New Update: Auto turrets, new creature, more POIs, graphic improvements news

Hi everyone,

Today, we are excited to present you the new update for Empyrion. Pre-Alpha 1.2.0 is now live on Steam for the Closed Pre-Alpha participants.

We have integrated auto turrets, turrets for your ground vessel, several graphic improvements, a more user-friendly behaviour to fast move items from the inventory to other objects, a new scary creature on the lava planet (sorry no screenshot - we don't want to spoil it), several POIs (community builds) to explore in Survival mode and much more....

Several new turrets for your ground vessel:

Ground fog on the planets:

Several POIs to explore:

New Setting for Orbit scene in Creative:

CHANGELOG FOR PRE-ALPHA 1.2.0

Features:
- Add AI turrets: manual and auto mode (WIP, currently you have to enter a turret once to “activate” it for auto mode)
- Added in-game hints (first version, will be extended over time): can be disabled under Misc in Options
- Added new Shift+LMB behaviour to fast move items: If player interacts with e.g. Constructor, Shift+LMB moves items from player inventory into constructor inventory and vice versa. Also: Shift+LMB on stacked fuel pack now fills fuel tank
- All creatures now fade in (and dont just appear)
- Added turrets for GV (minigun, rocket and plasma cannon)
- Ships can now also be controlled with Arrow keys (pitch, yaw and roll)
- Changed system how new BA / CV / SV / GV is created: Now you have to craft the starter block in Constructor which then you can place as a "normal" block (i.e., you see preview of where you place block)
- Added some slight fog in space
- Added some fog on planets
- Added more space nebulas on skypbox in space
- Enemy stations are now always powered and lights are turned on
- Added several community builds in Survival mode: crashed capital vessel “Hyperion” on Moon, new base on Aestus and Ningues (thanks to our awesome community for these builds)
- Added new setting for Creative Orbit: added new community build "MS Lightning"
- Added the display of screenshots while resuming or starting a game
- You can now make a backup of your save games directly from the Resume Game menu
- Added rotor sound to drones
- Removed Unity startup dialog and added Video options
- Added new scary creature on Aestus during night
- Added Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) for better interior lighting/effects
- Added "Flatten Terrain" functionality to RMB of drill (removed "Removal" function from drill). "Removal" functionality is now LMB of "Removal and Repair Tool"
- Added new feature to GV: no you can move up/down within 2m with Space/C (great for parking in a garage ;-). Boost is activated with Shift+Space

Improvements / Changes:
- Increased light intensity during night on all planets
- Increased rotation speed of jetpack in space
- Added rotation to radar block
- Tweaked animation of Desert Golem
- Improved ore dropping
- Food Processor is now craftable also in basic constructor
- Removed line on planets (visible on water planes) that was created through overlapping of cameras
- Smoother digging
- Updated textures on console screens
- Improved terrain generation (should be more stable now)
- The height of your position is now also considered when discovering ores (i.e., now you have to fly low to discover ores)
- Making IP/port persistent in registry for multiplayer
- Added click sound to Quit (ingame).
- No game sound is played until the player is spawned.
- “Look around” (LeftAlt) is now configurable in Controls
- Different Water Reflection settings for quality levels
- More transparent menu windows
- Fading in and out of menu windows
- Increased spawning of Akua Fruit on Omicron.
- Tweaked model of Food Processor so it looks less like a space toilet
- Tweaked size of other planets on skybox (seen from planet surface) to better match planet size in space (overall smoother transition)
- Moved slightly position of Ningues in space
- Nerfed Drill (RMB removal option less strong now to reduce exploit possibilities -> before players could cut through hull blocks like butter and could salvage e.g. crashed Titan in few minutes)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed resolution problem in full screen
- Fixed collider on hover engine
- Fixed problem that dying animation of NPCs was played again after resume game.
- Fixed backpack exploit (exit game while dying doubles backpack)
- Fixed bug that most sprouts of plants could not be picked up (as well as flashlight)
- Fixed problem that player preference were reset all the time.
- Fixed bug that objects fall too slowly on planets
- Fixed bug that player could not rename base, SV, GV, CV
- Fixed bug that game was lagging when player mined on asteroids and placed/removed block on large ship
- Fixed Constructor inventory full bug (Constructor didn't continue even if inventory has an empty slot again)
- Possible fix of turret errors
- Fixed rotation problem with some blocks: Stairs, Bookshelf and other deco blocks -> now these blocks can be correctly used with the symmetry plane. However, the rotation of these blocks will not be correct anymore in your save games. We are sorry for the inconveniences.
- Fixed aiming bug with sentry guns

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next update.

Eleon Game Studios