Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors.

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

• Passing ships can now use gates

• Ancient gates in rifts now have a higher durability to prevent them from getting destroyed accidentally
• Several objects in rifts now slow down after collisions and being shot: battery stashes and batteries, wormhole generator, weapon chamber and its switches, marker and path buoys

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the scaling sliders for non-uniform ship scaling would be set to zero percent upon opening the menu
• Fixed an issue in strategy mode where fast clicking on entries in the ship list while holding CTRL would stop the sector from being rendered
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where log files would only print hexadecimal numbers after a certain point
• To mitigate similar issues, a workaround to reset the number format regularly has been added as well
• [UBR] Reduced issues that would lead to multiple log lines getting heavily mixed together
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the client would calculate incorrect values for its ping time (including negative ones)
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the server would not track ping times
• Clients should now see ping values for all other players when pressing F1

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where not enough batteries would spawn in rift missions with battery stashes and ancient gates as extraction
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Ancient Defense Platforms would shoot into nothingness instead of nearby enemies
• [UBR] Fixed small objects like batteries, stashes and containers becoming undockable after collisions
• Fixed an issue where the Adventurer could spawn in rifts
• Fixed an issue where Yavana would continuously shoot at enemies that are out-of-range during story missions
• Fixed group leader icon's tooltip not being translated (Rift Research Center)

(UBR = User Bug Report)

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors.

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):

Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

• The co-pilot now automatically becomes the new pilot if the former pilot leaves the ship
• Wormhole Generator does not float away anymore if a ship collides with it or it is shot
• Escort AI
• Escorting ships no longer consider collisions as intentional attack
• Escorting ships no longer attack allied ships if they are damaged by them (same behavior as when the escorted ship is damaged)
• Escorting ships no longer fire at enemies that have stopped attacking them for at least 15 seconds (and have not attacked the escorted ship before)
• Disabled boarding of player or alliance ships if in a neutral zone or if player-to-player damage is disabled
• Black Market DLC: trader missions no longer start with a forced dialog; instead the player is hailed and can accept or decline
• The pause menu can now be accessed while playing the tutorial

• Added a continue button to the main menu
• Note: This will restart the last played session in the same configuration.
• This means, if you were hosting a local galaxy it will start the galaxy in hosting mode and others can connect to your server.
• If you were playing on a remote server, it will try to connect to the remote server. Does not work if the server has been restarted.
• The server's password is remembered. This way you only need to enter the password once.
• Improved Saved Designs Filtering
• Filter "Just Fighters" now no longer includes turret designs
• Added new filter "Just Turrets" that includes only turret designs
• Windows using a Saved Designs Selection now use an appropriate default filter
• Strategy mode: available rift missions are now shown in mission overview
• Fighter Factory now selects another turret of the same category (if possible) and keeps the previous point assignment after building a fighter
• Removed ship menu for fighters as it did not contain accurate or helpful information

• Fixed an issue where the client could get stuck in loading screen for single player instances and locally hosted multiplayer
• Improved how servers try to update workshop mods on server start
• Clients now try to actively update mods when connecting to a server with newer mod versions if the automatic update through Steam has not happened yet
• Added more information to the info box shown after connection errors related to mod configuration

• Made UIBlockDisplayer's clear method public
• Added new callback to UISelection that is called when sorting is finished
• overload member "onEntriesSortedFunction" to receive the callback

• Some types of connection errors will now be detected faster

• [UBR] Fixed a crash when trying to upload a turret to Steam workshop
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Black Market missions could include sectors from the other side of the barrier
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where serveral story missions could incorrectly include sectors from inside the barrier
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where delivery missions would select target sectors on the other side of the barrier
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where accepting a rift mission near the barrier would end the "Crossing the barrier" mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where headhunters could appear during rift missions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a ghost block would remain in the sector after building a new ship
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the tutorial mission "Ships, Strategies & Captains" could get stuck after deleting Lady Adventurous during the mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a required container would not spawn in the "Hackathon" mission if the player had a docked container
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "manage" was shown in the ship interaction menu even though the permission to do so was not granted by the alliance
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "building knowledge" could be marked as trash and would interfere with selling other items marked as trash
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a Pirate Mothership would keep its immunity if lured through a wormhole (away from its supporters)
• [UBR] Fixed a font alignment issue in Equipment Trading Window
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where gate titles where not correctly translated in strategy mode
• [UBR] Fixed spelling errors in German translation
• [UBR] Fixed an error in French translation
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where tooltips were not translated in the key bindings window
• [UBR] Added missing shipyard entry to encyclopedia production glossary
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where auto-turret mode could not be (de)activated in cruiser mode
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where boarding progress could get stuck if the boarded ship had passengers
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where players could enter and get stuck in photo mode during tutorial
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where attacking with torpedoes did not cause reputation loss on damage (destruction did already cause reputation loss)
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in a "respawn, trigger attack, get killed" loop if their reconstruction site is caught up in a faction war

Hello & Olá,

we've applied a few finishing touches to our recent updates and they are now live for everyone.

In case you didn't have a look at the beta patch notes so far, here are the combined patch notes for 2.5.6 and 2.5.7:

• Added Portuguese (Brazil)

• Scenario presets have been added to free play settings
• Added a free play setting to set the minimum block size value for new galaxies
• You no longer have to edit server.ini directly
• We have extended the allowed values for the minimum block size limit
• Values can now be between 0.00001 and 0.01.
• This is only a lowest allowed value, it doesn't impact precision or bigger values. E.g. you can still build blocks with size 0.0125.

• Added new highlight modes to show blocks that are smaller than the default and the server's minimum block size limit
• You can use these to verify your builds before publishing them to the workshop
• Added an info box in the bottom right corner which shows how many small blocks the current craft has
• Added a notice to the Saved Design Window and Workshop Upload Window if your craft contains tiny blocks
• The view settings button now pulsates slightly when there are active settings

• [UBR] Added map context menu entry to remove death location marker
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mission bulletin of Cover Retreat would show the wrong faction name
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the mass constraint wasn't updated correctly in mission descriptions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where escorting ships did send incorrect warnings when following their leader to another sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret group icons behaved like they were clicked while mouse pointer was not active, e.g. while flying and fighting
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where NPC miners would sit idle in sectors instead of mining
• [UBR] Fixed a visual bug in "Rescue an Associate" mission
• [UBR] Improved some texts in the Russian translation

• Ships and Stations that get damaged due to decay now send a more accurate warning
• Before these crafts would send the general "Craft is under attack" warning

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors.

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

The changes from 2.5.6 need a tiny bit more testing before they can go live on default. In the meantime, here's a new language and a few small fixes:

• Added Portuguese (Brazil)

• Ships and Stations that get damaged due to decay now send a more accurate warning
• Before these crafts would send the general "Craft is under attack" warning

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where NPC miners would sit idle in sectors instead of mining
• [UBR] Fixed a visual bug in "Rescue an Associate" mission
• [UBR] Improved some texts in the Russian translation

• Added missing translations for texts introduced in previous patch
• Added Portuguese (Brazil) to available languages in Avorion's Steam properties
• Fixed startup language detection if language in game settings is set to "Steam"

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors.

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

• Scenario presets have been added to free play settings
• Added a free play setting to set the minimum block size value for new galaxies
• You no longer have to edit server.ini directly
• We have extended the allowed values for the minimum block size limit
• Values can now be between 0.00001 and 0.01.
• This is only a lowest allowed value, it doesn't impact precision or bigger values. E.g. you can still build blocks with size 0.0125.

• Added new highlight modes to show blocks that are smaller than the default and the server's minimum block size limit
• You can use these to verify your builds before publishing them to the workshop
• Added an info box in the bottom right corner which shows how many small blocks the current craft has
• Added a notice to the Saved Design Window and Workshop Upload Window if your craft contains tiny blocks
• The view settings button now pulsates slightly when there are active settings

As usual we have a few bug fixes for you. Thank you everyone for reporting those pesky little buggers!

• [UBR] Added map context menu entry to remove death location marker
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mission bulletin of Cover Retreat would show the wrong faction name
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the mass constraint wasn't updated correctly in mission descriptions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where escorting ships did send incorrect warnings when following their leader to another sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret group icons behaved like they were clicked while mouse pointer was not active, e.g. while flying and fighting

An issue affecting multiple users sneaked past beta testing into our previous release (see Bugfixes and QoL Update). So after a very short beta phase, this hotfix is now live for everyone.

Thanks to everyone who reported the issue and thanks to everyone who already tested this hotfix on beta.

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where images in the encyclopedia were distorted
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when opening specific encyclopedia entries, for example "Integrity Fields"
• This was also triggered by choosing an integrity field block in build mode

• Reverted the bundled SDL2_image library to an older version (for Windows)

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors.

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where images in the encyclopedia were distorted
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when opening specific encyclopedia entries, for example "Integrity Fields"
• This was also triggered by choosing an integrity field block in build mode

• Reverted the bundled SDL2_image library to an older version (for Windows)

Hello everyone!
We're very happy to announce that the patches 2.5.3 and 2.5.4 are now available on default! Thank you to everyone who participated in the beta and all the valuable feedback! And now without further ado here is a highlight of the most important changes.

In the last update, we already made docking to a station more reliable by changing the underlying assessment of what is docked. While this made things less confusing code-wise, we noticed that the UI wasn't properly reflecting the docked status. To address this, we are now introducing the following changes:

• The station's indicators now correctly show the ship as docked as soon as you are close enough to transfer resources, crew, goods, ...,
• Tractor beams no longer pull your ship all the way to the dock if you have a functional transporter. They now stop as soon as your ship is in transporter range.
• Added visual effects when nearby entities block the docking area and tractor beams have trouble locking on to a single target
• Tractor beams flash red, some of them may point to the obstructing object
• A yellow indicator at the dock shows that tractor beams aren't available, but you're still able to dock manually
• Holding F now only starts an interaction when you are close enough to transfer resources, crew, goods, ...
• The interaction dialog with the station will now automatically open when your ship has been pulled close enough
• Tapping F for a short time always starts the interaction dialog with a selected station

Some things seemed to have slipped past us concerning secondary block colors. Thank you for everyone reporting these issues and the wonderful suggestion of a color swap!

• [UBR] Ship Name blocks no longer darken the text if a custom secondary color is set
• [UBR] Added a button to swap primary and secondary colors
• Button is hidden when both colors are equal
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where blocks with colorized windows (Crew Quarters, some Hulls) did not flicker for wreckages and ships with low energy

Due to several reports of bad performance in collisions, glitches in build mode and rendering issues, we investigated and found a few troubling issues. One we're addressing now with this update: Zero or even negatively sized blocks.
These teeny tiny blocks cause a lot of issues with our engine, as it was never built to deal with such a thing. Therefore, we sadly have to introduce a minimum block size. After a lot of consideration and performance testing, we chose to set the default minimum value to 0.01 (which is equivalent to 10 cm).
While this limit is fine for general gameplay, it does impede art builds somewhat. Therefore we additionally added a galaxy-specific server.ini setting that allows for this limit to be much smaller. Be aware that this might lead to more performance issues, though.

• You can set the server-wide minimum block size in the server settings. Accepted values are between 0.001 and 0.01.
• This value is not used to limit precision / decimal places. All block sizes above the minimum are accepted by the game.
• This change does not affect existing builds
• For now ship designs with block sizes smaller than the server's limit can still be applied
• Whole ship scaling currently does not prevent smaller blocks
• These two points will probably change in a future update, especially on multiplayer servers
• Existing ships already in the galaxy will not be modified

• The Open Ship Menu Button now indicates more clearly which ship menu will be opened
• The Creative Command Center (available in creative mode) will now give all types of subsystems and turrets
• The bug where co-op flying co-pilots were no longer able to do damage was fixed and additionally co-pilots are now also able to fire torpedoes!

As usual, this isn't an exhaustive list of all the changes. If you want to know more you can find the full patch notes of both patches here: Patch 2.5.3 and Patch 2.5.4.

Have a wonderful day!