Changelog for the Experimental branch

[Koder]

This is a log of changes of the experimental branch of ΔV: Rings of Saturn. Experimental branch updates are very frequent - up to a couple a day - and are not guaranteed to end up exactly as implemented in the default branch - but it’s a great way to peek at the forefront of development.

Since this is a bleeding-edge build, it might contain bugs that slipped my attention. These bugs are fixed as soon as discovered, and on average experimental build is exactly as stable as the default branch, but you should be aware that things do not always go as planned and you might encounter quirks or plain bugs.

To access the Experimental branch, right-click on ΔV: Rings of Saturn in your library, go to Properties, the Beta menu and select experimental - bleeding edge. You can always go back to the stable build by switching back to none.

[Koder]

0.396.1 hit experimental branch with:
- fixed memory leak and possible crash cause in Enceladus/Dealer menu
- fixed illegal memory access that could cause game crashes when equipped with AR1500 Manipulator
- pulse laser system tuning now displays average power supply
- fixed a glitch that caused things carried in docking arms and cradles to not be considered as cargo, resulting in lifepod broadcasting SOS signal even when caught
- fixed cargo units not displaying correctly in German translation, when using HAL HUD.
- time skip buttons can be clicked again in Enceladus menu
Feedback Focus: This is a release candidate - please report anything that would block us from releasing this as the next stable release. We are in feature freeze until we do.

[Koder]

0.396.3 hit experimental branch with hotfixes:
- fixed a bug that caused cradles to constantly grab and release their cargo
- spending money while hire crew menu will now correctly disable hire button when you can no-longer afford to hire
- when running screensaver mode, any input will cause screensaver to terminate. You can run screensaver mode by supplying --screensaver parameter at command line.

Feedback Focus: This is a release candidate - please report anything that would block us from releasing this as the next stable release. We are in feature freeze until we do.

[Koder]

0.396.5 hit experimental branch, with:
- fixes a bug in cutscene handler for AR1500 manipulator that could cause crashes
- comms that are already sent will not be highlighted when you hover your mouse pointer over them anymore
- railgun will not leave one bullet in ammo storage compartment
- blocked ability to extend claim by 15 days if you don't have enough money. You can still go in debt when establishing a basic claim for 15 days.

Feedback Focus: Any bugs you come across.

[Koder]

0.396.6 just hit experimental branch, with fixes caught in most recent live stream session:
- Damage of "Kzinti Lesson mk2" adjusted so it scales more gently and will not throw away rocks it melts with vicious velocity.
- Restored missing dialogues for your crew when you encounter dead bodies in space.
- EIAA 1337 autopilot will now hold relative velocity to it's target as long as you press X
- If you exited OMS menu quickly after replying to a ship or drone, before the reply animation played out, you could not scroll to subsequent dialogues.

Feedback Focus: EINAT "Kzinti Lesson" got most significant changes, I'd welcome feedback on how useful it is for mining now.

[Koder]

0.397.0 hits the experimental branch, with:
- new AI system to recognize enemies of my enemies, making ships you help in combat more friendly towards you, and their teammates quicker to rush to help.
- updated translations.

Feedback Focus: AI behaviour in combat. The change is quite significant in situations where you engage more than one ship and more than one fraction. I especially want to hear how do you fare in pirate combat with Vilcy support, and how both factions behave after combat.

[Koder]

0.397.1 hits experimental, featuring diminishing returns on enemy-of-my-enemy mechanics. You can not max out faction standing by just continuously firing at someone.

Feedback Focus: AI behaviour, faction standings.

[Koder]

0.397.3 hits experimental branch, with:
- fixed a bug that caused pulse lasers not deal thermal damage at all, unless tuned to maximum frequency
- improved diminishing return mechanics when ships see you attacking their enemies, with better responses from constant beam energy weapons

Feedback Focus: Release candidate, due to laser fix. Please report anything that would prevent us from releasing in few hours.

[Koder]

0.398.0 hit experimental branch, with extra story events:
- you can now go on combat patrols with Vilcy
- Big Black Wolf has a separate conversation explaining what it is doing here
- fixes in translation files
- fixed a bug that caused some of the ships sold at dealer and encountered in the rings to not have ammo compartments, despite having been equipped with railguns

Feedback Focus: This patch begins the work of fleshing out out storylines more. With this instalment I'm looking for feedback on interactions with our resident bounty hunters.

[Koder]

0.399.2 hit the experimental branch, with:
- changed the way that mass driver recoil works to eliminate a race condition that can spawn bullets inside your excavator in certain circumstances
- fixed a bug that caused Vilcy to not talk to you when they liked you
- added intel/interrogation missions you can undertake for Vilcy
- you can now dock at Big Black Wolf if you have things they need
- destroying the Big Black Wolf is now permanent
- fixed bugs in AR1500 Manipulator code that flooded the debug logs with messages, making pinpointing actual bugs much harder
- adjusted one of timed events

Feedback Focus: This patch continues to expand the Vilcy / Ganymedean Anarchy storyline, specifically giving you more opportunities to work with our resident bounty hunters. Looking forward to feedback on how that works out for you.

[Koder]

0.399.4 hit experimental branch, featuring:
- you can now astrogate when your ship is not equipped with HUD system
- mass-driver ammunition will now be destroyed by centrifugal forces, preventing overpowered ricochets
- expanded racing team dialogue tree, allowing you to agree on a race in future on every line of inquiry
- updated translations

Feedback Focus: I'm still looking for feedback on new Vilcy / Ganymedean Anarchy story additions.

[Koder]

0.399.5 just hit experimental branch, featuring:
- new docking protocol for Big Bad Wolf, in which they take active approach to both docking and undocking
- adjusted collider shape of Big Bad Wolf to take into account space left from de-commissioned xaser.
- adjusted dialogue tree of Big Bad Wolf
- updated translation files

Feedback Focus: Friendly encounters with Big Black Wolves.

[Koder]

0.400.0 just hit experimental branch, with more storyline enhancements:
- you can become a licensed bounty hunter now
- expanded Big Bad Wolf dialogue tree
- friendly pirates will now talk to you
- updated translations

Feedback Focus: Bounty hunters life.

[Koder]

0.401.0 hits experimental branch, with:
- ability to collect wergild, once you have a proper license
- fixes in Vilcy dialogue trees, so they recognize your involvement in all your encounters

Feedback Focus: Bounty hunters life.

[Koder]

0.403.3 just hit experimental branch. You are forbidden to access it. It features:
- You can now collect wergild if you are a licensed bounty hunter.
- New interactions between your crew and the miners you meet.
- Updated overheat damage HUD shader.
- Fixed a bug that caused faces in conversations to not be visible on OMS screen if you didn't have OMS open when the message arrived.
- New features to dialogue system to make all that new dialogue stuff possible.
- Changed how mouse and keyboard focus interact in dialogue system, so it's now clear which option will be picked when you click.
- Added new decorators to certain dialogues.

Feedback Focus: Twofold. First, I would like to hear how do you like new story options. There is a ton of dialogue written for this patch, so there might be bugs or typos that neither I nor my spellchecker picked up - when reporting them, please include a screenshot so I can pinpoint the exact dialogue. Second - the new overheat shader should not have any performance impact, but it is a new shader and I might have overlooked something. If it works bad for you or you just think it's ugly, I want to hear that too.

[Koder]

0.403.4 just hit experimental branch, with bunch of bugfixes:
- crew dialogues tended to be suppressed when you were near another ship or beacon
- fixed a number of AR1500 Manipulator related bugs that could cause crashes in unusual circumstances, usually during or shortly after astrogation in a dense area
- ARM will not try to grab habitats and huge ice mountains anymore

Feedback Focus: Stability, especially if you are using the salvage manipulator.