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A major new version of the Ascent game client has been released to all players after extensive testing and development with our Beta group. The new client enhances all aspects of gameplay and ties in with the new server infrastructure to provide you with a greatly improved game experience. The visual look and feel of the game has been updated, and a large number of Quality of Life fixes and bug fixes have been made. The new client and server architecture are ready for the next phase of development, but more about that soon.

Enhancements and QoL improvements

The game engine has been upgraded to a new version. This means everything from the physics system, loading times, stability, memory managements, visuals, audio, and networking performance have all been improved
The game server has also been upgraded from libraries current in 2013 to libraries current today. Most server-side operations are faster as a result, and several long standing server-side issues have been fixed
The game server infrastructure has also been upgraded. The main effect is greatly improved performance for large player-built colonies and starbases.
New shaders and effects system means every frame looks better than previous versions.
Graphics quality settings have been bumped up. What is now "Fantastic" is significantly more expensive to render than it used to be. The old "Fantastic" settings have been demoted to "Beautiful" for players with older systems.
A computer command has been added to delete structures in colonies and starbases. This is intended to interface with third party colony planner tools, which will need to be updated to work with it.
The elected player Senator for a system now displays when you are near the star in space. The system used to show governors at planets (and still does) but now Senatorial seats are displayed in the same manner.
NPC trading in particular and daily batch processes in general have received a number of enhancements with this release.
Large colonies and starbases are now much faster to update server-side as a result of a combination of infrastructure upgrades, library upgrades and code review.
Programmable habitat domes now process a bit faster server-side making them a little bit more intuitive to use. It should be a tiny bit easier for new players to configure a breathable atmosphere, the right temperature and gravity ranges etc.
Autopilot EOD camera and map visuals have been updated. These should now look better and be a bit easier on the eye
Ships you have parked in space (either because they are a carrier and you undocked, or by mounting a Hawk on them and undocking into the Hawk) now have their own Autopilot category and icon, making them easier to find.
The effect of overloaded mass on Hawks and Carrier-borne ships has been reduced. This should make switching between your carrier and smaller craft, or a larger craft and Hawk much more convenient and viable for regular gameplay.
Available zoom-out distance for larger ships has been increased by player request
Zoom levels no longer reset when you hyperjump or use a jump gate

Fixes

Stock markets will no longer display player buy or sell orders where the player can't afford to buy the goods anymore or does not have space in their warehouses to fit the goods.
Numerous small annoying issues with stock markets and batch processing have been fixed
A rare issue with displaying player-made jump gates has been fixed
Some minor fixes to NPC commands have been made. Specifically, the text queries for the NPC's current route, ejecting cargo, querying their passenger quarters
A rare issue with seeing other ships (NPCs, other players, and your own parked ships) where it would display multiples of the same ship has been resolved
Parked ships were sometimes initialising with the wrong set of colliders, making it hard to dock with or interact with them
Parked ships sometimes didn't follow planetary rotation properly, meaning they would blip away from you instead of remaining in place when grav anchored around a planet
Other minor bugs with the dock/undock process for Hawk and Carrier operations
Numerous other minor fixes have been implemented

Known Issues

Night vision mode is not applying to all objects in this version of the client. A fix may be available in the near future

[ 2021-03-24 02:35:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Ascent - The Space Game

Fluffy Kitten Studios Developer

Fluffy Kitten Studios Publisher

2016-04-11 Release

Strategy Simulation MMO Tags

Game News Posts: 60

🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse
🕹️ Partial Controller Support

Mixed (292 reviews)

http://www.thespacegame.com/

Steam Store

The Game includes VR Support

Public Linux Depots:

Ascent - The Space Game Linux [2.42 G]

Available DLCs:

Bundled 3 Month Premium Access
Ascent - The Space Game: Bowhead Support Ship
Ascent - The Space Game: Hawk Support Ship
Ascent - The Space Game: Silicon Filter

Game is not tagged as available on Linux on Steam.

Linux is not in the OS list.

Humanity's vast empire is lost. With the last communication outside the Apollo Sector far beyond human memory, we've been forced to build anew, using only the dregs of the civilization left behind. Now it's your turn to make your mark and help to rebuild our understanding of where we are and where we came from.

Ascent is a Player Vs Environment space-based MMO with a focus on exploration and community. With over 270 BILLION star systems to explore and an emphasis on strong Sci Fi, Ascent encourages Exploration, Colonization, Starbase construction, Research and technology, Asteroid mining, Farming, Trading, and - of course - Combat.

Outside of a pre-defined "Apollo Sector" of nine star systems, everything in the game is made by players. Colonies and Starbases have been built on and around planets and later connected by jump gates. A fully dynamic stock market is maintained by what players frequently buy and sell, with the ability to set prices on various materials at your base. Colonies with individual NPC AI following Maslow's hierarchy of needs can be hired to trade on your behalf, or bribed to allow a smuggling enterprise in another player's colony. Even the governing bodies from colony Mayors, planetary Governors, star system Senators all the way to a Colonial President are all elected by players to give the entire player base a unified voice in their own pocket of space.

Each feature of Ascent is designed with one major rule: "It should be fun to do alone, and even more fun with others". Even things like solo exploration can be more lucrative and benefit the community at large by fulfilling player bounties for certain types of planets. How you play is up to you.

Please note that to keep the game running as smoothly as possible, we use multiple servers. These servers have an ongoing cost, and we have priced advanced-game aspects of the game at $0.99 apiece, with a total of $2.97 per month. To help you get the most out of Ascent, we have included 3 months of premium access when you purchase the game. If for any reason you cannot pay, the game will not lock you out or lose any of your assets, merely restrict you in some advanced areas.

So jump in and enjoy the vast expanse of features we're proud to offer:

Exploration - more than 270 billion star systems generated with unique planets, mineral concenrations, agriculturual values and climate
Farming and mining on planet surfaces - players can build their own planetary bases for resource harvesting. City simulation style play.
Personal starbase construction - players can construct their own starbase to their own design. This becomes your home in space, and your centre for heavy zero-g manufacturing and research
Trading - dynamic local NPC markets, player to player global market
Dynamic NPC mission system - combat, trade (supply/demand), passenger transport, courier and salvage missions
Asteroid mining - manual control of ship and axial mining beam. Player and character skill based.
Research - blueprint fragments attainable from salvage missions allow the player to research forgotten and new ships and components, as well as enhancements to their buildings
Manufacturing - every ship, weapon and utility module in the game can be manufactured by players and sold or used to customise their ships (which can also be given a custom paint scheme)
Gas giant harvesting - because sometimes you need things like hydrogen and oxygen!
Space combat - manual control fighter to fighter dogfighting, scales up to big ship broadside duels between cruisers
Colonization of outer systems - the largest so far has over 50,000 structures and hundreds of thousands of colonists
Outer Star Bases - these can also grow to vast size, open ended in 3D space just as colonies are on the surface
Governments - Players who own colonies in a given system can vote for a colony mayor, planetary governor, system Senator and a colonial President. Governors can rename their planets, Senators can rename their systems and approve Jump Gate construction to their systems, and the President can approve jump gate construction to the inner systems.
Player constructed jump gates - when approved by the relevant government authorities, players can band together for a community mega-project of constructing new jump gates, extending the reach of new players into the colonized outer systems
NPC AI - we are implementing Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs with our NPCs, giving them motivation to act within the game world. We are also developing a system which will enable them to engage in actual text chat with players (like old adventure games only we now have access to incredible new parser technology) in order to achieve their aims.
Hiring NPCs as pilots - they will not be able to warp or jump unaided but that leaves a lot of capability
Colonial Laws - these will enable you to outlaw or allow certain goods (e.g. alcohol) at your colonies, and lead to...
Smuggling - setting up smuggler networks and sneaking banned goods into colonies for fun and profit

As an MMO, Ascent is open to constant development. Below are some of the features we plan to add.

Bounty hunting - tracking down fugitive NPCs, whether they are running from the law, or just their enemies
Crime and punishment - setting up police and prisons in your colonies, and adventuring as a freelance investigator
Assassination - whether blowing up the ship they're in, or tracking them to their home and pulling the trigger, you're a stone cold killer for hire

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