It's finally arrived. Beta 1. The game has come a far way from the first Prototype version (still available on GameJolt btw) and many of you have been with us for the full journey. Thank you. For those who are just joining us, welcome and hope you enjoy the Beta. Brew a cup of coffee, or pop open your favorite energy drink or soda, because there is a whole bunch of stuff to go over.
For those who won't bother reading the detailed forum post here are the main features :
Game Play Changes
Overall the balance has been the biggest change. Making all the systems work together was a big undertaking after all the Alphas adding each system individually. The game should now be playable from lowest level to highest level with a continuous path in between.
Mine Ores. Refine Metals
A significant change in how materials are acquired and produced. You no longer mine specific metals, but rather ores, and the ores are then refined into a specific metal.
The ores are: Paglite, Zeblalt and Durfil.
- Tritanium, Magnesite and Bonivium are refined from Paglite.
- Kelbium, Virmatite and Naronium from Zeblalt.
- Cirelium, Gavitanium and Duralium from Durfil.
There is also a new ore type called Begillium which can be refined into Tryptocite, Jerrelium and Puupooripojuo (a loose Druminence translation, we swear). These are "additives" that can be mixed into the base metals to produce different kinds of Hull tiles.
Other changes include crystals, each crystal type is used for a specific component type, Keloirit for weapons, Yoggenite for engines and so on.
Faction Changes
The Indepedent Traders have arrived. These are a faction of traders who will trade with nearly everyone, and exist in most systems. Their prices aren't always the best, but when you're desperate, you can't always be picky. Be warned: they aren't without teeth, and if you offend them too much, you may find yourself given the cold shoulder in the future. Ticeroy and Druminence have been temporarily removed for BETA 1, and will return in BETA 2.
Self Assembly and Construction Changes
Mounts no longer require items. An Assembler can just place them, as long as you have the available Integrity, and the Assembler is capable of making that type of mount (and size). Vessels with an Assembler can now alter itself, but with some limitations
Combat
We have rebalanced the combat mechanics. After thinking long and hard and listening to feedback, we decided to move away from Lasers (they are still in game), and shifted significantly to Particle Cannons. This changes how the AI will fight you, and require you to fight them. There's more room for skill and practice for all players now. There's also new variants for many weapons.
Components and Vessel Characteristics
Bridges have changed. Generally speaking the old "requires X components with Y benefit" is gone (the old bridges can still exist, and will eventually be seen in specific situations). Instead the bridge enhancements are a bit more straightforward in how the benefits (and deficits) are calculated and applied.
Items have mass, and with it, Cargo Bays now have a mass reducing value. Now with items have mass (and that mass affecting your vessel), upgrading cargo bays even with the same size, but better mass reduction can be a handy benefit.
Engines now have acceleration. This means that a ship's engines will not be at full thrust immediately. Only Ion engines can be manufactured at this time, but other engines are available to those willing to find them.
Ships now have a base impulse value, from a formula requiring at least one functional reactor, and factoring in engine count and vessel mass. Thrusters and other lateral engines are no longer required to strafe. They can still help however. Rotation is generally faster overall, though some ships may feel slower due to no longer having thrusters equipped.
Universe Creation
We have changed Universe creation. The default way will now produce ever higher level star systems as you move outwards. Generally speaking the max level systems are about 9 systems away from starting system. For those who prefer the old random way, that's available at creation, but it cannot be changed once the universe has been created. We've also redone our seed words to be a bit more "spacey". We have also honed a number of the elements of universe creation to make generation work better for the game.
Tutorial... of sorts
The first star system is now a sort of "tutorial" system. It's a bit more hand-crafted in terms of enemies and initial loot. Herman is gone from the starter region, but is nearby, and now has upgraded to a station of his own.
Whenever you load up a universe, you will see the new tutorial. Images and text will hopefully walk you through how things are done to get started. Let us know what you think.
Tiles and Graphics
We've added an entirely new system for tile graphics. While most tiles will look the same at first glance, there are now transparent tiles to be found, and we have the capability of adding "special effects" (beyond just glow and transparency) to tiles, and we will be fully utilizing this system as Beta continues. There are also more colors to pick from now during tile painting.
User Interface
Almost the entire UI has been changed or improved or both. Inventory is now organized by specific cargo bay and stored as tabs. The Manufacturing and Building UIs have been significantly redesigned, especially the manufacturing, components and painting portions. We've done SIGNIFICANT performance improvements on the paper doll, and other UIs have seen an overall performance increase. Dialogue popups and hailing have been redesigned. No more hailing dialogues intrusively blocking the middle of your screen on warp in. All hailing is now collapsed and located above the top right of your action bar. Please let us know what you think of these changes.
Dedicated Server
Many of you have been asking for it, and its finally been done. There is now a dedicated server tool available for those who wish to keep a game session going for friends and strangers. NOTE: this is not for the novice computer user. It may require some network configuration, and just general knowledge of how these types of things work.
Technical Behind-the-scenes and Mod Support
Significant work has been done to ensure better modding support. This took advantage of the stripping-out-nearly-all-content at the start of BETA 1 development and adding elements to prevent the game from crapping itself if something was missing.
To read about all the changes in nitty gritty detail please check out the forum post here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/416240/discussions/0/1744518767211239165/ and as always thank you for all your support, we look forward to hearing how you enjoy the BETA via Discord or as usual on the Steam Discussion
Also of note, to celebrate the BETA release we we have updated the store page including a new trailer:
Finally as we have mentioned in the past, now the game has entered BETA we have increased the games price to $12.99 (local price will vary).