-Fix Maximillian-1000000 Plutonium Rock quest to show correct numbers in fetch goals. Updated quest to be 10 rocks not 50. Please note, existing saves with this quest will display a goal of 50, but you can deliver only 10 rocks to Maximillian to complete this quest in any sector you find him.

-Fix issue with starting main menu music

-Correct Research Pass ingredients
-Balance Quadrant Pass ingredient quantities

Greetings Scavengers,

For myself (who coded it) and Sarah (who did the art) making Space Trash Scavenger has been quite a journey over the last four years, and I wanted to take the chance to again thank everyone who helped test the game out during development. It has been really appreciated!

Also, a big thank you to everyone who has left us a positive review on Steam. This really makes a big difference to a two person indie team like us. If you want to support us as a developer, please do think about dropping us a review if you like the game.

And if you want to discuss anything, give feedback, or help in the future, consider dropping by our discord[discord.gg].

So what's new in the build? Mainly this update brings more optimisations, some bug fixes and some improvements to balance.

The optimisation is quite significant if you have a large rig with a lot of power sources. In these cases especially, but just generally overall you will have improved performance. There is also a nice fix to enemy AI that was causing Entity to become deactivated and unresponsive after piloting your rig. This is now resolved, so the world may be a little more dangerous out there now! (thanks DocHorrible for your help here!).

I've also balanced the stock goals and targets for a few other quests for smoother progression and perhaps a bit less of a grindy feel at points. Finally, there are several other fixes to labelling, recipes and other misc things.

Build 1.51
-Optimisation on power network and UI optimisation which greatly improves performance on large rigs
-Add Q.A. team to credits
-update bug in world ui canvas when jumping sectors
-Correct blueprint reward text for scientist 2 npc encounter
-Reduce stock goals targets in some instances
-Correct sensor2 labelling to assembler
-Correct misc wording
-Fix delay when starting fabrication if crafting multiple items
-Fix algae as fabrication blueprint in error in tutorial
-Balance goal in Max10000000 quest 2
-Balance Sensor 2 price
-Fixed bug where some indoor Entity would behave strangely, experience excess gravity and stop firing at players after piloting rig

Thanks again,

Al and Sarah
(SquarePlay Games)

Hi all,

Based on your feedback in the forums and discord[discord.gg], I have made a hotfix with some balance improvements and fixes.

Build 1.3:
-Further increase in lithium spawn amounts and sources (now found in mushrooms).
-Increased phosphorous spawn.
-Reduce lithium requirment in thruster 3.
-Reduce crop watered sound volume.
-Fixed nanolattice tooltip to show produced by Chemforge correctly.
-Entity no longer picked up by conveyors.
-Reduce stack trace on debug for smaller logs and better performance.

For those interested to help test the game for more advanced changes to the build, I have a beta branch on Steam. I am currently testing the next build 1.4 there which has following changes:

Build 1.4:
-reasonably significant optimisation on power network and UI optimisation which should further improve performance especially on larger rigs

Thanks

Al.

Just a note, you should disable g-sync while playing, if you have that running, at least on some systems, for better performance.

Build 1.2:
-fixed tool tip recipe for autoseller to match actual recipe

Greetings Scavengers,

I wanted to give a fuller explanation and an update to the most recent hotfix. I've seen some reports and bad reviews based on poor performance which are very unfortunate and I want to address. I want to have the game run as well as I can. It honestly surprised me because the game has been testing pretty well for a year in Early Access.

I can only apologise for these issues, I totally understand the frustration to have unexpected frame drops in a new game which looks like it should be fine.

The fix
After some testing i think I can now be sure the problem was related to a bug that crept in in final 1.0 update. After 4 years work it's unfortunate that this happened, but that is game dev and sometimes issues like this can crop up at launch.

The upshot of the error was the game was set to a very high render scale. Additionally there seemed to be some sort of issue in how the setting is implemented in the unity URP render pipeline, somehow causing max GPU usage. This actually was creating a big additional hit on performance, almost doubling intended GPU load, and causing GPU fans to roar, for minimal benefit.

In this build I have fixed that, setting a reasonable value in line with the development (and actually, I removed this setting both to help with testing and because it was not useful). For reference the last hotfix was not effectively doing this in existing installs.

With the update you can expect roughly twice the performance across the board for new players, including on Deck. This graph (thanks Fank!) shows the change, with the line settling at the new performance with this change implemented.

To 4k or not 4k?
I want to emphasize that this game is a low poly indie game, designed for 1920x1080 resolutions or their aspect equivalent.

Unlike like some AAA games like say Cyberpunk, it's not aiming to be a graphical powerhouse and does not benefit much from higher resolution. It's not really necessary to put it above this default resolutions. By all means you can, but on some (and I do mean older) systems you may experience worse performance. Because of this I added a note in the graphics options.

For those few users who for are experiencing low FPS (I mean very low < 40) I strongly suggest you go to Options > Graphics and set the resolution to 1920x1080 or aspect ratio equivalent.

But in most modern rigs, this really shouldn't be necessary.

Reference values
For some information I gathered some reference values, this is just baseline test at spawn.

Many of these values are from people commenting in Discord[discord.gg]:

• 3070Ti - 1920x1080 - 180 fps, capped by monitor vsync
  
• 3070Ti - 2560x1440 - maxes out at around 120 fps
  
• 3080 - 1440p, AA off, MSAA 2x, Shadow res 1020, shadow dist 0.1 - user limits at 60 to preserve gpu lifespan but reaches around 120 uncapped
  
• 3090 Founders - Ultrawide 5140x1440 (32:9) - 120fps capped, 143.7 FPS avg uncapped
  
• Steam Deck - 720p - 48 to 60 fps

More Settings Than Most Indies Games?
I also wanted to highlight that you can change many graphical settings, either for better performance or for you own visual preferences. Improvements are slight, but on very low spec systems this may help.

• Vsync On (caps your FPS to your monitor refresh rate). If you toggle it off you can manually cap your fps if its running too fast. An unchecked max fps can set your GPU fans.
  
• Antialiasing - toggle FXAA, SMAA or off
  
• MSAA quality - 2x 4x 8x off
  
• Shadow resolution - set lower for better performance
  
• Shadow draw distance - reduce for better performance

There is also the option to select a low texture build when you run open the game on Steam. For older systems or potentially the Steam Deck if you select the Lower Spec option, you will get even more benefit, considering this build uses half the VRAM as the main build, again not often offered to players.

Al

Build 1.1 Changelog:
-fix render scale to intended and tested values and remove slider
-add resolution notes

Greetings Scavengers,

I've got a hotfix to address a few things that have come up since launch. Please do let me know anything you find in [url]discord.[/url]

I've seen a few reports of poor performance so made a change to address this, as well as some other balances.

If you have low FPS try going into Options > Graphics and reducing Render Scale to around 0.5. There may be an error in how this setting is implemented. The change is not really visually perceptible and should improve your FPS on lower spec systems or laptops. In addition, when you open the game in Steam, you are presented with a choice of two builds, do try running the Lower Spec build with reduced texture memory as well if you have any problems.

You should also check you have your latest GPU drivers installed and updated. I worked hard to include other graphical options too, so I suggest checking them out too. For example, you can toggle ambient occlusion, and alter or disable anti aliasing.

It's also worth keeping in mind, it should be said this game is not really a 4k game. It is a fairly low poly indie game, and unless you have a recent card, you could think about playing at 1080p which you can also set in Options > Graphics. It was designed to be played at this resolution, and if you do have any performance issues, you will lose absolutely nothing from the experience by playing at this if you are on an older machine.

Thanks to everyone who has supported the game so far! I really appreciate those positive reviews, it lets us know there are people who are enjoying it and that we did something worthwhile over the past four years development.

Cheers,

Al.

Hotfix 1.02 change log:

-Render scale default balanced to give better guarentee of performance.
-Better balance for later stage stock items. Reduced lithium requirement and other ingredients for smoother progression.
-Reduced stock goals at later stages for smoother progression.

Please note: While existing saves will work in 1.0, we recommend starting a new game to get the full and intended experience.

Greetings Scavengers,

Today I’m super excited to announce that Space Trash Scavenger is launching into full release! It’s been a fun time working on this in Early Access for the past year during which Sarah and I have been updating and adding to the game, very often based on your feedback.

So thanks to everyone who took the time to submit ideas and file bugs, chat in Discord, it’s been a huge help.

Quick recap: Space Trash Scavenger is a fully featured Factory and Automation game set in a semi open world with Survival mechanics, Building and Crafting. Pilot and build your Space Rig to scavenge and repurpose Space Trash to sell at a stock market with dynamic prices.

The unique twist is that you do all this in a fully 3D microgravity environment, in a series of toybox-sized, procedurally generated asteroid fields. You can also explore the procedurally generated interiors of derelict space ships, abandoned mines, terraformed farms and mysterious science vessels.

All of this is done while allowing seamless travel between space, space ships and gravity wells like asteroids.

Some of the highlights through Early Access include the Automation Update, where a major rehaul of automation meant you could finely tune and automate all aspects of your space rig operation.

In the Combat Update we added 30 new levelled Entity alongside new attack behaviours. We’ve added grenades, flashlights, new weapons, new drones, and updated the Rig flight model too. In that time I also acted on numerous bugs and glitches that you submitted, making the game as stable as possible.

We also added a complete set of difficulty sliders including hunger rate and fuel use, so that you can customize your own experience.

But we’re not done! Because with 1.0 we wanted to send Space Trash Scavenger into the Outer Reach with more. With the full release I’m proud of where we’ve taken the game, so let’s get into what we have added for the full release.

First up is a new biome. We’ve added a new and final quadrant for you to jump to and explore. Here you’ll find the mysterious Science Vessels to explore - and Scavenge. What could these long abandoned research vessels have been used for..?

It’s been a popular request for a while and now it’s here: Creative Mode. Like any of the survival modifiers and enemy difficulty settings, you can toggle this on or off at any time in options. Creative mode unlocks all blueprints and grants your Fabricator resource free instant for all items and structures in the game. Let your imagination go wild!

The 1.0 update features an overhaul of the existing NPC and quest system, expanding their scope, offering more background detail and more story. We’ve also added some cheery new characters you’ll meet along the way, like this little guy:

The game is technically open ended, generating an infinite variety of Salvage Sectors and outposts with procedural layouts to explore. But should you choose to, you can opt to pass a (clearly signposted) point of no return and bring the Scavenger’s story to an end.

We’ve added Steam achievements to the full build. Collect them all!

New products to manufacture
The factory side of the game has also been expanded, with multiple new items to manufacturer and sell. Factory complexity has been markedly increased with higher ingredient products to create.

The 1.0 comes with tonnes of new features and quality of life improvements. One of them is the indoor holomap. You can already use this out in space, but now you can track where you are while you explore the sometimes vast derelict space wrecks and outposts you will encounter while you scavenge.

There are too many new features to write out here, so do check the 1.0 changelog below for more details. Many are based on popular requests such as renaming containers, the x5 craft button, more enemies and more scenery indoors.

Alongside the new features, there are also a slew of new bug fixes, balancing changes and pacing tweaks.

It’s been a wild ride from when we started this project back in the dying days of the pandemic in 2021, to where we are now.

Two people making a game like this isn’t always so easy, and I want to thank everyone who helped me and Sarah make this project a reality, from all the beta testers and early access adopters, anyone who took the time to file a bug, and everyone else who helped along the way.

Al and Sarah

V1.0 Changelog:

New Biome

• Added a new quadrant with new Research Vessel sector type, with unique interiors to explore.
  
• New trash for final quadrant.
  
• Three new cubit elements specific to quadrant.
  
• Added several new stock items specific to quadrant.
  
• Updated sell stock questline for final quadrant.

Creative mode

• Let your imagination go wild and build the Rig of your dreams! Due to popular demand, you can now toggle Creative Mode at any time in Options > Game. This will give you all the blueprints and unlock free unlimited crafting from your Fabricator without needing any ingredients. Remember you can toggle many other difficulty sliders at any time there too, including hunger rate, fuel efficiency and max Entity difficulty level.

NPCs/Quests/Ending

• Added (optional) ending to game with save prompt before proceeding. Follow the questlines and complete your goals to finish the game and conclude the story.
  
• Significant restructure of NPCs. Some collection quests persist between jumps and reward with unique blueprints. Must complete certain NPC questlines before advancing quadrant.
  
• Addition of narrative elements to quests and rewrite of dialog across many areas.
  
• Added new NPC.
  
• New monolith types.
  
• New disks and runestones for updated fetch quests.
  
• Update actor sfx on NPCs.

New Features

• Steam achievements.
  
• Added holomap for when inside ships or mines, with three levels of zoom. This only shows the rooms you have been in. No more getting lost in the mines!
  
• Added lots of interior decoration and props to all interior locations.
  
• Added dynamic and pulsing lighting for atmosphere in interiors.
  
• Added new Entity types indoors to make combat more varied inside.
  
• Improved procedural generation for ship interiors, removes rare overlapping areas.
  
• Added new room types to Mining Outpost.
  
• Show item amounts when receiving NPC rewards.
  
• New ultra rare trash.
  
• Improved icons and forward arrow on quadrant map.

QoL

• Added “Fabricate x5” button to fabricate five items with one click. Due to popular demand.
  
• Can RENAME all Lockers, Autostorage and Machines. Due to popular demand. Got a locker just for Gold? A machine just for Steel? No problem, just click on the name in the inventory panel and edit the name. This shows on the pop up when you are near it too, so it’s easy to find them again. Will also save load.
  
• Added rig thruster Fuel Burn Rate difficulty slider to Game > Options. Another popular request.

Balance

• Balanced many ingredients, recipes and costs across Product line and other items for better progression and to better stratify across quadrants, requiring more engagement with NPCs, stock and factory.
  
• Increased grenade throw distance, reduced player damage from own grenades.
  
• Increase Thruster Fuel stack to 50.
  
• Adjust permit costs.
  
• Shotguns will only sometimes gib mining rocks if low health.
  
• Rig thruster fuel uses 2 oxygen.
  
• Revert Grapple 2 ingredients to Steel not magnet.
  
• Balance Laser Rifle and Shotgun.
  
• Rebalanced occurance of Freighters across the different quadrants so you will always encounter the larger ones later.
  
• Interior Entity balancing

System

• Removed GameAnalytics and related options and text.
  
• Fixed option menu labels to show correct Max Entity Cap and Base Attack intervals.
  
• Reduced debug output to player.log
  
• Remove pop up on starting game.
  
• Added difficulty and creative mode notice on New Run.
  
• Hide goals when inventory is open.
  
• Corrected Discord link.

Optimisation

• Reduced vram footprint by over 2gb.
  
• Better Steam Deck support - this means the main build will now run on Steam Deck. I will leave the low texture build option for lower spec systems.

Bug fixes

• Fix freighter in sector one to ensure disks for quest.
  
• Fix large freight ship interior sometimes clipping into rooms
  
• Fix skip tutorial to give algae recipe.
  
• Tools now don’t shrink too small fully on conveyors.
  
• Tweak interior spacewreck algorithm to prevent overlapping dead ends.
  
• Disabled hologram on terminal.
  
• Interior enemies scale level properly
  
• Fix telescanner sfx to handle double-clicking or very quick target on/off.
  
• Fixed crate contents to have more items and not just 1 item mostly.
  
• Corrected various recipe errors.
  
• Update blueprint shop to not include recipes you are given.
  
• Address issue in atomizer autofiller.
  
• Update farm asteroid enemies to include Orb and Rusher sometimes.
  
• Adding missing stock from blueprint menu.
  
• Can only toggle flashlight in movement or placement mode.
  
• Conveyors and factory machines do not pick up drones.
  
• Drones will activate on save/load
  
• Added dynamic queue title visibility in fabricator menu.
  
• Fixed jump drive labeling.
  
• Correctly updated hunger and fuel burn rates on menu close in game.
  
• Fix issue save loaded dead scav and scientist NPCs. Previously erroneously reset the NPC until next jump.
  
• Delivery shuttle hatch status now saves and loads correctly.
  
• Fixed bug where the delivery guy would load at scale zero on save/load cycle.
  
• Added check for incorrect array save to allow legacy saves on industrial quadrant drop zone to load However I strongly recommend restarting your playthrough with this build.
  
• Fixed entity that died from barrels not despawning correctly.
  
• FIxed missing colliders on some interior props.
  
• Improved ship interior detection.
  
• Improved interior enemy colliders.
  
• Many more various bug fixes and tweaks.
  
• Fix atomiser bug losing input item if input while full
  
• Fix laser rifle and pistol colliding with player at very high speeds
  
• Fix door locks on space wrecks and balanced rates
  
• Fixed erroneous colliders on indoor enemies
  
• Fixed erroneous spawn of enemies in some rooms
  
• Landing on an asteroid removes a tag
  
• Updated Factory to receive 3 ingredients
  
• Cannot accidentally close inventory when you are editing a machine name

Greetings Scavengers,

I’ve got some exciting news to share. This week we’ll be launching version 1.0 of Space Trash Scavenger on Steam!

It’s been almost exactly a year since we went into Early Access, and in that time we’ve been working hard to tweak, balance and improve the game, based both on your feedback and our own ideas.

Now we’re ready to hit the launch button on the full release! Like other updates, the 1.0 build will bring a bunch of new stuff, including a new biome, new characters, new stories, new stock items and plenty of fixes and balance too. We’ve also added a Creative Mode so that you can build the Space Rig of your dreams without worrying about resources or money.

Thanks to everyone who has picked up the game, helped test it, or just submitted feedback - it’s been a huge help.

I'll see you on Thursday with more details, the full changelog, and the finished game!

Al.