build id: 59625A06

nornware AB is happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.

As mentioned in the previous update announcement, I am going to be proceeding by updating the game in much smaller increments and more often.

Rescue Mode - Lab Style
An option has been added to Rescue Mode called Lab Style, which controls some aspects of map generation in Rescue Mode.

Style A is the previously released (Update 34) version:

• Lab networks are protected by indestructible doors that automatically close when no human is near.
  
• DNA-screens are placed at the connecting passageway between labs, which only allow non-alien objects to pass (humans and projectiles).
  
• Breaches may sometimes occur inside of labs (even when Random Breaches is off).

Style B is the new version:

• Lab networks are protected by normal (destructible) doors, but they will always be closed initially, thereby hindering Beast and Creep line of sight into the lab networks. These doors will not auto-close.
  
• Normal (destructible) doors are placed at the connecting passageway between labs, and these doors will spawn with a 50% chance of being open (the same rules as for all other doors).
  
• Breaches will never occur inside of labs (unless Random Breaches is on).

Initial tests with these small changes feel like they result in a bit more varied gameplay. Beasts can still penetrate lab networks, but in a more classic / natural way. There is also more protection against Beasts within labs because if the doors inside.

Ultimately Style B rules have more player choice and responsibility involved as opposed to Style A rules. Please experiment with Lab Style B and let me know what you think in the forums.

Miscellaneous

• Distance to civilian displayed in the HUD is now to the nearest civilian who is not directly following a player or running to the airlock.
  
• Random Breaches now properly spawn in labs.
  
• The ASSIST text is now properly removed (like the reticle) in the HUD when there is an interaction message displayed.

As always, thank you for your support and patience.
/nornware AB c/o johno

nornware Dev Feed
nornware on Facebook
nornware on Twitter
nornware on YouTube

build id: 59625A06

nornware AB is happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.

As mentioned in the previous update announcement, I am going to be proceeding by updating the game in much smaller increments and more often.

Rescue Mode - Lab Style
An option has been added to Rescue Mode called Lab Style, which controls some aspects of map generation in Rescue Mode.

Style A is the previously released (Update 34) version:

• Lab networks are protected by indestructible doors that automatically close when no human is near.
  
• DNA-screens are placed at the connecting passageway between labs, which only allow non-alien objects to pass (humans and projectiles).
  
• Breaches may sometimes occur inside of labs (even when Random Breaches is off).

Style B is the new version:

• Lab networks are protected by normal (destructible) doors, but they will always be closed initially, thereby hindering Beast and Creep line of sight into the lab networks. These doors will not auto-close.
  
• Normal (destructible) doors are placed at the connecting passageway between labs, and these doors will spawn with a 50% chance of being open (the same rules as for all other doors).
  
• Breaches will never occur inside of labs (unless Random Breaches is on).

Initial tests with these small changes feel like they result in a bit more varied gameplay. Beasts can still penetrate lab networks, but in a more classic / natural way. There is also more protection against Beasts within labs because if the doors inside.

Ultimately Style B rules have more player choice and responsibility involved as opposed to Style A rules. Please experiment with Lab Style B and let me know what you think in the forums.

Miscellaneous

• Distance to civilian displayed in the HUD is now to the nearest civilian who is not directly following a player or running to the airlock.
  
• Random Breaches now properly spawn in labs.
  
• The ASSIST text is now properly removed (like the reticle) in the HUD when there is an interaction message displayed.

As always, thank you for your support and patience.
/nornware AB c/o johno

nornware Dev Feed
nornware on Facebook
nornware on Twitter
nornware on YouTube

build id: 5958DA11

nornware AB is happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.

First of all I'd like to apologize for the amount of time that has passed since the last update and thank everyone for all their support during this period. In response to my current reduced capacity to do SBTF development I am going to try smaller (feature-wise) but more frequest updates moving forward.

Rescue Mode
Finally it is here, the first public release of the new Rescue game mode!

The idea is similar to Salvage mode in that you are tasked with going into a derelict spacecraft to retrieve something, but in Rescue mode the prize is a number of civilian scientists that are trapped in the infested ship. The twist is that unlike the Datacores in Salvage mode these Civilians need to be escorted back to the Airlock in order to complete the mission. Successfully doing this will award the player(s) with upgrades in the same manner as Datacores do in Salvage mode, and the mission is completed when all Civilians are rescued or dead and all surviving players have retreated to the Airlock.

Rescue mode is based on new map generation algorithms that generate Labs throughout the map (lore: where scientists work on questionable experiments...). These Labs are protected by heavy doors that work similarly to the Airlock door in that they cannot be destroyed by Space Beasts and also will automatically close as a security measure. The player must extract Civilians from these labs and manually guide them back to the Airlock.

In Rescue mode your tracker is upgraded to show both the distance to the nearest Civilian as well as the distance to the Airlock at all times. It also displays motion blips for Civilians in a similar way to the motion tracker upgrade, with the difference that Civilians are shown in your current hud / player color (threats are still shown in white as before).

For security reasons Labs are equipped with DNA-screens per room that only allow human DNA to pass. This is part of company containment protocols and works quite well to contain botched biological experiments, at least as long there aren't any power failures... :) Considering that Labs are equipped with said DNA-screens and isolated from the rest of the ship by heavy doors they constitute relatively safe spaces in the scheme of things, but they completely lack utilities such as Armories, Sentries and Repair stations.

Civilians themselves are quite a nervous bunch, and to are subject to panic attacks when Space Beasts get too near, so beware of them getting in your line of fire and in general being a pain to manage. Also they are very fragile and don't take weapons fire or contact with Space Beasts very well. For some reason Astro-Creeps don't attach to Civilians, but that doesn't make Civilians fear them any less... :)

What I've seen emerging is interesting player choice concerning whether or not to rescue Civilians a few at a time or many at a time. A whole bunch of Civilians being rescued at once results in a huge boost of player power in a very short time, so I'm curious as to how this will feel in team games. I'm sure that players will figure out strategies where some players act as defense while others act as escorts.

I am quite happy that Rescue mode as it currently stands embodies the chaos that I originally envisioned. Things can either be very calm or very intense, and even when you think you are in control things can turn on a dime and get very messy very fast. Of course all of this has numerous rough edges since it is such a major addition to all systems in the game, but I expect to iterate on all aspects of it moving forward in response to player feedback.

Miscellaneous

• The game is now built against Steamworks SDK 1.40.
  
  
• Updated mouse/key interaction prompts to say "LMB" / "RMB" instead of "left-click" / "right-click".
  
  
• It is now possible to recharge your battery from any Breaker by standing near it an holding RMB / A. Recharge speed depends on the level of your Battery Upgrade. This feature still needs more audio, prompts, and icon feedback.
  
  
• Fixed bad map flag data which was causing a Fence in some cases where there should have been a Breach.
  
  
• Grayscale is now the default infravision style.
  
  
• Added check for object overflow in map generation (Fences, Doors, Cores). Bad maps will simply be re-rolled.
  
  
• Optimized path map storage.
  
  
• Fixed missing normals in smoke vertices; this was causing some smoke particles to look strange.
  
  
• Fixed blood drip normals; this was causing some drips to flash white.
  
  
• All mesh generation now uses optimized vertex maps to increase speed of vertex re-use checks.
  
  
• Refactored infestation generation.
  
  
• Light baking is now revision based, and all power outage / restoration audio is driven by this. This solves issues in multiplayer where events didn't correctly update lighting.
  
  
• Deathmatch map generation is now fixed so that there are always Breakers available in case of power outages.
  
  
• The "last mission" button now reads "last outcome".
  
  
• Removed redundant sound system update.
  
  
• Consolidated mission log audio; all log events now make a sound.
  
  
• Removed redundant Sentry texture from memory.

Known Issues

• Civilians can suffer from animation stuttering when pinned between threats and points of interest. This requires changes to the animation system to allow for smooth blending between animation states.
  
  
• Battery recharging on Breakers needs more needs audio, interaction prompts, icons, etc.
  
  
• The Library may crash if you have legacy .sbtf.cassette files. If so you can delete all .sbtf.cassette files from: C:\Users\<your user>\AppData\Roaming\nornware\sbtf

As always, thank you for your support and patience.
/nornware AB c/o johno

nornware Dev Feed
nornware on Facebook
nornware on Twitter
nornware on YouTube

build id: 5958DA11

nornware AB is happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.

First of all I'd like to apologize for the amount of time that has passed since the last update and thank everyone for all their support during this period. In response to my current reduced capacity to do SBTF development I am going to try smaller (feature-wise) but more frequest updates moving forward.

Rescue Mode
Finally it is here, the first public release of the new Rescue game mode!

The idea is similar to Salvage mode in that you are tasked with going into a derelict spacecraft to retrieve something, but in Rescue mode the prize is a number of civilian scientists that are trapped in the infested ship. The twist is that unlike the Datacores in Salvage mode these Civilians need to be escorted back to the Airlock in order to complete the mission. Successfully doing this will award the player(s) with upgrades in the same manner as Datacores do in Salvage mode, and the mission is completed when all Civilians are rescued or dead and all surviving players have retreated to the Airlock.

Rescue mode is based on new map generation algorithms that generate Labs throughout the map (lore: where scientists work on questionable experiments...). These Labs are protected by heavy doors that work similarly to the Airlock door in that they cannot be destroyed by Space Beasts and also will automatically close as a security measure. The player must extract Civilians from these labs and manually guide them back to the Airlock.

In Rescue mode your tracker is upgraded to show both the distance to the nearest Civilian as well as the distance to the Airlock at all times. It also displays motion blips for Civilians in a similar way to the motion tracker upgrade, with the difference that Civilians are shown in your current hud / player color (threats are still shown in white as before).

For security reasons Labs are equipped with DNA-screens per room that only allow human DNA to pass. This is part of company containment protocols and works quite well to contain botched biological experiments, at least as long there aren't any power failures... :) Considering that Labs are equipped with said DNA-screens and isolated from the rest of the ship by heavy doors they constitute relatively safe spaces in the scheme of things, but they completely lack utilities such as Armories, Sentries and Repair stations.

Civilians themselves are quite a nervous bunch, and to are subject to panic attacks when Space Beasts get too near, so beware of them getting in your line of fire and in general being a pain to manage. Also they are very fragile and don't take weapons fire or contact with Space Beasts very well. For some reason Astro-Creeps don't attach to Civilians, but that doesn't make Civilians fear them any less... :)

What I've seen emerging is interesting player choice concerning whether or not to rescue Civilians a few at a time or many at a time. A whole bunch of Civilians being rescued at once results in a huge boost of player power in a very short time, so I'm curious as to how this will feel in team games. I'm sure that players will figure out strategies where some players act as defense while others act as escorts.

I am quite happy that Rescue mode as it currently stands embodies the chaos that I originally envisioned. Things can either be very calm or very intense, and even when you think you are in control things can turn on a dime and get very messy very fast. Of course all of this has numerous rough edges since it is such a major addition to all systems in the game, but I expect to iterate on all aspects of it moving forward in response to player feedback.

Miscellaneous

• The game is now built against Steamworks SDK 1.40.
  
  
• Updated mouse/key interaction prompts to say "LMB" / "RMB" instead of "left-click" / "right-click".
  
  
• It is now possible to recharge your battery from any Breaker by standing near it an holding RMB / A. Recharge speed depends on the level of your Battery Upgrade. This feature still needs more audio, prompts, and icon feedback.
  
  
• Fixed bad map flag data which was causing a Fence in some cases where there should have been a Breach.
  
  
• Grayscale is now the default infravision style.
  
  
• Added check for object overflow in map generation (Fences, Doors, Cores). Bad maps will simply be re-rolled.
  
  
• Optimized path map storage.
  
  
• Fixed missing normals in smoke vertices; this was causing some smoke particles to look strange.
  
  
• Fixed blood drip normals; this was causing some drips to flash white.
  
  
• All mesh generation now uses optimized vertex maps to increase speed of vertex re-use checks.
  
  
• Refactored infestation generation.
  
  
• Light baking is now revision based, and all power outage / restoration audio is driven by this. This solves issues in multiplayer where events didn't correctly update lighting.
  
  
• Deathmatch map generation is now fixed so that there are always Breakers available in case of power outages.
  
  
• The "last mission" button now reads "last outcome".
  
  
• Removed redundant sound system update.
  
  
• Consolidated mission log audio; all log events now make a sound.
  
  
• Removed redundant Sentry texture from memory.

Known Issues

• Civilians can suffer from animation stuttering when pinned between threats and points of interest. This requires changes to the animation system to allow for smooth blending between animation states.
  
  
• Battery recharging on Breakers needs more needs audio, interaction prompts, icons, etc.
  
  
• The Library may crash if you have legacy .sbtf.cassette files. If so you can delete all .sbtf.cassette files from: C:\Users\<your user>\AppData\Roaming\nornware\sbtf

As always, thank you for your support and patience.
/nornware AB c/o johno

nornware Dev Feed
nornware on Facebook
nornware on Twitter
nornware on YouTube

build id: 582783AB

nornware AB is happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.

Continued Development
I apologize for the length of time that has passed since the last update, but real life intervened and kept me from working on nornware and Space Beast Terror Fright for a number of months. This update however marks an increase in development pace again.

For the most part changes in this update are behind the scenes and related to general code base refactoring and performance boosts, but in the interest of getting back to continuous deployment it is important that everyone is running the latest version so I can more confidently make changes to the game moving forward.

Randomize All
I have implemented experimental support for a new Randomize All seed setting. This is partly in response to community request to introduce more variation and chance to the game.

With Randomize All selected the mission seed itself is of course randomized, but also all other options with the exception of the Rules setting (Salvage or Deathmatch). This means that you never know what style of map you are getting, whether there are Doors / Fences / Sentries, room styles, etc (Plan settings).

Perhaps even more interesting is the addition of mutating Rules while in-mission. Every 20 seconds all active Rules settings will randomly shift, which means that difficulty (spawn rates) will change on the fly, Breaches may spawn randomly or at the ends of corridors (or both), and Power Failures have an ever changing chance of happening.

While in Basic Party Config there is now a toggle to switch between Random (the previous default Seed setting) and Randomize All. Relevant user interfaces in the Advanced Party Config screen are disabled when Randomize All is selected, and this is also still the place to set up an Explicit Seed.

Randomize All is now the default setting, and I hope that this addition will make the game feel even more varied and unpredictable. I have certainly found myself in very interesting situations while playtesting this new feature, and considering that I almost always played with default settings (Random Seed / Corridors Plan with default settings) I'm seeing much more of my own game than I usually do. :)

Shotgun Experiment
I'm experimenting with the Shotgun not having ammo type fire rate penalties, meaning that no matter what ammo type is being fired the fire rate is that of the lowest ammo type (orange).

This balances out the experience of using the Shotgun somewhat, letting you time your shots better, and effectively gives it a much higher damage per second than any of the other weapons.

I have also changed the number of rounds fired from 6 back to the original 8, which means that the fire rate is slightly slower than before, but with more damage output. Again, the Shotgun will always fire at the same rate, no matter the ammo type.

Change to Mazes
The Mazes algorithm (Plan) has been revised to have an outer ring of corridors, in order to improve the flow of enemies through the space. You still get lots of mazey goodness and size, but the general experience is less static. This should also help to solve problems with players not having enough time to get from the Reactor to the Airlock in certain Mazes.

Changes to Breaches (aesthetic)
I have put some work into the (previously non-existent) visual effects when a Breach spawns; a big burst of sparks and smoke.

Live breaches will now emit a single spark 10 times a second rather than 16 every second, making them slightly more visible. They will however no longer emit sparks when a Power Failure is happening, which can be dangerous.

The cables hanging out of the Breach mesh are now also more colorful. These catch the light better and give better visuals cue to the existence of Breaches.

Miscellaneous

• Font textures are now power-of-two in order to increase compatibility with certain GPUs.
  
  
• More musical themes have been added, many of which are still works in progress, but I thought it would be fun to have the variation.
  
  
• Fences now reflect bullets in ALL cases when the bullet has energy remaining. This makes them more dangerous to Players, as Fences that are behind your target will reflect any stray shots back your way.
  
  
• Steam Overlay Fix: All user input is disabled for 0.5 seconds after the Steam Overlay is closed. This is intended to fix input crosstalk.
  
  
• Uniform Speed option has been removed, which means that players always move slower when moving sideways and slowest when moving backwards. This was the previous default setting.
  
  
• Direct3D effect parameter handles have all been cached, improving performance across the board.
  
  
• The Cassette format has changed to include integrity hashing every 256 ticks (roughly 4 seconds). This is intended to make sure that replays either properly play back a mission or otherwise break visibly.
  
  
• The reactor overload klaxon is now disabled when the escape menu is active.
  
  
• The space shader (outside the windows) now works properly when Infravision is active.
  
  
• Emit textures now properly modulate when Infravision is active.
  
  
• Infravision now properly shows heat in prop models.
  
  
• Tech sections in Plan are now generated before reachability checks. This fixes unreachable areas.
  
  
• Fixed Aim Assist and Pathfinder icons. Also reorded icons and text in the helmet HUD.
  
  
• Fixed bug in reading upgrades for obituary list, and also added Map upgrade icons to obituary list.
  
  
• Fixed crosstalk between player pulse trackers (each player now has their own state).
  
  
• There are now explicit buttons for creating Public and Friends only parties, for clarity. It is still possible to change the public / friends state of a party at any time.

Known Issues

• "In Memoriam" list may show broken entries for legacy characters. This is because the data format has changed. You can fix this if you like by deleting this file: C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\nornware\sbtf\dead.txt
  
  
• Deathmatch may be broken when Power Start is set to "off", as certain permutations will result in no Breakers being generated.
  
  
• Restoring Power via a Breaker will sometimes not correctly update lighting in networked play.

As always, thank you for your support and patience.
/nornware AB c/o johno

nornware Dev Feed
nornware on Facebook
nornware on Twitter
nornware on YouTube

build id: 582783AB

nornware AB is happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.

Continued Development
I apologize for the length of time that has passed since the last update, but real life intervened and kept me from working on nornware and Space Beast Terror Fright for a number of months. This update however marks an increase in development pace again.

For the most part changes in this update are behind the scenes and related to general code base refactoring and performance boosts, but in the interest of getting back to continuous deployment it is important that everyone is running the latest version so I can more confidently make changes to the game moving forward.

Randomize All
I have implemented experimental support for a new Randomize All seed setting. This is partly in response to community request to introduce more variation and chance to the game.

With Randomize All selected the mission seed itself is of course randomized, but also all other options with the exception of the Rules setting (Salvage or Deathmatch). This means that you never know what style of map you are getting, whether there are Doors / Fences / Sentries, room styles, etc (Plan settings).

Perhaps even more interesting is the addition of mutating Rules while in-mission. Every 20 seconds all active Rules settings will randomly shift, which means that difficulty (spawn rates) will change on the fly, Breaches may spawn randomly or at the ends of corridors (or both), and Power Failures have an ever changing chance of happening.

While in Basic Party Config there is now a toggle to switch between Random (the previous default Seed setting) and Randomize All. Relevant user interfaces in the Advanced Party Config screen are disabled when Randomize All is selected, and this is also still the place to set up an Explicit Seed.

Randomize All is now the default setting, and I hope that this addition will make the game feel even more varied and unpredictable. I have certainly found myself in very interesting situations while playtesting this new feature, and considering that I almost always played with default settings (Random Seed / Corridors Plan with default settings) I'm seeing much more of my own game than I usually do. :)

Shotgun Experiment
I'm experimenting with the Shotgun not having ammo type fire rate penalties, meaning that no matter what ammo type is being fired the fire rate is that of the lowest ammo type (orange).

This balances out the experience of using the Shotgun somewhat, letting you time your shots better, and effectively gives it a much higher damage per second than any of the other weapons.

I have also changed the number of rounds fired from 6 back to the original 8, which means that the fire rate is slightly slower than before, but with more damage output. Again, the Shotgun will always fire at the same rate, no matter the ammo type.

Change to Mazes
The Mazes algorithm (Plan) has been revised to have an outer ring of corridors, in order to improve the flow of enemies through the space. You still get lots of mazey goodness and size, but the general experience is less static. This should also help to solve problems with players not having enough time to get from the Reactor to the Airlock in certain Mazes.

Changes to Breaches (aesthetic)
I have put some work into the (previously non-existent) visual effects when a Breach spawns; a big burst of sparks and smoke.

Live breaches will now emit a single spark 10 times a second rather than 16 every second, making them slightly more visible. They will however no longer emit sparks when a Power Failure is happening, which can be dangerous.

The cables hanging out of the Breach mesh are now also more colorful. These catch the light better and give better visuals cue to the existence of Breaches.

Miscellaneous

• Font textures are now power-of-two in order to increase compatibility with certain GPUs.
  
  
• More musical themes have been added, many of which are still works in progress, but I thought it would be fun to have the variation.
  
  
• Fences now reflect bullets in ALL cases when the bullet has energy remaining. This makes them more dangerous to Players, as Fences that are behind your target will reflect any stray shots back your way.
  
  
• Steam Overlay Fix: All user input is disabled for 0.5 seconds after the Steam Overlay is closed. This is intended to fix input crosstalk.
  
  
• Uniform Speed option has been removed, which means that players always move slower when moving sideways and slowest when moving backwards. This was the previous default setting.
  
  
• Direct3D effect parameter handles have all been cached, improving performance across the board.
  
  
• The Cassette format has changed to include integrity hashing every 256 ticks (roughly 4 seconds). This is intended to make sure that replays either properly play back a mission or otherwise break visibly.
  
  
• The reactor overload klaxon is now disabled when the escape menu is active.
  
  
• The space shader (outside the windows) now works properly when Infravision is active.
  
  
• Emit textures now properly modulate when Infravision is active.
  
  
• Infravision now properly shows heat in prop models.
  
  
• Tech sections in Plan are now generated before reachability checks. This fixes unreachable areas.
  
  
• Fixed Aim Assist and Pathfinder icons. Also reorded icons and text in the helmet HUD.
  
  
• Fixed bug in reading upgrades for obituary list, and also added Map upgrade icons to obituary list.
  
  
• Fixed crosstalk between player pulse trackers (each player now has their own state).
  
  
• There are now explicit buttons for creating Public and Friends only parties, for clarity. It is still possible to change the public / friends state of a party at any time.

Known Issues

• "In Memoriam" list may show broken entries for legacy characters. This is because the data format has changed. You can fix this if you like by deleting this file: C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\nornware\sbtf\dead.txt
  
  
• Deathmatch may be broken when Power Start is set to "off", as certain permutations will result in no Breakers being generated.
  
  
• Restoring Power via a Breaker will sometimes not correctly update lighting in networked play.

As always, thank you for your support and patience.
/nornware AB c/o johno

nornware Dev Feed
nornware on Facebook
nornware on Twitter
nornware on YouTube

build id: 579B876F

nornware AB is happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.

Cassette Version Bump / breaking changes in replays
I have been doing heavy refactoring and optimization across my entire codebase, and as a result existing replays / Cassettes will NOT function anymore. This is most likely due to changes in vector rotation code that has been optimized to use single precision floating point instead of double precision, but this is just speculation on my part. Also I refactored some dubious vector code that was being optimized away in certain cases by the compiler, which also caused breaking behaviour between debug and release builds.

As ANY future simulation / game rule changes will invalidate existing replays it is better that everyone simply get used to the fact that replays / Cassettes may break on any update. If you have a Cassette that you absolutely want to save I would recommend recording a video of it (for example using nVidia ShadowPlay or Fraps).

Also I am suspecting some inconsistencies in replays that are very very hard to effectively test. I don't currently have the toolset in place to test this algorithmically, but I have a good handle on how to build such tools with (certain hashing techniques). With those in place I will be able to determine exactly whether or not replays are solid. As replays are very much the same thing as the network protocol this will also aid in making sure that everything is solid for networked multiplayer games.

Library Updates
The Library interface has been greatly improved to better aid browsing among the enormous number of Cassettes that tend to aggregate after playing many matches. Sort order is now newest first, there are headers per day, time of day information for each Cassette, as well as the mission config string that was there before.

Now you must first select the Cassette you want, and at that time you will get a "play" and a "delete" button. Versions are taken into account, so old Cassettes will show up (so you can delete time) but be unplayable. If you choose to delete any Cassette you will be prompted for confirmation.

New Motion Tracker Style - Pulse
In response to community feedback on the Motion Tracker being too powerful, I have implemented a new style of tracker called Pulse. Pulse is closer to the feel of the classic motion tracker from the Aliens film (James Cameron's film), and is definitely less powerful and feels more glitchy than the legacy version (called Adrenaline).

Basically Pulse Tracker sends out a wavefront every .75 seconds, and when this wavefront intersects a moving object it will light up a blip in that position that will fade out over time. The big change comes from the fact that blips are always static and are only refreshed when they intersect the wavefront. This creates a strobe-like effect where you get intermittent information about the threats in your vicinity. Correspondingly all threats at long range are also only refreshed when the wavefront hits the extreme range of the Tracker.

I have chosen to only include Beasts (big) and Creeps (small) as blips in the Pulse Tracker (as well as other players if playing Deathmatch) and not include gibs or bullets as Adrenaline still does. This is to clean up the image a bit and only focus on actual threats in order to compensate for the less powerful blip updates.

Pulse Tracker also plays a subtle sound each time it sends out the wavefront, which can most often only be heard when things are relatively quiet.

In general I think this change reinforces the feel of the game and help keep the player's eyes on the 3d view instead of relying too heavily on the Motion Tracker.

Pulse Tracker is the new default but you can always opt to go with the legacy Adrenaline of you like (in the options).

Miscellaneous

• Power failures / restores are now noted in the mission log.
  
• All mouse scroll wheel interaction can be accelerated 4x ny holding down SHIFT. This affects the main menu obituaries, network party lists and the Library.
  
• The game now returns to the Library after you view a Cassette, and your selection is retained so you know which Cassette you just watched.

As always, thank you for your support and patience,
/nornware AB c/o johno

nornware Dev Feed
nornware on Facebook
nornware on Twitter
nornware on YouTube

build id: 579B876F

nornware AB is happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.

Cassette Version Bump / breaking changes in replays
I have been doing heavy refactoring and optimization across my entire codebase, and as a result existing replays / Cassettes will NOT function anymore. This is most likely due to changes in vector rotation code that has been optimized to use single precision floating point instead of double precision, but this is just speculation on my part. Also I refactored some dubious vector code that was being optimized away in certain cases by the compiler, which also caused breaking behaviour between debug and release builds.

As ANY future simulation / game rule changes will invalidate existing replays it is better that everyone simply get used to the fact that replays / Cassettes may break on any update. If you have a Cassette that you absolutely want to save I would recommend recording a video of it (for example using nVidia ShadowPlay or Fraps).

Also I am suspecting some inconsistencies in replays that are very very hard to effectively test. I don't currently have the toolset in place to test this algorithmically, but I have a good handle on how to build such tools with (certain hashing techniques). With those in place I will be able to determine exactly whether or not replays are solid. As replays are very much the same thing as the network protocol this will also aid in making sure that everything is solid for networked multiplayer games.

Library Updates
The Library interface has been greatly improved to better aid browsing among the enormous number of Cassettes that tend to aggregate after playing many matches. Sort order is now newest first, there are headers per day, time of day information for each Cassette, as well as the mission config string that was there before.

Now you must first select the Cassette you want, and at that time you will get a "play" and a "delete" button. Versions are taken into account, so old Cassettes will show up (so you can delete time) but be unplayable. If you choose to delete any Cassette you will be prompted for confirmation.

New Motion Tracker Style - Pulse
In response to community feedback on the Motion Tracker being too powerful, I have implemented a new style of tracker called Pulse. Pulse is closer to the feel of the classic motion tracker from the Aliens film (James Cameron's film), and is definitely less powerful and feels more glitchy than the legacy version (called Adrenaline).

Basically Pulse Tracker sends out a wavefront every .75 seconds, and when this wavefront intersects a moving object it will light up a blip in that position that will fade out over time. The big change comes from the fact that blips are always static and are only refreshed when they intersect the wavefront. This creates a strobe-like effect where you get intermittent information about the threats in your vicinity. Correspondingly all threats at long range are also only refreshed when the wavefront hits the extreme range of the Tracker.

I have chosen to only include Beasts (big) and Creeps (small) as blips in the Pulse Tracker (as well as other players if playing Deathmatch) and not include gibs or bullets as Adrenaline still does. This is to clean up the image a bit and only focus on actual threats in order to compensate for the less powerful blip updates.

Pulse Tracker also plays a subtle sound each time it sends out the wavefront, which can most often only be heard when things are relatively quiet.

In general I think this change reinforces the feel of the game and help keep the player's eyes on the 3d view instead of relying too heavily on the Motion Tracker.

Pulse Tracker is the new default but you can always opt to go with the legacy Adrenaline of you like (in the options).

Miscellaneous

• Power failures / restores are now noted in the mission log.
  
• All mouse scroll wheel interaction can be accelerated 4x ny holding down SHIFT. This affects the main menu obituaries, network party lists and the Library.
  
• The game now returns to the Library after you view a Cassette, and your selection is retained so you know which Cassette you just watched.

As always, thank you for your support and patience,
/nornware AB c/o johno

nornware Dev Feed
nornware on Facebook
nornware on Twitter
nornware on YouTube

build id: 57681814

nornware AB is happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.

Infravision Bug-Fix
Infravision was disabled by accident in networked games in Update 30. This has been fixed.

Audio Option : Stingers
There is now an audio option to disable stingers. These are the audio cues that happen when a Beast comes within a certain range, as well as when an Astro-Creep attaches itself to a player. These are ON by default. Please review your options settings however, as this is a new option it will be OFF for anyone who has a settings file on disk. This is simply to avoid double-negatives such as having the option be called "stingers off". As always you can reset all your options to the defaults using the corresponding button.

As always, thank you for your support and patience,
/nornware AB c/o johno

nornware Dev Feed
nornware on Facebook
nornware on Twitter
nornware on YouTube

build id: 57681814

nornware AB is happy to announce a new update to Space Beast Terror Fright.

Infravision Bug-Fix
Infravision was disabled by accident in networked games in Update 30. This has been fixed.

Audio Option : Stingers
There is now an audio option to disable stingers. These are the audio cues that happen when a Beast comes within a certain range, as well as when an Astro-Creep attaches itself to a player. These are ON by default. Please review your options settings however, as this is a new option it will be OFF for anyone who has a settings file on disk. This is simply to avoid double-negatives such as having the option be called "stingers off". As always you can reset all your options to the defaults using the corresponding button.

As always, thank you for your support and patience,
/nornware AB c/o johno

nornware Dev Feed
nornware on Facebook
nornware on Twitter
nornware on YouTube