Hello Navigators!
Another month has gone by and things have be bumpin' in the testing realm as many quality of life and interaction issues have been raised. While we all know that Stellar Navigator is in Early Access which means there will be issues from time to time, it is important to not let them get out of hand. Moreover, care must be taken with changes because they are being made underneath all of your hard work on galaxies and solar systems. Therefore, it is important that any new navigators that pick up the live version and may not yet be a part of the closed and open betas have a good experience.
Over the last couple weeks, significant focus has been on the export and import features in conjunction with the customizable galaxy points to ensure a smooth experience with these tools. Therefore, many issues that have been raised are now resolved and the list of high severity issues is dwindling.
Major Update Two
So what does this all mean for Major Update Two? That was being worked on right?
Yes. It was being worked and is still being developed; however, with the raised issues mentioned above, it has slowed the development of MU2. Which is the unfortunate reality of development. Nevertheless, I am happy to say that in MU2 Stellar Navigator is able to publish galaxies to Steam Workshop! This is a major milestone in the process which is followed by downloading galaxies and adding them to your lists after subscription.
What can be uploaded to the workshop?
Right now it is possible to upload galaxies with all of their solar systems, and in the future (ideally along with MU2) individual solar systems. With these two core elements in place the potential for shared community content opens up significantly.
Trade lanes and constellations
As seen in the previous update the trade lanes and constellation lines are a visually tangible part of the galaxy map. Being that it will be an new level of interaction on the galaxy I want talk about how it currently is envisioned to function. First of all, the plan is to have the ability to set up line templates. These templates will provide options for colour and style which can then be used when setting up lines between star system points.
How drawing will work
With a template selected and in an edit mode for connecting star systems connections will be made by clicking on one star system point and then clicking on another. The direction will matter as this will a)instruct the animated effect on opening the galaxy, and b) the direction of specific line template styles.
Removing of lines will also be done within the same edit mode and by clicking on a drawn line.
That is all for this month. I am excited to share future developments on MU2 in future developer updates, but for now - Keep looking to the stars!