StarMade 0.054 - Gravity and Ship Catalog sharing news

Gravity

I have thought long about how to integrate gravity into StarMade, and I finally came up with a unique idea, that is easy to understand and to apply:

I was thinking, since I'm using blocks for every effect in the world, why not use blocks for gravity.

So I'm introducing the Gravity Module into the game.

The Gravity Module

This module can be set on any block structure in the StarMade world. It's effects are pretty simple: If you activate one of those modules from outside your ship, you will gain gravity and fall to the ground. This effect is only valid within the structure where the gravity module was placed on. If you jump off the edge of the structure, you will loose the gravity effect and start to float in space again. Right now, there is only one direction (down) available, but as soon as I activate module orientation, all 6 possible ways of gravity becomes available. Also, at the moment, the gravity and character-on-ground-physics will not yet adapt to flying objects.

There will soon be a way to affix a ship to a space station so you can build it from the ground with scaffolding and everything you need.

Catalog sharing

The catalog now has a few more options to make sharing much more easier than before.

Up high with the gravity module! don't look down

Exporting

You can now export single ships from your catalog to a compressed file, so you can send it to your friends without any trouble

Importing

The exported files can be imported into your catalog from a natural file choosing dialog.

Uploading

Since you probably want to test your creations against other players or in coop mode, it's now possible to upload your catalog ships ingame. Keep in mind, that the upload speed has to be slow so the uploads don't interfere in any way with the Server performance. But once you uploaded your ship, it will be on the server for you and other players to buy. There will also be a privacy option soon, so your ship will, depending on your choosing, be only available for you, your team, or everybody.

The new options for the catalog:

Noteworthy other changes and bug fixes

• fiddled with thruster mechanics a bit and switched to another system
• removed limit on cube structures. They can now be infinite in theory
• fixed bug, that could lead to a server freeze on explosions with casualties
• on update, your catalog will no longer be overwritten

Things to come

I will mostly work on space stations and the new gravity for the next few days. I will also implement the basics of a block configuration, that can be changed by the user. So server hosts can determine all prices and effect values as they like it. Of course, every bug report will get the highest priority.

Thanks for playing the Game,
- schema