Unstable release 0.9.9

by Michael Zahniser

A new release is now available on GitHub, unstable version 0.9.9. This version contains a huge amount of new content and game engine updates. 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.

Last year, I decided to take a break from Endless Sky and handed the development process over to the team of @tehhowch, @Amazinite, and @Pointedstick. This is the first release under their leadership. (I hope to continue to be involved in developing the game, but I had reached a point where handling all the issues and pull requests had gotten overwhelming and had begun feeling more like a heavy obligation than a fun hobby.)

As a result, a long time has elapsed since 0.9.8, and this release contains about three times as many new changes as a typical unstable release. That includes some significant game engine optimizations that should speed up the game on slower computers. There are also some spiffy new graphics: each ship now has an angled shipyard view, and all the ship graphics have been re-rendered with a steeper illumination angle that makes them look more 3D and less cartoonish.

As with all unstable releases, development work for the next month or two will focus on bug fixing to get ready for a 0.9.10 release, rather than on new content or possibly game-breaking new features.