Pilots, to your stations!

Fleet Battles just received another massive update and we can’t wait to see you online to try it out.

We’ve added some new alien ships, devastating new weapons, new maps, a new feature called scavenging, and more.

Buckle up - it’s time to fly!

For full details on the updates, view the changelog at the bottom of the post.

TOP CHANGES IN BETA 3

New Ships The Observer

Now you see them...and now you don’t! This ship is piloted by a race of green-skinned aliens who admit to having been watching the human race for a very long time. Creepy. This orb-like ship is fastest-moving and has a limited close range, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous! The Arilou Observer can use its cloaking device to stay hidden from its enemy, choosing the opportune moment to reveal itself and strike. Its primary weapon, the octomator, fires in eight directions at once, so aiming is totally optional! Kzanti Intimidator

Not all aliens want to make nice, and if the mine-field in the battle arena is any indication, the Kzanti are not your friends! That ship of yours would fetch a steep price on the black market, but it’ll sell even better in pieces. The Kzanti Intimidator is a fierce ship with a high speed and tight turn rate that drops proximity mines as its form of primary attack. Its repulsor will also damage your ship and push you away from the Intimidator in order to give it enough time to get away.

New Weapon Components

Cloak: Surprise! Catch your opponents off guard with temporary invisibility and wait for the

right moment to move in close and strike.

Octomator: Aiming? What’s that? Fire off a short-range but powerful blast in 8 directions simultaneously.

They’ll never see it coming!

Repulsor: Back off! Deal some damage and push enemy ships away from you, giving you time to

escape or line up your next shot! Heck, if you’re lucky, they’ll just happen to crash into a mine or something...

Proximity Mines: Better MINE-D your step (see what we did there?)! These mines will explode

on any enemy ships that venture too close.

Salvage: Show off your magnetic personality! The latent salvage ability lets you easily

collect nearby wreckages to power up your ship.

New Feature: Scavenging

Battle Arenas now are littered with wrecks from destroyed ships. Each match will start with a random number of wrecks, and each time a ship is destroyed during a round, it leaves another wreck for the next battle. The bonuses will not only apply to the ship that collects it, but to your entire fleet! Collect as many as you can early on to gain a huge advantage over your opponent.

Scavenge these wrecks for bonuses:

Yellow: Acceleration

Green: Crew (Health)

Red: Energy Regeneration

Blue: Speed

Other Improvements

Camera system updates

The camera has been adjusted to better accommodate more obstacles. Also, off-screen enemy ships

are marked with an arrow so they can’t sneak up on you.

Cool end match screens

Detailed end match screens with battle stats from the match

New Maps

Callum’s Deep: Battle around a mysterious dark star with negative mass

Maelstrom: A large map with lots of planets and massive asteroids.

Athara: A distant star system with exotic worlds

Other

Improved MP performance

AI vs AI mode

Hit Tab to highlight your ship on screen

Updated fonts and UI polish



Haven’t gotten into Fleet Battles yet? Pre-order here to join the beta today!

Or, add us to your Steam wishlist.



We’ve been working really hard on the development of Star Control: Origins and are excited to show it off!

Please enjoy some of these bonus screenshots from the game and let us know what you think. See you online!

We didn’t want you to have to wait until the game releases: get access to special included DLC right now! These new pieces of downloadable content are available to anyone who has pre-ordered the base game. In addition to concept art and lore, each content pack features new music by Mason Fisher and Riku Nuottajärvi, an original composer for Star Control II. Many packs will also feature the original alien tracks by Star Control II composer Dan Nicholson.

Alien DLC Packs The Arilou™

Captain’s Log, 26 September, 2088 How many aliens out there are actually watching us? We’re up to two or three now, and we’ve barely left home. On the doorstep of our own solar system we were approached by an alien vessel filled with what can only be described as ’little green men.' Calling themselves the Arilou Lalee’lay, they have apparently been watching humanity for a long time. They claim to have some sort of bond with us, though they are for now reluctant to explain exactly what that bond is. Friendly, but a bit condescending, they also seem to be almost purposefully mysterious. Conversations with them can get a bit tiring. DLC included in purchase of Star Control: Origins; Steam validation required. The Chenjesu™

Captain’s Log, 28 November, 2089 We’ve come across a strange crystalline world which looks like it was once the home of strange beings. Calling themselves the Chenjesu, it seems they resembled nothing so much as ambulatory crystals themselves, who fed on a unique mixture of solar and chemical processes. Peaceful and very intelligent, they could also detect Hyperwave processes naturally, and long sensed the danger of the Scryve Empire. They remained hidden from the Scryve, and once capable of hyperspace travel themselves, slowly moved themselves out of the region and further down the spur, out of the Scryve’s reach. Their current whereabouts are unknown. DLC included in purchase of Star Control: Origins; Steam validation required. The Mowlings™

Captain’s Log, 16 June, 2089 We’ve encountered a species of polite and accident prone little critters called the Mowlings. They’re amongst the friendliest beings we’ve yet met in the galaxy, and could make great allies for us. Though they’re not necessarily the most advanced. Also they have a… peculiar religion, revolving around the fervent worship of a massively powerful alien. A massively powerful alien called Jeff. I suspect we’ll need Jeff’s permission for a lot of things we have planned for the Mowlings. DLC included in purchase of Star Control: Origins; Steam validation required.

OFFICIAL BETA 3 CHANGELOG

Important: Previously saved "fleets" are no longer compatible due to a data change.

New ships

Arilou Observer: Green skinned aliens have been using this cloaked ship to watch us from afar for quite some time.

Kzanti Intimidator: Space pirates / low-level predators that like keeping their distance from you so they can blow you up with mines. They'll use your scrap to sell on the black market.

New Maps

Callum's Deep: Battle around a mysterious dark star with a negative mass

Maelstrom: A large map with lots of planets and massive asteroids.

Athara: A distance star system with exotic worlds

New Weapons

Cloak -- this weapon makes your ship invisible for a short time (Arilou only)

Octomator-- Short range blaster that fires in eight directions all at once.

Repulsor -- pushes other ships away from you.

Proximity Mines -- lay down these explosives that damage enemy ships that get too close

Salvage -- allows you to quickly collect nearby wrecks

Gameplay

Wrecks: Battle Arenas now are littered with wrecks from destroyed ships. Scavenge these wrecks for bonuses: Yellow: Acceleration Green: Crew (Health) Red: Battery (Energy Regeneration) Blue: Speed Bonuses accumulate between rounds Destroyed ships leave new wrecks for the next round

AI vs AI: In single player matches, you can set the AI to fight against itself

The Camera is more dynamic

Hit TAB now to highlight your ship

Changed planet pitches a bit in order to make them look better in Fleet Battles.

Renamed the "Dannath Trickster" to the"Xraki Devourer"

Balance

Xraki Trickster: increased battery regeneration

AI is better at using the Point Defense Laser

Point cost balance update for ship crafting (lowering costs in general)

Adjusted arena sizes a bit

Minor AI tweak to better use certain special secondary weapons.

AI difficulty updated

Minor changes to the AI weapon list files to discourage the AI from wanting to get in so close with ranged weapons.

Tweaks to the AI super melee difficulty levels (generally to make it a bit tougher).

Enemy view increased to make it more sensitive to being aimed at by guided weapons.

AOE attacks no longer blow up projectiles of the same team.

Crafting

Added more ship parts

UI

Added detailed end match screens

Added support for Chinese and Russian characters

Improved fonts and text layout

Multiplayer