Empyrion - Galactic Survival Alpha 8.1 - June 21

[Mandres]

I picked this up yesterday ($9.99, not bad at all) and my first impressions are good. I've barely scratched the surface but it runs well, looks decent, and seems to explain itself well enough with the quest/tutorials system. I'm only an hour or so in and just starting to learn about base building.
It almost seems too easy to be called a survival game at this point - they give you a ton of materials, weapons, a motorcycle etc. right at the beginning. This first planet has a breathable atmosphere so you don't even need to worry about producing oxygen. I guess it's better to start off easy and then add more danger as you go.

 

[Rifter]

This first planet has a breathable atmosphere so you don't even need to worry about producing oxygen.

You will eventually be forced into space to find/procure rare resources so its a good idea to start stockpiling oxygen as soon as you can.

 

[Rifter]

Anyone having a glitch where your thrusters still use power even while off? I just recently built a capitol ship and i grouped up all the engines and when i land a turn them off the issue is it uses the same amount of power even while they are off. The group is clearly not powered in the menu. Thanks guys. Works fine turning them off on my various SV but am having issues with the CV, which is a fuel pig as it is so i was trying to fix that.

 

[Sabrewings]

Picked this up the other day and have been having some fun. Built a base and now I'm enjoying blowing holes in enemy bases with a SV I built myself. Good times.

 

[wanderer27]

Wow, I can't believe it's been roughly 10 months since I've updated this.

Needless to say, I've missed a lot since then, and they've really been working hard on this.

My last update was for version 3.2.1 I believe, and things were coming along nicely back then.
They are currently cleaning up version 6 RC4 (6.0.16 to be precise).
This is available on the Experimental branch for those interested.

They are targeting next week for Alpha 6 general release.
There may/may not be a sale for this then, but if not, the Steam Summer sale is coming up June 22 I believe.

I know quite a few folks here grabbed this about a year ago and seemed to have a good time with it.
Might be time to boot it back up soon and see what's changed

Like I said, I've missed a lot of changes, so I'm just going to highlight some that I'm aware of.

- Farming is now affected by conditions (O2, Temperature, + ?)

- You have to visit Planets before they show up on your Starmap for new Warp routes
(where there Starmaps before?)

- Showers, Toilets, and other Deco items now have a function

- Scenarios have been added, should eventually support Player made Scenarios (?)

- More MP Game start settings added

- AI Patrol Vessels . . . fly over the planets and shoot at player (SP)

- Temperature & Radiation added . . . Player affecting

- Player Armor & Environmental gear / suits

- Player Suit can have "Booster" modules . . . one looks to be a Jetpack

- Durability & Repair added

- Pressurization and Oxygenation zones now taken into account.
Q: Does a hull breach lead to the temperature dropping inside a base or vessel?
A: Yes! (I believe O2 & Pressure affected as well)

- Devices can have Temperature / Radiation effects

- Not all Doors are "Air tight"

- Portals / Teleporters added

- Device "Triggers" & "Sensors" added for controlling items
Q: Can I create more complex circuits?
A: Yes, see the chapter about SIGNAL LOGIC!

- NPC's / Traders(?) added

- Ship additions / changes:

Q: What's the difference between Freighters, Patrol Vessels and AI Carriers?

A: Freighters
- Can only be found in orbits
- Enter the playfield, travel from point A to point B and leave the playfield
- Can be stopped (destroy back thrusters), entered and looted

A: Patrol Vessels (PV)
- Can be found on most of the planets
- Will follow and attack players if spotted
- Have a starter platform where they retreat and get repaired
- Can be downed (destroy the bottom thrusters)
- Looting can be complicated (they are heavily armed and may get destroyed before you can bring them down)
- They currently do not attack Bases, just vessels and player.

A: AI Carriers (AC)
- Can only be found in orbits
- Will follow and attack players
- Will spawn drone waves to attack players
- Can be stopped, entered and be looted

- Dynamic Weather . . . Player affecting

- Various Map Markers added

- GUI / HUD / Control Panel updates and redesigns.

- New Blocks, updated / redesigned Blocks and function changes


I believe these are just highlights from 5.x to 6.x.
I missed the 3.x to 4.x to 5.x, so there is doubtless a whole lot of new material I'm totally unaware of.


Here you can find more detailed info and items (quite a bit of info) and new set ups:

http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-experimental-faq.10344/

Here's an overview video from March on Alpha 6 (things have changed since then of course):

https://youtu.be/Q4SYyGiUEA4








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[Mandres]

Cool, I'll fire it back up this weekend and check out the new stuff. I never did make it very far. Built a small ship and lost interest before ever leaving the starter planet.

This game has some really interesting and well executed ideas, it's worth dropping $10 on for sure if it goes on sale. You can build any kind of ship you want, practically any size, and go where ever you want to. I'd say it's like Minecraft except you can build working vehicles and blast off into the sky.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Any AT bitches want to meet up in game?

I tried this out last year and it had potential but to me it was a game best played with friends

 

[wanderer27]

Looks like the date slipped a few days, the official release date is now June 7.

Save the Date: Release Date of Alpha 6.0 (June 7, 2017)
May 31 - EmpyrionGame
Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Everyone keeps asking: when do you release Alpha 6.0? It's time to give you the final answer:

7th of June 2017

After having worked for months on content, new features, lots of game changers, thousands of feedback posts and reports, the release of the public version of Alpha 6.0 is now only a matter of days.

Even though you'll see a few more updates until public release, we already want to say a big and heartfelt THANK YOU to the best community in the universe right NOW! You made all this possible by showing incredible patience in tracking down bugs and issue, while we moved forward from version to version, adding feature by feature!

Thank you a thousand times!

While we are working on the final touches that get applied to the game and smashing the last bugs, enjoy our all new trailer:

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[Rifter]

Im assuming they fixed the turret AI? I completely ragequit this game after i spent 50+ hours building a base and then a SV then a huge massive CV and set off into space in my CV armed to the teeth with dozens and dozens of turrets on all sides. Had so much ammo it was ridicules. i left it in orbit of a new planet went down to the planet in my SV and when i got back to my CV is was destroyed and there was a few drones circling it. None of my turrets fired, they are all set to target anything and everything and not a freakking one of them worked.

 

[wanderer27]

And it's out . . .

Alpha 6.0 Release:


Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Are we there yet? Yes, we are!

Eleon Game Studios proudly presents the update that has seen the longest development cycle and the highest content and feature count in a single major update we have ever worked on in the Alpha stage: Empyrion Alpha 6.0 is hitting your PC right now!

While mentally handing out the much deserved virtual “we made it” T-shirts with a big fat “THANK YOU” on the front to everyone - especially to those that got engaged in the development process, either by sending in bug reports over and over, reviewing changes and features or just contributing feedback - some quick stats from the development cycle of A6.0:
- The development of A6.0 took 3.5 months (a part of the team already worked on A6.0 during the A5.5 development cycle)
- We created 175 builds and filed more than 2700 commits (i.e., changes to the game that got added to a build) in our repository
- We released 5 major Experimental versions - each of these Experimental versions had as much content as a single previous major update in the past.
- For more details on the A6.0 development cycle, check out the Experimental branch announcements: http://empyriononline.com/forums/announcements.36

For everyone who is coming from Alpha 5.5 and/or is entirely new to Alpha 6.0 or Empyrion, we highly recommend to do the following:
1. Closely read through the MAIN FEATURES paragraphs below
2. Closely read through the Alpha 6.0 FAQs
- Gameplay FAQ: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-gameplay-faq.10344/
- Multiplayer FAQ: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-faq-for-mp-customization-scenario.11204/
- Builders FAQ: http://empyriononline.com/threads/read-first-alpha-6-0-faq-for-builders.10822
3. If you are entirely new to Empyrion, run the new Tutorial (Start a new survival game on Akua and use EASY settings!)
4. Report bugs over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-6-0.11539/
5. Write down your feedback about the major features over here: http://empyriononline.com/forums/feedback.25

Now, let you get inspired by our launch video, listen to our new soundtrack, update your game and have fun!

Alpha 6.0 Launch Video:

YouTube™ Video: Empyrion - Galactic Survival: Alpha 6.0 Launch Trailer
Views: 19,819
Empyrion - Galactic Survival is a 3D open world, space survival adventure in which you can fly across space and land on planets.


Empyrion soundtracks: https://soundcloud.com/empyrion-game

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev team

P.S. Alpha 6.0 will not break your server or singleplayer savegames ... but as you will miss out a whole lot of the new stuff and in order to rule out all possible side effects, we strongly recommend starting a new game on servers and in singleplayer when going to venture into Alpha 6.0 ;-)

P.P.S. Last but not least, we would like to highlight two very helpful tools created by the community:
(i) “Empyrion Playfield Designer” developed by jmcburn for creating and editing custom worlds (playfield.yamls): http://empyriononline.com/threads/empyrion-playfield-designer-v1-32-3.9789
(ii) “Emp Admin Helper and Emp Playfield Generator” developed by Jascha to help admins to manage their server: https://eah.empyrion-homeworld.net
Both tools are free and will facilitate your life!

------------------------------------

MAIN FEATURES

1. Oxygen System:
- With the new Oxygen System you can create pressurized environments which will allow you to take off your helmet and drop off your player armor without having to care about the possibility of suffocating in your own base or vessel.
- Pressurized rooms have a lower O2-consumption than wearing your suit with helmet on.

Oxygen setup:

These are the force fields that prevent rooms from decompressing:

2. Temperature and Radiation System:
- All playfields now have a temperature and some also have radiation.
- Temperature and radiation have a direct effect on your health if you are not protected well (enough).
- On planets, the temperature depends on where you are (biome, altitude etc) and the time of day.

You should not stay too long close to the lava:

3. Player Armor System:
- The new player armor system not only replaces the old simple suit system, but also adds slot-based configuration by offering boosters for certain task (of course, these boosters have up- and downsides).
- You can choose between: Light Armor, Medium Armor and Heavy Armor (without armor, your player is wearing an Interior Suit without jetpack)
- Each armor has different parameters / characteristics that affect player stats (e.g. armor value, speed modifier, stamina modifier etc)

The new medium armor:

4. Dynamic Weather System:
- All playfields now have a fully dynamic weather system (clouds, fog, wind, rain, snow, thunderstorm, hail, acid rain, radiated fog, heat wave, cold wave, etc)
- The weather not only has a visual effect (e.g. lighting, wind, clouds, particle effects, visibility etc) but also impacts the temperature and radiation level. In addition, some weather effects can cause damage to the player (fire rain, meteor shower, acid rain, hail). Finally, the wind influences the grass, plant and tree movement as well as clouds movement

Radiated fog on Akua:

Rain on Akua:

5. Triggers and Sensors:
- We implemented a signaling system where structure devices can send and / or receive signals to control device-specific functions
- You can use logic circuits (AND, OR, XOR, delay, etc) for configuration
- Current triggers / sensors: light barrier, motion sensor, lever, trap door, trigger plate

Triggers and sensors:

6. Traders:
- You can now buy stuff from NPC traders on planetary and orbital Trading Stations.

Buy from a trader:

7. Sector Visibility:
- When you start a game, only the neighboring sectors are visible on the sector map. You now have to explore the solar system step-by-step

8. Farming Update:
- We integrated a more complex farming system which requires farmers to mind environmental conditions:
- Plants are growing if temperature is between 20 and 30° and Radiation is 0 and Oxygen is available
- Plants are dying if temperature is lower than 0 or higher than 50° or Radiation is higher than 3
- Plants now also grow outside without the need of a growing light if conditions are met.

Plants can now grow outside:

A hull breach can destroy your crops:

9.Scenarios:
- Added possibility to integrate custom Scenarios from the Steam Workshop. Thus, you are now able to design your own Solar System
- Added "Dawn of Galaxy" (single player) and "Invader vs Defender" (multiplayer) scenarios created by RexXxuS

Dive into the mysteries of custom scenarios:

10. New Management System for O2, Fuel, Ammo and Pentaxid:
- O2 and Fuel are now virtual "single tanks". Adding “tanks” only increases volume, but you do not need to move single items from one to the other anymore
- You can now fill O2, Fuel, Ammo and Pentaxid with “Fill All” buttons directly from the Control Panel main tab

The new fast way to manage your devices:

11. Teleporting:
- Added possibility to teleport between POIs using teleporters. For example, you are now able to teleport between planet and orbit in Trading Stations

Teleport from an orbital station down to the planet:

12. Playfield Instances:
- Added instances (playfields) that temporarily open to players and in which they can fulfill missions (accessible via portals)

Portals connect you to hidden and mysterious worlds:

13. Major AI Update:
- Added AI controlled aliens vessels to planets and in space. The planetary vessels patrol on planets and can attack your base. The space vessels are carriers that launch space drones to attack you.
- Added orbital drone bases that launch space drones
- Added ground NPCs to space playfields (e.g. Zirax in orbital bases)
- Added several alien civilian NPCs walking around in Trading Stations (these peaceful civilians do not attack you but will defend themselves when getting attacked)

AI Planet Vessel:

14. New Game Start Options:
- A new Tutorial is available when you start a new survival game on Akua
- Added the possibility to use Scenarios as a game start for Multiplayer
- We do not want to spoil the new game start, try it out!
Notice: you have less equipment now and thus the game start will be much more of a survival experience.

You can now find shelters at the drop location of your Escape Pod:

15. New HUD & GUI:
- We made a complete overhaul of the GUI & HUD. To list all windows and elements that have been changed would be beyond the scope of these update notes. Please refer to the Experimental announcement threads for a detailed documentation of all changes

The new GUI:

16. Improved Random POI and Resource Distribution:
- We improved the random POI distribution so that we have now much more control over the spawning of POIs and resources. For example, we can now ensure that there is no enemy POI in shooting distance to the trading station or we can spawn important resources close to POIs etc

17. Regeneration of POIs and Resources:
- We added the possibility that POIs or Voxel asteroids regenerate to ensure that players, who join a server that is running already for a while, still have POIs to explore and loot
- Regeneration works in single player as well (but we did not activate it in our default SP setting, however, you can use it in your scenarios)

18. Durability and Repair:
- Implemented durability for weapons, tools and player armor.
- Using weapons and tools reduces their durability and requires repair at the Repair Station

19. Map Markers and Waypoints:
- Added map markers and waypoints for better orientation
- Map can also be shared public or in your faction

Map markers are very useful:

20. Lagshot Problem Solved:
- We fixed the so-called lagshot problem (destruction of devices even though protected behind hull) that was driving a lot of you crazy.

To test different strategies to fix the lagshot problem, we used this CV to approach a heavily defended base:

We used a layer of thin hull plates (with 25000 hitpoints) and behind them we placed windows to immediately see if an explosion penetrates the hull layer.

------------------------------------

ADDITIONAL FEATURES and BUG FIXES

This is only a small part of the Alpha 6.0 content. For additional features and bug fixes, please check out the full changelog here:
http://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-6-0-out-now.11547



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[[DHT]Osiris]

Stuff

Impressive. This has been on my wishlist for a while, I might have to pick it up.

TLDR; is it fun?

 

[SMOGZINN]

Been on my wishlist as well. I am tempted to pick it up but honestly I'm a bit tired of half finished games, which seems to be nearly everything I'm interested in, so this might just sit on my wishlist until retail release.

 

[HumblePie]

Been on my wishlist as well. I am tempted to pick it up but honestly I'm a bit tired of half finished games, which seems to be nearly everything I'm interested in, so this might just sit on my wishlist until retail release.

Been in the same boat. Did Ark, Conan, and a few others of these kinds of games. They just get boring fast after a bit.

 

[wanderer27]

Meant to post this yesterday, but I either lost a line on my PSU, my Video card popped, or my Motherboard has an issue

Anyway, this is currently on sale for 50% off ($10) for just over 24 Hours as of this posting.

Good time to buy it, but might want to wait for a hotfix or two to boot it up as they iron out a few inevitable bugs for a release this large.

BTW - it looks like version 6.1 is available on the experimental branch as of yesterday.


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[Fanatical Meat]

So any takers on an AT meet up in game?

 

[wanderer27]

Alpha 6.3+ is out with a new PvP system and some other items - on sale through the rest of the Steam sale as well (50% off):

Alpha 6.3: Bug Fixes and Improvements - Part III
July 2 - EmpyrionGame
Notice: If you are using the Empyrion Admin Helper EAH tool and experience problems with your dedicated server after updating to Alpha 6.3, please update EAH to the newest version and manually rename "Srv_Public" into "Srv_Visible" in your dedicated.yaml

--------------------------------------

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

The Alpha 6 phase is making good progress - welcome to a new bug fixing and improvements update!

Thanks to you ongoing support, Alpha 6.3 again addresses a heap of bugs. But the new update also has some gameplay changes and new additions for you to play around with!

First and foremost, we are currently working on a full replacement of the old P2P multiplayer mode. As you all know, this mode is still in the game and works to some extent, but also has several limitations and issues. That’s where the new Coop mode comes into play. For more details, please check out this thread: http://empyriononline.com/threads/a6-3-feedback-new-coop-mode.12077

As always, please report global gameplay bugs and issues over here:
http://empyriononline.com/threads/global-gameplay-bug-reports-alpha-6-3-x.12076/

Please report crashes, CoQ, freezes and other problems that return a “log file” over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/p...start-menu-access-violation-0xc0000005.11617/

If you are running into an issue that relates to the setup of a scenario and which is NOT a global gameplay issue (that would happen anywhere else), please use the new bug report threads. (Note: these are NOT feedback threads!!)
- SCENARIO "Dawn of Galaxy": http://empyriononline.com/threads/official-scenario-dawn-of-the-galaxy.12058/
- SCENARIO "Invaders vs. Defenders": http://empyriononline.com/threads/official-scenario-invaders-vs-defenders.12060/
- TUTORIAL: http://empyriononline.com/threads/official-scenario-tutorial.12059/

Now have fun and enjoy Alpha 6.3!

Cheers,
Empyrion Dev Team

------------------

Changelog: Alpha 6.3.0 (Build 1117)

Improved Local Coop:
- Added possibility to host a local coop game that can be joined by your friends without port forwarding. For more details, please visit this thread: http://empyriononline.com/threads/a6-3-feedback-new-coop-mode.12077

Additions:
- Added new fighter cockpit long (replacement for cockpit 6)

The above picture shows a small vessel by Meow_J equipped with the new fighter cockpit

- Added slim versions of SV / HV doors (only 2 blocks wide)
- Added 3 new Tier 1 SV Stock Prefabs - thanks to Reaper, Pyston and wahnfriedenator

We added some very small and cheap vessels as stock prefabs

Gameplay:
- Fully updated civil settlement POIs: thanks to Dinkelsen, Frigidman, Maloverci, rainyday and Runningwithhamster

Visit our new POIs on Akua and Oscutune

- Changed: Drones/Planet Vessel will not approach base anymore if owner is not nearby (base idle)
- Added despawn timer also to containers (eg backpack) and show remaining time in seconds when below 1min
- When targeting a block that applies status effects these are now shown (eg shower, scanner etc)
- Adapted collision on bushes / trees: removed movement collision for several plants
- Added more precise colliders for all SV / HV closed cockpits

Visuals / Sounds:
- Added dead versions for several NPCs

These are just few of the new dead versions of NPCs that we introduced

- Changed type of blood effect that is shown when a NPC is hit: more red blood, less green blood
- Blood particles are now better visible
- Spotlights: when flying a CV in 3rd person view, the LOD of spotlights is ignored (ie even on very long CVs the spotlight is not switched off )
- Updated overlay for Player Drone and Turret
- Adjustment to shaders to minimize visual difference between hull blocks and 3d models
- Better animation for Zirax NPC when it gets hit.
- Tweaked animation controller of cyborg to avoid jittering (same for crawler).
- Added damage states to windows of new cockpits
- Added damage states to cockpit 07
- Added better texture for light of spotlights
- Night on Omicron is now a bit brighter
- Tweaked color mask of Cockpit 4 (color more intensive)
- Replaced green bush on Akua and white bush on Ningues with better models
- Tweaked audio of hit effects to avoid hearing particle effect too far away
- Growing plot steel has now grey color when placed (instead of white)
- Cockpits have now their default blue color when placed

GUI Polishing:
- Added airtight info to remaining blocks
- Replaced text on buttons in Map Marker list with icons
- Better row highlight in Resume Game menu
- Increased size of in-game message boxes
- Changed: Do not break line in hover text if only 1 letter is shown in new line
- Removed Temperature, Radiation, Weather and Time info when in a Turret/Player Drone

Changes:
- Added possibility in Server Browser to filter servers with respect to their ping
- Added: Added "Srv_Visible" parameter to dedicated.yaml to allow hiding a server in the Server Browser
- Reset Control Panel to Main Page/Reset selected Device when opening the same structure after resuming a game
- Adapted text when trying to access a block that belongs to another faction
- Changed naming: Instead of "Trusted Server" > "Verified Server"
- Added console command to trigger base attack wave (see "help aimanager")
- Adapted server message when playfield server is shutting down
- Tutorial Scenario: you can now only choose Akua as start (before it was confusing because you could start on Omicron but no tutorial started)
- Updated console cmd "weather": better formatting
- Updated “Empyrion Admin Helper” (EAH) tool: https://eah.empyrion-homeworld.net/download
- Localized all status effects

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Playfield crash and connection lost issues (another potential fix)
- Fixed: Color difference and too bright nights in client games when the server starts up the first time
- Potential Fix: Losing faction information when joining a MP game after server has been idle for a while
- Fixed: Breathing sound on NPC's could still be heard after they are dead
- Fixed: In some situations the sound of weapons or devices could not be heard
- Fixed: Error when connection to a host was not successful
- Fixed: After renaming a signal or circuit trying to update devices to the new name was only ok for the 1st device.
- Fixed: Passenger accessing a turret was dropped out of turret after several seconds
- Fixed: Player falling through world when choosing 'spawn nearest medic station' and the medic station was far away
- Fixed: Approaching Planet Vessel (PV) base while PV was regenerating could lead to the PV falling through the ground (MP only)
- Fixed: Drones could sometimes got stuck when trying to climb up mountains
- Fixed: Drone wrecks were falling through the ground if shot down in great distance
- Fixed: When using the "fill all" button on a HV with Drills and an Ammo box, drill charges were put into Ammo Box even though the drills are not using drill charges
- Fixed: Sometimes Troop Transport was flying below terrain in MP
- Fixed: Base Attack Drones Large were not spawning
- Fixed: When you have "Restrict Blueprint" types allowed set to 'None' you could still access the BP menu & Factory.
- Fixed: Entity Spawner: Interactive Setup showed strange moving area-pattern
- Fixed: Custom signals kept appearing in the state of the last structure or vehicle visited.
- Fixed: The dropdown lists in the signals tab for on/off & lock/unlock went blank when exiting the Control Panel with them left open.
- Fixed: Fixed Faction/Player scrollbar Issue (could not scroll up/see players after scrolling to bottom in another faction)
- Fixed: Some templates were erroneously shown as craftable in Food Processor / Constructor if sub-components are not craftable (eg Growing Plot (Concrete) in Food Processor when you have Crushed Stone)
- Partially Fixed: Destroyed Blocks painting & texturing issues (we will fix the remaining blocks in A6.4)
- Fixed: When flying over water in a vessel with spotlights the water showed square shapes.
- Fixed: Looping reposition console messages when a ship happened to be at the same position as a planet.
- Fixed: Problem that console command "aimanager addtrooptransport" was not working in MP
- Fixed: Missing from "Equipment Group": closet, nightstand, kitchen corner, bathroom vanity etc
- Fixed: In the new game menu, the 'Default' scenario was sometimes showing as 'Tutorial'
- Fixed: When opening the control panel up on a sensor sometimes the 'Signal name' box to name the sensor disappeared.
- Fixed: Fast graphics preset was causing an issue with shadows on Cockpit
- Fixed: Spider was slightly hovering in air when dead
- Fixed: Using a Drill on bedrock resulted in infinite XP
- Fixed: Flare position on cube spotlight
- Fixed: Missing glass in door of SV / HV
- Fixed: When loading into a save or new game & opening the Map the planet info was blank.
- Fixed: Autogroup in control panel did not work in certain use case (eg after "add to group")
- Fixed: Control Panel: Using "Add to last group" repeatedly moved the selected device cursor down +1 instead of staying in place
- Fixed: Group control buttons and Filter missing when starting a new game for a second time after Control Panel was open
- Fixed: Problem with console cmd "aimanager adddronewave"
- Fixed: Problem with multiple defined Localization keys ('xyz' is already present)
- Fixed: Typo in the controls menu ("Brake" instead of "Break")
- Fixed: Several internal exceptions found in output logs



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[shortylickens]

I bought it a while ago and played a couple hours. Gameplay seemed incredibly clunky. Got bored and uninstalled. I may try again seeing as there have been several updates.


-------------


OK, I tried it again.
Did not like. Especially the base blueprints. Making a god damn planting pot requires loads of hard-to-find resources. BUT, its better than Osiris, which recently got a major update and is now much more annoying to play.

 

[wanderer27]

Alpha 6.5 just came out, focus is mainly on their new Co-Op mode.

Main reason I'm posting this today is that there some info on setting up the new Co-Op mode contained here that may be good to have for future reference.


Alpha 6.5: Coop Update
July 21 - EmpyrionGame

The above screenshot is from the new scenario "Shadows of Starlight"

Update: Hotfix - Client side only

We just released a client-side update that fixes several issues with the new device list in the Control Panel.

Changelog: Alpha 6.5.0 (Build 1171)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Control panel GUI sometimes showed the wrong labels or no info in 'Devices' & 'Signal Logic'.
- Fixed: Exception when using "AutoGroup" in Control Panel
- Fixed: Exception when clicking on missing devices of starter blocks.
- Fixed: Exception when clicking on auto group of a damaged vessel or base which has devices ungrouped.

------------------

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

We are very excited to release Alpha 6.5 with our new coop multiplayer mode, replacing the old P2P-IP connect method. Days are gone where you had to fiddle around with port forwarding, your router settings or just with finding out the correct IP to connect to!

Setting up a Local Coop Server for having fun with a few friends is as easy as “click and play”:
1. Go to NEW GAME - as you would have for setting up a P2P game in the past
2. Instead of clicking START, use the dropdown and click COOP SERVER

3. This will bring up a dialogue where you can configure the main parameters for your local coop server:

4. Your friends can now easily join your game, either via the friends tab in the in-game server browser or via "Join Game" by clicking on a friend in the Steam client

IMPORTANT: for starting a local coop server you need to switch EAC to OFF!

Alpha 6.5 also adds a new Scenario, updates to NPC combat, improved motorbike handling, re-balancings and visual improvements in terms of medical stuff and player status HUD icons as well as a slew of tweaks for gameplay, sound and visuals. Get the full list below!

As always, please report all gameplay bugs found in Alpha 6.5 here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/global-gameplay-bug-reports-alpha-6-5-x.12391

Thanks a lot!

Cheers,

Empyrion Dev Team

=============================

Changelog: Alpha 6.5.0 (Build 1170)

New Local Coop Server:
- Integrated new coop mode via local coop server
- Implemented resuming a non coop game in coop mode
- Automatically creating the adminconfig.yaml file with the game creator configured as admin (if there is already a adminconfig.yaml, no new file will be created)
- Added internal fixed default values for local coop: Antigrief zones deactivated, no restrictions on number of structures etc

New Scenario:

- Integrated new community made scenario: "Shadows of Starlight" https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=971651504
- A big thanks to "amurayiwestgate" and "Taun Hawk"
- In our opinion, this scenario is really awesome. Let us know what you think.

Improved NPC Combat:
- Added rotation speed to NPC (each NPC now has a different rotation speed when turning around)
- More realistic shooting of NPC (now they must rotate completely towards player before they shoot). Note: We will add bullet dispersion soon.
- Adjusted detection angle of several NPCs: increased or decreased depending on the type of NPC (eg dinos now have a 270 degrees angle while eg Zirax have a smaller angle)

Balancing:
- Increased strength of all medipacks by 50% + medipacks are healing faster now.
- Reduced hit points of NPC spawners to make them easier to destroy with weapons.
- Slightly reduced weapon damage of NPC distant weapons
- Rebalanced armor values of some devices (eg turrets take now damage from handheld weapons)
- Explosives are more effective against devices now (eg doors) and less effective against hull blocks
- Reduced damage inflicted by Zirax shotgun.
- Reduced degradation of Player Armor
- Reduced HP and RoF of sentry guns.
- Slightly reduced damage inflicted by Mechanoid robot
- Slightly reduced range of HV artillery to stay below range of some BA player turrets (however, HV artillery is still above range of POI turrets)

Better Handling of Motorbike:

- Tweaked motorbike: overall better handling (eg better turning + acceleration and slightly faster top speed)
- Tweaked motorbike start and stop sound
- Driving sound of motorbike is now less loud

Gameplay:
- Changed: Allow exit of Vessel at 0.1 or 0.2 m/s instead of 0
- Updated rotation speed of turrets (now turrets rotate a bit slower and there is a difference in rotation speeds between turrets).
- Set turret to neutral position when idle
- Handheld weapons now auto-reload when they are empty and ammo is available
- Reduced range of explosion damage for several devices when they are destroyed
- Increased head shot bonus on several weapons
- Tweaked collider on spiders and alien bugs (more difficult to hit head for head shoot bonus)

Visuals and Sounds:
- Updated cockpit 6 based on builder feedback (fits now better to our blocks)
- Removed 3d blood particle effect in first-person view. We now only show the 2d blood particle effect on the screen
- Tweaked animation controller of several NPCs (adapted walking anim)
- Added destroyed version of Armored Golem.
- Tweaked heavy snow effect: smaller particles, less fast, larger area where they drop
- Tweaked open/close sound of barrels: a bit lower volume.
- Tweaked sound of generator: a bit lower volume and reduced distance from which it can be heard.
- Tweaked death sound and hit animation of Zirax
- Destroyed drone sound (fire) is heard less far
- NPC sound is now heard less far (40m instead of 50m)
- Slightly reduced intensity of player light.
- Tweaked sound of laser rifle
- Better rotation animation for NPCs
- Tweaked sound of assault rifles T1 and T2
- Adjusted camera to avoid clipping of laser shots that hit player
- Tweaked weapon hold position of Assault Rifle T1
- Updated Alien Fern planet: better wind movement on plant
- Updated damage texture for Mechanoid, Player Drone and Enemy Drone
- Decreased distance at which HUD objects disappear from 15m to 5m
- Status Effect icons in player window now use new tooltip style
- Changed: Color of Status Effects (good status effects are green, bad effects are red)
- Changed: Color of life stats and durability in player window (Yellow if < 200, Red if < 100)
- Tweaked biome sound on Akua Open Plains (removed annoying cricket sound during night)
- Reduced volume of footsteps
- Added icon for "All" button in Constructor filter
- Improved visuals of the dedi window

Better list behavior in Control Panel:
- Added new line-based scrolling list in Control Panel. This new list is much faster than the old list (especially noticeable for structures with a lot of devices)
- Better search in CP device list: Now also showing objects in collapsed groups
- Now keep selection when re-opening CP and not looking at another Block
- Re-Implemented select next block when grouping in CP List

Changes:
- Added new SV Tier 5 Stock prefab. Thanks to McFluffFace

Manta-Drop-Ship-MK-I 6.0

A Workshop Item for Empyrion - Galactic Survival
By: McFluffFace
======Updated to 6.0======= The Manta-Drop-Ship-MK -1 is a heavy multipurpose dropship with 12 Passenger Seats "can easly be removed for other things" changelog 103: +better protection for the ammo boxes -2 blocks less...

- Added white slime to Ningues
- Added spinosaurus to Masperon Swamp and added small dino to Oscutune
- Server browser list: Line-scrolling list now supports scrolling with the mouse wheel
- Added Russian as Bitmap font (ie font is crisper now)
- Server browser's "Connect" button is now disabled if no list entry is selected or the manually entered IP address is invalid
- Temporarily deactivated PDA Mission "delicious green eating"
- Drill T1 has now same capacity as T2 and it is now made clearer that T2 drill is a major upgrade to T1
- Now writing client side console command executions into the log

Localization:
- Updated Russian: thanks to Sergei Vasiliev, rainyday, foxes and Runningwithhamsters
- Updated French: thanks to Eric Rosson, Kassonnade, Spartan47 and woowoo
- Added Japanese: thanks to Metapo

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Problem that audio on several weapons did not play correctly (especially when firing just one shot on automatic weapons)
- Fixed: Turret shooting: turret could hit player even though player is in turret’s “dead angle” -> now gun elevation/depression of each turret is taken into account
- Fixed: Problem that several NPCs did have a shooting sound anymore
- Fixed: Drill on HV is loud in the beginning but after 2sec the volume becomes normal
- Fixed: Server detail infos not shown anymore
- Fixed: Problem that is was possible for players who don't have any admin permissions in MP to change the weather.
- Fixed: Problem that Alien Bug 04 could shoot through walls in certain use cases.
- Fixed: After having aggravated NPC you can lose the aggressive state shortly after by running around the NPC.
- Fixed: Homing missiles don't circle around you any more
- Fixed: Problem that turrets did not hit reliable anymore
- Fixed: Random COQ and lost connection from dedicated server
- Fixed: First Explosive placed on an enemy block does not damage block
- Fixed: Several problems with backwards-build vessels
- Fixed: Max-Speed not available for Up/Down/Left/Right if Front/Back thrusters were deactivated
- Fixed: Backwards-build vessel with missing front thruster had 7m/s speed cap
- Fixed: HV T2 Drill effect stays active when changing a slot while in use
- Fixed: Problem with range of particle effect of drill attachment T2 (inconsistency between effect and visuals)
- Fixed: Problem that sometimes thrusters stayed on even though they should be switched off
- Fixed: Problem with flares on motorbike were shining through player
- Fixed: Problem that motorbike turned into the folded version even though player was driving it
- Fixed: Motorbike not as responsive as expected = not really fun to drive
- Fixed: LOD of various 'Tech Equipment Deco' is very low.
- Fixed: When loading into a save or new game & opening the Map the planet info was blank.
- Fixed: Problem that some rocks were floating in air.
- Fixed: Visual issue when Sun shines behind a Planet in the foreground
- Fixed: Texture artifacts on Cockpit 6 (long fighter cockpit)
- Fixed: Placing 2 Repair Bays possible by using Mirror Mode
- Fixed: Problem with re-filling after having used sorting in new line-scrolling list
- Fixed: The temperature of the Furnace doesn't change when it is disabled via CP
- Fixed: Line-scrolling list auto-selection (lead to flickering when entering an IP address in multiplayer window)
- Fixed: Drop grid not functioning properly in Mod Item Exchange Window
- Fixed: Preview pics subtitles did not work with non-latin text
- Fixed: Several localization issues


.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Man, in 20 years when all these survival games are finally completed we are going to have a lot of awesome old school games with simple graphics that low end hardware can play!

 

[Rifter]

Man, in 20 years when all these survival games are finally completed we are going to have a lot of awesome old school games with simple graphics that low end hardware can play!

Pretty much eh, by the time this and 7 days to die get released they will run on a potato.

 

[wanderer27]

Posting this as Update to 6.6 just came out and there are some teaser shots of 7.0 (one top, more at bottom):


Alpha EXPERIMENTAL 6.6
August 12 - EmpyrionGame

The above screenshot is from the current internal Alpha 7.0 development branch. More screenshots can be found below.


Hi Galactic Survivalists,

We just released Alpha 6.6 on the Experimental branch.

Please report all gameplay bugs found in Alpha Experimental 6.6 over here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-6-6-x.12630/
Thanks a lot!

Cheers,

Empyrion Dev Team

--------------------

Changelog: Alpha Experimental 6.6.0 (Build 1192)

Gameplay:
- Added possibility to switch weapons while reloading
- Increased range of color tool and texture tool
- Added possibility to enable/disable the "auto-break" of vessels. You can toggle the autobreak on/off with the default key "i" (key can be re-mapped)
- Improved Size Class calculation: we adjusted formula to weight triangles more and we are now using the 'real' number of triangles. You must save your blueprint again so that the new formula takes effect.
- Increased structure limit in Single Player from 64 to 200

Changes:
- Toolbar can now be removed when pressing the middle mouse button (the default button can me re-mapped)
- Elevated some console cmds to Moderator level and we now display the permission level for all console cmds
- Added message when there is another structure in the area the player wants to spawn a blueprint.
- When a file system error occurs after publishing a scenario, no info was given. Now a helpful message box is displayed.
- To allow deleted Workshop scenarios to be re-published a 'Remove link' button is now displayed in that case
- Added 2sec timeout to control panel buttons (lights, turrets and main tasks)
- Added info of savegame version of first savegame start to client.log and console
- Some renaming of stock prefabs + updated all stock prefabs due to improved class calculation

Visuals / Audio:
- Added new bloom effect: pls let us know what you think
- Added new seamless emissive texture for building blocks
- Improved water shader
- Added smoke to destroyed Armored Golem
- Updated models for shower, toilet, kitchen counter, repair bay and bathroom counter
- Added “Auto-Brake” on/off information to Ship Stats
- Tweaked some speed tree billboards
- Slightly improved textures on player armor

New Stock Prefabs:
- Added new stock prefab tier 1 SV - thanks to Nickodemos:

Velites-(SV)

A Workshop Item for Empyrion - Galactic Survival
By: Nickodemos
low tier Ship Design mainly for PVE Starting Situation unlocklevel 7 4 Miniguns Fridge Cargobox O2 Station 2 Spotlights

- Added new stock prefab tier 6 HV - thanks to MisterCrow:
"Thanatos" Assault Vessel
A Workshop Item for Empyrion - Galactic Survival
By: MisterCrow
WORKS WITH ALPHA 6 Designed to take out POI's, Armour is reinforced at the front of the vessel - at least two blocks thick to help protect the pilot from incoming fire.


Improved POI / Resource Spawning:
- It is now possible to use the Fixed and / or Random parts in every combination (if both are used, the fixed stuff is placed first)
- It is now possible to use different distances for SpawNear and SpawnAvoid (SpawnPOINearDistance and SpawnPOIAvoidDistance)
- It is now possible to place random resources around fixed POIs (however, you have to define the available pool of resources in RandomResources first)
- POI-related resources are now placed before the purely random placed resources to assure being allowed to still place them
- Added distance variation to placement of resources around a POI

New Localization:
- Added Portuguese (Brazil): community translation by FabioZumbi12
- Added Italian: community translation by Leo Filippo
- Added Chinese (simplified + traditional): community translation by Ken Guo + professional translation
- Added Spanish and Portuguese (EU): professional translation

Updated Localization:
- French: Spartan47
- Russian: Sergey Vasilyev
- Japanese: Metapo

GUI Improvements:
- Added horizontal scrolling for main Construction Queue
- Added "expand/collapse" for all device groups
- Show active Symmetry Plane when enabling Build Settings menu
- Keep renamed device names when using AUTO-GROUP in Control panel
- Localized Blueprint Window "Filter" text
- Added Mouse Wheel Scrolling to Control Remap panel
- Optimization for Control Panel Numerical Assignments
- Some more Anchor Optimizing for GUI
- Added Unit Measurement Formatting

ModAPI:
- Event Console Command
- Event Structure destroyed due to wipe/decay
- Event_ConsoleCommand added player entity id
- Console Command: Return Error

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Problem that HVs were sliding on small slopes
- Fixed: NPC Nightmares can clip through blocks of vessels & can cause damage to the avatar inside
- Fixed: Player hovering in air when drilling down
- Fixed: Player can use elevator even if not inside elevator
- Fixed: Curved stairs are impossible to get up unless jumping
- Fixed: Blueprint factory accepting certain items - factory now returns sub-items it does not need for the Blueprint to be produced
- Fixed: Remove terrain from buried turrets (bounding box).
- Fixed: Error when using a banned workshop scenario
- Fixed: MP: Dropping items or a backpack onto a rock results in them going through the rock & become unreachable by players.
- Fixed: Possible to shoot with fully covered SV guns through triangle blocks
- Fixed: Large Plasma Drones are not counted for the mission Drone Hunter.
- Fixed: Problem that when spawning a BA parts of it could be within an anti-grief area
- Fixed: Problem with "The referenced script on this Behaviour (Game Object '<null>') is missing!" in output logs
- Fixed: Problem that "SpawnResource" did not work with POIs
- Fixed: Turning off forward facing thrusters no longer allowed vessels in orbit to cruise.
- Fixed: "Publish Scenario" option is available for some stock scenarios
- Fixed: Subscribing to a workshop BP whilst in-game causes the in-game BP list for workshop BP's to go blank until relaunch of game
- Fixed: Deleting the last Scenario from Steam Workshop allows re-publishing what lead to a CoQ
- Fixed: When you kill a Armored Golem their corpse doesn't show they still stand up with a walking animation
- Fixed: Circuit signal got lost when the referenced output signal is from a circuit below
- Fixed: "Dawn of Galaxy" scenario Maiy Mission 2 Gardening "Harvest Crops" never completes.
- Fixed: Issue with mirror plane still mirroring with no location set
- Fixed: Light and Turret toggles can still be switched while awaiting switch timer, leading to sometimes wrong state
- Fixed: Texture on the top part of the repair block is not centered.
- Fixed: Portal: fixed bug that player in no faction could block a portal that was set to LockedToFaction
- Fixed: Added missing loca strings for ITEMS and DEVICES
- Fixed: Several missing loca strings for GUI
- Fixed: Missing text for HUD Objects for dynamic font locs (eg Japanese)


===================

ALPHA 7.0 Teaser:
We have some eye candies for you fresh from our internal Alpha 7.0 development branch:

We will give you more detailed information about the "Road to Alpha 7.0" soon. Stay tuned!

 

[wanderer27]

Been several weeks since I updated this - a small Patch to 6.7.1 has just come out as well as a bit of info.

The biggest tidbit to pull from this ". . . and if everything goes accordingly, we aim for a first Alpha 7.0 Experimental Release very soon (in less than a week)!"


Alpha 6.7.1: Empyrion Admin Helper and "Road to Alpha 7 - Part III"
September 21 - EmpyrionGame

The above screenshot is from our internal Alpha 7.0 development branch and shows the new desert planet Zeyhines.

Hi Galactic Survivalists,

We just released another small patch for the Alpha 6.7 development cycle and included the "Empyrion Admin Helper" (EAH) tool. When you are a server admin, you might already know this tool because it is one of the best out there to manage your server.

To facilitate the life of all server admins, we decided to include EAH as a separate program into the Dedicated Server package of Empyrion - in other words, it will now automatically be distributed with the Empyrion Dedicated Server. A big thank you to Jascha and RexXxus for developing this tool.

For info about EAH and a basic documentation, please have a look here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/documentation.13838/

Please let us know what you think about EAH and what we can still improve.

Changelog: Alpha 6.7.1 (Build 1218)

Changes:
- Added "Empyrion Admin Helper" tool to dedicated server package

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Problem that first-person and third-person camera was sometimes clipping into objects
- Possible Fix: Connection to workshop BP's list sometimes being lost (we increased the subscription limit from 100 to 300)
- Fixed: LCD Panels not updating after initial edit.

----------------------------


Road to Alpha 7 - Progress Report

Two weeks ago, we gave you a few insight on the main features of the Alpha 7.0, which can be summarized as “World Design, Creative Tools and Visuals”.

If you missed the info, please follow these links:

Creative Tools & Visuals blog: https://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-6-7-patch-and-road-to-alpha-7-part-ii.13332

World Design blog: https://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-6-7-signal-logic-update-hull-textures-and-road-to-alpha-7.12796

While adding more textures for different materials and refining the visuals, as well as the world build-tech and related features, we also made some changes, that will directly impact a very central gameplay element: mining and building

First and foremost: Alpha 7.0 will not change the way HOW you build and mine - the gameplay mechanic itself has not changed on a global scale - you still drill for ore and use the constructors and the templates to build devices. The new version will instead change, how deposits are handled, how resources look and it will address the composition of most of the templates.

Mining:
- The planetary deposits are no large spheres or “blobs of ore” anymore, but are now split up into smaller chunks of “sub-surface ore rocks” (SSOR) that can be found inside the perimeter of a deposit. These SSOR work similar to the surface rocks, which break and drop ore when you drill them. The difference: The SSORs currently hold a single type ore and a larger amount of it. As a side note: With this new method, we could even have “mixed ore deposits” in a future iteration.
- As the new deposit parameters allow to have those rocks scattered in a certain area (dense or wide-spread), and while you will need to remove more dirt, you’ll get the first iteration of an ore scanner as a new gadget to help with the discovery process. This device, which you simply put in your toolbar, works like a “near field ore scanner”. When activated, it will visualize the position of the SSOR close to you, so you do not need to do a lot of guesswork where to drill. The discovery of an ore deposit itself, is still done the old way (This might change in the future as well)
- Asteroid mining will not change
- Handheld drill speeds will be increased.

Components and Templates:
- We reviewed the names of some of the components and found that they do not sound appropriate to a sci-fi game - thus we added new names. For example instead of cable, we now use optical fiber. Pipes are replaced with Nanotubes. And so on. This might change or get expanded in future patches, but we think you get the idea behind this new approach ;-)
- Most of the templates now use these changed names.

Both Mining and Components/Templates are a first iteration and will require your dedicated feedback as soon as the Alpha 7.0 Experimental is released!

Said that, and if everything goes accordingly, we aim for a first Alpha 7.0 Experimental Release very soon (in less than a week)!

We also added a new SV device - can you guess, what it will do? ;-)

Little hint: it is a device that is already used in CVs:

Note: we updated the model of this device because the shape of the old model reminded too much of something to eat (other hint)

A teaser pics of the new lava planet:

Hopefully I get time and remember to post the info in the next week or so . . .

.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

so how many people can play on a server these days?

 

[wanderer27]

@GoodRevrnd - still trying to find out about Servers. Have seen "Slot" for anywhere from 80 to 170, and have heard of 10 or so active, but I'm not sure of the real figures.
Will pass along once I find them



Alpha EXPERIMENTAL 7.0
September 26 - EmpyrionGame

Hi Galactic Survivalists!

Welcome to our first Experimental 7.0 release! Be aware that this is still a very rough version - so expect bugs and unpolished features. But we wanted to release Alpha EXP 7.0 as early as possible to get your feedback!

What is Alpha 7.0 all about? Short answer: Creative tools, textures, visuals and a rebalancing of some of the game contents and functions such as the game start, templates and mining. With Alpha 7.0 we also introduce a new type of playfield: handmade, heightmap-fixed planets.

As this is a lot of info to pack into a single announcement, we used the same approach like with the previous major updates and created FAQ threads for all of the major changes.

The following threads offer additional details, small howtos and explanations and will be monitored for you dedicated feedback and questions!

New Game Start & Rebalancing
https://empyriononline.com/threads/a7-0-experimental-faq-feedback-new-game-start-rebalancing.15374/

Building Block Texture Update:
- Wood Textures
https://empyriononline.com/threads/a7-0-experimental-faq-feedback-wood-textures.15373/
- Concrete Textures
https://empyriononline.com/threads/a7-0-experimental-faq-feedback-concrete-textures.15372/
- Metal Textures
https://empyriononline.com/threads/a7-0-experimental-faq-feedback-metal-textures.15371/

Offline Protection Enhancements
https://empyriononline.com/threads/a7-0-experimental-faq-feedback-offline-protection-enhancements.15370/

Heightmap Terrain + Texture Editor
https://empyriononline.com/threads/a7-0-experimental-faq-feedback-heightmap-terrain-texture-editor.15369/

Mining
https://empyriononline.com/threads/a7-0-experimental-faq-feedback-mining.15368/

New Building Tools
https://empyriononline.com/threads/a7-0-experimental-faq-feedback-new-building-tools.15366/

As an advice: before reporting a bug, issue or suggestion, check these threads for info about KNOWN ISSUES and PLANNED IMPROVEMENTS. ;-)

Please report bugs and issues over here: https://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-alpha-experimental-7-0.15379/

We are looking forward to your feedback

Cheers,

Empyrion Dev Team

====================================================

CHANGELOG: Alpha Experimental 7.0.0 (Build 1259)

New Planetary Terrains:
- Added more realistic handmade terrains (based on heightmaps and splatmaps)
- Extended terrain height to 500m. This applies for both handmade and procedural playfields. Save games should be compatible.
- Improved map generation for heightmap planets
- Added a simple Texture Editor to easily change textures on a heightmap planet (accessible via console cmd "terraineditor" or "te")
- All planets in the default scenario are the new heightmap planets, except: Masperon, Aitis and all the Moons

Note: We actived the new handmade terrains also in the MP default scenario. However, we did not yet adapt the balancing to a MP setting (e.g., the resource amount is not correctly balanced etc.)

Major Texture Update for Building Blocks:
- Added 38 new textures (19 Metal, 15 Concrete, 4 Wood)
- Added several new interchangeable textures on Page 2 for Concrete (+additional metal textures) and Wood (+additional metal & concrete textures)
- Updated most of existing textures
Metal:

Concrete:

Wood:

Added Parallax Occlusion Mapping (POM) shader for building blocks:
With this new shader all block textures have a 3d look

New Game Start and Rebalancing:

Some highlights of the new game start:
- Warp Drive for Small Vessels
- Crafting: We felt that the game is currently very front loaded with things you can build right from the start, giving you little motivation to explore the galaxy and visit other planets.
- Armored concrete block
- Weapon updates
- Many other changes and balancing
Please refer to this separate thread for more details: https://empyriononline.com/threads/a7-0-experimental-faq-feedback-new-game-start-rebalancing.15374/
We would be very interested in what you think about these changes. Please test the new setting in SP and give us your feedback

New Underground Resources for Mining:
- Added 3d models instead of Voxel terrain for resource deposits
- Added Ore Scanner (it is active when you have the drill equipped and the Ore Scanner in your inventory)

Better Creative / Building Tools:
- Added selection box as building tools (N window): Copy, Paste, Cut, Delete whole areas: WIP
- Added possibility to save and display Blueprint parts: WIP
- Separated building and debug tools in N window
- Symmetry plane can now positioned on a half block basis.
- Added possibility to color and texture large areas
- Added possibility to rotate block textures
- Changed “Build Settings” window to toggle mode (instead of holding down "N" to keep open)

Improved Autominers:

- Added first version of new deposit-depleting Autominers
- Deposit-depleting Autominer calculates its efficiency via the remaining deposit size
- Autominers can be configured in dedicated.yaml whether they deplete the resource deposit or not (see dedicated.yaml)

Improved Offline Protection:
- Added delay before OP is active ("ProtectDelay" defined in dedicated.yaml)
- Turrets continue shooting but do not use ammo when OP is active

Visuals / Sounds:
- Increased strength of emissive on block textures
- Improved transition orbit-planet: less clouds on planet, bit more clouds in space and seen earlier, less fog on planet seen from orbit
- Integrated New Camera Effects:
* Frost: appears if suit temperature is below 15C
* Heat: appears if suit temperature is above 40C
- Tweaked screen space reflection to have a less oily look on the hull reflection
- Added new gun scope shader
- Updated model for capacitor (deco)
- Updated model for warp drive

- Updated model for warp drive tank CV
- Updated model for railing blocks
- Updated model for elevator block

PDA Update:
- Added PDA log
- PDA reward can now be XP, UP and levels (increase or set) in addition to known items
- All individual player stats, armor boost settings and status effects can be changed
- Implemented chapter and task start delay
- Implemented enhanced message format
- Added task start and completed messages
- Added SpawnDrone (around player). Allows to specify a target to be attacked (near player or by Blueprint group name)
- Added more pre-checking if PDA actions are already complete when they are activated
- Simplified PDA console command
- Notification popup messages now use a specific PDA version (more space, with PDA title)

Changes:
- Added new drill "DrillDebug" for faster drilling (only for testing in Creative - not available in Survival)
- Added POM and Anisotropic Filtering to Quality Options
- Supporting splat map for procedural terrain (WIP)
- Re-arranged worklights in Techtree.
- Improved drop positions of items (backpack, drop container etc) to prevent flying through terrain
- Moved all terrain files (dll, xml, raw) into same folder.
- Switch to half-res textures when RAM < 10 GB (<5 GB quarter, VRAM < 2GB half)
- Improved: Since some players have problems with access rights we do a file system test write/delete to warn the player if a problem exists
- Group / Spawn name can now also be set for player SV's and HV's
- When spawning a new structure it gets the name as listed in the Blueprint Library (in contrast to be simply named "Small Vessel (SV)", for example). If a Spawn name has been assigned, that one has priority, though.
- Godmode invisible is now able to place blocks within an OP protected area
- Crushed Stone is now dropped by more terrain blocks.
- Reduced time between escape pod hits ground and fading to black by 0.5s
- Changed display of estimated ore amount in HUD: now rounded the 100th amount of ore (not greater than the original value)
- Almost all POIs are regenerating in MP default scenario

Gameplay:
- Removed Core from targeting options (AI and turret) and added warp drive instead
- When withdrawing o2 / fuel you now obtain Large O2 Bottle and Fuel Cell.
- Added more exact colliders for turret bases
- Player gets full health after respawn (instead of 50% before)
- Visibility of HUD markers for enemy / other faction structures increased from 350m to 500m on planets
- AI planet vessel: When PV is down, devices start to explode but own core can be placed to extend looting time
- Improvement behavior of drone when it lost target
- Drill mode: terrain removal deactivated on Drill T2 (not needed anymore because drill is now more powerful anyways)
- New console command to spawn guard area drone type
- Changed return rate of Multitool when deconstructing a block (T1: 30%, T2: 60%)
- Reduced effect of height on temperature on planets by 20%

Optimizations:
- Major optimization by combining devices
- Optimizations with threading
- Memory optimization when sending chunks from server to client

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed: Problem that when a door was open and the game continued, this door shown closed
- Fixed: Blocks with mirror issues (Note: blocks that have left/right version still have mirror issues)
- Fixed: Problem that sometimes backpack was flying through terrain after dying (detter backpack drop position)
- Fixed: XP exploit still possible in cases when you find NPCs that are stuck moving around at max render distance
- Fixed: Map marker is positioned at the wrong place when clicking outside of the checkbox
- Fixed: Problem with Map Markers when resource Y position get overridden by ground position - Fixed: Ambient sound is muted in some use cases
- Fixed: Problem that no snow particles were visible during Snow Light
- Fixed: Problem that particle effect of texture and color tool was briefly active when tool was equipped
- Fixed: Drone bases do not spawn below water anymore
- Fixed: gaps / holes in terrain when entering a planet from space
- Fixed: Texture artifacts on Food Processor and Constructor
- Fixed: Having fixed and random POI activated at the same time leads to no drones showing up
- Fixed: Some NPC glows from distance
- Fixed: Problem that top speed for some CV's is 115m/s & HV's could reach 40m/s.
- Fixed: Issue with placing a symbol on Corner Long B.
- Fixed: Strange color on Lizard Mule when far away
- Fixed: Tooltips going off screen in some Aspect Ratios
- Fixed several internal exceptions

KNOWN ISSUES:
Distorted view of overlays (eg symbols) in some use cases with Parallax Shader


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[Rifter]

sounds good, but i think im done till final now, been playing off and on for a while and i think its now time to wait for final version.

When is the official release date? i just spent 20 min looking and found nothing official about the final date, just a few random forum posts that say its this year in 2017, hopefully they are right.