Distress signal detected! – Interstellar Rift Development Update 037

Exploration has been one of our biggest objectives when we started Interstellar Rift. Today we take the first step to realising that goal. Today we implement the first version of infinite universe generation. Up to this patch there were no asteroid fields beyond 100 kilometers from the starting station. Now the game will start to continuously generate new asteroid fields and stations the further you fly out.

This first iteration will have several space stations, mineable asteroid fields and large asteroids. But now that the system is online we can gradually start to add new things to the universe generator to fill your universes with cool new stuff.

In addition to the universe generator we are also adding a new resource recipe. You will now be able to create steel by combining 2 units of iron and 1 unit of carbon. Steel has been added to the required resources of all tech 2 devices and some of the smaller devices. But don’t worry you wont need stand next to your life support huffing as much oxygen as possible in order to acquire carbon. Since carbon is now abundant in all asteroid fields as it can be found as an additional resource found in most asteroid types.

But wait there’s more. Because you can now spend much more time and fly much further trying to find new stations and resources it may be hard for your friends to find you, therefore we are adding a new ship device, the transponder. The transponder allows you to send out a signal which can be picked up from 150 kilometers away when activated. You can set the transponder to transmit any message you want.

There has also been a revamp to the engine display in the cockpit to make it a little clearer which engines are online, or are functioning at a lower capacity.

Please note that you will have to rebuild your server from the admin menu so that the universe generator will engage. however this means that all of the ships that are stored in the Store-o-Tron will be removed and the resources will be refunded to the individual players

NOTE: to continue with an old galaxy the world has to be rebuild, to do this the Admin can press F8 and hit rebuild world. This might take a couple of minutes.

As always we hope that you enjoy this weeks update and if you would like to know more and  see sneak peeks at upcoming patches please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, our own forums or our Steam forums.

 

Storage wars! – Interstellar Rift Development Update 036

Are you sick and tired of finding your ship all banged up after a good night’s sleep. or waking up to an empty cargo hold? Well fear no longer! Introducing the Vaultron Store-o-Tron Ship storage kiosk!

So this week we are introducing a somewhat smaller update than usual because this patch has to go out a little early. On the starter station you will find a new Kiosk brightly labeled as the Store-o-Tron. This new kiosk will enable you to put your ship into safe storage, so when you are logged out you can rest assured that your ship will not be damaged or destroyed.

In order to store a ship, it will have to be within 500 meters of the starter station.

Like the vault the ship storage kiosk is only available under dev models and requires unobtanium.
it is not intended for player construction use.

 

This week we will also be at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, showcasing Interstellar Rift at the holland pavilion in the business area. So for all of you attending gamescom, if you see us walking the floor feel free to say hi. You’ll recognize us by the Interstellar Rift t-shirts. This also means that in the coming week we’ll be a little less active on the forums.

Note: As an admin, if there are stored ships in the Store-o-Tron on your server please note that if you rebuild your server via the admin menu all stored ships will be deleted. We will update the kiosk so it survives server resets in the near future.

We hope you’ll enjoy this patch and if you want to see previews of things to come, follow us on Twitter, Facebook or drop by our own or our steam forums.