Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Well done! Thanks to your dedicated help, we already tracked down a lot of nasty issues in our Release Candidate 1. But we are not done yet! To ensure this version gets the best possible polishing, we are now starting Release Candidate 2.

Our major task remains the same: squashing bugs!

Said that, a lot of you have made us aware about the FPS issues with movement of large ships in different situations. Thanks a lot for all the reports. We are currently testing a fix for this problem :)

As always, as soon as you read this, have a look at your very personal bug list. If you do NOT find your issue fixed below, please give it another try and re-report them in our bug thread for RC2. Thanks a lot in advance!

Bug Reports: Alpha Experimental - Release Candidate 2:
http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-release-candidate-2.11206/

To spice up this update and based on your feedback, we also added some feature-refinements and changes to the gameplay.

As a special note: the customization possibilities have increased a lot with Alpha 6.0. That’s why we have added two more FAQ threads dedicated to Multiplayer/Playfields and for Builders/Creative to answer the most important topics of the newly added features.

Please, if you are new to Empyrion or the Experimental Alpha 6.0, give it a read first!

FAQ for Players: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq.10344/
FAQ for Builders: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq-for-builders.10822/
FAQ for MP & Customization & Scenario: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq-for-mp-customization-scenario.11204/

We have also added a dedicated feedback thread for the STORY TUTORIAL to grab dedicated feedback on this topic: http://empyriononline.com/threads/6-0e-feedback-story-tutorial.11207/
(Please do not discuss the global “New Game Start” there, but only the tasks and actions of the Tutorial and how it can be improved. Thanks!)

Now, have fun with RC2! :)

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

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

Changelog: Alpha Experimental 6.0.12 (Build 1032)

Added Regeneration of POIs:
- Added POI regeneration feature: regeneration timer counts down if a POI has been "visited". If timer reaches zero, POI regenerates if no player is close (120m). Note: you cannot build/drill nearby a structure that has "regeneration" enabled
- For testing: Added regenerate to all POIs on all starter planets and all POIs in space (all playfields) - also in Single Player (only for testing)
EDIT: regeneration will be available in SP also (it all depends on the designer now)


POIs can now regenerate on a server


As a server provider, you just have to tag the POIs accordingly in the playfield.yaml


Regeneration also works for POIs in space

POI Spawning Update:
- Added drone base and vessel base to POI spawning, i.e. you can now control spawning of these 2 units. What means, you can spawn drone base and vessel base close to each other or spawn valuable resources close to these structures -> see playfield.yaml in ExamplePlanet
IMPORTANT: you must adapt your custom yamls to this new setup if you want to spawn a drone base or a planet vessel base

GUI Polishing:
- Chat font changed to white color and increased size (same for tutorial messages and PDA actions)
- Polishing of Map window, Sector Map window, Vessel Statistics window, Control Panel Devices Page and Signal Logic Page
- Added Ammunition panel to Control Panel (Fill and list showing the different ammo types not yet working)
- Popup Dialog Boxes Polishing
- Updated map marker icons
- Adapted Planet Map to use same Starmap background as Space and Sector Map
- More tweaks to Menu Bar icons
- Updated style of buttons

Visuals and Sounds:
- Added possibility to play a custom music for each structure (defined in playfield.yaml)
- Playfield specific sound is now played again (defined in playfield.yaml)
- Updated some growable plants by adding clusters (so they look more voluminous): corn, wheat, tomatoes, etc.
- Tweaked alien tube growable plant (made it larger) + added clusters to pearthing plant and durian plant
- Added better model for promethium stone
- Added better map marker for enemies (instead of arrow > dot)
- Drone destroyed model sound is now heard less far
- Added some more ambient sounds for POIs (dungeons, trading stations etc)
- Updated textures of alien bugs to PBR textures
- Entity spawner is now grey per default.

Gameplay:
- Added delay to Planet Vessels (defined in playfield.yaml)
- Planet Vessel “standby” mode is now only active if Planet Vessel is not visible
- Increased despawn timer of drones
- Tweaked resource spawning (important resources are now sometimes closer to alien POIs)
- Increased attack speed of several NPCs

New Blocks:
- Added new SV, HV cockpit (Renamed and rearranged cockpits in block group)


- Added more destroyed hull blocks
- Added new standing NPC

Changes:
- Always show completed Blueprint in Blueprint Factory list regardless of filter
- Updated PDA
- Updated Scenarios "Dawn of Galaxy" and "Invader vs Defender"
- Added Supply Station POI to Oscutune orbit
- Added info on which type (BA, SV, MS, HV) a certain ammo can be used
- Added debug weapons for testing: "Assault Rifle Debug" and "Rocket Launcher Debug"
- Implemented: PDA check 'NearUnit' can use a generic block name as target, target element needs to be listed in Control Panel's unit list
- Better animation for standing aliens deco block
- Added correct group name for POIs on moon playfield
- Only max one drone / vessel base allowed per playfield (check introduced in yaml)
- Small change to rockets: now every rocket is attached to the firing entity for 3 frames (eg when player fires a rocket in a fast flying SV)
- Melee attack of enemies is now better (they won’t lose sight contact that easy any more)
- Tweaked ranged attack of spider
- Added ranged attack to alien bugs 03 + 04
- Melee attack of NPC does not longer damage terrain
- Added several orbital bases as drone bases
- Temporarily deactivated space "custom tour" in PDA
- Updated Trader Config
- Updated CV Tier 2a (thanks to rainyday)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: No BA attack drones on any difficulty setting
- Fixed: CoQ when using the teleporter to go from TS Akua to TSO Akua.
- Fixed: Issues with SV mounted weapons. & CV Mounted Rocket weapon
- Fixed: Not possible to scroll list of signals in SIGNAL LOGIC
- Fixed: Respawn in a large sea send player in instant death screen loop
- Fixed: Problem that CV in space flies 115m/s instead of 90m/s (regression)
- Fixed: Control Panel Device List not keeping selection between Device List and Signal Logic Tabs
- Fixed: Exploit: add -2 to amount when buying from trader is adding you the money
- Fixed: Night vision doesn't work on scoped weapons.
- Fixed: Toolbar partially visible when using scope + weapon clipping after using scope
- Fixed: PDA: 'Guiding: Destination' does not work with NearResource
- Fixed: Damaged blocks "full block" makes itself and blocks behind it transparent in some stages
- Fixed: BAO_Thermica_Station is a CV instead of a BA
- Fixed: Withdraw Hydrogen Packs from Fuel tanks allowed to create infinite energy loop => Temporarily removed Hydrogen Fuel Cells to avoid exploit
- Fixed: MP issue with Motion Sensor and more than one player in sensor area
- Fixed: Problem that sometimes plants gave back dead sprouts and sometimes sprouts > now consistent: all give back sprouts
- Fixed: Disassembling a Harvest Cargo box returns a Cargo box block
- Fixed: MP lever animation and signal processing
- Fixed: Troop Transporter is still spawning when drone base is conquered and placing player core
- Fixed: CoQ when setting a map waypoint.
- Fixed: Armor & weapons looted from POIs are damaged
- Fixed: Connecting lines are missing in the Tech tree.
- Fixed: NPC attacking the player clips into camera
- Fixed: Block destroy particles not showing
- Fixed: Signal broken when sensor is removed
- Fixed: CoQ: Linked to Troop Transport
- Fixed: Custom switches (MAIN tab middle column) do not save with blueprint
- Fixed: Markers are not shown in the PV/PU list / no markers shown in the list
- Fixed: Planet Vessel vanishes if lower thrusters are destroyed
- Fixed: Difficulties setting "Number of deposits" has no real effect
- Fixed: Docking HV to a CV leads to a 25 second delay for sensors
- Fixed: NearUnit Name is not centered on device but on a different place
- Possible fix for strange wall appearing when damaging abandoned mine.
- Fixed: Planet Vessel HQ's are spawning in 2 bases on top of each other.
- Fixed: Difficulty setting amount of available deposits has no effect (applied difficulty factor on minimum amount of ores)
- Fixed: CoQ when using a lever to open/close a door
- Fixed: Persistent CoQ when Base shoots as PV
- Fixed: CoQ when using teleport from Ningues to Oscutune
- Fixed: POI Cutout not working for BA_Patrol-Vessel-HQ3 (temporarily removed this prefab)
- Fixed: Projectiles do not fire when flying sideways with max speed (Note: when flying sideways and the launcher is placed close to a hull block, it is normal that no rocket is shot)
- Fixed: Custom NPC Trader does not work in Multiplayer
- Fixed: Playfield: Ore deposits are 3x away the distance than set up in the yaml
- Fixed: Sun flares and other flares not showing for player when using a weapon in first person view
- Fixed: PDA 'NearUnit' checks did not complete when using generic block names
- Fixed: CoQ when removing cameras from AI vessel and relogin to game
- Fixed: Problem that player bends arms when aiming with pistol
- Fixed: Sector Map Line Rendering
- Fixed: Sectors reveal command throws CoQs
- Fixed: Map Window Orbit Info description header
- Fixed: CoQ in Popup when using "Auto" positioning
- Fixed: Scrolling Popup issue in Signal Logic configure list
- Fixed: Missing Name in Sector Map Orbit Info
- Fixed: Internal error linked to trap door on dedi
- Fixed: Random CoQ linked to trader
- Fixed: NPC Trader main Icon slightly blurred/transparent

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Well done! Thanks to your dedicated help, we already tracked down a lot of nasty issues in our Release Candidate 1. But we are not done yet! To ensure this version gets the best possible polishing, we are now starting Release Candidate 2.

Our major task remains the same: squashing bugs!

Said that, a lot of you have made us aware about the FPS issues with movement of large ships in different situations. Thanks a lot for all the reports. We are currently testing a fix for this problem :)

As always, as soon as you read this, have a look at your very personal bug list. If you do NOT find your issue fixed below, please give it another try and re-report them in our bug thread for RC2. Thanks a lot in advance!

Bug Reports: Alpha Experimental - Release Candidate 2:
http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-release-candidate-2.11206/

To spice up this update and based on your feedback, we also added some feature-refinements and changes to the gameplay.

As a special note: the customization possibilities have increased a lot with Alpha 6.0. That’s why we have added two more FAQ threads dedicated to Multiplayer/Playfields and for Builders/Creative to answer the most important topics of the newly added features.

Please, if you are new to Empyrion or the Experimental Alpha 6.0, give it a read first!

FAQ for Players: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq.10344/
FAQ for Builders: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq-for-builders.10822/
FAQ for MP & Customization & Scenario: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq-for-mp-customization-scenario.11204/

We have also added a dedicated feedback thread for the STORY TUTORIAL to grab dedicated feedback on this topic: http://empyriononline.com/threads/6-0e-feedback-story-tutorial.11207/
(Please do not discuss the global “New Game Start” there, but only the tasks and actions of the Tutorial and how it can be improved. Thanks!)

Now, have fun with RC2! :)

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

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

Changelog: Alpha Experimental 6.0.12 (Build 1032)

Added Regeneration of POIs:
- Added POI regeneration feature: regeneration timer counts down if a POI has been "visited". If timer reaches zero, POI regenerates if no player is close (120m). Note: you cannot build/drill nearby a structure that has "regeneration" enabled
- For testing: Added regenerate to all POIs on all starter planets and all POIs in space (all playfields) - also in Single Player (only for testing)
EDIT: regeneration will be available in SP also (it all depends on the designer now)


POIs can now regenerate on a server


As a server provider, you just have to tag the POIs accordingly in the playfield.yaml


Regeneration also works for POIs in space

POI Spawning Update:
- Added drone base and vessel base to POI spawning, i.e. you can now control spawning of these 2 units. What means, you can spawn drone base and vessel base close to each other or spawn valuable resources close to these structures -> see playfield.yaml in ExamplePlanet
IMPORTANT: you must adapt your custom yamls to this new setup if you want to spawn a drone base or a planet vessel base

GUI Polishing:
- Chat font changed to white color and increased size (same for tutorial messages and PDA actions)
- Polishing of Map window, Sector Map window, Vessel Statistics window, Control Panel Devices Page and Signal Logic Page
- Added Ammunition panel to Control Panel (Fill and list showing the different ammo types not yet working)
- Popup Dialog Boxes Polishing
- Updated map marker icons
- Adapted Planet Map to use same Starmap background as Space and Sector Map
- More tweaks to Menu Bar icons
- Updated style of buttons

Visuals and Sounds:
- Added possibility to play a custom music for each structure (defined in playfield.yaml)
- Playfield specific sound is now played again (defined in playfield.yaml)
- Updated some growable plants by adding clusters (so they look more voluminous): corn, wheat, tomatoes, etc.
- Tweaked alien tube growable plant (made it larger) + added clusters to pearthing plant and durian plant
- Added better model for promethium stone
- Added better map marker for enemies (instead of arrow > dot)
- Drone destroyed model sound is now heard less far
- Added some more ambient sounds for POIs (dungeons, trading stations etc)
- Updated textures of alien bugs to PBR textures
- Entity spawner is now grey per default.

Gameplay:
- Added delay to Planet Vessels (defined in playfield.yaml)
- Planet Vessel “standby” mode is now only active if Planet Vessel is not visible
- Increased despawn timer of drones
- Tweaked resource spawning (important resources are now sometimes closer to alien POIs)
- Increased attack speed of several NPCs

New Blocks:
- Added new SV, HV cockpit (Renamed and rearranged cockpits in block group)


- Added more destroyed hull blocks
- Added new standing NPC

Changes:
- Always show completed Blueprint in Blueprint Factory list regardless of filter
- Updated PDA
- Updated Scenarios "Dawn of Galaxy" and "Invader vs Defender"
- Added Supply Station POI to Oscutune orbit
- Added info on which type (BA, SV, MS, HV) a certain ammo can be used
- Added debug weapons for testing: "Assault Rifle Debug" and "Rocket Launcher Debug"
- Implemented: PDA check 'NearUnit' can use a generic block name as target, target element needs to be listed in Control Panel's unit list
- Better animation for standing aliens deco block
- Added correct group name for POIs on moon playfield
- Only max one drone / vessel base allowed per playfield (check introduced in yaml)
- Small change to rockets: now every rocket is attached to the firing entity for 3 frames (eg when player fires a rocket in a fast flying SV)
- Melee attack of enemies is now better (they won’t lose sight contact that easy any more)
- Tweaked ranged attack of spider
- Added ranged attack to alien bugs 03 + 04
- Melee attack of NPC does not longer damage terrain
- Added several orbital bases as drone bases
- Temporarily deactivated space "custom tour" in PDA
- Updated Trader Config
- Updated CV Tier 2a (thanks to rainyday)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: No BA attack drones on any difficulty setting
- Fixed: CoQ when using the teleporter to go from TS Akua to TSO Akua.
- Fixed: Issues with SV mounted weapons. & CV Mounted Rocket weapon
- Fixed: Not possible to scroll list of signals in SIGNAL LOGIC
- Fixed: Respawn in a large sea send player in instant death screen loop
- Fixed: Problem that CV in space flies 115m/s instead of 90m/s (regression)
- Fixed: Control Panel Device List not keeping selection between Device List and Signal Logic Tabs
- Fixed: Exploit: add -2 to amount when buying from trader is adding you the money
- Fixed: Night vision doesn't work on scoped weapons.
- Fixed: Toolbar partially visible when using scope + weapon clipping after using scope
- Fixed: PDA: 'Guiding: Destination' does not work with NearResource
- Fixed: Damaged blocks "full block" makes itself and blocks behind it transparent in some stages
- Fixed: BAO_Thermica_Station is a CV instead of a BA
- Fixed: Withdraw Hydrogen Packs from Fuel tanks allowed to create infinite energy loop => Temporarily removed Hydrogen Fuel Cells to avoid exploit
- Fixed: MP issue with Motion Sensor and more than one player in sensor area
- Fixed: Problem that sometimes plants gave back dead sprouts and sometimes sprouts > now consistent: all give back sprouts
- Fixed: Disassembling a Harvest Cargo box returns a Cargo box block
- Fixed: MP lever animation and signal processing
- Fixed: Troop Transporter is still spawning when drone base is conquered and placing player core
- Fixed: CoQ when setting a map waypoint.
- Fixed: Armor & weapons looted from POIs are damaged
- Fixed: Connecting lines are missing in the Tech tree.
- Fixed: NPC attacking the player clips into camera
- Fixed: Block destroy particles not showing
- Fixed: Signal broken when sensor is removed
- Fixed: CoQ: Linked to Troop Transport
- Fixed: Custom switches (MAIN tab middle column) do not save with blueprint
- Fixed: Markers are not shown in the PV/PU list / no markers shown in the list
- Fixed: Planet Vessel vanishes if lower thrusters are destroyed
- Fixed: Difficulties setting "Number of deposits" has no real effect
- Fixed: Docking HV to a CV leads to a 25 second delay for sensors
- Fixed: NearUnit Name is not centered on device but on a different place
- Possible fix for strange wall appearing when damaging abandoned mine.
- Fixed: Planet Vessel HQ's are spawning in 2 bases on top of each other.
- Fixed: Difficulty setting amount of available deposits has no effect (applied difficulty factor on minimum amount of ores)
- Fixed: CoQ when using a lever to open/close a door
- Fixed: Persistent CoQ when Base shoots as PV
- Fixed: CoQ when using teleport from Ningues to Oscutune
- Fixed: POI Cutout not working for BA_Patrol-Vessel-HQ3 (temporarily removed this prefab)
- Fixed: Projectiles do not fire when flying sideways with max speed (Note: when flying sideways and the launcher is placed close to a hull block, it is normal that no rocket is shot)
- Fixed: Custom NPC Trader does not work in Multiplayer
- Fixed: Playfield: Ore deposits are 3x away the distance than set up in the yaml
- Fixed: Sun flares and other flares not showing for player when using a weapon in first person view
- Fixed: PDA 'NearUnit' checks did not complete when using generic block names
- Fixed: CoQ when removing cameras from AI vessel and relogin to game
- Fixed: Problem that player bends arms when aiming with pistol
- Fixed: Sector Map Line Rendering
- Fixed: Sectors reveal command throws CoQs
- Fixed: Map Window Orbit Info description header
- Fixed: CoQ in Popup when using "Auto" positioning
- Fixed: Scrolling Popup issue in Signal Logic configure list
- Fixed: Missing Name in Sector Map Orbit Info
- Fixed: Internal error linked to trap door on dedi
- Fixed: Random CoQ linked to trader
- Fixed: NPC Trader main Icon slightly blurred/transparent

Hotfix: May 11, 2017

We just released a hotfix that addresses the severe FPS drops that you experienced (especially in multiplayer). It was a regression from our lagshot fix. Please let us know if the lagshot fix is still working and the FPS drops are gone.

Changelog: Alpha Experimental 6.0.11 (Build 1022)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed severe FPS drops (especially in multiplayer)
- Fixed problem with starting on "Trader Residence" in Scenario "Invader vs Defender"

----------------------------
Initial Post: May 10, 2017

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Good news: We are nearing completion of the Empyrion Alpha 6.0 development cycle! As of today, we are officially feature complete for the upcoming version. :)

What does it mean? No big additions, no big changes, but bug fixing, small refinements, feature polishing and even more bug fixing!

That’s also why we release this update with the special remark for everyone to pay close attention to the overall functionality of the newly introduced features as well as bugs that are related to those features.

Alpha 6.0 Experimental RC1 bug reports: http://'http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-6-0-release-candidate-1.11094/'

Feature changes (like RCS and Max Speed for CV) and larger updates on functionality, based on your feedback, will be a topic of the version 6.x schedules, as those would inevitably push back the go live of 6.0 even more. Thanks for your understanding.

Said that, and given everything goes according to plan, we expect the full public release to hit end of May! The exact date will be announced in due time.

Lagshot Problem:
We worked hard to fix the so-called lagshot problem that was driving a lot of you crazy. We are sorry that it took so long but it was a quite complex and complicated topic. To test different strategies to fix the lagshot problem, we used this CV to approach a heavily defended base:

We used a layer of thin hull plates (with 25000 hitpoints) and behind them we placed windows to immediately see if an explosion penetrates the hull layer.

Workshop Scenarios can now be set to visible:
Last but not least, a final note regarding the Steam Workshop - Scenarios: Everyone who has already uploaded a scenario to the Steam Workshop is now welcome to set his/her scenario to “visible”. However, please temporarily add (EXPERIMENTAL) in brackets behind the scenario name until public release in order to make it clear that downloading a scenario is only for players on the experimental branch. We are looking forward to seeing your scenario creations.

Now please enjoy the latest experimental version - and send us your feedback about the questions asked in the changelog below!

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

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

Changelog: Alpha Experimental 6.0.10 (Build 1021)

Updated Random POI Distribution:
- Added new spawn near / avoid rules for POIs and resources (you have now more control over the spawning of POIs and resources): for more info, see example playfield.yaml in Content\Playfields\ExamplePlanet
- Adapted POI + resource distribution on all playfields. Feedback Question: What do you think about the new distribution of resources?

We have now much more control over the distribution of POIs / resource - for example we can now ensure that there is no enemy POI in shooting distance to the trading station.

POI Update:
- Added some new wreckage POIs. Thanks to the following creators:
* smeissl (Old Base)
* Maloverci (Old Farm)
* JMCBurn (EngineCompartment/OppBackBase)
* Kaeser (Shack + Wood Cabin)
- Updated old wreckage POIs
- Updated TSO Akua with more lights


Destroyed Hull Blocks Update:
- Added more destroyed hull blocks
- Added proper separation between large and small destroyed hull blocks. These new destroyed hull blocks can be upgraded to un-destroyed hull blocks
- Destroyed hull blocks are not airtight anymore
- Added more damage states to destroyed blocks, i.e. when you damage these blocks you can create more variations (destroyed blocks that have more damage states are marked in darker red color in the block shape menu)

There are more destroyed hull blocks in the game waiting for you.

GUI Polishing:
- We are now starting to polish the new GUI by adding more colors and fine tuning it
- Updated several windows: Player inventory, Blueprint Window, Map Planet Info, Sector Map Planet Info, Armor Locker (more to come)



Visuals and Sounds:
- Added new deco plants: see "Artificial Plants (Deco)"

- Updated sound for motorbike
- Increased intensity of player light
- Enabled Map Markers icons on planets (we will add better icons soon)
- Reduced size of Cyborg weapon
- Increased resolution of background stars in space
- Civilian and Trader sound is now played even fewer times.
- Tweaked damage texture of space drone
- Improved height interpolation on steep mountains to avoid visual steps
- Starmap: removed mouse projection sprite and circle
- Armor locker for SV, HV is now only 2 blocks high
- Added better dead plant models.
- Updated textures on Lava plant
- Reduced volume of footstep sound
- Added 2 new plants to Aitis
- Added new bush on Akua
- Added tentacle plant to Masperon planet
- Tweaked clouds color on Zeyhines.

Gameplay and Rebalancing:
- De-activated max speed limit of vessels
- When spawning a not powered blueprint, the default inside temperature is now 22° and adjusts slowly to the outside temp
- Structures: temperature towards 22° still rises with 1° per second, towards other temperatures with 0.5° per second
- Added durability to all weapons and some tools
- Increased damage inflicted by NPCs between 20% and 50% (note: in easy difficulty settings, drones did not cause any damage to player when wearing medium armor)
- Sentry turret is now craftable in Survival Constructor

Changes:
- Improved NPC controller: animals are now walking less on steep slopes
- Planet Vessel navigation update
- Workshop Scenarios: Now checking for more forbidden files (area and dat) and also total scenario size (limit is 5 MB)
- PDA: Action completed messages in chat output are localized now
- Added Trader block to "Trading" group in CP when auto-grouping
- Optimized several tree models for better performance
- Updated scenarios "Dawn of Galaxy" and "Invader vs Defender"
- Updated EAC to version from 2017-04-03
- Optimized all plants and tree model setting
- Changed: Custom PDA action complete messages are only shown in player chat and no longer as upper right notification popup
- Changed: Blueprint Library: If no preview pic exists, a substitute will be displayed
- Added console cmd 'ticks' to set/increase the tick time of the game
- Continued Window Polishing/Colour Changes
- Show names of all growable plants when pointing at one
- Set Player Window and Armor Locker Temperature Displays to use °F/°C Conversion
- Updated PDA

Weather Update:
- Added new weather: dark clouds, heat wave, cold wave, radiated fog purple
- Tweaked weather on all planets: each planet has a predominant weather (eg Akua = good weather with few rain periods etc)
- Arranged weather in playfield.yaml in order of likelihood

Restructured all Planet Playfield.yamls:
1. General Characteristics Planet (Atmo, colors, weather, etc) - special effects + weather further down
2. Terrain + Deco
3. Resources
4. POIs
5. Drone Base
6. Creature Spawning
> there is no need to change your custom yamls (note: ordering in yaml does not matter)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Lagshots- Please let us know if you still find use cases where it is not fixed
- Fixed: Custom Groups / Signals (MAIN tab) do not save with blueprint
- Fixed: Not possible to remove abandoned signals from device
- Fixed: Signal logic name can not be recycled, leads to broken circuits
- Fixed: Not possible to trigger multiple explosive blocks with one signal
- Fixed: A published blueprint that has been deleted in the Steam Workshop or published via another Steam account can now be renamed. This will remove the workshop link and thus, a warning is displayed.
- Fixed: NPC walking animation issues in trading stations.
- Fixed: Plants die instantly in a BA although conditions are met.
- Fixed: Planet Vessels are attacking structures even if no player is nearby
- Fixed: Planet vessels are flying on top of player base and "park" there
- Fixed: AI Vessel gets stuck at own base if base is too high
- Fixed: Sometimes player vessel has a strange position on vessel base
- Fixed: Issue with setting waypoints when leaving the game & reloading
- Fixed: The green Durability bar is sometimes different between Player inventory & Armor locker.
- Fixed: Problem with durability bar of weapons not updating correctly
- Fixed: Plants that are in harvest stage disappear instead of transforming into dead plant when dying
- Fixed: Traders always respawn on new entry of a TS (they fall through the world)
- Fixed: CoQ when overwriting internal or stock Blueprints (deactivate EAC when dealing with those Blueprints)
- Fixed: De-constructing HV Jet thruster gives back a M-Thruster
- Fixed: Issue with Drone bases & AI PV landing/spawn pad.
- Fixed: Patrol-Drone Sound can be heard over the whole playfield
- Fixed: MAIN tab switches for O2 and Power are sometimes not reflecting current setting
- Fixed: Possible to set HOME button on every base and vessel
- Fixed: HOME feature does not work anymore
- Fixed: Two planet vessel bases are spawned on each planet
- Fixed: Exiting any storage containers in the devices Tab always exit to the Main tab.
- Fixed: Creating a logic circuit or renaming an output signal needs to close & reopen CP to make the new signal name available for devices
- Fixed: Not possible to move device to an auto-group
- Fixed: "Black Hole" look to sun in Sector Map
- Fixed: Control Panel signals (Main tab) do not save with blueprint
- Fixed: Error linked to sector map circles (world unload bug)
- Fixed: Issue with warping & leaving atmospheres
- Fixed internal problem with turrets
- Fixed: PDA shows Tutorial tab even if there exists no tutorial
- Fixed: PDA menu: Action descriptions not visible when opening menu window the 2nd time
- Fixed: PDA: Reward count checks actual limit for specified item
- Fixed: LCD text size can not be set back to 7
- Fixed: LCD text size info wrong
- Fixed: Problem with Instance Playfield on Sector Map
- Fixed: PDA: Check 'NearUnit' needs to also work for Traders
- Fixed: Sometimes Minigun drones don't deal any damage to the player.
- Fixed: CoQ when exiting Set waypoint window
- Fixed: Error in Marketplace
- Fixed: Color on Sector Map Planet Selection
- Fixed: Random Coq when starting a new survival on Masperon
- Fixed: Random CoQ when starting FRESH

Hotfix: May 11, 2017

We just released a hotfix that addresses the severe FPS drops that you experienced (especially in multiplayer). It was a regression from our lagshot fix. Please let us know if the lagshot fix is still working and the FPS drops are gone.

Changelog: Alpha Experimental 6.0.11 (Build 1022)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed severe FPS drops (especially in multiplayer)
- Fixed problem with starting on "Trader Residence" in Scenario "Invader vs Defender"

----------------------------
Initial Post: May 10, 2017

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Good news: We are nearing completion of the Empyrion Alpha 6.0 development cycle! As of today, we are officially feature complete for the upcoming version. :)

What does it mean? No big additions, no big changes, but bug fixing, small refinements, feature polishing and even more bug fixing!

That’s also why we release this update with the special remark for everyone to pay close attention to the overall functionality of the newly introduced features as well as bugs that are related to those features.

Alpha 6.0 Experimental RC1 bug reports: http://'http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-6-0-release-candidate-1.11094/'

Feature changes (like RCS and Max Speed for CV) and larger updates on functionality, based on your feedback, will be a topic of the version 6.x schedules, as those would inevitably push back the go live of 6.0 even more. Thanks for your understanding.

Said that, and given everything goes according to plan, we expect the full public release to hit end of May! The exact date will be announced in due time.

Lagshot Problem:
We worked hard to fix the so-called lagshot problem that was driving a lot of you crazy. We are sorry that it took so long but it was a quite complex and complicated topic. To test different strategies to fix the lagshot problem, we used this CV to approach a heavily defended base:

We used a layer of thin hull plates (with 25000 hitpoints) and behind them we placed windows to immediately see if an explosion penetrates the hull layer.

Workshop Scenarios can now be set to visible:
Last but not least, a final note regarding the Steam Workshop - Scenarios: Everyone who has already uploaded a scenario to the Steam Workshop is now welcome to set his/her scenario to “visible”. However, please temporarily add (EXPERIMENTAL) in brackets behind the scenario name until public release in order to make it clear that downloading a scenario is only for players on the experimental branch. We are looking forward to seeing your scenario creations.

Now please enjoy the latest experimental version - and send us your feedback about the questions asked in the changelog below!

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

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

Changelog: Alpha Experimental 6.0.10 (Build 1021)

Updated Random POI Distribution:
- Added new spawn near / avoid rules for POIs and resources (you have now more control over the spawning of POIs and resources): for more info, see example playfield.yaml in Content\Playfields\ExamplePlanet
- Adapted POI + resource distribution on all playfields. Feedback Question: What do you think about the new distribution of resources?

We have now much more control over the distribution of POIs / resource - for example we can now ensure that there is no enemy POI in shooting distance to the trading station.

POI Update:
- Added some new wreckage POIs. Thanks to the following creators:
* smeissl (Old Base)
* Maloverci (Old Farm)
* JMCBurn (EngineCompartment/OppBackBase)
* Kaeser (Shack + Wood Cabin)
- Updated old wreckage POIs
- Updated TSO Akua with more lights


Destroyed Hull Blocks Update:
- Added more destroyed hull blocks
- Added proper separation between large and small destroyed hull blocks. These new destroyed hull blocks can be upgraded to un-destroyed hull blocks
- Destroyed hull blocks are not airtight anymore
- Added more damage states to destroyed blocks, i.e. when you damage these blocks you can create more variations (destroyed blocks that have more damage states are marked in darker red color in the block shape menu)

There are more destroyed hull blocks in the game waiting for you.

GUI Polishing:
- We are now starting to polish the new GUI by adding more colors and fine tuning it
- Updated several windows: Player inventory, Blueprint Window, Map Planet Info, Sector Map Planet Info, Armor Locker (more to come)



Visuals and Sounds:
- Added new deco plants: see "Artificial Plants (Deco)"

- Updated sound for motorbike
- Increased intensity of player light
- Enabled Map Markers icons on planets (we will add better icons soon)
- Reduced size of Cyborg weapon
- Increased resolution of background stars in space
- Civilian and Trader sound is now played even fewer times.
- Tweaked damage texture of space drone
- Improved height interpolation on steep mountains to avoid visual steps
- Starmap: removed mouse projection sprite and circle
- Armor locker for SV, HV is now only 2 blocks high
- Added better dead plant models.
- Updated textures on Lava plant
- Reduced volume of footstep sound
- Added 2 new plants to Aitis
- Added new bush on Akua
- Added tentacle plant to Masperon planet
- Tweaked clouds color on Zeyhines.

Gameplay and Rebalancing:
- De-activated max speed limit of vessels
- When spawning a not powered blueprint, the default inside temperature is now 22° and adjusts slowly to the outside temp
- Structures: temperature towards 22° still rises with 1° per second, towards other temperatures with 0.5° per second
- Added durability to all weapons and some tools
- Increased damage inflicted by NPCs between 20% and 50% (note: in easy difficulty settings, drones did not cause any damage to player when wearing medium armor)
- Sentry turret is now craftable in Survival Constructor

Changes:
- Improved NPC controller: animals are now walking less on steep slopes
- Planet Vessel navigation update
- Workshop Scenarios: Now checking for more forbidden files (area and dat) and also total scenario size (limit is 5 MB)
- PDA: Action completed messages in chat output are localized now
- Added Trader block to "Trading" group in CP when auto-grouping
- Optimized several tree models for better performance
- Updated scenarios "Dawn of Galaxy" and "Invader vs Defender"
- Updated EAC to version from 2017-04-03
- Optimized all plants and tree model setting
- Changed: Custom PDA action complete messages are only shown in player chat and no longer as upper right notification popup
- Changed: Blueprint Library: If no preview pic exists, a substitute will be displayed
- Added console cmd 'ticks' to set/increase the tick time of the game
- Continued Window Polishing/Colour Changes
- Show names of all growable plants when pointing at one
- Set Player Window and Armor Locker Temperature Displays to use °F/°C Conversion
- Updated PDA

Weather Update:
- Added new weather: dark clouds, heat wave, cold wave, radiated fog purple
- Tweaked weather on all planets: each planet has a predominant weather (eg Akua = good weather with few rain periods etc)
- Arranged weather in playfield.yaml in order of likelihood

Restructured all Planet Playfield.yamls:
1. General Characteristics Planet (Atmo, colors, weather, etc) - special effects + weather further down
2. Terrain + Deco
3. Resources
4. POIs
5. Drone Base
6. Creature Spawning
> there is no need to change your custom yamls (note: ordering in yaml does not matter)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Lagshots- Please let us know if you still find use cases where it is not fixed
- Fixed: Custom Groups / Signals (MAIN tab) do not save with blueprint
- Fixed: Not possible to remove abandoned signals from device
- Fixed: Signal logic name can not be recycled, leads to broken circuits
- Fixed: Not possible to trigger multiple explosive blocks with one signal
- Fixed: A published blueprint that has been deleted in the Steam Workshop or published via another Steam account can now be renamed. This will remove the workshop link and thus, a warning is displayed.
- Fixed: NPC walking animation issues in trading stations.
- Fixed: Plants die instantly in a BA although conditions are met.
- Fixed: Planet Vessels are attacking structures even if no player is nearby
- Fixed: Planet vessels are flying on top of player base and "park" there
- Fixed: AI Vessel gets stuck at own base if base is too high
- Fixed: Sometimes player vessel has a strange position on vessel base
- Fixed: Issue with setting waypoints when leaving the game & reloading
- Fixed: The green Durability bar is sometimes different between Player inventory & Armor locker.
- Fixed: Problem with durability bar of weapons not updating correctly
- Fixed: Plants that are in harvest stage disappear instead of transforming into dead plant when dying
- Fixed: Traders always respawn on new entry of a TS (they fall through the world)
- Fixed: CoQ when overwriting internal or stock Blueprints (deactivate EAC when dealing with those Blueprints)
- Fixed: De-constructing HV Jet thruster gives back a M-Thruster
- Fixed: Issue with Drone bases & AI PV landing/spawn pad.
- Fixed: Patrol-Drone Sound can be heard over the whole playfield
- Fixed: MAIN tab switches for O2 and Power are sometimes not reflecting current setting
- Fixed: Possible to set HOME button on every base and vessel
- Fixed: HOME feature does not work anymore
- Fixed: Two planet vessel bases are spawned on each planet
- Fixed: Exiting any storage containers in the devices Tab always exit to the Main tab.
- Fixed: Creating a logic circuit or renaming an output signal needs to close & reopen CP to make the new signal name available for devices
- Fixed: Not possible to move device to an auto-group
- Fixed: "Black Hole" look to sun in Sector Map
- Fixed: Control Panel signals (Main tab) do not save with blueprint
- Fixed: Error linked to sector map circles (world unload bug)
- Fixed: Issue with warping & leaving atmospheres
- Fixed internal problem with turrets
- Fixed: PDA shows Tutorial tab even if there exists no tutorial
- Fixed: PDA menu: Action descriptions not visible when opening menu window the 2nd time
- Fixed: PDA: Reward count checks actual limit for specified item
- Fixed: LCD text size can not be set back to 7
- Fixed: LCD text size info wrong
- Fixed: Problem with Instance Playfield on Sector Map
- Fixed: PDA: Check 'NearUnit' needs to also work for Traders
- Fixed: Sometimes Minigun drones don't deal any damage to the player.
- Fixed: CoQ when exiting Set waypoint window
- Fixed: Error in Marketplace
- Fixed: Color on Sector Map Planet Selection
- Fixed: Random Coq when starting a new survival on Masperon
- Fixed: Random CoQ when starting FRESH

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Welcome to Experimental Part V of our road to Empyrion Alpha 6.0!

First of all, thanks a lot for the overwhelming feedback on our proposed RCS change. ;-)

Although this partially sent us back to the drawing board for now, most of the feedback agreed with our basic goal of making CVs more distinct from SVs in terms of movement and agility. Said that - and taking the technical discussions into account - we have reverted the change and will work on a more holistic rebalancing of CVs in a later stage of 6.x, maybe also including more than just movement.

No worries, we’ll add the changes to an Experimental version by then, so everyone can again comment on the changes. For now, and for the sake of the progress of the EXP 6 and the Alpha 6.0 features, we would like to ask you to comment on those and keep the RCS discussion in already existing threads - which also helps us to follow this discussion! Thanks in advance on behalf of our Community- and QA team ;-)

Speaking of the new Experimental Part V features: You ever wondered why your plants do not need O2 or why they grow even in a hazardous environment? With Part V, farmers need to mind environmental conditions a bit more.

Failed in growing anything? Just visit the Trading Stations! All Traders now have a distinct topic and differ in their offers. Maybe grab a Night Vision, Boosters or a Player Armor when you’re at it.

Find out about all the changes below!

As always, the three links that matter:
FAQ: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq.10344/
FAQ for builders: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq-for-builders.10822/
Bug reports: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-part-v.10922/

Thanks a lot in advance - now have fun with Alpha Experimental 6.0 Part V!

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

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

Changelog: Alpha Experimental 6.0.9 (Build 1006)

Updated Farming:
- Plants need temperature + oxygen to grow

Conditions:
- Growing if temperature is between 20 and 30° and RAD is 0 and Oxygen is available
- Dying if temperature is lower than 0 or higher than 50° or RAD is higher than 3

Notes:
- Plants now only grow/die in Survival Mode (in the next update we will add more deco plants)
- Plants now also grow outside without the need of a growing light if conditions are met.


Trader Update:
- Traders are now functional

* To configure trader articles and prices, open TraderNPCConfig.cfg located in: Steam\steamapps\common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Content\Configuration\TraderNPCConfig
* To configure restock timer, trader model and which article group to sell, place "Trader" block and configure it via Control Panel
- Added more trader models

- Traders now spawn earlier so that the player does not see them spawn
- Trader saves its data into blueprints
- Added more variety for traders (themes to choose from when setting up a trader)
- Trader does not wander around anymore
- Trader config is now loaded from scenario folder + we added trader reload console cmd
- Update all trading stations with traders


Workshop Functionality Update:
- Fixed Blueprint Factory bug that no product is generated out of a published Blueprint
- Result of obsolete Workshop.data file processing is stored in a log file next to the data file
- Display name of Blueprint factory products without the index number (e.g. '_2')

Control Panel Update:
- Added Fill All buttons for Oxygen and Fuel tanks!
- Added possibility to turn on/off turrets via button on main tab
- Added Custom + Signal buttons to main tab
- New Devices Page Layout + Improved highlight of devices in list
- New Signal Logic page layout: Devices with an effector and sensors are now managed on the Signal Logic page!


Balancing:
- Removed RCS max limit restriction based on mass
- Re-added Max Speed for vessels dependent on mass and thrust (note: full thruster performance calculation not re-added; only max speed calculation)
- Techtree: moved unlock of Sentry Turret to Level 1
- Updated loot of trader, civilian and cyborg

Visuals / Sound:
- Added fire particle effect to damaged space drone + added better damage texture for space drone

- Tweaked fire sound and made it loop-able
- Added better sounds for drones and alien bugs
- Added more aliens (for now mostly as deco, later functional as quest giver etc)


- Added possibility to change the night light color (parameter NightLightColor in playfield.yaml): See Zeyhines (desert2) for an example
- Increased Starmap background resolution
- Added thicker collider to doors to avoid NPC clipping through with weapons
- Armor locker has now emissive
- Added damage states to window of cockpit 1 and 2
- Updated Booster icons
- Added Orbit Lines for planets (for an example, see our default Sectors.yaml)
- Updated fonts in GUI -> font is much crisper now
- Improved walking animation on Zirax (feet do not sink into ground anymore)
- Bad / ugly weather on starter planets excluded in the beginning (eg no fog on Akua in the first 24h)
- Sound of civilian, cyborg and trader is played less often
- Slightly increased default distance of camera to escape pod and player bike
- Updated some biome background music

Improved Blueprint Window (F2):
- Only show Inventory on Factory Panel in BP Window
- Allow to overwrite internal blueprints in F2 menu in Creative mode -> makes it much faster to tweak internal BPs
- Added Group Name Display to BP Library list
- Added "group name" in BP Window Filter (ie now searches both Name and Group Name)
- Do not clear BP Filter on open

Gameplay:
- Night Vision needs to be in the inventory to work.
- Added Night Vision to loot and Creative Menu
- Removed lights from weapons
- Durability: allow more than just 4 repair stages (7 stages now) + added armor damage command
- Armors/weapons repair: added messages when limit is reached
- Allow accessing Signal Logic without god mode in Survival
- Added armor locker to SV a nd HV
- Added round jet-style thruster size 1x3x1 to HV
- Entity spawner trigger area can now be configured in Control Panel
- Some ground NPCs now attack player also in vessels (eg Zirax will shoot on you)

Changes:
- Fresh Start setting: Added fourth setting to inventory start equipment for FRESH START (see Akua, Omicron, Ningues and Masperon)
- Added ultra thin player / entity spawner plate (the old plate and block spawners are now hidden in the creative menu, but are still functional)
- Updated stock prefabs with Oxygen (Thanks to: Liftpizzas, Kaeser, Pantera, Runningwithhamster, Dinkelsen, rainyday)
- ModAPI: Fixed Request_Player_ItemExchange Shift-click behavior and not changing text
- ModAPI: Not loading abstract classes
- Better explanation of console cmds "godmode iv" and "godmode fly" in console cmd help info
- Added possibility to teleport in space with pressing Shift+RMB in starmap
- All resource asteroids can be spawned via debug menu again
- Added indestructible terrain in Example1 / Aclite Moon for testing
- Indestructible terrain: first step in optimizing it
- Major Optimization for space playfields
- Updated "Dawn of Galaxy" + "Invader vs Defender" Scenarios
- Added "MapDistance" to playfield.yaml to be able to set the discovery distance of POIs (example: see Portal on Omicron: it is now visible at only 50m). NOTE: MapDistance is currently only working for POIs (random + fixed) - see playfield.yaml in Content\Playfields\ExamplePlanet for more details.
- Added possibility to set "Type: CV_Alien" for POI.
- Added abbreviations of some console cmds:
* spawnanyblueprint -> sbp
* finishbp -> fbp
- Implemented: Disallow spawning CV blueprints on playfields that have a flag AllowCV: false
- Updated Trading Stations
- Implementation of Temperature Format Changes (C/F)

Map Marker Update:
- Add checkbox "show in HUD" to device map markers
- Shared map markers are now displayed
- Added buttons tooltips

PDA Update:
- Implemented indoor markers inside POI for devices (PDA Check 'NearUnit')
- Allow more than one playfield for VisibleOnStartPlayfield
- Only show Guiding marker for object closest to current player position
- Briefing window: Changed text label behavior to not shrink font size but clamp content if too much text

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Armor looted form POI can not be repaired at all / is already damaged
- Fixed: Sector Map does not show current state of universe (please verify if fixed)
- Fixed: Control Panel Signals Toggle does not work (please verify if fixed)
- Fixed: CP: Manage Tab always says 29% for O2 tank
- Fixed: COQ when doubleclick on New Game
- Fixed: Alien Turrets do not stop shooting after destroyed
- Fixed: Issue with updating a Blueprint to Steam workshop
- Fixed: Godmode console cmd: "gm" shortcut is now working. Eg: gm iv -> godmode invisible
- Fixed possible Nref when there is an explosion while leaving a playfield
- Fixed: NPC spawners (full blocks) and Marker Blocks are not airtight
- Fixed: Problem with distant water plane when reloading playfield via console cmd “playfield”
- Fixed: Tech equipment (Deco) 'Scanner 3' behaves as a locker instead of Medical eqiupment.
- Fixed: Possible to attach alien & admin core to player cores
- Fixed: Weather: roof leaking weather effects into base (TSP Ningues)
- Partly Fixed: weather is happening in tunnels and caves (improved, but cannot be fully fixed if cave is too high, particle effect originates 40m above player)
- Fixed: CoQ when you delete the text in the quantity field for trader.
- Fixed: NullRef Exception for custom NPC Trader content
- Fixed: AI Planetary Vessel stuck moving slowly upwards then downwards.
- Fix for Orbit Description not updating properly
- Fixed: AI: Trader stands in place when killed
- Fixed: AI: NPC sometimes get stuck in their death-animation position (standing)
- Fixed PDA window bug that old data is displayed when playing another game
- Fixed HUD Marker Toggle State
- Fixed Device List not showing correctly on open
- Fixed: Trading stations text is truncated
- Fixed: CP / Sector Map not right info on first click, only at second
- Fixed: Hail, Acid & Fire rain causing damage through terrain & underwater.
- Fixed ESC not working after creating new Map Marker
- Fixed: Poisoning bit from NPC causes Status Poisoning Blood which leads to confusion
- Fixed: Suit light, torch & weapon light issue with a particular tree/bush.
- Fixed: PDA crash on any SP start
- Fixed problem with red lights in SV cockpit enabled even if switched off
- Fixed: Issue with Trading station Robots guns disappearing when they attack.
- Fixed PDA window bug that old data is displayed when playing another game
- Fixed Device HUD markers do not disappear anymore if switched off via CP
- Fixed problem that player lost health on "Low Food" status effect
- Fixed: In the CP Main Tab the option to turn Turrets on & off doesn't work.
- Fixed: Sprouts & Plants salvaged on Hideouts gives 1500 experience points (now placing sprouts gives no extra XP but harvesting gives more XP)
- Possible fix for spawning too many traders.
- Fixed: Issue when trying to set the Duration when trying to sell an item.
- Fixed: Statistics information is showing wrong info for speeds.
- Fixed Vessel Statistics scroll panels sometimes not being set properly
- Fixed: Control Panel Signals Toggle does not work (New method for setting Signaling Toggle)
- Possible fix for Occasional Nullref in Sector Map
- Fixed: NRef when PDA check 'NearUnit' is used with unknown POI group name
- Fixed: Not possible to remove "standing Aliens"
- Fixed: Not possible to scroll list of signals in SIGNAL LOGIC
- Fixed: Change the name of map marker on space map forces map to move around
- Fixed map markers from previous game in list when loading another game + bad distance format in space
- Fixed: Random Crash while godmode invisible / dying in an instance
- Fixed getting/setting of Custom Toggle States when opening Main Page
- Fixed: Odd animation behavior of player when switching from FPV to TPV.
- Fixed Starmap: Map marker ring scaling should be similar to other map objects

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Welcome to Experimental Part V of our road to Empyrion Alpha 6.0!

First of all, thanks a lot for the overwhelming feedback on our proposed RCS change. ;-)

Although this partially sent us back to the drawing board for now, most of the feedback agreed with our basic goal of making CVs more distinct from SVs in terms of movement and agility. Said that - and taking the technical discussions into account - we have reverted the change and will work on a more holistic rebalancing of CVs in a later stage of 6.x, maybe also including more than just movement.

No worries, we’ll add the changes to an Experimental version by then, so everyone can again comment on the changes. For now, and for the sake of the progress of the EXP 6 and the Alpha 6.0 features, we would like to ask you to comment on those and keep the RCS discussion in already existing threads - which also helps us to follow this discussion! Thanks in advance on behalf of our Community- and QA team ;-)

Speaking of the new Experimental Part V features: You ever wondered why your plants do not need O2 or why they grow even in a hazardous environment? With Part V, farmers need to mind environmental conditions a bit more.

Failed in growing anything? Just visit the Trading Stations! All Traders now have a distinct topic and differ in their offers. Maybe grab a Night Vision, Boosters or a Player Armor when you’re at it.

Find out about all the changes below!

As always, the three links that matter:
FAQ: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq.10344/
FAQ for builders: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq-for-builders.10822/
Bug reports: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-part-v.10922/

Thanks a lot in advance - now have fun with Alpha Experimental 6.0 Part V!

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

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

Changelog: Alpha Experimental 6.0.9 (Build 1006)

Updated Farming:
- Plants need temperature + oxygen to grow

Conditions:
- Growing if temperature is between 20 and 30° and RAD is 0 and Oxygen is available
- Dying if temperature is lower than 0 or higher than 50° or RAD is higher than 3

Notes:
- Plants now only grow/die in Survival Mode (in the next update we will add more deco plants)
- Plants now also grow outside without the need of a growing light if conditions are met.


Trader Update:
- Traders are now functional

* To configure trader articles and prices, open TraderNPCConfig.cfg located in: Steam\steamapps\common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Content\Configuration\TraderNPCConfig
* To configure restock timer, trader model and which article group to sell, place "Trader" block and configure it via Control Panel
- Added more trader models

- Traders now spawn earlier so that the player does not see them spawn
- Trader saves its data into blueprints
- Added more variety for traders (themes to choose from when setting up a trader)
- Trader does not wander around anymore
- Trader config is now loaded from scenario folder + we added trader reload console cmd
- Update all trading stations with traders


Workshop Functionality Update:
- Fixed Blueprint Factory bug that no product is generated out of a published Blueprint
- Result of obsolete Workshop.data file processing is stored in a log file next to the data file
- Display name of Blueprint factory products without the index number (e.g. '_2')

Control Panel Update:
- Added Fill All buttons for Oxygen and Fuel tanks!
- Added possibility to turn on/off turrets via button on main tab
- Added Custom + Signal buttons to main tab
- New Devices Page Layout + Improved highlight of devices in list
- New Signal Logic page layout: Devices with an effector and sensors are now managed on the Signal Logic page!


Balancing:
- Removed RCS max limit restriction based on mass
- Re-added Max Speed for vessels dependent on mass and thrust (note: full thruster performance calculation not re-added; only max speed calculation)
- Techtree: moved unlock of Sentry Turret to Level 1
- Updated loot of trader, civilian and cyborg

Visuals / Sound:
- Added fire particle effect to damaged space drone + added better damage texture for space drone

- Tweaked fire sound and made it loop-able
- Added better sounds for drones and alien bugs
- Added more aliens (for now mostly as deco, later functional as quest giver etc)


- Added possibility to change the night light color (parameter NightLightColor in playfield.yaml): See Zeyhines (desert2) for an example
- Increased Starmap background resolution
- Added thicker collider to doors to avoid NPC clipping through with weapons
- Armor locker has now emissive
- Added damage states to window of cockpit 1 and 2
- Updated Booster icons
- Added Orbit Lines for planets (for an example, see our default Sectors.yaml)
- Updated fonts in GUI -> font is much crisper now
- Improved walking animation on Zirax (feet do not sink into ground anymore)
- Bad / ugly weather on starter planets excluded in the beginning (eg no fog on Akua in the first 24h)
- Sound of civilian, cyborg and trader is played less often
- Slightly increased default distance of camera to escape pod and player bike
- Updated some biome background music

Improved Blueprint Window (F2):
- Only show Inventory on Factory Panel in BP Window
- Allow to overwrite internal blueprints in F2 menu in Creative mode -> makes it much faster to tweak internal BPs
- Added Group Name Display to BP Library list
- Added "group name" in BP Window Filter (ie now searches both Name and Group Name)
- Do not clear BP Filter on open

Gameplay:
- Night Vision needs to be in the inventory to work.
- Added Night Vision to loot and Creative Menu
- Removed lights from weapons
- Durability: allow more than just 4 repair stages (7 stages now) + added armor damage command
- Armors/weapons repair: added messages when limit is reached
- Allow accessing Signal Logic without god mode in Survival
- Added armor locker to SV a nd HV
- Added round jet-style thruster size 1x3x1 to HV
- Entity spawner trigger area can now be configured in Control Panel
- Some ground NPCs now attack player also in vessels (eg Zirax will shoot on you)

Changes:
- Fresh Start setting: Added fourth setting to inventory start equipment for FRESH START (see Akua, Omicron, Ningues and Masperon)
- Added ultra thin player / entity spawner plate (the old plate and block spawners are now hidden in the creative menu, but are still functional)
- Updated stock prefabs with Oxygen (Thanks to: Liftpizzas, Kaeser, Pantera, Runningwithhamster, Dinkelsen, rainyday)
- ModAPI: Fixed Request_Player_ItemExchange Shift-click behavior and not changing text
- ModAPI: Not loading abstract classes
- Better explanation of console cmds "godmode iv" and "godmode fly" in console cmd help info
- Added possibility to teleport in space with pressing Shift+RMB in starmap
- All resource asteroids can be spawned via debug menu again
- Added indestructible terrain in Example1 / Aclite Moon for testing
- Indestructible terrain: first step in optimizing it
- Major Optimization for space playfields
- Updated "Dawn of Galaxy" + "Invader vs Defender" Scenarios
- Added "MapDistance" to playfield.yaml to be able to set the discovery distance of POIs (example: see Portal on Omicron: it is now visible at only 50m). NOTE: MapDistance is currently only working for POIs (random + fixed) - see playfield.yaml in Content\Playfields\ExamplePlanet for more details.
- Added possibility to set "Type: CV_Alien" for POI.
- Added abbreviations of some console cmds:
* spawnanyblueprint -> sbp
* finishbp -> fbp
- Implemented: Disallow spawning CV blueprints on playfields that have a flag AllowCV: false
- Updated Trading Stations
- Implementation of Temperature Format Changes (C/F)

Map Marker Update:
- Add checkbox "show in HUD" to device map markers
- Shared map markers are now displayed
- Added buttons tooltips

PDA Update:
- Implemented indoor markers inside POI for devices (PDA Check 'NearUnit')
- Allow more than one playfield for VisibleOnStartPlayfield
- Only show Guiding marker for object closest to current player position
- Briefing window: Changed text label behavior to not shrink font size but clamp content if too much text

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Armor looted form POI can not be repaired at all / is already damaged
- Fixed: Sector Map does not show current state of universe (please verify if fixed)
- Fixed: Control Panel Signals Toggle does not work (please verify if fixed)
- Fixed: CP: Manage Tab always says 29% for O2 tank
- Fixed: COQ when doubleclick on New Game
- Fixed: Alien Turrets do not stop shooting after destroyed
- Fixed: Issue with updating a Blueprint to Steam workshop
- Fixed: Godmode console cmd: "gm" shortcut is now working. Eg: gm iv -> godmode invisible
- Fixed possible Nref when there is an explosion while leaving a playfield
- Fixed: NPC spawners (full blocks) and Marker Blocks are not airtight
- Fixed: Problem with distant water plane when reloading playfield via console cmd “playfield”
- Fixed: Tech equipment (Deco) 'Scanner 3' behaves as a locker instead of Medical eqiupment.
- Fixed: Possible to attach alien & admin core to player cores
- Fixed: Weather: roof leaking weather effects into base (TSP Ningues)
- Partly Fixed: weather is happening in tunnels and caves (improved, but cannot be fully fixed if cave is too high, particle effect originates 40m above player)
- Fixed: CoQ when you delete the text in the quantity field for trader.
- Fixed: NullRef Exception for custom NPC Trader content
- Fixed: AI Planetary Vessel stuck moving slowly upwards then downwards.
- Fix for Orbit Description not updating properly
- Fixed: AI: Trader stands in place when killed
- Fixed: AI: NPC sometimes get stuck in their death-animation position (standing)
- Fixed PDA window bug that old data is displayed when playing another game
- Fixed HUD Marker Toggle State
- Fixed Device List not showing correctly on open
- Fixed: Trading stations text is truncated
- Fixed: CP / Sector Map not right info on first click, only at second
- Fixed: Hail, Acid & Fire rain causing damage through terrain & underwater.
- Fixed ESC not working after creating new Map Marker
- Fixed: Poisoning bit from NPC causes Status Poisoning Blood which leads to confusion
- Fixed: Suit light, torch & weapon light issue with a particular tree/bush.
- Fixed: PDA crash on any SP start
- Fixed problem with red lights in SV cockpit enabled even if switched off
- Fixed: Issue with Trading station Robots guns disappearing when they attack.
- Fixed PDA window bug that old data is displayed when playing another game
- Fixed Device HUD markers do not disappear anymore if switched off via CP
- Fixed problem that player lost health on "Low Food" status effect
- Fixed: In the CP Main Tab the option to turn Turrets on & off doesn't work.
- Fixed: Sprouts & Plants salvaged on Hideouts gives 1500 experience points (now placing sprouts gives no extra XP but harvesting gives more XP)
- Possible fix for spawning too many traders.
- Fixed: Issue when trying to set the Duration when trying to sell an item.
- Fixed: Statistics information is showing wrong info for speeds.
- Fixed Vessel Statistics scroll panels sometimes not being set properly
- Fixed: Control Panel Signals Toggle does not work (New method for setting Signaling Toggle)
- Possible fix for Occasional Nullref in Sector Map
- Fixed: NRef when PDA check 'NearUnit' is used with unknown POI group name
- Fixed: Not possible to remove "standing Aliens"
- Fixed: Not possible to scroll list of signals in SIGNAL LOGIC
- Fixed: Change the name of map marker on space map forces map to move around
- Fixed map markers from previous game in list when loading another game + bad distance format in space
- Fixed: Random Crash while godmode invisible / dying in an instance
- Fixed getting/setting of Custom Toggle States when opening Main Page
- Fixed: Odd animation behavior of player when switching from FPV to TPV.
- Fixed Starmap: Map marker ring scaling should be similar to other map objects

Update: April 26, 2017

We just released a hotfix that addresses several issues introduced in Experimental Alpha 6.0 - Part IV.

However, there is still a problem with the Blueprint factory when producing a published Blueprint: resources will be consumed but you don't get a product. This issue will be fixed in the next update.

For more details, please have a look at the full changelog: http://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-experimental-6-0-part-iv.10786

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

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Welcome back on our road to Alpha 6. With Part IV we added an all new feature: We implemented scenarios to the Steam Workshop!

This is might sound like a small addition, but it is quite a major stepping stone: We had the possibility to create and share worlds and scenarios before, but now everyone can share and play them with just a few clicks!

With the game becoming as customizable as never before (and with something fancy still in the pipeline), we are looking forward to the creative community to unleash their imagination with the upcoming Alpha 6! Maybe, as with blueprints, some of your scenarios might find their way into the official version in a future update! ;-)

Just as a side note for our creators: Feel free to start creating scenarios right now. But, when uploading a new scenario to the Workshop, please make sure that you set the visibility to Private until Alpha 6 is publicly released.

Important in this context: We also released a fix for the workshop problem - please test uploading / subscribing of Blueprints and Scenarios to make sure everything works fine now.

We are of course not only working on the customizability of the worlds of Empyrion, we also added a few nice features in Part IV: New logic gates, devices-markers for your HUD, the first part of our new Control Panel (Quick Access Page), Night Vision, a set of friendly NPCs, a command to reload a playfield (for testing changes made in the .yaml) and more!


Main Features of EXPERIMENTAL Alpha 6.0 - Part IV

Added Scenarios to Workshop
- Implemented scenarios in Workshop

NPC Update:
- Added several alien civilian NPC
- Added deco civilian NPCs (sitting at table, bench)




- Added possibility to configure the NPC Spawner and select from available NPCs. You have the choice from more than 50 different NPCs: e.g. you can now add spiders to your POI or dungeon


Updated Scenarios:
- Dawn of Galaxy
- Invader vs Defender
- MP default setting: Invader vs Defender

GUI Update:
- New Control Panel (WIP)
- Added main panel to control panel for quick access to refueling and oxygen etc

Optimizations:
- Tweaked GPU instancing to improve performance

Playfield Reload:
- Added console cmd 'playfield' to reload the current playfield while the game is running (thus you can now tweak the playfield when the game is running to test some new settings, eg sky color, terrain, etc.)

Map Marker Update:
- Allow to have temporary Device-Waypoints in HUD


Visuals and Sounds:
- First draft of night vision



- Added new sounds for several NPCs

Changes and Additions:
- Signal Logic: Added NAND, NOR and XNOR gates
- Allow resource asteroid also in single player mode
- POI doors with lock code 0000 open now automatically

Many Bug Fixes

Check out the full changelog here:
http://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-experimental-6-0-part-iv.10786

Next Steps:
What’s left on our list? Quite some work, to be honest. The feature-todos are shrinking and as you can read from the changelog, we already started with bug fixing and balancing, but given the complexity of the features we add with Alpha 6 and based on the feedback we got internally and while reading through the feedback of the Experimental versions, we decided to NOT rush Alpha 6 with Phase IV, but give us more time to finish the work as intended.

For everyone waiting to have a date for a public release right now, this might be bad news to have at least one Experimental stage still lying ahead of us, but no one likes to play around with broken stuff and waiting for the next major version, right?

As always:
- If you are new to Empyrion or to the Experimental version, please read our FAQ: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq.10344/
If you run into any bug or issue, please report over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-part-iv.10783/

We hope you enjoy Empyrion Experimental Alpha 6.0 Part IV and are looking forward to see even more valuable feedback on the topics of Alpha 6 in the forums, to make this major update awesome! :)

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

Update: April 26, 2017

We just released a hotfix that addresses several issues introduced in Experimental Alpha 6.0 - Part IV.

However, there is still a problem with the Blueprint factory when producing a published Blueprint: resources will be consumed but you don't get a product. This issue will be fixed in the next update.

For more details, please have a look at the full changelog: http://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-experimental-6-0-part-iv.10786

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

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Welcome back on our road to Alpha 6. With Part IV we added an all new feature: We implemented scenarios to the Steam Workshop!

This is might sound like a small addition, but it is quite a major stepping stone: We had the possibility to create and share worlds and scenarios before, but now everyone can share and play them with just a few clicks!

With the game becoming as customizable as never before (and with something fancy still in the pipeline), we are looking forward to the creative community to unleash their imagination with the upcoming Alpha 6! Maybe, as with blueprints, some of your scenarios might find their way into the official version in a future update! ;-)

Just as a side note for our creators: Feel free to start creating scenarios right now. But, when uploading a new scenario to the Workshop, please make sure that you set the visibility to Private until Alpha 6 is publicly released.

Important in this context: We also released a fix for the workshop problem - please test uploading / subscribing of Blueprints and Scenarios to make sure everything works fine now.

We are of course not only working on the customizability of the worlds of Empyrion, we also added a few nice features in Part IV: New logic gates, devices-markers for your HUD, the first part of our new Control Panel (Quick Access Page), Night Vision, a set of friendly NPCs, a command to reload a playfield (for testing changes made in the .yaml) and more!


Main Features of EXPERIMENTAL Alpha 6.0 - Part IV

Added Scenarios to Workshop
- Implemented scenarios in Workshop

NPC Update:
- Added several alien civilian NPC
- Added deco civilian NPCs (sitting at table, bench)




- Added possibility to configure the NPC Spawner and select from available NPCs. You have the choice from more than 50 different NPCs: e.g. you can now add spiders to your POI or dungeon


Updated Scenarios:
- Dawn of Galaxy
- Invader vs Defender
- MP default setting: Invader vs Defender

GUI Update:
- New Control Panel (WIP)
- Added main panel to control panel for quick access to refueling and oxygen etc

Optimizations:
- Tweaked GPU instancing to improve performance

Playfield Reload:
- Added console cmd 'playfield' to reload the current playfield while the game is running (thus you can now tweak the playfield when the game is running to test some new settings, eg sky color, terrain, etc.)

Map Marker Update:
- Allow to have temporary Device-Waypoints in HUD


Visuals and Sounds:
- First draft of night vision



- Added new sounds for several NPCs

Changes and Additions:
- Signal Logic: Added NAND, NOR and XNOR gates
- Allow resource asteroid also in single player mode
- POI doors with lock code 0000 open now automatically

Many Bug Fixes

Check out the full changelog here:
http://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-experimental-6-0-part-iv.10786

Next Steps:
What’s left on our list? Quite some work, to be honest. The feature-todos are shrinking and as you can read from the changelog, we already started with bug fixing and balancing, but given the complexity of the features we add with Alpha 6 and based on the feedback we got internally and while reading through the feedback of the Experimental versions, we decided to NOT rush Alpha 6 with Phase IV, but give us more time to finish the work as intended.

For everyone waiting to have a date for a public release right now, this might be bad news to have at least one Experimental stage still lying ahead of us, but no one likes to play around with broken stuff and waiting for the next major version, right?

As always:
- If you are new to Empyrion or to the Experimental version, please read our FAQ: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq.10344/
If you run into any bug or issue, please report over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-part-iv.10783/

We hope you enjoy Empyrion Experimental Alpha 6.0 Part IV and are looking forward to see even more valuable feedback on the topics of Alpha 6 in the forums, to make this major update awesome! :)

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Welcome to stage 3 of our Road to Alpha 6.0. This time we started to add two new major gameplay elements: A revised game start, revealing of sectors and a first version of NPC traders.

While the NPC Traders are still stocking up their storefronts and therefore have been added as inactive NPCs for this release, the new game start can be reviewed right now. In order to not influence your feedback too much, we suggest to simply start a new singleplayer game on Akua and send your feedback over here after having completed Chapter I: http://empyriononline.com/threads/6-0e-feedback-new-game-start.10692/

If you are interested in details of the changes and how you can customize your game start individually or if you are all new to Empyrion or Alpha 6.0 Experimental, please read the FAQ over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq.10344/
Note: The FAQ content is now also available in the In-game Knowledgebase (F1)!

Of course there is more than only two new features coming with Alpha Experimental 6.0 Part III. We also added and modified the already available features, made a lot of smaller and larger changes (AI, Weather, GUI...) and of course worked on some bugfixes (drones attacking again! ;-)

Main Features of EXPERIMENTAL Alpha 6.0 - Part III:

NEW GAME START:
- Added wreckage POIs to start points on Akua, Ningues, Omicron, Masperon
- Tweaked game start equipment on Akua, Omicron, Ningues and Masperon
- Reduced content of Escape Pod
- Added iron, copper, cobalt, silicon, magnesium to large rocks when destroyed, e.g. rock areas on Akua. This will be a new source of resource in the beginning

Some of the new wreckage POIs that will serve as your first hideout:



Feedback Questions:
- Attention: you have much less equipment now and thus the game start will be much more of a survival experience. Please let us know what you think!
- What kind of wreckage / starting POIs do you expect? Do you like the style of our current wreckage POIs or do you expect something less “Mad Max” style and more “The Martian” style?





SECTOR VISIBILITY:
- Added revealing of playfields: when you start a game, only the neighboring sectors are visible on the sector map

TRADERS:
- Added NPC traders to Trading Station Akua / Omicron (planet + orbit): for now only trader model + behavior, trader window soon to come

- Added Assault Cyborg to protect Traders


WEATHER UPDATE

GUI + PDA UPDATE

AI UPDATE

VISUALS

Check out the full changelog here:
http://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-experimental-6-0-part-ii.10553

Thanks in advance for reporting bugs over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-part-iii.10693/

As always: Experimental Part III has seen a lot of code changes. If you do not see your issue fixed below, we would like to ask you to re-test your issues and re-report if still happening.

What’s next? For Part IV we aim to smoothen the edges around all the features. Gameplay changes, rebalancings and other necessary steps to improve the usability and game experience are to be expected in this phase, before starting the final bug-fixing stage.

Now - board your escape capsule and have fun! :)

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

PLEASE NOTE THAT "EXPERIMENTAL ALPHA 6.0" IS NOT YET RELEASED ON THE PUBLIC BRANCH

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Welcome to stage 3 of our Road to Alpha 6.0. This time we started to add two new major gameplay elements: A revised game start, revealing of sectors and a first version of NPC traders.

While the NPC Traders are still stocking up their storefronts and therefore have been added as inactive NPCs for this release, the new game start can be reviewed right now. In order to not influence your feedback too much, we suggest to simply start a new singleplayer game on Akua and send your feedback over here after having completed Chapter I: http://empyriononline.com/threads/6-0e-feedback-new-game-start.10692/

If you are interested in details of the changes and how you can customize your game start individually or if you are all new to Empyrion or Alpha 6.0 Experimental, please read the FAQ over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq.10344/
Note: The FAQ content is now also available in the In-game Knowledgebase (F1)!

Of course there is more than only two new features coming with Alpha Experimental 6.0 Part III. We also added and modified the already available features, made a lot of smaller and larger changes (AI, Weather, GUI...) and of course worked on some bugfixes (drones attacking again! ;-)

Main Features of EXPERIMENTAL Alpha 6.0 - Part III:

NEW GAME START:
- Added wreckage POIs to start points on Akua, Ningues, Omicron, Masperon
- Tweaked game start equipment on Akua, Omicron, Ningues and Masperon
- Reduced content of Escape Pod
- Added iron, copper, cobalt, silicon, magnesium to large rocks when destroyed, e.g. rock areas on Akua. This will be a new source of resource in the beginning

Some of the new wreckage POIs that will serve as your first hideout:



Feedback Questions:
- Attention: you have much less equipment now and thus the game start will be much more of a survival experience. Please let us know what you think!
- What kind of wreckage / starting POIs do you expect? Do you like the style of our current wreckage POIs or do you expect something less “Mad Max” style and more “The Martian” style?





SECTOR VISIBILITY:
- Added revealing of playfields: when you start a game, only the neighboring sectors are visible on the sector map

TRADERS:
- Added NPC traders to Trading Station Akua / Omicron (planet + orbit): for now only trader model + behavior, trader window soon to come

- Added Assault Cyborg to protect Traders


WEATHER UPDATE

GUI + PDA UPDATE

AI UPDATE

VISUALS

Check out the full changelog here:
http://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-experimental-6-0-part-ii.10553

Thanks in advance for reporting bugs over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-part-iii.10693/

As always: Experimental Part III has seen a lot of code changes. If you do not see your issue fixed below, we would like to ask you to re-test your issues and re-report if still happening.

What’s next? For Part IV we aim to smoothen the edges around all the features. Gameplay changes, rebalancings and other necessary steps to improve the usability and game experience are to be expected in this phase, before starting the final bug-fixing stage.

Now - board your escape capsule and have fun! :)

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

PLEASE NOTE THAT "EXPERIMENTAL ALPHA 6.0" IS NOT YET RELEASED ON THE PUBLIC BRANCH