Star Valor update for 3 August 2022

Greetings Commanders!

I am really excited to announce that Star Valor is Out of Early Access!
Four years have passed and a lot of hard work has been put on it, and I can't stress enough that I haven't done this alone. Since the beginning of Early Access, the community has been nothing but awesome! I've met many great people and I'm proud to say that most of them are still here, playing, chatting and having fun. Yes, the game is complete and is finally launching, however, it is definitely not done. I will be expanding the game further, either through normal updates, DLCs with additional content, or both. The community deserves it, and as I always say, I love doing it!

I have so many people to thank for... so I'll actually make a video for it, soon :)

Don't forget to check my Patreon page if you like my work and would like to contribute a little more, at /laious on Patreon

So... Development continues, the universe is expanding and possibilities are endless! What's going to be your next story in Star Valor?

NOTE #1: Missing translations will be added in the following weeks. Sorry about that.
Note #2: Games started during Early Access are not compatible with the launch (2.0) version. They were erased.

Here is a list (it's huge!) of my AWESOME patrons, by August 2022:

- Commanders:

Ryan Schubert
Myoron
LadyHawk
Thraknar The Mighty
Elhart
Redfiery
Maxter1o2
Talonical
S. Patrick Gallaty

- Captains:

Jean-Philippe Martel, BalaCanabis, Gary Scott, Zarinthal the Sleepy Dragon, kolby varner, Kevin Chote, Gio, ZipTieFun, CorruptedVariant, Quickshadow, Scott Tjhia, Baduz, Severance Bane, The Talanton, Lamergaroth, Tom Geudens, semeku

- Pilots:

AJ Parker, Latheos, Casey Kelleher, Graeme Kent, Tigger, Libo, Scott Frisius, Hawk, Nessus, Elkan, SW9876, Boosted, Aaron Meek, GamerForLife, Dave Barretti, Floppa Priest, Logan Laramay, Matt Sharwarko, NAUTILUS11045, Nxg, David Scouten, krischan r, Michael Krämer, bluechipps, Elliot Louise, Stuart Bunn, Cainan Chambless, Ardune

- Rookies:

Brian, Herbert Monni, Andrew, James Ketola, Martin Nielsen, Kero7, Jeremy Sandahl, Takuma Shimoyama, Christof Bruyland, Fedaygin

Thank you all very much!

Now, to the Patch Notes:

• Added 2 "Battledreads" (size 6 battleships): 'Zeus' for the CoT and 'V6B-A' for the Venghi. Both are crafting only. Each has its own simple quest to unlock it, and will be expanded further later on.
• Added 'Explorer' knowledge
• Reduced the 'Exploration' Skill tree passive scanner range bonus from 3% to 2% per point. The max limit is +30% now.
• Added Experience Perk 'Astronomy' which grants +2 Bonus Explorer.
• The 'Loot detection range' is now a stat shown in the ship info and can be higher than the scanner range. Detected loot outside the scanner range is shown as an icon in the radar border, pointing to the object location.
• 'Explorer' knowledge now adds flat bonus to loot detection range.
• 1.5 of the 'Loot detection range' is used by default to find Spaceships and distress signals (coming soon).
• Added 'Loot detection range' to every scanner.
• Added items: Scavenger Scanner, Lootfinder 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0.
• Added Ship role 'Freighter'. Bonuses will be shown on next devlog.
• The chance of derelict ships spawning is now doubled, however most of them (80%) will be outside the sector bounds, in the 'deadzone'.
• Added perk 'Traveler' for getting 25 'Explorer' before other knowledge.
• Reduced Flux damage boost for AI ships, specially on Relaxed and normal difficulty.
• Added a bit more waiting time on the Steam Authentication screen, before throwing the error message.
• Fixed Mines receiving speed bonuses.
• Fixed Buff icon tooltip staying active after opening and closing the sector map or galaxy map.
• Fixed BUG on 'Enlist' (CoT quest) that would prevent its second part from triggering.
• Added translations for perk names, descriptions and flavor texts.
• Added a "Streamer/Casual" game mode, for a faster progression with limited perks. Casual game can't be hardcore or permanent death. Copyrighted songs (2) are not played in this mode.
• Added 'Distress Signal', which can be detected with 'Loot Detection Range'. Right now it can be either debris fields, escape pods or derelicts, with the chance of being an ambush. Later on this will be improved with more complex missions and mechanics.
• CoT ships now have a 'Terran Mantle' as built-in equipment, instead of a normal cloaking device.
• 'Bounty' perks ("You will often attract more powerful enemies") are now less impact on Relaxed and normal mode, while unaffected on Hardcore.
• Added special crewman:
• Gunners now fire missiles even when they don't have line of fire to the target.
• 'Research Support' skill now gives +1 rarity to items crafted in any friendly faction, not only on military ones. It still won't get the item to orange, though.
• 'Hidden Compartments' Skill now gives +15% cargo space instead of +10%.
• 'Beam Efficiency' Skill is now working properly and gives 20% less energy cost to beams, instead of 15%.
• Added combo Skill 'Squad Leader' (Combat + Social) which gives +5% crew efficiency for your ship and your fleet.
• When you select a connected sector in the galaxy map, the corresponding jumpgate icon will now show an animation to highlight it.
• Increased the mass on Cruisers and Dreadnoughts by approximately 10%.
• Fixed AI turrets firing at you even when you are cloaked.
• Fixed cloak not breaking after dealing melee damage.
• Dealing Melee damage (ramming weapons only) while cloaked (during 'Ambush' status) now deals +50% damage.
• Losing a fleet ship now postpone auto-save by an additional 4 minutes to avoid unintended saving.
• Spinal Mounts now expend up to 3 Flux charges instead of all of them.
• Docking in a station now orders your fleet to dock as well (optional per ship, default is ON).
• Many ships received 'Freighter' role.
• Ravager Bosses (and their guards), Mercenaries and Sentinels no longer spawn in non-combat focused ship roles (mining, freighter, passenger or sports role)
• Mercenaries now also have a warp drive installed for emergency warp.
• Fixed collision damage (normal, not from melee weapons) not applying to another target if you were rolling.
• Editing a fleet ship now properly shows the commander name in the crew list instead of the player character name.
• Fleet ship stats are no longer affected by player skills and perks while being edited.
• You can no longer change your equipment outside of a station in Hardcore mode.
• Fleet ships capable of emergency warping will now do it before getting destroyed, even when receiving overkill damage. They still need to be fully repaired after escaping, in order to do it again.
• Increased time to refresh quests, crew for hire and debris fields.
• Fixed warp towage duplication BUG.
• Added Galaxy Map Icons for discovered asteroid rush and ship graveyard sectors.
• Added special crewman: John Luck Pickerd ( @Myoron )
• Fixed BUG that would prevent equipment panel from updating after upgrading an equipped item.
• 'Heavy Mount' weapon crafting modifier now multiplies free boosters by 2. 'Point Defense' divides it by 2.
• Added a 'Boosted' modifier, which increases free boosters by 50%. Only one allowed so far.
• HP degeneration (like the effect of Ralo of the Sea's Age) now only happens when not docked.
• Added 'Set Control' button for gunners in the weapons tab as well.
• Added Fleet Commander information when mouse hovering it. It shows the fleet space cost for each size class.
• All Venghi ships (except the V1I) now have a co-pilot seat.
• The Squire now has a double barrel weapon mount.

Follow up Patch (2.0.0a):

• Fixed derelict spawn rates being a bit higher than expected.
• Fixed bug that would stop asteroids in Asteroid Rush sectors in Casual/Streamer mode.
• Fixed bug that was causing mercenaries to not warp back-in after emergency warping, also in Casual/Streamer mode.
• Fixed a few language errors.

Follow up Patch (2.0.0b):

• Distress Signals no longer pop the quest panel when detected, only when you reach its source location to complete it. If you leave the sector, however, the quests for all distress signals there, are lost.
• Fixed a bug that was causing special crewman to not warp back in.
• Changed 'blueprint known' in item tooltips to be more visible.
• Fixed a few more language errors.