Hey ArkCoNauts! Who’s ready for the New Year? We are! 2014 has been amazing for Team Handyman, and we can’t wait to crank things up in 2015. This is our final patch of 2014, and with it come some much needed optimizations, which should help some of the performance issues players might have noticed hanging around.


*Special Bonus*
Christmas Event will remain in for the duration of January! After that the event will remain however it will be far more rare and only attainable in the arctic biome.

Fixes

• Fixed the display of the arctic armor on avatar screen and on avatar (Thanks for my pants!)
  
• Fixed icons for chitin items so they are no longer the same (All shapes and sizes!)
  
• Fixed an issue with cloning pod in respect to crafting raptors (no more diminishing returns!)

Changes and Additions

• Massive optimization to the rendering loop (ENHANCE!)
  
• Reduced memory usage in respect to sky rendering (It’s not supposed to be that big?)
  
• Added controls for “V-sync” and “Tile Detail Level” in the options menu (One Size can fit all)
  
• Improved performance of darkness rendering (Darker than Black)
  
• Improved performance of placeables in respect to rendering (Place as many as you want, really!)
  
• Improved CPU cost (Make it cheaper!)
  
• ReTuned storage chest from 12-20-28 capacity to 15-25-35 capacity (small/medium/large) with a small increase in required metal resources (remember proto roots are abundant and can be used as a metal resource)[BIGGER is BETTER!]

Hey ArkCoNauts! Who’s ready for the New Year? We are! 2014 has been amazing for Team Handyman, and we can’t wait to crank things up in 2015. This is our final patch of 2014, and with it come some much needed optimizations, which should help some of the performance issues players might have noticed hanging around.


*Special Bonus*
Christmas Event will remain in for the duration of January! After that the event will remain however it will be far more rare and only attainable in the arctic biome.

Fixes

• Fixed the display of the arctic armor on avatar screen and on avatar (Thanks for my pants!)
  
• Fixed icons for chitin items so they are no longer the same (All shapes and sizes!)
  
• Fixed an issue with cloning pod in respect to crafting raptors (no more diminishing returns!)

Changes and Additions

• Massive optimization to the rendering loop (ENHANCE!)
  
• Reduced memory usage in respect to sky rendering (It’s not supposed to be that big?)
  
• Added controls for “V-sync” and “Tile Detail Level” in the options menu (One Size can fit all)
  
• Improved performance of darkness rendering (Darker than Black)
  
• Improved performance of placeables in respect to rendering (Place as many as you want, really!)
  
• Improved CPU cost (Make it cheaper!)
  
• ReTuned storage chest from 12-20-28 capacity to 15-25-35 capacity (small/medium/large) with a small increase in required metal resources (remember proto roots are abundant and can be used as a metal resource)[BIGGER is BETTER!]

Happy Holidays, ArkCoNauts!

We hope you’re all on the good list this year, because you’re in for a treat from Handyman. Our Holiday event is here! During the event, look out for Santa, who will be on the loose bringing his own mayhem to the game. After the event, the Christmas Dungeon will remain in the game in a more limited fashion, appearing in the comet biome on a more infrequent basis. That’s right! Even if you fall victim to future wipes, you’ll still have a chance to get back all that lovely holiday loot!


New Content

Christmas items are now available
Christmas Dungeon is now available
Christmas Dungeon TIPS: Chocolate Coins are given at start and dropped by creatures, these are for upgrading defense towers.
Christmas Dungeon TIPS: Dungeon Nav Data drops from Lower Proto-Biome and Comet Biome


Fixes

Fixed an issue where arklights could not be seen by other players in dungeons in multiplayer
Fixed an issue where chitins for Speedy Raptor were not dropping


Changes and Additions

Nav Data now stacks to 21 instead of 7
Penguin and DJ Dubstep Penguin dungeons are now accessible
Added dialogue to explain failure to connect to a server, should now give reason for failure

Happy Holidays, ArkCoNauts!

We hope you’re all on the good list this year, because you’re in for a treat from Handyman. Our Holiday event is here! During the event, look out for Santa, who will be on the loose bringing his own mayhem to the game. After the event, the Christmas Dungeon will remain in the game in a more limited fashion, appearing in the comet biome on a more infrequent basis. That’s right! Even if you fall victim to future wipes, you’ll still have a chance to get back all that lovely holiday loot!


New Content

Christmas items are now available
Christmas Dungeon is now available
Christmas Dungeon TIPS: Chocolate Coins are given at start and dropped by creatures, these are for upgrading defense towers.
Christmas Dungeon TIPS: Dungeon Nav Data drops from Lower Proto-Biome and Comet Biome


Fixes

Fixed an issue where arklights could not be seen by other players in dungeons in multiplayer
Fixed an issue where chitins for Speedy Raptor were not dropping


Changes and Additions

Nav Data now stacks to 21 instead of 7
Penguin and DJ Dubstep Penguin dungeons are now accessible
Added dialogue to explain failure to connect to a server, should now give reason for failure

Happy Holidays, ArkCoNauts!

Our festive bug smashing continues, with another round of fixes and changes. We will be taking some time off for Christmas next week to spend with family and friends, before coming back to dig in to another big content patch. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season, from our family to yours! <3


Fixes

• Physics calculations have been move to a separate thread. This fixes several issues with jumping, jetpacks, and collision that could occur at low framerates.
  
• Fixed several issues which caused frame rate drops on some systems.
  
• Creatures killed in a single shot no longer withhold Science XP in revenge.
  
• ArkCo employees have been reminded of the difference between left and right and should be less confused about which direction to face when aiming up or down.
  
• Fixed an issue where Nautilus and a couple other creatures were bypassing shields (They have our frequency!)
  
• Fixed an issue where the cybernetics station art was spazzing out (Short circuit?)
  
• Fixed an issue in multiplayer where some removed tiles would not update for all players (G-g-g-g ghost tiles? Zoinks!)
  
• Brown mundo crabs will once again inflict damage if you make them mad (Silent treatment)
  
• Fixed an issue that caused various sync issues between clients when loading chunks or worlds. (Communication breakdown)
  
• Optimized various packets to improve transmission of creature and world updates.
  
• Max Science XP is now updated correctly on the progress bar. (Blinded by science)
  
• Fixed an issue where cryorod count would not update properly (My pod gets 40 rods to the hogshead and that’s the way I like it!)
  
• Fixed an issue that caused some canceled quests to re-appear in multiplayer (I can’t quit you)
  
• Laser Picks are no longer blocked by various non-terrain objects
  
• Equipping a jetpack in the appearance slot will now change the jetpack effect
  
• Creatures now see deployable turrets as valid targets (The guns… they’ve stopped)
  
• The Skiff Pad now show the time remaining in multiplayer (Finally, a countdown)
  
• The Codex and Enhancements hotkeys now open the correct tab of the Character Window (In your face, interface)
  
• Fixed an issue where certain Anomalies could spawn creatures inside of terrain (hipster anomalies spawn everything underground)
  
• Fixed an issue when placing objects such as the Command Center sent a warning message or pop-up window to everyone nearby instead of just the placer
  
• Fixed an issue where some of Omegratron's attacks did not update player health bars (I’m not touching you!)
  
• Omegatron's Orbs can no longer enter the safe zones (NSFW)
  
• The resource and category select menus in the Crafting Window now close when the the Crafting Window is closed
  
• Fixed an issue where players could craft the wrong items in tutorial preventing them from progressing (That’s how we learn!)

Additions and Changes

• Players can now increase maximum science xp cap via upgrade platforms (The more I learn the more I CAN learn)
  
• The Anomaly Circle effect has returned from the hidden layer to which it was accidentally banished
  
• Added a healing effect when vehicles are being repaired
  
• Restored the player NamePlates on MP servers (Hello, my name is Operative)
  
• Extra Kit slots can now be unlocked via upgrade platforms
  
• The Crafting Window is refreshed after learning a schematic. New schematics remain marked as new when closing and re-opening the Crafting Window. Selecting a schematic marks it as no longer new.
  
• The quest to kill a random number of creatures now gives bonus time for each creature killed (Keep what you kill)
  
• When merging stacks of items, the target stack will always stack up to the maximum allowed and any remainder will stay in the source stack
  
• Creatures and other players no longer block the placement of background tiles
  
• Science XP is now shown near the character's head instead of text in the lower left of the screen
  
• Added Codex entries for the Penguin dungeon, DJ Penguin, and Tech Upgrades (Reading is FUNdamental)
  
• The Outfitting Station now opens the Character Window when activated
  
• Placeable items that can only work in a certain biome now show that on their tooltip
  
• Base Mode now shows an outline around all tiles. The powered tiles are white and the unpowered tiles are dark grey.
  

Happy Holidays, ArkCoNauts!

Our festive bug smashing continues, with another round of fixes and changes. We will be taking some time off for Christmas next week to spend with family and friends, before coming back to dig in to another big content patch. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season, from our family to yours! <3


Fixes

• Physics calculations have been move to a separate thread. This fixes several issues with jumping, jetpacks, and collision that could occur at low framerates.
  
• Fixed several issues which caused frame rate drops on some systems.
  
• Creatures killed in a single shot no longer withhold Science XP in revenge.
  
• ArkCo employees have been reminded of the difference between left and right and should be less confused about which direction to face when aiming up or down.
  
• Fixed an issue where Nautilus and a couple other creatures were bypassing shields (They have our frequency!)
  
• Fixed an issue where the cybernetics station art was spazzing out (Short circuit?)
  
• Fixed an issue in multiplayer where some removed tiles would not update for all players (G-g-g-g ghost tiles? Zoinks!)
  
• Brown mundo crabs will once again inflict damage if you make them mad (Silent treatment)
  
• Fixed an issue that caused various sync issues between clients when loading chunks or worlds. (Communication breakdown)
  
• Optimized various packets to improve transmission of creature and world updates.
  
• Max Science XP is now updated correctly on the progress bar. (Blinded by science)
  
• Fixed an issue where cryorod count would not update properly (My pod gets 40 rods to the hogshead and that’s the way I like it!)
  
• Fixed an issue that caused some canceled quests to re-appear in multiplayer (I can’t quit you)
  
• Laser Picks are no longer blocked by various non-terrain objects
  
• Equipping a jetpack in the appearance slot will now change the jetpack effect
  
• Creatures now see deployable turrets as valid targets (The guns… they’ve stopped)
  
• The Skiff Pad now show the time remaining in multiplayer (Finally, a countdown)
  
• The Codex and Enhancements hotkeys now open the correct tab of the Character Window (In your face, interface)
  
• Fixed an issue where certain Anomalies could spawn creatures inside of terrain (hipster anomalies spawn everything underground)
  
• Fixed an issue when placing objects such as the Command Center sent a warning message or pop-up window to everyone nearby instead of just the placer
  
• Fixed an issue where some of Omegratron's attacks did not update player health bars (I’m not touching you!)
  
• Omegatron's Orbs can no longer enter the safe zones (NSFW)
  
• The resource and category select menus in the Crafting Window now close when the the Crafting Window is closed
  
• Fixed an issue where players could craft the wrong items in tutorial preventing them from progressing (That’s how we learn!)

Additions and Changes

• Players can now increase maximum science xp cap via upgrade platforms (The more I learn the more I CAN learn)
  
• The Anomaly Circle effect has returned from the hidden layer to which it was accidentally banished
  
• Added a healing effect when vehicles are being repaired
  
• Restored the player NamePlates on MP servers (Hello, my name is Operative)
  
• Extra Kit slots can now be unlocked via upgrade platforms
  
• The Crafting Window is refreshed after learning a schematic. New schematics remain marked as new when closing and re-opening the Crafting Window. Selecting a schematic marks it as no longer new.
  
• The quest to kill a random number of creatures now gives bonus time for each creature killed (Keep what you kill)
  
• When merging stacks of items, the target stack will always stack up to the maximum allowed and any remainder will stay in the source stack
  
• Creatures and other players no longer block the placement of background tiles
  
• Science XP is now shown near the character's head instead of text in the lower left of the screen
  
• Added Codex entries for the Penguin dungeon, DJ Penguin, and Tech Upgrades (Reading is FUNdamental)
  
• The Outfitting Station now opens the Character Window when activated
  
• Placeable items that can only work in a certain biome now show that on their tooltip
  
• Base Mode now shows an outline around all tiles. The powered tiles are white and the unpowered tiles are dark grey.
  

We hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, and safe travels over the holiday weekend! We're getting back into the swing of things here at Handyman, and digging back into our huge to-do lists. Since we hadn't had a newsletter in a month, I felt it was high time we catch up on all the goings-on. November was a very busy month for us, with one of our biggest content updates yet being let loose on all of you.

Overall, we were very happy with the stability of the patch, there were relatively few major bugs to deal with; the more systems and features you bring in at once, the more potential it has to break, so it was definitely a victory to have it all work well together. We still have a lot of debugging and smoothing to do from the content patch, and are continuing to work on the bugs everyone has hunted down from there.

Last Saturday marked the return of vehicles to the game (crowd cheers!) now that the refueling system works again, as well as multiple bug fixes and more smoothing and balancing. We got the HUD updated as well, which we know people had been asking for. No more guessing how many cryorods you have left! Santa also left another gift for our wonderful players: faster mining across the board. The speed was bumped up on all picks by 80%, which has definitely brought the holiday cheer to Edge of Space!

While all of this is going on, we're also looking ahead to our next mega-patch, coming in 4 to 6 weeks or so. We're at the point now where content is going to be much more frequent, and this next big content patch will definitely be a fun one. The team will be gone at times during the upcoming holidays, but in between we'll be working on things and preparing for an action-packed New Year’s for Handyman.

On the community side, we're looking forward to a very special Christmas event this year. We can't give too many spoilers, but let's just say this will be the first of its kind for the Edge of Space community. If all goes well there will be plenty more like it to come. We'll have our usual giveaways and forum shenanigans, but we'll leave the main event itself under wraps here in the lab for now. The event will go live Sunday, December 21st, and run through Sunday, December 28th. Watch the forums and social sites for the news as the event draws near!

http://i.imgur.com/6gXcgwW.png

As always, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next time for ArkCo News!

We hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, and safe travels over the holiday weekend! We're getting back into the swing of things here at Handyman, and digging back into our huge to-do lists. Since we hadn't had a newsletter in a month, I felt it was high time we catch up on all the goings-on. November was a very busy month for us, with one of our biggest content updates yet being let loose on all of you.

Overall, we were very happy with the stability of the patch, there were relatively few major bugs to deal with; the more systems and features you bring in at once, the more potential it has to break, so it was definitely a victory to have it all work well together. We still have a lot of debugging and smoothing to do from the content patch, and are continuing to work on the bugs everyone has hunted down from there.

Last Saturday marked the return of vehicles to the game (crowd cheers!) now that the refueling system works again, as well as multiple bug fixes and more smoothing and balancing. We got the HUD updated as well, which we know people had been asking for. No more guessing how many cryorods you have left! Santa also left another gift for our wonderful players: faster mining across the board. The speed was bumped up on all picks by 80%, which has definitely brought the holiday cheer to Edge of Space!

While all of this is going on, we're also looking ahead to our next mega-patch, coming in 4 to 6 weeks or so. We're at the point now where content is going to be much more frequent, and this next big content patch will definitely be a fun one. The team will be gone at times during the upcoming holidays, but in between we'll be working on things and preparing for an action-packed New Year’s for Handyman.

On the community side, we're looking forward to a very special Christmas event this year. We can't give too many spoilers, but let's just say this will be the first of its kind for the Edge of Space community. If all goes well there will be plenty more like it to come. We'll have our usual giveaways and forum shenanigans, but we'll leave the main event itself under wraps here in the lab for now. The event will go live Sunday, December 21st, and run through Sunday, December 28th. Watch the forums and social sites for the news as the event draws near!

http://i.imgur.com/6gXcgwW.png

As always, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next time for ArkCo News!

Hey ArkCoNauts! We’re back into the swing of things after the holiday, and here’s our next round of fixes to the huge content update. Since everyone has been so awesome, today we’ll grant you a pre-holiday wish, the return of vehicles! They’re all fixed up and ready to go, happy trails everyone!


Additions and Changes

• Laser Picks Have been completely Rebalanced and are, in total, Faster as a whole (YES, Dreams do really come true)
  
• Vehicles have returned, in addition to the lifter it seems our raptors have multiplied! (“~They see me rollin~’)
  
• Laser Saws now have descriptions (What is this? What is that?)
  
• The HyperDrill is now set up properly to break more than one tile at a time.(It finally lives up to its name)
  
• Command centers and Nodes now display building requirements on tooltips (By the book)
  
• Placeables with CPU requirements now show it on tooltips (Why won’t this work!?)
  
• Updates to the appearance of several tiles (MOAR FLAVOR!)
  
• Condensed the codex (Easy to Read Version)
  
• Selected schematics in the Crafting Window now have a gold border.(So thats what i am crafting)
  
• New schematics in the Crafting Window now have the word NEW next to them instead of a gold border. (oO Shiny!)
  
• Blue jellies now do minor contact damage (such bantam roosters now ^^) (BONUS POINTS: Explain this reference! *no peeking at wiki*)
  
• Swapped tutorial creatures with new “Dummies” (Crash Test TIme!)
  
• Added standard rifle to the items given if you skip the tutorial (Bring It!)
  
• Removed the extended tutorial about building a base as much of that info is now in other places. (Do the Codex Shuffle)
  
• Items can now be swapped between toolbar slots (Better Toolbelt for the fashionable explorer)
  
• Right-clicking on an item that is already in your toolbar will remove it from that slot and add it to the current slot.(Swap in Swap out)
  
• Warning text now displays when placeables are placed incorrectly (WARNING WARNING!!)
  
• Tech upgrades now have a text message when used (Oh so thats what that is)
  
• Damage Over time was removed from the Vent anomaly (You want me to stand WHERE!?!)
  
• Kits now require an outfitting station to be unequipped (Could you pass me that wrench)
  
• Science XP is now shown over the player earning it and no longer shows when at Max. (Heads Up Xp)
  
• Different resource types now give different Science XP for mining them.(We are no longer the same)
  
• Pressing the Options key (Escape by default) now closes most windows. If there are no relevant windows open, it opens the Options menu. (ESCAPE!)
  
• New visuals for health, energy, and science XP bars (Dem Shiney Rims)
  
• Cleaned up formatting of resource types for items and how they are viewed in tooltips and crafting ( WAIT I think I can understand this now!)
  
• Explorar type armor helmets now have a new stat on them Luminosity that currently gives a nice lil glow (Just enough to be creepy)
  
• Repair gun is now granted via the utilities track (It’s better than new, it’s repaired!)

Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the tutorial quests would not recognize when a schematic was learned in multiplayer (What did you do again?)
  
• Fixed an issue where factories with full hoppers would delete the contents when factory is removed (Gimme back my swag!)
  
• Fixed an issue which prevented medical kit from healing other players on MP servers (Heals for all!)
  
• Fixed an issue where SP avatars with the same name as a MP avatar would be overwritten. (BodySnatchers begone!)
  
• Fixed an issue where players on a MP server would share any inventory expansions (MINE! NOT YOURS!)

Hey ArkCoNauts! We’re back into the swing of things after the holiday, and here’s our next round of fixes to the huge content update. Since everyone has been so awesome, today we’ll grant you a pre-holiday wish, the return of vehicles! They’re all fixed up and ready to go, happy trails everyone!


Additions and Changes

• Laser Picks Have been completely Rebalanced and are, in total, Faster as a whole (YES, Dreams do really come true)
  
• Vehicles have returned, in addition to the lifter it seems our raptors have multiplied! (“~They see me rollin~’)
  
• Laser Saws now have descriptions (What is this? What is that?)
  
• The HyperDrill is now set up properly to break more than one tile at a time.(It finally lives up to its name)
  
• Command centers and Nodes now display building requirements on tooltips (By the book)
  
• Placeables with CPU requirements now show it on tooltips (Why won’t this work!?)
  
• Updates to the appearance of several tiles (MOAR FLAVOR!)
  
• Condensed the codex (Easy to Read Version)
  
• Selected schematics in the Crafting Window now have a gold border.(So thats what i am crafting)
  
• New schematics in the Crafting Window now have the word NEW next to them instead of a gold border. (oO Shiny!)
  
• Blue jellies now do minor contact damage (such bantam roosters now ^^) (BONUS POINTS: Explain this reference! *no peeking at wiki*)
  
• Swapped tutorial creatures with new “Dummies” (Crash Test TIme!)
  
• Added standard rifle to the items given if you skip the tutorial (Bring It!)
  
• Removed the extended tutorial about building a base as much of that info is now in other places. (Do the Codex Shuffle)
  
• Items can now be swapped between toolbar slots (Better Toolbelt for the fashionable explorer)
  
• Right-clicking on an item that is already in your toolbar will remove it from that slot and add it to the current slot.(Swap in Swap out)
  
• Warning text now displays when placeables are placed incorrectly (WARNING WARNING!!)
  
• Tech upgrades now have a text message when used (Oh so thats what that is)
  
• Damage Over time was removed from the Vent anomaly (You want me to stand WHERE!?!)
  
• Kits now require an outfitting station to be unequipped (Could you pass me that wrench)
  
• Science XP is now shown over the player earning it and no longer shows when at Max. (Heads Up Xp)
  
• Different resource types now give different Science XP for mining them.(We are no longer the same)
  
• Pressing the Options key (Escape by default) now closes most windows. If there are no relevant windows open, it opens the Options menu. (ESCAPE!)
  
• New visuals for health, energy, and science XP bars (Dem Shiney Rims)
  
• Cleaned up formatting of resource types for items and how they are viewed in tooltips and crafting ( WAIT I think I can understand this now!)
  
• Explorar type armor helmets now have a new stat on them Luminosity that currently gives a nice lil glow (Just enough to be creepy)
  
• Repair gun is now granted via the utilities track (It’s better than new, it’s repaired!)

Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the tutorial quests would not recognize when a schematic was learned in multiplayer (What did you do again?)
  
• Fixed an issue where factories with full hoppers would delete the contents when factory is removed (Gimme back my swag!)
  
• Fixed an issue which prevented medical kit from healing other players on MP servers (Heals for all!)
  
• Fixed an issue where SP avatars with the same name as a MP avatar would be overwritten. (BodySnatchers begone!)
  
• Fixed an issue where players on a MP server would share any inventory expansions (MINE! NOT YOURS!)