Welcome to September, starchasers! Now we all know it's about three days until that Bug Game releases, so all of us, myself included, probably don't give two rocks of an Ast's wing-thingies about any sort of other games at the moment, but that won't stop me from putting out this patch so I won't have any more obligations hanging over me.

Well, minus any obligations to the furry screaming things I let live in my house.

Current Affairs & Future Updates

Some news about stuff that's currently happening, yeah? We've got a sale going on right now, which makes it a perfect time to jump in and complain about the lack of voice acting! Don't worry, it's coming eventually. Sadly, a lot of time was spent this month on some engine updates that, long story short, didn't pan out.

For those users who have the game on GOG, you may have noticed that the game often lags behind on updates there. This isn't by my own choice; GOG's updates were previous handled by a third party. But, after some arm twisting and chair-kicking, I now have access to the build tools for that branch of the game, which means it'll get updates far faster.

Next up, future stuff! Our next milestone update is our 1.0 launch release: The Soulchaser Conspiracy. The big thing with this one is multiplayer, along with freeplay mode, a second main campaign to follow, and the ability to play as a custom character from any of the four main Union races. I'll share a few tidbits and concepts from that update, with zero actual context.

Now, TSC's launch window is... ambiguous. This is a monumentally enormous update, and there has to be a lot of internal testing before it can come in. Before 1.0 officially launches I'll be running a closed beta followed by an open beta of all the multiplayer stuff. When we get closer to that I'll be doing an announcement about it.

Now before that happens there's one last intermediary update we'll be doing. I call this one the Talky Texty Dialoguey Thingy Update, and the focus with it is on getting the last few bits of unrelated text-related content out. This means filling out all the news stories on stations, adding in some more NPCs to talk to (that aren't tied to quests) and listen in on, a few books to read, and passing over quests and the campaign to make them either flow better or have some small visual improvements here and there. Also the ability to sit in chairs.

Now past that, and, barring bugfixes, most of the game is now in what I'd consider to be a finalized state. Graphics, gameplay, balance, content, all of that is to a point where I'm happy with it.

Alright, onto what you've actually been waiting for: The update.

Update Highlights

Visual and Detailing Reworks

A bunch of time this month was spent on going back over existing content and giving lots of places, space and station, a nice tuneup. Starting off, the Veil received a visual rework to better sell the idea that you are, in fact, in space hell.

Many planets got a little treat: a mooring space elevator so that big ships no longer take up space in the docking ring queue.

Next update: space stations! Every space station now has ambient NPCs, a pass for lighting, optimizations, and ships in their landing bays, and of course service NPCs with actual models and names (rip to my man Barrely Borbly, but your death was well overdue).

Time for the full changelog!

Changelog is as follows:

NEW FEATURES

• The Veil’s received a minor visual facelift in preparation for its multiplayer aspects: It’s far darker and spookier now, as befitting an uncrossable space hell.

• Docking rings for planets now have space elevators for larger ships.

• All stations now have received a major detailing pass! This means docks have fighters, people milling about, and every station now has named traders, equipment dealers, shipwrights, and more.
  Service NPCs on stations now have more variety and ambient NPCs will often match the owning faction of the station.

CHANGES AND REBALANCES

• Exit doors will now stay open if you’re stuck inside an exit bay. No more softlocks for you, buddy.

• Long Legacies’ later stage quest bits will lead you to the courier ship directly, instead of Kidenstat.

• Trading in ships now considers the flat value of items, instead of adjusted price values, preventing exploits.

• The Grand Telemite Shipyard now sells corporate fighters and freighters.

• Adjusted the lighting of many many stations, often so that the ambient lighting would match the sunlight outside.

• Performed mild optimizations and cleanup of every station in game.

FIXES

• Fixed issue with the Junktech Freighter’s engines visually.

• Fixed issue where some large solars wouldn’t die and wouldn’t put down explosive effects.

• Decals and paintjobs with the same filenames won’t conflict anymore.

• Fixed decal and decal camera issues for Washer fighters, corp fighters, the Champ’s racing ship, and the Rival fighter.

• Fixed issue where Mama Mine would get really mad if you used hypercharged webbing on her.

• Bastic’s Rustlord minefield 

• Fixed issue where the game wouldn’t remember saved paintjobs.

• Fixed graphical issues with held key presses and images that indicated if they were held.

• Fixed issue where NPCs would keep contacting you for quest finales.

• Fixed issue where Dynamos wouldn’t disappear while cloaked.

• Fixed issue where your onboard narrator would think you were entering a sun corona too early.

• Fixed some map scaling issues for Fhedden Delta.

• Fixed issue where combat would interrupt dialogue during The Bigger Picture.

• Fixed rendering issues with random Macrovari characters.

• Fixed issue where some paintjobs weren’t dropping.