Experimental Branch - 0.4.16384 - Changelog

[rockfish_andi]

Experimental Branch Update

We have just updated the Experimental Branch of the game with a number of changes that after having been tested extensively will hopefully soon make their way into the official Early Access version on the default branch. Please see the list of changes below.

To help us test these changes and gain access to the Experimental Version of the game, simply right-click on Everspace 2 in the Steam client and under Betas select "experimental". To go back to the offical game version, select "None".

Before accessing the Experimental Version, please be aware of the following:

• Note that save games created with this version cannot be read by an older official game version. They should work, however, once the offical version receives all the updates included here.
  
• As this experimental version can potentially include game or save game breaking bugs, we strongly advice to first make a backup copy of your save games folder. Better safe than sorry! You can quickly go to your save games folder by typing %localappdata%\ES2\Saved\SaveGames in a Windows Explorer address field.
  
• Also please always use the Bugs&Technical Issues [Experimental Branch] sub forum when reporting bugs encountered while playing the Experimental Version

Here is the list of current changes available on the Experimental Branch

Changelog 0.4.16384

Features

• Added centered crosshair mouse controls
  
• Added option to show mouse deadzone on screen
  
• Added option to show a screen center indicator

Tweaks

• Improved planet surface performance
  
• General performance improvements
  
• Savegames are now compressed sizing them down to about 5% of the previous size
  
• Added ingame option to delete manually created save games
  
• Reduced supralight visual effects intensity
  
• Reduced cruise mode visual effect in first person mode
  
• Improved camera dynamics in cockpit view
  
• Unused Energy Coils and Batteries will now go back to their original position if you re-enter the location/load a savegame
  
• Mine sweeper job can be solved by disarming mines as well
  
• During Outlaw Chief boss fight Drones now focus the player more so they won't fly away too far
  
• The normal shield of the Outlaw Chief boss will not recharge, if the "unbreakable" shield is depleted
  
• Save headlights on/off state
  
• Made option slider percentage bars clickable
  
• Show ingame dialogs on top of unlock messages
  
• Reduced opacity of Early Access banner

Balancing

• Increased Gunship ULT (Turret) charge amount per kill
  
• Reduced Gauss Cannon spread
  
• Increased Flak range
  
• Increased Thermo Gun energy consumption
  
• Reduced Thermo Gun range
  
• Reduced EMP Generator debuff duration
  
• Capital ships and freighters are now immune to "EMP" and "Webbed" debuffs
  
• Reduced Scout Weapon Range expertise bonus

Bugfixes

• Fixed crash when equipping consumables to another player ship before launching from hangar
  
• Fixed crash when selling a ship, returning to homebase and then switch ships (also retroactively fixes savegames)
  
• Fixed multiple Augments on a single attribute not applying correctly after loading
  
• Fixed engine trails sometimes missing after undocking
  
• Fixed ship being invisible when playing in no cockpit 1st person view and docking to a station other than homebase
  
• Fixed focus loss / stuck at save menu screen when using gamepad to overwrite an existing save game
  
• Fixed cockpit seat mesh sometimes being positioned behind the ship
  
• Fixed gamepad autoroll option affecting joystick (added separate option for joystick)
  
• Fixed not being able to rebind Left Mouse Button
  
• Fixed ships for sale sometimes having falsely increased stats
  
• Fixed signal decoders changing rarities in cargo after a new one has been picked up
  
• Fixed rebuy inventories of traders not clearing after leaving the location, leading to not being able to sell to trader
  
• Fixed Jumpgate VFX render sorting
  
• Fixed Energized Boost "Compressor" not correctly resetting duration after location change
  
• Fixed being able to enter photo mode during landing animation, resulting in a weird state
  
• Fixed revealed areas not staying revealed if you re-enter the location/load a savegame (e.g. caves, tunnels, secret rooms)
  
• Fixed Drone Spawners sometimes spawning drones inside of geometry
  
• Fixed Downtime Warrior perk not resetting for devices that refund charges or reset cooldowns
  
• Fixed multiple stacks of Downtime Warrior perk
  
• Fixed targeted devices being usable on "dead" enemies
  
• Fixed devices vanishing from shops
  
• Fixed fixed container loot not scaling to player level if location was entered with a lower player level first
  
• Fixed Flak projectiles not detonating nearby mines
  
• Fixed Recharge Speed Bonus of boosters having no effect
  
• Fixed wrong location image for currently active high-risk areas
  
• Fixed wrong position of a few HUD elements in ultra wide
  
• Fixed sensor modifier "Tag mines at 1500m range" not working correctly
  
• Fixed that some destructible walls cannot be destroyed by rockets
  
• Fixed Magnetic Repulsor mode "Serial Pusher" adding multiple charges
  
• Fixed Perk Upgrade animation gets stuck and blocks screen
  
• Fixed Various navigation and refresh bugs in crafting screen
  
• Fixed some affixes that do not make sense on all weapons
  
• Fixed some typos

[Holyvision]

Yay something new to test out -- thanks, was getting antsy for the first update(s)!

[Kage Goomba]

Nice work!

[SenecaAthena]

Perfect so far (3 hrs in experimental sandbox). Planet Surface Cruising is a blast. Very neat 'toss back in the ring' if you venture outside the mission zone ;-)

[malorob]

switching over to beta now and till full release
edit: continued from last save and works fine.

[ioneepj]

goooood job guys, nice improvemnt in terms of performance for me, it runs smoother even on higher settings now and finaly i can save it with controller without being stuck on screen ... on previous build i had to use kb to resume back to the game (not big deal of course) .... keep going rockfish, youuu rock! :D

[Szabista]

I'm absolutely certain that the ramping up damage on autocannons also does not work. Tested on a high-risk boss with a Blaster that had twice the dps of this Autocannon had. Shooting the destroyer for 12+ seconds then switching to the blaster quickly revealed that it dealt twice as much damage as the ramped up autocannon hence the attribute does not work.
In case you didn't know a lot of prefixes for weapons and equipment does not do squat.
Rapid is always superior on autofiring weapons (every weapon except 2) then Efficient since only fire rate is changed, not energy consumption thus ironically being more efficient. On a gunship, however I didn't notice any difference in fire rate.
ps.: Sometimes a ghost ship can be seen when changing ships with the cargo space of 7, all of which are empty.
Supraspace does not make sense. You get control of the ship and not. Planets are passable without danger that breaks immerison but why is there motion if you got to select your destination anyway? Atmospehere is good however, especially the music.
Repairing with nanobots is always more profitable even with all the perks (or with a 50% cost reducing gunship). If level scaling solves this then nanobots inevitably become useless and disposable. Right, consumables are better if autoloaded like in Starpoint Gemini. And a counter on the slot that shows total amount in inventory would come in handy.
Hangar limit of 3 is way too low for the early access given the rarity of improved stats ships.
Device oriented Sentinel has 2 Device slots just like any other ship, what the hell? Weakest synergy currently. Lightning gun is also the weakest of all ship ULTs.
Note: These are only the downsides of the game. I'm not aware of the right forum for feedback, but developers are already in the right direction and everything I disliked in the first game is gone for the better.

[T0a$T3R D.]

ooooh year i check it out dudes

[JackTheRebel86]

Tested the experimental version yesterday and I'm quite happy so far. Haven't run into any bugs, YET. Planet surface performance improved indeed, it's still laggy but by far not as laggy as before. Generally the game is slightly smoother. Also the new reduced Supralight effects are perfect although I was sceptical at the beginning, the new effects have much more clarity and depth to it. (I'm using a Lenovo Ideapad 310 with 20gb RAM tune and STEAM Driver Booster free version). I'm playing on lowest settings, all visual effects and stuff turned off. I shall continue the testing.

[ioneepj]

testing exp. version around 10-15 hrs in last 3 days, only one problem - occasional ctd when trying to jump from location to location, seems to be locations with mission in it. otherways all good

[Nakigara1985]

testing the exp version and I've only had one crash that caused my PC to reboot. Everything else seems to be working just fine. My only grip is when you're finishing jobs for Nephy. The Job giver at Nephy sounds monotone. But that's not exactly a big deal. Just a wee gripe. :P

[Brünk Hüll]

No crashes for me so far. Happy to report that performance improved enough for me to begin increasing graphics settings. Probably going to give the game a bit of a rest for the moment though, I've done about all I can in the current available content.

[Schnitzel]

Originally posted by rockfish_andi:

You can quickly go to your save games folder by typing %localappdata%\ES2\Saved\SaveGames in a Windows Explorer address field.

Thanks for the Info. I was going mad by searching for it in the last 10 minutes.
Beside that I'm normaly a big supporter of short path (folder) names I really would suggest this two things for you:

1. Use "Everspace2" not "ES2" as savegame folder name. So People can find it with a basic search. Even consider use "\RockstarGames\Everspace2\"
   
   
2. use %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\ rather then %localappdata% this should be more adequate todays.

Beside from that - Great game! And your doing a realy great job! Love it! 😘👏👍😃

[SpawnCap]

Love this game. Will load the experimental branch. During EA game cycle I never assume my save game will be able to continue on during update cycles. After final release I usually start the game from scratch, thats when I don't skip cut scenes and story when it is in it's final stage.