Hi Everyone, Were happy to announce that the latest update to Space Crew is now available! This time, weve focused on a few areas that have been highlighted in the great feedback weve received from the community. Firstly, weve added a range of new Events and Encounters to punctuate missions with more variety and surprises. In addition to this, the Comms Station has received upgrades in the form of a new Hacking Function and Mission Map. Youll have more control during combat in the form of the new Custom Waypoint and Prioritise Target functions accessible when in Tagging Mode. Lastly, weve added MK3 Weapon pods to complete that ultimate loadout. There are also a few minor improvements and additions, which weve listed below. Once more, thanks for all your feedback and suggestions, theyve been enormously helpful to us as we work to enhance the game. We hope you jump back in and enjoy these new features and content, and please do continue to let us know what you think! Dave, Jon, Joe & Greg (Our new team member!) Runner Duck

Release Notes:

New Events and Encounters

Youll encounter cosmic phenomena such as Ion Storms that may cause intermittent power outages (Weve added the ability to quickly repair the effects of EMP on the ships reactor, so this can be combatted). Youll be confronted with Meteor Showers that bombard your shields and hull, and Neutrino Flares that can damage systems and spark onboard fires. You may also encounter a Passing Radioactive Comet, which will bombard your crew with radiation, calling for a hasty escape from the sector.
Strange Phasmid Artifacts may be encountered, such as the Phasmid Beacon, which will summon Phasmid forces if not hacked in time. Another hackable artefact is the Phasmid Comms Relay, which will broadcast a self-destruct signal to all enemy ships in the sector if you can keep your cool and successfully hack it while under attack. Every so often, you may find a discarded Phasmid Wormhole Drive floating in space. Once hacked, these can provide a useful shortcut through the mission. Be careful, as these drives are unstable, and you may end up stuck in the wormhole for a duration, along with some very annoyed Phasmids!
The Phasmids have been busy establishing more outposts around the Galaxies; take out their shield generators and hit their reactors hard to obliterate them. And be wary of the new Phasmid Frigates, which have been tasked with scanning sectors for UDF craft, ready to jump in and attack!
UDF Aid Stations will provide much-needed respite - simply land at them to replenish your crews health and recharge your med bay. But be on your guard, some of these outposts have been overrun by Phasmid troops!
As the war for the fate of Earth rages on, youll encounter Ongoing Space Battles that require your assistance, and plenty of debris left in their aftermath.

Custom Waypoints

You now have more control over the heading of your ship, thanks to the Custom Waypoint feature. Just enter Tagging Mode and follow the prompt to point your ship in the desired direction. This is extra useful for ensuring your gunners have the best angle on their targets.

Prioritise Targets

Another new feature accessible in Tagging Mode allows you to specify a tagged fighter as the priority target. Use this to take out key threats such as Phasmid Docking Craft and Drone Carriers.

Return Crew to Stations shortcut Panel

A handy set of shortcuts that allow you to quickly get your crew organised in a crisis. There are options to Return Idle crew who are not engaged in an action to the nearest appropriate station, Return All crew to the nearest appropriate station even if theyre busy, and the option to Save Stations for all crew and then Return to Saved to get everyone back into their saved seats.

Comms Station Hacking Function

Larger enemies and some artefacts can now be hacked! Simply tag the hacking marker to get in range, then initiate hacking via the Comms Station. Youll need to tap out the correct sequence of symbols to successfully complete the hack. The required code may be received from the target during the hack, or in some instances be found marked on the target object. Codes can also be found and stored by scanning Phasmid Code Banks which may be found floating around in space - these will make hacking a breeze.

Comms Station Mission Map

Are we there yet? You can now open a map of the available sectors during a mission. While the map is open, the action is paused to give you some time to get your bearings.

Mark 3 Weapon Pods

Weve added top-tier versions of the Missile Launcher, Autocannon HE, Particle Beam, Railgun (this ones a doozy!) and their combo variants.

Minor Fixes and Improvements

• Improved impact effects when the most effective weapon type is used on a target. (e.g. Plasma Cannon vs Shields, Missiles vs Armour).
• Sectors in the briefing room map can now be highlighted to show more information.
• The ships reactor can now be repaired to recover from an EMP burst sooner.
• Ships Reactor status UI now shows an EMP effect.
• A button to access the Space Crew Discord server added to the Main Menu.
• Low Oxygen damage no longer affects crew in the med bay.
• Added an option to change the volume of the crew Jabber.
• Extended the range of camera movement sensitivity for controllers.
• Prevented weapons from firing during switching.
• Added flash effect for enemies jumping into the sector.

[ 2020-12-16 17:57:55 CET ] [ Original post ]