I'm building a new version of Stable Orbit, from scratch! In the past month or so, a lot of work has happened that will not directly impact gameplay but is nonetheless important. The new version will support multiple languages (English and Dutch - my languages - during development, more when 2.0 launches) and the camera controller has been redesigned to work with controllers as well as mouse and keyboard.
I am also massively increasing the maximum zoom range for Stable Orbit 2.0, so you can finally marvel at the blue marble in all its glory! And reduce your entire station to be less than a pixel in size... at least until one of you finds the time and patience to build a station large enough to be visible 20,000 km from Earth!
Next up on my list is a complete rework of the orbital simulation. In Stable Orbit 2.0, one orbit of your station will take 90 minutes of simulated time, as many of you have requested. This change will have gameplay ramifications too, as the time spent in the shadow of the earth will be much longer than in the current version of the game. You are going to need to look after those station batteries, commander!

[ 2020-04-20 20:19:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

I have recently started work on Stable Orbit 2.0! I am rebuilding the game from the ground up in the latest version of Unity. The purpose of this rewrite is to both modernize the game technically (i.e. meaning it will run better/harder/faster on your computer) and improve the gameplay. I will also be adding three much requested features: clouds, achievements and localization. As you can imagine, rebuilding the game for the modern age is going to be quite an undertaking, so don't expect to play Stable Orbit 2.0 anytime soon. I am striving to have a playable alpha available some time next year. Wish me luck! (More details on the why, when and where are on the forum)

[ 2020-03-10 15:33:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good morning commanders! I just wanted to let you know that I have a new game in the works. It's a narrative adventure called Privacy and will be available next year. Check the teaser trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOQVYlvmCYg If you'd like to be updated about Privacy's development, please wishlist the game or join me on Discord. Thanks! Jim Offerman

[ 2019-05-20 13:48:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.11 - Released November

• New build to resolve missing tutorial issue (no code was changed)

[ 2017-11-16 19:21:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.11 - Released November

• New build to resolve missing tutorial issue (no code was changed)

[ 2017-11-16 19:21:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy Halloween everyone! A new update for Stable Orbit, dubbed Vernier, just went live. This update adds a few new unlockable modules for you to play with: a larger node and hydroponics modules, for that added touch of independence. Additionally, this update fixes a bug that caused problems with existing save games whenever a contract (type) was added or changed. A migration path has been implemented for stations created with previous versions of Stable Orbit.

Patch Notes

• Fixed bug in contract generation that caused save games to break when contracts were added or changed
• Added migration path for save games created with previous versions

[ 2017-10-26 20:43:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy Halloween everyone! A new update for Stable Orbit, dubbed Vernier, just went live. This update adds a few new unlockable modules for you to play with: a larger node and hydroponics modules, for that added touch of independence. Additionally, this update fixes a bug that caused problems with existing save games whenever a contract (type) was added or changed. A migration path has been implemented for stations created with previous versions of Stable Orbit.

Patch Notes

• Fixed bug in contract generation that caused save games to break when contracts were added or changed
• Added migration path for save games created with previous versions

[ 2017-10-26 20:43:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.06 - Released October 20

• Fixed incorrect processing of changes in storage capacity due to ejected or exploded modules during load

Thanks to stripe7 for reporting the issue!

[ 2017-10-20 11:50:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.06 - Released October 20

• Fixed incorrect processing of changes in storage capacity due to ejected or exploded modules during load

Thanks to stripe7 for reporting the issue!

[ 2017-10-20 11:50:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.05 - Released October 19

• Fixed treading issue that made it possible for a save to occur while the station was still being loaded.

[ 2017-10-19 09:50:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.05 - Released October 19

• Fixed treading issue that made it possible for a save to occur while the station was still being loaded.

[ 2017-10-19 09:50:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.04 - Release October 13th

• Fixed loading hangs accidentally introduced with 1.03
• Loading now displays a quick timelapse of everything that happened to your station(s)

[ 2017-10-13 06:59:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.04 - Release October 13th

• Fixed loading hangs accidentally introduced with 1.03
• Loading now displays a quick timelapse of everything that happened to your station(s)

[ 2017-10-13 06:58:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.03 - Released September 6th.

• Fixed lab specializations being available before they were unlocked through research
• Fixed multiple labs working on the same contract in parallel
• Added voice volume control
• Reduced frequency of "research complete", "contract expired" and "new research available" voice call outs

Some saved stations may be affected by these fixes.

[ 2017-10-06 14:50:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.03 - Released October 6th.

• Fixed lab specializations being available before they were unlocked through research
• Fixed multiple labs working on the same contract in parallel
• Added voice volume control
• Reduced frequency of "research complete", "contract expired" and "new research available" voice call outs

Some saved stations may be affected by these fixes.

[ 2017-10-06 14:50:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.02 - Released September 29th. - Fixed incorrect information in the shuttle dock description - Fixed camera sometimes getting stuck after pressing on a "look at" button - Fixed scroll wheel not working when cursor was over content of a scrolling area - Removed the UI scale option - Adjusted font and icon sizes to improve readability - Improved screen fitting of UI for 4:3 and 5:4 resolutions - Added a basic tutorial

[ 2017-09-29 18:51:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.02 - Released September 29th. - Fixed incorrect information in the shuttle dock description - Fixed camera sometimes getting stuck after pressing on a "look at" button - Fixed scroll wheel not working when cursor was over content of a scrolling area - Removed the UI scale option - Adjusted font and icon sizes to improve readability - Improved screen fitting of UI for 4:3 and 5:4 resolutions - Added a basic tutorial

[ 2017-09-29 18:51:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.01 - Released September 28th.

• Fixed issue that caused the status bar to partially or fully disappear for some players
• Fixed inverted CBMs on large truss
• Fixed synchronization issue between running display clock and simulation clock.

This release is a hotfix for the most common issues that were reported on launch day.

[ 2017-09-28 15:35:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Version 1.01 - Released September 28th.

• Fixed issue that caused the status bar to partially or fully disappear for some players
• Fixed inverted CBMs on large truss
• Fixed synchronization issue between running display clock and simulation clock.

This release is a hotfix for the most common issues that were reported on launch day.

[ 2017-09-28 15:35:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone, Even though I've worked really hard to squash all the bugs out of Stable Orbit 1.0 before yesterday's launch, some issues still have crept up. Primarily, there have been a number of users who've experienced some issues with the UI in Stable Orbit 1.0. The main problem being that the bottom status bar (which holds all the information and controls major functions) is not or only partially visible. After some investigation, I am on to the cause of the bug and am currently testing a new build that will fix the problem. In the meantime, Vicodin88 has posted a workaround that fixes the problem on the current version. Full details are here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/481190/discussions/0/1519260397775979399/ I will put out an update on Steam as soon as I am convinced that the bug is truly fixed and the fix doesn't introduce new problems. Thanks for playing! Cheers, Jim.

[ 2017-09-28 08:19:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone, Even though I've worked really hard to squash all the bugs out of Stable Orbit 1.0 before yesterday's launch, some issues still have crept up. Primarily, there have been a number of users who've experienced some issues with the UI in Stable Orbit 1.0. The main problem being that the bottom status bar (which holds all the information and controls major functions) is not or only partially visible. After some investigation, I am on to the cause of the bug and am currently testing a new build that will fix the problem. In the meantime, Vicodin88 has posted a workaround that fixes the problem on the current version. Full details are here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/481190/discussions/0/1519260397775979399/ I will put out an update on Steam as soon as I am convinced that the bug is truly fixed and the fix doesn't introduce new problems. Thanks for playing! Cheers, Jim.

[ 2017-09-28 08:19:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Stable Orbit is Now Available on Steam and is 33% off!*

Space is dangerous. Survival is a challenge.



Design, build and control your own space station. Mission command and control is in your hands and only careful planning and vigilant supervision will keep your crew and space station safe

*Offer ends October 4 at 10AM Pacific Time

[ 2017-09-27 17:00:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

Good day, Commander. Your immediate attention is needed! Stable Orbit 1.0 “Zenith” is out today! Green Man Gaming, my publishing partner, and I are very happy to now be handing this game over to you, the players. We hope you’ll create space stations that are amazing and weird in ways that we could not have imagined. Build the station of your dreams and find ways to survive those meteor showers and CBM failures. The mission is yours now. Best of luck, Commander! https://youtu.be/w_GhE4Anh8E Original post: blog.jimofferman.nl

[ 2017-09-27 16:03:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

The word is out, the news is official: Stable Orbit "1.0" launches on September 27th! What a journey it has been! Way back in the summer of 2013, I spent a good portion of my train commutes to and from Nixxes Software putting together a little prototype called "Station", which let you connect blue spheres to white capsules that if you squinted really hard somewhat resembled the modules of space station. Where most of my prototypes end up in a folder on a backup drive which I've lovingly named "Where game ideas go to die", I somehow kept getting drawn back to Station and kept working on it throughout 2014 and 2015. As the prototype slowly evolved to something that more closely resembled an actual game, it became the linchpin of a bigger plan: the launch of my own studio! Codalyn was founded on August 1, 2015 and exactly one year later, working at the studio became my full-time job. Stable Orbit launched on Steam Early Access in the fall of 2016 and after a full year of extensive development, with lots and lots of great feedback from the community, the game is finally ready for it's true maiden voyage. How cool is that? Thanks the fine folks at Green Man Gaming, to the friends who were all okay with me not meeting them because I was too busy working on Stable Orbit, to my lovely family and, of course, most of all to all the players of Stable Orbit who helped make it the game it is today with their wonderful feedback! Originally posted on blog.jimofferman.nl

[ 2017-09-18 18:41:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Last Saturday, I sat down to work out my plan for the remainder of Stable Orbit’s development. First data point: the release date we want to hit. As an indie, even with a publisher, there is no point going up against the likes of, say, Call of Duty: WWII. That’s one race we’d never win, given that they are probably spending more on CoD-branded golf balls than the entire budget of Stable Orbit. And golf balls are hardly among the weirdest things used to promote games. Anyway, from the release date I worked my way back: the game should be “done” this many days in advance, so it can go out to reviewers early. That means it will have to be on Steam by that date, so the publisher team has a chance to check everything out. Add in some slack. Subtract the weekends and care days. Good. Then this is the list of everything that still needs doing in the order that makes most sense doing those things in (I think – you’re never sure). Fine, fine. All in all, after a couple of hours working that Excel sheet I had it all down. Yes, it will be hard work. Yes, time is too short… as always. But it looks kind of reasonable so I am just going to do it and get this game launched! Cheery feelings all around. Hurrah! And then, I got sick. What a great start! Now, after four days of lying in bed feeling utterly miserable, I am back on my feet. First order of business: rewrite that plan, since a couple of days of work just got lopped off. We are, however, most definitely entering the homestretch of Stable Orbit’s development. A couple of months from now, this game will be all done and dusted. Excitingly, very soon, you will be able to follow along with how the development goes because the public “developer branch” will soon launch on Steam! Beware, the builds on the developer branch are going to be much rougher than what you may have gotten used to since Vector. For starters, my usual process of working towards a “code complete” version (with placeholder art) first and then an “art complete” version second will now be applied to the remainder of the game. Once the developer branch launches, you’ll get to play with the new “Airlock” module… but it will look like an ugly white box. Only once all the code is locked down, will I move on to the art. Creating the art for Stable Orbit is a nicely defined process – writing the code far less so. That said, if you are up it, I’d love for you to come and play in the developer branch and help me test out the latest and greatest features. Check the development roadmap for an overview of what is still coming to Stable Orbit. The branch will go online in the next week or so – provided that Murphy doesn’t throw another spanner in the works. More soon! Incidentally, Stable Orbit is currently on sale: save 33% until the end of the week! -- Originally posted on my blog.

[ 2017-07-27 14:54:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

Game development is a quirky beast. You plan to do X, Y and Z, but then none of those things happen and in the end you have a game that is simultaneously nothing like you imagined and exactly what you meant to make. Sense it makes not. It so happens that I’ve run into a couple of snags with Blackout, the next major update to Stable Orbit. Part of it is the new features not coming together quite as quickly as I would have liked and then the other part is that, with each new feature added, the burden of testing and debugging builds increases exponentially as each and every feature in Stable Orbit interacts all the others – sometimes in surprising and not quite intentional ways. After struggling with and, quite frankly, failing to deliver the release candidate for Blackout in time for it to be released at the timeslot that my publisher, Green Man Gaming, and I had lined up for it, I’ve had to take my breath for a moment and think really hard about the best way to deliver on all the features we’ve promised will be in Stable Orbit 1.0 later this year. The plan I’ve come up with is to not do a full release of Blackout and the subsequent Umbilical. Skipping those releases frees up valuable time and allows me to reshuffle the remaining work into an order that makes most sense development wise. All in service, of course, of making Stable Orbit 1.0 the best possible game I can make. Since I do wish to keep the early access community involved, I will soon release a work-in-progress version of the latest Stable Orbit on a Steam beta branch. That branch will be updated semi-regularly, so that those of you who are willing can still follow along with the development as it happens and – of course – provide me with some much needed feedback on how I’m doing! Beware that this beta branch will not constitute a full release and thus may be a bit less stable than you’ve come to expect. I’m sorry to disappoint some of you by this change of plans, but it is what I believe is best for the game… and that’s what it is all about! Originally posted on my blog

[ 2017-07-04 15:00:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Another Stable Orbit update glimmers on the horizon, Blackout. This update is named after one of the myriad of problems your station may encounter once the update goes live: a communications blackout due space weather. While Blackout is still a few weeks from release, I'd like to take this moment to tell you about what is coming up.

Events, Calamities & Disasters

The first major new gameplay system that Blackout introduces are events, calamities and disasters. Events are benign or even celebratory occurrences like, say,  a party thrown for the 100th astronaut to board your station. Calamities add small problems to your mix of worries and include incidents like power failures, shuttles not launches due to bad weather conditions and the aforementioned communications blackout. Finally, there are disasters, which are rare events with a massive impact on the continued operation of the station. Ironically, since this is space we're talking about, even big disasters have their causes in the smallest of things. Your shuttle pods may become grounded for months at the time after a fueling incident (thanks reality) caused an explosion on the launch pad. Alternatively, you may loose an entire section of your station due to a CBM failure.

Orbit Controls

Additionally, Blackout introduces orbit controls. Up to now, your station in Stable Orbit "magically" maintained a perfect orbit around the earth - but that's not how space stations really work. With Blackout, your station will be in constant and steady decline and, like the real ISS, will require regular thruster boosts to maintain its orbit. By default, the station boosters will fire automatically at the appropriate times and all you'll have to worry about is the placement thrusters around your station (incorrect thruster placement will impair your stations ability to control and stabilize its orbit). You can also disable the automatic boosting if you wish to attempt to maintain a stable orbit all by yourself.

Orbit Map

While the orbit map doesn't really affect gameplay, I believe it is nonetheless going to be a fun addition to the game. Most obviously, the map will show you where on (or should I say 'above'?) earth your station is and where it is headed. The fun part is you can click on a spot on the map to cause the station to use the maneuvering thrusters to alter its course until it flies over the spot you just clicked on. Orbital tourists, rejoice!

Be kind, rewind

The final new addition that Blackout brings is not actually new at all and has technically been in the game since the very beginning: the ability to rewind time. I've actually demonstrated how the feature works at Gamescom last year, but I was not very happy with how you, the player, got to control the feature and therefore felt that part of the user interface needed a major rethink. Now, with Blackout, I believe that I've finally got this part right and ready for you to play around with.My hope is (and always has been) that having the time rewind feature will allow even the most casual players to enjoy the "full" experience, disasters and all, since they can always go back and try a different strategy even if some major event causes a complete breakdown of their station. Of course, for the hardcore fans who want nothing of this sort, there will be the option to turn the time rewind mechanism off entirely.

Coming Soon!

I hope you are all excited for the changes coming with Blackout. I am working in full overdrive mode to get everything finished and polished as soon as possible. You can look forward to having Blackout in your hands in a couple of weeks! Original post: http://blog.jimofferman.nl/2017/06/prepare-for-blackout-next-stable-orbit-update/

[ 2017-06-22 07:05:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Perihelion Update - Out Now

Hello world! The latest update for Stable Orbit is live! It's called Perihelion, and includes a whole bunch of new gameplay features - Like Research Contracts, New Modules, Station Upgrades and Waste Management. As well as the usual optimisations and fixes one would expect from an update, one particular piece of weirdness has been fixed - Module Intersection Detection. What's that, you ask? Well, read on!

Update Notes

Research Contracts

The biggest change is the addition of research contracts. Up to now, making money in Stable Orbit was easy! All you had to do was build a lab, make sure it has power and there is enough crew to man the lab (preferably on rotating shifts) and presto: oodles of money soon come flowing your way. Those days, my friends, are over! Now, you will earn rewards by completing research contracts offered to you. Some contracts will offer a quick buck - such performing Bone Destiny Research to measure the effect of space travel on humans. While others may offer big wins, such as all new unlocks for your station – but you'll need to accept it before the contract expires! Some contracts will require that you install specific upgrades in your laboratories, or reach a higher science level, before you can accept them.

Module Unlocks and Upgrades

Now you have the ability to unlock new, larger modules, as well as upgrades that can be installed on (some) modules.
Upgrades come in two forms: “standard” upgrades, which can be installed at will and “special” upgrades, of which only one can be installed per module. Standard upgrades include things like capacity boosters for your storage modules. Special upgrades allow you to do things like specialize your laboratories for research in one particular area – say physical science. This sets the basis on how your station will be upgraded, and more will be included in future updates.

Waste Management

Looking after your station is a delicate balance of resources for you to manage and balance against the other needs of the station. In this update, another resource has been introduced - Waste.
If you let too much waste pile up, living conditions in the station will deteriorate and give your crew a reason to abandon you. On the other hand, waste is a resource not to be wasted, as the new Waste Recycling module will allow you to extract water, partially closing the loop on that resource.

Module Intersection Detection

Up to now, you could place modules on any free CBM, even if placing a module there would cause it to intersect with other parts of the station.
Fixing that has been on the to-do list pretty much since the very beginning, but so far it has always lost out to doing things that have had a bigger impact on the overall game play. Also, most of you were avoiding intersections while building your space station, even without the detection in place. You are good people! From Perihelion onward, the game will make sure that everybody behaves (when it comes to placement of space station modules, that is!).

What's Next

There – Now you know what is brand new to Stable Orbit. Hope you are all as excited about these new features as we are! As is by now tradition for these blogs about new features (assuming you can call something you’ve done twice already a tradition), we'll close out by looking ahead what else is in store for Stable Orbit.
The update after Perihelion will be called Blackout. This will be include the Orbital Management and Disasters & Events features from the roadmap. ETA - June(-ish). Following that will be Umbilical, adding the Advanced Truss Structures and Pressurized Mechanics features and then – finally – the big one: Zenith, which will round up all the features promised in the roadmap to become the official “1.0” release of Stable Orbit! Yaaay! Let us know what you think of the latest update over in the Discussions board. See you there!

[ 2017-04-28 16:02:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Vector is finished and out now on Steam! This update proved to be much more work than I had anticipated. My original plan was to finish work on Vector before New Year’s, but I ended up working on it until the very last minute, quite literally. There’s still a few loose ends left to tie up art wise, but overall I am really happy with how this update came out. Both in terms of gameplay and visual quality, Stable Orbit took a giant step forward with Vector. Fingers crossed that you all end up liking it as much as I do!

Change Notes

This update brings the art of Stable Orbit up to near final quality, removing most of the placeholders and introducing intricately detailed module designs. Gone too are the yellow discs that served as module connection points and in their place are new, animated, petal door connectors based on the “Common Berthing Mechanism” design used on the International Space Station. Additionally, the rendering pipeline has been overhauled completely, offering higher quality graphics on high-end machines and scalability options for lower end PCs. Vector also introduces new gameplay elements:

• A new Node module, allowing you to build pressurized connections between crew modules and laboratories
• Severe damage or loss of power will now cause Habitat modules to become unusable, marooning the crew that was stationed there and reducing their productivity
• Severe damage to storage modules will now result in temporary loss of the resources stored there; if the module is destroyed, those resources will be lost permanently
• Severe damage to structural modules will now disable their connectors, blocking expansion from those modules until they are sufficiently repaired
• Severe damage or loss of power to Shuttle Docks will now cause the corresponding supply shuttles to become grounded or be unable to dock

Other Improvements:

• Added a UI scaling option
• Added in-game music
• The station panel, crew panel and message bar will now remember their pinned state between games
• Message bar now groups similar crew or module status messages together

Bug Fixes:

• New crew members will no longer board if oxygen has run out
• Solar panels and radiators now fold and unfold in simulation time (i.e. the animation will pause if the simulation is paused)

[ 2017-02-02 17:05:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Originally posted on Jim's blog The next update for Stable Orbit is called Vector and should (fingers crossed) land on Steam later this month. In this post, I’d like to update you on what I have been working on lately and detail the features I still have planned for Vector.

Goodbye Yellow Discs

Before we cover all the things that I have added or will be adding, I want to take this moment to say goodbye to a dear old friend: the yellow disc. These yellow discs that have dutifully and proudly served as the placeholder art for the module connectors since I created the very first prototype of the game in 2013, but now their time is up. Farewell. Adios.
Goodbye Yellow Discs. You will be missed… In their place, you’ll soon see a new connector, with a design derived from the common berthing mechanism (CBM) used on the International Space Station. As far as I’m aware, CBM is not the latest and greatest standard for docking and berthing spacecraft. Chances are that future additions to the International Space Station or even a real future space station will use a different mechanism, possibly IBDM. However, I opted to keep my design based on the CBM for gameplay purposes: the four petals that flank the central cover of an (active) CBM give it an iconic shape that makes it an easily recognizable element for players.
Closed covers of an actual CBM In the game, the petal doors will animate and open partially whenever you mouse over an unoccupied connector to further indicate that, yes, here is where you can attach new modules. When you click on a connector, the doors will open fully and spawn the build menu. I haven’t finished modeling and texturing connectors yet, but below is a sneak peak of the work-in-progress version I’ve put in the game to work out the animation and interaction kinks.
Hello Shiny New Connectors! (WIP)

Full Art Overhaul

For Vector, I intend to replace all placeholder art that is currently in the game. Earlier, when Vector was first announced, we also revealed a first shot of the new core module (seen in another shot above). I have since refined the design of the core and replaced the old crew quarters model with a new version (and changed the name of the module to “Hab”, which sounds cooler and also is easier on the tongue). I’ve yet to add “flavor” elements, like exposed cables, grapple fixtures and other exterior details to the Hab. Those elements will help set it apart from other, similarly shaped, pressurized modules such as the core and the lab. Since such details tend to be less noticeable when you are further away, I’ve decided to add bands of colored panels to each (type) of the pressurized modules to make them even more distinct from each other.
New Hab Modules (WIP)

Faster Performance, Revamped Graphics

While the main focus for Vector is on overhauling the art, I have also spent a good chunk of December optimizing Stable Orbit to make it run faster. A lot faster. The latest build of Stable Orbit runs about 50% faster on my primary development machine – even after replacing a large portion of the old placeholder art with new, heavier, 3D models. A large portion of the performance increase comes from switching the rendering path from Deferred Rendering to Forward. Deferred rendering is advantageous if your game uses a lot of dynamic lights, but there are only one light source in Stable Orbit: the sun. Additionally, I upgraded the post processing from Unity’s Cinematic Image Effects to the newer Post Processing Stack. The screen-space reflections effect had to go, though, since it is not compatible with forward rendering. On the other hand, the new color grading is wonderful and will allow me to be a little more artistic with the final image. I have also settled on an anti-aliasing solution for Stable Orbit. I had hoped that switching to forward rendering would have allowed me to offer MSAA as an option, but unfortunately Unity does not yet support MSAA in combination with high dynamic range (HDR). HDR is a critical factor in achieving the stark lighting seen in Stable Orbit. I subsequently tried a whole range of post filter AA solutions (FXAA, SSAA, temporal AA, etc), but those all failed to produce satisfactory results. In the end, I threw down the gauntlet and opted for a 2X super-sampling filter. Jaggies be gone!

Vector and Beyond

With UI overhaul completed in Electrolysis and the new art and graphics changes coming soon with Vector, Stable Orbit is beginning to look closer and closer to the game I envisioned making when I started out. Therefore, once this next update is done and dusted, I will shift my focus toward implementing more of the gameplay I envisioned as well. First up, will be a new science system that will allow you to do more than just earn money with your labs!

[ 2017-01-25 15:33:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello! We're announcing the next update for Stable Orbit today. It's called Vector! Vector, the second update for Stable Orbit, introduces new intricately detailed designs for all station modules, featuring elements based on real space technologies like grapple fixtures and the common berthing mechanism. Rendering has been optimized for Vector and the new modules have dynamic level of detail for increased performance. Vector will also introduce a new 'Node' module, which will allow players to create pressurized connections between crew modules. The update is due for public release in January 2017, but here's an early look at the new core module for the game...
We'll have more news to come on this update and what's coming next for Stable Orbit in the new year. See you all then, and have a happy holiday!

[ 2016-12-14 16:21:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

The first update for Stable Orbit is now live! The following updates are all included in the latest build - All features are the result of player feedback, so thank you to everyone for playing, and let us know what you think of this latest update. A full changelog can be found in game. Real Time Orbiting Following some feedback that the speed of the earth spinning was causing some unwanted motion sickness, the speed of the Earth has now been slowed down. It will now take 90 minutes to do a complete orbit of the Earth, which is exactly how much time it takes for the International Space Station to complete a single orbit of Earth! Storage Modules Another massive change to gameplay will be the requirement to build storage modules to store things like food, water and oxygen. The first two of these will still be delivered via shuttles, but Oxygen will now need to be generated with Extractors that you can construct on your station. This all becomes important when it comes to dealing with your crew. Speaking of which… Crew Changes There’s some changes to the crew, too. They’ll no longer work like machines and will actually require sleep! However, you can now put them into work shifts, so with a team of astronauts, you can have them working around the clock, earning you a constant stream of revenue! Your crew also have some sense of preservation now. They’ll refuse to board, or even leave, your space station if you can’t keep your supplies in order! How is this communicated, you ask…? UI Changes There has been a complete overhaul of how you get feedback in game. Gone are the pop up messages and in is a brand new messages bar. When you hover over the new message bar on the right of the screen, it’ll pop out with some further information e.g. “Lab 4 is overheating!” or “Martin Ash is leaving the station due to low water supply levels” and so on. This will provide accurate feedback as to where your space station is failing and allow you can take measures to remedy it. You’ll also see new tabs for your crew’s shift patterns, status of your supplies and a new version of your game speed controls. We've also made a few videos about the basics of the game and some of the new features over on YouTube. Two are out now, and another two will be released over the weekend. Take a look at them here.

[ 2016-11-11 21:11:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! Thanks everyone who has played the game so far, provided feedback, and left reviews. Jim has been working away on the first update, and we're pleased to present the initial roadmap for Stable Orbit. This is just a visual representation of the roadmap so far - a more in depth explanation can be found over on the Steam Community!

[ 2016-10-24 11:34:17 CET ] [ Original post ]