Hello! We are preparing so much improvements for the next update, so we decided it will be a version alpha 0.9. It will be a huge update where almost every aspect of the game will be greatly improved and we will fix most of the crucial issues which exist in the game for a long time. For example, a ship constructor, it is the most important feature of the game, but currently it have an important issue which should be fixed. For a long time we are thinking how to solve the problem that ship construction in sandbox mode is much more fun than in non-sandbox mode. The good ship editor should allow to quickly place and remove parts in order to experiment with different designs and build a ship you want. However, currently construction and deconstruction of modules it is a complex process, which requires a lot of time and resources, and result it is not possible to experiment with designs and unleash your creativity.
Currently the only way to build something specific, it is to launch the game in sandbox mode, build the ship there, make a screenshot, calculate required amount of resources in notepad and after that load non-sandbox game back and rebuild this ship using screenshot as an instruction. This is super tedious and inconvenient. Definitely not the way how it should work. Of course, instant construction \ deconstruction of modules could solve this issue, but we don't want to make it instant because we like a nice animation of robotic arms and its welding effects. But for the next update we developed the solution - Isolated ship editor! Now in non-sandbox game mode you can press the button any time and open a special editor screen where you can edit your ship using the same rules as in sandbox mode. Modules are free and can be placed or removed instantly. Here you can unleash your creativity designing your ship, and after you finished, you can press the button and engineering modules in game world will automatically build a new ship for you!
Also this method will allows to load a blueprint which was saved in sandbox mode or a file from Workshop (which will be added later) and build it in non-sandbox game mode. In addition, such approach will solve an important issue of orbital game mode where it is very inconvenient to design a ships due drifting of separated modules due tidal forces. This no longer will be a problem because development of blueprints can be done in isolated environment. Besides that, recipes of most modules will be simplified, because currently modules requires way too much different resources, in result gathering of resources for ship construction became tedious. We want to make ship construction more accessible for players. Also take a look on a new energy shield effects: