Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.7.0.3 is now available on Steam. Named "The Gig Economy" Update, it represents a major feature update, hence the change from 0.6.x to 0.7.x. (Be on the lookout for a post soon with our new roadmap!)



It includes a new Gig Nexus kiosk where captains can take contract work, several new perimeter stations around K-Leg, accidental debris collisions, and even a new music track from Josh Culler!

For best results, you are encouraged to start a new character.

Old saves might still work, but there's a decent chance they'll cause bugs. And will definitely miss new content.

It's a pretty significant patch, so we've broken down the change list into sections.

• Added new job kiosk called Gig Nexus to all major station areas, allowing players to take short term contract jobs.
  
• Added Gig Nexus app to PDA.
  
• Added K-Leg ATC Station, Security Station, Nav buoy, Mooring buoy, and Flotilla ships to game.
  
• Added occasional chance of damage from hypervelocity debris/micrometeoroid in boneyard.
  
• Added procedural graffiti and grime to Gig Nexus kiosks.
  
• Changed pricing on food, drink, and jobs.
  

• Added more colored wall lights to game. (Some only in editor so far.)
  
• Added new audio track from Josh Culler!
  
• Changed NPC ships to also spawn from all nearby stations.
  
• Changed NPC ships to occasionally choose nearby stations as destinations instead of derelicts.
  
• Changed NPC ships to occasionally dock with nearby stations instead of the main regional station.
  
• Changed code to make NPCs occasionally use transit when available.
  
• Changed AI to interrupt player less when in UIs and social combat.
  
• Changed lighting to look a little softer now.
  
• Changed powered items to prefer using external power before internal power.
  
• Changed item power overlay to always show input location even when it is powered.
  
• Changed alarm and other LED indicator lights to emit low illumination.
  

• Fixed a bug that did not shield players from AI-caused collisions correctly.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused OKLG salvage permit to expire too early.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused captain to ignore player if they were directed manually to walk through an airlock without a helmet.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused sparks to get stuck on crew if they were interrupted while installing.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused sparks to only appear at beginning of install action, instead of during entire action.
  
• Fixed some ship designs which were using old air pumps that didn't have PDA install order support.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused AI ships without any pilots to continue last maneuver forever.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented powered items from reducing their charge when drawing power from themselves.
  
• Fixed a bug that causes null exception when reactor is charging and rechargeable is deleted.
  
• Fixed a bug that generates a power icon at an object's center if it has no output defined.
  
• Fixed bug that caused selected part to use wrong control panel image in editor.
  
• Fixed an overlapping text layout issue in roster and duties UIs.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused dead or sleeping NPCs to use station transit.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused K-Leg Commercial district power to blip off and on again when first loading.
  
• Fixed the friendly name of the toilet item.
  

As you can see, quite a bit was packed into this update! The new stations around OKLG are pretty far out, and require a bit more planning to reach. And with the new Gig Nexus kiosk, some jobs are going to take you out there. Plus, more NPC movement means more traffic, and your target may move before you get there. Combined with hazardous cargo, debris hazards in the boneyard, and bonuses for early completion, you should hopefully have some new fun ways to put your ship (and captain) to the test.



The lighting system had a bit of work done, and you'll hopefully notice that lights look a bit nicer now. Particularly the indicator and other colored lights. And speaking of color, you may start to see some colored wall lights appear in game! (We're still in the process of adding all colors, but you can preview them in the editor if you wish.)

Several fixes went into the power and recharging systems, installation sparks, and the way NPCs use transit and travel.

Plus, one of Josh Culler's new tracks is finally hooked-up! And anyone with the OST product in Steam should also see it appear there. It's called The Sky Kings, and is a reference to the namesake for Ogiso's Register in the game.

And as always, we love hearing what you think! Tell us how your run goes. What works for you? What is or isn't fun? What do you want to see next?

Thanks for reading, and fly safe!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC