Hey, Space Travelers!
In just 4 months Stardeus will be released to Early Access! The development pace has reached terminal velocity, and this update is going to be big.
Many of those with closed alpha access have racked up dozens, or even hundreds of hours of playtime. Their feedback has led to a significant number of balance changes, QOL improvements, and new late game oriented content and features. I want to thank all of you who pushed Stardeus alpha to its limits and submitted feedback via the in-game form, or on Discord. I couldn’t ask for a better community!
Let’s take a look at what happened since the last development update ~6 weeks ago.
Human operated devices
Humans will no longer be a liability. A set of new devices along with a couple of old ones will require a human operator to be present for the device to work. This will be especially important in early game, when you will have to rely on human labor to operate the crafting stations to produce critical components required for your ship.
Improved AI and more complex human behavior
While still far from perfect, the AI is getting increasingly more refined. There are significant improvements in how your workers handle and prioritize their needs, and with a larger variety of various activities available for them, new possibilities open up more complex behaviors. For example, someone who hasn’t taken a shower for quite a while will not be able to socialize with others. Operating devices will make humans tired, so they will shift between work and rest / recreational activities.
Visual and audio polish
Gameplay will always come first, but I managed to pick a few more low hanging fruits that made Stardeus look and feel better and more immersive. It’s the little things - smoke trails on meteors, darkness in enclosed rooms if they don’t have lights installed, nanobot swarm effects for construction, deconstruction and repairs and little positional animations of beings moving when they are performing a task. Audio wasn’t left behind either. Many ambiences and in-game sounds are replaced with improved, less annoying and more interesting versions. A few new OST tracks were composed to increase the variety of background music. UI also got a subtle yet important improvement - a more readable, crispier font. All these little improvements add up to create a richer, more vivid environment.
Starmap changes and planets in the background
Starmap used to be the worst looking part of the game, sporting ugly placeholder art I made in 30 minutes two years ago. I threw the whole thing away and redid it from scratch. The objects in starmap are generated in a way that they can be put in the actual starfield behind the ship, so you will see the planet come into view when you fly close to it. The planet is rotating around its axis, and clouds are morphing in the atmosphere. This really adds to the immersion.
More interesting shipwreck generation
The ship generation algorithm was overhauled to produce better looking ships. Several sets of new floor tiles were added to achieve a bigger variety of distinct areas. Glass floors will also be placed in more aesthetically pleasing ways to form rows of windows.
Polished Steam Deck support and refined controller input
I have finally received the Steam Deck, and now I’m spending every night playing Stardeus on it! This led to a ton of improvements and polish related to Steam Deck and controller input. It touched a plethora of aspects - UI scaling, fonts, controller detection and glyphs, default input bindings, virtual keyboard input and more. I am certain that Stardeus will pass the “great on deck” verification with flying colors!
Improved Oxygen / Heat overlays
The atmosphere simulation overlays were improved to a point where it will be easier than ever to detect oxygen or heat leaks.
Codex Overlay and Operations Manual
To help new players and organize all the information about the game to be at the tips of your fingers, a Codex overlay was added. It includes a detailed Operations Manual that you can explore and learn over time to master the intricacies of running a spaceship.
Steam Achievements
Stardeus is going to have Steam Achievements. I have already added 30 of them, but more are coming. If you don’t like achievements, there is a setting to disable them.
Winching sections
One of the most annoying things was that you had little choice on how to rebuild the ship. You could either make bridges between broken sections, but that would make the ship unnecessarily huge. Another option was to deconstruct as much as you could. Now there is a third option - building a Winch Hook and Winch Anchor, and using them to reel in two sections together. You can also use this technique to shift things around later.
Security Controls and Quantum Barrier
There are finally some serious defenses against asteroids and meteor showers. You can build Quantum Barriers that will charge up and produce force fields. Security Controls will let you control them all in bulk.
Sentry Drone
There is a new sheriff in town. Sentry Drone will not perform any work, but it excels in combat situations.
Planet terraforming and colonization
The main objective of the Ship Computer is to find a habitable planet and settle a permanent colony for your human survivors. This objective can now be achieved by finding a terraformable planet and terraforming it using four different devices - Atmosphere, Biosphere, Oceans and Terrain Generators. Once the planet is fully terraformed, you can settle your colonists and see the end game credit screen. You can continue playing afterwards.
Mind Control
There is finally a way to change job priorities and give direct orders to your human colonists. You will have to research and build the Beta Wave Transceiver that will allow influencing the minds of friendly biological beings. It has to charge up to reach 100% synchronization level and is energy intensive, so there will be more efficient options for colonist mind control in future (i.e. brain implants).
Scanning planets with Probes
You can now build and launch single-use Probes to scan remote planets, so you will know where to go to find that precious Uranium.
Tons of other changes
In addition to the big things mentioned above, there are hundreds of smaller improvements, balance adjustments, bug fixes, polish, and new content additions. You can find the full list in the public changelog on the website or in #stardeus-updates channel on Stardeus Discord.
See you in the next update!
Follow the Development
- Official Website: https://stardeusgame.com
- Join Stardeus Discord
- /r/stardeus on Reddit
- @StardeusGame on Twitter
- @dev_spajus on Twitter
- dev_spajus on Twitch (live development streams)
Add Stardeus to Wishlist
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1380910/Stardeus/