In December 2018 several major changes and additions were rolled out for you. A new system ‘L 276-8’ was added, syndicates can now do challenging co-op campaigns, stims come with new names to better reflect their benefits, the first part of combat refining is done and there’s a new cinema feature. Furthermore, Leila shared insights about further development plans and Community work. Read on for all details about a thrilling month for our indie game.

New System ‘L 726-8’

A new system has been added, consisting of 3 new stations so far.

L 726-8 Jump Gate (level 13), controlled by The Consortium.

Orwell Stronghold (level 13), ruled by Independent.

Spirit of Tianjin (level 14), also Independent.

New Features & Missions

Cinema -A new CORETECHS’ service, showing one Isaac Arthur video per day.

Mission – ‘Fanning the Flames’ (level 14) on Maid of Orleans in Barnard’s Star system.

Syndicate Campaigns

The first part of the new multiplayer campaigns are live in the Wilds. A dedicated blog post will share more details soon, including info on important details like potential blueprint drops (which you’ll need for the upcoming syndicate buildings!) Here are some of the key facts about the current status of the new feature:

Start – Members with ‘Campaign Management’ role can define the setup and start a time-limited co-op challenge which is available in the Wilds.

Combat – The campaign consists of several enemy waves, sorted by tiers. Enemies recover over time, so you can continue fights against wounded opponents if a team member didn’t defeat a particular NPC.

Campaign UI – Besides information about the various opponents, you also see status information about your team mates, like recent attackers, basic statistics or who got confined to the Brig or Sick Bay.

Rewards – If your team succeeds, your Syndicate gets campaigns rewards, but also all participants get rewarded individually.

Combat Changes & Rearrangement

Interface (Rework) – Once in combat, the game interface changes, reducing the need to scroll. The sidebar components are hidden while in combat, leaving only combat UI with core information and GCT clock.

Belt (Various) – The de-selection of selected belt items is possible now (fix); your opponent’s belt is always locked (a future skill might add the ability to reveal the content later); your own belt is collapsed by default and not expandable if empty. It shows present items only rather than empty slots.

Button (Text) – The “Attack/Use” button changes its text depending on whether a weapon or consumable is selected.

Focus (Consumption) – Combat needs focus; starting a fight takes 3%; the same is deducted when taking damage from the opponent. Every action in combat consumes 1% of focus.

Overdosing (Toxins) – Overdosing in combat now transfers you to Sick Bay (if available) and thus ends the fight; this fixes a bug where you were locked in the combat room even though you overdosed.

Improvements & Changes

Credit Log (various) – Showing up to 10 entries now with improved chronology.

Character Page (various) – The reputation is now ordered by affiliations and the display of personal texts using markdown has been optimized.

Mails (instant) – There is no longer any delay for message transmissions.

Profiles (various) – The Genotype information is now always available and the box containing the personal description is only shown if a customized text has been added by the citizen you look at.

Stims (various) – Most stim names have been shortened and changed, using a special pattern that empowers you to identify which stats get boosted. A detailed explanation is available in the archive of your CORETECHS. Furthermore, the tier levels have a more realistic meaning now: you cannot use tiers higher than your character’s, while stim tiers lower than yours give either less (if 1-2 tiers lower) or no (if 3+ tiers lower) benefits.

Some Update Impressions

Changelogs

You can find a short, precise summary of every single update in the corresponding changelog, which we publish since we started the Closed Alpha Test. Here are all of the update details for December 2018:

About status reports

The status reports contain major aspects of the work done on Tau Station each month. As we’ve started to provide changelogs for every game update, you can find way more details, including all smaller changes, in these dedicated posts. Links to all updates/changelogs that happened this month are listed above.