch Patch Notes[/h2]

[h3]Continuing a Saved Game from Alpha 14[/h3]

We believe it is possible to continue your old saved game from Alpha 14. However, we cannot guarantee it is completely without issues at this point, as the experimental branch might reveal something we did not anticipate.

Relationships will be reset for your crew members, but since they previously did not mean anything besides being a number, it does not have an impact on gameplay.

[h3]Crew Combat[/h3]

New look for the crew inventory.
The crew inventory has been added with a loadout section, which allows the player to easily choose which weapon, armor and other gear the crew member should seek out.
New crew combat weapons have been added to the game. Laser Pistol, Laser Rifle, Plasma Clustergun and Plasma Rifle. Added to the Research Tree.
Crew armor has been added to the game. Added to the Research Tree.
Deployable Sentry Gun have been added to the game. A remote control is needed to control them. Added to the Research Tree.
Deployable Oxygen Generator has been added to the game.

[h3]Surgical Enhancement & Augmentations[/h3]

Surgical Enhancement Facility along with crew augmentations added to the game. Enhance your crew members with technology.
Augmentations include: Subcutaneous nanoweave, Intramuscular mesh, Cerebellar halo, Cerebral cap, Hippocampal booster, Synthetic platelets, Prefrontal microcontroller, Ocular Implant, Implanted Rebreather, Synthetic stomach lining.
New Resource: Augmentation Parts.
New conditions related to surgery/augmentation: Post-surgery fatigue and Post-surgery rest.
Changed how medical tasks are created when a crew member is resting in a medical bed. Intention is to increase the overall amount of medical tasks and make it possible for crew members to learn a higher skill level.

[h3]Deep Characterization[/h3]

The character mood status and condition effects have been streamlined. Conditions now affect the overall mood more directly, making it easy to list them under overall mood and allowing the player to see what is going on with the character.
Removed Safety and Social subcategories from the character mood. Conditions affecting these are now shown directly under overall mood, to make it easier to see what is going on with the character.
Poor conditions on the ship will eventually lead to mental breaks. The need to have a comfortable ship and environment for the crew is now much more important.
Traits and backstories now have an effect on the likes and dislikes of a crew member. These are things like the want/need to talk, play games, listen to music,
go on the toilet, eat nice food and so on.
Good conditions on the ship will give mood buffs to the crew, making them happy and capable to endure more hardships in other areas of life in space.
Mental break conditions include: Drinking binges, gaming binges, refusing to work, starting fights, starting fires, destroying facilities, mental shutdown and in extreme cases attempting to take their own life.
Added new character conditions, related to the sleeping environment and leisure time environment. The goal is to make crew members react to discomfort more and make it more important to build comfortable spaces for the crew.
When long-term overall mood is over certain thresholds, the crew member will experience buffs to things like work speed, surrender rate and accident rate.
When long-term comfort levels are over certain thresholds, the crew member will experience buffs to their overall mood.
Eating great meals give a mood buff (A meal consisting of at least 3 of the following ingredients: fruits, root vegetables, artificial meat, nuts and seeds)
Sleeping in an uncomfortable space will give a mood debuff, while sleeping in a comfortable space will give a mood buff.
Spending leisure time in an uncomfortable space will give a mood debuff, while spending time in a comfortable leisure time space gives a mood buff.
Interrupted sleep or lack of privacy will give a mood debuff, while a good nights rest will give a mood buff.
Crew having no entertainment will give a mood debuff, while a good leisure time space will increase mood through comfort.
No hull windows will make crew members feel a little claustrophobic. Building hull windows will give the crew members a chance to admire the stars, they will seek out a window
and look out every once in a while.
High long-term energy level (Free day) will give a crew member a mood buff.
Crew members not getting enough uninterrupted sleep will get a sleep deprived condition.

[h3]Relationships[/h3]

Crew member relationships have been developed further. Crew members can now become friends, lovers or enemies.
Crew members will develop relationships towards each other with time, based on multiple factors like compatibility, romantic attractiveness and the overall average mood.
Crew members can experience missing their friends or lovers.
Crew members will morn losing a friend or a lover.
Crew members will secretly be happy when their enemy goes missing or dies.
Conversations between crew members have been developed further and are no longer purely random. Conversations are now based on character conditions, meaning crew members will talk about things they are experiencing.
Crew members listening to someone share something painful can offer comfort and give a mood buff.
Crew members can get mood buffs from having great conversations with friends, allowing them to connect and share their feelings.
Crew members can sometimes get in fights with their enemies.
Crew members, who dislike each other, are less likely to sit down at the same table and eat if there are many tables to choose from nearby.
Lovers sleeping together (close enough to each other) will get a mood buff.
Added many new topic emojis/icons crew members show in speech bubbles when they talk. As the topics are often linked to what they are experiencing (Conditions) they will hint at what may be wrong with the environment they live in.
Added a way to customize relationships forming in the game customization tool. It is possible to toggle becoming enemies, friends or lovers on/off.

[h3]Game Customization[/h3]

The base mood of a crew member is linked to the difficulty level. Easier difficulty levels will mean crew members can tolerate more before risking a mental break.
The base mood of a crew member can be customized with the game customization tool (Same menu where difficulty is chosen). The scale is in the format of easy-normal-hard.
Added also the AI ship-to-ship battle strategy in the game customization tool, using the same easy-normal-hard difficulty scale.

[h3]Captain & Leaders of NPC Faction Ships[/h3]

Added leaders to the game. Captains of ships. Losing the leader will affect the morale of the crew, adding more to surrender rate for a period of time.
Leaders of ships/stations sometimes greet, taunt or announce their intentions through short messages, which are shown in the log part of the UI.
New large NPC ships added for: Merchants, Civilians, The Military Alliance, Cult of New Haven and Androids.
All NPC ship designs have been slightly improved with decorations and other polish.

[h3]Starmap and General Improvements[/h3]

Modified how NPC factions and their ships spawn in the starmap. Factions can now move around in small fleets.
New space backgrounds added to the game.
Removed some build restrictions from various objects like couches and wall mounts.
Storage settings can be copied and pasted to other storages.

[h3]Better Blueprint & Ship Editing Tools[/h3]

Added a mirror mode tool to the hull sketching/building menu.
Added a way to move the ship within its canvas (In the hyperspace Deploy phase).
Added a way to change the ship canvas size if the actual ship size permits it (In the hyperspace Deploy phase).

[h3]Decoratives and Beer[/h3]

Decorative items added: Potted plants, nightstand, Green Wall.
Added more decorative roof elements. Storages, Shuttle hangar and pod hangars now also have a roof element.
Added a beer vending machine. Crew members will now occasionally drink a beverage on their leisure time.
Grains & Hops as a plant to grow has been added to the game.

[h3]New Language Translation[/h3]

Space Haven is now available also in Turkish!

[h3]Other Improvements[/h3]

Emoticons have been updated.
Flipped the arrow pointer in the mood status to show where the meter is going to and will end up with time.
Fixed bugs.

[h3]Please give your feedback in the experimental branch forum. Link below:[/h3]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/5/

Join Space Haven Discord: http://discord.gg/spacehaven
Space Haven subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceHaven/

We will gather feedback for Alpha 15 in the experimental branch and tweak as needed. Once everything is looking solid enough we will publish the update to the main branch.

Thanks for reading and see you again in the next update!

Space Haven Alpha 15 - Progress Report.

[h3]Greetings, Spacefarer![/h3]

The upcoming Alpha 15 update is focused on characters and relationships. The intended goal is to make things matter more, and have more visible effects. The game revolves around managing crew members, and whether one is successful or not should reflect from their mood.

Alpha 15 will make crew members feel less robotic and more human. At the same time, the elements affecting the mood of the crew members will guide the player to build their ships in certain ways and allow for small goals to strive for.

The joy of building a great and comfortable ship to live on will be amplified by seeing crew members enjoying their life on the ship. We are also working on adding new crew combat content, as well as various decoratives and beverage to the game, what would space be without a good space beer!

[h2]Crew Combat Content[/h2]

[h3]New Inventory[/h3]

Reece equipped with an Assault Rifle and Armor.

The inventory is getting a new look, with some different sections to allow for showing the inventory, the loadout and the upcoming augmentations of crew members. We're not sure if augmentations will be possible to be included in this upcoming update, but we have plans to implement them at some point.

[h3]The Loadout[/h3]

Crew members can now pick-up and refill their gear on their own.

The loadout section of the crew member inventory allows you to easily manage the gear that the crew member should have. It allows for choosing the primary and secondary weapons from lists, as well as other gear like armor.

The crew member will fetch the items themselves, making it easier to equip and potentially have crew members refill items. The old manual "pick-up" system is still in place, so both ways can now be used to equip crew members.

[h3]New Gear[/h3]

We're working on new gear for crew members, new weapons as well as armor. Armor will give some protection for crew members while the new weapons add some new firepower. This is all under heavy construction at the moment so let's see what kind of stuff we end up with. There might be more than these mentioned coming. =)

[h2]Deep Characterization[/h2]

Many new conditions have been created to make crew members be less robotic and feel more human.

Overall, we've worked to make crew members react more visibly to their surroundings. Things like sleep, leisure time and work conditions will be very important to be on a good enough level for crew members to operate and ultimately stay sane.

[h3]Unique Characteristics and Likes[/h3]

Traits and backstories now have an effect on the likes and dislikes of a crew member. These are things like the want/need to talk, play games, listen to music, go on the toilet, eat nice food and so on.

[h3]Streamlined Character Status[/h3]

While our original idea was to have many subcategories, each with their own information on the character well-being, we noticed it makes it harder to glance through a main list and see what can be improved.

We've decided to streamline it all, removing a few subcategories (The effects are still there) and list as much as possible in the main overall mood category. This will allow the player to simply look at this list and immediately see how the well-being of the character can be improved.

[h3]Base Mood Linked to Difficulty Level[/h3]

The base mood of a crew member is linked to the difficulty level. Easier difficulty levels will mean crew members can tolerate more before risking a mental break. The base mood of a crew member can be customized with the game customization tool (Same menu where difficulty is chosen). The scale is in the format of easy-normal-hard.

[h3]Sleep Environment[/h3]

There is now a reason to make own rooms for crew members.

The sleep comfort of the area where the bed is will determine how comfortable it is to sleep in that space. It will either give a negative or positive mood effect depending on the comfort levels.

Privacy also plays a part, and will now give a reason to make own rooms for crew members. While it is not strictly needed, it will give more peaceful uninterrupted sleep for the crew member.

[h3]Leisure Time Comfort[/h3]

Leisure time space is more important than before.

If the best leisure space is a bad one the crew members will become negatively impacted, while a great leisure time space will have many benefits.

Leisure time is important also in terms of the general comfort level of the ship, we've multiplied the effect on leisure time since there's usually only a few hours of leisure time during a cycle. This means a good leisure time space will have a big impact on overall mood.

[h3]Food[/h3]

Food is an important part of keeping crew members happy. In addition to the previous nutrition deficiencies we have added a positive mood bonus for providing crew members with great food.
A great meal is a meal from the Kitchen with at least three ingredients of the following: fruits, root vegetables, artificial meat, nuts and seeds.

[h3]Overall Ship Comfort[/h3]

You will know if your ship is comfortable enough as a whole by looking at the crew status comfort bar.

The comfort status bar has been modified and it now tracks the long-term overall comfort levels of the crew member, covering all areas and schedules. This is different from before, which tracked the short-term effects. The change will allow you to know if the balance between negative comfort areas and positive comfort areas is on a good enough level.

This comfort status bar will indicate if the ship is generally comfortable enough to not have negative impacts on the crew. The way to secure this is to have a good enough sleep and leisure time environment, which will balance off the work environment.

[h3]Mental Breaks[/h3]

Melissa has had enough.

Mental breaks have previously been mostly in a placeholder state, we have worked more on this feature. Many small things can accumulate and affect the overall mood of the crew member. Once the mood is low enough for a long enough period, the risk for a mental break will rise.

The first most likely mental break will be a minor one, giving the player a chance to realize something is very wrong and giving a chance to react and fix the conditions.

There are three different categories of mental breaks:

Minor mental break: Things like refusing to work or getting into a fight with someone. Also drinking and gaming binges.
Major mental break: Things like destroying stuff, setting facilities on fire on outright mental shutdown and becoming unconscious.
Extreme mental break: The most severe group, things like wanting to take down the whole ship with them or attempting to take their own life.

[h3]Happiness[/h3]

Keeping crew members comfortable and happy will give bonuses to their effectivity, they will work a little bit faster and be a bit less likely to surrender.

[h3]Discussions[/h3]

Crew members will now often talk about something bothering them, or something they are happy about, when engaged in discussions with other crew members. If something is bothering them the other party in the discussion can offer comfort, giving temporary mood buffs.

Following the emojis when crew members discuss will give hints to the player about things they dislike or like at the moment, all of which can be seen more in detail in the status tab.

[h2]Relationships[/h2]

We can be friends now... And enemies!

Up until now relationships have only been a number, without any real effect. In Alpha 15 this will change. Crew member relationships have been developed further and they can now become friends, lovers or enemies, all with various impacts in different situations.

The way friendships are formed is based on a compatibility value, as well as the average overall mood over a period of time. There are different relationship stages. Crew members can become enemies, acquaintances, friends, good friends, best friends and lovers. A crew member can only have one best friend and one lover, while there can be more of the other stages.

Enemies

Crew members will try to avoid sitting down at the same table with an enemy when eating, if there are other tables close enough. If the enemy dies or goes missing, the crew member will secretly be happy about it.

Crew members can sometimes also get in a fight with an enemy even if mood is otherwise on a good level.

Acquaintances

Neutral relationship, which has no special effects.

Friends and Good Friends

Crew members can get mood buffs from having great conversations with friends, allowing them to connect and share their feelings. If the friend goes missing or dies, the crew member will be sad for a longer time as they try to move on with their life.

Best Friends

A crew member can only have one best friend, and they are a special person to the crew member. Discussions with this crew member can give a great mood bonus, and losing them will make them feel very sad for a long time.

Lovers

Crew members can become lovers, if their compatibility and attraction to each other are on a high enough level. Lovers will get a mood buff from sleeping together in the same room, close enough to each other. Losing a lover will be devastating.

[h2]Beverage & Decoratives[/h2]

[h3]Beverage Machine[/h3]

We be drinkin'.

Behold, beer! Watch crew members drink beer and have a fun time. Alcohol beverages will lift up the mood, while slightly raising their accident rate and reducing accuracy. The crew member might also get hungover, but it will all eventually end well enough!

[h3]Potted Plants[/h3]

Potted plants, one of the most requested features after windows.

Potted plants can be placed for a small leisure comfort benefit. They also break up the clinical visuals of a ship and give a nice look to rooms and hallways!

[h3]Nightstand[/h3]

A bed needs a nightstand to be complete.

Having a nightstand beside the bed will increase the sleep comfort for crew members.

[h3]Wall Decoration[/h3]

Something to make walls look prettier.

Wall decorations perk up the room! A nice memory of a landscape once taken for granted.

[h3]New Roof Elements[/h3]

More and more facilities are now showing also on the roof in one way or another.

The shuttle and mining pod hangars now also add some graphics to the ship/station roof. Storages also add their own graphic element to the roof. This gives some more life to the ship/station roof and makes them less flat.

[h2]Faction Leaders&Captains and Messaging[/h2]

Faction spaceships/stations now have a Leader/Captain, which add some depth to the ships and stations you meet. The leaders will occasionally interact through messaging, short messages shown in the log of the game.

To make this possible we've created a new messaging system, which allows NPC ships/stations to communicate with short messages something about themselves or their intentions in the sector.

[h2]New NPC Ships[/h2]

The Merchant Federation have added a new 2x3 large ship to their fleet. Without trade, we aren't human.

The Military Alliance is ready to protect with this new beast of a ship. Service, Stability and Sacrifice.

The Slavers Guild will roam the universe with this new large ship. Captain “Tricky” Wolfe is pleased to invite you to an auction aboard her starship, the “Mad Magic.”

The Cult of New Haven gets an addition to their fleet. If you stumble into the Garden of Eden, burn it! We are not meant to live there: We are meant to live among the stars.

[h2]When Will This Update Be Released?[/h2]

This new Update will coincide with our second anniversary in Early Access, what better way to celebrate than to have a major update for the game!

Our goal is June, with the new build hitting the experimental branch in late May/Early June if all goes to plan. This will be a very big update with a lot of new content that we want to add to the game.

Join Space Haven Discord: http://discord.gg/spacehaven
Space Haven subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceHaven/

Report bugs here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/4/
Discuss Space Haven here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/0/
Technical Support: https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/1/

Stay tuned, Spacefarer!

Space Haven adds gamepad support, gets Steam Deck Verified

Good news space sim colony-building fans, as Space Haven just got a fresh upgrade and now it's Steam Deck Verified.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2022/04/space-haven-adds-gamepad-support-gets-steam-deck-verified

Space Haven Alpha 14 - Version 0.14.2 Released as Stable.

[h3]Greetings, Spacefarer![/h3]

This is a small patch for Alpha 14, focused on making Space Haven fully Steam Deck Verified.

[h3]Steam Deck & Gamepad Support[/h3]

To make Space Haven fully Steam Deck verified, we've implemented gamepad support for the game and support for the Steam Deck controls. We have made the support quite extensive with the possibility to adjust dead zones for sticks, sensitivity and binding buttons for different contexts.

Patch Notes

Steam Deck & Gamepad Support.
Added one new wall look.
Meat and fruit plants have their own growth stage graphics.
Fixed bugs.

[h3]Upcoming Next Big Update[/h3]

We've been working on the next big upcoming Update for a while now, and we will have a progress report coming soon. We have some very exciting things to show!

If you find any issues let us know at the forums:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/4/

Stay tuned and enjoy the new update! We will post a progress report on the next big update soon! =)

Space Haven Alpha 14 - Version 0.14.1 Released as Stable.

[h3]Patch Notes[/h3]

Crew members consumption of food is now taken into account in the food statistics (Statistics menu).
Added an exclamation mark to the lowest priority setting in the crew management menu. See tooltip for the lowest priority behavior.
Added translations.
Fixed bugs.

We have fixed some bugs and put together a new patch for the Alpha 14 Update. The newest version is now 0.14.1.

If you find any issues let us know at the forums:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/4/

We will soon begin developing the next big update for Space Haven, and there will be a longer pause. We will keep you updated by posting progress reports along the way! =)

Stay tuned and enjoy the new update!