New Stars - Changelog

3.0.0b 'ARGON III' [2023.12.04]

Customizable, human-readable, and more version-compatible save files.

Fixed

  • Fix: AI -> Having 2 builders building starbases at the same time in the same system, causing starbase remnants to be created.
  • Fix: Battles break when one ship can attack other ships freely, but not vice versa.
  • Fix: Battles often just don't fricking work.
  • Fix: Black hole has grey square if on low graphics settings -> Ruining immersion.
  • Fix: Built -> Borders don't display on built game.
  • Fix: Built -> Textures appear blurry when full-screen.
  • Fix: Built -> Ubiquity -> Low-quality nebula VFX.
  • Fix: Built -> Ubiquity -> Stars background moves with the camera.
  • Fix: Claims -> Don't update when starbase is built while ubiquity was open.
  • Fix: Cosmic Convergence -> Appears multiple times in-game after mid-game event.
  • Fix: Cross-scene -> Load save -> Does not restore empire borders.
  • Fix: Empire Claims -> Not restored with saves.
  • Fix: Fleet -> Selecting edge of fleet selects other fleet on galaxy map.
  • Fix: Fleet orders -> Do not work after loading save.
  • Fix: Game event panel -> Sometimes has stretched planet visuals.
  • Fix: Load save -> Battles are not reassigned to combatants correctly.
  • Fix: Load save -> Does not restore starbase data correctly resulting in random starbase placement.
  • Fix: Load save -> Galaxy map does not display when loading save multiple times.
  • Fix: Main menu -> Create game does not open loading screen immediately (does not always occur).
  • Fix: Pings -> Metadata does not save for some pings.
  • Fix: Player prefs -> Default graphics options are lowest settings making game look initially bad.
  • Fix: Save game -> Combat system battles do not save correctly.
  • Fix: Saving system -> Pings don't restore when loading save.
  • Fix: Starbase panel -> Designation buttons are not highlighted, making it seem buttons are disabled.
  • Fix: Starbase strength does not show in ubiquity HUD for regular starbases.
  • Fix: Starbase upgrade tooltip -> Appears off-screen.
  • Fix: Starbase/Colony occupation pings occurring when not the original owner of the starbase/colony.
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> Combat -> Star cruisers engage at too close distance.
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> Does not display structures/fleets when fleet is being built.

Added

  • Added 'Formation III​.​I: Beyond the Planets' music album.
  • Add: Icons for explicitly displaying starbase designations.
  • Add: Narrated SFX for specific pings (such as tech researched).

Improved

  • Improve: Main menu -> Increased average FPS to 70 from 20.
  • Improve: Some loud music tracks have been reduced in volume to prevent sudden hearing loss.
  • Improve: Interstellar VFX -> Silent state: enter stealth mode.
  • Improve: Create map -> Save previous map settings in player prefs.

Changed

  • Change: New music tracks added, some tracks removed.
  • Tweak: Asteroid appears -> Now costs 250 Energy to shoot down instead of 500.
  • Tweak: Extreme isolationist opinion modifier changed from -250 to -100 because they did nothing wrong.
  • Tweak: Broken worlds now have a 4% chance of spawning instead of 2%.

Removed

  • Remove: Purple galaxy -> It needs polishing before re-adding.
  • Remove: Fleet panel -> Fleet inspector -> It has been broken for too long.
  • Remove: Endgame screen -> Spectate button after being defeated since it was too unstable.
  • Remove: Starbase panel -> Starbase inspector -> It is not always reliable.
  • Remove: Settings -> Wiki key-binding -> Wiki panel is no longer in the game.

2.2.0b 'ARGON II' [2023.11.29]

Also includes some changes from Part 1 of Argon update.

Add

  • Tips panel -> Click/hover SFX for action buttons.
  • Pings -> Form union and SFX (with event panel).
  • Pings -> Our/their siege complete.
  • Seamless -> Meteor VFX spawns randomly on the galaxy map.
  • Ubiquity -> Neutron stars with VFX.
  • Ubiquity -> Pulsars with VFX.
  • Victory conditions (configurable from main menu).
  • Mid-game event -> Open galactic center (cosmic convergence).
  • Univeral SFX (trailer) -> Lose battle SFX.
  • Pings -> Our/their liberation complete.

Changed

  • Change: Colony Panel -> Population is now included in siege difficulty, for simplicity.

Improve

  • Seamless -> Claims should have visible borders.
  • Improve: UI -> Player Headers now show "Unknown Player" for unknown players.
  • Improve: Siege -> Having any enemy fleets to the sieger or liberator will pause a siege.
  • Improve: Combat -> Optimization -> Ships no longer recalculate base stats while in combat, since it has no effect in battle and was CPU intensive.
  • Improve: Ubiquity -> Animated Combat -> Ships shoot less in larger battles (i.e. 100 vs 100) to prevent insane lag in large.
    • Note that large battles were originally intended to be something like 30 vs 30, and 100 vs 100 is unrealistically large.
  • Improve: Empire icons now center around known systems.

Tweaked

  • Tweak: Asteroid appears game event is now twice as rare.
  • Tweaked asteroid game event probabilities.
  • Balance: Arid worlds are half as likely to spawn, and other world types are much more likely to spawn.
    • I have not seen rocky worlds in a very long time in the game.
  • Balance: Reduce minimum time it takes to explore planets from 8 days to 5 days.
  • Tweak: Void worlds now have a 15% chance to spawn if there is a black hole, instead of a 25%.

Fixed

  • Battle Panel -> Retreat button is hard to see when not interactable.
  • Building -> Tooltip siege icon is not shown on tooltip manager variables (appears as text instead).
  • Built -> Ubiquity -> Space entity -> Does not play move animation when moving.
  • Claim Drawer -> Player icon remains after being defeated (opacity also does not update).
  • Cobalt -> In-game settings -> Clicking ESC button does not close panel.
  • Colony Panel -> Context menu -> Upgrade button not interactable when can upgrade.
  • Colony Siege -> Population adds to siege difficulty, instead of multiplying, making it feasible to siege large colonies.
  • Combat System -> New fleets that enter combat radius do not trigger in combat (this should be done passively).
  • Cosmic convergence -> Since event is triggered multiple times, duplicate hyperlanes spawn.
  • Cross-scene -> Hotkeys such as 'E' key are not registered by input manager.
  • Diplomacy Panel -> Basic tooltips for summary indicators.
  • Endgame screen -> Defeat -> Exit to menu button is missing.
  • Endgame screen -> Spectate button returns to menu.
  • Fleet -> Not visible when in FTL travel.
  • Fleet -> Trails colours appear white for all empires.
  • Galactic center -> Supermassive black hole spawns away from center on non-tiny maps.
  • Game Event Panel -> Asteroid event -> Disconnects client.
  • Game Event Panel -> Stretched ubiquity inspector panel.
  • Liberating text appears for 0% (when nothing is being sieged).
  • Load save -> Breaks game (occurred when loading save of 3 in-game years).
  • Optimize -> Asteroid fields are very GPU intensive.
  • Siege -> Does not work for colonies (i.e. capital colonies).
  • Solace Ship Builder -> Changing turrets disconnects client.
  • Solace Ship Builder -> Closing lens buttons hides lens buttons.
  • Solace Ship Builder -> Plays sfx randomly in game.
  • Space Squids -> Appears as pre-initialized player.
  • Space squids -> Should not have normal ship ambience sfx.
  • Space Squids -> Uninitialized without meeting all players.
  • Starbase Label -> Starbase label for colony shows starbase occupier as owner, when colony is not occupied.
  • Tips Panel -> Can be closed with ESC.
  • Tooltips -> Not wrapping correctly.
  • Turrets -> Don't look correct way (for sideways turrets).
  • Ubiquity -> Civilian ships have no trails.
  • Ubiquity -> Combat -> Beam turrets do not fire.
  • Ubiquity -> Combat -> Pirate ships don't shoot at anything.
  • Ubiquity -> Combat -> Shields activate when projectile is fired.
  • Ubiquity -> Combat -> Shields don't toggle when deactivated.
  • Ubiquity -> Combat -> Ships continue shooting when destroyed.
  • Ubiquity -> Combat -> Solace ships don't appear as destroyed when destroyed.
  • Ubiquity -> Combat -> Too many shots are fired from turrets causing lag.
  • Ubiquity -> Combat -> Trail colours are not applied correctly (sometimes).
  • Ubiquity -> Construction sparks appear for a few seconds in unclaimed systems.
  • Ubiquity -> Healing VFX shows after ships have finished healing.
  • Ubiquity -> Large ship movement is not smooth (use rotation speed ship stats).
  • Ubiquity -> Light intensity was not rescaled correctly resulting in dark planets next to stars.
  • Ubiquity -> One-ship fleets appear to not be centered correctly.
  • Ubiquity -> Orbit lines don't initialize until scroll up.
  • Ubiquity -> Planet bounds not recalculated when loading save in-game, causing ship pathfinding to break.
  • Ubiquity -> Ship -> Movement too fast on high FPS.
  • Ubiquity -> Ships -> Healing VFX -> Sometimes appears wrong colour (until ubiquity is reopened).
  • Ubiquity -> Space Squids -> Move animation does not play when moving.
  • Ubiquity -> When ships are in combat, orders can still be visualized.
  • Ubiquity -> Ships -> No fade between idle and move ambience (removed distinct engine move ambience).
  • Ubiquity -> Camera -> Map bounds did not cover entire system up to hyperlanes.
  • Colony Panel -> Building -> Tooltip shows cannot level cap error when acting as foreign business.
  • Fleet Panel -> Ubiquity inspector for ships displayed ships away from center and with trails.
  • Game Event Panel -> Current event sometimes uses image of previous event.

2.1.0b 'ARGON II' [2023.11.21]

Added

  • Add: Ubiquity -> Pulsar prefab with emissions VFX.
  • Add: Ubiquity -> Neutron star prefab with emissions VFX.
  • Add: Ubiquity -> New blue galaxy to spawn in.
  • Added: New 'Argon' galaxies.
  • Added: New main menu background.

Changed

  • Change: Decrease star height deviation to prevent them from being under the map.
  • Changed: Main menu theme 'Planetary Nebula' to 'Beyond the Planets'.
  • Tweak: Ubiquity -> Solace gunboats are now one third larger.
  • Tweak: Map generation -> Non-binary systems are now slightly more common than binary systems.
  • Tweak: Stars -> Now slightly more visible to see them more easily on the map.

Removed

  • Removed: Old veil nebula VFX (caused too much lag).

Fixed

  • Fix: Ship builder -> UI for stats overlaps with turret selection on ultrawide displays.
  • Fix: Ship builder -> Ambient background does not expand correctly on ultrawide displays.
  • Fix: Cosmic Convergence -> When event is triggered multiple times, duplicate hyperlanes spawn.
  • Fix: Star system in the center of the galaxy spawns too high.
  • Fix: Input FPS practically doubled due to removal of deprecated code.
  • Fix: Key binding modals don't open assigned panels or show correct hotkeys.
  • Fix: Configured victory conditions not being respected.

2.0.1b 'ARGON I' [2023.11.18]

Fixed

  • Global cooling event does not occur.
  • Events -> Cosmic convergence -> Occurs multiple times.

2.0.0b 'ARGON I' [2023.11.17]

Added

  • Added more playtesters to credits.
  • Added gold resource.
  • Various resource icons have been reskinned.
  • Replaced jumpscare tech complete sound with the same SFX used for starbase/colony queue complete.
  • Added gold resources, basic resources, advanced resources, time management tip screens to help new players.
  • Added the financial hub building, and the investor job which focuses on commerce and production.
    • Since gold is the main currency of the galaxy, there is no tech required to build it.
  • Added narrations to tutorial tips.

Fixed

  • Fix: Colony Siege -> Sieging a colony is unbalanced and completed instantly.
  • Fix star clan government type tooltip showing empty unique building and primary ability.
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> 'Object 51' no longer randomly appears in star systems.
  • Fix: Fleets that are not visible to the player are shown in known Ubiquity system.
  • Fix: Ubiquity build starbase animation -> not scaled correctly and appears too small.
  • Fix: Interstellar -> Vaporize links -> Does not go to nearest hyperlane.
  • Fix: Colony Panel -> Condensed colony building tooltips to address off-screen tooltips.
  • Fix: Tips panel -> Did not show correct background colors for species avatar.
  • Fix: Starbase label HUD not being displayed correctly in occupied systems.
  • Fix: Colony game events did not occur.
  • Fix: Quest panel -> Does not auto close when click away from panel.

Improved

  • Improve: Colony Siege -> Siege status changes a day to give more realistic and responsive feedback.
  • Improve: Colony Panel -> Added affordance for colony panel upgrade.
  • Refined tips text to make it more clear to new players.
  • Logistical modifiers also decreased to allow faster-paced gameplay.

Changed

  • Game duration changed to keep the game fresh:
    • Online Speed -> Game duration went from 25 to 10.
    • Fast Speed -> Game duration went from 36 to 20.
    • Standard Speed -> Game duration went from 50 to 30.
    • Half Speed -> Game duration went from 75 to 40.
    • Half Speed -> Game duration went from 100 to 50.
  • Upscaled space squid textures to from 1024x1024 to 4096x4096.
  • Reduced space entity spawn cap by 2.5x.
  • Supernova and hypernova game events are now twice as likely to happen.
  • Map generation -> Stars closer to the galactic center are closer together.
  • Fleet panel -> Now shows military stats if player is known.
  • Repeatable techs are now only researchable after all non-repeatable techs are researched.
  • Tweak: Working class workers now cost 1 gold, and specialists now cost 2 gold in upkeep.
  • Tweak: Population -> Base growth rate changed from 1/10 to 1/9.
  • Added gold to ship upkeep and lowered metals and energy costs for all buildable ships.
  • UI background now appears darker to blend in with the space background.
  • 'Asteroid appears' event is now 5x more likely.
    • I haven't had this event happen while playtesting in a very long time.
  • Add time manager controls affordance to pause indicator UI.
  • Tweak: Starport -> Build speed changed to +50% for Level 2, and +100% for Level 3.

Miscellaneous

  • Game events no longer repeats the same event chains in systems, and this is saved with the game.
  • Added more playtesters to credits.

1.1.0b 'Solace' [2023.11.08]

More robust combat system and more stable animated combat.

Added

  • Add solace turret engagement range.git

Improved

  • Battle panel now keeps displaying destroyed combatants.
  • Ship healing VFX now no longer flashes when spawned.
  • Changed warning ping sound.

Changed

  • Reworked combat system to ensure all fighters have targets whenever possible.

Removed

  • Removed empires having different variants of civilian ships (complexity).

Fixed

  • Fix: Ubiquity -> Combat -> Ships sometimes don't move when in combat.
  • Fix: Battle Panel -> Clicking away does not close panel.
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> Starbase Label -> Resources are not aligned.
  • Fix: Stardocks -> Sometimes spawn inside stars.
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> FTL VFX -> Showing in ubiquity for no reason.
  • Fix: Fleet Panel -> Shows red in text when has extra damage.
  • Fix: Ships should not travel too close to stars/planets when in battle.
  • Fix: Fleet -> Orders are not paused during battle.
  • Fix: Combat System -> Starbases should only be targeted when it is the last remaining target.
  • Fix: Combat System -> Battles last way too long with few ships remaining.
  • Fix: Ships -> Have excessive shields and hull stats so battles last unnecessarily long.
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> Combat -> Ships continue to fire when not in combat.
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> Combat -> Ship has ambiguity (moves left and right continuously) when reaching the edge of the bounding box.
  • Fix: Defence Stats UI -> Hull and shields text appears too blurry.
  • Fix: Starbase Label -> Liberating text shows when not actually liberating.
  • Fix: Claim Drawer -> Does not clear player icon when the player is defeated.
  • Fix: Fleet -> Sometimes fleet move animations do not show.
  • Fix: Fleet Panel UI -> Ubiquity Inspector -> Fleet visualization displays empty sometimes.
  • Fix: Ships -> Have excessive shields and hull stats so battles last unnecessarily long.

1.0.1b 'Solace' [2023.11.03]

Some bug fixes.

Fixed

  • Fix: Cross-scene -> Meet player SFX does not play the correct sound.
  • Fix: Battle -> If a system is exited somehow, the battle in that system continues.
  • Fix: Event panel -> Variables are displayed as placeholders.
  • Fix: Click to rename -> Opens fleet rename for ship rename.
  • Fix: Diplo panel -> Building icon appears over text in the tooltip.
  • Fix: Ping -> Trade request ping shows empty trade.
  • Fix: Pings -> Occur all at once.
  • Fix: Starbase label occupation indicator -> Overlaps with starbase icon.
  • Fix: Built -> Pings -> Meet player -> Plays default SFX.
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> Explosion remnants are visible from outside of the star system.
  • Fix: Solace -> Combat -> Huge bullet VFX should not appear with gravity.
  • Fix: Solace -> Combat -> Clicking cancels laser beam, and laser beams also multiply when in combat.
  • Fix: Black smoke appears during combat.

Note: Fixes may also include bugs fixed before and during the v1 update.

1.0.0b 'Solace' [2023.10.30]

The ship building (and combat) update.

  • A new ship builder has been built from scratch.
  • The combat still needs work but is much more advanced than before.

Added

  • Add: Solace -> New Ship Builder.
  • Add: Solace -> New Turrets -> 13 turrets have replaced the old 6 turrets.
  • Add: Ubiquity -> Ship -> Healing VFX.
  • Add: Ubiquity -> Ship -> Explosion/Destroyed VFX.

Improved

  • Improve: Battle Panel -> Retreat button is more visible.
  • Improve: Ubiquity -> Realism -> Camera no longer clips into planets but pushes it away.
  • Improve: Ubiquity -> Realism -> Ships no longer can be directly ordered to clip through planets.

Tweaked

  • Tweak: Max Planets per System -> Changed from 10 to 8.
  • Tweak: Max Hyperlanes -> Changed from 6 to 5.
  • Tweak: Base Hyperlane Density -> Changed from .3 to .4.

Fixed

  • Fix: Save Game -> Ship presets were not being saved.

Removed

  • Remove: Old Ship Builder.
  • Remove: Techs -> Previous ship turrets techs were removed.
  • Remove: Party -> User indicators from the main menu UI.
  • Remove: In-game Chat Button -> Until multiplayer is added.

This is the biggest update since 'Interstellar', so not all changes are listed.

0.4.0b 'Solace' [2023.09.16]

Bug fixes and improvements, with the addition of improved fleet trails.

Added

  • Diplomacy Panel -> Species Icon -> Tooltip -> Gives info about climate preference and origin type.

Improved

  • Alliances -> Share system intel with allies when exploring new systems.
  • Trails -> Use new trail VFX for crimson and non-crimson ships.

Changed

  • Achievements -> Icons now use improved human-created artwork.
  • Load Save -> Added warning if save version is out of date.
  • Origins -> Special planet origins now spawn with their special resource.

Fixed

  • Fix: Load Save -> Some saves were not loading correctly due to version compatibility issues. -> Should also work retroactively with saves from mid-August. -> May enforce version-locking for saves in the future to mitigate save/load problems.
  • Fix: Allies -> Share visibility continues to share visibility, as originally intended.
  • Fix: Built -> Research Panel -> Sometimes becomes temporarily unresponsive.
  • Fix: Business -> Can continue queuing buildings past the slot limit (could not reproduce in tests).
  • Fix: Colony -> Business owner not refunded when order cancelled in a foreign colony.
  • Fix: Defeat Screen -> Does not open when a colony is lost.
  • Fix: Diplomacy Panel -> Leave alliance tooltip shows HTML color text.
  • Fix: Diplomacy Panel -> Opinion tooltip -> Text wrapping not working.
  • Fix: Fleet Detection -> Foreign fleet in visible system should be met instantly.
  • Fix: Load Save -> Does not update the galaxy map.
  • Fix: Load Save -> Save reloads map improperly.
  • Fix: Player claims -> Does not immediately update resolution when changing graphics quality.
  • Fix: Tips Panel -> Species avatar is not applied correctly, causing tips to not work properly.
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> Moving camera too fast moves limitless stars.
  • Fix: Cross-scene -> Start game -> After loading save, loads save instead of scene.

Tweaked

  • Tweak: Colonists -> Now takes 1 year and small fleets take 60 days to build, on standard speed.
  • Tweak: Colonists -> Now costs 200/200 metals/food on standard speed.

Deprecated

  • Ship Builder -> Future ship builder bug fixes won't be supported.
    • Scope-creep; May remove in the near future and could replace with a simpler system over time.
    • Assets are ancient and contain almost more lines of code than the rest of the project.
    • There are many bugs with the ship builder.

0.3.0b 'Solace' [2023.09.13]

Made diplomacy panel easier to understand and improved research panel visuals, among other bug fixes and improvements.

Added

  • Diplomacy Panel -> Agendas UI -> Added different icon for each agenda, with info.
  • Diplomacy Panel -> New detailed tooltips for every diplomatic action.

Improved

  • Ubiquity -> Ships now slow down to rotate towards a target, resulting in much more natural movement.
  • Ability Icons -> Now uses new artwork icons, instead of previous flat icons.
  • Research Panel -> Now uses new artwork icons, instead of previous flat icons.
  • Diplomacy Panel -> Only counts systems with known intel.

Changed

  • Tech -> Repeatable Starbase Defence -> Changed from +10% to +15%.
  • AI Players -> AI is now much less likely to spawn in as a non-default origin.
  • Colony -> Intel is based on parent system, not intel of colony owner.

Fixed

  • Fix: Diplomacy Panel -> SFX goes crazy after a month has passed.
  • Fix: Playmode UI -> Does not display peacekeeping pacifist details correctly.
  • Fix: Trade Panel -> Does not work correctly (caused by issues with internal serializer).
  • Fix: Battle -> Starts battle when not inside combat radius.
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> Ships don't explode when destroyed.
  • Fix: Combat -> Engagement Range -> Does not work.
  • Fix: AI -> Does not designate bases.

Note: Issues with loading saves may persist, and build version shows incorrect date.

0.2.0b 'Solace' [2023.09.08]

Bug fixes and improvement of species avatars, and UI SFX.

Improved

  • Pings -> Upgraded most ping SFX to use new sci-fi sounds.
  • Species Avatars -> Replaced AI-generated placeholders with human and alien icons.
  • Diplomacy Panel -> Has new sci-fi holographic SFX, instead of a repetitive typewriter sound.
  • Colony Siege -> When colony is occupied, some buildings are demolished.

Changed

  • Ubiquity -> Asteroid fields no longers spawns in systems with multiple stars.

Tweaked

  • Game Events -> 'Asteroid Appears' may happen every 25 in-game years instead of 50.

Fixed

  • Fix: Ubiquity Inspector -> New black holes don't appear correctly.
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> Cinematic Mode Lens -> Does not hide starbase labels.
  • Fix: Ping -> Does not have click/hover SFX.
  • Fix: Fleet -> Merge and Split -> Duplicates fleets with large numbers (12 gunboats became 14).
  • Fix: Main Menu -> Steam details not displaying.
  • Fix: Fleet -> Splitting fleet with five ships creates a sixth ship.
  • Fix: Fleet -> Merge and Split -> Copies the same name over and over.
  • Fix: Built -> Interaction Manager -> Sometimes visualized hyperlanes remain (occurred: gunboat w/o orders).
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> Ship branding not working for crimson ships.
  • Fix: Load Save -> Does not work and requires game reload.
  • Fix: Starbase Order Manager -> Designate Dock completed instantly.
  • Fix: Starbase Designation -> Takes no time.

Removed

  • Remove: Old Avatars -> Replaced with human created avatars.
    • Note: Previous saves will have empty avatars.

0.1.1b 'Celestial' [2023.09.03]

Lots of bugs fixes, along with minor improvements.

Improved

  • Improve: Main Menu -> Difficulty Selector -> Now uses more universal difficulty labels.
  • Improve: Time Manager -> Added more time scale combinations.

Changed

  • Change: Diplomacy -> Requires allied relations, not just friendly, to have full intel.

Fixed

  • Fix: Game -> Does not work in Steam offline mode / without connection.
  • Fix: Save Game -> Throws error when saving star system.
  • Fix: Endgame Screen -> Leaderboard does not appear.
  • Fix: Start Menu -> Username is not cropped.
  • Fix: Loading Screen -> Playmode UI shows wrong playmode when loading save.
  • Fix: Tips Panel UI -> Font appears too small and blurred.
  • Fix: Diplomacy Panel -> Relations Grid -> Relationship icons are too hard to understand.
  • Fix: Lens Buttons -> Appears too small.
  • Fix: Pings -> Appears too small.
  • Fix: Time Text -> System time does not update when paused.
  • Fix: Cobalt -> Settings -> Anti-aliasing selector does not work.

Note: In-game version appears as '0.1.0b' for this update.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2390890/view/3682310076410658708

0.1.0b 'Celestial' [2023.09.02]

Added black hole VFX, and fixed some annoying bugs.

Added

  • Ubiquity -> Black holes are now animated and has new VFX.

Improved

  • Ubiquity -> Environment nebula now has a contiguous skybox.

Changed

  • UI -> Backgrounds are less explicit.
  • UI -> Borders are now more thin.
  • Saving -> Player preset is now saved with the game.

Fixed

  • Fix: Camera -> Looking up too fast snaps camera down.
  • Fix: Create Game -> Causes 'memory freeze' (caused by custom system generation issues).
  • Fix: Ubiquity -> Stars sometimes spawn inside each other.
  • Fix: Player Claims -> Does not immediately update resolution when change graphics quality.
  • Fix: Lens Buttons -> Views have no tooltips.
  • Fix: Black Holes -> Highest quality setting appears to have low quality distortion effect.
  • Fix: Seamless -> Black hole is not evident on map.

Removed

  • System Presets -> Removed temporarily until all bugs surrounding them are fixed.

0.0.2b 'Celestial' [2023.08.30]

Bug fixes and tweaks.

Improved

  • Settings -> Default graphics mode is now based on GPU VRAM instead of CPU cores for higher accuracy.

Changed

  • Bug Reporting Menu -> Max reports set to 3.
  • UI -> Frames have been removed from panel backgrounds.

Fixed

  • Fix: Bug Reporting -> Can report more than 5 bugs in one session.
  • Fix: Animated Combat -> Starbase does not shoot at ships.

0.0.1b 'Celestial' [2023.08.29]

First open-beta release. Bug fixes and tips improvements. Further development for Steam multiplayer lobbies and addition of full kick functionality, although multiplayer remains disabled until it becomes playable.

Added

  • Multiplayer -> Ready up in game lobby menu.
  • Multiplayer -> Kicked from lobby modal.
  • Multiplayer -> Button to leave lobby.
  • Multiplayer -> Main menu lobby member avatar indicators.

Improved

  • Pause Menu -> Shows map settings in-game.
  • Fleet -> EXP progress bar number indication.
  • Bankrupt Ping -> Tooltip should have info of modifier changes.
  • Save Indicator -> Icon changed to spinning star satellites for icon.
  • Multiplayer -> View steam profile option from party members.
  • Order Progress Bar -> Shows days left.

Changed

  • Changelog -> Switched to SemVer for rapid deployment.
  • Multiplayer -> Disabled multiplayer connections.
  • Multiplayer -> All players can now manually pause the game, but only the host can control time scale.
  • Ship Builder -> Fuel sections now increase regeneration rate.
  • Textures -> Some textures were downscaled to make it quicker to start a game.

Tweaked

  • Black holes -> Speed reduction changed from 50% to 25%.
  • Void Worlds -> Are now twice as rare.

Fixed

  • Battle -> Retreat crashes client.
  • Endgame Screen -> Does not open but victory music continues to play.
  • Map Generator -> Seed does not always generate same map.
  • Multiplayer -> Client does not generate same map.
  • Multiplayer -> Joining steam lobby does not work.
  • Multiplayer -> Joining steam lobby shows empty username.
  • Multiplayer -> Player presets do not update when joining lobby.
  • Multiplayer -> Player usernames do not update when joining lobby.
  • Ship stats -> Are not balanced.
  • Ubiquity -> Some planets glow too bright.

Removed

  • Ship Builder -> Mk 6 and 7 sections.

2023.08.21 Closed-Beta "Celestial" (Part 2)

Improved

  • Ambient stars now rotate.

Changed

  • AI -> Silent states will enter stealth mode whenever they are in unclaimed territory.
    • You will most likely have to go to their territory to meet them.
  • AI -> Fleets will now quantum distort.
    • Only explorers, and military fleets will do this.
  • AI -> Now ignores stealth fleets.
  • AI -> Military fleets will now ignore concealed worlds.
    • Concealed enemy worlds will be overlooked by AI as if nothing is there.
  • AI -> Extreme isolationist will now destroy hyperlanes if they are next to an unfriendly neighbour.
  • AI -> Xeno exterminators will now raze worlds whenever they get the chance.
  • Fleet -> Stealth mode is auto-disabled if non-allied territory is entered.
    • Allied and unclaimed territory allow stealth mode.
  • Combat System:
    • No longer accounts for distance or numerical advantages.
    • Random targets are chosen once, and changes if the targeter or target is destroyed.

Tweaked

  • Stardock -> build audio is too loud and should not have doppler effect
  • Exploration -> time to analyze planet changed from 5 to 8 seconds

Fixed

  • Reveal All -> cannot see fleets on galaxy map.
  • Player -> Does not save ship turrets correctly.
  • Crimson ship builder -> Correct preset turrets are not placed on ships.
  • Battle -> Error causes battle to freeze.
  • Crimson -> Stats are not applied correctly.

2023.08.19 Closed-Beta "Celestial" (Part 1)

Bug fixes, ubiquity visual tweaks, and tip screen tweaks.

Added

  • Tips -> Research panel tip screen.

Improved

  • Ubiquity -> Asteroid fields now glow.
  • Ubiquity -> Multi-coloured nebula replaces cloud particles.
  • Tips -> Added sequential tips which move in sequence.
  • Fleet Panel -> Now shows ship size in military headers.

Fixed

  • Business Partner -> Does not restore when loading the game.
  • Crimson -> Template does not update when preset changes.
  • Ship Builder -> Turrets don't restore and ui is buggy.
  • Business -> Cannot build logistics office on foreign world.
    • It was displaying buildings that only the colony owner could build.
  • Meet Player -> Space squids remain unmet (they don't threaten any players when unmet).
  • Fleet -> Unmet player fleet in visible system shows as black (should meet player, or not show).
  • Game Event Panel -> Selecting disconnects client.
  • Ubiquity -> Nebula does not appear.
  • Interaction -> Clicking away from fleet keeps other 2 selected.
  • Interaction -> Fleet is considered selected while fleet panel is closed.
  • Battle -> Does not end if player is defeated -> continues attacking unclaimed starbase.

2023.08.16 Closed-Beta "Celestial" (Part 1)

Addition of in-game bug reporting, with bug fixes and tweaks.

Added

  • Bug reporting UI -> Report bugs from in-game.

Changed

  • Old stars event is now only available for the 'Lost Colony' origin type.

Improved

  • Fleets -> View same ships of type in galaxy map, as one.
    • Shows fleets of same function in one stack, sorted by owner.
    • Reduces perceived size of massive overloaded fleet stacks in star systems.

Tweaked

  • Tech -> Base cost changed from 250 to 800 on standard speed.
    • You now have to focus on science buildings to unlock techs.

Fixed

  • Ubiquity -> Fleet freezes on faster speeds.
  • Ubiquity -> Fleet -> Moves back in ubiquity system while in FTL travel.
  • Ubiquity -> Ship speed is faster when time scale is lower.
  • Cross-scene -> Typing in chat causes camera to move.
  • Seamless -> Has a claim ceiling/border within galaxy itself.
  • Cobalt -> Intro panel -> stretched image.
  • Crimson -> Turrets don't spawn on ships.
  • Celestial -> Asteroid fields have too low lod.
  • Ship builder -> UI turret selection does not update correctly.

2023.08.13 Closed-Beta "Celestial" (Part 1)

A patch update with major bug fixes.

Improved

  • Fleet -> Union fleets now have a separate map icon.
  • Ships -> Added 2 new ship sizes - Large and Huge.
    • Ship sizes are now: Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Huge.
    • Each military ship type now respectively takes up 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 ship capacity.
    • It was 1, 1, 2, 2, 3 previously.

Fixed

  • Cross-scene -> Saving/loading breaks the game.
  • Load Save -> From start scene to main menu generates the wrong map.
  • Trade Panel -> Does not open.
  • Load Save -> Visually resets resources to base values.
  • Empire Icons -> Claim drawer icon opacity does not update correctly when loading a save.
  • Empire icons -> Not all icons in the are affected by scroll distance.
  • Tech Manager -> Shows tech that was just completed sometimes when rerolled.
  • Chat Menu -> Does not show the send message button text symbol.
  • Fleet Order Manager -> Spawns fleet in the center of the star system.
  • Fleet Order Manager -> Ubiquity fleet speed is not synced with visualized fleet speed.
  • Fleet -> Builder -> Building animation zooms in and out.
  • Union Fleet Capacity -> Does not update when building a union fleet.
  • Fleet -> Split -> Creates broken empty fleet.
  • Fleet -> Split -> Resets ship speed for some ships.
  • Business -> Cannot build on colony after purchasing rights.

2023.08.12 Closed-Beta "CELESTIAL" (Part 1)

Part one of the cool animations update. There have been a lot of bug fixes, tweaks, and improvements.

Added

  • Ubiquity -> Added Asteroid fields.
  • Ubiquity -> Added FTL VFX.
  • Ubiquity -> Added Quantum Distortion VFX.
  • Tech -> Added Fleet wormhole travel.
    • Unlocked after researching light cruisers.
  • Ubiquity -> Added Stardock build fleet VFX.
  • Ubiquity -> Added Explorer fleet explore SFX.
  • Seamless -> Added galaxy map fleet order animations.
  • Ubiquity Animations:
    • Builder fleet build starbase animation.
    • Stardock build fleet animation.
    • Extreme isolationist vaporize hyperlane animation.
    • Fleet quantum distort animation.
    • Fleet FTL VFX.

Improved

  • Ubiquity -> Improved starbase textures have been upscaled from 2048x2048 to 8192x8192.
  • Ubiquity -> Improved military ship section textures have been upscaled from 2048x2048 to 8192x8192.
    • Ship building is now a higher quality experience.
  • Ship builder -> Improved selection indicator is now animated.
  • Combat System -> Improved closest ship to will be attacked, instead of random ships.
    • Distance is now a factor in battles.
  • Ubiquity -> VFX now are scaled by time.
    • Ship trails and explosions can now be stopped mid-action with simulated time.
  • Cobalt -> Play UI -> View origin details on hover.
  • Toggle stealth mode affordance (toggle primary color)
  • Starbase panel -> Designate -> Cannot tell which option is selected.
  • Fleet -> Icons should be upscaled 4x.

Tweaked

  • All playable playmodes now have 2 modifiers each.
    • -500 opinion for xeno exterminator
    • -250 opinion for extreme isolationist
  • Techs -> Ship type techs now unlock a new level of modules.
  • Ship stats have been changed.
    • All ship presets start with default turrets.
    • Larger ships are faster as they start with more powerful engines.
  • Fleet Capacity Tech -> Now gives +5 capacity, instead of +2, and is more common.
  • Reduced starbase damage to +10 per level, starting from 10, for all starbase types.
  • Tech -> Claim cost -> Is now 60 on online and 30 on standard.
  • Tech -> Stargate tech is now much rarer.
  • Claim Cost -> 30 on online and 60 on standard speed.
  • Opinion -> 200 opinion required for friendly attitude, instead of 250.
  • Attitude required for forming business partnerships is now Open, instead of Friendly.
    • It's much easier to form business partnerships now.
    • Megacorps will find it much easier to start businesses.
    • Forming businesses will also become more competitive.
  • Wormhole Systems -> Now count as neighbors for power cost.
  • Starbase Designation Cost -> Should be 500 on standard, 250 on online.
  • Fleet Distort Tech -> Now rolled after heavy cruisers and is harder to roll.
  • AI colonies -> Should build food buildings when little food.
  • Tech base cost -> Set to 500 on standard, 250 on online.
  • Build explorer -> Should take 60 days on normal speed and 30 on online speed.
  • Gunboat cost -> Should be 100 metals on standard, 50 on online.
  • Purchase business rights -> Should cost 500 on online and 1000 on standard speed.
  • Colonists -> Should cost 300 food and 300 metals on standard speed, and half on online speed.

Fixed

  • Colony panel -> Could not upgrade capital building.
  • Cobalt -> Main menu -> Typing in input causes menu to change.
  • Cobalt -> Main menu -> Game duration summary shows UI scale summary.
  • Cobalt -> Audio sliders -> SFX volume slider now changes UI SFX audio volume.
  • Ubiquity -> Starbase label HUD now shows player background color.
  • Ubiquity -> Starbase label -> Shows transparent background image.
  • Fleet panel -> Current order text does not sometimes show.
  • Ubiquity -> Combat not triggering when within radius of enemy.
  • Built -> UI scale sometimes resets to .25.
  • Battle panel -> Combatant icons are now the correct size.
  • Starbase label -> Click wormhole icon -> Does not work for whiteholes.
  • Hyperlanes appearing over stars.
  • Fleet actions -> 'e' button to interact conflicts with 'e' to enter/exit system.
  • Create fleet -> Does not always update fleet icon on creation when Ubiquity is open.
  • AI agendas -> Peacekeeper agendas don't account for peaceful clans.
  • Ubiquity -> Stars sometimes spawn inside each other.
  • Fleet actions -> Wormholes -> Fleet action icon only shows in systems without wormhole. ...and more.

Removed

Some features have been removed to make way for improvements or to prevent bugs entirely.

  • Techs -> Ship Section -> Mark 2-5.
  • Wiki Panel
    • Required a lot of maintenance for something that wasn't used.
    • Will be replaced with tips system, which will be expanded instead.
    • Game mechanics should not require a wiki, but concise and useful tutorials.
  • Star-gates
    • Not sure if it worked as expected.
    • Not very useful until endgame.
    • Could get re-added at some point but removed for now.
  • Main Menu -> Load Last Save (for now).
  • Main Menu -> Quick Play (for now).

2023.07.30 Closed-Beta "INTERSTELLAR + COBALT"

Visual and mechanical bug fixes, pacing tweaks, and a few improvements.

Added

  • Pings -> Now saveable and loadable with saves.
  • Starbase Panel -> Tooltips for designation including cost, and error messages.
  • Ubiquity -> Fleet combat engangement range indicator, while military fleet is selected.

Changed

  • Battle panel -> Now appears on right side of screen.
    • This is to not obstruct view of animated fighting.
  • Tech -> Cost now accounts for logistical modifier.
    • Techs can be researched more quickly on faster speeds.
  • Colonies -> Starts with 2 food (from capital building), 1 building, and 1 population.
    • This allows colonies to grow to 8 population, without needing additional farms.
  • Colonies -> Pop growth rate reduced by 50% when there is no free housing.
  • Starbases -> Marginal cost of claiming additional starbases reduced from 10 to 5 power.
  • Game Duration -> Games can last 25, 36, 50, 75, and 100 years respectively depending on selected duration.
  • Buildings -> Build cost is now scaled by logistical modifier.
  • Ships -> Build cost is now scaled by logistical modifier.

Fixed

  • Colony Panel -> Tooltips now shows building production.
  • Ubiquity -> Combat engagement range is no longer extremely limited.
  • Save Game -> Game should now save correctly with game events.
  • Fleet -> Stack now updates properly when fleet is destroyed/disbanded.
  • Seamless -> Empire claims with darker empire colours are now brighter and easier to see.
  • Starbase Panel -> Focus icon now shows affordance for what is enabled.
  • Colony -> Population growth no longer goes below 0 when population at 1.
  • Fleet Panel -> Current order text no longer shows blank text description when there is one order remaining.
  • Colony Panel -> Focus no longer appears empty for science focus.
  • Ubiquity -> Starbase label HUD no longer displays name twice.
  • Ubiquity -> Name HUD no longer appears to clip inside starbase structures.
  • Starbase Designate -> Tooltips have been remastered and no longer have too much spacing.

Removed

  • Tips -> Unnecessary details from tips panel are now gone.

2023.07.29 Closed-Beta "INTERSTELLAR + COBALT"

The biggest New Stars update is here. It combines two large updates into one. 'Interstellar' is for the 8 new playmodes, special abilities, and unique buildings. 'Cobalt' is for the new futurized and animated UI.

Added

Interstellar: 8 Playmodes

1. Megacorporations

  • Ability: ORDER OF BUSINESS (Purchase rights to build on foreign colonies).
  • Ability: FORM MONETARY UNION (Gives economic bonuses).
  • Building: LOGISTICS OFFICE (Collect foreign system resources).

2. Peacekeeping Pacifist

  • Ability: GALACTIC HARMONY ENFORCEMENT (Fleets can peacekeep in systems).
  • Ability: PEACE CONVENTIONS (Truces last twice as long).
  • Building: PEACEKEEPER ACADEMY (Love thy neighbours).

3. Alliance Builder

  • Ability: UNITE THE GALAXY (Form alliances/unions with clans).
  • Ability: FORM DIPLOMATIC UNION (Gives opinion and defensive bonuses).
  • Building: UNITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS (Love thy allies).

4. Cooperative Militarist

  • Ability: A UNITED FRONT (Invite other empires to wars).
  • Ability: FORM MARTIAL UNION (Gives leader ability to build union fleet).
  • Building: FORGE MATRIX (Ship building on steroids).

5. Hegemonic Subjugator

  • Ability: IMPERIAL HOLDINGS (Build on subject colonies).
  • Ability: CLAN SERVITUDE (Integrate star clans).
  • Building: IMPERIAL CITADEL (Love thy overlord).

6. Xeno Exterminator

  • Ability: PURGE DOCTIRNE (Raze worlds).
  • Origin: SHATTERED WORLD (Spawn with additional military fleet).
  • Building: GENE CLEANSING FACILITY (Cleanses sinful aliens).

7. Extreme Isolationist

  • Ability: SOLITUDE IMPERATIVE (Builders can destroy system connections).
  • Origin: FORGOTTEN OUTPOST (Start with additional colonist).
  • Building: SECLUSION NEXUS (Enhance thy colony).

8. Silent State

  • Ability: GALACTIC STEALTH IMPERATIVE (Stealth fleets).
  • Origin: SHADOWY NEXUS (Start with intel bonus).
  • Building: STEALTH OPERATIONS CENTER (Hide thy colony).

Interstellar: Unions

Unions are galactic federations, and allow specialized alliances with their own bonuses.

1. Economic Union

Gives economic modifiers to members.

2. Diplomatic Union

Gives diplomatic, and defensive modifiers to members.

3. Martial Union

Allows the leader to build union fleets. Gives offensive modifiers to members.

Interstellar: Origins

1. Lost Colony

Start with one additional population, housing building, and minerals building.

2. Shattered World

Start with a full gunboat fleet.

3. Forgotten Outpost

Start with an additional colonist fleet.

4. Shadowy Nexus

Start with intel of 3 nearby empire capitals.

Fleet: Quantum Distortion

  • Basically a 'jump drive'; Allows travel without using known routes in a limited radius.
  • Counters extreme isolationists and allows travel between isolated clusters.
  • Has it's own technology which is unlocked after frigate ships.

Cobalt: Animated Sci-Fi UI

  • The UI has been futurized with animations.
  • Cobalt is the name of the primary colour of the UI.

New Main Menu

  • Select empire icon replaces randomization.
  • Select species avatar replaces randomization.
  • Select playmode with description panel.

New Settings

  • Customizable keybinds.
  • A lot more graphical customization.
  • Detailed summary of each settings input.

New Everything

  • Every UI panel has changed, so you will have to play the game for yourself to see it.

Changed

Tweaks

  • Special resources are more equally distributed across the map.
    • Void worlds now generate much more often, as antimatter was extremely rare.
    • Class O stars have a higher chance to spawn.
  • Most base resources have been increased from +5, to +10 per month.
    • Momentum at the start of the game is now faster, as it took a while to get started previously.
  • Peaceful clans now have one agenda.
    • This is so you can now meet conditions for open-borders with peaceful clans.
  • Colonists now take 180 days to build, instead of 60.
    • Unless you are on the fastest game speed.
  • Game duration now affects logistical pacing.
    • Time to build fleets or colony buildings is scaled based on duration.
    • Resource costs are not currently affected, although this may change.
    • Exploration is constant on all speeds.
  • Starter colonies, regardless of origin, start with an additional food building and 2 population.
    • Like in Civilization, colony starvation is localized to the colony.
    • This means that if a colony has a food deficit it will slowly lose population.
    • The extra population ensures that food is produced immediately.
  • Each population uses 0.25 food instead of 1 food.
    • This means each food building job supports 4 population.

Fixed

  • Crashing bugs with AI military performing weird shenanigans.
  • Game lacked special abilities or unique playstyles (i.e. all governments were too similar).
  • Colony building is unbalanced (numbers need tweaking).
  • Fleets go hidden in wormhole systems.
  • Star system simulation have some graphical issues (lighting, star graphical artifacts etc.)
  • Monthly updates are laggy and unoptimized, especially with AI.
  • Simulated combat is inconsistent, and buggy.
  • Seamless claims now fill correctly.
  • and hundreds more random bugs...

More Info

2023.06.11 Closed-Beta "GENESIS"

Genesis Update: The beginning of consolidating the game into a fast-paced 4X experience. The galaxy comes to life: Adapted entities will bring new challenges and rewards to New Stars, with the potential for more additions based on player feedback.

Added

  • Tutorial System: A new tutorial system has been added to help new players familiarize themselves with the game and the genre.
  • Space Entities: Unpredictable creatures of the void, including Void Squids, Plasma Squids, and Small Squids, have been introduced. Each entity offers unique challenges and rewards (work in progress).
  • New website: newstarsgame.com now displays the changelog for public New Stars updates.

Changed

  • Map Sizes: Reduced map sizes slightly to optimize gameplay.
  • Player Claims Resolution: Adjusted player claims resolution based on quality settings to prevent crashes on lower-end systems.

More Info

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