Beta Patch 6 is here!
As mentioned in our previous update, this patch focuses on some of the features you’ve been asking for: better flight accessibility and improved tutorials (some training sections are still WIP).
Alongside the new Assisted Flight option, Patch 6 brings reworked and improved autopilot system, UI/UX improvements, major performance optimizations, and a number of bug and stability fixes.
Here are some of the highlights:
Assisted Flight & Better Tutorials
New Autopilot & Flight Systems
UI/UX Improvements
Up to 50% Lower CPU Workload
Lots of Tweaks and Bug & Crash Fixes
As said, some parts are still WIP - we will continue updating the beta branch with hotfixes in the following days.
A sincere thank you to everyone testing the Beta and sending us feedback. Your contributions help shape Starminer as we improve the game.
You can participate in Beta by right clicking Starminer in your game library list->properties->game versions&betas and select the beta branch.
Patch notes below:
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STARMINER 0.33.9.0 - PATCH NOTES
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ADDITIONS
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- Flight Realism: a new opt-in arcade flight model with Arcade / Assisted / Simulation presets and a custom mix of flight model, handling, collision consequence and obstacle assist. Fly your station directly with camera-relative WASD/QE and Camera Look or Cursor steering, with a flight cue showing your predicted stop point, obstacle assist arrows and collision-course warnings
- New right-click context menu: right-clicking any object opens an action menu with the full operations panel, plus "Mine here" for asteroids and "Attack" for enemies
- Autopilot in-flight panel with distance readout and Cancel now shows for every Fly To / Rotate To command
- New tutorials (WIP)
- In-game help codex (F1): 48 searchable articles across 10 categories
- Station markers are now clickable and open the right-click context menu
- Context menu station rows: Select, Hail, Trade, Trade automation, Donate and Possess, with live distance and an "Owned" status
- Right-clicking a navigation point opens the context menu with Fly to / Rotate to
- "Mine here" on a spot beyond mining range now flies the station there first and starts mining on arrival
- Asteroids highlighted by the perspective helper are now marked as detected and stay outlined map-wide while the helper is on
- Station donation now has requirements and a confirmation popup
- Number of gate connections is now shown
- Right-clicking empty space now arms the autopilot destination picker directly
- Drill nodes now have a Mining Speed modifier
- Loading screen now shows real loading progress
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TWEAKS
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- Objective location markers stay visible at all ranges while their beacon is up
- Objective beacon effects updated
- Perspective Helper Tool improved
- Increased cost of T1 and T2 array nodes
- Default voiceover audio level lowered
- Station modules are now welded into one physical body per station, greatly improving physics performance and stability on large stations
- Big-station frame time improved: idle stations sleep, timers are batched, sun-tracking panels and debris tick less often
- Loose debris now drifts to a stop and settles instead of tumbling forever
- Docking and undocking reworked: approach and push speeds now derive from the station's thrusters and mass, with a smooth final glide
- Asteroid mounting now uses a smooth, eased approach and no longer explodes on unmount
- Station splits are now physically real: detached parts keep their momentum
- Hangarship gun attack speed lowered
- Reduced the smoke lifetime for drilling particle effects
- Improved shield control toggling
- Merge objective now shows which stations should be merged
- Added 500 Eonite fuel to the Deadrock outpost
- Removed level requirements for survival mode
- Hauler and constructor exhaust effects updated; larger mission area in Ganymede Site 1
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FIXES
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- Trade accounting overhaul: deliveries at a full destination return the overflow to the origin instead of destroying it
- Cancelling or removing a trade route now refunds and releases exactly what is still outstanding, and no longer frees other routes' locked stock
- Natural trade route completion no longer counts as a cancel, so repeating trade automations survive it
- Hauler and trade ship partial loads no longer strand or overwrite cargo; a fully locked order now dispatches
- Fluid-only shortfalls keep a dock route open instead of removing it without refund
- One dock trade no longer blocks every package route behind it
- Route progress and deposit/gather objectives now count what actually landed
- Stations rebuilt from a saved blueprint no longer spin uncontrollably with stacked T2 solar panels
- Same-station solar modules no longer fight each other's collision
- Fixed the station marker color not updating instantly
- Fixed the location marker icon rendering with zero width and hanging below its beacon
- Slowly rotating the camera with RMB held no longer shows the autopilot hold bar
- Fixed the bottom bar help button binding and a main menu error
- Fixed guns never firing on big maps
- Fixed the loading screen getting stuck when starting a sandbox
- Fixed stations spinning up on load
- Fixed same-station modules fighting each other's collision (station wobble on load)
- Fixed frame rate collapse from rotating turrets, thruster gimbals and solar panels on welded stations
- Fixed docking issues: cross-station collision damage from dock teleports, clusters unable to dock, loaded clusters scattering under thrust, big-module dock deadlock and tow stalls
- Fixed T4 solar panels not occupying build slots and having build slots
- Mega Solar panels can no longer be disassembled into unusable parts
- Fixed the Solar Array UI and the Build Mega Solar objective not updating when panels get destroyed
- Fixed scanners turning on while the scanner operation is off
- Disconnected shield modules now turn off
- Fixed NPC enemy station projectiles passing through shields
- Fixed the drill finding no resources on a never-scanned asteroid
- Fixed jettisoned modules not depositing into station storage after being collected
- Fixed asteroid self-mining in specific cases
- Fixed modules not completing when the construction efficiency modifier is taken mid-build
- Fixed optimized construction protocols showing the wrong price for Engineers
- Fixed level 0 officer modifiers staying in the officer modifier UI after level 10
- Fixed the Toggle Scanner objective, the Move To objective in TGS and on stations whose root is not a Hulk node, the Galatea debris quest overflow, and the Pirate Treasure objective 2
- Added a campaign fallback to prevent a mission softlock when no new mission was selected
- Fixed seeded mothership destruction not counting towards achievements
- Fixed the mismatch between actual sector bounds and their visual
- Fixed the radar range material not displaying correctly
- Fixed the DX12 opt-in not persisting from the confirmation dialog
- Fixed trade routes being silently deleted on unloaded maps
- Updated illustration and dialogue for the docking part of the Panonia mission
- Various crash fixes