Unstable release 0.9.3

by Michael Zahniser

A new release is now available on GitHub, unstable version 0.9.3. This version focuses on adding new content, including minable asteroids and new Wanderer ships and missions. Downloads are available for Mac OS X, 64-bit Windows, and 32-bit Windows. Ubuntu Linux packages are available in a PPA, and a Debian Linux package is also available. For more details, see the changelog. The development schedule for the next few releases will be:

Over the next few weeks, I’ll work on getting the plugins page working. It will be a curated collection of plugins that have reached a somewhat stable and polished state, so people don’t have to wade through a whole lot of “work in progress” stuff. (The mods page will continue to serve as a collection of all sorts of mods, including work-in-progress ones.)

Version 0.9.4 will be a “stable” release focused on fixing any bugs that crop up in 0.9.3 and on making relatively small, safe improvements to the game. It will probably come out around the first week in October.

In version 0.9.5, you’ll find out whether the Wanderers are able to succeed where the Quarg and Kor Efreti have failed, by finding a way to end the threat of the Korath automata. You’ll also meet a coalition of alien species who have banded together against the Quarg, thrown the Quarg out of their territories, and taken over the ringworlds as their own. 0.9.5 will also include more engine improvements, including optimization to the collision detection (to handle large Korath fleet battles) and AI support for NPCs mining asteroids and trying to pick up flotsam. The 0.9.5 release will probably happen in late November or in December.

From there on, releases will continue to alternate between even numbered “stable” releases and much larger, odd-numbered “unstable” releases. Future releases will include an alternative story arc where you side with the Alphas and find out whether they’re really the evil sociopaths everyone says they are, or whether the truth is murkier than that. They’ll also include more user-generated content, including hopefully eventually a Republic and Syndicate story line as well as more alien species.