Plenty of additions have been implemented to Tau Station with our first update of 2023. The big task of porting pages to react has been successfully continued which brings us to the major good news: Music and sound effects have been applied to the game! On top of that, your character has an upgraded inventory and there are seven new missions ready for you to explore.
Listen Up! Music and Sound implemented
As promised, this update adds the first batch of music and sounds to the game, created by audio expert Luke Corradine. Enjoy various tracks for all areas and specialized music for confinement, shuttle travel, and when you’re in the cockpit of your private ship.
Maybe you want to look for trouble in the Ruins or play another campaign with your syndicate friends? The sounds of Tau Station will now follow you across your adventures.
Tip: Check out the preferences of your game account to (de)activate the music and sound for the game.
And there’s more to come…!
New persistent area: Arrivals
Any time you travel to a station, either via a public, interstellar, express shuttle or with your private ship, the Arrivals area is your entry point. You already know the area, but it has become a persistent area of the Port, providing station stats and local news.
Pages ported to React
Since the previous update end of October, we have ported many pages to react which brings us closer to the one-page application. This did empower us to give you music as mentioned previously. The following areas now no longer reload on interactions:
The Wrecks
The famous sub-area of the Ruins which can be found on several stations like København, but not on Tau Station, has been ported to react. The new button styles have been applied, along with some design changes.
The Port, Local Shuttles, Interstellar Shuttles, Arrivals
The work of porting and redesigning has been completed for the following pages: The Port, the sub-areas of Local Shuttles, Interstellar Shuttles, and the new Arrivals page. The Docks were concluded last year.
Traveling page
Another important page that got ported to react is the one you experience when flying from one destination to another. In this case, a public shuttle.
Character Page
A click on your avatar opens the important character page with its various information tabs. This page has technically become an overlay that allows music to be played/continued. It also gained a few design adjustments.
Moving around at a Station
Navigating inside a station has also been ported to react. There is no full page reload in your browser anymore when you move from one area to another – from the Bank to the Inn, for example. Music tracks can continue playing without being interrupted.
New CHRONICLES
We’re proud to introduce seven new missions with the recent update. They include exciting stories that engage you with deep characters and immersive settings. Complimenting the strange and extravagant themes of the stations, these chronicles will engulf you further into the world of Tau Station.
Ross 154 System
Explore the desolate station of LeGuin Stronghold through a series of missions that flesh out this empty and darkened landscape. With the “Lost Boy” trilogy, you will be placed at the center of an investigation that has life and death consequences. You start with a simple case of mischief that leads to a station-wide hunt for a missing child and more. To begin this epic adventure, head to the Government Center for further information.
Just outside the Inn on Madame de Pompadour, you can find a flamboyant man, dressed in red velvet. This will begin an adventure that takes you across the asteroid to the infamous and dangerous GIMIC mines. On “The Eye of Iridium” mission, you’ll be tasked with solving the mystery around several accidents, while exploring the mines and housing districts that hold all the secrets.
Experimental war games are the norm on the Jump Gate, but these secret Consortium exercises aren’t all that normal. At the Inn, you will be recruited by a legendary investigative journalist to help him with a story. When you start the “Thereafterwards” mission, you’ll be pulled into a web of lies and exploitation of the weak, all sponsored by the state. Going undercover to find the truth is both exhilarating and possibly deadly.
L 726-8 A System
Local authorities need assistance on the Spirit of Tianjin station. A dangerous and unhinged actor has barricaded themselves in one of the many Carnival attractions. Thus far, no one has been capable of extracting the lunatic, peacefully or otherwise. Will you lend your talents to the task? The mission “Curtain Call” awaits you at Security.
At the Jump Gate, you will find the station is going through a disturbance. Targeted vandalism is threatening the usually calm behavior of the Roswell Division members, the bizarre cult in charge. As law enforcement is reluctant to get involved, it’s up to you to solve this. Head to the Cloning Vats to start the “One Life on Little Earth” chronicle.
Many new NPCs and…bots!
Several new bots populate the universe. On top of the special MEROBOT, the following stations have received the first batch of dedicated Side Job bots: Tau Station, København, Daedalus, Taungoo station, Yards of Gadani, and Sol Jump Gate.
On top of the bots, more than 30 (new) characters received unique avatars. Meet the new or updated NPCs:
Hennix, Mick Samuels, Briggs, Carla Lowell, Cat Tanner, Faye Mulwray, Feeny Tilington, Gaspar Simenon, Hans Groobair, Jack Bendras, Marcel Simenon, Marvin Schaudhammer, Maximillion, Mohn J’Clane, Nozick, Pietro Segunda, Pompano, Norbert, Errik Mclure, Agnes Simenon, Alma, Avital, Daedalus Barkeep, Estelle Simenon, Gunther Grunter, Gustav Frank, Icos, Isabelle Simenon, Lunt, Mick Samuels, Milo Redhand, Pia, Teena Griswold, Victor Vielleville, and Xaffon Hunch.
New Inventory
Based on Community requests, your character now has an upgraded inventory with quick access to the equipped gear and items in your backpack. There are several comfort features like filter functions or assigning weapons instantly to the preferred slot. Check it out!
Further User Interface Updates
Animations and Visual Focus
New fading effects have been added to make transitions softer and more prominent when navigating to another area, or sub-area, or when opening tabs like the career tasks of an area.
When additional layers like pop-ups are displayed, the game content below turns blurry to put a visual focus on the actions you can perform. One example is the indicators dialogue (see below).
Indicators Dialogue
Selecting the icons next to your avatars opens the indicators dialogue. The layouts and information of all four status tabs have been updated.
Wealth Dialogue, showing Cycles and Days again
The bond and credit logs got updated, especially following a Community request to show cycles and days in time stamps again.
Texts and Feedback
There are several areas in which you can improve your stats. You now receive better guidance as we’ve added shortcut buttons that suggest an action when you’re low on stat/focus. This applies to the Gym, Inn, Lounge, Hotel Room & University.
Find out more and please share your Feedback!
There is more included in this game update. Besides several detail fixes, and UI improvements there are more layout changes and smaller improvements you will spot when playing. Enjoy finding out the various details and please share your feedback with us as usual on the game chat, forums, and our official Discord!
Stargazer for the Tau Station team