Patch 5 is here, Smarter Autopilot and Tier 2 Logistics Updates

Hello, Miners!

Since we launched into Early Access, we've been reading your feedback, tracking your bug reports, and working hard to improve your time in the void. Today, we are happy to announce Patch 5 is on the main branch for all players!

This is one of our biggest quality-of-life updates yet. We’ve given your ship’s autopilot a substantial upgrade, optimized late-game logistics performance, and added updates to the user interface - along with dozens of bug fixes, crash fixes and tweaks.

Let's see what's new in this update!

Autopilot

The autopilot has been significantly improved up to be more reliable, and intelligent.

1. True Obstacle Avoidance: Ships will now actively use pathfinding to detect hazards, stations, and asteroids in real-time, maneuvering safely around them to reach their destination.

2. Simultaneous Thruster Logic: The flight computer now engages both rotational and linear thrusters at the exact same time. This results in faster and smoother maneuvers.

3. Direct Overview Controls: You can now right-click any object directly inside your Overview Panel on the right and immediately issue"Fly To"or"Rotate To"commands, making fleet coordination faster than ever.

Select the Autopilot Mode on the top of the screen to make full use of the autopilot commands:

TIER-2 Cargo Packages

As your space mining empire scales up, handling thousands of tiny material containers can clutter up a sector and impact game performance. To solve this, we are introducing T2 cargo packages.

1. AddedLarger CapacityWhile standard T1 packages cap out at 50 tons, the new heavy-duty T2 Cargo Packages can hold up to 500 tons of cargo in a single entity.
2. AdjustedNoticeable Performance GainsBy compressing vast volumes of cargo into fewer, larger packages, we’ve considerably reduced the floating entity count in space - keeping busy sectors running smoother.

To utilize this high-capacity system, both the sending and receiving stations must have a T2 Cargo Bay installed to properly handle the larger container sizes (T1 packages and T1 Cargo Bays work same as before).

Transactions Screen: "Where Is My Money Going?"

You likely asked yourself "where is the money?!" several times now - it was probably spent on continuous hiring of colonists in your habitats.

Now you can see exactly what is going on with your finances and transactions - we’ve added a tracking system to the operations interface. It can be found under the "Transactions" tab on the Character Screen.

This new ledger tracks every single credit leaving or entering your accounts. Easily audit your incomes and expenses in one centralized view.

UI UPDATES

We shifted some things around and fixed several instances where UI windows were overlapping slightly.

You will now find the storage grid on your central panel. This clears up some space on the left and lets you know the state of your cargo holds more clearly.

We have also moved the logistics and the HLEV (hangarship) info panels to tabs in the Overview.

Here you will find info on all your active trade routes and additional hangarship commands with a list od docked ships.

As always, thanks to all sending your feedback and bugreports or participating on the beta branch.

Please see full patch notes below: ==============================

STARMINER 0.33.7.1 - PATCH NOTES

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ADDITIONS

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• Autopilot can now intelligently route around obstacles instead of attempting direct collision path

• Autopilot outliner commands now support “Fly to” and “Rotate to” for any object

• New transactions screen in the Ops interface to track expenditures and money flow

• Added description and end text to the Panonia, Candle in the Dark and Homebound missions

• T2 cargo packages (capacity: 500t vs T1’s 50t), reducing package count and improving performance in large operations

• Trade objectives can now be triggered with docked stations

• Additional dialogue after end of campaign and end of Mega Solar objectives

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TWEAKS

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• Trade routes now warn you when a destination is too far, and auto-cancel with a refund past the limit

• Nuclear Cell power generation duration increased from 100s to 300s

• Smarter missiles which avoid friendly structures

• Motherships now retaliate heavily when attacked

• Turrets now hold fire when a friendly structure is in the line of fire

• Updated the operations interface character tab

• Moved the hangarship widget into a tab in the overview panel

• Moved the station storage grid to the station control section

• Moved the logistics panel to an overview tab

• Centered the HUD config widget on screen

• Station wobble prevention

• Removed systems check from Frontier Zone Gamma

• Added start text to TGS

• Various UI updates

• Trade package optimizations

• Location picker plane now moves to the disassembled module when resource packages are created

• Orphaned engineers are reassigned to other hangars when their parent hangar is removed

• Trading range increased to 5Km between T1 Cargo Bays; trading between T2 Cargo Bays is now unlimited range

• Out-of-range trade routes now pause instead of cancelling

• Commander radiator capacity decreased

• The station type picker now only shows categories that have research entries

• Trading no longer opens the logistics tab automatically

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FIXES

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• Fixed autopilot triggering when clicking an NPC station

• Fixed station/module mass not decreasing while trading

• Module parts trading fixes

• Fixed Helios Basin ghost debris blocking mission completion

• Fixed Moon Combat quest auto-completing

• Fixed Water Efficiency research prerequisites

• Fixed Ballistic Warfare expertise research

• Storage and storage balancer fixes

• Fixed hangarship asset transfer and storage capacity

• Retrothrusters now restart on game load

• Fixed trading markup

• Refinery Efficiency and Refinery Speed modifiers now update without a reload

• Scrap modules fixes

• Fixed multiple construction towers over-using resources

• Research modifiers now apply to factories

• Fixed solar wing not being possessable in Tutorial 2

• Loqui station is no longer flagged as a merchant once it becomes possessable

• Fixed crashes on save/load

• Fixed trade attribution when trading with a selected NPC station

• Fixed drill nodes detaching incorrectly

• Fixed construction tower mass handling when building remote stations

• Smarter missiles

• Fixed the mass driver gun shooting itself

• Fixed duplicate entries appearing in the bulletin

• Fixed the HUD config window opening when it's already open

• Fixed extending the station storage grid

• Fixed a missing move location in the Candle in the Dark mission

• Fixed the Repay Debt objective incorrectly appearing in the campaign

• Fixed the Ashrock Belt Clearing research

• Multiple officer modifiers now apply by highest value instead of activation order

• Removed a deprecated objective from the Enceladus debris field

• Destroy-hostile-station objectives now show an enemy indicator on the target stations

• Fixed resource transfer between ships docked in the hangarship

• Fixed logistics row overlap

• Trades that can't be completed due to missing stations are now cleaned up

• Fixed overview paging

• Fixed the officer icon in the grid

• Fixed modifiers not being applied to stations docked in the hangarship

• Module part total prices now match the resource price

• Various crash fixes

Happy mining,

-- Starminer Dev Team