'Ello! We are back with another progress update blog post. We've come to realize it might be time to start calling them just that, considering they haven't been weekly for quite some time now.

The reason behind increasing the time between our blog posts isn't arbitrary; we've been very busy tackling all sorts of issues you guys report after every playtest session each week. In addition to this, we're implementing some major changes to the game in preparation for the Steam release, as we've mentioned before.

Now, explanations aside, let's dive into what's new with Unitystation!

We've embarked on a significant overhaul of our shuttle system. While the previous shuttles were functional, their underlying code was complex, had huge performance issues and limited the capabilities of the shuttles and their movement a lot. 

For this reason, Bod9001 took the initiative to rework the system, in a similar fashion to the last movement rework, but for matrixes instead of creatures this time, aiming for faster collisions handling, simplified code, cooler movement and a more developed fuel system.

Today, we are excited to introduce the new matrix movement system!

Familiar but new

RCS functionality remains unchanged, at its core. Only difference is it now uses the main thrusters to do the directional movement. This means you will need a thruster pointing in each direction to maneuver.

The regular movement, on the other hand, has been renamed to docking mode and is engaged whenever the ship speed drops below 20 tiles per second. In docking mode, your ship turns into fixed 90º rotations, akin to the previous system.

The new

Crossing the 20 tiles per second threshold, movement becomes a lot more interesting. The placement of your thrusters and the center of mass becomes critical, enabling full 360º rotation. There is significant drag to prevent uncontrolled spinning, and larger ships will find it more challenging to maneuver and accelerate, making ship design a lot more important.

In the future, this system is poised to make ship-to-ship combat more fun and have some element of skill for the pilots.

Some other improvements include the Shuttle Connectors, that allow two matrixes to function like a single one, so that they share rotation instead of colliding, simulating a single, larger shuttle. Interactions inside moving matrixes has also been improved, so you should be able to click on this while at full speed now!

Ever since its inception, shuttles have been an area were Unitystation innovates. This rework has been a lot of work, and we really want you to experiment and enjoy it! Let us know what you think, with your feedback we can keep iterating it and making it better.
 

In our quest for continuous improvement, we've taken a significant step forward in how we manage account creation and authentication. Previously, our system was powered by Firebase, a Google-owned service with official Unity integration. Despite its benefits, we encountered several challenges, including platform incompatibilities, the instability of provided binaries, issues on Linux, and occasional rate limiting by Google—a company sometimes criticized for abruptly discontinuing their products.

This backdrop set the stage for our longstanding ambition to transition to a self-hosted account server better suited to our unique requirements and less dependent on external giants. After considerable effort and contributions from NooneyDude, Gilles, MaxIsJoe, and Bod9001, we're excited to unveil the fruits of this initiative: the launch of Central Command.

Central Command now oversees all aspects of account creation and authentication. This change brings immediate, noticeable improvements. For starters, you'll need to create a new account, achievable through either a recent build incorporating the new backend or via our website. A notable enhancement is the introduction of "unique names" for account identification, replacing the impersonal random strings generated by Firebase. These unique names, which are more user-friendly, will be used across various platforms, including admin lists, bans, and job bans.

While Central Command is operational, it's still a work in progress. We're planning to introduce more features and capabilities. The primary goal remains clear: to build a backend system that fully meets our needs, especially in light of the upcoming Steam release. Stay tuned for further updates

MaxIsJoe has done the marathonic task of rebalancing the cost of more than 4000 objects in the game, so that everything now has a export price. 

Yep, you will no longer be dissapointed as QM after sending Centcom a shuttle full of valuable items no one wanted, and are totally not trash, just to see you got nothing in return. These days are gone and your effort will be (likely) fairly compensated.

There is a bunch of objects to keep track on, so if you guys found anything exploitable or an item that should cost more than what you got, let us know!

I think we can all agree that Space Station 13 has some unique soundscape, that really sets the mood for the dangerous workplace you work at. Continuing her invaluable contributions to enhancing Unitystation's auditory experience, MaxIsJoe introduces a groundbreaking feature: contextual dynamic ambience.

These sounds are randomly played based on the area you are standing on. As a first iteration, we have 6 configurations:

• Main Station
• Lavaland
• Science
• Atmospherics
• Chapel (Faiths/Holy)
• Telecomms

Depending on what objects are around your character, the area will be evaluated as one of these cofigurations and randomly play sound effects with the intention of approaching that mood I was talking about before.

And that should be it for today's blog post. Of course these are only some of the changes we have done since our last post, if you wanted to see a whole list of changes you can explore our Changelog Page. 

If you wanted to be help us make Unitystation, you can always join our weekly playtest sessions, let us know what you like and what you dislike. What bugs you find, we are always fixing bugs found by the players. You could also become a patron and help us maintain the servers running. Join our discord and get involved, we are friendly people, eager to meet more spesspeople.

Like always, our most sincere thank you to all patrons, contributors and friends! See you all on our next blog post!