Hello everyone, here are the progress notes of the week 10 of 2022!
This week's progress notes show all the major 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.
Starbase Progress Notes: Week 10 (2022)
March 7 - March 11
Below we have listed the different states, and an explanation of what that state means in terms of development process.
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.
| Feature | Description | State | Time in development |
|---|---|---|---|
| New item categories and sorting | There have been several changes to Starbase's categories. Two new categories, Machinery and devices and Parts and decorations, have been added, and the Reloadable tools category has been removed. Additionally, the Ore category has been changed to Materials and the Parts category has been incorporated into Parts and decorations. | ✔️ | 2 weeks |
| Capturing station's Capital Ship | If a station with an unfinished Capital Ship in its dock gets captured, the Capital Ship's ownership will be transferred to the captors. | ✔️ | 1 week |
| Saving Blueprints outside of Ship Designer and EBM | Allows saving changes made to ship blueprints outside of the Ship Designer and the Easy Build Mode. Blueprints can be saved to three slots, and the updated blueprint can be used to repair the ship in the Repair terminal or with tools. | ✔️ | 22 weeks |
| Additional chatlog feedback when in Build Mode | Players will now receive additional feedback messages in the chatlog when, for example, a Moon Base building piece is colliding with the Moon. | ✔️ | 1 week |
| Capital Ship and station size classes | Capital Ships can initiate siege only against stations that are in the same size class or smaller than it is. The size class is determined by the amount of valid build areas. | ✔️ | 8 weeks |
| Teams and outsider players | In this version of the feature, all players participating in a siege choose their side when approaching the siege location. In the final version, which will be added later, the participating companies will be automatically assigned their roles as the attacking and the defending side, and all outsider players can choose which side they'll be backing. | ✔️ | 8 weeks |
| Station area validity | Like Capital Ships, all types of stations will require a minimum material volume for each area for them to be valid. Only valid areas will count towards station class and form capture zones in sieges. | ✔️ | 3 weeks |
| Transponder signals for company ships | When a ship is owned by a Company, the Company's name will be shown on the ship transponder to those that aren't in the said Company. On the other hand, members of the same Company are able to see each others' ship names on the ship transponder. | ✔️ | 3 weeks |
| Feature | Description | State | Time in development |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved carrying animations | Various carrying animations will be modified and improved, making carrying look more natural. | Art | 2 weeks |
| Chosen object count UI | When in build mode, an icon will appear above the default horizontal hotbar in the center of the screen, displaying the currently used object and the amount of it left in the storage. | Programming | 1 week |
| Increased range for copying objects in Build Mode | Players will be able to copy and delete highlighted objects from the same range when in Build Mode. | QA | 2 weeks |
| "Reset pop-up hints" option | A "reset pop-up hints" option will be added to the tutorial section in settings. | QA | 1 week |
| Claiming resigned stations | If a player enters the area of a resigned station, they will get a pop-up notification that allows them to claim the station for themselves. | Programming | 2 weeks |
| Feature | Description | State | Time in development |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moon Base BM improvements | Improving the Build Mode of moon bases further. For example support for snapping placement of objects, and polishing the support plinth building logic. | Programming | 5 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 | 30 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 | 17 weeks |
| Moon terrain generation & customization | Development tools for creating different terrain types to enable a lot more variety to moon terrains. | Programming | 25 weeks |
| Moon base degradation | The Moon Base will start to degrade and eventually get destroyed if it's no longer supported by its support legs. This can occur if the base suffers damage in a siege or if the support legs or modules are removed, leaving the base without proper support. | Programming | 2 weeks |
| Anti-gravity zones for player Moon Bases | Adding anti-gravity areas to player Moon Bases. The anti-gravity area will be the same size and shape as the base's safe zone. | Programming | 3 weeks |
| 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 | 6 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 | 5 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 |
| 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 | 11 weeks |
| Siege scheduling mechanics | Mechanics for initiating the siege by choosing a timeslot for the attack in the siege terminal. The defending station is also able to set their preferred timeslots for battles. | Programming & QA | 15 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 area at a time towards the center of the structure. The HUD and other visuals will indicate if an area is capturable and who is currently in control. | Programming & QA | 13 weeks |
| Siege win condition & aftermath | To win the siege, one side needs to have control of all participating structures, meaning both the attacking Capital Ship as well as well as the targeted station. When the battle is over, Safe Zones will return after a short delay and the warzone with its limitations will disappear. | Programming & QA | 9 weeks |
| Siege Terminal | Similar screen view as Capital Ship Fast Travel Terminal, where a Capital Ship can initiate a siege battle. | Programming & QA | 12 weeks |
| Siege HUD | During siege battles, the HUD will show e.g. the area capture progress, siege related timers and all siege participants. | Programming & QA | 8 weeks |
| 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 | 10 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. | Programming | 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 |
| 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 |
| Towing beam | Allows towing other ships with a towing device. This makes it possible to carry discovered or broken down ships elsewhere for repairs, for example. Towing is possible outside safe zones, and if the ship's owner allows it, also inside them. | Programming | 12 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. The casual mode will feature the option to use automated welding after snapping. | Programming | 3 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 |
| Feature | Description | State | Time in development |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stations | Player-made stations, the first iteration. | Programming | 29 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 | 8 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 | 25 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 | 34 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 | 10 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 | 3 weeks |
| Station clusters | Station cluster is a group of stations that form a special, large Safe Zone that can span several kilometers. Via clusters, it's possible to control bigger areas and for example set Safe Zone rules and taxes to mining and trading. | Design | 3 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 | 4 weeks |
| 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 | 23 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 |
| Recycler Tool | Equippable tool (previously known as the Salvage Tool) that can turn any object into nuggets of ore, which can then be salvaged into crates. Makes it effortless to make the most of e.g. abandoned ships while exploring the universe. | Programming | 4 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 | 6 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 & QA | 9 weeks |
| Updated heat mechanics | Updated mechanics for various devices, ship weapons and thrusters generating heat and becoming overheated. | Design & Configuration | 11 weeks |
| Device overheat VFX | Visual effects for different devices, such as generators, overheating. | Art | 2 weeks |
| 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 similar to Capital Ships. | Programming | 5 weeks |
| Increased crafting bench range | The range of crafting benches in stations will cover entire build zones. | QA | 2 weeks |
| 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. | Programming | 14 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 | 8 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 |
| Feature | Description | State | Time in development |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cosmetics | Allows painting of weapons and armor, and adds a lot of new armors. Enables cosmetics shop. | Art | 20 weeks |
| Decorative hologram projectors | New kind of hologram projectors with various themes, for example plants, that can be used to decorate your stations and ships. | Art | 4 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 | 10 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 | 50 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 | 2 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 | 5 weeks |
Gallery
Purchase Starbase Early Access now on Steam!
Last edited:
