Steam Workshop
The big change in this update is integration with Steam Workshop. At risk of repeating what was already posted, I'll summarize the entire workshop integration here.
Steam Workshop is a feature of Steam that enables users to post content for a game that other users can share. This is a perfect fit for sharing building and spacecraft blueprints created in the game.
The connection to the workshop is handled entirely through the in-game blueprint exchanges, both for buildings and for spacecraft. Existing functionality of the exchanges was not changed. A few buttons were added to integrate with the workshop.
Publish to Steam - Uploads a blueprint to the workshop that was created by you.
Unpublish from Steam - Deletes a blueprint from the workshop that was uploaded by you. All subscriptions to the blueprint are canceled.
Subscribe - Downloads a blueprint from the workshop to your computer. After the download is complete, the blueprint is added to the appropriate library and an exchange entry is created for the library entry. If a subscribed blueprint is updated in the workshop, your game will automatically download the changes.
Unsubscribe - Stops keeping a blueprint in sync with the one in the workshop.
List - Gets a list of blueprints from the workshop. It attempts to associate workshop blueprints with exchange items that appear to be identical. Things can get out of sync if you restore an old game, for example.
Workshop blueprints are added to the exchange with a special type of item that looks slightly different (gray text color). When you select one of these items you see the preview image, design report, and terms of access, just like when you select a regular exchange item. Then you can subscribe to workshop items that you want to use. The item is downloaded to your local library and added to the exchange.
Access terms for a blueprint were simplified. There are only two possible options now: Full and Restricted. Full access grants full unrestricted use of the blueprint. Restricted access enables you to only build using the blueprint; you cannot open it in a design studio. The "view only" option was nerfed. The architect of a blueprint can always open it, regardless of the published access terms.
Workshop items can be monetized through Steam. I'm not sure how this is done yet. It may be possible right now since it is all handled through Steam. There is an API response when subscribing to an item within the game that requires me to open a certain web page. Perhaps purchase options will appear there when an item is monetized. We'll see as I find out more about this topic.
Blueprints with an association to a workshop blueprint are tracked for playtime stats. All ships and buildings trigger playtime tracking when they exist. A given blueprint, though it may be in use by several spacecraft or buildings in your game, is only tracked when its usage starts and ends. Tracking doesn't count each and every instance of the blueprint in a game so ten ships using the same blueprint won't increase the playtime by 10x. Playtime tracking begins when the first game object uses the blueprint. Playtime tracking stops when the last game object stops using the blueprint.
Architect Id Snafu
Exchange items show the architect of the blueprint. That architect information was previously your avatar name and id. Those things have no correlation to anything on Steam.
The architect id on blueprints and exchange items is now the Steam Id and Steam Name of the architect.
That means that any exchange items created by you prior to this update will no longer be recognized as yours. You won't be able to publish them in the workshop until that is fixed.
You will have to finalize your designs all over again, so the proper architect id is stored with the blueprints.
Then you will have to republish those designs into the exchange, again so the proper architect id is stored in the exchange.
Then you will be able to publish those blueprints to the Steam workshop.
Your current Steam name is stored as the architect name. You can change your name on Steam. That will not change the name that was stored in blueprints. Simply having the id is not sufficient to query Steam for a name. The only way I can show an architect's name is if I store it when I have it.
Blueprints Folder
Blueprint .SoH files are no longer distributed with the software. That reduces the game software download by about 80MB. All of those blueprints are available in the Steam Workshop if someone wants them.
The .SoH files are not required to play the game. The game startup data already includes those blueprints, finalized and ready for game play.
I'm not sure that the Blueprints folder was easily accessible when managed by Steam.
Finalize Preview
When finalizing a blueprint, you can now select the preview image from a file. Previously you just got a screen grab of the designer when you started the finalize process.
I found the preview mode of the designer worked well for getting screen grabs of things before finalizing. The appearance is more like how the thing will look in the game environment. I noticed that doors on buildings in the preview do not appear; I logged it as a bug.
Finalize Result
Finalizing a blueprint used to remove things that were not needed to use the object in the game, things like door jigs. That also meant removing crucial states of turbo lifts that left them broken and unable to create more lift stops. This made a finalized design unsuitable as a design drawing.
When finalizing a blueprint now, nothing is removed from the design automatically. You can still mark parts that are to be omitted from the final design; only those things are removed.
Design Description Bug
In the properties of a design is a box to let you type in a description. While working on the workshop I discovered a bug that caused that description text to be stored with html encoding. This is hardly noticeable except that the text always seemed a bit small. Unfortunately, that html encoding appears as raw text in the description that appears on the item in the Steam Workshop. It's very ugly.
There is a simple fix. If your drawing has any text in the description field, simply open the properties dialog and press Ok. This cleans up the text if you do so using this update.
Steam Overlay
The Steam overlay does not work in the game. There is some discussion about it on line; it sounds like games based on Qt do not support the Steam overlay. I've tried getting it to work to no avail.
Relic Story Ringworld Sector
The Relic story gets to a point where you must go find a sector that contains a ringworld. This has perplexed players in the past when they have searched countless sectors without ever finding a ringworld.
A slight change was made in a previous update. I think I mentioned it in a previous post. When a homeworld system is located for a new avatar, the code was changed to insure there was a ringworld in one of the 27 sectors (3x3x3 box) centered on the homeworld sector. Note this is not done if the "Remote" starting proximity option is selected.
In this update, the storyline finds a nearby ringworld sector by performing a radial search out from your location. In most cases, this will be within one sector distance of your current location. Xian reveals this sector as the Dangerous Exchange story segment ends, when she implores you to find Dr. Millford.
The big change in this update is integration with Steam Workshop. At risk of repeating what was already posted, I'll summarize the entire workshop integration here.
Steam Workshop is a feature of Steam that enables users to post content for a game that other users can share. This is a perfect fit for sharing building and spacecraft blueprints created in the game.
The connection to the workshop is handled entirely through the in-game blueprint exchanges, both for buildings and for spacecraft. Existing functionality of the exchanges was not changed. A few buttons were added to integrate with the workshop.
Publish to Steam - Uploads a blueprint to the workshop that was created by you.
Unpublish from Steam - Deletes a blueprint from the workshop that was uploaded by you. All subscriptions to the blueprint are canceled.
Subscribe - Downloads a blueprint from the workshop to your computer. After the download is complete, the blueprint is added to the appropriate library and an exchange entry is created for the library entry. If a subscribed blueprint is updated in the workshop, your game will automatically download the changes.
Unsubscribe - Stops keeping a blueprint in sync with the one in the workshop.
List - Gets a list of blueprints from the workshop. It attempts to associate workshop blueprints with exchange items that appear to be identical. Things can get out of sync if you restore an old game, for example.
Workshop blueprints are added to the exchange with a special type of item that looks slightly different (gray text color). When you select one of these items you see the preview image, design report, and terms of access, just like when you select a regular exchange item. Then you can subscribe to workshop items that you want to use. The item is downloaded to your local library and added to the exchange.
Access terms for a blueprint were simplified. There are only two possible options now: Full and Restricted. Full access grants full unrestricted use of the blueprint. Restricted access enables you to only build using the blueprint; you cannot open it in a design studio. The "view only" option was nerfed. The architect of a blueprint can always open it, regardless of the published access terms.
Workshop items can be monetized through Steam. I'm not sure how this is done yet. It may be possible right now since it is all handled through Steam. There is an API response when subscribing to an item within the game that requires me to open a certain web page. Perhaps purchase options will appear there when an item is monetized. We'll see as I find out more about this topic.
Blueprints with an association to a workshop blueprint are tracked for playtime stats. All ships and buildings trigger playtime tracking when they exist. A given blueprint, though it may be in use by several spacecraft or buildings in your game, is only tracked when its usage starts and ends. Tracking doesn't count each and every instance of the blueprint in a game so ten ships using the same blueprint won't increase the playtime by 10x. Playtime tracking begins when the first game object uses the blueprint. Playtime tracking stops when the last game object stops using the blueprint.
Architect Id Snafu
Exchange items show the architect of the blueprint. That architect information was previously your avatar name and id. Those things have no correlation to anything on Steam.
The architect id on blueprints and exchange items is now the Steam Id and Steam Name of the architect.
That means that any exchange items created by you prior to this update will no longer be recognized as yours. You won't be able to publish them in the workshop until that is fixed.
You will have to finalize your designs all over again, so the proper architect id is stored with the blueprints.
Then you will have to republish those designs into the exchange, again so the proper architect id is stored in the exchange.
Then you will be able to publish those blueprints to the Steam workshop.
Your current Steam name is stored as the architect name. You can change your name on Steam. That will not change the name that was stored in blueprints. Simply having the id is not sufficient to query Steam for a name. The only way I can show an architect's name is if I store it when I have it.
Blueprints Folder
Blueprint .SoH files are no longer distributed with the software. That reduces the game software download by about 80MB. All of those blueprints are available in the Steam Workshop if someone wants them.
The .SoH files are not required to play the game. The game startup data already includes those blueprints, finalized and ready for game play.
I'm not sure that the Blueprints folder was easily accessible when managed by Steam.
Finalize Preview
When finalizing a blueprint, you can now select the preview image from a file. Previously you just got a screen grab of the designer when you started the finalize process.
I found the preview mode of the designer worked well for getting screen grabs of things before finalizing. The appearance is more like how the thing will look in the game environment. I noticed that doors on buildings in the preview do not appear; I logged it as a bug.
Finalize Result
Finalizing a blueprint used to remove things that were not needed to use the object in the game, things like door jigs. That also meant removing crucial states of turbo lifts that left them broken and unable to create more lift stops. This made a finalized design unsuitable as a design drawing.
When finalizing a blueprint now, nothing is removed from the design automatically. You can still mark parts that are to be omitted from the final design; only those things are removed.
Design Description Bug
In the properties of a design is a box to let you type in a description. While working on the workshop I discovered a bug that caused that description text to be stored with html encoding. This is hardly noticeable except that the text always seemed a bit small. Unfortunately, that html encoding appears as raw text in the description that appears on the item in the Steam Workshop. It's very ugly.
There is a simple fix. If your drawing has any text in the description field, simply open the properties dialog and press Ok. This cleans up the text if you do so using this update.
Steam Overlay
The Steam overlay does not work in the game. There is some discussion about it on line; it sounds like games based on Qt do not support the Steam overlay. I've tried getting it to work to no avail.
Relic Story Ringworld Sector
The Relic story gets to a point where you must go find a sector that contains a ringworld. This has perplexed players in the past when they have searched countless sectors without ever finding a ringworld.
A slight change was made in a previous update. I think I mentioned it in a previous post. When a homeworld system is located for a new avatar, the code was changed to insure there was a ringworld in one of the 27 sectors (3x3x3 box) centered on the homeworld sector. Note this is not done if the "Remote" starting proximity option is selected.
In this update, the storyline finds a nearby ringworld sector by performing a radial search out from your location. In most cases, this will be within one sector distance of your current location. Xian reveals this sector as the Dangerous Exchange story segment ends, when she implores you to find Dr. Millford.