UPDATE: February 2, 2017. Hotfix 2 (Build 844)

Client-side only hotfix:

We solved / significantly improved the shadow flickering problem that was plaguing you for a while now.

Changelog: Alpha 5.2.0 (Build 844)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed shadow flickering (except for uses cases in space very far from origin)

Changes:
- Replaced obsolete turrets on stock prefabs

Disclaimer: Please note that you may still experience shadow flickering in space if you are very far away from the origin (>8000m) - however, the other use cases for the shadow flickering problem (planet and space closer to the origin) should be solved / significantly improved now.

-----------------------------

UPDATE: February 1, 2017. Hotfix (Build 843)

Client-side only hotfix:

We just released a hotfix that addresses some issues introduced in Alpha 5.2. In particular, we fixed the problem with SV/HV cockpits for which projectiles were not visible anymore (own projectiles like tracer effects and projectiles of other players).

Changelog: Alpha 5.2.0 (Build 843)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Problem that tracer rounds and projectiles were not visible when using SV/HV cockpits
- Fixed: Terrain placeables (autominer, O2 Generator etc) were visible on starmap in space after planet-space transition
- Fixed: Problem that drilling Sathium did not give XP
- Fixed client exception linked to missing Game Object 'SciFiRed'
- Possible fix for water showing green patches sometimes
- Possible fix for client exceptions linked to PDA

Changes:
- Laser pistol + rifle do not destroy terrain anymore
- Updated HV Tier 4: added harvest container
- Slightly increased range of Harvester Module HV
- Reverted to old preview icons: motor + control panel (slight color tweak to distinguish better from computer)

-----------------------------

Original Post: January 31, 2017

Hey Galactic Survivalists!

January comes to its end, but we are just about to start. With Alpha 5.2 we kept fixing bugs and adding more improvements to gameplay elements and a range of visuals. You can now enjoy an all new water shader, smoothened blending of terrain textures and, although Valentine's Day is still half a month away, a greatly beautified sunset and sunrise. ;-)

https://youtu.be/ACcviN0jCk0

In our ongoing effort to improve the HV, we added a new assistant for drilling: If you want to dig a straight tunnel or slope, just use the new Fixed Drilling Mode (FDM). Incline your HV at any angle and activate fixed mode with SHIFT-O. This comes of the expense of being limited to WASD + up/down movement at the moment, but should be of great help for any underground work. If you feel limited, just deactivate the FDM and you are free to test your skills in FREE drilling mode as before.

For builders, we have also fixed the movement of the Player Drone. Farmers may find self-growing fiber very helpful and if you feel like you need to not only heat up the air, just make use of our improved laser weapons, for example of the all new Tier 2 Laser Pistol (incl. Scope)

More changes, improvements and refinements can be found below.

Please report any bug to this forum thread: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-5-2-x.9369/

Last but not least, again we would like to thank all our Experimental testers for testing the pre-release version during the last days. You are a huge help for is in getting a polished version out to the public. Keep up the great work!

Thanks a lot in advance!

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

-------------------

Changelog: Alpha 5.2 (Build 841)

New HV Drill Behavior:
- Added first version of "fixed drilling mode" FDM for easier HV drilling: press Shift-O to activate FDM
> with FDM activated, the HV will stay at the exact inclination and rotation as when the buttons were pressed
> press Shift+O to de-activate FDM
> in HUD it shows: Drill Mode: Free / Fixed
- If FDM is not activated, the the z-rotation of the HV is fixed as well -> no rolling anymore
- Auto-level O still works as before in Free mode
-> let us know what you think about the new drill behavior

Improved Laser Rifle and Pistol:
- Much faster projectiles (actually instant hit) and overall buff (damage, RoF etc)
-> let us know what you think

Improved Water Shader:
- We added a detailed reflection probe so that the environment is reflected in the water
- Added new "Medium" quality option for Sky Reflections (old "High" setting)
- We recommend using the new High quality option for Sky Reflections only on very good graphics cards


Texture Arrays for Terrain:
- We added a first version of texture array for terrain which ensures better blending of terrain textures
- Texture arrays are only active with VRAM >= 4GB


New Settings in Creative Mode:
- Added new Creative Setting on Akua, Omicron and Orbit
-> Thanks to our community creators for their awesome builds - we used some of the stock prefabs and some POIs for the new creative setting



Improved Controller of Player Drone:
- Added auto-level to player drone. Per default, the player drone only rotates around y-axis (vertical axis) on planets which improves the steering of the player drone.
- Deactivate auto-level by pressing "O"
- In space, the player drone behaves as before

More Vivid Colors on Several Playfields:
- We removed the Atmosphere fog on several playfields which results in more vivid colors (please note that Atmosphere fog is disabled if intensity in playfield.yaml is smaller or equal 0.5)
- In addition, we improved the sunset / sunrise settings on several playfields by introducing a new parameter in playfield.yaml: “SkyHorizonColor”
-> Let us know what you think of the new visuals on eg Akua, Ningues, Oscutune, Masperon and Skillon


Changed LCD Sign Editing:
- Sign editing done in own window (incl. Back-to-Control-Panel button if allowed)
- Control Panel now only shows text preview and has access button for editing
- LCD signs can now use a code lock
- Updated LCD symbols page: http://www.wingamestore.com/misc/egs-lcd-symbols (thanks to Frigidman for creating this page)


Additions:
- Added new T2 laser pistol

- Added new NPC to Ningues: Oviraptor
- Replaced hover booster with better model
- Replaced Sniper T1 with better model
- Replaced texture tool with better model
- Added Fiber as growable plants to BA / CV

- Added long version of colorable and texturable stairs
- Added new orbital trading stations for Akua and Omicron. Thanks to Runningwithhamster and Dinkelsen.
- Added new stock prefab SV Tier 5 - Thanks to Ashrai https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=792939013
- Added new HV Tier 6 Stock Prefab - thanks to McFluffFace http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=841337302


Visuals:
- Tweaked terrain of Akua: integrated larger planes

- Tweaked Asteroid Field 2 - Alien Outpost (fog less dense)
- Added better particle effect for ION cannons and plasma space drone
- Tweaked muzzle flashes on mounted weapons and turrets (+ added muzzle flashes where they were missing)
- Tweaked some sun flares
- Alien tree on Masperon now emits less firefly particles
- Tweak flare block - bit stronger flare

Improved Client-Server Communication:
- Clients show message if server does not receive their packages any more. Thus, you will now notice immediately if you have lost connection to the server, which means you can avoid playing in a “ghost world” where your progress will not be saved
- Limited size of packages sent by client to avoid client disconnects
- Added server config to disable Steam family sharers playing (only owner can play then)
- Optimized playfield server and client heartbeat checks

Changes:
- Better finger positioning on weapons in first-person view
- Tweaked scope model on Assault Rifle and Pistols
- Added better explosion effect to freighters when they self-destruct
- Added new scope overlay for Epic Laser Rifle and Epic Pistol
- Updated several preview icons -> especially components and weapons
- Optimized audio sources: we fixed problem that their sound could be heard from very far away (let us know if you notice something strange)
- Reduced flare size on projectiles (eg rockets etc)
- Weapon bobbing applied to both hands
- Tweaked Moon playfield: weapon range is reduced and it is now a PvE playfield
- Tweaked: Reduced intensity of flare on light SV
- Tweaked stock prefab SV Tier 4
- Tweaked Grime effect on lava planet: reduced emission of particles
- Tweaked deco: added more skeletons of dead animals.
- Added bullet tracers to Projectile Pistol T2
- Removed lense flare effect from Unity flare of worklight 01 + 02
- It is now possible to teleport in Y-axis in orbit
- Reduced engine sound of player drone
- Tweaked space fog
- Better aiming of turrets (not yet new targeting options)
- Marker blocks for drone and troop transport spawners are now also available in Creative mode
- Updated loading screenshots
- Tweak to shader of Talon NPC
- Reduced amount of underwater particles
- Added better info on how to use "replaceblocks" cmd
- Added more loading screenshots
- Updated Unity to 5.5.1

Bug Fixes:
- Possible fix for a majority of “connection lost problems”
- Fixed: Problem that sometimes players resurrected briefly at death location when using "spawn to medibay"
- Fixed: Waypoint / Registry Exploit
- Fixed: Problem that diving was not working and other related problems
- Fixed: Rockets (handheld weapon) did not shoot through crosshair if fired while pointing into air
- Fixed: Problem that ground fog on planets did not taken into account water and windows
- Fixed: Problem that NPCs were not hidden by fog, ie they rendered in front of ground fog
- Fixed: Problem of character micro-jumping / jittering on uneven terrain.
- Fixed: Copy / paste of multi-line LCD text replaces newlines by spaces
- Fixed: LCD usability: If text is longer than the preview window, text will jump down when editing at the top
- Fixed: LCD text preview / edit view don't show special symbols of LCD font
- Fixed: Problem that HV flipped over when drilling
- Fixed: Problem that camera clipped into weapon when going into sniper mode
- Fixed: "EnableMaxBlockCount: False" still prohibits putting a Blueprint with exceeding block count to Factory
- Fixed: Portable Worklight 1 showed a blue cone in pre-place mode
- Fixed: Harvester did not work in 1st person when "centered" on the tree
- Fixed: Problem that weapon model vanished when switching view while reloading
- Fixed: Sectors.yaml arrow missing / line glitches
- Fixed: 3rd Person: Helmet on/off lights up blocks, surfaces and other faces
- Fixed: Problem that freighters often spawn only partially (MP only)
- Partially fixed: Windows visible through fog
- Fixed multiple exceptions in Registry Window
- Fixed: Problem that Poly Count and Light Count of SV Stock Prefab Tier 3b was not shown.
- Fixed: Problem with LOD of Control Station
- Fixed: Gap in door of SV - flares and light could shine through closed door
- Fixed: Problem that weapon spotlight created a white spot in front of the tool/weapon
- Fixed: Problem that Ramp Blocks worked like lifts
- Fixed playfield server exception - trying to clean up already destroyed avatar
- Fixed: Problem that player drone could still could open player-dropped backpacks and emergency boxes
- Fixed: Sunshaft "Jump" when Time at 00:00 to Sunrise/Sunset - now much smoother transition
- Fixed Multitool: When switching via Radial Menu to another mode (eg deconstruct) - the beam does not shoot through crosshair anymore
- Possible fix for client exception when unloading a playfield
- Fixed: Problem that Corn Dog Snow was visible in Creative Menu
- Fixed: Problem that sound of different models were audible from very far away (flies, generator etc)
- Fixed: Several internal exceptions reported on support email

UPDATE: February 2, 2017. Hotfix 2 (Build 844)

Client-side only hotfix:

We solved / significantly improved the shadow flickering problem that was plaguing you for a while now.

Changelog: Alpha 5.2.0 (Build 844)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed shadow flickering (except for uses cases in space very far from origin)

Changes:
- Replaced obsolete turrets on stock prefabs

Disclaimer: Please note that you may still experience shadow flickering in space if you are very far away from the origin (>8000m) - however, the other use cases for the shadow flickering problem (planet and space closer to the origin) should be solved / significantly improved now.

-----------------------------

UPDATE: February 1, 2017. Hotfix (Build 843)

Client-side only hotfix:

We just released a hotfix that addresses some issues introduced in Alpha 5.2. In particular, we fixed the problem with SV/HV cockpits for which projectiles were not visible anymore (own projectiles like tracer effects and projectiles of other players).

Changelog: Alpha 5.2.0 (Build 843)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Problem that tracer rounds and projectiles were not visible when using SV/HV cockpits
- Fixed: Terrain placeables (autominer, O2 Generator etc) were visible on starmap in space after planet-space transition
- Fixed: Problem that drilling Sathium did not give XP
- Fixed client exception linked to missing Game Object 'SciFiRed'
- Possible fix for water showing green patches sometimes
- Possible fix for client exceptions linked to PDA

Changes:
- Laser pistol + rifle do not destroy terrain anymore
- Updated HV Tier 4: added harvest container
- Slightly increased range of Harvester Module HV
- Reverted to old preview icons: motor + control panel (slight color tweak to distinguish better from computer)

-----------------------------

Original Post: January 31, 2017

Hey Galactic Survivalists!

January comes to its end, but we are just about to start. With Alpha 5.2 we kept fixing bugs and adding more improvements to gameplay elements and a range of visuals. You can now enjoy an all new water shader, smoothened blending of terrain textures and, although Valentine's Day is still half a month away, a greatly beautified sunset and sunrise. ;-)

https://youtu.be/ACcviN0jCk0

In our ongoing effort to improve the HV, we added a new assistant for drilling: If you want to dig a straight tunnel or slope, just use the new Fixed Drilling Mode (FDM). Incline your HV at any angle and activate fixed mode with SHIFT-O. This comes of the expense of being limited to WASD + up/down movement at the moment, but should be of great help for any underground work. If you feel limited, just deactivate the FDM and you are free to test your skills in FREE drilling mode as before.

For builders, we have also fixed the movement of the Player Drone. Farmers may find self-growing fiber very helpful and if you feel like you need to not only heat up the air, just make use of our improved laser weapons, for example of the all new Tier 2 Laser Pistol (incl. Scope)

More changes, improvements and refinements can be found below.

Please report any bug to this forum thread: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-5-2-x.9369/

Last but not least, again we would like to thank all our Experimental testers for testing the pre-release version during the last days. You are a huge help for is in getting a polished version out to the public. Keep up the great work!

Thanks a lot in advance!

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

-------------------

Changelog: Alpha 5.2 (Build 841)

New HV Drill Behavior:
- Added first version of "fixed drilling mode" FDM for easier HV drilling: press Shift-O to activate FDM
> with FDM activated, the HV will stay at the exact inclination and rotation as when the buttons were pressed
> press Shift+O to de-activate FDM
> in HUD it shows: Drill Mode: Free / Fixed
- If FDM is not activated, the the z-rotation of the HV is fixed as well -> no rolling anymore
- Auto-level O still works as before in Free mode
-> let us know what you think about the new drill behavior

Improved Laser Rifle and Pistol:
- Much faster projectiles (actually instant hit) and overall buff (damage, RoF etc)
-> let us know what you think

Improved Water Shader:
- We added a detailed reflection probe so that the environment is reflected in the water
- Added new "Medium" quality option for Sky Reflections (old "High" setting)
- We recommend using the new High quality option for Sky Reflections only on very good graphics cards


Texture Arrays for Terrain:
- We added a first version of texture array for terrain which ensures better blending of terrain textures
- Texture arrays are only active with VRAM >= 4GB


New Settings in Creative Mode:
- Added new Creative Setting on Akua, Omicron and Orbit
-> Thanks to our community creators for their awesome builds - we used some of the stock prefabs and some POIs for the new creative setting



Improved Controller of Player Drone:
- Added auto-level to player drone. Per default, the player drone only rotates around y-axis (vertical axis) on planets which improves the steering of the player drone.
- Deactivate auto-level by pressing "O"
- In space, the player drone behaves as before

More Vivid Colors on Several Playfields:
- We removed the Atmosphere fog on several playfields which results in more vivid colors (please note that Atmosphere fog is disabled if intensity in playfield.yaml is smaller or equal 0.5)
- In addition, we improved the sunset / sunrise settings on several playfields by introducing a new parameter in playfield.yaml: “SkyHorizonColor”
-> Let us know what you think of the new visuals on eg Akua, Ningues, Oscutune, Masperon and Skillon


Changed LCD Sign Editing:
- Sign editing done in own window (incl. Back-to-Control-Panel button if allowed)
- Control Panel now only shows text preview and has access button for editing
- LCD signs can now use a code lock
- Updated LCD symbols page: http://www.wingamestore.com/misc/egs-lcd-symbols (thanks to Frigidman for creating this page)


Additions:
- Added new T2 laser pistol

- Added new NPC to Ningues: Oviraptor
- Replaced hover booster with better model
- Replaced Sniper T1 with better model
- Replaced texture tool with better model
- Added Fiber as growable plants to BA / CV

- Added long version of colorable and texturable stairs
- Added new orbital trading stations for Akua and Omicron. Thanks to Runningwithhamster and Dinkelsen.
- Added new stock prefab SV Tier 5 - Thanks to Ashrai https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=792939013
- Added new HV Tier 6 Stock Prefab - thanks to McFluffFace http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=841337302


Visuals:
- Tweaked terrain of Akua: integrated larger planes

- Tweaked Asteroid Field 2 - Alien Outpost (fog less dense)
- Added better particle effect for ION cannons and plasma space drone
- Tweaked muzzle flashes on mounted weapons and turrets (+ added muzzle flashes where they were missing)
- Tweaked some sun flares
- Alien tree on Masperon now emits less firefly particles
- Tweak flare block - bit stronger flare

Improved Client-Server Communication:
- Clients show message if server does not receive their packages any more. Thus, you will now notice immediately if you have lost connection to the server, which means you can avoid playing in a “ghost world” where your progress will not be saved
- Limited size of packages sent by client to avoid client disconnects
- Added server config to disable Steam family sharers playing (only owner can play then)
- Optimized playfield server and client heartbeat checks

Changes:
- Better finger positioning on weapons in first-person view
- Tweaked scope model on Assault Rifle and Pistols
- Added better explosion effect to freighters when they self-destruct
- Added new scope overlay for Epic Laser Rifle and Epic Pistol
- Updated several preview icons -> especially components and weapons
- Optimized audio sources: we fixed problem that their sound could be heard from very far away (let us know if you notice something strange)
- Reduced flare size on projectiles (eg rockets etc)
- Weapon bobbing applied to both hands
- Tweaked Moon playfield: weapon range is reduced and it is now a PvE playfield
- Tweaked: Reduced intensity of flare on light SV
- Tweaked stock prefab SV Tier 4
- Tweaked Grime effect on lava planet: reduced emission of particles
- Tweaked deco: added more skeletons of dead animals.
- Added bullet tracers to Projectile Pistol T2
- Removed lense flare effect from Unity flare of worklight 01 + 02
- It is now possible to teleport in Y-axis in orbit
- Reduced engine sound of player drone
- Tweaked space fog
- Better aiming of turrets (not yet new targeting options)
- Marker blocks for drone and troop transport spawners are now also available in Creative mode
- Updated loading screenshots
- Tweak to shader of Talon NPC
- Reduced amount of underwater particles
- Added better info on how to use "replaceblocks" cmd
- Added more loading screenshots
- Updated Unity to 5.5.1

Bug Fixes:
- Possible fix for a majority of “connection lost problems”
- Fixed: Problem that sometimes players resurrected briefly at death location when using "spawn to medibay"
- Fixed: Waypoint / Registry Exploit
- Fixed: Problem that diving was not working and other related problems
- Fixed: Rockets (handheld weapon) did not shoot through crosshair if fired while pointing into air
- Fixed: Problem that ground fog on planets did not taken into account water and windows
- Fixed: Problem that NPCs were not hidden by fog, ie they rendered in front of ground fog
- Fixed: Problem of character micro-jumping / jittering on uneven terrain.
- Fixed: Copy / paste of multi-line LCD text replaces newlines by spaces
- Fixed: LCD usability: If text is longer than the preview window, text will jump down when editing at the top
- Fixed: LCD text preview / edit view don't show special symbols of LCD font
- Fixed: Problem that HV flipped over when drilling
- Fixed: Problem that camera clipped into weapon when going into sniper mode
- Fixed: "EnableMaxBlockCount: False" still prohibits putting a Blueprint with exceeding block count to Factory
- Fixed: Portable Worklight 1 showed a blue cone in pre-place mode
- Fixed: Harvester did not work in 1st person when "centered" on the tree
- Fixed: Problem that weapon model vanished when switching view while reloading
- Fixed: Sectors.yaml arrow missing / line glitches
- Fixed: 3rd Person: Helmet on/off lights up blocks, surfaces and other faces
- Fixed: Problem that freighters often spawn only partially (MP only)
- Partially fixed: Windows visible through fog
- Fixed multiple exceptions in Registry Window
- Fixed: Problem that Poly Count and Light Count of SV Stock Prefab Tier 3b was not shown.
- Fixed: Problem with LOD of Control Station
- Fixed: Gap in door of SV - flares and light could shine through closed door
- Fixed: Problem that weapon spotlight created a white spot in front of the tool/weapon
- Fixed: Problem that Ramp Blocks worked like lifts
- Fixed playfield server exception - trying to clean up already destroyed avatar
- Fixed: Problem that player drone could still could open player-dropped backpacks and emergency boxes
- Fixed: Sunshaft "Jump" when Time at 00:00 to Sunrise/Sunset - now much smoother transition
- Fixed Multitool: When switching via Radial Menu to another mode (eg deconstruct) - the beam does not shoot through crosshair anymore
- Possible fix for client exception when unloading a playfield
- Fixed: Problem that Corn Dog Snow was visible in Creative Menu
- Fixed: Problem that sound of different models were audible from very far away (flies, generator etc)
- Fixed: Several internal exceptions reported on support email

Hi Galactic Survivalists,

We just released the first version of Alpha 5.2 on the EXPERIMENTAL Branch.

This update contains some highly requested features such as a better drill behavior for the HV (now it does not flip over anymore when drilling) or improved Laser Rifle and Pistol. We also added some graphical improvements such as better reflections in the water or more vivid colors on several playfields. But of course this is not all: For the full list of features, check out the complete changelog on the forum: http://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-experimental-5-2.9331

Switch over to the EXP branch and try them out!





We need your help in tracking down the remaining bugs. Please report bugs over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-5-2.9332



Thank you in advance for your help.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALPHA 5.2 IS NOT YET RELEASED ON THE PUBLIC BRANCH

P.S. How to switch to Experimental version: http://empyriononline.com/threads/new-experimental-branch-on-steam.6371/

Hi Galactic Survivalists,

We just released the first version of Alpha 5.2 on the EXPERIMENTAL Branch.

This update contains some highly requested features such as a better drill behavior for the HV (now it does not flip over anymore when drilling) or improved Laser Rifle and Pistol. We also added some graphical improvements such as better reflections in the water or more vivid colors on several playfields. But of course this is not all: For the full list of features, check out the complete changelog on the forum: http://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-experimental-5-2.9331

Switch over to the EXP branch and try them out!





We need your help in tracking down the remaining bugs. Please report bugs over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-5-2.9332



Thank you in advance for your help.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALPHA 5.2 IS NOT YET RELEASED ON THE PUBLIC BRANCH

P.S. How to switch to Experimental version: http://empyriononline.com/threads/new-experimental-branch-on-steam.6371/

UPDATE: January 22, 2017. 5.1.1 Build 821 - HOTFIX#2

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

We just released a second hotfix for the public version 5.1.1

Bugfixes
- Fixed "overbright" problem that resulted from an earlier unity update
- Fixed HV-Drill-Crash issue (re-added fix)

Please report remaining Bugs over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-5-1-x.9183/

Note: This is a client-side update! Servers do not need to be updated and will stay at 5.1.1 build 817

---------------
**outdated**

Over-bright issue and how to solve it

Hi Galactic Survivalists,

After updating to Alpha 5.1.1, several players reported that the game suddenly appears "over bright".

We analyzed the issue and found out that unfortunately Unity causes this problem. Some technical details to understand it: we updated Unity to U5.5.0p3 for Alpha 5.1.1 in order to solve the HV drill crash. However, we now found out that this Unity update causes a negative side effect in that it sometimes does not recognize the correct graphics card anymore, which then can cause the mentioned over-bright problem. Apparently, it happens especially for older graphics cards (thanks to everyone who sent in output logs and helped us to track down the problem - especially "Renegade" was a big help).

How to solve the over-bright problem:
For those of you who experience the over-bright problem, you can switch to the Experimental branch and it should be fine. However, by switching to the Experimental branch, please note that you will again have the old problem with the HV drill crash because we downgraded Unity back to 5.5.0f3. In other words, you have to choose between the over-bright problem and the HV drill crash. We are really sorry for the inconveniences. We hope you understand.

How to switch to Experimental version: http://empyriononline.com/threads/new-experimental-branch-on-steam.6371/

Yours,

EMP Dev Team

----------------------------------

UPDATE: January 22, 2017. Release of Build 817 (client-side)

We just released a client-side update that fixes the problem with the strange fog on Masperon and other planets that are using the ground fog.

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Problem that fog on planets did not take into account water

Know Issues:
- Overbrightness problem: We are still trying to nail down the problem with the overbrightness that some players seem to have. We read several reports regarding this problem but cannot reproduce it on our end. It seems to be related to a special set of graphic cards. If you experience this problem, please send us an email to our support address with your output log.

-------------------------

Hi Galactic Survivalists,

We just released a small patch that fixes several issues introduced in Alpha 5.1.

Please report remaining bugs here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-5-1-x.9183

Changelog: Alpha 5.1.1 (Build 816)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Crash to desktop when using HV drill
- Fixed: Problem that player drone did not work on private structures anymore (it worked only with faction and public structures)
- Fixed: Problem that shooting at creatures in a distance (viewed with zoom) sometimes did not kill them and lead to XP farming
- Fixed: Problem that tools with a beam (texture tool, color tool, multitool) did not always fire into crosshair
- Fixed: Problem that weapons did not move with hands in first-person view (especially pistols)
- Fixed: Problem that console command 'spawnanyblueprint' was not working correctly
- Fixed: Layering issue with sector hover labels
- Fixed: Sector hover labels staying open when closing map window while hovered
- Fixed: Object reflections darkening when opening map window
- Fixed: Several client exceptions reported on support email
- Possible fix for Blueprint header loading problem

Changes:
- Tweaked player drone: improved emissive texture, added light beam, added new flare
- Drill Turret: reduced intensity of flashing blue light halo
- Improved reload sound (better timing)
- Tweaked SV Stock Prefab Tier 2a (removed front plate on thrusters)

UPDATE: January 22, 2017. 5.1.1 Build 821 - HOTFIX#2

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

We just released a second hotfix for the public version 5.1.1

Bugfixes
- Fixed "overbright" problem that resulted from an earlier unity update
- Fixed HV-Drill-Crash issue (re-added fix)

Please report remaining Bugs over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-5-1-x.9183/

Note: This is a client-side update! Servers do not need to be updated and will stay at 5.1.1 build 817

---------------
**outdated**

Over-bright issue and how to solve it

Hi Galactic Survivalists,

After updating to Alpha 5.1.1, several players reported that the game suddenly appears "over bright".

We analyzed the issue and found out that unfortunately Unity causes this problem. Some technical details to understand it: we updated Unity to U5.5.0p3 for Alpha 5.1.1 in order to solve the HV drill crash. However, we now found out that this Unity update causes a negative side effect in that it sometimes does not recognize the correct graphics card anymore, which then can cause the mentioned over-bright problem. Apparently, it happens especially for older graphics cards (thanks to everyone who sent in output logs and helped us to track down the problem - especially "Renegade" was a big help).

How to solve the over-bright problem:
For those of you who experience the over-bright problem, you can switch to the Experimental branch and it should be fine. However, by switching to the Experimental branch, please note that you will again have the old problem with the HV drill crash because we downgraded Unity back to 5.5.0f3. In other words, you have to choose between the over-bright problem and the HV drill crash. We are really sorry for the inconveniences. We hope you understand.

How to switch to Experimental version: http://empyriononline.com/threads/new-experimental-branch-on-steam.6371/

Yours,

EMP Dev Team

----------------------------------

UPDATE: January 22, 2017. Release of Build 817 (client-side)

We just released a client-side update that fixes the problem with the strange fog on Masperon and other planets that are using the ground fog.

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Problem that fog on planets did not take into account water

Know Issues:
- Overbrightness problem: We are still trying to nail down the problem with the overbrightness that some players seem to have. We read several reports regarding this problem but cannot reproduce it on our end. It seems to be related to a special set of graphic cards. If you experience this problem, please send us an email to our support address with your output log.

-------------------------

Hi Galactic Survivalists,

We just released a small patch that fixes several issues introduced in Alpha 5.1.

Please report remaining bugs here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-5-1-x.9183

Changelog: Alpha 5.1.1 (Build 816)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Crash to desktop when using HV drill
- Fixed: Problem that player drone did not work on private structures anymore (it worked only with faction and public structures)
- Fixed: Problem that shooting at creatures in a distance (viewed with zoom) sometimes did not kill them and lead to XP farming
- Fixed: Problem that tools with a beam (texture tool, color tool, multitool) did not always fire into crosshair
- Fixed: Problem that weapons did not move with hands in first-person view (especially pistols)
- Fixed: Problem that console command 'spawnanyblueprint' was not working correctly
- Fixed: Layering issue with sector hover labels
- Fixed: Sector hover labels staying open when closing map window while hovered
- Fixed: Object reflections darkening when opening map window
- Fixed: Several client exceptions reported on support email
- Possible fix for Blueprint header loading problem

Changes:
- Tweaked player drone: improved emissive texture, added light beam, added new flare
- Drill Turret: reduced intensity of flashing blue light halo
- Improved reload sound (better timing)
- Tweaked SV Stock Prefab Tier 2a (removed front plate on thrusters)

Hey Galactic Survivalists!

Today we are releasing Alpha 5.1 to the public. Initially planned as a small bug fixing and polishing update, 5.1 turned into a massive update with many new cool features and improvements as documented in the long changelog below.

Please note that this update will not break your savegame or server world, but if you want to make use of the new defaults like the resource additions and loot distribution changes, these will only work with playfields that were not visited ahead of the update.

Again, we would like to thank all players that gave us valuable feedback and helped in tracking down bugs while version 5.1 was on the experimental branch.

Without further ado, please dive into 5.1, review the changes and new additions and, of course, report and help us to fix remaining bugs and issues right here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-5-1-x.9183


First and foremost: have fun playing!

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

P.S. Here is an overview of symbols and icons that are supported on our LCD panels/signs: http://www.wingamestore.com/misc/egs-lcd-symbols) (thanks to Frigidman for generating this table)

-------------------------------------

Changelog: Alpha 5.1 (Build 811)

Resources & Mining:
- Added turret drill for CV
- Added Voxel asteroids of all resources (iron, copper, promethium, gold etc) => they can be placed via playfield.yaml
- Added larger variety of Voxel resource asteroids to space
- Added Blue Crystal (Pentaxid) terrain resource texture => currently not yet used in default setup of Empyrion but you can integrate Pentaxid deposits similar to other resources in playfield.yaml
- Renamed Blue Crystal into Pentaxid (raw)

Turret drill for CVs:


Asteroid mining in space:


New Loot Distribution:
- Updated loot: the loot distribution is now much more fine-grained and almost each container has an own "theme" (e.g. food in fridge, etc)

It will now be a lot more rewarding and interesting to explore POIs because you can find more diverse loot depending on the container you are opening:




Reload Animations:
- Added first version of reload animations
- Slightly re-balanced reload times of some handheld weapons

New Flares:
- Added new flares to all light sources
- Added special flares to all thrusters
- Improved sun flares on planets and in space (added more variety of flares)
- Added flare to entry effect of resource asteroids
- Tweaked flares on handheld weapons and tools
- Added light beam effects to flashlight and several weapons / tools
- Added flares to projectiles (all rockets, alien ion cannon shots etc)

New thruster flares:


New light beams:


New Water Shader:
- Added new water shader


Other Additions
- Added new feature: Add / remove 100 templates from / to construction queue via Shift/Control click
- Added new mode to Drill T2 that allows to remove rocks
- Added code locks to LCD Screens and turrets
- Added Shutter Door Size 3x3 for SV / HV
- Added auto rotate to horizontal (jetpack in space) when pressing default key O
- Added snow version of corn dogs and added to Ningues

Gameplay:
- Added Ningues as Start Planet in survival -> let us know what you think
- Tweaks to Ningues and Oscutune playfields (+ their orbit)
- Increased content of Warp Drive tank from 25 to 63 slots
- To calculate the Size Class of a Blueprint, we now take into account the number of lights and the polygon count of the building blocks. We added the light count + polygon count to the BP info (full calculation can be found here: https://eleon.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000605465-SIZE-CLASS-How-is-it-calculated-)
- Added "Allow / Deny" in sectors.yaml. Added example: You can now jump from Masperon to Trading Outpost (Allow - even though more than 25AU away) but you cannot jump from Asteroid Field to Trading Outpost anymore (Deny - even though less than 25AU away)
- Improved controller of Player Drone: it now wobbles less after collision
- Added new collision behaviour for jetpack in space (similar to player drone): less wobbling after collision
- Player does not jump anymore after last step of a stair has been climbed
- Turrets and drones now also shoot at Player Drone

Ningues is now starter planet in Survival mode:


Visuals:
- Added new muzzle effects for handheld weapons
- Added clouds around planet when approaching planet in orbit and added denser clouds when flying high up in air
- Tweaked tonemapping image effect -> pls give us feedback on light intensity during night on all planets: which planet is too dark / too bright / ok?
- Adapted Bloom setting: same Bloom in space as on planet during night, stronger bloom on planet during day
- Re-added space particles and space fog to the orbit to better visualize speed when flying
- Added new blood particle effects
- Tweaked texture on player armor: it is now less shiny
- Disabled star reflection probe in space (problem was that star skybox was reflected on all windows even inside a vessel)
- Improved visuals of sector map (colored lines, directional arrows, etc)
- Re-added lightning particle effect when using turret drill
- Added hit impact to Multitool, Texturetool, Colortool and Drill Turret
- Turned off light on handheld drill when in standby mode
- Tweaked coloring of trees on Oscutune
- Fog in asteroid field is now less dense and looks better from far away
- Sun flare now receives color of sun on planets
- Tweaked camera effect (water droplets) when coming out of water
- Added damage models for antennas, medic station, clone chamber, trading station block, hover engines and alien storage
- Adjusted weapon hold position on pistols, texture and color tool
- Adjusted transparency of fighter cockpit windows

New Stock Blueprints:
- CV Tier 2. Thanks to Ashrai: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=805428326
- SV Tier 2. Thanks to baddkarma74 - we slightly modified the original blueprint: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=779464216

- SV Tier 3. Thanks to Mr.IceCat: White version of https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=804458127


EAC:
- Disallowing connections to protected servers without EAC working on client side (saves time since player would be kicked anyway)
- Updated EAC SDK to version 2016-12-16

Changes / Improvements / Tweaks:
- Removed atmosphere formula for drills: thus drills now have same range on all playfields
- Adapted length of beam effect of drill turrets to actual range
- Godmode Invisible: You are now able to place blocks on any structure (e.g. admin structure, alien structure etc)
- Implemented: In Blueprint Factory use SHIFT-click to move item stacks from the inventory to the factory
- Adding a Trading Station now makes a Blueprint "red" to avoid spawning them in survival
- Tweaked model of medic station and clone chamber -> you now can enter without jumping
- Increased stacking size of Pentaxid and removed stacking limit of Pentaxid Ore
- Optimization: Ship controller -> before: if many vessels were active in a playfield, it had a strong performance impact
- Enabled 'stats' console cmd for listing structs and ents. Removed this information from di overview
- Structure information .txt uses now plain text dates/times
- Tweaked Masperon: Adapted spawn of NPCs, fixed biome definitions, adjusted distribution of fire flies and added orange fire flies
- Updated stock prefab CV Tier 2 -> closed hangar bay with shutter door
- Added turret name in text 'Press F to control <turret name>'
- Improved Blueprint anti-cheating
- Added scrollbar to Control Panel properties info
- Tweaked GUI of LCD to accommodate lock code field
- Client exceptions are now sent to server with build number
- Added missing food to Localization
- Console command "gents" requires now moderator level to be executed
- Tweaked sound of Zirax weapon
- Sound effect when you get hit is now a bit lower in volume
- Added Localization for radial menus
- Implemented: Display trader in Recent tab of Marketplace
- Adjusted "Loading game..." text
- Improved logging
- Updated game engine to Unity 5.5

Balancing:
- Chainsaw cannot remove large rocks anymore
- Handheld rockets and other rockets can now destroy rocks as well
- Increased range of Multitool to 5m (T1) and 8m (T2)
- Turret drill HV: Increased strength and range but slightly reduced radius of drill effect
- Slightly increased range of drill module
- Rebalanced all mounted and turret weapons (only damage against terrain) to ensure nice explosion craters on terrain
- Tweaked drone weapons so that they destroy hardly any terrain anymore
- Tweaked drop rate of Sathium Asteroid to adapt to other resources

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Problem that members could accept or reject Alliance offers (now only admins and founders)
- Fixed: Problem that sun shafts/flares in space were too strong (overblown) in certain situations
- Fixed: Problem that player sometime performs an extra jump when switching weapon
- Fixed: Problem that entering a planet granted XP each and every time (MP only)
- Fixed: Problem that one could not join faction of other origins despite dedicated.yaml set to True
- Fixed: Problem that ore deposits destroyed by weapons still show % and amount unchanged
- Fixed: Strange behavior of player character when approaching it (or zooming away in 3rd person) because of LOD rebuilding
- Fixed: Problem that some blocks (e.g SV Thruster M) did not count towards blueprint tech level
- Fixed: Problem that using turret drill CV without harvest container dropped ores in cockpit
- Fixed: Problem that by having Control Panel open when Core is destroyed kept structure factioned even without a core
- Fixed: Problem that NPC corpses blocked themselves
- Fixed: Grass does not get removed when shooting at the ground with BA Rocket Turrets
- Fixed: Damage travels through blocks (not yet fixed: lagshots)
- Fixed: Plants/Trees sometimes re-grew in bases and POIs (MP only)
- Possible Fix for error in Registry Window
- Fixed: Problem that snow on stones was too bright in certain lighting conditions
- Fixed: Problem that space stations were visible beyond view-range directly after warping in a new orbit
- Fixed: Problem that it was possible to place blocks from outside the Antigrief zone inside the zone (also with the player drone)
- Fixed: Problem that player slid sometimes down on slope and never stopped to slide
- Fixed: Waypoint/Registry Exploit
- Fixed: Problem that Multitool disassemble returns L-Blocks for Windows-S, Truss-S, Armored-Window-S
- Fixed: Problem that when using the Player Drone, handheld weapons shot where the drone is looking at
- Fixed: Problem that you could obtain infinite components (shutter doors, hangar doors etc) due to an animation bug (MP only)
- Fixed: Problem that dedi could connect a player to a playfield server that is currently unloading its playfield
- Fixed: Problem that requesting client logs by server host did not work
- Fixed: Problem that it was impossible to drill Masperon soil
- Fixed: Problem that hull looked strange in space
- Fixed: Problem that freighters sometimes did not despawn in MP
- Fixed: Problem that destruction timer message for freighters did not appear (SP / MP)
- Fixed: Problem that idle sounds of NPCs was missing in MP
- Fixed: Light 1 (Corner) had nearly no "collision box" > hardly possible to remove with MT
- Fixed: Problem that info panel of multitool did not vanish in certain situations
- Fixed: Emergency break in space did not work anymore
- Fixed: Problem that space looked strange when seen through windows in orbit
- Fixed: Weapon on floor instead of being in hands when joining MP game until other player switches weapon once
- Fixed: Problem that stars / star reflection were visible in windows inside a closed CV room in orbit
- Fixed: Base Attack drones are not counted for the DRONE HUNTER mission
- Fixed: Mission 'Prepare for Battle MEDICAL' can not be fulfilled in MP as a sole Leader
- Fixed: Problem that light/growlight could not be attached to Windows and Armored Windows
- Possible fix for corrupted area files
- Fixed: Sever animation hiccups of player model in MP
- Fixed: Problem that sometimes POIs shot at NPCs
- Fixed: XP issue: harvesting the "new" selfgrown plants added 600XP each
- Fixed: Problem that adding a new template to the queue did partially reset/block the progress of the current in-production item (MP)
- Fixed: Planetary Map (M) got wrong colors when Graphic set to FAST
- Fixed: Problem that drills could not remove terrain deco rocks and boulders (Added new functionality to drill T2)
- Fixed: Problem that weapons were sometimes visible for seated players
- Fixed: Problem that sun was included in distance calculation and line drawing in sector map
- Fixed: Problem that one could set faction with ESC menu even if core is gone
- Fixed: Problem that cargobox-access closed if vessel was moving
- Fixed: Problem that slope 1x1 needed more hits for removal than other windows with multitool
- Fixed: Problem that autogroup re-ordered directional type and grouping when cockpit is turned 180°
- Fixed: Problems that freighter did not spawn reliably in Akua Orbit (MP)
- Fixed: Speed limit bug for freighters
- Fixed: Localization for radial menus was only working after exiting and resuming game
- Potential fix for double entity id problems in MP
- Fixed: Problem that windows were fully transparent with respect to Ground Fog
- Fixed: Problem that you needed to approach large blueprints to put them in BP library. Now you can blueprint structures from 150m distance
- Fixed: Problem that creator of structure was overwritten when selecting Overwrite in BP library
- Fixed: Error when dying in a turret
- Fixed: Problem with Stock prefab Tier 2 > using BA Rockets for CV Rocket Turrets
- Fixed: Blueprint creation in factory sometimes ended with error message (for older Blueprints)
- Fixed: Some blueprint caused internal errors and were broken
- Possible fix for client side Blueprint loading exception, improved log output
- Fixed: Problem with hit impact and length of line renderer of turret drill CV
- Fixed: Problem that saving / overwriting a Blueprint moved it down in the list instead of keeping the alphabetical order
- Fixed: Problem that sometime Akua did not have a Trading Station
- Fixed: Problem that some self-grown plants did not give back sprouts but growth stages when picked up
- Fixed: Problem that one could not spawn a new Player drone if player got killed while in Player drone
- Fixed (partly): Wrong muzzle fire position with changed FOV
- Fixed: Color tool beam with changed FOV
- Fixed: Problem that capturing freighter and then accessing cockpit lead to error
- Fixed: Problem that freighter destruction message was already triggered when freighter is damaged
- Fixed: Entering Zeyhines (planet) spawned a list of errors in console
- Fixed: Wrong muzzle position on pistols
- Fixed: Problem that picking up plants increased Device Count in structure .txt
- Fixed: Sharing violation with adminconfig.yaml
- Fixed: Destroying a fixed weapon on a SV while it is firing lead to error
- Fixed: Mission "Custom Tours" did not work anymore (removed from PDA)
- Fixed: Problem that weapons & tools were active in passenger seat
- Fixed: Problem that sometimes small vessel core did not allow to attach blocks on its sides
- Fixed: Problem that bases in orbit could be moved / rammed (note: only fixed setrotation console cmd)
- Fixed: Too bright light in escape pod (interior view)
- Fixed: Problem with scope overlay and transparency
- Fixed: Gaps in collider of shutter doors and hangar doors + Better positioning of shutter doors
- Fixed: Problem with transparency on sector map icons
- Fixed: Problem with strange shininess on Asteroids in space
- Fixed: BA Prefab Tier 5 was wrong (it was actually Tier 6 and Tier 5 did not exist anymore)
- Fixed: Grid of small radar map in space looks broken
- Fixed several internal exceptions reported at support email

Hey Galactic Survivalists!

Today we are releasing Alpha 5.1 to the public. Initially planned as a small bug fixing and polishing update, 5.1 turned into a massive update with many new cool features and improvements as documented in the long changelog below.

Please note that this update will not break your savegame or server world, but if you want to make use of the new defaults like the resource additions and loot distribution changes, these will only work with playfields that were not visited ahead of the update.

Again, we would like to thank all players that gave us valuable feedback and helped in tracking down bugs while version 5.1 was on the experimental branch.

Without further ado, please dive into 5.1, review the changes and new additions and, of course, report and help us to fix remaining bugs and issues right here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-5-1-x.9183


First and foremost: have fun playing!

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

P.S. Here is an overview of symbols and icons that are supported on our LCD panels/signs: http://www.wingamestore.com/misc/egs-lcd-symbols) (thanks to Frigidman for generating this table)

-------------------------------------

Changelog: Alpha 5.1 (Build 811)

Resources & Mining:
- Added turret drill for CV
- Added Voxel asteroids of all resources (iron, copper, promethium, gold etc) => they can be placed via playfield.yaml
- Added larger variety of Voxel resource asteroids to space
- Added Blue Crystal (Pentaxid) terrain resource texture => currently not yet used in default setup of Empyrion but you can integrate Pentaxid deposits similar to other resources in playfield.yaml
- Renamed Blue Crystal into Pentaxid (raw)

Turret drill for CVs:


Asteroid mining in space:


New Loot Distribution:
- Updated loot: the loot distribution is now much more fine-grained and almost each container has an own "theme" (e.g. food in fridge, etc)

It will now be a lot more rewarding and interesting to explore POIs because you can find more diverse loot depending on the container you are opening:




Reload Animations:
- Added first version of reload animations
- Slightly re-balanced reload times of some handheld weapons

New Flares:
- Added new flares to all light sources
- Added special flares to all thrusters
- Improved sun flares on planets and in space (added more variety of flares)
- Added flare to entry effect of resource asteroids
- Tweaked flares on handheld weapons and tools
- Added light beam effects to flashlight and several weapons / tools
- Added flares to projectiles (all rockets, alien ion cannon shots etc)

New thruster flares:


New light beams:


New Water Shader:
- Added new water shader


Other Additions
- Added new feature: Add / remove 100 templates from / to construction queue via Shift/Control click
- Added new mode to Drill T2 that allows to remove rocks
- Added code locks to LCD Screens and turrets
- Added Shutter Door Size 3x3 for SV / HV
- Added auto rotate to horizontal (jetpack in space) when pressing default key O
- Added snow version of corn dogs and added to Ningues

Gameplay:
- Added Ningues as Start Planet in survival -> let us know what you think
- Tweaks to Ningues and Oscutune playfields (+ their orbit)
- Increased content of Warp Drive tank from 25 to 63 slots
- To calculate the Size Class of a Blueprint, we now take into account the number of lights and the polygon count of the building blocks. We added the light count + polygon count to the BP info (full calculation can be found here: https://eleon.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000605465-SIZE-CLASS-How-is-it-calculated-)
- Added "Allow / Deny" in sectors.yaml. Added example: You can now jump from Masperon to Trading Outpost (Allow - even though more than 25AU away) but you cannot jump from Asteroid Field to Trading Outpost anymore (Deny - even though less than 25AU away)
- Improved controller of Player Drone: it now wobbles less after collision
- Added new collision behaviour for jetpack in space (similar to player drone): less wobbling after collision
- Player does not jump anymore after last step of a stair has been climbed
- Turrets and drones now also shoot at Player Drone

Ningues is now starter planet in Survival mode:


Visuals:
- Added new muzzle effects for handheld weapons
- Added clouds around planet when approaching planet in orbit and added denser clouds when flying high up in air
- Tweaked tonemapping image effect -> pls give us feedback on light intensity during night on all planets: which planet is too dark / too bright / ok?
- Adapted Bloom setting: same Bloom in space as on planet during night, stronger bloom on planet during day
- Re-added space particles and space fog to the orbit to better visualize speed when flying
- Added new blood particle effects
- Tweaked texture on player armor: it is now less shiny
- Disabled star reflection probe in space (problem was that star skybox was reflected on all windows even inside a vessel)
- Improved visuals of sector map (colored lines, directional arrows, etc)
- Re-added lightning particle effect when using turret drill
- Added hit impact to Multitool, Texturetool, Colortool and Drill Turret
- Turned off light on handheld drill when in standby mode
- Tweaked coloring of trees on Oscutune
- Fog in asteroid field is now less dense and looks better from far away
- Sun flare now receives color of sun on planets
- Tweaked camera effect (water droplets) when coming out of water
- Added damage models for antennas, medic station, clone chamber, trading station block, hover engines and alien storage
- Adjusted weapon hold position on pistols, texture and color tool
- Adjusted transparency of fighter cockpit windows

New Stock Blueprints:
- CV Tier 2. Thanks to Ashrai: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=805428326
- SV Tier 2. Thanks to baddkarma74 - we slightly modified the original blueprint: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=779464216

- SV Tier 3. Thanks to Mr.IceCat: White version of https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=804458127


EAC:
- Disallowing connections to protected servers without EAC working on client side (saves time since player would be kicked anyway)
- Updated EAC SDK to version 2016-12-16

Changes / Improvements / Tweaks:
- Removed atmosphere formula for drills: thus drills now have same range on all playfields
- Adapted length of beam effect of drill turrets to actual range
- Godmode Invisible: You are now able to place blocks on any structure (e.g. admin structure, alien structure etc)
- Implemented: In Blueprint Factory use SHIFT-click to move item stacks from the inventory to the factory
- Adding a Trading Station now makes a Blueprint "red" to avoid spawning them in survival
- Tweaked model of medic station and clone chamber -> you now can enter without jumping
- Increased stacking size of Pentaxid and removed stacking limit of Pentaxid Ore
- Optimization: Ship controller -> before: if many vessels were active in a playfield, it had a strong performance impact
- Enabled 'stats' console cmd for listing structs and ents. Removed this information from di overview
- Structure information .txt uses now plain text dates/times
- Tweaked Masperon: Adapted spawn of NPCs, fixed biome definitions, adjusted distribution of fire flies and added orange fire flies
- Updated stock prefab CV Tier 2 -> closed hangar bay with shutter door
- Added turret name in text 'Press F to control <turret name>'
- Improved Blueprint anti-cheating
- Added scrollbar to Control Panel properties info
- Tweaked GUI of LCD to accommodate lock code field
- Client exceptions are now sent to server with build number
- Added missing food to Localization
- Console command "gents" requires now moderator level to be executed
- Tweaked sound of Zirax weapon
- Sound effect when you get hit is now a bit lower in volume
- Added Localization for radial menus
- Implemented: Display trader in Recent tab of Marketplace
- Adjusted "Loading game..." text
- Improved logging
- Updated game engine to Unity 5.5

Balancing:
- Chainsaw cannot remove large rocks anymore
- Handheld rockets and other rockets can now destroy rocks as well
- Increased range of Multitool to 5m (T1) and 8m (T2)
- Turret drill HV: Increased strength and range but slightly reduced radius of drill effect
- Slightly increased range of drill module
- Rebalanced all mounted and turret weapons (only damage against terrain) to ensure nice explosion craters on terrain
- Tweaked drone weapons so that they destroy hardly any terrain anymore
- Tweaked drop rate of Sathium Asteroid to adapt to other resources

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Problem that members could accept or reject Alliance offers (now only admins and founders)
- Fixed: Problem that sun shafts/flares in space were too strong (overblown) in certain situations
- Fixed: Problem that player sometime performs an extra jump when switching weapon
- Fixed: Problem that entering a planet granted XP each and every time (MP only)
- Fixed: Problem that one could not join faction of other origins despite dedicated.yaml set to True
- Fixed: Problem that ore deposits destroyed by weapons still show % and amount unchanged
- Fixed: Strange behavior of player character when approaching it (or zooming away in 3rd person) because of LOD rebuilding
- Fixed: Problem that some blocks (e.g SV Thruster M) did not count towards blueprint tech level
- Fixed: Problem that using turret drill CV without harvest container dropped ores in cockpit
- Fixed: Problem that by having Control Panel open when Core is destroyed kept structure factioned even without a core
- Fixed: Problem that NPC corpses blocked themselves
- Fixed: Grass does not get removed when shooting at the ground with BA Rocket Turrets
- Fixed: Damage travels through blocks (not yet fixed: lagshots)
- Fixed: Plants/Trees sometimes re-grew in bases and POIs (MP only)
- Possible Fix for error in Registry Window
- Fixed: Problem that snow on stones was too bright in certain lighting conditions
- Fixed: Problem that space stations were visible beyond view-range directly after warping in a new orbit
- Fixed: Problem that it was possible to place blocks from outside the Antigrief zone inside the zone (also with the player drone)
- Fixed: Problem that player slid sometimes down on slope and never stopped to slide
- Fixed: Waypoint/Registry Exploit
- Fixed: Problem that Multitool disassemble returns L-Blocks for Windows-S, Truss-S, Armored-Window-S
- Fixed: Problem that when using the Player Drone, handheld weapons shot where the drone is looking at
- Fixed: Problem that you could obtain infinite components (shutter doors, hangar doors etc) due to an animation bug (MP only)
- Fixed: Problem that dedi could connect a player to a playfield server that is currently unloading its playfield
- Fixed: Problem that requesting client logs by server host did not work
- Fixed: Problem that it was impossible to drill Masperon soil
- Fixed: Problem that hull looked strange in space
- Fixed: Problem that freighters sometimes did not despawn in MP
- Fixed: Problem that destruction timer message for freighters did not appear (SP / MP)
- Fixed: Problem that idle sounds of NPCs was missing in MP
- Fixed: Light 1 (Corner) had nearly no "collision box" > hardly possible to remove with MT
- Fixed: Problem that info panel of multitool did not vanish in certain situations
- Fixed: Emergency break in space did not work anymore
- Fixed: Problem that space looked strange when seen through windows in orbit
- Fixed: Weapon on floor instead of being in hands when joining MP game until other player switches weapon once
- Fixed: Problem that stars / star reflection were visible in windows inside a closed CV room in orbit
- Fixed: Base Attack drones are not counted for the DRONE HUNTER mission
- Fixed: Mission 'Prepare for Battle MEDICAL' can not be fulfilled in MP as a sole Leader
- Fixed: Problem that light/growlight could not be attached to Windows and Armored Windows
- Possible fix for corrupted area files
- Fixed: Sever animation hiccups of player model in MP
- Fixed: Problem that sometimes POIs shot at NPCs
- Fixed: XP issue: harvesting the "new" selfgrown plants added 600XP each
- Fixed: Problem that adding a new template to the queue did partially reset/block the progress of the current in-production item (MP)
- Fixed: Planetary Map (M) got wrong colors when Graphic set to FAST
- Fixed: Problem that drills could not remove terrain deco rocks and boulders (Added new functionality to drill T2)
- Fixed: Problem that weapons were sometimes visible for seated players
- Fixed: Problem that sun was included in distance calculation and line drawing in sector map
- Fixed: Problem that one could set faction with ESC menu even if core is gone
- Fixed: Problem that cargobox-access closed if vessel was moving
- Fixed: Problem that slope 1x1 needed more hits for removal than other windows with multitool
- Fixed: Problem that autogroup re-ordered directional type and grouping when cockpit is turned 180°
- Fixed: Problems that freighter did not spawn reliably in Akua Orbit (MP)
- Fixed: Speed limit bug for freighters
- Fixed: Localization for radial menus was only working after exiting and resuming game
- Potential fix for double entity id problems in MP
- Fixed: Problem that windows were fully transparent with respect to Ground Fog
- Fixed: Problem that you needed to approach large blueprints to put them in BP library. Now you can blueprint structures from 150m distance
- Fixed: Problem that creator of structure was overwritten when selecting Overwrite in BP library
- Fixed: Error when dying in a turret
- Fixed: Problem with Stock prefab Tier 2 > using BA Rockets for CV Rocket Turrets
- Fixed: Blueprint creation in factory sometimes ended with error message (for older Blueprints)
- Fixed: Some blueprint caused internal errors and were broken
- Possible fix for client side Blueprint loading exception, improved log output
- Fixed: Problem with hit impact and length of line renderer of turret drill CV
- Fixed: Problem that saving / overwriting a Blueprint moved it down in the list instead of keeping the alphabetical order
- Fixed: Problem that sometime Akua did not have a Trading Station
- Fixed: Problem that some self-grown plants did not give back sprouts but growth stages when picked up
- Fixed: Problem that one could not spawn a new Player drone if player got killed while in Player drone
- Fixed (partly): Wrong muzzle fire position with changed FOV
- Fixed: Color tool beam with changed FOV
- Fixed: Problem that capturing freighter and then accessing cockpit lead to error
- Fixed: Problem that freighter destruction message was already triggered when freighter is damaged
- Fixed: Entering Zeyhines (planet) spawned a list of errors in console
- Fixed: Wrong muzzle position on pistols
- Fixed: Problem that picking up plants increased Device Count in structure .txt
- Fixed: Sharing violation with adminconfig.yaml
- Fixed: Destroying a fixed weapon on a SV while it is firing lead to error
- Fixed: Mission "Custom Tours" did not work anymore (removed from PDA)
- Fixed: Problem that weapons & tools were active in passenger seat
- Fixed: Problem that sometimes small vessel core did not allow to attach blocks on its sides
- Fixed: Problem that bases in orbit could be moved / rammed (note: only fixed setrotation console cmd)
- Fixed: Too bright light in escape pod (interior view)
- Fixed: Problem with scope overlay and transparency
- Fixed: Gaps in collider of shutter doors and hangar doors + Better positioning of shutter doors
- Fixed: Problem with transparency on sector map icons
- Fixed: Problem with strange shininess on Asteroids in space
- Fixed: BA Prefab Tier 5 was wrong (it was actually Tier 6 and Tier 5 did not exist anymore)
- Fixed: Grid of small radar map in space looks broken
- Fixed several internal exceptions reported at support email

Teaser: Alpha EXPERIMENTAL 5.1


Hi Galactic Survivalists,

We released the first version of Alpha 5.1 on the EXPERIMENTAL Branch. We added some cool features to the game: Reload animations, turret drills for CV (mining in space), more Voxel asteroids in space, new loot distribution, new awesome flares, new water shader, new muzzle effects for handheld weapons, many visual improvements, balancing changes and other gameplay changes and MANY bug fixes.

For the full list of features, check out the complete changelog on the forum: http://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-experimental-5-1.9037/

Switch over to the EXP branch and try them out!



We need your help in tracking down the remaining bugs. Please report bugs over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-5-1.9036

Thank you in advance for your help.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALPHA 5.1 IS NOT YET RELEASED ON PUBLIC BRANCH

P.S. How to switch to Experimental version: http://empyriononline.com/threads/new-experimental-branch-on-steam.6371/

Teaser: Alpha EXPERIMENTAL 5.1


Hi Galactic Survivalists,

We released the first version of Alpha 5.1 on the EXPERIMENTAL Branch. We added some cool features to the game: Reload animations, turret drills for CV (mining in space), more Voxel asteroids in space, new loot distribution, new awesome flares, new water shader, new muzzle effects for handheld weapons, many visual improvements, balancing changes and other gameplay changes and MANY bug fixes.

For the full list of features, check out the complete changelog on the forum: http://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-experimental-5-1.9037/

Switch over to the EXP branch and try them out!



We need your help in tracking down the remaining bugs. Please report bugs over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-5-1.9036

Thank you in advance for your help.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALPHA 5.1 IS NOT YET RELEASED ON PUBLIC BRANCH

P.S. How to switch to Experimental version: http://empyriononline.com/threads/new-experimental-branch-on-steam.6371/