The galaxy is a big place – trust us, we’ve done the math!
We’ve connected the wires from Stellar Cartography (and Isaac’s bridge station) to the helm, allowing you to go beyond the initial library of space locations and explore the galaxy! Use the long range sensors to explore the neighborhood around your current position, zoom in to other stars, planets (and even moons), and then plot a course and engage Quantum Drive!
As part of this, we’ve added several new space locations, including additional nebulae designs, a new Supernova location, other star types, and a new Terrestrial planet. You’ll even find some planets located within their star’s habitable zone sporting atmospheres, allowing you to take a shuttle down for a little surface exploration!
We’ve redesigned the shuttle flight experience to give you more control, from takeoff to landing. Just watch the paint job!
If you do scrape it up, you can transfer the shuttle down to the new Shuttle Maintenance Bay and swap it for a fresh model, or better yet, fix it up in the repair station and send it back up into service!
All play and no work makes Gordon…. well, pretty happy, I suppose. But Union Central does come a-callin’ sooner or later, and there’s work to be done! We’ve added a new Comms panel on the bridge that you can use to hail Union Central and pick up a new mission. Will you be asked to find the cure for the next big disease? Save a world from volcanic destruction? Swoop in and defend the Union from enemy interlopers? Or something else? The suspense is killing us!
To fulfill your mission, you’ll complete a series of tasks that utilize the ship’s functionality, including several new interactive elements spread throughout the ship. You may be conducting an analysis in one of the ship’s many science labs, flying to a new Quantum Drive location, or even engaging in ship-to-ship combat. If you complete all the tasks, you and your crew will be recognized for completing your mission with the official currency of the Planetary Union – REPUTATION – in the form of prestige points on our Steam leader board. There’s even new Steam Achievements to recognize your growing mission prowess.
With more than a dozen mission types to complete, and no limit to how often you can do them, you’ll soon be the most sought-after officer in the fleet. Can promotion be far behind??
Not so ambitious, or want to RP your own scenarios? Don’t worry, missions are optional, and you can still use the new interactive elements even outside of missions.
“Never Give Up! Never….” Wait, that’s the other guy’s schitck. Anyway, we’ve kept evolving our damage and repair system, and are excited about the new upgrades.
In addition to improving repair mini-games, some panels now come with user serviceable parts inside! Access the panel needing repair, pull the damaged component to see what you need, then obtain a spare from a nearby storage room. Carry it back, or store it in your inventory and retrieve it when you get back and install it into the panel. Piece of cake (a corner piece, of course)!
We’ve also added some realism with a new low-power mode, for those particularly rough encounters with the Krill.
We’ve implemented a number of enhancements to make this version the most immersive and interactive yet! A few highlights:
Even more Orville-y goodness in this version, including:
The other-worldly Patrick Phillips has provided us with a bevy of beautiful new music for this version! New tracks include:
Note: v1.0.18.0 was built on Unreal Engine 5, which necessitated an increase in the minimum system specifications. Please refer to the store page for more details on this. Also please note that for v18, Combat Training mode has been temporarily disabled.
Should you have issues running this version, all previous releases are available in the “Betas” tab in the Steam library properties. We are looking to increase performance and stability in future versions as well.
For a more traditional style of patch notes, check out the patch notes from the open beta: