New features are ready to be tested on the experimental branch. This patch includes a small rework for the scanner system, some assistance to get the perfect warp level, a couple of new props, and an alternative to traditional mining: the strip miner.
The strip miner is a very large and heavy device designed to be placed on stations in order to mine specific very large and resource rich asteroids. Be on the lookout for the new HUD icon when exploring space to find out which asteroids can be mined. The strip miner mines a lot slower compared to the extractor, but it can buffer a large amount of mined resources and multiple resource types at once. It will continue mining as long as there is at least one person in the system, so feel free to do something else after you turned it on and come back later to a station filled with precious loot.
In order to find the perfect asteroid effectively, the scanners have received some updates. First of all the scanners menu will now feature an on/off button so the scanners are no longer draining power when you are not using them. This menu has also received somewhat of a graphical overhaul in order to make it more readable and more pleasant to use.
Finding the perfect warp level can be somewhat of a pain, but some updates to the ship flight GUI should make this task a lot easier. Once a target is selected (by default by pressing T for those who didn’t know) the HUD will show an arrow indicating whether throttling up or down is a good idea. It should also show the time it takes to reach the destination at the current speed.
Finally, there are some new props for the interior designers among you. These include:
- A new wall,
- A new wall light
- A new window
- A new wall fan
Thank you all for playing and if you want to stay up to date with all Interstellar Rift news you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and you’re free to leave your thoughts on our forums! We hope you’ll enjoy this new update and we’ll see you star side!