Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[MrWiggles]

A mac port is possible but, firstly and most importantly, we do not have a mac between us.  Second, we want the game running as best it can and with as many features as it can support on Windows before we start porting it over to Mac.  Maintaining two different games due to running on two different platforms (one which we've only rudimentary experience with) is just a bit much for Reaper and Lucas to handle at the moment.

Keep vigilant, and keep asking and if we have time, one day, we'll see about getting that done.  It's not a promise but we are listening.

Intel Macs support Windows. No rush there.

Well yea, if push comes to shove, I should be able to run it on my new computer. But a port generally offers the best performance.


Oh oh, what about WINE compatibility? Might even open up the game to Linux and OSX too. >.>

[Firgof Umbra]

We've heard reports of success from people running it through WINE, yes, but it is not officially supported.  It was not our intention that the game would run on Linux machines through the WIN emulator but we're none too displeased quite pleased that it seems to work there.

Unfortunately, that does however mean that should it become unstable or unusable through WINE at a later date it would have no official support.  Perhaps later on?

[MrWiggles]

Oh kay...

[Firgof Umbra]

Alrighty! Ladies and gents, thank you for your patience. Patch 1030 is finally beginning to roll out and ought to be on Steam on Monday.  We're likely to self-release the Demo today but the Demo won't go up on Steam until probably Monday as well.

The official patch log follows this short caution:  If you're going to use the new camera control setting that disables tilting, please do be aware that it will currently crash on the main menu if you do it there.  If you change it while a game is in progress, it will function as intended; sorry for the inconvenience, GGLucas has already fixed it for the next patch.

Alrighty!  Patch is back up:
Patch from 1024
Patch from 1028

If you have downloaded the patch, you'll need to redownload the patch and reinstall from 1024 or 1028 to get to 1030. (No 1000 -> 1030, sorry. We're poking D2D to get their base version up-to-date)

[Fixed] Ships in invalid positions could crash the sound system if they ever played a sound. This should also fix random, extreme slowdowns experienced by some people.
[Fixed] Comets now orbit farther away from stars.
[Fixed] A change in 1.0.2.4 broke script-based target weighting. Will fix jump drives, mining lasers, repair tools, and a few other specialized weapons/tools.
[Fixed] Overlapped sub systems in the blueprint editor now only glow when one is a modifier.
[Fixed] The AI will no longer try to retrofit ships in contested systems.
[Fixed] Repeat mode no longer crashes.
[Fixed] Fixed a possible cause of saves that crash on load. Old saves won't be fixed, but the problem should be eliminated for future saves.
[Fixed] Fixed a crash caused by a distant ship icon updating while the ship was being destroyed.
[Fixed] Planet conditions were not applying all of their alterations.
[Fixed] Ships would randomly "vanish" mid-flight.
[Fixed] Actually fixed crash in servers with single thread mode on. Also speeds up single thread mode a bit.
[Fixed] Mods were not being loaded in multiplayer.
[Fixed] Reordered economic events. Running out of metals should no longer throttle your economy!
[Fixed] Fixed hull-related crashes. Existing saves cannot be fixed, if that is the source of their crashes. Sorry about that.
[Fixed] Transfer orders will no longer try to take from docked ships.
[Fixed] Ships could get stuck and unselectable after jumping.
[Fixed] Possible fix for an infinite loop in fleets.
[Fixed] Planets would forget their repeat state on load if they didn't have anything in their queue.
[Fixed] Fixed a crash caused by having a dying ship selected.
[Fixed] Fixed a pure virtual function call caused by OrderList.
[Fixed] Saving a blueprint with the same name as a manually obsoleted one would not save it.
[Fixed] AIs were ignoring Dreadnaughts they built.
[Fixed] Fixed various crashes related to fleets.
[Fixed] Asserts are no longer compiled into release (small performance improvement)
[Fixed] Tutorial scrollbars for localizations.
[Fixed] Blueprint AI settings didn't work for multiplayer clients.
[Fixed] Blueprint AI settings were not being exported.
[Fixed] Fixed a bug that would spam the console with errors.
[Changed] Control+click build now works everywhere you'd expect (system window, build on best context menu).
[Changed] Importing a design with errors (ie subsystems not unlocked yet) now displays those in a message box instead of failing silently.
[Changed] Improved the comet trail.
[Changed] Updated German translation.
[Changed] Moved system and planet generation to a server script (map_generation.as) so mods can change it.
[Changed] Ships that fire weapons in the galaxy will become visible to all players. Note: Planets in the galaxy are always visible to everyone.
[Added] Added two new tracks by Artem Bank.
[Added] Event notification sounds for pending treaties or finishing the research queue.
[Added] Added speed and distance indicators to the mouse over info. 1 AU = 1000 units.
[Added] If pirates are allowed to become wealthy, they can now launch multiple simultaneous raids.
[Added] Added new Fighter, Hauler, and Satellite models, and added LODs for the station.
[Added] Added an option for a 'standard' camera, which cannot roll. Use this if you find that you cannot effectively use the default camera.
[Added] All ships with thrust can be toggled to "Park in orbit": when they stop, they will start orbiting the closest planet or star.
[Added] New structure: Planetary Thruster. Unlocked at Propulsion 16, Gravitics 6 and Megaconstruction 6, allows you to move planets.
[Added] Blueprint AI setting to control whether other ships are allowed to fetch resources (fuel, etc) from that blueprint.
[Added] Blueprint AI settings to limit attack targetting to only planets/ships.
[Added] Blueprint AI settings to limit deposit targets to only planets/ships. (ie Miners' deposit ore orders).
[Added] Binary star systems and asteroid belt systems.

[forsaken1111]

[Added] New structure: Planetary Thruster. Unlocked at Propulsion 16, Gravitics 6 and Megaconstruction 6, allows you to move planets.

 

[Firgof Umbra]

Hahahaha, I thought that might get people's attention.

[forsaken1111]

I'm curious if asteroid belts can be mined.

[Firgof Umbra]

They can.  All you need is a Mining Laser and a Cargo Bay.  Issuing a Use Tool -> Miner order will kickstart the ship if it's confused on what it should be doing.  Also, the asteroid systems (distinct from asteroid belts in star systems and so forth) have a much higher asteroid density and overall Ore count per asteroid.  I believe most central asteroids to those systems are in excess of 500M Ore.

[MrWiggles]

[Added] New structure: Planetary Thruster. Unlocked at Propulsion 16, Gravitics 6 and Megaconstruction 6, allows you to move planets.

Does that mean this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAyhD4r6S6U  (five minuet video.)

Or more like, planet towing?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIOzBCzdvu0#t=5m27s (Though this video, requires some small dyson sphere.)

Or does it mean, something more mundane like planet sized engines? (Though thats still pretty freaken neat, but already established as feasible in the game.)

---

Actually, will things like Dyson Sphere, Niven Rings possible? Will planets eventually become things like City Planets, a la Trantor from the Foundation Series or Coruscant from Starwars? Or Alderson disk or Shkadov thruster?

Or maybe something like an Ori Supergate. A really large stargate meant to transport an entire fleet of ships between intergaltic distances.

I suppose, sci-fi mega structures in general. We've seen ships sized up to a galaxy, however, not much on structures. (I don't play, so my knowledge is from this thread and some other public information.)

Also, do you do this on other forums?

[Firgof Umbra]

I do try to keep people up to date on their respective forums.  I find it a nice service that I can provide so that people don't have to leave their favorite forums to keep up-to-date on our progress with the game.

Unfortunately, no on the second one; no planet towing.   At least, not yet.  Tractor beams are a planned feature after all.  The first one:  Well, planets do collide with each other though without the Ram order the planets won't actually take damage from anything, so half and half.  When Ram is in: Yes.

Planets do make excellent Carriers though I couldn't call them 'stargates' unless you managed to equip the planet with a JumpDrive somehow.

Though no hostile installations of either at this time.

RE: Dyson Sphere and Ringworld thrusters:  Unfortunately the thrust output required to move such massive objects can't be found in the Planetary Engines.  It will require something far more powerful that can move much more mass than what the Planetary Thrusters can manage.

[BigD145]

The real question is can we have planets with/without atmospheres that require us to move their orbits so they can become habitable?

[Firgof Umbra]

Not in the base game but I suppose that is somewhat possible if not entirely possible through modding the game.

[Firgof Umbra]

Rather than issue a hotfix for the release, we've decided to instead rebuild the patch.  This means unfortunately that you will have to (a) redownload the patch when it becomes available and (b) reinstall your game.  We apologize for the inconvenience.

I will keep you all updated on when the rebuilt patch is available.  It should be soon.

If you have downloaded the patch, you'll need to redownload the patch and reinstall from 1024 or 1028 to get to 1030. (No 1000 -> 1030, sorry. We're poking D2D to get their base version up-to-date)

[Firgof Umbra]

Demo v1030 is now available!

[Firgof Umbra]

Just under two hours to go until the Indie of the Year contest is over!  Click the link above to vote for us.


Here's something we started cooking up last night alongside getting a chat system for the master server up and running (so that you can find people who are waiting for a multiplayer game but aren't yet in one).  It's still in its prototype stages but should be ready to be put into the game fairly soon.


We're also working on getting an automatic updater/patcher for the game running so you don't even have to visit your distributor's site (exception: steam) to get updates for the game!


Finally, here's the current live patch log.  We're still a bit from releasing it (it's going to be a big patch) and here's what we've got in so far:

[Fixed] Multiple colonizer modules on one ship now correctly sums the structure count.
[Fixed] Crash on return to main menu for mods using tag{} blocks in shipsets.
[Fixed] Ships moving to a target that gets destroyed flying towards the quasar.
[Fixed] Disabled ships getting station icon on load.
[Fixed] Ships following a planet after a transfer order.
[Fixed] Loading a game with 0 research rate would lead to an empty sub system / structure list.
[Fixed] Crash when constructing ships on a planet / dry dock in deep space.
[Fixed] Ships with control but without fuel could still use their thrusters every second tick.
[Fixed] Sub Systems did not have their onDeactive binds called when scuttled or retrofitted.
[Fixed] Space port trade now happens in the planet tick, leading to less wasted trade rate.
[Fixed] Fetch orders were not leaking control to subsequent orders until fetching for the first time.
[Fixed] Haulers could get stuck doing nothing waiting for a resource to become available instead of trading in different resources.
[Fixed] Superfluous explosion sounds were playing when scuttling / retrofitting or when colonizing a planet.
[Fixed] Ringworlds were being constructed at the wrong position.
[Fixed] Ringworlds constructed on larger stars (ie the quasar) would appear inside the star.
[Fixed] The ringworld structure size bonus was not applying correctly.
[Fixed] Using a jumpdrive could render the jumping ship unselectable.
[Fixed] Ships parked in orbit using a jumpdrive would not pick a new orbit correctly and fly off into the distance.
[Fixed] Offline planetary structures could not be removed.
[Fixed] Asteroids and comets were not working for multiplayer clients.
[Fixed] Ships constructed after load would not be assigned their proper automation (fetch, deposit, work) orders.
[Fixed] Capturing another empire's design will no longer spam duplicates each time.
[Fixed] Haulers ended up with wrong / negative cargo after trading with a planet that had cargo storage.
[Fixed] Haulers would end up filled with one particular resource (usually adv. parts) when its supply outweighed demand.
[Fixed] Hovering over the +/- resize buttons while holding shift in the blueprint editor now correctly displays the effect of an increment/decrement.
[Fixed] In the blueprints window, dragging a sub system to an invalid position would sometimes return it to the last valid position, rather than the nearest valid.
[Fixed] We have discovered that a particular function in OpenGL is quite slow; fixing this improved framerate significantly.
[Changed] Shields now have a % chance to block or leak all damage from kinetic weapons entirely, rather than always blocking a % of the damage.
[Changed] Objects larger than scale 3600 are now visible everywhere to everyone.
[Changed] The system window's build on best algorithm now prefers shipyards over other structures.
[Changed] The main menu planet now chooses a random texture.
[Changed] Only one ringworld can be constructed per system. Attempting to construct additional ones will simply fail.
[Changed] The Analyzer now captures the design of disabled ships. Each attempt has a chance to succeed, which improves dramatically with bigger ships and analyzers.
[Changed] Ringworlds are now unlocked at MegaConstruction 22, Gravitics 16 and Spatial Dynamics 16.
[Changed] Haulers only supply when storage is under 45%, to avoid attempting to race against space ports.
[Changed] You can now hold shift when dragging sub systems in the blueprint editor to snap to a grid.
[Changed] When dragging sub systems in the blueprint editor, they can no longer leave the circle (you will see them where they would normally snap to).
[Changed] Dry Docks automatically fetch resources from the planet they are orbiting, if the planet has any.
[Balance] Shields are now more effective, particularly for larger ships.
[Balance] Planetary shields are now much stronger.
[Balance] Increased power cost of middle-tech weapons.
[Balance] Power generators produce significantly less power.
[Balance] Bridges and Computers produce significantly less control.
[Balance] Increased mass of armor.
[Balance] Decrease gains to science labs from general sciences research. (Getting to level 10 takes about twice as long, level 20 four times)
[Balance] Missiles and Torpedoes now have longer range.
[Added] The blueprints tab now displays statistics for the currently selected design.
[Added] The loading screen displays random gameplay tips from a moddable / localizable list.
[Added] "Stockpiling Protocol" civil act: makes space ports keep resource levels at 95% instead of 50%.
[Added] You may now check for updates from the main menu. Note: Steam users won't see this option.
[Added] AI Personalities may now specify a shipset for the AI to use.
[Added] "Refresh Automation" option in the right-click menu: adds back automation orders (fetch, work, defend, etc) after clearing them.
[Added] Destroyed planets now leave behind a bunch of asteroids based on the amount of ore they had left.
[Added] Added three new tracks by Artem Bank.
[Added] Economic Sub Systems for ships: Metal Refinery, Electronics Fabricator, Advanced Parts Assembler, Export Dock.
[Added] Graviton / Anti-Graviton beams: Repulsor, Attractor, Interdictor.
[Added] New Sub Systems: Quantum Battery, Matter Generator, Overcharged Laser.