2022-12-28 Hazeron Starship

[Haxus]

A new Hazeron Starship beta has finally been posted to Steam. New keys were sent by email to everyone who requested them.

Here are some noteworthy changes.

World build limits were raised a lot.

Spacecraft and building design size limits were raised.

Diplomacy window now updates properly when you make changes.

Sentient species on habitable worlds was changed. It used to be that almost every habitable world you visited had a sentient species that exactly matched your own. About 5% of worlds got a different sentient species. All habitable worlds had a sentient species.

Now about 15% of the habitable worlds you visit will have a sentient species that matches your own. About 35% of habitable worlds will have a sentient species drawn from the pirate empires. About 50% of habitable worlds will have no sentient species at all, at first. People who depart your city to live in the wilderness will establish the sentient species of worlds that do not have one.

Spacecraft and building blueprint exchanges were simplified. Features that were only relevant to the online game were removed or hidden.

Game startup was simplified and revamped. There is no longer a sense of new vs old DNA. Instead the choice is between human and alien DNA. Comments about unfinished DNA features were removed.

A weird bug was fixed that caused entry into the designer to often put you on a planet somewhere instead, not in a designer.

I am now working on integrating with Steam Workshop, for the sharing of blueprints.

I may also integrate the Steam Achievements features.

At that point I will likely release Hazeron Starship to the public.

[Deantwo]

Sentient species on habitable worlds was changed. It used to be that almost every habitable world you visited had a sentient species that exactly matched your own. About 5% of worlds got a different sentient species. All habitable worlds had a sentient species.

Now about 15% of the habitable worlds you visit will have a sentient species that matches your own. About 35% of habitable worlds will have a sentient species drawn from the pirate empires. About 50% of habitable worlds will have no sentient species at all, at first. People who depart your city to live in the wilderness will establish the sentient species of worlds that do not have one.

This sounds like a good change. Was always a little weird that your own species was on all worlds.

I would still suggest some more types of encounters with the indigenous population of a world. Such as random independent little farm buildings popping up over time or something. I had an idea thread on the old forum with more thoughts on the subject.

One rather interesting idea I think, was being able to actually wipeout the indigenous population of a world. But also have the indigenous population progress a little and maybe get items from cities on their world, such as clothing, tools, vehicles and weapons.

At that point I will likely release Hazeron Starship to the public.

Looking forward to it. But if you haven't dealt with the most serious of issues first, I would suggest getting those solved first.

Most of the issues in question are still mentioned in my bug list thread, but I will see about updating the spreadsheet here when I have a moment. For example I can probably remove some of the MMO specific issues, or at least label them as such.
See: (Thread) Currently Most Annoying Issues

[Haxus]

Thank you Deantwo for reminding me of that thread. I had forgotten.

I entered each of the spreadsheet items into Silverwill. I also read through that thread and added items from people's comments.

[Haxus]

One of those items pertained to avatar "lands".

I forgot to mention that the concept of "lands" was removed entirely. Decay due to not being visited was nerfed. In the solo game, you can build up as much junk as you want and it won't go away.

However, sectors do decay when able. These take about a week after they become unnecessary.

Someone (can't remember who) commented that their trek to the center of the galaxy created a lot of sectors that made solo game loads take a long time. After a week, all those excess sectors would go away and their load time would drop a lot.

[QuakeIV]

Do you suppose you could just garbage collect systems immediately if the player leaves and there is nothing left behind there? (IE buildings or items, et cetera)

[bd95cff0]

Hi Haxus,

At the beginning of 2021, I applied for a beta key directly via the forum. Unfortunately, I did not receive an email with a corresponding key.

[Rockinsince87]

However, sectors do decay when able. These take about a week after they become unnecessary.

Perfect!

I see my e-mail for the beta key bounced for some reason...arg. I will send a new e-mail.

[Deantwo]

Someone (can't remember who) commented that their trek to the center of the galaxy created a lot of sectors that made solo game loads take a long time. After a week, all those excess sectors would go away and their load time would drop a lot.

Do you suppose you could just garbage collect systems immediately if the player leaves and there is nothing left behind there? (IE buildings or items, et cetera)

Yeah a week seems a little long, especially if we are talking real time. Decaying an empty sector the moment it is outside of a player's super-sector seems fine. Especially if decaying and re-generating the sector doesn't take more than a few seconds.

[Haxus]

I will eliminate the week delay. That was to prevent removing and recreating sectors in areas where people regularly pass through.

[Haxus]

Send email for a beta key.