Dear Stormworkers,

Grab your block and tackle and start calculating your mechanical advantage - rope pulleys are now in Stormworks!

Rope pulleys work in the way you might intuitively expect - a pulley allows rope to pass through, with equal tension on each side of the pulley. Pulling on one side of a pulley will pull the rope through from the other side.

You can create an array of pulleys to create mechanical advantage with a block and tackle style arrangement, or just use pulleys to better design your cranes by separating your winch from the top of your gantry arm.



Two blocks are provided - the 'U' arrangement with rope anchors on the same side, and the 'L' arrangement with rope anchors at right angles to each other.

We have also reworked the preset vehicles a lot, so expect many improvements and new presets.

We have also added several fixes and improvements, please see the notes below for full details.



We hope you enjoy the new update, and look forward to your thoughts, feedback, new cranes and inventive ways of using pulleys!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.9.22-23

Feature - #4053 New Rope Pulley Block
Feature - #21412 New/updated preset vehicles
Feature - Decorated sawyer bases with seasonal meshes
Fix - #19513 Train wheels slower in reverse
Fix - #21611 Hide player option in camera mode not working
Fix - #21484 Fixed and optimized lights in hangar offices and hangars
Fix - #21477 Electric valves not working if below 90% charge
Fix - #21442 MC editor logic gates descriptions not showing in hotbar
Fix - #21342 Removed mega_island_16_3 floating trees

Dear Stormworkers,

Happy Holidays!

It is update week, and this update includes new variable pitch ship propellers!

These new propellers have a pitch input that allows you to adjust the pitch angle of the blades. This controls the amount of energy transferred by the propeller and controls the amount of thrust generated. Small, medium and large variants are included.



As well as these new components, there are several fixes and improvements included. Please see the patch notes below for details.

We have now included the dedicated server exe with Stormworks. Please can we ask server owners to transition over as we plan to discontinue the separate dedicated server app after 16th Feb 2024.



We look forward to your feedback on the new components and fixes!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.9.21

Feature - Variable pitch ship propellers (small, medium, large)
Fix - improved positioning of player when leaving a seat, particularly at high speed
Fix - fixed looping equipment sfx not playing if 2 items with looping sfx were on the hotbar
Fix - fixed oil deposit placement sea floor height calculation
Fix - fixed typos in the radio antenna transmit logic nodes
Fix - fixed typo in description of the Uran Wind Powerplant
Fix - allow player inspect raycast to ignore ghost physics for hovering NPCs
Fix - Lua addons, added missing documented alias, fixed -1 support for seated_id and seated_peer_id
Fix - resolved issue where looking at NPC wouldn't always bring up the context menu
Fix - oil spills no longer cleared by pumping through fluid jets and improved stability of oil simulation
Fix - fixed occasional crash when spawning vehicles related to body mass calculation
Fix - hid data logging blocks which are used for our unit testing
Fix - fixed crash related to spawn vehicle add events
Rework - renamed 'gender' to 'body type' in character editor

Dear Stormworkers,

This is announcement week, with a new minor update planned for next week.

Updates will continue as normal over the winter holiday, although we will close the office for a few days so we may not make the interim announcement.



We have some really important fixes on the way, as well as really exciting major updates, and progress on our new game. At the moment, we only talk about stuff as it releases, and this is because it makes it much easier for us to change what is in an update and when an update will release. It also helps avoid disappointment - no expectations can get built up before release if we don't hype it up too much before hand.

This strategy is aimed at minimizing release pressure, and allowing the most focus to go to actual development. However, we are aware that different developers do stuff in different ways, with some doing something similar, and others being very open.



What are your thoughts? What stuff would you like to see us do?

We should probably also do another live Q&A session in the new year.

We look forward to your feedback!

Please call back next week for the minor update.

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

v1.9.20

Fix - Resolved crash when deleting vehicle from vehicle editor

Dear Stormworkers,

It is update week! This week we have one small feature - end effectors can now cut ropes!

We have also replaced grass with snow for the xmas event, which has been frequently requested, and was in such high demand that one player (briish) even managed to mod this into the game themselves! Very impressive.



During the xmas event each year, some decorations will appear at bases, rain will render as snow, NPCs will often dress up in seasonal outfits, and now the grass and trees will appear with snow. This event is locked based on the date.

Otherwise, this update is mostly bug fixes and improvements. Please see below for the full list of changes.



Behind the scenes, we have finished the framework for the vehicle unit testing system, and are now working on creating the unit test vehicles.

As we discussed last week, we have a big list of stuff to work through and will be releasing minor updates with fixes every 2 weeks as normal.



We look forward to your thoughts and feedback on the new update!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.9.19

Feature - End effectors now cut ropes (#19287 #18207 #12104)
Feature - #6069 Changed grass to snow for Xmas
Balance - Updated heat rate based on volume for heaters inside compartments
Rework - Identical notifications now stack
Fix - Debuff icon rendering stacking
Fix - Map center revealing on game start
Fix - #21808 Fluid cannon pressure issues
Fix - #21628 Fluid hoses clogging
Fix - #22878 Fixed server side workbench interation for static vehicles
Fix - #22856 #23334 Fixed static behaviour for addon spawned groups
Fix - #21872 Jet engine turbojets applying force in space
Fix - #22811 Steam pistons now base their power on steam pressure instead of volume

Dear Stormworkers,

This week is announcement week, with minor updates planned for next week 8th December, and also every two weeks following as normal.

Next week is mostly fixes and improvements, but does include a minor new feature. While we are using the majority of our time for fixes, we are reserving a small amount of time to introduce smaller new features, and plan to add something new on average every 4 weeks.



We are also planning the usual free major updates, and next year should bring 4 of these. We are carefully listening to players, and next years majors will be highly requested features. We have plenty of work to do here, but we are really excited and expect they will make a huge difference to players.

We are not currently planning more DLC for Stormworks in 2024. Our focus will be on quality improvements and highly requested features.



Work continues on 'Not Stormworks 2'. If you are not familiar, 'Not Stormworks 2' is a new game that we are working on. Only one thing is known for sure: it is NOT a sequel to Stormworks! Stormworks will continue for a long time, and isn't affected by this other game. We will announce more info in 2024.

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

This week's minor update brings many fixes and improvements to Stormworks!

These are important fixes that players have requested on the issue tracker. Many thanks to all the players who shared their feedback!

In a couple of months, we are planning to merge the dedicated server into the main game installation rather than having a separate Steam product. This simply means that server.exe and server64.exe will be installed with Stormworks, rather than the separate Steam App where they currently exist.

To help server communities, there will be a long transition period and we will be listening to their feedback. As we understand, it should be a simple process to make minor changes to their install scripts. We will let you know when the transition period starts with more info on what to do if you run a server.



The reason for this change is to ensure that the server and the game updates at the same time, removing the risk of an error where the game and the server may have different versions for some period of time.

The other reason is that Valve have released some new security measures requiring 2FA via SMS to update the game on Steam. This means that automated pipelines can no longer push updates, and a person with the right permissions must be standing by with the phone to confirm each release for each app.



I am not convinced this makes any sense. The SMS confirmation isn't required for beta branches or workshop uploads which can also go live directly to players, and its broadly agreed that automated release processes are less prone to errors than those involving humans. However, we love Valve and we appreciate they are just trying to make Steam as safe as they reasonably can.

Please see the patch notes below for full details on this update!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.9.18

Balance/Rework - Wide scale adjustments to fluid pressure and flow through doors
Balance - Rebalanced water jet energy conversion to better match old behaviour
Balance - Reduced air scoop reaction to wind and velocity
Balance - #23038 Rebalanced engine cooling and heat
Balance - #22867 #22872 Reduced large firebox and diesel burner coolant capacity and reworked heat transfer to be higher in larger boilers
Fix - #22752 Improved flow in restricted scenarios, apply flow limiting after resolving fluid islands
Fix - Crash when attempting to offset the physics position of a group where not all vehicles were loaded
Fix - Turbojets no longer apply force in space
Fix - #22917 Weapons AI autocannon tanks not firing
Fix - #22510 #23023 Updated weapons AI boats and fixed AI captain raycasts colliding with character physics
Fix - #22191 Resolved default disaster siren not containing a battery (running out of electric)
Fix - #21163 Fixed sharks dragging characters through thin walls
Fix - #20947 Ordnance type default value
Fix - #23109 Keep active block functionality for vehicle groups
Fix - Flush addon script deferred events immediately before triggering initial autosave after onCreate
(Some addon data based on onVehicleSpawn callbacks missing if load initial autosave of a game)

Dear Stormworkers,

Next week we will be releasing another minor update focused on fixes and improvements.

Fixes will be included for the following topics:

Trading add-on, keep active blocks, enemy AI, large fire box, diesel burner, water jets, underwater doors, air scoop, turbo props.

We remain determined to clean up all these issues for good, and there is plenty of other stuff that we are also getting to, that players have reported on the tracker.



Thank you to everyone who have reported issues and helped us resolve these problems!

If you are experiencing an issue with a component not listed above, have not reported it yet, and have a simple example, please do get in touch via the in-game "report a bug" button. We want to make sure we are aware of all remaining issues so we can get them resolved as soon as possible.

With the above said, we have made huge progress, fixed the majority of problems, and fixes are for increasingly rare issues.

We are also working on the unit test system and should have this integrated into our process in the next few weeks.



Fixes and improvements remain the priority, but further ahead we are planning some great new content and features which are highly requested. 2024 should be a great year for updates!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

It is minor update week! As well as a long list of fixes and improvements, there is also a new feature - release rope input for rope anchors!



You can now detach ropes using logic on a vehicle. This new on/off logic node can be triggered to release the rope connections on an anchor for ropes.

The fixes list includes some important changes, including some fluid rebalances. These rebalances are tending to be smaller and finer in magnitude as the system is generally backwards compatible in most situations. Thank you to all the players who helped by posting issues on the issue tracker!



Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.9.17

Feature - Rope anchor "release rope" logic node

Fix - #22825 Resolved door/turret-ring flow and pressure issues
Fix - #22287 Default missions tow mission spawning error without DLC
Fix - #22483 Default missions repair missions using outdated function call
Fix - #21092 Crash when attempting to carry a creature-dragged character
Fix - #20876 Fix pressVehicleButton behaviour for toggle buttons
Fix - Predators no longer attacking
Fix - #20988 Default secondary equipment binding to R (prev B)
Fix - #21069 Fix buzzer audio layer volume initialization
Fix - #21117 Prevent vehicle fire damage ignoring vehicle damage setting when enabled
Balance - #21843 #21853 Balanced heat sources (Firebox no longer kills you, heaters twice as effective, burn damage and radius balanced)
Fix - Crash which rarely occurred when creating ropes
Balance - #21952 Adjusted liquid rocket fuel consumption
Balance - #22120 #22803 Rebalanced RCS thrust and consumption and clamped flow
Fix - #22799 Antennas not highlighting when in logic placement mode
Balance - #22849 Rebalanced diesel burner consumption and max temperature
Rework - #22911 Rescaled maximum ocean pressure to 30atm

v1.9.12

Fix - fixed dedicated server crash
Fix - fixed jet engines with inf fuel
Fix - limit fluid transfer through doors based on compartment size to resolve oscillating with very small compartments
Rework - liquid fuel engine internal capacity now based on engine size to improve flow
Rework - premade engine internal capacity now based on engine size to improve flow
Rework - increased modular engine fuel manifold capacity to improve fuel flow at low pressures
Rework - water jets now convert momentum less agressively to reduce power stall
Rework - reduced backflow threshold so that backflow only occurs with low or zero flow (improves pressure inside leaking compartments)
Rework - rebalanced diesel burner to heat up slower
Rework - reduced centrifugal separator internal capacity to make flow more responsive