In September 2018, the completion of many tasks came to fruition with the release of our third system Barnard’s Star. Barnard’s Star brings 5 new stations, with new jobs, missions and even new local authorities to the game. A help icon now gives quick access to basic tips and several fan sites that share their knowledge with the Community. Furthermore, nearly 50 new 3D pictures add variety to the growing item pool. Aside from many detail changes like adding several confirmations and improved NPC vendor offers, all citizens who unite in a Syndicate have new features like a private forum, a new role for better management, a public profile page and more. Read on to see what was done recently!
New System: Barnard’s Star
Barnard’s Star contains 5 stations, new jobs, 2 missions (so far) and more to find out for you. This is the start of the new system, you can expect a bunch of further missions and more with the upcoming updates!
- New Station 1: Barnard’s Star Jump Gate (level 10), Consortium.
- New Station 2: Caen Stronghold (level 11), Freebooter.
- New Station 3: Hopkin’s Legacy (level 11), Independent.
- New Station 4: Estación de Amazon (level 12), Gaule Protectorate.
- New Station 5: The Maid of Orléans (level 12), Gaule Protectorate.
- New artwork for 2 Gov’t Centers, reflecting the (new) local authorities.
- More to find out for you…
New Missions
- “First do no Harm” (level 5) at Sol Jump Gate.
- “Hello Stranger” (level 10) at Barnard’s Star Jump Gate.
- “The Crossing” (level 10) at Barnard’s Star Jump Gate.
- More to come!
Syndicates
A lot of new features, changes, and detail improvements have been added this month. Learn more about future plans and the meaning of the special storage at the Ruins (see below) in the special blog episode, published in September too.
- Forum – Unlock a private forum for your members at level 4. Alternatively, you acquire it earlier for 1000 bonds. You find it at the info page of your syndicate (CORETECHS).
- History – The log is available for basic member actions and storage activities. Sorting options will add more comfort later.
- Notes – At the member list, you can enter a short message to inform your team.
- Profile Pages – Every Syndicate now has a public profile page, listing all members.
- Role – The new “Inventory Management” role has been added.
- Settings – You can now modify the basic settings, e.g. application requirements.
- Storage – A special storage is available at the Ruins of your alliance’s default station which is needed until you are able to create syndicate buildings.
Various Improvements & Changes
- Confirmations (Various) – Confirmation dialogues have been added if you spend more than 500 bonds. Emergency shuttles and bond to credit conversions in the bank will now always require your confirmation. Please note: similar confirmations for spending syndicate bonds will be part of a future update.
- Gov’t Center (Affiliation) – The station stats display now also labels the local authorities (e.g. “Consortium” on Tau Station).
- Help Page (Fan Sites) – Very helpful fan sites are listed here, including an alert and GCT conversion tool (thanks to all fans sharing their knowledge and tools!).
- Hotel Rooms (Combat) – You cannot enter a Hotel Room while under attack/in combat.
- NPC Vendors (Goods) – NPC vendors now offer more high-quality items so your current location won’t become a disadvantage due to items offered.
- Port (Express Shuttles) – The flight duration is now exposed to better see the benefits.
- Private Ships (Locations) – We no longer show the location of ships not docked at the current station to protect information about where a citizen might be.
- Public Market (Shipping) – The shipping history has been improved by removing entries of purchases at the local Public Market, because there is no shipping happening.
- Skill (Jump Gate Navigation) – Owners of private ships now get the correct speed bonus when traveling through jump gates.
- Upcoming Stations (Various) – Several changes have been applied to keep new stations a surprise for everyone until they’re finally released. “Find a mission”, sending items or clever traveling options some Community members had found (respect!), won’t spoil upcoming content anymore; sorry
New 3D artwork for 47 items
The artwork of many items with different rarities has been updated, exchanging the standard placeholder pictures with new 3D images.
- Long Range (8 items) – Alna-Modex (3), D10-XO (1), Joanna (1), Mudskipper (5), Sloane 6000 (1), The Ayy-Kii 47 (2), The Burke & Hare (5), Zeno IX (1).
- Short Range (13 items) – Athens-500 (2), Atticus-89 (1), Blue Steel (5), Clockwork Cactus (3), Fawnskipper (3), Machete (5), Pip (3), Rascal Rifle (2), Reaper’s Little Helper (2), Rusted Skin-Slicer (4), Sleek Skin-Slicer (4), The Tiger’s Claws (4), Xiana (4).
- Armor (26 items) – Aurorahunter (3), Burnished Scale Mail (1), Caen’s Ribbed Jacket (1), Disco Catsuit (1), Gaule Heavy Combat Suit (2), Gaule Thermojacket (2), Harold’s Jacket (1), Heavy Explorer’s Coat (4), Hippocratic Vest (2), Light Diffusion Jump Suit (2), Light Flak Jacket (2), Light Scale Mail (1), Light Spidersilk Flak Jacket (2), Light Thermoplastic Suit (2), Musty Leather Robes (1), Officer’s Tunic (1), Pembroke Holi-Tunic (3), Ribbed Officer’s Tunic (1), Ruins Rat Armor (1), Spacer’s Ally (2), Star Dancer (2), Takko Tunic (5), The Brakenshield (3), Wanderer’s Jumpsuit (4), Water Miner’s Jumpsuit (5), Werebeast Armor (3).
Some Update Impressions
Changelogs
You can find a short, detailed summary of every single update in the corresponding changelogs, which we have been publishing on a regular basis since we started the Closed Alpha Test. Here are all of the changelogs for September 2018:
About status reports
The status reports contain major aspects of the work done on Tau Station each month. As we’ve started to provide changelogs for every game update, you can find way more details, including all smaller changes, in these dedicated posts. Links to all updates/changelogs that happened this month are listed above.