Hey Folks!
Ostranauts v0.6.3.7 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.
This patch is a big bigger than most, and includes some pretty noticeable changes and fixes, from AI to derelicts, and even performance improvements.
Specifically:
- Added code to stop AI from opening pressurized airlocks without player intervention.
- Changed crew roster UI to have disembark and open airlock permissions.
- Changed game so it can continue to run in background.
- Fixed a bug that caused a long pause when docking or shutting down powered objects.
- Fixed a bug that caused unconscious to get stuck on AI if they were interrupted while waking up.
- Changed the way derelicts procedurally remove items, to reduce amount of missing floors below objects.
- Changed derelicts to have doors randomly opened, closed, or locked.
- Added code to reduce AI's autonomy discomfort whenever it gets to decide on an activity to do next.
- Added Back Off! social move to allow AIs to vent autonomy frustrations.
- Fixed a bug that could cause Ostranauts to freeze when hitting Exit if an object was destroyed before it was removed from ships.
- Fixed a bug that could cause a crash if item contained parts for repairs when it mode switched.
- Added code to make AI take a break from work when offering to cover their shift.
- Fixed a bug that caused AIs to skip replying if player chose Direct Order while they were in a good mood.
- Fixed a bug in career kiosk sidebar that showed wrong ship name.
- Changed crew roster UI to have accurate ship company name at top.
- Changed roster and duties UI to no longer auto-pause game when opened.
- Changed PDA crew button to correctly toggle UI on/off.
One of the big things here is the beginning of our work on making AI more useful. As of this build, AI will no longer walk through airlocks with a pressure difference without your explicit permission. You can still manually open airlocks to let them through on a case-by-case basis, or there is a toggle setting for each crew member on the roster UI (PDA crew button) if you want them to go hog wild (like before).
AI also now recharge their autonomy needs whenever they choose to do something, whether it is assigned tasks or free roaming.
Also, the game now runs in the background! Feel free to alt-tab away, and the game will continue running until you return. Handy for waiting on sleeping AIs until we get a more powerful super-fast-forward function in.
And speaking of sleeping, the unconscious stuck bug should be fixed now, too.
Derelicts got some love, as well, and should now be a bit less annoying, and more interesting. You should see more missing equipment now, and fewer floors and walls missing underneath things. Doors will also be randomly locked or closed.
Finally, several bugs were fixed in this build, including the one that caused a massive freeze/hang after docking as the player visited more and more ships.
As always, there's plenty more for us to fix, change, and add! And we'll be continuing in roughly that order. In the meantime, let us know if this patch helps you out, as well as if it reveals new problems!
Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC