This one's quite extensive ladies and gentlemen, but it also took longer to deliver for which we sincerely apologize. I won't be highlighting any item as special this time. Instead, please check out the linked change-list below and as always... safe travels captains! :)

Since the entire change-list cannot fit in an announcement, here's a link to the update thread on the forum:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/236150/discussions/0/846963711029359276/

This one's quite extensive ladies and gentlemen, but it also took longer to deliver for which we sincerely apologize. I won't be highlighting any item as special this time. Instead, please check out the linked change-list below and as always... safe travels captains! :)

Since the entire change-list cannot fit in an announcement, here's a link to the update thread on the forum:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/236150/discussions/0/846963711029359276/

Today's update comes with a little surprise. Two additional languages are implemented: German and Russian. You can find the procedure on how to activate them in the list below.

Other highlights include an addition to physics engine. You will now get damaged when colliding with objects, so be careful ;).

On the visual side, we've got new Crysalys and Shard asteroids. Check them out please and let us know what you think.

And finally, one of the things you've asked for: chase camera. I won't dabble too much. Have a go at it in-game, but remember to set the wanted shortcut first!

LIST OF CHANGES

• FIXED: An error where a License purchase cost was displayed as income during the first month of purchase
  
• FIXED: Several errors in the Material editor that prevented several tabs from opening properly
  
• FIXED: Several instances where asteroid field and station name labels were overlapping on the Starchart
  
• FIXED: An error where ship damage particle effects were left hanging after loading/starting a new game when the last ended with player's destruction
  
• FIXED: A saving-related error that resulted in the in-game date to be wrongly saved and displayed afterwards
  
• FIXED: An error in the Loot panel that could cause a crash
  
• FIXED: A script error where the player was notified of losing troopers on passing through a wormhole even if he/she had none to lose
  
• FIXED: Stations Spire, New Sagittarius, Bethesda, Alexandria, Primrose, Mendoza HQ, Hathor, Hephaestus, Niigata, Panama, Orissa, Lunae, Plymouth, Masada, Caridad, Astralis, Delaware, Orleans, Yxaril, Qoseir, Alameda, Hamilton, Xerxes, New Delhi, Capetown, Rotterdam, HeraCorp HQ, Hallifax, Gilgamesh, Tortuga Bay, Waterloo, Solomon, Rayen, Sigil and Montreal now sell Equipment at intended prices
  
• FIXED: All planets now sell Equipment at intended prices
  
• FIXED: Equinox collision meshes re-imported to function properly
  
• FIXED: A script error that prevented a derelict from spawning properly
  
• ADDED: German and Russian localization is now available (errors are possible and please report them to us so we can repair them)
  
  1. Right-click on game name in the games list in Steam Client
     
  2. Open Properties and switch to LANGUAGE tab
     
  3. Choose language
     
  4. Please restart Steam Client to make sure it downloads the necessary localization data
• ADDED: Chase camera mode that automatically tracks targeted object. Set appropriate shortcut in the Options->Controls menu
  
• ADDED: Leave a nice little gift for your enemies in the form of the powerful Orpheus mine
  
• ADDED: Knock down incoming heavy weapon projectiles with the Atlas defense field
  
• ADDED: PTE disruptor can be used to force ships to drop out of Power to Engines and prevent them from activating it again for awhile
  
• ADDED: Deploy the SETH platform to aid you in crushing your opponents
  
• ADDED: Glossiness can now be altered in the Drydock->Customization panel
  
• ADDED: New models, textures and shaders for the Crysalys asteroids
  
• ADDED: Several elements in the world and sector files, in addition to a new database table, to facilitate better and faster localization to non-English languages
  
• ADDED: Tooltips on visual indicators for camera/selection modes and the Fire At Will command.
  
• UPDATED: Physics
  
  • Player now receives damage when colliding with objects (NPCs will receive this as well after their AI is tweaked to properly avoid collisions)
    
  • Player collision is accompanied with a visual effect
• UPDATED: Reduced Experience gain on passing through Wormholes
  
• UPDATED: Ship materials can now be further tweaked in the Drydock->Customization panel (reflection can be reduced much more)
  
• UPDATED: Player now receives proper Reputation (negative or positive) depending on owner faction (when knocking out outlaw structures, you gain Reputation)
  
• UPDATED: Derelict assembly files
  
• UPDATED: Crysalys asteroid field rebuilt according to the new visuals
  
• UPDATED: NPCs no longer commit several contraband scans in sequence
  
• UPDATED: Some GUI panels to accommodate longer German and Russian words
  
• UPDATED: Skill activation visual effects (removed a refractive blast that looked out-of-place on higher ship speeds)
  
• UPDATED: New version of the Mod Manager released
  
  • Mods can now be properly updated, by simply overwriting your existing mod
    
  • Mod picture can now be of larger size to improve image quality on Steam Workshop, while the image scales as needed in-game
    
  • Mod Manager comes with added functionality
• UPDATED: Workshop support now fully implemented. Updates to subscribed mods are now automatically downloaded and installed.
  
• MODDING: Numerous pages added to the modding site and information updated (please check modding.starpointgemini.com for details)

Today's update comes with a little surprise. Two additional languages are implemented: German and Russian. You can find the procedure on how to activate them in the list below.

Other highlights include an addition to physics engine. You will now get damaged when colliding with objects, so be careful ;).

On the visual side, we've got new Crysalys and Shard asteroids. Check them out please and let us know what you think.

And finally, one of the things you've asked for: chase camera. I won't dabble too much. Have a go at it in-game, but remember to set the wanted shortcut first!

LIST OF CHANGES

• FIXED: An error where a License purchase cost was displayed as income during the first month of purchase
  
• FIXED: Several errors in the Material editor that prevented several tabs from opening properly
  
• FIXED: Several instances where asteroid field and station name labels were overlapping on the Starchart
  
• FIXED: An error where ship damage particle effects were left hanging after loading/starting a new game when the last ended with player's destruction
  
• FIXED: A saving-related error that resulted in the in-game date to be wrongly saved and displayed afterwards
  
• FIXED: An error in the Loot panel that could cause a crash
  
• FIXED: A script error where the player was notified of losing troopers on passing through a wormhole even if he/she had none to lose
  
• FIXED: Stations Spire, New Sagittarius, Bethesda, Alexandria, Primrose, Mendoza HQ, Hathor, Hephaestus, Niigata, Panama, Orissa, Lunae, Plymouth, Masada, Caridad, Astralis, Delaware, Orleans, Yxaril, Qoseir, Alameda, Hamilton, Xerxes, New Delhi, Capetown, Rotterdam, HeraCorp HQ, Hallifax, Gilgamesh, Tortuga Bay, Waterloo, Solomon, Rayen, Sigil and Montreal now sell Equipment at intended prices
  
• FIXED: All planets now sell Equipment at intended prices
  
• FIXED: Equinox collision meshes re-imported to function properly
  
• FIXED: A script error that prevented a derelict from spawning properly
  
• ADDED: German and Russian localization is now available (errors are possible and please report them to us so we can repair them)
  
  1. Right-click on game name in the games list in Steam Client
     
  2. Open Properties and switch to LANGUAGE tab
     
  3. Choose language
     
  4. Please restart Steam Client to make sure it downloads the necessary localization data
• ADDED: Chase camera mode that automatically tracks targeted object. Set appropriate shortcut in the Options->Controls menu
  
• ADDED: Leave a nice little gift for your enemies in the form of the powerful Orpheus mine
  
• ADDED: Knock down incoming heavy weapon projectiles with the Atlas defense field
  
• ADDED: PTE disruptor can be used to force ships to drop out of Power to Engines and prevent them from activating it again for awhile
  
• ADDED: Deploy the SETH platform to aid you in crushing your opponents
  
• ADDED: Glossiness can now be altered in the Drydock->Customization panel
  
• ADDED: New models, textures and shaders for the Crysalys asteroids
  
• ADDED: Several elements in the world and sector files, in addition to a new database table, to facilitate better and faster localization to non-English languages
  
• ADDED: Tooltips on visual indicators for camera/selection modes and the Fire At Will command.
  
• UPDATED: Physics
  
  • Player now receives damage when colliding with objects (NPCs will receive this as well after their AI is tweaked to properly avoid collisions)
    
  • Player collision is accompanied with a visual effect
• UPDATED: Reduced Experience gain on passing through Wormholes
  
• UPDATED: Ship materials can now be further tweaked in the Drydock->Customization panel (reflection can be reduced much more)
  
• UPDATED: Player now receives proper Reputation (negative or positive) depending on owner faction (when knocking out outlaw structures, you gain Reputation)
  
• UPDATED: Derelict assembly files
  
• UPDATED: Crysalys asteroid field rebuilt according to the new visuals
  
• UPDATED: NPCs no longer commit several contraband scans in sequence
  
• UPDATED: Some GUI panels to accommodate longer German and Russian words
  
• UPDATED: Skill activation visual effects (removed a refractive blast that looked out-of-place on higher ship speeds)
  
• UPDATED: New version of the Mod Manager released
  
  • Mods can now be properly updated, by simply overwriting your existing mod
    
  • Mod picture can now be of larger size to improve image quality on Steam Workshop, while the image scales as needed in-game
    
  • Mod Manager comes with added functionality
• UPDATED: Workshop support now fully implemented. Updates to subscribed mods are now automatically downloaded and installed.
  
• MODDING: Numerous pages added to the modding site and information updated (please check modding.starpointgemini.com for details)

Hello everyone! As is probably visible from the below list, we've focused more on fixes this time, rather than new features, but there are some of those too. The most visible is physics. You can now bump into objects. Let me emphasize that this is only the first version and it will be upgraded and tweaked quite a bit.



The other thing worthy of mentioning is Subscribe. Subscribing to mods via the browser or the Steam Client now works. You'll be able to see download progress in the Steam Client and once a mod is downloaded, the game transfers the file into the game Mods folder. Then simply Install and activate the mod in-game via the Mods section. Restart the game for all mods to completely activate.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. Once you subscribe to a mod, let the Steam Client download the mod (a standard progress bar will appear on Steam Client)
   
2. Once download is complete, restart the game so the mod appears in the mods list in-game.
   
3. Install and activate the mod via the Mods section in-game
   
4. Restart the game for all the changes to take effect!

This whole system regarding downloading, installing and activating mods will be further upgraded to make most of these steps unnecessary.

Next in line regarding Workshop is upgrading the Mod Manager so modders can properly update their mods and not create duplicates. Unless something goes freakishly wrong, it will be available in the next update.

LIST OF CHANGES

• FIXED: An error where a grappled ship would become friendly when crossing into a new sector
  
• FIXED: A problem that would occur when you pass through a wormhole, while on an Assassination Freelance mission
  
• FIXED: Two Ferry missions that have the same station/planet as the destination can now both be completed
  
• FIXED: A bug where particle damage effects would remain hanging in space when you store a damaged ship into your garage (this issue could also potentially crash the game)
  
• FIXED: When switching to another ship (either by transfer or by purchase), the new ship will no longer be cloaked if your last ship was cloaked when anchoring
  
• FIXED: An error where beam weapon effects were left hanging in mid-space if the ship firing them was destroyed or captured
  
• FIXED: All random encounter ships should now drop loot as intended
  
• FIXED: Faction description texts are no longer doubled on Captain Info -> Reputation panel
  
• FIXED: Weapon shots and beam effects no longer vanish into thin air on crossing into a new sector
  
• FIXED: Zero-quantity loot drops no longer appear
  
• FIXED: Space dust particles no longer continue moving after anchoring on stations while PTE is active
  
• FIXED: Equipment and Ship systems tabs on the Loot panel are now accessible as intended
  
• FIXED: Knocking out structures now yields collectible loot as intended
  
• FIXED: A temporary Rank notation was removed from main character name on the Captain Info panel
  
• FIXED: Scrolling the mouse-wheel while the mouse is hovering over a panel opened up in the center of the screen no longer shuts down PTE
  
• FIXED: Time/day/month counter no longer resets on loading or starting a new game
  
• FIXED: There is a chance scavengers will attack you, as intended, to claim a derelict when you come near it
  
• FIXED: An error with some light weapons where their assigned bonuses could go into negative
  
• FIXED: A problem where a captured ship could become invisible, and could no longer be targeted or interacted with in any form
  
• FIXED: Shanghai ship system HP is now reduced to proper values
  
• FIXED: Several errors where text would break and overflow into the next line
  
• FIXED: Hack skill no longer sends the affected ship into limbo preventing anything from happening to it
  
• FIXED: An error where the Freelance mission info/accept panel could go into loop where it could not be closed anymore
  
• FIXED: An error where some structures didn't get deactivated after reducing its Hull to 0
  
• FIXED: Several instances where the T-Gate selection panel would remain in the main viewport
  
• FIXED: Wormhole links are now properly displayed/not displayed depending on how the linked toggle is set
  
• FIXED: Passing through wormholes now provide negative effects as intended (kills Troopers and damages ship)
  
• FIXED: The above mentioned negative aspects of passing through wormholes is now displayed on-screen as intended
  
• FIXED: Several errors regarding particle effects that could in some situations render them invisible
  
• FIXED: Heroes should no longer attempt to scan player for contraband, especially not in someone else's name
  
• FIXED: If within range of 3000 of a station and attack a ship that is the same faction as the station by using heavy weapons, the station will send security ships to assist their member
  
• ADDED: Object-to-object collision
  
  • You can now collide with objects.
    
  • Damage to objects in collision is NOT yet calculated.
    
  • This is the first iteration and the whole physics system will be upgraded
    
  • Physics should by default be turned on, but it can be turned off in the General tab of the Options menu
• ADDED: Subscribing to mods via Workshop (in browser or Steam Client) now works, BUT(!) you need to restart the game for the mods to show on the mods list in-game.
  
• ADDED: Derelicts left after a ships explode have an updated effect. This is strictly a WORK IN PROGRESS and will be further improved!
  
• ADDED: When stations send security ships to assist their faction members against you, you will be notified
  
• ADDED: Knocking out A.M.P. structures can now trigger a global event
  
• ADDED: Knocking out Prison structures can now trigger a global event
  
• ADDED: Knocking out Outlaw structures results in increasing Reputation
  
• ADDED: Drydock panel now shows actual Resistances (when bonuses are applied)
  
• ADDED: Energy distribution panel now has several snap positions for quicker manipulation
  
• UPDATED: Improved visual effects of Equipment. More new Equipment is on the way and should be available in the next update.
  
• UPDATED: Capturing a ship that is the target of an Assassination Freelance mission now also counts as completing the mission
  
• UPDATED: Capturing a Hero ship will now count as completing the bounty (same as if you destroyed him/her)
  
• UPDATED: Dynamically created derelicts (after ship death) can also now be claimed by roaming scavengers
  
• UPDATED: Maximum wing number is now displayed in the comparison panel
  
• UPDATED: Freya carrier now has 2 hangar slots and proper hangar stats. Although it is a carrier, it also has Cloaking capability, hence the 2 hangar slots.
  
• UPDATED: Optimized some VFX textures to make the game less demanding on graphics card memory.
  
• MODDING: Improved Material Editor stability so it doesn't crash on model import
  
• MODDING: Added several script functions (Please check the modding website for details)
  
• MODDING: Added a couple of pages to the modding website (Please check the modding website for details)
  
• MODDING: Fixed some errors with buttons being displayed wrongly in the Material editor (Save, Load, Save compressed ambient...)
  
• MODDING: ShowWarningsEx function updated to accept proper parameter types (int, float...)
  
• MODDING: Mod picture can now be larger than those in the example mods. The images will rescale as needed.

Hello everyone! As is probably visible from the below list, we've focused more on fixes this time, rather than new features, but there are some of those too. The most visible is physics. You can now bump into objects. Let me emphasize that this is only the first version and it will be upgraded and tweaked quite a bit.



The other thing worthy of mentioning is Subscribe. Subscribing to mods via the browser or the Steam Client now works. You'll be able to see download progress in the Steam Client and once a mod is downloaded, the game transfers the file into the game Mods folder. Then simply Install and activate the mod in-game via the Mods section. Restart the game for all mods to completely activate.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. Once you subscribe to a mod, let the Steam Client download the mod (a standard progress bar will appear on Steam Client)
   
2. Once download is complete, restart the game so the mod appears in the mods list in-game.
   
3. Install and activate the mod via the Mods section in-game
   
4. Restart the game for all the changes to take effect!

This whole system regarding downloading, installing and activating mods will be further upgraded to make most of these steps unnecessary.

Next in line regarding Workshop is upgrading the Mod Manager so modders can properly update their mods and not create duplicates. Unless something goes freakishly wrong, it will be available in the next update.

LIST OF CHANGES

• FIXED: An error where a grappled ship would become friendly when crossing into a new sector
  
• FIXED: A problem that would occur when you pass through a wormhole, while on an Assassination Freelance mission
  
• FIXED: Two Ferry missions that have the same station/planet as the destination can now both be completed
  
• FIXED: A bug where particle damage effects would remain hanging in space when you store a damaged ship into your garage (this issue could also potentially crash the game)
  
• FIXED: When switching to another ship (either by transfer or by purchase), the new ship will no longer be cloaked if your last ship was cloaked when anchoring
  
• FIXED: An error where beam weapon effects were left hanging in mid-space if the ship firing them was destroyed or captured
  
• FIXED: All random encounter ships should now drop loot as intended
  
• FIXED: Faction description texts are no longer doubled on Captain Info -> Reputation panel
  
• FIXED: Weapon shots and beam effects no longer vanish into thin air on crossing into a new sector
  
• FIXED: Zero-quantity loot drops no longer appear
  
• FIXED: Space dust particles no longer continue moving after anchoring on stations while PTE is active
  
• FIXED: Equipment and Ship systems tabs on the Loot panel are now accessible as intended
  
• FIXED: Knocking out structures now yields collectible loot as intended
  
• FIXED: A temporary Rank notation was removed from main character name on the Captain Info panel
  
• FIXED: Scrolling the mouse-wheel while the mouse is hovering over a panel opened up in the center of the screen no longer shuts down PTE
  
• FIXED: Time/day/month counter no longer resets on loading or starting a new game
  
• FIXED: There is a chance scavengers will attack you, as intended, to claim a derelict when you come near it
  
• FIXED: An error with some light weapons where their assigned bonuses could go into negative
  
• FIXED: A problem where a captured ship could become invisible, and could no longer be targeted or interacted with in any form
  
• FIXED: Shanghai ship system HP is now reduced to proper values
  
• FIXED: Several errors where text would break and overflow into the next line
  
• FIXED: Hack skill no longer sends the affected ship into limbo preventing anything from happening to it
  
• FIXED: An error where the Freelance mission info/accept panel could go into loop where it could not be closed anymore
  
• FIXED: An error where some structures didn't get deactivated after reducing its Hull to 0
  
• FIXED: Several instances where the T-Gate selection panel would remain in the main viewport
  
• FIXED: Wormhole links are now properly displayed/not displayed depending on how the linked toggle is set
  
• FIXED: Passing through wormholes now provide negative effects as intended (kills Troopers and damages ship)
  
• FIXED: The above mentioned negative aspects of passing through wormholes is now displayed on-screen as intended
  
• FIXED: Several errors regarding particle effects that could in some situations render them invisible
  
• FIXED: Heroes should no longer attempt to scan player for contraband, especially not in someone else's name
  
• FIXED: If within range of 3000 of a station and attack a ship that is the same faction as the station by using heavy weapons, the station will send security ships to assist their member
  
• ADDED: Object-to-object collision
  
  • You can now collide with objects.
    
  • Damage to objects in collision is NOT yet calculated.
    
  • This is the first iteration and the whole physics system will be upgraded
    
  • Physics should by default be turned on, but it can be turned off in the General tab of the Options menu
• ADDED: Subscribing to mods via Workshop (in browser or Steam Client) now works, BUT(!) you need to restart the game for the mods to show on the mods list in-game.
  
• ADDED: Derelicts left after a ships explode have an updated effect. This is strictly a WORK IN PROGRESS and will be further improved!
  
• ADDED: When stations send security ships to assist their faction members against you, you will be notified
  
• ADDED: Knocking out A.M.P. structures can now trigger a global event
  
• ADDED: Knocking out Prison structures can now trigger a global event
  
• ADDED: Knocking out Outlaw structures results in increasing Reputation
  
• ADDED: Drydock panel now shows actual Resistances (when bonuses are applied)
  
• ADDED: Energy distribution panel now has several snap positions for quicker manipulation
  
• UPDATED: Improved visual effects of Equipment. More new Equipment is on the way and should be available in the next update.
  
• UPDATED: Capturing a ship that is the target of an Assassination Freelance mission now also counts as completing the mission
  
• UPDATED: Capturing a Hero ship will now count as completing the bounty (same as if you destroyed him/her)
  
• UPDATED: Dynamically created derelicts (after ship death) can also now be claimed by roaming scavengers
  
• UPDATED: Maximum wing number is now displayed in the comparison panel
  
• UPDATED: Freya carrier now has 2 hangar slots and proper hangar stats. Although it is a carrier, it also has Cloaking capability, hence the 2 hangar slots.
  
• UPDATED: Optimized some VFX textures to make the game less demanding on graphics card memory.
  
• MODDING: Improved Material Editor stability so it doesn't crash on model import
  
• MODDING: Added several script functions (Please check the modding website for details)
  
• MODDING: Added a couple of pages to the modding website (Please check the modding website for details)
  
• MODDING: Fixed some errors with buttons being displayed wrongly in the Material editor (Save, Load, Save compressed ambient...)
  
• MODDING: ShowWarningsEx function updated to accept proper parameter types (int, float...)
  
• MODDING: Mod picture can now be larger than those in the example mods. The images will rescale as needed.

Greetings ladies and gents. We took a bit more time on compiling this update, but I'd say it was time well spent. We hope you agree!



Here's the rundown:

• Steam Workshop - We're not done with the game or the toolset yet to make modding easier, but you can start publishing your mods on Steam and share your creative work with everyone! Check out the Modding guide on how to start ;).
  
• Cloaking - You can finall cloak your ship and attack unsuspecting ships from the shadows
  
• Junkyard - One more world element implemented: the junkyard. Feel free release destruction upon them and who knows... you might get to collect some loot as well.
  
• Global events - Time to start activating these little ones. Not all events are fully implemented at the moment, but the system is in place and it's only a matter of time before we get the rest in the game too. They're also accompanied by News so you know what you're dealing with. Check your Captain's log regularly... the Info tab ;).

You might have noticed there's no word above on the Campaign. Yeah... implementing the features listed below took a bit more time than planned, meaning Campaign was pushed into backstage again. We apologize for that, but once we starged working on global events, we couldn't stop. Worry not, though, as we ARE continually working on implementing the campaign.

LIST OF CHANGES

• FIXED: An error where the Fleet panel could not be accessed on several occasions
  
• FIXED: Fire at will no longer attacks dying ships
  
• FIXED: Alameda, Hamilton, Memphis, Roanoke, Zoemin, Cleora, Clearwater and Maniwaki stations now sell Equipment as intended
  
• FIXED: Several errors in the game text files
  
• FIXED: Player no longer receives Experience for ship he/she didn't destroy
  
• FIXED: Ships no longer spawn inside planets
  
• ADDED: Steam Workshop support
  
  • Mods can now be integrated into the game by subscribing through Steam Workshop. Afterwards, the game handles the installation and activation via the Mods panel in-game
    
  • Mod Manager is added to the game root folder which is used to build up and upload mods onto Steam Workshop, BUT also for downloading mods too(this method is only temporary, as we will continue improving Workshop integration and mold the experience into what everybody is already used to on Steam)
    
  • Two mods are already available. One that adds more ship banners, and the other boosts Light and Heavy weapons. The latter is actually our "Weapons balance" testing mod.
• ADDED: Global event system that can influence a number of world elements (prices, encounters, anomalies, wars...)
  
  • Global events can now trigger at random (time-based)
    
  • Active global events are noted in the Captain's log
• ADDED: Player can now use the ship's cloaking field and hide from his enemies, and as intended... strike from the "shadows"
  
  • Cloak is for the moment only usable by the player. NPCs will use it after one of the following updates
    
  • Various actions can deactivate Cloak and the entire mechanics will be further tweaked and upgraded
• ADDED: General tab in the options menu and reorganized some options
  
• ADDED: NPC level now influences their Shield recharge (for starting-level balancing)
  
• ADDED: Faction descriptions on mouse hover on the Reputation panel
  
• ADDED: Passing through wormholes can now damage the ship
  
• ADDED: Small notices (like Critical hit) on NPC ship
  
• ADDED: News regarding "heroes" now appear on stations/planets which makes it somewhat easier to find them.
  
• ADDED: Junkyard(s) added to the game world. Junk can be "mined" for loot much like asteroids; by firing at them.
  
• ADDED: Station News panel for an overview of all ongoing news (global events included)
  
• ADDED: NPC threat level now actually calculates threat level and is properly displayed on the Quick scan
  
• ADDED: Hints on Enhancements on the Fleet and Drydock panels
  
• ADDED: New T-Gate, T-Drive and Wormhole transition animations
  
• ADDED: NPCs can (and will) use PTE disruptor on the player to knock him/her out of Power to Engines and prevent reactivating it for awhile. PTE disruptor also affects T-Drive.
  
• UPDATED: Ship system hints now show added values received from installed Enhancements
  
• UPDATED: Boarding now also depends on the state of the boarded ship. A ship with full Hull is severely more difficult to capture than a damaged one, making Capturing harder.
  
• UPDATED: Power To Engines has received a visual upgrade
  
• UPDATED: Made some tweaks to spawned encounters when entering a region
  
• UPDATED: NPC levelling system now works as intended (further tweaks planned)
  
• UPDATED: Tweaked Experience gain when destroying ships
  
• UPDATED: Nyxian ships now have proper color of engine flares (green-ish)
  
• UPDATED: Neptune and Nibiru ships now have engine flares
  
• UPDATED: Base\Faction.wdt now includes columns for Description line (Texts\Descriptions.txt) and Logo Id (Base\Banners.wdt)
  
• UPDATED: Weapons fire from a single weapon battery tweaked for better visuals
  
• UPDATED: Tactical overlay sound effect volume
  
• MODDING: Added new script functions (mostly regarding global events). Please check modding.starpointgemini.com for details

Greetings ladies and gents. We took a bit more time on compiling this update, but I'd say it was time well spent. We hope you agree!



Here's the rundown:

• Steam Workshop - We're not done with the game or the toolset yet to make modding easier, but you can start publishing your mods on Steam and share your creative work with everyone! Check out the Modding guide on how to start ;).
  
• Cloaking - You can finall cloak your ship and attack unsuspecting ships from the shadows
  
• Junkyard - One more world element implemented: the junkyard. Feel free release destruction upon them and who knows... you might get to collect some loot as well.
  
• Global events - Time to start activating these little ones. Not all events are fully implemented at the moment, but the system is in place and it's only a matter of time before we get the rest in the game too. They're also accompanied by News so you know what you're dealing with. Check your Captain's log regularly... the Info tab ;).

You might have noticed there's no word above on the Campaign. Yeah... implementing the features listed below took a bit more time than planned, meaning Campaign was pushed into backstage again. We apologize for that, but once we starged working on global events, we couldn't stop. Worry not, though, as we ARE continually working on implementing the campaign.

LIST OF CHANGES

• FIXED: An error where the Fleet panel could not be accessed on several occasions
  
• FIXED: Fire at will no longer attacks dying ships
  
• FIXED: Alameda, Hamilton, Memphis, Roanoke, Zoemin, Cleora, Clearwater and Maniwaki stations now sell Equipment as intended
  
• FIXED: Several errors in the game text files
  
• FIXED: Player no longer receives Experience for ship he/she didn't destroy
  
• FIXED: Ships no longer spawn inside planets
  
• ADDED: Steam Workshop support
  
  • Mods can now be integrated into the game by subscribing through Steam Workshop. Afterwards, the game handles the installation and activation via the Mods panel in-game
    
  • Mod Manager is added to the game root folder which is used to build up and upload mods onto Steam Workshop, BUT also for downloading mods too(this method is only temporary, as we will continue improving Workshop integration and mold the experience into what everybody is already used to on Steam)
    
  • Two mods are already available. One that adds more ship banners, and the other boosts Light and Heavy weapons. The latter is actually our "Weapons balance" testing mod.
• ADDED: Global event system that can influence a number of world elements (prices, encounters, anomalies, wars...)
  
  • Global events can now trigger at random (time-based)
    
  • Active global events are noted in the Captain's log
• ADDED: Player can now use the ship's cloaking field and hide from his enemies, and as intended... strike from the "shadows"
  
  • Cloak is for the moment only usable by the player. NPCs will use it after one of the following updates
    
  • Various actions can deactivate Cloak and the entire mechanics will be further tweaked and upgraded
• ADDED: General tab in the options menu and reorganized some options
  
• ADDED: NPC level now influences their Shield recharge (for starting-level balancing)
  
• ADDED: Faction descriptions on mouse hover on the Reputation panel
  
• ADDED: Passing through wormholes can now damage the ship
  
• ADDED: Small notices (like Critical hit) on NPC ship
  
• ADDED: News regarding "heroes" now appear on stations/planets which makes it somewhat easier to find them.
  
• ADDED: Junkyard(s) added to the game world. Junk can be "mined" for loot much like asteroids; by firing at them.
  
• ADDED: Station News panel for an overview of all ongoing news (global events included)
  
• ADDED: NPC threat level now actually calculates threat level and is properly displayed on the Quick scan
  
• ADDED: Hints on Enhancements on the Fleet and Drydock panels
  
• ADDED: New T-Gate, T-Drive and Wormhole transition animations
  
• ADDED: NPCs can (and will) use PTE disruptor on the player to knock him/her out of Power to Engines and prevent reactivating it for awhile. PTE disruptor also affects T-Drive.
  
• UPDATED: Ship system hints now show added values received from installed Enhancements
  
• UPDATED: Boarding now also depends on the state of the boarded ship. A ship with full Hull is severely more difficult to capture than a damaged one, making Capturing harder.
  
• UPDATED: Power To Engines has received a visual upgrade
  
• UPDATED: Made some tweaks to spawned encounters when entering a region
  
• UPDATED: NPC levelling system now works as intended (further tweaks planned)
  
• UPDATED: Tweaked Experience gain when destroying ships
  
• UPDATED: Nyxian ships now have proper color of engine flares (green-ish)
  
• UPDATED: Neptune and Nibiru ships now have engine flares
  
• UPDATED: Base\Faction.wdt now includes columns for Description line (Texts\Descriptions.txt) and Logo Id (Base\Banners.wdt)
  
• UPDATED: Weapons fire from a single weapon battery tweaked for better visuals
  
• UPDATED: Tactical overlay sound effect volume
  
• MODDING: Added new script functions (mostly regarding global events). Please check modding.starpointgemini.com for details

Nope. No April's fool joke here. Just one of those regular updates we've grown accustomed to :).

For this update's highlight, I'll choose the updated mission object markers as they really can help a lot. And as a graphic/gameplay highlight I suggest you try going near one of those wormholes :).

We went with this update today so we can focus our next update on finally bringing at least a couple of campaign missions, along with other things :)

Safe and lucrative travels, captains!

LIST OF CHANGES

• FIXED: Several errors in Cromwell Prefecture region file that could cause memory leaks
  
• FIXED: Several errors in Planet Sora region file that could cause memory leaks
  
• FIXED: Several errors in ship assembly files that could cause memory leaks
  
• FIXED: Dialog panel hides when opening the in-game menu to prevent crashes or memory leaks, but leave proper functionality
  
• FIXED: Dialog panel shuts down automatically when starting a T-Drive jump, docking on stations and opening the Planetary landing panel to prevent memory leaks and crashes
  
• FIXED: Dialog panel "freezes" when opening the starchart or the tutorial panel
  
• FIXED: Several errors with heavy weapons trails if the target was close by
  
• FIXED: GoTo context menu command for Wormholes now works as intended
  
• FIXED: An error where Wormholes displayed the wrong on-screen marker
  
• FIXED: A bug where double left-click on numerous panels caused glitches or crashes
  
• FIXED: A bug where the Starchart was left hanging when pressing Esc button
  
• FIXED: The dialog panel is now displayed beneath other panels when the game is paused (while a tutorial panel is open for example)
  
• ADDED: Smuggle Freelance mission
  
  • If your cargo hold is full when taking on the mission, your cheapest cargo will be dropped automatically(!) to make room for the mission contraband
    
  • Smuggle mission comes with a significant Credit reward, but watch out for security ships as they WILL scan you
    
  • Dropping or selling the mission contraband cargo will result in mission FAILURE
• ADDED: Particle visual effects on ships that activate when a ship is being damaged
  
• ADDED: Mission objects now have an addition to their marker to easily and quickly see what you need to do to/with the object
  
• ADDED: HUD marker for loot drops to spot them more easily in space
  
• ADDED: Heavy weapons can now force a ship to drop out of Power to Engines (50% chance on hit)
  
• ADDED: Freelance missions can now appear in Plymouth Shipyard region
  
• UPDATED: Increased Heavy weapon projectile speed
  
• UPDATED: Anomaly effect strength now depends on distance to anomaly
  
• UPDATED: The majority of enhancements are now properly implemented. The only ones still inactive are the ones affecting system hitpoints, cloak, biometric resistance and similar features that aren't yet implemented in the game
  
• UPDATED: When close to stations & structures, mesh is taken into account for target selection, instead of frustum sphere
  
• UPDATED: Wormhole receives a visual overhaul as well as physics (ships get dragged into it if they come to close and get thrown out on exit)
  
• UPDATED: Loot drops change size depending on distance
  
• UPDATED: HUD markers transparency now depends on distance to object
  
• UPDATED: Changed AI of ships that are a part of Freelance missions (they tended to PTE-out of fight, which is a big no-no)
  
• UPDATED: Several faction-related checks for ships that are a part of Freelance missions
  
• UPDATED: Wormhole connection lines on Starchart can now be toggled by pressing their corresponding button
  
• UPDATED: It is no longer possible to dock on hostile stations/planets. As was suggested, changes might be made in this section to allow more smuggling actions
  
• UPDATED: The number of SIMULTANEOUSLY ACTIVE Freelance missions is now LIMITED to 3, to prevent potential memory leaks
  
• UPDATED: Accept Freelance mission button becomes greyed out if you already have 3 ongoing Freelance missions
  
• MODDING: Added several more script functions. Please check modding.starpointgemini.com for details

Nope. No April's fool joke here. Just one of those regular updates we've grown accustomed to :).

For this update's highlight, I'll choose the updated mission object markers as they really can help a lot. And as a graphic/gameplay highlight I suggest you try going near one of those wormholes :).

We went with this update today so we can focus our next update on finally bringing at least a couple of campaign missions, along with other things :)

Safe and lucrative travels, captains!

LIST OF CHANGES

• FIXED: Several errors in Cromwell Prefecture region file that could cause memory leaks
  
• FIXED: Several errors in Planet Sora region file that could cause memory leaks
  
• FIXED: Several errors in ship assembly files that could cause memory leaks
  
• FIXED: Dialog panel hides when opening the in-game menu to prevent crashes or memory leaks, but leave proper functionality
  
• FIXED: Dialog panel shuts down automatically when starting a T-Drive jump, docking on stations and opening the Planetary landing panel to prevent memory leaks and crashes
  
• FIXED: Dialog panel "freezes" when opening the starchart or the tutorial panel
  
• FIXED: Several errors with heavy weapons trails if the target was close by
  
• FIXED: GoTo context menu command for Wormholes now works as intended
  
• FIXED: An error where Wormholes displayed the wrong on-screen marker
  
• FIXED: A bug where double left-click on numerous panels caused glitches or crashes
  
• FIXED: A bug where the Starchart was left hanging when pressing Esc button
  
• FIXED: The dialog panel is now displayed beneath other panels when the game is paused (while a tutorial panel is open for example)
  
• ADDED: Smuggle Freelance mission
  
  • If your cargo hold is full when taking on the mission, your cheapest cargo will be dropped automatically(!) to make room for the mission contraband
    
  • Smuggle mission comes with a significant Credit reward, but watch out for security ships as they WILL scan you
    
  • Dropping or selling the mission contraband cargo will result in mission FAILURE
• ADDED: Particle visual effects on ships that activate when a ship is being damaged
  
• ADDED: Mission objects now have an addition to their marker to easily and quickly see what you need to do to/with the object
  
• ADDED: HUD marker for loot drops to spot them more easily in space
  
• ADDED: Heavy weapons can now force a ship to drop out of Power to Engines (50% chance on hit)
  
• ADDED: Freelance missions can now appear in Plymouth Shipyard region
  
• UPDATED: Increased Heavy weapon projectile speed
  
• UPDATED: Anomaly effect strength now depends on distance to anomaly
  
• UPDATED: The majority of enhancements are now properly implemented. The only ones still inactive are the ones affecting system hitpoints, cloak, biometric resistance and similar features that aren't yet implemented in the game
  
• UPDATED: When close to stations & structures, mesh is taken into account for target selection, instead of frustum sphere
  
• UPDATED: Wormhole receives a visual overhaul as well as physics (ships get dragged into it if they come to close and get thrown out on exit)
  
• UPDATED: Loot drops change size depending on distance
  
• UPDATED: HUD markers transparency now depends on distance to object
  
• UPDATED: Changed AI of ships that are a part of Freelance missions (they tended to PTE-out of fight, which is a big no-no)
  
• UPDATED: Several faction-related checks for ships that are a part of Freelance missions
  
• UPDATED: Wormhole connection lines on Starchart can now be toggled by pressing their corresponding button
  
• UPDATED: It is no longer possible to dock on hostile stations/planets. As was suggested, changes might be made in this section to allow more smuggling actions
  
• UPDATED: The number of SIMULTANEOUSLY ACTIVE Freelance missions is now LIMITED to 3, to prevent potential memory leaks
  
• UPDATED: Accept Freelance mission button becomes greyed out if you already have 3 ongoing Freelance missions
  
• MODDING: Added several more script functions. Please check modding.starpointgemini.com for details