Hello & Ol, we've applied a few finishing touches to our recent updates and they are now live for everyone. In case you didn't have a look at the beta patch notes so far, here are the combined patch notes for 2.5.6 and 2.5.7:

Language

• Added Portuguese (Brazil)

General

• Scenario presets have been added to free play settings
• Added a free play setting to set the minimum block size value for new galaxies
• You no longer have to edit server.ini directly
• We have extended the allowed values for the minimum block size limit
• Values can now be between 0.00001 and 0.01.
• This is only a lowest allowed value, it doesn't impact precision or bigger values. E.g. you can still build blocks with size 0.0125.

Build Mode

• Added new highlight modes to show blocks that are smaller than the default and the server's minimum block size limit
• You can use these to verify your builds before publishing them to the workshop
• Added an info box in the bottom right corner which shows how many small blocks the current craft has
• Added a notice to the Saved Design Window and Workshop Upload Window if your craft contains tiny blocks
• The view settings button now pulsates slightly when there are active settings

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Added map context menu entry to remove death location marker
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mission bulletin of Cover Retreat would show the wrong faction name
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the mass constraint wasn't updated correctly in mission descriptions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where escorting ships did send incorrect warnings when following their leader to another sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret group icons behaved like they were clicked while mouse pointer was not active, e.g. while flying and fighting
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where NPC miners would sit idle in sectors instead of mining
• [UBR] Fixed a visual bug in "Rescue an Associate" mission
• [UBR] Improved some texts in the Russian translation

Gameplay

• Ships and Stations that get damaged due to decay now send a more accurate warning
• Before these crafts would send the general "Craft is under attack" warning

[ 2025-03-12 11:26:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'. The changes from 2.5.6 need a tiny bit more testing before they can go live on default. In the meantime, here's a new language and a few small fixes:

Language

• Added Portuguese (Brazil)

Gameplay

• Ships and Stations that get damaged due to decay now send a more accurate warning
• Before these crafts would send the general "Craft is under attack" warning

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where NPC miners would sit idle in sectors instead of mining
• [UBR] Fixed a visual bug in "Rescue an Associate" mission
• [UBR] Improved some texts in the Russian translation

[ 2025-03-05 09:24:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

General

• Scenario presets have been added to free play settings
• Added a free play setting to set the minimum block size value for new galaxies
• You no longer have to edit server.ini directly
• We have extended the allowed values for the minimum block size limit
• Values can now be between 0.00001 and 0.01.
• This is only a lowest allowed value, it doesn't impact precision or bigger values. E.g. you can still build blocks with size 0.0125.

Build Mode

• Added new highlight modes to show blocks that are smaller than the default and the server's minimum block size limit
• You can use these to verify your builds before publishing them to the workshop
• Added an info box in the bottom right corner which shows how many small blocks the current craft has
• Added a notice to the Saved Design Window and Workshop Upload Window if your craft contains tiny blocks
• The view settings button now pulsates slightly when there are active settings

Bugfixes

As usual we have a few bug fixes for you. Thank you everyone for reporting those pesky little buggers!

• [UBR] Added map context menu entry to remove death location marker
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mission bulletin of Cover Retreat would show the wrong faction name
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the mass constraint wasn't updated correctly in mission descriptions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where escorting ships did send incorrect warnings when following their leader to another sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret group icons behaved like they were clicked while mouse pointer was not active, e.g. while flying and fighting

[ 2025-02-05 14:33:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

An issue affecting multiple users sneaked past beta testing into our previous release (see Bugfixes and QoL Update). So after a very short beta phase, this hotfix is now live for everyone. Thanks to everyone who reported the issue and thanks to everyone who already tested this hotfix on beta.

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where images in the encyclopedia were distorted
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when opening specific encyclopedia entries, for example "Integrity Fields"
• This was also triggered by choosing an integrity field block in build mode

Misc

• Reverted the bundled SDL2_image library to an older version (for Windows)

[ 2024-12-13 08:52:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where images in the encyclopedia were distorted
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when opening specific encyclopedia entries, for example "Integrity Fields"
• This was also triggered by choosing an integrity field block in build mode

Misc

• Reverted the bundled SDL2_image library to an older version (for Windows)

[ 2024-12-12 17:19:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! We're very happy to announce that the patches 2.5.3 and 2.5.4 are now available on default! Thank you to everyone who participated in the beta and all the valuable feedback! And now without further ado here is a highlight of the most important changes.

Docking

In the last update, we already made docking to a station more reliable by changing the underlying assessment of what is docked. While this made things less confusing code-wise, we noticed that the UI wasn't properly reflecting the docked status. To address this, we are now introducing the following changes:

• The station's indicators now correctly show the ship as docked as soon as you are close enough to transfer resources, crew, goods, ...,
• Tractor beams no longer pull your ship all the way to the dock if you have a functional transporter. They now stop as soon as your ship is in transporter range.
• Added visual effects when nearby entities block the docking area and tractor beams have trouble locking on to a single target
• Tractor beams flash red, some of them may point to the obstructing object
• A yellow indicator at the dock shows that tractor beams aren't available, but you're still able to dock manually
• Holding F now only starts an interaction when you are close enough to transfer resources, crew, goods, ...
• The interaction dialog with the station will now automatically open when your ship has been pulled close enough
• Tapping F for a short time always starts the interaction dialog with a selected station

Secondary Block Colors

Some things seemed to have slipped past us concerning secondary block colors. Thank you for everyone reporting these issues and the wonderful suggestion of a color swap!

• [UBR] Ship Name blocks no longer darken the text if a custom secondary color is set
• [UBR] Added a button to swap primary and secondary colors
• Button is hidden when both colors are equal
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where blocks with colorized windows (Crew Quarters, some Hulls) did not flicker for wreckages and ships with low energy

Build Mode

Due to several reports of bad performance in collisions, glitches in build mode and rendering issues, we investigated and found a few troubling issues. One we're addressing now with this update: Zero or even negatively sized blocks. These teeny tiny blocks cause a lot of issues with our engine, as it was never built to deal with such a thing. Therefore, we sadly have to introduce a minimum block size. After a lot of consideration and performance testing, we chose to set the default minimum value to 0.01 (which is equivalent to 10 cm). While this limit is fine for general gameplay, it does impede art builds somewhat. Therefore we additionally added a galaxy-specific server.ini setting that allows for this limit to be much smaller. Be aware that this might lead to more performance issues, though.

• You can set the server-wide minimum block size in the server settings. Accepted values are between 0.001 and 0.01.
• This value is not used to limit precision / decimal places. All block sizes above the minimum are accepted by the game.
• This change does not affect existing builds
• For now ship designs with block sizes smaller than the server's limit can still be applied
• Whole ship scaling currently does not prevent smaller blocks
• These two points will probably change in a future update, especially on multiplayer servers
• Existing ships already in the galaxy will not be modified

General QoL

• The Open Ship Menu Button now indicates more clearly which ship menu will be opened
• The Creative Command Center (available in creative mode) will now give all types of subsystems and turrets
• The bug where co-op flying co-pilots were no longer able to do damage was fixed and additionally co-pilots are now also able to fire torpedoes!

As usual, this isn't an exhaustive list of all the changes. If you want to know more you can find the full patch notes of both patches here: Patch 2.5.3 and Patch 2.5.4. Have a wonderful day!

[ 2024-12-09 13:22:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Docking

We've revisited docking this patch thanks to all the feedback we received from you! Even though we made docking a lot more stable with the changes from the last patch, you pointed us to some remaining issues that we are addressing now.

• The station's indicators did not consider functioning transporters, leading to inconsistent input hints. The indicators now correctly show the ship as docked as soon as you are close enough to transfer resources, crew, goods, ...
• Tractor beams no longer pull your ship all the way to the dock if you have a functional transporter. They now stop as soon as your ship is in transporter range.
• Added visual effects when nearby entities block the docking area and tractor beams have trouble to lock on to a single target
• Tractor beams flash red, some of them may point to the obstructing object
• A yellow indicator at the dock shows that tractor beams aren't available, but you're still able to dock manually
• Holding F now only starts an interaction when you are close enough to transfer resources, crew, goods, ...
• The interaction dialog with the station will now automatically open when your ship has been pulled close enough
• Tapping F for a short time always starts the interaction dialog with a selected station

Gameplay

• Creative Mode Command Center now includes all available turret types when using the "Guns Guns Guns" button

Build Mode

• Minimum Block Size is a server option now (Default and recommended is 0.01; Allowed values are between 0.001 and 0.01)

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Torpedoes in default weapon group can be fired again (regression in version 2.5.3)
• [UBR] Fixed player ships exploding or jumping out of sector after a previous server crash
• This prevents ships from being replaced by an older version when reaching a target sector after a hyperspace jump
• Conflicts in case of inconsistent ship databases are now resolved by keeping the currently piloted version
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when a bluetooth headset was connected while the game was already running
• [UBR] Fixed a log error when refine ore autopilot orders were terminated
• [UBR] Fixed a crash in pirategenerator.lua
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where generated turrets, fighters and torpedoes could be weaker than expected in sectors that are close to the center
• Fixed an issue where going back from a window to a dialogue box resulted in the wrong option being selected or a crash (e.g. from hire crew window back to shipyard dialogue box)

Misc

• Stacktraces now contain the names of involved external libraries
• Updated bundled SDL libraries (for Windows)

[ 2024-11-27 14:33:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Secondary Block Colors

• [UBR] Ship Name blocks no longer darken the text if a custom secondary color is set
• [UBR] Added a button to swap primary and secondary colors
• Button is hidden when both colors are equal
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where blocks with colorized windows (Crew Quarters, some Hulls) did not flicker for wreckages and ships with low energy

UI

• Changed the Hud menu button to open the Ship Menu slightly:
• While in Build Mode it will always open to the currently built ship
• Added icon and extended tooltip to show whether the menu will open to a remote or the flown ship
• Inventory is almost full-Warning is now shown at 50 remaining slots instead of 5
• When flying an alliance craft the warning is displayed for the alliance inventory

Gameplay

• Co-op flying now allows co-pilots to fire torpedoes if they own the corresponding weapon group
• Creative Mode Command Center now includes all available subsystems when using the "Gimme Systems" button
• Equipment Docks no longer sell Co-'n-Op Reconstruction Kits in galaxies with perma destruction enabled

Scripting API

• Cargobay::addCargo and Entity::addCargo no longer accept negative cargo amounts.
• If you want to fill the entire cargo hold use math.huge as amount

Multiplayer

• Non-admin players can no longer access the debug menu of crafts (when admins have used addScript; restriction does not apply to galaxies with DevMode=true)

Bugfixes

• Saved Designs window:
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the refresh button did not work (in Workshop folders)
• Fixed automatic refresh for workshop sub-directory when item download finishes
• The parent folder button no longer skips multiple parent folders
• Removed non-functional "Rename" context menu entry for workshop items
• Fixed an issue where errors during upload of a workshop item led to incomplete workshop items and unending uploading shown in UI
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where docking detection did not work reliably
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with co-op flying where co-pilots were no longer able to do damage
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where large ships could become stranded in rifts if the extraction was to be through a wormhole
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a player could become stranded in a rift after logging in
• [UBR] Repairing NPC ships at relation status ceasefire will no longer be seen as breaking the ceasefire
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighters were no longer controllable after renaming their mothership
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the Reconstruction dialog was not closable when a destroyed player ship had the same name as an alliance ship
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in the Hire Crew window where the slider and the textbox disagreed on how many crew members to hire
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where hyperspace jump energy would always include subsystems in the Build Mode's stats overview
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where production capacity and speed up would always include subsystems in the Build Mode's stats overview
• [UBR] Fixed Research stations producing unusable turret blueprints
• [UBR] Ship group numbers in the ship list (galaxy map) are now centered so that their position no longer conflicts with active map command icons
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turrets on autofire would target invincible entities
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where joining a password-protected dedicated server from Steam friend list was not possible
• [UBR] Fixed station's push beams not letting go of ships that were given a new order during undocking
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where it was possible to build blocks with zero thickness in voxel grid mode
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to use templates to build blocks with zero thickness
• Server now enforces a minimum block size
• Fixed an issue where grid snapping did not work in voxel grid mode while matching a hovered blocks shape
• Fixed a background rendering issue in sectors near rifts
• Fixed an issue in rift sectors where thunder sfx were not 3D

Internal Technical Changes

• Upgraded SteamAPI to 1.60
• Removed workaround introduced in 2.3.2 and 2.4.1 for Linux server startup issues with Steam Clients from that time. These issues have been resolved in recent Steam Client versions.

[ 2024-09-02 09:42:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're happy many of you like the new Secondary Block Colors and the Photo Mode. A few issues sneaked past beta testing, so here's a bugfix patch!

Secondary Block Colors

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Cargo Bay patterns were too dark with default secondary color
• Fixed an issue where Alternate Hull patterns and Armor patterns were too bright with dark primary color and default secondary color

Photo Mode

• Field of View slider can now be set in steps of 5 instead of 10
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the Field of View slider could be set to zero.

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where rift missions would not be initialized correctly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with color identification which led to travel hub not working correctly
• Fixed an issue where the Chameleon Subsystem did not highlight ships anymore
• Fixed an issue where Creative Mode Command Center wouldn't work for alliance ships

[ 2024-06-14 16:23:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're happy many of you like the new Secondary Block Colors and the Photo Mode. A few issues sneaked past beta testing, so here's a bugfix patch! Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Secondary Block Colors

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Cargo Bay patterns were too dark with default secondary color
• Fixed an issue where Alternate Hull patterns and Armor patterns were too bright with dark primary color and default secondary color

Photo Mode

• Field of View slider can now be set in steps of 5 instead of 10
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the Field of View slider could be set to zero.

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where rift missions would not be initialized correctly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with color identification which led to travel hub not working correctly
• Fixed an issue where the Chameleon Subsystem did not highlight ships anymore
• Fixed an issue where Creative Mode Command Center wouldn't work for alliance ships

[ 2024-06-14 13:26:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Update 2.5 with secondary block colors and a photo mode is now live for everyone! With this update we introduce the long awaited secondary block colors! Most blocks now have the option to color their patterns independently from the main block color. And to top it off we added a photo mode so you can show off your building (and coloring) skills!

Secondary Block Colors

Secondary block colors are here! With these you can color in the blocks' patterns just as you like it. Look at this example of devs trying to show off their artsy talents \_()_/:
I'm sure that you can do much better than us! And to highlight some of the effects of the secondary color, here is a short list of the main changes: All generator-type blocks (Energy Containers, Energy Generators, Shield Generator, Hyperspace Core...) can have their glow color replaced. Before the glow color was depending on their material, but now you have the option to color them in any color you like.
The same applies for the engine glow and the thruster flames. Before you had to change the material, now you can color them with the secondary color!
And for a bunch more blocks you can now color the pattern. Before these patterns always had the same color and you had to adjust your block color until they matched. Now you can color the pattern to fit your vision instead!
These are just some examples, you'll find more changes in game! If you want to know exactly which blocks are changed take a look at the patch notes down below.

Photo Mode

Making screenshots has always been kind of a pain-in-the-butt-type thing in Avorion. And this is why we now implemented the perfect tool for that: Our photo mode! Now you no longer have to find the perfect sector with the perfect lighting and the perfect planet you want to have in the background. Just use the photo mode to switch sector styles, and once you've found a style to your liking, adjust all the other things right there! Reposition the sun and the planet, recolor the sector, add more stars, and many other things!
Additionally you can add a vignette effect or apply one of the filters until you've found the perfect visuals for your build. Or you can apply rift visuals for the eerie feeling. Have fun! For everyone craving more details, here are the full patch notes:

• Update 2.5
• Patch 2.5.1

And last but not least: Thank you everyone who participated in the beta and gave us feedback! You guys rock!

[ 2024-06-13 11:37:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Secondary Block Colors

• Secondary colors for armor and hull blocks with alternate patterns now have the same brightness as the primary color
• You can now build armor blocks without camo pattern by choosing the same color for primary and secondary color
• To match the default primary color, look for a colors named "Iron Ore", "Titanium Ore", etc.

Modding

• Armor blocks now use separate texture files again, so that they can be modded independently of hull blocks
• Texture mods still need to be updated
• Armor blocks of different materials no longer share the same mask

UI

• Disabled mouse over sounds for empty places in color window (build mode)

[ 2024-06-10 10:20:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone. The next Avorion update is finally ready for beta testing! In this update we introduce the long-awaited secondary block colors and - so everyone can properly show off their awesome coloring skills - a photo mode! We wish you loads of fun with the new features and happily await your feedback! Let us know if you miss anything, if some things aren't as smooth as they could be or if you (simply) loved it! And let us see your awesome screenshots! Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Secondary Block Colors

Blocks can now have a secondary block color. The secondary block color is dependent on the block type and can even change the light effects.

• Added secondary colors for the color brush of the build mode
• Open the color selection window to switch on secondary colors
• Switching back to one-color mode resets the secondary color to its original, pre-update status
• Added new preview element in the color selection window that shows in detail which colors are used
• New blocks will be built using the previewed colors
• Added a second color picker that picks the secondary color
• Added a 'No Change' color
• Use this when selecting blocks and you don't care which color they have
• Use this to apply a primary or secondary color without changing the other color
• Block info tooltips in the lower right corner show which colors are used for the block
• Block types with secondary colors:
• Crew Quarters - windows can now be colored
• Cargo - dark parts of the block can now be colored
• Armor - ever wanted to be a chameleon? Try coloring in your camouflage patterns according to the sector you're in.
• Engine - Engine glow can now be colored
• Thruster - Thruster particle flames can now be colored
• Dock - Stripes of dock-doors can now be colored
• Flight Recorder - yellow stripes can now be colored
• Torpedo Storage - orange stripes can now be colored
• Assembly - vents can now be colored
• Turret Base - patches can now be colored
• Hangar - hangar doors can now be colored
• Shield Generator - glowing pattern can now be colored
• Energy Container - glowing pattern can now be colored
• Generator - glowing pattern can now be colored
• Integrity Field Generator - glowing pattern can now be colored
• Computer Core - glowing pattern can now be colored
• Hyperspace Core - glowing pattern can now be colored
• Transporter Block - glowing pattern can now be colored
• Academy - blue pattern can now be colored in any color
• Cloning Pods - green pods can now be colored in any color
• Rich and Super-Rich Stone - glowing pattern can now be colored
• Ship Name Block - name is now colorable
• Alternate Hull Patterns - dark patterns can now be colored in any color
• Dark / White Stripes - now in color!
• Light blocks: Light is colored according to the secondary color unless the secondary color isn't set. Without a secondary color light blocks will behave like before the update.

Photo Mode

We created a new mode to make awesome screenshots! You'll find a new 'Photo Mode' button in the pause menu. The new Photo Mode features:

• A sector style selection: Either random or with an explicit style ID
• you can even share this ID with your friends!
• Free setting of sector visuals:
• rift or no rift visuals
• sun type and position
• planet position
• background star density
• sector color
• sector dustiness
• Change the Field of View to find the perfect view
• several filter effects:
• Greyscale
• Sepia
• Desaturated
• Saturated
• A scalable vignette effect
• A 'Take Screenshot' button to take screenshots without UI
• Added a short flash to white to indicate saving of screenshot
• An 'Open Screenshot Folder' button
• Improved free camera movement
• A new keybind option 'Photo Mode'

Gameplay

• Allowed direct switching to your other crafts when controlling a fighter
• Switching to a different craft within a sector is now always possible as long as you're allowed to enter it
• Mothership in pirate encounter is now visibly connected to invincibility giving pirate ships
• Fulfilled (done) objectives no longer show up in the on screen tracked mission displayer
• However they still do show up in the missions tab
• Build Mode: Transformation Brush no longer changes block colors

UI

• Unknown colors are shown as hex-codes in block info tooltips
• 'No color' items in color selection have been removed
• 'Show Used Colors First' now shows duplicates of color items

Scripting API:

• ScriptBlock::addBlock now takes an additional optional parameter to set a secondary color for the new block
• existing Mods using the old addBlock-call are not affected by this
• ScriptPlanComponent::setColor now takes an optional parameter secondaryColor
• Added documentation for ScriptPlanComponent::setColor
• Added ScriptPlanComponent::setSecondaryBlockColor
• Added ScriptBlockPlan::setSecondaryBlockColor
• Changed ScriptColor.toHtml to always print 6 hex digits led by a '#', i.e. '#000000' for black

Bugfixes

• Fixed a rare crash in flight physics of fighters
• Fixed an issue where hangars would be rendered way too bright in some cases
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Xsotan waves started spawning in a rift sector right after accepting the corresponding mission and before the player entered the sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the player wouldn't be warned of their ships destruction when switching to another sector while in a rift sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where part of the ServerRunner window was not visible
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where no warning was displayed when leaving ships behind in a rift sector

[ 2024-06-03 13:04:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

After performing well on the beta branch, patch 2.4.3 is now live on the default main branch. We've fixed a few bugs (like the station-says-I'm-docked-but-I'm-not-actually-docked-what-the-hell-is-happening-bug) and implemented a workaround for an AMD driver crash.

UI

• Improved consistency of subsystem tooltip descriptions

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where client and server disagreed about docking state (This should resolve cases where the ship was shown as docked but various menus sent errors about not being docked)
• Implemented a workaround for an AMD GPU driver issue
• Fixed an issue where ancient gates could be connected to world boss sectors
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to give orders meant for ships to stations
• Fixed a crash when a station was ordered to support a ship and the ship left the sector
• Fixed an issue where boss health bars were visible in build mode
• Fixed a crash related to destroyed entities in scrapyard sectors
• Fixed an issue where a tooltip obstructed the confirmation dialog when removing a subsystem with shift-click

More details about the AMD driver situation can be found in the previous Beta-Branch Announcement

[ 2024-02-26 10:25:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

UI

• Improved consistency of subsystem tooltip descriptions

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where client and server disagreed about docking state
• This should resolve cases where the ship was shown as docked but various menus sent errors about not being docked
• Implemented a workaround for an AMD GPU driver issue
• Fixed an issue where ancient gates could be connected to world boss sectors
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to give orders meant for ships to stations
• Fixed a crash when a station was ordered to support a ship and the ship left the sector
• Fixed an issue where boss health bars were visible in build mode
• Fixed a crash related to destroyed entities in scrapyard sectors
• Fixed an issue where a tooltip obstructed the confirmation dialog when removing a subsystem with shift-click

AMD situation

Some users reported crashes with AMD cards when creating or loading a galaxy using AMD driver version 23.12.1 or 24.1.1. We have implemented a workaround that hopefully addresses this issue. If you had this issue, please report in the comments if this patch fixes the issue for you (on driver 24.1.1). If the problem still exists we recommend a downgrade to driver 23.11.1.

Details

Some background on the status of this issue, by one of our devs: "This problem is particularly difficult to debug. Originally none of our office PCs with AMD cards were affected. However, we managed to build a PC where we can reproduce the issue, but even with this PC, the crash doesn't happen reliably. On a technical level, the crash happens in a thread run by the AMD driver in the Avorion process. This should not be possible unless there is a bug in the driver. For those who don't know: a driver *must not crash*. We have verified multiple times that our code is correct and doesn't raise any errors. We've contacted AMD multiple times over different channels but have not received a helpful answer, yet. Warning, technical: To analyze the cause, we tried to disable various parts of the engine. When the crash disappeared we always had to test many times, as it wasn't 100% reliable. No crashes a few times in a row can just be plain (bad?) luck and lead down the wrong path. We finally found different, independent functions we could disable, that individually stopped the crash. None of them look like they made sense as a cause for a crash. Just leaving them disabled was no option either, we had to find a solution without impacting the content of the game. We settled on restructuring a small part of preparatory texture work so we give the driver less work while loading the game, and forced the driver to complete some of its work on our schedule instead of its own." We're very sorry for the inconvenience. We hope that the workaround we've screwed into our engine fixes the issue for you fine AMD folks, and we hope we can remove it once the driver crash was fixed by AMD.

[ 2024-02-08 10:55:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Discover the Avorion universe with a festive 50% discount and join our latest Free update!

• Behemoths Update Highlights:
• Mini World Bosses
• Escort AI & Ship Management
• Behemoth Event Series

Hyper-jump into Savings: Avorion + All DLCs and Extra content are available now! https://store.steampowered.com/app/445220/Avorion/

[ 2023-12-21 18:35:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello dear spacefarers, good news awaits as the latest patch 2.4.2 is now live on the default branch! After performing well on beta we're moving it onto default so you can enjoy the latest improvements over the holidays. Check out the exact patch notes here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/3884981746112663883 Merry Christmas and a happy new year! - The Boxelware Team

[ 2023-12-19 11:49:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

• Increased bonuses of Behemoth Civil Turret Control System
• Increased bonuses of Behemoth Military Turret Control System
• Behemoth Carrier Control System production speed is now a percentage bonus
• Behemoth Carrier Control System now also counts mining and shield subsystems for bonuses
• Tweaked a few subsystem tooltips to clarify their relevance for Behemoth System Bonuses

Bugfixes

• Fixed a crash when attempting to open a remote ship window for an unnamed craft (e.g. for a fighter)
• Fixed an issue where limit of at most one behemoth hyperspace system was not enforced
• Fixed an issue where behemoth upgrade systems counted temporary installed subsystems as permanently installed ones for bonuses

[ 2023-12-15 15:20:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

The long-awaited Behemoth Events DLC has landed in the Avorion default branch, together with Patch 2.4.1! Encounter legendary behemoth ships, enhance your ship with new subsystems, and face epic challenges as they ruthlessly attack sectors in the galaxy.

Behemoth Event Series

• Fight Behemoth bosses that will attack different sectors in the galaxy
• Collect unique subsystems with special properties dropped by these colossal bosses
• Dive into a dynamic experience as behemoths destroy and salvage entire sectors if left undefeated
• Enable or disable behemoth events at will
• Get it here: Avorion - Behemoth Event Series

Update 2.4.1 Highlights

New World Bosses

We wanted to bring more life to the galaxy, so we're introducing many new bosses that you'll encounter while exploring. These bosses are tough to fight and will drop some fine loot! Each of them will have a unique encounter and sector to fight them in. Additionally, they'll have personal unique backstories that players can discover.

Escort AI

We've taken some steps to improve the escort AI behavior, especially when ships follow other ships through hyperspace. You can now see on the map how far your following ships can jump so that you don't accidentally lose them. On top of that, we've fixed some other issues and ensured that ships keep looking for the ship they were supposed to escort until it comes back into the sector or in hyperspace range.

Ship Management

Managing ships has received a big improvement: You can now remote-manage ships that are in the same sector as you. No more switching ships to dump some cargo or assign another captain! Sadly, due to technical limitations, we can't add this feature for ships that are outside of your current sector. We would have added it if we could! The fleet overview has received some important quality-of-life changes, too. You can now filter, search, or remote-manage ships easily.

Performance & Bugfixes

We've added tons of performance improvements, especially on the galaxy and in rifts. As always there are also many fixes for bugs that have been reported by users. Thank you so much and keep it up, everyone! Enjoy! For more details on the other improvements and features coming with Update 2.4.1, check out the full patch notes here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/445220/view/3882728508898127857 Thank you all for your ongoing support! We are looking forward to seeing you all in Avorion! - The Boxelware Team

[ 2023-12-05 11:20:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

2.4.1 is out of beta and live on the default branch! To enable Behemoth Events you now need have the Behemoth Event Series DLC installed. If you weren't following beta releases, here are the combined changes since 2.3.2:

Behemoth Events

"The behemoths are coming! These legendary ships will now attack helpless sectors - unless someone stops them."

• Added a new series of events where large behemoth ships attack sectors in the galaxy
• Added new, special subsystems with unique properties dropped by these bosses
• Behemoths are very strong and will ruthlessly attack random sectors in different quadrants of the galaxy
• When they're not defeated in time, they will destroy & salvage entire sectors
• Behemoths do not attack sectors with player-owned stations
• Behemoths can be enabled/disabled at will, but will be always disabled when the DLC is not installed
• You don't need the DLC installed to play on a multiplayer server which has the DLC enabled
• Increased number of bonus turret slots for Behemoth Combat/Civil Turret Control Systems
• Adjusted slightly misleading Behemoth Carrier Systems description

New World Bosses

"We're introducing many new bosses that you'll encounter while exploring the galaxy. These bosses are tough to fight and will drop some fine loot. Additionally, they'll have their own unique back stories that players can discover. Or ignore. You can do what you want. I'm not your boss. I'm just text."

• Added new bosses that will appear on the map
• Each boss has a unique arena they can be fought in
• Each boss has a unique background story for players to find
• Dev Note: Hidden mass sectors that were scouted by captains, but not yet visited by you, may have incorrect scouting information on the Galaxy Map

Escort AI

"We've taken some steps to improve the escort AI behavior, especially when ships follow other ships through hyperspace."

• Added a new dotted range indicator for the jump range of all escorting ships
• The minimum jump range of all ships escorting the selected ship (or you) will be shown
• ie. when Ship A is being escorted by B (range 4) and C (range 6), a dotted line with range 4 will be displayed on the map
• Works for escort chains, too (A escorting B escorting C)
• Improved behavior for jumping after other ships when escorting/following
• Ships now warn after waiting for 5 minutes if they can't follow their escortee
• Ships can now find their escorted ship again when it returns into them, instead of cancelling the escort command
• Ships now locate their escort target on the map and will jump to it (if in range)
• Ships that want to jump out of the sector now wait until escorting allied ships are ready to jump
• Travel command no longer destroys an escort order of escorting ships
• Ships can no longer be followed by enemy ships that are set to "escort" them

Remote Ship Management

"Managing ships has received a big improvement: You can now remote-manage ships, that are in the same sector as you. No more switching ships to dump some cargo or assign another captain! Sadly, due to technical limitations, we can't add this feature for ships that are outside of your current sector. We would have added it if we could!"

• You can now manage ships that are in the same sector as you, as if you were sitting in them
• Holding 'I' now opens the remote management window for the selected ship (if you have the rights to manage it)
• Briefly pressing "I" still opens your current ship's management window
• Added an interaction option to manage another ship
• Added visual clues to the remote manage window to make it more clear it is not your current ship's window

Fleet Tab

"The fleet overview has received some important quality of life changes. You can now filter, search, or remote-manage ships easily."

• Added searching to the fleet window
• Added a compact view to the fleet window
• Added a checkbox to sort crafts in the same sector to the top
• Added a context menu when right-clicking in the Fleet Tab (similar to Galaxy Map):
• Select
• Manage
• Switch to craft
• Switch to sector
• Show On Map
• Added controls hint for right mouse button context menu
• Improved compact view to take currently selected ship or station into account
• Ships that have yield ready to claim will now display an icon in compact view

Additional UI improvements

• Added a 'Manage' option to the GalaxyMap context menu to manage a ship in your sector
• Initial ships are now named "Inspiration-X.xml" to avoid confusion over their purpose
• Added a "Streamer Mode" setting for improved privacy
• Hides paths containing possibly private information
• Added more tooltips and explanation about how to buy building knowledge for ores
• Added an item to the galaxy map legend for explanation of jump range of escorting ships
• Reduced height of minor notifications on the right so that the important ones stick out more
• Added an "Unlisted" setting for workshop uploads
• Some buttons to command fighters are now hidden if they are not applicable
• e.g. no "Return" button when no fighters are out
• When pressing Return key in the ship design renaming window, the rename is confirmed instead of the text box losing focus
• Mission-relevant trading goods are now specially marked in sell command
• Clarified some single- vs. multiplayer related expressions in loading screen and other windows

Performance

• Improved performance on galaxy map when lots of sectors have been explored and are marked on the map
• Improved overall performance in Rifts
• Improved overall script performance

Multiplayer & Security

• Fixed an issue where it was possible to overload a server with too much traffic
• Implemented detection of suspicious network traffic patterns and dropping of such players

Misc

• Updated Credits

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where ships could get duplicated during hyperspace jumps
• Fixed an exploit where resource depot could be abused for infinite resources
• Fixed an issue where some captains with special combinations of traits could procure or sell infinite goods in constant time
• Fixed an issue where docked objects removed the "empty space" hyperspace bonus
• Fixed a bug in the encyclopedia, where Scrap Metal had the same text as scrap materials besides beeing a normal trading good
• Fixed an issue where escorting ships could shoot torpedoes at their protegee
• Fixed an issue were inactive gate activators would automatically undock a battery but then weren't able to dock that battery before it leaves docking distance
• Inactive gate activator will now first check if it can dock the battery it undocked in previous update step independent of distance
• Fixed an issue where stations could buy goods without getting them in their cargospace
• Fixed an issue where captains didn't reach 100% experience when level 6
• Fixed an issue where tooltips of turrets with 5 or more crew members of the same profession had two lines for crew instead of one
• Fixed an issue where rift objects could be at war with players after loading a galaxy backup
• Fixed a potential issue with Black Market mission "The Transport" where players could lose mission item
• Family mission 4 will now reset to phase were identity thief is given instead
• Mission item is now marked as such
• Fixed an issue where milestone for a 5-slot-ship was already unlocked with 4 slots
• Fixed an issue where the Four could have a pirate encounter in their sector
• Fixed an issue where galaxies could have the same name when there were capitalized letters in the new galaxy name
• Fixed an issue where tech level label for special offer was at the wrong place and wrong size
• Fixed an issue where a boss with lasers would never fire at players if multiple player ships were in the sector
• Fixed an issue where a negative amount of goods could be sold to a station
• Fixed an issue were one explore sector mission couldn't be accomplished while a second was active
• Fixed several issues were Tutorial could get stuck if player left the ship
• Fixed an issue where rift monoliths could be shot through the sector
• Fixed an issue were rift mission exiting items were not put in full inventories
• Fixed an issue with Omni Recycler turret, where the turret might use massive amounts of energy
• Fixed an issue were black market mission "Protect the Transport" would not continue after dialog
• This was possible if dialog partner was destroyed by autofire turrets which led to the phase not being set correctly
• Fixed an issue when renaming or moving a design file: The corresponding steam upload (project file) is now updated instead of deleted
• Fixed tutorial using hard-coded key shortcut for interact instead of actual key
• Fixed an issue where cargo bay pickup behavior was not transmitted from server to client
• Fixed an issue where turret AI would try to shoot holo-blocks
• Fixed an issue with the settler treck mission crashing sometimes when trying to delete entities
• Added missing SFX for imperial lightning cannon
• Fixed some issues concerning money and resource handling with broken values to avoid broken money/resource values
• Fixed a crash when opening system tab in ship window while having a subsystem installed in a locked slot
• Fixed an issue where escorting ships prioritized gates over jumps even when target sector was in jump range
• They will still attempt to use gates if their hyperspace engine is on cooldown
• Fixed an issue where escorting ships did not immediately jump with the leader when possible
• Fixed an issue that caused error messages "You can't modify the component ControlUnit"
• Fixed an issue where player owned resource depots gave incorrect amounts of resources and money
• Fixed an issue where the filter for stolen goods overruled other cargo bay filter settings
• Fixed an issue where toggling compact view off and on resulted in the wrong row being expanded
• Fixed an issue where a Long-Distance-Trader subsystem's tooltip claimed to provide software for Transporter Blocks even when it didn't

[ 2023-12-05 11:14:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Multiplayer & Security

• Updated Steam API to v 1.57, added authentication safety against man-in-the-middle attacks

Bugfixes

• Fixed a crash on Linux related to recent Steam client updates affecting singleplayer and hosting multiplayer games
• Fixed an issue where the dedicated server settings were not fully visible in the ServerRunner window

[ 2023-11-27 11:39:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Behemoth Events

• Increased number of bonus turret slots for Behemoth Combat/Civil Turret Control Systems
• Adjusted slightly misleading Behemoth Carrier Systems description

Remote Ship Management

• Remote managing the selected ship now requires the player to hold "I"
• Briefly pressing "I" while having another ship selected now just opens your current ship's management window again
• Added visual clues to the remote manage window to make it more clear it is not your current ship's window

Fleet Tab

• Improved compact view to take currently selected ship or station into account
• Ships that have yield ready to claim will now display an icon in compact view

Misc

• Updated Credits

Bugfixes

• Fixed a crash on Linux related to recent Steam client updates affecting singleplayer and hosting multiplayer games
• Fixed a crash when opening system tab in ship window while having a subsystem installed in a locked slot
• Fixed an issue where escorting ships prioritized gates over jumps even when target sector was in jump range
• They will still attempt to use gates if their hyperspace engine is on cooldown
• Fixed an issue where escorting ships did not immediately jump with the leader when possible
• Fixed an issue that caused error messages "You can't modify the component ControlUnit"
• Fixed an issue where player owned resource depots gave incorrect amounts of resources and money
• Fixed an issue where the filter for stolen goods overruled other cargo bay filter settings
• Fixed an issue where toggling compact view off and on resulted in the wrong row being expanded
• Fixed an issue where a Long-Distance-Trader subsystem's tooltip claimed to provide software for Transporter Blocks even when it didn't

[ 2023-11-15 14:28:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Behemoth Events

"The behemoths are coming! These legendary ships will now attack helpless sectors - unless someone stops them."

• [beta only] The DLC will be enabled for anyone playing on the beta branch
• Added a new series of events where large behemoth ships attack sectors in the galaxy
• Added new, special subsystems with unique properties dropped by these bosses
• Behemoths are very strong and will ruthlessly attack random sectors in different quadrants of the galaxy
• When they're not defeated in time, they will destroy & salvage entire sectors
• Behemoths do not attack sectors with player-owned stations
• Behemoths can be enabled/disabled at will, but will be always disabled when the DLC is not installed
• You don't need the DLC installed to play on a multiplayer server which has the DLC enabled

New World Bosses

"We're introducing many new bosses that you'll encounter while exploring the galaxy. These bosses are tough to fight and will drop some fine loot. Additionally, they'll have their own unique back stories that players can discover. Or ignore. You can do what you want. I'm not your boss. I'm just text."

• Added new bosses that will appear on the map
• Each boss has a unique arena they can be fought in
• Each boss has a unique background story for players to find
• Dev Note: Hidden mass sectors that were scouted by captains, but not yet visited by you, may have incorrect scouting information on the Galaxy Map

Escort AI

"We've taken some steps to improve the escort AI behavior, especially when ships follow other ships through hyperspace."

• Added a new dotted range indicator for the jump range of all escorting ships
• The minimum jump range of all ships escorting the selected ship (or you) will be shown
• ie. when Ship A is being escorted by B (range 4) and C (range 6), a dotted line with range 4 will be displayed on the map
• Works for escort chains, too (A escorting B escorting C)
• Improved behavior for jumping after other ships when escorting/following
• Ships now warn after waiting for 5 minutes if they can't follow their escortee
• Ships can now find their escorted ship again when it returns into them, instead of cancelling the escort command
• Ships now locate their escort target on the map and will jump to it (if in range)
• Ships that want to jump out of the sector now wait until escorting allied ships are ready to jump
• Travel command no longer destroys an escort order of escorting ships
• Ships can no longer be followed by enemy ships that are set to "escort" them

Remote Ship Management

"Managing ships has received a big improvement: You can now remote-manage ships, that are in the same sector as you. No more switching ships to dump some cargo or assign another captain! Sadly, due to technical limitations, we can't add this feature for ships that are outside of your current sector. We would have added it if we could!"

• You can now manage ships that are in the same sector as you, as if you were sitting in them
• Pressing 'I' now opens the management window for the selected ship (if you have the rights to manage it)
• Added an interaction option to manage another ship

Fleet Tab

"The fleet overview has received some important quality of life changes. You can now filter, search, or remote-manage ships easily."

• Added searching to the fleet window
• Added a compact view to the fleet window
• Added a checkbox to sort crafts in the same sector to the top
• Added a context menu when right-clicking in the Fleet Tab (similar to Galaxy Map):
• Select
• Manage
• Switch to craft
• Switch to sector
• Show On Map
• Added controls hint for right mouse button context menu

Additional UI improvements

• Added a 'Manage' option to the GalaxyMap context menu to manage a ship in your sector
• Initial ships are now named "Inspiration-X.xml" to avoid confusion over their purpose
• Added a "Streamer Mode" setting for improved privacy
• Hides paths containing possibly private information
• Added more tooltips and explanation about how to buy building knowledge for ores
• Added an item to the galaxy map legend for explanation of jump range of escorting ships
• Reduced height of minor notifications on the right so that the important ones stick out more
• Added an "Unlisted" setting for workshop uploads
• Some buttons to command fighters are now hidden if they are not applicable
• e.g. no "Return" button when no fighters are out
• When pressing Return key in the ship design renaming window, the rename is confirmed instead of the text box losing focus
• Mission-relevant trading goods are now specially marked in sell command
• Clarified some single- vs. multiplayer related expressions in loading screen and other windows

Performance

• Improved performance on galaxy map when lots of sectors have been explored and are marked on the map
• Improved overall performance in Rifts
• Improved overall script performance

Multiplayer & Security

• Fixed an issue where it was possible to overload a server with too much traffic
• Implemented detection of suspicious network traffic patterns and dropping of such players
• Updated Steam API to v 1.57, added authentication safety against man-in-the-middle attacks

Misc

• Updated Credits

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where ships could get duplicated during hyperspace jumps
• Fixed an exploit where resource depot could be abused for infinite resources
• Fixed an issue where some captains with special combinations of traits could procure or sell infinite goods in constant time
• Fixed an issue where docked objects removed the "empty space" hyperspace bonus
• Fixed a bug in the encyclopedia, where Scrap Metal had the same text as scrap materials besides beeing a normal trading good
• Fixed an issue where escorting ships could shoot torpedoes at their protegee
• Fixed an issue were inactive gate activators would automatically undock a battery but then weren't able to dock that battery before it leaves docking distance
• Inactive gate activator will now first check if it can dock the battery it undocked in previous update step independent of distance
• Fixed an issue where stations could buy goods without getting them in their cargospace
• Fixed an issue where captains didn't reach 100% experience when level 6
• Fixed an issue where tooltips of turrets with 5 or more crew members of the same profession had two lines for crew instead of one
• Fixed an issue where rift objects could be at war with players after loading a galaxy backup
• Fixed a potential issue with Black Market mission "The Transport" where players could lose mission item
• Family mission 4 will now reset to phase were identity thief is given instead
• Mission item is now marked as such
• Fixed an issue where milestone for a 5-slot-ship was already unlocked with 4 slots
• Fixed an issue where the Four could have a pirate encounter in their sector
• Fixed an issue where galaxies could have the same name when there were capitalized letters in the new galaxy name
• Fixed an issue where tech level label for special offer was at the wrong place and wrong size
• Fixed an issue where a boss with lasers would never fire at players if multiple player ships were in the sector
• Fixed an issue where a negative amount of goods could be sold to a station
• Fixed an issue were one explore sector mission couldn't be accomplished while a second was active
• Fixed several issues were Tutorial could get stuck if player left the ship
• Fixed an issue where rift monoliths could be shot through the sector
• Fixed an issue were rift mission exiting items were not put in full inventories
• Fixed an issue with Omni Recycler turret, where the turret might use massive amounts of energy
• Fixed an issue were black market mission "Protect the Transport" would not continue after dialog
• This was possible if dialog partner was destroyed by autofire turrets which led to the phase not being set correctly
• Fixed an issue when renaming or moving a design file: The corresponding steam upload (project file) is now updated instead of deleted
• Fixed tutorial using hard-coded key shortcut for interact instead of actual key
• Fixed an issue where cargo bay pickup behavior was not transmitted from server to client
• Fixed an issue where turret AI would try to shoot holo-blocks
• Fixed an issue with the settler treck mission crashing sometimes when trying to delete entities
• Added missing SFX for imperial lightning cannon
• Fixed some issues concerning money and resource handling with broken values to avoid broken money/resource values

[ 2023-10-12 14:49:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings, Space Pilots! Prepare to set your navigation systems because Boxelware Team is launching their course straight to Gamescom for an epic Meet & Greet! Touch down coordinates: Under a tree at the Piazza in Koelnmesse! We will be there from 3:30PM-4:00PM CEST. Land your shuttles nearby, and warp on over to chat, interstellar networking, and classified intel about the game! Before you depart from your space stations, remember, Earths sun is notorious in this galaxy. Cosmic rays play hard, so don't forget your sunscreen as you embark on your voyage to Gamescom! Safe travels, pilots! See you at Gamescom! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more developer news and updates!

[ 2023-08-22 14:17:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello dear Spacefarers, Explorers, Pirates and Xsotan Hunters! We are excited to be back to Avorion with many updates and a free DLC in the works! We have some new world minibosses, we made some improvements to escort AI, ship management, and more! We truly hope that you enjoy these changes, and of course, enjoy experiencing them when the time comes!

Mini World Bosses

We all love exploring space, and to make sure it wont get too boring, we added various Mini World Bosses! Now youll be running into some friends as you travel around the galaxy Oh, also, be careful, we cant be held accountable for any property damage made to your vessels. These mini world bosses will each have their own unique designs as well as backstories! Some will even feature new and unique weapons!

Escort AI

Over time weve collected quite some feedback for the escort AI. We tried our best to improve the escort AI as much as possible with all the suggestions weve received, here are some of the changes weve made:

• Behavior improvement of ships set to escort,
• When ships are escorting other ships, their collective group jump range will be displayed on the map. Even when it is transitive escorting, ie. A escorts B which escorts C,
• Ships will now wait before a hyperspace jump until all escorting ships have recharged their hyperspace engines,
• Ships will send more meaningful messages when their escorted ship is lost,
• An escort order will not automatically end when the escortee is lost, instead the ship will wait for it to reappear, and even try to hyperspace jump to it, if it is in range,
• Travel commands will no longer break escort orders!

Ship Management

Considering ship management, were busy implementing your feedback as best we could, so we are working on making the management of fleets easier and better! Well be adding a compact view of the ship list, as well as a search function and filters! There will also be a feature that allows you to switch to any ship through this list. On top, you will have the convenience of managing ships that are in the same sector as you are, as if you were sitting in them! Unfortunately we cannot do this for ships in other sectors due to technical reasons Nonetheless, we hope you enjoy these new features when they are out!

Behemoth Event Series

A new Behemoth Event Series will be added as a new DLC! Were really excited about this as it introduces a cool dynamic gameplay event for all players on the server to enjoy, adding more life to the galaxy! If you wish to partake, the Behemoth Event will feature the following:

• 4 new, very large and strong motherships will be attacking random sectors every few hours without previous warning in all 4 directions of the galaxy! (Dont worry though, it will be one at a time.)
• The attacks will be called out on the entire server/galaxy!
• If theyre not defeated quickly enough, they will turn the entire sector to ashes
• If you do defeat them, they will drop new unique upgrades, (4 new upgrades in total)!
• And if youre not strong enough Flee!

Additionally we have worked on many other bug fixes and quality of life improvements as well!

Why the 'Free DLC'?

Weve been getting this question a lot since the initial announcement. We would like to communicate from the get-go that some of the content the update brings is optional. While we think the Behemoth Event will be a great addition to the game, time has shown that not everyone likes these kinds of updates/events. We've learned from our past experiences and want to communicate well and clearly, which is why we've decided we'll be releasing the Behemoth Event series as a free DLC. In the future, you might see more parts of updates released as free DLCs to communicate the, uh, optionality of these features.

What about the future of Avorion?

We've got some good news here: After taking a short break from Avorion we've decided that we'll be supporting the game for at least another 2 years with more content, additional features, performance and bugfix updates! Full disclosure: We won't be able to release all three updates that we had initially planned on our Roadmap for 2023, but we're confident we'll be able to release two of them. Thank you all so much for being with us, and supporting us. We will continue doing our best to deliver all these features as soon as possible! https://store.steampowered.com/app/445220/Avorion/

[ 2023-08-21 13:49:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings, Space Pilots After listening to all the amazing feedback, youve provided us with. We took some time to focus on improving our internal structures and workflows to ensure that the upcoming updates help improve your overall Avorion experience. New updates are around the corner, so make sure to keep an eye out for them, as a new Free DLC and Free Update is lurking in the abyss! Get behind-the-scenes insights on what exactly to expect in the spectacular changes coming! Wed like to thank all of you for taking part in this project of ours. Without you, all of this wouldnt be possible! https://store.steampowered.com/app/445220/Avorion/

[ 2023-08-02 18:26:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Simfest 2023 is happening and Avorion is part of it!

We are thrilled to announce that Avorion will be part of Simfest the Steam festival celebrating all things related to simulation games: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/simfest From today through the 24th of July, 10 am PDT 2023, you can save 40% off all Avorion DLCs. In addition to that, you will also be able to experience some of the latest and greatest simulation titles and see what the future holds for the simulation genre with coming soon games. From simulators that cover hobbies you would love to experience to job simulators that revolve around your dream career (even out-of-this-world ones), Simfest will feature a wide variety of titles in the genre. Simfest is a Steam festival co-hosted by Auroch Digital and Stray Fawn Studio. This years event will be the second Simfest, after Simfest: Hobby Edition took place in 2022. Join Avorion and many other incredible simulation games in Simfest 2023. We hope to see you there!

Future Updates

In addition to all DLCs being discounted, we also have news on future updates that we're working on! We'll reveal more about those very soon, so stay tuned!

[ 2023-07-21 20:16:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey Space Pilots! After all the battles, farming, building, and exploring, we got some exciting news to share with you! Avorion will be participating in the Steam Summer Sale this holiday with an astronomical 50% discount! Make sure to check it out, this is something you dont want to miss! https://store.steampowered.com/app/445220/Avorion/

[ 2023-06-29 17:26:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Performance

"While working on our next free content update (more on that here) we've made major improvements to sector loading times, as well as some adjustments to our RAM management, that we didn't want to keep from you, so, enjoy!"

• Improved performance of base game loop (client & server) by 0.6ms (ca. +4% better performance at 60FPS)
• Note: This was on our office workstations, impact on other machines can differ, but there should be a notable impact especially for older hardware
• Improved performance of loading screens when ambient shuttles are enabled, but none are active in the sector
• Drastically improved performance of loading screens when there are lots of asteroids and shaders are set to "Normal"
• Note: 24s loading screen down to 6s loading screen for massive asteroid fields on our workstations at the office
• Improved general performance of scripts
• Strongly reduced memory usage of scripts
• Improved server performance when leaving rift sectors
• F10, /profile and /status no longer stall client/server during the output filedump

Modding

• Dev-Script lib/entitydbg.lua is no longer added to everything by default but when pressing F4

[ 2023-01-19 11:02:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello dear space farers, pirates, miners, explorers, and faction war wagers! It's the end of the (work) year for us here at Boxelware and we'd like to take the time to share our plans for Avorion for 2023 with you. Sadly, it looks like we were a little too ambitious with some things on our 2022 update schedule, so some features will have to be postponed to 2023. We've been hard at work, but some things just take time and we want to make sure to deliver only the best updates in the future. For 2023, we now have a clearer schedule/roadmap/milestones (call it however you want) for the planned updates (yes they'll be free) which you can find on our updated roadmap! They include more content, blocks, a photo mode, and also some improvements to factions. With each update we also always want to include quality-of-life improvements, content, bug fixes, and, if possible, performance improvements. Some of the latest performance improvements that we were working on are already available on the beta branch, and you should definitely check them out! Over there, we have improved general performance, but also greatly reduced loading screen times and memory usage of Avorion. If you want the full overview, check out the updated roadmap here: https://avorion.fandom.com/wiki/Roadmap We hope you have some great fun with whatever solstice festivities you celebrate, happy holidays and a wonderful new year 2023. We'll see you then! - Boxelware

[ 2022-12-23 10:56:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Performance

"While working on our next free content update (more on that later this week) we've made some adjustments to our RAM management, that we didn't want to keep from you, so, enjoy!"

• Improved general performance of scripts
• Strongly reduced memory usage of scripts
• Improved server performance when leaving rift sectors

[ 2022-12-20 15:10:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Avorion has been on Steam for a few really exciting years now, and that time was a hell of an exciting ride for our team. But over the time Avorion always remained a passion project for us, adding new content, ideas, and a whole lot of love. With the category Labor of Love at this year's Steam Awards, you can nominate not only new titles, but also a work that has still received good support and a lot of care from the devs over the years. So, if you've been following us a bit on the exciting adventure of developing Avorion, enjoying the game all these years or maybe just discovered it for yourself - please consider nominating Avorion for the Labor of Love award!
You can submit your nominations as of now during the Steam Autumn Sale. The final voting for the most popular nominations will take place during the Winter Sale! So submit your nomination, and maybe we'll see Avorion in the next round - you would make us very proud! Thank you for your time! Your Boxelware Team

[ 2022-11-22 18:38:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

In today's developer stream, Konstantin and Felix talk with you about the latest patch 2.3 for Avorion! Check out the stream right here on Steam or on our Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/boxelware. We look forward to seeing you!

[ 2022-11-22 14:00:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Gameplay

• Added a new Xsotan enemy that dashes
• Improved Auto Research
• 3 items are now fed to station AI (instead of 5)
• Auto Research can now respect the type of items
• Added a new "Repair Nearby Ships" order for fighters
• Mothership is always prioritized
• After mothership is repaired, nearby allied ships are repaired
• Renamed current "Repair" fighter order to more fitting "Repair Target"
• "Repair Target" now has the fighters stay at the target after repairing it fully
• Fighters now return and land once target is destroyed, instead of circling the mothership
• Added a new "Collect Loot" Fighter order
• Added a new legendary lightning turret
• Added a new legendary party turret
• Increased likelihood of ships appearing while mining/salvaging/etc.
• Reduced prices of torpedoes by 40% - 80%, depending on rarity and type

Steam Achievements & Mods

• It is now possible to optionally enable Steam Achievements while mods are active

Maintenance Command

• Restock Command has been renamed to Maintenance Command
• Maintenance can now send a ship to repair the ship, hire crew, buy torpedoes and buy fighters
• Maintenance is the only command that can be started without functional crew or when the ship is severely damaged
• Maintenance command can now fill torpedo shafts when buying torpedoes, not just storage

UI

• Object Detector highlights now flash to be easily distinguishable from normal reticles
• Object Detector no longer highlights docked objects
• Cargo that is important for missions now has a special icon in Cargo Bay UI
• Added a milestone for the secret stick ship boss
• Speech bubbles of the player ship are now shown below the ship, not above it
• Marking items in inventory as trash now has settings for type & DPS of items
• Setting for sorting mission items to the top in the inventory is now remembered

Into The Rift - Gameplay

• Added icons to rift monoliths for better orientation
• Added icons to critical mission objects for better orientation
• Improved clarity of all rift missions
• Added icons to mark finished monoliths
• Rescue of a lost Expedition: The shelter asteroid can now be interacted with
• Applied Xenology: Added visualizations on where probes can be placed
• Applied Xenology: Added a button to quickly deploy a probe
• Applied Xenology: Improved spawning of enemies when placing a probe
• Xsotan Core Extraction: All monoliths now have larvae
• Recovery Missions: Added icons to found wreckages for better orientation
• Removed effects of several rift environmental effects on fighters
• Acid Fog, Radiation and Xsotan Breeders no longer affect or are affected by fighters
• Several mission-critical objects are now invincible
• Adjusted Repair and Attack platform's HP to survive longer, especially in the center
• Increased amount of Rift Research Data dropped by Xsotan by 50%
• Increased amount of Rift Research Data gathered by Scientist captain by 50%
• Increased time it takes a Smuggler captain to procure Rift Research Data

Into The Rift - UI

• Added current ship mass to rift mission mass constraint tooltip
• Improved phrasing for mass limit to clarify destruction of the ship
• Dialogs with objects that need batteries now explicitly state that there are batteries nearby
• Flashing indicator for batteries no longer turns off after some time
• Batteries no longer flash while docked
• Weapon chamber switch indicator stops flashing once activated
• Battery stash indicator flashes after first interaction to make it easier to find again
• Battery stash indicator stops flashing after opening

Into The Rift - Modding

• Exposed several files of the Into The Rift DLC for modding

Performance

• Improved performance when adding torpedoes while the Torpedoes UI is open

Bugfixes

• Fixed several issues when objects were deleted
• Fixed an issue where mine/salvage orders weren't stopped properly while fighters were still deployed
• Fixed an issue where AI ships tried to mine/salvage while weapons were disabled
• Fixed an issue where some auto pilot buttons were missing while sitting in the ship
• Fixed some issues where mine/salvage command didn't work and/or gave unhelpful errors
• Fixed an issue where the location of the Xsotan Swarm Event Boss wasn't sent to players that had logged in during the event
• Fixed an issue where sparks for beam hits were created when paused
• Fixed an issue where Acid Fog in Rifts had a higher level than predicted by the mission board
• Fixed an issue where NPCs attacked marker buoys
• Fixed notifications overlaying the cursor while selecting a command on the galaxy map
• Fixed an issue where workforce in crew tab looked janky
• Fixed an issue where auto research tried to combine invalid items
• Fixed a possible crash when key bindings file was corrupted
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Lasers from the turret factory could be configured to have 0 dps
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where repair beams could be blocked by impenetrable shields
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where DPS of weapons with battery charge was calculated incorrectly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the cargo volume wasn't updated correctly when using the Supply operation
• Fixed several crashes
• Fixed several spelling issues

[ 2022-11-22 13:23:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

• Added a new Xsotan enemy that dashes
• Improved Auto Research
• 3 items are now fed to station AI (instead of 5)
• Auto Research can now respect the type of items
• Added a new "Repair Nearby Ships" order for fighters
• Mothership is always prioritized
• After mothership is repaired, nearby allied ships are repaired
• Renamed current "Repair" fighter order to more fitting "Repair Target"
• "Repair Target" now has the fighters stay at the target after repairing it fully
• Fighters now return and land once target is destroyed, instead of circling the mothership
• Added a new "Collect Loot" Fighter order
• Added a new legendary lightning turret
• Added a new legendary party turret
• Increased likelihood of ships appearing while mining/salvaging/etc.
• Reduced prices of torpedoes by 40% - 80%, depending on rarity and type

Steam Achievements & Mods

• It is now possible to optionally enable Steam Achievements while mods are active

Maintenance Command

• Restock Command has been renamed to Maintenance Command
• Maintenance can now send a ship to repair the ship, hire crew, buy torpedoes and buy fighters
• Maintenance is the only command that can be started without functional crew or when the ship is severely damaged
• Maintenance command can now fill torpedo shafts when buying torpedoes, not just storage

UI

• Object Detector highlights now flash to be easily distinguishable from normal reticles
• Object Detector no longer highlights docked objects
• Cargo that is important for missions now has a special icon in Cargo Bay UI
• Added a milestone for the secret stick ship boss
• Speech bubbles of the player ship are now shown below the ship, not above it
• Marking items in inventory as trash now has settings for type & DPS of items
• Setting for sorting mission items to the top in the inventory is now remembered

Into The Rift - Gameplay

• Added icons to rift monoliths for better orientation
• Added icons to critical mission objects for better orientation
• Improved clarity of all rift missions
• Added icons to mark finished monoliths
• Rescue of a lost Expedition: The shelter asteroid can now be interacted with
• Applied Xenology: Added visualizations on where probes can be placed
• Applied Xenology: Added a button to quickly deploy a probe
• Applied Xenology: Improved spawning of enemies when placing a probe
• Xsotan Core Extraction: All monoliths now have larvae
• Recovery Missions: Added icons to found wreckages for better orientation
• Removed effects of several rift environmental effects on fighters
• Acid Fog, Radiation and Xsotan Breeders no longer affect or are affected by fighters
• Several mission-critical objects are now invincible
• Adjusted Repair and Attack platform's HP to survive longer, especially in the center
• Increased amount of Rift Research Data dropped by Xsotan by 50%
• Increased amount of Rift Research Data gathered by Scientist captain by 50%
• Increased time it takes a Smuggler captain to procure Rift Research Data

Into The Rift - UI

• Added current ship mass to rift mission mass constraint tooltip
• Improved phrasing for mass limit to clarify destruction of the ship
• Dialogs with objects that need batteries now explicitly state that there are batteries nearby
• Flashing indicator for batteries no longer turns off after some time
• Batteries no longer flash while docked
• Weapon chamber switch indicator stops flashing once activated
• Battery stash indicator flashes after first interaction to make it easier to find again
• Battery stash indicator stops flashing after opening

Into The Rift - Modding

• Exposed several files of the Into The Rift DLC for modding

Performance

• Improved performance when adding torpedoes while the Torpedoes UI is open

Bugfixes

• Fixed several issues when objects were deleted
• Fixed an issue where mine/salvage orders weren't stopped properly while fighters were still deployed
• Fixed an issue where AI ships tried to mine/salvage while weapons were disabled
• Fixed an issue where some auto pilot buttons were missing while sitting in the ship
• Fixed some issues where mine/salvage command didn't work and/or gave unhelpful errors
• Fixed an issue where the location of the Xsotan Swarm Event Boss wasn't sent to players that had logged in during the event
• Fixed an issue where sparks for beam hits were created when paused
• Fixed an issue where Acid Fog in Rifts had a higher level than predicted by the mission board
• Fixed an issue where NPCs attacked marker buoys
• Fixed notifications overlaying the cursor while selecting a command on the galaxy map
• Fixed an issue where workforce in crew tab looked janky
• Fixed an issue where auto research tried to combine invalid items
• Fixed a possible crash when key bindings file was corrupted
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Lasers from the turret factory could be configured to have 0 dps
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where repair beams could be blocked by impenetrable shields
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where DPS of weapons with battery charge was calculated incorrectly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the cargo volume wasn't updated correctly when using the Supply operation
• Fixed several crashes
• Fixed several spelling issues

[ 2022-11-08 10:31:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Our Almost Biweekly Stream takes place again! Today, our devs are giving you a live insight into the development! Come by and watch us create a fun turret for our space game!

[ 2022-10-11 15:42:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Our Almost Biweekly Stream again! Due to a case of illness, we had to change some plans for this stream, but our team assistant Judith will give you an update on our work anyway! Also, there will be some spacey community fun - so get your coolest Avorion builds ready to show off!

[ 2022-09-27 15:48:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

After performing well on the beta branch, patch 2.2.2 is now live on the default main branch. These are the changes coming with the patch:

Gameplay

• Added more rift missions to mission boards of Rift Research Centers
• Rifts: Gravity anomalies are now further away from mission targets to avoid interference
• Rifts: Reworked "Applied Xenology" rift mission to make it easier to defend the probes
• Rifts: Contents of rifts are now less far apart on lower rift depths
• Rifts: Added Free Play settings for allowed mass and Xsotan damage in rifts

UI

• Added a button to request new rift missions at Rift Research Centers
• Sectors with Rift Research Centers are now specially highlighted on the Galaxy Map
• Added an explanation on how to get Rift Research Data in Research Center Shop
• Rifts: Improved highlighting of nearby objectives
• Rifts: Monoliths and buoys of nearby paths are now highlighted to make it easier to navigate in rifts

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where identical captain clones were received from 'A Lost Friend' mission
• Fixed several issues where new subsystems gave too few turret slots
• Fixed an exploit where autopilot could refine more ores than available
• Fixed an issue where salvage and mining fighters didn't return to the hangar when a jump is ordered
• Fixed an issue where splitting the procurement of goods reduced the duration and chance of attack
• Fixed an issue where the corrupted AI did not become hostile to alliances after dialog
• Fixed an issue where patch notes window did not reset scrolling
• Fixed an issue where autopilot did not recognise when all required turrets were deactivated
• Fixed an issue where the Hermit quest did not continue if a player traveled to them via command
• Fixed an issue where ships could get lost/destroyed in rifts on higher difficulties when the game crashed or the server was shut down
• Fixed an issue where new players were all placed in the same sector after enough players joined a server
• Fixed several crashes in rifts

2022-09-08

• Improved some circumstances to help the game choose dedicated GPUs over Intel built-in GPUs
• This should drastically improve performance for some machines with both built-in Intel GPU and dedicated GPU
• Fixed a crash when opening the window to change turrets but ship is gone
• Fixed a crash when entering a rift
• Fixed some typos
• Improved translations

[ 2022-09-07 07:49:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

We talk about the aftermath of the launch of the Into the Rift DLC and give you an insight into everything that happened around the release! We'll also be introducing our newest team member and as always, we have an open ear for your questions!

[ 2022-09-06 16:26:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

• Added more rift missions to mission boards of Rift Research Centers
• Rifts: Gravity anomalies are now further away from mission targets to avoid interference
• Rifts: Reworked "Applied Xenology" rift mission to make it easier to defend the probes
• Rifts: Contents of rifts are now less far apart on lower rift depths
• Rifts: Added Free Play settings (and corresponding .ini settings) for allowed mass and Xsotan damage in rifts

UI

• Added a button to request new rift missions at Rift Research Centers
• Sectors with Rift Research Centers are now specially highlighted on the Galaxy Map
• Added an explanation on how to get Rift Research Data in Research Center Shop
• Rifts: Improved highlighting of nearby objectives
• Rifts: Monoliths and buoys of nearby paths are now highlighted to make it easier to navigate in rifts

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where identical captain clones were received from 'A Lost Friend' mission
• Fixed several issues where new subsystems gave too few turret slots
• Fixed an exploit where autopilot could refine more ores than available
• Fixed an issue where salvage and mining fighters didn't return to the hangar when a jump is ordered
• Fixed an issue where splitting the procurement of goods reduced the duration and chance of attack
• Fixed an issue where the corrupted AI did not become hostile to alliances after dialog
• Fixed an issue where patch notes window did not reset scrolling
• Fixed an issue where autopilot did not recognise when all required turrets were deactivated
• Fixed an issue where the Hermit quest did not continue if a player traveled to them via command
• Fixed an issue where ships could get lost/destroyed in rifts on higher difficulties when the game crashed or the server was shut down
• Fixed several crashes in rifts

Update 2022-08-31

• Rifts: Added Free Play settings (and corresponding .ini settings) for allowed mass and Xsotan damage in rifts
• Fixed several crashes

[ 2022-08-30 14:47:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

We also made some minor improvements, like a hint to use Strategy Mode for better orientation and finding objects in rifts, as well as some performance improvements (also mostly related to rifts).

UI

• Added a hint to use the Strategy Mode (N) for better orientation in rifts

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where 'Fight the Swarm' mission spawned infinite numbers of Xsotan
• Fixed an issue where captain icons in sector ship overview were not visible
• Fixed an issue in sector ship overview where not all available missions were shown
• Fixed an issue in 'Rescue of a Lost Expedition' where the beacon could be attacked by Xsotan
• Fixed an issue where wormhole generator could be spawned in non-rift sectors
• Fixed several issues in Xsotan Swarm Event
• Fixed an issue where Xsotan Core of 'Xsotan Core Extraction' could be collected into alliance inventories
• Fixed an issue where rift extraction button wasn't working properly for alliance ships
• Fixed an issue where rift research center could send people over the barrier
• Fixed an issue where new rift mining subsystem would not uncover hidden resource asteroids
• Fixed an issue where achievements were wrongly unlocked
• Fixed an issue where scout command didn't reveal faction home sectors
• Fixed an issue where Zach's Xsotan Reinforcement Spawner could continue spawning Xsotan after ship was towed
• Fixed an issue where 'Elimination of Corrupt Officials' Mission would send too many mails
• Fixed an issue where 'Mega Thor' turret could use too much energy
• Fixed several issues where commands would behave erroneously with 0 cargo space
• Fixed several performance issues in rifts where wreckages didn't despawn
• Fixed several issues where wreckages didn't despawn even though they should
• Improved performance of rifts by reducing amount of asteroids by 30%

Hotfixes 2022-08-09

"Hotfixes of the past weeks for completeness' sake."

• Fixed an issue with ship autosaves and filesystem-incompatible characters in ship's name
• Tutorial: Camera movement is no longer prohibited in building mode
• Fixed several crashes reported through our crash reporter
• Fixed an issue where speech bubbles of alliance ship hunter captains weren't displayed
• Fixed a few performance issues when rendering portraits of resources/money
• Improved docking pull-in mechanics
• Fixed an issue when restoring turrets of a craft where automatic and weapon group settings could be lost
• Key bindings for Autopilot, Trading Overview and Object Detector can now be assigned explicitly
• Quick Access 4 & 5 remain and can be used by mods. Use it by defining the getControlAction() function in the desired script.

Hotfixes 2022-08-05

"Hotfixes of the past weeks for completeness' sake."

• Fixed an issue where turret factory couldn't build Exotic rarity turrets
• Fixed several crashes reported through our crash reporter
• Fixed Research Station trying to feed unresearchable items in auto research
• Added some debug support to help us find more crashes & issues

[ 2022-08-23 14:27:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where 'Fight the Swarm' mission spawned infinite numbers of Xsotan
• Fixed an issue where captain icons in sector ship overview were not visible
• Fixed an issue in sector ship overview where not all available missions were shown
• Fixed an issue in 'Rescue of a Lost Expedition' where the beacon could be attacked by Xsotan
• Fixed an issue where wormhole generator could be spawned in non-rift sectors
• Fixed several issues in Xsotan Swarm Event
• Fixed an issue where Xsotan Core of 'Xsotan Core Extraction' could be collected into alliance inventories
• Fixed an issue where rift extraction button wasn't working properly for alliance ships
• Fixed an issue where rift research center could send people over the barrier
• Fixed an issue where new rift mining subsystem would not uncover hidden resource asteroids
• Fixed an issue where achievements were wrongly unlocked
• Fixed an issue where scout command didn't reveal faction home sectors
• Fixed an issue where Zach's Xsotan Reinforcement Spawner could continue spawning Xsotan after ship was towed
• Fixed an issue where 'Elimination of Corrupt Officials' Mission would send too many mails
• Fixed an issue where 'Mega Thor' turret could use too much energy
• Fixed several issues where commands would behave erroneously with 0 cargo space

Hotfixes 2022-08-09

"Hotfixes of the past week for completeness' sake."

• Fixed an issue with ship autosaves and filesystem-incompatible characters in ship's name
• Tutorial: Camera movement is no longer prohibited in building mode
• Fixed several crashes reported through our crash reporter
• Fixed an issue where speech bubbles of alliance ship hunter captains weren't displayed
• Fixed a few performance issues when rendering portraits of resources/money
• Improved docking pull-in mechanics
• Fixed an issue when restoring turrets of a craft where automatic and weapon group settings could be lost
• Key bindings for Autopilot, Trading Overview and Object Detector can now be assigned explicitly
• Quick Access 4 & 5 remain and can be used by mods. Use it by defining the getControlAction() function in the desired script.

Hotfixes 2022-08-05

"Hotfixes of the past week for completeness' sake."

• Fixed an issue where turret factory couldn't build Exotic rarity turrets
• Fixed several crashes reported through our crash reporter
• Fixed Research Station trying to feed unresearchable items in auto research
• Added some debug support to help us find more crashes & issues

[ 2022-08-19 14:54:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello, space farers and rifters! We're currently working on tons of stuff, but now that the release of the DLC is done, we'd like to share what we'll be working on next. Keep in mind that this list is definitely incomplete, as there are tons of other small things that we're also working on. For the remainder of 2022, we'll focus on smaller, more frequent, free content updates. These are the things that we'll be working on. They're not in any particular order:

• Exposing several central DLC configs and files for modding
• Secondary colors for blocks
• More Blocks (those will be most likely purely aesthetic)
• More Events (ie. Distress Calls, Attacks, etc)
• More Bulletin Board Missions
• Reworking Restock Command to Maintenance Command
• Maintenance will restock torpedoes, fighters, repair, refill crew
• More Boss Fights
• Photo Mode
• More Features (still secret)
• Performance Improvements (always!)
• Bugfixes (always!)

The roadmap is an ever-changing work in progress, and things aren't necessarily carved in stone. You can also check it out on the Avorion Wiki here: https://avorion.fandom.com/wiki/Roadmap

[ 2022-08-16 16:28:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

• Fixed an issue with ship autosaves and filesystem-incompatible characters in ship's name
• Tutorial: Camera movement is no longer prohibited in building mode
• [UBR] Fixed new exotic turrets not being buildable at turret factory
• Fixed several crashes reported through our crash reporter
• Fixed an issue where speech bubbles of alliance ship hunter captains weren't displayed
• Fixed a few performance issues when rendering portraits of resources/money
• Improved docking pull-in mechanics
• Fixed an issue when restoring turrets of a craft where automatic and weapon group settings could be lost
• Key bindings for Autopilot, Trading Overview and Object Detector can now be assigned explicitly
• Quick Access 4 & 5 remain and can be used by mods. Use it by defining the getControlAction() function in the desired script.

[ 2022-08-09 15:00:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

[ 2022-08-09 07:23:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfixes 2022-08-05

• Fixed an issue where turret factory couldn't build Exotic rarity turrets
• Fixed several crashes reported through our crash reporter
• Fixed Research Station trying to feed unresearchable items in auto research

[ 2022-08-05 15:20:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

DLC: Into The Rift

In this hardcore add-on you'll explore the mysterious and dangerous Rift dimension. Thanks to new technology, it is now possible to send smaller amounts of mass (i.e. a few ships) into the Rifts. Scientists are now intensively researching these Rifts - and they need your help. Travel into the Rifts and uncover their secrets. Face their dangers, complete research expeditions, and earn powerful new rewards. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1905970/Avorion__Into_The_Rift/

• Into The Rift
• You can now find Rift Research Centers close to rifts, which will give you specific Rift Missions
• Prepare your ship accordingly to master the dangerous new environments and uncover the secrets surrounding the origins of the Rifts
• Complete Rift Expeditions for the Rift Research Center, and receive new, powerful hybrid subsystems in return - or simply keep everything you find in the Rifts
• Discover a new dimension unlike anything you've seen before in the galaxy
• Remember, the deeper you venture into the Rifts, the more lucrative and dangerous they become
• Explore the Secrets of the Rifts
• Collect research data and sell it, or trade it for new powerful subsystems
• Mine new, higher-yielding Rift rocks and refine them for huge returns
• Explore wrecks untouched for centuries and find lost treasures
• New Story Campaign
• Meet new characters and work with them to explore the secrets of the Rifts and finally end the war against the Xsotan plague. The future of the entire galaxy is at stake!
• New Captain Classes
• A Scientist will help you collect valuable research data in Rifts that you can either sell or trade for powerful subsystems
• A Xsotan Hunter will attract large Xsotan specimens in Rifts that you can take down for epic loot
• New Dangers & Enemies
• Master the extremely hostile environment in the Rifts
• Fight never-before-seen Xsotan, new bosses, and centuries-old defenses - or take advantage of them
• New Legendary Subsystems
• Over a dozen new hybrid legendary subsystems for every play style
• New Legendary Turrets
• Many new Legendary Turrets that will give you the edge you need to succeed in the Rifts
• Play with Friends
• Rifts are unforgiving and dangerous. Be sure to bring a few friends and explore them together to improve your chances of success
• Full co-op support for Rift missions

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/445220/view/3374903891713762470

[ 2022-08-04 13:04:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

DLC: Into The Rift

In this hardcore add-on you'll explore the mysterious and dangerous Rift dimension. Thanks to new technology, it is now possible to send smaller amounts of mass (i.e. a few ships) into the Rifts. Scientists are now intensively researching these Rifts - and they need your help. Travel into the Rifts and uncover their secrets. Face their dangers, complete research expeditions, and earn powerful new rewards.

• Into The Rift
• You can now find Rift Research Centers close to rifts, which will give you specific Rift Missions
• Prepare your ship accordingly to master the dangerous new environments and uncover the secrets surrounding the origins of the Rifts
• Complete Rift Expeditions for the Rift Research Center, and receive new, powerful hybrid subsystems in return - or simply keep everything you find in the Rifts
• Discover a new dimension unlike anything you've seen before in the galaxy
• Remember, the deeper you venture into the Rifts, the more lucrative and dangerous they become
• Explore the Secrets of the Rifts
• Collect research data and sell it, or trade it for new powerful subsystems
• Mine new, higher-yielding Rift rocks and refine them for huge returns
• Explore wrecks untouched for centuries and find lost treasures
• New Story Campaign
• Meet new characters and work with them to explore the secrets of the Rifts and finally end the war against the Xsotan plague. The future of the entire galaxy is at stake!
• New Captain Classes
• A Scientist will help you collect valuable research data in Rifts that you can either sell or trade for powerful subsystems
• A Xsotan Hunter will attract large Xsotan specimens in Rifts that you can take down for epic loot
• New Dangers & Enemies
• Master the extremely hostile environment in the Rifts
• Fight never-before-seen Xsotan, new bosses, and centuries-old defenses - or take advantage of them
• New Legendary Subsystems
• Over a dozen new hybrid legendary subsystems for every play style
• New Legendary Turrets
• Many new Legendary Turrets that will give you the edge you need to succeed in the Rifts
• Play with Friends
• Rifts are unforgiving and dangerous. Be sure to bring a few friends and explore them together to improve your chances of success
• Full co-op support for Rift missions

Gameplay

• Fighter productions now continue for ships that are sent on commands
• Cloning and Academy training now continue for ships that are sent on commands
• New Item: Coop-Reconstruction Kit, that lets you revive another player in the sector (as long as they didn't respawn yet)
• New Item: Marker Buoy, that can be deployed in a sector to mark places
• Added more legendary turrets for players to discover
• Added more parts to the ship & station generator (only affects newly discovered factions)
• Improved looks of bridges of procedural ships (only affects newly discovered factions)
• Reworked the Xsotan Swarm Event in the center of the galaxy
• Event is still global, but the boss will spawn in a single location, if the swarm is being fought in multiple sectors
• Once the boss spawns there is a notification for all players where it spawned
• The Wormhole Guardian respawning is no longer dependent on the outcome of the Swarm Event
• Improved shapes of asteroid fields (only affects newly discovered sectors)
• Turrets are now restored when repairing ships
• Force Turrets have been completely overhauled and can now grab objects and hold on to them (only affects new force turrets)
• Players can now reconstruct alliance ships from anywhere at their Reconstruction Site
• Added a new Xsotan Loot Aggregator that drops tons of loot
• Added a new Xsotan short-range enemy that deals lots of damage in close range
• Added a new Xsotan long-range enemy that always has a high range
• Xsotan now have different categories with more specific weaponry, depending on distance to center (or rift difficulty)
• A player can now collect cargo that is reserved for them while flying an Alliance ship

Visuals & SFX

• Added background visuals for sectors adjacent to rifts
• Added graphical highlights to mark important objects
• Added sound effects to many laser FX
• Added more explosions when destroying ships/stations

Ship Building

• Added an alternate design for Armor Blocks
• Added 2 alternate designs for normal Hull Blocks
• Added a new Scaffold block
• Added a new Vivid Hull block, that has brighter & shinier colors
• Added a new light block that can be colored
• Added 3 flashing lights blocks that can be colored, that flash in different intervals
• Added 3 new blocks with bright stripes
• Global Paint, Global Paint Reversed, Local Paint
• Added 3 new blocks with dark stripes
• Global Paint, Global Paint Reversed, Local Paint
• Added armored Turret Base blocks
• Added Rift Stone blocks (creative only)
• Added Glow Stone blocks (creative only)

Object Detector

"We changed the way the object detector upgrade works, since we found it completely unusable inside rifts, where you can find tons and tons of interesting objects. The detector is now a ping, which highlights objects for a certain amount of time, and highlights more objects. Additionally, its range was drastically increased, especially for lower rarities. It also no longer highlights objects based on rarity (ie. claimable wreckages could only be found by Exotic or higher rarity Object Detectors), but all detectors highlight all objects. You can use the new hotkey functionality (see below) to bind the detector ping to a hotkey!"

• Highlighting of Object Detector is now a ping, no longer a constant highlight
• Object Detector range has been drastically increased
• Object Detector now highlights all objects, instead of different objects based on its rarity
• Object Detector shows a notification when entering a sector, if there are valuable objects to discover

AI Factions

• AI Factions now send a welcoming mail with a short introduction, depending on their traits
• AI Factions now send a more specific declaration of war that more reflects their state form
• AI Factions now chatter to player when they feel strongly about something that changed relations, for improved immersion and to give feedback on what they strongly like/dislike
• AI Factions now have more distinct traits that correspond more to their state form (only affects new AI factions)

UI

• Remade the looks of the Main Menu
• Added QoL option to mark all items below/above a certain rarity as trash
• Added QoL option to sort all mission-related items in inventory to the top
• Reasearch Station: Added a QoL option to auto-research trash
• Added an exclamation mark to mission-related items
• Added Hotkeys for top-right actions like "Exit to Drone", "Trading Window", etc. that can be configured in Controls Window
• Improved the Hangar Production UI to more transparently show queued productions and invested resources
• Reports of missing turrets or fighters now include the name of the ship
• Added a Death Screen with options to either respawn at last Repair Dock or Reconstruction Site
• Added a "Burst DPS" Stat to tooltips of turrets that can overheat
• "Burst DPS" is short-term DPS (damage x fire rate)
• "DPS" is (and always has been) long-term DPS, which takes overheating and cooling into account
• HP Bars now flash when taking damage
• Building UI is now disabled in situations where you can't build anyway
• Several more Galaxy Map settings are now saved

Balancing

• Turret Factory: Fixed several issues with stats scaling in
• Turret Factory: Added a button to "reroll" turret seed
• Repairing at Repair Docks at Reconstruction Site is now free
• Towing ships at Reconstruction Site is now free
• Reduced founding costs of all stations by ~20%
• Stations now require a minimum population of 30 crew members + housing to function
• These crewmen only have to be on board, they don't need to be part of the required crew
• Stations that don't fulfill the requirements are retrofitted automatically on first load of a savegame with a quarters block and required vanilla crewmen
• Stations receive 30 crewmen and a housing block (if necessary) for free when founding them
• Dev Note: "We found it very immersion breaking that so-called microstations function just as well as a big station. If you built your station just slightly bigger than a miniature ship, this change won't affect you at all. Also, all stations will be retrofitted on first load of a savegame, so you won't have to go and fix all your stations, the game will do that automatically for you."
• Electric Damage now deals x2 damage when it hits a glowing block (Generator, Engine, Shield Generator, Battery, etc.)
• Reduced amount of HP of Hardcore enemies
• Turret Factory can now build Exotics

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue in Turret Factory where transporting it to another sector would change its blueprints
• If you used this, you might be happy about the button to reroll seeds
• Fixed an issue where turret designs were deleted when a ship was damaged
• Fixed an issue where yields of ships that were deleted or transferred to an alliance couldn't be collected
• Fixed an issue where ships with only non-functional blocks couldn't be scaled up
• Fixed an issue where a selected entry in the Steam server browser
• Fixed an issue where rotating a directional thruster didn't change its particle animation
• Fixed an issue where escorting ships didn't follow a player through gates
• Fixed an issue where "Don't show this again" checkbox for turret bases wasn't remembered over a game restart
• Fixed an issue where blueprints could create negative costs when creating fighters
• Fixed an issue where scaling down a design in Saved Designs window could create negative costs
• Fixed an issue where ship could jump to another sector if galaxy map was open during loading screen
• Fixed an issue where canceled trades between players left UI errors
• Fixed an issue where undocking via Autopilot caused rubberbanding while station menu was open
• Fixed an issue where jump chains could be canceled if Galaxy Map was open during loading screen
• Fixed an issue where valid designs were greyed out in Saved Designs window
• Fixed an issue where some Xsotan enemies could drop Avorion Scrap Metal
• Fixed several issues with the Procure Command
• Fixed an issue where Supply Command combo boxes were reset while open when players own many stations
• Fixed an issue where "Transfer Vessel" wouldn't fail when the client was destroyed
• Fixed an exploit where Ships could mine/salvage without a captain
• Fixed several issues where players could get stuck during the tutorial
• Fixed an issue where crew could be transferred to a fighter
• Fixed an issue in Bounty Hunt Mission where target could turn friendly
• Fixed some issues with visuals in the inventory menu
• Fixed an issue where ancient gates had shuttle traffic
• Fixed an issue where hyperspace marker wouldn't disappear when jumping into another sector
• Fixed an issue where hyperspace jump calculation sometimes wouldn't start if another calculation was already going
• Fixed an issue where automatic turrets could fire even if set to disabled
• Fixed an issue where enabled/disabled state of automatic turrets wasn't remembered over a game restart
• Fixed an issue where boarded ships kept old AI behaviors & buffs
• Fixed an issue where connecting with custom ports didn't work in "Connect via IP"
• Fixed an issue where ships could lose their class for a short time after returning from a command
• Fixed several performance issues when starting fighters
• Fixed an issue where sectors that were scouted with alliance ships weren't properly displayed
• Fixed several issues with wrong captain descriptions
• Fixed an issue where salvage command UI would show a yield of partial subsystems
• Fixed an issue where the "Free Slaves" mission could fail too quickly
• Fixed an exploit with Resource Depots
• Fixed an issue where mission log in "Hide Evidence" wasn't updated correctly
• Fixed an issue where Fidget didn't get stunned properly by electric damage
• Fixed an issue where IHDTX remained invincible when an asteroid was destroyed only by the player
• Fixed an issue where inventory wasn't sorted on initialize
• Fixed a performance issue when opening Saved Designs folders and several other UI grid displays
• Fixed an issue where mirroring didn't work properly when transforming or coloring selected blocks
• Fixed several performance issues when launching fighters
• Fixed several crashes

[ 2022-08-04 13:03:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! We've got quite a lot of movement on our branches today!

Version 2.2 - Free DLC Update goes Beta

First off, we're moving the free update of the DLC to our beta branch! You can now find all the free content that will be coming with our Into The Rift DLC on the beta branch! Patch notes can be found here and in-game: https://forum.avorion.net/index.php?/topic/8886-update-22-into-the-rift-dlc-patch-notes/

Beta Branch Version 2.1 goes Default

Second, we're moving version 2.1 from the beta branch to the default branch, after performing well for quite some time! Also, we need to make some room for version 2.2. You can check out the full list of changes here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/3177863801817106474

Into The Rift DLC Open Beta Weekend!

Finally, we're doing an OPEN BETA of the Into The Rift DLC over the weekend! This is how you get access to the Into The Rift Open Beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Into The Rift Beta'. This beta won't be available for dedicated servers and will be going until Monday, 14:00 CEST. Have a great weekend everyone!

[ 2022-07-29 14:17:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Head over to Twitch (www.twitch.tv/boxelware) to find out what kind of insights we have collected from the two closed beta(s)! What kind of feedback did we receive? What are the resulting decisions we have made for the DLC? We will then continue talking about the further developments we're working on right now and of course answer questions from twitch chat in the QnA at the end of the stream.

[ 2022-07-26 15:51:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Join us on Twitch to watch the 'Avorion: Into the Rift' DLC trailer together with us and the community! We will announce the official DLC release date during the stream and on top of that, we'll hand out closed beta access to our eager community members in twitch chat! Of course, we will respond to your questions in the QnA at the end of the stream and talk about the general state of development as per usual. We're excited to get closer to the DLC release and take you with us on this journey in each Almost Biweekly Stream!

[ 2022-07-12 11:27:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

[ 2022-06-28 15:50:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

[ 2022-06-14 15:40:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

[ 2022-05-31 15:45:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

While we're working hard on the DLC, we're also fixing some issues! Here's a small patch with some of the more urgent fixes in it. Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

• Added new visuals for cargo drops
• Searching for weapon type in the inventory is now possible
• You can type "Laser", "Cannon", "Railgun" etc. to find weapons that match that type

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where damage numbers for Railguns and other piercing weapons weren't shown properly
• Fixed an issue where connection to servers with custom ports didn't work in the "Join via IP" window
• Fixed an issue where stations of NPC factions weren't repaired like they should
• Fixed an issue where the containers of the Hackathon mission had a too high security level
• Fixed an issue where weapon names weren't translated properly in the ship armament overview
• Fixed several issues in Black Market DLC missions where locations were unavailable or unreachable
• Fixed an issue where lots of errors were displayed on start for missing .obj files

[ 2022-05-12 17:37:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

New Avorion DLC Announced: Into The Rift

Hey spacefarers and builders! We're glad to announce that we've been busy over the past few months since the 2.0 update! Apart from moving offices, Christmas Holidays, New Year's, taking some time off from the 2.0-update stress, and upgrading some of our internal processes, we've been working on some new exciting stuff! So here it is: We'd like to officially announce the next DLC add-on for Avorion: Into The Rift! Without spoiling too much, the add-on will be tailored around the rifts that have formed in the galaxy and researching them. It will also focus more on the Xsotan and Xsotan Lore in general! Just like with Black Market, the add-on will be fully multiplayer compatible and there won't be servers you can't play on just because you don't own the Into The Rift DLC. Finally, the add-on will arrive together with a free update that will contain some improvements for everyone. Alright, that's all for now! The excitement is real and we can't wait to share more news over the coming weeks. So stay tuned!

[ 2022-04-13 10:49:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Scripting API

• Added new parameter 'mailId' to these mail callbacks:
• onMailAdded
• onMailUpdated
• onMailRead
• onMailDeleted
• Added getDesigns() and setDesigns() functions to TurretBases component
• Added getShipTurretDesigns() function to Player and Alliance
• Added entity callback onReconstructed(craftId, playerIndex)

Bugfixes

"No patch without some good old bug fixing! As usual, User Bug Reports that were submitted via our bug reporting tool are marked with [UBR]! Thanks to such a great community and keep it up!"

• [UBR] Fixed missions getting stuck waiting for a mail if mail was read and deleted while the game was paused
• [UBR] Fixed turret designs not being restored when repairing at a Repair Dock
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when talking to the hermit
• Fixed potential crashes in shops
• Fixed mapcommands client crash when trying to play a sound
• [UBR] Fixed potential exploit in station insurances

[ 2021-11-22 13:13:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

Gameplay

• Added new option to free play mode to have building knowledge limit only block materials and not processing power
• Added more ways to acquire building knowledge
• Building knowledge can now be bought for ores at Resource Depots
• Building knowledge can now be bought at a Smuggler's Outpost for a lot of money
• Building Knowledge can now be found in stashes and hackable containers
• Starting at Titanium, with each material tier you can now found +4 ships (up from +2 Naonite; +3 Trinium; +3 Xanion; +4 Ogonite)

Balancing

• Increased jump range added by hyperspace blocks by 50%

UI

• Improved highlighting in tutorial
• Updated localizations

Bugfixes

"Bug fixes marked with [UBR] are from user bug reports. Thank you very much for reporting and keep it up! :)"

• Fixed crashes in the package mission
• Fixed a crash when a station that is currently pulling a ship to its dock is deleted
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where alliance relations weren't considered when interacting with resistance outposts
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where boarding a pirate ship could result in non finishable events
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where wrong sector was displayed in a dialog in investigate missing freighters mission
• Pirates now also attack players when they are in an alliance ship in investigate freighters mission
• [UBR] Added missing header and sender to insurance mail
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where patrolling ships with a velocity bypass installed travelled really far into the distance
• [UBR] Fixed issue where allies couldn't get organized with alliance relations
• [UBR] Fixed repair order sometimes using armed turrets on allied targets
• [UBR] Fixed craft's weapon overview resetting scroll position on every update
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where coaxial turret shots instantly collided with the shooting ship when flying in the direction of the shot
• [UBR] Fixed an exploit where ships without captains could mine a whole sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where salvage AI couldn't use MultiHarvest turret properly
• Fixed players getting stuck in the tutorial while building
• Fixed a rare issue where players could get stuck in the tutorial when the torpedo from the pirate didn't hit them
• Fixed possible crash on sector change
• Fixed a crash where scaling with mouse not hovering over ship in block brush crashed the game
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where torpedo weapon groups could not be unassigned
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the financial records of a factory weren't updated correctly when configured to buy/sell with other stations in the sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where operations that remove goods from the cargo bay could return and still have some of those goods
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turrets were not removed when changing the block material they were placed on to something too low
• Fixed a potential crash in bulletins for the bountyhunt mission
• Fixed an issue when trying to buy items with the drone
• [UBR] Fixed a crash in Travel Operation UI
• Improved highlighting of mission targets in complete collection mission

[ 2021-11-18 14:20:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Scripting API

• Added new parameter 'mailId' to these mail callbacks:
• onMailAdded
• onMailUpdated
• onMailRead
• onMailDeleted
• Added getDesigns() and setDesigns() functions to TurretBases component
• Added getShipTurretDesigns() function to Player and Alliance

Bugfixes

"No patch without some good old bug fixing! As usual, User Bug Reports that were submitted via our bug reporting tool are marked with [UBR]! Thanks to such a great community and keep it up!"

• [UBR] Fixed missions getting stuck waiting for a mail if mail was read and deleted while the game was paused
• [UBR] Fixed turret designs not being restored when repairing at a Repair Dock
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when talking to the hermit

[ 2021-11-18 14:04:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

• Added new option to free play mode to have building knowledge limit only block materials and not processing power
• Added more ways to acquire building knowledge
• Building knowledge can now be bought for ores at Resource Depots
• Building knowledge can now be bought at a Smuggler's Outpost for a lot of money
• Starting at Titanium, with each material tier you can now found +4 ships (up from +2 Naonite; +3 Trinium; +3 Xanion; +4 Ogonite)

Balancing

• Increased jump range added by hyperspace blocks by 50%

UI

• Improved highlighting in tutorial

Bugfixes

"Bug fixes marked with [UBR] are from user bug reports. Thank you very much for reporting and keep it up! :)"

• Fixed crashes in the package mission
• Fixed a crash when a station that is currently pulling a ship to its dock is deleted
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where alliance relations weren't considered when interacting with resistance outposts
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where boarding a pirate ship could result in non finishable events
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where wrong sector was displayed in a dialog in investigate missing freighters mission
• Pirates now also attack players when they are in an alliance ship in investigate freighters mission
• [UBR] Added missing header and sender to insurance mail
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where patrolling ships with a velocity bypass installed travelled really far into the distance
• [UBR] Fixed issue where allies couldn't get organized with alliance relations
• [UBR] Fixed repair order sometimes using armed turrets on allied targets
• [UBR] Fixed craft's weapon overview resetting scroll position on every update
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where coaxial turret shots instantly collided with the shooting ship when flying in the direction of the shot
• [UBR] Fixed an exploit where ships without captains could mine a whole sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where salvage AI couldn't use MultiHarvest turret properly
• Fixed players getting stuck in the tutorial while building
• Fixed a rare issue where players could get stuck in the tutorial when the torpedo from the pirate didn't hit them
• Fixed possible crash on sector change
• Fixed a crash where scaling with mouse not hovering over ship in block brush crashed the game
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where torpedo weapon groups could not be unassigned
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the financial records of a factory weren't updated correctly when configured to buy/sell with other stations in the sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where operations that remove goods from the cargo bay could return and still have some of those goods
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turrets were not removed when changing the block material they were placed on to something too low

[ 2021-11-12 10:57:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

After performing well on the beta branch, patch 2.0.9 is now live on default, combined with the changes from 2.0.8!

Gameplay

• Some missions on bulletin boards are now only available in certain distances from the center of the galaxy
• Captains now return to the sector they started in upon completing a scout, refine, procure, sell, expedition or restock operation
• Trade contracts are now based on the revealed sectors of the area they are started in
• Various error messages that contain sector coordinates now show a ping on the map and can be clicked
• "A lost friend" mission now includes the captain's primary class in the bulletin
• Family, Commune and Cavaliers ships can now appear in sectors

Balancing

• Procure Operation: tuned additional time required when buying big amounts of goods
• Instead of a 1.5mill threshold adding +45min it's now a 750k threshold adding +20 min
• Mining Operation: greatly increased impact of discovered asteroid fields on area efficiency and yield
• The pirates in the first encounter in "investigate missing freighters" mission are no longer insanely beefy

Client

• Trading goods floating around in the sector now have prettier and distinct models
• Added search function to encyclopedia
• Added encyclopedia articles for goods that list the stations where they can be bought and sold
• Added encyclopedia articles for productions that list ingredients and produced goods for each type of factory/mine/consumer etc
• Building Mode: scale step, grid size and stats settings are now persistent

UI

• Added a hint about cooling the hyperspace engine by boosting
• Added "Transfer All" context menu entry to move stacks of items between player and alliance inventory
• You can now interact with Ships and Stations while in Strategy Mode
• Building Mode: when more than the selected blocks would be deleted, those additional blocks are now highlighted

Scripting API

• Added resetHyperspaceCalculation() function to Player

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes marked with [UBR] are from User Bug Reports, that were submitted through our bug reporter! Thanks for your help and keep it up! :)"

• Fixed several issues in missions and scripts
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the research UI scrolled to the top when researching
• Fixed an issue in procure, restock and trade operation where they couldn't be started as an alliance if the player didn't have enough money
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the ship list in the Galaxy Map started rapidly scrolling while holding down the shift key
• Fixed an issue where fighters continued attacking a target even when relations changed to friendly
• Fixed two occurrences of wrong sector coordinate arguments in error messages
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where resources could be dropped in the wrong location when using legendary salvaging lasers
• Fixed an issue where the tracked mission was displayed in Building Mode, overlapping with craft stats
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships on mine operations could appear in cultist sectors
• Fixed several possible script crashes
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where changing the ship class made the ship name disappear in Strategy Mode sector overview
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where manual and autopilot jump routes could conflict with each other
• Fixed an issue with localization of mission descriptions on the bulletin board
• [UBR] Mobile variants of stations now have correct titles in their shop windows
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where boarded ships could not be repaired at repair docks
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where pressing Tab to switch between player and ship window didn't work in the Torpedoes tab
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "A lost friend" mission could cause reputation loss with faction
• [UBR] Encyclopedia: turret factory is no longer listed as a consumer
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in french localization that caused problems in procure operations, crew board and mod window
• Fixed a crash when starting a dialog with the adventurer

[ 2021-11-02 10:24:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

• "A lost friend" mission now includes the captain's primary class in the bulletin
• Family, Commune and Cavaliers ships can now appear in sectors

Balancing

• Procure Operation: tuned additional time required
• Instead of a 1.5mill threshold adding +45min it's now a 750k threshold adding +20 min
• Mining Operation: greatly increased impact of discovered asteroid fields on area efficiency and yield
• The pirates in the first encounter in "investigate missing freighters" mission are no longer insanely beefy

Client

• Added encyclopedia articles for goods that list the stations where they can be bought and sold
• Added encyclopedia articles for productions that list ingredients and produced goods for each type of factory/mine/consumer etc
• Added search function to encyclopedia
• Building Mode: scale step, grid size and stats settings are now persistent

UI

• Added "Transfer All" context menu entry to move stacks of items between player and alliance inventory
• You can now interact with Ships and Stations while in Strategy Mode
• Building Mode: when more than the selected blocks would be deleted, those additional blocks are now highlighted

Scripting API

• Added resetHyperspaceCalculation() function to Player

Bugfixes

"Bug fixes marked with [UBR] are from user bug reports. Thank you very much for reporting and keep it up! :)"

• Fixed several small issues in missions and scripts
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where manual and autopilot jump routes could conflict with each other
• Fixed an issue with localization of mission descriptions on the bulletin board
• [UBR] Mobile variants of stations now have correct titles in their shop windows
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where boarded ships could not be repaired at repair docks
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where pressing Tab to switch between player and ship window didn't work in the Torpedoes tab

As you might have noticed, we didn't set 2.0.8 live on the Default branch. This is because there were some small new issues with it. The fixes made it into this 2.0.9 patch.

[ 2021-10-20 09:11:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

• Some missions on bulletin boards are now only available in certain distances from the center of the galaxy
• Captains now return to the sector they started in upon completing a scout, refine, procure, sell, expedition or restock operation
• Trade contracts are now based on the revealed sectors of the area they are started in
• Various error messages that contain sector coordinates now show a ping on the map and can be clicked

Client

• Trading goods floating around in the sector now have prettier and distinct models

UI

• Added a hint about cooling the hyperspace engine by boosting

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes marked with [UBR] are from User Bug Reports, that were submitted through our bug reporter! Thanks for your help and keep it up! :)"

• Fixed several issues in missions
• Fixed an issue in procure, restock and trade operation where they couldn't be started as an alliance if the player didn't have enough money
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the ship list in the Galaxy Map started rapidly scrolling while holding down the shift key
• Fixed an issue where fighters continued attacking a target even when relations changed to friendly
• Fixed two occurrences of wrong sector coordinate arguments in error messages
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where resources could be dropped in the wrong location when using legendary salvaging lasers
• Fixed an issue where the tracked mission was displayed in Building Mode, overlapping with craft stats
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships on mine operations could appear in cultist sectors
• Fixed several possible script crashes
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where changing the ship class made the ship name disappear in Strategy Mode sector overview
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the research UI scrolled to the top when researching

[ 2021-10-01 08:12:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

After performing well on the beta branch, patch 2.0.7 is now live on default!

Gameplay

"Some of the changes and bugfixes in this update were already introduced on the default branch, but are listed here now for the sake of completion."

• Added possibility to repeat the dialog with a wreckage in "A lost friend"
• Player now starts with 3 Turrets named exactly the same as hint suggests into tutorial to avoid confusion
• Mining/Salvaging carriers now need proper working fighter/squad/pilot configurations to get full yields on Mining/Salvaging Operations
• Mining/Salvaging ships now return to the sector they were sent away from upon return

Balancing

"We're adjusting the Procurement Contract a little to base it more on reality when procuring large amounts of goods. Right now it's possible to very quickly procure huge amounts of goods, that would never be available in some regions. We'll keep an eye on the numbers and will be adjusting when they don't feel right."

• Procure command now takes more time when very large amounts of a single good are bought
• Once a certain threshold of value (per single good) is reached, it takes +45min per time the threshold is overstepped
• Threshold 1.500.000 at the outer edge, 30.000.000 at the core
• Threshold is still always at least 100 of a single good (in case you enjoy procuring Mining Robots or Accelerators)

UI

• Xsotan artifacts II and V now say "arbitrary" instead of "armed or unarmed"
• Shortened German translation of label in scout command UI for better alignment
• When under attack, the map now shows the name of the attacked station or ship

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes marked with [UBR] are from User Bug Reports, that were submitted through our bug reporter! Thanks for your help and keep it up! :)"

• [UBR] Fixed a crash in dedicated server tool UI
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Building Knowledge wasn't properly dropped in multiplayer
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where trader in black market mission got destroyed too fast to safe them
• Fixed some script crashes in scout command
• Fixed in-sector orders sometimes not longer being persistent over restart
• Fixed an issue where strategy mode buttons weren't working properly
• [UBR] Smuggler Hideouts now handle missions and captains the same way as the Smuggler's Markets do
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with Commodore captains and the careful trait
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where operation exodus would give an invalid code fragment
• The cavaliers mission Protect the Transport can now handle dialog partners being killed during dialog
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in AI mission where player couldn't find AI again after they were destroyed by it
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in investigate missing freighters mission
• The mission can no longer send player to the other side of the barrier
• Player now needs to dock to the station to receive potatoes
• Fixed an issue with crew strikes
• Fixed an issue in torpedo introduction mission if player had already started it in an old version
• [UBR] Fixed a script crash in player profile
• [UBR] Fixed a crash in Strategy Mode
• [UBR] Added offset in captain's certificate to account for difference in shown vs actual level
• [UBR] Orderchain is now cleared on relog if an invalid order is contained
• [UBR] Saved Designs auto save now checks if folder is write-accessible before trying to save to it, giving an error message if not
• [UBR] Only 1/3 of resources delivered during a resource shortage are added to the stock of the station now to avoid exploit by instantly rebuying for a better price
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where captains had a size of four instead of two crew members
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where some bosses wont spawn if a player switches to ship instead of jumping in themselves
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where dialogs were interrupted after loading screen leading to missions being stuck
• [UBR] Factions can no longer have none coaxial weapons with coaxial in their name
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turrets' autofire states were reset after scaling the ship
• [UBR] Fixed autopiloted ships trying to boost to target position and immediately stopping again
• [UBR] Trade and procure commands now show error if ship has no cargo bay and doesn't allow to press start
• [UBR] Fixed an out of memory crash
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships would stand still while mining/salvaging while their defensive turrets were firing
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a pirate in the bounty hunt mission wasn't properly registered as a friend during a dialog
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Scout command didn't uncover some sectors
• Fixed an issue where final exodus beacon's indicator was visible in building UI
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where sell command UI was filled wrongly when reinspecting configuration of a sent-away ship
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where auto turrets were reset when scaling the ship
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "Damage" property was wrongly compared in tooltips
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where building stats configuration would stay open when closing Build Mode
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where some UI grid selections didn't scroll back up when cleared
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the boxes displaying the amount of cargo to dump did not scroll
• [UBR] Fixed an issue that led to AI ships attacking gates
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where prices of subsystems could overflow
• [UBR] Fixed and issue where the name of one color in the building menu was not displayed
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in Trade Contract where captain perks could reduce time of flight too much
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where generation of captains' perks wasn't deterministic, leading to other captains being received in the captain mission than displayed in their certificate
• Fixed an issue where obsolete or destroyed ships could be selected on the galaxy map
• Fixed several issues in bounty hunt mission, captain mission and a family storyline mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where camera didn't properly reset when exiting Strategy Mode
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where blueprint filtering in turret factory didn't properly reset when changing tabs

[ 2021-09-29 13:32:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

"Some of the changes and bugfixes in this update were already introduced on the default branch, but are listed here as well for the sake of completion."

• Added possibility to repeat the dialog with a wreckage in "A lost friend"
• Player now starts with 3 Turrets named exactly the same as hint suggests into tutorial to avoid confusion
• Mining/Salvaging carriers now need proper working fighter/squad/pilot configurations to get full yields on Mining/Salvaging Operations
• Mining/Salvaging ships now return to the sector they were sent away from upon return

Balancing

"We're adjusting the Procurement Contract a little to base it more on reality when procuring large amounts of goods. Right now it's possible to very quickly procure huge amounts of goods, that would never be available in some regions. We'll keep an eye on the numbers and will be adjusting when they don't feel right."

• Procure command now takes more time when very large amounts of a single good are bought
• Once a certain threshold of value (per single good) is reached, it takes +45min per time the threshold is overstepped
• Threshold 1.500.000 at the outer edge, 30.000.000 at the core
• Threshold is still always at least 100 of a single good (in case you enjoy procuring Mining Robots or Accelerators)

UI

• Xsotan artifacts II and V now say "arbitrary" instead of "armed or unarmed"
• Shortened German translation of label in scout command UI for better alignment
• When under attack, the map now shows the name of the attacked station or ship

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes marked with [UBR] are from User Bug Reports, that were submitted through our bug reporter! Thanks for your help and keep it up! :)"

• [UBR] Fixed a crash in dedicated server tool UI
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Building Knowledge wasn't properly dropped in multiplayer
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where trader in black market mission got destroyed too fast to safe them
• Fixed some script crashes in scout command
• Fixed in-sector orders sometimes not longer being persistent over restart
• Fixed an issue where strategy mode buttons weren't working properly
• [UBR] Smuggler Hideouts now handle missions and captains the same way as the Smuggler's Markets do
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with Commodore captains and the careful trait
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where operation exodus would give an invalid code fragment
• The cavaliers mission Protect the Transport can now handle dialog partners being killed during dialog
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in AI mission where player couldn't find AI again after they were destroyed by it
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in investigate missing freighters mission
• The mission can no longer send player to the other side of the barrier
• Player now needs to dock to the station to receive potatoes
• Fixed an issue with crew strikes
• Fixed an issue in torpedo introduction mission if player had already started it in an old version
• [UBR] Fixed a script crash in player profile
• [UBR] Fixed a crash in Strategy Mode
• [UBR] Added offset in captain's certificate to account for difference in shown vs actual level
• [UBR] Orderchain is now cleared on relog if an invalid order is contained
• [UBR] Saved Designs auto save now checks if folder is write-accessible before trying to save to it, giving an error message if not
• [UBR] Only 1/3 of resources delivered during a resource shortage are added to the stock of the station now to avoid exploit by instantly rebuying for a better price
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where captains had a size of four instead of two crew members
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where some bosses wont spawn if a player switches to ship instead of jumping in themselves
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where dialogs were interrupted after loading screen leading to missions being stuck
• [UBR] Factions can no longer have none coaxial weapons with coaxial in their name
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turrets' autofire states were reset after scaling the ship
• [UBR] Fixed autopiloted ships trying to boost to target position and immediately stopping again
• [UBR] Trade and procure commands now show error if ship has no cargo bay and doesn't allow to press start
• [UBR] Fixed an out of memory crash
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships would stand still while mining/salvaging while their defensive turrets were firing
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a pirate in the bounty hunt mission wasn't properly registered as a friend during a dialog
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Scout command didn't uncover some sectors
• Fixed an issue where final exodus beacon's indicator was visible in building UI
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where sell command UI was filled wrongly when reinspecting configuration of a sent-away ship
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where auto turrets were reset when scaling the ship
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "Damage" property was wrongly compared in tooltips
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where building stats configuration would stay open when closing Build Mode
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where some UI grid selections didn't scroll back up when cleared

[ 2021-09-16 15:28:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Were incredibly happy to announce that Avorion is now finally ready to have another version increase! With update 2.0 we bring you a ton of Quality of Life improvements. We have streamlined several features and massively improved the UI! Were absolutely thrilled about this update and hope that you are, too! Thank you for buying Avorion, supporting us and for helping us make this game better and better! [previewyoutube=ZLQMTILp8H0;full][/previewyoutube]

New Progression

With this update were introducing a new experience that makes the game a ton more fun. The new progression keeps players on their toes, challenging them in a new way and encouraging them to try new things. Instead of being able to build everything right from the get go, the new system requires you to build with the materials at hand and limits the processing power and size a ship can have. To unlock the next material you have to acquire the building knowledge for it. This can be done by either fighting a boss or a difficult pirate encounter, or, if youre not the fighting type, it can be bought at Shipyards. With this you can experience the game in a new way! Explore regions and their materials and learn how to use their advantages to build the perfect ship to overcome the next challenges.
And if we werent able to convince you - you can simply go back to the old system and play the game in the new Classic mode, too!

Captains, Commands and Crew Improvements

Our old captains got some love with this update. They now have personalities, perks and quirks and are much more autonomous. Instead of having to click a ton to set up a good mining route, you can now simply make a contract with your captain. You tell them where to go and which ships to take as an escort, and they will handle everything around it. From finding the sectors with asteroids to refining the collected ores, and regularly sending you their yields, everything will be taken care of. Of course, weve done that not only for mining. The new commands include everything necessary to live a comfortable life in the galaxy, such as trading, scouting and even traveling long distances!
With the introduction of the captains weve also reworked how the crew in general works. In short - you now need less crew, but can over-assign posts to achieve up to 200 % efficiency! And you no longer need to hire higher ranked crew members, as your crew automatically promotes crew members as soon as higher officers are needed. This should make finding enough crew for your awesome battleship much easier!

Player Profile

To keep better track of what youve achieved on your playthrough, we added a new Player Profile section. In this section you get an overview of all the things you can do in Avorion. We hope that youll have just as much fun unlocking the milestones as we do!

Fighters

Weve rebalanced fighters and among several changes to their stats weve also improved their overall gameplay feel. With improvements to their AI, pilots now staying on the ship and not getting lost if the fighter is destroyed and fighter production having been reworked (both in cost and time), the carrier playstyle will feel much more viable now. Additionally squads now get one overall squad skin, so that all fighters within a squad have the same look. This also means that the game performance around fighters is much better!

Hyperspace engine

The hyperspace engine got lots of love as well. In short, your hyperspace engine will now charge before the jump and can even do several consecutive jumps without having to reopen the map every time! Additionally, hyperspace jumps need much less energy in total now and with the new animation and sound they feel a lot smoother.

Autopilot

And last but not least, the universally most wished feature is here! Every ship is now equipped with a powerful autopilot that can do menial in-sector tasks for you. Docking to a station, flying somewhere, mining or salvaging, repairing or attacking ships, Give the order and lean back while your ship does all the work! This is only a small selection of what is actually contained in the new update. For full details check out the final patchnotes for Update 2.0

[ 2021-09-07 13:16:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! These are the final patch notes for update 2.0! We left out the changes that only affected beta-versions, and are listing everything that is important for players that played 1.3.8 so far. There is much, much more that has happened and as always the devil is in the details! We're only listing the most important changes here. We'd like to encourage you to check out the update yourselves and see for yourselves how things have improved!

Gameplay Highlights

"So much has happened! So we'll only list the biggest changes! We had plenty of balancing changes as well, and we'll keep an eye on things to make sure that things stay smooth!"

• Added a "Free Play" Scenario
• Added repair with credits only at Repair Docks
• Fixed an error in the name-translator of other ships and stations
• Names of NPC ships & stations should now be more pronounceable
• Added more diverse civil Ships
• Added ambient shuttles that populate the sector
• Added more named weapons
• Added a secret boss fight
• Added a new procedural bounty hunting mission
• Added lights to some containers
• Added a shortcut to the Exodus story mission
• Added Towing instead of Reconstruction Tokens
• Added a device to rename sectors
• Added a device to leave a message for other players
• Removed cargo shuttles, factories can now trade with each other in-sector through the ambient shuttles
• Added a pirate loot transporter
• Added a few easter eggs
• Torpedoes can now be dropped as loot
• Added strength indicators for enemies
• Added a Travel Hub: buying a jump boost increases the hyperspace jump range for the next jump
• Made flight AI of ships in combat more reckless and engaging
• Improved AI of mining and salvaging ships
• Added several new sound effects for weapon & other loot pickup
• Improved the introduction missions for the Strategy Mode and Trading
• Added a mission to track progress of the Xsotan Swarm Event
• Added some trading goods that can be dropped during R-Mining & R-Salvaging
• Improved names of turrets and upgrades
• Added pirate carriers
• Harvest and Repair AI no longer reorder weapon groups and use only the best turrets on targets
• Renamed "Smart Blocks" to "Functional Blocks"
• Stations and ships of players are now be attacked by pirates or factions that are at war with the player from time to time
• Improved Controls
• Ship doesn't try to automatically turn towards the camera view while standing still (toggleable)
• Added a combat zoom functionality when holding right mouse (mousewheel)
• Added a free camera in building mode (arrow keys)
• Added tons of cool other stuff

Balancing

"Just like the other changes, a lot has happened here and we're listing only the most important ones! One of the most important goals was to make the early game less grindy, though. If you're interested in the details, check out the patchnotes for patches 2.0.1 to 2.0.6."

• Improved rewards of nearly all missions
• Reduced number of claimable asteroids, increased their value
• Upgrades start to drop once they're starting to be useful (ie. no shield-upgrades in Iron & Titanium regions, etc.)
• Massively increased capacity of battery blocks
• Added one imbalance to test our community & bug reporters
• Reduced amount of processing power required for Subsystem Sockets 4 and up
• Improved the Trading Subsystem to start tracking routes and showing prices at much earlier rarity levels
• Increased amount of resources available at Resource Depots
• Reduced cost of resources at Resource Depots
• Increased profit when selling resources at Resource Depots
• Most missions now additionally give resources as reward
• Decreased influence of pirates and Xsotan on hazard zone trigger when destroying freighters by 75%
• Adjusted NPC boosting behavior to make sure they don't kite as much
• Relation gain for repairing for money at repair docks is now similar to shipyard
• Relation gain of all bulletin board missions increased
• Xsotan Artifact II now gives +6 auto turret slots
• Xsotan Artifact III now gives +6 auto turret slots
• Xsotan Artifact IV now gives +6 auto turret slots
• Xsotan Artifact VII now gives +7 Hyperspace Range (up from 5)
• Shield boosters now give a flat bonus to shield instead of a percentage
• Dev Comment: Energy to shield converters are now the go-to item when you want % shield improvements
• Increased amount of shields provided by energy to shield converter subsystem
• Energy to shield converters now stack with other shield bonuses
• Reduced pirate HP/shields by 20 - 25% since the game has become more challenging with the building knowledge slot limitations
• This also speeds up combat with pirates in general
• Reduced prices of torpedoes by 56%
• Doubled base rewards for delivery missions
• Delivery mission bonus reward now scales with location in the galaxy
• Doubled base rewards for resource shortage missions (now 4x the good's price)
• Resource shortage mission bonus reward now scales with location in the galaxy
• Increased number of available bulletin board missions
• Increased minimal rotation speed for all turrets
• Halved frequency of fake distress call in comparison to normal distress call

UI Redesign

"We all know it was necessary, and things look so much better now! We hope you enjoy it just as much as we do! We're only listing the most important changes here, there are many more small things that were improved."

• Improved the looks of the UI
• You don't know how much I'd love to go on about this, but you should instead just check it out yourselves :)
• Added several color-blind modes
• Colorblind people: Please provide feedback if things are clearer now, we'd like to know if there is still stuff to improve!
• Added a new scenario selection UI for singleplayer games
• Added a detailed sector overview
• Added several Galaxy Map improvements
• Added pinging on the Galaxy Map
• Added a setting to reveal your position to others
• Added a toggle between faction & relation colors on the map
• Added areas to show where your ships are currently doing operations
• Sectors can now additionally be tagged with an icon when adding a note
• Added more buttons for showing/hiding different ships (distinguishes between "on screen" and "on operation")
• The currently tracked mission can now be shown on the galaxy map
• Added a legend to galaxy map
• Refined the Sector Information on galaxy map
• Added many hints about buttons and controls
• Improved camera controls in StrategyMode & GalaxyMap
• Improved UI of craft weaponry
• Turrets can be replaced and removed in ship overview
• Turrets can be assigned as auto-firing here
• Added arrows that show if a selection can be scrolled further up or down
• Added a slider to saved designs window in Build Mode to scale a design 2 slots up or down
• Added little highlights to find loot more easily
• Added filtering by ship & station in the fleet overview
• TAB now switches between Ship and Player window
• Added hints for actions to each window and tab
• Added little markers to turret icons for the different slot types
• Added new icons and cursors for actions that require a target
• Mail window now sorts newest mail to the top of the list
• Mail window now shows mails with attachments
• Mail window now highlights unread mail better
• New notifications are now shown at the bottom

Auto-Targeting

"No more 50% penalty but full control over which turrets should fire independently!"

• Removed the 50% damage penalty from automatic turrets
• Added new kinds of turret slots:
• Defensive (for PDCs)
• Auto Slots (for automatic turrets)
• All turrets can now be configured to be automatically firing
• Added new subsystems for automatic turrets, updated existing subsystems to include automatic slots where appropriate

New Progression

"The new progression is meant to challenge you on your way to the center of the galaxy. Players will be required to prove themselves in a new area before they can get their hands on the new building knowledge. We believe this provides a much more fun way to play your chosen playstyle, or to even try a different playstyle for a bit. And to keep Avorion a true sandbox: If you don't like the new progression, you can simply go for Avorion Classic!"

• Building blocks now requires Building Knowledge about their material, which you can find over the course of the game
• Either beat a strong pirate or boss encounter in the respective area, or
• Achieve good relations with a faction and buy the knowledge at one of their shipyards in the respective area
• Building Knowledge grants you the ability to build up to a certain material and subsystem socket number (read: Processing Power)
• Processing Power
• Made Processing Power of the ship more visual
• Improved clarity about what Processing Power does and what blocks increase it
• Functional Blocks that increase processing power are now clearly marked as such
• Added a "Classic Avorion" Scenario, which has full Building Knowledge unlocked from the start

Crew Rework

"Hiring crew was sometimes a rather tedious task, and the amount of crew necessary for some ships was a little overwhelming. With 2.0, we want to give you the options of either having a more bare-bones crew on the ship or investing in a fully functional crew that will boost your ship's performance to 200%!"

• Reduced the amount of crew necessary to keep the ship running at basic capacity
• Only half the crew is necessary now
• Adjusted salary accordingly
• Reduced the amount of workforce that is necessary to push a ship's performance to 100%
• Ship performance of engine and mechanics can now be boosted to up to 200%
• Boost in velocity is now reflected in the velocity display of the HUD
• Ranks are now assigned automatically by your crewmembers
• Ranks are now among the crew and no longer separate professions
• Morale decays more quickly once there is an issue on the ship
• Morale will only start to impact workforce once it arrives at 0%
• Morale no longer leads to the crew leaving the ship, but instead going on strike
• A crew transport can now be called in when 100 crew is necessary (down from 300)

Map Commands

"More work for your captains - less for you! With the new map commands you can now easily send your ship on a longer mission to collect resources, trade, explore and more!"

• Changed the map commands to be easier to use and less finnicky
• Map commands require a captain, who will then take full control of the ship
• Send an escort with your ship to increase its safety
• The ship won't be available during that time, unless recalled
• Ships with captains show up from time to time in the area they were deployed in
• Added the following new commands:
• Mine
• Salvage
• Travel
• Sell
• Procure
• Trade
• Supply
• Expedition
• Scout
• Restock
• Refine
• Added regular yields that the captains of the ships will send to you in a time interval specified by you

Captains

"We gave captains more character - and a class. And traits. And levels."

• Added new kinds of captains with various classes, perks and traits
• Captains can now level up
• Tier 0 captains gain a class determined by their last fulfilled operation once they reach level 5
• Captains now give bonuses to the ship, depending on their class
• Multiple captains can be taken on the ship as passengers
• Added a new mission that ends with the option to take a high-tier captain on board
• Specific stations produce specific captains

Fighter Rework

"We want the carrier-playstyle to be more of a specialization that's worth it - so we're making things easier but we'll also require you to specialize your ship more to, uh, carrier more."

• Added grouping of Squads
• Fighters are now remote controlled, pilots stay on the ship and won't get lost on destruction
• Player fighters without mothership (and thus without pilot) now fly in circles
• NPC fighters without mothership (and thus without pilot) now explode
• Fighters can now boost when they start flying longer distances
• Carriers need subsystems on board for more than 1 squad
• Added a new subsystem for fighter squads
• Added a fighter skin that can be applied to an entire squad
• Performance Improvements
• Improved rendering performance when fighters are deployed
• Improved networking performance of the mothership
• Massively increased durability of fighters
• Durability now scales with tech level and used material
• Increased damage of (new) fighters by 33%
• Rebalanced costs of fighters to match the "3 fighters = 1 turret" design philosophy
• Fighter production time is now 50% linked to their tech level and 50% to their durability
• Fighter production time is now always at most 1h
• Fighter production time now can be reduced by at max 90%
• Fighter production time reduction is now 1min per 1000 production capacity on the craft
• Fighters now always take at least 30s to produce, down from 60s
• Increased amount of fighters available at stations
• Improved fighter AI when returning to mothership
• Increased range of Anti-Fighter cannnons by 1km
• Once all guaranteed dodges of a fighter are used, they get a 0.25s cooldown until the next random dodge can be done
• Guaranteed dodges recharge over a period of 60s instead of 120s
• Fighters now get (3 + 2 x [PilotLevel]) guaranteed dodges up from (3 + 1 x [PilotLevel])
• UI Improvements
• Added small HP bars for fighters when showing the entire squad
• Added small markers for fighters
• Added HP bars for deployed fighter squads

Autopilot

"Every ship now has an autopilot that will take over when you give it an order, especially when you're sitting in it. You guys wanted automatic docking? You get automatic docking. Give the order, sit back and enjoy the show!"

• Ships can now always be controlled as long as they're in the same sector as you
• Ships won't require a captain for basic commands any longer
• When commanding your own ship the Autopilot of the ship kicks in

Central/Outer Faction Area

"To give the factions on the map more feeling of actual civilizations, they'll now have a central and outer region in their area. More commerce in the inner regions, more outlawnessness (is that a word?) in the outer regions."

• Added a differentiation between inner and outer faction areas
• Inner Faction Area
• Secure, many factories, densely populated, lots of commerce and trade
• Outer Faction Area
• Less secure, more empty sectors with resources, less populated, somewhat more dangerous, less activity
• Improved characteristics of factions, depending on the faction

Tutorial & Encyclopedia Improvements

"We brought the tutorial more up to date and made it easier for new players to start out in this complex game."

• Streamlined Tutorial and brought it more up-to-date
• Improved integration of Encyclopedia into first few hours of the game
• Added many new Encyclopedia articles

Player Profile

"You can now keep track of your achieved milestones and possibilities of what's to come in the Player Profile!"

• Added a player profile to keep track of your progress
• Milestones in player profile show what you've achieved and what things are still to come

Hyperspace Improvements

"You know a feature isn't really top-quality when people Alt-Tab out of your game to do something else while waiting for hyperspace cooldown. So we made Hyperspace Travel more engaging and fun, and most importantly: Less annoying!"

• Hyperspace calculations can now be done over multiple jumps without reopening the galaxy map
• Hyperspace jumps require you to charge the jump drive before jumping, instead of after jumping
• This prevents players getting stuck without being aware that something like that could even happen
• Hyperspace jump cooldown is now max. 60s for all ships
• Reduced hyperspace jump range boosts through upgrades and blocks
• Hyperspace upgrades now either give
• Small jump range boosts without increased cooldown
• Large jump range boosts and increased cooldown
• Hyperspace jump cooldown can be reduced by boosting towards the next jump point

Smaller Changes

"Hooray if you made it all the way down here! As a reward, have a few more things that were impactful enough to be worth mentioning in this wall of text."

• Tutorial now starts with the same player resources regardless of difficulty level
• Additional resources are then given to players after completing the tutorial
• Large, empty Iron & Naonite asteroids now have the shape of Titanium asteroids to make them distinguishable from claimables
• Pirates can now be cowards and flee from a fight once too damaged
• Wormholes selected in Strategy Mode now show their distance
• Added a safety conversation line for Swoks when picking "I'll pay", to confirm that player actually wants to pay
• Renamed "Crew Shuttles" to "Boarding Shuttles"
• Added changing of root block
• Added a key to save designs from main menu
• Added a filter to saved designs window to filter by "Can I build this right now"
• Added a free camera in build mode
• Added an icon to bulletin board to quickly identify a mission
• Ship AI is no longer limited by range of PDCs when they have other weapons they could use
• Self-pulling into a dock via tractor beam now pulls slightly longer to avoid edge-cases where it's just barely not possible to dock
• The trader that is attacked by pirates no longer dies in 2 seconds
• It's now 120s, except when you're helping them with the dying
• Added a hint for turning dead zone of turrets, to avoid unfortunate placement of turrets on the front of the ship
• Improved crew notifications
• Fighter engine trails are now longer when boosting on particle setting "High"
• Added a hotkey binding to select own ship (unbound by default)
• Force turrets are now also compared by force when sorting by damage in inventory
• Ships can now be sent through wormholes in strategy mode
• Salvage AI now stops when its salvaging license runs out
• Gems are now bought by Habitats and Casinos
• AI ships can now use armed auto turrets to defend themselves while mining/salvaging
• Turret positions are now updated when scaling and rotating the whole plan in building mode
• Added a hotkey to track missions when they're updated
• Reduced base time that it takes to build a ship with captain at a Shipyard from 300s to 40s
• Implemented a setting for servers to enforce steam networking and not fall back to TCP protocols
• Reduced default size of damage numbers
• Once a player has crossed the barrier, the teleporters will always activate automatically when that player enters the teleporter sector again
• Strongly reduced slowdown of turrets when approaching their aimed point
• Turrets now snap correctly to target instead of slowly approaching it
• Stations and ships of players can now be attacked by pirates or factions that are in war with the player
• Delivery and organize goods missions now mark their target stations
• Added icon to show that permanent installed upgrades can be removed without getting destroyed
• Fighter wings can now be deleted even when they contain fighters
• Enemies no longer oscillate between player and center of sector when player is too far out
• Added little lights to some containers
• Strategy mode is now bound to N
• Swapped default hotkeys for Ship and Player Menus (I, P)
• Added a text field to cargo bay for dropping a specific amount of goods
• Added a Turret Rotation Lock Edge block
• Auto-Assign now only unassign as many crewmen as it needs to fill all professions
• Torpedo and boarding warning sound is now attenuated over time to be less annoying

Bugfixes

"We actually fixed way, way more bugs than those, but we're listing the most annoying ones here. Many of these were brought to us by users through our in-game bug reporting system! List may be incomplete since many systems were reworked, which could lead to bugs being fixed automatically."

• Fixed an issue where multiple blocks could exist in the same space, leading to highly exploitable ship designs
• Fixed an issue where all factions of the map would be kept in memory all the time
• Fixed several issues with AI just turning, but not flying
• Fixed an issue where Swoks would not attack when shot at
• Fixed several issues where named weapons were a little underwhelming
• Fixed an issue where weapon hits would be desynced between client & server
• Fixed an issue with the Avorion window icon
• Fixed an issue with wrong proportion of factory storage
• Fixed an issue with factory production display
• Fixed an issue when ships won't fit through wormholes/gates
• Fixed an issue where ship wasn't properly deleted when deleting all blocks
• Fixed an issue where some ships couldn't be commanded after restoring a backup
• Fixed an issue where mod window didn't scale properly with UI scaling enabled
• Fixed some issues with target reticles not being drawn properly once too far away
• [UBR] Fixed an issue when loading key bindings that used Ctrl, Shift or other modifier keys
• You might have to reset controls or reassign the controls for them to work again
• Increased grace timer when a ship is destroyed in a Scrapyard sector
• Fixed a crash in Eliminating Rivals mission
• Fixed a crash in Propaganda Materials mission
• Fixed a crash in Display of Strength mission
• Fixed a crash in Shes Innocent! mission
• Fixed a crash in A Lost Friend mission
• Fixed a crash in The Guardian mission
• Fixed a crash in Wanted Dead, Not Alive mission
• Fixed an issue where changes in material weren't reflected in costs of saved designs window
• Fixed a bug in asteroid field generation
• Fixed an issue where the energy system didn't drain energy for a few seconds when going into drain
• Mined ores and scrap are no longer tagged as stolen when picked up by someone else after the reservation timer runs out
• Fixed an issue where switching to alliance ships over the map wasn't possible
• Fixed some issues where AI-controlled ships didn't calculate their braking distance properly
• Fixed an issue where some missions didn't continue when switching into ship when it's in the sector where the mission happens
• Fixed an issue where heal rates of fighters in fighter factory were too high
• Fixed pirate title not being translated in dialogs
• Fixed an issue where esort ship weapons sometimes dealt no damage
• Fixed an exploit where crew payday was reset when crew of the ship was empty
• Fixed an issue where projectiles didn't properly collide with objects very close to the turret
• Fixed an issue where ships could hang when destination sector was suddenly out of reach
• Fixed an issue where ships were using the wrong turrets for some jobs
• Fixed several issues for lower resolution
• Fixed an issue where Xsotan artifacts didn't stack in inventory
• Fixed an issue where several bosses didn't react to alliance ships as enemies
• Fixed an issue in a Family mission when there was no associate
• Fixed an issue where a resource depot's icon wasn't properly set even though it had missions available
• Fixed an issue in crew tab where text could read 'due in 0 seconds'
• Fixed an issue where the map could be opened while in build mode (or paused in general), causing problems and making the game hang
• Fixed several issues where missions didn't yield reputation when doing them in an alliance ship
• Fixed an issue in auto fire mode where turret didn't attack currently selected target
• Fixed several issues in search and rescue mission:
• Spawned wreckage can no longer have captain logs with conflicting dialog
• Dialog option to give information is no longer shown on any ship or station
• Location bulletins are now immediately updated if correct sector was found
• Only correct sector is now marked as target location if correct sector was found
• Added description line to tell player what to do with the wreckage
• Wreckage of search and rescue is now constantly chattering to emphasize auto message system the dialog talks about
• Fixed several issues where legendary turrets had wrong crew members
• Fixed an issue where players could have bad starting relations to their home sector faction
• Fixed an issue where destruction of pirates or Xsotan didn't give reputation when other factions helped destroy them
• Fixed broken display of stats in shipyard
• Fixed an issue where player to player damage could still happen even when disabled
• Fixed an issue where fire power of a ship didn't update properly when all turrets were removed
• Fixed an issue where turrets could show up in System Upgrades inventory
• Fixed an issue where turret factories showed the wrong turrets sometimes
• Fixed an issue where the news window didn't update properly
• Fixed an issue where pirates attacked each other in 'Eliminating Rivals'
• Reading this I realize the irony of the bug with the mission's name
• Fixed an issue where introduction missions could spawn on the other side of the barrier
• Fixed an issue where the reticle of beacons was visible in build mode
• Fixed several server-side crashes
• Fixed an issue where invalid characters could be added to ship name text box
• Fixed an issue where some projectiles were displaced after being fired
• Fixed an issue where enablers of different input contexts would block other keys
• Fixed an issue where wrong stats were displayed in ship tab
• Fixed an issue where turret designs weren't restored correctly when repairing
• Fixed an issue where turret designs flickered on undo/redo
• Fixed an issue with icons not being cleared in fleet overview
• Fixed a crash when jumping with the ship window open
• Fixed an issue where mines didn't buy things as intended
• If you're still reading: have a really nice day and lots of fun with this update!
• Fixed several issues where jumping into some specific sectors could cause the game to crash
• Fixed an issue where ships on operations (and NPC ships) always used all weapons on the ship for everything
• Fixed an issue where auto turrets were shooting ships that were assigned as friends
• Fixed an issue where permanently installed upgrades could get lost when the ship was too massively damaged
• Fixed an issue where players would get Black Market DLC rewards even though they don't own the DLC
• Fixed an issue where hangar didn't properly detect highest material of deployed fighter
• Fixed some overflows in cargo bay that were just a little too easy to reach
• Fixed a GPU memory leak
• Improved performance of icon rendering in inventory
• Fixed an issue where colors weren't correctly translated in building mode
• Fixed an issue where hyperspace engine didn't go on cooldown properly when changing reach
• Fixed an issue where shots were desynced between client and server, looking like they hit when they didn't and vice versa
• Fixed an issue where windows had unforeseen overlap in main menu
• Fixed an issue where a pirate wasn't properly set to friendly in family storyline
• Fixed an issue where the amount of resources gainable through the "Resource Shortage" mission didn't scale depending on location in the galaxy
• Fixed an issue where stolen goods were usable for "Resource Shortage" mission
• Fixed an issue where turret AI could see higher-level hidden asteroids than it should
• Fixed an issue where docking lasers remained when pulling an already docking ship towards you while in a station
• Fixed dialog in missing freighters mission
• Fixed an issue where the root block of a ship remained in multiplayer as a ghost
• Fixed an issue where hyperspace cooldown could be 0s
• Fixed several issues where camera positions weren't properly remembered for ships
• Fixed an issue where the dialog with IHDTX could start in loading screen
• Fixed several issues with bosses that led to them being friendly towards the player
• Fixed several UI issues

[ 2021-09-07 13:07:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

• Ships now appear more often while on operations
• Codes of mission exodus shortcut are now tracked in the mission description

Balancing

"We'd like to reduce wait times for high-end ships when traveling with hyperspace jumps, so we're significantly increasing hyperspace cooldown reduction bonuses, while increasing required energy by the same factor. This essentially speeds up hyperspace cooldown, saving you precious waiting time."

• When remaining hyperspace cooldown is high, cooldown reduction by boosting is higher
• when more than 120s are remaining, cooldown reduction is now 12x faster, required energy 6x as much
• when more than 60s are remaining, cooldown reduction is now 8x faster, required energy 4x as much
• when less than 60s are remaining, cooldown reduction is now 4x faster, required energy 2x as much (this is the system that was in place already)
• In clear space:
• when more than 15s are remaining, cooldown reduction is 12x faster, required energy 6x as much
• when more than 7.5s are remaining, cooldown reduction is 8x faster, required energy 4x as much
• when less than 7.5s are remaining, cooldown reduction is 4x faster, required energy 2x as much (this is the system that was in place already)
• Boosting towards the jump point for HS jump cooldown is now possible while under attack
• The same principles for faster cooldown apply as for the other systems above
• Keep in mind that your hyperspace drive recharges with only 25% of its power while you're under attack

UI

• Updated translations

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes marked with [UBR] are from User Bug Reports, that were submitted through our bug reporter! Thanks for your help and keep it up! :)"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mouse sometimes moved erratically when galaxy map was opened in strategy mode
• Fixed an issue where windows had unforeseen overlap in main menu
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a pirate wasn't properly set to friendly in family storyline
• Fixed an issue on the galaxy map when a ship disappears while trying to find an area for its next operation
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where milestones wouldn't unlock in alliance ships
• Note that some milestones can only be unlocked as a player by design
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the amount of resources gainable through the "Resource Shortage" mission didn't scale depending on location in the galaxy
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where stolen goods were usable for "Resource Shortage" mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret AI was unable to see hidden asteroids highlighted by miner captain
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret AI could see higher-level hidden asteroids than it should
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where docking lasers remained when pulling an already docking ship towards you while in a station
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where group 9 of turret orders was always reset when sending a ship on an operation
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where auto assign crew setting wasn't reliably remembered when sending a ship on an operation
• [UBR] Fixed galaxy map tracked mission display showing no or an old mission on reopening the map
• [UBR] Fixed dialog in missing freighters mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where autopilot wasn't stoppable by using mouse based keybind
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the root block of a ship remained in multiplayer as a ghost
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where travel command could take 0s to travel to a location when hyperspace cooldown is low enough
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where hyperspace cooldown could be 0s
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where camera positions weren't properly remembered for ships
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in "She's innocent!"
• Pirates now attack player when they selected "pay" but can't
• Pirates now jump away more naturally
• Mission will now mark the sector where the container is if player forgets to take it
• Fixed an issue where auto turrets could destroy a pirate that was important for the mission to continue
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the dialog with IHDTX could start in loading screen
• Fixed an issue where additional hyperspace cooldown energy was going up even though the engine was blocked

[ 2021-09-03 16:46:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

"More general QoL for everyone! Ships now stop when they don't have a salvaging license in a scrapyard, gems now have a purpose, and we've added a 'stealthy' swiftness so that you can tell your ships more safely to fly somewhere with minimal attack problems."

• Salvage AI now stops when its salvaging license runs out
• Gems are now bought by Habitats and Casinos
• Added a "stealthy" swiftness for travel command with very low attack probability but high travel time
• Commodores of escorting ships now properly reduce attack chance for Travel Command
• AI ships can now use armed auto turrets to defend themselves while mining/salvaging
• 'Dock to station', 'peaceful patrol' and 'refine ores' AI states now set the ship to 'passive' instead of 'idle' to avoid spinning
• Asteroids are now guaranteed in scrapyard sectors to avoid mining ships appearing and doing nothing
• Captains can now no longer be Intimidating and Harmless at the same time

Balancing

"We're buffing the normal delivery missions to make them more worthwhile, and there will be more missions available in general. We're also changing the mine/salvage operation safe mode, and you won't be able to use absolute minimum effort ships in areas where they're obviously outclassed. It's been pointed out to us that sending a 2 slot iron ship to mine for 4h in (1:1) without it being in any danger doesn't feel balanced and we agree. They'll need to be at least a little bit on par with ships in the area or you'll have to use an escort to protect them."

• Doubled base rewards for delivery missions
• Delivery mission bonus reward now scales with location in the galaxy
• Doubled base rewards for resource shortage missions (now 4x the good's price)
• Resource shortage mission bonus reward now scales with location in the galaxy
• Increased number of available bulletin board missions
• Increased likelihood of Tier III captain mission
• Mine Operation's safe mode now reduces attack chance by 90% instead of setting it to flat 0%
• Salvage Operation's safe mode now reduces attack chance by 90% instead of setting it to flat 0%
• Energy drain of energy to shield converter is now static for each rarity
• Increased prices of energy to shield converter upgrades to be more on par with other upgrades
• Increased fluctuation of the amount of goods available through trade contracts
• Reduced reputation gain of a few side missions from +10000 to +7500 to make them more on par with other missions
• Clearing out a pirate sector now grants +3500 reputation to a nearby faction

UI

"Some more UI QoL improvements, enjoy!"

• Added an alternative view for ship weapon overview that doesn't fill out the selection by slot, but by turret
• Added better error messages as to why a captain can't sell something (esp. which good is problematic)
• Readded display of total crew salary
• Escorting ships now additionally show the description of their escorted ships
• Added a config option to enable/disable encyclopedia pop ups
• Improved Translations
• Improved rendering performance of map tag icons when there are many icons

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes marked with [UBR] are from User Bug Reports, that were submitted through our bug reporter! Thanks for your help and keep it up! :)"

• [UBR] Fixed some wrong translations
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighter AI was not properly detecting wreckages
• Fixed an issue where unowned objects were shown as purple instead of grey
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where seeker shots of autopiloted ships targeted the wrong objects on the client
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where autopiloted ships aimed badly on the client
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mines didn't buy things as intended
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where jumping into some specific sectors could cause the game to crash
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships on operations (and NPC ships) always used all weapons on the ship for everything
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where auto turrets were shooting ships that were assigned as friends
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where permanently installed upgrades could get lost when the ship was too massively damaged
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where upgrades could get lost on reconstruction
• Fixed a few script crashes
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the boost of ships would continue over loading screen, draining too much energy on hyperspace jump
• Fixed a performance issue in UI of Mine and Salvage Operation
• Fixed an issue where missions weren't tracked correctly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where academy was reset when a ship went on an operation
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where cloning pods were reset when a ship went on an operation
• Fixed an issue where repairing turret bases crashed the game
• Fixed an issue where players would get Black Market DLC rewards even though they don't own the DLC
• Fixed some crashes in commands when using them with alliance ships
• Fixed a crash in strategy mode when hovering an object that was just destroyed
• Fixed an issue where hangar didn't properly detect highest material of deployed fighter
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mining/salvaging fighters were recalled all the time by its mothership while mining
• [UBR] Fixed rigid and coaxial turrets being able to shoot through the ship
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where procurecommand's "stolen" checkbox was still checked and used even though it was invisible
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where hyperspace engine cooling would show the wrong times

[ 2021-08-31 14:20:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

• AI can now use multi-harvest turrets to both mine or salvage

Balancing

"Buffing energy to shield converters a little more to make them more competitive. We're also reducing pirate HP to speed up combat encounters a little and make things a little easier, since especially in the core they could quickly overwhelm. Their firepower will remain untouched, this only concerns their HP, and also only for pirates."

• Energy to shield converters now stack with other shield bonuses
• Improved shields given by energy-to-shield converter to give better shield +% than previous shield boosters
• Reduced pirate HP/shields by 20 - 25% since the game has become more challenging with the limitations on ship size
• This also speeds up combat with pirates in general
• Adjusted building knowledge drop (and mission) to be more on par with actual material spawn

UI

"We made some major improvements to the fighter UI and the galaxy map! Plus some more generall UI goodness."

• Fighters
• Added small HP bars for fighters when showing the entire squad
• Added small markers for fighters
• Added HP bars for deployed fighter squads
• Galaxy Map
• Alliance ships are now no longer shown in galaxy map ship list when alliance infos are hidden
• The currently tracked mission can now be shown on the galaxy map
• Galaxy map now remembers its configurations for each save
• Wormholes are now selectable in strategy mode
• Ships can now be sent through wormholes in strategy mode
• Added more localization strings (almost done with all languages, yay!)
• Force turrets are now also compared by force when sorting by damage in inventory

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes marked with [UBR] are from User Bug Reports, that were submitted through our bug reporter! Thanks for your help and keep it up! :)"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where players' ships and stations were attacked by bounty hunters when it should have been other factions (when at war) or pirates
• [UBR] Fixed some localization issues
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the trader attacked by pirates still died too quickly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where energy to shield converter subsystem showed the wrong stats for permanent installation
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where energy to auto turret subsystem showed the wrong stats for permanent installation
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the news window didn't update properly
• [UBR] Added fail safes to tutorial to progress according to underlying mission so that destruction phase always works
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where title/class of ship wasn't properly restored when returning from background simulation
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where pirates attacked each other in 'Eliminating Rivals'
• Reading this I realize the irony of the bug with the mission's name
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where factories could use shuttles to overdeliver more goods than they had in stock
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where salvage command displayed an error about weapons being used when in fact it wasn't relevant
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where introduction missions could spawn on the other side of the barrier
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the reticle of beacons was visible in build mode
• Fixed several server-side crashes
• Fixed an issue where turret factory ingredient mission didn't get properly tracked on restart
• [UBR] Fixed a few issues in display of texts of captains' perks and orders
• [UBR] Fixed coaxial turrets triggering the hint for unfortunate turret placement
• [UBR] Fixed stations triggering the hint for unfortunate turret placement
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mothershipless fighters' models weren't cached, leading to performance issues
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when getting destroyed or jumping with the weapons overview window open
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when jumping via auto pilot with the strategy mode open
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where invalid characters could be added to ship name text box
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ship names could overflow the UI
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where some projectiles were displaced after being fired
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where enablers of different input contexts would block other keys
• ie. Ctrl-W in StrategyMode blocked pressing W (while Ctrl held) in build mode, even though there was no Ctrl-W combination in build mode input context
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where wrong stats were displayed in ship tab
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where stations were limited in sockets by building knowledge
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret designs weren't restored correctly when repairing
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret designs flickered on undo/redo
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in "A lost friend" where sometimes captains didn't have a primary class
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in "A lost friend" where it wasn't available at Casinos and Habitats
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in "A lost friend" where it would never yield a Daredevil
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in "A lost friend" where the marker for a wreckage wasn't rendered at the correct position
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with icons not being cleared in fleet overview
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when jumping with the ship window open
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships behaved strangely after salvaging or mining is finished
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Harvest and Repair AI no longer used existing turret groups with enabled autofire
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighters could mine hidden treasure asteroids even though the mothership didn't have the equipment nor captain to detect them
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships couldn't mine hidden treasure asteroids even though the mothership had the captain to detect them
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships didn't mine nor salvage when they only had fighters and no mining/salvaging turrets

[ 2021-08-27 17:41:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

"A few AI adjustments (mostly fighters) and some minor goodies."

• Added a buyable beacon that can be deployed with a customizable message
• Ship AI is no longer limited by range of PDCs when they have other weapons they could use
• Self-pulling into a dock via tractor beam now pulls slightly longer to avoid edge-cases where it's just barely not possible to dock
• Improved fighter AI when returning to mothership
• Player fighters without mothership (and thus without pilot) now fly in circles
• NPC fighters without mothership (and thus without pilot) now explode
• Dropped building knowledge is now reserved for 1h instead of 2min

Balancing

"We're adjusting fighters slightly again because this time we overdid it a little. Those changes should tone them down slightly from their current status as indestructible killing machines. We're also giving the different shield upgrades a more distinct use."

• Increased resources necessary for production of fighters on ship slightly
• Increased range of Anti-Fighter cannnons by 1km
• Once all guaranteed dodges of a fighter are used, they get a 0.25s cooldown until the next random dodge can be done
• Guaranteed dodges recharge over a period of 60s instead of 120s
• Fighters now get (3 + 2 x [PilotLevel]) guaranteed dodges up from (3 + 1 x [PilotLevel])
• Strong escort ships and escorting commodores now reduce base attack chance (which couldn't be reduced before)
• Slightly reduced yields from mining & salvaging safe mode
• The trader that is attacked by pirates no longer dies in 2 seconds
• It's now 120s, except when you're helping them with the dying
• Increased amount of shields provided by energy to shield converter subsystem
• Shield boosters now give a flat bonus to shield instead of a percentage
• Reduced maximum amount of goods available for Trade Command in early game
• Reduced random spawn rate of bosses slightly, since people jump more often now
• Reduced prices of torpedoes by 56%

UI

"We're now communicating better what the different intricacies of the different operations are. And we've got a brand new scenario selection for Singleplayer games! Apart from that: More UI QoL and other good stuff!"

• Improved UI of operations
• Colored price percentages of sell command
• Added better communication about sell command prices, captains and trading subsystem
• Added a warning sign to sell command for dangerous or otherwise problematic goods
• Added better communication about procurement contract prices, captains and trading subsystem
• Scout operation now communicates which hidden mass sectors the captain will uncover
• Refine operation now communicates speedup through a nearby owned resource depot
• Added a new scenario selection UI for singleplayer games
• Added a slider to configure loot highlighting (starting at which rarity)
• Added filtering by ship & station in the fleet overview
• Context menu in ship weapons overview is now disabled when in drone
• Added a 'Travel Hub Blue' color for Travel Hub beams
• Added an encyclopedia line to Travel Hub entry on how to build the beams in player-owned Travel Hubs
• Added little markers to turret icons for the different slot types
• Improved text for leveling of captains
• Added a loading screen tip for turret placement, to avoid unfortunate placement of turrets on the front of the ship
• Added a hint for turning dead zone of turrets, to avoid unfortunate placement of turrets on the front of the ship
• Building mode orientation arrows are now no longer rendered if UI is hidden
• Added keybinds to move main plane in Strategy Mode
• Tag icons set in name of alliance are now shown on map
• Assigning a captain no longer triggers the passenger notifications
• Assigning from/to vanilla crewmembers will no longer trigger a notification
• Added loading screen tips about several intricacies of operations
• Energy Tab is now more compact and fits on screen for lower resolutions

Misc

• Added debug output to find some bottlenecks
• Fighter engine trails are now longer when boosting on particle setting "High"
• Added a hotkey binding to select own ship (unbound by default)

Bugfixes

"No patch without some good old bug fixing! As usual, User Bug Reports that were submitted via our bug reporting tool are marked with [UBR]! Thanks to such a great community and keep it up!"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Xsotan artifacts didn't stack in inventory
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where several bosses didn't react to alliance ships as enemies
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where loot transporter wasn't set as a friend during dialogs in mission encounters
• Fixed an issue where faction languages could degenerate when saving
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the adventurer could change names
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in a Family mission when there was no associate
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighters could become slightly too big (ie. monstrous)
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where it was possible to send a ship into background simulation even though it had a durability malus
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighter models could be too small
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships sometimes used repair turrets on enemies while attacking them
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a resource depot's icon wasn't properly set even though it had missions available
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where block textures weren't rendered correctly in UI
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where tooltips of escort ships weren't translated correctly
• [UBR] Fixed some wrong tooltips in captain tooltip
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in crew tab where text could read 'due in 0 seconds'
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "Pirate Raid" mission could get stuck when there were too many holo blocks on the ship
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the Sell Command could show the wrong prices
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the map could be opened while in build mode (or paused in general), causing problems and making the game hang
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the highest price of a good in Sell Command never went into negative regions
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where missions didn't yield reputation when doing them in an alliance ship
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships could get stuck for a certain time during mining and salvaging
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships returning from background simulation would drop cargo when having cargo subsystems installed
• [UBR] Fixed loot not being synced when reservation values are changed
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in auto fire mode where turret didn't attack currently selected target
• [UBR] Fixed some issues in localizations
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in search and rescue mission:
• Spawned wreckage can no longer have captain logs with conflicting dialog
• [UBR] Dialog option to give information is no longer shown on any ship or station
• [UBR] Location bulletins are now immediately updated if correct sector was found
• Only correct sector is now marked as target location if correct sector was found
• Added description line to tell player what to do with the wreckage
• Wreckage of search and rescue is now constantly chattering to emphasize auto message system the dialog talks about
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where legendary turrets had wrong crew members
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in trade command where doing 2 consecutive flights caused double the profit even if it was just 1 more good being transported
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where players could have bad starting relations to their home sector faction
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where destruction of pirates or Xsotan didn't give reputation when other factions helped destroy them
• [UBR] Fixed broken display of stats in shipyard
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where player to player damage could still happen even when disabled
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fire power of a ship didn't update properly when all turrets were removed
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turrets could show up in System Upgrades inventory
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where not all captain commands were listed on lower resolutions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret factories showed the wrong turrets sometimes

[ 2021-08-25 08:19:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

"Autopilot can now boost more, and NPC ships boost less! This should make combat feel a lot better."

• Autopilot can now use boost
• Expedition now yields a Daredevil, not an Explorer on level up
• Added a safety conversation line for Swoks when picking "I'll pay", to confirm that player actually wants to pay

Balancing

"Adjusted fighters and the upgrades necessary for them some more to make them more viable for a specialized ship style. We also took a long look at the Expedition and made some very much needed improvements."

• Increased damage of (new) fighters by 33%
• Fighter production time reduced for all materials lower than Avorion, depending on their tier (lower material: less time)
• Legendary Hydra fighter upgrade now gives +4 slots
• Uncommon+ Hydra fighter upgrades now give a boost to production speed
• Improved boosts at Travel Hub, reduced costs
• Fighters now boost until they are in weapon range
• Reduced prices of fighter production
• Relaxed the amount of damage to prevent a ship from going on operations to 5% of ship's value missing in blocks
• Super-rich hidden asteroids are now in every 5th from every 4th
• Relation gain for repairing for money at repair docks is now similar to shipyard
• Relation gain of all bulletin board missions increased
• Resource yields from expedition now have a more random variation instead of a fixed value
• Resource yields from expedition now scale with distance to center of the galaxy
• Reduced amount of items yielded by salvage command
• Shuttles can now transport up to +400% more volume between factories per flight (ie. 5x as much)
• Xsotan Artifact II now gives +6 auto turret slots
• Xsotan Artifact III now gives +6 auto turret slots
• Xsotan Artifact IV now gives +6 auto turret slots
• Xsotan Artifact VII now gives +7 Hyperspace Range (up from 5)
• Increased base time for trade command by 2 minutes
• Reduced too massive boosting of AI ships

UI

"Clarity improvements and overall polish to the UI, enjoy!"

• Improved visuals of strategy mode plane
• Ships unable to escort/support show up in escort list now, with tooltips why they can't help
• Improved UI of expedition operation to show how much can be earned with the operation
• Renamed "Crew Shuttles" to "Boarding Shuttles"
• Added entries about captains to encyclopedia
• Added an icon to bulletin board to quickly identify a mission
• Improved usability of galaxy map tag icon
• Added error message in captain assessment of supply operation to point out that no route was found
• Adjusted some strings in tutorial to ensure they always fit on-screen
• Added description line with instruction to read mail in pirate raid mission

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes marked with [UBR] are from User Bug Reports, that were submitted through our bug reporter! Thanks for your help and keep it up! :)"

• Fixed a crash in fighter factory
• Fixed several crashes in bounty hunt mission
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when dragging a blueprint out of a squad
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where players could get the Titanium knowledge mail while tutorial was active
• [UBR] Fixed a visual issue with the icons of sectors uncovered by the scout operation
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighters just disappeared when starting
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighter icons in squad UI were empty
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where switching to alliance ships over the map wasn't possible
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where expedition operation could yield too advanced ores and scrap metal
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with fighters being transferred between ships
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with tooltips on the galaxy map
• [UBR] Fixed wrong english string in supply operation
• [UBR] Fixed an issue when loading key bindings that used Ctrl, Shift or other modifier keys
• You might have to reset controls or reassign the controls for them to work again
• Fixed some issues where AI-controlled ships didn't calculate their braking distance properly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where reconstruction kits didn't rename when the ship was renamed
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where some missions didn't continue when switching into ship when it's in the sector where the mission happens
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the Coop Flying tab wasn't shown
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret orders weren't saved and restored properly when a ship went into background simulation and returned
• [UBR] Fixed a crash in mining / salvaging AI when selected target has no resources to mine/salvage
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where heal rates of fighters in fighter factory were too high
• Fixed some issues with autopilot and order chains
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where lower building knowledge wasn't dropped if the player had higher knowledge in their inventory
• [UBR] Jump Range boost is now only depleted on actual hyperspace jump, not just changing sectors
• Fixed pirate title not being translated in dialogs
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the trading operation could generate goods that were not paid for
• [UBR] Fixed swoks and his goons having a personal feud with literally anything neutral
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where esort ship weapons sometimes dealt no damage
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where payday of a crew was reset when sent on an operation
• [UBR] Fixed an exploit where crew payday was reset when crew of the ship was empty
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where projectiles didn't properly collide with objects very close to the turret
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where cursor had the wrong icon on the galaxy map when selecting a ship on an operation
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships on trading operation had a 50% lower chance of being attacked when only a single flight was necessary
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships could hang when destination sector was suddenly out of reach
• Fixed several issues with translation
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the sector didn't have the correct name on the galaxy map after renaming it
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where gates to a sector didn't have the correct name after renaming it
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships were using the wrong turrets for some jobs
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where auto pilot would get stuck while salvaging or mining
• [UBR] Fixed a bug where installing an upgrade into the next system slot (which was blocked due to building knowledge) would destroy the upgrade
• Fixed a crash in scavenger highlighting when highlighting wreckages with no resources but cargo
• [UBR] Renaming beacon now has the faction of the ship from which it is spawned
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where perma destruction and precise AI aim weren't reset after going back down from harder difficulties
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where autopilot tried to stop the ship while interacting/building

[ 2021-08-18 08:07:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'. "You want the big patchnotes? Alright, you shall have the big patchnotes!"

Gameplay

"We made many improvements to ships deployed on operations: They can now show up in the area they're deployed in. But be warned, captains don't like being monitored at work. We also improved some clarity about size limits, processing power and other potential misconceptions about these mechanics."

• Ships with captains now show up from time to time in the area they were deployed in
• Renamed "Smart Blocks" to "Functional Blocks"
• Rephrased several messages to improve clarity about functional blocks and processing power
• Added a new section to the tutorial to explain processing power
• Adjusted naming of Building Knowledge
• Pirate shipyards now also drop building knowledge
• Building knowledge can now be bought by alliances, too
• Building knowledge now drops for all players in the sector, regardless of them hitting the enemy that drops the item
• Harvest and Repair AI now only use the best possible turrets and search for a new target or terminate if none are available. This means a ship equipped with Iron and Titanium Mining Lasers will use only the Titanium ones on Naonite asteroids.
• Harvest and Repair AI additionally no longer reorder a ship's weapon groups
• Tier 0 captains now gain a class determined by their last fulfilled operation once they reach level 5
• When ambushed, a ship tries to fight pirates if it has weapons (not just the escorts)
• When ambushed, a ship's hyperspace engine is exhausted
• Large, empty Iron & Naonite asteroids now have the shape of Titanium asteroids to make them distinguishable from claimables
• Added an alternate version of the hyperspace upgrade that is high reach, high cooldown
• This is basically the hyperspace system from pre 2.0 as an option, but boosting to reduce cooldown is still possible
• Tutorial now starts with the same player resources regardless of difficulty level
• Additional resources are then given to players after completing the tutorial

Fighters

"We said this before: 3 fighters should about equal one turret. The thing is that, contrary to turrets, you can lose fighters while deployed. Our goal with fighters is that we want carriers to be a viable playstyle, that can be powerful but requires specialization of the ship of more than just a few hangar blocks. We spent some more time on fighters and we think we're now at a point where we reached that goal."

• Increased durability of fighters
• Durability now scales with tech level and used material
• Increased boosting powers of fighters to +500% (from +200%)
• Rebalanced costs of fighters to match the "3 fighters = 1 turret" design philosophy
• Reduced fighter production costs to material costs equal to 10% of their credits costs
• A 100.000 Xanion fighter now costs 10.000 Xanion to produce on the ship
• Fighter production time is now 50% linked to their tech level and 50% to their durability
• Fighter production time is now always at most 1h
• Fighter production time now can be reduced by at max 90%
• Fighter production time reduction is now 1min per 1000 production capacity on the craft
• Fighters now always take at least 30s to produce, down from 60s
• Increased amount of fighters available at stations

General Balancing

"We want the general early game to be more fun and less grindy, and for that we're making it easier to gain resources through other ways than mining. Apart from that, we've made some general adjustments to improve overall gameplay quality."

• Increased amount of resources available at Resource Depots
• Reduced cost of resources at Resource Depots
• Increased profit when selling resources at Resource Depots
• Reduced amount of necessary reputation for buying Building Knowledge to 65.000
• Titanium Building Knowledge now gives 5 Slots
• Increased likelihood of finding captains from every 4th station to every 3rd
• Increased likelihood of finding tier 1 or 2 captains at stations
• Decreased base salary of captains by 5000
• Increased reach of higher-tier hyperspace upgrades
• Increased time to flee of pirates to 6.5 seconds from 5 seconds
• Reduced price for sector renaming beacon
• Increased amount of very rich hidden ore asteroids to every 4th, from every 8th
• Sped up trade frequency via shuttles between factories by 40%
• Decreased influence of pirates and Xsotan on hazard zone trigger when destroying freighters by 75%
• Reduced max velocity of NPC ships closer to the galaxy center
• Improved influence of positive perks of captains on operations
• Captains can't have more negative than positive perks anymore
• Most missions now additionally give resources as reward
• Bounty Hunt missions now improve relations to commissioning factions

Mining & Salvage Operation

"We added some clarity about the mining and salvaging operations, how they work and how to best fine-tune them for maximum yields. This, plus some QoL additions targeted at larger fleets."

• Delivery interval is now 15 minutes for durations of 30 minutes or 1h
• Added an option for immediate delivery
• Added a new "Area Efficiency" line to show how good/bad the area is
• Discovered asteroid/wreckage fields now boost area efficiency
• Implemented mining & salvaging support from escorts
• Escorts now mine/salvage, too, if they have the equipment for it
• Increased maximum duration that Miners and Scavengers can be sent on an operation from up to 6h to up to 8h
• They get a flat +0.5h bonus and each tier now gives +1h (up from 0.5h)
• Reduced time taken to refine
• Increased mining yields in outer faction area by 50%
• Resource asteroid/wreckage setting in Free Play mode now affects Mining & Salvage Operations
• Mining subsystems now boost mining yields
• They have the largest effect in areas with few asteroids

Other Operations

"Some balancing adjustments for the other operations. Also fixed some bugs, which you'll find more down below in the Bugfixes section."

• Increased area size of Scout operation from 15x15 to 21x21
• Scout Operation now reveals estimations about the amount of asteroids and wreckages
• Scout Operation is now 60% faster per sector
• Reduced general pirate attack chance in outer faction area
• Operations related to trading now improve relations to the local faction
• Increased gains from Expedition to make it more viable in early game

Galaxy Map

"We improved the general feel of sending your ships away - they shouldn't feel like they're completely gone."

• Added more buttons for showing/hiding different ships (distinguishes between "on screen" and "on operation")
• Ships are no longer automatically hidden from the list when sent on an operation
• Ships now get their area highlighted when going on an operation
• Added a checkbox to toggle those areas
• Adjusted some descriptions in map commands for improved clarity
• Sectors can now additionally be tagged with an icon when adding a note
• Map orders can now be given to ships piloted by a player

UI

"Much clarity stuff, and some more quality of life. Using pre-2.0 builds should now be a lot easier."

• Added arrows that show if a selection can be scrolled further up or down
• Wormholes selected in Strategy Mode now show their distance
• Changed colors of symbols indicating enemy strength to make them better distinguishable from one another
• Adjusted text in subsystems tab to hint towards functional blocks
• Added a different background for functional blocks
• Added more loading screen hints about captains, commands, processing power and more
• Renamed captain's level 0 to level 1
• Added the captain icon to captain mission
• Improved looks of blocks in block icons
• Added a slider to saved designs window in Build Mode to scale a design 2 slots up or down
• Adjusted names of orders in orderchain window for improved clarity
• Added explanation to max ship size slider in Free Play
• Updated "Build 5 slot ship" milestone in Player Profile to reflect Titanium Building Knowledge now allowing up to 5 slots
• Captain assessments in operation UI are now colored yellow or orange if they contain warnings
• Improved autopilot and craft orders interaction window
• Improved German, French, Russian, Japanese and Chinese localization

Bugfixes

"We got tons of feedback and bug reports, thanks for all the commitment! As usual, User Bug Reports reported through our in-game bug reporting tool are marked with [UBR] below."

• [UBR] Fixed a crash in Eliminating Rivals mission
• [UBR] Fixed a crash in Propaganda Materials mission
• [UBR] Fixed a crash in Display of Strength mission
• [UBR] Fixed a crash in Shes Innocent! mission
• [UBR] Fixed a crash in A Lost Friend mission
• [UBR] Fixed a crash in The Guardian mission
• [UBR] Fixed a crash in Wanted Dead, Not Alive mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where NPCs that were needed by missions ran away after they were damaged
• [UBR] Mined ores and scrap are no longer tagged as stolen when picked up by someone else after the reservation timer runs out
• [UBR] Fixed a crash in Refine AI Command
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where player-built shipyards sold building knowledge even though the player didn't have it yet
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the trade command income scaled infinitely with the used ship's cargo bay
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where building knowledge didn't unlock on servers that first had it disabled, then enabled
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the engine drained too much power after a hyperspace jump
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the energy system didn't drain energy for a few seconds when going into drain
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where torpedoes and other icons weren't displayed properly
• [UBR] Fixed a bug in asteroid field generation
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in simplified simulation where ships would always boost and always hit no matter their energy, distance from target or reach of their weapons
• [UBR] Fixed pirate attack event not finishing properly sometimes when pirates flee
• Fixed an issue where recalled ships didn't return when a certain script crashed
• Fixed an issue where max amount of items gained from salvaging could be unlimited
• Fixed Mining Operation wrongly declaring enemy faction sectors as safe
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where cooldown of hyperspace engine could go to 0, leading to unexpected issues and crashes
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where it was possible to jump over rifts
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where some special characters weren't properly captitalized
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where normal hull wasn't available in turret design mode
• Fixed an issue where changes in material weren't reflected in costs of saved designs window
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where alliance ships couldn't escort other alliance ships
• [UBR] Fixed some issues in sell/procure commands where they took too long for simple tasks
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in procure command where attack chance was 60 times too high (whoops)
• Fixed alliance ships being marked with wrong colors
• Fixed an issue where the Procurement Contract UI wasnt reset correctly
• Fixed Typos
• [UBR] Fixed a bug where the autopilot would continue its last order after player leaves the ship
• Fixed a bug where captain tooltips had some lines missing in restock and expedition operations' UI
• [UBR] Fixed an issue that led to thrusters always firing when 'always turn ship' option was active
• [UBR] Fixed Saved Designs Window being empty on reopen

[ 2021-08-11 10:18:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! These are the preliminary patch notes for update 2.0! There is much, much more that has happened and as always the devil is in the details! We're only listing the most important changes here for now. We'd like to encourage you to check out the update yourselves and see for yourselves how things have improved! Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

General Gameplay

"So much has happened! It's far too much to list in these notes for now, so we'll only list the biggest changes! We had plenty of balancing changes as well, and we'll keep an eye on things to make sure that things stay smooth!"

• Added a "Free Play" Scenario
• Added repair with credits only at Repair Docks
• Fixed an error in the name-translator of other ships and stations
• Names of NPC ships & stations should now be more pronounceable
• Added more diverse civil Ships
• Added ambient shuttles that populate the sector
• Added more named weapons
• Added a secret boss fight
• Added a new procedural bounty hunting mission
• Added lights to some containers
• Added a shortcut to the Exodus story mission
• Added Towing instead of Reconstruction Tokens
• Added a device to rename sectors
• Removed cargo shuttles, factories can now trade amount each other in-sector through the civilian shuttles
• Added a pirate loot transporter
• Added a few easter eggs
• Torpedoes can now drop as loot
• Added strength indicators for enemies
• Added a Travel Hub to do longer jumps
• Made flight AI of ships in combat more reckless and engaging
• Added several new sound effects for weapon & other loot pickup
• Improved the introduction mission for the Strategy Mode
• Improved the introduction mission for Trading
• Added a mission to track progress of the Xsotan Swarm Event
• Added some trading goods that can be dropped during R-Mining & R-Salvaging
• Improved names of turrets and upgrades
• Added pirate carriers
• Added tons of cool other stuff

Balancing

"Just like the other changes, a lot has happened here and we're listing on the most important ones! You should check out the other topics for some balancing changes that were made there."

• Improved rewards of nearly all missions
• Reduced number of claimable asteroids, increased their value
• Upgrades start to drop once they're starting to be useful (ie. no shield-upgrades in Iron & Titanium regions, etc.)
• Massively increased capacity of battery blocks
• Added one imbalance to test our community & bug reporters
• Reduced amount of processing power required for Subsystem Sockets 4 and up

UI Redesign

"We all know it was necessary, and things look so much better now! We hope you enjoy it just as much as we do!"

• Improved the looks of the UI
• You don't know how much I'd love to go on about this, but you should instead just check it out yourselves :)
• Added several color-blind modes
• Colorblind people: Please provide feedback if things are clearer now, we'd like to know if there is still stuff to improve!
• Added a detailed sector overview
• Added several Galaxy Map improvements
• Added pinging on the Galaxy Map
• Added a setting to reveal your position to others
• Added a toggle between faction & relation colors on the map
• Added many hints about buttons and controls
• Improved camera controls in StrategyMode & GalaxyMap
• Improved UI of craft weaponry

Auto-Targeting

"No more 50% penalty but full control over which turrets should fire independently!"

• Removed the 50% damage penalty from automatic turrets
• Added new kinds of turret slots:
• Defensive (for PDCs)
• Auto Slots (for automatic turrets)
• Turrets can now be configured to be automatically firing
• Added new subsystems for automatic turrets, updated existing subsystems

New Progression

"The new progession is meant to challenge you on your way to the center of the galaxy. Players will be required to prove themselves in a new area before they can get their hands on the new building knowledge. But if you don't like that, you can just go for Avorion Classic!"

• Building blocks now requires Building Knowledge about their material, which you can find over the course of the game
• Either beat a strong pirate or boss encounter in the respective area, or
• Achieve good relations with a faction and buy the knowledge at one of their shipyards in the respective area
• Building Knowledge grants you the ability to build up to a certain material and subsystem socket number (read: Processing Power)
• Processing Power
• Made Processing Power of the ship more visual
• Improved clarity about what Processing Power does and what blocks increase it
• Added a "Classic Avorion" Scenario, which has full Building Knowledge unlocked from the start

Crew Rework

"Hiring crew was sometimes a rather tedious task, and the amount of crew necessary for some ships was a little overwhelming. With 2.0, we want to give you the options of either having a more bare-bones crew on the ship or investing in a fully functional crew that will boost your ship's performance to 200%!"

• Reduced the amount of crew necessary to keep the ship running at basic capacity
• Only half the crew is necessary now
• Adjusted salary accordingly
• Reduced the amount of workforce that is necessary to push a ship's performance to 100%
• Ship performance of engine and mechanics can now be boosted to up to 200%
• Boost in velocity is now reflected in velocity display on top of the HUD
• Ranks are now assigned automatically by your crewmembers
• Ranks are now among the crew and no longer separate professions
• Morale decays more quickly once there is an issue on the ship
• Morale will only start to impact workforce once it arrives at 0%
• Morale no longer leads to the crew leaving the ship, but instead going on strike

Map Commands

"More work for your captains - less for you! With the new map commands you can now easily send your ship on a longer mission to collect resources, trade, explore and more!"

• Changed the map commands to be easier to use and less finnicky
• Map commands require a captain, who will then take full control of the ship
• The ship won't be available during that time, unless recalled
• Added the following new commands:
• Mine
• Salvage
• Travel
• Sell
• Procure
• Trade
• Supply
• Expedition
• Scout
• Restock
• Refine
• Added regular yields that the captains of the ships will send to you

Captains

"We gave captains more character - and a class. And traits. And levels."

• Added new kinds of captains with various classes, perks and traits
• Captains can now level up
• Captains now give bonuses to the ship, depending on their class
• Multiple captains can be taken on the ship as passengers
• Added a new mission that ends with a high-tier captain

Fighter Rework

"We want the carrier-playstyle to be more of a specialization that's worth it - so we're making things easier but we'll also require you to specialize your ship more to, uh, carrier more."

• Added grouping of Squads
• Fighters are now remote controlled, pilots stay on the ship and won't get lost on destruction
• Fighters can now boost when they start flying longer distances
• Reduced fighter production costs by 50%
• Carriers need subsystems on board for more than 1 squad
• Added a new subsystem for fighter squads
• Added a fighter skin that can be applied to an entire squad
• Performance Improvements
• Improved rendering performance when fighters are deployed
• Improved networking performance of the mothership

Autopilot

"Every ship now has an autopilot that will take over when you give it an order, especially when you're sitting in it."

• Ships can now always be controlled as long as they're in the same sector as you
• Ships won't require a captain for basic commands any longer
• When commanding your own ship the Autopilot of the ship kicks in

Central/Outer Faction Area

"To give the factions on the map more feeling of actual civilizations, they'll now have a central and outer region in their area. More commerce in the inner regions, more outlawnessness (is that a word?) in the outer regions."

• Added a differentiation between inner and outer faction areas
• Inner Faction Area
• Secure, many factories, densely populated, lots of commerce and trade
• Outer Faction Area
• Less secure, more empty sectors with resources, less populated, somewhat more dangerous, less activity
• Improved characteristics of factions, depending on the faction

Tutorial & Encyclopedia Improvements

"We brought the tutorial more up to date and made it easier for new players to start out in this complex game."

• Streamlined Tutorial and brought it more up-to-date
• Improved integration of Encyclopedia into first few hours of the game
• Added many new Encyclopedia articles

Player Profile

"You can now keep track of your achieved milestones and possibilities of what's to come in the Player Profile!"

• Added a player profile to keep track of your progress
• Milestones in player profile show what you've achieved and what things are still to come

Hyperspace Improvements

"You know a feature isn't really top-quality when people Alt-Tab out of your game to do something else while waiting for hyperspace cooldown. So we made Hyperspace Travel more engaging and fun, and most importantly: Less annoying!"

• Hyperspace calculations can now be done over multiple jumps without reopening the galaxy map
• Hyperspace jumps require you to charge the jump drive before jumping, instead of after jumping
• This prevents players getting stuck without being aware that something like that could even happen
• Hyperspace jump cooldown is now max. 60s for all ships
• Reduced hyperspace jump range boosts through upgrades and blocks
• Hyperspace jump cooldown can be reduced by boosting towards the next jump point

Miscellaneous

"Hooray if you made it all the way down here! As a reward, have a few more things that were impactful enough to be worth mentioning in this wall of text."

• Added changing of root block
• Added a key to save designs from main menu
• Added a filter to saved designs window to filter by "Can I build this right now"
• Added a free camera in build mode

Bugfixes

"We actually fixed way, way more bugs than those, but those were the most important ones. So we're listing them here to shame them."

• Fixed an issue where multiple blocks could exist in the same space, leading to highly exploitable ship designs
• Fixed an issue where all factions of the map would be kept in memory all the time
• Fixed several issues with AI just turning, but not flying
• Fixed an issue where Swoks would not attack when shot at
• Fixed several issues where named weapons were a little underwhelming
• Fixed an issue where weapon hits would be desynced between client & server
• Fixed an issue with the Avorion window icon
• Fixed an issue with wrong proportion of factory storage
• Fixed an issue with factory production display
• Fixed an issue when ships won't fit through wormholes/gates
• Fixed an issue where ship wasn't properly deleted when deleting all blocks
• Fixed an issue where some ships couldn't be commanded after restoring a backup
• Fixed an issue where mod window didn't scale properly with UI scaling enabled
• Fixed some issues with target reticles not being drawn properly once too far away
• Fixed many more bugs that we might list here at a later time.
• Probably not, though, because who reads this stuff anyway?
• Fixed several UI issues

[ 2021-07-28 14:11:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! All the planned improvements have been implemented, the coffee has been drunk and the hype is reaching the limits! That is why we will keep it short today: We will start the Update 2.0 Beta tomorrow! We will inform you about the exact start time separately tomorrow. Until then, you can prepare some snacks and put the energy drinks in the fridge, because it's going to start soon!

[ 2021-07-27 15:52:26 CET ] [ Original post ]

Fighters

We all know them - we all love them: Fighters! The only problem is that our little helpers have brought a lot of work with them until now. We want to improve on that front with Update 2.0 and save you a lot of time! Lets start with the fact that the fighter pilots will no longer sit in the fighter itself, but will stay on your carrier and control the fighters remotely. That way you no longer have to worry about your pilots constantly dying in combat and won't have to look for replacements anymore! Starting with update 2.0 you will get one skin per squad and not per fighter. The new system will introduce rendering performance improvements when fighters are deployed, and network performance improvements for the mothership when they arent. And on top of that: Fighters will only cost 50% of resources to produce in the future, plus they'll start boosting when flying longer distances! Yaaay! Insiders know that Fighters can be SUPER OP, so well have to introduce some restrictions, too, sorry! In order to equip your ship with more than one squad of fighters, you will need the right subsystems installed. We want to make the carrier playstyle easier, but it will require more specialization of your ship. 10 squads on a full carrier are equal to 40 turrets! So the effort will definitely be worth it! We will also keep an eye on this feature and tweak it some more if necessary. Finally, one more community request: Fighter squads can be grouped now!

Cargo shuttles

Cargo shuttles the way you know them now will be removed. The effort behind them is too time-consuming and nerve-wrecking. Well replace the cargo shuttles with NPC shuttles to reduce the effort for transporting goods between factories. NPC shuttles will automatically fly between the factories youve configured to trade with each other. You will no longer have to hire pilots, create hangars and so on... And last but not least: We are planning to start the beta for update 2.0 next week! ;)

[ 2021-07-20 15:15:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! You have actively posted your game suggestions for Avorion in our forum and voted for them. At this point, first of all, thank you from the whole team, it makes us very happy to see how much passion you all bring in! So here's a summary of the suggestions that made it into Update 2.0:
*Right click on the Screenshot - Open in new tab*

Directly implemented suggestions:

• Build mode: set root block manually
• Free camera in build mode
• Optionally selectable: show faction colors instead of relationships on the galaxy map
• Ships calling for help die too fast
• Captain, do this. Even if I am there / command your own ship - activate autopilot
• Improvements to Legendary turrets
• Pirate Carriers
• Improve the storage proportioning of the factories

Indirectly Implemented Suggestions:

• Fighter speed (Has been improved in the Fighter Rework)
• Easy applying of a fighter skin to a squad (Has been improved in the Fighter Rework)
• Easier configuration of factory to factory trade (e.g. cargo shuttles, supply command)
• Easier supply of torpedoes (torpedo loot drops)
• Difficulty options update (scenario: free play)
• We really need a better repair system (Towing service)
• Bulletin board improvements (Has been improved with the sector overview)

Unfortunately we can't take over all your ideas,since sometimes they do not match with our vision of Avorion. Nevertheless, we have added tons of smaller improvements, which would go beyond the limits of this post. We have implemented for example a workshop filter to select materials according to already learned material knowledge and improved the unbranding of stolen goods. In addition, the trading subsystems have been buffed so that low rarities are now more effective. It is definitely worthwhile to visit the forum from time to time, to suggest and vote, maybe next time your personal favorite will be on the list! https://forum.avorion.net/index.php?/forum/8-suggestions-idea-voting/

[ 2021-07-13 15:37:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Loot Transporter

Getting really good loot usually takes a bit of work... With Update 2.0, we're making it a little easier for you, as the Loot Transporter is a sure way to know that there's some really great stuff to be captured! The transporter sometimes travels with pirates and is responsible for transporting the loot of their raids. You can imagine what he has in his bags! Since he has a lot to haul, there was unfortunately no room on his ship for turrets, so he makes a relatively quick getaway as soon as you attack him. The lucky ones among you who manage to destroy his ship despite the restricted time limit will be rewarded with a bunch of valuable loot!

Ship Reconstruction

Who has never wrecked a ship? Nobody, probably. In such a case, the well-known reconstruction token is usually the first thing you need to get the destroyed ship ready to go again - as long as you have a token at that time. We would like to make this feature less complicated and more comprehensible, so it should be easier to understand for Avorion beginners in the future. The tokens will no longer exist starting with Update 2.0, instead we are implementing a new Towing Service at Repair Docks! In the future you will be able to simply fly to a Repair Dock and ask them to pick up the broken ship. The ship will then be brought to you and made ready to use (read: quickly cobbled together) again for a small price, so that you can immediately continue flying! Some additional repairs might be necessary, though. Good thing youre already at a Repair Dock. If you don't feel like looking for a Repair Dock first, you can purchase a Reconstruction Kit. With those you can make your ship ready to fly again on the (destruction) spot. Youll be immediately ready to go, but will need a few more repairs.

[ 2021-07-06 14:01:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! The big update 2.0 is nearly done and we are working on the last few open points! Wed like to use this weeks announcement to update our development roadmap and show you the progress that weve made:

DONE:

• Better UI visuals
• New progression system based on knowledge for different materials
• Scenario: "Classic Avorion" without the new progression
• Improvements to Independent Targeting
• Removal of the 50% damage penalty
• Amount of independently firing turrets can be increased with various existing and new upgrades
• Less micro-intensive commanding of ships
• 10 new or updated commands (ie. go fly a trade route, go salvage, go explore)
• Captains with classes & perks
• Improved performance for remotely operating ships
• Bounties on Bulletin Boards
• More civilian ships for improved flair
• Improved visuals for busy sectors
• Tons of QoL
• More diverse faction areas on the galaxy map
• Central vs. outer regions where different rules apply
• Player Profile w/ Milestones
• Crew Improvements
• QoL; Sergeant, Lieutenant, etc. will be ranks within professions and no longer separate professions
• Hyperspace Jump Improvements
• QoL; Improvements to game flow, jumps, reduction of waiting times
• Fighter Improvements
• QoL; Fighters will be remote-controlled, will support boosting, will be cheaper to build but require stricter preconditions to have them on the ship
• Autopilots
• Scenario: "Free Play" that can be configured to your individual liking
• Torpedo loot drops
• Improvements to the tutorial
• Listing of build mode features & "tricks" in the encyclopedia

IN WORK:

• A Secret Boss
• Various community-requested & QoL features
• Updates to the Encyclopedia
• Polishing, Bugfixing

STILL TO DO:

• Nothing - we dont have any other big topics that were not already working on! :)

Release Roadmap

So by now, youve probably realized that Update 2.0 wont release in Q2. The good news is that the big topics are done (hooray!) and were currently still working out some last kinks and bugs. As weve stated in another announcement a few weeks ago, game development is highly iterative (compared to regular software development) and we dont want to burn our 5-person dev team out. That wouldnt help anybody. We dont want to ruin the 2.0 update hype with a buggy and rushed release. Also, were currently deciding which community-suggested features well be adding to the game, so go vote on our forum, if you havent already! So whats coming next? One thing we can promise: It wont be too much longer! Right now we're doing stress-testing, PR stuff like a trailer and informing influencers and media, etc. Over the coming weeks, well get some closed beta-testing started (if we decide to include some community members, you will definitely hear from us), followed by the update being made available on the beta branch, just like any other regular release. After it performs well on beta, itll be released to the default branch. See you next week!

[ 2021-06-29 17:16:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

Autopilot

It has happened to everyone at some point: you try to dock at the station and the nose of your ship nudges the airlock but it still isnt properly docked. The procedure should actually be much easier. And this is where the autopilot comes into play! In the future, you will be able to select your target station in strategy mode and simply give your ship the command to head for it. Docking is completely automatic! Additionally, the autopilot is capable of many other cool things: Have you ever wished you could just sit back and watch your ship do its thing? With the autopilot, that's no longer a problem! As long as you are in the same sector as your ship, you can, for example, instruct it to fly across the sector, mine an asteroid, or even attack someone. While your ship carries out the order, you just relax and enjoy the show! However, you need to be in the same sector as your ship to use this feature. To give orders to ships in other sectors you will still need a captain. And, as we all know, accomplished captains are way too proud to let an autopilot do their work for them ;)

Sector Overview and Sector Renaming

How many stations have you clicked through to find the right crew members? Probably quite a few... In the future, we would like to make both the search for the right crew members as well as the buying and selling of goods easier and more convenient for you. With update 2.0 we improved the sector overview to allow you to find out much faster which station in the sector has exactly what you are looking for! Simply switch to Strategy Mode and look through the available stations to get an overview of which goods are bought or sold, which missions are available, and which crew members you can find at which station. Afterwards you only have to select the station, fly there and save a lot of time! While we're on the subject of sectors: Be sure to stop by an Equipment Dock and pick up the new Sector Label Applicator! Once you have activated it in a sector of your choosing, a beacon will appear and you can give the sector a new name. You can rename the sector as often as you like using the same beacon, as long as nobody destroys it. However, the label applicator only works in sectors that are controlled by you or your alliance, after all, you don't want the name of a sector to incite a war with the locals.

[ 2021-06-22 09:32:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

After performing well on the beta branch, patch 1.3.8 is now live on default! It introduces Japanese and French as officially supported languages and brings several quality-of-life improvements and stability improvements.

Languages

"As our community is growing all over the world, we want to support more languages. In this patch we happily introduce the new supported languages of French and Japanese."

• Added French localization
• Added Japanese localization

General

• Torpedo shafts can now fire when not assigned to a group
• Reduced default size of damage numbers
• Improved performance of durability weakness effects
• Improved performance of line break algorithm
• Implemented a setting for servers to enforce steam networking and not fall back to TCP protocols

Scripting API

• Implemented a prototype functionality to enumerate all values in an Enum
• Enums can now be converted to a table via enumerate() (ie. BlockType.enumerate())

Bugs

"As always, bugs marked with [UBR] are User Bug Reports, submitted through our in-game bug tracker. Thanks very much for helping and keep 'em coming!"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where all players end up in the same sector once 3000+ players are registered
• Fixed an issue where safe mode was always on (even when turned off) when transforming a shipyard-requiring block into a non-shipyard requiring block without a shipyard in the sector
• Fixed an issue where colors weren't correctly translated in building mode
• Fixed an issue where hyperspace engine didn't go on cooldown properly when changing reach
• Fixed an issue where upgrades of ships could disappear through breaking blocks
• Fixed an issue where clicking coordinates in chat was possible while mouse was visible or obscured by windows
• Fixed an issue where the Hermit Dialog wasn't shown when another player already spawned Swoks in that sector
• Fixed an issue where Exodus Mission wasn't updating correctly
• Fixed a crash in /run command when called from RCON or console
• Fixed a crash when saving script data of players
• Fixed an issue where players could leave the ship into the drone while building in tutorial
• Fixed a GPU memory leak

[ 2021-06-15 09:30:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Crew Improvements

Searching for specific crew members can be annoying and time-consuming at times. Especially when you have already flown across several sectors to hire the correct crew members, only to realize that youre now suddenly missing a general. Thats why we have improved the way that higher-ranking officers are handled, so that in the future you will no longer have to fly to countless stations to man your ship effectively. First off, we removed the separate professions for higher ranking officers. As soon as the number of crew members of a certain profession increases so much that they now require a superior officer, your crew will automatically promote one of their colleagues from within this profession to a higher rank. We have also made the crew more effective. Compared to before, you will only need half as many crew members to get your ship ready for action because each of them now has double the workforce. But good employees come at a price and the new crew knows what they are worth and demand a salary twice as high as before. In turn, they are also willing to work under harsher conditions. Lower morale will no longer have an immediate effect on the workforce, even though morale will decrease somewhat faster than before if you dont have enough crew quarters or if you dont pay your crew. But if you do let morale go down all the way to 0% (you should feel ashamed for treating them so poorly!), all crew members on your ship will go on strike immediately. However, they will not leave the ship any more but simply refuse to work until the problem has been resolved.

Faction Areas

We want to make the factions more interesting and give them more depth. Currently, the factions consist of a simple territory and that does not match our idea of growing and living civilizations. In the future, each faction will therefore have a central area and an outer area which will look and feel distinctly different from each other. Each faction has a central area around the home sector that is very densely populated and has certain advantages for you. There are better trading options due to the many factories and other stations that are well connected by a close-meshed gate network. In addition, the central areas of the factions are very well protected, making pirate attacks in these areas less likely. The outer faction area is rather sparsely populated, however sectors like asteroid fields or other (more or less welcome) surprises are much more likely in there. In most cases, when moving into the territory of an unknown faction, you will first enter their outer area where you will encounter only a few of their ships and stations. There, you can assess them to decide whether you want to venture deeper into their territory to possibly find new allies, or if youd rather stay away from them. PS: The improved faction areas are compatible with existing saves!

[ 2021-06-08 13:29:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

Player Profile

Some things you achieve in Avorion are just too good not to be appreciated. Have you maybe defeated a certain boss or founded a mine on an asteroid? Or maybe youre a new player feeling a little lost in the vastness of space and dont know where exactly to start? This is why were introducing the new player profile, which will show you some things you should definitely try, and will remember the milestones you have reached, to give both new players and veterans inspiration for new goals. This means that, should you ever feel like you dont know what to do next, you can look here for ideas for new challenges. Or if youre feeling like taking a look back on your journey, this is where you can.

Hyperspace-Travel Improvements

[previewyoutube=uNKQrTERc5M;full][/previewyoutube] We want Hyperspace Travel to feel better and be less boring for mid & late-game ships. We want it to feel more like a journey and less like a teleport-here. To do this, were 1. massively reducing hyperspace cooldown time, 2. reducing hyperspace jump range gains from hyperspace cores and upgrades (dont worry, overall travel times will be a lot shorter, even with reduced jump range!). To get things started, it will be easier to travel to sectors that are further away than your jump range. You will be able to select any (non-rift) sector and your ship will automatically calculate a straight route of sectors to the destination. When arriving in an intermediate sector, you will be able to simply continue the journey without having to reopen the map to select new jump coordinates. We also want to avoid people getting stranded in a new sector with no energy. New players especially fall into this frustrating trap. Thats why were reducing the total amount of energy required for a jump, and instead of cooling the hyperspace drive after the jump, the energy will now be required to charge up the hyperspace drive to jump. To perform the jump, youll now have to boost towards the blue jump marker. Your ship will then charge up its hyperdrive and start to glow. We added some nice visuals and SFX so you can really get a feel of the immense forces required to move a solid, heavy ship through hyperspace! So jumping will require less energy in total now, and instead need a big spike of energy over a very short period of time. Thats why we also greatly improved battery blocks (since you might need them ;) ), giving these underappreciated blocks some more value. Finally, to make travel feel more fluent with bigger ships, you will be able to speed up hyperspace cooldown even more by prematurely boosting towards the jump point. This is meant as a high-end luxury though and will consume lots of energy.

[ 2021-06-01 11:01:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're introducing official French and Japanese localizations, and while we're already at it, fixing a few bugs. Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Languages

"As our community is growing all over the world, we want to support more languages. In this patch we happily introduce the new supported languages of French and Japanese."

• Added French localization
• Added Japanese localization

General

• Torpedo shafts can now fire when not assigned to a group
• Reduced default size of damage numbers
• Improved performance of durability weakness effects
• Improved performance of line break algorithm
• Implemented a prototype functionality to enumerate all values in an Enum
• Enums can now be converted to a table via enumerate() (ie. BlockType.enumerate())
• Implemented a setting for servers to enforce steam networking and not fall back to TCP protocols

Bugs

"As always, bugs marked with [UBR] are User Bug Reports, submitted through our in-game bug tracker. Thanks very much for helping and keep 'em coming!"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where all players end up in the same sector once 3000+ players are registered
• Fixed an issue where safe mode was always on (even when turned off) when transforming a shipyard-requiring block into a non-shipyard requiring block without a shipyard in the sector
• Fixed an issue where colors weren't correctly translated in building mode
• Fixed an issue where hyperspace engine didn't go on cooldown properly when changing reach
• Fixed an issue where upgrades of ships could disappear through breaking blocks
• Fixed an issue where clicking coordinates in chat was possible while mouse was visible or obscured by windows
• Fixed an issue where the Hermit Dialog wasn't shown when another player already spawned Swoks in that sector
• Fixed an issue where Exodus Mission wasn't updating correctly
• Fixed a GPU memory leak

[ 2021-05-25 11:19:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! This time we would have loved to show you some fancy new screenshots but sadly were currently in a development phase where we cant show any because the assets arent ready yet. Instead, wed like to show you our development progress towards the 2.0 update! These are the most important things we want to have in update 2.0, and at the same time our development progress.

DONE:

• Better UI visuals
• New progression system based on knowledge for different materials
• Scenario: "Classic Avorion" without the new progression
• Improvements to Independent Targeting
  • Removal of the 50% damage penalty
  • Amount of independently firing turrets can be increased with various existing and new upgrades
• Less micro-intensive commanding of ships
  • 10 new or updated commands (ie. go fly a trade route, go salvage, go explore)
  • Captains with classes & perks
  • Improved performance for remotely operating ships
• Bounties on Bulletin Boards
• More civilian ships for improved flair
• Improved visuals for busy sectors
• Tons of QoL

IN WORK:

• More diverse faction areas on the galaxy map
  • Central vs. outer regions where different rules apply
• Player Profile w/ Milestones
• Crew Improvements
  • QoL; Sergeant, Lieutenant, etc. will be ranks within professions and no longer separate professions
• Hyperspace Jump Improvements
  • QoL; Improvements to game flow, jumps, reduction of waiting times
• Fighter Improvements
  • QoL; Fighters will be remote controlled, will support boosting, will be cheaper to build but require stricter preconditions to have them on the ship
• Autopilots

TODO:

• Scenario: "Free Play" that can be configured to your individual liking
• Torpedo loot drops
• Improvements to the tutorial
• Listing of build mode features & "tricks" in the encyclopedia
• Various community-requested & QoL features
• Polishing, Bugfixing

We know youre all super stoked (we are, too!) for a release date, and we will announce the date once we know for sure that we can meet it. The update is set to release in Q2 2021 and our 5 people dev team is working hard to achieve that. The reality is that were still working from home (thanks Corona) and game development is a highly iterative and sometimes unpredictable process. In the past weve experienced that trying to meet deadlines by force leads to crunch, stress, exhaustion, and thus poor quality and bugs. We as a studio want to avoid all of the above for the 2.0 update (and also in general, duh) so this time well take a when its done approach. We want this update to be amazing and live up to the hype! Well continue sharing progress about the development over the next few weeks! See you then!

[ 2021-05-18 11:49:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

When you scroll through the Avorion Workshop, you will find an insane collection of creative, unusual and very funny ships! You constantly have new creations and impress us with your ideas again and again! Therefore we would like to make a little competition out of it and reward the coolest constructions! The theme for your ships should be the following for this event:

Food

Create the most delicious hot dogs or the most amazing sushi rolls, whatever comes to your mind, we are looking forward to it! Let your creativity run wild and surprise us with your ideas! At the end of the event, we will raffle Avorion merch worth 50 to the best ship design, so it's worth participating ;) The event will take place through our Discord server, so join quickly: https://discord.gg/ebwtqkQ As soon as you have built your ship, upload it to the workshop and post the link in the --Event-Entries-- channel. And that's it! The event will end on 30.06.2021, so everyone has enough time to put the finishing touches on their masterpiece. The winner will be officially announced in the Discord Channel and notified via DM. We are looking forward to your ideas and your participation! Let the Food War begin!

[ 2021-05-11 07:53:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Captains & Commands

With the introduction of the new captains, we also improved the way you can give orders to your ships. Whenever you order your captains to carry out a command, you will need to select an area for them to work in. They will analyze that area and they will predict how successful they will be. This depends on several factors such as the individual abilities of the captain, the likelihood of the ship being attacked in that area, and whether the area is suitable for the specific command in general. To see the pictures in full resolution, right-click on them and select "Open Image in new tab"!

More Work for your Captains - Less for You

You will only need to give one order to get a captain to carry out a complex task, for example when you command a ship to travel from one side of the galaxy to the other. Depending on the equipment of the ship, you can order your captains to go mining or salvaging, and you can tell them how long they should be gone for and which materials to return with. If the ships have ores on board, the captains can take them to a refinery for you, and if they have torpedo storage, they can go and acquire torpedoes. Are you simply curious about what might happen to your captains if you just send them out into the great unknown? You can give them the order to scout in a new region or send them on an expedition and they will tell you about their adventures and share their loot with you when they get back. Those of you that are ready to build up a trading empire can use their captains to procure certain goods or to sell some of the wares they already have on board. And if you already have a bunch of stations, your captains will be able to supply them with goods that the factories require to produce.

Escorts and More

We know that there are some quite dangerous regions in the galaxy, and your captains dont need to brave all difficulties on their own. You can have your ships escort each other, making it less likely to get attacked while carrying out a command. And then you will be on your way to having the most effective fleet in the galaxy!

[ 2021-05-04 18:05:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Building Knowledge

Today well give you some info on the new progression system! We want the journey towards the center of the galaxy to be more challenging. From now on, youll have to unlock Building Knowledge about each new material (starting with Naonite, youll start out with knowledge about Iron and Titanium) before youll be able to use it for ship building. Unlocking the next material will also unlock the ability to build bigger ships with higher subsystem socket numbers. There will be different ways to get your hands on above Building Knowledge. In any case, we want players to prove themselves in a new area before they can unlock the next building tier. You can get the knowledge for the next material by either beating a boss in the area or a difficult pirate encounter. In case youre not the fighting type you can also buy the building knowledge at a shipyard from an allied faction in the specific region.

Processing Power Revisited

Building Knowledge will not only allow you to use the materials, but the higher-material knowledge you acquire, the more functional blocks you will be able to add to your ships. Adding functional blocks will not only increase the processing power but also the number of subsystem sockets of your crafts. This has always been part of the game, but now were visualizing it better. While taking a hard look at the processing power requirements for subsystem sockets we realized that some number tweaking might be necessary, so from now on youll unlock new upgrade sockets earlier (less processing power required)!

Existing Saves & Avorion Classic Scenario

Finally, the new progression will only be active for newly created galaxies. All your old savegames will remain the way they are. In case youre not a fan of the new progression and prefer the more sandboxy approach, we are also going to introduce a new Classic Avorion scenario which allows you to play without the new progression. Whenever you create a new galaxy you will be able to select the option in the main menu.

[ 2021-04-20 15:30:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Captains Classes

We noticed that hiring captains used to be a bland affair that was necessary but rather boring. This did not go in accordance with our vision of the game. The new captains will have up to two classes, for example Merchant, or Scavenger, with their own individual capabilities. Captains will gain experience when completing commands, and leveling up will make them even more effective.

Captains Perks and Quirks

To show that each captain has their own personality, we also added character traits that make each captain special. These traits influence how well a captain is able to perform a certain task, so always make sure to put the right person on a certain job! Which captains you will be able to hire depends on at which stations you look for them and how much you are willing to pay. But dont worry: none of the new captains will be able to do less than the old captains, but many of them will be capable of doing so much more! Stay tuned for another Update 2.0 news flash next week!

[ 2021-04-13 12:36:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changes and Improvements

We (and you, we know) arent completely happy with the way independent targeting is handled at the moment, so we went ahead and implemented some direly needed changes. Lets start off with the most important change: turrets set to auto targeting will no longer deal -50% damage! The 2.0 Update will allow you to set a certain number of turrets to independent targeting, based on a slot system. We also made it easier to keep an eye on the turret slots you have available, showing which turrets need multiple slots and what kinds of slots are still unoccupied.

PDC Turret Slots

PDCs no longer use up military slots but are put into their own PDC slots, called Defensive slots. There will be specific subsystems that increase the number of PDCs you can install, but most other turret control systems will also add defensive slots. All PDCs will automatically have independent targeting enabled, so you wont have to trade any slots or other firepower for defensive weapons. Stay tuned for another Update 2.0 news flash next week!

[ 2021-04-06 10:51:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Inventory and Tooltips

We also added more colors to the inventory. Now it is much easier to keep track of your items of different rarities and everything has a more concise look. The window itself got a sleeker, more metallic style and the tooltips received a new paint job.

New HUD

Avorions GUI received some direly needed sprucing up and were very happy with the results. We freshened up the HUD, pulling the bars apart and adding icons to the individual bars for more clarity.

New Subsystems Tab

The old design simply did not have the high-tech look you would expect from a space game. But the new tab is not only more pleasing to the eye, it also explains much better how the volume of the ship limits the processing power and therefore the number of subsystem slots.

Further Changes

We know that our old GUI was difficult to read for people who are color blind. The 2.0 Update will introduce an option to change the color palettes of Avorion, allowing players to choose between different colorblind modes. Over the next few weeks we will be posting more Update 2.0 news flashes, so stay tuned! The entire Boxel Team wishes you a Happy Easter!

[ 2021-03-30 14:10:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's crazy how time flies! Its been a whole year already since Avorion left Early Access!
We are super happy with how things have been going! Thats why we have a little surprise for you: [previewyoutube=Mb71_NYhesM;full][/previewyoutube] Update 2.0 will introduce massive changes that will fundamentally improve many aspects of the game: - New progression system in which players acquire building knowledge of the various materials - New Classic Avorion scenario without the new progression - Fully configurable Free Play scenario - Captains with specialized talents and personalities - Improved AI orders to send your ship to go mining, trading, scouting and more - Improved UI visuals - Improvements to the independent targeting mechanics - Many QOL improvements like less micro management, easier traveling to far away sectors and crew management, autopilots, many balancing changes, UI improvements like a sector overview that shows available missions, goods and crew members of all stations, and many more! Update 2.0 will improve game mechanics that might not feel perfect at the moment. Many of these changes will make Avorion feel like a new game, that is why the title of the update will be Avorion Update 2.0. More details about the specific changes will be coming over the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

[ 2021-03-09 12:47:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Patch 1.3.7 is now live on branch default!

After performing well on the beta branch, patch 1.3.7 is now live on the default branch for everyone. You can find full patch notes for 1.3.7 and 1.3.6 here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/3022446487043326411 https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/2906474991117528927

[ 2021-02-11 13:46:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

We are hoping that you had relaxing holidays and an amazing start into the new year and that you are ready for the great news wed like to share with you! So without further ado, here it is: At the moment we are working on a large (free ;) ) update for Avorion that will introduce many new features and massively rework some aspects of the game in Q2 2021. We dont want to spill too much info at this point, but we would like to share some details to get you hyped up a bit! You all know about independent targeting and we hope you will be excited to hear that we are reworking it. In the future, you will be able to decide for yourself which of your weapons will be able to fire independently, and the damage of these weapons will no longer be reduced by 50%. There will also be changes concerning the game progression and the collection of materials. We know this sounds exciting, but you'll have to be patient for a little longer before you can discover your journey to the center all over again. Now that we have dropped some spoilers, we would like to tell you that we have thought long and hard about what we want Avorion to be like in the future and which direction we want to go to improve it! We have been taking a closer look at the gameplay and we have realized that you guys are forced to spend a lot of time on (annoying) micro-management. This is one of the things that we want to change in the future. As you know, there are countless adventures and experiences to be enjoyed in Avorion. But we have noticed that we introduced a few features in the past that only scratched the surface and that have caused the game to feel a little rough in some respects. But now its finally time to smooth those edges! This means that we might have to tackle some (annoying) gameplay mechanics and reduce their scope. We are even planning on replacing some (micro-management intensive) mechanics with more intuitive systems. Our goal is to make sure that in the future, we wont be spreading our efforts too thin and that we will be able to make our vision of the game bloom! We are looking forward to the update and we cant wait to receive your feedback! In the meantime, take a look at one of our verified servers, marked with a blue checkmark in the server list. Who knows, maybe youll find new allies there! And if you still havent read enough, check out this wormhole that leads directly to our roadmap: https://avorion.gamepedia.com/Roadmap

[ 2021-01-26 15:14:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

UI

• Shield & Hull repair rates are now factored in when sorting by damage
• Players no longer get notifications for shot down torpedoes and fighters

Misc

• Various smaller performance improvements and code cleanups

Bugfixes

"As always, bugs marked with [UBR] are User Bug Reports, submitted through our in-game bug tracker. Thanks very much for helping and keep 'em coming!"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where there were no Xsotan attacks at all happening when only Xsotan infected asteroids were in the sector
• [UBR] Fixed Adventurer not talking to player after player leaves and returns to sector in 'Torpedo Tests'
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where boarded ships couldn't be commanded or were otherwise behaving strangely
• [UBR] Fixed issues where the coordinates were swapped in the descriptions of the final Cavaliers and Family storylines
• [UBR] Fixed a crash that occured when clicking 'Show in Workshop' button in mod upload window when no mod was selected
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the end-game convoy would spawn in 0:0
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighters and turrets could have negative costs
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where some russian letters couldn't be entered as ship names
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where AI ships of players didn't fire torpedoes
• [UBR] Fixed some rounding issues in hyperspace and radar upgrades
• Fixed some issues where mining & salvaging turrets were coaxial when they shouldn't be
• Fixed several issues in mining and salvaging AI scripts
• Fixed several crashes in scripts
• Fixed several issues where missions weren't restored correctly
• Fixed several typos
• Fixed some issues in documentation

[ 2021-01-21 14:58:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

• Reduced amount of container fields in massive container field sectors to improve performance
• Note: Only applies to newly discovered sectors
• Container fields now respawn similar to asteroid fields
• Docking dock blocks with dock blocks now aligns them perfectly
• Added cooldowns of 30 minutes to story boss fights
• Made several improvements to gameplay flow of investigate missing freighters mission
• "Free Slaves" mission timer now stops after slaves have been surrendered, returning them has no time limit
• Morale drop for missing officers only happens if there are actually too many crewmen for all officers, instead of projected numbers being too high

Client

• Camera adjustment to ship now also supports back and forth (ALT + mouse wheel)
• Galaxy Map: Temporary (unstable) wormholes are now shown as yellow paths
• Building Mode: Turret designs can now also be scaled all at once
• Building Mode: Improved scale-step icon
• Building Mode: Moved workshop items that are tagged "Segment Template" to a new folder "Workshop Segment Templates"
• Improved tooltips to clarify that some items can also be reserved for AI factions
• Alliance message of the day is displayed on login
• Permanently installed, but disabled upgrades are now shown correctly in upgrades tab
• This happens when an upgrade is installed permanently and then the ship is shrunk down, disabling the used slots

Misc

• Updated localization
• Added more debugging output

Bugfixes

"As always, bugs marked with [UBR] are User Bug Reports, submitted through our in-game bug tracker. Thanks very much for helping and keep 'em coming!"

• Fixed an issue where players that just logged in would cause logs that look like crashes
• Fixed several issues in Black Market campaign
• Fixed an issue where smuggler ships could attack player after having told them that they wouldn't
• Fixed a crash when using StrategyMode in scripts while not actually in strategy mode
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the artifact of the brotherhood could be dropped multiple times
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mining AI could try to mine objects attached to itself
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mining AI didn't use double-harvesting turrets for salvaging or mining and vice versa
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ship name and emblem blocks of small objects weren't displayed correctly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where productions of factories weren't started properly while players weren't in the sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where enemies would start standing still after being out of reach for too long
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the chat would remain scrolled up even when not currently open
• [UBR] Fixed several synchronization issues of upgrades in inventory selection of upgrades tab
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where convoy ship would call out to players that they have missions even though they don't
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with pathfinding where the ai would not fly through a gate
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where tutorial would get stuck if player left the sector in a certain phase
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "Rebuilding Geometry" was displayed forever when turning off ambient occlusion and removing a block
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where delivery missions handed out cargo even though player was unable to pay deposit
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where exodus mission's next beacon location would be shown before player talked to current beacon
• [UBR] Fixed a resource duping bug
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where selecting didn't work when select was bound to other mouse buttons
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships would be restored immediately after selling them at a scrapyard
• [UBR] Fixed an exploit where unique upgrades could be installed more than once
• [UBR] Fixed some mistakes in encyclopedia
• [UBR] Fixed casino not talking to player after they leaveand returnto sector in 'The Family'

[ 2020-12-09 12:24:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Community members can now apply to have their server marked as a "Verified Server"! All verified servers will get a blue checkmark next to the server name in the list. The "Verified Server" checkmark is used to mark servers that we, Boxelware, recommend as great to play on. We want to highlight servers of passionate community members and reward those who are doing an amazing job running their own dedicated servers. Since the verified server checkmark is a quality seal, a verified server must follow certain guidelines (see link below). This gives verified servers better visibility and increased server traffic. Additionally, we will provide a direct connection for verified server owners to us to provide high priority support! You can find the complete list of rules & prerequisites on our forum: https://forum.avorion.net/index.php?/topic/6846-verified-servers-ruleset-prerequisites/ Here are some of the most important points: - The server specs must meet certain requirements to ensure smooth gameplay - The server must be public and accessible without password - The server admin must be reachable by us - The server admin must have at least one month of experience running similar servers - The server main language must be German or English To apply with your server, please send us an e-mail to server@boxelware.de. Make sure to check out the forum post first, though! We are looking forward to your applications!

[ 2020-12-02 08:36:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! As many of you know, the Steam Awards 2020 are currently running! Today is the last day to submit your vote and it would mean a lot to us if you could support Avorion with your vote. The whole Boxelware team consists of passionate Steam players and to get an award in one of the categories would literally blow us away! So we are happy about every single vote of you that chooses to support Avorion. Unfortunately, you can only vote in one category, so we propose the Labor of Love Award. Of course, you are free to vote for Avorion in any other category if you want to. To vote, just click on the link at the top of this posting or directly from the Avorion store page. Thanks for your support and time!

[ 2020-11-30 13:55:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Gameplay

• Object detector no longer highlights valuable objects docked to the current ship

Balancing

• Reduced drop chance for Defense System Upgrades relative to the other upgrades

Client & UI

• Building Mode: Special folders in "Saved Designs" window are now sorted to the front
• While on beta branch, version is shown on the bottom left of the screen
• Improved responsiveness of the game during loading screen
• This fixes Windows thinking that the game crashed when it's actually just loading
• Added some loading screen tips that explain size relations in the game
• Added small question marks to indicate that scrapyard dismantling doesn't guarantee goods

Scripting API

• Added documentation for displaying dialogs

Server

"We made some serious progress over the past 2 weeks on the server side, and now it's time to share it!"

• Implemented several important performance optimizations

Bugfixes

"As always, user bug reports are marked with [UBR]. Thanks for helping us improve the game and keep it up! :)"

• [UBR] Fixed a crash when hiring a spy
• [UBR] Fixed massive performance issues when changing the sliders for volume or scale in shipyard or station founder
• [UBR] Fixed problems with hermit mission not updating when talking to adventurer
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where selling of all trash didn't work at a fighter factory
• [UBR] Fixed IHDTX attacking during dialog on re-enter of sector
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when using /playerinfo chat command
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where log would be filled with "Skipped queued callback because filter said no"
• [UBR] Fixed "Show Hints" setting not doing anything
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where some blocks would drop resources even though they shouldn't
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where players wouldn't be written out properly on servers
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with tooltips on the galaxy map
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with ships bumping into each other when ordered to escort
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where jump orders on the galaxy map wouldn't get executed properly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where flight assist would use up more and more energy after docking
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where traits of DLC syndicates wouldn't show up properly
• Fixed an issue where docked containers would turn invisible
• Fixed several UI elements reacting even if the mouse is blocked by other windows
• Fixed descriptions of missions flickering while changing sectors
• Fixed several issues in black market story missions
• Fixed several issues in scripts
• Updated texts
• Updated localizations

[ 2020-11-19 09:08:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

• Object detector no longer highlights valuable objects docked to the current ship

Balancing

• Reduced drop chance for Defense System Upgrades relative to the other upgrades

Client & UI

• Building Mode: Special folders in "Saved Designs" window are now sorted to the front
• While on beta branch, version is shown on the bottom left of the screen
• Improved responsiveness of the game during loading screen
• This fixes Windows thinking that the game crashed when it's actually just loading
• Added some loading screen tips that explain size relations in the game

Server

"We made some serious progress over the past 2 weeks on the server side, and now it's time to share it!"

• Implemented several important performance optimizations

Bugfixes

"As always, user bug reports are marked with [UBR]. Thanks for helping us improve the game and keep it up! :)"

• [UBR] Fixed a crash when hiring a spy
• [UBR] Fixed massive performance issues when changing the sliders for volume or scale in shipyard or station founder
• [UBR] Fixed problems with hermit mission not updating when talking to adventurer
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where selling of all trash didn't work at a fighter factory
• [UBR] Fixed IHDTX attacking during dialog on re-enter of sector
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when using /playerinfo chat command
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where log would be filled with "Skipped queued callback because filter said no"
• Fixed an issue where docked containers would turn invisible
• Fixed several UI elements reacting even if the mouse is blocked by other windows
• Fixed descriptions of missions flickering while changing sectors
• Fixed several issues in black market story missions
• Fixed several issues in scripts
• Updated texts
• Updated localizations

[ 2020-11-13 14:55:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

As you may know, some time ago we started the experiment with the Official Community Servers. During the Covid-19 lockdown, we provided some servers for free, to be run by the community. We marked them as Official Community Servers, to indicate that these are special, always-on servers managed by the community. After evaluating your feedback and all the statistics, we, unfortunately, came to the conclusion that it did not work out the way we planned it. Were still working on some performance issues, and we realized that we gave a wrong impression by marking them with the word Official. Additionally, we had quite a few requests from passionate dedicated server hosters, saying they wanted to be part of the program as well, but with their own, private servers. After having evaluated everything, we came to the conclusion that there is another, better way! So here is a little preview of our future plans. In the next few weeks, we will transfer the "Official Community Server" program into a "Verified Servers" program. We have many dedicated hosters who host private, well-functioning servers at their own costs. We want to reward these people for their efforts and give them the opportunity to get a blue checkmark as well. The current "Official Community Servers" will remain online and with the current hosters, but for the time being the blue checkmark will be removed. Alternatively, we will give everyone (who runs a server) the opportunity to apply for the verified checkmark. All of you, who have already invested hours in their own servers and gained experience are invited to apply for the Verified checkmark once the program starts over the next weeks. Of course, this also includes the servers now marked as "Official Community Servers". We are still working on how exactly and under which conditions this will be possible. More detailed information will be available soon. So stay tuned!

[ 2020-11-12 12:41:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

We are super proud and happy to announce that the first Avorion expansion, the Black Market DLC, is now available on the Steam Store! There are many exciting new tasks and missions waiting for you, so look forward to the new hacking feature and discover hidden dealers to trade illegal and stolen goods on the black market! You can join a convoy on its expedition to the center of the galaxy, make new friends or decide to attack the explorers. Shipbuilders and battle-hardened veterans can also look forward to exciting new legendary weapons which they can use to go into battles or simply equip their favorite ship. All this and many more new features await you in the Black Market DLC, so don't lose any time and dive into new space adventures! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1357160/Avorion__Black_Market/

Special Thanks

We would like to thank our community members who have been diligently testing the beta version! With your support and feedback you have helped us a lot and we are happy that you are a part of Avorion!

[ 2020-11-02 17:15:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Docking

"Docking's here! The feature is actually pretty straightforward. Slap a dock block on your ship and go have fun! :)"

• Ships can now use Dock blocks to dock other objects
• Docked objects are shown in building mode
• Docked objects can be taken with you through gates, wormholes and hyperspace jumps
• (Nearly) every object can be docked
• Added a 'Transport' mode for stations
• Stations must be in 'Transport' mode to be docked and moved
• Stations in 'Transport' mode lose their station-specific interactions and passive abilities (Shipyard, Equipment Dock)
• Factories that are docked to each other can now directly transfer goods between them (direct partners only)

Gameplay

"Aside from a few shady features that sneaked in from the Black Market DLC, we got Legendary Turrets, prettier asteroids, and a new, strange Xsotan Wormhole Device that seems to open wormholes to your Reconstruction Site."

• Added new containers that can be hacked or taken to a smuggler's outpost to be opened
• Added a new sector type with many containers and asteroids
• Added the possibility to bribe ships that inspect you
• Added the possibility to inspect & get bribed by AI traders that can now carry illegal goods
• Added special, legendary turrets
• Some turrets will be available immediately, some only for DLC owners
• Turrets are dropped by bosses and other strong enemies
• More turrets to come over the next weeks
• It is highly recommended to try them out before judging them :)
• Added a new Xsotan Wormhole Device that opens a wormhole to your reconstruction site
• You get the item from the Adventurer after changing the Reconstruction Site or progressing with the story
• 10 Minute cooldown, infinite usages
• Has a few other limitations so it can't be used during immediate combat
• Improved visuals of asteroids with resources
• Developer Note: Asteroid shapes have been fine-tuned to ensure they have the same amount of resources as before
• Some factions now always have bad starting relations (not as bad on low difficulties, very bad on high difficulties)
• On higher difficulties, bad initial relations can trigger immediate war with factions the player hasn't met yet
• When switching sectors, players are only placed in ships that are idle or passive from now on (unless otherwise specified) to not interrupt AI orders
• Objects in sectors towards the middle are spread out a little further
• Seeking projectiles can now lead very fast targets
• When a warzone is called out or a freighter is raided, nearby players are notified
• Reduced camera shake of sector jumps
• Added edge & corner crew quarters blocks
• Added a front-facing torpedo launcher block
• 30s repair restriction no longer applies when the damage was self-inflicted
• Pirate encounters now respawn after 24h of playtime (newly discovered only)
• Pirate encounters now reset after some time when players flee (newly discovered only)
• Xsotan now turn hostile when ramming them
• Added a note to headhunter attacks showing which faction attacked the player
• While attacking, ships try to roll in a way that their strongest turret side faces the enemy
• Stashes now drop their items instead of just giving them to players

AI

"We improved several aspects of the AI, like pathfinding, aim and salvage & mining AI."

• A ship now waits for its fighters to land before flying through a gate
• Improved aim of AI ships
• AI ships can now aim with coaxial turrets
• Strongly improved aim of AI ships for Expert+ difficulties
• Salvage & mining AI now picks new objects to harvest close to the last one
• This way the behaviour is more consistent when objects break apart
• Salvage & mining AI now keeps fighters active while collecting loot
• Salvage & mining AI no longer keeps firing at tiny fragments that have negligible amounts of resources left
• Salvage & mining AI no longer bothers collecting extremely tiny amounts of loot
• Improved pathfinding when surrounded by many obstacles

Balancing Part I: General

• Adjusted fines for smuggling
• Slightly increased amount of petty upgrades being dropped in the outer regions
• Slightly reduced amount of legendary upgrades being dropped on low difficulties
• Railguns now always penetrate at least 3 blocks
• 5-slot turrets aren't automatically coaxial any longer
• Instead of every turret, only 25% of 5-slot turrets will be coaxial turrets
• Explosive shots no longer deal potentially infinite amounts of damage through AOE, but are capped at 200%
• Pulse Cannons now have a much higher shield penetration rate compared to other weapons with ionized projectiles
• Increased projectile speed of 2+ slot turrets
• Relation loss by damaging shields is now relative to maximum shields of AI crafts
• This reduces relation loss for high-damage weaponry in late game
• Relation loss by damaging hull through shooting is now at max 3000 points per second
• This reduces relation loss for high-damage weaponry in late game
• Increased repair speed for crew to 40min for the entire craft, from 60min
• Reduced firepower of tesla turrets by 33% and reduced their range to 2.5km - 3.5km (from 3km to 4.5km)

Balancing Part II: Shields

"Let's face it: Shields are way too powerful for what they cost. They provide lots of HP that recharge extremely quickly for free and they protect all blocks at the same time. Shields are also more or less obligatory for combat, and this means that players avoid combat in the early game. We want to break free from these limitations and give players more means to fight early on. We're nerfing shield generators, but at the same time buffing integrity blocks & armor a lot. Keep in mind that these are experimental changes and we'll see how they fare. Please share your feedback with us on this!"

• Buffing Integrity Blocks & Armor
• Reminder: Integrity fields reduce incoming damage!
• Increased damage reduction of integrity fields from 50% to 75%
• Increased HP of armor blocks to 25 per 1 volume, from 15
• Nerfing Shields
• Increased cost of shield generator blocks by 50%
• Reduced shield durability gained from shield blocks to 50 per 1 volume, from 70
• Developer Note: In total, existing ships with shield generators and integrity blocks protecting armor will get:
• -27% shields
• +233% hull HP for armor
• +100% hull HP for other blocks

Balancing Part III: Exploits, Shipyards & Reconstruction Site

"We're seeing a lot of playstyles that abuse exploits that are ending up in guides and that are degenerating from how Avorion was originally designed. In addition to fixing exploits, we're adding some experimental changes through which we want to shift the gameplay a bit. We want to reintroduce the feeling of 'safe haven' sectors and the risk of venturing out. We do realize that this might take some comfort away but we think it's healthier for the game in the long run. This playstyle will also require a little more planning from you, which is why we're only enabling it on new galaxies. We'd love to hear your feedback and we'll monitor the situation closely!"

• Building and repairing are now only possible without enemies attacking and only if the ship wasn't damaged in the past 30 seconds
• New Saves: On Normal+ difficulty, Generators and Hyperspace Cores will need a neutral or friendly shipyard in the sector to be added to your ship
• Applies to new saves only
• Applies to ships, not stations
• Does not apply to Creative
• Can be turned on/off with a server.ini setting
• Ctrl-Z, Ctrl-Y and scaling will still work without a shipyard
• Repairing is still possible without a shipyard
• Sectors with smuggler hideouts now have a shipyard
• Sectors with resistance outposts now have a shipyard
• Added an item that lets you return to your Reconstruction Site from anywhere (details see above)
• Reduced cost for changing Reconstruction Site by 80%
• Reduced cost for reconstructing without tokens to 80% of the ship's value, from 120%
• Reduced cost for repairs at repair docks to 35% of ship's value (from 75%)
• Reduced cost for founding a shipyard by 17.500.000 credits
• Reduced cost for founding a repair dock by 7.500.000 credits
• When reconstruction tokens are disabled, reconstruction site can still be set
• Hyperspace engine now has to reboot and goes on cooldown after its range is changed

Strategy Mode

"We've massively tuned the Strategy Mode to make it a much more polished and easy-to-use feature. Enjoy!"

• Added vertical lines to objects for a better sense of depth
• Improved grid-plane for a better sense of depth
• Camera can now be rotated and moved up/down
• Pressing space centers the camera on the selected object(s)
• Double click now centers the view, Ctrl-click toggles the selection
• Player's current craft now has a player icon in the strategy mode overview list
• Selection groups are now shown in overview list
• Claimed asteroids are now shown in overview list
• Added colors to sector ship overview list in strategy mode
• "Fly through gate"-order is now visualized with a line to the gate
• Mine and salvage orders issued via right click now start harvesting the clicked object (not the closest to the ship)
• Improved button feedback

Building Mode

• Added ISS shilhouette for comparison
• Transform Block tool's block orientation can now be rotated by holding R
• Added "Show Templates Folder" button to blocks window
• Turret designs can now be applied to all selected turret bases with one click
• Implemented new, detailed tooltips for blocks
• Improved transparency rendering of green box
• Added a preview of integrity field size
• Added a check box to hide/show green arrows in build mode
• Added the option to only repair all missing blocks, without ship health

UI

"More UI and QoL improvements."

• Galaxy Map: Pressing space centers the camera on the selected object(s)
• Galaxy Map: Selection groups can now be used the same as in Strategy Mode
• Galaxy Map: Notifications can now be disabled on the galaxy map
• Galaxy Map: Added input hints
• Mails: Mail buttons stops flashing for good when mails window is opened
• Mails: Mail list updates when a new mail is received
• Mails: Mail window's 'Delete' now takes all attachments first
• Improved UI for selling items
• Added various filtering, sorting and favoriting options
• Favorited (starred) items can't be sold, dismantled or researched accidentally any more
• Added assignable icons for ships
• Weapon base damage variation is now reflected in tooltips
• When founding a new ship, "Alliance Ship" is now greyed out when not in an alliance
• Pressing B while in drone now opens the ship founding dialog
• Player ships in the same sector now share their scanner data
• Added total crew salary to player and alliance fleet tabs
• Trade AI errors are now sent by the ship and contain the name of the ship in the chat message
• Adjusted size & position of server browser so that it's well visible on lower resolutions
• Added a basic mission marker instead of no icon in mission list
• Economy messages by the alliance are now marked as such
• Players can now choose if they want to receive economy notifications from their alliance
• Added activity logs for alliances
• Tooltips of uncollectable loot are now shown when aiming at in in mouse steering mode
• Speech bubbles are now rendered transparent when aiming at them in mouse steering mode
• Added community chatter messages

Client

• Added more loading screen tips
• Playmodes Normal & Creative Mode are now considered scenarios
• Added more infos about savegames in singleplayer window
• Added a checkbox to override a galaxy's mod settings
• If not ticked, the save's previous mod config is used
• Added a news window to the main menu
• Added a warning window for loading a galaxy with a too high version
• Added a warning window for loading a non-beta galaxy while on the beta branch
• Added categories for assignable controls
• Default controls layout of immediate (mouse) steering changed:
• Free Look is now on right mouse button (was Ctrl)
• Torpedoes are now fired with G (was right mouse)

Graphics

• Improved visuals of swirly weapon beams

Server

"While tons of things were improved, the most important change is that the scheduling of the server update has been completely rewritten. A single slow sector no longer slows down the entire server. We also added quite a few new settings to tune your server to your perfect PvP settings."

• Restructured the entire internals of the server
• A single slow sector no longer slows down the entire server
• Shenanigans of players no longer slow down the entire server but only the sector they're in
• Developer Note: This doesn't mean that the server now magically supports 100 players. Avorion is not an MMO, and will never be one because it was not designed as one.
• Simplified callback handling & improved stability of the server
• Increased time that sectors are initially loaded from 15s to 30s
• Renamed server option "authenticate" to "vac-secure"
• Renamed server option "isPublic" to "isMultiplayer"
• Added a server.ini setting to allow/forbid boarding
• Added a server.ini setting to enable saving of runtime stats (players, tick times, memory, sectors loaded, etc) into a .csv file
• Added a server.ini setting to configure the amount of networking threads
• Added a server.ini setting to configure minimum ship size
• Added a server.ini setting to configure maximum ship velocity
• Added a server.ini setting to configure maximum number of stations in a sector
• Added a server.ini setting to configure shipyard-bound building

Scripting API

"A lot changed here, so we won't be listing every little change, but only the most important ones - especially when they might break existing mods."

• Added class DockingClamps
• Added class HyperspaceEngine
• Added a new Sector callback "onPlayerArrivalConfirmed" which fires once the client has finished its loading screen
• Added more possibilities to work with Mails
• Added conversion from scancode to keycode and back (modders: See SDL2 docs for that)
• Developer Note: Modders: This might be important for you if you were using the Keyboard. We changed our internal structure from SDL Keycodes to SDL Scancodes
• Entity:getDockingPositions() now returns a table
• DockingPositions:getDockingPositions() now returns a table
• DockingPositions:getDockingPosition(id) now returns a table
• Removed Entity:getRandomDockingPosition()
• Removed obsolete Entity:getWormHoleComponent() function
• Renamed Durability.setMaximum -> Durability.maximum
• Callback "onMailReceived" is now called "onMailAdded" on server, same as client
• Modder Request: Most properties of TextField are now readable as well
• Added functionality to drop VanillaInventoryItem and UsableInventoryItem loot
• Massive improvements to structuredmission.lua
• Fixed an issue where scripts registered for updates before being restored
• Fixed an issue where Galaxy:findFaction() didn't correctly return Player, Alliance, or Faction object depending on the internal type
• Fixed an issue where some components in Entities created by Sector:createEntity() were missing
• Fixed a crash when not passing a color to addShipProblem
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where it wasn't possible to directly set the Seed value
• Use tostring() to get and assign the string to set
• Improved API documentation

Misc

• Added a notification when a player is assigned to be the new leader of a group
• Tons of small optimizations all over the place
• Improved performance of performance measuring (yes really)
• Improved several dialogs
• Improved translations
• Added a few new bugs
• Added an introductory chat message when playing on the beta branch

Bugfixes

"As always, bug reports from the community are marked with [UBR] (User Bug Report). Thanks for reporting and keep it up! You'll be seeing quite a few more of these over the next weeks!"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where torpedoes in Equipment Dock weren't as different as planned
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where trading posts and factories didn't have enough cargo space
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where introduction missions got stuck when playing them in Alliance ships
• [UBR] Fixed a few performance issues when opening the Equipment Dock menu while inventory is full
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where the server could crash when being sent garbage over network
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the emblem of alliances weren't sent to players correctly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships wouldn't keep their orientation upon sector change
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where some chat commands could crash the server
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in fighter tutorial mission where having more than 3 fighters didn't advance the mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where escort AI would falsely attack friends
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where armor blocks sometimes didn't stop penetrating projectiles
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships would chase each other out of the sector indefinitely
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where reconstruction token value of a ship would decrease when ship is built smaller
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where players without alliance vault permissions could trash/favorite alliance items
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turrets were jittering while aiming with the mouse
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where collision damage wasn't taken into account for relation changes
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where shots of ships owned by players, but controlled by AI would cause reputation losses when hitting the wrong target
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Swoks' friendly/enemy behavior didn't work for alliances
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where MAD Science Lab's friendly/enemy behavior didn't work for alliances
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where sectors with only destroyed ships would be included in limited simulated sectors of a player
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where it was possible to select a turret with the ships tab
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where client-sided independent turrets would shoot ships and stations that were being boarded
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where anchors of permanently installed upgrades were visible through UI
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where 'Transfer Vessel' mission couldn't be completed if the vessel was to be delivered to a ship instead of a station
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where pirates from pirate shipyard sectors didn't count as pirates for pirate problem mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships lost upgrades when destroyed while not in the same sector as the player
• [UBR] Bad cargo warning is no longer shown when only a few unimportant ships of another faction are present in the sector
• [UBR] Fixed an exploit where ships could be healed by adding large stone blocks
• [UBR] Fixed an exploit where operation exodus dropped too many artifacts
• [UBR] Fixed a desync issues when commanding ships over the galaxy map
• Fixed an issue where chat messages sent by server didn't get their format strings filled in correctly
• Fixed an error message that was sent too often to alliance members with insufficient permissions
• Fixed an issue where turrets from the ship, when compared, would show up as blueprints
• Fixed highlights of list entries in singleplayer window not working
• Fixed several crashes

[ 2020-11-02 17:09:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

• Adjusted strength of pirates when hacking

Balancing

"We improved the behavior for losing relations due to stray shots. We had to find a good balance between 'not punishing shooting things accidentally too much' and 'consequences for blowing up half a station'."

• Reworked relation loss for hitting the hull of AI ships/stations
• Relation loss per shot is now higher, but you can't lose more than 3000 relations per second through shooting only

Client & UI

• Building Mode: Added new visualization when using the transform blocks tool
• Building Mode: Added new input hints about the rotation status of the Transformation Brush (keep orientation / overwrite orientation)
• Added a news window with most important changes
• Added a log entry for alliance ships being destroyed
• Tooltips of uncollectable loot are now shown when aiming at in in mouse steering mode
• Speech bubbles are now rendered transparent when aiming at them in mouse steering mode
• Improved clarity of container cracking UI
• Targeters of docked stations are now always shown
• Added community chatter messages

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed a wrong warning about sectors not being simulated when a ship was destroyed there
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where being tractored by stations while having objects docked didn't work
• [UBR] Fixed a desync issues when commanding ships over the galaxy map
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where pre-1.2 stations couldn't dock objects
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where boarded stations couldn't be docked
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where transport mode of stations confused traders
• Fixed several server crashes
• Fixed an issue where sender of a chat message was always replaced by the entity title
• Fixed AI backup in boss fights arriving looking in the wrong direction
• Fixed several issues in scripts
• Fixed several issues in texts
• Updated localizations

[ 2020-11-02 01:38:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

• Factories that are docked to each other can now directly transfer goods between them
• While attacking, ships try to roll in a way that their strongest turret side faces the enemy
• Stashes now drop their items instead of just giving them to players

Balancing

• Adjusted damages of some new turrets

Client & UI

• Build Mode: Hold R to set the orientation when using the transform tool
• Added a basic mission marker instead of no icon in mission list
• Economy messages by the alliance are now marked as such
• Players can now choose if they want to receive economy notifications from their alliance
• Added activity logs for alliances

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where blocks weren't correctly mirrored when using the transform tool
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where anchors of permanently installed upgrades were visible through UI
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in rendering in build mode when green arrows are disabled
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where transfer vessel couldn't be completed if the vessel was to be delivered to a ship instead of a station
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where pirates from pirate shipyard sectors didn't count as pirates for pirate problem mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships lost upgrades when destroyed while not in the same sector as the player
• [UBR] Fixed an exploit where operation exodus dropped too many artifacts
• [UBR] Bad cargo warning is no longer shown when only a few unimportant ships of another faction are present in the sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where camera wasn't resetting behind the ship correctly when exiting building mode
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with chat commands not finding the right players
• Fixed several crashes and other issues in scripts
• Fixed & adjusted several textss
• Fixed a few crashes in scrapyard due to new variables and people using old saves

[ 2020-10-30 11:57:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

• Added a note to headhunter attacks showing which faction attacked the player
• Repairing at a repair dock is no longer possible during combat
• The default repair rules apply same as in building mode
• Docking & stealing wreckages in scrapyards is now illegal
• Stations no longer automatically undock from other stations when transport mode ends

Balancing

• Reduced firepower of tesla turrets by 33% and reduced their range to 2.5km - 3.5km (from 3km to 4.5km)

DLC Content

"We're currently fixing things in the DLC content that got reported during our closed beta. Thanks for reporting and keep it up! To avoid spoilers we won't be listing story-related fixes here."

• Fixed several reported issues in DLC-only content
• Fixed several issues where NPCs wouldn't interact with players
• Improved tooltips of new upgrades

UI

• Trade AI errors are now sent by the ship and contain the name of the ship in the chat message
• Turrets can no longer be dismantled while favorited
• Turrets & Upgrades can no longer be researched while favorited
• Messages of containers when being abducted are more robotic
• Added black market logo to main menu when black market DLC is owned
• Adjusted news window to less obnoxious, especially on lower resolution
• Adjusted size & position of server browser so that it's well visible on lower resolutions

Scripting API

• Added a DockingParent class

Bugfixes

"As always, bug reports marked with [UBR] are user bug reports. Thanks for taking the time to report stuff and keep it up!"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Swoks' friendly/enemy behavior didn't work for alliances
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where MAD Science Lab's friendly/enemy behavior didn't work for alliances
• [UBR] Strategy Mode: Fixed an issue where the grid plane prevented shots and beams being rendered below it
• [UBR] Fixed cultists not aggroing when trying to steal their precious asteroid
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where tractor beams weren't working correctly
• [UBR] Fixed several issues related to station docks
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where sectors with only destroyed ships would be included in limited simulated sectors of a player
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where brake thrust and rotation wasn't calculated correctly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where it was possible to select a turret with the ships tab
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where client-sided independent turrets would shoot ships and stations that were being boarded
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where hyperspace engine was always recharging after a relog if an upgrade was installed
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mirroring of front-torpedo launcher didn't work properly
• [UBR] Fixed some issues with being able to click through news window
• Fixed several issues & crashes in scripts
• Fixed several issues & typos in texts

[ 2020-10-28 18:38:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

• 30s repair restriction no longer applies when the damage was self-inflicted
• Flinging asteroids into stations now holds the ship that threw the asteroid responsible for damages
• Added the option to only repair all missing blocks, without ship health
• Pirate encounters now respawn after 24h of playtime (newly discovered only)
• Pirate encounters now reset after some time when players flee (newly discovered only)
• Xsotan now turn hostile when ramming them

Docking Adjustments

"So far, docking has been a huge success and we're very happy with the results! You got really creative with what you could do, and sadly that's where we had to make some adjustments since you broke the game in far too many ways :("

• Gates can no longer be docked in Normal (still in Creative)
• Several story-relevant objects and characters can no longer be docked
• Turrets of docked objects are now dependent on their parent's turret slots
• Added little chatter messages when containers are being abducted
• AI ships that don't want to be docked will now undock themselves
• Added a 'Transport' mode for stations
• Stations must be in 'Transport' mode to be docked and moved
• Stations in 'Transport' mode lose their station-specific interactions and passive abilities (Shipyard, Equipment Dock)
• Increased pulling force of dock blocks
• It's now possible for docked objects to jump and take their parent with them (if they belong to the same faction)

Balancing

• Relation loss by damage is now relative to maximum HP/shields of AI crafts
• This reduces relation loss for high-damage weaponry in late game
• Increased repair speed for crew to 40min for the entire craft, from 60min

Client

• Improved transparency rendering of green box in building mode
• Added explanation for size of docking blocks and pulling force
• Added a preview of integrity field size in build mode

UI

• Galaxy Map: Added input hints
• Strategy Mode: Grid plane is now more transparent
• Strategy Mode: Camera can now be rotated by just holding right mouse, shift doesn't have to be held
• Added a check box to hide/show green arrows in build mode
• NewsWindow is now invisible while ModsWindow is visible
• Added a little green icon that tells the player they can build advanced blocks in the sector

Misc

• Added an introductory chat message when playing on the beta branch
• Reduced RAM requirements while calculating background AI faction economy

Scripting API

• Added several missing Player callbacks on Server side
• Removed obsolete Entity:getWormHoleComponent() function

Bugfixes

"Thanks for reporting tons of issues! We're still working through the reports, and this is the first bunch of bugfixes that we've finished."

• Fixed several typos
• [UBR] Fixed a script crash when ordering ships to salvage/mine through interaction window
• [UBR] Fixed a few issues when multiple docks are pulling the same object
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where collision damage wasn't taken into account for relation changes
• [UBR] Fixed a few issues where weapons with high omicron would cost tons of reputation even though they hit a station that didn't even lose 1% HP
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where important artifacts weren't in the inventory of mobile merchants
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where stations would try pushing away their docking parent
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in controls settings
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where shots of ships owned by players, but controlled by AI would cause reputation losses when hitting the wrong target
• [UBR] Fixed stations pushing obstacles while they're docked to something
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where script commands that required Sector() access didn't work (ie. /addcrew)
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where interacting with a docked station would result in strange displacement of both objects
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where hidden resource asteroids had only a few resources
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where hazard zone being called out had string placeholders
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where all patrolling ships would fly to the same point in space and get stuck
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships wouldn't follow docked objects if set to escort
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where docking heavy objects sometimes didn't impact the ship's physics
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where modifying docked objects didn't impact the parent ship's physics

[ 2020-10-26 16:04:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

We appreciate your feedback regarding the current beta version. With your help we have been able to adjust and optimize some features before the next update. If you have any suggestions, you can tell us about them in the #beta-feedback channel on our Discord: https://discord.com/invite/avorion Besides the beta and our hype about the upcoming Black Market DLC, there are a few other new features we would like to share with you.

New Trailer

On our Youtube channel and on the Black Market store page you can watch the new official trailer for the DLC. We'd be happy to hear your feedback! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1357160/Avorion__Black_Market/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sN0Na8m4DU

Game suggestion feedback

We really appreciate your ideas and your enthusiasm to be a part of Avorion's development. That's why we went through your suggestions in our forum (ATTENTION: The most recent ones are not included here yet!) and put together a small feedback list for you. On this list you can read which of your suggestions are doable, which ones we are still thinking about and which ones are, unfortunately, on the "won't make it into the game" list. You can find the list here: https://forum.avorion.net/index.php?/topic/6734-suggestions-review/ You're welcome to continue to post your ideas in the forum. We will update the list regularly. To vote you can follow this link: https://forum.avorion.net/index.php?/forum/8-suggestions-idea-voting/

Giveaway

As a thank you to you, the greatest community in the galaxy, we would like to give something back to you! That's why we're giving away some Avorion Keys next Thursday, 29.10.2020 so that you and your friends can jump into new adventures! You can take part on our official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/avoriongame That's all for now, stay safe and stay healthy!

[ 2020-10-26 15:45:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Docking

"Docking's here! The feature is actually pretty straightforward. Slap a dock block on your ship and go have fun! :)"

• Ships can now use Dock blocks to dock other objects
• Docked objects are shown in building mode
• Docked objects can be taken with you through gates, wormholes and hyperspace jumps
• (Nearly) every object can be docked

Gameplay

"Aside from a few shady features that sneaked in from the Black Market DLC, we got Legendary Turrets, prettier asteroids, and a new, strange Xsotan Wormhole Device that seems to open wormholes to your Reconstruction Site."

• Added new containers that can be hacked or taken to a smuggler's outpost to be opened
• Added a new sector type with many containers and asteroids
• Added the possibility to bribe ships that control you
• Added the possibility to control & get bribed by AI traders that can now carry illegal goods
• Added special, legendary turrets
• Some turrets will be available immediately, some only for DLC owners
• Turrets are dropped by bosses and other strong enemies
• More turrets to come over the next weeks
• Added a new Xsotan Wormhole Device that opens a wormhole to your reconstruction site
• You get the item from the Adventurer after changing the Reconstruction Site or progressing with the story
• 10 Minute cooldown, infinite usages
• Has a few other limitations so it can't be used during immediate combat
• Improved visuals of asteroids with resources
• Developer Note: Asteroid shapes have been fine-tuned to ensure they have the same amount of resources as before
• Some factions now always have bad starting relations (not as bad on low difficulties, very bad on high difficulties)
• On higher difficulties, bad initial relations can trigger immediate war with factions the player hasn't met yet
• When switching sectors, players are only placed in ships that are idle or passive from now on (unless otherwise specified) to not interrupt AI orders
• Objects in sectors towards the middle are spread out a little further
• Seeking projectiles can now lead very fast targets
• When a warzone is called out or a freighter is raided, nearby players are notified
• Reduced camera shake of sector jumps
• Added edge & corner crew quarters blocks
• Added a front-facing torpedo launcher block

AI

"We improved several aspects of the AI, like pathfinding, aim and salvage & mining AI."

• A ship now waits for its fighters to land before flying through a gate
• Improved aim of AI ships
• AI ships can now aim with coaxial turrets
• Strongly improved aim of AI ships for Expert+ difficulties
• Salvage & mining AI now picks new objects to harvest close to the last one
• This way the behaviour is more consistent when objects break apart
• Salvage & mining AI now keeps fighters active while collecting loot
• Salvage & mining AI no longer keeps firing at tiny fragments that have negligible amounts of resources left
• Salvage & mining AI no longer bothers collecting extremely tiny amounts of loot
• Improved pathfinding when surrounded by many obstacles

Balancing Part I: General

• Adjusted fines for smuggling
• Slightly increased amount of petty upgrades being dropped in the outer regions
• Slightly reduced amount of legendary upgrades being dropped on low difficulties
• Railguns now always penetrate at least 3 blocks
• 5-slot turrets aren't automatically coaxial any longer
• Instead of every turret, only 25% of 5-slot turrets will be coaxial turrets
• Explosive shots no longer deal potentially infinite amounts of damage through AOE, but are capped at 200%
• Pulse Cannons now have a much higher shield penetration rate compared to other weapons with ionized projectiles
• Increased projectile speed of 2+ slot turrets

Balancing Part II: Shields

"Let's face it: Shields are way too powerful for what they cost. They provide lots of HP that recharge extremely quickly for free and they protect all blocks at the same time. Shields are also more or less obligatory for combat, and this means that players avoid combat in the early game. We want to break free from these limitations and give players more means to fight early on. We're nerfing shield generators, but at the same time buffing integrity blocks & armor a lot. Keep in mind that these are experimental changes and we'll see how they fare. Please share your feedback with us on this!"

• Buffing Integrity Blocks & Armor
• Reminder: Integrity fields reduce incoming damage!
• Increased damage reduction of integrity fields from 50% to 75%
• Increased HP of armor blocks to 25 per 1 volume, from 15
• Nerfing Shields
• Increased cost of shield generator blocks by 50%
• Reduced shield durability gained from shield blocks to 50 per 1 volume, from 70
• Developer Note: In total, existing ships with shield generators and integrity blocks protecting armor will get:
• -27% shields
• +233% hull HP for armor
• +100% hull HP for other blocks

Balancing Part III: Exploits, Shipyards & Reconstruction Site

"We're seeing a lot of playstyles that abuse exploits that are ending up in guides and that are degenerating from how Avorion was originally designed. In addition to fixing exploits, we're adding some experimental changes through which we want to shift the gameplay a bit. We want to reintroduce the feeling of 'safe haven' sectors and the risk of venturing out. We do realize that this might take some comfort away but we think it's healthier for the game in the long run. This playstyle will also require a little more planning from you, which is why we're only enabling it on new galaxies. We'd love to hear your feedback and we'll monitor the situation closely!"

• Building and repairing are now only possible without enemies attacking and only if the ship wasn't damaged in the past 30 seconds
• New Saves: On Normal+ difficulty, Generators and Hyperspace Cores will need a neutral or friendly shipyard in the sector to be added to your ship
• Applies to new saves only
• Applies to ships, not stations
• Does not apply to Creative
• Can be turned on/off with a server.ini setting
• Ctrl-Z, Ctrl-Y and scaling will still work without a shipyard
• Repairing is still possible without a shipyard
• Sectors with smuggler hideouts now have a shipyard
• Sectors with resistance outposts now have a shipyard
• Added an item that lets you return to your Reconstruction Site from anywhere (details see above)
• Reduced cost for changing Reconstruction Site by 80%
• Reduced cost for reconstructing without tokens to 80% of the ship's value, from 120%
• Reduced cost for repairs at repair docks to 35% of ship's value (from 75%)
• Reduced cost for founding a shipyard by 17.500.000 credits
• Reduced cost for founding a repair dock by 7.500.000 credits
• When reconstruction tokens are disabled, reconstruction site can still be set
• Hyperspace engine now has to reboot and goes on cooldown after its range is changed

Strategy Mode

"We've massively tuned the Strategy Mode to make it a much more polished and easy-to-use feature. Enjoy!"

• Added vertical lines to objects for a better sense of depth
• Improved grid-plane for a better sense of depth
• Camera can now be rotated and moved up/down
• Pressing space centers the camera on the selected object(s)
• Double click now centers the view, Ctrl-click toggles the selection
• Player's current craft now has a player icon in the strategy mode overview list
• Selection groups are now shown in overview list
• Claimed asteroids are now shown in overview list
• Added colors to sector ship overview list in strategy mode
• "Fly through gate"-order is now visualized with a line to the gate
• Mine and salvage orders issued via right click now start harvesting the clicked object (not the closest to the ship)
• Improved button feedback

UI

"More UI and QoL improvements."

• Galaxy Map: Pressing space centers the camera on the selected object(s)
• Galaxy Map: Selection groups can now be used the same as in Strategy Mode
• Galaxy Map: Notifications can now be disabled on the galaxy map
• Mails: Mail buttons stops flashing for good when mails window is opened
• Mails: Mail list updates when a new mail is received
• Mails: Mail window's 'Delete' now takes all attachments first
• Building Mode: Added ISS shilhouette for comparison
• Building Mode: Transformation brush can now be rotated by holding R
• Building Mode: Added "Show Templates Folder" button to blocks window
• Building Mode: Turret designs can now be applied to all selected turret bases with one click
• Building Mode: Implemented new, detailed tooltips for blocks in building mode
• Improved UI for selling items
• Added various filtering, sorting and favoriting options
• Favorited (starred) items can't be sold accidentally any more
• Added assignable icons for ships
• Weapon base damage variation is now reflected in tooltips
• When founding a new ship, "Alliance Ship" is now greyed out when not in an alliance
• Pressing B while in drone now opens the ship founding dialog
• Player ships in the same sector now share their scanner data
• Added total crew salary to player and alliance fleet tabs

Client

• Added more loading screen tips
• Playmodes Normal & Creative Mode are now considered scenarios
• Added more infos about savegames in singleplayer window
• Added a checkbox to override a galaxy's mod settings
• If not ticked, the save's previous mod config is used
• Added a news window to the main menu
• Added a warning window for loading a galaxy with a too high version
• Added a warning window for loading a non-beta galaxy while on the beta branch
• Added categories for assignable controls
• Default controls layout of immediate (mouse) steering changed:
• Free Look is now on right mouse button (was Ctrl)
• Torpedoes are now fired with G (was right mouse)

Graphics

• Improved visuals of swirly weapon beams

Server

"While tons of things were improved, the most important change is that the scheduling of the server update has been completely rewritten. A single slow sector no longer slows down the entire server. We also added quite a few new settings to tune your server to your perfect PvP settings."

• Restructured the entire internals of the server
• A single slow sector no longer slows down the entire server
• Shenanigans of players no longer slow down the entire server but only the sector they're in
• Developer Note: This doesn't mean that the server now magically supports 100 players. Avorion is not an MMO, and will never be one because it was not designed as one.
• Simplified callback handling & improved stability of the server
• Increased time that sectors are initially loaded from 15s to 30s
• Renamed server option "authenticate" to "vac-secure"
• Renamed server option "isPublic" to "isMultiplayer"
• Added a server.ini setting to allow/forbid boarding
• Added a server.ini setting to enable saving of runtime stats (players, tick times, memory, sectors loaded, etc) into a .csv file
• Added a server.ini setting to configure the amount of networking threads
• Added a server.ini setting to configure minimum ship size
• Added a server.ini setting to configure maximum ship velocity
• Added a server.ini setting to configure maximum number of stations in a sector
• Added a server.ini setting to configure shipyard-bound building

Scripting API

"A lot changed here, so we won't be listing every little change, but only the most important ones - especially when they might break existing mods."

• Added class DockingClamps
• Added class HyperspaceEngine
• Added a new Sector callback "onPlayerArrivalConfirmed" which fires once the client has finished its loading screen
• Added more possibilities to work with Mails
• Added conversion from scancode to keycode and back (modders: See SDL2 docs for that)
• Developer Note: Modders: This might be important for you if you were using the Keyboard. We changed our internal structure from SDL Keycodes to SDL Scancodes
• Entity:getDockingPositions() now returns a table
• DockingPositions:getDockingPositions() now returns a table
• DockingPositions:getDockingPosition(id) now returns a table
• Removed Entity:getRandomDockingPosition()
• Renamed Durability.setMaximum -> Durability.maximum
• Callback "onMailReceived" is now called "onMailAdded" on server, same as client
• Modder Request: Most properties of TextField are now readable as well
• Added functionality to drop VanillaInventoryItem and UsableInventoryItem loot
• Massive improvements to structuredmission.lua
• Fixed an issue where scripts registered for updates before being restored
• Fixed an issue where Galaxy:findFaction() didn't correctly return Player, Alliance, or Faction object depending on the internal type
• Fixed an issue where some components in Entities created by Sector:createEntity() were missing
• Fixed a crash when not passing a color to addShipProblem
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where it wasn't possible to directly set the Seed value
• Use tostring() to get and assign the string to set
• Improved API documentation

Misc

• Added a notification when a player is assigned to be the new leader of a group
• Tons of small optimizations all over the place
• Improved performance of performance measuring (yes really)
• Improved several dialogs
• Improved translations
• Added several new bugs

Bugfixes

"As always, bug reports from the community are marked with [UBR] (User Bug Report). Thanks for reporting and keep it up! You'll be seeing quite a few more of these over the next weeks!"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where torpedoes in Equipment Dock weren't as different as planned
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where trading posts and factories didn't have enough cargo space
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where introduction missions got stuck when playing them in Alliance ships
• [UBR] Fixed a few performance issues when opening the Equipment Dock menu while inventory is full
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where the server could crash when being sent garbage over network
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the emblem of alliances weren't sent to players correctly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships wouldn't keep their orientation upon sector change
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where some chat commands could crash the server
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in fighter tutorial mission where having more than 3 fighters didn't advance the mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where escort AI would falsely attack friends
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where armor blocks sometimes didn't stop penetrating projectiles
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships would chase each other out of the sector indefinitely
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where reconstruction token value of a ship would decrease when ship is built smaller
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where players without alliance vault permissions could trash/favorite alliance items
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turrets were jittering while aiming with the mouse
• [UBR] Fixed an exploit where ships could be healed by adding large stone blocks
• Fixed an issue where chat messages sent by server didn't get their format strings filled in correctly
• Fixed an error message that was sent too often to alliance members with insufficient permissions
• Fixed an issue where turrets from the ship, when compared, would show up as blueprints
• Fixed highlights of list entries in singleplayer window not working
• Fixed several crashes
• Removed unnecessary sector marker from station founding introduction mission
• Fixed 43 typos (I didn't actually count that)

[ 2020-10-20 15:25:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

We are happy to announce that the store page for our upcoming Black Market DLC is now live! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1357160/Avorion__Black_Market/ A lot of new content and over 20 new story missions are waiting for you. You can also look forward to new bosses and new upgrades and weapons! Stay tuned and add it to your wishlist to get started right on time at the release! We can't wait and are very excited. Right now we are working hard on optimizing the last details and polishing the update.

[ 2020-09-24 12:57:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

In our Gamescom streams, we announced Avorions first DLC, Black Market. Alongside the DLC there will also be a huge free update. Now, we want to shine some light on whats coming alongside the DLC. We put a lot of thought into the update and invested a lot of work to improve Avorion and to offer more content and features. In order to clean up some misconceptions about which features will be free and which will be part of the add-on, weve created a small summary for you.

Playing Together

First things first: All players will still be able to play together, even if some of them own the DLC and others dont. Also, everybody will have access to a lot of the DLC content while they play with somebody who owns it. For example, the big Convoy Event can be played by all players on a server, as long as somebody who owns the DLC starts the event.

Docking

Ships can now dock to other objects and take them to wherever you desire - as long as the owners of said objects dont disagree. Clever captains are now able to [strike]steal[/strike] take containers to safety and they can even have stations open them to see if there is anything of value inside. You can move your own stations or those of your friends, and dock ships or asteroids to your craft and do hyperspace jumps with them.

Controlling Ships

You will now have the ability to interfere with illegal trade and even profit from it. If you catch somebody smuggling illegal goods, you can inspect their ship and maybe earn some bribe money.

Legendary Weapons

Starting with this update, bosses will begin to drop newer, better, awesomer, legendaryer turrets. We went a little crazy on some of those - and would like to apologize in advance.

Performance Improvements

Were aware that Avorion may require a lot of performance on some multiplayer servers. Of course, we want all of you to be able to play without lag. That is why we reworked the server backend engine. For you as players, this means: If there is a single laggy sector with a lot of action happening inside it, it will no longer slow down the entire server. As long as youre not inside the problematic sector, you can continue playing without being bothered. But please remember that Avorion is not an MMO, and just because you can increase the number of players in the server.ini, it doesnt necessarily mean that its a good idea.

Bugfixes

It is our goal to squash all bugs in the game so that you can have as much fun as possible. You as a community help us daily to improve Avorion by sending us a lot of bug reports, and weve been busy fixing those. We wont be listing them all here (were still fixing as Im typing this text), so youll find the list of fixes in the patch notes. By the way: bugs that we fixed because of a report from the community are marked with [UBR] (User Bug Report).

Many Small Features and Quality Of Life Improvements

We want Avorion to be fun for both new players as well as veterans. That is why we added tons of small new features and QoL stuff, such as improving the Strategy Mode to have better camera controls, asteroid fields have been visually improved and were allowing you to assign icons to ships. Those changes will also all be listed in the patch notes.

Your Wish is Our Command

Okay, but on a more serious note: We care a lot about your feedback and we try to add as many of your suggestions as possible to Avorion. Sadly, its sometimes not possible to include everything people wish for since some things simply contradict each other or are not compatible with our vision of the game. However, we are working on implementing some of the most requested features: - Torpedo launchers that shoot straight ahead - Improving the AI in several different contexts - Edge blocks for crew quarters - Ships share their scanner data - Better RTS mode controls - Scripting API requests (for modding) and more! You can suggest features and vote for them here: https://forum.avorion.net/index.php?/forum/8-suggestions-idea-voting/

Server Performance Statistics

Well continue supporting our server hosters, so in addition to regularly adding new features servers now log statistics about the their performance. Those include information like the number of players that are logged on at a time, storage used, CPU and much more. This way, hosters can see how their server is running and act accordingly.

Outlook: What happens after the DLC?

We saw from some reactions here that we gave a somewhat wrong impression with the DLC announcement. We will, of course, continue to make and publish free updates. The next big update after the DLC will be a free update again, and it will have a similar scope as the DLC. But well give you more info on that later down the line. For now, we want to concentrate on finishing the current update! By the way: Features that are highly relevant to fights or PvP (ie. things like Stealth) will never be published in a paid DLC but will always be available to everyone for free. That's all from us for now! We hope we could clean up some misconceptions around here. Now we'll get back to the update! See you soon!

[ 2020-09-22 14:34:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're releasing a small patch to bring you a few important bugfixes and quality of life changes that were already finished while we're working on the next big update.

Client

• Lights of wreckages can now flicker independently for each block & material type

Building Mode UI

• Silhouettes of real-world monuments can now be shown in building mode for an improved sense of scale
• Silhouettes can be modded
• Block template brush's blocks are no longer all red while selecting a new anchor block
• Improved controls for scaling blocks and shapes

General UI

• The amount of goods is now directly visible in the fleet tab
• Improved coloring of cargo overview in the fleet tab
• When commanding ships, sectors reachable via gate are now highlighted
• Claimed asteroids now show up on the map
• Added sorting of DPS/Slot
• Guidebook and its tutorials can no longer be abandoned

Server

• Added new game settings variables for maximum ships & stations of an alliance
• Added file clustering options to server.ini
• When enabled, packs small files into larger ones on shutdown of server
• Added a notification for when a player is assigned to be the new leader of a group

Scripting API

• All setValue() functions for objects now return the previously set value
• Player.craftFaction now returns the player faction if the player is not in a craft

Bugfixes

"As always, fixes marked with [UBR] are bugs that have been reported through our in-game bug reporting tool. Thanks to everyone who reported and keep it up!"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where directing ships over the galaxy map wasn't working correctly for bought maps
• [UBR] Fixed a rare crash in building mode
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in missions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where alliance ranks with empty names could be created
• [UBR] Fixed research satellites showing nil chatter after reload
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where upgrades would remain on ships after being removed from the game (ie. through enabling/disabling mods)

[ 2020-09-17 12:20:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

[previewyoutube=Gpa9P1CHeMM;full][/previewyoutube] Hey everyone! Let's get the most important news out first. As announced in our Gamescom stream a few days ago: We are proud to announce our first DLC - the Black Markets! In addition to new content, we also added quite some improvements to the game that will be published in a free update at the same time as the DLC. Let's dive right in!

Docking

Did you know that in space, even a tiny little spacecraft can move something gigantic? Ships can now dock to something else and take it wherever you might want it to be - if the owners of said object have no objections. Move your own stations and those of your friends, dock ships and jump around or just grab the containers that you want to hack, but that are too well protected in their sectors. And the best thing? Docking will be available for everyone as part of a free update!

Shady Business at Stations

You [strike]stole[/strike] found a container that is protected by a good security system and can't hack it yet? Just take it to a Smugglers Market and they will open it for you - for a fee though. You should also check out the name-giving feature of this DLC: The new Black Markets. Discover the hidden identities of some inconspicuous looking stations and profit from what they have to offer!

Hacking

Have you ever wondered what might be hidden in those large container fields that can be found all over the galaxy? Now is your time to find out! Get ready to circumvent the security system of the containers and access the contents. You only need a hacking upgrade that is stronger than the containers security level and youre ready to go. But beware: the owners of the containers might not look too kindly on thieves.

New Events, Missions & Bosses

Experience a new storyline in over 30 new missions and events! Your actions are relevant for shaping the future of the galaxy. Make sure that you choose the right friends and make the right enemies, and most importantly: Never forget keeping an eye on your own best interests! There's also going to be a new server-wide late-game event with a convoy venturing towards the center of the galaxy - with its own missions and opportunities. You can decide for yourselves if you want to protect them from pirates or maybe do something more ... evil - provided you have enough firepower.

New Weapons

We dont want to spoil too much here, but we've got a few legendary turrets ready for you!

FAQ

Last but not least, we'll answer a few questions that have been coming up since our first announcement during the Gamescom stream: Q: Will DLC owners and non-DLC owners be able to play together? A: Yes! We don't want to split our community. Non-DLC owners will even be able to enjoy some of the DLC-only content while playing with DLC-owners. Q: Will docking be part of the free update? A: Yes! Q: Can we jump around with objects or ships docked? A: Yes! Q: Will docking be a combat feature? A: Docking will be a civil only feature. You'll be able to dock containers, asteroids, and the like, as well as your own or friend's ships. Docking other players (exception: alliances) will count as PvP. Q: Will we be able to automate docking? A: No. Due to a number of uncertain factors (AI, orientations, where to dock, which docks to use, etc), we decided against AI orders for docking. Everything else would result in finicky UI and would go beyond our scope. Q: What else is in the update? A: Together with the DLC content, we'll be releasing a free update for everyone which contains tons of performance improvements (servers especially!) that we spent a big portion of our time on, QoL improvements, and bugfixes. Q: When is it coming?! A: Fall 2020. Q: What's the DLC going to cost? A: We haven't decided on a final price yet, but it will be around 5 - 10 $/. If you have more questions, then you should definitely check out our reveal stream, where we're also talking about the DLC: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/725216666?t=00h59m22s

[ 2020-09-02 09:01:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

"While working on the next big update, we also added a few more quality-of-life features. We're releasing a small patch with a selection of those features that are already done." Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Client

• Lights of wreckages can now flicker independently for each block & material type

Building Mode UI

• Silhouettes of real-world monuments can now be shown in building mode for an improved sense of scale
• Silhouettes can be modded
• Block template brush's blocks are no longer all red while selecting a new anchor block
• Improved controls for scaling blocks and shapes

General UI

• The amount of goods of a ship is now directly visible in the fleet tab
• Improved coloring of cargo overview in the fleet tab
• When commanding ships, sectors reachable via gate are now highlighted
• Claimed asteroids now show up on the map
• Added sorting of DPS/Slot
• Guidebook for captains and its introductory missions can no longer be abandoned

Server

• Added new game settings variables for maximum ships & stations of an alliance
• Added file clustering options to server.ini
• When enabled, packs small files into larger ones on shutdown of server
• Added a notification for when a player is assigned to be the new leader of a group

Scripting API

• All setValue() functions for objects now return the previously set value
• Player.craftFaction now returns the player faction if the player is not in a craft

Bugfixes

"As always, fixes marked with [UBR] are bugs that have been reported through our in-game bug reporting tool. Thanks to everyone who reported and keep it up!"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where directing ships over the galaxy map wasn't working correctly for bought maps
• [UBR] Fixed a rare crash in building mode
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in missions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where alliance ranks with empty names could be created
• [UBR] Fixed research satellites showing nil chatter after reload
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where upgrades would remain on ships after being removed from the game (ie. through enabling/disabling mods)

[ 2020-08-19 11:15:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're moving this small patch to the stable branch now after it performed well for several weeks on the beta branch. We are also aware of some issues that might be happening in relation to the torpedoes introduction mission; we're working on those! Here's a quick summary of the latest patch notes:

1.1.4

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes with [UBR] are User Bug Reports. Thanks for helping improve Avorion and keep it up!"

• [UBR] Fixed some typos in new server.ini docs
• [UBR] Fixed a hang when beating the MAD science lab
• [UBR] Fixed a hang in torpedoes introduction mission
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with localization
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the sector overview window was too big on small resolutions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where file sectornamegenerator.lua wasn't moddable
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where reconstruction of ships sometimes didn't restore turret designs
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when transforming a normal block to a holo block

1.1.3

"A small patch fixing some urgent issue while we're working on the bigger things."

Server

• Fixed some cheat- & security issues
• Added a config option to server.ini to specify maximum receivable network message size
• Server now writes out a server.ini documentation file

Scripting API

• Added Player [Client]:onJumpRouteCalculationFinished() callback

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes with [UBR] are User Bug Reports. Thanks for helping improve Avorion and keep it up!"

• [UBR] Fixed several issues with translations
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with the tutorial getting stuck when played on Chinese or some other languages
• Fixed an issue where building mode buttons weren't correctly disabled during tutorial
• Improved profiling on Windows machines
• Fixed several issues in scripts
• [UBR] Fixed a server crash that happened in large sectors after too many sectors were explored
• Fixed an issue where some scripts were loaded more than necessary
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in torpedo introduction mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mining lasers didn't recognize asteroids as mineable after they were split into two pieces
• [UBR] Fixed a rare crash when starting a singleplayer game
• [UBR] Fixed a rare crash when connecting to a multiplayer game
• [UBR] Trading Posts now no longer post resource shortage bulletins if they have enough in stock to fulfill request

[ 2020-08-13 08:08:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes with [UBR] are User Bug Reports. Thanks for helping improve Avorion and keep it up!"

• [UBR] Fixed some typos in new server.ini docs
• [UBR] Fixed a hang when beating the MAD science lab
• [UBR] Fixed a hang in torpedoes introduction mission
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with localization
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the sector overview window was too big on small resolutions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where file sectornamegenerator.lua wasn't moddable
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where reconstruction of ships sometimes didn't restore turret designs
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when transforming a normal block to a holo block

[ 2020-08-10 12:51:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'. Please note: Some translations for some languages (Chinese, Spanish, Russian) are still missing and will be added over the week.

Scripting API

• Added Player [Client]:onJumpRouteCalculationFinished() callback

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes with [UBR] are User Bug Reports. Thanks for helping improve Avorion and keep it up!"

• [UBR] Fixed several issues with translations
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with the tutorial getting stuck when played on Chinese or some other languages
• Fixed an issue where building mode buttons weren't correctly disabled during tutorial
• Improved profiling on Windows machines
• Fixed several issues in scripts
• [UBR] Fixed a server crash that happened in large sectors after too many sectors were explored
• Fixed an issue where some scripts were loaded more than necessary
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in torpedo introduction mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mining lasers didn't recognize asteroids as mineable after they were split into two pieces
• [UBR] Fixed a rare crash when starting a singleplayer game
• [UBR] Fixed a rare crash when connecting to a multiplayer game
• [UBR] Trading Posts now no longer post resource shortage bulletins if they have enough in stock to fulfill request

[ 2020-08-03 16:02:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! Long time no update! Sadly, gaming studios like us didnt get spared from the corona crisis either and we had to realize that work gets done a lot slower at home office than at our official offices. But nevertheless, weve been steadily working on the game and weve got a new update ready for you! In this update, we're mainly improving the tutorial and story. Additionally, we also have some performance updates for you, so lets dive right into it!

Updated Tutorial

The tutorial originally dates back to the year 2017, when we first released Avorion into Early Access on Steam. The game has been updated a lot since then and the tutorial was in dire need of an update to reflect the current state of the game better. So we completely revamped it to offer an updated introduction into the game. It explains more things like adding upgrades to your ship, building turrets, and that getting your ship blown up is also a part of the game. We also shortened some other parts, like looking around and steering the ship, which doesnt usually need lengthy explanations.

Story Improvements

The loose story of Avorion tends to have people lost at some point and searching for clues in forums and the Wiki. While we do think that a mainly-intended-as-a-sandbox games story should not hold hands too much, we dont think that requiring players to regularly look for clues outside of the game is the way to go. Weve added tons of inter-missions (get it, haha..? okay, sorry.) to aid you gathering the parts required to cross the barrier.

Galaxy Map

The galaxy map has received a major update as well! Ships are now listed on the right side and can be commanded more easily, without the hassle of sometimes clicking on sectors and sometimes on other ship portraits. Itll also help you see where ships/stations are stationed (last one, promise).

Localizations

We added Chinese (Simplified), Spanish and Russian as officially supported languages!

Performance Optimizations and Logging

We also improved performance on the client and servers (mainly for large servers) and we added some tools that will help us identify performance bottlenecks in the future. Particles are now less performance-hungry and weve fixed some crashes related to particle systems. So things are looking up if youve been experiencing poor performance! Just keep in mind that Avorion was never designed as an MMO (and never will be) and hosting servers for dozens of people at the same time is still a challenge (which we intend to overcome though!).

Other changes

There are tons of other changes in many areas, like bug fixes, UI improvements, better station founding (use a station design of the faction you bought the founder ship from), visual updates to loot and wreckages, and many more! To get a complete overview, check out the complete patch notes here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/2220784826242281370 https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/2372781945503609155

Hotfix Log

• [UBR] Fixed some issues where tooltips weren't visible on the map
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where pressing the loop button wouldn't work properly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where stations weren't hidden correctly on galaxy map
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where after a fly-through-wormhole command looping wouldn't work correctly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a fly through wormhole command couldn't be undone while the command chain was already executing
• [UBR] Notifications are hidden while mouse is over the ships list
• [UBR] Fixed an issue left-click wouldn't deselect ships properly

[ 2020-06-23 09:56:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Galaxy Map

• Added new checkbox to toggle if stations are shown in ships bar

Client

• Updated Credits

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where players couldn't log in properly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where map wouldn't work correctly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where adventurer wouldn't spawn correctly in multiplayer
• Fixed black bars of cutscenes not being displayed correctly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mails button wouldn't stop flashing
• Fixed several issues with new galaxy map ship overview
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with duplicated names when founding a mine as an alliance

[ 2020-06-22 17:14:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

• Added a frame draw selection to galaxy map
• Added some cutscenes to tutorial
• Engines now flicker when low on energy or on wreckages

Client

• Finalized Spanish localization
• Improved readability of text of tracked mission

Scripting API

• Added renderBorder function to UIRenderer

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed issue where assigning too few power units in turret factory could result in turrets that never fired
• [UBR] Fixed trading instruction quest not advancing after relog
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where cargo wasn't correctly transferred when founding a station
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighters that cost negative credits could be built
• Fixed several issues in scripts
• Fixed several issues in new tutorial
• Fixed several crashes
• Fixed several issues in faction name generator

[ 2020-06-16 12:44:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Tutorial

"In this update we greatly improved the basic tutorial. It is now much more streamlined with less text to read and more to do. Wherever possible the new tutorial now features interactive sequences."

• Added new Tutorial parts that explain missions, fighting and ship destruction (and reconstruction)
• The Tutorial can now only be played in Singleplayer - set the checkbox to true while creating a new galaxy if you want to play it!
• Player now starts Tutorial with a ship fully equipped to play
• New missions that follow on from the tutorial to explain more advanced game mechanics

Story

"The Story in Avorion has always been rather a loose thread than a real story. With this update we introduce a more streamlined approach that helps players to find and complete all story missions."

• Greatly streamlined the story missions with more subsequent missions
• Added additional "guide" mission for story missions
• Added shortened version of credits that is played when the story is completed

Galaxy Map

"We completely reworked the UI for commanding ships over the galaxy map. Enjoy!"

• Reworked the UI for commanding ships over the galaxy map
• Ships are now listed on the right of the map
• Routes of ships through gates and wormholes now have different colors
• Fixed several issues when rendering routes and icons on Galaxy Map

Gameplay

• When founding a station, the style of the faction it was bought from can be used to create a plan for it
• Camera settings of different ships are now remembered
• Military ships of AI factions now respawn
• Alliance privileges are now checked when transferring content between ships
• Repair docks can now also restore ships for a player's alliance and vice versa
• Fixed persecutors not spawning correctly in sectors without players but with player ships
• Optional ingredients now double production speed of factories when used in a production

UI

• Improved UI of trading upgrade
• Squads in Hangar tab can now be moved around by Drag n Drop
• Added text boxes for exact values to several sliders
• Hire Crew UI now shows your current crew
• FPS limiter combobox is now disabled when vsync is on
• Display refresh rate can now be configured when using fullscreen
• Added combobox to select the display to graphics settings
• Common resolutions are now made available in windowed mode for convenience
• Added a confirmation message box when disbanding an alliance
• Added scrollbar to cargo tab
• Alliance emblems are now shown in diplomacy tab
• Added a bar to show how much cargo is on the ship
• Fighters tab in Equipment Dock is hidden when player is outside Trinium regions and his ship doesn't have a hangar
• Illegal, dangerous, stolen or suspicious trading goods now have a different color in the sales UI
• Added tooltips for optional ingredients in factory config UI and what they do

Client

"We added localization for Chinese (Simplified), Russian and Spanish. Additionally, we improved performance of several particle systems and fixed a few crashes related to those."

• Added first official support for Simplified Chinese, Russian and Spanish
• Some texts are still missing, but will be added over the next weeks
• Improved performance of thruster particle effects
• Improved performance of loot & wreckage particles
• Particles are now no longer spawned when they would be too far away
• Cargo loot changes size depending on amount of cargo
• Loot packets that float around now merge together over time to improve performance
• Improved visibility of rare turrets and upgrades floating around as loot

Server

"In order to make administrating a (community) server a little easier, we added logging about which resources are being exchanged between players."

• Added a "script-threads" command line argument
• Improved logging of servers
• Servers log when players enter the galaxy center for the first time
• Server now logs the items and resources (not text) sent within mails
• Server now logs when a ship from a disbanded alliance was claimed by a player
• Server now logs boarding of ships
• Server now logs alliance vault transactions, and other actions like joining, founding, disbanding, etc.
• Server now logs which items and resources are exchanged in a player trade
• Added option -t to /playerinfo command which prints last online time and total playtime of all players
• Added option -p to /playerinfo command to display resources and other info of players
• Added a /profile command that records a profiling benchmark for the next 30 seconds and then saves it to a file
• Use this if your server / game has bad performance or lags and you want to help us fix it. You can send us the file alongside an explanation as to what happened.

Profiling & Performance

"In order to fix some very annoying performance issues, we revamped our diagnostics system to a more centralized approach. You can help us greatly by using these easy-to-use tools and sending us the collected data!"

• Refactored profiling to find performance issues more reliably
• Client: Press F10 to save performance stats of the past ~30 seconds to a file
• Use this when you got consistent FPS problems
• Server: Type /status to save performance stats of the last ~30 seconds to a file
• Important: Set profiling=true in your server.ini for this to work
• Server: New /profile command that records a profiling benchmark for the next 30 seconds and then saves it to a file
• Use this if your server / game has bad performance or lags

Scripting API

• Added AllianceEmblem class
• Added a onSectorArrivalConfirmed callback when the client finished loading a sector
• When a player enters the center of the galaxy for the first time, a value visited_center is set
• Added a fullLogId property to players that prints a string fully identifying the player
• Added fullLogId to client Player, client Alliance, Faction, Player, Alliance
• Added a tagDescription property to TradingGood
• Added a color property to TradingGood
• Adjusted Y sizes of labels that are created with only a vec2 and not a Rect
• Added controlPressed, shiftPressed, altPressed, modifierKeyPressed to Input class
• Added lookAtSmooth function to GalaxyMap

Bugfixes

"Bugfixes marked with [UBR] are user bug reports. Thanks to everyone who reported! You can report bugs from within the game in the pause menu."

• Fixed several issues in scripts
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret designs could get lost when merging blocks
• Fixed an issue where the rotation arrows of the turret brush pointed in the wrong direction
• Credits can no longer be scrolled back infinitely
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighter orders weren't applied when leaving a sector without them and then returning
• Fixed several issues where turrets could be placed on blocks where they shouldn't be placed
• Fixed an issue where turrets could get duplicated
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the ship name could protrude from its texture
• Fixed an issue where transform mode was disabled when clicking the block button or pressing its keyboard shortcut
• [UBR] Exodus mission corner sectors can now be found even if the mission is not active
• Fixed several issues with translations
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where flat corner blocks couldn't be placed back-to-back
• [UBR] Dangerous transformations to holo blocks are now prevented
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where width and height were swapped in craft stats
• Fixed an issue where the "You need X, Y, Z resources" message could contain negative values
• Fixed an issue with refreshing the servers list
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where collecting cargo could crash the game
• Fixed an issue where "loot collected" sound effect would sometimes be played when loot despawns
• [UBR] Block brush: Fixed an issue where the block size was messed up when rotating in voxel grid mode
• Fixed a crash when lots of particles could be seen on screen
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where no traders could spawn at first when founding a new station
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where trading overview upgrade could display wrong values for the first sector after first relog
• Also fixes the "sell price: error getting supply demand factor: 3" error message spam (which was not critical)
• Fixed an issue where AI factions would rebuild the wrong factories after they were destroyed

[ 2020-06-04 10:22:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

We are happy to share good news with you today! Our official Community Servers are now assigned, and you can already explore the galaxy together with other players! The verified servers are clearly marked with a blue checkmark and are accessible to everyone without a password. The servers are provided free of charge in cooperation with 4NetPlayers and are managed by selected administrators. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the numerous applications! Unfortunately, we could not assign a server to everyone, so some applications are still on the waiting list if a server becomes available again in the future. We will continue to work closely with both 4NetPlayers and the server administrators to ensure that you get the best performance from the servers. We would also like to inform you that our friends from Stray Fawn Studio are releasing their game Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor! Today at 18pm CEST it will leave Early Access! For the launch there is a discount of 25% for everyone until 21.05.2020 9am PST! Take a look, because for all who love space games, it's definitely worth it! https://store.steampowered.com/app/383840/Nimbatus__The_Space_Drone_Constructor/ Concerning an update, we would also like to inform you that we are working on it with determination. Unfortunately, we cant give you an exact date yet. We ask you for a little patience and understanding. In any case we will keep you always up to date!

[ 2020-05-14 12:15:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

This small update is the next step in bringing you our official servers. For more details please read our previous announcement. Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Official Community Servers

• Official Community Servers are now marked in the server browser
• Added "Rent A Server" button to the multiplayer menu which opens the website of our official server hosting partner 4NetPlayers

Server

• Added configurable motd to server.ini that is displayed when a player logs in
• One admin can now join over the maximum player limit to enable better supervision

Bugfixes

"Bug reports marked with [UBR] are user bug reports. Keep it up guys! :)"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue that caused automatic miners and salvagers to get stuck
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the tutorial wasn't playable in creative mode

[ 2020-04-24 11:42:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

We are happy to announce that official community servers are coming! Due to the current Covid-19 situation, we are all encouraged to stay at home and we want to help you through this time. We have already made all the necessary arrangements and are currently working on the final touches to get the servers live. After consulting with many server hosts, we have found out, that it works best if each community plays according to their own ideas. That's why we provide you with the servers for free and you can administrate and lead them the way you want! We only set some ground rules to ensure that everyone is treated fairly. You can decide how you run the servers, which community you want to build, how often the servers will be wiped and so on.

How is this going to work?

We have organized servers for you via 4NetPlayers, which we will provide to you for free. There will be several servers and it is important for us to work closely with you together, to get the best possible experience for you and to achieve improvements! The servers will be marked separately so that you can clearly see which ones are official and verified. If you are interested in administrating a server, send us a quick application with the following content to server@boxelware.de : - Your name - A link to your Steam profile (must be public) And please answer the following questions in your application: - Are you already hosting a server or do you have experience in game server administration? - How long have you been playing Avorion? - Do you already have a community? If so, how big is it? - How many administrators would manage the server? - Please tell us, which kind of server you would like to have. For example, PvP or PvE? - Why would you like to administrate a server, what is your motivation? Please note that you must be a member of our official Discord Server, so please let us know your Discord ID in the email. Here is the link to our Discord: https://discord.gg/ebwtqkQ

Short Q&A

Will there be a charge for the servers? - No, the servers are provided by us free of charge. We host them, you can use them. Where will the servers be located? - We will provide servers in the EU and the US. Will we be able to mod our servers? - For now they will be unmodded. Will it be PvP or PvE servers? - Both will be available, we have not yet determined the exact distribution. What are the rules? - In order to provide a good experience for a broad majority of players, there will be some ground rules set by us. Server admins are free to extend the rules, as long as they dont revoke ours. We are looking forward to hearing from you and we hope that we can assign the first servers soon! :)

[ 2020-04-22 11:38:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

We're releasing a small patch that should fix several issues that have come up over the past two weeks. In the meantime we're hard at work for the next free update, so stay tuned!

• Order chains are now started when the galaxy map is closed and Shift was still held

UI

• Added warning text about potentially losing turrets next to the apply button in ModifyWholeShipWindow
• Blueprints are now called "Blueprint" in tooltips
• Turret blueprints are now rendered with a blue background in shops
• Adaptive Vsync is always used first, when trying to enable vsync. If it fails, normal vsync is enabled.
• Fighter order buttons can now be toggled back off when clicked a second time
• Added a notification for when there are not enough slots to activate all turrets
• Newly received items are now always sorted up
• Added a "Tools" title to the tool buttons on the right side of the building mode
• Added "repair" and "repair target" orders to map commands
• Added warnings for mod version changes that will break compatibility
• "Transfer to Alliance" button is now invisible while not in an alliance

Client

• Reduced volume of background music vs action music

Server

• Several backend performance improvements for servers with many AI factions and players
• Added a chat message for when player enters 0:0 and the guardian was already beaten and has to respawn first in multiplayer
• Xsotan swarm event can now be limited to a configurable amount of sectors with players

Misc

• Added more debug logging to find more issues
• Client-sided mod version compatibility check with server only checks "major" & "minor" version numbers, to allow "patch" version to be used for backwards compatibility

Scripting API

• Added new Sector/Entity callbacks onScriptValueChanged, onAllScriptValuesChanged, onScriptAdded, onScriptRemoved
• Added new Player callbacks onScriptValueChanged, onAllScriptValuesChanged, onScriptAdded, onScriptRemoved
• Added new Galaxy callbacks onScriptValueChanged, onAllScriptValuesChanged, onScriptAdded, onScriptRemoved
• Renamed all "Multiplicator" occurrences to "Multiplier"
• Left in "Multiplicator", those are now deprecated and will be removed in future versions

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where crew quarters delta wasn't shown in building stats
• Fixed an issue where the turret factory ui wasn't correctly refreshed on show
• Fixed an issue where non-turret items could be added to the turrets window in building mode
• Fixed an issue where crew morale was not saved correctly
• Fixed several issues with german translation
• Fixed loop-order button not being shown when ship does not yet have some command running
• Fixed an issue where trading overview didn't list new turret factory supplier goods
• Fixed some issues where turret designs would get removed during modification of entire ship
• Fixed some issues where turret designs would get removed when merging blocks
• Fixed some issues with torpedo UI when auto-loading is enabled
• Fixed an issue where players of newly founded alliances wouldn't be immediately known as such as members of the alliance
• Fixed an issue where the AI wouldn't attack an alliance's ships
• Fixed several crashes in lua scripts
• Fixed a rare hang when collecting cargo
• Fixed an issue where map ship icons would be shown in the wrong place
• Fixed "Show in Workshop" button for mods not working
• Fixed too narrow list entries for mod paths
• Fixed some issues with respawning of asteroids
• Fixed default respawn not being triggered due to non-obviously mineable asteroids being present
• Fixed respawn not being triggered once all asteroids have been wiped from the sector
• Fixed an issue where camera shake would continue while paused
• Fixed an issue where disabled turrets would fire in out-of-sector simulations
• This fixes an issue where ships with repair turrets and armed turrets would hurt their target instead of repairing it
• Fixed an issue where the crew transport ship wouldn't bring enough crewmen
• Fixed an issue where trading posts could sell for less money than they buy for
• Trading post prices are now affected less by their stock
• Fixed an issue in building mode where transforming only the orientation didn't work
• Fixed an issue where "Transform all selected blocks" would reset the orientation of the transformed blocks
• Fixed an issue where turret designs on edge blocks were positioned incorrectly when the craft plan changed
• Fixed an issue where stations wouldn't have enough cargo space to be able to trade/produce
• Fixed an issue where hailing text would be displaced on MacOS

[ 2020-04-03 14:09:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Release - whats next?

It has been three weeks since we were able to celebrate the release of Avorion 1.0! We are incredibly happy that everything went well, and that the post-release stress is starting to fall off our shoulders. Now we will focus on new ideas, innovations, and improvements! There are a lot of things in Avorion that we cant wait to get our hands-on. We want to thank everyone who sent us one of the many great suggestions that we received!

Boxelware, Corona, and Home Office

We're not getting spared from the Corona crisis either. Due to the current situation the entire team is now doing home office so that we and all our friends and families can stay safe. Of course, this also means that our workflow isn't as great as in our official offices and that some things will take longer than usual. But we hope that you will understand this and that you and your families are well!

Nomination for the DCP (German Computer Games Award)

Great news! Avorion has been nominated in two categories for the DCP 2020: Best Debut and Best Expert Game. It is an honor to be nominated and we are incredibly happy! So please keep your fingers crossed for us. Sadly, the news article is only available in German, but you can check it out here: https://www.gameswirtschaft.de/events/deutscher-computerspielpreis-2020-dcp-nominierungen/ FYI: The DCP was first held in 2009 and each year the best computer games made in Germany receive awards in a number of categories. 590.000 Euros total of prize money is distributed among the winners, which makes it the German video game award with the most prize money.

What's up next?

Right now, we are putting most of our time and energy into the next free update! There are some really good ideas that just didnt make it into version 1.0 and we're looking forward to adding them! Over the next few weeks we'll keep you posted with more news on the upcoming update!

[ 2020-03-30 16:46:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Avorion 1.0 Now Available!

Here we are, 1.0! We're incredibly happy that we made it this far. The entire Boxelware Team wants to thank everyone who supported us. Our families, our colleagues, partners and most importantly: You! Thank you for buying Avorion and helping supporting us, you're awesome!

What's next?

Avorion is now at the level that I (Konstantin) imagined it years ago when I first had the idea for it. That's the reason why now, it's time to go from Early Access into 1.0. But that doesn't mean that we're done with it. Over the next weeks we'll be sorting out the inital launch chaos, and after that we'll start working on the first free update. It'll contain features that have been suggested by the community and that we really loved, but that just didn't make it into the 1.0 version. In the future we're planning on releasing free updates and a few DLCs (for bigger, content-heavier updates) for both new features and new content. So stay tuned! We're planning to support the game for at least two years. Much longer if things go well. Avorion is our baby and we love working on it! ;) If you have any troubles or even more new ideas for the game, dont hesitate to reach out to us or other members of the community. Check out our Discord Server or the official Avorion Forum. http://www.discord.gg/avorion https://www.avorion.net/forum And now have fun playing and may the Adventurer be with you!

[ 2020-03-09 14:02:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Graphics

• Improved lighting
• Improved main menu
• Stations on loading screen are now closer to the camera

UI

• Added a tooltip telling players that extensive turret tooltips can only be set in main menu
• In Strategy Mode, pressing "Space" now centers the camera on the current selection

Misc

• Added more debug logging to find more issues

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where description of "Enemy of my Enemy" mission wasn't shown
• Fixed several crashes in creative mode script
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a player's ships' and stations' locations in the sector weren't used correctly when restoring them from backups
• [UBR] Fixed a crash on the client related to entities arriving from hyperspace
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with several missions
• [UBR] Fixed a bug where coaxial turrets were turned into automatic turrets while generating
• Fixed an issue where callbacks to scripts weren't sent correctly on sector change
• [UBR] Fixed a few issues with reclassing of alliance ships

[ 2020-03-08 15:26:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

• Escorting ships can now passively shoot nearby enemies as long as their protegee wasn't harmed yet
• Reduced overall bounciness of physics
• Fighters can now heal their mothership if ordered via fighter orders
• AI piloted ships can now heal themselves when they have repair fighters

Balancing

"We adjusted the pricing of turrets. Work in progress. There were some pretty harsh outliers, with salvaving, force or mining turrets selling for a price higher than most stations. Other turrets, like point defense cannons, almost cost nothing at all. You can still get crazy turrets for crazy prices, but it'll fit more to the kind of turret. Pricing is now more equally distributed and we removed some of the super harsh outliers, which we think is healthier for the game overall."

• Adjusted prices of turrets
• Pricing is now more equally distributed over all turret types
• Fixed several issues with massive outliers in turret pricing
• Fixed several outliers where turrets would cost / sell for nearly nothing at all
• Energy suppressor now suppresses pirate attacks as well as xsotan and head hunter attacks
• Reduced power of force fighters since they could be used for griefing a lot
• Reduced probability of "free slaves" mission on bulletin boards
• Increased damage of laser turrets
• Increased damage of lightning turrets
• Increased damage of tesla turrets
• Increased damage of Laser Point Defense turrets

UI

• Workforce bars in the Crew Tab are now correctly updated to show the influence of the current morale
• Added icon for "your cargo bay isn't configured to collect this"
• Added a hint to crew tab about automatic crew payments
• Disabled "Situational" turret targeting since it was mostly glitchy and unintuitive
• Improved german translation
• Classes of own ships are now shown on galaxy map and the fleet window
• Added a button to change a ship's class from the fleet window
• Improved the color "Orange" (yes really)
• Added warnings for when inventory is full
• The "Found Ship" button on the top right gets a highlight when a player tries to enter build mode while in the drone
• Added quick transfer of items between alliance and player by holding shift
• Improved the IME input (still not perfect, but we're on it!)
• Added new stations pictures to encyclopedia and updated some descriptions
• Improved visibility of name and emblem on ghost blocks in building mode
• Added loading screen tip that talks about the detailed turret tooltip option
• Lost fighters are now shown in sector tooltip on the galaxy map
• Updated icon for resource depot
• Added error messages for craft orders: heal, heal target, attack, attack enemy, guard, patrol
• Updated encyclopedia

Client

• Increased visual size of fighters when they're big fighters
• Added more debug logging to find more issues
• Improved performance of alliance emblems
• Added particle effect to crew loot to better recognize them
• Added one more bug for you to find
• The tutorial is now automatically terminated if the player loses his ship in building mode

Scripting API:

• Added clearValues() functions to all objects that can have values set
• Added a listFilesOfDirectory() function
• Added a deleteFile() function
• removeFolder(): only removes empty directories now
• Added callback "onSectorGenerated" similar to "onRestoredFromDisk" for sectors being generated for the first time
• Added a Galaxy:isFactionLoaded(...) function to check if a faction is currently in memory
• Added a UIRect class
• Added "slots" and "automatic" properties to fighters that always return 1 and false to simplify some code
• Added a stoneDamageMultiplier property for armed objects

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where after boarding a ship, the ship would still count as pirate, head hunter, etc.
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with pirates, xsotan and head hunters spawning where they shouldn't
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where craft designs didn't restore their saved turret designs
• Yes, they were supposed to do that from the very beginning
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with german translation in missions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where every dialog with an entity started the exodus mission if a exodus beacon was in the same sector
• [UBR] Fixed ingredients list not being restored correctly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where asteroids and other objects would jitter around while mining them
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where scrapping license duration of alliances wasn't shown in scrapyard
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where player wasn't put in the correct location after a jump
• [UBR] Fixed an issue that led to only factories of size S being generated
• [UBR] Fixed an issue that led to unarmed AI ships flying off into nothingness
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where hull polarizer would remove too many HP
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where expanded combo boxes weren't clickable when they expanded outside the window they were in
• Fixed an issue that prevented reclassing of ships in some cases
• Fixed an issue where Headquarters couldn't get missions on their bulletin board
• Fixed an issue where explore sector couldn't be returned to stations except military outpost
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where compare window wasn't shown over other windows
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where several AI states didn't remember their last target over a game shutdown/reload
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with generated ships not being able to turn correctly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where high-tier turrets could be placed on too low material blocks
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where notifications for new mails were sent on every login, even if there was none
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with several introductory missions
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with mirroring of emblem and ship name blocks
• [UBR] Fixed a few exploits where maxmimum inventory size could be exceeded
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where damage malus between client and server was desynced, leading to wrong repair costs
• Fixed an issue where no "you can't pick this up because..." notification was displayed for full inventory
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where morale jumped between good and bad if crews weren't paid on time
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret AI was sometimes picking targets incomprehensibly
• Fixed shipyard build ship stats still being shown after back was pressed
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where after selecting a new language, loading screen tips weren't changed to the new language

[ 2020-03-07 16:43:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

• AI captains now enable flight assist

UI

• Rephrased several loading screen tips
• Added "Refine Ores" button to strategy mode
• Updated several icons

Misc

• Added more debug logging to find more issues
• Added a tutorial stage that highlights the turquoise stats in the Building Mode

Scripting API

• Entity: Renamed "setToFlyToLocation" to more fitting "singleFlyToLocationTick"
• Format: Added a "translated" method that returns the formatted, translated string

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where display of hyperspace cooldown was wrong
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where speed of AI ships was too high
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where entering "0" was required to start a "sell" AI command
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with german localization
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with localization in mission descriptions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where clicking through the action buttons in Strategy Mode was possible
• Fixed a client crash that could happen after a failed connection attempt
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turrets were placed on the small sides of blocks instead of the big ones
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where entities weren't transferred correctly between sectors
• This might lead to some one-time ship duplication where this bug already happened in the background, no way around that, sorry!
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where ships could get duplicated
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "refine ores" command couldn't be enqueued

[ 2020-03-04 11:26:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Moving things to Stable

This time it's a short announcement. We're moving the current beta build to default because it's been performing extraordinarily well and we'd like to test it with more users to find remaining issues. In the meantime we're working on polishing up the game more, but for safety reasons those fixes will go live on beta once they're ready, before moving them on to stable. You should brace yourselves for lots of patches coming in over the next few days. We're trying to find some very pesky bugs where we need your assistance as well.

Most Important Features

The most important features coming with this patch are:

• New Ship Name Block
• New Alliance Emblem Block
• Alliance Emblems
• Blueprinting at the turret factory
• A "repair" AI order
• New introduction missions
• Lots and lots of UI improvements
• Lots and lots of QoL improvements

For more details, please check out the patchnotes for previous versions below.

Patchnotes 0.33.3

The patchnotes for 0.33.3 aren't that spectacular, it's just some smaller, but important fixes. We'll keep releasing the super new bugfixes on the beta branch to not compromise the stable branch by some errors that might be introduced by a faster working pace.

Misc

"Just a quick patch to move things to the default branch since it's been performing really well on the beta branch!"

• Added debug logging to find the cause of more issues

Bugfixes

"As always, [UBR] are User Bug Reports! Thanks for reporting and keep it up!"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue with combat instructions mission where it could get stuck
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turrets could get duplicated
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where selling and buying of goods wouldn't work
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with "investigate mission freighters" mission

Previous patchnotes

You can find the patchnotes for the previous beta branch updates here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/1702861991428118097 https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/1702861991442377955 https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/1702861991448953398

[ 2020-03-04 09:57:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

• Exodus artifact is dumped near the player
• Resource Depots can now refine faster when equipped with assembly blocks
• Implemented an AI command for repairing other ships
• Renamed "Defense Weapons" to "Internal Defense Weapons" for better clarity
• You can now drop stolen cargo to get controlling ships off your back
• Prevention of player-to-player damage no longer prevents player-to-player healing
• Increased time between spy report mails
• Full cargo notification when mining and salvaging is now disabled if there is another command in the orderchain

UI

• Added new icons for Missions Tab
• Improved design of Missions Tab
• Improved input in ComboBoxes when using IME
• Updated German Localization
• Added a separate window to explain how Singleplayer starts a Singleplayer Server Instance
• Improved layout of Crew Tab
• Added separate settings to pick up different kinds of cargo
• Added "your cargo bay is empty" line in CargoBay Tab if cargo bay is empty
• Added an icon to resource depot when it has a finished refinery job

Misc

• Added debug logging to find the cause of more issues
• Several minor performance improvements

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where entries with 0 cargo were showing up in fleet overview
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where integrity field wasn't shown in Building Mode
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with aiming of coaxial weapons over long distances
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where camera was moving on mouse move while windows were visible
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where players could get stuck in tutorial
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where order chains would stop being executed
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where orientation of blocks wasn't taken into account while transforming
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the overlap blocks check was wrong
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships would clump up after flying through a gate
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with untranslated mails in Hangar/Fighter tutorial mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where allies of the player during the end boss fight could attack each other
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "investigate missing freighters" mission lead players into a rift
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with texts
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in turret factory where the value of the created turret would way higher than its ingredients and production cost
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in Strategy Mode where 2-step orders were finicky
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with pirate encounters
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighting introduction didn't finish after pirate was destroyed

[ 2020-03-03 11:40:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

• Repair AI now uses fighters
• Scrapyard license time now adds up to a max of 60 min
• Added a setting for smooth camera movement
• De-weirdified several ship styles
• Auto-Assignment of crews can now be configured per-ship
• Added hints about the brotherhood to wreckages near the barrier
• Several tutorials now start only later into the game and not immediately at the beginning
• Improved brake behavior of ships when a player obviously wants to slow down (and not drift)
• Example: Pressing no keys would brake faster than pressing backwards because the latter was interpreted as "drifting"

Balancing

• Increased strength of several new bosses
• Respawning of resource asteroids in asteroid fields happens faster now
• Research station now creates a wider spectrum of turrets

UI

• Improved visibility of search bar in galaxy map
• Improved legibility of damage numbers
• Renamed "Healing Fighter Squad" -> "Repair Fighter Squad"
• Fighter Order buttons that don't match the squad are now hidden
• Removed scientific notation in several places in the UI
• Added "Report a Bug" and "Latest News & Updates" link to pause menu
• Improved useability of commanding over the galaxy map
• Turrets can now be replaced in building mode when shift is held
• Reverted automatic mirrored selection
• Mirrored merging of blocks still works
• Added new icons for alliance emblem creator
• Added input support for IME
• Not completely done yet, but we'd like to start testing ASAP
• Increased pause between two hints to 90 seconds after clicking them away
• Turrets in current ship window are now highlighted on select or mouseover
• Improved sorting of equipped turrets overview in current ship window
• Improved several issues where tooltips weren't visible or blocking other UI elements
• Added a menu setting that enables more detailed tooltips
• Added DPS/Slot line when slots are not 1
• Added mission priority (ie. order in missions list) and icons to missions
• Improved several dialogs
• Added a "You have new mail" chat message
• Added price to upgrade tooltips
• Added advertisements to clarify the (very much intended) randomness of research stations
• Reduced frequency of station ads (looking at you, Repair Dock)

Graphics

• When drone is near a dock and the dock is pushing away objects, the lasers are rendered with minimum brightness to not confuse players

Scripting API

• Renamed ControlAction.MoveCamera1 -> ControlAction.FreeLook, ControlAction.MoveCamera2 -> ControlAction.MoveCamera
• Renamed key binding 'Move Camera 1' -> 'Free Look'
• Renamed key binding 'Move Camera 2' -> 'Move Camera'
• Moved toggle state variable from ControlUnit to ClientControlUnit
• Added a sleep() function
• Removed obsolete settings from server.ini
• Added layer parameter to several UIRenderer functions

Bugfixes

"More fixes and improvements! Fixes marked with [UBR] are fixes that were solved thanks to User Bug Reports! Keep reporting guys, even if it's been reported before!"

• [UBR] Fixed several issues in various lua scripts
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the repair order line was missing in strategy mode
• Fixed a crash in sector database
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when using modded weapon sounds
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in craft generator leading to degenerated ships
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where children of the AI boss would attach each other
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where relations to always-hostile factions could change (even though it did nothing)
• Fixed an issue where station construction sites would take too long to finish
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "transfer vessel" mission couldn't be started in creative mode
• [UBR] Fixed several instances where times wouldn't be translated correctly
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when deleting Ship Name blocks
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in the "free slaves" mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where attack fighters were not used when no salvage fighters (but a salvage blueprint) is available
• Fixed an issue with refreshing of members in alliance tab
• Fixed several hints being displayed in creative mode even though not appropriate
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where player would start new game with camera inside the station next to them
• [UBR] Fixed indicators of gates being off
• [UBR] Fixed overlap of sort & border combo boxes with inventory
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where some bulletins in fleet commands mission were missing
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where "New Mission" or "Mission Updated" texts were displayed too early
• [UBR] Fixed an issue related to command visualization lines being offset with Windows UI scaling enabled
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in gate payment system
• [UBR] Fixed some performance issues for servers

[ 2020-03-01 15:37:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

"These will be the last major features that will make it into the new game. Along with some more quality of life improvements."

• Added a new block that displays the name of the ship it belongs to
• Added a new charred wreckage block
• Added an editor for creating an emblem for your alliance
• Added a new alliance emblem block
• Added more encounters with enemies
• Added possibility to transfer torpedoes between ships
• Added new introduction missions for combat and trade
• Updated "Battleship" achievements. They are now called "Flagship" achievements and are simplified
• Added "Transfer Squad" buttons to Transfer Crew/Goods/Fighters UI
• Gates now change their owner if the faction that own the sector they lead to changes
• Valuables detector upgrade now shows flight recorders in wreckages
• Added blueprinting functionality to turret factory
• Added the ability to switch crafts and interact from the Strategy Mode
• Added more radio chatter
• Replaced factions like "The pirates of ___" with "The buccaneers of ___" to avoid confusion with always-hostile pirate factions
• Added story and lore fragments and logs for players to find
• Added a "Repair" order
• Alliance ranks can now have icons assigned

UI

"Almost only quality of life stuff and maybe something to do with bug fixing."

• Removed obsolete ToggleHangars control setting
• Alliance's resources are shown while Alliance Diplomacy Tab is opened
• Drone is now shown as last entry in ship selection of "switch to ship in sector"
• Filter text box of the buy/sell map commands is no longer case sensitive
• Reworked several icons
• Added a hint that is shown when a player manages to crash the drone in a way that it turns unflyable
• Added a tracker to track your current mission
• Added several "nothing-to-see-here" texts that are displayed instead of the meaningless void that are empty lists
• Ie. Smuggler's market now shows 'You have no stolen goods' if player has no stolen goods
• Added a check box to Galaxy Map for toggling the "notes" icon
• Add HOME and END key functions to multi line text box
• Weapon groups now show their bound key in "Current Ship" tab and Turret Controls, not just a number
• Improved several texts and descriptions
• Added an extra dialog layer to "Give me all your cargo" that doesn't immediately worsen relations
• Price of turrets is now shown in their tooltips
• Changed the DPS value of tooltips to Omicron, we kinda just wanna see how you guys react
• If you like the above change, write "Banana" in the comments as feedback
• If you don't, write "Lemon" in the comments to confuse people
• Added separate sliders to building mode for non-uniform scaling
• Added input boxes for entering the scale
• Smugglers market's unbrand text field now doesn't allow higher numbers than the player has
• Building stats now show the amount of small, medium and large fighters that can be stored in hangar
• Added size to Modify Whole Ship window
• Ship stats overview now uses human readable number system for HP and Shields
• Selections are now mirrored
• Improved performance of several menus and HUD elements
• Galaxy Map: Craft portraits can only be selected with Left Mouse so you cannot accidently select a ship while setting a route
• Improved visibility of valuables detector upgrade arrows
• Squads of fighters can now be moved up & down in UI
• Added tracking of ingredients list of Turret Factory

Client

• Adjusted volume of Mining Lasers of Drone
• Adjusted volume of point defense chainguns and lasers
• Added toggle for 'No Turning' in Mouse Steering
• Added a new snapping mode that snaps all corners of a block into a global grid
• Added an option to mute sound when focus of the window is lost

Building Mode

• Improved clarity of color window tooltips
• Added color picker button to colors window
• Added combo box to colors window to switch between used colors first and normal order

Misc

• Added chat message when player enters a hazard zone
• Reworked several texts

Scripting API

• Renamed TorpedoLauncher:getTorpedoes() -> getNumTorpedoes()
• Added nextQuadraticRect() to Listers
• TurretTemplate can now be constructed from other TurretTemplate objects
• Added Tab.isActiveTab property
• Fixed an issue where sorting in InventorySelection wouldn't work when it wasn't filled with content from a Player's inventory
• Added access to tracked missions
• Added SystemUpgradeLoot class
• Added moddable weapon sound effects

Bugfixes

"Bug reports marked with [UBR] are user bug reports. I think there is a clear tendency visible in the list below, and we're not planning on stopping. Keep it up guys! :)"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue with gates leading to sectors without gates
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with wreckages getting duplicated
• [UBR] Fixed a bug when pressing Escape while moving a window
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Railguns with 0 firerate could be created
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where players would be put into their drone on relog
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where english would be used instead of the chosen localization
• Fixed several issues where wrong factions were used while interacting with alliance ships
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the Adventurer and Boss Swoks could spawn in the same sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where text field scrolling would scroll too far
• Fixed a client crash when jumping into a sector with a craft by a different alliance, i.e. not the alliance the player is in
• [UBR] Fixed several errand missions sending players over the barrier
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where selling to your own smuggler's market would not make you any money
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the crew quarters delta wasn't displayed in building stats
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where shooting down persecutors and drones could create hazard zones
• [UBR] Fixed color loot still being around
• [UBR] Fixed valuables detector icon still being shown even after there are no more valuables in the sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where selecting ships and more in the Strategy Mode would not actually select them after exiting the mode
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where high-material turrets remained even after transforming its block material too low
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the Strategy Mode action menu wasn't updated when selecting via the overview list
• [UBR] Fixed a very bad hang in server while saving/loading
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where too many crew problems were shown
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where rifts that are only one sector wide weren't shown on the map
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where time stamps in logs weren't working
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships would chase each other out of a sector indefinitely
• They still do chases, but no longer indefinitely
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the artifact from the exodus mission could be dropped indefinitely
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where focus events of window weren't properly handled
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "Target selected" sound was played a lot while drawing a rect-selection in Strategy Mode
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where travelling merchants didn't have enough cargo space
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "Ship Problem" icons overlapped
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ship icons would overlap with command icons on the Galaxy Map
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where both attack and salvage fighters were used for salvaging
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ads for reconstruction tokens were shown on Hardcore and above
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Hyperspace Engine efficiency hint was displayed when Hyperspace Engine was disabled

Known issues

"We still have tons of things to do, we know that and we're working hard on it! Please keep reporting bugs as you're already doing. You guys are awesome!"

[ 2020-02-26 21:27:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Procedural Craft Generator

It's finally here! We reworked the procedural craft generator to create prettier ships, based on faction styles. Factions can be recognized by their ships and stations now, and each ship/station class has a distinct look. We won't bore you with the internals, just one thing: Yes, you can mod it. Now go explore!

Faction Economy

With this update we added economic factors to factions. Their supply of ships and stations is now finite, depending on faction size and military or economic focus. Players can now drive AI factions to their limits, and see and feel the impact of their actions. When you destroy a station, the faction will rebuild it after some time. If you manage to destroy all ships and stations of an AI faction before they can rebuild, you can even eradicate them completely. In addition to those features, you can now hire spies at smuggler outposts, that will send you information about a faction's economy (ie. amounts of ships, stations, etc) on a regular basis.

New Endgame Content

We feel that after killing the Wormhole Guardian there should be more to do with your time. With this update we introduce new Xsotan ships, a new server wide post-guardian event and three new bosses. In order to not spoil you too much we'd just say: Go and finish Avorion, and then see what happens.

More Features

That's far from all! We've got a few more cool features waiting for you:

Faction Packs

Ever wanted to play against the Star Wars Empire in Avorion? You now have the tools to do so. You can now create faction mod packs that give a faction a subset of ships from the Steam Workshop.

Creative Mode Improvements

We want players to be able to use Creative Mode in a way its name suggests, to try out features and game mechanics. So we added the possibility to quickly change the equipment of your craft. There's a new creative mode command center in the ship window where you get access to tons of utility features for creative!

Backups

Since Avorion saves (galaxies) are persistent they tend to become huge, and a normal savegame feature is not possible. We did our best to add a safeguard against losing all your progress (for example after a crash) without taking up tons and tons of hard drive space. The game now creates hourly backups that you can use to restore your current save. Keep in mind that restoring a backup is not the same thing as loading a save! Progress of NPC factions is completely reset during this process and the world is reset to zero (except for the progress of players).

Patchnotes

Of course there are tons and tons of other QoL features and bugfixes. To get the full list, check out the patchnotes of the previous beta patches: https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/3588743161435047711 https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/1702861358068600657 https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/1702861358076178338

[ 2020-02-26 15:48:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Time for bug fixing!

Time flies! We could not be more excitedabout the upcoming release. Since there are only a few days left, we are giving 100% to solve the remaining issues. This is the part where we need your help! Please report all the bugs you can find in Avorion. It does not matter if you have already reported it some time ago. If it still bothers you, report it again. We will take care of it. We are thankful for every hint that you can send to us!

When you have found a bug

Ouch! To report a bug, please use the ingame tool. For more information you can find an extensive manual here: https://www.avorion.net/forum/index.php/topic,478.0.html If possible, we would really appreciateif you could tell us the following things: What happened? Please tell us as exactly as possible what happened when the bug/issue appeared. The most important field for us is "Steps to Reproduce". Please give us the most detailed description that you can. We understand that sometimes it feels like bugs are obvious. But they can be related to your machine, your drivers, your operating system and so many other things. If we had found the bug while testing, we would have fixed it for sure. Here is a great example for "Steps to Reproduce" as taken from a bug report: "For the Station dock crash: - Start a new game, preferably in creative mode - Have a shipyard generate a Station-Founding ship (any size will do) - Get in the ship - Find a suitable sector for a station - Found the station - Get back to that sector you founded your station at (because for some reason, if that's your only "ship" in the sector, it kicks you out into your drone and you go back to your home sector, or other vanilla destruction behaviors - Enter your station - Go to build mode inside your station - Place a dock anywhere - Game crashes." We know that this takes some time, but with these steps, we managed to fix the bug in minutes. We hope you understand! Thanks to everybody who is helping us, we are very thankful for having such an amazing community! Happy playing! Please report as much as you can. We are looking forward to release!

[ 2020-02-25 19:58:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

"Had a little breakthrough with the engine code over the weekend, enjoy!"

• Improved collision detection of beams and particles to be more comprehensible

Balancing

"We think that boarding a station takes lots of effort already, so from now on you won't have to pay the full price of a station on top of that to rebuild it."

• Reduced rebuilding cost of boarded stations to 50% of the previous price (down from 100%)

UI

"QoL features, yay! You can now easily favorite and trash items with F and T while hovering them. Also, you can now scrap all trash turrets in one go at a Scrapyard."

• Implemented fast-marking as trash or favorite with F and T
• Implemented a "dismantle trash" button to Scrapyard
• Adjusted description of retrograde marker

Client

"Polishing and debug output for upcoming bugfixes on the client. Nothing too special."

• Updated warnings for on-board GPUs
• Directory of galaxy saves can now be configured in client.ini
• Added some debugging output to help find more issues with new generator
• Destroyed entities are now immediately replaced by their wreckage counterpart to have less flickering

Scripting API

• Added "scrollPosition" properties to ComboBoxes and ListBoxes
• Implemented adding of additional languages via mods

Bugfixes

"Thanks to all our User Bug Reporters (UBR) for helping us improve the game! We're focusing 100% on this now, so keep it up!"

• [UBR] Fixed a wrong cargo shuttle launch error message in factory
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with clearing and scrolling of List and ComboBox UI elements
• Scripting API: Fixed an issue where callbacks of Wormhole entities weren't sent
• [UBR] Fixed font not being moddable
• [UBR] Fixed a few issues in fleet commands mission
• [UBR] Fixed non-steering players being able to execute hyperspace jumps
• [UBR] Fixed several issues where AI ships were having trouble hitting parts
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where pure-holo entities weren't getting deleted properly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where auto-turrets would target holo blocks
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where tractor beams were sometimes invisible
• Fixed a few issues where headquarters and military stations would get cranes and containers randomly generated all over the place
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with hyperspace recharge hint being displayed for too long
• [UBR] Fixed flickering in Alliance Tab when a search text was entered and then new items are hovered with the mouse
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where hints would be displayed for UI elements that are invisible

[ 2020-02-23 14:47:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Gameplay

• Ships can now be classified and renamed in "Current Ship" tab
• All colors are now always available, not just in creative
• Military Outposts now have fighter squadrons
• Holding the interact button inside the light line of a station dock now fires up tractor beams for the player
• Slightly reduced randomness of new ship generator
• Improved the ending of the "Transfer Vessel" mission
• Creative Mode Command Center now adds a captain on "Add Crew"

Balancing

• Cargo shuttles now transport cargo amounts depending on their own size (still always at least 1)
• Cargo shuttles are now more expensive the larger they get (not the other way round like all the other fighters)
• Reduced maximum speed of enemy AI ships on lower difficulties and in the outer regions of the galaxy
• Adjusted likelihood of several missions on stations

Graphics

• Tuned bloom and general brightness to be less obnoxious

Client

• Clicking into the colored frame of an entity now reliably selects it
• Added a "Browse" button to Singleplayer game window

Scripting API

• Added a isMapFaction() function to Galaxy
• Version can now be constructed from strings
• Added entriesPerPage property to ComboBox
• Added a getModsModifyingFile() function to ModManager to query all mods that modify a given file
• Added a "atype" function for gathering type or avorion type of an object (similar to type() function)
• When reading a dependency without an explicit version from a modinfo.lua, version is assumed as *.*, not 0.0

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue with head hunters where they could be hired by any nearby faction (including pirates)
• [UBR] Bottan's smuggler can no longer be abused for early Trinium gain
• [UBR] Fixed no economy overview appearing in trading upgrade of alliance ships
• [UBR] Fixed some issues where fleet tab wouldn't refresh
• Fixed an issue where "armed" fighters could be created without weapons
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in fighter tooltip where production effort always had a red down arrow
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where PDCs of enemy AI ships would shoot the player even if they are marked as "Friend"
• [UBR] Fixed an exploit where turrets of any material could be created at the turret factory
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships that were recovered after crashes would all be squished into each other
• Fixed several issues with effects of arriving ships
• [UBR] Fixed some performance issues on the galaxy map
• [UBR] Fixed some performance issues with the save size calculation in Singleplayer Window
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with the "Fleet Commands" mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the Adventurer and Swoks could spawn in the same sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in the "Free Slaves" mission where pirates wouldn't attack
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where repair turrets with both shield and hull repair wouldn't actually repair both
• Fixed several crashes and other minor issues in many scripts
• Fixed a crash in new ship generator
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ships and stations spawned with empty shields
• Added lots of debug logging to find the cause of some more issues
• Fixed an issue with infinite loops in order chains
• [UBR] Fixed an issuwe where camera shake didn't going away in build and strategy mode
• Fixed some issues with larger Xsotan attacks

[ 2020-02-21 13:30:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Important Note

"In this update, tons of stuff is coming together, so it might still be a little unstable. But that's what the beta branch is for anyways, right? Right? Please report all the bugs you can find."

Gameplay

• Added ancient gates to exodus end sectors
• Added camera shake in several situations when ...
• boosting
• getting hit by torpedoes
• a nearby ship jumps into hyperspace
• a nearby ship arrives from hyperspace
• Camera shake intensity can be configured in settings
• Added an animation for ships arriving from hyperspace
• Added a new block shape

Procedural Craft Generator

"We reworked the procedural craft generator to create prettier ships, based on faction styles. Factions can be recognized by their ships and stations now, and each ship/station class has a distinct look. We won't bore you with the internals, just one thing: Yes, you can mod it."

• Reworked the craft generator
• Added distinct styles for ships: Ship (default), Miner, Freighter, Carrier
• Added distinct styles for each station type
• New styles will only appear in newly discovered sectors
• Most aspects of the craft generator are now controllable via scripts
• Players without any saved designs get 5 procedural ship designs of varying size that they can use

Balancing

• Limited maximum hyperspace cooldown to 5 minutes
• Hyperspace cooldown is always at least 5 seconds (instead of 0) to avoid server issues

New Endgame Content

"We feel that after killing the Wormhole Guardian there should be more to do with your time. With this update we introduce new Xsotan ships, a new server wide post-guardian event and three new bosses."

• Added a massive, server wide, regular event in the center of the galaxy that happens after killing the Xsotan Wormhole Guardian
• Added new types of Xsotan
• Summoner: ??
• Quantum: ??
• Adjusted spawn timings of Xsotan Wormhole Guardian
• Added 3 new Endgame Bosses
• Boss Project IHDTX
• The Big Brother
• 5468 6520 4149

Faction Economy

"With this update we added economic factors to factions. Their supply is now finite, depending on faction size and military or economic focus. Players can now drive AI factions to their limits, and see and feel the impact of their actions."

• Factions now have a limited amount of military ships available in a given amount of time
• The amount depends on the faction's size and how aggressive or peaceful they are
• If lots of military ships are available they might send more when sending reinforcements
• Military ships are replenished over time
• Relations now worsen when taking over a sector from an AI faction
• A faction is now considered eradicated if it controls no more sectors and has no stations
• Eradicated factions are marked in the Diplomacy tab
• Factions now rebuild lost stations
• Construction sites are not built in hazard zones
• Each faction has a capacity for building construction sites, depending on the faction's size
• Capacity is replenished over time
• Smuggler Outposts now have spies that uncover data about neighboring factions
• Total stations, military ships and construction capacity are then visible in the Diplomacy tab
• This data is always visible for allied factions

Faction Packs

"Ever wanted to play against the Star Wars Empire in Avorion? You now have the tools to do so."

• Added new type of mod, "Faction Pack"
• Faction packs allow modders to create factions with coherent custom ship and station designs
• Supported ship types: Ship, Freighter, Carrier, Miner, Fighter
• Supported station types: All basic station types
• Size and material are adjusted automatically
• Added combobox to select the type when creating a new mod

Creative Mode Improvements

"We want players to be able to use Creative Mode in a way its name suggests, to try out features and game mechanics. So we added the possibility to quickly change the equipment of your craft."

• Added "Creative Mode Command Center" tab to Ship Window
• Players can add crew, guns, system upgrades, different fighter squads, torpedoes and goods to their current craft
• Relations to AI factions can be manipulated
• Amounts of turrets in building mode are now hidden as they are infinite anyways

Backups

"Since Avorion saves (galaxies) are persistent they tend to become huge, and a normal savegame feature is not possible. We did our best to add a safeguard against losing all your progress (for example after a crash) without taking up tons and tons of hard drive space."

• While playing, the game will now create hourly emergency backups
• You can restore emergency backups from the settings menu
• You should only restore backups in case of an emergency (ie. savegame corruption, by a crash or mods)
• In order to avoid exploits, backup creation can't be manually controlled by players
• (If you really want to mess up your galaxy and then revert it, copy its folder and then go nuts)
• IMPORTANT: Restoring from a backup is not the same thing as loading a save:
• Only player progress is saved during the backup
• When a backup is applied, the galaxy is almost completely reset and backed-up player progress is reapplied
• NPC factions are completely reset on restore of a backup

Client

• Added dimensions preview when placing block templates in building mode
• Improved visuals of hull polarization effects
• Hologram blocks now light up their surroundings
• Reduced overly bright AO lighting
• Added more crash diagnostics to client

Server

• Added a command line option to restore from a backup

Scripting API

• Documentation is now sorted alphabetically
• General documentation improvements
• Added getSectorView() function to Galaxy
• Added setMaterialTier() function to BlockPlan
• Added intersectBeamRay() functionality to intersect beams the way that a weapon would behave
• ShipAI: Added new function setPassiveTurning() to allow an entity to turn and shoot while staying in place
• Made Thrusters component available in scripts: Get / set turning speeds of entities
• Made Torpedo component available in scripts
• Made DirectFlightPhysics component available in scripts
• vec2, vec3 and vec4 can now be constructed with a single value: vec3(1) == vec3(1, 1, 1)
• Several improvements to passing/reading tables to/from engine
• utility.lua: Added multimin/max utility functions

Bugfixes

"As always, bug reports marked with [UBR] are User Bug Reports! Thanks to everyone who reported those, and keep it up, especially now that we're in the polishing phase!"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where salvagers and miners stopped randomly
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with stacked windows in main menu after changing the language
• Scripting API: Fixed an issue where Server:getPlayers() didn't return anything
• [UBR] Fixed dimensions preview of block brush being numbers like 1.49999999 instead of 1.5
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "Immune" text would be shown too often
• Fixed an issue where wreckages were duplicated
• [UBR] Fixed a bug when pressing Escape while moving a window
• Fixed missing caption of resource depot
• Fixed missing icon in cargo transport license merchant
• Several smaller stability improvements
• [UBR] Fixed a potential source for regular server hangs
• [UBR] Fixed a rare issue with Building Mode geometry not reloading correctly

[ 2020-02-13 16:21:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

"Thanks Tradinoko and all others for pointing out that we forgot to add the new damage types to torpedoes! We immediately set about correcting that oversight and here you go!"

Gameplay

• Added damage types and their application to torpedoes

Scripting API

• Torpedoes now have a damage type property

Bugfixes

"As always, bug reports marked with [UBR] are User Bug Reports! Thanks to everyone who reported those!"

• [UBR] Fixed an issue with missing names in Sector Overview
• [UBR] Fixed several issues with pirate encounters that lead to script crashes
• [UBR] Fixed only one pirate becoming aggressive in some pirate encounters
• [UBR] Fixed issue with one pirate encounter where chatter was shown on player ship
• [UBR] Fixed radio chatter being shown on ships that are currently flown by the player
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in Transfer Vessel mission
• [UBR] Fixed typo in German localization

[ 2020-02-10 10:13:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Official 1.0 Release Date: March 9th 2020

It's official! We're happy to break the news that Avorion will be leaving Early Access on March 9th, 2020!

The Road to 1.0

Until March 9th, there are a few more things to do:

Polishing, Balancing, Bugfixing

Feature Freeze at Boxelware! This week we have started focusing on polishing things up. All the most important features are now in (at least in our dev-build) and we're polishing things up. Fixing bugs, adding more QoL features and balancing. We will dedicate 90% of our time until release on that to bring you a product that has 1.0 quality and not just Early Access quality.

Generator Update

We're currently finalizing the most important update of all: The generator update. We want to set it live as soon as we can to get tons of feedback and to see if everything works fine. In case you don't know what the update is about, check this out: https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/3455884364089992667
We wanted to release it this week, but sadly we won't make it. The generator itself is working perfectly fine, but there's some stuff around it that still needs some work (factions saving their own styles, shipyards, etc). We're hoping to bring it to you next week on the beta branch!

Endgame Content

We have several Endgame related features in the making that will be released soon (maybe at the same time as the generator rework). These include faction economy and faction eradication, as well as more more bosses and one major, galaxy-wide end-game event. But we don't want to spoil too much just yet, so stay tuned!

What happens after 1.0?

Probably the most important thing for the majority: We're far from done with Avorion! After 1.0 we're planning on releasing both free updates and a few larger DLC updates. We plan on developing new content updates for the game for at least one year, and supporting the game for at least one more year after that. Much longer if things go well. We love working on Avorion and we love the engaged community that formed around the game! We don't want to just let all that go away. As such, one of the first updates to come after 1.0 will be a free update where we're implementing tons of small "feature-creep" features that have been suggested by the community and that we really loved, but that just didn't make it into the 1.0 version.

[ 2020-02-06 17:18:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Damage Types & Enemy Variations

We added a few new ways how hulls and shields react to different damage types. Some of these "changes" are things that were already in the game, but not explicitly highlighted. Weapons now officially deal different types of damage: Basic Physical and Energy, and then Antimatter, Electric, Plasma and Fragment damage, which are specializations of Physical and Energy damage.

• Physical and Energy are the 'vanilla' damage types
• Antimatter deals increased damage to hull
• Plasma deals increased damage to shields
• Fragment deals increased damage to Torpedoes and Fighters
• Lightning deals zero damage to Stone

Some weapons have those fixed, ie. Bolters: Antimatter, Plasma Cannons: Plasma (duh). Other weapons, like Chain Guns, have a chance of getting a specialized damage type. These damage mechanics were already in the game, but now we are explicitly highlighting them for better clarity. It also makes the code less obnoxious to work with. Ahem. What's new now, is that enemies can have special additional resistances and weaknesses against nearly all damage types. On top of that, we added some special, tougher enemies that have increased HP and damage. These new, tougher enemies will appear alongside normal enemies and can have 3 levels of toughness: Tough, Savage and Hardcore, each having more HP and dealing more damage than the previous.

Hyperspace Changes

To improve the flow of the exploration part of the game, we made some changes to the hyperspace jumping system. Waiting for your hyperspace engine to recharge while in an empty sector isn't really a lot of fun and slows players down unnecessarily. So, to speed up travelling through empty sectors, hyperspace recharge time is now increased by 200% while travelling through clear space (a sector with alliance/group/your own ships and nothing else counts as clear space). Next up, doing a hyperspace jump will only drain your hyperspace engine for the percentage distance you jumped, in relation to its reach, but always for at least 50%. This means that, with a 40 sector reach, jumping 30 sectors will drain 75% power (instead of 100%), but doing a jump for 10 sectors will still drain it for 50%. Your hyperspace engine still has to fully recharge in order to do your next jump. On the flip side, we didn't want to make it too easy to escape a fight, so we supplied enemy ships with hyperspace distorters. While you're being attacked by enemies (not just enemies present, they have to want you dead), they will distort your hyperspace engine, reducing its recharge rate to 25% (as well as its energy consumption, btw). Keep in mind that while exploring, most enemies will not attack you immediately on sight any more (see below). This basically makes it so that once you've committed to a fight, you can't weasel out as easily.

New Enemy Spawn Behavior

Don't you love it when you're exploring a yellow-blip sector and once the loading screen disappears there are 25 pirate ships fully loaded with torpedoes waiting for you? No? Then we have some good news for you! In order to make those encounters fairer and less frustrating, most enemy encounters in yellow-blip sectors no longer attack on sight, but only after you get too close or provoke them. They also no longer spawn all at the same time, but in a handful of waves, with each wave stronger than the one before it. Defeat all waves to have a special strong enemy spawn at the end with some shiny loot!

Special Offers

We spiced up Equipment Docks a little: They now have regularly changing special offers waiting for you. These special offers have an overall better rarity than the rest of the supply and are always -30% off. Speaking of Equipment Docks, all Equipment Docks now always have a supply of basic upgrades to get new captains started a little quicker:

• A Turret Slot Upgrade
• A Radar Upgrade
• An Energy Upgrade
• A Hyperspace Upgrade

More Patchnotes - 0.31.1

Gameplay

• Improved pirate dialogues
• Reduced time between entering a yellow-blip sector and being talked to by waiting pirates
• A selection of basic upgrades is now always available at Equipment Docks
• Boss Fidget is now only stunned by Electric damage (from before all weapons with Energy damage)

Hyperspace Rework

• Added coloring of Hyperspace Engine UI depending on which kind of buff or debuff is currently active
• Added icons telling players which (de)buffs are currently active

Hyperspace Rework Rework

"These changes are in relation to the Hyperspace Rework as it was active on the beta branch. Some of them won't be relevant for you if you didn't play on the beta branch. We listened to your feedback and adjusted some things."

• Hyperspace cooldown is no longer static
• Hyperspace cooldown over 3x as quickly when jumping into an empty sector
• While enemies are attacking, Hyperspace Engine is being distorted and can only recharge with 25% speed
• Hyperspace Engine must only recharge based on the jump distance relative to the max distance, but always for at least 50%
• Doing a jump of 15 sectors with a 20 sector range will only drain your engine for 75% instead of 100%
• Doing a jump of 2 sectors with a 20 sector range will still drain your engine for 50%

Balancing

"Several of these changes are in relation to the last beta patch and might not be relevant for you if you didn't play on the beta branch."

• Reduced amount of waves in enemy encounters for outer sectors
• Reduced ratios of high fire rate and high damage specialty bonuses
• Reduced bonus damage for plasma weapons against shields

Client

• Added an option to enable adaptive VSync, can be set while the game is running
• Added blinking to energy bars for when energy is low or energy usage is high
• Added tooltips for Hyperspace and Energy UI bars
• Added info about resistances and weaknesses of enemies to bottom-right HUD display
• Improved tooltips of enemy variation damage types
• Improved Singleplayer Window and added more information about saved galaxies

Bugfixes

• Fixed a very prominent server hang
• Fixed an issue where hyperspace cooldown could become very large
• Fixed several issues with wave encounters
• Fixed several issues in missions
• Fixed an issue where "Immune" would be shown too often
• Fixed a crash in shop UI
• Fixed an issue where some bulletin missions weren't working
• Fixed a crash if player loses torpedo launcher during torpedo tutorial
• Fixed a bug where electric weapons could damage stone

[ 2020-02-05 08:55:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

[previewyoutube=fNlBlZ_4FMo;full][/previewyoutube] A lot has happened since the release of Avorion into Early Access on January 23rd, 2017 - We've come a long way since then. This trailer highlights the most important changes since the Early Access release three years ago, while also showing off the classics of Avorion for all those people who don't know the game yet. Note: Depending on when you're watching it, the trailer may contain unreleased content, such as the ship generator rework. The list of improvements since the Early Access Release of 2017 is quite long by now: A revised (turret) building mode, massively improved procedural ship & station generation, new sound effects, torpedoes & PDCs, specialized enemies, improved faction territories, new blocks, new weapons, new upgrades, boarding, completely revised economy based on supply and demand, improved faction behavior & diplomacy, commanding ships over the map, more missions & events, UI improvements and much, much more!

Upcoming updates

As promised in last week's announcement, there are still some updates in the pipeline that will be released before the transition from Early Access to 1.0.

Faction Economy & Faction Eradication

AI Factions will soon have limited resources available (instead of unlimited resources), based on their territory size on the map and their economical strength. But don't be fooled: The amount of resources they have available will still be a lot. This has a few implications: 1. They will have to rebuild their military ships over time and if you're quick enough you can make them run out 2. They will be able to rebuild stations 3. You will be able to completely eradicate factions from the map

Craft Generator Rework

As you may have noticed by now, we're in the middle of a rework of the procedural ship & station generator of Avorion. Ships are generated based on so-called "Faction Styles". Our goal is that players can recognize a faction by their ships. That means that all ships of a faction have similar visual properties. That includes the color and structure of the ship, and also visual features like spikes. In addition, a faction can have multiple types of ships, which among themselves are very similar to each other, but not completely alike. Compared to the old ship generator (not shown here), the new generator can create much prettier ships that are very distinguishable from each other. The new generator will also be moddable. While the new generator is mostly finished and ready to use (as seen in above trailer), it's still a little rough around the edges and doesn't support as much variation as we'd like it to. But we're confident that, if everything goes well, a first implementation may be available for testing on the beta branch towards the end of January, start of February.

Endgame Content

There are some more things coming before release: We want to add more End-Game content after you beat the final boss. That includes new really hard bosses and a few large-scale events. But we don't want to give away too much here, yet.

Final Polishing Phase

Starting in February, we're going to go into a polishing phase where we will focus a lot less on new features and content, but instead on fixing as many issues and bugs as we can. We're also revisiting some older code to improve performance. Alright, that's it for now, stay tuned for the next updates!

[ 2020-01-23 09:48:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Damage Type Rework

We reworked how shields and hulls react to fire from enemies. They now have special strengths and weaknesses, which make the use of different weapons more important.

• Added new damage types
• Physical
• Energy
• AntiMatter
• Electric
• Plasma
• Fragments
• Turrets now deal damage according to their damage type
• Added new upgrades
• Shield Ionizer make your shield impenetrable for one damage type
• Hull Polarizer make your ship more durable but you also get more damage from one damage type
• * Weapon buffs are less random now and more related to the weapon type
• Reduced the amount of possible specializations for turrets
• Added new hull effect to show the type of Hull Polarizer
• Added new colors to shields to show the type of Shield Ionizer
• Damage numbers now use the color of the damage type they inflict

Enemy Variations & Specializations

Not only the players benefit from the new improved shields and hulls, but also the enemies get a fair share of improvements.

• Added new badass variations for enemies
• Badasses do more damage and have more HP
• There are three types of badasses
• Enemies may also use Shield Ionizers or Hull Polarizers

Hyperspace Rework

To improve the speed in which the galaxy may be discovered, we decreased the time spent in sectors while recharging the hyperspace engine.

• Reduced the time needed to recharge hyperspace engine
• Recharge time of hyperspace engine now depends on the sector
• In an empty sector, the recharge time is 10s
• In an not empty sector, the recharge time is 30s
• If attacked by enemies, the recharge time is at least 30s but not longer than 120s
• Reduced cooldown reduction for upgrades
• Hyperspace upgrade now has a maximum cooldown reduction of 35%
• XSTN-K V artifact (The Four) has no cooldown reduction anymore
• XSTN-K VIII artifact (Bottan) now has a cooldown reduction of 50%

Special Offers

Hey you, wanna see my new special offers?

• Every shop has special offers available now
• Special offers are 30% cheaper
• Special offers change over time and only have limited amount available

New Enemy Spawning Mechanic

We added a new spawning mechanic for enemies. They have different scenarios why they are in a sector and warn the player before attacking.

• Added new mechanic to spawn enemies
• Added different scenarios for enemy encounters
• Enemies want you to leave before they attack
• Enemies call reinforcements to fight you

Scripting API

• Added new spawnutility.lua to add variations and specializations to enemies
• Added a max durability factor for shields
• Added a factor to scale up a ship's durability
• Added DurabilityComponent
• Changed turretgenerator.lua and weapongenerator.lua to use new damage types
• Changed handling of weapon specialties in turretgenerator.lua and weapongenerator.lua
• Adjusted railgun mod example to new turretgenerator.lua
• Added get-set property shield resistance
• Old damage type is now split to damage type and damage source
• Added new waveutility.lua to make wave encounters

[ 2020-01-22 13:42:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

New Missions and Bosses

In order to fill the galaxy with more life, we are introducing new bosses and missions. Some of the missions are available at bulletin boards, while others will appear naturally. The bosses need to be found and use unique strategies and techniques to protect themselves. We don't want to spoil too much so go and find them yourself!

SFX Changes

We improved our sound engine to use effects and filters to create a more immersive sound experience. The further you are away from the action the more diffuse the sound will be.

Sounds

We reworked many aspects of the game's sound. Some of the old sounds were a bit blunt and too direct. In this update we replaced those and also added lots of previously missing sounds in order to create a coherent atmosphere and to add more life to the game. Among those are impact sounds that not only depend on the hit surface but also the damage type, different destruction sounds for explosions, blocks breaking and rocks being smashed, distinct laser sounds for the various weapons, a laser impact sizzle and many more. Collision and impact sounds are now attenuated when happening in quick succession to prevent unnatural stacking of sounds. Furthermore we added sound effects for entering and leaving hyperspace and ambient noise for stations, factories, mines, gates and wormholes.

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed a crash when trying to delete a galaxy with wrong permissions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where resource shortages could not be delivered when playing in creative mode
• [UBR] Armed/unarmed turret slots stats text is now more compact, especially in german
• Fixed several crashes in scripts

Other Changes

You can check out the full patch notes here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/3999690924758323795 https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/1696102156445506842

[ 2020-01-21 12:11:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

[previewyoutube=CLdmGxLWWfI;full][/previewyoutube] This video shows the reworked procedural ship generator of Avorion.

New Ship Generator Teaser Trailer

Ships are generated based on so-called "Faction Styles". Our goal is that players can recognize a faction by their ships. That means that all ships of a faction have similar visual properties. That includes the color and structure of the ship, and also visual features like spikes. In addition, a faction can have multiple types of ships, which among themselves are very similar to each other, but not completely alike. Compared to the old ship generator (not shown here), the new generator can create much prettier ships that are very distinguishable from each other. The new generator will also be moddable.

Leaving Early Access in Q1 2020

More news: We now settled on a time frame when we're planning to leave Early Access - Q1 2020! While it's really hard to pick an arbitrary point where we you can declare a sandbox game as "finished", Avorion is nearing its feature completion in one way in particular: As the vision I had of it when I first imagined it. But don't worry! If you're thinking that now that's it with Avorion, that we're done, then you couldn't be more wrong! We love working on Avorion and we love the community that formed around the game. We're going to actively support the game with free updates and some DLCs for at least 2 years after release. Depending on how well it goes for us financially, it might be longer.

The road to 1.0

So that's that for now! Until the 1.0 release we have a couple more updates planned. We'll give you more info on that in another news post next week. And then after that there's going to be a period of relentless bugfixing, polishing and balancing, to get rid of all the obnoxious issues that are okay for an Early Access game, but not a 1.0 version.

[ 2020-01-17 09:21:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

Bugfixes

• Fixed radio silence of stations and ships in the galaxy
• Scripting API: Fixed isAttackingSomething property being inverted
• Fixed a crash when collecting loot
• [UBR] Added missing wormhole sound
• Fixed an issue where match shape in build mode didn't work correctly

[ 2020-01-10 10:45:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Gameplay

• Trading Post can now be configured to not buy goods

Balancing

• Profit from consumed goods at stations is now 10% (up from 5%)

Memory Usage

• Reduced base memory usage of logged-in players
• Reduced base memory usage of server & client

Bugfixes

• Fixed a crash in gates
• Fixed a crash on server startup

[ 2019-12-12 16:19:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors. This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK): Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'beta'.

New Missions and Bosses

"In order to fill the galaxy with more life, we are introducing new bosses and missions. Some of the missions are available at bulletin boards, while others will appear naturally. The bosses need to be found and use unique strategies and techniques to protect themselves. We don't want to spoil too much so go and find them yourself!"

• Added two new missions to introduce the player to boarding and station founding
• Added three new missions to bulletin boards
• Missions at bulletin boards now depend on the station's type
• Added two new bosses that need special tactics to beat

SFX Changes

"We improved our sound engine to use effects and filters to create a more immersive sound experience."

• Implemented reverb effect and lowpass filter that increases with distance
• Sounds now use the inverse distance model instead of linear for a more natural falloff

Sounds

"We reworked many aspects of the game's sound. Some of the old sounds were a bit blunt and too direct. In this update we replaced those and also added lots of previously missing sounds in order to create a coherent atmosphere and to add more life to the game."

• Added impact sounds that not only depend on the surface (metal, stone, shield) but also on the damage type (physical, energy)
• Added new sounds for different types of destruction, like explosions, blocks breaking, rock being smashed
• Added distinct sounds for the different laser weapons like mining, salvaging, repair, point defense, etc.
• Implemented laser impact sizzle sound
• Added tractor beam sound effect
• Added new sounds for cannons, chainguns, anti-fighter guns and railguns
• Added dedicated sounds for metal-metal, metal-stone and stone-stone collisions
• Added new shot impact sounds depending on the surface and weapon type
• Collision and impact sounds are now attenuated when happening in quick succession to prevent unnatural stacking of sounds
• Added ambient sounds to stations, factories, mines, gates and wormholes
• Added various new UI sounds
• Added sound effects for entering and exiting hyperspace
• Sounds are now paused when the game is paused
• Volumes, effects and filter settings can be tuned via a 'data/sfx/volumes.ini' file

Balancing

• Improved the shooting time and relative reload time of energy cooled weapons

Scripting API

• Added new script 'missionbulletins.lua' which distributes bulletins to specific stations
• Added new class Shield to access a shield component
• Shields can now be made invincible
• Added passive patrol script where entities only fight after being attacked
• Added SoundSource class that supports playing, stopping and looping sounds
• Added EntityArrivalType to create[Entity/Object/Ship] functions

Bugfixes

"As always, bug fixes marked with [UBR] stem from bug reports we got from users. Thank you so much for helping and keep it up! :)"

• Fixed an issue with "Fleet Commands" mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where declarations of war without sender could happen
• [UBR] Fixed some issues with attacking behavior of AI
• Added missing translation for teleport command

[ 2019-12-12 10:18:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Economy: Supply And Demand

We improved the economy so that factories create a perceptible supply and demand. This supply and demand is regional and will directly influence the prices of goods. High demand -> high prices and vice versa. Most importantly: You can influence this by founding or destroying factories, so go nuts! Very high demand lets prices rise up to 130% of their base price, while high supply can make them go as low as 70%. Combined with other factors such as reputation or current factory stock, prices can range between ~50% and ~150%, giving you a potential 100% revenue.

IMPORTANT: Existing Saves

IMPORTANT: This affects existing saves! The galaxy generation algorithms have changed and sectors visited BEFORE the update still have the factories of the old algorithms. This means that the supply/demand prediction will mismatch around those sectors. You can fix this easily by simply visiting those sectors. Their factories will be updated into the galactic trade network and supply/demand prediction around them will correct itself. Although, if you've been thinking about starting a new playthrough anyways, now would be a good time.

Trading System Upgrade

With 'Exotic' and 'Legendary' type Trading System Upgrades you can now view above supply and demand fields on the galaxy map for every single trading good. This is a massive help when finding your own trading routes, since you can now see where to go to buy cheap and sell high!

Technical Background

In order to make the above changes happen, we had to do some major restructuring of the procedural generation algorithms. We are now able to reliably predict most of the content of a sector, without having to generate it (thus saving a lot of performance). This is probably mostly important for modders, but it's going to help us a lot with development in the future. Yay!

Faction Territory Maps

A feature that we have wanted for a long time and that basically came for free with the above changes are buyable faction territory maps. You can now buy different maps of a faction's territory, making it easier to find the perfect gate route or trade route.

Consumer Station Changes

Consumer stations such as habitats, casinos and biotopes (also: mines, shipyards, repair docks, etc) now behave a little differently. Previously, they just bought goods and used them up to create an end point for goods in the economy tree. Since all they do is buy and essentially destroy goods, players would not get any advantage by founding those stations themselves. In order to remedy this, we allowed those stations to "buy" goods for free, so that players can just pick up those goods every once in a while. This led to a few economical issues and made those consumer stations massively overpowered (imagine getting regular free deliveries of 50 body armors or mining robots). We changed the behavior in this update. Players now have to pay for the goods bought by consumer stations (if they're configured to buy goods). But when the population of the station uses up the good, they buy them from players first, for a 5% increased price than what the player paid for them. This nets the player a long-term 5% profit from all goods bought by their consumer stations.

Difficulty Changes

We're changing the difficulty settings. We got a lot of feedback telling us that the game is too easy, and we saw that the current 'Insane' difficulty is actually more of an 'Expert' mode. At the same time we had a few difficulties that seemed arbitrary. The 'Insane' difficulty that you've known until now is now 'Expert'. 'Veteran' got quite a bit harder, and 'Normal' and below difficulties remain almost unchanged. We've added a 'Hardcore' Mode and 'Insane' is now 'Hardcore' with additionally ramped up damage. Some of these changes aren't final yet, but so far they performed well on the beta branch, so we're setting them live for everyone now and will be listening closely for your feedback. We're planning a few more improvements to difficulties, such as bigger, badder and more specialized enemies. Sadly those changes didn't fit into this update, but you can expect them in one of the next updates!

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue with Trading Posts where prices would fluctuate between it and Trading System Upgrade
• [UBR] Player stations' prices are no longer influenced by relations to other buying/selling factions
• [UBR] Fixed warning message about missing Reconstruction Tokens when on Hardcore or higher difficulty

Other Changes

There are several other changes that are being introduced with this update, like an improved factory configuration UI, stackable upgrades, less random loot drops and more. You can check out the full patch notes here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/1618410615047152560 https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/1618410615065638352 https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/1699475956774070125 https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/1699475956795465518 https://steamcommunity.com/games/445220/announcements/detail/1710735679732186793

[ 2019-12-10 11:21:06 CET ] [ Original post ]