Alpha 12 - The Anniversary Update (Coming Soon)
Greetings, Spacefarer!
May 2021 marks two very big milestones for us and Space Haven. 1 Year in Early Access and 5 Years Since the Start of Development.
To celebrate this event we have assembled a big package of some of the most requested features by you, our players. We want to make this event special, and celebrate together with you. Thank you for being with us on this journey with Space Haven!
New Major Features
Bigger Ships
The Widowmaker is a 2x3 ship inspired by a ship created by one of our players, Lord H Vetinari. You will also be able to create these bigger ships in Alpha 12!
We are adding two types of larger ship canvases for you to build on, the 2x3 and the 3x2, with 24 system points in store for you to assemble your ship attack and defense systems. To build on one of these bigger canvases you need to swap out the default 2x2 ship canvas in the abandoned mining station start scenario.
Note! You need a large enough crew and/or logistics bot to have a ship this big run efficiently. Distances start to become big and it takes lots of time for crew members to carry out their tasks. Don't go too big too fast =)
Swap out the default canvas and build a bigger ship! (But don't build too big too fast or you run out of resources =) )
You can swap out the default ship canvas by clicking on the "+" button at the top left part of the user interface. Note that you have 8 ship points in total and each grid on the canvas takes 1 point. So the 2x3 and the 3x2 will take 6 ship points.
Robots
Logistics Robots
Logistics overwhelmed! That has really been a theme with Space Haven. If one grabs everything there's bound to be a lot of crates, and while that should be the case (pun intended) it would be good to have some tools to try to ease it up a bit, too.
Logistics bots have certainly been one of the most wished for feature, and we're happy to announce we are including them for Alpha 12! Logistics Robots need to be researched to be unlocked, and you'll get to build a logistics robot home station, which is capable of building such a robot. The logistics robot uses the home station to repair and recharge itself at.
Salvage Robots
Well, why stop at one robot! We are also introducing the Salvage Robot, a hovering type of robot capable of venturing out into derelict ships and stations, dismantling facilities and hauling crates with the help of its two robotic arms.
The salvage robots also need to be researched and come with a home station, which they use to repair and recharge themselves at.
Windows
I had a dream that we found a habitable planet to live on. I don't think that planet is it...
Windows have been one of the most requested features by you, our players. There's just something about windows it seems! Well, it is finally happening. We have windows available in Alpha 12, both for the ship hull and inside walls.
There's a few different widths to choose from, and you will be able to build windows side by side to have lots of light come in! Windows are not only cosmetic, they will help light up the rooms to a degree.
Better Roofs and a Hull Paint Generator
Visible roofs and improved roof graphics
This pirate ship now travels the galaxy in more colors.
Roofs are now visible by default on ships, which have not yet been visited or explored by the player. It always frustrated us a bit that ships would often just be black blobs in the sector, unless the player specifically presses a button to see the roofs.
Ships and stations actually look like such when the roofs are up, so we created a system to allow roofs to be shown more, while keeping the needed visibility when exploring ships with your crew members.
Hull Paint Generator
Close up of the new roof styling and some hull paint.
We have also created a hull paint generator, which creates paint patterns on spaceship and station hulls. We want to have some distinction between the various factions spaceships, to make it easier for you to see who you are dealing with. It also makes the visual aspects of spaceships more varied.
Tool to paint your own patterns
The fearsome Stickman clan ship on its way to cause havoc in the galaxy.
We are including a tool to paint your very own patterns on the roofs and hull walls on your ships. Let your imagination run free and make your ships look truly unique with your own patterns.
Statistical Graphs
We've created a menu for tracking production and consumption over time for all the resources in the game. This is a tool, which has been long on our minds.
This tool will be very useful for things like water, energium, food and other resources - Displaying how much of the resources are consumed and produced on average over time so you can identify inefficiencies in your production.
No longer do you have to guess if your food production is keeping up with the consumption. Let some time run and check the graphs! =)
Immersion - More Sounds
Oh, you guys make some real noise now. Neat!
Last of the new Major features, but certainly not least! More sounds have been another much requested feature. We've added more sounds and we also modified the overall sound space to not be as quiet as before.
We have added more sounds to most facilities of the game, such as consoles, industry facilities, power generators, power nodes and thermal regulators, and to many other facilities like the Kitchen and Arcade Machine.
We have also added some sounds to characters, which you can hear when you are zoomed in close enough. The sound volume of various elements is dynamic, it is based on the current zoom level. We want to aim to avoid overwhelming the sound space with too many sounds all at once.
When will Alpha 12 - The Anniversary Update be released?
Our goal is sometime in May. We are looking to move into the experimental phase very soon and will post news on that in the near future. Once Alpha 12 looks good in the experimental phase we are ready to release it as an official update.
Join Space Haven Discord: http://discord.gg/spacehaven
Space Haven subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceHaven/
Report bugs here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/4/
Discuss Space Haven here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/0/
Technical Support: https://steamcommunity.com/app/979110/discussions/1/
Exciting times ahead, Spacefarer. Stay tuned for more news soon! =)