• Rain now increases water in crop plots and dew collectors
  
• More findable build parts added (including beds, fridges, and a vending machine)
  
• New helmets added
  
• New collectibles added

• More changes to consuming items in multiplayer attempting to prevent consumption items not increasing your stats as expected

• Fixed a large multiplayer performance bug with how the game was handling world items
  
• Fixed bug with not being able to Set Down objects on top of other objects
  
• Fixed bug with exiting a PvE server kicking everyone out
  
• Fixed bug with removing attachments from weapons on the ground not updating correctly
  
• Fixed bug with placing weapons directly up and down in multiplayer as client not displaying correctly

This hot fix is a temporary measure to address the lag and audio issues players have been encountering in multiplayer. Please note that we are still working on this issue, as its root cause requires additional time to resolve it correctly. We want to thank all of the players who helped us isolate this issue by submitting their Replay files to us. To everyone else, thank you for your patience as we worked to alleviate this issue.

• Partial fix to audio processing to alleviate frame issues.
  
• As an exception, this update allows Replays from 1.5.1 to be played with 1.5.2

Animated combat fixes.

• Fix: Fleet -> After battles, fleets sometimes enter FTL in the middle of systems.
  
  • When a fleet enters a battle, the order that was paused assumes the last position before the battle started, therefore ships appear to teleport out of nowhere, when resuming order, after battle ended.
• Fix: Seamless VFX -> Meteor VFX spawns while viewing system or ship builder.
  
• Fix: Ubiquity -> Animated Combat -> Projectile VFX is not scaled correctly.

• Tweak: Combat System -> Increase pace of battles (damage effectiveness increased).
  
• Tweak: Animated Combat -> Remove ship movement speed reduction during battles.

View changes from previous updates: https://newstarsgame.com/changelog.

This morning's patch is live, howerver we discovered a couple issues today, please see the note below. Note we are looking into a fix for these issues accordingly.

• The Bastion can cause players to be seated incorrectly, including pilots, preventing them from firing or piloting properly. This does not always occur but it is frequent enough to warrant strong caution when launching one from a terminal. There are currently no workarounds, a hotfix is in the works.
  
• Players report encountering invisible vehicles
  
• Vehicle turrets are not working correctly
  
• NS-11A's audio with the suppressor is incorrect

This month's patch is loaded with bug fixes, especially to animations and audio. We are also bringing back previous St. Patrick's Day Bundles from March 17th until March 26th

The returning items arrive (March 17th - March 26th):

• 2023 Saint Patrick's Day Bundle
  
• 2022 Saint Patrick's Day Bundle
  
• Gold Lover's Bundle
  
• Green Fortune Bundle
  
• Jackpot Bundle
  
• Leprechaun's Bundle
  
• Wyrdwood Bundle
  
• Classic Clover Decal
  
• Leprechaun Decal
  
• Pot O Auraxium Decal
  
• Shamrock Decal
  
• Clover Camo
  
• Weapon Camo: Green-gold Flecked
  
• Jackpot Hood Ornament
  
• ANT / Sunderer Clover Trails
  
• and more!

• Enjoy a Double Experience For All Weekend from March 15th until March 18th

Normally we would save these types of announcements for the monthly Dev Letter, but since the patch is a little light this week, we've decided to include some more insight into the progress of various updates and fixes in this weeks patch notes.

The Sunderer rework is coming along nicely. We are looking into having it arrive onto the Public Test Server to work out the kinks and adjust some balancing. For the moment we'd like to share some what we have completed.

Here is the look at the reactive armor. The armor is designed to clearly visually indicate, through shape and color, when a piece of reactive armor is active and when it is not.



Some certifications that are not getting a major gameplay overhaul are still receiving visual updates. Below are the new Stealth Module and Enhanced Plating, artwork which replaces Blockade Armor and Mine Guard.




The friend's list issue is one area we are focusing on fixing. The tracking server architecture that handles friends lists was breaking down and had to be be almost completely rewritten. Some of the things the rewrite will achieve are:

• Improved database transaction efficiency; i.e. ensuring that everything is immediately saved to database on changes. Previously this happened only a few minutes after the fact and could be lost in cases of reboot/crash/power outage on the server.
  
• Added automatic consistency fixes; e.g. fixing situations when X is marked as a friend of Y but Y is not marked as friend of X.
  
• More reliable friends invitation processing; e.g. removing cases when someone sends an invite to be friends and invitee doesn't receive it.

These are just a few of the things we are doing with the rewrite, which should eliminate the vast majority of the bugs the system currently suffers. This is a major overhaul, thus it will be released to the Public Test Server first before being deployed on live. We don't have a firm date on when this will happen but the changes are actively being worked on.

There has been much well earned consternation over Oshur. The issues it causes among the game and community are undeniable, but the potential solution for each issue has pros and cons we have to consider carefully.

Generally speaking, our first thoughts are towards building and improving the game. To that end we conducted a systematic review of the continent, which included collating the vast amount of community feedback from many sources. The list of issues was sorted, examined, and we had many discussions around how to solve them. In the end we concluded that although there was promise in the concept, the issues were extremely core to all aspects of Oshur's design from individual bases to the general layout of the continent and lattice. Small changes would do little to solve the issue, and an entire rework was needed.

Unfortunately, we also decided that an entire rework would be a monumental effort the likes of which would detract from other smaller and more pressing issues. Following our philosophy of taking on the most impactful projects first, we saw that Oshur did not make the cut when it came to the effort / impact calculation.

The next logical and simple step would be to simply remove Oshur from the rotation. This presents its own issues though. Oshur has attached to it a large amount of unique content that players have spend their hard earned currency on, as well as unique and interesting directives, missions, and so on. Simply removing it would also create a clump of additional work where we would have to spend a good amount of effort making recompense to players as well as making changes that were deemed "fair" to new and returning players. This is a non-trivial task that would also eat up a surprising amount of resources that are also better spent on more impactful changes.

To that end we decided to take a middle approach. Oshur will be put on an infrequent rotation schedule and a special alert will be created that will more tightly control how long the continent remains active when it does come up. The ability to do this does not currently exist in the rotation scheduling system, and thus we have to design and add it before this change can be made. This is actively being worked on. We will build into the new system the ability to adjust the frequency and up-times of Oshur quickly via data so that adjustments to these parameters can be made relatively quickly and easily. We feel this is a fair compromise to players that never want to deal with Oshur again and those that may want to finish their Dog Tag collection, or take an occasional boat joy ride.

As a bonus side affect we will be adjusting general Warzone rotation such that the same ones don't always follow the same pattern and there will be slight changes in the rotation over time.

• The beacons are not lit; beam visual effect should now de-spawn properly after the beacon's destruction
  
• Outfit Wars decals now have the proper file format and should no longer crash the client
  
• Players can no longer spawn in destroyed aircraft, preventing them from acquiring vertigo and the ability to shoot through walls
  
• Reworked the suppressor attachment audio on the following weapons; NS30 Vandal, Warden, Carnage AR, GR-22, NC9 A-Tross, NS-11, Reaper DMR, EM1, EM6, NC6S Gauss SAW S
  
• The NSX: Yumi's bolt can now be worked. Fixed a visual bug with the reload animation
  
• Fixed weapon reload sounds for many weapons, including; AF57 Piston, NS AM7 Archer, EM1, EM6, NC05 Jackhammer, T16 Rhino, T32 Bull, T7 Minichain, T9 CARV, T9 CARV-S, TMG50, VE-C Horizon, VE LR Obelisk, VE-A Lacerta
  
• Obelisk and other VS weapon's hand IK will properly un-attach during 3rd person reload animation sequences
  
• Ammunition Belt certification selection tooltip now includes information about the reload speed increase
  
• Gate Shield Diffuser certification selection tooltip now contains information about its interaction with water on Oshur
  
• Fixed MAX jumping and landing audio
  
• Fixed localization error in vehicle and aircraft key-bindings
  
• The Natural Camouflage cosmetic for the Chimera should no longer be visible in the first person view

Hello, brave ones!
Missed updates and new mechanics? We've prepared what many of you have been waiting and asking for!

• Skip, block, and reroll skills.
  
  - Skip - you can completely skip the current skill choice receiving part of the experience needed for the next level.
  
  - Block - you can block a skill, and it will no longer be offered in the skill choice window.
  
  - Reroll - you can reroll the current set of offered skills.
  Now the chance of getting a completely unnecessary skill for you is close to zero!
  
  
  
  
  
• Boss appearance notification. Now, the appearance of each boss in the game will be preceded by a visual and audio notification. Now the enemy won't be able to sneak up unnoticed!
  
  
  
  
• Ring for the boss. We want each fight with the boss to be more individual. A real battle. Therefore, now heroes and bosses will fight in a sufficiently spacious ring. Time to knock out all the villains!

• New passive skill - Repelling Pulse. With this skill, you will keep your enemies at bay. And rightly so, social distance should be maintained everywhere.
  
  
• New passive skill - Piercing Strikes. With it, your projectiles will be able to pierce more enemies. This skill is perfect for those brave ones who prefer to kill two or even three birds with one stone.
  
  
• New evolution - Supernova. Did you like the ice shards? Then you will like their evolution. A huge ice star will crush those unfortunate enough to be behind you.
  
  
• New active skill - Land Surveyor. Remember the Great Land Surveyor? Now he's not so great, but he can be evolved. As before, this skill creates shockwaves around the hero, damaging your enemies.
  
  
• New evolution - Earthquake. Such power is what every Land Surveyor dreams of. Your enemies will suffer, and this is no metaphor. Everyone caught in the Earthquake will receive significant damage reduction, which will be a great aid in fighting bosses with a lot of health.

• Nikolai
  Shocking news! The favorite scientist and naturalist acquired a new passive ability. Now when Nikolai takes damage, he strikes all nearby enemies with lightning. This ability always activates, but it has a cooldown. Time it right!
  
  
• Zina
  The Queen of the North learned a new deadly trick. Now, if she takes damage, there's a chance for a Blizzard to appear, dealing minor damage and slowing her enemies.
  
  
• Midnight Witch
  The mysterious elven lady with a gloomy character learned to cast gloom not just on her tavern colleagues but on enemies too. Now each of her skill hits can summon a field of mushrooms, dealing minor damage and slowing enemies. Don't mess with depression!
  
  
• Martina
  After changing the evolution of Stone Shrapnel from Land Surveyor to Boulder, some of Martina's abilities became outdated. Therefore, the following changes were made:
  
  - The epic ability for a bonus to the number of projectiles became rare.
  
  - The rare ability to reduce cooldown time became epic. The reduction was decreased from -55% to -25%. This ability now affects not only Stone Shrapnel but also Boulder.
  
  - Martina no longer loses the cooldown time bonus in the first 10 levels.
  
  - Also, a unique passive ability will definitely be added to Martina in the future, so look forward to updates in new patches!

---

Our team has also prepared general improvements in the game, such as:

• Expanded tooltip for an item when hovered over. Now all item characteristics and skills are visible.
  
  
• Updated all cuff icons in the game! Fingers! Fingers here!
  
  
  
  
• Level-up animation now plays out before receiving skill cards.
  
  
• Added new effects for merging and upgrading items in the forge. Upgrade with style!
  
  
• Added new icons for completed task notifications in the Town Hall. Now each type of task has its own icon.
  
  
• Updated the kill counter icon in the match.

That's all for today! But don't be sad, our team is working hard to create new mechanics, skills, and locations for you! Stay tuned for upcoming updates, send us your feedback and suggestions for improving the game - we listen to the wishes of our loyal players and strive to make your gaming experience unforgettable. Thank you for making this game with us!

Small patch to Space Hole 2020

* Menu button (start) exits out of "dead end" levels (before, you had to press "esc" on the keyboard to exit these levels).

Thanks,
Sam Atlas

Hello hello everyone,

I have some news about the development of The Soulwalkers. Unfortunately I have made the decision to put a pause on the development of The Soulwalkers, in favor of working on a separate autobattler much smaller in scope.

As time went on during the early development of The Soulwalkers I found myself unhappy with the direction that the game was going in. The gameplay loop was simply not where I wanted it to be and I found myself repeatedly pushing back the deadlines I had set out to meet. I found that in order to fully realize my vision for the game I would need to work on it for much longer than I had intended. The other option was to drastically cut down in scope, but that’s simply not how I want the project to end up. I want it to receive the full amount of attention I think it deserves.

So where does that leave me? My original goal is to have a newly released game by the end of 2024, so I took a lot of the work I did on The Soulwalkers and used it to kickstart the development of Godslayer Arena, a new project which can be described as a fusion of autobattlers and action-rpgs.

Godslayer Arena takes the fast paced action found in games like Diablo and Path of Exile and meshes it with the strategic drafting you’re used to finding in autobattlers. Instead of drafting individual units for your army, you’ll be drafting spells for your hero to use as they automatically cast them in combat. It keeps the mechanics of what I like in an autobattler (trait synergies, refreshing shops to look for units/spells, fast paced automatic combat), and combines with the deep theory crafting and theme you’d find in a game like Path of Exile.

I know this isn’t exactly the update you wanted to hear if you’ve been looking forward to the release of The Soulwalkers, but like I said I really want to give it the care and attention that it needs. I think Godslayer Arena will be a critical stepping stone for achieving that as I’ve already learned a lot and gotten some new ideas from what I’ve developed so far. Most importantly is that the early playtests for it have been going very well! I’m going to be starting some more public testing for it really soon, and you can join my discord for more updates on that.

If Godslayer Arena sounds like something you’d be interested in please give it a wishlist. Your continued support means a lot to me so thank you to all of you reading this!

Discord Link:
https://discord.com/invite/ggTgSsbr3G


Godslayer Arena:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2870430/Godslayer_Arena

Fixed bug that prevented game from launching on Steam.

We've completed the first update. While not particularly noticeable, we believe that small improvements contribute to a better overall experience. <Potty Knight Saga> focuses on gameplay enjoyment. We'll continue to progress with regular updates to enhance the game.

Fixed

Controls guide was not able to open more than once.