We regret to announce that Shallow Space has been cancelled. About a year ago we designed a new client that ticked a lot of the boxes that the community were looking for originally but we struggled to include, as time went on it became clear that the decision was contentious as it would remove a lot of the current look and feel. We have to admit that it would have been quite a different game to what it is currently on Steam now. Dealing with the legacy has been difficult. It is highly unlikely that wed have been able to cut though the negative reviews and press even if we were to create something amazing and it has been soul destroying to try. To punch through that negativity we would have needed one hell of a marketing campaign which was not possible with no funds. In the absence of funding we intended on it being a part time affair, driven by a couple of the original team members. But coding and community management dont really mix, personally I found myself feeling the effects of burnout yet again and the team had mixed feelings on the direction the project had decided to take. In addition, with no funding, there was no hope of producing additional required assets that matched the expensive stuff we already had and we only have half the models needed. Trying to raise additional funds by selling the original assets elsewhere didnt work. Hardest thing ever to admit defeat, but we simply dont have what it takes to finish this financially or mentally. Thanks to all the fans, there are other strong projects continuing the good fight, look forward to seeing them unfold.

Back again, with another summary update. So to recap; as you likely know we took an extended break from the project but coming up to a year ago now we picked things up again. It hasnt been straightforward, there was lots of pressure back then and some things in 2.0 were designed in a rush without proper consideration and it didnt really gel as a game when we tried to finish it into something objective driven. As a result were having to refine the idea and make it a little more achievable for a small team, but also add some new killer features on the way. Weve taken to referring to the revamp as 3.0, and the whole endeavour would be completely pointless if we didnt take the opportunity to learn what we can from the previous two attempts. If you didnt know, youre able to play both the prototypes right here (you can switch to the 1.0 build in the game properties.)
So the last couple of months weve been focusing on getting the tactical area of the game up to scratch. We have this concept of the 'Sectors', which is the name weve given to the areas of play that divide up the area within the gravity well of a planetary body, an area we call Shallow Space due to congestion. Theres a much higher emphasis on tactical play in 3.0, so the position of your forces matters a lot more. What does that actually mean? Well let's just say that there's a lot less time spent fighting the camera controls and more time planning how your forces will engage the enemy and actually playing the game. Some examples of this are XL turrets granting abilities so you can blanket an area with flak (concept pictured above), or turrets that enable you to snipe an enemy from across the battlefield. It's not pretty atm, but it's coming - it'll look great by the time we're finished. steamthumbsup In 2.0 if you wanted to target a particular unit you would find that immensely difficult as the action was all over the place. The general aim in 3.0 is to make things easier to control, force ourselves (as developers) to consider gameplay before detail and not give the player too much to do at once (hard thing to do in an RTS!) Sectors are mostly the same as in 2.0, but again weve tweaked a few things to make things play a little more tactically. So in 3.0 you can use the terrain to form chokepoints and if played right, a smaller force can be really effective against a larger force. Something we were aiming for in both 1.0 and 2.0 but failed miserably. We break down the anatomy of a sector and walkthrough a tactical scenario in this blog article.
We also have made some process repurposing the Carriers, previously they used to carry Corvettes which didnt really make sense. So instead Corvettes are now the smallest class of ship you can add to a Fleet and Fighters have become Drones, a way of projecting force away from precious Capital ships. Another big part 3.0 that is an evolution of something introduced in 2.0 'The Strategy Layer.' This part of 3.0 is still fairly fresh as weve been spending a lot of time putting Tactical together. But as that nears minimum viable functionality, were starting to give it some more love. Its starting to resemble something of the Grand Strategy we originally envisaged for Shallow Space. As you saw in update one, we have background traffic milling around adding flavour to the sectors. But how will we control the action? How will we stir it up to become that war-torn corner of the galaxy? Well do that using something were calling Taskforces which are essentially a group of Fleets with an objective. They can be AI or Player controlled and could be patrolling, attacking or escorting in the sectors; changing the face of that Grand Strategy map as you play. Well start off small here, just build the foundations with a couple of mission types and when the game is back on Steam well start to fold in some of the grander ideas such as boarding stations and Sectors exchanging hands between Factions.
Were midway through implementing Taskforces, once thats done itll be time to rework the mission interface and put the skin back on - again its all minimum viable stuff, just enough to get us going on Steam again and get some feedback. Were still some ways off that though mind, but we are getting closer each day. 8 years working this thing is a long time to accumulate knowledge and learn how things are done, not just in the computer game industry but in software development as a whole. Its not just about the game, its about how we deliver the updates in an automated fashion with as little human interaction as possible. But what does that mean? Well it means less time chasing our tails and more time delivering new features when the time comes. Were excited about the project again, it feels like this time, weve planned every meaningful detail and we know how this thing is going to play with minimal surprises and it is mind blowing. Its only when we stopped for a second to count the number of units orbiting our test planet, over 700 fleets, nearly 2,000 ships and the truth is that weve barely begun to populate that. We talk about that here, Massive scale intergalactic warfare is coming our way!
We kid ourselves that this time its easier, but its not - we just happen to have a lot of the answers now from 1.0 and 2.0. Its an unusual path for a project to take, but were hoping itll pay off. Plus you know, what if we did pull it off? What if we finished this thing and word got out: Remember that cool looking unfinished RTS? Well it got finished. What if we became inspiration for other studios to finishing their abandoned games? Ah, there it is you see - its easy to get excited working on something like this, to stress and digress over this mammoth task. If you read some of the blog articles, you can see the stress creeping back in - so much so, we actually had to go back and edit out some of the profanity! But the important thing is that were building this thing, were committed to it and its happening one step at a time. Anyways, exciting times, thanks for remaining interested - together well crack this thing and if you get a sec do check out the blog, its really starting to fill up with juicy details, stale memes and stunning ship renders: shallowspace.co

So a bunch of time had past since we last spoke, but that doesnt mean we havent been busy. As you know the project is in a bit of a weird state. Its a rescue. Some years ago we became overwhelmed and stepped away for the sake of our sanity. Were back but were keeping the Steam news down to a minimum until were ready to pick up a public release cycle again and have you guys play this thing. Before that happens we need to revisit the idea, work out the areas we can improve and work in some of the feedback we received over the years. Its important to note that while things are changing in-game, if you own the game, then you still own it - nothing changes there. So we have two previous prototypes, weve taken to calling them 1.0 and 2.0. The one that is currently on Steam is 2.0 (actually 1.0 is still there also if you switch builds), we found the source code to that, but it has some mega-flaws. The action cant really be controlled because each turret required a target to be lined up to fire which meant that the ships had to keep moving. If the ships stayed still like they need to then they couldnt fire at each other because they were rarely in each other's turret arcs. Making an RTS is hard enough without having to worry about all that stuff. The engine would have worked really well for a cockpit-style FPS and if you remember we were going to go there for a while; make it a hybrid thing. I think thats where we failed with 2.0. We abandoned the hybrid idea (give ourselves twice the work for the same game hmmm), but we kept the engine and it wasnt suitable. We tried to balance that anyway and turn it into a game with measurable objectives and unsurprisingly it just would not be tamed. Plus it lagged, lots of computational effort was required to calculate all that; it couldn't scale in the way an RTS should. Then we laughably tried to strap multiplayer to the sides and we ended up with a hot mess. So now we have to rework what we have, somehow stay true to the original ideas but tweak the execution and simplify the game at the same time (if we ever hope to complete this thing!) All this means changes, and we talk about how in this FAQ post over on the blog. Its frank, open, and honest but gets a bit whingey at times, maybe even a little bit cringe; well let you be the judge.
Shallow Space 3.0 in many ways is like the lovechild of 1.0 and 2.0, I guess its yet another evolution. Shallow Space 1.0 was all about the strategic play areas, the sort of thing were used to seeing in a traditional RTS. This is the part of the idea that is starting to feel refined in 3.0. Weve chopped it right back to the bare essentials; this time were not wowing you with flashy graphics or working on stuff thatll impress. This time were picking tasks that are essential, giving it the minimum amount of attention and code it needs to be functional and moving onto the next thing. It's working well; progress is rapid. Visually it's nothing to look at: you wont find turrets rotating or projectiles flying; that stuff is the icing on the cake, it comes last. What comes first is working out the game-loops, how conceptually we want the thing to play and then building something that fits the vision (without going off at the deep-end!) We talk about game loops over in this blog article if youre interested, its what will make this latest incarnation actually feel like a game. In the reworked strategy experience we took out all the stuff that added nothing and started again, reworking it like a professional piece of software. Previously the game told us how it wanted to be played; it was a romantic idea but unworkable - this time we will define exactly how we want this thing to play. We feel like we have a good baseline there, things are working as we foresee them, so we wrote up a detailed piece on the blog called the anatomy of a sector, you can read that here. So in 1.0 we had these strategy play areas. But we wanted to go bigger. Rather than have the average map-by-map experience of the average RTS, what if we made it so the Player could visit the different maps in realtime - we asked ourselves what if they had background traffic and felt more like a 4X setting?
In Shallow Space 2.0 we introduced a 'tactical' layer map with concurrent 'strategy' play in multiple areas and we are keeping that in 3.0, but this time were flattening the map to make it more controllable, so gone are the confusing 3D space-lanes and were looking at having a more conventional tabletop style war map so its easier for us to realise the idea of play areas that evolve as you mission around. We talk about this a little more in this biog post, its a working idea and its still early days and needs some more love; itll likely look completely different once finished. So yes, we might be lurking in the shadows here but thats only because we have a ton to do before we make the Steam page inhabitable again. We need to rebrand, rework all the text and images, get a working version of the game up for you guys to play; until that happens, expect summary updates like this every couple of months or so. We went through the Greenlight process like an express-train and released far too early, it turns out that we werent nearly done working the idea up. In many ways this break was exactly what we needed to step back and admit OK, this wasnt going to work. The team is very much back together now: regular calls, excitement, discussion of ideas, etc. But this time, with us having gone away and gathered some experience, its being run as an actual software project. Thanks for giving us your attention. Were super confident that we can evolve this thing into something incredible and its great to have you here with us on the journey! Does anyone still use e-mail? Sub to the newsletter on shallowspace.co if so!

If youre new around here dont buy the game, its unsupported and a mess in its current form, were working hard to put it right. Since thought a little more about the last post here when we mentioned that its too distracting to code and write blogs at the same time. Im not happy with it that, Im just not sure its true. To stay focused this time, were splitting development into manageable chunks called sprints. In the opening stages, a sprint will focus on adding a bunch of related gameplay elements - we implement only whats planned and not a line of code or graphical detail more than needed. Its not beyond the realms of possibility to incorporate some blogging about said elements at the end of a sprint. It might even be useful to help clear ones head in preparation for planning the following sprint. The truth is that writing to you is enjoyable and a major part of the journey, but is Steam the place for such posts? Especially when theres a game client up that isnt currently supported - we dont want to market that, I wish there was a fat pause button on Steam but theres not. So it might be best to leave up a this is currently f**ked post and come back here when we have something concrete and playable. Phoenix, flames, all the jazz. The news everyone is waiting for here is the new game client is here and as mentioned itll be a little while before we see that. But there is plenty to talk about along the way, and when the cogs of the machine are oiled and were moving with gusto, itll be time to scour the comments and forums for your opinions (good and bad) and that cant be done unless you have something to talk about. Maybe the answer lie somewhere in-between, I dont know - has anyone ever tried to resurrect a game from the dead? Anyway, the last update was a bit lame, so I come to you with PROOF this time, proof of life if you like. Weve relaunched the blog, filled it with all the various short stories that John Harper, our resident scribe, has written over the years. There is hours of lore to read already and im hoping John will come back and help put even more together. Like you Ive got to build his trust too, Ill keep you posted on that. Theres also an entry on the progress of development so far on the server components. Along with another article musing about the parts of the game we plan to pull into the new game client, and we talk a bit about the parts that dont quite work. We also get a sneak peak at the game client just to prove there is actually some activity happening there. Ill try and keep the posts shorter this time around, 500 words or under - I know I can waffle on a bit. Thats better, this is a better way to end the year - apologies dished up, a shiny new blog and a renewed sense of focus. Next year were going to KICK ASS.

Work is still going on here on the server side of things, still writing tests and implementing base functionality. We have to set expectations here, this is going to take a long time. Some might say a mistake was made showing up empty handed 6 months ago and I would agree with that. The majority of dev is really boring to talk about and it's going to be less about the showmanship this time around. Its not really worth coming to you with regular updates on this because its simply too distracting to code, write updates and interact with the community at the same time. The guy (me) who had his head in the code was also trying to run things and write comms, not a wonder I had a breakdown really. So this time its fun game first, flash graphics, details and suggestions later. Don't get me wrong, I care about community feedback, ironically theres distance now because I care too much about what you think. But mentally and financially, this game sent me off the rails once and I can't let that happen again. I could go toe-to-toe with the community, armed with fiscal reports and proof of this and that, but what would it prove? Its a waste of time and energy and at the end of it all, I would still owe you a game. The good news is, the project has been running a long time and this all feels very easy to put together now (if not a bit time consuming,) the major lessons have been learnt. Still some challenges but we have what we need for victory. So for some real updates: - Were going to be sticking with Unity3D for the game client after all, we have a neatly catalogued set of assets all ready for that game engine - the client can be turned around quickly because of that but we really need to ensure the core works soundly and the game is actually fun. - We're still trying to make the game free - that's not too popular an idea I know, but I just dont want to deal with the business side of things right now; that contributed massively to stress and just got in the way of finishing the thing. - The ship models and other game assets are intact, what we need now is time to assemble the assets into a game. Ill own that as my penance (even if it takes another 5 years,) but we expect to bring on a dev or two in the new year to assist. Im hoping there will be something to show Q2/Q3 in the coming year, but its going to look like block wars for quite a while yet, and when we update steam itll need to be with something that exceeds what is currently on show. Massively appreciated the messages of support, also appreciate that theres many of you feeling annoyed - trust me we're working hard to put it right. Enjoy your holiday season, Ill personally be coding like a madman for the duration. Youll be hearing from us again in the New Year.

We've catalogued the games assets and we're in good shape. We have most of the components we need to rescue the project and the opportunity now to learn from the previous failures and adapt. We appreciate the project was abandoned and trust is low, so until we've made things right - we'll shortly be making the game free on Steam. There will be some challenges - multiplayer will need to be baked in from the start and it was incredibly difficult to tame those free moving ships into something that was actually purposeful and strategical. Then there's the fact that the Shallow Space project is huge. There is so much lore it's hard to put it into words (excuse the pun!) Detailed specs of each system, each faction, how they operate / co-operate. Much of it was on the old website which sadly got shuttered, We're excited to come across this treasure trove and are even much excited to get that stuff back online. Then there are the assets. We're by no means complete there - i'd say we were about 65-70% of the way, but we have enough of them to recreate Shallow Space as a more fun game using more modern tech. But hold on; one doesn't just make a free multiplayer game. So why would we bother with it? Because multiplayer is important, but not to everyone. But something like Shallow Space could really shine if we could have hundreds of players working together (or against each other) somehow competing for control of space or resources. We need to lay that groundwork from the start. The current alpha shows a bit of the intention with having multiple zones with background traffic, we're just going to scale that up quite a bit to accommodate multiplayer and make those environments richer with localized events, random encounters and plenty of opportunity to team up with your mates for big-ass fleet battles or go at it alone if you prefer. OK ... so yeah that sounds good - but how? Technical speak: In the background we'll run a number cruncher as a highly efficient micro-service based platform that is designed to scale when Players join and be the brains of the universe, we'll call this the backend which is the hard part of the project. Now that sounds complex, but in our 3.5 year absence we have gathered experience developing such systems. This backend is the part we're currently working on and it's coming along nicely. We're using test driven development to ensure it's as stable as possible. We have working integration, so we're able to push out updates quickly and safely, as we develop them. All that jargon is important, because it means more time delivering the goods and what we deliver will work better with far fewer crashes. This was a major failing of the project previously. Good news, but the game client also needs to benefit from this streamline integration also. The current alpha is running in Unity3D, but we're not really doing that much with it and it's a pain to work into a pipeline. We want something with a lighter footprint, so we're experimenting with porting the game to GoDot - it's a tiny game engine that's efficient and free. Shallow Space has been going for a long time and if you look back at the Youtube videos we spent a lot of time playing with the art of space battle and working out what looks right, some might say too much time. It's so easy to get distracted with details, we've got to make a game out of this and we've got to be ruthless to get there. Expect some changes; some loss of detail, some improved controls - it's all in the name of making it more fun, and feel more like a game. We obviously want some opinions on that so we're aiming to get something out ASAP, i'd say within 6 months. The project is huge and the bulk of the work lies in the backend, we're making good progress but we're still at the start of it. The game client should come together quickly (once we've gotten used to GoDot) and we don't have to wait for artwork because we have enough of it already - massive time saver, then we'll start seeing Steam updates on the client again. But when will that be? Shallow Space has always been a labour of love, born from a love of the genre. We're not going to get stressed about delivering it again, better to enjoy the journey and the positive community spirit the project has always seemed to attract. We'll get back on our feet first, make the game free and get it into a state we can play together and then look at how we'll get the funds to finish it. We're amazed and grateful to read the comments of support, it's very encouraging and really makes us work harder. It's been a productive couple of months of cataloguing assets, planning and coding and we'll have something to show for that soon, in the meantime, look forward to some of that lore reappearing on the web. Thanks to everyone, we'll be in touch regularly with updates!

I must have sat down to write this post a thousand times So the project had a number of failings. We had limited resources, driving the project took up a lot of that. There was a lot of stuff in the background that just wasnt implemented or managed properly. Updates were rushed, manual and error prone because we had no tests or continuous integration and there were some game design issues. More bad luck, we had a publisher lined up but it fell through (Brexit,) our devs found other projects, some arguments with ex-teammates spilled into public and bad reviews started to bury the game because hands up, we forgot to actually make it fun! Even more bad luck. A large bunch of keys appeared on a certain grey market site and sales dried up overnight. Business drove into the ground hard; personally - I was burnt-out and broke, and I had to heal quickly and then go and get a job. I couldnt heal while trying to explain to a bunch of people why I failed. I stepped back for the sake of my mental health. I had to close Steam, block it from my life for a while and I apologise for that, after four long years I was burnt out Why couldnt I just tell you all of that later on? Well it's hard to stand up in front of the 15-25K people who were good enough to support you and tell them you had failed to put together the game you always dreamt of. But it was harder still to come back to it and pick at the remains. What have I been doing all these years? Becoming better at what I do, learning how to do software development properly (and lurking on Steam of course.) I finally got over myself and found Shallow Space still here, frozen in time. So why am I telling you this now? Because i'm going to finish Shallow Space. The team is coming back together. We know what went wrong, we know not to do it again and weve spend the last 4 years writing software for other people and have learnt a thing or two. We still have all the source code - 3 iterations of that engine, we still have the knowledge from that. Weve been heavily inspired by Hello games with No Mans Sky. They launched with such appalling reception and they just kept going and going - making that game right. We need to do that here. Weve been working on Shallow Space for a month or so now. But its all backend mechanics, written neatly learning from all the lessons since the project began. Right now its just a load of lines of text running down a screen but progress is swift and the project is robust. That backend is going to take a while to develop, and after that we need to make the client. But we have most of the artwork ready for that, with a well-formed plan we can put it together in a reasonable time. Is it wise to try and reignite this old flame? This is about finishing what weve started. If a handful of the 25K people who bought this game already say to us I enjoyed that then it will be worth it. Looking at Steam theres still not much around for open-world style fleet management games and we have some cool ideas and some legacy to resolve. I have to hope that if we do manage to deliver to the good folk that supported us, we might still be able to make something from this yet.

It’s been an interesting year for the project, feedback fairly early on in the release caused us to slam on the brakes and have a real think about the direction in which the project was going. We had two choices; do what is normally done and continue down that path and release the game hoping to learn the lessons in the sequel, or do the honest thing taking it back to the start and work in the stuff you really wanted to see. We chose the honest path meaning progress this year has been somewhat of a forward-sideways step rather than a direct lunge forward. Even so mechanically things are shaping up well, once we have matured and stabilised the code base the rest of the route to completion is a case of joining the dots, it’s high level stuff that will come together quickly once the remaining assets arrive and the story is finalised. How quickly I hear you ask? Well it’s difficult to say. There aren’t any rulebooks on the creation of this type of game, well actually I suppose there are, we could take another game and clone it – but that doesn’t really advance the genre and as has been said before, the reason we are here is to explore the RTS – take it apart, assess each piece, put it back together incorporating elements from other genres if they fit. We’re three years into the project now (one year on Steam,) we are clear now on exactly what the finished product will look like and it’s very exciting but it’s safe to say that our chosen path means that we face some pretty serious challenges in the coming year. These challenges directly hinge on the unilateral changes that Steam continue to make. These changes might be for the good of the customer and we are behind them, what's more we remain grateful for being offered the opportunity to trade on Steam. But had we known a year ago the changes that would be made we would likely not have released on Steams Early Access and instead continued down a pre-order/beta route but there is no going back now. We work hard to ensure that you guys are kept informed and release regular updates, but that might not be enough to keep our heads above water anymore. The real killer is this ‘rolling aggregate score’ they’ve introduced which has lead to a change in Players reviewing habits. What we’re seeing is that when people have positive things to say they’ll often post on the forums but when people have feedback or issues they often leave a negative review. This is worrying because negative reviews can easily kill a project dead – especially if the aggregate score falls into ‘Mixed’ which happens when a project has 70% (or below) positive reviews – this is simply brutal. What’s more we have zero control over them, even if we capitulate to what is effectively blackmail and fix the issues by then the Player has refunded and moved on. Then there’s the issue of grey market sales, the refunds themselves, games websites being closed to indies (probably a blessing in disguise judging from the way games are reviewed these days,) social media reach being intentionally borked - all these little things are eating away at the money we need to finish this thing. So what does this uncertainty mean for Shallow Space? Firstly don’t worry; personally, I haven’t spent 3 years of my life on a project only to roll it up when the going gets tough. No f**king way! Take a look around on Steam for similar projects to ours – open RTS games set in space and you won’t find many (if any at all) and the ones you do find have been rushed to completion. This is because they are extremely unlikely to get funding from investors or the crowd because they are not a safe bet. But this project is different. We have proven ourselves to be dedicated, we have something tangible and the most important thing: We have made some money. That effectively makes it a dead cert in the eyes of many an investor. The game is undeniably good looking so potentially we could Kickstart it and even if it failed it’s a nice little publicity push. Needless to say, more money means more developers and artists. These are hostile times for any indie project and every bone in our bodies is screaming out to rush this thing to completion. But games take time to make – if anything we need to slow it right down, take bigger steps forward taking time to make sure the new inclusions are more stable. We need to get a business plan together and start canvassing for investment because the games completion shouldn’t rely so much on Steam profits, especially as it becomes an increasingly hostile place to do business and the cash reserves dwindle. So admittedly it’s a struggle, but without these struggles we would become complacent and above all the woes progress remains strong. But don’t take our word for it, go back through the previous news, and take a look at the YouTube gameplay videos from 6 months ago. You’ve all bought into a project that is progressive and moving forwards. This will be a good year. We can expect 3 times the number of ships presently in the game; the asset factory is churning in the background making it so. The author has fleshed out the main storyline and sidequests and will soon start working on lines for voice acting. We’re working on the Zone/Map switching so that it is seamless, resource collecting and construction and working on that planetary map but this is all superficial stuff reliant on the foundations we’ve already built that improve every week. The hard work is done now, all that remains is to tidy up and continue to build on the foundations we have laid. We foresee struggles but fortunately we are now stood at the top of the hill looking down. We must be a little more careful in todays landscape and spend more time building the business and not just the game but there is little doubt that 2017 is the year we’ve been working towards. Wishing all of our Players and followers a happy new year and the biggest thanks from the team for all your support in 2016!

Its been an interesting year for the project, feedback fairly early on in the release caused us to slam on the brakes and have a real think about the direction in which the project was going. We had two choices; do what is normally done and continue down that path and release the game hoping to learn the lessons in the sequel, or do the honest thing taking it back to the start and work in the stuff you really wanted to see. We chose the honest path meaning progress this year has been somewhat of a forward-sideways step rather than a direct lunge forward. Even so mechanically things are shaping up well, once we have matured and stabilised the code base the rest of the route to completion is a case of joining the dots, its high level stuff that will come together quickly once the remaining assets arrive and the story is finalised. How quickly I hear you ask? Well its difficult to say. There arent any rulebooks on the creation of this type of game, well actually we suppose there are; we could take another game and clone it, but that doesnt really advance the genre. Besides it's been said before, the reason we are here is to explore the RTS take it apart, assess each piece, put it back together incorporating elements from other genres if they fit. Were three years into the project now (one year on Steam,) we are clear now on exactly what the finished product will look like and its very exciting but its safe to say that our chosen path means that we face some pretty serious challenges in the coming year. These challenges directly hinge on the unilateral changes that Steam continue to make. These changes might be for the good of the customer and we are behind them, what's more we remain grateful for being offered the opportunity to trade on Steam. But had we known a year ago the changes that would be made we would likely not have released on Steams Early Access and instead continued down a pre-order/beta route but there is no going back now. We work hard to ensure that you guys are kept informed and release regular updates, but that might not be enough to keep our heads above water anymore. The real killer is this rolling aggregate score theyve introduced which has lead to a change in Players reviewing habits. What were seeing is that when people have positive things to say theyll often post on the forums but when people have feedback or issues they often leave a negative review. This is worrying because negative reviews can easily kill a project dead especially if the aggregate score falls into Mixed which happens when a project has 70% (or below) positive reviews this is simply brutal. Whats more we have zero control over them, even if we capitulate to what is effectively blackmail and fix the issues by then the Player has refunded and moved on. Then theres the issue of grey market sales, the refunds themselves, games websites being closed to indies (probably a blessing in disguise judging from the way games are reviewed these days,) social media reach being intentionally borked - all these little things are eating away at the money we need to finish this thing. So what does this uncertainty mean for Shallow Space? Firstly dont worry; personally, I havent spent 3 years of my life on a project only to roll it up when the going gets tough. No f**king way! Take a look around on Steam for similar projects to ours open RTS games set in space and you wont find many (if any at all) and the ones you do find have been rushed to completion. This is because they are extremely unlikely to get funding from investors or the crowd because they are not a safe bet. But this project is different. We have proven ourselves to be dedicated, we have something tangible and the most important thing: We have made some money. That effectively makes it a dead cert in the eyes of many an investor. The game is undeniably good looking so potentially we could Kickstart it and even if it failed its a nice little publicity push. Needless to say, more money means more developers and artists. These are hostile times for any indie project and every bone in our bodies is screaming out to rush this thing to completion. But games take time to make if anything we need to slow it right down, take bigger steps forward taking time to make sure the new inclusions are more stable. We need to get a business plan together and start canvassing for investment because the games completion shouldnt rely so much on Steam profits, especially as it becomes an increasingly hostile place to do business and the cash reserves dwindle. So admittedly its a struggle, but without these struggles we would become complacent and above all the woes progress remains strong. But dont take our word for it, go back through the previous news, and take a look at the YouTube gameplay videos from 6 months ago. Youve all bought into a project that is progressive and moving forwards. This will be a good year. We can expect 3 times the number of ships presently in the game; the asset factory is churning in the background making it so. The author has fleshed out the main storyline and sidequests and will soon start working on lines for voice acting. Were working on the Zone/Map switching so that it is seamless, resource collecting, construction and working on that planetary map but implementation-wise this is all superficial stuff reliant on the foundations weve already built that improve every week. The hard work is done now, all that remains is to tidy up and continue to build on those foundations. We foresee struggles but fortunately we are now stood at the top of the hill looking down. We must be a little more careful in todays landscape and spend more time building the business and not just the game but there is little doubt that 2017 is the year weve been working towards. Wishing all of our Players and followers a happy new year and the biggest thanks from the team for all your support in 2016!

Just a quick note to add that we have a round of fixes and tweaks coming in for updates that have been released in the last few days - details below. Some great feedback coming back, special thanks to SnottyGremlin for his clear and constructive criticism, very useful to hear from new Players! As always, we really appreciate the support and we hope you have a great festive period!

Update 6.1.2 Change Log

Update 6.1.1 Change Log

Just a quick note to add that we have a round of fixes and tweaks coming in for updates that have been released in the last few days - details below. Some great feedback coming back, special thanks to SnottyGremlin for his clear and constructive criticism, very useful to hear from new Players! As always, we really appreciate the support and we hope you have a great festive period!

Update 6.1.2 Change Log

Update 6.1.1 Change Log

[img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Update6.1.jpg][/img] As promised, we are pleased to announce Update 6.1 boasting a fully interactive tutorial! By interactive we mean that it offers up a set of instructions and the tutorial continues once you have completed them. We figured it would be a better way to learn than an instructional video. It's comprehensive and will take you through camera controls, group creation and fleet movement, inventory management and ship configuration and mission/objective management and basic combat drills. Expect the tutorial to grow as the game grows, with the impending station building and resource collection mechanics to be injected imminently. We also have a few minor fixes from an incremental patch released a few days ago listed below. Thanks for the continued bug reports, we're particularly interested in any weird behavior that may not necessarily manifest itself as a crash - don't be shy. We are simply bursting with excitement right now and if you're not then you should be, with the UI refresh and the tutorial framework out the way - quick stop to update the game media and then it's time for one almighty meat injection! As always we massively appreciate the supportive comments and if you've just joined us welcome, take a flick through some of the previous news and strap yourself in, because things are about to get REAL interesting round here.

Incremental Update 6.0.1 Change Log

[img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Update6.1.jpg][/img] As promised, we are pleased to announce Update 6.1 boasting a fully interactive tutorial! By interactive we mean that it offers up a set of instructions and the tutorial continues once you have completed them. We figured it would be a better way to learn than an instructional video. It's comprehensive and will take you through camera controls, group creation and fleet movement, inventory management and ship configuration and mission/objective management and basic combat drills. Expect the tutorial to grow as the game grows, with the impending station building and resource collection mechanics to be injected imminently. We also have a few minor fixes from an incremental patch released a few days ago listed below. We are simply bursting with excitement right now and if you're not then you should be, with the UI refresh and the tutorial framework out the way - quick stop to update the game media and then it's time for one almighty meat injection! As always we massively appreciate the supportive comments and if you've just joined us welcome, take a flick through some of the previous news and strap yourself in, because things are about to get REAL interesting round here.

Incremental Update 6.0.1 Change Log

We are pleased to announce that Update 6 is ready! This is the most significant patch released to date with literally hundreds of additions and tweaks so we're going to break from the normal tradition of listing them all because there are simply too many. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Update6.jpg][/img] Context Buttons and Dialogue windows also added in this update If you haven't already we recommend you take a look at the previous article which will tell you what to expect from Update 6 but in addition to all that good stuff we have even more crammed in for good measure.

Context Menu

Dialogue Window

UX Improvements

[img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Update6.jpg][/img] Context Buttons and Dialogue windows also added in this update We are pleased to announce that Update 6 is ready! This is the most significant patch released to date with literally hundreds of additions and tweaks so we're going to break from the normal tradition of listing them all because there are simply too many. If you haven't already we recommend you take a look at the previous article which will tell you what to expect from Update 6 but in addition to all that good stuff we have even more crammed in for good measure.

Context Menu

Dialogue Window

UX Improvements

The 3D UI has been decluttered giving the Zones a more open feel and the 2D UI has matured. So before we delve into creating the tutorial and adding new stuff we thought it prudent to get rid of the prototype UI elements and really look at how we interact with the game to make things a little more involving and intuitive. As you can no doubt immediately see, a number of things stand to change in Update 6 as we sweep the prototype user interface under the table and replace it with something altogether a little more mature.

Spatial User Interface (Battlegrid)

2D User Interface

Zone Map

Lessons from the old Alpha

That’s not all

The 3D UI has been decluttered giving the Zones a more open feel and the 2D UI has matured. So before we delve into creating the tutorial and adding new stuff we thought it prudent to get rid of the prototype UI elements and really look at how we interact with the game to make things a little more involving and intuitive. As you can no doubt immediately see, a number of things stand to change in Update 6 as we sweep the prototypeuser interface under the table and replace it with something altogether a little more mature.

Spatial User Interface (Battlegrid)

2D User Interface

Zone Map

Lessons from the old Alpha

Thats not all

Vote for us in the IndieDB Indie of the Year Awards 2016! [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ioty-500.png][/img] Hopefully you've all enjoyed the rapid pace of progress over the last couple of months as we mature the Shallow Space Open-world Overhaul. Help us get into the Top 100 for the 3rd year running! You don't need an account, no requirement to log in at all, just a few clicks required to vote to help us secure a little bit of additional exposure. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/IMG_08122016_195505_0.png][/img] As an added incentive to exercise that itchy click-finger, head over to the games IndieDB page to see more angles of the latest MFC fixed weapon attack Cruiser due to be added to the alpha imminently! Dubbed simply the 'MFC Marauder' we need to give it a more exciting name - any suggestions? Head over to IndieDB to cast your vote!

Vote for us in the IndieDB Indie of the Year Awards 2016! [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ioty-500.png][/img] Hopefully you've all enjoyed the rapid pace of progress over the last couple of months as we mature the Shallow Space Open-world Overhaul. Help us get into the Top 100 for the 3rd year running! You don't need an account, no requirement to log in at all, just a few clicks required to vote to help us secure a little bit of additional exposure. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/IMG_08122016_195505_0.png][/img] As an added incentive to exercise that itchy click-finger, head over to the games IndieDB page to see more angles of the latest MFC fixed weapon attack Cruiser due to be added to the alpha imminently! Dubbed simply the 'MFC Marauder' we need to give it a more exciting name - any suggestions? Head over to IndieDB to cast your vote!

[img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/sspace-2016-12-08-18-31-30-30.jpg][/img] Added height lines to the movement waypoints to better aid perspective (click image for fullscreen.) Another BETA patch yielding additional work on unit veterancy and experience with the proceeds of a battle now distributed amongst the ships. Experience is dealt as a ratio, so if a single ship did 75% of the damage they'll receive 75% of the XP. Interesting to note that with this system, experience is split between all ships that caused damage to the target, so swarming the enemy with a huge overpowering fleet will result in minimal XP rewards. We've also removed the clutter of the attack lines and will shortly replace them with another style of visual confirmation. Otherwise, a couple more fixes and tweaks - another minor patch to come before we merge with the public build. Some nice feedback on the Official Forums - keep it coming!

Update 5.3.2 Change log

• Added experience given on ship destruction
• Added experience notification message
• Added height lines to movement lines
• Fixed bug where negative status' aren't applied
• Fixed crash retrieving tooltip for destroyed ship
• Update reduced default sensitivity of controls
• Update height lines now shown for all ships
• Update attack lines flattened to grid
• Update attack lines shown only on mouseover

[img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/sspace-2016-12-08-18-31-30-30.jpg][/img] Added height lines to the movement waypoints to better aid perspective (click image for fullscreen.) Another BETA patch yielding additional work on unit veterancy and experience with the proceeds of a battle now distributed amongst the ships. Experience is dealt as a ratio, so if a single ship did 75% of the damage they'll receive 75% of the XP. Interesting to note that with this system, experience is split between all ships that caused damage to the target, so swarming the enemy with a huge overpowering fleet will result in minimal XP rewards. We've also removed the clutter of the attack lines and will shortly replace them with another style of visual confirmation. Otherwise, a couple more fixes and tweaks - another minor patch to come before we merge with the public build. Some nice feedback on the Official Forums - keep it coming!

Update 5.3.2 Change log

• Added experience given on ship destruction
• Added experience notification message
• Added height lines to movement lines
• Fixed bug where negative status' aren't applied
• Fixed crash retrieving tooltip for destroyed ship
• Update reduced default sensitivity of controls
• Update height lines now shown for all ships
• Update attack lines flattened to grid
• Update attack lines shown only on mouseover

In this BETA patch we see a continuation of the saving and loading mechanics introduced in 5.3, one handy item is the 'emergency save' feature which will automatically save your game if there is a crash. Otherwise we continue the combat mechanics focus of Update 5 in general preparing to switch on unit veterancy and experience, and adding in idle shield recharge when not in combat. In addition there are a bunch of fixes and tweaks as suggested by the community - keep them coming!

Update 5.3.1 Change Log

• Added emergency save-game on crash
• Added Officer/experience framework
• Added ranks to sample ships
• Added shield recharge when ship out of combat for 45 seconds
• Added shield recharge rolling HUD text
• Added ship tooltip to targetbox, and tactical and fleet icons
• Added save message to notification panel
• Fixed crash on ship UI animation
• Fixed issue with fleet icons not appearing for sighted enemy
• Fixed Space Object text no longer affected by time scaling
• Fixed issues clearing down refinery dialog options
• Fixed crash switching zones if mouseover Space Object (yuck!)
• Fixed correct behavior on ESC press when save/load window shown
• Updated Space Object tooltips

In this BETA patch we see a continuation of the saving and loading mechanics introduced in 5.3, one handy item is the 'emergency save' feature which will automatically save your game if there is a crash. Otherwise we continue the combat mechanics focus of Update 5 in general preparing to switch on unit veterancy and experience, and adding in idle shield recharge when not in combat. In addition there are a bunch of fixes and tweaks as suggested by the community - keep them coming!

Update 5.3.1 Change Log

• Added emergency save-game on crash
• Added Officer/experience framework
• Added ranks to sample ships
• Added shield recharge when ship out of combat for 45 seconds
• Added shield recharge rolling HUD text
• Added ship tooltip to targetbox, and tactical and fleet icons
• Added save message to notification panel
• Fixed crash on ship UI animation
• Fixed issue with fleet icons not appearing for sighted enemy
• Fixed Space Object text no longer affected by time scaling
• Fixed issues clearing down refinery dialog options
• Fixed crash switching zones if mouseover Space Object
• Fixed correct behavior on ESC press when save/load window shown
• Updated Space Object tooltips

As mentioned, a new beta branch has been opened up. The purpose of the BETA is to ensure that updates are more thoroughly testing before they hit the public domain, more information about this here. To get to the BETA: [olist]

As mentioned, a new beta branch has been opened up. The purpose of the BETA is to ensure that updates are more thoroughly testing before they hit the public domain, more information about this here. To get to the BETA: [olist]

It’s that time again folks, but this time, rather than the mindless utterances of a dedicated developer – we’re going to directly discuss some of the feedback that’s coming in.

Where's the damned tutorial?

What's with the bugs?

• Week 1: Major update; new features – new bugs introduced
• Week 2 & 3: Incremental updates; Hotfixes and additional supporting features introduced – bugs get addressed
• Week 4: Update freeze – game is relatively stable

Why can't I save my game?

As promised another round of incremental updates to fix bugs introduced in 5.2 which was released last week. A new BETA branch will shortly open up increasing the pace of the adding of new features and increasing overall stability by including a more regimented testing phase between the updates. More details on this to follow. Massive thanks to all those reporting the issues, please do keep those bug reports coming in!

Update 5.2.1 Change Log

Update 5.2.2 Change Log

Update 5.2.3 Change Log

Good news, Update 5.2 is now available Commander! [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Unity-2016-11-25-11-27-04-02.jpg][/img]Additional markings on the Battlegrid should aid perspective and understanding of the visible area. The last week or so we have predominantly focused on hardening the codebase in preparation for Single Player campaign and Multiplayer - nothing exciting enough to talk about. But in addition, we've added some more useful markings to the Battlegrid; namely occluding scanning circles for player/allied units and a range finder for the currently selected ship. Some very interesting feedback over on the Official forums as to what our priorities should be with 95% of voters saying they would enjoy MP but 80% of voters say that we should focus on the SP experience first. Who are we to argue with the Players?! So brace yourself for advancements in SP as we set our sights back on rolling in new content after another short round of bug fixes. We expect to maintain a quick pace as we roll features, persistency and missions/encounters into the sandbox, but as mentioned, for the purposes of bug control, we'll likely open a separate Beta branch for the testing of the new SP features which will start to be introduced in 5.3 - more information on that to follow. Cheers for the support and keep those bug reports coming in!

Update 5.2 Change Log

As promised, the last few days has seen a flurry of incremental updates bringing predominantly fixes and visual tweaks. Feedback on the forums (both Official and Steam) regarding the stuff we should prioritise has yielded a potential change of tactics when we resume the adding of features next week. For more information on that - checkout the 'Player Polls' category over on the Official forums and while you're there, cast your vote!

Update 5.1.1 Change Log

Update 5.1.2 Change Log

Update 5.1.3 Change Log

Good news, Update 5.1 is now available. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/sspace-2016-11-12-10-27-44-50.jpg][/img] More massive changes under the hood, the game looks more vibrant as a result We learnt a few lessons in the transition to 5.1. To address issues with the Linux build we needed to upgrade the core game engine to Unity 5.4.2 - this sadly broke a lot of the shaders and it took over a week to tweak and adjust, and get things back on track. During that time, Update 5 had introduced some issues but by that point we were too busy with the upgrade to issue hotfixes. In future we're going to do more in-house testing before updates are released slowing things down a little but we'll also put online a 'bleeding edge' BETA branch for those happier to dive into the unknown. As a result of the Unity upgrade there's another host of performance improvements, particularly on lower spec hardware and we've used the opportunity to brighten the game and give it more contrast so details such as hull customisation aren't lost to overpowering colour grading and darkness. We've also fixed the bugs reported in Update 5. As you can likely see, we're not quite done with that yet and will likely spend the next few days tweaking the visuals and bug hunting before continuing to add new features. Cheers especially for your patience and for all the support and feedback!

Update 5.1 Change Log

Good news, Update 5 has arrived! This update focuses on adding the more intricate mechanics that will compliment both the singleplayer and multiplayer experiences. In particular this update adds Shield Rebalancing, Subsystem Attack Mode, Engine Attack Mode and the Subsystem Targeting Ability. We've also added 20+ audio clips of that sexy AI voice re imagined and better than ever before! [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Update-5.jpg][/img] Combat is due to become far more gritty and intense during Update 5. 1. Subsystem Attack Mode 2. Engine Attack Mode 3. Subsystem Targeting Ability 4. Subsystem Targeting Window 5. Shield Widget

Shield Rebalancing

Engine Targeting

Subsystem Targeting

BETA Update 5.0 Changelog

Time to settle back into the proverbial leather couch and let out some more. It’s actually incredibly therapeutic, last time it literally felt like a massive weight had been lifted from my shoulders practically from the moment I hit post. So we concluded that fear is a big motivator to progress this thing. Seems a little extreme, but everybody is motivated by fear – if we don’t find the means to provide for ourselves or those who depend on us then we perish. So really fear as a motivator is part of the process of being alive. But then, it’s not the only motivator. When anyone decides to leave the comfort of their jobs to go at it alone either consciously or subconsciously they decide what it is that ultimately drives them and I think it basically boils down to power, money or success. I wouldn’t say I was motivated by power. I’m a Beta male, quite happy to lead but just as happy to follow. I’m also a techy and I find that power gets in the way of the pursuit of knowledge because ultimately, by virtue of the man or his surroundings, power changes people and the way people deal with you and I’m weary of that. Money is nice, but if I were motivated by cold hard cash I’d have stuck with my day job. A few more vocational qualifications and business breakfasts and I’d have been minted. No, the more you have the more you spend – it’s relative, I just want to be comfortable. Then we settle on success. Some might argue that power and money equals success; life has taught me to be very weary of those people. But, I’m interested in success in its purest form, which is simply to build a quality game. So how do we define success or quality? Well we can strive to make the game look and feel the best it can be. Use the potential AAA status as a golden carrot to drive it to making something that is directly comparable to other high budget ventures. That’s a pretty standard objective and dare-I-say, a bit of a cheap shot. So what else can we do? Well we can take the subject matter, in this case the RTS as a genre, slice it open from tip to stern, scope out the insides and place them to one side. We can then climb inside the skin and dance around in it, have fun with it, pretend to be it then toss it to one side. Then we look to the pile of innards and we start arranging them in their new form. You see, it might be enough for most developers to simply pick up a famous RTS and clone it; I have the say the idea of that bores me to tears. If I look at the list of strategy games I loved, not enjoyed, actually loved; they are actually pretty short: World in Conflict, Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, X-Com (originals too) Starfleet Command, Transport Tycoon (really you have to try out that last one, it’s free too search ‘OpenTTD.’) They are all pretty unique. They don’t feature the immersion breaking mechanics of somehow building units in 15 seconds and the mindless selection box combat. They don’t adhere strictly to the template and simply sprinkle in something extra over the top. They are grassroots different, from the base code to the external presentation. Sadly we don’t leave in those sort of times anymore. If a game doesn’t play like every other it’s normally damned by critics and Player alike as being ‘unintuitive’ (if it even gets a look in at all.) So now we find ourselves cherry picking the best parts from the classics; the fluid controls of Homeworld, the concurrent activity of Sins, the consideration of tactics like Starfleet Command, taking all these things and tastefully merging them together. Originality doesn’t pay in this industry, so we have to be sparing with it. If I’d farted out another RTS I’d be bathing in cash right now and likely would have finished this a long time ago and looking back, it probably would have been the best option. But I’m not happy with that, so instead we’re going to be intrepid but have to mimic the classics, because that’s what people recognise and consciously or subconsciously that’s what majority of people want. Apparently if people are putting ‘looks like Homeworld’ or ‘looks like Nexus’ all over your stuff then you’re doing well. I suppose like me, you too are inspired by classics and how they changed your lives. Perhaps you were in a bad place and that game was your escape, perhaps you remember being a teen sitting on the bus on the way to school daydreaming of playing, dying to get the day out of the way to get home. This is how a game should make you feel. So the measure of success isn’t how many copies we’ve sold (money) or how many people are following us (power,) leave that to the big-boys. My measure of success is to make something that is visually beautiful, something that endears and reminds us of how games used to be and why we play them, build upon the reasons for such with a degree of originality and unifies it all into a quality product. Because in the end, no mater how twisted the path travelled, quality always prevails and is therefore the only real tangible measurement of success. James

You probably noticed the game updating over the weekend. The changes made in 4.8.1 to the movement system were really quite massive and so we had a quick optimisation pass and a couple of rounds of bug fixing. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/vlc-2016-10-31-14-27-45-47.jpg][/img] Next in the pipeline is Update 5, ETA 2-3 days maximum.

BETA Hotfix Update 4.8.2

BETA Hotfix Update 4.8.3

BETA Hotfix Update 4.8.4

Bit of a packed incremental update this time round as we continue to fine tune and some additional major work going on under the hood to further refine ship movements. We tested Update 8.1 at a friends house to gather some feedback and it ended up as quite an exciting session for a number of reasons. As he played we described the pending mechanics soon to be injected; shield rebalancing, subsystem targeting - his eyes lit up. But perhaps the most thought provoking reaction was when they turned to us and blurted out 'imagine this in multiplayer!' Now this isn't news to us, we've been imagining it all year, but when looking at his face to gauge his actual excitement we realised that he'd literally been drooling all over his nice shiny new keyboard and that sparked a bit of a rethink about priorities. Coding multiplayer is a big deal - but we are prepared for it this time round. The biggest problem in our tests was the use of physics in versions 8.1 and earlier so we replaced it with a home-brew pseudo-physics implementation - the difference is immediately noticable with the inclusion of inertia in the ship movements, huuuugely immersive - take a look! Keep the bug reports and feedback flowing - incredibly useful!

BETA Update 4.8.1

While we’re busy cooking up the sandbox we thought it might be an idea to put in a skirmish mode of sorts. Similar to the ‘Tactical Simulator’ in the older alpha, Quick Battle mode allows you to dive in and get to grips with any of the ships and get used to the controls. Behind the scenes, Quick Battle mode will help to iron out the wrinkles, particularly with combat and already it’s sparked a bit of a rethink with regards to combat AI. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/sspace-2016-10-26-13-28-25-98.jpg][/img] It might please you to note that there are no caps on the number of ships in the arena. One of the things that makes Shallow Space unique against other similar titles is the detail of the combat, in particular the simulated projectiles and unpredictable nature of the ship movements. But it became clear to us when simulating larger battles that there needs to be some degree of predictability otherwise you’re effectively watching the AI battle it out – this update goes a long way to resolving that woe. An example of the fixes this update introduces is the AI attacking from roughly the same direction each time meaning that combat can now be ‘anchored’ making it easier to flank them and making small but immersive mechanics such as shield rebalancing not only a reality, but extremely useful. Look forward to the inclusion of shield balancing very shortly (literally coding it as we speak.) Once more we appreciate all the support and feedback as we edge ever closer to our immediate goals. Keep those bug reports coming and remember to post screenshots of your new escapades Commander!

BETA Hotfix Update 4.7.1

BETA Update 4.8

Good news! Update 4.7 has arrived along with macOS / OS-X support! Now that support on all platforms has been restored, we're going to swap the old Alpha and new Beta builds around as we're a little conscious that people are missing out on the good stuff. So in other words: If you were testing the BETA simply switch the build back to normal! [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/sspace-2016-10-20-20-23-53-53.jpg][/img] Managing multiple groups is now very easy by using TAB / Shift + TAB We're seeing mainly evolutionary progress this update with the promised additional fleet management tweaks bringing the chapter of unit groupings to a close. We also have a few tweaks as suggested by the community but the real work has gone on under the hood to prepare for resource collection and logistics which will be switched on in 4.7.1. As is now the norm; expect a flurry of incremental updates/hotfixes over the course of the next week as we continue the race to complete the short to medium term objectives. Please do keep pointing out the bugs and we'll continue to squash them!

BETA Update 4.7 Changelog

Well it might have been the end of Eve Walters, but her legacy had far reaching implications across shallow space. We explore that legacy in a series of snippets from faction press outlets. (Missed the story? Then catup-up: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/plc-logo.png][/img] PLEIADES PRESS “Terrorists neutralised in coup for Pleiades Police.” In another triumph for the Corporation’s principles and methodologies, terrorist Eve Walters was apprehended by Corporate Police earlier this month. Walters was part of a network of Imperium dissidents jealous of the advances and comfort bestowed upon Corporate employees and attempting to bring us down to their level. Walters resisted arrest and her ship was damaged during the chase. She later succumbed to her injuries, but not before recording a video confession of her crimes. Eve Walters will serve as an example for any other criminals intent on damaging the Corporation. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/apf-logo-red.png][/img] ILLEGAL REFRESHMENTS “Public Announcements.” We like to think that those that share in Illegal Refreshments have a common bond, if not full friendship then at least a sense of comradery. In this vein we have a public announcement for those that may be affected: 1) Gregory Walters’ ship was destroyed leaving dock in the Oberon system, apparently due to systems failure on board his freighter. In a twist of cruel fate, his daughter Eve Walters was also killed by pilot error this month. The family is survived by Gregory’s son Jimmy who is carrying on the family business. 2) We have been notified that ‘scoundrel of fortune’ Jack Hamilton has been out of touch with his contacts for the last month. We know many of you disprove of his recent actions, but he is part of our large family, so if you see him please tell him to get in touch. 3) Kane Guptill has been working with the Shallom Clan attempting to recreate Shallom’s last movements before his disappearance a decade ago. He believes he is on to something and will be making an announcement at the next Kill4 meeting. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/inc-logo-gold.png][/img] INCORPORATED NOW “Pleiades Corporation: ‘Killing Civilians OK’.” Readers of Incorporated Now will be familiar with the work of Eve Walters, a celebrated journalist from Mayflower, who has previously contracted to Incorporated Now (And stirred up the odd hornet’s nest too). We found her in-your-face attitude refreshing and our Corporation’s management graciously saw the funny side in her antics. But earlier this month we learnt of her untimely death in the Pleiades System. Rumours abound regarding how and where she died, but one thing this journal is sure of is that something stinks. She didn’t die by accident. Eve was doing what Eve does best and the Pleiades Corporation killed her for it. We here at Incorporated Now believe it is our solemn duty to warn all our readers, here in Incorporated Space and beyond, to stay away from the Pleiades system as they clearly sanction the murder of Imperium citizens. You have been warned. We will be sending a delegation to Mayflower to mourn our lost friend at her memorial. Employees are welcome to apply for dispensation to also attend the memorial. The GUARDIAN “Award Winning Reporter Tragically Killed” It is with regret and sadness that we must report the death of one of our own. Eve Walters, a prize winning journalist for our respected media outlet, died in the Pleiades system last month. Official police reports indicate pilot error by the commercial charter she was using, crashing into one of the many asteroids in the system after attempting to escape police custody. Eve had been researching violation of the Eugenics Accords by the Pleiades Corporation who in turn claim Eve was engaging in acts of terrorism. Anyone who knows Eve knows this simply is not true and our lawyers are currently in contact with the PLC in regards to this slander. Eve was a highly valued member of the team at The Guardian and will be sorely missed. There will be an open memorial service at York on Christian’s World, Mayflower on April 26th.

It’s about time for another developer ramble I feel, it’s been too long since our last one. Firstly, I feel the need to correct a statement that was made in my last post in suggesting that a ‘glass ceiling’ might prevent the project from truly reaching it’s potential. This is in error. The computer games industry employs countless million talented individuals who have spent their lives honing their skills through practice and study. If I was to walk into a construction yard and proclaim myself a foreman, I’d be laughed out of the place likely with a couple of bruises. So actually it should be said that it’s fortunate indeed that we indies even have the chance turn our skills to this industry unhindered and to suggest that we ‘deserve’ the same treatment as the big boys is frankly disrespectful and I regret saying it. What’s more, the statement simply is not true. Steam furnishes developers with plenty of neat little tricks; trading cards, achievements, a seriously awesome community spirit to name a few – it’s an impressive arrangement allowing those with guile to work themselves up the ladder. In addition, we all know that a favourable preview by a YouTuber or Streamer can turn this from a ‘promising project’ to an overnight sensation, but that sort of attention isn’t guaranteed and so can’t be relied upon. So we're left with the more traditional options. But the trouble with effective traditional marketing is it’s like launching a rocket into space. If you half fill the fuel tank the rocket will fall out the sky with disastrous consequences but to fill it up to the top takes money, and I mean silly amounts. So just what can I do to promote this game? Well I’ve been flailing around on social media ineffectively since inception and it’s hard work. People simply don’t like to be sold too. I find it particularly annoying that if I ripped off my t-shirt and posted a topless picture I’ll probably get more likes in an hour than I do in a month on the Shallow Space facebook page, but hey humans are fickle creatures – neither of us are surprised at that. But it’s that fickle nature that poses a rather large problem for this industry. As I flick through the various games for inspiration, what I basically see from my informed position is a rather large collection of lies. When I first started this game I analysed my position realising that I am indeed a nobody and the only two tools I have that the big boys don’t is honesty and time… …and by honestly, I mean transparency. Look at any of the big games and you’ll see screenshots without UI, you’ll see trailers that don’t feature in-game footage, touched up screenshots and a propensity to withhold pertinent information that might otherwise put Players off. But now I know why. Today I posted links and images to the roadmap, I knew what was going to happen and sure enough, sales flatlined. It’s obvious why, people looked at that 48% and decided against the sale because they were furnished with the information that they should have. What a dichotomy: I feel duty bound to represent the product as it truly is right now to prospective Players but actually I have a bigger duty to those who have already brought the game and frankly; more money == better game. But my main worry right now is the fact that, Shallow Space has so far been sold as a different thing – with countless outdated images, opinions and assumptions polluting the internet like an oil spill. It’s quite the different game now I’m sure you can agree. We’ve listened, taken onboard all the (constructive) feedback over the years and rewritten the game to a far higher standard. But I’d be remiss if I made the assumption that people will take my word for that, so really, it needs to come from you. But worry is ultimately wasted effort and I must continue to work as I have done; like a machine. I’ve been doing this for nearly three years now, my life has changed to the point that there is no easy way back so by hook or by crook this thing WILL be finished, even if I have to sell my kidneys to make it so. I appreciate this is all a bit macabre, but I’m just so weary of hope that I won’t allow myself to feel it anymore. Hope is etched into the foreheads of the countless corpses that line Steams golden gates, indie developers that harnessed that hope as motivation and ultimately tried and failed to bring their dreams to life and it ruined them. I’d be a fool to think that couldn’t happen to me. Going back to what I was saying before, sure – entrance to that glossy gaming industry is largely unhindered but it is not without cost. So with all this in mind, I find myself facing mans oldest friend: Fear. Fear is a more effective motivator than hope I find; hence my fingers continue to be worked so hard that are practically ground down to stumps. Now, I don’t want you to worry about the project reading this; it is on top form I promise you that – in fact you can no doubt see that. I just want to impart that, the road to nirvana is paved with traps and this whole exercise isn’t quite as delightful as it might appear… …but I remind myself that if it was easy; then it wouldn’t be fun. James

The Roadmap and Gallery pages have been updated! Making a game is complex task, keeping you all updated on the project status; just as complex. You'll notice the frequency of the updates has been stepped up, so much so that it's likely you might miss out on some of the more pertinent information. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/SSRoadmap.jpg][/img] The Roadmap is designed to give clear, at-a-glance information about the projects status. The aim is to transparently break down our goals and give you a better idea as to where we are right now and where we are heading. As well as that it'll also serve as a place to get information on the most recent updates as we continue down the road to completion. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/SSGallery.jpg][/img] If you're new to the project or even if you're not, be sure to swing by the galleries for some tantilising imagery of the Overhaul BETA and some exclusive images of the planetary system prototype! Don't forget, if you own the game you can get access to the BETA right now and witness first hand the fruits of community feedback and our labour of passion.

The Open-world BETA is currently available via a separate 'branch' which can be changed in Steam via the game properties. (For more information see here.) Further incremental fixes to the BETA build were released yesterday and today for Windows and Linux. Changes to note are the fixes to group movement and jumping, these changes will pave the way for additional formation types in future. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Formations.jpg][/img] We'll likely issue another hotfix update or two over the next few days before commencing work on 4.7 which will include further fleet movement/management improvements and resource collection. Hotfix Update 4.6.3 - Fixes to text disppearing in some parts of UI - Fixes to crash setting radial indicators for ability icons - Fixed issues showing tooltip after dialogue - Added press backslash ('' key) to hide UI Hotfix Update 4.6.4 - Fixes to grouped movement - Fixes to unit grouping path blocking issues - Fixes to grouped jumps (SRJ and JSA) - Fixed Command radius shown independantly of grid - Fixed selection box shown when using mouse to alter battlegrid height - Fixed repeated mission rewards - Fixes to healthbars on fleet/tactical icons - Fixes to AI freighter behaviour when under attack

The Open-world BETA is currently available via a separate 'branch' which can be changed in Steam via the game properties. (For more information see here.) Happy to announce the issues with the BETA Linux build have now been resolved and it's now available to play. The Linux builds will now be maintained in tandem with the Windows builds (as it should be.) The OSX (or macOS) build will be tested and put up in the coming weeks. We greatly appreciate your patience as we continue the transition. In a fortunate twist of events patching the Linux issues has resulted in an insane framerate increase on both platforms (averages around 100-110fps on our test machines now, before it was 40-70fps.) Otherwise, there's a few stability fixes rolled in for issues reported by your good selves over on the official forums. Keep 'em coming! Hotfix Update 4.6.1 - 30% +/- performance boost due to post-effects optimisation (Yeeeehaa!) - Fixed regression issue involving selection of units causing crash - Fixed problem issuing move instruction with destination inside a Jump Safe Area Hotfix Update 4.6.2 - Additional 40% +/- performance boost due to post-effects optimisation (Boooom!) - Further fixes to focus camera 'F' key - Fixes preventing crash trying to assign targets while ship using Short Range Jump - Linux build updated and start-up issues resolved - Missing reference clutter cleaned up from Player.log

Good news! The Overhaul Beta has been updated to version 4.6. The beta is currently available via a separate 'branch' which can be changed in Steam, via the game properties.
Decided to simplify things further with the fleet panel, and reduce the requirement for scrolling. In this update we tidy up the UI, in particular the fleet panel, where a separate row of smaller icons is now always visible and we've also tweaked the appearance of the grouping icons so it's a little easier to see which number key to press. To prevent unnecessary scrolling detailed icons are currently shown only for Player selected units but will soon be shown for context targets also. All the abilities should now work. Some abilities will require a context target to work (such as 'Communications' allowing you to hail other ships,) you can pick a target by first selecting your ship and then clicking on an AI ship as it's context target. Other area of effect abilities now use the new 'Command Range' and you can preview that range by moving the mouse over the applicable ability icons.
The dialogue system opens up new opportunities for ship construction and trade. The dialogue system gets folded into the mix adding ways to access various handy NPC functions. This will be handy if you want to use the new petty trade system to buy/sell stuff or build ships using spare funds, you'll also be able to pickup quests by using dialogue. Look for an exclamation mark by a zone icon or ship which indicates dialogue. We've also folded in various new animations and some fixes that you've reported in over the last couple of weeks. Please do continue to report them! It's been instrumental in the progress made so far. Look forward to 4.7 where we can expect the beginnings of resource collection, additional help articles, ship experience and a whole host of atmospheric sounds and maybe even the return of the sexy AI voice! The main goal now is to fold in the remaining RTS mechanics before adding saving/loading, skirmishes and additional planets.

BETA Update 4.6 Change log

What’s happening with Shallow Space?

Shallow Space as an RTS

Shallow Space as a 4X

Shallow Space as an RPG

In conclusion

A 'Hermes' Carrier with MFC faction hull markings The Mineral & Fusion Corporation has long since been known for their ‘cookie cutter’ designs. It often works to their favour in that such designs are cheap and easy to manufacture, but there is historically little in the way of the MFC faction directly influencing space-based warfare. They normally focus on the current fad - producing ships to fill the ranks rather than tip the balance, but every now and again as luck might have it, they strike gold. The ‘Hermes’ in principle was designed to provide part of a carrier group solution, intended that two or three are deployed as a wing. Compare that to the PLC factions ‘Sadalbari’ which was designed as the mainstay of a group; dedicated to both that and Command, you might think it falls a little short of the mark but then again in both procurement and production, the Hermes is nearly half the cost. The Hermes might also carry half the number of Carried units but it matches the Sadalbari’s might in armament with 2 Extra-Large (XL) and 2 Large (L) turret hard points. On paper that makes it an exceptional ship, but its influence on the arena of Shallow Space was far more pronounced that the ships mere specification. Before the Hermes came along Carrier operations were out of reach for many, reserved for the highest echelons within a respective faction. But now with some skill, a Carrier can be deployed cheaply as part of an attack force rather than a dedicated combat function and with that; sales of the Hermes blueprint sky rocketed. https://sketchfab.com/models/adcd7fbdae0e477fa98c37aaf02c3b89 The Hermes is credited with truly diversifying the art of space-based combat beyond even the Battlecruiser, because it indirectly forced the Terran Confederate Navy to drastically consider the way it applied itself to the theatre. Previously, Naval fleets would occupy planets in the imperium applying martial protocols to space traffic as the need arose but when that big Naval fleet arrived everyone else made a swift exit. The Hermes exaggerated this game of cat and mouse by enabled guerrilla operatives to deliver precision raids with the deed long done before even the picket could arrive. It was not a situation gone unnoticed and so the Highest Honourable James Thorensenan, Field Marshall of the Terran Confederate Navy, petitioned the Council of Admirals for federal approval of an elite Naval force known as the ATU or ‘Adaptive Tactical Unit.’ The force has a very broad remit, with the usual restrictions on the building of ships and acquisition of personnel lifted. The ATU can disguise their identity, even adopting custom hull markings, but remain attached Naval personnel under the general jurisdiction of Federal Fleet Command. The ATU is designed to ‘seed’ naval presence in a system, not enough to deter full-scale campaigns, but enough to supplement allied faction forces in local defence, and operate in other capacities as the council sees fit.
As a consequence once rogue pirate forces gathered into a serious organisation and the previously enumerable mercenary entities started to band together into an alliance. With the notion of a lone trader now a proverbial death sentence, strength lay in numbers and factions as absolute entities arose polarising space traffic; all this leading to the very premise of Shallow Space. History accredits this largely to the inclusion of this mere ‘cookie cutter’ ship into the ranks and nobody denies it; for the Hermes by namesake alone, is the most infamous ship of the century.

Warning: Contains excitable developer rant and excessive hype!
We’re running at fever pitch here as development pauses while we start fine tuning for the First Playable Beta and the fruits of all our labor truly begin to unfold. At the same time the shared work space is filling with new assets, sounds, music and lore all waiting to be injected so we think it’s fair to say that things are about to get really interesting around here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWDw8zCI7EQ A few words on the latest video to start with (click YouTube icon to get fullscreen.) Firstly, all the music you hear will be in the game. SFX are back in the game with over 50 new additions and all the 3D spatial sounds have had the low band pass reverb treatment so the room suitably rumbles as ships roars pass and the sounds are pleasant both loud and clustered. We’ve added 80 minutes of music (more to come) along with the 10 piece procedural battle music piece we spoke of. A whole host of particle effects and shaders have been tweaked and added just for the sheer glory of it, and to the absolute delight of the 3D team, the ships no longer look like they are made from polished acrylic. Under the hood massive work has gone on to make the combat AI (especially the Corvettes,) a little more believable with more specific behaviour added relating to plotting intercept vectors for distant targets and keeping units in firing range. Of course, the trouble with all this clever AI behaviour and dazzling imagery is its bit of a nightmare to test… I’ll try and explain.
Use of physics for movements, fine tuned particle and screen space effects, 3 years of learning, testing and adjusting. The space battles are now truly mesmerizing. So I’m working on a wing members reaction when their wingleader is destroyed, I put in the required code and hit play and here I am in Zone 1. I get as far as selecting a Carrier to launch a wing. ‘Oooo that’s a nice shaped asteroid cluster, let’s take a look at that.’ PEW-PEW-PEW… THUNK – cursory glance at the fleet panel 'nope – none of mine.' Spin the camera round and it’s a pirate Cambridge and… yep it’s on an intercept course. Hmmmm OK I’ll bite; ‘launch all fighters, Carriers withdraw to extremity of indicated asteroid cluster, group the Battlecruiser and Light Cruisers together and plot an intercept course, authorise use of special weapons on the Battlecruiser, prepare lead Capital ship for a short range jump to tackle the…’ BZZZZZZ – THAWCK – ‘that sounds like XL weapons fire, a siege laser maybe, it can’t be here already…’ Spins camera round for a look and it’s a lone allied Homan Battlecruiser, emerging from an adjacent nebula, main guns blazing. I pulled the fleet back and watched, this should be interesting.
Of course, no sci-fi game is complete without the requisite doom-beam Lazor. Here is a Battlecruiser firing a Light Siege Laser. What happened was the Homan completely took apart the Cambridge with a Siege Laser (not particularly overpowered, much) despite having a quarter of the hit-points and a fraction of the targets cumulative DPS. What this means is that all the new little tricks we’ve rolled in; the more individual nature of the ships, directional shields etc. – are leading us something that is very difficult to achieve which is asymmetric balancing. Had the enemy had even one Light Cruiser as an escort, that lone Homan wouldn’t have stood a chance. This is going to be essential in separating Shallow Space from the normally predictable nature of combat of some RTS games and creating something that is continually engaging as you discover your own way to tip the scales in your favour.
Another thing to consider is my excitement playing it. You have to imagine that I’ve been making this thing for over 2 years now and the novelty of it wears off. But these battles have me shrieking like an ecstatic child, spinning round in my faux-leather racing chair grinning from ear to ear. Now if they do that to me playing with ships I’ve just plonked in there to test, imagine your own reaction when your hand-picked prototype Battleship trains its proverbial ‘Borg’ guns that you bastardized in a lab somewhere, and swings it’s freshly painted ass around for an alpha strike. Yes my friends: GLOOORY AWAITS US! Of course while I’m sat at my desk processing all this, literally spasming with joy – I’ve bloody forgotten what I was testing!
This little beauty hit the shared workspace just yesterday; the 3 piece ‘Tartarus’ Modular Shipyard, complete with Iris Corvette docking hatch. We can add all that to the 12 other installations that will be switched on after the First Playable release. On that point, keep your eye on the Official forums, in particular this thread and you’ll be treated to instructions to get to the First Playable of the Beta on Steam. First Playable will be a silent launch for the die-hards – once it hits, we’ll roll out patches practically on a daily basis for a fortnight or so to get us were we need to be. So we are on the home stretch, literally down now to tidying up menus and adding a help system. If you’re new to the project, grab a copy because it won’t be this cheap forever and if you’re one of the thousands waiting in anticipation, get excited - it’s allowed because it’s nearly time!

With the business admin tackled, the last week or so we’ve been back into the code, forging the few last remaining items on the todo list before we unleash the Beta. In this article we’ll talk about what to expect from the Beta and just what is taking the most time while on the way touching on some exciting new mechanics we’ve introduced.
So when we first released the Shallow Space Alpha onto Steam we made the classic mistake of releasing without enough content. Before launch we digested guidelines and looked at examples of other EA games, but it still wasn’t really clear to us back then that people who buy into EA games still expect a more-or-less feature complete piece. We can’t make that mistake again. So we thrashed the keyboards hard to play catch-up and it turned into a cool little thing, but adding content in the current Shallow Space Alpha posed us a problem because it took almost as much time to design and integrate the maps and missions as it did to actually write the game. Then if you consider that as we add more new stuff, sometimes the old stuff would have to be redesigned or recreated completely as we get closer to finishing you can see we arrive at quite the problem. If we had to simplify that development effort into a ratio, let’s say ‘design, implementation, content’ it would sit at around 30:30:40 respectively. But then we decided to make Shallow Space open-world. So now the development experience is very different. Rather than hand designed maps one-by-one, we instead give the game instruction to create an unlimited number of unique maps itself and rather than perfecting the behaviour of ships that will follow the same path each time, we instead give the ships a limited level of awareness and allow them to collectively make decisions based on their tasks and surroundings.
With this new twist, the major effort is lodged in the creating and training of that behaviour, and the now procedural nature of the content means it can be folded in comparatively effortlessly once the core is established. Going back to our simplified effort ratio of ‘design, implementation, content’ I’d describe it as 40:40:20. So why is the content now 20% of the effort, will you get less of a game? Nope. It simply means that through some clever planning in the first place, we can amplify what we inject and turn it into even more content. An example is the Objectives system; when we’re designing the missions we now specify a simple set of parameters such as; roughly how big should the enemy force be compared to the players, the composition, the task, should they be hidden, spread across multiple zones, etc. The game takes this limited information and explodes it into a series of detailed chained Objectives and triggers with the possibility of random encounters and rewards. So what we’re trying to say is, now is the time for us to build that foundation (and build it right) and it’s taking a little longer but once it is built, the rest of the actual game should come together reasonably quickly, quickly enough to be very entertaining from where you’re sitting. But before we reach the point where we can pump content into the new and shiny Early Access Alpha, we really have to test the proposed confines of that content – the game itself, to make sure it is both bug free and is actually fun. But that’s easy right? That’s the bit you guys do. Well in the current alpha, the control system could be described as convoluted, definitely so when you compare it to the new alpha in which you can control all 6 axis of camera motion simply with the mouse and a modifier key Homeworld-styles. Many people (myself included) simply got used to the old system and persevered. While this isn’t particularly great for the project, it does underline the importance of a more stringent set of tests to better promote feedback which we’ll release with the Beta on the Main Forums. The tests will be designed to drill into each of the games core mechanics as we systematically switch them on, allowing us to correct issues and implement suggestions in a more structured fashion.
We appreciate that not everyone has the time to spare for that, so we’re hoping to gather together a hardcore of Players willing to get their heads into the patch notes to raise awareness and spend an extra few minutes completing survey’s on the forums. So where are we right now? Well the todo list basically sits at: Tutorial framework, explosions - wrecks - loot, menus and loading screens so not a massive amount left now, so look forward to an increase in visible updates, story and media as we move closer towards the Beta launch. In particular keep an eye out for more exciting new imagery over on the Steam community page, a new ‘short’ story series tracking the exploits of a Mineral & Fusion Corp freighter, breakdowns and 3D turntables of the new ships and stations appearing in the Overhaul and exploratory articles looking at life in the new Shallow Space. Cheers for all the well-wishing and your continued patience while we build up to the awakening of this sleeping beast!

Secrets are finally uncovered as the tale is bought to a cataclysmic end, but what will become of Eve and Jack...
(Additional parts: 1, 2, 3, 4) The All-Points-Bulletin was broadcast across the stellar system later that day. Blonde had either been discovered, or he’d escaped, and now the entire Pleiades Corporation was hunting them. They made it to the asteroid belt without seeing another living being. A good omen. Jack navigated the belt, changed course then powered down the engine. “And we’re sailing,” he said with a grin. “Like the boats of ancient Earth, drifting across the darkest sea on the whim of the winds.” Eve looked sideways at him, an eyebrow raised. “Are you enjoying yourself?” “Just making conversation,” he said. But Eve knew he was trying to keep her distracted. This next part of the trip had the highest risk. “So do I get to know what all this trouble was about?” he asked. “Pardon?” “You found out something the PLC didn’t want you to know. Are you going to share it with me?” Eve reflexively reached for the PAD. She wasn’t sure what to say, or where to start. In truth it was so incredulous a small portion of her mind still struggled to believe it was true. “All employees of the Pleiades Corporation sign a waiver,” she began. “I’ve seen it,” Jack said. “I’ve helped some people tear theirs up once they were out of this stellar system.” Eve nodded. “Yes, well that waiver pretty much gives up any rights they have, and allows the Corporation to do what they please, including experimentation.” Jack scoffed. “Everyone knows that. Slight alterations to help workers at their chosen field: Miners stronger, ship builders better muscle retention in zero gee and resistance to radiation. The whole of Shallow Space wants to kick them out of the Imperium for breaking the Eugenics Accord, but they have their sway with the Emperor.” Eve shook her head. “No, that’s not it at all. They aren’t slight alterations. That blonde scientist didn’t need to have the bulk he had did he? He was a Mod. “But that’s not the story. The story isn’t that the Corporation is altering a gene here, improving work production there. That’s just practice on their stock animals. “Their end game is the real story.” Jack had been watching her while she spoke. He stared another moment then nodded. “Ok, I’ll bite. What is their end game?” “To combine all these different alterations they have perfected into a single person to create Uber Soldat. A super soldier. Their weapon to destroy the Imperium and take over Shallow Space.” “You’re shitting me,” Jack said, his pupils dilated, his mouth stretched in an almost smile, as if waiting for Eve’s confirmation it was a joke. “I’m not shitting you Jack,” Eve said. “It’s all right here. As soon as the Pleiades Corporation lost the Race for the Blankicite they have been developing this weapon, hiding it in plain sight. “Imagine going into battle against a man with better accuracy, stronger muscles, faster reflexes, greater stamina and an ability to handle hotter and colder temperatures than you.” “I don’t generally care to get involved in battles,” Jack said, turning back to the controls, but Eve could see her talk had shaken him. “But I imagine such super soldiers would also be equipped with the best weapons available, which all happen to be made by the Pleiades Corporation.” “Now you’re getting it. Through economics, PLC are putting themselves in the perfect place to take over the entire human race. That’s why this information needs to get out. The Imperium needs to know and needs to act before PLC can complete their work.” Jack didn’t reply. Eve didn’t know what he could say. She’d been over it a dozen times and still didn’t know what to say about it. All she knew was that the people needed to know and that Jack was the only man that could make that happen. “Your turn,” Eve said after a while. “You said you knew my father, that you repaid your debts. What happened?” Jack didn’t respond immediately, then his mouth moved as if he were tasting out words. “No story really,” he said. “Nothing like your whopper. No super soldiers or anything. Eve smiled. An attempt at a joke which served as delaying tactic. Jack was uncomfortable. “We were both working the Oberon system during the early stages of their civil war. Smuggling weapons in, keeping an eye on the smugglers of the other side. Nathanial and I were competitors. We’d had a few run ins, a few choice words exchanged, but nothing too serious. Neither of us were in it for combat. “Anyway, I had been caught out by the Navy. I was adrift but powerless. Your dad found me. He saved me. When I asked why he said because he was human, and then with a smile, all smugglers are friends against the Confederation Navy.” Eve was smiling. That sounded just like her father. The ship fell into silence as they sailed across the system. Days passed with little conversation. Eve spent most of it writing her report. She wanted it broadcast to the universe the second she stepped into The Guardian’s offices. Eve was back in the co-pilot seat when the first of the Kuiper belt objects flashed past. Jack leant forward and reengaged the engines. “Now we have to do a little needle searching in the haystack.” Eve frowned. “You don’t have a, you know, a map?” “Of course not. Maps can be copied, hacked or stolen. My brain is safe.” Jack saw Eve’s raised eyebrow. “Relatively speaking.” He swung the Trojan Horse around. I plotted a pretty good course. We’re in the right place, I just have to find my markers.” “Markers?” “That’s right. Not all Kuiper objects are the same. And some have had been shaped. . . artificially.” Eve snapped her fingers. “So instead of a map, you have breadcrumbs?” “Sure.” It took them less than an hour to find the first marker, then Jack had his bearings and he sped up. They passed hundreds of asteroids and lumps of rock, some smaller then her hand, many larger than the ship itself. But then they thinned out and they were there. “There she is,” Jack said, pointing, a hint of pride in his voice. “One highly illegal Map.” Eve stared out the window at the ‘Map’. In reality it was just a small, simple jump gate. She remembered the first time her father had taken her to a Map. She’d wondered why it was called that. A map, she thought, showed someone how to get from Point A to Point B, much the same as the Imperiums 'Jump Safe' network guide traffic to areas of interest around planets. A jumpgate merely transported someone from Point A to Point B a lot faster than NTL (Near To Light) drives. Her father agreed, but by calling them maps the Navy would search, subconsciously at least, for waypoints, custom jump safe areas or other constructs that might form a real map. They’d never find what they were actually looking for.
The Map ahead of her looked cobbled together from left overs and appropriated parts. There was carbon scoring and dings from impacts but it otherwise looked OK. Whether it would actually work or not was another question. It didn’t even look big enough to fit the Trojan Horse, but clearly Jack had done this before. “They say that after the Battle of Pleiades the Emperor ordered His Special Envoy to construct secret Maps to all member systems of Shallow Space to provide covert access as needed. Eve laughed. “You’re getting bed time stories mixed up. The Special Envoy doesn’t exist.” Jack just shrugged. “Anyway, all I have to do is send a boot up signal and–” The Map exploded. There was no noise, no shudder, just a flash of light and then the Map was gone, a wall of debris in its place. Jack stared for a moment, eyes wide, face blanched. He looked frozen. Eve shook his shoulder. “Ambush! Scramble!” Eve didn’t know if Jack had had formal naval training or not, but an ex-TCN pilot, now smuggler would respond to that command. Jack jerked back to reality and thrust the Trojan Horse down out of the ecliptic. The radar filled with blips moments before space exploded around them. A stream of rail pellets swarmed past, Jack nudging them away at the last moment. “How the hell did they find us,” he yelled. “They can’t be tracking us. This ship is clean-” He threw the controls in the opposite direction. A Scheat Heavy Corvette flashed past, nearly wiping them out. On the other side a Veep swerved away. Eve caught a glimpse of two more and at least a dozen other smaller ships. This was a full on ambush. “They couldn’t have traced my trajectory,” Jack continued. Eve wasn’t sure if he was yelling at her or at the universe. All she could do was focus on not throwing up as the g-forces rocked her every which way. A pair of smaller ships – regular police perhaps, screamed past, a torrent firing from their machine guns. The Trojan Horse rocked and bucked from the assault, the impacts a hurricane of lead. “I did everything right. Everything like last time. The only difference was. . .” His head snapped around, his gaze locking on Eve. No, on her datapad. “You idiot!” he yelled, making to grab the datapad, then yanking on the controls as a missile swooped past and crashed into a Fighter Corvette. “They’ve bugged your data!” he yelled. “They’ve known exactly where you were since you got it! A bloody Trojan horse. On board the Trojan Horse. Those ironic bastards!” Eve raised the pad to her gaze, her mouth gaping, horror filling the pit in her stomach. A bunch of 1’s and 0’s on a crystal wafer and somehow it led the PLC straight to them. And now they were going to die. Jack threw the Trojan Horse through another curve. “If I can get enough Corvettes between me and them, we may have a chance.” Eve’s mind was elsewhere. “Do you have your own PAD?” “Galley. Go.” Eve unbuckled, crashed to the floor as Jack pulled another turn, and pulled herself forward. She found the PAD, belted into the nearest seat and began furiously typing. To whoever finds this: Please ensure it gets to [strike]the offices of The Guardian[/strike] anywhere in the Imperium where the truth is valued. Make sure the people find out what the PLC are up to. Make sure they prepare. Make sure they know the truth. God Speed, Eve Walters, Reporter. The ship slammed downward, as if punched by a dietic fist. Klaxons screamed. The light dimmed. The roar of the air conditioners putted out. Impacts sung a song against the hull, the tempo increasing. “We’re in trouble,” Jack yelled. Eve kept typing. She couldn’t copy over the data. The legitimate documents, the proof. None of it. All she could do was summarise. Hopefully it would be enough. She unbuckled, ran for the escape pod. There was no escaping this. She knew how the PLC worked. The only thing that might escape today was the truth. She dumped her bugged PAD into the escape pod and launched it. It whooshed away silently, engines pulsing, then dying, drifting, turning- Then it exploded, pulses of plasma ripping through it. Eve shied away, then struggled back to the cockpit. “Bug’s gone,” she said. Might be easier to get away from them now. Jack was sweating. His hands looked slick on the controls. He was white. “Get away where?” There’s only one other jump gate in this system now and they control it.” He was shaking. Eve placed her hand on his. He hadn’t signed up for death. Eve hadn’t either, but she was attempting to take solace in the fact that her death might mean something. Jack didn’t have that. “I need you to get away from them enough for me dump the unbugged PAD. Then one day someone will find it and the truth will get out. That’s what we’re fighting for now Jack. Can you do it?” Jack straightened. A goal was a goal, she knew. Jack swung them around and the pattering on the hull lessened. “Get ready,” Jack said. We should be in the clear in about-” he stopped as he just pulled up and over a KBO – “twenty seconds.” Eve rushed to the back. There was a secondary airlock or dumping small items. Waste canisters, rubbish, etc. It was the perfect size for the PAD. She placed in it, sealed it, waited. “Now,” Jack yelled. Eve slammed the button down and the PAD shot away, disappearing into the black. She watched, waiting or an explosion, but there was simply nothing. Victorious, she returned to the cockpit. Just as a VEEP appeared before them. Green flashes sighted near the menacing turret hardpoints, hynotic balls of plasma energy, headed straight for them. They watched it for a moment, dumbstruck. “I think your dad is going to owe me after this,” Jack said numbly. “I think so too,” Eve said, taking his hand. What else could she say? The plasma fire addressed the cockpit squarely breaching the hull and killing them both instantly, the Trojan Horse was destroyed. As the pair braced themselves for a worthy death, little did they know the far reaching ramifications of their sacrifice that day. Stay tuned for some articles from the various faction press outlets exploring Eves demise...

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind here, I’m desperate to get into the code but as the rest of the team continue to remind me, actually making the game represents about 15% of the total job, and if you let the remainder slip it all quickly goes south. Been a little quiet because I received a letter stating saying basically ‘move house, now’ which isn't a fantastic position to be in when you’re in the process of creating something this complex, but it was time to move. When coding absolute silence is best or some light prescribed noise – buses and motorbikes most definitely aren’t on the freaking list. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/OfficeResized.jpg][/img] A serenity most surreal compared to the bustle of the city I just left. So for me personally, the last two to three weeks has been focusing on finding a nice place with room enough for an office where we can cultivate some magic. Ideally quiet with a bit of space and a scenic view so I could setup a camera and start shooting some needed video logs. Happy to say, found that place – am practically moved in now and I have to say the feels are great. It’s a converted office block in a commercial area so it literally smells of business, which is good, because there is a lot of business to be done here. No rest for me once the unpacking and move admin is done, yearly business accounts are due and with that comes a mountain of paperwork. But while I’m forced to deal with life, the team continue to forge in the background and we have some 3D SFX, models, particle effects and additional music all ready to be folded into the mix. It really cheers you up after carrying a 200kg sofa down four flights of stairs when a message arrives from Russia with love in the form of a new space station. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IMG_01072016_225243.png][/img] All hail the 'Valhalla' trading post, they'll be ships aplenty passing through her guts soon enough. More shots here. I have to say though, despite the gigantic steaming turd that has been dropped on me from the heavens; I’m still really excited for what is to come and definitely see it as a positive. That’s because the interruption, although unwelcome, has granted me a moment of clairvoyance. Heh, I guess it’s easy to lose your objectivity when you wake up, down a coffee and code for a 12 hour stint. So while I hissed and screamed as I was forcefully wheeled away and my beloved man cave disassembled, I was forced to contemplate the state of affairs and deal with a bit of that other 85% of business - all in the name of bringing order and organisation to things which will undoubtedly reflect in the project. Still, it won’t be long until we’ve rounded off the edges and put that beta online and with all the planned forum bustle, new models, voice overs and interview videos and my mailbox now full of story from John Harper, it’s clear that things will get torrential around here pretty soon. On that note, I’d better get back to unpacking! James

Two exciting new videos for you to take a look at Commander, a short promo clip and an extended version below that’ll give you a little more insight!
One of 10 new models added in the Overhaul, this one inspired by an Angel. We’ve added a crucial mechanism for understanding events in-game now with the notification panel. It’ll provide contextual notices along with links allowing you to move very easily between Zones, Ships and Space Objects. You’ll also notice in the videos that unit groupings are now dynamic as promised, with ‘soft’ groupings enabling quick formation moves of ships and ‘hard’ groupings further adding keyboard shortcuts and distinguishing icons shown in tactical and on the map. With all those ships in play you’ll notice the fleet panel getting a little crowded there, but shortly soft groups will be listed under the emblem for each faction and they (and the Players hard grouping icons) will enable filtering of the fleet list.
Putting a unit into a group hides the tactical icon which declutters the main view. Units launched from a carrier are automatically put into soft groups. Clarity is the name of the game for the UI in general at the moment, if the right parts are noticed at the right times and its obvious what the elements do then we consider it a win. Though some colours still need tweaking and some icons redesigned – functionally it certainly does the job, it’s a lot more inviting now with the feedback animation and we’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it. Swinging development chat back round to combat, we needed a decision to make as to how exactly we would display damage. When polled over on the forums, the majority of people wanted to see rolling damage counters which kinda fits with the finding and fitting of better weapons and support modules you’ll come across on your travels. The alternative is health-bars, which really add a lot of visual load especially in dense scenes. Considering the scale we’ve now adopted which allows us to view more of those glorious details, we think a touch of realistic damage modelling might instead suffice to indicate health, if you’re too busy drooling at the battle to spare a cursory glance at the fleet panel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5U_6QBz4W8 On that note, you might notice nothing is exploding just yet – we’re implementing a number of solutions there including smoldering wrecks, damage decals to tear open those bulk heads and toying with the idea of mesh deformation. We’re also looking at really using the physics engine to decorate the battles with ships spinning out of control, visibly reacting to shots hitting the hull. Under the hood is also progressing well, taking the time to rewrite the base layers has paid its dues. With the implementation of NVIDIA Physx and all the background concurrency stuff we feared it might perform a little worse than the current alpha, but surprisingly not so. We’ve tested over a hundred ships in a zone and let them fight and the framerate doesn’t really drop and we can have much more NPC traffic milling around in the background zones than we actually need so it certainly all bodes well for the inclusion of other Planets and perhaps even other concurrent planetary systems.
Modular stations have evolved into clusters of supporting structures, each NPC cluster will have a main function ie. Shipyards or Trading Post which will define the services it offers the Player. You’ll probably also notice that all the ships have names, we’ve gone through all the suggestions over the years, filtered them into good names and evil names and put them in. I think after we discarded the unsuitable ones we have over 300 hundred but it’s not enough. For the crack we added a few of our favorite sci-fi TV show characters to pad it out which hopefully made you chuckle but we should probably add some more… mature suggestions, we sure would appreciate it if you could pop some in the comments below! The focus now is completing combat which is pretty much there, implementing the mission and dialogue system so we get some meaningful enemy unit placement, we also need a very basic tutorial and then we’ll put up the Beta. That’s obviously going to be a very exciting time as we have a series of tests and topics planned to get some constructive criticism flowing but the most exciting bit being you guys actually getting your hands on it! On that point, it’s really tricky knowing just when is the right time to put it up and honestly, I say this with meaning – thanks for remaining patient. We’re pushing to get the Overhaul into the public domain very soon even with a rough alpha so we can get back to the normality of testing and updating. As always thanks for the continued support!

The Zone Map is coming along nicely So as you’ve probably worked out, one of the distinguishing features of Shallow Space is concurrent activity spread across several play areas that we call zones. Each zone contains ships, fixed structures and ‘Space Objects,’ and linked to them might be resources, random encounters and quests. A Space Object is a procedurally grown cluster composed of rock, ice, debris or gas. If a ship is sitting within the confines of a Space Object it might be granted a number of Status Effects that can have a positive or negative effect on its systems. Inside the zones, ships only have a limited ‘Deep Scan Radius’ in which a non-allied unit is fully revealed and Space Objects will need to be scanned to reveal hiding ships and resources.
These clusters of Rock form part of a Space Object. All parts of a Space Object need to be scanned before the contents are revealed... Shallow Space will be bustling with traffic. AI ships completing various tasks will all contribute to the general ambiance and add unexpected incidents to manage while you build up your fleet. That traffic will move around from zone-to-zone and if it is allied to the Player will share sensor readings including links between zones and its contents. If a zone doesn’t contain a player or allied unit it will be considered ‘dark’ meaning very little information is visible most notably on the Zone Map in which icon and links are hidden. Moving between the zones is a tricky mechanic because if we let the majority of these ships jump freely it’s probably not going to be all that fun. It certainly won’t be as fun as having the option of ambushes and boxing in, so a ships main method of traversing zones is to travel to predetermined ‘Jump Safe Areas,’ these are choke areas which serve as links between the zones. ‘Short Range Jump’ is an ability allowing you to move instantly within the zone but its cooldown will affect the use of the Jump Safe Areas. Cruiser and Capital ships can also be fitted with an auxiliary ‘Point-to-Point’ support module which will allow them to jump across several zones at once but its use consumes Hydrogen.
Anybody coming to or leaving for Zone 24 via this Zone will land here. In the Beta, the sandbox will be initially contained to one planet so we can hammer out any issues on a smaller scale but eventually each planet will harbour a number of zones and the planets type will generally dictate the types of materials and activity that are generated in those zones. One or more of a planets Zones will contain a waygate – enabling mainstream travel between planets and other planetary systems. Lets talk about unit construction and fleets... As the player progresses the game they will receive instructions on how to build ships and structures, these instructions will unlock blueprints. The player will also be able to build research structures to unlock blueprints in addition to finding them in the wild.
Finding a nice little corner here to setup shop - unit construction is in. Fixed structures will provide a number of other additional facilities to the player such as power, refining, construction, storage, weapons or sensors platforms, and some structures can house the small but potent Corvette units. Fixed structures can be placed in any occupied zone. Unit construction will be slower than a traditional RTS, the focus will be on selecting quality units to build up flotillas that fit your particular playstyle with fewer units than in the present alpha. Even still the Player can dynamically assign ships to groups that can fly in formation. These groups can operate independently anywhere in the Shallow Space sandbox likely questing, patrolling or gathering resources. After the completed beta we’ll be adding Officers and unit veterancy so you can turn them into hero units which will add abilities and bonuses to grouped ships. Much fun. Let's talk tooltips and UI for a second... Behind the scenes there is a lot of information driving the cogs of the game, some of that useful to the Player, much of it would confuse. Of course the trick is getting the right information on screen at the right time and so we’ve been investing considerable effort into that over the last month.
Ship Configuration now happens in-game, modules can be hot swapped with a 60 second 'weapons fooked for a bit Captain' cooldown status We’ve moved to a window based system that will let you handle everything from inventory management to ship configuration and unit construction. Not only will this feel more immersive by reducing the amount of time the Player spends ‘out of the game,’ but it allows for a certain flexibility when doing tasks such as comparing loadouts. We appreciate that the big issue with this is ultimately, the more ships you have, the more windows onscreen and we’ll combat this using composite windows such as ‘Combined Inventory’ and have constructed a window manager that remembers the last size and position of the window and even which zone it was open in. We envisage the Zone system might also act as a sort of desktop further enabling concurrency, an example might be to bounce seamlessly from unit construction to observing a battle in a neighbouring zone – with the windows hiding, reappearing as required.
But the real heroes (and a large timesink development-wise!) will be the tooltips that really leak those glorious details. In other areas we’ve been scheming and plotting with regards to sound effects and music. Starting again in that area using some of our funds to enlist the help of a professional editor who has already completely themed the UI with SFX. Separately, we have the building blocks to a procedural battle music system with a thrilling score written by the same guy who wrote the music from the last video. From the visual side we have some new ships we’ll shortly be unveiling including a new ESE secret-faction prototype Battlecruiser. Over on the story side we’ve started fleshing out the first non-linear campaign and are adding to it with side quests and additional backstory. So as we hope you can see, progress remains strong here with only a few lead items left on the todo list and good old clean up before we’re ready for Beta testing. So look forward to the unveiling of some new ships, a breakdown of what to expect in the Beta and a new video coming soon!

Hassle on the journey to Paradijs, as Jack and Eve travel to uncover the dirty secrets of the Pleiades Corporation... (Additional parts: 1, 2, 3) They were three days into their journey to Ares when the Veeps arrived. Two of them. Wing and Man. Eve had never seen them this close before. Like an ice cream cone on its side, the scoop of cream all sharp polygon edges. Distinctive tri-shaped prime movers. Large guns pointing in all directions. Heavy armour too. They only had two weaknesses. One was inertia, the other was battle cruisers, but most people didn’t have one of those up their sleeve. They pulled into formation on either side of the Tigress. Eve watched from the cockpit, waiting
“Remember,” Jack said. “Whatever happens, just play it cool. You belong here. This is a PLC ship. It belongs in this system, and we aren’t heading for the gate, so we’re not exactly trying to escape.” “Sure,” Eve said, though her father’s words from her youth came screaming back. Don’t try to outsmart the badge. Just run like hell. Static hissed over the comm and then a voice came in with that stuck-up accent of the well-off Pleiaden. “Freighter, identify yourself.” “Hi, sure, this is the Light Freighter Trojan Horse,” Jack said, cavalier. Eve elbowed him in the ribs, mouthed “Trojan Horse?” The comm hissed again. “Identify your cargo and destination.” Jack leant back in his pilot chair and activated the comm with a casual flick. “We’re heading to Ares. No idea what the cargo is. Couldn’t care less. You want to know? Come over here and inspect it yourself.” Eve slapped his hand from the comm switch. “What the hell are you doing?” she breathed. “Are you trying to get us killed?” Jack’s smile was gone. He leant forward and pushed her extended arm away. “Just leave this to the professionals, eh?” He toggled the comm again. “Look, I’ve got a bunch of engineering nerds hankering for this crap, whatever it is. Do you want to come check it out or not? I’ve got a timetable to keep.” He pulled his finger back and smiled at her. “People become policeman for one reason: To make themselves feel bigger than everyone else. This kind of person doesn’t want to do a ship search when they’re invited. It takes the fun out of it.” Eve watched him with raised eyebrows, not quite believing the brash approach. The comm was silent however, which she thought may have been a good sign. Then she gasped. “Who is this ship registered to?” “The Planetary Adjustment subsidiary of course. Where else do you think I got this idea from? I purchased this ship legally from them, I just, well you know, might not have completed the paperwork. It’s all legit anyway.” Eve shook her head then returned her gaze to the two ships outside. A single shot from any would cause a ruckus in the ship’s systems. A second would cause fatal damage, a third would probably destroy it. With the proximity of the Veeps she reckoned she’d have about a tenth of a second heads up that she was about to die. Not terribly encouraging. Moments passed. Eve felt the tension in her twitching arms, her pulsating heart, her rapid breathing. A tenth of a second, a tenth of a second. She couldn’t tear her eyes away. She needed every fraction of that tenth. “They’re not going for it,” Eve whispered. “Get us out of here.” “They’d make us the instant I sent power to the engines. For this particular hand we’re going all-in.” Eve eyed the ships again. She needed to do something. She just couldn’t sit down waiting while someone decided whether she lived or died. She needed- A flare outside. Eve screamed. The Veep veered away, its engine wash as bright as a missile launch. She almost had to swallow her heart back down to her chest, long gulping breaths to calm it still. Jack chuckled. “Everyone falls for the Trojan Horse.” “Because no one would be stupid enough to be that blatant.” He shrugged. “When everyone says something can’t be done, a little voice inside me tells me to do it anyway.” Eve smiled, despite herself. The man wasn’t short on confidence. “Is your little voice telling you to get me to Ares?”
The Trojan Horse sliced through the soupy atmosphere of Ares and they landed on an open platform at the original Adjustments base. Jack stopped at the ship’s door and donned a breather. He passed one to Eve. “The pressure is good outside, you just don’t want that shit in your lungs.” Eve felt a quip coming on about the shit she had put into her lungs when she was young, but the door whirred open and the moment passed. The sky was red and burning, like gaseous fire. Standard atmosphere flowed through her lungs but the pressure and the view curdled her stomach. She lowered her gaze to the catwalk ahead. Triangular support structure ran below the walk to the barren ground below. Ahead, Jack had nearly reached the door to the base. He pressed a hand to a console and the door irised open and he stepped through. Eve raced forward and followed him into the airlock. Jack closed the door and the airlock cycle started. A green light flared, the inner door opened and then Jack removed his mask. “Ok, let’s head to the control room,” he said. Eve removed her mask, breathed in the air. It felt fresh and clean. The facility was about twenty years old, Eve guessed, based purely on the style of the place. Empty, bland, a stark grey colour across the floor, walls and ceilings, it was at once both unattractive and hostile, setting her on edge. Again Jack seemed to know the route from rote, though she suspected a few of the turns were lucky guesses. The corridors all looked the same. If there had ever been anything in the facility to personalise it, it had long gone with everyone else to the second stage Adjustment base. She paused midstep, something nagging at her, but it was gone and she kept moving. They entered the control room, a circular space of chairs and control screens and standing space in the middle. Eve glanced at the screens quickly. Atmospheric content and density, rock and mineral spectra, gas bore depth and other such things. Jack was fiddling at one of the controls. “Ares has a pretty long orbital period. Ideal situation is we wait until it’s at the right part of its orbit to minimise travel distance to the map plus give us a speed boost.” “How long will that take?” Eve asked, though she figured she could probably guess. Jack kept typing then turned to her, an embarrassed half grin on his face. “Fifty two days.” Eve’s jaw dropped as she studied his eyes for the glimmer of a practical joke. No luck. He was serious. “Fifty two days?” she repeated, still unsure. “Ideally,” he said, rising. “That’s a quarter of a Terran year!” “It’s only half a Paradijs year,” Jack retorted. Then he went serious. “But agreed, we can’t wait that long. We don’t have the supplies for one, but the risk of exposure increases exponentially the longer you stay still.” Eve nodded. Finally, something she could agree with, not just logically, but deep in her bones. Movement meant life. Always moving, always one step ahead Jack turned back to the computer. “We could stay here a few weeks. Seventeen days tops, then we have to get moving. “A fortnight is doable,” Eve said. “As long as you don’t get ideas.” Jack laughed. An honest laugh. It sounded good. “Well now you’ve jinxed it. You see all my ideas are really just great plans, the groundwork laid long ago. For me to come up with new ideas would take some time, and we only have a fortnight.” Eve laughed back. She felt the stress flowing out. “You are a true gentlemen.” A clang beyond the door froze Eve. Jack’s gaze snapped to the door. Eve suddenly realised what had bothered her before. When she had removed her mask the air hadn’t felt musty or old, as if no one had breathed it for many months. It had felt fresh. As if someone was still here. The door to Eve’s right opened. A man stepped through. His head down studying a pad, he immediately sensed their presence and his head snapped up, long blonde hair bobbing. “What are you doing here?” he demanded. His eyes narrowed, glanced at Jack, turned to Eve. He backed away. Jack put his hands up. “We’re bleedin' lost is what we’re doing here.” He stepped forward. “Some sod orders me to come in with a cargo load of converters and I show up and no one is here.” Blonde stared at Jack, his feet spreading for stability. The silence built. Eve moved her own feet, inching closer. Blonde squared his stance toward Jack, clear confrontational body language. “What kind of converters?” Jack mirrored the stance, put his hands on his hips. “Catalytic converters.” “Of course,” Blonde said. They continued to stand off, neither moving, gazes locked on each other. Eve could feel the testosterone flaring from both sources, like magnet poles trying to push each other through invisible forces. Blonde moved. Eve was ready.
Blonde dived for an alarm console to his right, but Eve swung her leg forward, crashing into his genitals, dropping him to a knee. Jack was already running and when Blonde got back to his feet to reach the alarm, Jack crash tackled him through the open door. They hit the corridor floor, fists already flying. Jack was on top. He slammed his fist down, pulled back his other, then jerked and rolled sideways as Blonde snap punched his throat. Jack kept rolling, his gasping echoing through the corridor. Blonde jumped up, swung his foot out, missed Jack by millimetres. Eve ran in behind Blonde as he swung again. Eve grabbed the long blonde locks and yanked his head back as he swung. He spun around his centre of gravity and dropped to his back. Jack was back on his feet, but staggering. He dropped onto Blonde, a knee either side of his head, locking his neck between his legs. Gasping for air, Jack launched a fist down into Blonde’s nose. The explosion of blood followed the snap of cartilage and Blonde was still. Jack rolled off the limp body and lay there sucking in air, rubbing his purpling throat. “Son of a bitch nearly killed me,” Jack gasped, the words a struggle, as if he were breathing through a straw, which in some ways he was. “what kind of scientists are they hiring?” Eve glanced at the Pad that hadn’t left her person since she’d escaped Eden and the data that had made her public enemy number one. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” He lifted an arm and Eve helped him up. He leant against the wall, still wheezing, doubled over. He stayed that way for a minute, then gulped in another breath and kicked Blonde in the head. Then he leant back on the wall for another breather. “So,” Eve began. “Catalytic Converters, huh?” Jack shrugged. “I panicked.” He pushed off the wall. “We’d better get going.” Eve looked at both of them. One was a dead weight, the other a liability. She wasn’t sure which was which. “What do we do with him?” “Probably best not to kill him,” Jack breathed, straightening up a touch. “Find a closet to lock him in, smash the controls.” Eve eyed Blonde. He was actually well built, probably pushing ninety kays. Jack was barely upright, she’d have to do the heavy lifting. “Does it matter? As soon as he doesn’t check in we’re screwed.” “Better they find him than he alerts them,” he said. He grabbed one of Blonde’s arms. “Now suck it up and help me.” They manhandled Blonde into a locker and fritzed the controls. Jack was breathing hard by then, his throat a fireworks of purples and reds. She helped him across the external catwalk and back into the Trojan Horse. She settled him into the pilot’s chair. “Are you going to be able to fly?” Jack grinned, then grimaced, coughing. “Honey, I’ve flown this rig whilst mostly dead. I can handle only half dead.” He fired up the ship, and was half way through his pre-flight when he swore. “How long were we in there?” Eve shrugged from the co-pilots seat. “An hour and a half?” Jack’s eyes glazed over and Eve thought he was about to pass out but they hardened again. He shook his head. “We’ll have to risk it.” “Risk what?” “Our re-entry would have caused local warming of the air. If we take off again before it disperses it might register on the Adjustment sensors.” “They can’t be that sensitive.” “They’re trying to rebuild an entire world. You need a high level of accuracy for that.” He pulled back on the controls and they jarred free from the surface. The world tilted around as Jack pushed them nearly vertical and blasted up through the sky. Eve pulled up the rear view and watched the engine plume run bright but quickly lost in the red atmosphere. Soon even that faded to black and they were in space, their exhaust a neon sign to anyone watching. Jack arced the Trojan Horse back around the planet as if trying to catch orbit, but he kept accelerating. “Slingshot?” Eve asked. Jack nodded. “Aye. A rough one, but it should give us a boost.” The ship shuddered as it brushed the upper atmosphere. The planet hung just above them. The engines screamed, a steady vibration through the ship, soon eclipsed from the shaking of the manoeuvre. Around they went, keeping a steady distance from the planet so it looked like they were making little progress, but the speedometer kept climbing and then they were away, the shaking diminishing to the simple thrum of the engine. “Where are we heading now?” Eve asked once the noise had dropped. “Kuiper Belt,” Jack said. “That’s where the Map is. At least the Map I know of.” “That’s pretty far out,” Eve said, thinking travel time, exposure to risk. “Has to be. Any closer the PLC would find it.” He shrugged. “It’s a blessing and a curse. Its orbital period around the star is so long that for all intents and purposes it’s stationary. But eventually a pattern of flight paths will emerge that the PLC might be able to figure out.” He checked something on the display. “I’ll make a course correction once we hit the asteroid belt, then we turn off and coast and we should be home free.”

Cool things on the cards this week as a few of the team are meeting up in Europe. Myself and Alex will spend a few days working together to balance the scene a little more and do a code handover and we’ll also be meeting with Vincent to discuss what happens after the Overhaul update is complete and we need to start looking at the campaign. He'll have answers to the tricky questions like managing lines, voice actors and localisation. Vincent has produced more video games than we can remember, including the heavenly spawn ‘Nexus: The Jupiter Incident’ (may golden petals fall forever at its feet) so we’re in good hands I feel. We’ll try and snap some photos! Meanwhile John Harper, the resident scribe is plotting the treacherous path of the campaign and side quests, very exciting stuff – we have quite a tale to tell interwoven with all the short stories and vignettes you’ve no doubt seen on the blog but don’t worry if you missed them – they are all right here.
Ship configuration makes it's way over to the Overhaul. All the descriptive text for the modules will be hidden away in a comprehensive tooltips system, which will enable you to do things like compare modules very easily. So regarding the overhaul, we've finished moving across the mechanics we want to keep from the current alpha but one thing that has been left behind you’ll be happy to know, is the camera. A number of you have been screaming out for a Homeworld style ‘planar’ camera and we’ve added exactly that. In the current alpha our six degrees of freedom took 6 keys, 2 modifier keys and the mouse to master, in the overhaul it now takes just 1 modifier key and the mouse. Combine this with some inventive ‘adaptive scaling,’ the camera knows to adjust the sensitivity of movement based on zoom making things far less cumbersome. Try to look out for it in the smooth circular camera movements in the video below. The game also now has a rudimentary AI that will simulate such tasks as auto-attacking, mining and trading (soon to be extended with patrolling etc.) and it’s all driven by a background concurrency simulator dubbed ‘Cerebrus’. This concurrency thing is cool because it means if you are in one zone, activity in the other zones continue in the background. Also of note, the ship configuration screen is now fully integrated and ships can be assembled using procedural weapons and modules that can now be found as loot. Take it from us this is a but a small eclectic cross section of the progress made in the background really, the evolution is both rapid and exciting but sadly not something we can really show.
The fleet panel continues to evolve with the unit grouping icons, the addition of working action icons and the enemy & allied forces sections. The fleet panel evolves with some better hologram icons along with the addition of the ‘Action icon’ which is designed to give an at-a-glance status of what each ship is doing. Feedback from yourselves also suggested that there should be enemy and allied ships listed in the fleet panel so you don’t have to fumble about clicking in 3D - so we have added collapsible sections for those ships also. It’s obvious that when you look at the fleet panel, it doesn’t leave much room if the player has a number of vessels in play. Also if the player has stations and support platforms in the current zone that could add additional clutter still. To combat this we’ll be bringing back the ‘Flotilla’ icons from the current alpha. But rather than have the groupings fixed before the game starts, you’ll create these groups using traditional shortcuts (eg. CTRL+2, CTRL+3, etc.) When a group is selected, all player fleet icons outside that group will be hidden. Hopefully that will make things much easier if you have groups of ships missioning in different zones. But In the end, I wouldn’t be surprised if we added an alternative high density collapsed icon view similar to SoaSE – just for the sake of completeness.
Top left, the dazzling and functional markings of 'Endless Space,' Bottom right our blank canvas. We’ve put together a little video shot 1080p 60fps (below) just to highlight how well this thing is running. Maybe we should have left it a little longer before pushing anything out because parts of it are blatantly unfinished but hey it’s an alpha. The zone map at present is a fine example of programmer’s art – functional but not particularly beautiful! But the basics are there and you’ll be surprised at how quickly it gets bought to life. We’ll draw inspiration from the 4X genre, notable SoaSE and Endless Space and make the zone 'jump-link' lines pronounced and contextual, highlighted if available, hidden if not. We’ll also add summary boxes to the zone giving a rundown of material composition and fleet strengths. Looking at the zone map, it’s easy to forget that there will be other planets, each with their own zones filled with topical resources and ultimately missions, so with all of that, still lots of work to do there.
So as usual, big progress everywhere and still lots to do. It’s just crazy, some tasks that you think can take hours might take days and vice versa. One thing is for sure however, the to-do list is getting smaller, so every day we get closer to the cake and that can only be a good thing! Cheers from the team anyway, we're loving the likes and comments coming in. Also enjoy this preview video which incidentally happens to be our 50th!? Checkout the channel page to see videos going right back to the very start (wincing here!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4lYjVQrdDY

I’m going to break from tradition here in a couple of ways: Firstly I’m going to level with you and address you one person to another because every idea starts in a single persons mind and secondly, I’m going to talk about the scaffolding surrounding the game rather than the game itself, give you a little bit of background. So my name is James, I live in the UK. I grew up in a dodgy area, so rather than my parents letting me mingle with the local reprobates, they instead opted to put a computer in front of me at the tender age of around 7. Probably the best thing they ever did for me. The computer had two games and back then they were very expensive, but DOS came bundled with a flavour of BASIC and so I became exposed to computer programming from a very young age. Professionally I moved into computer support, later infrastructure design and consultancy and through hard work and determination found myself in a high paid role managing a midsize budget and a small team where I also opted to do a degree part time in Business and Software Design. Afterwards, I continued to hone my software development skills, and worked on a couple of new business start-ups, helped out with a few indie projects but I think it’s fair to say that my heart has always been with computer games, both playing them and making them. I grew up playing the likes of Starfleet Command, Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, Warcraft (the RTS’,) Syndicate and the Ultima games. So one day, I was watching Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and was enthralled in the last ten episodes which was effectively a total war footing: The Federation, Romulans and Klingons vs. the Breen, Cardassians and the Dominion – simply put; EPIC. Eager as pie I launched Steam (back in 2013) and started trawling the library and I found nothing. Surprisingly, besides Homeworld and Nexus there hadn’t been a game that truly focused on fleet warfare for over 10 years. That’s a situation that disturbed me so deeply that it prompted me to put 12 years of hard work and a very well paid job into the proverbial shredder. So I’m an effective manager and a good programmer this much I know, I had a poke around and yes there were game development environments that had evolved to the point where all the time consuming 3D maths had been whittled away and a suitable abstraction layer existed between the game engine and OpenGL/DirectX. This removed a truckload of time consuming nuances and made it so possible that if I worked hard, like REALLY hard, I could potentially code this thing on my own – that’s important because developers and managers are the biggest costs. So over the last three years I’ve been asking myself the questions; how can we make realistic ship movement, what should govern the AIs decisions when the ships move and fight, how I can imbue the player with as much of the responsibility of a fleet commander without overloading them. Perhaps bizarrely, we designed the game from the ships upwards, rather than picking the generic RTS template and working down from that. At the same time I hunted for talent, drew up specifications, set up business, got distribution sorted and built an effective team. I met Alex, who I consider my partner in crime now – he lives in a completely different country on the other side of the world but we have a great friendship based on mutual appreciation and necessitation. He’s a VFX dude predominantly, but kickass programmer too and I fed him a long list of assets that I would need to make Shallow Space. Now truth be told, that’s time consuming work and I didn’t expect him to work for free (neither did he!) so he setup a business himself and sold the assets publicly – strange feeling at first but it is what it was; a means to an end. Then we have the designers, again – talented people, time consuming work, I wasn’t going to insult them by offering them empty promises of X percentage. So I paid them what they were worth out of my own pocket and later, using the funds that you guys have provided, grew the team so that we have additional designers. They are all technically contractors, but interestingly they were all in a rutt of some form, either their talents weren’t being appreciated or they were stuck doing jobs they didn’t enjoy. When you pick someone up and dust them off like that, you get the very best from them and therefore, the very best for the game. We attracted the attention of Vincent Van Diemen, producer of Nexus: The Jupiter Incident which blew my mind frankly, he is a great guy absolutely dying to help in whatever way he can. From here, I thought, it’s easy – put the pieces together, create high quality assets and media, attract the attention of the press and therefore a crowd – a self-fulfilling prophecy, or so I thought. How wrong was I. After I figured out that suspended not a meter above my head was a highly polished glass ceiling, I did feel a little dejected. No matter what quality of assets or game we produce, we’ll likely never get major coverage. I was pretty gutted at first until I rationalised it all and spun it into a positive and realised that actually, it’s a good thing. That was an important day actually because that’s when I stopped trying to pander to the latest popular review/preview category and development of Shallow Space as a wannabe-famous game ceased. So ‘what do Players actually want to see in this game’ I thought, well that part was easy – because you’ve always been gracious enough to provide feedback and if you’re good enough to give it, then I’ll read it – every word and the feedback strangely lead me back to the game I was dreaming of in the first place. So ‘how can I reach people’ I thought, well Steam alone does a fantastic job of that – but I still need to know who I’m talking too, know my target audience. According to my figures you’re an average of 33 years of age and male. Well that’s easy, because I’m 33 years of age and a male. So I sat down and brainstormed the things I would want to see if I were you and it was an interesting if not obvious list: Transparency, honesty, trust, consistent communication, reliability and above all, evidence that I was being taken seriously as a customer. I set my pen down and realised I’d made a mistake, rather than making the dream I’d settled for some halfway house that doesn’t seek to innovate or advance. I might as well of handed the idea to a AAA game studio and said ‘here make this.’ We’re Indie, i'm not afraid to admit that now we can break the mould and do things differently and more than that, we absolutely should. I remember that moment clearly; it was like an articulated lorry driving into a 50 foot bell. I closed my laptop and went into the living room. I turned on the TV and by pure chance guess what was on? Yep, that same episode of Deep Space 9. It was then that I realised, I had to take the risk – it’ll mean a setback initially but I need to pull the project apart and make the game I wanted to make originally. Procedural open-world environments, an intimate relationship with the ships and combat… I don’t need to spell it out; you’ve no doubt read the Overhaul articles. I took a chance and talked about it here and that’s when the people came. There has always been the people attracted to the idea from the start and I’m forever grateful to them. But then there were new faces, the Steam articles started getting a surge in likes, the blog saw twice the traffic every post. People were talking about this. Now, I’d always been careful to keep my job in the background, though I think they knew that by now my heart was on something else. But last month (March 2016) I did it; I took voluntary redundancy and made Shallow Space my fulltime job. You’ll be pleased to know that I personally have the money now to buy my time enough to release what we deem ‘the minimum viable product’ but actually, even with the Early Access funds trickling in we’re going to see a lot more than that. You’ll also be pleased to know that, even if the funds dried up tomorrow, we still have enough money to finish the game. If the bank burst into flames, I can take short term IT contracts and work the game on the side. But what about burn-out? Those boys are putting a lot into this game you’re probably thinking... Well I know me personally, I’m far happier now that I’m doing one fulltime job rather than two and the guys, they are looked after – they can walk away and come back, the pressures on them are minimal. It’s happened now, all the ducks are finally in a row and let me make it official: Welcome to the start of something truly beautiful. James

So Eve and her new friend escaped Eden, but they are not of out trouble yet! The journey to Paradijs continues... (Additional parts: 1, 2)
Eve watched Eden shrink into the distance, carrying on its eternal journey. It was a binary pair with Paradijs in orbit around the Pleiades star. The smuggler burned enough juice to break from Eden’s frame of reference. Now, he said, all they had to do was wait for Paradijs to come around its orbit and fly straight into them. The process would take many days. “So we just sit here?” Eve asked, probably for the tenth time. The smuggler had turned off the lights and controls, and dimmed the air and heat systems. She was watching him from reflected sun and starlight. “Everything we do makes us visible to the police,” he said. “Except doing nothing, so that’s what we’ll do. We’ll sit tight and no one will know we are even here.” Eve crossed her arms. She’d never been great with stillness. Always moving, always running, always one step ahead. A motto that worked equally well in her father’s world and her own as a journalist. Sitting still was not part of the bargain. She stood to relieve her twitching legs. “What if they find us? What if they are sneaking up on us right now?” “Then we’re dead.” “That’s not comforting.” She thought the smuggler was watching her but she couldn’t be sure. The silence carried on, as quiet as space was dark. “Jack Hamilton,” he said. She blinked. “Excuse me?” He leant forward. “My name. I thought that might be more comforting than the thought of dying.” She smiled despite herself. “Thank you, Jack.” Eve was wrapped in both survival blankets and swallowing the last of the water when Jack powered the ship back up. Paradijs was coming up on them. The rush of fresh warmth from the AHS filled Eve, lifting her spirits. Three days of cold in the dark brought out many fears. But now things were back on track. Always moving, always one step ahead. The view out the window brightened with flame as they entered Paradijs’ atmosphere. The air thickened and banged and raged at the hull. Jack barely touched the controls, only adjusting to counter turbulence or slow their descent. Then Eve had a bad feeling. “The altimeter isn’t working. How do you know how high we are?” “When we hit the ground we’re at zero altitude.” He glanced at her, flashed a smile, but he was concentrating harder on the controls than he wanted to let on. Perhaps this part of the trip wasn’t on the usual smuggling tour. He seemed to read her mind. “I don’t normally smuggle people toward Paradijs. Usually it’s the other way around, workers wanting to get off Paradijs, either to Eden and the better working conditions or from there out of the Pleiades system altogether. I figured this would buy us a bit of time.” Both his hands were on the controls now, muscles taut, beads of sweat on his forehead. His arms shook as the wheel’s feedback relayed the ship’s desire to flip over and kill them both.
The flames outside burned away and Jack’s body relaxed. He gave the engines a little more boost and the kick of the prime mover transmitted through Eve’s seat. She saw a mountain range in the distance, sharp cliffs and buttes coming into focus as they closed in. A sinking feeling filled her.“That’s our destination, isn’t it?” “With perception like that it’s no wonder you’re a journalist.”Eve bristled. “Sounds like you need some time out of the shuttle.”Jack smiled big white teeth at her. “Not long now.” He landed them under an outcropping. He unstrapped and opened a seat compartment out the back. He withdrew a big bore Painter and handed her his own pistol. “You good with this?” She looked the weapon over, trying to look confident. Trigger for her finger here, the end where the death came out there. How hard could it be? “Point and shoot right?” He frowned at her. “It has a bit of recoil. Aim for the kneecaps. Should result in a nice juicy stomach shot.” She shook her head and put the weapon down. “I’m not here to kill anyone, Mr Hamilton. I’m a journalist. I’m here to tell the world the truth about what the Pleiades Corporation have been doing, and what they plan to do to the Imperium!” He regarded her, pupils dancing back and forth as if he were looking for something, or a lack of something. “Your dad understood how to defend himself.” A pause, then, “And his friends.” Eve handed the pistol back. “One of the many reasons I don’t talk to my father anymore, Jack.” He shrugged, stuck the pistol in his belt then hoisted the Painter on his shoulder. “Your call.” He opened the gangplank and slowly stepped out, Painter extended outward, ready to spray the immediate vicinity in destruction. Eve emerged behind him, coughing immediately. Paradijs was hazy, the horizon and even parts of the rock formation hidden behind a curtain of brownness. The rocks were coated in dust. She coughed again. Jack had a breathing mask on. He moved away, Painter out horizontal, patrolling the area. Eve went back inside and put on a mask. She returned to find him pulling a camo net from an external compartment. “Amazing how much people can fuck up a planet when they put their mind to it, huh?” Jack said. She thought he was smiling behind the mask. “This is pollution?” She’d heard stories of ancient cities – Tokyo, London, Beijing being like this, but they had been inhabited for millennia. Paradijs had only been inhabited for centuries. She’d assumed it had always been borderline inhabitable, not worth the expense of planetary adjustment. Jack nodded. “Could be worse though I guess.” He made a sound like a giggle. “Give them time.” Together they draped the ship in the camo, designed to confuse heat, metal and visual sensors. Jack assured her that the netting, in combination with the heat soak of the smog would eliminate any eyes from orbit. “What if they come in closer?” she asked. Jack didn’t answer, instead looking up. Eve followed his gaze and realised the silver dollar in the sky, almost half hidden by haze, was Eden. A small, cruel world whose masters were planning abomination the likes of which humanity had never seen. Her mission had felt so important a moment ago but now she felt insignificant. No matter what happened, Eden would continue to hang in Paradijs’ sky and vice versa, an endless dance together around their sun, unable to be stopped by anything her, or anyone, could do. “Time to go,” Jack said, pulling her from the reverie. He holstered the Painter on his back then headed up the mountain along a natural track. Eve caught up to him. The mask made it hard to catch her breath and they walked in silence. She didn’t bother asking where they were going. Jack would reveal it when Jack was ready. Her mind went back to the trip they had taken so far. A double back from the starport to a repair bay then out to a stepping stone planet. There were many other planets and bodies in the stellar system, lots of places to hide, but there was still only one way in and out of the system. Officially anyway. “What’s the next step in the railroad?” she asked. Jack’s head snapped toward her, his expression of surprise only half hidden behind the mask. He turned back to watch his footing. “I don’t remember Nathanial being involved in smuggling quite like this.”Eve smiled. “I’m right then. You do have a railroad. What’s the next station?” Jack gave a muffled laugh and shook his head. “If you are such a smuggling expert, why aren’t you out there busting smugglers instead of playing with the fire of the PLC?” Eve didn’t reply. It was a question she had wrestled with many times over the last fifteen years. She always came back to the same answer however. “Just because you don’t want to hide in your father’s shadow doesn’t mean you want to shine a big light on it.” Jack stopped. He turned, grasped both her shoulders. H stared at her unspeaking. They looked at each other. Then he let go and kept walking. “I think I understand you a bit better now Miss Walters.” The grade steepened and there was no spare lung capacity for talking. Marbles of rock slipped beneath foot and she had to hold onto pillars of crumbling sedimentary, but she kept up with Jack as they marched ever forward. The sky darkened and Jack stopped, looking up. Eve followed his gaze. The sun was slipping behind one of the binary pair’s chaotic moons. Jack eased down onto the ground. “Take a break,” he wheezed, the climb clearly affecting him too. “Don’t want to walk up here when we can’t see. Don’t worry it doesn’t last long.” Eve dropped to the ground and watched behind an outstretched arm. The sky turned a deep brown, edging toward a less irritating black. She could still see her surroundings, but Jack was right, it was best to wait in case there were surprises up ahead. “It’s not far,” Jack said after a few minutes. “The Tigress is stowed in a cave maybe a kilometre away. Once we’ve got it running we’ll head for Ares. They’re onto the second stage of planetary adjustment so the original base is empty and no one pays it any attention. Except for the science geeks. “We’ll wait for Paradijs to make its closest approach to Ares – which granted won’t save us much distance, but it might cut a day of in-system travel. We’ll skim the sun as best we can to stay hidden.” [url=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/pleiades-system-map1.jpg]
“And from there?” Eve asked. Jack regarded her. “Then the map.” Eve inhaled sharply. “You have a map?” “Of course I have a map. How else did you think I was getting you out of here?” “I, well, I hoped you did, but PLC reports-” Jack waved at her. “Propaganda. You think they’re going to advertise it?” Eve didn’t respond. They had a saying back at the office. If the report comes from the PLC then assume it’s wrong until verified by two independent authorities. She changed the topic. “So, you never told me why you changed your mind and decided to help me.” Jack kept staring up at the sky. Eve thought maybe he hadn’t heard her and was about to ask again when he said, “It takes one to know one.” “Sorry?” “That’s what you said to me when we first met. Your bold approach had me on the defensive. It took me a while to click.” Eve frowned at him. “You knew my father?” The world lightened and Jack was already on his feet and pulling her up. “Come on. It’s not far but it does get steeper. And colder.” They were quickly scrabbling up on all fours. Eve’s breaths were coming hard and fast. She had to force long slow breaths despite her heart’s protests, otherwise she’d asphyxiate. The smog trapped the sun’s muggy heat. Sweat clung to her skin yet did little except dehydrate her. The climb devolved into a simple subroutine of movements. Reach with right hand, grand handhold, move left leg, acquire purchase, reach with left hand. She lost track of time but was aware the sun was setting and they had to get off the rock face before dark otherwise they’d be stuck there until morning. Finally Jack stopped and pointed. “There it is.” With renewed energy Eve followed Jack toward a patch of darkness and they were into the cave. Moving by touch Jack gingerly stepped to the back of the cave and pressed a button. Compressed air shushed through the cave and a halo of light appeared in the darkness, growing into a full rectangle as the gang plank lowered to the cave floor. They rushed in and Jack led Eve to the galley and a rack of bottled water. Eve grabbed one, sat down, ripped off the top and glugged it down. It tasted stale, but it was cold and wet and good enough for her. Someone was shaking her. She flinched, but then breathed deeply. It was Jack. “You fell asleep,” he said, smiling. “It’s almost like you don’t normally spend your days climbing hills.” “Now who’s the perceptive one?” she said, accepting his offered hand. He pulled her up and they moved to the cockpit. “Leaving Eden we played it nice and cool, slow and steady. This time we’ll do the opposite. Hit maximum burn until we leave atmos then shut down. If I do the calcs right we should be able to coast to Ares without too many burns in space. Much rather run the engines in atmos where the pollution dims the infra-red.” Eve just nodded. Jack settled into the pilot’s chair and went through his numbers. He’d probably done it so many times it was automatic – punch in orbital data and out came the time and angle for the burn. Eve left him to it and explored the ship. It was a decent sized freighter with enough space for a crew of two, three at a pinch and maybe twenty metric cubes of cargo. There were two cargo bays crammed between the fuselage and the nacelles. To an unlearned eye they looked standard, but the container racks had clearly been modified to hold people, rather than cargo in zero-gee. Eve imagined a few cargo containers modified to dispense water and food and the hold would comfortably hold ten to twenty people trying to flee the PLC’s tyranny. She turned to leave and saw Jack standing in her way. “We’ll stay put for a couple of days,” he said. That way Paradijs itself will be heading toward Ares. Gives us a boost.” He looked over her shoulder. “You like?” She turned and nodded. “You’ve clearly been doing this awhile.” He gestured inward. “There’s something in here I thought you might be interested in.”

[img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Unity-2016-04-05-07-07-54-12.jpg][/img] Not one but two huge Capital ships for your perusal today Commander as we test out Steams awesome new Sketchfab 3D model viewer! These puppies have history, and if you’ve been with the project for a while you’ll notice that the ships bare resemblance to two older Capital vessels that have been in the project since the start. Those old models don’t really fit into the new order, but we just couldn’t leave them out in the cold so we had them reimagined. After the great voyage, the worldships set the premise for the basic design of the majority of the Human ships. Huge lumbering hulks were produced that were slow and all but useless in conventional combat. The ‘Battle for Pleiades’ saw quick and innovative change to space combat bringing smaller, more agile ships into fashion but there is still call for these big bastions to house the Command staff and support facilities. The ‘Cambridge’ is a 4th generation mid-range light Battleship, Capital class. https://sketchfab.com/models/103eb52ee52e4755a466c981016b9e82 Comparatively, it has the stopping power of four Battle Cruisers and is able to provide a healthy firing solution at any arc. The ship has no blind spots and beyond its offensive capacity it is also very practical. It has a large cargo bay, is equipped with the latest technology; inorganic matter transporters, negative space encroachment and all of the turret hardpoints feature PLC’s latest trick; quantum anchoring improving both range and accuracy. The ‘Nottingham’ is a 4th generation mid-Battleship, Capital class. When MFC presented the design at the quarterly council of admirals, Highest Honourable James Thorensenan, Field Marshall of the Terran Confederate Navy was pictured with his mouth wide open and noted as uttering only two words; ‘utterly ridiculous’ and the craft is just that. https://sketchfab.com/models/2f6a4d46e2fc4818aa7ba6b5191751d9 Essentially, it is an upscaled version of the Cambridge and is considered to be its sister ship. It contains all of the same technology, much of the same internal specification; gyms, training facilities, holo-suites and marine/surplus crew habitation facilities. But when applied at the scale of the Nottingham, which is over a kilometre in length, it allows for the deliberate deployment of a notable task force. But that’s not all. Tested on Cruisers, Battlecruisers and even some Capital vessels, a broadside alpha strike from a fully loaded Nottingham can overload most shield generators and cause severe structural damage to the recipient if they are not obliterated entirely. In fact, in combat, it can hold its own against a vastly superior force. It is a ship so undeniably well designed that the Emperor himself is thought to charter its use when travelling between the core worlds. The mere presence of one is enough to route most adversaries. If you do managed to fight your way through its surplus shield generators, you’ll have to contend with mirrored active armour that in places measures 30 metres thick, offering substantial damage reduction to any and all conventional weapon types rendering them effectively useless. It is a veritable mobile fortress, susceptible to only the most advanced phasing tactical warheads. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Unity-2016-04-05-07-08-10-83.jpg][/img] The Cambridge is in the current alpha, we’re sure you’ve been enjoying it already – the Nottingham will be in the Overhaul. Look forward to the next post, which is the next instalment of the tale ‘Paradijs Lost’ landing on Friday. If you’re hungry for more ship designs and turntables check this category on the blog, we have dozens!

Progress remains strong as we continue the overhaul in earnest and we remain extremely positive about the outcome! All the lessons learnt over the last two years are being rolled in, skills have advanced in all areas; coding, modeling, design but the exciting part is the effect on the overall gameplay experience now; with feedback, animations and consistency from the UI in particular having been massively improved. The graphics also are really quite something now too; with the team working together to bake scenes so rich it’ll cook your eyeballs in their sockets! The proverbial meat trapped in-between our teeth right now is the physics side of things. I think we’re up to around 20 attributes that need to be meticulously preened, balanced and stashed to make these ships actually look and feel like the lumbering hulks they are, not an easy task but well worth it – a huge timesink though. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/envoy-2016-03-31-17-41-57-73.jpg][/img] All the resources icons have been exposed here but you'll actually have to jump zone-to-zone and scan for your resources to locate them. Hard to show in the screens but the ‘galaxy’ is coming along quite nicely, we’re learning what makes a good zone and where to put them, salting the permutations of random-ness and weaving it into that perfect and huge play area. Pretty soon we’ll be ready to start injecting the NPC traffic which will hopefully contribute to the economy. We can’t make any promises there however, because we’re still not convinced that a live economy will actually be fun. Not sure how many of you played X3 and spent 45 minutes trapping across the galaxy to sell your meticulously sourced wares to find the computer has stolen the deal…? No fun. But it’s that economy that has been the subject of the last two weeks. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/envoy-2016-03-31-17-36-26-20.jpg][/img] We’ve come up with a set of base and refined materials that the player will use to construct ships and stations. Breaking from tradition, ships will be constructed from as many as 3 or 4 different materials that will need to be located, mined and refined from their base materials AND transported to the place that make your ships. Yes, it sounds a little sadistic granted, but beyond the random occurrence and mission system we need to give the player reasons to look beyond their immediate surroundings. In a 4X colonization would be that thing, but this is an RTS (an open-world one at that) so we have to think outside the box. But you don’t have to produce your own ships if you are economy averse, completing missions and subcontracting production (aka: purchasing) from friendly stations will also be possible, but you’ll need to complete missions to unlock their services. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/envoy-2016-03-31-19-19-16-44.jpg][/img] Even combat ships will be able to haul freight, very important as the logistics of your unit will be half the battle. Much the same as Eve Online each ship will have a cargo bay and the player can shuffle items between ships (and static cargo containers) to get those resources to where they need to be. It’s important to remember that we are moving away from the standard RTS-fare of player units being disposable entities that you build, CTRL-A, send in. You’ll go through great lengths to acquire the blueprints, materials and crew for these ships and when you loose one, it will hurt. But we’ll soften that blow of loss by introducing easing mechanics. For example, when ships are destroyed they will leave behind persistent floating wreckages that can be recycled to reclaim X% of the materials. The crew, well some will die (poor souls,) others will make it to lifepods that you’ll have to recover to be able to staff replacement ships. So what we’re trying to do here is create a situation whereby loosing a ship is actually fun as you hastily tractor in your lifepods and what’s left of their cargo and your trashed fleet limps away to get repaired or hide. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/envoy-2016-03-31-17-38-22-13.jpg][/img] It’s not all about the combat either; combat is obviously in because it is undeniably fun. But what is also fun to some people is the simple act of gathering resources, building a commercial empire and finding and locating those special items or blueprints. Provision is in to automate the actions of the ships, repeating a simple queue will be in from the start and further down the line we will introduce programmable AI for more complex queues. Keep an eye out for those utility drones and boarding Corvettes we mentioned last time, we haven’t forgotten about those! We also have a juicy assortment of Freighters now; an image of one of them is below. Also if you’re sat there sweating in anticipation do checkout the ‘Artwork’ section from time-to-time, we tend to pop WIP stuff up there just to prove that the cogs are still grinding. Honestly, you don’t need to worry about those cogs continuing to grind. The stuff we’ve fed you is just the tip of the iceberg, we continue to bounce of the walls and run around screaming in-between devtime. We are massively excited and motivated and can’t wait to get it out there!! [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/1.jpg][/img]

The action hots up as Eve makes a break to leave Eden, but with the might of the Pleiades authority against her - will she make it? Not without help that's for sure... This is Part 2 of the latest Shallow Space lore-building tale 'Paradijs Lost,' click here for Part 1. The shortest route to the starport was through Halifax Square. She tightened the stolen coat around her shoulders and entered. A huge cobblestoned promenade, brightly lit despite the hour. At its centre astride a pedestal that dwarfed her, was a statue of ‘The Unnamed Captain’, commander of the ancient U.E.S Halifax world ship. There was some foot traffic, workers in summer jackets, their high ankle boots visible beneath. The square was surrounded by tall imposing buildings, all serving the Corporation in some fashion. They were made from some kind of black glass, like obsidian. She knew the lights built into their facades also doubled as cameras. She kept her walk slow. Not quite aimless, but as if her destination was malleable, her timetable casual rather than life-or-death. The tallest building on the square was open, even at this hour. Its roof extended toward the clouds, perspective bending spires reaching upward. The front had an arched veranda, crowned by mirrored Nymphs. Eve didn’t stop to look in. Locals would already know what was in there. They would want to go in or they wouldn’t. They wouldn’t stop to stare. She gave the plaques and other status a wide berth. Every local would have them all memorised. There was an alley between a billboard, extoling the brilliance of ‘The Seven’ leadership, and what was either a statue making shop or the scene of some important historical event. She gradually turned and escaped the square down the alley. It turned into a secondary walkway pressed up against a pair of L-rails. There were stairs to a Lev-Stop but she kept walking. On foot she could control where she went. In a Lev she could only go one place: Straight into a trap and into prison. If she was lucky. She connected back to the main walkway, a Lev thundering past overhead. The rushing wind whistled against the rail’s support structure. There were more statues and more spires. It was almost like self-advertising. How many fallen heroes could one planet really have? A couple walked toward her. They wore fedoras and high collared jackets. She’d seen a few locals adopting that trend now. She bunched her own jacket forward to hide any trace of her foreign clothes and forced a casual gait despite the sonorous drumming of her heart. She kept her head down, kept walking. The couple seemed to sense her, and split apart to let her through. Eve stepped left to go around them. The couple stepped further apart. Eve took another step sideways, arm brushing the obsidian wall. The one closest looked up. A man, eyes dark empty pools. Eve’s heart clenched, panic closing her throat, banging on the back of her head. She turned on a foot, raced back the way she had come. Her coat jerked her backward. She spun. Two faces were inches from her own. Hot breath. Shadows beneath the fedoras. Eve swung her hand up, trying to poke out one of those black orbs. Something clenched her wrist. Stabbing pain. Her arm was wrenched down and she was spun again, her face pushed against the obsidian.
She felt breath against her ear. “Where do you think you are going with PLC property Miss Walters?” Eve bucked her shoulders. She earned a face slam into the obsidian. Supernovas exploded before her. She tasted copper. Dazed, she didn’t reply. She was almost grateful for the men holding her up. She would have fallen otherwise after that blow. Powerful hands yanked her wrists then she felt Secura bind them together. She was shoved around back to the face the two men. One leant forward. “Let’s take a walk.” Then his face exploded. Eve froze in shock, unable to move or scream, just watch as the pink mist settled and the headless cadaver collapsed at her feet. The second policemen had already started moving, diving down while he pulled a pistol from under his coat. He fired a shot, the report echoing off the obsidian, the flash blinding Eve’s night vision. A sickening double thud then silence. Eve stared, waiting for her night vision to return. The second agent was lying down. The prone position for a steady aim. But why wasn’t he firing? Then her vision cleared. He wasn’t firing because his chest was leaking blood. Had been. Past tense. The heart pumping the blood had expired. That was when Eve noticed her own heart, panicking in her chest, compressing her lungs so all she could inhale were tiny gasps. She felt faint, backing away from the bodies. Straight into another person. She whirled, arms twitching, gasping, ready to fight. Arms enveloped her. “Easy, easy.” The smuggler from the tavern. Eve slumped against him in relief, but quickly pulled herself back up. It could still be a trap. She looked past him to an empty walkway. The man himself was cloaked in darkness, only the left side of him visible from distant light from across the tracks. It made him look only half there. Like an apparition. “What was your last name again?” he asked, his words low, quick. “Eve Walters,” she said, the words rushing out together at too high a pitch. “Like Nathaniel Walters?” “He was my father.” The arms pulled away. “Son of a bitch,” he breathed. Then his hand was around hers, yanking her forward. “Come on!” “What are you doing?” Eve cried. “Where are we going?” “I’m getting you off Eden.” “I thought you weren’t interested.” “I changed my mind. Let’s go.” They ran down the sidewalk. Eve was sure the cameras had targeted them, but the smuggler didn’t slow down, racing past surprised people, turning when strobing lights flashed around street corners. The whine of a turbine came from somewhere overhead. Close or far away, Eve couldn’t tell, the sound reflected off all the sharp edged buildings. “I don’t. normally take. people across. the surface,” the smuggler said, his words coming between gasps. “But. we don’t. have time. to double back.” Clearly his normal smuggling routine didn’t involve running like crazy. “I have a Tigress light freighter. Pleiades built. Blends in. We’ll be fine.” The smuggler turned back onto the main thoroughfare, a walkway bracketed by Lev tracks and obsidian walls. The lights of the starport brightened the horizon. Between them however were a string of flashing blue lights. “We’ll never make it,” Eve said. “We don’t need to,” the smuggler replied, turning left down an alley. Eve’s feet were dragging. The smuggler’s grip was strong, pulling her along. Through a door. Down steps, underground around a bend, then finally they stopped to catch their breath. Eve dropped her hands to her knees and she sucked in oxygen. Water dripped and echoed beyond the shadows. The air tasted cool, damp, tangy. They were in a subterranean passage way. And a rather poorly built one at that. The smuggler pulled her up. “We have to keep moving.” “Where?” Eve asked. “And I don’t even know your name.” The smuggler looked at her for a second. “Have you ever seen photos of the old earth? Of trains that actually rolled on their rails? How the large stations would be surrounded by miles of tracks into dead ends and maintenance sheds-“ “A shunting yard, sure.” “That’s where we’re going. But for starships.”
The smuggler led her down the labyrinth tackling intersections clearly memorised. Lefts, rights, lefts again, then finally up a set of metal stairs that banged with each step, through a trap door and up into darkness. No, not quite darkness. A cavernous space. A hangar. Filled with ships of various sizes hanging from maintenance racks, filling the space. One of the moons shone down through a skylight. Somewhere a ventilator cover banged. It was a repair bay for Lev trains and interplanetary shuttles, even some VEPSSDs – Vehicle: Extra Planetary and Stellar System Defense. Known as Veeps in the smuggling fraternity. A Pleiades Corporation design that was so successful that the rest of the Imperium decided they weren’t that proud not to copy a PLC design. “It’s a PLC subsidiary,” the smuggler explained, heading through the maze of ships, a clear destination in mind. “They service shuttles for the interplanetary express between Eden and Paradijs. They just won a contract for the Veep fleet as well.” He stopped before a wrap covering what Eve assumed to be a boxy shaped ship. The smuggler pulled the wrap off revealing a Leopold Mk II shuttle. Outdated but still used due its cheap running costs and possibly some strange romantic notion around its design on behalf of the IPX board. The shuttle’s cockpit stared back at them, a black window about a metre wide and maybe a foot high. Not ideal. And it looked like it was missing parts – the altimeter assembly was missing, the atmospheric shielding looked ablated and the sensor nodule appeared empty. It could fit forty people out the back in relative comfort however, but such knowledge wasn’t a comfort to Eve at that moment. “We’re going in that thing?” “Cute.” He stepped around her to the door and pressed his palm to the scanner. The door retracted and a short gang plank extended. He turned and offered her a hand. “You coming?” Eve took his hand and he yanked her in. “Where are we going?” she asked. “Into orbit.” The smuggler settled into the pilot’s seat, Eve the co-pilot seat. He flicked switches and set fuel mixtures, warming up the engines, then sent a signal to open the roof doors. He pulled back on the wheel and the shuttle eased off the rack and up through the roof. He spun the ship as it rose, the now distant starport coming into view. The lights seemed even brighter than before, garish against the dark night. But that wasn’t what caught Eve’s attention. It was the swarm of ships above the starport. She counted at least ten, but they kept moving and she couldn’t keep count. It was clear they were looking for someone. Her. Her throat clenched – had the commercial pilot she’d flown in with gotten out in time? She’d given him a two hour head-start. And then the shuttle kept turning and drifted up toward the stars. The smuggler leant over. “This is just a test drive,” he said. “Testing the engines. No need to travel fast.” Eve watched the Veeps crowding the starport. They were way faster than the shuttle and even one of them would trash the shuttle with a few shots. The lights of the city and starport shrank with the planet and the stars grew from twinkling blobs to steady focused pinpricks. Eve watched in silence, waiting for the shoe to drop, for the Veeps to turn and blast after them, their tell-tale exhaust plumes pointing like arrows toward them. “Won’t they detect it when we start accelerating?” Eve asked. “Who said anything about accelerating?” The smuggler retorted. I told you, we’re not going anywhere. “Paradijs is coming to us.”

The overhaul continues at a great pace, the majority of the code has now been sand blasted and rewritten where necessary to optimize in the process. Actually it’s surprising just how much of that old code was redundant as our host game engine progressed in areas in which we previously had to fight for performance. That old code doesn’t clean itself up and removing it potentially would have added bugs so it’s great to have an excuse to clean house and that has a huge overall positive effect on performance and stability.
We're using procedural environments and fractals to make varied and evolving play areas. Previously we said that there would be fewer ships in play and perhaps that was a little bit of a lie because we think actually there will be a lot more! Once you factor in all the traders doing the rounds, the resource collectors foraging through the zones, patrolling forces, we think you might indeed be treading shallow space as you react to the situations unfolding before you. But it’s making sure our new environment is ready to accept that volume of traffic, in both the shape of the playing field and the forging of effective mechanics to drive it all; and making sure that ‘fleet creep’ doesn’t slap us round the face again, such is the focus of the last couple of weeks. Shallow Space now features procedurally generated landscapes.
Working well in the existing alpha is using statuses to add positive or negative effects to ships when they were occluded by celestial objects. An example is asteroid clusters adding effects that can help concealment but slow the ship due to care required navigating. We’re extending that interactivity further by adding materials to the thousands of cubic kilometers of rock formations ready for harvest and with that you’ll have further excuse to interact and feed from the landscape thereby anchoring you to it. But we need to keep the maps fresh. One thing we learned from the current alpha is that isolated clusters of rocks and gas do little to create a juicy landscape (so to speak.)  So we’re now using fractal algorithms to forge interesting shapes and obstacles in the new arenas, and have other tricks up our sleeve to ensure the landscape remains fresh and challenging.
Switching between zones is seamless and fluid, actions are progressed in the background in realtime. Once work is completed there we’ll move onto the resource collecting and trading mechanics that have been patiently waiting to enter the arena. Then we’re back over to combat and integrating it with physics, making sure that impacts affect ship movement as they should. Integrating physics is very exciting actually, especially as testing seems to show that we can leave all the rocks in the physics simulator with little effect on performance (as long as they don't all start moving!) meaning that they too can potentially react to stray blasts that may hit them. All of this further enhancing what is already quite a rich view to behold, with the battles taking on an organic and unpredictable feel.
So once that crazy effort is over with, we’ll wrangle with the procedural parameters some more, add a bit of the grind and flavor that we’ve all come to expect, rewrite the sound delivery system, add the dozens of new soundtracks and voila; one fully 3D, fully customizable, open-world, procedurally generated RTS/4X game, with physics and simulated ballistics, trading, resource collection, unit construction, modular base building and a direct ship controller thrown in for good measure. Sounds a little crazy listed out like that, but 8 people, 2½ years work, we have all the pieces and it’s just a case of folding them in with all the necessary care and attention. But who are we kidding; we’re just as excited as you! This is our idea of the ultimate space game. But we hear a word whispered by your thousands of voices, hidden away in the dark and that word is.... when?
Soon we’ll canvas for beta testers – everyone who preordered and has access to Shallow Space currently will be invited to switch to a beta build and feast on the new open world glory. We can also expect all the media to be updated and the Roadmap will be revised to align with the new medium to long-term goals, the gallery and Steam page will also be updated with said glory. Look forward to more fantastic models in the coming week including; boarding pods and repair drones and Part 2 of the new short story ‘Paradijs Lost’ will be hitting your screens early next week too. Cheers for the continued support, it seems the recent news is bringing some long term supporters out of the woodwork and it's great to see.  We REALLY appreciate the comments and likes guys! A lot of the criticism coming in is actively being rolled into the overhaul, so please; keep it coming!

New to the line-up this week are the MFC ‘Heretic’ Heavy Cruiser and it’s sister ship, the MFC ‘Hexen’ Medium Cruiser. These ships will be added as part of the ‘Open-world Overhaul’ update.
More of the same from the Mineral and Fusion Corporation as they continue to evolve their Cruiser line-up. These generation 4 ships are designed to be the multifunction foot soldiers of any unit and have a versatile internal and external configuration allowing them to be used in a variety of combat and civilian roles. For example the ‘Hexen’ is often used without weapons as a Civilian personnel transport and the ‘Heretic’ has a number of variants designed for specific combat roles such as escort or assault. The key to this flexibility is a complex interwoven power distribution lattice printed into the ships armor carapace segments at manufacture. This allows for the versatile location of turret hardpoints anywhere across 75% of the surface of the ship, with energy to power them drawn straight from engines. In contrast, the two other leading ship manufacturers PLC and INC are still using fixed conduits to provide energy to the hardpoints. Configurations are sealed at production, but regardless it allows for the creation of a highly specialized force at a relatively low cost.
Click on the image to view a 3D turntable! Some of the more advanced tech such as Negative Space Encroachment has been left out of the design of these budget craft, but beyond cost, it seems that MFC believes that efficiency can still be derived from clever tweaks to geometry and do prove that effort in both ships. That same winning geometry and lack of NSE tech letting the design down also however, with minimal support module capacity on either ship.
Click on the image to view a 3D turntable! The TCN view the craft as a natural evolution of previous MFC Cruiser offerings, but note that next to PLC’s expensive high tech ‘Pegasus’ Cruisers, or the INC’s slightly cheaper and yet more versatile modular Cruiser the ‘Armstrong,’ competition is tough. MFC ships continue to be the designs of choice within both the Navy and the subversive factions. The artists always leak images ahead of the announcements, we try to stop them, but they just don't listen, can't blame them really it's an exciting business! - anyway follow the twitter to stay ahead of the game @shallowspace1!

Welcome to the very first part of a not-very-short story tracking the exploits of Eve Walter in the Pleiades system, the system we'll shortly be opening up in the alpha. If you like what you've read, don't forget to checkout the previous short stories over in the Story category by John Harper, author of the licensed Elite: Dangerous novel 'And Here the Wheel.'  Eve Walters burst through the tavern doors.  Heart pounding, mouth dry, she saw the heads turn toward her and she knew she’d make a mistake: No one would forget her entrance, forget her face.  She might as well have danced into the bar covered in neon. Lungs screaming for air she calmly walked to the bar and sat on a stool.  She spent two minutes releasing the built up desperation for air – obvious to anyone watching her, then caught the barkeep’s eye. “What’ll it be miss?” The bartender’s drone spoke of boredom and monotony.  Eve wasn’t sure if that would help him forget her or not.  She decided to order the most common drink, undo the damage of her entrance.  She glanced to her right.  A man was drinking Brown.
“House Brown please.” The ‘keep reached under the bar, his hands together and still, his eyes down – a secret communicator? - then placed a full handle of Brown before her.  “Seventeen all up.” Eve flicked through her billfold.  Her cards could be traced.  Did she have any Pleiades cash?  Her mind was a jumble, adrenaline and fear crushing any cogent thought that dared rise to the surface. She put some bills on the bar.  They were PLC currency.  Too much though, dammit.  She pulled a twenty back. The ‘keeps hand enveloped the cash and slid back under the bar, the cash gone with it, then he moved to the rack of empty jugs.  Perfect change, obviously. She watched the bubbles roll up the glass of her Brown.  Her heart had slowed to a reasonable craziness now, Slow enough to engage in understandable conversation.  She swallowed a mouthful of the Brown though her stomach felt cramped from adrenaline. She half turned on her stool to survey the clientele.  The place was reasonably bright, a far cry from the spacer bar near the Corporate Centre starport.  Men in those weird three piece suits all the rage in the Pleiades system.  Two women, both short hair, braided back to the skull to give the hair a strange curl.  Business people, and most of them off-worlders trying to blend in.  Which was a smart move, considering the Xenophobes that ran the system.  None of them fitted the profile of the person she wanted however.  A guy, probably. Mid-thirties, a swagger about him, but with a veneer of professionalism.  Someone who didn’t quite belong amongst a group of people trying to fit in because a part of him didn’t want to. She found him in the fifth booth.  Short brown hair, a five day beard.  He was wearing a two piece suit only, straining across his shoulders. She pushed her glass of Brown away then stood.  She passed a couple sharing a drink, then two men discussing import rates and stopped before her mark. “You work at Soyuz Logistics and Exports?” she asked, too rushed for an intro. The man was sitting on her right side, a glass of red wine in front.  He didn’t flinch, didn’t move, didn’t acknowledge her presence in any way.  Eve decided he was an asshole. He grabbed the stem of his glass and Eve placed her palm over the top.  “Excuse me,” she said. “Oh, hello,” said the man, turning to her suddenly.  His smile made her take a step back.  “Gosh, I didn’t see you there. My deepest apologies.” She narrowed her eyes.  A wise guy.  Fantastic.  “Do you work for Soyuz or not?”
The man stared up at her, not checking her out, but measuring her maybe.  Trying to figure out where she fitted in the scheme of things.  She was dressed in a single layer of loose Terran clothing.  Her blouse would have been called ‘work-casual’ back home.  Here it was rags that even the lowest Corporate employee wouldn’t wear.  So he’d know she wasn’t local, which would hopefully minimise his suspicion. His gaze finished its appraisal and settled on Eve’s outstretched hand.  “Is that clean?” Eve pulled her hand back.  “It’s a simple enough question.” “On the contrary, dear lady.  The possible permutations of purpose behind the question makes it very complicated indeed.” Eve stared at this man, his sheer disinterest and aloofness proving to her she’d chosen right.  She sat down opposite and leant forward. “I need to transport something back to Terra.” The man leant back, swallowed a mouthful of wine.  “Then come by the office tomorrow morning.” “It’s urgent.” “So is this glass of Pinot.” Eve frowned.  “That doesn’t even make any sense.  Look I need to transport a package – six feet long, 140 pounds.  I need it out of here tonight.” The man returned the glass to the table and slid it aside.  “Interesting dimensions for your package, my lady, unless of course you specialise in high end turn-key coffin manufacture. Eve leant further forward.  She had to break through this guy’s exterior BS.  “Look, my name is Eve Walters.  My father is Nathaniel.  He taught me a few things that made it easy for me to figure you out.  You own Soyuz Logistics and Exports.  The company is a respectable front for your smuggling operation.  You-,” The man’s hand shot forward, too quickly for Eve, and grabbed her wrist.  “Now what is this talk for? I’m just an honest business man trying to get through his days in peace and you come in here talking in tongues putting all kinds of strange thoughts in people’s heads?” Eve tried to pull back but his grip was strong, stronger than she’d given him credit for.  “Don’t worry,” she said.  I’m not with the police.  Like I said, I’m from Terra.”  The man’s face was caught between an expression of incredulity and suspicion, an edgey, questioning look. “The clues weren’t obvious,” she continued.  “Besides, it takes one to know one.”  She paused.  “Sort of.” The man let go of her.  “Good night Eve.”  He retrieved his glass and took another swallow. Eve watched him.  “Excuse me?” “We’re done here.  Scram, or I’ll call the Corporate Politsiya. Eve stared at him, unsure if it was a bluff, or whether she had gotten it so completely wrong. She turned in her seat toward the door.  They’d be looking for her on the streets now.  She wasn’t safe out there.  Unwelcome attention from an episode here could kill her just as fast however.  She had to stay invisible and starting a fight here wouldn’t do that.  She stood and marched away, hoping like hell she thought of a Plan B before the police got her. Stay tuned for Part 2, landing in the coming week!  

So I guess you’re all wondering how the overhaul is going and we’re happy to say progress is still strong. As we mentioned there’s some big changes ahead and we have a few glimpses for you. The first thing we’d like to point out are the changes to the UI, much of it has been redesigned to fit the new scale and we examined the old elements and made them more enticing to interact with. The abilities panel is a prime example, the icons are now enlarged and at the center of the screen – a little reminder to use them. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/screen2.jpg][/img] The fleet panel gets a makeover too with a lower density ship list; those larger fleet icons will also house the status icons (such as movement slowed, surprised, etc.) which previously adorned the side of the ship target box, so we’re taking the clutter away from the play area granting better access to the glorious visuals. It’s important to remember that the UI elements depicted will change as we progress. A new UI piece hogs the right side of the screen if fully expanded taking the form of the ‘Situation Panel’, which is how we’ll present the gritty details of the game-world to you. It has a collapsible accordion layout so you can drill down to the information you need. It’ll be comprehensive, meaning it’ll likely act as an interface to your ships inventories and trade, as well as providing information on scans of other ships, immoveables and celestial bodies. The immediate worry here is the clutter, but adding behavior to the situation panel highlighting and isolating the pertinent info should help and we always have the option to split it out into separate windows if need be. But given that the game is now sitting on a 4X backbone, masses of information comes with the territory and at this stage we feel accessibility of that information is more important than presentation. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/screen1.jpg][/img] But the best piece of work done over the last week or so has been integrating the zone system. A ‘zone’ in short is a tactical play area, pretty much the same as a map in the current Shallow Space alpha. But why zones? Well there are inherent technical issues making a true open world space game, we found that the usable play area really falls far short of the epic proportions of space, in fact, it’s probably only around 10,000 cubic 'units' before things start getting glitchy! Games like KSP work around the issue by moving the whole galaxy around the player (rather than the player moving,) but that trick alone isn’t suitable for an RTS with multiple units. Other games like Sins of a Solar Empire (SoaSE) and Eve Online use tricks of the camera to present such big play areas and with a combination of the two methods we’ll be able to generate massive arenas for you to cultivate and control your forces. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/dddd.gif][/img] SoaSE is a great comparison to the zone system actually, because in that game each planet was in itself a zone with ships jumping between them. Changing between zones in SoaSE and zooming out to the ‘solar’ map was as smooth as silk. Some lessons to be learnt there mechanically but back to Shallow Space, rather than having a zone per planet, each planet will have any number of zones and we’ve even managed to get that SoaSE sort of interactivity with zero loading times and screen fades which really does wonders for immersion. It feels a little bit like 3D chess flipping between the zones and we’re soooo looking forward to populating them with traffic. Enabling concurrent activity between the zones is an exciting challenge also and completely necessary bringing the whole thing to life and naturally being added as part of the overhaul. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/screen3.jpg][/img] We’ll put together a video real soon, but in truth we’re just busy steaming ahead with it so we can push it out to you! In the meantime, the author has put together a not-so-short story that we’ll be posting in the coming week, set in the very system that we’ll be modeling in the alpha and we’ve got more juicy ships coming too, awesome stuff. Thanks as usual for the support lots of awesome comments on the last Steam article – so from all the team, cheers!

If you’ve been following the twitter you’ll know we’ve been hinting at big changes to come in the Shallow Space alpha. We’ve been getting a lot of feedback from various sources, mostly positive but the negative criticism underlines a gut feeling that we’ve had for a while now, there are a couple of issues with the design of the game as it stands and we have enough feedback from Early Access now to warrant pulling apart some of the core mechanics and asking if they are good enough for the game. So pull up a chair, in this article we’ll explain why that is required and what to expect. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Unity-2016-02-11-22-22-26-35.jpg][/img] We're remaking Shallow Space so that the ships individual characteristics have more influence over the gameplay. The Problem The first is the rigid Flotillas/Wings system, originally invented to make larger group of ships easier to manage and position, bizarrely it has the opposite effect making control cumbersome and the battles rigid and not particularly engaging once you get over the graphics. The crux of the problem is an issue with scale; we’ve modeled these ships, given them the ability to be granularly configured but then put them in a situation where those individual characteristics can’t be realised (what’s the point of painstakingly choosing weapons when it ultimately turns into a DPS-fest .) Another problem is this whole linear maps system, it’s the year 2016 – we look at all the games being released and see open ended games everywhere. I myself don’t like to just play games anymore, I live in them and scrolling through my own library if isn’t open world – I probably don’t own it. Open world was in the original design (along with more Nexus style gameplay) but we shelved it temporarily so we could get our heads round some of the more basic game concepts (in terms of how they are actually coded.) Thankfully with your help, that stuff is now pretty solid and we’ve been advancing a multiplayer open world prototype in the background which is now ready to be built on. So what happened with the design then? Well we had an original vision and then people join the team and the vocal audience step forward with their own designs and keep pushing for incompatible ideas (control of greater numbers of ships being the one.) You have to allow some of these ideas in or people see you as inflexible and the team get disenfranchised, plus we have to try these things to see if they work. Alas this mismatched marriage of gameplay concepts isn’t a happy one and we’re well on our way to creating something mediocre which we’re not happy about. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Unity-2016-02-12-17-19-39-93.jpg][/img] The Solution So I can imagine some of you sitting there with a sinking feeling but fear not, this isn’t as big a job as it might seem. Plus we kinda went a little mental over the last two weeks porting everything across and introducing new clean mechanics so we’re not coming to you quivering with worry, we’re actually halfway there already and have added some of the stuff you asked for as it now fits:

• Physics based movement
• Redesigned movement and waypoint system (single click to move)
• Ability to take direct control of ships (FPS controller)
• Open world style gameplay, player free to jump ships around planetary systems (instance based, like Freelancer)
• Directional shielding (with elliptical shielding affect)
• Flexible unit grouping system

So we've pushed out another incremental update, couple of major fixes one which was a little bit nasty causing Player ship database corruption, and boy we're happy to squash that juicy bug! [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/sspace-2016-02-02-08-39-41-53.jpg][/img] The options menu previously had fallen into disrepair, it was only when we cleared out our preferences and played the game as a new player when we realised that quite a few of the options didn't actually work or they lied to us that they were on but they weren't. Beside we needed something we could more easily add to, so we've rewritten it from scratch. One of the most annoying things about the game was the notification system, pausing or slowing the game forcefully when you might not have wanted it. Well you can now configure all of that in the new options menu along with another 15+ other options including the much need camera speed controls. Also some of the older ships are getting remade starting with the Cambridge, so there's a new ship for you to play with also! See here for the full patch notes. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/sspace-2016-02-02-08-40-01-13.jpg][/img] Thanks to everyone who took the time to report bugs and suggest features, we enjoy implementing them and you can look forward to another incremental update in the short term which will add volumetric explosions, the Nottingham remake, addition options and the ability to import/export the internals databases (for you wiki-makers and modders out there!) This update will wipe your Player Ship DB (sorry, need to make sure there are no corrupt databases out there) (In other news, I bought XCOM 2 - so I think I might be distracted for a little while - i'll try to code and eat, promise!)

8.0.19 Update 8.1 Change log (01.02.2016) 2 major fixes and 30 additions in this incremental update. Update post coming up soon!

This latest update adds quite a few options for you to play with and a few new models for you to take a look at. We wanted to do more such as overhauling the Options menu and importing/exporting of attributes but it makes little sense to hold back on what we’ve done already as it adds a lot to the Alpha, the additional planned stuff we’ll save for the next couple of incremental updates. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/sspace-2016-01-02-21-17-32-56.jpg][/img] We started adding those options we promised to the Simulator, you can now generate some beefy battles - try it, it's great fun! The main achievement of this update is the ability to automatically generate ship and fleet loadouts. Some of the feedback coming in highlighted that the game is a little bit different from most RTS games and not very accessible if you want to just dive into a game, so the addition of ‘Auto-fill’ options for both the hanger and fleet screens should be welcomed. Also with balancing all over the place we’ve thrown in the ability for you to change things as you choose a mission, so if you think the ships move too slowly you can speed them up globally and increase the health of yours or the enemy ships. We think this is going to be key to the experience of Shallow Space, because we’ll need to cater for both the ‘quick skirmish’ gamers and the ‘long haul’ play it for days types. (Complicated times we live in.) [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Unity-2016-01-17-15-02-19-03.jpg][/img] The MFC 'Vindicator' makes an appearance in UPDATE 8 and a few new modules to plug into it such as the 'Omnidirectional Passive Webifier' So with these ways of influencing the maps outside of the map editor, we actually mark the start of something quite intriguing; harnessing of the power of procedural generation to add variety and we have some massive plans for that but it’s a different subject entirely, so look forward to a blog article in the not so distant future… We also added a sandbox level which has some very basic carrier stations in there, jump lanes and all the stuff we’re going to be using to build the immersive game world. It’s tempted to start writing in the storyline mechanics and triggers but we’re steering away from that to drive us back towards a more standard RTS first, with unit and station construction and multiplayer, as we think that offers the most reward for you guys in the short term. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/sspace-2016-01-17-17-15-00-83.jpg][/img] The sandbox level was created for us to test elements like stations and allied forces, we'll continue adding stuff here to preview if we're not ready to put it in a mission yet. Once we’re through with this round of incremental updates, we’ll be starting on the modular ships and stations and adding station building (with the modular construction kit,) resource collecting and in-mission unit construction (for Corvettes, Cruiser and Battlecruisers,) exciting times! Send us as much feedback as you can on this folks, the more you send the better it’ll get and a massive thanks to all our followers, we hope you enjoy playing UPDATE 8!

8.0.18 Update 8 Change log (17.01.2016) Over 40 additions, 8 tweaks and over 20 fixes in this latest update. Blog article coming soon!

• Added: Double tapping the 'F' key max zoom on camera target ship (thanks to kriller2tester)
• Added: Double tapping the 'F' key while on max zoom goes to min zoom (thanks to kriller2tester)
• Added: New 'Patroit' Large missile
• Added: Auto ship configuration generator
• Added: Auto Player and AI flotilla configuration generator
• Added: 'Auto-fill' button to Ship Config
• Added: 'Auto-fill' button to Fleet Config
• Added: 'Quick Options' system to Fleet Config combat simulator
• Added: 'Speed' option to globally increase the speed of all ships to Fleet Config combat simulator
• Added: 'Player Allocation' toggle to control total player MP in Fleet Config combat simulator
• Added: 'Enemy Allocation' toggle to control total enemy MP in Fleet Config combat simulator
• Added: 'Scenery' toggle skybox for Fleet Config combat simulator
• Added: 'Random/Mirrored' toggle to set opponent in combat simulator
• Added: 'Enemy ship cap' toggle to set max mp per opponent ship in combat simulator
• Added: 'Game Options' to Map Select UI
• Added: 'Global speed override' to Map Select UI
• Added: 'Global MP allocation override' to Map Select UI
• Added: 'Global friendly HP multiplier' to Map Select UI
• Added: 'Global enemy HP multiplier' to Map Select UI
• Added: 10 new explosion related particle systems
• Added: Created intelligent ParticleSystems class to randomise particle properties and add realistic variations
• Added: Created ParticleLighting class to add realtime lighting to ship explosions
• Added: Flotillas now start game in battlegroup formation and warp into scene
• Added: Dust clouds to asteroid fields
• Added: Tweaked Lava1 and Terran1 scene properties
• Added: Jump gate effects
• Added: Created GameStaticSpawn class to handle placement of stations and immovables.
• Added: 'Spawn Static' map construct for adding prebuilt stations, gates and platforms
• Added: UID system to map objects
• Added: Ability for permenant status effects to apply to fitted modules and ships
• Added: 'Bridge' central connector piece
• Added: 'Trading Outpost' model (and configured as carrier)
• Added: 'Military Outpost' model (and configured as carrier)
• Added: Teams based reinforcements system
• Added: Flotilla to be able to call in reinforcements
• Added: Corvettes health and shields reset when docked
• Added: Disabled the adding of different missile configs to the same wing (abilities context issue)
• Added: Status bar to the bottom of the central panel on the Fleet Config screen
• Added: "No identity" text when a Flotilla has no identity in Fleet Config
• Added: Animated 'zoom' text to draw eyes to events
• Added: Zoom text integrated in menu screens and tactical
• Update: Panning the camera (like on a table surface) now locks cursor position (thanks to Staalby)
• Update: Fixed Phaser Pulse [M] damage reduced (thanks to Staalby)
• Update: When 'LaunchAll' ability used and there are no docked ship, no confirmation is played (thanks to Chomwitt)
• Update: Further tweaks to ship movement AI
• Update: Tweaked asteroid scree (the low-poly stuff) to not be visible when close to camera
• Update: Optimizations to ShipMove class
• Update: Scout and Assault sample maps now host randomly generated enemies
• Update: MFC Vindicator put on show on the menu screen
• Fixed: Weapons platforms no longer shown on Fleet Config screen (thanks to newfronts)
• Fixed: Configured ship and hull icons now activated only by LMB to prevent lisclicks (thanks to Staalby)
• Fixed: Rapidly clicking on the scene icon in the Map Select screen locks up game (thanks to Staalby)
• Fixed: MP rating shown twice on mouse over tooltip in Ship Config (thanks by Staalby)
• Fixed: Crash with M fixed Railguns due to muzzle flash not set (thanks to ezekiel25o17, atroxx85 & actingcaptain)
• Fixed: Dev testing shortcut linked to 'T' button disabled (will form part of quick move system, thanks to Staalby)
• Fixed: MFC Homan Fixed XL weapon socket misaligned (thanks to Staalby)
• Fixed: Ships stop suddenly when issued the 'All stop' order
• Fixed: Ships correctly removed from avoidance system on despawn
• Fixed: Trigger happy ships will now cease firing if target is destroyed
• Fixed: Ships sometimes move backwards if the movepoint is behind them, can cause ships to pirouet
• Fixed: Turrets on Ship Config screen spawned on top of the holographic placeholders
• Fixed: AI Corvettes don't break formation to attack
• Fixed: Some support modules weren't affecting ship attributes as they should
• Fixed: Tactical and Fleet icons now only flash when damage is taken
• Fixed: Destroying the carrier of deployed wings crashes game
• Fixed: Fixed weapons not hidden when jumping or ship out of range
• Fixed: Crash when ship jumps as it is destroyed
• Fixed: Tiny hang when entering orbitcam mode
• Fixed: Flotilla tactical icon remains highlighted when ship selection cleared
• Fixed: Ship select no longer cleared from Fleet panel when moving ships
• Fixed: PLC Sadalbari docking and lauch points misaligned
• Fixed: Some misc fixes to Ship Config turret add/remove behaviour

Check-out the latest missile and torpedo launcher equipped Capital ship complete with turntable and description over on the blog! "Another classic MFC design that is still in use during today’s operations. The ‘Vindicator’ is designed for long range tactical engagements with static targets such as stations and platforms, it is also equally suitable for indirect fire missions against larger vessels and light conventional combat." [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/vlc-2016-01-10-21-55-51-22.jpg][/img] A ‘Vindicator’ uses it’s twin top mounted XL turrets in the heat of battle. "The Vindicator features a ‘multiple launch environment’ which is capable of dispensing salvos of 10 missiles at a time. The crafts integrated launcher can fire both M and L sized missiles."

So it’s nearly two years now since the idea of Shallow Space was conceived, when we took a look at the basic idea of a space RTS, pulled it apart, and started building something slightly different from the remains. The aim is to create something that has us commanding a fleet of ships in all its glory and it’s a battle we seem to be winning, with most of the major hurdles overcome. Throughout the last year we’ve established our ‘A-team’ and although there are still undoubtably challenges ahead, the cogs of our production are greased and turning soundly. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/sspace-2016-01-03-17-17-06-56.jpg][/img] Then we hit Steam, which is crazy! I’ve used it back since Halflife 1(?) days and to scroll through my Library and see ‘Shallow Space’ there, still feels weird – and now, it feels as if we as a team have something to prove. We’ve encountered a high number of very patient and generous Players (that's you) who have been providing great feedback which is massively motivating! [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/vlc-2016-01-02-21-34-38-96.jpg][/img] Over the festive period we fired out 2 incremental updates after Update 7, which marked the start of something new. In future we’ll be releasing out incrementals after a major update as the new normal, to catch the bugs you guys shout out a little quicker and it allows us to hang around on that focus, adding some more details. Update 8 has been brewing for a week or so now and already we’ve had a number of major breakthroughs. The first was the puzzle of getting the ship configurations and flotilla to be randomly generated, which above all adds an ‘auto-fill’ button for when you just feel like jumping in a game. The new random generator code has allowed us to add a load of options to tweak the experience, especially in the simulator; in which you’ll be easily able to generate some chunky non-symmetrical fleet battles. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/sspace-2016-01-02-21-17-36-32.jpg][/img] Explosions have gone under the knife also, with a new particle system manager written which will really add some sparkle to ship explosions and future weapons effects. We’ve also started adding more functionality to the maps to allow for pedestrian traffic and stations preparing to add the Player constructable modular stations. [img=http://shallow.space/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Boomage3.gif][/img] So with a bit of cash now coming in paying for many of the team to go fulltime, the assets are landing thick and fast ready to be imported into the game, we can look forward to another year of strong progress to follow the last one. We want to give a massive thank-you to all of our followers and especially the Early Access supporters, and we look forward to pushing out Update 8! Happy new year to you all! Special thanks to Rock, Paper, Shotgun for making us part of their Top games of 2016 list!