SLOWLIGHT

← All posts

Release v0.3.2

v0.3.2 — Real worlds

Planets at real size, a cruise drive that gets you from the station to a dock in under 40 seconds, cities with sky traffic, airport-style spaceports and real clouds.

Merun, the Dominion's metropolis on Serra: landmark spires, ceremonial avenues, parks and a raised rail line.

Until now a planet was a few kilometres across and its one city covered a tenth of it. In v0.3.2 the planets are real worlds, thousands of kilometres wide, and the station orbits the main one.

From the station to a spaceport on Delion: cruise, atmosphere entry through the clouds, and touchdown at a gate.

What is in v0.3.2

  • Planets at real size. Worlds are 2,000 to 6,500 km in radius. The station orbits the main planet at 400 to 2,000 km; the other planets are tens of thousands of kilometres away.
  • Cruise drive. Press J to cruise: the faster you go, the further you are from anything, and the drive slows you down as you approach. Pick a destination with T and press F to travel: the autopilot leaves the station, crosses the sky and lands you at a dock, in under 40 seconds. Press F again to take the controls.
  • Many cities per world. Each planet has 15 to 30 settlements grouped into countries: metropolises, capitals, cities, towns, mines and outposts.
Merun, the Dominion's metropolis on Serra: landmark spires, ceremonial avenues, parks and a raised rail line.
Merun, the Dominion's metropolis on Serra: landmark spires, ceremonial avenues, parks and a raised rail line.
  • Fuller cities. Buildings now fill the blocks along the main avenues, parks have lawns and trees, and the Dominion's cities are grey stone instead of black. Air taxis fly in lanes above the main avenues.
  • Spaceports like airports. Ships land on marked pads next to a passenger pier, and a jet bridge reaches out from the pier to every stand. Sky traffic stays clear of the landing area.
Delion's spaceport: the passenger pier, jet bridges and parked ships on their stands.
Delion's spaceport: the passenger pier, jet bridges and parked ships on their stands.
  • Tower docks. In the big cities you can also land on platforms high up on the landmark towers.
Coming in to a tower dock in Merun.
Coming in to a tower dock in Merun.
  • Clouds and air. From orbit you see weather systems and gaps between them; haze only sits close to the ground, so the surface stays clear from high up.
Delion from orbit: the desert under scattered clouds.
Delion from orbit: the desert under scattered clouds.
Below the cloud deck on Serra.
Below the cloud deck on Serra.
  • The same world for everyone. The main avenues, the ports, the landmarks and the places stories will point to are fixed; the side streets are built on your machine as you approach, identically for every player. A place you see in someone's video will be in the same street in your game.

You need to update

v0.3.2 changes the network protocol. The v0.3.1 client cannot connect any more; download v0.3.2 from the download page.

If you were landed in a city in v0.3.1, you start v0.3.2 in space near the station: the old small planets are gone.

Known issues

  • The jet bridge does not reach out to your ship yet; it stays at the edge of the stand.
  • Tower docks have no bridge into the tower.
  • Flying through the cloud layer is quick and does not yet feel like flying through a cloud.
  • The first time you approach a big city it is built in the background; on a slow machine the buildings can appear a moment late.

What comes next

The jet bridge that reaches your ship's door, gravity and manual landing, and walking from the dock into the city.

← All posts