ERA ONE · preview, public · first seen
Hello everyone,
Today we're releasing Build 12, the first fully playable version introducing multiplayer to Era One.
This marks a major milestone for the project. Multiplayer development will continue throughout the entire Build 12 cycle until it reaches a stable and definitive state. While the core multiplayer systems are already implemented, we will keep expanding the experience with new features, game modes, and support for additional players beyond the initial 1 vs 1 phase.
Starting with a smaller-scale multiplayer environment is essential for us to properly test both technical stability and gameplay balance. Over the coming weeks and months, multiplayer will continue to evolve with new mechanics, improvements, and long-term features, including the planned career mode.
Build 12 also introduces a large number of additional improvements and new features:
Asteroids, including massive ones, are now destructible and generate additional resources when mined or destroyed.
Visual effects have been improved, and asteroid fields now feature colored volumetric nebulae.
The collision system has been reworked.
Drills now use new logic and updated visual effects.
The armor system has received extensive improvements. Our goal was to allow players to build spacecraft with cleaner and more appealing designs, suitable for both long-distance travel and combat. This has been achieved through refined armor angles and inclinations.
Ship cockpits have been redesigned to provide a stronger sense of immersion during combat and exploration.
A new omnidirectional engine has been introduced, making spacecraft maneuvers faster and more agile.
Collectors and turrets have been improved. They no longer lose targets and now have a lower performance impact on the game.
Significant optimization and overall performance improvements have been implemented.
After a period of testing and iteration, Build 12 is expected to reach its final public form within the next 1-2 months. As always, we will continue improving and expanding it until we are satisfied with both stability and gameplay quality.
We're also excited to announce that Era One will be present at Gamescom, where we'll have the opportunity to showcase the project and share our progress with a wider audience.
Once Build 12 reaches maturity, our primary focus will shift toward the development of the single-player campaign, alongside the content and systems required to complete the game.
Our objective is now to bring Era One to Version 1.0 during the first quarter of 2027. At the same time, Version 1.0 should not be considered the end of development. We fully intend to continue supporting and expanding the game after release with additional content, improvements, and new features.
To reflect this new phase of development, the roadmap will be updated accordingly in the coming weeks. Credits & Thanks
We would like to thank everyone who continues to share feedback and leave positive reviews. The game keeps growing thanks to your support and contribution.
A special thank you to everyone who helped test and improve Era One's multiplayer experience.
Testers
Practice Mode
Nineteen804
Gabe
Mortal Kombatant
Skeletor446
Community Contributors
Kal Skirata
CptCano
Your feedback, reports, and support have been invaluable in helping us bring multiplayer to Era One. Thank you for being part of the journey.
The Team Complex Development Team
Era One - Release Notes v0.12
Multiplayer
this is the first version of Era One multiplayer, introducing:
Play against other players in competitive 1v1 matches.
Hosting of custom-server games via Steam lobby and via LAN.
Save and Load support to resume long running games.
Invite-only and friends-only server visibility.
Dedicated chat/console window (press Enter to open the chat window and type /help to show a list of available commands). It features: multiple channels, command history, autocomplete and clickable chat
links (Ctrl+L inserts a link based on selection).
New content and maps
New armor family: Wedge Deflector (45° corner) and Tapered Wedge Deflector (30° corner); Wing Deflector and Tapered Wing Deflector wing armors (left and right versions); Angular Deflector Plate; and Loxodonta Edge, a tapered end-cap variant of the Loxodonta heavy plate.
Tapered Angular Module: a new 30° structural module joining the existing 45° Angular and Dual Angular modules.
Thruster: a new omni-directional engine module variant for your stations.
New structural modules: Piston and Rail.
New Pirate Perforation Mine.
New map for deathmatch and multiplayer: Frontline War
Stations
Station top speed is now capped: stacking more engines gives diminishing returns as you approach a perstation limit, while turbo can still push beyond it.
Stations ordered to attack an out-of-range enemy now chase it and open fire on arrival; stations with no weapons simply move to the target.
Command Center concurrent unit production count reduced to 10.
Rally points: Stations now have a single rally point across all their facilities.
Simultaneous deploy commands can no longer bypass the Crew Quarter population capacity.
The Warp Disruptor module now consumes energy while active.
Station engines react to rotation: yaw, pitch and roll light up the correct nozzles.
Modules under construction can be targeted and have collision.
Heavy ships under construction stay hidden while their building station is undetected.
Units
Bombers can now build wing weapons (Point-defense and Pulsar).
Repair drones and combat ships no longer get stuck looping on an unreachable target.
Evasive maneuvers overhaul: new Roll Evade move; fixed the other evasive maneuvers.
Evade actions are disabled in Keep and Keep Class formations so they hold the line.
Ships and bombers can now attack huge bodies (huge asteroids, big station wrecks).
Units in passive mode correctly stop attacking previously targeted enemies.
Repair Drones and scavengers behaviour has been revisited and improved.
Gameplay
Warp destinations are now blocked by proximity disruption fields around asteroids and derelicts (without blocking the corridor)
Perimeter Shield no longer carries damage overflow to the shield module; recharge delay is driven by overflow instead.
Four new researches: Drill technology and upgrade, Frontal Plasma, and Anti-missile.
Tech wrecks only grant technologies already available to the team that originated them.
Blueprints verify the required research and crew cap for every module at placement.
Large asteroids can be attacked and destroyed; when broken they spawn smaller harvestable asteroids.
The AI now builds Asteroid Miners.
Singleplayer Deathmatch supports multiple AI players with configurable difficulty and personality per slot.
Fixes and tuning
Pulsar and Ion weapons interrupt shield regeneration even when the shield isn't their primary target.
Powering on a drill boosts its collision damage; powered drills and spikes switch their collision feedback (sparks, perforation effects) correctly when they fire up.
Modules in the power-off state display a power-off icon.
Compound stations are fully visible and detectable on radar even with a single module.
Destroying an engine module no longer leaves the station with wrong speed values (both cruise and turbo).
Fixed Command Centers exploding when clipped by a rotating module of their own station.
Balance highlights
Command Center: max health 20K→30K, health regen up, autocannon +15% damage (Warship/module autocannon +5%).
Attack ranges increased across the board (fighters 15, Mechguns 16, Warships 19); all bullets 10% faster.
Turrets mounted on turret bases get a large health/armor boost.
Armor: 10% less population cost, +5% resistance; pipes grant a health-regeneration aura to attached modules.
Point-defense weapons halved against shields; lasers −10% damage; kinetic and heavy ion damage up; skirmisher missiles −20% against heavy armor.
Flamethrower buffed; nuke area increased; huge weapons hit harder.
Economy: resource collector population cost doubled, solar panels and generators now require population, light units +10% population, deployer and Command Cube require 50 population; quantum reactor energy
20→24; asteroid miner needs less energy.
Units: flyby attackers +40% armor and higher fire rate, light ships handle heavier for smoother movement, scout kamikaze and ranger kamikaze/EMP nerfed, pirate fighters slightly nerfed, mech-guns retuned (light HP up, heavy armor up).
Drill deals triple damage while powered; spire collision damage halved; Ram Drill collision damage scaled down; Command Cube slightly more fragile in collisions.
Survival maps spawn enemies slightly less often.
User interface and Settings
Command Center quick-select rework: the select-command key (Z) always selects the Command Center, waypoint key has been moved to Backspace.
New modifier to always select the clicked module; compound selection no longer flips to the Command Center unpredictably.
Navigation overlay overhaul: the movement overlay fades and tints behind asteroids and structures, making navigation more intuitive.
On-screen notification toasts can be shown for same events.
Hover tooltip shows "In Attack Range" on targets, based on the current selection.
Camera: discovery cinematics are skipped when the target is already on screen, and simultaneous discoveries merge into one announcement.
User blueprints moved to Documents/My Games/Era One/Blueprints for Steam Cloud sync, with automatic migration on first launch.
Docking window scrolling fixed.
Graphics and Audio effects
New detailed Cockpits views for fighters, scavengers and Mechguns with animated monitor screens and team-colors. Cockpit mode can now cycle different cameras.
New collision visual effects on all asteroids and modules; new mining-drill perforation effects.
New engine VFX including a new explosion variant; improved battle ambient smoke.
Fog-of-war consistency: grabbed containers, drop-point effects, under-construction units all respect visibility now.
Asteroid explosions completely overhauled: each asteroid type has its own volumetric color and explosion variation, with dedicated wrecks and new larger uranium asteroids.
Added cockpit ambient sound.
Soundtrack Player: long song titles scroll instead of being cut off.