In The Black

Impeller Studios · Exothermic

Released: May 5, 2026
Platforms: Windows
Last updated: 05 Sep 2026, 20:49 GMT

Updates & announcements

20 posts

29 May 2026Developer post
In The Black (Main) Update Patch 1724
Watch Patch Video on YouTube Overview This patch serves as a final push before our first content update. The team has focused heavily on hardening the core systems pilots use outside of missions: the squad/co-op system, ship inventory, and the ship modification pipeline. Key High
Watch Patch Video on YouTube
Overview
This patch serves as a final push before our first content update. The team has focused heavily on hardening the core systems pilots use outside of missions: the squad/co-op system, ship inventory, and the ship modification pipeline.
Key Highlights
Squads System & Co-op Contracts are officially back online.
Cosmetics Unlockable through rank progression.
Inventory Management is now significantly more reliable.
Core System Overhauls
Squad & Co-op Polish
Audio Sync: Co-op music and voiceover events are now properly synchronized between pilots, eliminating silent mission states.
Clean Transitions: Returning to the hangar from a co-op session no longer triggers a harmless but confusing network failure popup.
Camera Polish: The post-match camera framing has been widened so your entire hero ship is visible for ultrawide players.
Inventory & Ship Editor
Modification Rollback: The Ship Frame Editor now takes a snapshot of your loadout before you make changes. Canceling out restores the ship to its exact prior state, including modules and gimbaled weapons.
Sell Guard: Items staged in an unsaved loadout can no longer be sold. This prevents "ghost" items and inventory desyncs between the client and server.
Authoritative Ownership: Item ownership is now driven entirely by the server's authoritative Player Items list, resolving issues with stale data.
Ship Status UI: Ships now display a clear status (Healthy, No Weapons, Invalid Data) in the hangar to warn pilots of invalid loadouts. The system will automatically attempt to reconcile these issues upon saving.
All these changes are in preparation for the next version of the ShipFrame Editor. Pilots will be able to stage ship configuration changes and module inventory transactions before finalizing. This will give pilots more visibility of their ship upgrade options maximizing their buying power.
Economy & Flight Rebalance
Standardized Repair Cost: The baseline repair cost is now a uniform 1% of the ship's value, flattening the risk/reward curve.
Reward Consistency: The reward multiplier spread has been compressed from 1-4x down to 1-2x, ensuring more consistent earnings across the entire roster.
Armor & Thrusters: Pegasus and Hyperion armor ratings have increased by 10%. Additionally, global RCS thruster translation force has increased by ~50%, making lateral and vertical strafing much more responsive.
Energy Weapon Damage Model
Physical Damage Rework: Laser weapon mechanics have been reworked to rely on heated mass and patch area rather than opaque damage constants. Laser damage now ramps up with sustained contact on a component and decays when contact is lost. This is a temporary balancing change as we prepare to bring a more in-depth thermal system online.
Progression Fix: Fixed a bug causing energy weapons to award excessive and incorrectly categorized Certification Points. Points are now correctly capped and will no longer overflow into other tracks.
Fixes and Improvements
Weapons & Combat
Gimbal Editing Locks Removed: Hardpoint locks on gimbals have been temporarily removed for all Hyperion and Kolibri variants until a better UI experience can be built.
Projectile Stability: Fixed jitter and visual instability for projectiles resulting in smoother tracers. We also uncapped projectile collision detection frequency to give higher resolution visual kinematics and damage calculations.
CIWS Prediction: Fixed a bug where CIWS-mode weapons incorrectly ran local manual-trigger prediction, which corrupted audio loops on remote clients.
Blindspot Mission Tuning: Reduced the health of destroyable objectives to better match the mission's pacing.
Hangar, UI, & Backend
Post-Match Scoreboards: Overhauled the post-match data pipeline to fix race conditions. Scoreboards will no longer be empty or missing players, and disconnected players will now remain listed.
Ship Purchase Flow: Buying a ship is now safely tracked in the InventoryManager. The UI will only show a completed purchase once the backend confirms the new ship and its items are present in your local inventory.
Inventory Filtering: Items already equipped on a vehicle will no longer show up as available in the inventory list.
Memory Optimization: Plugged several memory leak vectors to improve long-session stability and performance.
Drone UI indicators: Updated to better reflect their type.
Turret UI indicators: Updated to improve their visibility and relation indicators.
Misc.
Replaced drone wreckage with appropriate visuals
Known Issues
After leaving a squad and then immediately joining a new squad there can be a failure to join the next match the squad leader enters/creates.
Occasionally as a client you may see a prolonged black screen after taking control of a ship, this will clear automatically after a few seconds or if you cycle camera view.
As a client, railgun projectiles will very rarely interfere with your ship when firing.
Original post
15 May 2026Developer post
In The Black (Main) - Minor Patch - 1696
Greetings, Pilots! Here's an overview of our Early Access hotfixes and stability updates: New BloodSport Location Open Space - 5 v 5 - Pure dogfighting. No asteroids. No stations. Just the vacuum. Gameplay & Game Mode Logic We've overhauled the logic that governs round transi
Greetings, Pilots!
Here's an overview of our Early Access hotfixes and stability updates:
Watch on YouTube
New BloodSport Location
Open Space - 5 v 5 - Pure dogfighting. No asteroids. No stations. Just the vacuum.
Gameplay & Game Mode Logic
We've overhauled the logic that governs round transitions and bot behavior. The previous systems had some...exploitable loopholes. Those have been closed.
Team Deathmatch Round-End Evaluation: Addressed a lingering issue where TDM rounds could end prematurely, even with active players in their ships. The evaluation logic is now more robust and correctly assesses the state of all pilots before calling the match.
BloodSport Bot & Team Refactor: The bot management system for BloodSport has been completely rewritten. Bots are now handled by a unified rebalancing model that ensures teams are filled, trimmed, and balanced more intelligently. This also addresses an issue where squads joining a match couldn't displace bots correctly.
No-Respawn Mode Initialization: A subtle but significant bug in 'No-Respawn' modes meant the player elimination checks never armed properly for the first round. This has been corrected. Round 1 now behaves with the same unforgiving logic as all subsequent rounds.
AI "Danger Rating" System: To provide a more consistent challenge, we've implemented a ship danger rating system for AI selection. The system calculates the median combat effectiveness of all human players in a match and spawns AI ships within a similar rating bracket. This should lead to fewer encounters where fresh pilots are matched against veteran death machines, and vice-versa.
Ship & Module Systems
The ship loadout and economic systems received some much-needed attention. An oversight in vehicle pricing was corrected, and the entire buy-and-equip flow has been hardened against state corruption.
Module Slot & Loadout Editor Overhaul: This was a big one. We tore down and rebuilt the logic governing module slot editability. A regression was causing default modules to mask the player's actual owned equipment, leading to corrupted save data and an unreliable editing experience. The new system is significantly more resilient.
Vehicle Economy Exploit Fixed: We closed a loophole that allowed players to generate credits by buying ships and selling their default gimbals and modules individually. Vehicle buy/sell calculations now correctly account for all attached components, ensuring the market reflects intended values.
UI / HUD / MFD
Clarity is life. We've continued to refine the in-cockpit experience, replacing legacy systems with more performant and visually informative ones.
New MFD Status Display Pipeline: The old hologram system for displaying ship status on Multifunction Displays has been completely replaced. We now use a new off-screen rendering pipeline that captures your ship's integrity and thermal state to dedicated render targets. This provides a massive improvement in both performance and visual fidelity.
Directional Vector & HUD Indicator Improvements: Prograde, retrograde, and other fighter indicators have been updated for better readability. They now scale dynamically based on distance and your angle relative to the vector, reducing screen clutter while providing clearer information when you need it most.
Message of the Day (MOTD) System: The backend for news and MOTD handling has been migrated to a new, centralized AnnouncementSubsystem. This makes delivery more reliable and paves the way for future improvements.
General UI Fixes: A host of smaller UI bugs have been squashed. The feedback form now clears its cache after submission.
Client/Server & Networking
Stability in the void is non-negotiable. This patch addresses several issues that were affecting the multiplayer experience, from camera bugs to spectator mode failures.
Client Cockpit Camera Reliability: We've implemented a more robust recovery path for the client-side cockpit camera. This should eliminate frustrating instances where players would spawn in and find their view locked to the floor of their cockpit.
Spectator Mode Hardened: The spectator death cam has seen significant improvements. We've fixed an issue that could cause duplicate spectator pawns to be spawned, and resolved a series of bugs that would prevent input from being processed correctly, effectively locking the player out.
Multiplayer Travel Reliability: The process for leaving a mission and returning to the hangar has been made more reliable for clients. Stale network and session state is now properly torn down, preventing a variety of connection and travel-related bugs.
Known Issues:
ShipFrame Editor (SFE)
Hardpoint Editor - When attempting to assign an owned weapon to a gimbal. The weapon will replace the gimbal and not the weapon or empty weapon slot on the gimbal.
Workaround : Upon removing the weapon, re-select the weapon slot to properly assign the weapon.
Paint Customizer - Paint Schema keeps resetting
Fix : In the Paint Customizer select a schema and apply changes. This happens because default schema is 'unset'
Ship Manager - When all slots are filled and a vehicle is sold to free a slot for a new one, the purchase is rejected until the hangar is reloaded.
In The Black has always been a passion project for our team. Our goal was never to create a simple arcade shooter, but a deep and immersive military science-fiction combat simulator built around strategy, teamwork, and emergent gameplay. Thank you for being part of this journey with us.
-Impeller Studios
Original post
07 May 2026Developer post
In The Black (Main) - Hotfix - 1645
Greetings, Pilots. We've deployed a hotfix to address a critical hardware failure that slipped through recently and TrackIR support has now been restored. Some of you rightly pointed out that TrackIR went dark on launch. The device's Product ID was updated prematurely on our end,
06 May 2026Developer post
In The Black (Main) - Hotfix - 1642
Greetings, Pilots. Thank you to everyone flying with us during our Early Access launch. Your feedback is helping us move quickly. Our first hotfix is already live and includes: • Re-enabled onboarding after fixes for physics, collision, and progression blockers • Added fail-safes
04 May 2026Developer post
In The Black (Demo) - Minor Patch - 1631
Greetings Pilots, Another week, another round of updates as we prepare for launch into Early Access. We've been busy under the hood, overhauling core systems for performance, stability, and gameplay correctness. Here is the breakdown. Core System and Performance Overhauls We have
Greetings Pilots,
Another week, another round of updates as we prepare for launch into Early Access. We've been busy under the hood, overhauling core systems for performance, stability, and gameplay correctness. Here is the breakdown.
Core System and Performance Overhauls
We have landed a significant overhaul of the ship physics, armor, and mass bookkeeping systems. Armor meshes have been removed from the rigid-body simulation, which should yield a noticeable performance improvement in heavy combat. Vehicle mass has been split into distinct 'gameplay' and 'physics' pools, giving us more granular control to tune survivability and flight feel independently. As part of this, the spalling damage model has been reworked to prevent exit impacts from double-applying damage, making penetration damage more predictable.
We have also replaced the legacy ship navigation light system with a more efficient Niagara-based implementation. This change reduces the number of components per vehicle, lowering the rendering overhead across the board. Work also continued on optimizing thruster particle effects to reduce their cost in scenes with multiple ships.
Gameplay and Balance Tuning
The round lifecycle logic for elimination modes has been toughened up. A round can no longer end before all assigned human players have had a chance to spawn. We have also added a server-enforced 30-second timeout to the vehicle selection screen to keep matches moving; fail to select, and you will be deployed in your primary ship.
Based on performance data and feedback, the Railgun has been re-balanced. It was overperforming, so we have introduced a critical hit system that rewards precision. To deal maximum damage, you now need to hit a module's center mass. Glancing shots will see a significant damage penalty.
Other balance changes include:
Kolibri and Shrike armor thicknesses has been re-balanced.
To make the demo a bit more forgiving for new pilots, we've added a temporary damage reduction of 65% for player ships in the demo.
Visuals, UI, and Quality of Life
Lighting: We have continued to tune the lighting in several hangar environments to reduce overexposure and improve visual balance.
ImpactFX: A new ImpactFX system has been integrated to provide more satisfying physical responses to collisions.
UI Feedback: We fixed a bug that caused repeating module temperature alerts, restored the correct "green for positive" text color convention, and added a demo-specific training suggestion in the Simulator UI.
Projectile Visuals: A visual glitch causing projectiles to spawn inside or ahead of the firing weapon has been corrected. Tracers should now "grow" from the muzzle more smoothly.
Flair Decals: Special decals from the Flair system will now reliably hide themselves when flair is inactive or the player lacks entitlement.
Ship Frame Editor: The module tooltip for ballistic weapons now correctly displays supported ammo types and calibre.
Bugfixes
A major refactor of how we manage player ship data was completed. This enforces a single source of truth for your vehicle list, fixing a class of bugs in the Hangar UI where the quick-bar would not update correctly after selling or modifying a ship.
We fixed a critical bug that prevented contracts with difficulty selection from launching.
An issue with older demo save files causing data corruption has been addressed. The system will now detect and reset these legacy saves to ensure a clean slate.
The round-start logic was hardened to prevent elimination-based endings from firing before all human players have spawned.
Happy hunting!
-Impeller Studios
Original post
30 Apr 2026Developer post
In The Black Launching May 5th
Greetings, mercs! We are incredibly proud to announce that the Early Access release of In The Black will launch May 5th. That date also honors the 65th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight of an American astronaut: Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 suborbital flight in 1961. We par
26 Jan 2026Developer post
In The Black (Demo) - Minor Patch - 1473
Another week, another batch of changes straight from the void. We're continuing our push on UI and quality-of-life, and this time our sights were set on the projectile impact points (PIP). The old lead/lag pips were functional, but let's be honest, they were dumb and static. We'v
Another week, another batch of changes straight from the void. We're continuing our push on UI and quality-of-life, and this time our sights were set on the projectile impact points (PIP). The old lead/lag pips were functional, but let's be honest, they were dumb and static. We've overhauled them completely.
Alongside that, we've continued paying down a massive amount of technical debt, ripping out old systems and replacing them with more robust engine subsystems. This work isn't glamorous, but it's essential for stability and squashing entire classes of bugs and preventing future ones before they happen.
Core System Overhauls
Dynamic Pip: The core of this update is the new Dynamic Pip. Instead of just appearing, the pip now has a proper acquisition animation. When you lock a target, the pip will now spawn from the center of the screen, scaling, rotating, and interpolating to the final lead or lag position. This provides a much clearer and more satisfying feedback loop that your weapons are locking on.
Onboarding Refinements: The single-player onboarding experience has seen a number of file restructures and logic updates to make the first flight smoother for new pilots.
Singleton to Subsystem: We finally killed the UObject singleton pattern for Player Manager. It is now a proper Game Instance Subsystem. This means better lifecycle management and fewer "accessed none" errors when the world tears itself apart.
Content & DLC Framework: The "Modular Content Availability System" (MCAS) was created to replace all our Demo, Base Game content custom code. We have expanded on this system to now handle DLC and unlockable content. This makes development and management of different content states easier to work with, meaning we can get new content out sooner.
Camera Fader Fix: The camera fader logic has been tightened up. Fade-complete delegates now fire correctly and unbind themselves, preventing them from firing multiple times. This should resolve issues where players would get stuck in a fade or a transition would not complete as expected.
Combat & Gameplay
Tobii Eye/Head Tracking Options: In a previous update, we threw out the old smoothing system that felt disconnected and jittery. The new system is based on a complex prediction model that will guess where you're looking next. In this update, we've exposed more of the buttons and dials for these smoothing algorithms to the View settings menu. Take a look at velocity, prediction and smoothing for both head and eye tracking.
Turret Controller & Gimbal Logic Refactor: Gimbals are no longer wasting CPU cycles constantly telling their turrets to aim at the same spot. We've added a tolerance check, so the controller only gets new tasking when the target location has meaningfully shifted.
CIWS Optimization: Significant optimizations to the projectile managers have drastically reduced CPU overhead. Large battles won't melt your frame rate anymore.
Bugfixes
Fixed a splash-screen crash on slower CPUs.
Original post
12 Jan 2026Developer post
In The Black (Demo) - Hotfix - 1449
We've updated our Tobii head and eye tracking smoothing algorithms to reduce jitter and lag. We also slipped in a few bugfixes on some nasty edge cases that have been plaguing us. Core System Overhauls Tobii Eye/Head Tracking Rewrite: We've thrown out the old over-simplified smoo
We've updated our Tobii head and eye tracking smoothing algorithms to reduce jitter and lag. We also slipped in a few bugfixes on some nasty edge cases that have been plaguing us.
Core System Overhauls
Tobii Eye/Head Tracking Rewrite: We've thrown out the old over-simplified smoothing system that felt disconnected and jittery. The new smoothing system is based on a complex prediction model that will guess where you're looking next. The result is a much tighter, 1:1 feel with significantly less jitter. We also tweaked the default acceleration values to something that feels more balanced out of the box
Turret Controller & Gimbal Logic Refactor:
Performance: Gimbals are no longer wasting CPU cycles constantly telling their turrets to aim at the same spot. We've added a tolerance check, so the controller only gets new tasking when the target location has meaningfully shifted. Every cycle counts.
Aiming Stability: We've fine-tuned the turret controller's micro-corrections. A new damping factor prevents the annoying "wobble" when the turret over-corrects.
Quality of Life & Bug Fixes
Default View Settings:
Head and eye tracking will now be disabled while zoomed by default. The old behavior felt jarring and counter-intuitive. You can, of course, still change this in the options menu.
Default Eye Tracking Acceleration: x0.3
Default Head Tracking Acceleration: x0.3
UI Initialization: Fixed a subtle bug in our list entry widgets that was causing some buttons to not work.
Original post
10 Jan 2026Developer post
In The Black (Demo) - Minor Patch - 1446
Tobii Support & Backend Update Alright pilots, listen up. This week was about ripping out the guts of our singleton managers and replacing them with actual Engine Subsystems, because we're tired of race conditions and "spaghetti code" being a valid architectural pattern. We p
Tobii Support & Backend Update
Alright pilots, listen up.
This week was about ripping out the guts of our singleton managers and replacing them with actual Engine Subsystems, because we're tired of race conditions and "spaghetti code" being a valid architectural pattern. We paid down a massive amount of technical debt, but we didn't leave you empty-handed. We’ve finished the Tobii Eye Tracking integration, so you can finally aim where you look.
New Feature: Tobii Eye Tracking
We’ve added full Tobii integration. It’s not just a wrapper; we did the math to make it feel right.
Head & Gaze Tracking: Full support for both.
Gaze Boost: Your look direction now subtly influences camera rotation, helping you track targets faster. It feels like telepathy, but it's just math.
Smoothing: We dampened the jitter, but it still needs some work. It shouldn't feel like you're having a seizure anymore riding the raw Tobii data-stream.
Auto-Disable: Tracking optionally automatically cuts out when you zoom, keeping your precision rock solid. Settings for eye and head tracking are in the view settings menu.
Fixes: We've been working hard on getting the game ready for EA, and all the systems overhauls we've done to squash the bugs we have and prevent more from coming back in the future.
Core Systems & Refactors
Camera Fader: The old camera fading subsystem has been deprecated and removed. UI transitions are now handled more directly by the UI framework itself, resulting in faster and cleaner menu navigation.
Player Manager is now a Subsystem: We finally killed the UObject singleton pattern for Player Manager. It is now a proper Game Instance Subsystem. This means better lifecycle management and fewer "accessed none" errors when the world tears itself apart.
Contract Info is King: Refactored our Game Instance to stop hoarding contract state. Contract Info is now the Single Source of Truth for active contracts. It caches match registration and post-match results, so the UI stops guessing what happened.
Content & DLC Framework: The "Modular Content Availability System" (MCAS) was created to replace all our Demo, Base Game, DLC and unlockable content custom code. This makes managing different content states a breeze to work with, meaning we can get content out sooner in smaller time windows.
Input Persistence: We hardened the some parts of the input system pipeline. Custom joystick mappings will now persist correctly even if you load the profile while the device is disconnected. Tobii and TrackIR are now hot-swappable, so no need to restart the game if you forgot to plug something in or launch a supporting app.
Combat & Performance
CIWS Optimization: Significant optimizations to the projectile managers have drastically reduced CPU overhead. Large battles won't melt your frame rate anymore.
Lag PIP: You can now switch between Lead and Lag Pip Aiming modes in Settings -> Misc.
Weapon Reliability: Squashed a nasty bug where projectiles were registering multiple hits erroneously. Damage multipliers were adjusted to compensate. This sounds huge but we only had to swap two lines of code, hehe.
AI Upgrades: Bots figured out how to use Railguns again. Good luck.
Input Flexibility: You can now fire weapons using joystick triggers/gamepad buttons even while in "Interact Mode" (e.g., holding Left Ctrl).
Multiplayer & Matchmaking (Early Access Prep)
Matchmaking Fail-safes: The HandleMatchmakingTimeout logic in SessionManager was... optimistic. It now actually verifies that the random fallback contract has a valid Map Name and ID before trying to launch a session.
Session Metadata: Rewired the backend. Changed session setting key SessionType to Mode to align with the backend and stop modes from mixing.
Original post
11 Dec 2025Developer post
In The Black (Demo) - Hotfix - 1396
Features & System Changes Head Tracking Overhaul: The system for head tracking and vehicle cameras has been completely rewritten for significantly smoother and more accurate 1:1 control. Head tracking rotation is now independent of manual freelook (mouse/joystick), allowing f
Features & System Changes
Head Tracking Overhaul: The system for head tracking and vehicle cameras has been completely rewritten for significantly smoother and more accurate 1:1 control.
Head tracking rotation is now independent of manual freelook (mouse/joystick), allowing for simultaneous input.
It's recommended to reset your look multiplier back to 1.0 found in Options > Misc.
Tracking input settings can be found under Options > Input > View as the last two options.
Pause Tracking: Freezes the headtracking look orientation.
Toggle Eye & Head Tracking: Disables head tracking and restores the player view back to center.
Player Camera System Rework: The entire camera system for both cockpit and external views has been refactored to be more robust and responsive.
Original post
06 Dec 2025Developer post
In The Black (Demo) - The Hardware Update - 1390
What's New We're excited to introduce the completely redesigned Input System 2.0 for In The Black! This major overhaul brings a modern, flexible input management system that makes configuring your controls easier and more reliable than ever before. ⚠️ WARNING: All previous input
What's New
We're excited to introduce the completely redesigned Input System 2.0 for In The Black! This major overhaul brings a modern, flexible input management system that makes configuring your controls easier and more reliable than ever before.
⚠️ WARNING: All previous input settings will be reset! Legacy profiles are not compatible with the new system. Your controls will reset to defaults upon first launch.
Track-IR Head-Tracking Support (NEW)
Track-IR support is now integrated, giving you true head-look in the cockpit for better spatial awareness, target tracking, and immersion.
Look around your cockpit naturally without taking your hands off your flight controls
Keep your nose on target while visually scanning your surroundings
Huge boost to situational awareness during close-quarters dogfights and formation flying
Track-IR can be enabled and configured under:
Settings > Misc > Head Tracking
Tobii Eye/Head Tracking support is in active development and will be coming in a future update.
New Input Profile System
Save & Manage Multiple Profiles
Create unlimited custom control profiles for different playstyles or hardware setups
Switch between profiles instantly from the settings menu
Your last-used profile is automatically remembered
Duplicate existing profiles to use as templates
Import and export profiles to share with friends or use across different computers
Built-in Profile Protection
The "Default" profile is now read-only and can't be accidentally modified
Any attempt to edit the default profile automatically creates a new "Custom" profile
Your personalized settings are always safe from being overwritten
Auto-Save
All changes to your bindings and settings are automatically saved
No more losing your carefully configured controls due to crashes or forgotten saves
Changes apply immediately – no restart required
Multi-Device Support
Dual Joystick (HOSAS) Support
If you're flying with dual joysticks or multiple identical controllers, the new system properly recognizes each device individually:
Identical controllers are numbered sequentially (e.g., "Joystick", "Joystick_2", "Joystick_3")
Each device maintains its own unique bindings
Devices are remembered even when unplugged or reconnected in different USB ports
Supported Device Types
The new system recognizes and organizes controls by device category:
Keyboard & Mouse
Gamepads: Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch controllers, and generic gamepads
Flight Controls: Joysticks, throttles, rudder pedals
Custom Devices: Functionality not guaranteed
Improved Control Binding
Easier Axis Configuration
Simple Range Modes: Choose between Full, Limited, or Inverted ranges instead of dealing with offset values
Better Binding Detection: The system now picks up the axis you're moving most, not just the first one
Auto-Commit: Axis bindings automatically confirm when you stop moving the control – no more "must recenter" frustrations
Real-Time Preview: See exactly what the system is detecting as you move controls
Enhanced Sensitivity & Dead Zones
Separate sensitivity controls for different input types
Independent mouse sensitivity settings
Per-axis dead zone configuration
Global pitch and yaw inversion options
Profile Import/Export System
Share Your Configurations
Export your entire control scheme to a file
Import configurations from other players
Three import modes:
Overwrite: Replace your current profile completely
New: Create a brand new profile from the import
Merge: Combine imported bindings with your existing setup
Cross-Platform Compatibility
Profiles exported on one computer work seamlessly on another
Device names are automatically matched even if USB ports differ
Missing devices are gracefully handled without breaking your profile
Quality of Life Improvements
User Interface
Cleaner, more organized settings layout
Device filters make it easy to see bindings by input device
Search and filter your control bindings
Clear visual feedback when configuring controls
Fixed confusing error messages when saving profiles
Reliability
Disconnected devices no longer break your control bindings
Profile files are validated to prevent corruption
Graceful handling of missing or unavailable devices
Improved compatibility with Steam Input and other overlay software
Opening Profile Folders
⚠️ Known Issue: Currently not working as intended. Fix should be out shortly.
One-click access to your profile save directory (when fixed)
Will work correctly in packaged Steam builds
Easy profile file management for backups or manual edits
Input System Known Issues
Axis Range Settings: Can be finicky, particularly the "Range" option. May require toggling the "Range" setting back and forth for the desired value to stick.
Duplicate Mappings: System currently allows duplicate mappings to be added. We recommend checking for duplicates manually.
Profile Selector: Occasionally starts with no profile selected. Choosing an option or using "Save As" to create a new profile should resolve it.
Input System Bug Fixes
Fixed only being able to bind a single device
Fixed controls doubling input when multiple axes were mapped to the same action
Fixed joystick bindings being lost when devices were reconnected
Fixed profile corruption issues when saving during gameplay
Fixed device names changing every time the game launched
Fixed "ghost" bindings from disconnected devices
Fixed profile selector showing system files as options
Fixed errors when importing profiles from other users
Resolved issues with identical devices being treated as the same hardware
Tips & Tricks
Creating Specialized Profiles
Start with the "Default" profile as your base
Make a change (this creates a "Custom" profile automatically)
Using "Save As", name your custom profile to something descriptive (e.g., "HOSAS Setup", "Gamepad Casual")
Create multiple specialized profiles for different ships or playstyles
Sharing Profiles with Friends
Configure your controls the way you like
Go to Settings > Input > Export (Saves to AppData\\Local\\InTheBlack\\Saved\\InputProfiles\\Exported)
Share the exported file with your squadron
They import it via Settings > Input > Import
Backup Your Settings
Profile files are stored in AppData\\Local\\InTheBlack\\Saved\\InputProfiles
Back up this folder to preserve your configurations
Useful before major updates or system changes
Syncing profiles with Steam Cloud is on our TODO list
Experimenting Safely
Duplicate your working profile before making major changes
You can always delete experimental profiles that don't work out
The "Default" profile is always available as a fallback
Asset & Configuration Cleanup
Removed a large number of unused assets, input data tables, and configuration files
Reduced overall build size and project clutter
Cleaned up logging configurations to focus on relevant debug information
Makes future profiling and issue investigation less noisy and more efficient
Additional Known Issues
Drone Sweep Mission Startup
On the Drone Sweep mission, there is a bug where:
The player spawns in
Nothing happens for a short period
Only then does the cinematic play
This behavior is not intended and will be addressed in an upcoming hotfix.
Head Tracking Known Useability Issue
Under SETTINGS > MISC > MOVE LIMIT the default value shows 0cm when it is actually 200cm
Once this value is manually changed, you will be limited to the 0cm-50cm range
Values still persist, this is mainly a UI issue
What's Next
This is just the foundation! We're continuing to improve the input system and network experience based on your feedback. Planned improvements include:
Additional axis curve customization options
More granular per-device sensitivity controls
Enhanced conflict detection and warnings
Visual binding diagrams for common hardware
Developer/Community-made profiles for common hardware
"Clear All" option or blank profile to build a profile from scratch
Clean up, add, improve input mappings.
Improvements to the Ship Editor
Need Help?
If you encounter any issues with the new input system or this update:
Try selecting the "Default" profile to reset to known-good bindings
Check our Discord for community-shared profiles and troubleshooting tips
Report bugs via the in-game feedback system
Fly Safe, Pilots!
The Impeller Studios Team
Original post
19 Nov 2025Developer post
Demo - In The Black - Minor Patch - 1360
Visual Improvements Augmented Vision: Added Augmented Vision on activation of Sensors to help new and seasoned players find their way in the dark of space. Ultra Wide Support: FOV now adjusts dynamically based on screen aspect ratio to ensure that all vital parts of the ship cock
Visual Improvements
Augmented Vision: Added Augmented Vision on activation of Sensors to help new and seasoned players find their way in the dark of space.
Ultra Wide Support: FOV now adjusts dynamically based on screen aspect ratio to ensure that all vital parts of the ship cockpit remain visible regardless of monitor aspect ratio.
Vehicle HUD Update: When the HMCS widget is triggered to be visible, the HUD brackets will now hide themselves to reduce visual clutter on screen.
Game Resource Menu
The new Game Resource menu is now available. You can access it through the News button in the hangar. This menu provides ongoing updates about current development progress. If you opened this message inside the game, you are already using it.
You will also find quick access to the Pilot Manual, the FAQ, and the Steam Community page. These are available if you have questions or want to share something with other pilots.
Work has started on a series of short tutorial videos. Once released, they will appear under the Videos tab. Each video will cover a focused topic such as flight maneuvering, combat tactics, or general piloting fundamentals.
Development Updates
We are putting the last touches on the new Input system, which will be coming your way very soon.
Adjusted Pegasus lighting configuration in the hangar for improved visibility on the ship.
Reworked CI/CD and build pipelines for more stable and reliable game builds.
Optimized numerous art assets, reducing memory usage and improving loading times.
Stay up to date by visiting the In The Black YouTube channel. We post regular updates and a weekly stream that breaks down new features and upcoming content.
Start with the newest episode: Mission Briefing #6
Original post
05 Nov 2025Developer post
Demo - In The Black – Minor Patch 1346
Major Additions Camera Zoom Overhaul Rebuilt from the ground up for smoother, more realistic control. Added Toggle Zoom and refined Auto-Zoom behavior (now only activates on initial target focus). Implemented a true optical magnification model , improving precision and feel. All
Major Additions
Camera Zoom Overhaul
Rebuilt from the ground up for smoother, more realistic control.
Added Toggle Zoom and refined Auto-Zoom behavior (now only activates on initial target focus).
Implemented a true optical magnification model, improving precision and feel.
All zoom settings now live under a dedicated Zoom tab in the options menu.
Player Feedback Improvements
The post-submission “Thank You” screen now displays an Issue ID to help us trace reports faster.
Visual Effects Upgrade
The Hyperion-class ship now features new, improved destruction effects.
Breakout
Explosion
Fixes & Optimizations
API Stability
Refactored the backend API and callback system to prevent several rare crash conditions and improve consistency across sessions.
Camera
Fixed an issue where zoom states persisted incorrectly when switching between first-person and third-person free-look.
UI
Fixed an issue with settings not applying correct values.
This addresses user feedback regarding zoom settings not functioning properly.
Adjusted HUD line shader type for improved readability and contrast.
Technical & Backend Updates
UI Development Tools
Added a Rich Text Data Table with full Markdown support making it easier to author formatted content in the UI.
Started development on new UI widgets for news feeds, video and slide-based tutorials.
As we are getting closer to pushing the Input Overhaul these quality of life changes and bug fixes take care of some issue's we've gotten your feedback on. Keep it coming and we'll be able to get those bugs out of the way.
Stay tuned for the next release as we expand the tutorial content, improve ship feedback loops, and roll out additional cockpit polish.
Original post
29 Oct 2025Developer post
Demo - In The Black – Minor Patch 1343
Several bug fixes and Quality-of-Life updates, here are some of the most notable: Gameplay & Tutorial Improvements Weapons Tutorial Revamp: Players can now freely rotate their ship from the start of the tutorial, removing forced aim alignment. This prevents issues with ship d
Several bug fixes and Quality-of-Life updates, here are some of the most notable:
Gameplay & Tutorial Improvements
Weapons Tutorial Revamp: Players can now freely rotate their ship from the start of the tutorial, removing forced aim alignment. This prevents issues with ship drift during the railgun section and improves player agency.
Basic Flight Training Enhancements:
Instruction text now animates to maintain player focus.
Visuals adjusted to improve readability; asteroids and background clutter reduced.
New logic zeroes player velocity when movement goals are achieved to reduce false detections.
Freelook sections now require players to look at designated targets to progress.
UI & Targeting
New LineDraw Widget: A versatile, anti-aliased line-drawing system for HUD and tactical UIs supports dashed lines, directional highlights, and screen-edge guidance to better locate off-screen or targeted enemies.
Zoom Settings Overhaul: Refactored settings menu to align with the new ATZ (Auto-Track Zoom) and manual zoom decoupling systems.
Added finer control and granularity for targeting behavior and auto-settings.
UI Refinements:
New center-screen masking function ensures HUD elements don’t overlap critical displays.
Velocity vector switches to alternative display mode when it would conflict with weapon aim-point.
Updated railgun crosshair for reduced clutter and improved recharge/reload feedback.
Ship Editor Layout Updates - Began the process of improving usability and UI consistency for the Ship Editor.
Visuals & Post-Processing
Removed motion blur from spectator camera for improved clarity during post-death replays.
Input System Rework – Progress Update
We’re nearing completion on the full Input System overhaul, which includes major improvements to both the Settings Menu and the underlying input management framework.
The current focus is on finalizing profile saving, loading, importing, and exporting, along with extensive frontend refinements for a smoother configuration experience.

This update isn’t quite ready for release yet, but it’s close and it represents a significant upgrade in reliability, customization, and overall usability compared to the current system.
Original post
24 Oct 2025Developer post
Early Access Trailer
Hey there Mercs! We've got a hot new trailer for you guys! Our Early Access trailer has hit the channel, come have a look! Lots of exciting additions are coming, and sooner than you think. If you'd like to know more about Early Access, then look no further than our Press Release
19 Oct 2025Developer post
Demo - In The Black – Minor Patch 1334
Gameplay & Balance Railgun Damage Adjustment Armor thickness across multiple ship classes has been rebalanced to slightly reduce the railgun’s one-shot potential. Adjustments affect the Hyperion , Pegasus , and Reus ship families. This is part of ongoing tuning to encourage m
Gameplay & Balance
Railgun Damage Adjustment
Armor thickness across multiple ship classes has been rebalanced to slightly reduce the railgun’s one-shot potential.
Adjustments affect the Hyperion, Pegasus, and Reus ship families.
This is part of ongoing tuning to encourage more dynamic mid-range engagements.
Tutorial Combat Improvements
Fixed an issue in the Basic Combat Tutorial where simulated targets were overly durable.
Simulator Target ships can now be destroyed as intended.
Target health and armor values have been lowered to allow quicker destruction and smoother progression.
Stability & Technical Fixes
Timer System Cleanup
Fixed multiple cases across gameplay and UI systems where timers were being improperly cleared, leading to potential memory leaks or delayed callbacks.
Widget & UI Cleanup
Resolved edge cases in menu popups and fading widgets that could retain active timers after destruction.
Improved world validity checks in destructors to prevent crashes during rapid level changes.
Music Manager & Post-Match Logic
Simplified Dynamic Music Manager lifecycle cleanup to prevent redundant timer invalidation.
Fixed an edge case where post-match data sync would occasionally retry incorrectly when no scene reference was available.
Quality-of-Life Fixes
Added validation to ensure reactor modules, vehicle spawn logic, and docking systems no longer trigger callbacks after world unload.
Reduced potential crash frequency when quitting during post-match or loading screens.
What’s Next: Input System Overhaul
We’ve heard your feedback loud and clear regarding input reliability and device support.
Our team is currently reworking major parts of the input and control mapping system, with improvements arriving in the next update.
This overhaul will include:
A redesigned input interface with clearer device and binding management
Proper multi-device support (HOTAS, HOSAS, gamepad, keyboard, etc.)
Fixes for bindings that occasionally reset or fail to save
Expanded import/export options for control profiles
Please note: as part of this rework, existing control bindings will be reset.
You’ll need to rebind your controls after the future update, but this reset is necessary to ensure a cleaner, more reliable foundation going forward.
Original post
19 Oct 2025PCGamesN
Ambitious, ultra-realistic space combat sim In The Black finally has a playable demo, and I love how terrible I am at it
It's been eight years since In The Black secured Kickstarter funding, and ten since initial work on it first began. It was known as Starfighter Inc at the time, but since then developer Impeller Studios has given it a new name as it worked on crafting the most realistic interstel
19 Oct 2025PCGamesN
Impeller Studios wants to make Starfighter Inc. the heir to X-Wing
Elite fans got Elite: Dangerous, Wing Commander fans are getting Star Citizen, but what about X-Wing fans. The series did just appear on GOG and Steam, but as great as they are, gosh they're a bit old now. This leaves the door open to Impeller Studios and Starfighter Inc. It's no
19 Oct 2025PCGamesN
Starfighter Inc. makes a swift return for a second round on Kickstarter
Impeller Studios' hardcore space combat sim Starfighter Inc. has returned with a new Kickstarter campaign with a smaller end goal and a much more impressive array of features. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Ambitious, ultra-realistic space combat sim In The Black fi
18 Oct 2025Developer post
Demo - In The Black – Hotfix 1333
Fixes The Impeller Input Manager plugin was conflicting with Unreal Engine’s internal SDL2 library. Causing startup crashes or unpredictable behavior on some systems. The import library has been rebuilt so that the plugin loads safely alongside Unreal Engine’s internal SDL2 witho
Fixes
The Impeller Input Manager plugin was conflicting with Unreal Engine’s internal SDL2 library. Causing startup crashes or unpredictable behavior on some systems.
The import library has been rebuilt so that the plugin loads safely alongside Unreal Engine’s internal SDL2 without conflict.
We apologize for the inconvenience and remain committed to improving peripheral support in future updates.
Original post

Updates & announcements

Overview

Key Highlights

Core System Overhauls

Squad & Co-op Polish

Inventory & Ship Editor

Economy & Flight Rebalance

Energy Weapon Damage Model

Fixes and Improvements

Weapons & Combat

Hangar, UI, & Backend

Misc.

Known Issues

Greetings, Pilots!

New BloodSport Location

Gameplay & Game Mode Logic

Ship & Module Systems

UI / HUD / MFD

Client/Server & Networking

Known Issues:

-Impeller Studios

Core System and Performance Overhauls

Gameplay and Balance Tuning

Visuals, UI, and Quality of Life

Bugfixes

Core System Overhauls

Combat & Gameplay

Bugfixes

Core System Overhauls

Quality of Life & Bug Fixes

Tobii Support & Backend Update

New Feature: Tobii Eye Tracking

Core Systems & Refactors

Combat & Performance

Multiplayer & Matchmaking (Early Access Prep)

What's New

Track-IR Head-Tracking Support (NEW)

New Input Profile System

Save & Manage Multiple Profiles

Built-in Profile Protection

Auto-Save

Multi-Device Support

Dual Joystick (HOSAS) Support

Supported Device Types

Improved Control Binding

Easier Axis Configuration

Enhanced Sensitivity & Dead Zones

Profile Import/Export System

Share Your Configurations

Cross-Platform Compatibility

Quality of Life Improvements

User Interface

Reliability

Opening Profile Folders

Input System Known Issues

Input System Bug Fixes

Tips & Tricks

Creating Specialized Profiles

Sharing Profiles with Friends

Backup Your Settings

Experimenting Safely

Asset & Configuration Cleanup

Additional Known Issues

What's Next

Need Help?

Visual Improvements

Game Resource Menu

Development Updates

Major Additions

Fixes & Optimizations

Technical & Backend Updates

Gameplay & Tutorial Improvements

UI & Targeting

Visuals & Post-Processing

Input System Rework – Progress Update

Gameplay & Balance

Stability & Technical Fixes

Quality-of-Life Fixes

What’s Next: Input System Overhaul

Fixes