Hi Galactic Survivalists!
You may have wondered why we have been relatively quiet in the past 2 weeks. For a reason…
We were working hard on a new version and we have decided to let you participate in the on-going development. Thus, we have added a separate Steam branch, which includes the in-development version of the game! This so called “Experimental Branch” will make our yet finished, internal prototype features available to the public for everyone to test and to contribute. This is kind of our shared public workbench where we aim to fix and improve the big features to come with your dedicated help.
HOW TO CHANGE to the Steam Experimental branch?
1. Open your Steam library
2. Right-Mouse Click on the Empyrion Entry and open the PROPERTIES
3. Head over to the BETAS tab
4. Select the ‘Experimental - Unstable Test Branch’ from the dropdown and wait for the download to be finished.
5. If Steam does not download the update, open the tab LOCAL FILES and verify your steam cache! This should kick off the download.
You’ll then notice a [experimental] tag added next to your steam library game entry!
Important Disclaimer: Please read before switching to the Experimental branch
- UNSTABLE: Although there is no NDA to be signed or any specific invitation necessary to access this branch, anyone playing on the Experimental Branch should expect bugs, technical issues, stability problems, frequent updates, lots of small and big changes and even temporary removal of features.
- COMPATIBILITY: Of course you can revert back to the public branch at any time – but there is a high chance, your experimental branch savegames are broken or at least not working when downgrading to the public version (Depending on how big the changes between both versions are at this point).
- DISCUSSIONS: Join and contribute to the new Alpha Experimental features by giving us your feedback here: http://empyriononline.com/forums/experimental-features-discussion.35
- UPDATES: We will announce every release of a new version (with the corresponding changelog) on the Experimental branch in this thread: http://empyriononline.com/forums/announcements.36
Suscribe to this thread if you want to get notified when a new update is released.
- BUG REPORTS: Have fun and do not forget to report bugs in the specific "Experimental Branch" bug section of the forum: http://empyriononline.com/forums/bugs.34
Changelog: Alpha Experimental 1.7 (Build 443)
We have launched the Experimental branch today. For now, you can already test our new Combat Armor for Capital Vessels and Bases (Stage I of Rebalancing), a new Emergency O2 Generator and a few improvements.
Changes / Improvements:
- Major performance optimization for playfields with lots of turrets
- Added combat steel blocks for BA + CV (handheld weapons cannot destroy combat steel blocks - except rocket launcher)
- Balancing:
* Increased hitpoints of all turrets and SV+CV weapons
* Handheld weapons cannot destroy hardened steel anymore (except rocket launcher)
* Concrete: increased HP from 15 to 40
* Hardened Steel: increased HP from 100 to 150 (adapted template)
- Added new screen effects: Bloom, Image Processing Effect and SSAO (can be disabled in Settings)
- Better Video Options window for different quality settings
- Increased Light Intensity on several playfields
- Other optimizations:
* Internal optimization regarding large structures
* Performance optimization of constructors: data processing only done if data has actually changed
* Compressing deco/grass data transfer on first connect to a server
- Holographic screens get now enabled/disabled with structure
- Replaced model for old Gravity Generator and Power Generators
- Added PBR Shader for building blocks
- Better sorting in Server Browser: server name, players, ping
- Added Emergency O2 Generator (needs AtmosphereO2). Added "AtmosphereO2" parameter to playfields (for old save games: default of 0.1 is used)
- Added better info to all consumables how to use them (LMB or Shift+RMB)
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed problem that when entering cockpit/passenger seat in a very big CV, the terrain did rebuild
- Fixed: CV sometimes shooting at Sathium Asteroid around the Alien Space Station
- Fixed: OP does not cover irregular/unsymmetrical large bases and CVs
- Fixed: OP Exploit: Weapons can pin through the OP Shield when used in 3rd Person
- Fixed: Possible to place a starter Block within a OP shield
- Fixed: Moving items from itemmenu to toolbar results in an error and the item being deleted (MP only)
- Fixed: Possible Exploit: Control Panel of other player does not close if base is set to faction/private
- Fixed error when client had CP open and server exited
- Fixed: Starting a new game uses last used Save- or Server World Name
Note: Your Alpha 1.6.2 save games should be compatible with Alpha 1.7.0. If you downgrade to the public version again, the Alpha 1.7 savegame will not work anymore in Alpha 1.6.2
NEXT STEPS:
Finally – what to expect from the upcoming weeks in June? While we are working on a more complete roadmap that will be announced soon, we’d like to uncover the three primary features of the upcoming "June Update":
1. Difficulty Levels and more Customization Options for the Survival Game start (Settings will be available for Server admins as well!)
2. A first iteration of an In-game Marketplace for Player 2 Player Trading (Trading Stage I) including a first draft of an ingame currency
3. A first set of fixed-size Hangar Doors (more versions and size-flexible force fields coming at a later stage!)
These features and more will be made available in the new Experimental branch over the next weeks.
Thanks for reading.
Emp Dev Crew