Jul 14, 2016

Alpha 2.2: Performance Features, Tweaks and Bug Fixes

Empyrion - Galactic Survival - EmpyrionGame

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

With version 2.2 we primarily concentrated on some performance features and tweaks, which should help to run the game smoother in a lot of situations. As always, this is just a first step, we are aware of more weak points and we will iterate on that in the coming months. Like the feature development, this an ongoing process, not a one-time task.

Said that, we would like to ask you to run our performance survey again after having installed and tested the new patch: http://survey.empyriongame.com

This will help us a lot - thanks in advance!

Starting this week, we have begun to work on the first features of version 3.0. And, although we cannot detail all the features yet, we just want to say 3.0 will mark the first step into a more varying and ‘living’ world. Of course we will add nice features, balances and bugfixes as well ;-)

Now, enjoy v2.2 and send us your feedback right here!

Empyrion Dev Team.

PS: If you are not comfortable reporting bugs and issues in the forums or by mail, just create a ticket at support.empyriongame.com (no login needed)

Have a look at some of the new textures we added for the resource meteorites. For example, Zascosium meteorite:

Sathium meteorite

Promethium meteorite:

We have also improved the visuals of the Escape Pod (it is now much smoother):

Regarding optimizations, we significantly improved the performance on planets with ground fog (e.g. alien planet) without changing the visuals of the fog:

Another optimization concerns the Raptors. We reduced the triangles from 130k to about 25k without scarifying the quality (having 10 raptors in one scene, could have a strong performance impact on low-end machine before):

Finally, we added a new bush on the alien planet:

Changelog: Alpha 2.2.0 (Build 516)

Features:
- Marketplace: Added textual filter and filter icons
- Added "Compress" button in Resume Game window. Reduces size of savegames by defragmenting files. Attention: Depending on the size of the savegame this can take several minutes!
- Added possibility to choose "Fullscreen Window"
- Enhanced Empyrion Launcher:
* Launcher now starts clients with a log file comparable to dedicated and playfield servers (so that the client logs are no longer overwritten on each start)
* Log filename timestamps now using UTC time to be enable to compare client and server times which may be located in different timezones
* Launcher now also starts dedicated servers (was necessary for UTC time stamp). We adapted cmd files to do so (however, you can still use your old cmd files). Example: To start a dedi with a custom yaml file:
EmpyrionLauncher -startDedi -dedicated MyDedicated.yaml (without graphics)

Optimizations:
- Added LODs for structures: structures appear if closer than 1000m on a planet and if closer 2500m in space => this optimization will have significantly performance improvements for playfields with a lot of structures. The LODs will be improved in future updates! (Note: both ranges are far beyond reach of turrets and weapons on both playfield types)
- Optimized fog on planets (Masperon / Aitis) and space as well as the underwater particles.

Changes / Improvements:
- Added better textures for resource meteorites
- Added new bush to Alien planet
- Explosive device cannot be placed with player drone any more.
- Changed display of block info for groups of blocks:
* the block group itself does not display mass or hitpoints anymore (as the per-block values are not identical within a group).
* the individual block info about mass, hitpoints and such, are given in the info-panel on the right. The info panel is displayed when hovering over an item in the expanded group overview (group overview = right-click when having equipped a block group like steel or deco in the toolbar).
- Added info on how to use color and texture tool in the info panel
- Collecting plants from Growing Plots now only gives 2x more XP than in the wild (before 10x more)
- Tweaked LODs of Raptor NPC to improve performance
- Improved shader on resource ores
- Improved Escape Pod: it now looks much smoother
- Tweaked Escape pod rolling behavior after landing (it should behave now more naturally on steep mountains and sticks now less to the ground). In addition, it should no longer stand on its top after landing
- Added "Apply" button for Video Quality options. Selected options are not set until "Apply" is pressed to avoid freezing
- Railing and Railing Slope (Walkway family) can now be placed on SV / HV
- Updated Tier 3 Stock Blueprint (Base): Thanks to Vexray
- Waiting until the deco is fully build up before entering a game -> please let us know if you encounter a situation where you are stuck in an endless loading screen
- Tweaks to volcanoes on the lava planet
- Tweaked shutter doors (rotated 180°)
- Slightly increased light intensity on lava planet.
- Tweaked shaders on many wild plants
- Tweaked texture on drill/filler/multitool
- Slightly decreased density of fog on Alien planet.
- Adapted position of retractable ramp positioning -> no gaps anymore
- Adapted position of door SV -> no gaps anymore

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: POI still firing through terrain
- Fixed: Ramps do not extract automatically any more on power on
- Fixed: Resource Asteroids fall on planets despite deposits not empty / wrong resources
- Fixed: Items are disappearing from upgraded fridge.
- Fixed: Ore deposits are sometimes spawned in or below bedrock
- Fixed: Jetpack on/off leads to view distortions/changes
- Fixed: Switching playfield leads to player model displacement in SV cockpits
- Fixed: Trees not always rebuilding when entering a planet
- Fixed some seams on terrain
- Fixed: Can't go through SV / HV door if vessel parked on slope
- Possible fix for playfield crashes on Masperon
- Fixed: menu options: Graphic settings revert to BEST
- Fixed: Losing health after respawn on a dedicated server in some situations
- Another fix to hopefully solve endless deco pickup bug
- Fixed: Grass sometimes re-appears on a dedi after login
- Fixed: Trees show damage/destroy effects on approach
- Fixed: Tutorial Vessel: Cockpit 9 missing as a trigger
- Fixed: Doors: Can not walk through some of the doors anymore
- Fixed: Tutorial Vessel: Open Cockpit (SVHV) missing as trigger
- Fixed: Tutorial Gardening: Kavae, Ahax and Aloe do not trigger
- Fixed: Consuming small O2 bottle does not show consuming-O2 status icon
- Fixed exception in Blueprint data loading
- Possible fix for NullRef exception in console commands
- Fixed exception in adminconfig.yaml data processing
- Fixed several other internal bugs

Jul 14, 2016

Alpha 2.2: Performance Features, Tweaks and Bug Fixes

Empyrion - Galactic Survival - EmpyrionGame

Sathium meteorite

Promethium meteorite:

We have also improved the visuals of the Escape Pod (it is now much smoother):

Regarding optimizations, we significantly improved the performance on planets with ground fog (e.g. alien planet) without changing the visuals of the fog:

Finally, we added a new bush on the alien planet:

Jul 5, 2016

Alpha 2.1: Ramps, Shutterdoors, Tweaks and Bug Fixes

Empyrion - Galactic Survival - EmpyrionGame

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Today we are releasing Alpha 2.1, which adds some interesting new features to the game, like Explosive Devices, the Multitool showing the Hitpoint Status of any block, Damage States for a lot of devices (will be completed in the upcoming updates), an open Piloting Seat for building your own SV / HV Cockpits and many more.

https://youtu.be/Q6ByuzKnTqE

For more flexibility in closing gaps and walkways in your builds, we have added two sets of new animated devices: Shutter Doors and Retractable Ramps!

And, similar to placing a bluepint, you can now move any to-be-placed block up and down (Page Up/Down Button)!

Set of shutter doors:

Set of retractable ramps:

The Marketplace also got a larger functionality update:You can now buy single items from an offered stack, instead of having to buy the whole stack. And, in order to deal with the misuse of the marketplace as an extended storage area, every merchantman has to pay a 10% fee when creating a new offer.

We have also added more game options, like full and half texture resolution and more!

Speaking of graphics: While adding new and more deco, better textures and effects, we of course want to know how these changes affect your game performance. And, as there is always a way to optimize, we started the Performance Survey to gather informations about your ingame ‘frames per second’ (FPS) .

http://survey.empyriongame.com/index.php/426944?lang=en

As a note: These performance related optimizations need a lot of input, so we would like to ask you to run this survey at least once after each public and/or experimental version update!

Thanks a lot in advance! :)

Enjoy update 2.1 and send us your feedback!

New creatures:

New snow capped mountains on Akua:

CHANGELOG: Alpha 2.1.0 (Build 503)

Feature Updates
- Marketplace:
* Offers can now be partially accepted (buy or sell only some of the amount originally offered)
* Marketplace now charges the offer creator a 10% marketplace fee
* Anti-abuse change: On 'For sale' offers the creator has to pay the marketplace fee immediately. On claiming an accepted sale, the vendor gets the full price in return
* Added unit price column to allow better comparison of offers
* Now showing the item info window for the currently selected item
- Implemented difficulty setting for Player Progression (example: HARD mode will earn you more XP than in EASY mode)
- Added damage stages for 3d models (note: not all 3d models have a damage stage yet)
- Multi tool now shows damage level of each block
- Added possibility to configure resource asteroids (Meteorites) in playfield.yaml
- Added possibility to move object up / down while in preview mode with page up/down for easier placement

New Devices
- Added seat and console as a SV / HV cockpit so that you can now self-build your SV / HV cockpit
- Added attachable explosive device (door buster) with fixed timer of 8sec
- Added shutter doors
- Added retractable ramps

World
- Added new creature "Alien Assassin" (troop transport, replaces overseer spawner)
- Added new creature on Akua that replaces Woodwalker
- Added new bush to Akua
- Added snow to top of mountains on Akua and Omicron (you need to start a new game to have snow capped mountains)

Game Options
- Added Brightness and Contrast Adjustments to Video Options
- Added Texture Resolution options to Video Options (Max and Half)
- Added Deco/Grass Distance and LOD Quality options to Video Options

Tweaks / Balancing
- Optimization for constructors which should reduce lags on dedicated servers
- Reduced sensibility of Player Drone
- Weapon balancing:
* Nerfed SV weapons against hardened steel and combat steel
* No handheld weapon can destroy hardened steel and combat steel anymore (except rocket launcher, plasma cannon and explosive device)
- Added possibility to move object up / down while in preview mode with page up/down for easier placement
- Getting out of escape pod is now less glitchy
- Emergency O2 Generator is now private faction (similar to Survival Constructor)
- Added docking sound
- Modified PDA system to allow the Emergency O2 Generator to be checked for being placed and powered, adapted respective PDA action description
- Added more icons for status effects (no O2, O2, no food, fire) and adjusted player window equipment/player model area to fit Status Effect Icons
- Some re-balancing of TechTree unlock points for some SV/HV cockpits
- Re-balanced mining of resource meteorites: ore drops from meteorites are reduced so that it should be now similar to normal resource mining
- Dedicated Server: On player connect it checks if target playfield is existing - if not player is moved to first starter planet
- Tweaked Bald Cypress Trees on Akua -> removed air roots
- Triceraptos large (Akua) now also drops Milk
- Tweaked textures on several NPCs
- Adjusted resource panel in map view to allow for up to 12 resources to be displayed
- Exchanged order of "Load Game" and "Back Buttons" in Resume Game menu
- Added better sound for Player Sentry Gun
- Player credits are now calculated with 2 decimal digits
- Tweaked material on large drone + troop transport
- Updated CV Tier 1+3 Stock Blueprint (thanks to Mr. IceCat)
- Slightly increased render distance for the grass for each quality setting
- Disable Difficulty button in Resume Game if no saved games present

Bug Fixes
- Fixed: MP Crossing Playfields Planet-Space leads to heavy/visual rendering issues interrupting a seamless transfer
- Fixed problem that deco did not correctly build up on a dedicated server after orbit - planet transition
- Fixed: Telnet - using the "add entity to faction" command does not work
- Fixed: Issues with Tree-Placement on Sloped Terrain
- Possible fix for infinite pickup bug - please let us know if it still happens
- Fixed: Some savegames suddenly show as "dysfunctional"
- Fixed: Drones falling through the planet when shot down in a distance
- Fixed: Dying in a Cockpit while flying towards the orange pole barrier results in loss of the ship
- Fixed: Doors open also for Vessels
- Fixed: Rocks and Tree sometimes regrow in bases after resuming the game (MP and SP)
- Fixed: Player Drone can be activated after player death
- Fixed: Multitool: Upgrade to higher Tier Devices even if not unlocked
- Fixed problem with LODs on alien palm tree Omicron
- Fixed: SV/HV Door model is slightly too high
- Fixed: Exploit: Use Marketplace even if deactivated server-side and vice versa
- Fixed problem with some hull textures not being able to color fully white
- Fixed: Exploit: Can move vessel-weapons to player inventory under certain conditions
- Fixed: Too many decimals on some Weapon RPM info screens (like 66,66666667)
- Fixed Difficulty Setting: Drone presence OFF and Base Attack OFF have no effect
- Fixed: SI: Hangar doors do not fully support/forward SI
- Fixed: SI: Hangar door breaks immediately if not fully embedded
- Fixed: Active Vessel parked behind closed Hangar door -> open as soon as playfield reloads
- Fixed: Multitool: Upgrade Materials not used when stored in inventory
- Fixed: Control Panel Grouping: Add to group / last group jumps back to CP overview/collapses previous group
- Fixed Light Flare Color not updated until light power is cycled
- Fixed: Doors stay open when repowering a base
- Fixed: Camera clipping when placing larger items
- Fixed Camera Clipping: Sitting in a CV allows to clip below the ground with ALT-cam movement
- Fixed Fading of player character when opening/closing player setup and inventory windows
- Fixed: POI still drop T1 Drill with T2 Drill Charges
- Fixed: Players die but sometimes Respawn Menu does not show up
- Fixed: sorting issue with door window glass
- Fixed width of hangar doors to avoid clipping into other block
- Fixed: Energy Pill: Bad Trip effect missing
- Fixed: Energy Pill: Duration longer than described
- Fixed camera clipping problem with resource meteorites (meteorites have now more detailed colliders)
- Fixed problem with flares in first-person view when changing FOV (e.g. on assault rifle)
- Fixed: Error when using console command jumps and teleportation
- Fixed: Drowned drones sink through the ground and "plopp" up to the surface again
- Fixed exploit that player can click on previous toolbar content while loading screen is shown
- Fixed strange glass reflection on Cockpits 5 and 9
- Fixed preview shader of blocks
- Fixed: SV/HV docked to CV have negative impact on ALT-Look Cam
- Fixed SV/HV: Cockpit show a graphic/glare displacement

Jul 5, 2016

Alpha 2.1: Ramps, Shutterdoors, Tweaks and Bug Fixes

Empyrion - Galactic Survival - EmpyrionGame

Set of retractable ramps:

New snow capped mountains on Akua:

Jun 30, 2016

Server Monetisation

Empyrion - Galactic Survival - EmpyrionGame

Hi Galactic Survivalists,

Today, we want to talk about a topic that is already controversially discussed in the community: Server-Monetarization aka Perks and Donation-Bundles, which are sold by a few server owners.

We know that renting a server from a company or hosting a server on your own means paying fees and having to take care of anything related 24/7 – without being paid. Because of that we are OK if you charge a standard fee from players using your servers and if you are accepting donations.

We don’t and we won’t limit you artificially in your very personal idea on how to keep your server community happy and how you want to fund your server. That’s what makes the difference between just having standard servers available and having a great multiplayer community with lots of virtual universes to play in!

But we also want to make sure that everyone in our growing community is sharing the same attitude and having the same understanding of what is possible and what not, concerning selling stuff as a so called “3rd Party”- and the resulting liabilities.

For this, we have set up three simple rules that all server owners have to follow:

1. CHANGE WHAT YOU WANT
You are allowed to change, remove, enable or disable any gameplay element or feature in any way that fits you or your team’s idea on how your server world should work for your players. This applies to all features, blocks, options, settings that are in the game by default.

2. BUT DON’T RESELL REMOVED FEATURES
You are NOT allowed to sell such removed or disabled gameplay elements, etc. back to a paying part of your server community.

3. HAVE A DISCLAIMER
If you modify the game in any way and sell perks, timesavers or bundles, you need to make a clear statement about who you are and that you are not associated with Eleon Game Studios. This is necessary to avoid misconceptions about whom to contact, who is running the server and who is selling the stuff and is receiving funds.
Please add such a disclaimer to your web / store page and in blog posts in which you are referring to your store or paid bundles related to the game.

CLOSING STATEMENT: These rules are in place as of today. They may change in the course of the development due to new or changed features.

PLEASE NOTE: Even when selling digital stuff or when accepting donations, these transactions need to apply to your locale and national business rules, tax and other legal stuff. In your own interest, make sure your store applies to these rules and profits are detailed in whatever forms and formalities you are facing locally.

About Timesavers, Perks or Paid Bundles in general:
These are very common in the games industry nowadays, ranging from upcoming giants like Star Citizen to blockbusters like Assassin’s Creed - and we are OK with it from a business point of view. But from the gameplay point of view no player should have any disadvantages if he is not willing to pay for any offered bundle or whatever.

If your server community does not like what you are offering or in which way, you may need to discuss this with your players – as they are always free to join any other server with only a few clicks.

With the three rules above, we hope to make sure, that our multiplayer community and all server owners have a clear understanding of how they can act – which is in everyone’s interest.

======================================

Alpha 2.1 Teaser
Last but not least, we would like to share with you a short teaser for the upcoming Alpha 2.1 release:
https://youtu.be/Q6ByuzKnTqE
======================================

Yours,
Empyrion Dev Team

Jun 30, 2016

Server Monetisation

Empyrion - Galactic Survival - EmpyrionGame