Hello everyone!

This update is a bit late if we look at our usual schedule, mostly due to the Nordic Game conference and university work, but also some other things. So sorry about that, but now it's here and it's live!

We've got mostly new module additions this time, a slight overhaul of the galaxy map and some building system additions.

I think this does nearly double the old number of modules so at least we have that going for us which is nice. There are also some inventory overhauls that are nearly done but didn't quite make it into the update yet, so stay tuned for those.

New Modules

New 3 unit long armor modules, bound to come in handy.

Some 6 unit long armor modules for those extra large ships.

These rounded slopes can make a nearly perfect circle if you put 4 of them together, and there are some longer (3 unit) regular ones as well.

The old pylon got a slight texure rework and we've added a whole bunch of new pyon/wing like armor blocks for some more interesting designs.

Now we've got some special armor modules for the other two manufacturers, from extra light (but not very durable) girders to help make larger ships in the early game to the super heavy side plates that can take some fire.

The industrial CAR-4 reactor is getting a larger, 3 unit version - the AR-8 which is a bit more economical fuel-wise. There's also a pretty large new Titan Power Core that should be good for larger ships.

Now we'll soon be adding multiple mechanics regarding passenger transport and similar, so you'll need some habitation modules for that. We've got some basic ones for now and we'll get to more interesting versions later down the line.

Currently they're purely decorative however.

There are two new collectors and two new antennas to look forward to.

Then finally a larger mk2 fuel tank for U.R.A. and a larger shield generator.

Some of the existing modules have gotten a re-skin as well:

Inventory Sorting

So with all of these new modules, the inventory became a bit of a drag to use so we added sorting for ease of access and fixed that bug that reset the scrolling location every time you clicked anything.

Galaxy Map Factions

The map is one step closer to a more finalized design, with support for dynamic rendering of faction areas as they change along the campaign.

NOTE: You do have to start a new game if you want the faction areas to generate atm, otherwise all systems will show up as independent.

The old, now invisible bands of systems still loosely define the technology you can find at certain parts of the galaxy, but that may change in the upcoming updates.

This also brings a new space station livery for the central United Research Alliance faction which resides at the very center of the galaxy:

Building System Additions

There have been some minor under-the-hood fixes for the building system, but it now really abides by which part of a module you select.

That means you can grab a module by a certain point and it will align the module to attach it there if possible, otherwise it will try moving and it to fit.

It now also shows the point you're attaching to by highlighting it green, for a little more transparency and feeling of what's going on.

P.S. We also have some new warp effects.

Changelog:

Additions:

• Rounded Slopes
• 3 Unit Long Slopes
• 3 Long Armor Blocks
• 6 Long Armor Blocks
• Rounded Armor Module Mk5
• Protective Deflector Plate
• Structural Pylon
• Frontal Jet Collector
• Additional Slanted Wing
• Additional Wing
• Additional Short Wing
• Compression Tank Mk2
• Passive High Speed Matter Collector
• Habitational Activity Module Mk4
• Mount Extender
• Flat Rectangular Receiver Array
• Rusted Truss
• Rusty Living Space Module
• Standard Mount
• Antimatter Reactor AR-8
• Titan Power Core
• M2 Shield Emitter
• side inventory sorting
• grab-by-anchor building extension
• the building system now shows the point you're attaching to in green
• better warp effects
• United Research Alliance livery for space stations
• a new ability that lets you demagnetize all nearby derelict ships
• some new sound effects

Changes:

• minor AI tweaks
• reworked galaxy map, added faction areas (requires starting a new save)
• renamed the plasma shotgun to the M-24 Double-Barrel Plasma Autocannon, reworked firing cycle to shoot faster and one shot at a time
• new sound effects for omnidirectonal and twin turbo turret
• fuel tanks now spawn dry
• reaction wheel force reduced by 40% and power usage by 55%
• ship automatic roll corection now pauses when in manual chase mode and firing weapons
• all passsive collectors now scale pickup volume with ship speed instead of electric power
• replaced radial menu double selection needed for ship demagnetization and schematic restoration with a rotating timer instead
• recolored ore textures, giving them more unique appearances to make them easily identifiable

Fixes:

• fixed tutorial blockage and possible crash
• significantly less thread lockups from ship updating
• reduced volume of backing up beeping
• fixed issue with displaying shield regeneration values
• inventory no longer resets scroll positon when clicking an item
• some corrections to the building system
• the inventory should no longer have a "ghost" spot at the very end of the list
• fixed a module rotation bug
• ship windows should no longer look too saturated when in direct lights

Thanks for reading everyone, and have a good one!