Nov 3, 2023

Galactic Chef Experimental Playtest Alpha 080

FlavorSpace Playtest - Thoughtquake Studios LLC

It's been a long time! This is an experimental update to get early feedback on numerous changes to the game's systems, although the changes might not be immediately obvious. If you're looking for a smooth/polished experience, you may want to wait for the next update, but any feedback on this version would be appreciated!

Some highlights:

• The cooking simulation has been redesigned for more realistic liquids and better cooking gameplay.
• Each tutorial is now followed by an un-guided challenge.
• Ingredient selection has been moved to a "pantry phase" after challenge introduction where applicable.
• The Food Vacuum now collects food and ejects it when full, instead of simply destroying it.
• The Flipper can now lift and carry food in addition to flipping it.
• Grabbing near the edge of a container (dish or cookware) now always grabs the container, instead of sometimes lifting food from the container.
• The Recipe Planner has been revamped for greater flexibility.
• Judging and scoring have been improved.
• Many other changes were made behind the scenes to prepare for future additions.
• The Galactic Chef "pilot episode" has been temporarily removed, and will be added back in another update soon.

Known issues:

• Saved games from older versions are no longer compatible.
• Liquid behaviors such as re-solidifying are not fully implemented yet.
• Judges are currently too forgiving.
• At least one bug in the Recipe Planner may cause incorrect simulations.

Nov 3, 2023

Release Candidate 0.24.2 - Bug Fixes & Quality-of-Life

Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander - Walt Destler

Cosmoteer release candidate 0.24.2 is now available for testing! (To play this release candidate, you must opt in to test it. Please see this post for info on how to test release candidates.)

This release candidate has a variety of bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements.

Thanks for testing!

RC1:

All factory munition and resource storages now have roof hatches, allowing flying crew and Resource Collectors to access those storages from outside the ship.
Ship control groups (F1-F8) will now be saved and restored for all players when loading a multiplayer saved game or resyncing after a desync.
Resource type filters for each ship are now synchronized between all players in multiplayer and will be properly restored when loading a saved game or resyncing from a desync.
Reduced mining laser oscillation by 1/3 to account for its recently increased range.
Increased the search range for new fires to put out after a crew finishes putting out a fire or the part they were on the way to was destroyed. This should make crew less likely to drop fire extinguishers when there are still fires to be put out.
Weapons will now be willing to fire through asteroids/megaroids when targeting other asteroids/megaroids.
Stations whose Hyper-Jump Beacons were destroyed will now become jumpable again once you travel far enough from them such that they despawn from the game simulation, at which point they are assumed to repair themselves. (Previously you would have to return to the station for them to become jumpable again.)
Using "Clear Everything" in Creative Mode will now clear all dead crew and particle effects.
The four buttons at the bottom of the Battle Helper will now resize themselves if necessary to fit their text.
You can now press the Spacebar while the game is saving to pause (or unpause) once the save is finished.
Added a title-screen tip that explains how to change the difficulty level while playing.
Bugfix: Multiplayer desyncs that could be caused in some situations when a part is salvaged and the ship being salvaged is selected by one or some but not all of the players.
Bugfix: Point Defenses were unable to shoot down projectiles fired from ships that have since become junk.
Bugfix: Salvaging a storage pod and then flying far enough away from it would cause the storage pod to unintentionally respawn with all of its resources after returning to it.
Bugfix: In certain situations, crew could get "stuck" trying to construct wedge armor or structure if it was impossible to start construction on the wedge without splitting the ship.
Bugfix: Salvaging (without actually deconstructing) structure wedges could cause "temporary" structure tiles to spawn in their place which the ship's crew would then immediately try to deconstruct.
Bugfix: Ships with Resource Collectors would spawn with crew already manning the Resource Collectors, even though Resource Collectors aren't supposed to be manned until they have a target to collect.
Bugfix: If a Chaingun with a specific aim direction is copied and then pasted over another Chaingun that had a different specific aim direction, then that Chaingun would display multiple aim locations when selected.
Bugfix: Copying a Chaingun with a specific aim location, mirroring/flipping it, and then pasting it could cause the aim location of the new Chaingun to be incorrectly mirrored.
Bugfix: Transferring resources to a friendly ship wouldn't cancel properly if the destination ship was destroyed or removed.
Bugfix: If the game is saved and reloaded in between a thruster's ship losing command and the thruster shutting down as a result, then upon reloading the saved game the thruster would appear to fire indefinitely but exert no actual force or use any power.
Bugfix: If the save data for a particular star system is corrupted or unloadable for whatever reason, trying to travel to or load it will no longer crash the game. Instead, the star system will be regenerated from scratch.
Bugfix: Hovering the mouse cursor over the "NO WORK NEEDED" button would then prevent the construction cost breakdown from being displayed once work is actually needed.
Modding: All non-grid resource storage components now support optional 'ExternalPickUpLocation' and 'ExternalDeliveryLocation' parameters which will set the location where crew must go when picking up or delivering resources from outside the ship. (These override the existing 'PickUpLocation' and 'DeliveryLocation' parameters when picking up or delivering externally.)
Modding: Mod changes that would previously cause saved games to fail to load with the error message "Unexpectedly not standing on a part" will now instead simply cause those crew to be ejected into space instead of preventing the save from being loaded.

Nov 3, 2023

UPDATE #87 New Game Mode, new Tower, new parkour & emote!

Citywars Tower Defense - Giarpy

◈𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 ◈

This week we released another game for the arcade: Bridge Racing!

Here are the rules:
-In the lobby choose your team color and hop into one of the 4 maps.
-When the game starts, grab as many bricks of your color as you can.
-Use them in to build your bridge brick by brick.
-Watch out for others who can stop your progress by changing the color of your bridge.
-Be the first team to reach the end to win the match.

You can find this game in Noblewood's Arcade!

◈𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 ◈

We also released a new tower: The Brick Tower.

This tower targets the closest enemy and fires a shot, bouncing on up to 3 others.
Each bounce applies a different effect in this order: Slowness, Poison, Weakness and Burning.

You can unlock this tower in this week's new parkour map, the Brick Parkour.

◈𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 ◈

This weeks parkour is very challenging, walk across colorful bridges and avoid deadly traps to get to the end the fastest you can!

When completed, this parkours allows you to unlock the brand new Brick Tower!

◈𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 ◈

We also released a new emote: /brick.

This week's emote makes you play around with colorful bricks and pile them up.

To unlock it, you need to have unlocked at least 60 stars in the Stars Milestones.

◈𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 𝅒 𝅓 ◈

This week's challenge requires you to put on a hat of a random color by picking it up from a table that will appear nearby the Weekly Challenge table. With the hat equipped, you can find bricks of the same color of your hat that will be appearing all over the map. Walk over them to pick them up and progress on the challenge. If you can't find bricks of the same color of your hat, you can switch your hat color by interacting with the table full of hats nearby the Weekly Challenge Table.

How it works:
Unlock the Weekly Challenge table in the Star Milestone.
Place it whenever you start a map and it will record your challenge progress while you play.
You need to place it every time you start a map for it to record.
Watch your numbers grow and make sure to complete the target score before Friday.

Nov 3, 2023

Community Crunch 385: Console and LiveOps Update, ExtraLife Update, and More!

ARK: Survival Ascended - ARK: Survival Evolved

What a whirlwind of a week it's been for both our team and all of you. We've ridden the exhilarating highs of ASA's PC release, watching it claim the top spot on the Steam charts, and we've ridden the rollercoaster of post-launch LiveOps with its share of hitches and victories. On the flip side, there's no denying the disappointment accompanying the delay of ASA's console launch. We felt it, too. Let’s get straight into the console news:

Xbox Series X/S and Windows:
We’re on track for a November 14th (Tuesday) launch day! As we get closer to the launch, we’ll share more information on precisely when it should be available for you to download. The Xbox version will be up-to-spec with the latest PC functionality as of Nov 14, and will launch directly into crossplay with the PC version (along with new servers, including Xbox-only servers).

Playstation:
We’re hoping to have a more precise date to share with you soon as we’re currently finalizing this with Sony, but it is slated for the end of November. We know this isn’t ideal, but we’re optimistic we’ll be able to share a date very soon!

Following the PC launch and the information and data we’ve gathered, we’ve decided to make some changes to our plans for the console launch. Here’s how everything is going to shake up:

Xbox Launch

Cross-platform with Steam will be enabled Day One.
We’ll be onlining a new set of Official Servers for the respective game modes (PVP, PVE, and Small Tribes). These servers will be running boosted rates for a period of time to allow players starting on them to catch up. Our hope is to synchronize the rates by mid-December.
We’ll also be onlining our first set of console-specific servers at this moment so that players who do not want to play on crossplay can play on those.

PlayStation Launch

Cross-platform with Steam and Xbox will be enabled Day One
We’ll be onlining another new set of Official Servers for the respective game modes (PVP, PVE, and Small Tribes). These servers will be running with even higher boosted rates for a period of time to allow players starting on them to catch up. Our hope is to synchronize the rates by mid-December.
We’ll also be onlining an additional set of console-specific servers with higher rates that will get synchronized by mid-December

Of course, there have been a few bumps along the way, and we're working hard to address any issues that players are reporting. We’ve put out a record number of patches this week, but the patches can be summarized as:

Bug fixes: We've fixed a number of bugs, including server crashes, dino spawn issues, and mesh exploits.
Performance improvements: We've made a number of performance improvements, including optimizing the dynamic navmesh system, server code (80%+ reduction in out-of-memory issues), and foliage. We're also pleased to announce that we've significantly reduced server RAM usage. This should improve the player experience and help make servers more accessible for everyone.
Security improvements: We've added client-side protections to prevent players from listing unofficial servers as fake officials, and we've fixed a number of exploits.

For detailed patch notes, visit this page.

We know there is still plenty more work to be done on all of those fronts, but we're committed to making ARK: Survival Ascended the best survival game it can be. We'll continue to release patches with bug fixes and performance improvements in the coming days, along with major feature additions over the coming weeks (and introducing Public Test Realm next week – more on that soon). In the meantime, thank you for your support and patience. We hope you're enjoying ARK: Survival Ascended so far!

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the delay of Extralife 2023 from November 4th to December 2nd. We know this is late notice, and we apologize for any inconvenience it may cause to our ExtraLife team members and those who join the stream to engage with us every year. If you’d still like to stream on Game Day, we more than encourage you to do so and we’d be happy to provide support. Also, if you want to wait for our stream day, that works too 🙂

This decision was not made lightly, as we have participated in ExtraLife’s “Game Day” event for 6 years. Extralife is not only a day where we come together to raise money for children in need, but it’s also a day that we cherish because we get to hang out with the ARK community. We want to make sure that the event is a success for all of our participants, donors, and sponsors, and we believe that moving the date is necessary to ensure that we can hit the mark. That also means we need to make sure that as many ARK players as possible can take part and because of the console delay, we need to push back the date.

Extralife is one of our favorite events of the year, and we love seeing the community come together to raise money for such a worthy cause. We can’t wait to run it with you in a few weeks! Thank you for your understanding and support. We look forward to seeing you on December 2nd for Extralife 2023!

More about Extra Life Gameday

The Studio Wildcard Extra Life Team

On the Studio Wildcard Extra Life Team page, you can donate to the cause or join our fundraising team.

This weekend, the Official Network will be receiving bonus rates! It will be active until Monday, November 5th.

PVP/PVE: 1.5x Harvesting, Taming, and Experience + 1.5x Breeding
Small Tribes: 4x Harvesting, Taming, and Experience + 3.5x Breeding
ARKpocalypse: 4.5x Harvesting, Taming and Experience + 4.5x Breeding

Fan Art Gallery | Screenshot Gallery | Artist Feedback Form

Help us discover your talent by tagging your art with #ARKPhotoMode or #ARKart on social media!

Creator: Syntac
Syntac showcases and discusses 10 thrilling additions made to ARK Survival Ascended. Which one are you the most excited about?

Creator: CHipZz
CHipZz demonstrates how to construct a workshop that includes a designated space for housing your harvesting tames. The video offers a step-by-step, voice-over tutorial, ensuring it's easy for you to follow along and construct the workshop.