TAXINAUT VERSION 0.9

It was a bit of a fight (especially near the end) but here we are: TAXINAUT V0.9

. This marks a milestone in TAXINAUT's development where all the features are basically set and I will now concentrate on adding more content: more planets, more mobs, more NPCs, etc.

Details of the changes going from V0.8.92 to V0.9.5 you can find at the bottom of this announcement; for now I hope you can join me in a little celebration of all that's been done since the Steam Early Access launch.

I've made a little celebratory "pat myself on the back" video where I just ramble a bit and go over what's changed since the first Steam version:

Or you can read an overview of it down here:

OVERVIEW OF CHANGES SINCE STEAM EARLY ACCESS RELEASE

GENERAL

• Gamepad support through focus-system.
• 3 different general text size settings (14pt, 16pt and 18pt).
• Fully supported widescreen mode with sliding control-panel (different from sightseeing mode).
• Steam achievements.
• Manual save options: NEVER, AT SELECTED SITE, AT ALL SITES.
• Run TAXINAUT in a regular window, borderless window or full-screen.
• Modding.

STORYLINES

• Storyline: Washing away the scum.
• Storyline: Among the stars.
• Storyline: Eldergrav.
• Storyline: The tender grip.
• Storyline: Shield and skeletons.

NEW FEATURES

• Obtaining other ships to fly and a hangar at home in which multiple ships can be stored.
• Modding owned ships with unlocked items.
• Different player clones and a "cryonary" at home in which to store them.
• Applying Gongs to owned clones to increase abilities.
• Meetups with weapon dealers and rendez-vous with arms merchants to obtain personal and ship weapons.
• Dangerous system-regions.
• Gateway networks in some systems.
• NPCs often have directions to where certain items are sold.
• NPCs sometimes have directions to "important" planets in the galactic-neighborhood.
• Right-mouse button works like a slow speed gas-pedal and can be used to move by nudges.

NEW ITEMS

• Auto-pilot item.
• Warp-beacon item that can be deployed in space and player can warp back to at any time without needing a warp-jump.
• Army foot-locker filled with goodies available at home at start of game.
• Starburst item to instantly jump to the current star (i.e. to the center of the system).
• Ram-jam item allows you to ram mobs with minimal damage to your cab.
• Vessel id scan can scan other ships for an id which can then be brought to a vessel-database to learn their details and possibly find where you can buy them.
• T-scan that can scan mobs so you can see their details in zone-details.

UI, LOOK AND QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS

• Yamo is more relaxed and has more pick-ups.
• Much better starport and travel-agent UI's: possible destinations are shown and selectable on galaxy-map.
• Animated warp sequence.
• Adjustable mob density settings.
• Adjustable fog level setting.
• Detailed planet option to make ascend/descent to planet look better.

There's a lot more and probably thousands of bug-fixes, tweaks, etc.

The changes file alone is over 2000 lines longer since the first Steam version.

Next I will be focusing on adding new planets, mobs, NPCs, etc. and on improving the "sandboxy" aspect of the game (so I probably won't add anymore storylines for now).

Of course I will still do bug-fixes as well.

V0.8.94 TO V0.9.5 CHANGES

This is mainly a very large list (about 500 lines added to the changes file) of bug-fixes and tweaks.

On top of that it adds:

• Those parts of the UI that didn't have controller support yet now do (e.g. ZoneDetails, Travel Agent UI, etc.).
• T-scan that can be used on mobs to recognize them and learn some information about them.
• Vessel ID scan that can be used on other ships to obtain an ID that can be used at a Vessel Database to learn about the ship including possibly where you can buy one yourself.
• Ads in your bulletin board from traders etc. in the system that you can click to obtain a bookmark to them.
• Better chances of NPCs having directions to special places and NPCs now sometimes have directions to interesting planets in the "galactic neighborhood" (e.g. within 100ly).
• News bulletins look a little more interesting. [*}A new "busy" animation.
• Possibility to import an existing character into a new game.

The last thing there has been added in preperation for me, regrettably, having to break save-game compatability somewhere before version 1 to fix some issues that can't be fixed without re-generating large parts of the galaxy. When you import an existing character into a new game you will keep the characters VUDU (both on character and in Nexus), a lot of their items and all their clones and ships and their gongs and mods. You will also be reimbursed for any homes that the character might have owned (you will start again at a rented place on Yamo). My apologies for this.