We conclude February 2019 with a big new update for you! Alongside 2 brand new missions, a batch of 40 new exclusive epic items and also 22 artwork updates, you’ll find an additional section in the CORETECHS for the Citizen Council. There are also new side jobs, 2 Jump Gates were expanded with an Embassy and as usual, many of your forum reports has been taken care of (thank you!). Read on to see all details about the new game version.
Category: Reports & Specials
Status Reports sum up the progress made in developing our online game, Tau Station. Since the start of the Closed Alpha, update changelogsĀ list all changes to the prior game version. Furthermore, this blog section contains Special Episodes, which are articles about extraordinary topics. We use these posts to share very special insights with you, in addition to our regular topics. Special Episodes can be recaps about events such as trade fairs, panel talks, or even some personal words from team members.
Update Changelog 2019-Feb-05
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.
Call for applications: Citizen Council Election
A few months ago, we talked about having our own Citizen Council. Now itās time to officially launch the first election for the Tau Station Citizen Council.
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Status Report: December 2018
In December 2018 several major changes and additions were rolled out for you. A new system ‘L 276-8’ was added, syndicates can now do challenging co-op campaigns, stims come with new names to better reflect their benefits, the first part of combat refining is done and there’s a new cinema feature. Furthermore, Leila shared insights about further development plans and Community work. Read on for all details about a thrilling month for our indie game.
Update Changelog 2018-Dec-31
The new year is very close, but as we promised, another (huge) game update has been added in 2018. Team players can now start challenging Syndicate Campaigns in The Wilds. Everyone can explore a brand-new star system and a new mission. The combat UI has been reworked, massively reducing the need of scrolling. All stims have been renamed to indicate their purpose. Your CORETECHS archive contains a detail description that explains how the new naming works. Read on to see all details about today’s improvements and game play extensions.
What’s happening next?
Itās the end of the year, and itās an interesting time to reflect on our progress and where we are going.
Update Changelog 2018-Dec-07
Today’s content update adds the cinema to your CORETECHS, and extends your credit log to 10 entries. Mails won’t be delayed anymore which means you communicate faster than light speed, even if you write a message to a citizen on a station far, far away from your position. The team processed your typo reports (thanks!) and did a couple of detail changes you can check in more detail in today’s changelog. Enjoy!
We’re hiring additional Narrative Designers. Join us!
Our indie game Tau Station is hiring! If you are a narrative designer with a passion for science fiction, interested in working with an international team, please read on and take your chance to join us! Our epic story is growing and we need some reinforcement to provide more systems, stations and high quality missions for our Community.
The application phase ends on 4th of January 2019.
Continue reading "We’re hiring additional Narrative Designers. Join us!"
Status Report: November 2018
November consisted of 4 weekly game updates. 7 new missions are extending the story, avatars made it to game, coming with a lot of UI changes and improvements such as seeing your opponent in combat now and new public profile pages. The Ruins got extended by 3 sub-areas, new credit logs help you to check recent balance changes and the CORETECHS sections got cleaned up. Furthermore, careers have been improved, also following requests to show the progress (XP). Read on to see even more details about what happened last month, plus the list of supported browsers.
Update Changelog 2018-Nov-30
We conclude November with another update for you. Several UIs now use avatars, such as combat, internal syndicate lists and public profiles benefit from a new layout as well! The the information panel contains a useful comfort feature: credit logs help you checking recent balance changes. The narrative team created a new mission for level 14+citizens and the CORETECHS has been cleaned up which leads again to a more compact view. Read on to see all changes and improvements of today’s new version.