Mod Support (v0.7.0)

Ok, as mentioned in the last post... I kind of lost track of my plans over the last few weeks.

It started when I was trying to figure out how I was ever going to follow through on adding mod support. Once I actually started though, I couldn’t stop... so here it is, much earlier than intended.

Along with a bunch of other stuff that probably would’ve been out a couple of weeks ago if not for this.

Mod Support

Star Vortex now has first-party mod support with full Steam Workshop integration. You can browse, subscribe, and play with mods directly in-game. They load automatically on startup and can add new weapons, ship parts, enemies... or override pretty much anything.

Steam post image Dawnstar Design by CitizenKing (https://star-vortex.com/ships.php?view=195)

I’ve put together a Banana Launcher mod as a first example, which is already up on the Workshop. I’ll be adding more examples over time, mainly focused on content-only mods to help people get started.

The game now includes HarmonyX, so if you’re into programming, there’s basically nothing you can’t change.

This next bit is for mod makers:

Under the hood, mods are just folders with a config file, an optional AssetBundle for Unity assets, and optional C# DLLs. HarmonyX is fully integrated, meaning you can patch any method in the game.

There’s a modding guide and example config in the Mods folder, plus a Workshop uploader so you can publish directly to Steam. If you need tools, scripts, or just a hand getting started, jump into the Discord and ask in the #modding channel... I’ll help.

Volumetric Nebulas

Nebulas have been completely redesigned with volumetric clouds. They’re no longer just a layer of darkness. Enemies can hide inside them... but so can you.

Your ship now has exhaust vents you can toggle to blast nearby clouds away, giving you a clear view of the area. Nebulas also appear more frequently now, since they’re actually fun.

Smarter Enemies

Enemy AI has had a pretty significant rework across the board.

Hit-and-run enemies now perform proper flyby attacks instead of awkwardly stopping to fight. Flanking enemies split up and come at you from behind. Squadrons spread out around their targets and drift into formation during combat, but if they drop below 25% hull they’ll break off and fight for survival. Fleeing ships now actually run away instead of picking a random direction.

It should all feel a lot more dynamic.

This update will probably be followed by a wave of hotfixes. Don’t panic... it’s a huge amount of backend changes, so a few bugs are inevitable.

After that, I’ll be back on Sector 4 content. Assuming I don’t get distracted... and accidentally add multiplayer first.

Enjoy!

Patch Notes

New Features / Content

• Nebula fog has been redesigned with volumetric clouds that can hide enemies.

• Ships now have exhaust vents that they can toggle to clear nebula clouds.

• Nebulas frequency has been increased as they should now be more enjoyable.

Balance Changes

• Enemy black hole guns are now fired randomly, instead of in your face.

• Shield resistance is now capped at 80% per shield.

• Doubled grapple gun projectile speed for players only.

• Enemy squadron ships now drift toward formation during combat.

• Enemy ships below 25% hull now ignore formation to fight freely.

• Enemy squadrons now make an effort to spread out around targets.

• Hit-and-run enemies now perform flyby attacks instead of stopping to fight.

• Flanking enemies now split and approach from behind.

• Boost heat is now player-only, so enemies can maneuver freely.

• Fleet ships now spawn at the player's level instead of the star's.

• Seed Cannon now benefits from Rocketeer upgrades.

• Scatter Gun and Plasma Blaster damage increased by 15%.

• Black Hole Gun damage increased by 100%.

• Black Hole Gun can now receive Charge and Recharge modifiers.

Quality of Life / Accessibility

• Slot selection now shows comparison tooltips for each slot.

• Equip button now fills empty slots before showing slot selection.

• Improved artwork of some giant obstructions

• Sensor arrows now sit on screen edges instead of a fixed circle.

• Ship debris now fades to gray and dims after destruction.

• Ship part lights now disable when parts break off.

• Top dust particles now use world-space positions for clearer movement.

• Movement grid now draws accurate 50m world-space lines.

• Increased default background darkness from 20% to 40%.

• Reduced brightness of Point Defense Lasers by 50%.

Performance

• FPS counter now responds faster to frame rate changes.

• Reduced per-arrow CPU load for sensor arrows on HUD.

• Background layers now auto-fit the camera to cut wasted rendering.

• Twitch system no longer runs every frame when disabled.

• HUD stat displays now reuse string buffers to reduce memory allocations.

• Cached shield shader data to avoid re-creating it every frame.

• Cached button input bindings to remove per-frame string work.

• Dialog typewriter now uses native TMP visibility instead of string building.

• Ship outlines now skip off-screen ships for faster rendering.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Auto Tesla Coils dealing far more damage than intended.

• Damage summary no longer shows "Unknown" for enemies that died before you.

• Fixed Assembler showing wrong appearance for legendary weapons.

• Fixed beam weapon sounds stacking louder on rapid toggling.

• Fixed the interact prompt getting stuck when switching input devices.

• Fixed an error when ships are destroyed during scene cleanup.

• Fixed an error when a ship is destroyed mid-hyperjump.

• Fixed placeholder comparison values in Assembler level up panel.

• Fixed a death surge error caused by an uncached sprite renderer.

• Fixed an error caused by ship visual effects during destruction.

• Fixed hidden settings tabs briefly showing when opening settings.

• Player weapons no longer snap to invulnerable boss layers.

• Fixed boss layer weapons firing parallel instead of at the target.

• Fixed Warden upgrades locked when using a Dreadnought above 10 points.

• Fixed upgrading rarity allowing more modifiers than the limit.

• Fixed grapple not detaching from mines when they are destroyed.

• Damage number scale can now be set to 0% to disable.

• Fixed beams staying visible during black hole warps.

• Fixed heat bar showing a residual dot after heat fully dissipates.

• Fixed control binding not displaying for utility slots in ship bar.

• Fleeing ships now move away from threats instead of randomly.

• Enemies set to Abrupt AI will now correctly activate all weapons at once.

• Fixed smoke and wing trails not fading out nicely on death.

• Enemies no longer boost unless in direct pursuit.

• Fixed clouds not appearing when toggled on in developer settings mid-game.

• Fixed an error when opening storage during a UI transition.

• Fixed slot rotation unlocking when editing position in Ship Builder.

Modders

• Added first-party mod support with Steam Workshop integration.

• Added a Workshop uploader tool for modders to Mods folder.

• Mods can override game assets and use HarmonyX patches.

• Added a modding guide and example config to the Mods folder.