It has been a month since our last update and it’s the first time we’ve moved to our new “monthly” update system. So grab a drink, maybe a snack, and get ready for a longer update than normal. And after you’ve read through this, we’ll have a little request for help.
First, we have a new system open! This is YZ Ceti, a red dwarf approximately 12 light years away from Old Earth. Despite being rather close to Tau Ceti, YZ Ceti’s lone jump gate connects to L 726-8, making it the first star system in the Tau Station universe which does not have a jump gate connecting it directly to Sol. YZ Ceti has four Consortium stations levels 19 through 20.
As another major change, citizen tier levels are now capped at the max tier level as developed stars. In the long run, this should help with the common concern that citizens have expressed when they advance faster than civilization can provide them with the supplies they need. In the short run, some players will have to make adjustments. This is one of the interesting aspects of enjoying an alpha š Please note: the highest station level is currently 20 which reflects tier 4, but as some of you already made progress to tier 5, the slightly higher level-cap of max 25 will remain. Once we have the first level 21+ station (i.e. tier 5), the new system will apply.
Many new university courses have been developed. These include combat stim courses to allow you to take a stim in combat andĀ still get a hit in. This, combined with lower toxicity of military stims and all stims giving greatly increased boosts should make stims an interesting option in combat.
Other courses include ship engine repair and ship hull, navigation, and life support maintenance. These allow citizens to repair ships faster, reducing costs and getting them flying again. And speaking of flying, since YZ Ceti doesn’t connect directly to Sol, theĀ Multi-Jump Ship Navigation courses have been released, allowing you to pilot across more than one jump gate on a single trip!
There’s also been a lot of work with the messaging system, streamlining some messages, removing others which provided no value, and generally digging into messaging in preparation for more improvements in the future.
And while we’re talking about the futureāthe new citizen experience is being heavily worked on. Some issues are simple, such as the avatar for Evangeline, the first NPC new citizens should encounter.
Other improvements include providing them with 20 genetically bound tier 1 rations to give them a head start in understanding the universe, and providing popups to explain what to do when their stats run too low. However, we’re going to extend those popups to everyone for now. These popups will appear only once per area/action, so you shouldn’t be overwhelmed with them.
This is where the aforementioned “request for help” comes in: we’d like you to give us feedback about those popups. What works, what doesn’t, what’s broken, and so on. We think they’re pretty awesome; we’ve been wrong before šJust keep in mind that they’re actually targeting new citizens. After you’ve had a chance to see them, we’ll restrict them to new citizens again.
➔Continue reading "Update Changelog 2019-Feb-05"
