StarMade News

BlockTypes.properties, BlockConfig.xml, blockBehaviorConfig.xml, and factionConfig.xml files have all been significantly changed in this update, so any servers / mods that modify or rely on these files will likely need to be re-configured!

• RCS Plumes added — Thrusters now emit visual plumes when moving directionally.

  Plumes scale with thruster block group dimensions:

  • Width scales with X-axis size

  • Height scales with Y-axis size

  • Length scales with Z-axis size

• Plumes render once per group, centered and oriented correctly.

• Orientation-aware: Works in all directions, including sideways and vertical thrust.

• Group shapes matter: T-shaped and wide groups produce longer/wider plumes.

• Block config defines min/max size for visual scaling.

• The default upload speed for blueprints has been greatly increased from 256 to 2048, so blueprints should upload much faster now. Additionally, this field is now a server config setting, so servers can set the speed even faster if they want.

Two new server config values have been added:

• ALLOW_CHAT_COLOR_CODES - If enabled, players will be able to add color formatting to their chat messages using a new color formatting system. This system works differently than the one present in display modules, as the old system only allows for one color per message. This new system allows for multicolored messages. To use it, prefix your message with one of the following codes:

  • &wh - White

  • &lg - Grey

  • &dg - Dark Grey

  • &bk - Black

  • &bw - Brown

  • &be - Beige

  • &pr - Purple

  • &pk - Pink

  • &br - Burgundy

  • &rd - Red

  • &og - Orange

  • &yw - Yellow

  • &gr - Green

  • &or - Orange

  • &ol - Olive

  • &cy - Cyan

  • &bl - Blue

  • &in - Indigo

  You can view a list of these codes via the new HELP button in the chat panel.

• ALLOW_CHAT_ASCII_EXTRA - If enabled, players will be able to use extended ascii characters in their chat messages (char values > 127). If disabled, these characters will be stripped from the message.

• Nerfed Cannon/Beam flight speed slightly.

• Nerfed Beam/Beam damage falloff range so that optimal range should be the same as standard beams.

• Nerfed Beam/Beam damage falloff from 40% to 25% at max range.

• Nerf Missile/Beam flight speed slightly, giving AMS more chances to hit.

• Increased Beam base damage by ~30%.

• Shipyard Computers will now output a sensor value based on the status of their current order. If a real ship is docked, the health percentage of that ship will be output instead.

• Shipyard Computers can now be forced to undock / unload a ship via logic signal.

• You can now spawn entities on turret docks in shipyard design mode without needing to be an admin as long as the target dock is valid and unblocked.

• You can now remove docked entities on a shipyard design by simply deleting the core of that docked entity, and the server will move your player up the docking chain automatically and remove the targeted entity.

  • This also works on the main entity of a shipyard design, and will instead just unload the design and will attempt to move your player to the first enterable build block or ship core it can find on the root entity.

• Added a new block, the Command Module, which can be used to save a specific command or function to execute on a connected system via logic. The command module can be used to control the following systems:

  • Shipyard Computers

  • AI Modules

  • Warp Gate Computers

  • Rails

  • Reactors

  Support for more systems will be added in future updates.

• Added a new Factory Manager block, which can be used to automatically request and fulfill orders from Factories, Storages, and Shipyards by acting as an intermediary between a parent (controlling), and one or more child (controlled) systems. The Factory Manager will automatically calculate the inputs needed by it's controller and delegate those tasks to the appropriate system that it controls.

• The popular ScalarMining mod has been ported to vanilla, so now salvage beams will benefit greatly from larger output groups. The more salvagers you have, the bigger the radius, with the max radius being 10 (configurable in block behavior config).

  • The salvage radius formula is capped at a radius of 10 and follows a logarithmic scale:

    8 modules = 1 radius

    16 modules = 2 radius

    32 modules = 3 radius

    64 modules = 4 radius

    etc.

• Re-enabled Scan Report functionality.

• The default Isanth Type Zero variants have been upgraded to 3 new versions of the Isanth, known as the Isanth Type PNR (designed by Nauvran, with systems by Lecic), with each variant having its own weapon type and visual differences. In future updates, we want to add additional pirate ships, such as pirate cruisers and the like, as well as update the pirate stations with newer systems and features.

• Additionally, the folder structure for the NPC blueprints has changed, so now NPC blueprints are stored in the blueprints-npc folder rather than the blueprints-stations folder, and stores both ships and stations. Note: We are referring to the old NPC system for pirates and trading guild, NOT the “new” NPC factions system. In a future update, both systems will be redone / consolidated!

• Added a new Color Finder feature for Advanced Build mode that allows you to select a color and find blocks that match that color.

• Added a new Block Mixer feature for Advanced Build mode that allows you to select up to 10 blocks to create a random pattern / gradient.

• Added ability to manually offset templates while in template place mode using Left Alt + Arrow Keys and Page Up / Page Down.

• Added a Lock Placement function for templates which will lock the placement of a template to it’s current position. You can toggle this by pressing the “Lock Placement” button next to the Paste button or by using the Right Control Key.

• Fixed saving and loading of Build Hotbars in creative mode, and you can now easily scroll through them using Left Alt + Scroll Wheel, or Left Alt + Any Number Key (Note: Number Key feature will only work for the first 10 saved hotbars).

• Made Advanced Armor variants slightly darker / desaturated to differentiate them from Standard Armor better.

• Adjusted Green Standard Armor coloring slightly to be closer to Green Basic Armor.

• Added Beige Light Blocks and Beige Crystal Armor.

• Added Indigo, Olive, and Burgundy Armor variants, as well as Crystal Armor and Light Blocks for each respective color.

• Added Orange Decorative Cascade blocks.

• Toggle background drawing:

  You can turn off the display module background using:

• Different colored backgrounds:
  You can change the color of the display module background like so:
  

  The following backgrounds are available: blue, purple, yellow, green, red

• Text offset:

  You can offset the text position of display modules up to 10 blocks in any direction like so:

• Toggle Holographic effect:

  You can turn off the holographic text effect for a more painted look:

• Larger fonts:

  The font size setting now goes up to 7 to allow for larger text displays.

• Increased Character and Line Limit:

  The line and character limit for displays has been greatly increased to allow for things like ascii art.

• New Text Replacement Tags:

  • \[faction] - Inserts the faction name of the entity.

  • \[systemName] - Inserts the name of the current system.

  • \[dockedTo] - Inserts the name of the the entity currently docked to.

  • \[dockedRoot] - Inserts the name of the root entity currently docked to.

  • \[maxSpeed] - Inserts the maximum speed of the current entity.

  • \[tmr] - Inserts the thrust to mass ratio of the current entity.

  • \[activeReactorLevel] - Inserts the level of the currently active reactor.

  • \[reactorSize] - Inserts the block count of the specified reactor. (For example, \[reactorSize0] for the first reactor)

  • \[reactorLevel] - Inserts the level of the specified reactor. (For example, \[reactorLevel0] for the first reactor)

  • \[reactorPercent] - Inserts the HP percentage of the specified reactor. (For example, \[reactorPercent0] for the first reactor)

  • \[totalShieldHp] - Inserts the total HP of all active shields.

  • \[totalShieldMaxHp] - Inserts the total Max HP of all active shields.

  • \[totalShieldPercent] - Inserts the total shield HP percentage of all active shields.

  • \[totalShieldRecharge] - Inserts the total shield recharge rate of all active shields.

  • \[totalShieldUpkeep] - Inserts the total shield upkeep of all active shields.

  • \[shieldRecharge] - Inserts the recharge rate of the specified shield. (For example, \[shieldRecharge0] for the first shield)

  • \[shieldUpkeep] - Inserts the upkeep of the specified shield. (For example, \[shieldUpkeep0] for the first shield)

  You can view the full list in the newly reworked Display Module help menu.

• Added a Combined Targeting setting for fleets, which will make all fleet members target the same entity that the flagship is targeting when enabled.

• Added a new Faction config setting, LoseHBProtectionWhenNegativeFP, which can enable or disable the loss of home base protection when a faction is in negative FP.

• Adjusted normal map textures for some blocks slightly.

• Adjusted coloring for hazard armor to better match their respective standard armor colors.

• Added loading screens and background music to the Main Menu.

• Admin Teleport (F1 + F8) will now also work for stations as long as there is an empty Build Block available.

• Added / adjusted various block editor functions for improved usability.

• Re-added the color picker for light source color in the block editor (no idea why it was removed, but it works fine now).

• Moved game difficulty setting and added new rule types to check for and change the difficulty setting. Using the new rulesets, servers can now buff or debuff enemy ships based on the game difficulty.

• Added Inventory Tab groups for creative mode.

• Adjusted inventory tooltips and added better info display.

• Added a “Reset Turrets” button to the left hand Stats menu under Docks.

• A lot of GLSL shader code had to be updated to compensate for a new texture sheet (t003) being added. While these changes have been tested extensively, there is always the possibility of issues being created by this, so please report any new issues in the Discord.

• SegmentDrawer and related classes have been optimized to reduce memory allocations and speed up segment drawing.

• Mod data from SMD is now cached in a json file and then updated asynchronously, rather than blocking the main thread like before. This should significantly improve startup times when using mods.

• Fixed various mismatched case issues and adjusted some menu titles.

• Black hole gravity should now be negated by anti gravity effects.

• Disabled old unused reactor orientation menus and drawables.

• Fixed multiple shader issues that occurred on Linux machines.

• Added a fallback for Desktop API calls on Linux machines.

• Added a fallback for Credentials not storing correctly on Linux machines. This issue forced some Linux players to authenticate with SMD every time they started the game, and should now be fixed.

• Removed an unused GUI that was somehow causing a Seg Fault in the C standard library on Linux machines (no idea how this is even possible, but its been fixed now).

• Fixed bug that caused the Overwrite Template and Overwrite Blueprint dialogs to not close when selecting “OK”.

• Fixed some nullpointers with the SMD Content downloader.

• Fixed issue where Build Hotbars would scroll with any mouse movement and not just scroll wheel.

• Fixed an issue where dragging an inventory slot over another in creative mode would replace the underlying slot.

• Fixed an issue where Fleets would sometimes not correctly persist their orders when their owner logged out.

• Modded blocks will now use the 255 extra block ids (1792 - 2047) that were previously allocated for custom blocks rather than any id the system could find. This should prevent future any future conflicts with modded block ids.

• Shadow Drawing seems to be broken on some systems, so we advise players to turn them off if they are having issues.

• Inventory Icons seem to not display tooltips when hovering over them except for in the build hotbar.

• Looking at a block on a station doesn't show the block at the bottom like it does on a ship

• There is a known bug on Linux & Wayland when using multiple monitors that causes Mouse input to click on other windows. This has been an issue for some time, and unfortunately there is no easy fix for it in Release version due to Release not using GLFW. While the bug can be fixed in the Universe Update as it uses GLFW, we can’t fix this in Release right now. For now, affected Linux users may have to run the game in Windows mode using Steam’s Proton software.

• The Advanced Build Mode Color Finder feature may not be 100% accurate, and may sometimes produce strange results at some specific narrow color ranges. We experimented with a few algorithms for this and would like to hear feedback on which one players prefer:

  • Scale-Down Mode (Default): Each block texture is scaled down from 64x64 to 1x1 and then the remaining color is sampled as that block’s primary color.

  • Average Mode (Alternative): The average color value of each 64x64 block texture is calculated and sampled as that block’s primary color. This mode seems to be more accurate, but also costs a significant amount of performance when calculating for the first time (the results are then cached in memory so we don’t have to run the algorithm again for that session). You can enable this mode by editing StarMade/settings.cfg and setting SECRET = colorfindermode1.

And, as always, thank you for playing StarMade.

Offical StarMade Discord:

https://discord.gg/SXbkYpU

As some of you may know, official development on the game is paused due an incident with an ex-developer that resulted in the game’s funding being lost. Since said incident, members of the modding community have stepped up and volunteered their time to create updates for the game. If you wish to contribute to these updates, you can join the modding Discord here:

https://discord.gg/z6acMKTkKp

Thank you all for playing StarMade, and thanks to the community for their amazing work bringing you this update,

- schema

• Refactored UI classes for modularity.
  
• Added launcher version label.
  
• Fixed potential memory leaks in the C portion of the launcher.

Note: If memory leaks still occur, then the issue would likely be within the game itself. Please report any further issues in the discord.


Hi all, this update adds some minor texture updates to existing blocks as well as some fancy new purple forcefields.

The Decorative Energy Cell and Pylon blocks have had a new cap texture added, as well as had their side texture orientations updated. Additionally, some of their textures have had their colors adjusted to be better in-line with other blocks.

A new purple variant of forcefields have been added, with a unique animated texture designed by MeRobo.

Several of the Carved Brick and Tile blocks have had their textures adjusted to better match the original Carved Block textures.

All of the above blocks have also had Normal Maps regenerated so they appear with correct lighting in-game now.

Implemented some security patches for PlayerData and related classes to prevent exploits.
Screenshots and gifs are now saved in a screenshots sub folder in the StarMade directory.
Thrust Plumes will now work from any direction.

Some users may notice some new (unused for now) build icons in the game files. Please note that these icons are from the upcoming Universe Update, and we merely backported the icon sheets rather than render all new ones.

And as always, thank you for playing StarMade.

There is a new launcher available, which is required to run StarMade versions ≥ 0.3. You can obtain this new launcher one of two ways:

• Via the new launch option on Steam
  
• Via the GitHub releases page

Please note that while this launcher is still a work in progress, it does still support current release versions of StarMade as well.

Armor HP
Armor HP has been re-added to the game. Armor HP reduces incoming damage significantly, with the percentage of damage blocked decreasing as Armor HP is reduced. By default, damage will start to bleed through armor starting at <80% AHP. In future, this value will be modifiable via chambers.

These values need testing, so we encourage players to try out the new system and report feedback in the StarLoader Discord.

A new tutorial system is being worked on. This new system replaces the old outdated video tutorials, and will eventually include guides on all aspects of the game, and will even allow mods to add their own tutorials.

While the backend for this system is mostly done, we are asking the community to help contribute their knowledge to this in order to provide a more robust, accurate, and helpful guide for new players. If you are interested in contributing to these tutorials, head over to the StarLoader Discord.

New Shop entities have been added. These new shops are much fancier than the old ones and come in two variants:

• Trade Station (Advanced Shop): Comes with docks and a shopkeep spawn block.
  
• Trade Outpost (Standard Shop): Does not have docks or a shopkeep, and is shorter than a Trade Station.

Additionally the default player spawn positions have been updated to reflect these new shops.

• Screenshots and Gifs are now saved in the StarMade/screenshots folder.
  
• Saved build hotbars can now be cycled through by holding Left-Alt and using the scroll wheel in creative mode.

• Fixed map waypoint icon selection.

• Some waypoint icon sprites are missing and need to be finished.
  
• The waypoint icon color picker “recent colors” palette doesn’t function properly.
  
• The Local Universe Advanced Settings panel doesn’t display correctly, and causes OpenGL errors.
  
• Templates can’t be loaded because the selection drop-down isn’t interactable.
  
• The weapon menu detail panes don’t display correctly.
  
• The new shops sometimes don’t spawn after a world is reloaded.
  
• Build Hotbars don’t load correctly in survival mode.

• Warp Gates are active by default on placement, but can be deactivated with logic. Persistence appears to work but may need more testing.
  
• HUD selected ship stats in top left-hand corner now shows reactor level, power output, and power consumption rather than just the consumption percentage.
  
• Added brief wait before requesting synchronization, as this seems to make the login issue less frequent.
  
• Added better messages to login loading screen, so the game doesn't appear to be waiting for a config when it's actually already done receiving and processing the configs.
  
• Systems update rate limiter is now absolute regardless of what update threads are doing. The old method seems to have been causing lag at larger scales due to long queue clearing times.

• Fixed a Fleet order persistence bug.
  - Note: Let us know if it still occurs, as it’s difficult to reproduce sometimes. At the very least, this fix should narrow down the cause of the issue.
  
• Fixed orientation mapping of Decorative Coil blocks.
  
• Added retry for synch-all packet if not received correctly; this was seemingly preventing people from logging in
  - BUG: Due to synchronization/threading shenanigans, activity logging inside of network commands appears to never get written to stderr. May have to move it to an internal command log that prints when the command is finished or times out.

The launcher login has been fixed. There are still a few other bugs, which will be fixed as well.

Thanks to everyone involved!

• Reduced HP of Basic Hull from 400 HP to 200 HP.
  
• Replaced duplicate mod error with a less intrusive warning.
  
• AI now has internal support for unfocused fire.
  
• AI will now fire salvage beams unfocused during fleet mining, making it more efficient.

• Gave Basic Hull 0.1 Armor value in order to fix an infinite penetration bug.
  
• Fixed severe bug that would cause asteroids to break a sector on modded servers sometimes when they were modified by players.
  
• Fix coil texture orientations.
  
• Partially fixed AI navigation issue when core is too far from center of mass (infinite spinning bug).

This update makes some minor adjustments to system balance and fixes a whole range of bugs and issues.

• AI can now use Selected Target turrets by firing at the target of the main ship. AI can use Cannon-Missile weapons.
  
  
• Expanded AI firestate system under the hood, which should accommodate
  
  
• more complex conditional weapon operations if fancier things are added in the future.
  
  
• When using lock-on missiles (Missile/Beam combination), the locking function now prioritizes your selected target (default key: F).

• Thruster blocks have had their individual mass reduced from 0.25 to 0.15 to match other system blocks.
  
  
• Beams have twice the tick rate and half the damage per tick, which should mitigate some of the Beam-Beam damage disparity against armor.
  
  
• Reduced Reactor Capacity cost for Top Speed Chamber levels to 8%/10%/12% respectively.
  
  
• Reduced Reactor Capacity cost for Thrust Blast Base chamber from 4% to 2%.
  
  
• Reduced Reactor Capacity cost for Thrust Blast Strength 1 chamber from 4% to 2%.
  
  
• Reduced Reactor Capacity cost for Thrust Blast Charge Speed 1 chamber from 4% to 2%.
  
  
• Reduced Reactor Capacity cost for Thrust Blast Multi-Charge 1 chamber from 4% to 2%.

Added API event for pirate spawn attempts.

• Fixed lighting colors for crystal sub-shapes being only white. Weapon stats menu now displays correct power usage.
  
  
• Adjusted AI targeting priority of Reactor blocks from 15 to 30 to match the targeting
  
  
• priority of Chambers.
  
  
• Fixed bug causing vertically-placed missiles fired by AI turrets to be fired straight at the turret rather than from the correct direction.
  
  
• Missiles now check armor at the place they hit and reduce damage accordingly (except Bombs).
  
  
• Bombs and Warheads correctly deal self-damage again.
  
  
• Inventory transfer rails now only need the actual pulling storage to pull, not both, in order to work.
  
  
• Semi fix for downloading block behavior softlock (turns out it's just an indefinite wait for server response).
  
  
• Entities made entirely of Cargo Space, intangible rails, and/or their pickup areas will now auto overheat.
  
  
• Fleets assigned to Fleet Mining will no longer target “ghost asteroids”, which should allow them to function more reliably than before.

• Deprecated old API hooks for block damage and destruction.

• Fixed a salvage beam exploit.
  
• Fixed new block damage API hook not applying to missiles.
  
• Fixed mod error window potentially being larger than the monitor screen.

This update aims to address many of the bugs and concerns introduced by previous updates. We want to assure you that we are working to fix these issues, and we have adopted a new development pipeline and standards to cut down on bugs introduced in the future. We want to apologize for the recent troubles and these new standards and procedures should address these issues.

Added a sound effect for transporter modules being activated.

• Added an event for when an entity changes it’s faction.
  
• Added a new directory for locally installed mods that will take priority over downloaded ones. This should fix many of the duplicate mod issues that were present before.
  
• Added mod-specific logging so that each mod gets it’s own log (moddata/modname/logs/modname_log.0.log) writable through the StarMod class. We want to encourage developers to use this new logging system instead of outputting to the main console. This way, it will be easier to debug mod specific issues without having to comb through large global log files.
  
• Moved persistent object logging to it’s own file (moddata/modname/logs/persistent_objects.0.log) for each mod separate from the mod’s main log. This should cut down on the I/O spam issue that many servers had and reduce lag.

• Fixed bug that caused AI turrets not to fire on targets even if set on “aim at selected” and they would only fire at entities from an enemy faction.
  
• Fixed transporters not being activatable by logic.
  
• Fixed transporters not being activatable by decorative consoles.
  
• Fixed normal and emissive textures for new blocks.
  
• Fixed icon outlines for new blocks.
  
• Fixed bug causing some icons for modded blocks to be mismatched.
  
• Fixed output width being ignored on cannon combinations without a conical damage pattern.
  
• Fixed coil blocks having incorrect orientations.
  
• Fixed gravity exit module being hidden in the creative menu.
  
• Fixed thruster blocks not being controllable through decorative consoles.

• Temporarily disabled adjust cockpit feature due to a game breaking bug that would lock all other players out of their controls.
  
• Some normals still need adjustments, but we felt it was important to get these fixes out.

Thanks to the community for this patch.
If you like to get involved with access to the source code. Join the modding discord at https://discord.gg/Mde9ChnG4c

Thanks for playing StarMade,
- schema