Submit your questions over the next few days, and we will do our best to answer as many as possible in the upcoming developer Q&A video.
Please submit just one, short question by clicking here! Thank you everyone who has submitted questions! The form is now closed.
These sessions have been very useful in the last, with the 1, 2, 3, 4 previous sessions covering many players questions. Many questions have prompted new updates, changes, and improvements, and we really enjoy the transparency and communicating our plans.
These sessions are really useful for us - your questions give vital insight into the priorities of our most engaged players, and helps us stay in touch with how you are playing and what you are expecting.
We are not planning on running a poll soon, mainly because we are still implementing the major updates you asked for in the last poll, of which there are 2 or 3 in development and yet to release. Rest assured, polls will return once we are able to react to them!
We have really exciting minor and major update plans, and much is still deep in development, so please let us know your questions and we look forward to answering them soon!
It is windows time! This week we are adding a set of 22 new window pieces to greatly expand the currently available set. These include many frequently requested and often xml modded parts, and will make building your vehicles and your cockpits much easier, with better results!
This update is in response to the many players requests asking for it - so a huge thank you to all the players who asked for these on the issue tracker and reminded us in the Q&A sessions! You have been asking for more windows for many, many updates, and they are finally here. I think the last window update was 18 months ago - it is about time!
We have also continued to work on improvements, and this week we have fixed several multiplayer issues. These fixes include waves and other game systems sometimes going out of sync, and some situations where physics might enter a broken state (a bug we internally named as the twilight zone), and many others!
We have also improved the bandwidth usage in servers, with games requiring only a fraction of the amount of bandwidth previously required in our tests. We hope this resolves many players multiplayer issues where the cause of their MP issues was not clear / contextual, and presumably playing multiplayer with limited bandwidth. This is also a big help to servers that now require less bandwidth to host many players.
We have also improved the network sync system so that games are smoother, particularly during bad network conditions where games would have otherwise have stuttered.
Please keep in mind, if your PC, (or the PC of the person hosting the game), does not meet the minimum requirements from the store page, then the "game experience may vary". Your and the servers internet connection are also important - you do need a basic broadband connection and about 12 kB/sec up and 24 kB/sec down to join a game, (and 24 / 12 per client to host), but if your internet connection is low quality, such as mobile internet with poor signal, or a family member hogging the connection, you are going to have a bad time and this isn't something that we can fix on our end.
Overall, these multiplayer improvements are very significant and we hope this improves the multiplayer experience for many players. We are continuing to look at multiplayer issues, so if you are still experiencing issues, let us know exactly how to reproduce your issue and we will take a look!
We look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback on this new update!
Greatly reduced bandwith usage. Greatly reduced stop-start freezing when playing with poor network conditions.
Rework - Additional params for setCharacterItem allowing for data to be set up on the items. Rework - Component prices overhaul for a better balance in career Rework - SpawnAddonComponent no longer auto adjusts to the location's tile position when using a custom spawn position. (See default_mission_locations script for the intended alternate method of spawning) Rework - getTileTransform now has an optional search radius parameter Rework - Default Cargo script optimizations Rework - Updated millitary base fast travel spawn point Rework - Missions spawned with mstart no longer use a minimum range Rework - getVehiclePos voxel_pos positions have been fixed and are now optional, returning the vehicle physics center if they are not passed Rework - Custom preset when hosting a server defaults to MP island
Fix - Random generation potentially desyncing between clients Fix - SpawnAddonComponent overriding custom rotation Fix - Standardized use of RPS label for power logic nodes Fix - Grippers now have 0.5 blocks leeway on their track (1 block length tracks always disconnecting) Fix - getCharacterVehicle not functioning correctly Fix - onPlayerLeave should now fire for all disconnect events Fix - Added patch to default_mission_locations script to resolve errors in old saves Fix - Game not returning to the menu state when disconnected from a server Fix - Added protection for players entering the same seat Fix - Client side wheels causing vehicles to shake in some situations
Added a warning when attempting to save when there is not enough disk space. Added "Basic" tag to various basic components.
This week we discuss some of the upcoming fixes and updates that we are working on in Stormworks!
At the moment we have a lot of new stuff in progress, from fixes, reworks, minor updates and major updates. Some of these new changes are going live today in a hotfix, others in coming weeks or months.
Fixes, Minor Updates, Major Updates
As always we are working on bug fixes and minor improvements. These smaller changes or quality improvements are often released quickly after we have made and tested them, so players can benefit from an improved experience as soon as possible. At the moment, we are particularly looking at multiplayer improvements, and investigating the associated bugs and crashes. Often these bug fixes take between an hour to a day to address, while others require days of work to resolve, and is a major allocation of development time.
Minor updates in progress involve the career updates we recently announced, including the hospital ship, refueler, mission types and mission content. Other minor updates include new windows, and other new blocks to expand the types of component and functionality you can build into your Stormworks creations. Minor updates typically take a few days to come together, and usually if a feature is bigger than this, it becomes part of a major update.
Major updates include the weapons DLC, natural disasters, and other unannounced (but rumoured!) major updates. While these updates are months of work, they happen in the background at a steady rate and their various components come together over time. We are often working on multiple major updates at the same time, and while these updates release every 2 to 3 months, they have often been in development for up to a year.
Carrier Command 2
Many players have been asking for updates on CC2. Today we are adding multiplayer support to the already live Carrier Command 2 demo as the game is participating in the Steam Next Festival. For those who are interested, go check out the multiplayer and let us know what you think with the in-game feedback button :-)
We are looking forward to releasing all this discussed Stormworks content! We hope todays hotfix brings some improvements, and look forward to the minor and major updates over the rest of the year and beyond.
Much love <3,
The Stormworks Developers
Patch Notes
v1.2.4 Hotfix
Rework - Increased HTTP request max characters from 512 -> 4096 Rework - ?mstart with no parameters now spawns a random mission Fix - Prevent softlock during mstart when a specified mission has no available locations Fix - Fixed multiplayer issues caused by vehicle loading
v1.2.3 (Extended Patchnotes)
Rework - Modified processing of Addon script HTTP requests Fix - Stretched rope rendering coming away from the anchor Fix - Addon zone dynamic loading for Env Mod locations Fix - server.isInZone now works correctly for rotated zones
This week, we are adding new building fire missions, and various quality improvements to the missions system!
The new building fire missions can occur across the world of Stormworks in places where there are buildings or structures. They are similar in some ways to some of the vehicle emergency missions where vehicles can set on fire. The building fires are typically larger and can develop and spread over time. There are survivors and casualties to rescue, and reward will also be given to extinguishing fire.
A great many improvements have also been made to the missions. These changes touch many different parts of the system and are a mixture of bug fixes and needed improvements, and are mostly thanks to the many kind players who have reported these issues. Please see the full change log for details on exactly what is fixed.
This is the first stage of our improvements to missions that we discussed in last weeks announcement. We are really excited to revisit the missions systems and career, and bring some much needed improvements to this part of the game.
Much love <3,
The Stormworks Developers
Patch Notes
v1.2.3
Feature - Mission QOL and Frameworking Feature - Building fire missions Feature - Improved responsiveness of inventory searchbox Feature - Improved fluid system to be more stable
Summary of mission qol changes: Huge world load time optimization Difficulty is now tied to no_clip instead of custom_menu so custom career players get correctly scaling missions ?mstart now has mission type and difficulty parameters Clean up missions with ?mclean Survivors can now spawn with strobes which activate when in the water, Missions that are loaded no longer despawn to prevent expiry mid-mission, Fixed several framework issues including misison objects not randomizing for each mission spawn Mission survivors/fires now scale with difficulty Characters and objects now display their names in game Rewards for delivering survivors now scales with their health Better flavor text for missions expiring Rescaled mission spawn rate to be ~hourly Fix missions not spawning in the first few days of career Missions vehicle size now sacles with difficulty Transport missions passengers also become NPCs on delivery Transponder mission radius balancing Bleeding survivors no longer stop bleeding if fully healed but no longer start at low health. Not all survivors now bleed.
Balance - Increased SRB thrust by ~4x Balance - Buffed steam turbine generation Rework - Added new inventory category for windows Fix - Lua documentation for getTileTransform Fix - Additive rendering for the firebox Fix - Firebox consuming an extra coal than expected Fix - Firebox tending to go out occasionally Fix - Radiation detector now tracks and tests its compartment Fix - Ocean missions always spawning at tile center Fix - Coal funnel not reserving voxels for spawn coal physics
If you are not already aware, there is currently a free playtest on Carrier Command 2 (another game which we are involved in developing). If interested, simply click "Request Access" on the CC2 store page!
In this announcement, we are announcing a series of improvements to the missions in Stormworks! Many of you have given great feedback on how you would like to see missions and career being improved, and we have been hard at work implementing these changes. Career continues to be an area that we are very interested in improving, and these will be some much needed upcoming changes.
Add-on Script Quality and Performance
We are adding new simple type-in commands to spawn specific missions, clean up existing missions, and other frequently requested functions. We are greatly improving the load times of the official add-ons, so games will load faster. Missions will scale in custom mode when noclip is disabled rather than when creative menu is disabled, to make it easier for players to play career with custom settings such as third person. Survivors will sometimes spawn with strobe man-overboard-beacons to make locating them at night easier. Existing missions will no longer despawn mid mission when they time out. We will be improving some of the difficulty scaling, particularly with certain mission types. Rewards for delivering survivors will scale based on their health.
Building Fires
We are working on adding a new mission type - building fires! These will be missions where there is a fire on a structure and survivors are at risk. It will be similar to crashed vehicle missions, except that the survivors are most likely within the structure and more at threat. This type of mission will be able to spawn at many locations across the game world, with many buildings rigged to set on fire.
Support Vehicles
We are working on new special AI vehicles - an aerial refueler that patrols the skies, and if you can intercept it, you can take fuel. There will also be a new hospital ship that acts as a moving hospital location where you can deliver casualties as part of the normal missions system. There is a helipad and rope connector points. This ship will be constantly moving, so be prepared to transfer casualties while underway.
New Mission Types
We are also looking at a variety of new mission types. We are considering buoy array operations where you install, remove and repair an array of ocean research buoys, underwater operations were you salvage sunken items such as lost anchors, missing persons where you are searching for an individual reported missing in a large area, man-overboard emergencies where vessels have reported a person overboard, delivering fuel, retrieving animals or objects, nuclear emergencies, and more. This is an evolving list and as always is subject to change. This also means we are looking for more feedback and suggestions, so if you have ideas for new mission types, please let us know!
These new missions updates will arrive over the next few months as some of the minor updates we have planned, along with the usual fixes and improvements that we are also working on. There will also be other minor updates such as new components and other stuff!
We are also working on the major updates discussed in a previous post! We will share more on these soon.
The coal, nuclear and steam major update is out now!
The new coal system includes the new coal resource, coal handing with physical particles, hoppers, ducts, and funnels. Coal can be burnt in the new furnaces to heat water.
The new nuclear system includes fuel rods, fuel assemblies, and control rods. You can make your own reactors by arranging these new components in an enclosed space and filling with water (coolant). You can insert and remove fuel rods to renew your nuclear fuel and control the rate of reaction with control rods. You decide the size and design of your nuclear reactor, but consider the mechanics of disposal of spent fuel and maintenance!
The new steam system allows you to turn water into steam (using the boiler), turn steam pressure into mechanical energy (using the turbine) and turn steam back into water (using the condenser).
When these new energy systems work, expect long fuel life and high persistence. However, when they go wrong, expect disaster. Steam components will explode if the steam pressure gets too high, and nuclear reactors will melt down if they get too hot.
We give you new Geiger counters and hazmat suits to help deal with the dangers of radiation, but any mishandling of radioactive materials, damage to reactors, or losing control of your nuclear reaction and melting down will have severe environmental consequences. Nuclear fallout may last a long time, rendering areas of the game world dangerous to visit.
As well as these new systems, we have also re-made the fuel trading system with the new lua API. You can now buy and sell coal as well as oil and liquid fuel across many new locations in the game world. The market is dynamic and will move and adjust based on supply and demand.
We have also rebranded: Sunfire Software is now Geometa! We renamed a while back and have just got round to setting up our new website. It's still the same company and the exact same team.
There are also a series of bug fixes and improvements included in this update! See the change log for the full details.
We hope you enjoy the new content and we look forward to hearing your feedback on this new major update!
*The new resource trading addon replaces the old fluid gantries addon, and the trading code has been moved from the game into the Lua so players can customise or add their own locations/vehicles much like our other addons.
Added Clear Radiation button to custom menu to remove fallout zones Added a Preset Reactor and Firebox setup
Rework - Added a second port to fluid tanks for better integration into coolant loops. New behaviour only occurs when both ports are connected. Rework - Adjusted monitor borders Rework - Signs now render tooltips if they have a custom name Rework - In singleplayer edit modes, damage is now paused Rework - Removed Hazmat suit from default wardrobe Rework - Fluid system pipe flow division better fits pipe demand
Fix - Tanks storing more than their maximum Fix - Ocean floor triangle rendering winding backwards Fix - Restored missing update to modular engine audio Fix - Misnamed variable in default mission script Fix - Increased string buffer for addon vehicle names (could not place vehicles)
Lua Changes:
+ server.setVehicleHopper(vehicle_id, hopper_name, amount) + coal_level, hopper_capacity, is_success = server.getVehicleHopper(vehicle_id, hopper_name) + d, m, y = server.getDate()
Handheld Geiger counter and Geiger counter vehicle component
Steam
Boilers and condensers to change water into steam and vice versa
Steam turbines to convert steam pressure into mechanical torque
Coal engines are designed to be large and heavy, but the fuel to last a long time. These high endurance engines are best suited to ships, trains, and large land vehicles.
Nuclear reactors are designed to be larger and heavier but produce large amounts of power, and are ideal for the largest scale creations. The fuel rods have a very long lifetime, but require careful management due to the risks and dangers of radiation.
We are really excited to share this new major update next week!
This weeks update goes out in honour to all the Stormworks builders making walking vehicles!
We are adding a new "friction block" that is a sort of rubber pad that has very high friction. While it is intended for walking robots, there is actually a wide range of potential applications where you want a creation to stick to a surface rather than slide around such as feet for containers, grabbing claws, stabilizer legs, and more.
This is a highly physical and generalized block, and we expect players to find many more applications and uses for it.
We have been blown away by some of the incredible walkers produced by the community. The logic being made by the community is really impressive, and we hope this new block is a help to these creators.
This week, we also bring a series of updates, improvements and bug fixes, please see below for the full list of changes and fixes.
Next week, we plan to announce the release date for the next major update! We are really looking forward to this release, the new power sources are interesting to build, the coal handling mechanics are really fun, and the dangers of radiation add a new consequence and peril to the game.
We look forward to your thoughts and feedback in the comments!
Much love <3,
The Stormworks Developers
Patch Notes
v1.1.25-26
Feature - Friction Pad component - attempts to grip nearby surfaces
Rework - Re-Added default elevators Rework - Updated monitor meshes Fix - Multibody sleep activation for child components Fix - Addon editor main bar "edit location" button not working for enironment mods Fix - Hide data tooltip for signs on default detail Fix - Tutorial boat transponder locator broken. Renamed emergency beacon to transponder. Fix - Crash when spawning addon zones Fix - getTilePurchased() returning additional broken data Fix - Transponders on character belts overwriting each other Fix - Linear tracks breaking when flipped in y axis Fix - Lua documentation issues Fix - tree fire and rustle sfx not updating when dragging the pause menu slider Fix - Addon zone dynamic loading Fix - Addon zone parenting
In this announcement we will discuss the many upcoming features and updates we are currently working on in Stormworks.
We are also involved with the development of Carrier Command 2, which is the spiritual successor to the original Carrier Command (1988) where you control a military carrier and compliment of autonomous air and amphibious vehicles. A free playtest is launching soon and you can apply to join the playtest beta over on the Carrier Command 2 Steam page (just click Request Access).
So, what upcoming Stormworks updates are currently in development?
Steam and Nuclear Power
We are adding new coal, steam and nuclear components in the next major update, and we will announce the release date soon!
Coal is a new tradable resource, and can be burnt in furnaces. Players can also design their own nuclear reactors and react fuel rods to produce heat. Heat from both systems can also be used with the new steam boilers, turbines and condensers to generate mechanical torque.
Weapons DLC
Weapons are coming to Stormworks in an upcoming paid DLC this year! They include modular gun and cannon components, warheads, and new hand-held equipment. We are also working on new gameplay content where you fight an enemy force for control of the Stormworks world.
We have been testing weapons internally, and they are great fun to build, experiment, and operate, particularly in multiplayer. We still have some work to do, but we are really excited.
Missions Content
We are extending the existing missions and adding new add-ons to add more things to do in Stormworks. Career is a frequently discussed topic in the community and is an area of focus for us. New missions will include stuff inspired by the old missions, as well as many new ideas.
We are also extending the existing AI add-ons to include new AI vehicles that support the player in passive ways, as well as reworking other parts of the game such as fluid and resource trading.
Natural Disasters
We are just starting work on the Natural Disasters Major Update! This is a really exciting area to create new and thrilling events in the game that can have a missions aspect. We won't announce details here as we are really early in the development process, but please let us know your ideas and requests for types of natural disaster!
New Biome
We have just started work on a new biome, to extend the world of Stormworks, giving players new places to explore, and new territory to populate missions. We are early in the development process and cannot guess when it will be finished.
Quality Updates and Bug Fixes
As usual, we are also spending a lot of time investigating issues and fixing bugs. The new issue tracker website is in progress to support this effort, and we will continue to drop bug fixes and improvements on a regular basis, along side developing the big new features discussed above.
This week, by popular request, we are releasing an update focused on optimization and bug fixes.
What is in the Optimization Update?
The new physics detail setting allows players to reduce the detail of physics calculations in exchange for more performance! In our tests we saw performance could double in some physics-intensive situations, when changing the detail from full to low. The setting is in Options -> General.
We recommend setting physics detail to "Full", because with reduced detail, the simulation can struggle with small or narrow objects. However, if you want to spawn in very large or complex creations, or if you just play Stormworks on a potato, reducing the physics detail setting can be a game changer.
Physics is further improved by a new system that pauses updating of objects that are not moving or interacting with other physics objects. This means in many situations, vehicles parked up or lying on the bottom of the ocean floor have a very low physics computation cost.
A new red warning system lets you know if an unsupported vehicle has been spawned (modded workbench). We don't control what content players upload to the Steam workshop, and some creations are made in a modified version of Stormworks rather than the version we created. Many of these creations are awesome, but can also cause issues for some players, and the red warnings are designed to explain this.
There are also new yellow warnings if a vehicle has excessively complex physics or too many lights. The intention is to provide players with more information on how vehicle design impacts the frame rate of the game with particularly complex creations.
Minimum Specs
Players considering getting Stormworks must carefully review the minimum spec requirements. Stormworks is a CPU intensive game and you do need to meet all the min specs, including the CPU requirements. We know many players play without having the minimum hardware, and we ask these players to have realistic expectations about their frame rate. We love that you play the game, but it's not meant to work on your hardware. We would like to help, but there are limits to what is possible.
Bug Fixes
We have addressed a huge number of issues in this update! Please see the full list below in the change log. Many thanks to everyone who reported issues - it is a huge help to us and we thank you for your patience as we address them.
Questions & Answers
We are going to do a new Questions & Answers video soon! To help us give the most complete answer, keep your question short and also be specific. Submit your questions hereThanks for all your questions!
As always, we can't wait to hear what you think about this new update! It has been a lot of work, and we are very excited to hear your feedback!
Much love <3,
The Stormworks Developers
Patch Notes
v1.1.23-24
Feature - Physics detail level (Found in general settings. Override for dedicated servers in server_config; acceptable values are 60, 120, 180.) Feature - Default script performance increases (2ms -> 0.5ms average) Feature - Physics Engine now allows more objects to sleep Feature - 'Low performance' warnings on intensive vehicle load Feature - Improved performance for lua functions that search through vehicle components Feature - Small Sonar (Released with 1.1.18)
Rework - First person surface swimming camera tracking improved Rework - Rescued survivors now have a 3s grace period when entering a hospital before becoming an NPC Rework - Tutorial QOL changes: Named tutorial survivors, Extra info on popups, Changed some popups to screenspace Rework - Limited maximum number of vehicle fire spreads per tick (Greatly reduce lag) Rework - Tutorial can only be started in first 7 days Rework - Several component editor warning updates Rework - 1x1 Gearbox defaults to unlocked in Classic Career Rework - Updated tutorial boat to prevent players getting stuck on the back Rework - Removed default elevators
Fix - Vehicle state is now fully reset when returning to workbench Fix - Transponder signal not despawning with the equipment Fix - Tutorial missing popups on final stage after reloading Fix - Handheld radio and remote control range being larger than described Fix - Vehicle component damage being attenuated to 0 for large components Fix - Pipes rotating when dragging in the editor Fix - Dynamic objects / characters not saving their time alive Fix - Handheld transponders overwriting each others locations Fix - Prevent lightning playing in the vehicle editor Fix - Sharks dealing very little damage Fix - Equipment duping when dropping unconscious characters Fix - Crash when linking from a deleted component Fix - Crash when dragging from a deleted MC component Fix - Modular engine composite data for fluid volumes now reflects the display value (x10) Fix - Rope buoyancy in internal volumes Fix - Crash using invalid unicode characters from lua functions Fix - Skis, Cameras, Water Cannons draining electric when motor is not active Fix - Vehicle fires ignoring environment audio slider Fix - Trees ignoring environment audio slider Fix - AMD vega fire graphics glitch Fix - Linear track input values not working Fix - Several occasional crashes Fix - Ocean foam clipping inside buoyancy volumes Fix - Improved water surface transition for camera Fix - Prevent survivors taking damage on attach and detach from ladders Fix - Player equipment not dropping correctly while dying during a ragdoll (Shark drag) Fix - Torque components showing full detail labels by default Fix - Electric relay not showing state on normal detail label Fix - Cost tooltip for hotbar components not showing in custom mode Fix - Powered linear rails being connectable on the backside face Fix - Multi-target radar can now detect 8 targets instead of 7 Fix - Cut/Paste sometimes disconnecting logic nodes on components Fix - Several components not placing correctly in mirrored mode Fix - Dropped moveable transponders all sharing the same transponder ID Fix - Air ram and Air filter unable to transfer fluid from the environment Fix - Vehicle markers now use the center of the primary body instead of the center of the build zone Fix - Equipment hotbar UI not updating correctly when running out of charges Fix - Underwater camera mode not activating when inside filled volumes above ocean level
Reworked/Redocumented AI info
server.getVehicleData() now returns .mass and .characters .mass = vehicle mass .characters = a table of object_ids attached to the vehicle { id_1, id_2 ..etc }
Removed "Vehicle Button" addon component Consolidated "Zone" and "Cargo Zone" component types: Spawning a zone with spawnAddonComponent() will now add it to the list of active zones (that are seached with getZones())
Removed misleading "name" field from spawnAddonComponent() and getLocationComponentData() Added .tags table to spawnAddonComponent() Added .tags table to getVehicleData() Added .tags_full string to all the functions that return .tags for custom parsing
vehicle_id = server.getCharacterVehicle(object_id) -- To get the vehicle a character is currently in is_dev = server.isDev() -- To check if the game host is a Developer