Dev Update: June Newspost

Summer has arrived and we're here working on RC1. It is coming along just fine but still far enough out that it is time for a dev post update. Steam post image New Graviton Beam in action. No graviolis included.

Here are some of the things to look forward to:

• After talking with some players we have modified the camera zoom profile. Previous profile was linear, that is each step was always the same amount of zoom. Now we have changed it to an exponential profile, which means zoom steps -- when at the "zoomed out" side of things -- are much larger, and at the "zoomed in", each subsequent step becomes smaller. We like this now that we see it, and we think all players either won't notice any difference, or will like it too.

• Created a number of new distress calls. These smaller bite sized moments of gameplay always benefit from more things to do.

• We have re-designed the graviton beam. Previously, it was kind of lack luster to use at best, and annoying at worse. Now it is more of a specialized damage weapon that is very fun to play with and deadly if caught facing it unprepared.

• Significant AI improvements. We have both improved pathing and local avoidance while also reduced computational cost by up to 20x, and that means better performance, especially in regions with many moving vessels.

• We have redone the loading screen. We felt like streaking stars was played out, so we are trying something we hope is a bit more exciting.

• Significant performance improvements for text and item rendering as well as bulk item addition and deletion.

• Squashed a number of bugs. Many thanks to the players who continue to report them. Thankfully the number and significance of the types of bugs we're seeing are hovering around the "merely annoying" category.

AI controlled ships will better avoid larger vessels, even those with concave configurations

That is it for now. Stay cool out there. And look for RC1 soon.