21 Nov 2023Developer postOriginal post (opens in a new tab)

Alpha Update 0.224.0.28

GAME ENGINE / GENERAL

The game has now been updated to Unreal Engine 5.3.2.
Support for DirectX11 (Shader Model 5) has been discontinued, as the new UE5 features require DirectX12 (Shader Model 6).
Shadows are now rendered using Virtual Shadow Maps, which are superior to the old Cascaded Shadow Maps.
All world geometry is now rendered using Nanite, which practically gives us an unlimited poly count budget.
Replaced the visible sun flare with a more dynamic and visually attractive version.
Optimised and generally removed unnecessary bloat from the sun/starlight code.
Reduced the opacity of the FTL magic space clouds so that the realtime star parallax can be seen more clearly.
The initial entry into the game is now a lot smoother, with all of the laggy processes hidden behind the loading screen.
Added a new ship selection/config menu when starting a new game.
You can now turn NPC's on or off when starting a new game (SP and MP).
You can now start new games in a Cold & Dark state (SP and MP).

MULTIPLAYER

Added password protection for multiplayer games.
Added the ability to hold tab to see a list of player crew members.
Added a new Host Controls UI. Press F6, or find it on the pause menu when you are hosting a multiplayer game.
Added the ability to kick players from your game.
Added the ability to mute players on your game.
Added the ability to send players to the brig (basic, temporary brigs have been added adjacent to the shuttle bay on E Deck).
Added the ability to update the server password, description and max-players while still in-game using the host controls.
Picking up and manipulating props is now properly synced in multiplayer.
The lift in the VIP lounge is now properly synced in multiplayer.
All of the Engineering systems now work in multiplayer.

UNOS OPERATING SYSTEM

Turned the UNOS UI's into more of an actual operating system, with consistent UI elements and a custom data transfer system.
Updated the projected UI material so it properly scales the background cloud effect to its screen size.
Added a new simulated UNOS loading screen (only included on the new UI's currently).
Holding E will allow you to use the mouse pointer to interact with any UI screen.
Designed a new UI for the Cryo Tanks.
Designed a new UI for the Cryo Pumps.
Designed a new UI for the Cryo Coolers.
Designed a new UI for the Valves.
Designed a new UI for the Fusion Reactor.
Designed a new UI for the Reactor Output Distributor.
Designed a new UI for the HV Battery Distributor.
Designed a new UI for the HV Shields Distributor.
Designed a new UI for the HV FTL Distributor.
Designed a new UI for the HV Propulsion Distributor.
Designed a new UI for the HV Weapons Distributor.
Designed a new UI for the Deck Distributors.
Designed a new UI for the Quadrant Distributors.
Designed a new UI for the Reactor Room Distributor.
Designed a new UI for the Startup Distributor.
Designed a new UI for the Corridor Distributors.
Designed a new UI for the A Deck Distributor.
Designed a new UI for the Battery Charge Distributors.
Designed a new UI for the Battery Aggregators.
Designed a new UI for the Battery Arrays.
Designed a new UI for the B Deck Crew Information Terminal/Map.
Designed a new UI for the C Deck Crew Information Terminal/Map.
Designed a new UI for the D Deck Crew Information Terminal/Map.
Designed a new UI for the E Deck Crew Information Terminal/Map.
Designed a new UI for the F Deck Crew Information Terminal/Map.
Designed a new UI for the G Deck Crew Information Terminal/Map.

ENGINEERING

Built a new system from the ground up to simulate piped fluids.
Built a new system for laying pipework via splines, which dynamically adds brackets and connectors.
Built new models for the pipework and its connectors.
Added all of the cryogenic pipework needed to supply the reactor with fuel and coolant.
Added coloured plastic clips to the pipe brackets and connectors to help indicate the fluid type.
Added functional valves to control the flow of cryogenic fluids.
Built new models for both small and large Valve variants.
Built a new model for the Cryo Coolers.
All fluid-related hardware now requires live power to operate.
Significantly overhauled and optimised the existing electrical simulation, increasing performance and reducing lag spikes.
Updated the electrical code to support an "emergency power" flag, so everything knows when its on emergency power.
Updated the Reactor to require actual fuel and coolant consumables.
The Reactor can now be throttled between 10% and 110%, with anything above 100% heating the reactor to eventual failure.
The Reactor output is now connected to the FTL system, so changing the reactor setting will impact the ship's FTL speed.
The audible buzz from the distribution boxes now scales with internal bus amperage, but is also generally quieter.
Built new models for the HV Distributors at the back of the reactor room.
Built a new system for adding dynamically scaled Distribution boxes, which can now scale to fit any UI dimensions.
Updated how Battery Arrays calculate wattage. They now use the "Equivalent Resistance" of all connected battery cells.
Changed how batteries display their remaining charge. It now states "Time To Depletion", which is calculated against the current draw.
Built a new system for laying railings via splines, which dynamically adds balustrades and other details.
Built new models for the various railing elements.
Added new railings to both floors of the Cryo Room.
Built new models for some of the steps on the Cryo Room staircase. The remaining steps are still WIP.
Built new models for the various Cryo Room flooring elements.
Added a new WIP room on G Deck to house the Startup Capacitors and their associated Distributor.
All of the doors on both F and G decks should now be named properly.

TUTORIAL SYSTEM

Significantly improved the tutorial system, which is now generally more robust and has much better UI click-detection.
Added the ability to skip forwards (Enter) and backwards (Backspace) in the tutorials.
Added a new tutorial covering the ship's full Cold Start procedure, which includes 12 minutes (180+ lines) of audio dialogue.
Updated the Scanning & Navigation tutorial and replaced all of the audio with new samples, totalling 7 minutes.

GALAXY

Added city surface lights to procedural Earthlike planets. There's a flat 33% chance for testing right now.
Added glaciation coverage to Earthlike planets, which is driven by the planet's temperature.
Added more surface colour variation to Earthlike planets.
Updated Earth's surface lights, and added a noise function to increase their detail a bit more.
Updated the light cast by black holes so that it properly obeys inverse square law and is the correct colour.
Updated the Black Holes code to remove some unnecessary bloat, and generally optimise how they are generated.
Added some more volumetric noise textures to increase Black Hole detail and variety.

PROPS SYSTEM

Built a new system for achieving object permanence. Props will now remain where you left them when re-loading a saved game.
Greatly improved the way props are handled when picked up. You can now rotate them with the mouse and reset their orientation.
Props are now a lot more solid, and much more difficult to clip through walls unless you really force them.
You can now pick up and interact with objects while sat in a chair.
Props now have audio associated with them.
Updated a few prop items to make them interactive, such as the mop and wet floor sign in the B Deck lounge bathroom.

SHIP CUSTOMISATION

Added the ability to change the UI button colours (only affects the new UI's currently).
Added the ability to switch between seasonal holiday ship decorations.
A few Halloween and Christmas decorations are now available on the bridge for testing.
All of the standard UNOS UI screens now display the chosen ship name correctly.

FIXES

Fixed Earthlike planet mountains reflecting starlight on the dark side.
Fixed the bridge space labels appearing and flickering on B Deck.
Fixed the sun/starlight shining into B Deck in the wrong places.
Fixed an issue with the volumetric textures on Black Holes, and made a new one with a cell resolution of 128x128 (up from 32x32).
Fixed Water Planets not being spawned properly.
Fixed Dwarf Terrestrial Worlds not being spawned properly.
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