'Lunar Space Elevator' Megaproject is now available for playtesting

Back in mid-December we published 'Space Station Designer' version 0.5.40. This update included what we refer to as 'Phase III', and included a whole new series of mechanics, such as being able to create stations in higher orbits, and even around the Moon.

After publishing the previous update, we've been hard at work implementing the last remaining large system in the game: the 'Lunar Space Elevator' megaproject. This megaproject is now available for playtesting as part of the newly released version 0.5.47. This is a major development milestone, as 'Space Station Designer' can now be technically played from start to finish.

Similar to previous updates, this new version also includes a series of Quality of Life (QoL) improvements, bug fixes, and new content. If you're interested in the full changelog, you can review our live document here.

The 'Lunar Space Elevator' Megaproject

The 'Lunar Space Elevator' megaproject is the last large system in 'Space Station Designer' that ties all the elements of the game together into a meaningful ultimate goal. Without revealing too much, the megaproject can be accessed by unlocking the technology at the end of the tech tree.

Unlocking this technology enables a button in the orbital outpost screen that gives access to the management screen:

The megaproject comprises a series of milestones, which require a combination of payments in various currencies and astronauts assignments. These milestones range from installing a series of new modules to fulfilling specialized contracts.

We still have to tidy up some of the UI, but the implementation of the core mechanics is already in place, and we can confirm that all the milestones in the megaproject can be completed.

New content

In addition to the 'Lunar Space Elevator' megaproject, we added some new content, such as the new 'Cargo Shuttle' resupply spacecraft. This is a non-crewed version of the existing 'Space Shuttle', modeled after the Shuttle C concept from NASA. We have also completely revamped the existing 'Industrial R&D' tech tree, which now features a series of relevant technologies, along with balanced acquisition costs and commercialization values.

Quality of Life (QoL) improvements

Similar to previous updates, in version 0.5.47 we've added a number of Quality of Life improvements. This includes input binding/remapping, which has been a popular request from our beta testers, and a mechanism to unselect a large group of toggle buttons filters by using the right mouse button. We've also added a mechanism to quickly cycle through all the various stations using the 'next' and 'previous' mouse buttons (that can, of course, be remapped as well), which comes in handy during the late stages of the game.

Please note that the current input binding/remapping system (which is part of the 'Preferences' screen) is only a first implementation. In future updates, we'll polish the UI and include extra features, such as being able to adjust the sensitivity of the various axis.

Fixes

One of the fun things about playtesting the late stages of the game is that we get the chance to stress some of its systems beyond their initial capabilities. As part of the current playthrough, some of our astronauts actually reached the retirement age. This made us realize that we weren't handling this scenario properly, and it has now been fixed.

Other issues we've addressed as part of version 0.5.47 include:

• Restricting players from transferring resupply spacecrafts to orbits beyond their range.
• Addressing a runtime exception when removing resupply spacecraft in the 'Free Builder' mode.
• A collision glitch in the solar panels of the 'Transporter' resupply spacecraft.
• The display of the cargo bay of the 'Chimera' and 'Starcarrier' resupply spacecraft.

We've also completely overhauled the handling of error scenarios, such as invalid or corrupted data files and save game files, which will provide a smoother gameplay experience.

Closing thoughts

As mentioned in the introduction, 'Space Station Designer' can now be played from start to finish. However, we still have a lot of work ahead of us in order to take the game to the quality of level we want it to reach. In the next update, we'll be focussing on delivering solutions to some of the suggestions provided by our beta testers (you can sign up for the beta here).

As always, we'll be monitoring our Discord server and the forums, so don't hesitate to let us know if you have any feedback or comments.

We'll be publishing our first dev diary in the upcoming days, stay tuned!

--Ignacio, Mauricio, and Nicolas (Polar Motion)

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