Hello friends!
The new year is upon us, and we've got our minds set on steadily moving Spaced Out! towards launch. Now that the DLC’s major systems are in place, we're going to begin a new regular release cycle of testing and updates. Every 3 weeks we will take all the content and changes we've finished and make them live for everyone to try out! (And there’s a testing branch for owners of Spaced Out! if you want to try the changes even sooner!)
First, we want to thank you for all the feedback you gave us over the holidays! This is the best part of Early Access for all of us: when the conversation flows in both directions. After combing the forums, it seemed like there were three really big things people wanted to see next for Spaced Out!: mod support, rocket progression on par with the base game, and a more fully realized cluster of asteroids that provides late game materials and sustainability.
Mod support was released a couple weeks ago and today's update irons out many of the kinks that came along with that.
As the major feature for this update, we've ported over a variety of the engines and storage modules from the base game to the new rocketry system, which will allow a wider range of rockets to be constructed, and access to more space destinations! The cluster destinations and materials are next on our list so watch for those improvements in the following updates. (And of course, there's all-new content in the works too!)
Additionally, we've reworked the Oxygen Mask system to work more like standard Atmo Suits, with lockers and checkpoints. We’re also shuffling around the suit-making tech tree a bit. Finally, we're adding a durability system to all suits. This is to address a long-standing complaint that atmosuits were too easy to maintain once set up. Durability solves this in the ONI tradition, by adding an infrastructural aspect to them, rather than a single one-time cost.
Thanks again for being part of this conversation. As always, please let us know if you encounter any issues in the bug forums, and thank you for your feedback during this Early Access period!
What's New and Improved?
Content and Features
- DLC versions of some rocket engines and modules from the base game.
- Added a new smaller Petroleum Engine.
- Balance pass on some rocket module key values (burden, engine power, engine efficiency, and capacity)
- Oxygen Masks reworked to function more like the previous suit implementations.
- Added Oxygen Mask Locker
- Added Oxygen Mask Marker
- Added Crafting Table (you craft Oxygen Masks here)
- Added Oxygen Mask tech item
- Deprecated old OxygenMaskStation building
- Added durability system for equippable suits (Oxygen Mask, Atmo Suit, Jet Suit).
- Added new intro Alert message
Worldgen
- Swamp starting area tiles changed from Sandstone to Sedimentary Rock to match what is found in the swamp.
- Worldgen borders now gradiate temperature between the adjacent biomes. This should prevent temperature "leakage" through Abyssalite. Note: doesn't fix biomes "spilling over" the borders.
Fixes
- Fixed issue causing invisible lines in diagnostic/resource charts
- Fixed issue preventing diagnostic/resource charts from showing a full 5 cycle history
- Falling Dupes on the edges of worlds are teleported to a Printing Pod/Mini-Pod, Rocket Control Station, or center of the world
- Made rocket interior tiles invincible and non-replaceable
- Fixed Transmitter Receiver Duplicant interact sounds
- Hid Rover pivot symbol
- Disabled the “Oversee Planetoid” button until the world is discovered
- Sealed Suits now actually clear the "Soiled Suit" status effect when a suit is unequipped
- Worn out Jet Suits now drop remaining fuel in a bottle
- Fixed an issue with an ever growing diagnostic indicator dot in the world selector
- Fixed crash in some old saves with Yellowcake, which has been removed from the game
- Fixed crash that would occur when choosing destinations for rockets that had no passenger modules
- Fixed issue causing small oxidizer tank to have more capacity than intended (2700->300kg)
- Fix for oxygen masks crashing in resource screens
- Fix for crash caused by loading old Duplicant skill data
- Fixed crashes relating to entombed Rovers
- Fixed crash relating to resources screen displaying worn out suits
- Fix for startup crash when loading saves with discovered warp conduits
- Fix for Dupes not falling when digging underneath them.
- Oxidizer tank size and efficiency rebalance. Oxidizer tank capacities made generally smaller while oxidizer efficiency is higher
- Fertilizer: 100% efficiency,
- Oxylite 200% efficiency,
- Liquid Oxygen 400% efficiency
- Fixed issue causing all oxidizer efficiency variations to be ignored in range calculation
- Fixed issue sometimes causing rockets to miscalculate range by 1
- Large liquid fuel tank capacity slider begins at max instead of 0kg for new fuel tanks
- Fixed issue that allowed rockets to burn anything in place of their intended fuel type
- Fixed unit error in rocket range calculation tooltip
- Adjusted rocket launch checklist items for clarity
- Fixed some typos
- Fixed a bug where Duplicants would take suits from suit lockers to deliver them to other suit lockers
- Oxygen Masks are now made with metal ores
- Fixed issue with suits being made of Dirt
- Fixed crash that occurred when trying to camera focus on an out of bounds Duplicant
- Fixed more stranded rocket/misleading rocket range issues
- Rockets can no longer land on Rocket Platforms that are too close to space for them to fit
- Rocket land orders requested from Rocket Platform can now be cancelled
- Fixed crash that could occur when trying to land a rocket that was launching
- Duplicants can no longer be entombed when they are travelling in Transit Tubes
- Fixed a crash on Home Sweet Home victory
- Recipes that have researchable tech are now only visible after the research has been unlocked, after which point they will always be visible
Strings
- Renamed Porta-Pod "Mini-Pod"
- Swapped out more placeholder strings
- Worn out suits now have unique names & descriptions
- Updated Russian, Korean and Chinese strings
Animations
- Art and animation changes for solid/liquid/gas rocket port buildings
- New animations for when Duplicants and Rovers exit their landers
- Added Dupe interact states for the Mini-Pod
- Added idle states to Rover
- Added a missing Rover movement animation
- Added cap symbols to launchpad to make the connection with the conduit ports look better
- Updated the artwork for the Small Solid Oxidizer Tank
- Revised place art for the conduit ports
- Added a "worn_out" state to the suit and mask anims
- Main menu Dupe anim pass
- Conduit port load/unload animations
- Added art that changes the form factor of some small rocket modules when to bridge with wider modules in a more appealing way
- Minor art changes to the smaller Petroleum Engine
- Minor adjustment to some building art for better color blindness readability
- Fixed some issues with rocket port animations
- Updated artwork for the Payload Opener building
- Updated size bridging art for several rocket modules
- Visual updates to some rocket modules that were ported over from base game (large liquid fuel tank, large solid/liquid/gas cargo)
Sound
- Add sound for Teleporter Transmitter/Receiver Duplicant interacts
- Add sounds for Sweetle and Sweetle Larva
- Hooked up some Mini-Pod sounds
- Add sounds for Rocket Orbital Deploy Cargo Module
- Add Rover sound effects
- Add Grubfruit Plant sounds
- Added missing sound for the smaller Petroleum Engine
- Added New World Detected notification music
- Added Oxygen Mask Checkpoint sounds
Other
- Removed flicker FX from the Rocket Platform light in the main menu - now a slow pulse
- Trailblazer and Rover modules now have a wireframe to indicate that construction has been requested
- Camera zooming should be smoother at low framerates and inconsistent framerates. Also, one "notch" of zoom is the same amount in both directions
- Modified place art for the Rocket Platform and conduit port buildings
- Added status item to Rocket Platforms with rockets that have no Spacefarer Modules
- Added liquid port for filling the smaller Petroleum Engine's internal fuel tank
- Small Solid Oxidizer Tank 3 to 5 wide module bridging art pass
- Removed integrated conduit ports on Large Solid/Liquid/Gas Cargo Modules
Mods
- Mods no longer crash if they have archived_versions but no versions of the mod support the current vanilla/DLC content. (Instead they just don't load)
- Game no longer crashes if there's a typo in mod_info.yaml. Instead logs an error if the mod is in the dev folder
- Moved the "Mover" and "Rover" ObjectLayers to the end of the ObjectLayer enum to prevent issues with mods