v0.39: New key bindings, better performance & many improvements

Controls, performance and game flow improved

This update adds a full keybinding system to Astrosphere, unifies controls on the Steam Deck and improves performance in busy sectors. In addition, the behavior of pirates, the introduction to the game, several blueprint functions and numerous smaller details have been revised.

New features

• Complete keybinding system The previously static control overview has been replaced by a dynamic and scrollable occupancy list. Keyboard and mouse as well as controllers have separate areas. Customized key assignments are saved globally and loaded automatically the next time you start the game.

• Revised entry and first sector jump The process from the home sector to the first jump has been made clearer and more robust. New save games now begin with the intended story start and complete starting equipment. Your own ship can be selected directly in the home sector and displays its status, warnings and a highlight ring when hovering over it with the mouse. Sector jumps are only released when all necessary requirements are met. In addition, a direct restoration route via the shipyard was added.

Controls and Steam Deck

• The Steam Deck's core controls have been aligned with a regular Xbox-compatible gamepad.

• Sticks, D-pad, ABXY buttons, triggers, shoulder buttons and the start button use the same inputs as other controllers.

• Trackpads and the back buttons of the Steam Deck can still be used as optional additions, but do not replace basic gaming functions.

• The right trackpad can optionally be used as a mouse and the trackpad click as a left mouse click.

• The buttons on the back of the Steam Deck can be set up as additional assignments to existing controller buttons.

Gameplay improvements

• Pirate chase reworked Pirates no longer pursue their goals almost indefinitely. You can now cancel a hunt more reliably. In addition, pirates can be deliberately lured into the vicinity of civilian ships and thereby distracted.

• Beginner tip improved The first hint now points directly to your own spaceship instead of to the “Star Map” menu item.

• The information window has been reduced from 910 × 650 to 760 × 520 pixels, starts on the left side of the screen and can be moved via the title bar. The position remains within the current scene. When the scene changes, the window is reset to its default position.

• Adjusted spaceship sizes The sizes of various spaceship sprites have been revised so that the ships are scaled more coherently with each other.

• Improved hyper jump sound The sound effect when jumping into hyperspace has been adjusted slightly louder to make the jump seem more powerful and immersive.

Performance optimizations

• Camera dependent sector particles Permanently active particle systems in safe sectors now pause their simulation completely as soon as they are outside the camera image. When they become visible again, they are continued without any complex re-simulation.

• Audio and effects pooling Unique explosion sounds and spaceship explosion effects are now reused via a sector-local pool. Effects are released based on their actual state, reducing unnecessary creation and destruction operations.

• Clean sleep state for NPCs Sleeping NPC ships stop audio and particle effects completely. When you wake up, only the effects that are actually required by the relevant gameplay systems are started.

• Sector updates relieved Complex checks within the sector runtime are now throttled more specifically or executed in an event-controlled manner.

• Movement, weapon controls, collision reactions and fluid animations remain fully active per frame.

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug in the station computer that could cause the button to decrypt a blueprint to become clickable again while the decryption process was in progress.

• Several incorrectly displayed localization strings have been corrected.

• The inaccuracy of blueprint weapons on the player ship is now correctly calculated.

• Fixed several bugs related to Blueprints.

• Selection states of ships and sectors are now compared more reliably.

• Invalid or incomplete sector jumps are reliably prevented.

• Additional tests for ship selection, jump readiness and game entry have been added.

Thank you for your support

Thank you to everyone who plays Astrosphere and reports bugs. Your feedback will help to make the game more stable, understandable and enjoyable step by step.