Hey everyone! We wanted to give an update on some of what weve been working on. Were in the process of upgrading the version of Unity we use as well as many of the plugins and libraries used for development. This should set us up for better performance and compatibility as we get closer to release. We have also been working on a lot of new content, some of which will be part of Beta 26. This update is taking longer than expected and it will still be a while longer before its ready for release, but we wanted to at least provide some info on what will likely be in Beta 26: New ships and components! We are developing 3 new starting ships for Beta 26. This will include a civilian ship that could provide a fresh challenge for experienced crews. In addition, two artifact ships from the Old Wars will soon be uncovered! While these will be available to play upon release of Beta 26, later they may need to be unlocked in order to play them. Beta 26 will include a core engine upgrade, were moving from Unity 2017.4 LTS to 2018.4 LTS. This brings us the latest bug fixes and features from Unity. Were experimenting with some new rendering systems and scripting runtimes to improve performance and compatibility. In addition, weve updated and reconfigured plugins that needed the new version.
Were working on some improvements to the VR experience. Were updating to newer versions of the SteamVR and Oculus SDKs to better support newer hardware and VR features. Were adding support for SteamVR Input to better support all types of controllers and easy rebinding through the Steam client. VR players with motion controllers will have overhauled menus that better utilize both hands and are more fun to use! The voice chat system has been partially reworked to allow for more options. Youll be able to select separate capture and playback devices just for voice chat. It will also remember the preferred devices more accurately than before.
Other improvements include a redesigned dialogue window for interacting with NPCs and an additional pass to update some planets and missions. This update will also fix a number of reported issues and introduce a few new quality of life additions. Weve also been working on the Academy (the games tutorial which goes over the basics of operating a ship and filling each class role) and the Lost Colony itself (which is the end-game scenario)! These wont be ready for Beta 26, but they will very likely be appearing in the next couple updates. Thanks for your time and patience! Best, The Leafy Games Team