Hello! After another intensive month and a half of work, today we're releasing the latest update of Space Station Designer (version 0.5.30)! As always, it includes a series of improvements, fixes, and additions. Please read on for the highlights and, if you're interested in the full changelog, you can review our live document here: [Public] Space Station Designer - Release Notes.
Return of the Sandbox mode and the new 'Contracts' system
We disabled the Sandbox mode a few updates ago in order to focus on the 'Campaign' mode. In this new update, we're introducing a new 'Contracts' system, which will allow you to accept challenges in a wide range of areas and get rewards for successfully accomplishing them (and suffering penalties when failing to complete them). The Contracts system can be accessed via a new button in the orbital outpost:
This button reveals a screen featuring a list of available contracts. By using the toggle buttons located at the top of the screen you can also review (1) contracts in progress, (2) completed contracts, (3) failed contracts, (4) rejected contracts, and (5) expired contracts.
This new Contracts system is only available in the Sandbox mode and, as of the current version, it features 21 contracts exclusively for phase I. In future updates, we will:
New tutorial: 'The Debris Avoidance Maneuver' (DAM)
In the previous update (version 0.5.25) we introduced a completely revamped propulsion system, which included a redesign of the 'Debris Avoidance Maneuver' (DAM). In this new update, we've added a brand new tutorial that covers the mechanics behind the DAM in detail. This tutorial can be accessed from the 'Station Upkeep' category.
QoL improvements, fixes, and balancing
As part of this update, we've made some behind-the-scenes improvements, such as a refactoring of the logging system to improve the game's performance, a wide balancing pass of our database, and some UI/UX improvements to the Earth Facilities screen, which are now a bit less cluttered.
Closing thoughts
That's all for this update. The "Contracts" system represents another large development milestone for us, and we hope you enjoy it! If you have any questions or feedback about Space Station Designer, please don’t hesitate to contact us via the forums.
--Ignacio, Mauricio, and Nicolas (Polar Motion)