That’s No Moon – The Haven Update

A huge number of changes have been made in this update. The largest of those changes is the new training base on the moon of Haven that you encounter after you finish the Hallway experience with a new character.

Eventually, the new player’s path will be:

Preamble => Hallway => Haven => Crucible => TPL Starbase and Beyond

Currently, Haven is completed and we’re working on Crucible, so you’ll skip the Crucible step for now and move directly from Haven to the TPL Starbase.

You must create a new character to experience this part of That’s No Moon. Existing characters cannot go to Haven.

So What is Haven?

Haven is the name of a moon where a Transplanetary LeagueTraining base has been built for the specific purpose of training new recruits.

It is a thriving township built around the same concepts as the GovBot townships you build on other planets. This includes its own mayor, Bob Howard (who greets all residents personally).

The citizens of Haven will send you on a dozen or so short missions crafted to introduce you to fundamental elements needed to understand and enjoy playing Stars Reach.

You’ll receive Klaatu and XP awards along the way, as well as earning your first tools, and even making your first weapon.

Everything else should be self-explanatory, and if it’s not, that’s exactly why we’re running these playtests. Please let us know if anything is confusing or tedious! We’d even enjoy hearing if you think it’s fun!

Systems Pioneered for Haven

• Underlying mechanisms and categories we need for our procedurally-generated content missions (to be introduced in the near future), used for the first time here in Haven.
• The BioScanner tool for doing non-destructive scans of Makers and Creatures. (You can use it to add creatures to your collection without having to kill them. They may still try to kill você though.)
  • This will be used for flora scanning soon also, but not quite yet.
• Better NPC and NPC chat controls
• The whole mission interface got a massive overhaul (and is used for regular Mission Kiosk missions also)
• “Scanner” features for the BioScanner, Harvester and Xyloslicer. (TAB to select a resource, then “Q” to scan for where the closest one is in the world so you can hunt it down. Kind of like a cross between Maker Scanning and Mineral Prospecting.)

What else is in the Update?

• First-person perspective is in the game. If you scroll your mouse all the way forward, you’ll move into first-person, which is super useful for tight spaces, like complicated buildings or while mining. There are some culling issues we still need to resolve, but it’s so useful we wanted you to have it.
• You can now use “L” (for mission Log) to open/close the mission log directly.
• When an item is interactable it now has a highlight that applies. This effect is also used when you scan for something with the BioScanner, Harvester, et al.
• Prediction on homing projectiles is tighter.
• When Crafting, the “Can Craft” toggle is now on by default. If you want to see everything you can’t actually craft at the moment, then toggle that off.
• Mouse sensitivity slider is in the Game Options now.
• Nights are brighter. Street lamps cast more light.
• When you leave the Hallway, you retain the Grappling Hook you received.
• Moved all creatures to the new shader system. (Better performance and more flexibility going forward.)
• The Grapple is now shown on your HUD so you can see the status of its battery as you move from spot to spot.
• When you get a Discovery, you see a flyout message that it occurred.
• Made the first crate in the Hallway more reliably appear for players. (Tentative, but good fix.)
• Did a visual effects sweep on the Hallway to improve minor elements.
• “Maguffin” missions now have some more in-character items to search for
• Added signs in the Starbase to make things a lot clearer navigation-wise
• Creatures are no longer Discovered by killing them. Use the BioScanner instead.
• Homestead limits (number of tiles, number of lights, etc.) are now shown on the Fabricator palette
• New building tiles and props were added. Concave curve tiles (floor and ceiling), plus some hex lamps, a small desktop computer, and a short cabinet.
• To make room for non-destructive scanning on the Harvester and Xyloslicer, the Seed Planting ability was moved to a new tool, The Trowel. This is a Farming implement that is available now. To make it, you’ll need to acquire the recipe from the Toolmaking tree. You can use it to tree, bush, mushroom, and flower seeds.
• Create the ability to make “Story” objects. A good example of these are the computers inside the University in Haven. These are not…yet…a player-usable feature.
• Adjusted all ambient skies.