Hello everyone, First off we would like to apologize for the radio silence the past few weeks. We’d like to take some time here to explain what we’ve been working on and our plans for Beta 5! Our plans for Beta 5 mainly focus on a UI overhaul. This overhaul can be broken down into three main parts: an attempt to improve the usability based on the feedback we’ve received, a better interface for gamepad support and have it all properly built so VR integration will go smoothly. Because the UI is so ingrained in almost every aspect of the game, it would be difficult to deliver it half-finished. Because of this we want do it all, which takes time. Beta 5 should include the majority of UI changes we hope to make. We hope it’s an improvement overall, and we’re looking forward to your feedback. We are planning to release Beta 5 in late December. It’ll be a large update, and after that it’ll be back to the smaller / quicker updates for a while. UI overhaul is one of the bigger features on our to-do list, so we are excited to cross it off. Below are some work-in-progress screenshots as well as some details and thoughts about various parts of the update. Things may change before Beta 5 gets released.

Beta 5 Features - Coming Late December

• The Tab Menu will be fully redesigned and have much better controller support..
• We’re hoping that the look of the new UI is well received. We’re going for an “in-world” look that we’re hoping will keep players more immersed when using the tab menu
• A new orders menu for the Captain
• A totally new starmap is also in development. This should allow all sectors to be visible when the map is zoomed out. It also includes some visuals for faction areas. We also also working on improved search capabilities.

• We have been working on full support for the following controllers: PS4, PS3. Xbox 360, Xbox One, Steam Controller, Saitek X-52, and the Saitek X-55. We will of course have the option to create completely custom bindings for other controllers / joysticks.
• We aren’t sure if “mouse unlocking” is going to work the same way on controllers. We are experimenting with a toggle button to slow down the view speed to allow for the accuracy required to interact with screens
• In addition the options menus (video, audio, etc) may not be fully compatible in Beta 5. Those may have to wait until a future update for full controller support.

• A brand new component type for ships and a long requested feature
• It allows a player to sit in the chair (on ships with a Captain’s Chair slot) and get a tactical overview of the battle. It is the same visuals that the pilot has access to when piloting
• We will introduce several chairs that can be swapped out. Different chairs will have different visuals, properties and/or stats.