Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Without further ado, you can save the following dates about the version 1.5 experimental and public release.

Experimental version 1.5 will launch on Wednesday, 19th of May.

Client and server files will be available from that date. Feedback threads and more info will be added to the experimental sub-forum by then: https://empyriononline.com/forums/#experimental-branch.33

Please note: For being able to test all the features of version 1.5, starting a new game is mandatory, as updated missions, POI and related cannot be updated on already existing saved games. There is also the chance that it might become necessary to start new, in case we need to update the experimental version with critical fixes on these content items.

Reminder: Creating POI and missions with the experimental version will lead to issues when they are used in version 1.4.x! You need to wait for version 1.5 to release them to your subscribers!



Public version 1.5 release is currently scheduled for tuesday, 8th of june.

This date might still be subject to change. As always: depends on how well the experimental phase goes. ːsteamhappyː

Please note: Although v1.5 will NOT break saved games, starting a new game with version 1.5 is highly recommended, as the updated missions, POI and related content cannot be updated to previous saved games.

Our public servers will be wiped with the public release of version 1.5 as well.

Read you soon!
Empyrion Dev Team

Hello Galactic Survivalists!

When we made our first announcement we said that version 1.5 will focus on code work.

One of these code-heavy topics we are working on is artificial intelligence. Today we want to give you a little insight on what is going on with that.

The main goals of the introduction of the new ground AI creatures in version 1.5 is as follows:

● Introduction of a new set of AI vs AI interactions. This starts with predator AI hunting prey AI to feed. Or scavengers AI looking for corps to eat. In this way the player will have the new ability to not be at center of the action but also to observe action around him. This will let some new survival strategy arise.

● Some new states are added to the creature like the hunger, the thirst or the ability to hide. This will bring some slightly more sophisticated behavior that will create a more immersive environment.

● Overall some more complex behavior of creatures have been developed to bring some more unique action for each creature that will challenge the player in some new and unexpected way.



The following four, already existing creatures will mark the start of our efforts in terms of improving AI but also make the worlds of Empyrion even more immersive!.

Alien Insects
The Alien Insects now have territorial behavior and will defend their chosen edible plants within their territory that is an area of about a radius of 30m. The behavior has also a new hunger state that will make the creatures eat their favorite plants whenever they are hungry.



Parasaur
A hunger state and a thirst state have been added to the creature. This will imply that the Parasaur will have a hunger and a thirst that will increase over time. Whenever the creature reaches a hunger and thirst threshold it will go to eat his favorite plants or will go to drink nearby water. During the night the Parasaurs will hide in the grass to spend the night and avoid the predators.



Raptor
The new version of the Raptor AI will have some new abilities like scavenging corpses, hunting AI prey, stalking the player and hiding to ambush him.



Alien Bug Group
This mixed group of bugs will show a behavior of the mother bug creature spawning some guard bugs around her and firing at some distance. The guard bugs are aggressive and go for some melee attacks to any intruder.

These four updated AI creatures will be available with version 1.5.

We are looking forward to your suggestions and thoughts right below in the comments.

Have a great sunday! Read you soon.
Empyrion Dev Team

PS: we will announce the start date and details about the upcoming Experimental version early next week.

Hello Galactic Survivalists!

Although the version 1.5 is heavily code-focused, we not only have new content for story runners and explorers (as detailed in the past dev blogs). We also have a few gifts for our builders.

To conclude the April fools joke from last year, we added the ‘modern’ variant for the restrooms to complete this model set, with the modern variant showers already available. We hope you know how to use the three sea shells.



Speaking of sets: when we added the Heavy Window, we also had an additional lineup idea with a few more ‘emperor style’ variants in mind. We are looking forward to what you will be doing with the Heavy Windows (patterned).



motivational posters, made by Rumepelstilskin! You can either get them as a reward from playing the story missions or find a GIN console in one of the trading stations and get a random poster for a minimal ‘GIN Gallery’ support fee! ːsteamhappyː

A few examples:



You want something more menacing for POI bases and NPC vessels? We have you covered! With version 1.5 we have set up the small ‘bulb turrets’ of The Legacy ships with different variants, colored in red, blue, green, cyan, yellow, orange, purple and black to guard the galaxy in style. Their weapons of course have the matching effect color as well! As a little side note: we have added these not only because we could, but with some future (post v1.5) weapon rebalancing in mind. ːsteamhappyː



Last, but not least, if you ever were done with building, but still envious of the Talon having these nice crossbows and you instantly remembered that hairy fellow wielding a similar, but lazer pew pew based weapon .. maybe check out the renewed Tales of the Past story mission!



We hope these new toys will be enjoyable and we had enough movie allusions for this dev blog. :D

Read you soon.
Empyrion Dev Team

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Here is the changelog for v1.4.6 with some more changes & fixes we have been working on.
Have fun and please report bugs and problems as usual - thanks a lot!


Fixes:

• Fixed dedi server exception
  
• An exploit

====


Changes

• Changed: Players can now respawn on Control Station as additional fallback for Ancient Revelations mission (Station is set to CIVILIAN now)
  
• "Explosive Devices" can damage shields again
  
• Added server-side anti-cheat feature "short session monitoring" - this is configurable in dedicated.yaml under "ServerConfig":
  
  ShortSessionMinutes: 0 #how many minutes of a client play session are regarded as "short session" (0 = disable short session feature completely) ShortSessionCountToLog: 0 #after how many consecutive short sessions write a warning line in server log (0 = disable log feature) ShortSessionCountToBan: 0 #after how many consecutive short sessions ban the player (0 = disable ban feature)

Fixes

• Fixed multiple exploits
  
• Fixed 07866: PDA NearPOI Waypoint does not work in MP

EAH

• Patch notes: https://empyriononline.com/threads/tool-eah-empyrion-admin-helper-v1-55-x.5771/page-72#post-433380

Hello Galactic Survivalists!

In the last blog we teased you a little with the story arc that would be concluded later this year. This is still a bigger project, but we can update you on some other stuff in that regard.

Those of you that are with the game for a while might have played through most of the story missions already several times. Some of the major updates changed things here and there, due to the technical possibilities changed as well. We are trying to take advantage of every new addition that helps storytelling. Be it planet design, mission feature or dialogues.



That being said, with 1.5 the content team finally found the time to achieve most of the badly needed rework of the first six story chapters. These once existed individually, were joined together later but were lacking a lot of consistency - not only in the information they give to the player. This has now been improved to a merely pre-final state and will be ready for testing in the upcoming Experimental phase.

Without too many spoilers: the initial missions on the starter planet have been revamped a lot. The following missions have been spread in the starter system and do NOT take place in the same starter orbit anymore. Also: as we hope these are now in good shape in terms of story content, the missions are now following a certain progression of a literal story LINE, although most of them will NOT activate automatically anymore. Instead you will be given enough info on where to find the next story tidbit and how to activate it.

The question if this setup works and if the information is given in an adequate way, is of course to be answered with your feedback we hope to see a lot in the upcoming Experimental phase. ːsteamhappyː



Last, but not least, there is one open topic which is a quite delicate one: the ingame tutorial. For 1.5 we have re-added an improved ‘Robinson Protocol’ for everyone starting out in the galaxy of Empyrion the first time.

As always the tutorial can be skipped at game start for those that do not need it, but for all the others it should offer the most basic training for the most basic things you need to know about the game.

This is, again, a question that we hope to answer with your help in the upcoming Experimental phase. Although those participating in the Experimental are usually not new to the game, we hope you can help us to answer the question of the tutorial steps will help a new player to survive his first hours and be specific enough to give valuable info, but not be too annoying at the same time.



There is one addition to this topic, which might be quite important for those helping out on that topic: When playing the tutorial, most of you might still find it quite linear. It is still very linear, that is true, but the goal for 1.5 is to track down which elements are really necessary for a new player.

As we wrote in the first paragraph: we aim to include any new technique the game code allows us to use. While we develop version 1.6 and 1.7, new technical features will be added that shall allow us to leave most of the linearity behind and improve to a point where the presentation of the necessary lessons will feel more like an “inline explanation” than following a guide. Not only for the tutorial, but also for mission design.



Which of the current game story missions did you like the most? Which do you think needed improvement because they were too hard or confusing? Anything else you wanted to say on this topic?

Let us know - we still have time to evaluate your feedback. ːsteamhappyː

Have a great day! Read you soon.
Empyrion Dev Team

Hello Galactic Survivalists!

Last week we made our first announcement on version 1.5 (read here). The main content of this update is quite code-heavy, which means a lot of things are going on behind the curtain without offering a good way to do a nice visual representation.

But while our programmers do their work to prepare the game for future feature changes and additions, quite a few things happen on the art and content side of things as well.

For example we will be adding a new NPC faction with tons of POIs and an own galactic territory, created by spanj and a lot of creators, contributing POIs and vessels: the Brotherhood of Farr!



In case you want to read more info about the new faction or even support the creations, join the discussion over here: https://empyriononline.com/threads/the-brotherhood-of-farr-needs-you.97421/

Speaking of factions and POIs: those that have ventured into deep space might not only have run into the Colonists faction and even more Pirates, but also in the always-hostile Warlord faction and its various sub factions, like the Skaar, Tresari and others. Thanks to the contribution of the community, these factions have seen a serious upgrade in their lineup. So watch out next time you aim to warp to a seemingly non-claimed solar system.



Both the Warlord and the Colonists NPC factions will gladly welcome any contribution to their lineup. Visit this forum and send in your builds or workshop links: https://empyriononline.com/forums/showroom-submissions.108/

Besides those named, most of the established and recently added factions, for example the Pirates, Tesch and others, got new ships and POIs as well.

Most of these factions, their bases and vessels, might play a role when the game's main story arc is concluded later this year. ;)



What are your thoughts about the current composition of the galaxy, its factions and the POI and vessels you ran into? What are you missing from the lineup or would suggest to add?

Let us know! :)

Enjoy the weekend & read you soon.
-Empyrion Dev Team

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Here is the changelog for v1.4.4 with some more fixes we have been working on. Have fun and please report bugs and problems as usual - thanks a lot!


Changes

• XRefActivate now supports negative logic for enabling a GameObject if device gets disabled

Fixes

• Fix for resource asteroids being transparent
  
• Fixed: Credibility mission could not be completed although destroyed cores were counted. Please retest!
  
• 07855: AI NPC's that fire projectiles (AlienBug03) do not fire in Co-op & MP
  
• 07835: HV with powerful thrusters can fly to orbit

EAH

• Patch Notes: https://empyriononline.com/threads/tool-eah-empyrion-admin-helper-v1-55-x.5771/page-72#post-432015

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Here is the changelog for v1.4.4 with some more fixes we have been working on. Have fun and please report bugs and problems as usual - thanks a lot!


Changes

• Added IModAPI.IApplication.GetBlockAndItemMapping() - returns a dict with name to id mapping (especially important for the dynamically assigned block ids)

Fixes

• Multiple exceptions fixed found in logs
  
• Fixed dialogue typos in english main loca (plz report typos/grammar issues to typo@empyriongame.com subject: english)
  
• 07816: Exception when starting a new default survival game after exiting a game using a custom scenario
  
• 07840: A use case of drones getting "removed" from a planet when returning to a save game
  
• Fixed 07763: [MP - Player report] Save game progress not maintained when rejoining server (caused by this flag being set in the gameoptions.yaml "IsManagedScenario: true")

EAH

• Patch notes: https://empyriononline.com/threads/tool-eah-empyrion-admin-helper-v1-55-x.5771/page-72#post-431745

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Here is the changelog for v1.4.3 with some more fixes we have been working on (more to come). Have fun and please report bugs and problems as usual - thanks a lot!


Changes

• Explosion damage optimizations:

1. Shield is now only decreased by the Damage not by the BlastDamage any more
   
2. If the shield is still active after applying the Damage, the explosion is not started any more
   
3. Added property ShieldMultiplier for shield generator blocks to specify its own shield damage multiplier name f.e. use ShieldMultiplier: "shieldBA" and this will be taken now preferred for a weapon attacking the shields of a BA
   
   { +Block Id: 1808, Name: ShieldGeneratorBA Class: ShieldGenerator ShieldMultiplier: shieldBA <--- NEW ... Weapon that attacks ... DamageMultiplier_1: 5, param1: head, display: DmgMultiplierHead DamageMultiplier_2: 0, param1: dirt|stone|rock|wood|hullarmored|hullcombat DamageMultiplier_3: 11, param1: shieldBA
   
   
4. Activated job system version with burst compiling

• Playfield.yaml: added property AllowSavingBlueprints (default True) to disallow saving of BPs in playfields (f.e. in PvP playfields)
  
• Removed obfuscation from ParticlesAudio else it won't work on steam builds

Fixes

• Fix for explosions getting delayed when lots of explosions get started
  
• Fixed 07838: Kick command while "Loading..." results in stuck in the loading screen
  
• Fixed 06659: 'struct remove-device-signals' is not removing the signal from the receiving devices
  
• Fixed 07823: Workshop-published scenarios cannot be used with local coop
  
• Fixed: Yarod dialogue at the end of Sigma Fulcrum missing part 2 and 3
  
• 07792: Underground vessels can get repositioned above ground
  
• Fixed problem that blocksmap.dat was not written in MP games, leading to problems if the order for blocks that have no id in the BlocksConfig.ecf changes
  
• Fixed 07511: Custom Techtree categories are not removed when resuming a game with another scenario

EAH

• Patch notes: https://empyriononline.com/threads/discussion.13835/page-28#post-430968
  
• Patch notes: https://empyriononline.com/threads/tool-eah-empyrion-admin-helper-v1-55-x.5771/page-71#post-431194

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Here is the changelog for v1.4.2 with some more fixes we have been working on (more to come). Have fun and please report bugs and problems as usual - thanks a lot!

As always please note:

Report bugs and issues for the public release right over here:
https://empyriononline.com/forums/bugs.24/

====


Fixes:

• Explosive damage delayed sometimes
  
• Exceptions appear after teleporting to a sector with discovered AI space vessels

====


Changes

• ALL LANGUAGES: Please report ANY faulty dialogue (leading to exceptions when approaching/talking to an NPC for example) in the FORUMS WITH the Client log attached. Thx!
  
• Updated: Sigma Fulcrum (mission) station is now civilian and all NPC with a gun will now shoot at you (easier to identify the threats + accidentally shooting other NPC does not lead to the station turning against you anymore); Requires new savegame/manual POI refresh to be applied.
  
• Updated: Sigma Fulcrum (station) now has a GIN console. Being neutral ground there is now a way to turn in credibility seals at any time at the SF station; Requires new savegame/manual POI refresh to be applied.
  
• Updated: Main Localization.csv
  
• Changed: Sigma Fulcrum approach dialogue now points towards speaking to traders instead of barkeepers (only speaking to traders will advance the search for Yarod)

Fixes

• Possible fix for vessels drifting in space when powered off
  
• Vessels stop moving when close to POI's (which don't render) & the player toolbar becomes unresponsive until relogging
  
• Ambassador Hyzanis vessel did not spawn in asteroid field
  
• Issues of dialogues in GERMAN loca sometimes leading to a exception
  
• Thruster M (T2) only had 100 HP
  
• Issues in dialogues config and csv leading to exceptions
  
• TSO_Variant2 had alien spawns (now "same as base")
  
• Spice plant model no longer flattened after harvest (SpeedTree material issue).
  
• Upd: Removed Abyssal Small Science vessel from spawngroups for now.
  
• Items crafted in the survival constructor don't get stacked in the output cells
  
• LCD Projector shows a background even if no color set (while structure is powered)
  
• Token CustomIcon does not work anymore

EAH

• Patch notes: https://empyriononline.com/threads/tool-eah-empyrion-admin-helper-v1-55-x.5771/page-71#post-429672