Your weekly update on Stars Reach<\/h6>\n
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HIDDEN FOG UPDATE<\/b><\/h4>\n
This test cycle has been extremely helpful and we have a list of bugs we are working through \u2013 some of which you can see on the roadmap. <\/span><\/p>\n Day and night visuals were improved. Volumetric fog and improved terrain tiling were added. The overall effect of these changes can be dramatic and not all of the lighting values and tuning have been completed so more will improve over time. The volumetric fog does impact performance so we have set it as a preference in the escape menu \u2013 defaulted to off. (Hence the \u201chidden fog\u201d reference.) Note: there is one bug affecting lighting in the initial hallway. If you have volumetric fog set to off, some light sources will not be functioning. This is being worked on now.<\/span><\/p>\n There will be a minor patch next week with bug fixes, user interface tweaks, updates to the simulation, and tiny changes to the initial hallway. The update notes will be posted mid-next week.<\/span><\/p>\n More useful details can be found here:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/span><\/div> Recent additions to the game include <\/span>Wild Wormholes<\/b> und <\/span>GovBot<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n Wild Wormholes is being temporarily mothballed while we work on features to support it and make it attractive. This was planned. We needed to shake out the framework of it, prove it could do what we wanted, and now we go back to tooling to make it fun.<\/span><\/p>\n GovBot is doing what we hoped it would do, but with only four static planets at this time, we need to rotate those planets out occasionally so that there are new resources, opportunities for new players, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n Additionally, the mechanics of a planet being “shut down” is part of our gameplay and so we need to test those systems out, regardless of how often it actually occurs in the game.<\/span><\/p>\n So we’re making this change to ensure that:<\/span><\/p>\n The drawback, of course, is that established planets will rotate out after a month of playtest time. A month is quite a long time to play and people can get emotionally bonded. That’s totally understandable. However, the homesteads and citizenships will be refunded to players when it occurs and there will be plenty of warning before a rotation occurs. Players can pick up items they’ve made and use them on a new planet.<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately, this is still a pre-alpha testing phase and despite the drawback mentioned above, we’re opting for the overwhelmingly positive aspects so that our tests can produce the most effective and fun game as early as possible. We hope you understand.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/span><\/div> MassivelyOP remarks that while the most recent patch for Stars Reach might not bring a barn burning addition like player cities, what it does do is refine and improve several aspects of the game including several visual effects, the tutorial, and a few facets of its general gameplay experience.<\/span><\/p>\nTESTING PLANET ROTATION<\/b><\/h4>\n
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MASSIVELYOP NOTES VISUAL IMPROVEMENTS<\/b><\/h4>\n
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