Empyrion – Galactic Survival - Community Forums

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

After four major Experimental releases during the last four weeks, we are very excited to reveal the planned date for the upcoming public release of Alpha 10:

June 17, 2019

Thank you so much for all the valuable feedback and bug reports during this intense Experimental phase.

For the remaining days until June 17, we will continue to work on polishing features and squashing more bugs.

Empyrion Dev Team

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

As promised last week, we are releasing the Alpha 10 Release Candidate today!

This final step of the Experimental phase is, among other changes, taking into account your feedback on a few of the latest feature additions: the combined Color-Texture tool now allows texturing and coloring independent from each other again (please read below), the Zirax soldiers got another buff of their AI routines and those creators that want to deactivate base attacks on a given playfield can now do so.

Besides a lot of other refinements, changes and improvements, we made the O2 calculation more accurate (technically, we reduced the basis for the O2 calculation from 2m to 1m Voxels). For example, in the old 2m Voxel calculation, a thin wall block entirely blocked the O2 flow even though there was visually “empty space” in front of the wall. The new calculation will let the air flow past these kind of shapes from now on! In addition, we added a thin variant of the ventilator for more compact builds.

Please find all the updates, changes and bug fixes in the changelog below.

Please make use of the feedback threads in the Experimental forum and report any bug in the appropriate forum section over here: https://empyriononline.com/forums/#experimental-branch.33

For everyone waiting for an announcement of the public release date: rest assured, the Alpha 10 release is not that far away anymore. We will officially announce the release date for Alpha 10 tomorrow but we can already say that Alpha 10 will be released early next week.

Yours,

Emp Dev Team

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CHANGELOG: Alpha EXPERIMENTAL 10.4.0 (Build 2498)

Improvements to combined Texture/Color Tool:

- When clicking on a texture or color with LMB, close window immediately (it is like the old behavior)
- When clicking on a texture or color with RMB, just select/highlight texture/color (do not close window)
- Separate color and texture preview in right-bottom corner (i.e. 2 preview slots, only color and only texture)
- Allow only texture and color mode:
(i) "Only texture" mode (keep current color) - when selecting left upper slot and choosing a texture
(ii) "Only color" mode (keep current texture) - when selecting left upper slot and choosing a color
- Restore default texture and color - when selecting left upper slot for both texture and color
- Add icon to left upper slots and also display in right-bottom corner (if...

Hi Galactic Survivalists,

Welcome to Part IV of Alpha 10 Experimental!

While we are constantly making progress towards the first release candidate in our weekly EXP updates, today’s patch will again add a few more toys and feature updates. Enjoy the new Texture-Color Tool that combines coloring & texturing in one tool and an entirely new movement controller mode for vessels. Please note: both are test candidates. So please have a closer look. As always, it will depend on your feedback, if those features make it into the Release Candidate and the public version!

For our creative minds and all builders: we increased the available shapes for the heavy windows by adding a few more of the requested connectors and variants. For those that might wonder if the “standard” and “armored” window groups will be worked on in this way as well, the short answer is: yes!

The Base Attack mode also got a few upgrades to the Zirax Troop behavior: they no longer ignore sentries but they will attack active sentries now (normal turrets will be added in the next update).

But most importantly: Thanks to your dedicated feedback, we now have a basic understanding of what currently works and what needs to be improved in the future. The AI behavior will be improved as we develop, BUT as testing AI in a dynamic environment that does not have any “fixed setup” and thus has a myriad of side effects that could lead to a problem or pathing issues with AI behavior, we cannot just make a use case on our own and even the detailed descriptions will not always help to track down why AI behaves as it did. So we would like to ask everyone who has or had an issue with the BA Attack in a specific base or setup, to either send in a Blueprint of the contested base OR (better) send in the savegame to the feedback thread. This way we can directly check the setup and will not lose the important context and all the contributing factors. Thanks a lot in advance!

Last, but not least, with this update we have also dedicated some time into balancing a few aspects of the game, like mass and hitpoints of certain “door type” groups as well as shields. Please have a CLOSE LOOK on their new values and report your feedback in the appropriate threads in the feedback forum, so we can see if we are on the right track with those changes.

You can find all the feedback threads pinned in this forum:...

The updated Alien Planet

Update: May 29, 2019 (Build 2483)
- Fixed: Chat message exception

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Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Welcome to the third installment of Alpha 10 Experimental, where we added even more new stuff for your enjoyment! This time we introduced a highly requested balancing parameter for shields (recharge delay when the shield is hit) and a hotkey to activate / deactivate the shield. In addition, we added a first batch of new window shapes (Heavy Windows for testing), as well as more variants for doors and shutters.

Moreover, the new blockshapes menu can now be configured with less hassle: We renamed all the internal ‘key names’ that are used in the config file. Now, you simply need to skip the blank of the localized name. If you want to add ‘Ramp C Low’ to a slot, simply use ‘RampCLow’ - and so on. You do not need to dig through the Loca file or other configs anymore!

Please check the Experimental forum for our feedback threads where we are now asking about your ‘Basic Shapes’ (or ‘Favorite Shapes’) recommendations:
https://empyriononline.com/forums/experimental-features-discussion.35/

One word about the current development plan since some of you asked how long the Experimental phase will still last. At the moment, we do not yet have a fixed release date for the A10 public release other than early-to-mid June. We plan to stick with the major EXP update at least once per week until we think the Experimental version is ready for release - or the feedback given indicates that some features might require a bigger player base, while all the breaking bugs are solved.

Thanks in advance for your dedicated help! Please keep reporting bugs in our bug forum and please revisit issues that you had and bump threads if they are not solved, although listed as solved in the changelist below: https://empyriononline.com/forums/bugs.34/

Enjoy EXP Phase III!

Yours,

Emp Dev Team

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CHANGELOG: Alpha EXPERIMENTAL 10.2 (Build 2482)

Shield Update:
- Add 5 sec “recharge delay” (cooldown) for shields, each time the shield is hit. This will reset the regeneration countdown and prevent recharging as long as the shield is ‘under fire’.

- Added hotkey “X” for activating / deactivating shield generator (default key can be remapped)
- Adapted color of shield particle effect: instead of green, it is now...

The new volumetric lights on CV spotlights

Update: May 23, 2019 (Build 2470)
- Fixed: Problem that "Default Base Attack" scenario was not correctly uploaded to Steam
- Fixed: Force Fields did not work anymore: either always on or always off (eg doors, hangar doors, forcefield devices etc)
- Fixed: Not possible to interact with OxygenStation (BA,CV) - no collision
- Fixed: Auto Miners did not show their beam while mining anymore

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Hi Galactic Survivalists!

We just released Part II of Alpha EXPERIMENTAL 10. Thanks to your dedicated feedback, we already improved a lot of the new features and added a heap of new bug fixes!

Said that, the update also includes a few new features and feature refinements, as you can see from the changelog below.

Among others, we improved the “fixed” drill mode of the Hover Vessel by adding a fine-grained directional steering to the previously fully-locked mode. You can now use W/A/S/D and the arrow keys to precisely navigate your vessel while drilling. In addition, when pressing LMB in fixed mode, your drills will remain active until you press LMB again. Thus, you can now concentrate on moving the vessel (which is slower with fixed-mode activated) and aiming its fixed drills on the target area without the need to hold LMB all the time in order to keep the drills running! Remember the fixed drill mode is activated for HVs that have a drill module with SHIFT-O.

Alpha 10 EXP Part II also adds a completely new scenario, designed around the new “Base Attack” system you already got to know in the first Alpha 10 EXP iteration in standard survival (default-random scenario). But unlike the default-random survival scenario, the Base Attack Scenario will have you starting directly in a contested base. Take your time - but not too long - to familiarize yourself with the compound and ramp up the defences. Waves of drones and troops will come for you! This is a test case not only for the base attack system itself and how it can be scaled as well as an offer for you to easily drop in a COOP game with some friends and have, but also adds the first (code-side) iteration of the redesigned PDA tech - adding more setting and management options by offering C# as an additional PDA scripting language.

If you are a mission designer and are capable of using C#, keep an eye on the latter. We will release more info about that particular topic in the next weeks!

As always with a major...

Update: May 16, 2019 (Build 2450) - Client only

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Exception when drilling underwater rocks

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Update: May 16, 2019 (Build 2449)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Dynamic HP calculation incorrect for some small armored steel blocks
- Fixed: No frames on windows on first game start
- Fixed: Water plane is blocking buildings blocks & terrain placeable devices from being placed
- Fixed: Loading of mods in client and playfield server even if not specified
- Fixed: Multi-player choose planet window localizing planet class.
- Fixed: Sometimes exception triggered after killing a NPC
- Fixed: Filler function of T2 Drill is producing Iron Textured terrain
- Fixed: Templates - Drill T2 required Drill T1 as input
- Fixed: Terrain Shader - Relief not working (only a regression in A10)
- Fixed: Terrain Shader - Cluster scale not working (only a regression in A10)
- Fixed: Some half-size block shapes missing sides when placed next to other blocks
- Fixed: New Armored Door with missing 'part'
- Fixed: Light block of small vessel was difficult to remove (too small collider)
- Fixed: Internal exception found in EXP dedi logs

Changes:
- Increased version number to EXP 10.0.1
- Increased texture resolution for some models (Constructor, Deconstructor, O2 Station, Medic/Clone Station, Shield Generator)
- Improved filler mode on drill: Updated filler texture and improved blending/usage
- When drilling on top soil, dirt is now shown again immediately

Known issue:
Exception triggers when drilling underwater rocks [6354]

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Hi Galactic Survivalists!

We are very excited to start the Experimental phase for our upcoming major update. Alpha 10 will feature more than 100 new building block shapes, shields for vessels and bases, a highly improved (and speed up) drilling gameplay, an improved base attack mode, a new tabbed chat for multiplayer and a huge amount of bug fixes, gameplay refinements and other changes!

While many of the changes and improvements are pretty straightforward, the new base attack in Alpha 10 might need some words of explanation: Previously, only drones would attack your base, given some arbitrary rules, like activating the first generator or placing a turret. Starting with Alpha 10, the rules that will now provoke a base attack are much more meaningful and fully tied to the NPC...

Update: May 7, 2019 - Fixed local coop

Changelog: Alpha 9.7.1 (Build 2321)
- Fixed: Local Coop: Cannot connect via Friends tab in Server Browser
- Fixed: Large PDA window was shown when starting local coop
- Fixed: Logistics window exploit
- Fixed: Blueprint save data in MP (now BP spawns without any ammo)

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Hi Galactic Survivalists!

We just released a new update with Unity 2018.3 on the public branch. For this update, we switched the network protocol back to RakNet since UNET could not handle the network traffic on busy servers. We had to do some extensive internal refactoring to ensure that RakNet is working with Unity 2018.3.

Please let us know if you experience any problems.

Changelog: Alpha 9.7 (Build 2319)

Changes:
- Switched network protocol back to RakNet
- Internal refactoring to make sure RakNet is compatible with Unity 2018.3
- Optimized RakNet protocol (now sending packages with different priorities)
- Updated EAH Tool: https://empyriononline.com/threads/tool-emp-admin-helper-eah-free-v1-45-x.5771/page-54#post-305591

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Set Anti Grief distance only if RegenAfter is set for a POI
- Fixed: Several internal exceptions

Update: April 23, 2019
We are really sorry, but we had to temporarily revert back to Unity 2018.1 (Alpha 9.6 - Build 2307) since UNET causes some problems that we need to address first. Your save games should be fully compatible with Alpha 9.6.

Alpha 9.7 (Build 2316) will stay on the EXPERIMENTAL branch.

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Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Given that our Unity 2018.1 version finally seems to be stable, we released Alpha 9.7 where we upgraded the game engine to Unity 2018.3. For this upgrade, we had to switch the network protocol to Unity UNET.

Please let us know if you notice any problems in multiplayer.

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Changelog: Alpha 9.7 (Build 2316)

Changes:
- Upgraded game engine to Unity 2018.3
- Switched network protocol to Unity UNET
- Increased wait time for local coop server from 10 to 20 seconds
- Improved telnet connection
- Added PDA parameter ListVisibility to allow for previews of deactivated, invisible chapters. To help guide players to activation positions
- Mod: Player inventory modifying requests don't respect open Logistic window showing that

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Instant-Production speed does not trigger PDA checks when used in any constructor
- Fixed: Broken inner glass texture on vessel cockpits for last damage state
- Fixed: Sometimes consuming an item reduces body radiation
- Fixed: Several internal exceptions

Update: April 4, 2019 - 2.30pm CEST

Unity 2018 (Build 2307) is live again on the public branch!

Bug Fixes
- Possible fix for login problems
- Fixed: Server communication hangs
- Fixed: Several internal exceptions
- Fixed: Corrupt player avatar colors
- Fixed: HullArmoredFull / HullArmoredThin had no dynamic HP calculation (now the dynamic calc is based on SV/HV structures)
- Fixed: Cockpits collision model is incorrect
- Fixed: Problem that player could respawn underground in crashed ship that was buried (removed medic station/clone chamber from crashed POIs)
- Fixed: NearUnit checks in MP
- Fixed: New blockshapes do not stop upgrade-beam when on the CS material level
- Fixed: Shooting dancing alien leads to removal of complete base

Changes:
- Updated EAH Server Tool: https://empyriononline.com/threads/tool-emp-admin-helper-eah-free-v1-45-x.5771/page-54#post-302735

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Hi Galactic Survivalists,

We are giving Unity 2018 another try. As mentioned the last time, the ideal outcome would be that you do not see any difference to the last public release version Alpha 9.5.0 (Build 2294) - except performance improvements

For bug reports, please visit: https://empyriononline.com/threads/...ort-template-requirements-known-issues.47082/

Yours,

Emp Dev Team

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CHANGELOG: Alpha 9.6.0 (Build 2302)

Changes:
- Upgraded game engine to Unity 2018.1: in a first step, we have upgraded to Unity 2018.1 and if everything runs smoothly we will upgrade to Unity 2018.3 in a second step
- Re-added legacy cockpits to cockpit block group due to popular demand
- Updated Robinson Protocol and PDA missions (better timing, better explanations etc)
- Updated Localization.csv

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Problem that sometimes in Coop player do not start in same wreckage POI. It could happen that player spawns in POI far away from crashsite (to fix this problem, we had to rename some BPs to make sure they do not have "Wreckage" as spawn name)
- Fixed: Choose planet window for multiplayer always showing default image.
- Fixed: Some Wreckage POIs are now buried 1m in ground
- Fixed: Culture-dependent floating point conversions
- Fixed: Mass / Volume of Open Cockpit 1
- Fixed: Sector map does not load
- Fixed: No POI was spawning on...

Hi Galactic Survivalists,

To sweeten the waiting time for Alpha 10, we decided to release Alpha 9.5 from the A9 branch with some goodies such as armored SV/HV cockpits, a new planet, an advanced game start for experienced players, bug fixes and more.

In addition, we are still working on preparing the code for the Unity 2018 upgrade. Unfortunately, it takes more time than expected.

For bug reports, please visit: https://empyriononline.com/threads/...ort-template-requirements-known-issues.47082/

Yours,

Emp Dev Team

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CHANGELOG: Alpha 9.5.0 (Build 2294)

New Armored Cockpits (SV / HV):
- Added armored cockpits for SV / HV that have much higher hitpoints than standard cockpits


- Armored cockpits can be upgraded from standard cockpits


Re-Balanced SV/HV Cockpits and other Cockpit Tweaks:
- Slightly increased Hitpoints of most standard Cockpits
- Reduced Hitpoints and Mass of both Open Cockpits considerably
- Reduced Hitpoints and Mass of standard Closed Cockpit 05 to match size/block count relative to the others
- Do not display old legacy cockpits anymore
- Added max count of 2 for SV/HV cockpits (per group) - only active if enabled in gameoptions.yaml
- Updated model of Cockpit 3 (less frames to have better visibility)

New Planet:
- Added new Ocean Planet




Improved Game Start:
- Added alternative start on Temperate Planet (TemperateStarter2):

Start in wreckage base with advanced equipment and no Tutorial (Robinson Protocol)
> for experienced player who do not need the tutorial and who want to progress faster
- Added Wreckage POI instead of JunkT2 so player has already a base earlier in game (only on Temperate Planet - Escape Pod start)
- When Robinson Protocol is skipped, the player gets Portable Constructor, Motorbike and Detector
- Added more info about starter planets in New Game Menu
- Reduced amount of Crushed Stone needed to obtain Iron, Copper, Silicon Ore in Constructor
- Added more rock resources in starter biomes to easier obtain Crushed Stone
- Zirax POI is now sufficiently far away from JunkT2 / Wreckage

Other...