Testing of the new multiplayer mode continues behind the scenes. While that's going on, I've been checking off a load more QoL requests that were on my list. A lot of these came from the Steam Community, but I read everything, wherever you may post it...
Assembler Hangar Bay
The Assembler now has a Hangar Bay in its first tab that can store up to 10 ship designs. Each design includes your full upgrade selection, equipment and the ship design itself. They can be created, edited and deleted entirely for free.
Build a tanky Gladiator, a glass-cannon sniper and a support ship, then switch between them whenever you're at the fleet.
Free Upgrade Resets
While making the Hangar Bay, it quickly became apparent that it would be exploitable as a way to avoid upgrade reset costs unless I made every interaction with the system cost credits. So, in the spirit of Slormancer, all upgrades can now be freely changed while at the fleet.
Fixed Caches
The current loot system predominantly drops weapons used by enemies, with a small chance to pull from the global loot table. However, there are now quite a few weapons that aren't used by any enemies that I still want to ensure players find on their travels. To solve this, I've added fixed caches.
These caches appear as orange stars in navigation and as rewards when viewing an encounter. They have designated spawn areas and are guaranteed to contain a rare item.
For example, you'll always find a rare Override Tether when fighting a certain faction in Sector 3.
Credit Storage
This one is pretty simple: you can now put credits into storage. This allows you to transfer credits across saves and keep them safe from being dropped when your ship is destroyed.
New Avatar
Finally, there is a new avatar available when creating a player, bringing the total to 8 custom avatars to choose from.
Multiplayer testing kicks off on Discord on Monday, August 17th. If you want to be among the first to fly with (and against) other players, join the Discord and check out the #news channel.
There's plenty more in this one too, including a new Gravity Cannon secondary weapon, a threat rework for tank builds and a long list of fixes. Full details below. Enjoy!
Patch Notes
New Features / Content
• New Assembler Hangar Bay stores up to 10 ship designs you can switch between.
• Resetting upgrades no longer costs credits, so feel free to experiment.
• Credits can now be deposited into Local and Shared Vaults at the Assembler.
• Sectors now include fixed caches that drop pre-defined rare items.
• New secondary weapon: the Gravity Cannon captures debris, missiles and drones.
• Point Defense Lasers spare rocks and drones your Gravity Cannon wants as ammo.
• New Transponder item allows tank builds to passively gain threat on enemies.
• Added a new player avatar to choose from when creating a pilot.
Balance Changes
• Ship size now multiplies threat generated, up to x10 for Dreadnoughts.
• Repair Halo now also repairs your own drones and turrets.
• Repair Ray can now repair your own drones and turrets when aimed at them.
Quality of Life / Accessibility
• New Fleet Theme audio setting plays main theme while the fleet is present.
• Default camera distance now targets a consistent ship size on any screen.
• Cache icons now show on revealed encounters so you can plan ahead.
• Navigation panel now previews what an encounter's cache will drop.
• Glossary item pages now list which faction holds a fixed cache for the item.
• Class stats in the ship designer now show the new threat multipliers.
• Ship designer preset folders now sort alphabetically in your language.
Bug Fixes
• Fixed rapidly tapping beam weapons dealing far more damage than holding fire.
• Enemy beams, torch flames and spinner discs no longer render under your ship.
• Halo auras now glow behind ships instead of drawing over nearby enemies.
• Phase Shift trails no longer linger forever when a ship dies mid-phase.
• Delayed-fire warning rings no longer stick around after a mid-shot refit.
• Friendly ship outlines now render at full resolution to fix pixelated edges.
• Fixed an error when a black hole formed after its firing ship was destroyed.
• Fixed an error using a capsule the moment a squadron or friendly ship died.
• Fixed dark outlines showing for Sector Keystones not yet placed in a gateway.
• Ships jumping in no longer point their weapons the wrong way for a second.
• Dropping equipment onto a trader's stock item no longer causes an error.
• Status effect visuals no longer become giant or squashed after ships jump out.
• Status effects no longer appear floating over a phased or hidden ship.
• Burning flames now fade out naturally instead of being cut off abruptly.
• Blown-off parts no longer show glitchy debuff outlines that outlive them.
• Singularity Key structures and unlocked gateways no longer lose their shadow.
• Flame, cryo and plasma weapon effects no longer fade to murky dark colors.
• Radar map now shows encounters revealed when you complete your current one.
• Summoned and escort ships now aim with their leader when flying in formation.
• Fixed errors from frigates venting smoke in nebula encounters.
• Fixed the HUD staying hidden after dismissing back-to-back error messages.
• Ships destroyed mid-attack no longer fire a final shot or trigger an error.
• Fixed an error when reflected damage destroyed a ship firing beam weapons.
• Flamethrower-style weapons vary sound pitch so stacked copies aren't metallic.
• Constant-fire weapons now go silent while overheated since nothing is firing.
• Gateways to completed boss encounters no longer show the No Escape warning.
• Fixed the loading screen ship flyby vanishing when the game stutters.
• Faction territory highlights no longer drift out of place between map views.
• Vanity thrusters no longer appear as equippable slots on equipment panels.
• Destroyed caches no longer keep their icons on the radar and Navigation maps.
• Holo Drive images now copy your shield's damage type instead of a random one.
• Broodnest music no longer plays in an encounter after the Broodnest is gone.
• Dodging no longer interrupts Temporary Effect / Beacons / Mirror Image.
Modders
• Added GravityCannon classes, Category.LauncherGravity and the PullRadius stat.
• BlackHole.Init now takes cached weapon/ship/faction attribution strings.
• Added Projectile.GetParentLauncher()/CaptureDestroy(), ShipBody.ClearParts().
• Added net asset-name catalogs and the CaptureGrant multiplayer message.
• Added ShipOutlineFeature.UnregisterRenderer() and RefreshRenderers().
• Added HangarDesign, Player.hangarDesigns and Pilot.SetUpgradeUnlocks().
• Removed Pilot.GetResetAllUpgradesCost() and GetResetSingleUpgradesCost().
• Added StarMapBase.fixedCaches, Star.AddFixedCache() and Cache.SetFixedItem().
• StarDisplay.SetStar drops showHidden; RewardDisplay gains InitMystery().
• Added Ship.GetClassThreatMultiplier() and AIController.AddThreatToEngaged().
• StaticUpgrade gains threatPerSecond; new ItemStat.Type ThreatPerSecond.