So, for the first time in a while, OreSome has a new frame - by community request, I present the Refinery.
The Refinery Frame allows the player to convert unused ore into higher level ore at a rate of two to one, when it is powered. For example, two green becomes one blue (or yellow to red, red to cyan, etc.). Any ore can be refined besides top level white, which still must be found to be utilised. Keeping an eye on the refinery is necessary if you want to ensure you get the ore you want - it'll keep converting so long as the power lasts, so beware losing all your low level ore. Losing power while converting loses the current ore, so ensure to keep the contraption constantly powered to avoid ore loss.
Here you can see the green ore arriving on the conveyor belt, in the process of transmutation and finally exiting as blue ore on the other end.
A number of performance improvements have been going in lately, which should result in a much more smooth gameplay experience for all. The job isn't yet done, but it's lightyears better than it was.
v0.35
Added Refinery frame
Added Asynchronous (partial) sector generation
Added Asynchronous saving - no more massive hitch when autosaving
Added Drifter explosion effect
Added Canister identification improvements to the map screen - hover over a sector to show canisters discovered
Balance Yellow tech tree reordered and condensed
Fixed Waypoint arrow visual bug
Fixed Shields causing massive stutter
Fixed Main quests skipping first Badlands quest
v0.34
Added Allowing easier building. Frames can be picked up and rotated with build circles.Hold left click for a short time to grab
Added Probes rotate when in frames to match entry orientation. Can be used to set up eternally spinning devices or similar
Added Tracking of total population killed for future story purposes
Changed Black hole particle effect to be more obvious
Improved Particle effect efficiency
Improved Low level bioform AI efficiency
Fixed Waypoint indicator zoom issues
Fixed Purple flash on game start
v0.33
Changed Reduced shop aggressiveness
Changed Increased yellow nebulae cycle rate
Changed Increased anchor frame stopping power
Changed Increased planetoid deceleration
Changed Increased weld joint ridigity
Changed Initial access to first connect frame - part of future changes to make early frames more accessible
Balance Command, Battle, Freighter frame pricing tweaked
Fixed Camera smoothing
Fixed Drill free floating ore collected
Fixed Removed non essential debug messages
Fixed Buttons needing two clicks initially
Fixed Minimise making gui transparent
As you can see, a number of improvements to making the early game more accessible and less punishing have been made. A frame is now unlocked by default and frames can now be moved even after they have been built - so long as they remain inside the build sphere. Work on a new trailer has begun, which ought to show the game off better in its current state. Anyway, go forth and refine, curious androids!