Starbase Progress Notes: Week 6 (2022)

ElluFB

Forever locked into The Pool
Frozenbyte
Joined
Sep 6, 2019
Messages
249
#1
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Hello everyone, here are the progress notes of the week 6 of 2022!

This week's progress notes show all the major the features, additions and improvements currently in the works. The features have been roughly divided into categories and in the beginning, we list both new and recently completed items from the past two weeks. We hope that you enjoy these snippets of the Starbase development!

Please note that the "Progress Notes" are different from the Starbase "Patch Notes". Progress Notes are snippets from the development team and what has been worked on during the previous week, and many of the features might not be present in the current or upcoming builds of the Starbase Early Access. Some features, especially in the design portion, can be subject to change as the development continues.

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Starbase Progress Notes: Week 6 (2022)
February 7 - 11

Below we have listed the different states, and an explanation of what that state means in terms of development process.
Design: first phase of development
Art: done after designing of the feature, but can be done either before, after or at same time with programming.
Programming: programmer implements the feature based on design
Configuration: feature is technically done but a designer needs to configure it
QA: feature is technically done but needs testing. May happen before or after configuration.
The weeks marked in the "Time in development" column show only the active development weeks during which the feature has been worked on and include all phases of development. The time is rounded up to weeks, so in other words, if one day has been spent on a feature during the week, it still counts. Therefore, please treat the week counter as a rough estimate only.

Completed
Feature Description State Time in development
Capital Ship destination visualization Visualization to indicate the spot where a fast traveling Capital Ship is about to arrive. This is to alert other players and let them know that they should vacate the area quickly, since staying within it when a ship fast travels there results in death. ✔️ 5 weeks
Capital Ship creation confirmation A confirmation pop-up about creating a new Capital Ship when entering an empty Capital Ship Dock. ✔️ 1 week
Adjustable paint area size for Paint Tool Allows adjusting the size of the area that gets painted when using the Paint Tool. ✔️ 5 weeks
Heat sinks Large devices that can be used to store great amounts of heat produced in a ship with relatively high transfer rates. ✔️ 3 weeks
Missing UI sounds Adding UI sounds to spots that have been missing some of them until now, for example the chat window, the quickbar and Ship Designer. ✔️ 2 weeks
Paint Tool outline highlight Adding a highlight around all the objects that the Paint Tool's current paint area reaches and which would therefore get painted. ✔️ 1 week
Paint Tool options Separate Paint Tool behavior settings under Tool Options. ✔️ 1 week
Option for ambiance volume Option for adjusting the volume of ambiance audio. ✔️ 1 week


New
Feature Description State Time in development
Reconstruction Machine for stations A new station version of the Reconstruction Machine. To be able to use it for respawning, you need an Endo Kit, and the machine should be connected to a generator for electricity through a Supply Conduit network. Unlike ship machines, you can be linked to multiple station machines at once. Art & Programming 2 weeks
Decorative hologram projectors New hologram projectors with various themes, for example plants, that can be used to decorate your stations and ships. Art 2 weeks
Salvage Tool Equippable tool that can turn any object into nuggets of ore, which can then be collected into crates. Design 1 week
Ship repair time adjustments Adjusting the time required for a ship to be fixed at the Ship Repair terminal. Missing ship parts increase the repair time, while having replacement parts in your storage cuts it shorter. Configuration & Programming 1 week
Anti-gravity and Ship Designer areas to Moon City Adding anti-gravity areas to the ship despawn zones in Moon City, as well as Ship Designer zones and terminals to the workshops that can be found there. Configuration 1 week


Moons
Feature Description State Time in development
Moon Base BM improvements Improving the Build Mode of moon bases further. For example support for both grid and snapping placement of objects, and polishing the support plinth building logic. Programming 3 weeks
Minable moon rocks Rocks found on the moon surface are also mineable by players. Programming 2 weeks
New mining materials for moons Moons in the universe will get unique ore distribution profiles and often their own unique raw materials. Often moons will also have their own unique raw materials. The moon belts and the moon ground may have different ores and they pose their own challenges when mining. Design & Configuration 29 weeks
Moon city apartment rental Allows renting units from the city towers. Art assets for the first set of modules are finished, and the next step is support for renting and creating apartments inside the towers. Design 17 weeks
New moon terrains and geometry New looks from new assets like rocks and from new textures for the moons. Currently working on planet landscape concepts and new rock assets. Art 15 weeks
Moon terrain generation & customization Development tools for creating different terrain types to enable a lot more variety to moon terrains. Programming 23 weeks


Capital Ships
Feature Description State Time in development
Capital Ship access page Access controls for choosing who can access Capital Ships and for example control and build on them. Programming 3 weeks
Capital Ship flyby audio Audio system for the sounds of Capital Ships fast traveling. Programming 5 weeks
Capital Ship Dock orientation visualization Capital Ship Docks gets an orientation indicator similar to Ship Designer to show where the center of the dock build area is and which direction is front and up. Programming & QA 5 weeks
Capital Ship expansion minimap A "minimap" in the UI for Capital Ships in the Build Mode to visualize available build area expansions for the player. Design 4 week
Capital Ship fast journey start Players can embark on a fast travel journey quicker, without charging, but this comes with the downside of a slower travel speed. Design 4 weeks


Siege
Feature Description State Time in development
Warzone interactions The warzone forming in the beginning of the siege causes the Safe Zones of both the attacker and the defender to get disabled. Restrictions are also placed on any civilian Capital Ships within or close to the warzone. Programming & QA 10 weeks
Capital Ship and station size classes Capital Ships can initiate siege only against stations of the same size class (or smaller). Programming 7 weeks
Siege timeslot mechanics Mechanics for initiating the siege by choosing a timeslot for the attack. The defending station is able to change their preferred timeslot for battles. Programming & QA 12 weeks
Capture gameplay Mechanics and visuals for the capture gameplay. When a siege begins, both the target station as well as the attacker's Capital Ship become capturable for the other side. Capturing proceeds one layer at a time towards the center of the structure. Visuals and effects will indicate if an area is capturable and who is currently in control. Programming & QA 12 weeks
Teams and outsider players Players other than the original attackers and defenders can pledge allegiance to either team, and then help them in capturing areas for their victory. Captured areas have all access rights temporarily removed so that any other players, who have chosen to stay unaffiliated, can raid the warzone. Programming & QA 7 weeks
Siege aftermath When one side fills the win condition for a set amount of time and siege minimum time has passed, the siege ends. Design & Programming 8 weeks
Siege Terminal Similar screen view as Capital Ship Fast Travel Terminal, where a Capital Ship can initiate a siege battle. Programming 8 weeks
Siege HUD During siege battles, the HUD will show e.g. the area capture progression, siege time and victory countdown. Design & Programming 5 weeks


Spaceships
Feature Description State Time in development
Ownership and Salvage Deeds Selling spaceships in the Auction House or through personal trade by using no-cost items called Ownership Deed and Salvage Deed. The Ownership Deed can be used for selling despawned ships in storage, and the Salvage Deed for unstored ships anywhere in the universe. Programming 8 weeks
Hacked Deed Stealing spaceships with a new craftable item called a Hacked Deed, which allows temporarily claiming a spaceship outside of the Safe Zone as long as the owner isn't present. Design 4 weeks
Test Fly Deed A no-cost item that can be used to let other players test fly your ship in the test mode, for example when trading ships. Design 4 weeks
Blueprint chips Allows storing blueprints for trading or manufacturing. Chips can be either secure or non-secure. The secure chips can only be used for manufacturing, while content from the non-secure chips can be further edited in the Ship Designer. QA 9 weeks
Saving blueprints outside of Ship Designer Allows saving changes made to ship blueprints outside of the Ship Designer. Blueprints can be saved to three slots, and the updated blueprint can be used to repair the ship in the Repair Shop or with tools. Programming 20 weeks
Drive-in designer Ships with non-secure blueprints, or with blueprints owned by a player, can be flown back to a Ship Designer for updates, and the existing ship is used to cover some of the manufacturing costs. Programming 8 weeks
New binds menu for ship quick binds Replaces current pilot seat binds menu with a new, much more versatile system Design 13 weeks
Ships towing ships Allows towing other ships with a towing device. This makes it possible to carry discovered or broken down ships elsewhere for repairs, for example. Art & Programming 8 weeks
Casual Mode for Spaceship Designer An option to toggle between the current Advanced Mode and a new Casual Mode, which is similar to building with modules like in the Easy Build Mode. Design 1 week
Ship Designer Decal Tool improvements Several improvements to the Decal Tool in Ship Designer, for example support for seamless decals and more precise movement options. Programming 2 weeks


Stations and (Easy) Build Mode
Feature Description State Time in development
Stations Player-made stations, the first iteration. Programming 27 weeks
Build Mode HUD Ship and station Build Mode gets consistent HUD that has buttons for most of the operations as well as some controls tooltips. Programming 7 weeks
New modules for station, moon base and Capital Ship building Designers and artists create together new blocks, furniture and single items for stations, moon bases and Capital Ships. New station blocks will also include more decorative elements. Most furniture comes pre-assembled. Art & Configuration 22 weeks
Improved Factory Halls Building various factories inside stations, bases and Capital Ships by utilizing Factory halls and additional features. For example, with the upcoming blueprint projector and its additional tools, a ship building factory is possible. Most recently, support for pipes and cables inside Factory Halls has been added. Programming 30 weeks
Hangar Halls Hangar Halls can be used for ship spawning and despawning, as well as for ship repairing and the Ship Designer by adding different terminal modules. The hangar becomes occupied when a ship gets inside, stopping others from entering. Programming 7 weeks
Station blueprints In-game blueprints for stations and Capital Ships, so that they can be fixed in the game world for example after siege battles. Design 2 weeks
Station clusters Station cluster is a group of stations that form a special, larger area with a Safe Zone that can span several kilometers. Design 2 week
Object style selection While building, players can easily scroll through the different modules of the same type and the upcoming decoration styles for them without having to open the crafting menu or storage. Design 3 weeks
Fast deletion in (E)BM Holding down MB2 in (Easy) Build Mode activates a faster deletion of modules. Programming 1 week


Devices, machines and tools
Feature Description State Time in development
Furnaces to create alloys Alloys are a combination of two or more materials. Alloys usually have better stats than single ore materials, and for example the Capital Ship frames and hulls are both built from alloys. In addition to the raw materials, furnaces require also a lot of energy and sometimes special conditions or a certain type atmosphere dust cloud. Programming & QA 20 weeks
Blueprint Projector Casts a blueprint for manufacturing, or just for fun, from a blueprint chip. For manufacturing purposes a number of other devices are needed as well, such as a 3D printer and an item spawner, and of course a ton of energy. Programming 13 weeks
Refueling tools V2 Tank refill tools that can be used to fill the Liquid Exorium Tank, Hydrogen Tank, or the Haderite Propellant Tank of a Capital Ship. Initial, single-use versions are already in the game, and the next step is making the tools refillable like other resource containers. Programming 5 weeks
Grid displays Bigger screens made possible with new grid displays, where the grid containing the characters can extend beyond the boundaries of the physical screen. Basic functionality is now finished, with new visuals and other polishing in the works. Some additional features are also in the plans. Programming 6 weeks
Updated heat mechanics Updated mechanics for various devices, ship weapons and thrusters generating heat and becoming overheated. Design & Configuration 7 weeks
Device overheat VFX Visual effects for different devices, such as generators, overheating. Art 2 weeks


Combat
Feature Description State Time in development
Combat balance Started with damage reduction for the Tripod Autocannon and continues with new materials and weapon progress from the Tripod Autocannon onwards. The latest adjustment has been made to the Tripod Railgun to make it similar to other Tripod weapons. Design & Configuration 11 weeks
Armor balance Enhancing the attributes of some armor materials in relation to balancing out combat. Design & Configuration 6 weeks
Resurrection with endokits Allows players to resurrect others by using their endokits. Programming 2 weeks
Single part missiles and torpedoes New single-part missiles and torpedoes. Programming 6 weeks
Ball Turret The ball turret is a secured gunner position that can be used with gunships, stations, and Capital Ships. Art & Design 5 weeks


Other
Feature Description State Time in development
Cosmetics Allows painting of weapons and armor, and adds a lot of new armors. Enables cosmetics shop. Art 18 weeks
More tutorials New tutorials for new features. Currently working on, for example, a Moon Base Tutorial, Capital Ship Dock tutorial, and a guide to siege. Design 8 weeks
Inventory V2 Completely overhauled inventory system. Allows stacking items, accessing containers directly, improved sorting and searching functions, etc. Programming 46 weeks
Item crates Allows hauling items in crates. This is included in the new inventory system. Programming 46 weeks
Company and personal storage access Access controls for company and personal station inventory. Companies can give access rights based on ranks, and both companies and single players can set their preferred rules of access for any individuals or for example friends. Design 2 weeks
New Fast Travel VFX New visual effects for using the Fast Travel gates and for Capital Ship fast travel. Art 4 weeks
HUD menu buttons Buttons for different menus (such as the inventory, crafting, CV, etc.) are added to the HUD in an editable box similar to the quickbar. Programming 1 week
Priority snap points for single items Priority snap points for certain single items to improve their usability and make them snap in correct orientation regardless of player position, for example for YOLOL chips snapping into YOLOL racks. Programming 1 week
Interaction UI New UI elements to guide players when interacting with items in the game-world, such as the pilot chair. Design 1 week
New player CV A new logic and format for the player CV, which will include for example a new player rating system, player tags and medals. Design 3 weeks


Gallery

Sb_charodium.jpg Sb_exorium.jpg Starbase_furniture_smart_casual_table_b_01.jpg Starbase_deco_projector_a.jpg Starbase_furniture_pillar_set_concept.jpg Starbase_furniture_pillar_set_concept_2.jpg Starbase_towing_beam_1.jpg Sb_ore_comp2.jpg

Videos




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Zarenno

Active endo
Joined
Jan 14, 2022
Messages
26
#3
I just have two thoughts about this progress note:

1. The new hologram type mentions plants(?) I hops this isnt meaning like actual plants and trees etc, because as far as we have seen on every moon, none of them have plants or life and it wouldnt make sense to give the robots plants, where would they get it from?

2. The 'New' section is disappointing because it doesnt include the radiation tracking that the community has been asking for updates on since week one. sieges are needed and fun yadda yadda, but I dont want pvp in this game yto be constrained to 1 rare event, with it being super hard (almost impossible) to find anyone in the current game in pvp space without either following them from an origin or holding a choke point like the gate (I dont gatecamp for anyone wondering its to dumb and boring). Can we please get some pvp love that isnt super rare, capital ship based sieges?
 

Venombrew

Master endo
Joined
Aug 9, 2019
Messages
369
#4
1. The new hologram type mentions plants(?) I hops this isnt meaning like actual plants and trees etc, because as far as we have seen on every moon, none of them have plants or life and it wouldnt make sense to give the robots plants, where would they get it from?
im sure this is just decoration, but keep in mind they have big plans for planetary systems in the future, so who knows what we will one day see on these planets.
 

XenoCow

Master endo
Joined
Dec 10, 2019
Messages
562
#6
I really like the look of those new grid displays, especially the color changing aspect. Can individual elements be colored differently? I really hope so!
 

SubaruSama

Veteran endo
Joined
Apr 20, 2020
Messages
115
#7
why can't some of these features not already be in the game right now
like those displays, heat sinks, the moon terrain, hangar halls, etc. (basically like everything^^)
 

ChaosRifle

Veteran endo
Joined
Aug 11, 2020
Messages
226
#8
Ship Designer Decal Tool improvements
layer control and masking PLEASE. Maybe a flatten option, and plate control to limit adjacent plate placements. Higher decal limit.
forced limits on ship pitch/yaw to promote positional advantage for smaller ships vs larger ships, max speed limits for larger ships to allow for smaller focused builds to intercept - sliding scale based on mass. ie 130 as the lowest, 150 highest, where a microfighter goes 150, a max voxel ship goes 130 due to its ship-mass.

need more plates before I give a crap about decorations, i know that its mind numbing for a modeler to be told to make thousands of geometric shapes (my jrhigh art teacher left for maternity leave once, our sub made us come up with 5000 different textures, per student, it was hell, trust me i know) but we really need more armour plate shapes. Nobody wants to go inside a ship if the outside looks like crap. Tables dont interest me - yet.

Display colour is freaking AMAZING. Thank you!
The holo-plants are top notch.
 

Zarenno

Active endo
Joined
Jan 14, 2022
Messages
26
#9
layer control and masking PLEASE. Maybe a flatten option, and plate control to limit adjacent plate placements. Higher decal limit.
forced limits on ship pitch/yaw to promote positional advantage for smaller ships vs larger ships, max speed limits for larger ships to allow for smaller focused builds to intercept - sliding scale based on mass. ie 130 as the lowest, 150 highest, where a microfighter goes 150, a max voxel ship goes 130 due to its ship-mass.
No offense, but this has to be one of the most out of touch sentences I have ever read on this forum. People build ships to handle how they want, this game has freedom for options if you put in the work for the ship to be that way. Arbitrary limitations because of your feelings wont help the game in any way. If you dont like the ships you are going up against, then go run away from combat instead of toward it. I know you are the streamer who does the super light and limited "race" ships, but dont force that limit garbage on the rest of the player base because of some unknown reason. We are fine where we are with the limits we already have.

On the topic of armor, I think we have a decent amount of plate options, but they need to make each plate segmented in 12cm squares, so that the armor comes down to material and not plate size for HP, since each big plate would be technically made of 12cm plates armor wise.
 

Kenetor

Master endo
Joined
Aug 9, 2019
Messages
326
#10
2. The 'New' section is disappointing because it doesnt include the radiation tracking that the community has been asking for updates on since week one. sieges are needed and fun yadda yadda, but I dont want pvp in this game yto be constrained to 1 rare event, with it being super hard (almost impossible) to find anyone in the current game in pvp space without either following them from an origin or holding a choke point like the gate (I dont gatecamp for anyone wondering its to dumb and boring). Can we please get some pvp love that isnt super rare, capital ship based sieges?
Im pretty sure they have repeatedly said no big new features till these current ones are done, secondly I think the cooling rework that currently happening is part of the groundwork. its coming but not any time soon.

The community has wanted and needed a great MANY things since week ONE, however its on their list of things they WILL be adding, let them finish their current work and let's see what sort of order we get presented when they bring out the new roadmap, bringing it up every week isn't gonna make it happen any faster.
 

ChaosRifle

Veteran endo
Joined
Aug 11, 2020
Messages
226
#12
Arbitrary limitations because of your feelings wont help the game in any way
Positional advantage in combat wont make the combat more complex and therefore more interesting, allowing for a varried battlefield of builds? A sliding scale allows for advantages of small ships if they get in close on large ships, in a nose to nose push. A small ship will then be able to sustain higher G forces and still go nose hot, whilst a larger ship can not, and allows the gain of positional advantage. This has the knock on effect of small ships countering large ships up close, however slowly (because small ergo less guns), medium ships countering small ones by being able to keep up well enough to take them down, and large ships able to take down the medium ships with relative ease in their superior firepower. This is a math thing, not my feelings.

I know you are the streamer who does the super light and limited "race" ships, but dont force that limit garbage on the rest of the player base because of some unknown reason.
How I pass the time to try and create content for people to enjoy whilst there is none, has absolutely zero bearing on my feelings towards competitive combat.
The combat (actual fighting, not the building) in Starbase is objectively and provably less complex than call of duty. It leads to a very dull gameplay, where large ships when designed correctly can acheive pitch capabillities so extreme they exceed angular velocities of over 150.1m/s at 30m off the bow, functionaly making small ships have zero advantages. If you want all ships to be identical meta bricks, by all means sure, but please don't go suggesting its because I want it for my own personal reasons due to being a streamer.

I want competitive, high skill, technical space combat, and right now starbase doesnt offer that.
 
Joined
Jun 20, 2021
Messages
10
#14
If you dont like the ships you are going up against, then go run away from combat instead of toward it
Now now, just because you don't like a suggestion doesn't mean you need to be childish about it :D How balancing shakes out is ultimately up to the devs, not you or I, so we can only contribute by sharing what we think might work (or being respectful about the flaws of others' suggestions).

While I doubt they'll impose hard limits based on ship size it is kind of funny that the only reason to make a small fighter atm is lower initial cost, since large ships can be made objectively better; just as maneuverable while being more tanky.
 

Zarenno

Active endo
Joined
Jan 14, 2022
Messages
26
#16
Bringing it up every week isn't gonna make it happen any faster.
It just might.

This is a math thing, not my feelings.
I don't see any math, just opinions.

The combat (actual fighting, not the building) in Starbase is objectively and provably less complex than call of duty. It leads to a very dull gameplay
First of all, they are two Different Games. Starbase is inherently much more complex, there are many more variables to worry about other than "is he going to throw a grenade, what primary is he using?" Since the environment is entirely 3D where you could be attacked from any quadrant. There is also the fact that most ships you encounter are different from your own and have their own armor scheme, internal layout and weaknesses. Both Pilots need to keep on target while knowing how to control their ship (which could become damaged and control different). The objectives of both pilots who are in combat might be to kill the other ship; however, the methods they approach could be entirely different, for example: I target the cockpits and pilot snipe, others might go for large sections to hit propellant tanks.
The COD vs. Starbase combat comparison is just really weak and uncalled for.

where large ships when designed correctly can achieve pitch capabilities so extreme they exceed angular velocities of over 150.1m/s at 30m off the bow, functionally making small ships have zero advantages. If you want all ships to be identical meta bricks, by all means sure, but please don't go suggesting its because I want it for my own personal reasons due to being a streamer.
This is a voxel game, and until they do the armor rework to where every plate is broken into 12cm^2 sections of HP based on material, we will have meta bricks because they have the most HP. Small ships have the advantage of being hard to hit even for experienced pilots, you just need to fly in a way that doesnt let the enemy line up on you; therefore, I dont recommend circling if they can keep up, but spiraling. I dont get why you have such a problem with big ship maneuverability when it still comes down to pilot skill in the end, someone can have all the yaw and pitch in the world, but if they dont know how to handle it, its going to oversteer constantly resulting in their defeat. Im going to take a guess, but I think you would like the "mouse" fighter because its tiny, has a glitched plate built cockpit and uses 2(?) autocannons.
I want competitive, high skill, technical space combat, and right now starbase doesnt offer that.
Go play Eve or Elite Dangerous if you want highly technical, since Starbase is already competitive and high skill for reasons mentioned above.

DISCLAIMER: My post is my opinion, and Caesura is Hot AF.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Dec 18, 2021
Messages
5
#17
Lots of exciting stuff here! I am glad to see the Moon city is getting reconfigured so the SSC is functional, and the gravity is disabled in the instanced areas. This will make Moon city a great place to gather and build! Hangar halls are the other big one I'm waiting for - this will make stations and capital ships 10x more useful, since it eliminates the largest reason to return to origin for building or repairs.
 

ZombieMouse

Well-known endo
Joined
Oct 12, 2021
Messages
53
#18
forced limits on ship pitch/yaw to promote positional advantage for smaller ships vs larger ships, max speed limits for larger ships to allow for smaller focused builds to intercept - sliding scale based on mass. ie 130 as the lowest, 150 highest, where a microfighter goes 150, a max voxel ship goes 130 due to its ship-mass.
IMHO this would be a pretty horrifying change if it happened without the introduction of ball turrets. If you add asymmetry to max possible performance based on mass, it needs balancing with something, or else micro-fighters become clearly better, and that is not interesting design (to me at least).
 

mikan

Well-known endo
Joined
Oct 1, 2021
Messages
68
#19
You don't need to know the planned implementation date. I would like to know about developments other than capital ships that I would like to complete in order to introduce capital ships to live servers.
This is because the weekly progress notes do not mention the features that will be developed before the capital ships are deployed to live servers.

Even if it is announced that it is under development, it is completely unknown whether it will be carried out at the same time as the capital ship when it is completed.
 
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