Alpha 8.5: Anniversary Update

Posted on August 27th, 2018 08:55 AM EST


Happy 3rd Anniversary, Galactic Survivalists!

On August 5, 2015, the first public version of "Empyrion - Galactic Survival" was released on Steam. Today, we want to celebrate together with you Empyrion's 3rd Anniversary with our Alpha 8.5 "Anniversary Update"!

Three years might sound like a long time, but for most of us and our veteran players it feel like yesterday when we started in Pre-Alpha 2 next to a crashed vessel in the deadly deserts of Omicron...

In the beginning, we started out with only a handful of players, but the community has grown in leaps and bounds in the meantime. Features got introduced, changed, reverted, refined and re-introduced - thus broadening the sandbox, building, fighting, exploration and many other aspects of Empyrion.

With the last major update Alpha 8, Empyrion reached another milestone - and of course, this will not be the last step forward: Alpha 9 development plans are already in the works and they are as ambitious as you would expect them to be ;)

Said that, today's "Anniversary Update" is dedicated to you - our awesome community - and includes some highly requested features such as retracting landing gears, turrets and weapons, infinite color palettes, blinking lights, texturable devices, new creatures, blocks, devices like the deconstructor and a lot more are waiting for you!

Check out the update video by Ashrai:
https://youtu.be/Yr8XcY4MLzI

As always:
1. Please closely read through the changelog below BEFORE starting into the new version! Especially if you did NOT play or follow the EXPERIMENTAL version!
2. You do not NEED to start a new savegame (as this is not a savegame-break), but you will miss out some of the new AI models and of course the new missions will not work as they require updated playfields and POIS (which will not be updated automatically for already existing save games).
3. Make sure tor report any bug or issue over here AFTER reading through the 1st post:
> BUG REPORTS: https://empyriononline.com/threads/bug-reports-8-5-x-gameplay-read-introduction-before-reporting.43628/
4. Please make sure to report feature-specific feedback and questions about new 8.5 features and game mechanics (what you like, what you do not like, what you would want to be improved) in the pinned threads in this forum, so we can collect and review your ideas and suggestions:
> FEATURE FEEDBACK: https://empyriononline.com/forums/faq-feedback.25/

When starting a new save game, make sure you look for the newly added Chapter 2 and 3 Story Missions in the PDA (F1 > Story tab)!

Now, join the party! :)

Yours,

Emp Dev Team

===========

CHANGELOG: Alpha 8.5.0 (Build 1847)

MAIN FEATURES

1. Retractable Landing Gears:

- Added retractable landing gears (gear automatically extends if it is in contact with ground and retracts if it loses contact with ground)
- Added retractable functionality to all landing gears (except docking pads)

2. Retractable Turrets and Vessel Weapons:
- Added retractable turrets (turret automatically retracts into its box when deactivated)

- Added vessel weapons (weapon automatically retracts into its box when deactivated)
- If the turret or weapon is retracted into its box, it has 20% stronger armor
- Control Panel: Renamed "Turrets" switch to "Turrets & Weapons" and added turrets + mounted vessel weapons to switch for fast activation/de-activation

3. Blinking Lights:

- Added blinking lights (customizable blink frequency, blink length and blink delay)

- Added possibility to use a light as a spotlight (with customizable spot angle)


Check out the teaser video:
https://youtu.be/RiiAaUaqdgA

4. Infinite Colors & Device Texturing:

Custom Color Palettes:
- You can now set up your very own color palettes (free color picker!) beyond the 31 predefined colors we had before

- Each color palette can then be used for a certain structure (Base, CV, HV, SV)
- Added second default color palette (more to come)

Device Texturing:
- It is now possible to add custom textures to some of the devices: Thrusters (not the Jet Thrusters), Modular Wings and Heavy Window Blocks


5. Modular Wings:
- Added a set of more than 20 modular wing parts that allow for infinite customizations of your Small Vessels


- You can now even attach thrusters, weapons etc below your wings via pylons


6. Deconstructor:

- Added deconstructor device to disassemble other devices or components into smaller parts


7. New and Updated NPC Creatures:

Telluropod:

- Amphibian behavior: can be found close to water / in shallow water on Temperate planets
- Roams around spawned position, but tends to walk in water
- When it is alerted by player, but the player is too far for attack (20 meters), it will follow the player but will stay in the water
- If player get's a bit closer, it will attack the player
- If lured too far from water, it will return to water
- If its HP is low, it will run from player into the water
- If it encounters the player in water - it will follow him on the bottom of the water body slowly, if the player will be close enough both in distance and not too far from the bottom of the water, it will attack him

Pangolin:

- Replaces Triceratops with updated behavior

Arachnid:

- Replaces old Arachnid ((internal CaveWorm) with updated behavior (aggressive, attack player on sight, during the attacks sometimes retreats a bit to make angry gesture)

Otyugh:

- Replaces old Otyugh with updated behavior (aggressive with roaring before attack, big and slow)

Desert Worm:

- Replaces old Desert Worm with updated behavior

8. New Story Missions
You can now play Chapter 2 ( Ancient Revelations ) and Chapter 3 (Totally Overpowered aka "Anniversary Mission" ). Open your PDA (F1) and activate the appropriate Chapter from the STORY tab. Both missions start in TEMPERATE ORBIT !



For now these missions do not activate themselves and you do not need to have played Chapter 1 (Robinson Protocol), although you might need to land on the temperate planet and go back to space for the 1st task of Chapter 2 (Going to Space).

Both Chapters are also available for any Player Level, although they might require advanced tech to survive the plot (Player Level requirement will be changed in the future.)

Please note: these missions are laid out for single player and are not (yet) specifically adapted to Coop or multiplayer. Thus, we did not yet add them to the "Faction Missions" tab.



9. Improved Turret Targeting Options:
- Added more detailed targeting options: BA, CV, SV, HV, Troops

Notes:
- Since ‘Troops’ is now a separate setting, you need to always select a faction (Alien, Player, Prey, Predator) and have the ‘Troops’ checkbox selected as well in order to allow turrets to pick up NPCs as a target!
- Just having Predator selected will NOT make the turrets fire on those anymore!
- Check the handling info given on the bottom of the turrets device group page on the device tab in the Control panel



...... and MUCH more. For more features, changes and bug fixes, please have a look at the full changelog here:
https://empyriononline.com/threads/alpha-8-5-anniversary-update.43630
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