Universe Changes
We are ready to reveal the largest and most significant BETA 8 change: Universe generation.
When starting a new universe you will be able to pick from a number of options, and this will affect how the universe is laid out. It looks cooler, and plays much better. Star systems will spawn in clusters, and be linked together via jumpgates.
This means you will have star systems to explore locally, but are no longer able to just travel aimlessly in one direction forever. Depending on some factors, you may be able to visit neighbor systems via the existing warp process, or you can find and use a jumpgate to move to the next cluster.
You will also be able to determine things like size, and while there's no exact numbers fixed to size, universes can range from a hundred or so systems and go all the way up to several thousand, more than the average player visits in months of play.
We will also be incorporating the new generation visualization into the in-game universe map. It should be much easier to visualize your journey and use to navigate, and above all, easy on the eyes.
Star System Improvement
On a similar note, we're looking at star system generation. Over the course of ALPHA and BETA we discovered that a multitude of similarity becomes tiresome quickly, and we're making systems a bit more specific and purpose driven. This should make economic elements more apparent for players wishing to make a career in trading, and just better gameplay overall.
Experimental
The experimental branch is proving to be a success and we've already received some great feedback from players. The latest build added some improvements to how AI communicate with each other as well as remembering opinions of you even after you warp away. If you're adventurous but haven't checked it out yet you can find out how here.