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Spiritus Astrum has passed its steam build review!

This means that it is ready for release.

I had some very minor issues with the build review (Steam weren’t happy with the web browser that was included in the game) so I had to delay the intended release by about a week, but there were no major issues.

I will make another post about the release date, but it’s set for September 14th (And not the 7th as I said in the previous post that I made).

This week, I also added different projectile effects to each of the gun types for the valkyrie fighter, and I made some improvements to the way that the main menu gui is displayed in shuttles.

I also improved the console code to allow it to be interacted with while the player in inside a shuttle too.

Finally, I am working on a whole new GUI for the Valkyrie fighter, that shows missile/gun status, threat status, etc. This should be done in a day or so.

I have added the ability to fire guided missiles from the rocket launcher.

Left click fires a standard unguided missile, right click now fires a slower missile that can be guided using the WASD keys. It has a camera mounted on board that can be viewed using a screen on the launcher, and the missile can also be manually detonated by right clicking again.

The video below shows off this new feature.

I have also made some minor improvements to the game, and fixed a few minor issues.

Spiritus Astrum is very, very close to an Early Access release.

I made a post earlier this week announcing a release date in September. I actually removed this post, because my game build has not yet passed the build review (It is currently in the queue) and the steam team advised me that an early September data may not be achievable, depending on how long it takes for the game to pass the build review.

So, I can’t announce an exact date yet, but I am hoping that it the game should be in early access within a month or so, depending on the build review (There may be bugs, etc, that I need to fix).

I am not 100% sure what the price will be for the game yet.

I am currently debating between making it free or charging a small fee.

I will post an update when I decide on the pricing.

I also have access to some steam keys which I can use to allow beta testers to play the game early.

If anyone would like a steam key, please contact me.

I have added quite a few more traits and skills to the game, as well as tested and improved the skill gui menu and adjusted the exp requirements for the different skill levels.

I have also added a stamina bar, which prevents the player from sprinting continuously.

I have cleaned up the console prints on the client and server, and removed some unneeded debugging statements.

I have created a clean build of the game, and tested it, there don’t seem to be any major issues.

Pressing F12 now automatically saves a screen shot to the build directory.

Finally, I have added a simple admin script to allow me to save the server state, send messages to all connected players, kick/ban, etc.

The Early Access release is basically done now, I just need to prepare the master server for launch, and do some final testing. Once I upload the build to steam, I may do a limited pre-EA release using steam keys to grant access.

I have made many improvements to the game, and fixed many bugs.

The game balancing during combat has been improved, and I have made improvements to the physics code, and movement. I have improved the control system layout, and added basic joystick support.

The campaign story triggers have been tested and further improved, and I have added visible navigation paths to complex interiors to aid in navigation (Activating the in-game radar also displays any nav paths that are available). This makes it much easier for the player to navigate within interiors.

I also fixed a complex longstanding bug that was causing some items to rotate incorrectly when placed far from the player, as well as another bug with rotating the jetpack at certain angles.

I have also wired up several of the games unlockable abilities/traits/skills. Not all will be done in Early Access, but I am going to add as many as I can. The skills system in the game has also been tested and improved.

Finally, I have improved the weapon reload system so that weapons now reload automatically, even if ammunition is not equipped in the item slots. This makes combat and gameplay easier.

I have tested and improved the random quest system in the game. This is very simple at the moment, and needs to be improved, but it is functional.

I have also improved the GUI’s in the startup menu to make them simpler and easier to understand, and made some minor improvements to the main in-game guis.

The games documentation has been improved, with quite a lot of new detail added. It is available HERE. I have also added buttons and menus to more quickly access the in-game help documentation.

The campaigns (Especially the multiplayer campaigns) have had safety checks added to prevent some abilities and features from being available when they shouldn’t be.

The multiplayer/master server now has a user limit of 20 concurrent users. This is quite low, but the server has not been stress tested extensively, so I want to keep the concurrent users as low as possible until it has been properly tested under real world conditions.

The biggest improvement that I have made is with the game balancing for the third campaign. I have made several improvements here, and I am in the process of testing them. So far the game feels much more balanced than it was previously.

I have also fixed some small issues that I discovered while testing.

Finally, I had added a GUI to the capital ship in campaign 3 to allow the player to view a description and statistics for all of their ships weapons.

I am hopeful that I will finally be able to get Spiritus Astrum into Early Access at some point this year.

All that is left for the EA release is testing, debugging, and some tutorial menus and in-game hints.

The game is mostly single player at the moment, with three single player campaigns and a single player survival scenario.

I have also added a multiplayer survival scenario as well, although this is in beta.