Dear Stormworkers,

Join the developers 1 hour before launch of the new Weapons DLC for the launch party on a Steam live stream!

We will be on live stream, answering questions, chatting about Stormworks, shooting guns and blowing stuff up.

We have been working on weapons for years so this will be a huge moment for us. We look forward to sharing it with you all. Click to set reminder and join us for the party!

Click 'Set a reminder' on the right and see you soon!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

In this minor update, we add mouse look direction output logic nodes to seats!

All seats now have 2 new logic nodes - look dir X and look dir Y. The values that are outputted relate to which direction you are facing. This direction is relative to the seat. This means that moving your mouse doesn't just change your view direction - it is also outputting your mouse input as logic data!



What is this Useful For?

This means you can use look direction input for controlling anything that takes numbers. This includes flight controls and turrets.

We have been mostly using these new nodes for controlling robotic weapons turrets in the new weapons DLC, but the applications are much further reaching and we are really excited to see what players use these new nodes for.

As always, this minor update comes with some hot fixes and improvements. Please see the change log below for details.



We are continuing work on the new Search and Destroy expansion and are really excited for the launch in just a couple of weeks time. More news next week!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.2.27-28

Feature - New Look-Direction output logic nodes for seats
Feature - New Trigger seat output node and keybind

Fix - Wind turbine elevator clipping with the floor and breaking
Fix - HTTP requests now use 127.0.0.1 instead of localhost to support WINE/Proton users
Fix - Small spelling issue in the tutorial

Lua API:

server.setVehicleSeat(vehicle_id, seat_name, axis_w, axis_d, axis_up, axis_right, button1, button2, button3, button4, button5, button6, **trigger**)

Dear Stormworkers,

Stormworks: Search and Destroy is the weapons expansion pack for Stormworks. It will release on Tuesday 5th October 2021 at 4PM UTC. The wait is almost over!

Wishlist the DLC by clicking the button below:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1542360/Stormworks_Search_and_Destroy/

This expansion includes new and fully functioning modular vehicle weapons, hand-held items and mission content.

This expansion pack is required for functioning weapons and explosives in Stormworks.

Watch the trailer below:



Vehicle Weapons

The new modular weapons include several different calibres of cannon, as well as miniguns and machine guns. The weapons are broken down into receiver, barrel, ammo belt and ammo drum modules. Get ready to build your own turrets, ammo handling systems, targeting systems, and integrate into your existing creations!

The new warheads come in several sizes and forms, and are designed for use creating missiles, rockets, torpedoes, self destruct systems, or whatever else you want to see blow up.

Handheld Items

The new handheld items include the pistol, submachine gun, assault rifle, ammunition clips, as well as grenades, c4, and the handheld detonator.

Conquest

The new weapons mission game mode introduces conquest gameplay as you battle an enemy air force and navy for territorial control of several key objectives across the world of Stormworks. The enemy will stage and execute assaults on objectives, defend, reinforce and fortify their own held territory, patrol the ocean, and hunt the player.

The new gameplay content is created within the add-on modding system and includes lots of new functionality that is now available to modders.

The price of the weapons DLC will be $9.99.

We can't wait to share this new update! Thank you to everyone who have pushed to make this happen and thank you to everyone who wishlists!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

This weeks minor update is a quality improvement focused update, and today we launch the new Stormworks issue tracker.

The new issue tracker replaces the old issue tracker that came up short in many ways - the new tracker is faster, more responsive, more scalable, uses https, styled for dark mode, and has many features under the hood to help us to keep track and organize our work to address the issues.



This new tool is essential for us to keep track of all the issues and requests for Stormworks - with hundreds of thousands of players, there are many viewpoints on the future of Stormworks, what the most important issues are, and what is and isn't a bug. We expect this tool to be hugely useful in managing our workload, communicating with players, providing technical support, and organizing the tens of thousands of player requests we receive.

To post on the issue tracker, use the in-game "Report Bug / Feature" button to be taken directly to the tracker. Right now, you can only log in through the game but we plan to change this in the future so you can log in through the browser.



Please consider that while Stormworks has been out for almost 4 years, we are still thinking about how we can further improve the bug fixing workflow and improve our communication with players. We remain committed to improving Stormworks and are thinking about the long term as well as the short term.

We are also releasing a bug fix patch, please see below for the full patch notes.

We look forward to reading your feedback and using the new tracker to deliver the best updates we can in coming weeks and years!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.2.25-26

Feature - New Bug Tracker!

Rework - Reverted the recent change to MP packet processing, in favor of the most responsive/performative version based on a stable connection.

Fix - GetVehicleButton returning a number instead of bool
Fix - Several minor crash fixes

Addon Lua:

Added fluid_type to getTank data
Added onObjectLoad(object_id) callback
Added onObjectUnload(object_id) callback

Dear Stormworkers,

In the coming weeks, expect the launch of the Weapons DLC store page, including the announcement of a release date. We also have some minor updates planned that pave the way for Weapons DLC, providing much needed functionality that isn't specifically a weapon and can also form part of the main game.

We are currently working on the store page, the weapons components, some weapons first person items, and the AI enemy air and sea force game mode. We are really excited for the weapons update, and we still want to add more to this update. The wait is coming to an end and thank you for everyone's patience.



We have some changes planned for seats to make it easier to aim vehicle mounted weapons, some changes to radar to make them more effective for detecting distant not-yet-loaded-in vehicles , more analogue radar signals, add-on settings, and several others.

We are also planning to do more community engagement and are planning to start doing Steam live-streams of Stormworks where we can chat directly with players and answer your questions. Keep an eye out here for scheduled streams!



This is all going on while we continue to work on a series of other minor and major updates that we will announce when they are more developed. Our preference throughout the development of Stormworks has been only to talk about new features as we complete them to avoid disappointment.

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

This week we are adding the hopsital ship to Stormworks! This ship is an AI operated floating medical facility to which you can deliver casualties. You can find the new ship underway across the world of Stormworks in a similar way to the new refueler - this AI operated ship will roam freely conducting it's own patrol.

This hospital extends the existing missions system - you can deliver casualties to the hospital ship like any other hospital. You must consider weather and sea conditions when delivering casualties - while the ship is underway, it can be challenging to land on the helipad or moor to the ship.



To create this update, we have refined the mission zone parenting system and lua API to allow better parenting of zones to vehicles. This means missions can now use zones attached to vehicles for any task such as delivering containers or cargo or persons. This is a really useful update for our mission plans as we extend what happens in career missions.



As well as the hospital ship, we have continued to look at player reported bugs and issues. Please see the full change log for details on this updates fixes and improvements.

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.2.21

Feature - Hospital Boat AI Vehicle

Rework - Addon Zone parenting now uses the relative transform from the editor, zones in the world should now be correctly aligned with their parent
Rework - isInTransformArea now uses oriented bounds to perform checks (previously using axis aligned bounds)
Fix - Addon zones now despawn after returning a mission test to the editor
Fix - Missing small triangles in the creative island floor (wheel raycasts failing in hangar and toward the runway)
Fix - Ladders now apply a stronger exit force and attempt to push characters over the top

Dear Stormworkers,

Our new game, Carrier Command 2 is available now on Steam!

Carrier Command 2

Carrier Command 2 is the RTS and mil-sim successor to Carrier Command (1988). You command the ACC Epsilon Carrier, navigating across an archipelago of 64 islands, remote controlling aircraft and amphibious vehicles, managing manufacturing and logistics, firing support weapons, battling the enemy navy, and duelling with the enemy carrier, while the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

On the bridge, every screen, button and switch has an important function that impacts your strategy. Your tactics are your own to design and author, in this deep simulation where load outs, detection, logistics, positioning, timing, weather, ocean currents, coordination and communication all matter. There is no other game like Carrier Command 2.



What About Stormworks?

Stormworks development continues as usual. We are continuing to add new components and new AI behaviour to Weapons DLC (and excited some new weapons this week), working on other major updates and preparing minor updates and quality improvements.



We are not quite at the final-runup-to-release stage for the Weapons DLC, and are holding a lot of details back for the run up to release. This is different to what we usually do, and we are just trying different things to see what players prefer.

Following on from our recent suggestion that we may stop minor updates, we have read the player feedback and many players really enjoy the regular updates and info to sit down and relax with at the end of a buy week. Our experience is similar, we really enjoy building these updates and seeing players react.



The recent quality-focused-updates have been very popular, and we are considering having minor updates alternate between new features and quality updates.

We look forward to reading your thoughts and feedback!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

You can now refuel your aircraft air-to-air using the new official aerial refueler!

The aerial refueler is a new AI plane that patrols the skies of the Stormworks world. It is visible on revealed areas of the map and flies at a steady heading and direction. The fuel tanker aircraft carries auxiliary fuel for delivery via hoses on the left and right wings.



When joining the aircraft, you can refuel via a simple fluid connector. When connected, pressurised fuel is fed to your connector, and consumption is charged in a similar way to buying fuel from a fuel gantry, except at a high flat rate. While it is the most expensive way of taking fuel, the refueller can roam anywhere across the Stormworks map and can extend the range of aircraft operations.



We look forward to seeing how Stormworks pilots react to the new refueller! This has been created using the existing add-on system and is very similar to AI planes.

As well as this new update, there are many fixes and improvements included in the update. See the patch notes below for more info!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.2.18-19

Feature - Refuelling Aircraft AI Vehicle

Fix - MP client simulating physics without data from the server (vehicle rubber-banding)
Fix - isInZone now correctly checks all zones with the specified name instead of returning after one check
Fix - Magalls causing a crash when exiting from a game
Fix - setButton and setKeypad now search by name only from their respective types
Fix - Zones should now despawn after testing a location

Added the following functions:

CLOCK = server.getTime()
CLOCK = {
["hour"] = hour (24),
["minute"] = minute (60),
["daylight_factor"] = midday factor (0-1),
["percent"] = day_cycle_percent (0-1),
}

WEATHER = server.getWeather(transform_matrix)
WEATHER = {
["fog"] = fog factor (0-1),
["rain"] = rain factor (0-1),
["snow"] = snow factor (0-1),
}

Added .voxels field to getVehicleData

The following functions have been reworked to return a table and is_success instead of individual parameters to make them more scalable/neat:
data returns null if is_success is false

data, is_success = getVehicleDial
data = { value = value_primary, value2 = value_secondary }

data, is_success = getVehicleTank
data = { value = current_amount, capacity = capacity }

data, is_success = getVehicleBattery
data = { charge = charge_factor }

data, is_success = getVehicleHopper
data = { value = current_amount, capacity = capacity }

data, is_success = getVehicleSign
data = { pos = { x, y, z } }

Dear Stormworkers,

We have been fixing crash issues! Thanks to all the players who submitted their crash dumps via Bugsplat, we have already solved 80-90% of crashes, with more crash fixes going live in todays hot fix.



This graph shows the crash data submitted to us, colour coded by where the game has crashed. In this data, you can see where we initially launch the crash dump reporting, and then 70% along the graph we launch v1.2.15 which fixes the main crashing issues and majority of crashes in the game.

These fixes follow several recent quality improvement updates in our recent focus in this area. While there are undoubtedly more of these updates to come, crashes are the most severe errors and it is really exciting for us to make such a significant improvement in this area.



We are also planning various lua API changes over the coming weeks and are sharing info on these changes ahead of time, after discussing with players involved in running servers and communities. Please see the change log for full details.



Recently we announced the Carrier Command 2 release date, and the VR version of the same game (including a new trailer). This game is out on 10th August which is just over a week. After this release, our announcements will turn to focus more on the upcoming Stormworks major updates, which are very exciting.



Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



v1.2.15 (Hotfix)

Fix - MP client teleport crash / defer tile removal on clients
Fix - Crash when blending toward a missing animation

v1.2.16-17 (Hotfix)

Fix - addon script missing base_price in older saves
Fix - crash when overloading an MC lua script (microcontrollers will now display a tick error should they fail)
Fix - crash when accessing an invalid bird perch
Fix - crash when attempting to render mc icons
Fix - crash when ending benchmark before a frame is captured

Upcoming Future Lua API changes:

The following functions will be reworked to return a table and is_success instead of individual parameters to make them more scalable/neat:

data, is_success = getVehicleDial
data = { value = value_primary, value2 = value_secondary }

data, is_success = getVehicleTank
data = { value = current_amount, capacity = capacity }

data, is_success = getVehicleBattery
data = { charge = charge_factor }

data, is_success = getVehicleHopper
data = { value = current_amount, capacity = capacity }

data, is_success = getVehicleSign
data = { pos = { x, y, z } }

Dear Stormworkers,

This week's update is entirely focused on quality improvement and fixing bugs and crashes in Stormworks!

We are trialling the Bugsplat crash reporter to help us see information about game crashes on 64bit Stormworks. As mentioned last week, the in-built Steam crash reports sadly doesn't support 64bit - so when we introduced the 64bit version of Stormworks, we stopped getting the valuable crash data that helps us understand how stable the game is, and what is causing crashes. With the new crash reporter, players who experience crashes can submit them for us to analyse.



Our previous quality improvement update also focused on multiplayer, as was discussed in a previous Q&A video. We have continued to look at this, and have made some important fixes to multiplayer that resolves several problems that players have frequently spoken to us about. These include various ways the game desynchronizes between players in multiplayer.

We have also made various add-on and lua fixes and improvements. Thanks to all the players who have been using and given feedback on the add-on system.



We are aware that for some players, an update that doesn't contain new content is less exciting - but these updates are important and we remain committed to working our way through the issues and helping players enjoy Stormworks as best we can.

Last week we discussed a potential change to how we release updates. We have no intention of making a decision soon as we have plenty of minor updates in the pipeline, but have been reading feedback and will consider the best way our updates can serve players over the coming months. Expect new minor updates with new content soon!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.2.14

Feature - New crash dump reporting
Feature - Small physics optimizations (~10% improvement)

Fix - Clients now correctly simulate the server in the background (Cause of several desyncs)
Fix - Static vehicle secondary bodies now simulate their buoyancy
Rework - Updated various AI vehicles with new window parts
Rework - Relocated military base fast travel node
Rework - F1 Profiler logic sections reorganized
Rework - Improve protection against twilight zoning
Fix - Hardpoint connector buoyancy surfaces
Fix - Return nil when getAddonData/getLocationData/getLocationComponentData fails
Fix - Outdated function name in lua example code
Fix - setGameSetting(unlock_all_islands) should now trigger correctly
Rework - Default AI vehicles addon now supports additional seated crew, placing NPCs in seats with the same name
Fix - Test location not despawning after a save/load
Fix - Hose pressure dropping with absolute world height