StarMade News

HOTFIX #4:

~ fixed sound switching off completely at some instances

HOTFIX #3:

~ fixed 32bit SIMD lib
~ code is now lwjgl3 ready (still waiting to switch for more stable GLFW version, and new launcher to deploy java as lwjgl3 requires java8)

HOTFIX #2:

~ further optimized Asteroids to generate even faster
~ fix for crash using SIMD if wrong processor information was provided by OS

HOTFIX #1:

~ fixed crash with shadows
~ fixed chinese language not working
~ updated language file to latest version
~ fixed Structure HP being negative due to Integer overflow (only happened when SHP amount was achieved with mostly one block type)

 

Hello, Hola, cześć, Здравствуйте, Bonjour, こんにちは, 你好, Hallo players

 

This one is a quite big one. A lot of things in the pipeline have finished, while others are still being worked on.

 

 

 

New Asteroids

A new (faster) system for generating terrain noise has been added. This system has tweaked asteroid generation to produce larger and more natural looking asteroids.

 

Thanks to native libraries and SIMD instructions this new system has a large performance increase over the previous system, therefore asteroids should generate faster and put less load on the CPU by doing so. Comparison testing has shown around 7 times performance increase compared to the old asteroid generation.

 

Further native library usage will be used for other CPU heavy parts of the game. This means, we now have the speed of C/C++ for the performance critical parts, while still keeping the convenience of java.

Custom Shapes

The engine now supports custom shapes. Those shapes can pretty much be any 3d object. The game automatically handles natural Level of Detail. That means that from afar, shapes will automatically turn into either cubes, “sprites” (like current flowers for example), or completely transparent. Objects further away will not have any decrease in fps that way. The distance at which objects blend to blocks can be adjusted in the options.

 

We are adding just a few decorations for now to test the limits and how players will use it. There will also be functional objects later. However, these objects should never be a main build component. If needed, more restrictions can be done like a limit on objects per area (client sided), to avoid slower computers lagging out.

 

The shapes we will add in this build are a Pipe and a Console, both of which can be found in General -> Decoration -> NonCubic.

 

In following updates, there will also be options for physics meshes. For ship vs ship collisions, the cube (or nothing) will always be taken.

 

More shapes will be added over time, as the process to make new ones and get them into the game is very straightforward. Also depending on tests we will replace existing shapes like flowers, capsules, and light rods with custom shapes.

 

New Languages

 

Thanks to the awesome translators that helped us, StarMade now supports seven new languages:

French, Russian, German, Japanese, Chinese Traditional, Polish, and Spanish!

The system we have set up for translations is very easy to maintain and add new or changed strings without messing up the code at all.

Languages packed with the game have most strings translated; translations may not be accurate. As translation progresses, we will update language packs and add new ones. It's a community effort, so if you can contribute, the translation project is here: http://translate.star-made.org/ . Anyone is free to edit, simply sign up and translate!

 

Reworked GUI Graphics

We have reskinned the User Interface with a cleaner theme akin to our main menu. The noisy and heavier elements of the older design often cluttered up the denser menu structures. We hope this new theme not only helps with legibility, but allows us to easily scale up our assets to higher resolutions in the future.

 

Further fine tuning will take place in the coming weeks with updated HUD elements currently being worked on.

 

Bugfixes

First and foremost: Logic Lag when loading in an object has been fixed. Inner logic (weapons etc) are also now loading a lot faster by using more Threads, but keep in sizeable tiers, so small calculations don’t fill up the queue and can be handled much faster.

 

T1540 Exit Test Sector brings up Tutorials instead

T1512 tutorial tile menu isn't constrained by menu size

T1509 new tutorial menu doesn't end processes when closed

T1484 Log spam...too much yhole (PDLDLKDJLKDJLKDJLKDJLKDJDLKJD)

T1352 Faction Permission Block Texture bug (Pixel texture pack)

(Fixed Linux/Mac crash on startup when sound system cannot be initialized)

(White lines appearing on White hull fixed - no phab report)

 

Development Timeline

To coincide with this release we’ve put together a thread covering the progression of development of the game. This should give a better impression as to what is planned as well as what’s directly ahead. You can find the thread on StarMade Dock here:

 

https://starmadedock.net/threads/starmade-active-development-timeline.25541/

 

Thanks for playing StarMade,

~The Schine Team

Hello players,

 

In our quest to make the game a lot more accessible, another important step has been done: Tutorial Videos.

 

#Hotfix:

~ Fixed issue where "Play in Background" isn't shown on the automatically played intro video
~ Fixed issue where F8 didn't open the Tutorial Selection Screen
~ Fixed backside of angled shapes being drawn, even if adjacent to an opaque face
~ Fixed wedges side triangles being drawn both in transparency and opaque (rest of the angled shapes will follow soon)
~ Fixed crash on mac when playing any video

Tutorial Videos

 

The engine can now play videos ingame. You can either watch it in a player or in the background while you play.

At the moment, the videos available are those from our youtube channel. We will be improving, optimizing, and expanding them for ingame tutorial usage. Also, while at the moment, the videos are 720p, in the future we will try to offer a low quality offline option with the ability to stream full quality directly from youtube if possible. It may be a while before a full series of quality videos are available.

 

We will also be looking into implementing an ingame browser for our wiki and link that to the game, so you could look up info about a block or a system via a context menu.

 

This is just the beginning of the new tutorial system, and we will further expand on it with dynamic suggestions, so that if a new player puts down a block, the tutorial system would suggest a video or a wiki entry based on that.

 

Currently, video audio only work with OpenAL sound enabled, however, for anyone having problems with that system, and other languages, there will be full subtitles in any supported language available in the future.

 

Speaking of languages. We are close to releasing the first bunch of translations, and that will probably happen in the next release. For more info about translations, visit https://crowdin.com/project/starmade

 

New Lighting System

 

As most of you know, the shading on structures, especially on angled shapes has serious problems with lighting.

The reason why those errors persisted so long, was because the lighting normalizer required a full rewrite, and to make things worse, is one of the most brain scrambling things to implement. However, it was time to do it, and the new system is now able to be easily adaptable to new blocks. Fixing any remaining lighting errors and other related glitches should now be a lot easier, as the new system is now modular and abstract instead of just one big pile of if-then-elses, which grew with every new block shape added.

 

Here are a few comparisons:

 

 

(inserted when copying to sm.org)

 

There’s a minor issue remaining where your ship mode view can’t see through non cubic blocks such as wedges or corners. We’ll make sure this is resolved in the next hotfix.

Main Menu Additions

We’ve added a few improvements:

• You can rename local worlds with the right click context menu.

• Advanced settings for local worlds now has a Save and Discard changes button. Previously it only saved when starting a world.

• Ability to use the default astronaut skin again, an X appears next to the Skin select button that deselects your custom one.

Bug Fixes

The initial loading has been improved to take a little less time. There is still some things to be done there to speed it up further.

 

A few tasks were fixed too, lighting and tutorial tasks not included:

• Talking to spiders causes nullPointer

• Build helper is locked to ship core

• Setting sell price to 0 of a block can cause crash

 

If you notice any issues with the new lighting, please make a bug report on our bug tracker Phabricator
 

Thanks for playing StarMade,

~the Schine Team

Hello players,

 

A new update has just been released, and it’s a special one. We can finally say goodbye to the ugly startup settings dialogue and welcome our new Main Menu.

Hotfix# 0.198.133

- fixed tutorial
- fixed totorial not being usable if player leaves and reenters a game from main menu
- added delete/export context menu to local universe menu
- added saving of manual server entries
- fixed cpu being high in empty sectors
- fixed several crashes
- fixed error handling to not be in the background (might still happen rarely)
- fixed crash on encryption exception
- fixed mouse vanishing when being put in the main menu for any reason while the mouse is grabbed ingame
- fixed storage blocks not being connectable to logic (storage -> logic as indicators of full/empty)
- fixed adv. single player settings using wrong values
- antenna modules and conduits are no longer rotatable
- light blocks have slab variants
- server filters save now

 

Main Menu

A lot of things had to be done to give players the best possible experience starting the game. We designed a new GUI theme from scratch. Most importantly, you’re now able to switch from server to server or to a single player universe without having to restart the game. Not only that but once the game resources are loaded, they stay loaded. So switching worlds or servers just takes seconds.

 

Furthermore, all advanced graphics options like texture pack and its resolution, shadows, AntiAliasing, etc, are now available ingame and don’t need a restart.

 

The server list has also been implemented for the menu, with the ability to set and filter by favorites. Not only that, but your last game, be it single or multiplayer, will be remembered and you will be able to join that Universe again with just one click.

World settings previously stored in .cfg files are now accessible via the main menu making the customisation of your single player worlds much easier.

 

Tons of minor changes have been done to the game and GUI to make error handling better.

 

We hope you enjoy the new Main Menu. From now on, we will focus more on game features, while at the same time work on better usability, like finally finding a better solution for the current tutorial.

 

 

New Gear Model

A new model (and sprite) has been created for the Grapple Beam.

 

New block

Only 1 new block this time: Ice wedge!

 

Bug fixes

 

A bug causing an unusual long shutdown time of a server was fixed. Several reasons strange server behavior has also been fixed (but hard to explain ;) )

 

T963 Mass not affecting turn rate when docked

T829 Language Editor unable to exit by clicking "exit" under "file"

T785 Certain tool windows close Connection Setup when unnecessary

 

What’s coming next?

We’ll do 1 more week of polishing and tweaking the main menu so make sure to report any bugs you find on our bug tracker Phabricator. After that it’s another week of the usual bug fixing to prepare for the next big step.

 

 

Thanks for playing StarMade,

~ the Schine Team

 

Hello players,

 

This is the third round of fixing old and new issues in the game. We hope to raise the overall enjoyment of playing the game with the removal of some annoying bugs before moving on to new big features. We’ll do 1 more week of bug fixing and then we get back to our normal schedule.

 

Small GUI Enhancements

 

• Build helper now remember the previous settings

• Inventory “search for name” filters now have quick clear option you can click on

• Replace filter can now be picked from what block the player is looking at, button is located in the advanced build mode panel

• If you replace a block type with another block type, it uses the orientation set in the build mode panel instead of the default orientation.

• As mentioned in the bug fix list, dates on blueprints and faction members are implemented now. Blueprint description also works now

 

Bugfixes

T1361 creating design new or from blueprint causes nullpointer exception

T1338 beta launcher overlay

T1339 class cast exception when firing lock on missile while docked

T1330 Search bar keeps focus when using right click resulting in unwanted behavior

T1290 a teleport or jump to another player can crash client

T1273 first person view should be placed on the astronaut’s head

T1269 using any hotbar slot undocks you from a shipyard anchor

T1250 Frequent Crashes In Latest Version

T1208 Can't add ship to fleet if it isn’t in the same sector

T1180 fleets get stuck with old orders (sometimes until they are unloaded?)

T1101 playerlist and navigation menu use the same saved size and position

T968 scrolling in tab player list menu also scrolls through hotbar

T943 all textures on t002.png appear broken on debris blocks

T942 shield sharing against explosions is fixed at 50% shield capacity no matter what the config says

T904 Cargo block doesn't become full if it's the only one linked to a chest

T881 Dark Grey Advanced Heptas incorrectly made in standard factory

T858 Build Mode for Shipyard design displays total power cap, including Shipyard's Station.

T853 shield effect overrides lighten mode

T791 display module formatting help button is not visible

T788 area trigger controller doesn't auto link with other logic blocks

T787 Ships/Stations do not save AI enabled state on docks

T753 Block count and mass is off

T750 Shield regeneration rate displayed on GUI does not reflect combat nerf

T736 Astrotech does not accept slave modules

T625 inventory filter needs a quick reset button

T542 Gravity Unit not working far away from core of the Ship

T469 Z Fighting on Galaxy Map

T437 Background noise persists even when game is muted

T386 Alignment/gravity overridden by vessel you're docked to

T340 "power failure" event does not check power inheriting

T303 beams passing through ship

T281 When in build mode, lighten Mode-esque shader effect is applied to nearby chunks of any nearby block-based entities.

T246 Clicking spawn multiple times after suicide generates multiple suicides

T231 Restricted build helper still applies in astronaut mode

T204 dates for faction members and blueprints do not work

T197 editing blueprint description also edits faction description

T187 Up and down Arrow key stuck between rail entities

T104 Safety element: Faction Menu

T103 Safety element: Structure Menu

T97 Replace tool doesn't always replace with correct orientation

T51 can't toggle Flip Flop manually

 

Thanks for playing StarMade,

~ the Schine Team

Greetings, Citizens ~

 

Unfortunately I was hit by the flu three weeks ago and only could work again for the past week. Because of that, this will be another bugfixing round, as the time was far too short to complete other features in the queue. I’m feeling well again, though.

 

Something you have probably noticed is that StarMade now uses semantic versioning; while this doesn’t affect gameplay, it’s an industry standard, and will allow us to more easily (and accurately) identify revision/hotfix versions.

 

Other notable improvements in this release:

• We have added a new model for the Marker Beam.

• Shield hits now scale with weapon power.  (For example: your pistol will no longer light up the entire ship when fired inside.)

• We have made some small changes to the lighting shader which improves graphics at longer distances.

• The atmosphere of planets now looks better when viewed from different a sector.

• Mirror Cubes is now enabled by default.

• The yellow/red build box now has a new appearance, and scales with box dimensions.

• Shipyard computers now have an [Edit Design] button to access ship cores without having to manually get in.

 

Confirmed fixes:

T1294 star reflection makes some blocks appear white

T1293 Shipyards able to take over an existing entity

T1292 thrust circle slider can go under or above 100% total thrust

T1276 turning off gravity un-aligns you from ship

T1267 exit tutorial dialog menu appears on top of confirmation dialog

T1244 Missile Tracking inaccurate vs smaller ships

T1226 Cannot modify rotational thrust using out-of-ship thrust menu as astronaut

T1221 fleet on sentry or defend doesn't fight back if enemy is out of weapon range

T1211 AI aim is nearly 100% accurate, regardless of difficulty setting

T1248 "Preview Block to Place" appears inside Galaxy Map

T1185 Carrier recall first uses an old flagship position to home in

T1177 Faction description can't be blank (no warning message issue)

T1081 "Select Nearest Entity" while inside a ship core selects your astronaut

T1065 Unable to unlink weapons and effects in weapons menu

T1020 Diminishing returns of Inherited Thrust is based off the dock, not mothership

T971 storage pull on asteroid results in class-cast exception

T897 tooltip not showing for ship hotbar 2 -> 10

T798 Chat main log blank after first 100 lines

T794 Transporters preserves alignment but not gravity on the same ship

T778 scrolling through ship hotbar is jumpy

T709 LOD of planets are the wrong colour seen from other sectors

T8 Sector change moves players in gravity/alignment

 

We’ll continue to do bug fixing till the end of the month, while preparing and then moving on to a long awaited change. Along the way we’ll include smaller features with those bug fixes.

 

Thanks for playing StarMade!

 ~ The Schine Team