The Premium Beta phase is progressing well, and we will be releasing Premium Beta 2 on Tuesday 24th June.



You should notice a significant improvement in many different areas, including the first results of optimizations that should improve frame-rate significantly for those that are not already getting 60 fps



Three specific major changes to highlight are:



Three new star systems have been added, above those in Premium Beta 1. Those are Aulin, LHS 3006 and Styx:



Aulin – a K7 yellow/orange star

Aulin has a rich, high population high tech and tourist economy (a Federal Corporate State).



Aulin 2, called ‘Nirvana’ is a lush, exotic, verdant outdoor world, rich in indigenous life. A high tech largely biotech and pharmaceutical industry developed initially from exploiting the biological wonders found in the vast equatorial cloud forests. Tourists come to see the incredible beauty of the largely undamaged flora and fauna, vigorously protected by the Aulin Corporation. There is also some farming of high value local produce.



You will already have seen some sneak peeks of the Orbis class of starport; an Orbis, Aulin Enterprise can be found orbiting Nirvana.



LHS 3006 – an M5V orange/red dwarf star

LHS 3006 has a low population extraction economy (a Federal Corporate State).



A tiny system, recently (in stellar terms) stripped of its planets in a close encounter with another star, leaving just Vulcan in the eccentric orbit it has today. Vulcan is still in the process of cooling and reforming from the cataclysm, with the giant ring system the only remnant of the other body with which it collided. Ores and minerals are readily available in both the rings and on the surface, and are actively mined by the WCM Corporation.



Styx – an M4 orange/red dwarf star

There is no registered population in the Styx system.









An Orbis Station taken at different times of day in 4K.



Orbis starports are much more complex structures, and hence more expensive to construct, than Coriolis starports. The large wheel has a diameter of about 8km, and provides a full Earth-like standard gravity environment. The smaller wheel further back offers a very pleasant half a ‘gee’ – suited to manufacturing, but mainly used as a luxurious retirement home for the wealthy, as the lower gravity can be more comfortable, and puts much less strain on the bodies of the more frail. Orbis stations also have a very large storage capacity for tradable commodities, which can be seen beyond the half gee wheel.



We are also introducing the ‘Hauler’ into Premium Beta 2.





The Zorgon Peterson Hauler



The Hauler is an entry-level trading ship and is the first Zorgon Peterson ship in our lineup. It has quite lightweight construction and can carry a good deal more cargo than the Sidewinder (16 units), but has only one hardpoint.



One very important point to note, Premium Beta 2 will unavoidably reset your progress, although we will automatically gift you credits to the approximate value of your progress to date (including credits and ship, so you will be able to immediately buy your ship again). We do apologise for the inconvenience, but there have been some significant changes that have required it.



High resolution screen capture (Alt-F10)

From Premium Beta 2 onwards pressing Alt-F10 will capture a screenshot at 4X your current game resolution. Perfect for showing off all the great new features in the build that you discover, we would love to see some of your own hi-res pics so keep sending them in and posting them on our forums!



German Localisation

We have started our localisation Process, adding the German language to the Premium Beta 2. Later in the newsletter you will see a quick visual guide to change the settings from English to German.