Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Today we are releasing the second part of our performance update. As of now, server admins can not only set up rules about their server community being able to use blueprints at all, but also to which degree and to which sizes!

As a short explanation: Performance issues do not result from a ship being built out of 60.000 blocks alone. Performance issues are related to the device count, like generators, thrusters, fuel tanks and so on! That’s why the classes are based on device-count, not on the total block count.

With the new settings, you can now set up rules for the maximum device-count (Classes) of those ships that are allowed to be spawned via the Blueprint Library. (See Changelog below for all the settings)

This does not affect ships already in the game or ships that were manually built up and beyond these limits, but, as it stands now, we might (!) make active use of the device count classes for the upcoming vessel and structure balancings. Feel free to send us your feedback on this specific topic!

We are also going to introduce some more powerful and larger devices, all our builders might find useful.

Version 2.3 adds the new Tier 2 Generator and the Tier 3 tank. Both will not only reduce your structures device-counts, but also reduce the amount of tanks to fill while keeping the same level of fuel packs!

Please note: The new Tier 3 Fuel Tank is kind of temporary, as the UI needs a bit of a feature upgrade to fully feature larger tanks with more than 56 fuel pack slots. As soon as we achieved that, we might downgrade the content of the T3 Tank a little bit in terms of fuel pack slots (so it fits the calculation and balance again), but offer even larger T4 tanks (in size and content) in exchange.

Finally, we improved the visuals of the game by increasing the light intensity on many playfields, making the ambient color less dark, tweaking tone-mapping and the image processing effect.

The result of our tweaks are more vivid colors...


...and less overblowing of bright colors on the terrain:




Thanks to the higher light intensity, the normal maps on objects are much more pronounced:


We also increased the strength of the shadows:

We hope you’ll find these changes and improvements useful and are looking forward to your feedback! :)

Empyrion Dev Team

Changelog: Alpha 2.3.0 (Build 520)

Features:
- Added server-side Blueprint restrictions depending on the Device-count (dedicated.yaml). Restricted classes can not be produced in Blueprint factory and/or spawned. They are marked ORANGE in the Blueprint Library. Device count of each Blueprint is visible in the blueprints info panel.
Available Size Classes:
Class 1 = less than 50 devices
Class 2 = between 50 and 250 devices
Class 3 = between 250 and 500 devices
Class 4 = between 500 and 1000 devices
Class 5 = between 1000 and 1500 devices
Class 6 = more than 1500 devices (default)

Please note: these limits are not set in stone and may be changed in the course of development.

- Added global server-side restriction of blueprints being allowed to be used or not (dedicated.yaml).
Available settings:
None = Blueprint system completely disabled
StockOnly = only stock blueprints can be produced
All = all types allowed (default)

- Added Size Class and Device Count available via Control Panel -> Statistics (+ some tweaks to stats window)
- Added new T3 Fuel Tank (CV & BA, 2*2*1: 56 slots)
- Added new T2 Generator (CV & BA, 6*2*2: 500MW Output)
- Added Shutter Doors sizes 1x2, 2x3.
- Added new starter blueprint: Tier 4 SV. Updated some other starter blueprints (Thanks to Mr.IceCat)

New Tier 4 Starter SV by Mr.IceCat



Improved Visuals:
- Increased light intensity on many playfields (you must start a new game for this change to take effect)
- Increased intensity of shadows
- Changed ambient color (less dark)
- Tweaked tone-mapping and image processing effect
- Tweaked shader for trees on Akua, tweaked deco

Changes and Improvements:
- Increased LOD limit of structures: 1200m on planet (instead of 1000m), 3000m in space (instead of 2500m)
- Optimized Terrain -> less micro stutters.
- Optimization: Tweaked LOD groups of many devices (slightly earlier culling)
- Increased power of small and large Generator (BA / CV)
- Large Ammo Box has now 35 instead of 21 slots
- Added hitpoint info to small fuel tank
- Another small tweak to Escape Pod (collider and rolling behavior)
- Updated Stock CV Tier 1-3 -> added shutter doors for vertical doors
- Slightly reduced de-spawn time of destroyed drones

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Multiple instances of playfield loaded (leading up to a total crash)
- Fixed: Explosive devices do not get used up when placed
- Fixed: Underwater Deco placed on dry land
- Possible fix for ground/terrain rebuilding like an invisible layer with drone wrecks nearby
- Fixed problem with disabled audio source warnings
- Fixed wrong path description where to find outputlog in support email
- Fixed: Tanks - Description Info missing/wrong
- Fixed glass issue with cockpit
- Possible fix for playfield crash

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Today we are releasing the second part of our performance update. As of now, server admins can not only set up rules about their server community being able to use blueprints at all, but also to which degree and to which sizes!

As a short explanation: Performance issues do not result from a ship being built out of 60.000 blocks alone. Performance issues are related to the device count, like generators, thrusters, fuel tanks and so on! That’s why the classes are based on device-count, not on the total block count.

With the new settings, you can now set up rules for the maximum device-count (Classes) of those ships that are allowed to be spawned via the Blueprint Library. (See Changelog below for all the settings)

This does not affect ships already in the game or ships that were manually built up and beyond these limits, but, as it stands now, we might (!) make active use of the device count classes for the upcoming vessel and structure balancings. Feel free to send us your feedback on this specific topic!

We are also going to introduce some more powerful and larger devices, all our builders might find useful.

Version 2.3 adds the new Tier 2 Generator and the Tier 3 tank. Both will not only reduce your structures device-counts, but also reduce the amount of tanks to fill while keeping the same level of fuel packs!

Please note: The new Tier 3 Fuel Tank is kind of temporary, as the UI needs a bit of a feature upgrade to fully feature larger tanks with more than 56 fuel pack slots. As soon as we achieved that, we might downgrade the content of the T3 Tank a little bit in terms of fuel pack slots (so it fits the calculation and balance again), but offer even larger T4 tanks (in size and content) in exchange.

Finally, we improved the visuals of the game by increasing the light intensity on many playfields, making the ambient color less dark, tweaking tone-mapping and the image processing effect.

The result of our tweaks are more vivid colors...


...and less overblowing of bright colors on the terrain:




Thanks to the higher light intensity, the normal maps on objects are much more pronounced:


We also increased the strength of the shadows:

We hope you’ll find these changes and improvements useful and are looking forward to your feedback! :)

Empyrion Dev Team

Changelog: Alpha 2.3.0 (Build 520)

Features:
- Added server-side Blueprint restrictions depending on the Device-count (dedicated.yaml). Restricted classes can not be produced in Blueprint factory and/or spawned. They are marked ORANGE in the Blueprint Library. Device count of each Blueprint is visible in the blueprints info panel.
Available Size Classes:
Class 1 = less than 50 devices
Class 2 = between 50 and 250 devices
Class 3 = between 250 and 500 devices
Class 4 = between 500 and 1000 devices
Class 5 = between 1000 and 1500 devices
Class 6 = more than 1500 devices (default)

Please note: these limits are not set in stone and may be changed in the course of development.

- Added global server-side restriction of blueprints being allowed to be used or not (dedicated.yaml).
Available settings:
None = Blueprint system completely disabled
StockOnly = only stock blueprints can be produced
All = all types allowed (default)

- Added Size Class and Device Count available via Control Panel -> Statistics (+ some tweaks to stats window)
- Added new T3 Fuel Tank (CV & BA, 2*2*1: 56 slots)
- Added new T2 Generator (CV & BA, 6*2*2: 500MW Output)
- Added Shutter Doors sizes 1x2, 2x3.
- Added new starter blueprint: Tier 4 SV. Updated some other starter blueprints (Thanks to Mr.IceCat)

New Tier 4 Starter SV by Mr.IceCat



Improved Visuals:
- Increased light intensity on many playfields (you must start a new game for this change to take effect)
- Increased intensity of shadows
- Changed ambient color (less dark)
- Tweaked tone-mapping and image processing effect
- Tweaked shader for trees on Akua, tweaked deco

Changes and Improvements:
- Increased LOD limit of structures: 1200m on planet (instead of 1000m), 3000m in space (instead of 2500m)
- Optimized Terrain -> less micro stutters.
- Optimization: Tweaked LOD groups of many devices (slightly earlier culling)
- Increased power of small and large Generator (BA / CV)
- Large Ammo Box has now 35 instead of 21 slots
- Added hitpoint info to small fuel tank
- Another small tweak to Escape Pod (collider and rolling behavior)
- Updated Stock CV Tier 1-3 -> added shutter doors for vertical doors
- Slightly reduced de-spawn time of destroyed drones

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Multiple instances of playfield loaded (leading up to a total crash)
- Fixed: Explosive devices do not get used up when placed
- Fixed: Underwater Deco placed on dry land
- Possible fix for ground/terrain rebuilding like an invisible layer with drone wrecks nearby
- Fixed problem with disabled audio source warnings
- Fixed wrong path description where to find outputlog in support email
- Fixed: Tanks - Description Info missing/wrong
- Fixed glass issue with cockpit
- Possible fix for playfield crash

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

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

Hi everyone,

We released a potential fix that should solve the problem with the playfield server crashes occurring frequently on dedicated servers.

Changelog: Alpha 2.1.1 (Build 507)

Bug Fixes:
- Potential fix for playfield server crashes on a dedicated server

Note: We were suffering from a Unity problem that crashes the game without a stack trace if some conditions are met. Thanks to another user, who pointed out the problem for Android, we found the reason for the crashes: http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/993730/memory-crash-when-calling-resourcesunloadunusedass.html#answer-998128

Hi everyone,

We released a potential fix that should solve the problem with the playfield server crashes occurring frequently on dedicated servers.

Changelog: Alpha 2.1.1 (Build 507)

Bug Fixes:
- Potential fix for playfield server crashes on a dedicated server

Note: We were suffering from a Unity problem that crashes the game without a stack trace if some conditions are met. Thanks to another user, who pointed out the problem for Android, we found the reason for the crashes: http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/993730/memory-crash-when-calling-resourcesunloadunusedass.html#answer-998128

Hi guys,

We just released a hotfix for the problems introduced with Alpha 2.1.

Changelog: Alpha 2.1.1 (Build 506)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed problems with whole sections of vessels / bases being removed and SV/HV vanishing (unfortunately already lost stuff cannot be recovered)
- Fixed problems for Constructor bug
- Fixed problems with terrain placeables (Survival Constructor, Oxygen Generator, etc) when placed at position larger than 2048
- Fixed: Difficulty setting on resume game: Opening the settings always shows EASY presets

Hi guys,

We just released a hotfix for the problems introduced with Alpha 2.1.

Changelog: Alpha 2.1.1 (Build 506)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed problems with whole sections of vessels / bases being removed and SV/HV vanishing (unfortunately already lost stuff cannot be recovered)
- Fixed problems for Constructor bug
- Fixed problems with terrain placeables (Survival Constructor, Oxygen Generator, etc) when placed at position larger than 2048
- Fixed: Difficulty setting on resume game: Opening the settings always shows EASY presets

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

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