“Steropes is the first AltCorp vessel designed specifically for the Expedition project. The early Altair Corporation analysis of Hellion’s survey data concluded that using Arges would prove risky during the initial colonization effort. Arges’ high fuel consumption and overall complexity made it ill suited as a workhorse in a completely alien system with no prior infrastructure. Hence the Steropes project was put forth with a goal of designing a smaller vessel that could be assembled and retrofitted in the field with minimal effort, while still retaining its construction and transportation capabilities. Steropes Class entered mass production in March 2278.”
Well we guess it’s about time for us to cover the new ship. The star of this show, as the update name implies, is the Altair Corporation’s Steropes class. In this preview we are going to cover what this “lightning” is capable of as well as go over our design philosophy and features and improvements that we’ve somehow managed to cram into this update. Expect Steropes update to land on May 17.
Why not go bigger?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions, ever since we announced the new ship design. So let’s go and explain the reasoning behind going smaller. In truth we were never too happy about using Arges as the starting ship. Those of you who have been with us from day one know how overpowered the original Arges would feel if we restored its full functionality today. It had a life support system that was on par with the life support module, reactor almost as strong as a dedicated power supply module, towing capability, RCS, engines, warp drive and to top it all off a cargo bay complete with a refinery! The only thing it lacked was a cryopod and crafty players quickly found a way around this by constantly towing the starting module behind them.
So we had to ask ourselves a question: Why would anyone want to build a base if a single ship could do everything? To solve this problem we resorted to removing the cargo and refinery and then imposed an artificial limitation to the number of modules you could tow at any given time. This wasn’t a solution, but rather a quick fix that we were never too proud of, but since Hellion lacked most of its core features it was the only viable choice at the time.
By replacing Arges with Steropes as the starting ship we are now free to restore the old “Mule” to its rightful place as the “workhorse” of the Altair Corporation’s industrial fleet. However, we do not want to make Steropes obsolete the moment you get your hands on Arges. Instead, we want players to make a decision which ship to use, based on the task at hand.
“Pocket Lightning”
How is Steropes different from its big brother? Well to start it is a much smaller ship, about one third the size. Its systems have also been reduced in comparison. Instead of a fusion reactor there are only solar panels and a dedicated life support system has been replaced with just air filters. Furthermore the ship has no engines, only RCS and Warp Drive. Its airlock is also incompatible with standard airlock docking ports. So far this all looks pretty grim, we can hear you say. So is there anything about this ship that isn’t a straight downgrade from Arges?
Glad you asked! Since our goal was not to make people feel like they are driving a runaway bathtub, but a full fledged spaceship we had to provide it with a few “upgrades”. Steropes has a much more efficient and powerful warp drive and the same is true for its RCS system. Compared to Arges it is about five times more maneuverable owing it to its lower overall mass which also means that it uses far less power when initiating warp. It can cover more distance with its single warp cell and warps considerably faster. To top it all off it has a triple capacitor bank that features three upgrade slots. When fully upgraded it easily trumps the capacitor found on a dedicated Power Supply Module giving it a lot of “flexibility” despite it having only one solar panel. Needless to say it can also tow modules just like its predecessor.
Gameplay
In terms of gameplay we had a specific thing in mind when we sat down and discussed the new ship. Steropes was designed to complement player’s efforts as they progress through the game, most notably base building and upgrading. Due to the aforementioned reductions, the ship is not self sufficient and relies heavily on the supporting infrastructure of your base with the end result being that upgrading your base with additional modules directly benefits your ship as well. As a simple example: expanding your station with a dedicated power supply module means that charging the ship’s capacitor banks becomes much faster and easier. Same holds true for pressurizing rooms and filling up the ship’s air tank. Due to this mechanic the ship had already been nicknamed “The Leech” by several testers...
While all of this is not enough for it to trump Arges’ expanded functionality, Steropes’ speed and maneuverability provides a clear advantage when fuel conservation or time constraints come into play. For some reason doomed outposts come to mind… Finally, its layout feels far more comfortable making various interactions easier, regardless if you’re a veteran or still learning the ropes.
Also keep in mind that several features that were originally planned for Steropes couldn’t make it into this update due to their complexity and overall impact they would have on existing game mechanics. So expect to hear some exciting news in future updates.
Improvements
Of course with the introduction of the new ship we had to tackle some of the problems which had been plaguing us since launch. We put a lot of effort into code improvements to optimize movement and server client communication and then moved on to tackle NavMap, Warp Drive, Loot Distribution and Premade Stations. All of these were covered in our last blog post, but one item was not on that list. It’s the complete overhaul of the piloting interface.
As was the case with the NavMap we had to rebuild piloting from scratch. The end result is a far more stable interface with improved functionality that is at the same time easier to access and modify (or expand with new options) should the need arise. It also displays all of its functions and indicators across the entire canopy rather than just a small center portion. Getting into the piloting seat is now faster and no longer requires an additional step to start flying. As you sit in the cockpit you are now in piloting mode by default and using free-look does not interrupt flying. This rework also allowed us to remove some of the annoyances (like barely visible buttons) and implement some quality of life features like hotkeys, “scroll to cycle targets” or “target object under reticle”.
That’s all for this preview. Expect a complete list of changes and bug-fixes next week as part of the “Steropes update” patch notes. Until then, get back to your cryo-pod and prepare yourself for consciousness transfer. Mind upload procedure starting in 10...9...8...7 days!
Zero Gravity team