This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Rendering

• [UBR] Added a workaround for a rendering freeze that could occur primarily during Rift missions with AMD cards on Windows
  • A visual distortion effect is now disabled for some AMD cards

If you had render freezes or crashes in Rift missions before, please test this beta and report your results in our Discord (channel #beta-feedback)

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed a crash when entering build mode after externally modifying the folder structure for saved templates (when templates were placed in the quick bar)

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors.

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Networking

• [UBR] Fixed an issue that could cause lag / rubberbanding in certain situations, especially:
  • Singleplayer with Steam offline mode
  • LAN Multiplayer
  • In rift sectors and sectors with many enemies

Gameplay

• A station's fighters can now perform harvest command sector-wide

UI

• Subsystems can now be removed from disabled slots in the Ship Menu (e.g. after scaling the ship to a smaller size)
  • Removal depends on the same rules as removing from activated slots: Permanent upgrades will be destroyed unless you're close to an equipment dock

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ship rotation speed was reduced when having high FPS
• Fixed an issue where dismissing crew could break the tutorial
• Fixed an issue where Black Market Trader Missions would not behave as intended in territories owned by factions the player is at war with
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the window of an active supply factory command could show outdated information or information from another ship
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighter subsystems' bonuses would not be displayed correctly in build menu stats
• [UBR] Fixed camera animation shown when entering rift moving through big player ships
• Fixed an issue where changing slider values in shipyard's build ship menu with the mouse wheel would not work correctly
• Fixed an issue where shield buffs would not be reset after successfully boarding a buffed pirate ship
• Fixed encyclopedia search not being able to match "co-op" entries
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where commands would be issued through open windows in strategy mode
• [UBR] Mod uploader no longer uploads files or folders starting with a dot (e.g. ".git")
• Dedicated Server Runner: Fixed an issue where the freeplay settings window and the troubleshooting window would only be partially visible

(UBR = User Bug Report)

Gameplay (Into The Rift)

• Acid Fog environmental effect is less severe now
  • Overall damage is slightly reduced; maximum damage has been halved
  • Affected material progression has been shifted towards the center of the galaxy, so that there is more of the next safe material available in nearby sectors
• Rift Research Data loot is now marked when using an object detector
• Scannable radiating asteroids change their color back to normal after being used
• Added a visual indicator when ships are getting damaged from radiating asteroids
• Quantum Xsotan now stay closer to the fight
• Activated wormhole generators are now highlighted and shown in Strategy Mode's sector overview

Quality of Life

• Added preview for new mass and new number of subsystem sockets when scaling ship in Build Mode (in Modify Whole Ship window)

UI

• Strategy Mode: added message beacons, sector renaming beacons and marker buoys to sector overview
• Added "delete word" functionality to multiline text boxes (Ctrl+Backspace and Ctrl+Delete)
• Input dialog windows (e.g. ship renaming) can now be confirmed with "Return"
• Photo Mode now has HUD buttons to exit Photo Mode and to show/hide the Photo Mode window

Performance

• Optimized spawning multiple Xsotan at once
  • The game will still have a short performance impact when spawning new ships, but it should be much better now
• Optimized cleanup of overlapping blocks when importing a craft/template/turret

Scripting API

• Added new function WaveUtility.createXsotanWaveAsync(namespace, callback, ...) that allows for async generation of predefined groups of Xsotan
  • this function's spawning behavior is exactly like the existing WaveUtility.createXsotanWave()
  • even if you do not want to use the callback parameter, the namespace parameter has to be given in order for the internal callback structure to work
• Added Sector():dropTorpedo(...) that drops a torpedo as loot at the given position

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue in Build Mode where undoing ship scaling would result in lost turrets
• Fixed an issue where marker buoy messages would not be shared between all permitted players
• Fixed an issue where rift mission cargo would not be removed after ending the mission
• Fixed an issue where objects in rifts were not scannable by player drones
  • (using the player drone in a rift sector is not recommended, though)
• Fixed an issue where Build Mode's subsystem socket icons would not update correctly when changing ship size
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ship building progress was no longer visible at the shipyard after saving and reload
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in Free Play settings (when creating a new galaxy) where the unlimited maximum ship size checkbox was incorrectly disabled
• Fixed an issue where camera would jump when entering Photo Mode if Cruiser Steering Mode was active
• Fixed an issue where some HUD buttons were visible in Photo Mode
• [UBR] Fixed Turret Build Mode requiring Titanium building knowledge to build
• [UBR] Fixed Turret Build Mode showing additional unavailable block types if player is missing some building knowledge
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in torpedo tutorial
• [UBR] Fixed rift teleporter being boardable
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the tooltip of dropped loot is showing in a wrong position when using a custom UI scale
• [UBR] Fixed casino not showing up in the encyclopedia's goods glossary

(UBR = User Bug Report)

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors.

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay (Into The Rift)

• Acid Fog environmental effect is less severe now
  • Overall damage is slightly reduced; maximum damage has been halved
  • Affected material progression has been shifted towards the center of the galaxy, so that there is more of the next safe material available in nearby sectors
• Rift Research Data loot is now marked when using an object detector
• Scannable radiating asteroids change their color back to normal after being used
• Added a visual indicator when ships are getting damaged from radiating asteroids
• Quantum Xsotan now stay closer to the fight
• Activated wormhole generators are now highlighted and shown in Strategy Mode's sector overview

Quality of Life

• Added preview for new mass and new number of subsystem sockets when scaling ship in Build Mode (in Modify Whole Ship window)

UI

• Strategy Mode: added message beacons, sector renaming beacons and marker buoys to sector overview
• Added "delete word" functionality to multiline text boxes (Ctrl+Backspace and Ctrl+Delete)
• Input dialog windows (e.g. ship renaming) can now be confirmed with "Return"
• Photo Mode now has HUD buttons to exit Photo Mode and to show/hide the Photo Mode window

Performance

• Optimized spawning multiple Xsotan at once
  • The game will still have a short performance impact when spawning new ships, but it should be much better now
• Optimized cleanup of overlapping blocks when importing a craft/template/turret

Scripting API

• Added new function WaveUtility.createXsotanWaveAsync(namespace, callback, ...) that allows for async generation of predefined groups of Xsotan
  • this function's spawning behavior is exactly like the existing WaveUtility.createXsotanWave()
  • even if you do not want to use the callback parameter, the namespace parameter has to be given in order for the internal callback structure to work
• Added Sector():dropTorpedo(...) that drops a torpedo as loot at the given position

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue in Build Mode where undoing ship scaling would result in lost turrets
• Fixed an issue where marker buoy messages would not be shared between all permitted players
• Fixed an issue where rift mission cargo would not be removed after ending the mission
• Fixed an issue where objects in rifts were not scannable by player drones
  • (using the player drone in a rift sector is not recommended, though)
• Fixed an issue where Build Mode's subsystem socket icons would not update correctly when changing ship size
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where ship building progress was no longer visible at the shipyard after saving and reload
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in Free Play settings (when creating a new galaxy) where the unlimited maximum ship size checkbox was incorrectly disabled
• Fixed an issue where camera would jump when entering Photo Mode if Cruiser Steering Mode was active
• Fixed an issue where some HUD buttons were visible in Photo Mode
• [UBR] Fixed Turret Build Mode requiring Titanium building knowledge to build
• [UBR] Fixed Turret Build Mode showing additional unavailable block types if player is missing some building knowledge
• [UBR] Fixed several issues in torpedo tutorial
• [UBR] Fixed rift teleporter being boardable
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the tooltip of dropped loot is showing in a wrong position when using a custom UI scale
• [UBR] Fixed casino not showing up in the encyclopedia's goods glossary

(UBR = User Bug Report)

As the patch was performing nicely on beta - here it is now live on default! Additionally to the below patchnotes we also fixed some flagged issues in the Japanese translation 🙂

ITR Gameplay

• Rifts prevent Ore purification. Previously this meant that you could not mine asteroids in rifts with Purifying Mining Lasers at all. Now they can break up rift stone like R-Mining Lasers, but not as efficiently.
• Secondary objective objects are no longer dockable to avoid confusion
• Object Detectors can now detect and highlight the Time Device
  • Added additional dialog to the Time Device to make it clearer that you need to complete all Into The Rift story missions before you can use it
• Improved description of Xsotan Core Extraction mission objectives

ITR QoL

• Rift extraction is now always visible in HUD (for Ripcord, Wormhole Generator, Wormhole Device)
• Rift teleport (both into the rift and out of it via Ripcord) can now be canceled
• Improved the teleporters "Go-To" dialog option: in addition to being moved to the teleporter, the player ship is now oriented towards it
• If a ship needs to be restored out of a rift sector after a crash, it is no longer silently moved to players reconstruction site
  • If it's a player ship, it's restored at the last repair dock the player has seen (the same sector the player will respawn at)
  • If it's an alliance ship, it's restored at the reconstruction site of one of the alliance members and all alliance members are informed by mail
• Xsotan Hunter Captain's chat messages now show the ship's name instead of the ship's class (as class is just "Ship" by default)

Bugfixes

• Fixed a crash when removing entities with pending updates from a sector
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when there were very high amounts of loot in the sector and optimized handling of glow particles
• [UBR] Fixed a crash that occurred when player ships were destroyed right at the start of a camera animation
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when entering a new sector related to loot rendering
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where non-functional cube ships would be generated for NPCs
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where repair platforms were unable to restore any blocks that were lost since entering the rift sector if the ship was initially over the rift missions weight limit
• Fixed an issue where partial secondary objective descriptions were displayed for the currently tracked mission
• Fixed some descriptions in missions not being translated
• Fixed an issue where the continue button in the main menu was disabled after version updates
  • (Note: Even if the continue button is disabled, previous galaxies are still accessible through "Singleplayer")

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors.

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

ITR Gameplay

• Rifts prevent Ore purification. Previously this meant that you could not mine asteroids in rifts with Purifying Mining Lasers at all. Now they can break up rift stone like R-Mining Lasers, but not as efficiently.
• Secondary objective objects are no longer dockable to avoid confusion
• Object Detectors can now detect and highlight the Time Device
  • Added additional dialog to the Time Device to make it clearer that you need to complete all Into The Rift story missions before you can use it
• Improved description of Xsotan Core Extraction mission objectives

ITR QoL

• Rift extraction is now always visible in HUD (for Ripcord, Wormhole Generator, Wormhole Device)
• Rift teleport (both into the rift and out of it via Ripcord) can now be canceled
• Improved the teleporters "Go-To" dialog option: in addition to being moved to the teleporter, the player ship is now oriented towards it
• If a ship needs to be restored out of a rift sector after a crash, it is no longer silently moved to players reconstruction site
  • If it's a player ship, it's restored at the last repair dock the player has seen (the same sector the player will respawn at)
  • If it's an alliance ship, it's restored at the reconstruction site of one of the alliance members and all alliance members are informed by mail
• Xsotan Hunter Captain's chat messages now show the ship's name instead of the ship's class (as class is just "Ship" by default)

Bugfixes

• Fixed a crash when removing entities with pending updates from a sector
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when there were very high amounts of loot in the sector and optimized handling of glow particles
• [UBR] Fixed a crash that occurred when player ships were destroyed right at the start of a camera animation
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when entering a new sector related to loot rendering
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where non-functional cube ships would be generated for NPCs
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where repair platforms were unable to restore any blocks that were lost since entering the rift sector if the ship was initially over the rift missions weight limit
• Fixed an issue where partial secondary objective descriptions were displayed for the currently tracked mission
• Fixed some descriptions in missions not being translated
• Fixed an issue where the continue button in the main menu was disabled after version updates
  • (Note: Even if the continue button is disabled, previous galaxies are still accessible through "Singleplayer")

• Passing ships can now use gates

Gameplay (Into The Rift)

• Ancient gates in rifts now have a higher durability to prevent them from getting destroyed accidentally
• Several objects in rifts now slow down after collisions and being shot: battery stashes and batteries, wormhole generator, weapon chamber and its switches, marker and path buoys

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the scaling sliders for non-uniform ship scaling would be set to zero percent upon opening the menu
• Fixed an issue in strategy mode where fast clicking on entries in the ship list while holding CTRL would stop the sector from being rendered
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where log files would only print hexadecimal numbers after a certain point
  • To mitigate similar issues, a workaround to reset the number format regularly has been added as well
• [UBR] Reduced issues that would lead to multiple log lines getting heavily mixed together
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the client would calculate incorrect values for its ping time (including negative ones)
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the server would not track ping times
  • Clients should now see ping values for all other players when pressing F1

Bugfixes (Into The Rift)

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where not enough batteries would spawn in rift missions with battery stashes and ancient gates as extraction
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Ancient Defense Platforms would shoot into nothingness instead of nearby enemies
• [UBR] Fixed small objects like batteries, stashes and containers becoming undockable after collisions
• Fixed an issue where the Adventurer could spawn in rifts
• Fixed an issue where Yavana would continuously shoot at enemies that are out-of-range during story missions
• Fixed group leader icon's tooltip not being translated (Rift Research Center)

(UBR = User Bug Report)

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.
 

Gameplay

• Passing ships can now use gates

Gameplay (Into The Rift)

• Ancient gates in rifts now have a higher durability to prevent them from getting destroyed accidentally
• Several objects in rifts now slow down after collisions and being shot: battery stashes and batteries, wormhole generator, weapon chamber and its switches, marker and path buoys

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the scaling sliders for non-uniform ship scaling would be set to zero percent upon opening the menu
• Fixed an issue in strategy mode where fast clicking on entries in the ship list while holding CTRL would stop the sector from being rendered
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where log files would only print hexadecimal numbers after a certain point
  • To mitigate similar issues, a workaround to reset the number format regularly has been added as well
• [UBR] Reduced issues that would lead to multiple log lines getting heavily mixed together
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the client would calculate incorrect values for its ping time (including negative ones)
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the server would not track ping times
  • Clients should now see ping values for all other players when pressing F1

Bugfixes (Into The Rift)

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where not enough batteries would spawn in rift missions with battery stashes and ancient gates as extraction
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Ancient Defense Platforms would shoot into nothingness instead of nearby enemies
• [UBR] Fixed small objects like batteries, stashes and containers becoming undockable after collisions
• Fixed an issue where the Adventurer could spawn in rifts
• Fixed an issue where Yavana would continuously shoot at enemies that are out-of-range during story missions
• Fixed group leader icon's tooltip not being translated (Rift Research Center)

(UBR = User Bug Report)

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):

Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Gameplay

• The co-pilot now automatically becomes the new pilot if the former pilot leaves the ship
• Wormhole Generator does not float away anymore if a ship collides with it or it is shot
• Escort AI
  • Escorting ships no longer consider collisions as intentional attack
  • Escorting ships no longer attack allied ships if they are damaged by them (same behavior as when the escorted ship is damaged)
  • Escorting ships no longer fire at enemies that have stopped attacking them for at least 15 seconds (and have not attacked the escorted ship before)
• Disabled boarding of player or alliance ships if in a neutral zone or if player-to-player damage is disabled
• Black Market DLC: trader missions no longer start with a forced dialog; instead the player is hailed and can accept or decline
• The pause menu can now be accessed while playing the tutorial

UI

• Added a continue button to the main menu
  • Note: This will restart the last played session in the same configuration.
  • This means, if you were hosting a local galaxy it will start the galaxy in hosting mode and others can connect to your server.
  • If you were playing on a remote server, it will try to connect to the remote server. Does not work if the server has been restarted.
  • The server's password is remembered. This way you only need to enter the password once.
• Improved Saved Designs Filtering
  • Filter "Just Fighters" now no longer includes turret designs
  • Added new filter "Just Turrets" that includes only turret designs
• Windows using a Saved Designs Selection now use an appropriate default filter
• Strategy mode: available rift missions are now shown in mission overview
• Fighter Factory now selects another turret of the same category (if possible) and keeps the previous point assignment after building a fighter
• Removed ship menu for fighters as it did not contain accurate or helpful information

Modding

• Fixed an issue where the client could get stuck in loading screen for single player instances and locally hosted multiplayer
• Improved how servers try to update workshop mods on server start
• Clients now try to actively update mods when connecting to a server with newer mod versions if the automatic update through Steam has not happened yet
• Added more information to the info box shown after connection errors related to mod configuration

Scripting API

• Made UIBlockDisplayer's clear method public
• Added new callback to UISelection that is called when sorting is finished
  • overload member "onEntriesSortedFunction" to receive the callback

Multiplayer

• Some types of connection errors will now be detected faster

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed a crash when trying to upload a turret to Steam workshop
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Black Market missions could include sectors from the other side of the barrier
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where serveral story missions could incorrectly include sectors from inside the barrier
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where delivery missions would select target sectors on the other side of the barrier
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where accepting a rift mission near the barrier would end the "Crossing the barrier" mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where headhunters could appear during rift missions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a ghost block would remain in the sector after building a new ship
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the tutorial mission "Ships, Strategies & Captains" could get stuck after deleting Lady Adventurous during the mission
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a required container would not spawn in the "Hackathon" mission if the player had a docked container
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "manage" was shown in the ship interaction menu even though the permission to do so was not granted by the alliance
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where "building knowledge" could be marked as trash and would interfere with selling other items marked as trash
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a Pirate Mothership would keep its immunity if lured through a wormhole (away from its supporters)
• [UBR] Fixed a font alignment issue in Equipment Trading Window
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where gate titles where not correctly translated in strategy mode
• [UBR] Fixed spelling errors in German translation
• [UBR] Fixed an error in French translation
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where tooltips were not translated in the key bindings window
• [UBR] Added missing shipyard entry to encyclopedia production glossary
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where auto-turret mode could not be (de)activated in cruiser mode
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where boarding progress could get stuck if the boarded ship had passengers
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where players could enter and get stuck in photo mode during tutorial
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where attacking with torpedoes did not cause reputation loss on damage (destruction did already cause reputation loss)
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in a "respawn, trigger attack, get killed" loop if their reconstruction site is caught up in a faction war

Language

• Added Portuguese (Brazil)

General

• Scenario presets have been added to free play settings
• Added a free play setting to set the minimum block size value for new galaxies
  • You no longer have to edit server.ini directly
• We have extended the allowed values for the minimum block size limit
  • Values can now be between 0.00001 and 0.01.
  • This is only a lowest allowed value, it doesn't impact precision or bigger values. E.g. you can still build blocks with size 0.0125.

Build Mode

• Added new highlight modes to show blocks that are smaller than the default and the server's minimum block size limit
  • You can use these to verify your builds before publishing them to the workshop
  • Added an info box in the bottom right corner which shows how many small blocks the current craft has
• Added a notice to the Saved Design Window and Workshop Upload Window if your craft contains tiny blocks
• The view settings button now pulsates slightly when there are active settings

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Added map context menu entry to remove death location marker
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mission bulletin of Cover Retreat would show the wrong faction name
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the mass constraint wasn't updated correctly in mission descriptions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where escorting ships did send incorrect warnings when following their leader to another sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret group icons behaved like they were clicked while mouse pointer was not active, e.g. while flying and fighting
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where NPC miners would sit idle in sectors instead of mining
• [UBR] Fixed a visual bug in "Rescue an Associate" mission
• [UBR] Improved some texts in the Russian translation

Gameplay

• Ships and Stations that get damaged due to decay now send a more accurate warning
  • Before these crafts would send the general "Craft is under attack" warning

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

The changes from 2.5.6 need a tiny bit more testing before they can go live on default. In the meantime, here's a new language and a few small fixes:

Language

• Added Portuguese (Brazil)

Gameplay

• Ships and Stations that get damaged due to decay now send a more accurate warning
  • Before these crafts would send the general "Craft is under attack" warning

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where NPC miners would sit idle in sectors instead of mining
• [UBR] Fixed a visual bug in "Rescue an Associate" mission
• [UBR] Improved some texts in the Russian translation

Hotfixes (2025-03-11)

• Added missing translations for texts introduced in previous patch
• Added Portuguese (Brazil) to available languages in Avorion's Steam properties
  • Fixed startup language detection if language in game settings is set to "Steam"

• Scenario presets have been added to free play settings
• Added a free play setting to set the minimum block size value for new galaxies
  • You no longer have to edit server.ini directly
• We have extended the allowed values for the minimum block size limit
  • Values can now be between 0.00001 and 0.01.
  • This is only a lowest allowed value, it doesn't impact precision or bigger values. E.g. you can still build blocks with size 0.0125.

Build Mode

• Added new highlight modes to show blocks that are smaller than the default and the server's minimum block size limit
  • You can use these to verify your builds before publishing them to the workshop
  • Added an info box in the bottom right corner which shows how many small blocks the current craft has
• Added a notice to the Saved Design Window and Workshop Upload Window if your craft contains tiny blocks
• The view settings button now pulsates slightly when there are active settings

Bugfixes
 As usual we have a few bug fixes for you. Thank you everyone for reporting those pesky little buggers!

• [UBR] Added map context menu entry to remove death location marker
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where mission bulletin of Cover Retreat would show the wrong faction name
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the mass constraint wasn't updated correctly in mission descriptions
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where escorting ships did send incorrect warnings when following their leader to another sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turret group icons behaved like they were clicked while mouse pointer was not active, e.g. while flying and fighting

Thanks to everyone who reported the issue and thanks to everyone who already tested this hotfix on beta.
 

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where images in the encyclopedia were distorted
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when opening specific encyclopedia entries, for example "Integrity Fields"
  • This was also triggered by choosing an integrity field block in build mode

Misc

• Reverted the bundled SDL2_image library to an older version (for Windows)

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Bugfixes

• [UBR] Fixed an issue where images in the encyclopedia were distorted
• [UBR] Fixed a crash when opening specific encyclopedia entries, for example "Integrity Fields"
  • This was also triggered by choosing an integrity field block in build mode

Misc

• Reverted the bundled SDL2_image library to an older version (for Windows)

Hello everyone!
We're very happy to announce that the patches 2.5.3 and 2.5.4 are now available on default! Thank you to everyone who participated in the beta and all the valuable feedback! And now without further ado here is a highlight of the most important changes.

Docking
In the last update, we already made docking to a station more reliable by changing the underlying assessment of what is docked. While this made things less confusing code-wise, we noticed that the UI wasn't properly reflecting the docked status. To address this, we are now introducing the following changes:

• The station's indicators now correctly show the ship as docked as soon as you are close enough to transfer resources, crew, goods, ...,
• Tractor beams no longer pull your ship all the way to the dock if you have a functional transporter. They now stop as soon as your ship is in transporter range.
• Added visual effects when nearby entities block the docking area and tractor beams have trouble locking on to a single target
  • Tractor beams flash red, some of them may point to the obstructing object
  • A yellow indicator at the dock shows that tractor beams aren't available, but you're still able to dock manually
• Holding F now only starts an interaction when you are close enough to transfer resources, crew, goods, ...
  • The interaction dialog with the station will now automatically open when your ship has been pulled close enough
  • Tapping F for a short time always starts the interaction dialog with a selected station

Secondary Block Colors
Some things seemed to have slipped past us concerning secondary block colors. Thank you for everyone reporting these issues and the wonderful suggestion of a color swap!

• [UBR] Ship Name blocks no longer darken the text if a custom secondary color is set
• [UBR] Added a button to swap primary and secondary colors
• Button is hidden when both colors are equal
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where blocks with colorized windows (Crew Quarters, some Hulls) did not flicker for wreckages and ships with low energy

Build Mode
Due to several reports of bad performance in collisions, glitches in build mode and rendering issues, we investigated and found a few troubling issues. One we're addressing now with this update: Zero or even negatively sized blocks.
These teeny tiny blocks cause a lot of issues with our engine, as it was never built to deal with such a thing. Therefore, we sadly have to introduce a minimum block size. After a lot of consideration and performance testing, we chose to set the default minimum value to 0.01 (which is equivalent to 10 cm).
While this limit is fine for general gameplay, it does impede art builds somewhat. Therefore we additionally added a galaxy-specific server.ini setting that allows for this limit to be much smaller. Be aware that this might lead to more performance issues, though.

• You can set the server-wide minimum block size in the server settings. Accepted values are between 0.001 and 0.01.
• This value is not used to limit precision / decimal places. All block sizes above the minimum are accepted by the game.
• This change does not affect existing builds
• For now ship designs with block sizes smaller than the server's limit can still be applied
• Whole ship scaling currently does not prevent smaller blocks
• These two points will probably change in a future update, especially on multiplayer servers
• Existing ships already in the galaxy will not be modified

General QoL

• The Open Ship Menu Button now indicates more clearly which ship menu will be opened
• The Creative Command Center (available in creative mode) will now give all types of subsystems and turrets
• The bug where co-op flying co-pilots were no longer able to do damage was fixed and additionally co-pilots are now also able to fire torpedoes!

As usual, this isn't an exhaustive list of all the changes. If you want to know more you can find the full patch notes of both patches here:  Patch 2.5.3 and Patch 2.5.4.

Have a wonderful day!

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Secondary Block Colors

• [UBR] Ship Name blocks no longer darken the text if a custom secondary color is set
• [UBR] Added a button to swap primary and secondary colors
  • Button is hidden when both colors are equal
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where blocks with colorized windows (Crew Quarters, some Hulls) did not flicker for wreckages and ships with low energy

UI

• Changed the Hud menu button to open the Ship Menu slightly:
  • While in Build Mode it will always open to the currently built ship
  • Added icon and extended tooltip to show whether the menu will open to a remote or the flown ship
• “Inventory is almost full”-Warning is now shown at 50 remaining slots instead of 5
  • When flying an alliance craft the warning is displayed for the alliance inventory

Gameplay

• Co-op flying now allows co-pilots to fire torpedoes if they own the corresponding weapon group
• Creative Mode Command Center now includes all available subsystems when using the "Gimme Systems" button
• Equipment Docks no longer sell Co-'n-Op Reconstruction Kits in galaxies with perma destruction enabled

Scripting API

• Cargobay::addCargo and Entity::addCargo no longer accept negative cargo amounts.
  • If you want to fill the entire cargo hold use math.huge as amount

Multiplayer

• Non-admin players can no longer access the debug menu of crafts (when admins have used addScript; restriction does not apply to galaxies with DevMode=true)

Bugfixes

• Saved Designs window:
  • [UBR] Fixed an issue where the refresh button did not work (in Workshop folders)
  • Fixed automatic refresh for workshop sub-directory when item download finishes
  • The parent folder button no longer skips multiple parent folders
  • Removed non-functional "Rename" context menu entry for workshop items
• Fixed an issue where errors during upload of a workshop item led to incomplete workshop items and unending “uploading…” shown in UI
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where docking detection did not work reliably
• [UBR] Fixed an issue with co-op flying where co-pilots were no longer able to do damage
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where large ships could become stranded in rifts if the extraction was to be through a wormhole
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where a player could become stranded in a rift after logging in
• [UBR] Repairing NPC ships at relation status ceasefire will no longer be seen as breaking the ceasefire
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where fighters were no longer controllable after renaming their mothership
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the Reconstruction dialog was not closable when a destroyed player ship had the same name as an alliance ship
• [UBR] Fixed an issue in the Hire Crew window where the slider and the textbox disagreed on how many crew members to hire
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where hyperspace jump energy would always include subsystems in the Build Mode's stats overview
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where production capacity and speed up would always include subsystems in the Build Mode's stats overview
• [UBR] Fixed Research stations producing unusable turret blueprints
• [UBR] Ship group numbers in the ship list (galaxy map) are now centered so that their position no longer conflicts with active map command icons
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where turrets on autofire would target invincible entities
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where joining a password-protected dedicated server from Steam friend list was not possible
• [UBR] Fixed station's push beams not letting go of ships that were given a new order during undocking
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where it was possible to build blocks with zero thickness in voxel grid mode
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to use templates to build blocks with zero thickness
  • Server now enforces a minimum block size
• Fixed an issue where grid snapping did not work in voxel grid mode while matching a hovered block’s shape
• Fixed a background rendering issue in sectors near rifts
• Fixed an issue in rift sectors where thunder sfx were not 3D

Internal Technical Changes

• Upgraded SteamAPI to 1.60
• Removed workaround introduced in 2.3.2 and 2.4.1 for Linux server startup issues with Steam Clients from that time. These issues have been resolved in recent Steam Client versions.

More info with "beautiful" developer art can be found in the Steam Announcement!

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Secondary Block Colors

• Secondary colors for armor and hull blocks with alternate patterns now have the same brightness as the primary color
  • You can now build armor blocks without camo pattern by choosing the same color for primary and secondary color
  • To match the default primary color, look for a colors named "Iron Ore", "Titanium Ore", etc.

Modding

• Armor blocks now use separate texture files again, so that they can be modded independently of hull blocks
  • Texture mods still need to be updated
• Armor blocks of different materials no longer share the same mask

UI

• Disabled mouse over sounds for empty places in color window (build mode)

edit 2024-06-12:
Photo Mode

• Fixed camera speedup not working for some directions
• Made camera controls independent of current steering mode

We wish you loads of fun with the new features and happily await your feedback! Let us know if you miss anything, if some things aren't as smooth as they could be or if you (simply) loved it! And let us see your awesome screenshots!

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors.

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

Secondary Block Colors
Blocks can now have a secondary block color. The secondary block color is dependent on the block type and can even change the light effects.

• Added secondary colors for the color brush of the build mode
  • Open the color selection window to switch on secondary colors
• Switching back to one-color mode resets the secondary color to its original, pre-update status
• Added new preview element in the color selection window that shows in detail which colors are used
  • New blocks will be built using the previewed colors
• Added a second color picker that picks the secondary color
• Added a 'No Change' color
  • Use this when selecting blocks and you don't care which color they have
  • Use this to apply a primary or secondary color without changing the other color
• Block info tooltips in the lower right corner show which colors are used for the block
• Block types with secondary colors:
  • Crew Quarters - windows can now be colored
  • Cargo - dark parts of the block can now be colored
  • Armor - ever wanted to be a chameleon? Try coloring in your camouflage patterns according to the sector you're in.
  • Engine - Engine glow can now be colored
  • Thruster - Thruster particle flames can now be colored
  • Dock - Stripes of dock-doors can now be colored
  • Flight Recorder - yellow stripes can now be colored
  • Torpedo Storage - orange stripes can now be colored
  • Assembly - vents can now be colored
  • Turret Base - patches can now be colored
  • Hangar - hangar doors can now be colored
  • Shield Generator - glowing pattern can now be colored
  • Energy Container - glowing pattern can now be colored
  • Generator - glowing pattern can now be colored
  • Integrity Field Generator - glowing pattern can now be colored
  • Computer Core - glowing pattern can now be colored
  • Hyperspace Core - glowing pattern can now be colored
  • Transporter Block - glowing pattern can now be colored
  • Academy - blue pattern can now be colored in any color
  • Cloning Pods - green pods can now be colored in any color
  • Rich and Super-Rich Stone - glowing pattern can now be colored
  • Ship Name Block - name is now colorable
  • Alternate Hull Patterns - dark patterns can now be colored in any color
  • Dark / White Stripes - now in color!
  • Light blocks: Light is colored according to the secondary color unless the secondary color isn't set. Without a secondary color light blocks will behave like before the update.

Photo Mode
We created a new mode to make awesome screenshots! You'll find a new 'Photo Mode' button in the pause menu.

The new Photo Mode features:

• A sector style selection: Either random or with an explicit style ID
  • you can even share this ID with your friends!
• Free setting of sector visuals:
  • rift or no rift visuals
  • sun type and position
  • planet position
  • background star density
  • sector color
  • sector dustiness
• Change the Field of View to find the perfect view
• several filter effects:
  • Greyscale
  • Sepia
  • Desaturated
  • Saturated
• A scalable vignette effect
• A 'Take Screenshot' button to take screenshots without UI
  • Added a short flash to white to indicate saving of screenshot
• An 'Open Screenshot Folder' button
• Improved free camera movement
• A new keybind option 'Photo Mode'

Gameplay

• Allowed direct switching to your other crafts when controlling a fighter
• Switching to a different craft within a sector is now always possible as long as you're allowed to enter it
• Mothership in pirate encounter is now visibly connected to invincibility giving pirate ships
• Fulfilled (done) objectives no longer show up in the on screen tracked mission displayer
  • However they still do show up in the missions tab
• Build Mode: Transformation Brush no longer changes block colors

UI

• Unknown colors are shown as hex-codes in block info tooltips
• 'No color' items in color selection have been removed
• 'Show Used Colors First' now shows duplicates of color items

Scripting API

• ScriptBlock::addBlock now takes an additional optional parameter to set a secondary color for the new block
  • existing Mods using the old addBlock-call are not affected by this
• ScriptPlanComponent::setColor now takes an optional parameter secondaryColor
  • Added documentation for ScriptPlanComponent::setColor
• Added ScriptPlanComponent::setSecondaryBlockColor
• Added ScriptBlockPlan::setSecondaryBlockColor
• Changed ScriptColor.toHtml to always print 6 hex digits led by a '#', i.e. '#000000' for black

Bugfixes

• Fixed a rare crash in flight physics of fighters
• Fixed an issue where hangars would be rendered way too bright in some cases
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where Xsotan waves started spawning in a rift sector right after accepting the corresponding mission and before the player entered the sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where the player wouldn't be warned of their ships destruction when switching to another sector while in a rift sector
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where part of the ServerRunner window was not visible
• [UBR] Fixed an issue where no warning was displayed when leaving ships behind in a rift sector

• Improved consistency of subsystem tooltip descriptions

• Fixed an issue where client and server disagreed about docking state (This should resolve cases where the ship was shown as docked but various menus sent errors about not being docked)
• Implemented a workaround for an AMD GPU driver issue
• Fixed an issue where ancient gates could be connected to world boss sectors
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to give orders meant for ships to stations
• Fixed a crash when a station was ordered to support a ship and the ship left the sector
• Fixed an issue where boss health bars were visible in build mode
• Fixed a crash related to destroyed entities in scrapyard sectors
• Fixed an issue where a tooltip obstructed the confirmation dialog when removing a subsystem with shift-click

Beta Branch Note: These changes are currently available on the beta branch. The beta branch is for testing experimental changes and for finding and fixing errors.

This is how you get access to the beta branch (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK):
Right-Click on Avorion in your Steam list, Properties -> Betas -> Select branch 'Beta Branch - Newest Changes & Experimental Features'.

UI

• Improved consistency of subsystem tooltip descriptions

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where client and server disagreed about docking state
  • This should resolve cases where the ship was shown as docked but various menus sent errors about not being docked
• Implemented a workaround for an AMD GPU driver issue
• Fixed an issue where ancient gates could be connected to world boss sectors
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to give orders meant for ships to stations
• Fixed a crash when a station was ordered to support a ship and the ship left the sector
• Fixed an issue where boss health bars were visible in build mode
• Fixed a crash related to destroyed entities in scrapyard sectors
• Fixed an issue where a tooltip obstructed the confirmation dialog when removing a subsystem with shift-click

AMD situation
Some users reported crashes with AMD cards when creating or loading a galaxy using AMD driver version 23.12.1 or 24.1.1. We have implemented a workaround that hopefully addresses this issue. If you had this issue, please report in the comments if this patch fixes the issue for you (on driver 24.1.1). If the problem still exists we recommend a downgrade to driver 23.11.1.

Details
Some background on the status of this issue, by one of our devs:

"This problem is particularly difficult to debug. Originally none of our office PCs with AMD cards were affected. However, we managed to build a PC where we can reproduce the issue, but even with this PC, the crash doesn't happen reliably.

On a technical level, the crash happens in a thread run by the AMD driver in the Avorion process. This should not be possible unless there is a bug in the driver. For those who don't know: a driver *must not crash*. We have verified multiple times that our code is correct and doesn't raise any errors. We've contacted AMD multiple times over different channels but have not received a helpful answer, yet.

Warning, technical: To analyze the cause, we tried to disable various parts of the engine. When the crash disappeared we always had to test many times, as it wasn't 100% reliable. No crashes a few times in a row can just be plain (bad?) luck and lead down the wrong path. We finally found different, independent functions we could disable, that individually stopped the crash. None of them look like they made sense as a cause for a crash. Just leaving them disabled was no option either, we had to find a solution without impacting the content of the game. We settled on restructuring a small part of preparatory texture work so we give the driver less work while loading the game, and forced the driver to complete some of its work on our schedule instead of its own."

We're very sorry for the inconvenience. We hope that the workaround we've screwed into our engine fixes the issue for you fine AMD folks, and we hope we can remove it once the driver crash was fixed by AMD.

What we know so far:

• Affected Windows AMD GPU driver version: 23.12.1
• Affected cards: RX5000 series, RX6000 series, RX7000 series
• The crash occurs while running AMD driver code, not while running Avorion program code
• Issue can disappear with same card when combined with different mainboard and CPU

So far, Downgrading the driver to 23.11.1 has fixed the issue for everyone who has downgraded and reported back to us.

How to downgrade:

• Search the Internet for "AMD {your GPU} previous drivers", for example "AMD RX 7800 XT previous drivers"
• You should get a search result from the official AMD website
• Download driver version 23.11.1
• Install it
• Reboot
• Try again if you can start Avorion and enter a single or multiplayer galaxy

What we're not sure about:

• We're not 100% sure if this is just a driver bug, at this point we can not rule out that the Avorion rendering pipeline may contain an issue that has been hidden until this new driver version
• We're not sure if there is some combination of driver settings that can mitigate the issue even with driver 23.12.1

Please report back if you are experience this specific issue on a different AMD card than RX5000 series, RX6000 series, RX7000 series or if downgrading the driver to version 23.11.1 does not fix the issue for you.

Note: Please keep in mind: The crash does not happen every time. So for example if you think you found a driver option with 23.12.1 that does not lead to a crash, it needs to be tested multiple times.

Please do not post to this thread if you experience a different issue. In that case use the in-game bug reporter.

We are working to resolve this issue as fast as possible.

Hey guys,

We're doing a quick security patch today that also affects the Scripting API.

Scripting API

"We're adjusting the Server API privileges to the Client API privileges."

• Server Scripting API: Removed os.execute() and similar functionality
  
• Server Scripting API: Removed all functionality for loading/executing binary files
  
• Server Scripting API: Removed functionality to write-access any file on the system
  
  • Write access only allowed for %AppData%\Avorion\moddata\ and galaxy folder
    
  • Read access only allowed for %AppData%\Avorion\, installation folder, galaxy folder and folders of enabled mods
    
  • On unix-based systems, replace %AppData% with ~/.avorion
    

We still want mods to be able to communicate with external tools, of course. In order to make up for the lost functionality, we'll be adding a socket library in the near future.

Key Features:

- Fight against Behemoth ships that will attack different sectors in the galaxy.

- Collect unique subsystems with special properties dropped by these colossal bosses.

- Dive into a dynamic experience as behemoths destroy and salvage entire sectors if left undefeated.

- Enable or disable behemoths at will, ensuring a customized gameplay experience.

For more details on the other improvements and features coming with Update 2.4.1, check out the announcement here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/445220/view/3882728508900949686

• Updated Steam API to v 1.57, added authentication safety against man-in-the-middle attacks

Bugfixes

• Fixed a crash on Linux related to recent Steam client updates affecting singleplayer and hosting multiplayer games
• Fixed an issue where the dedicated server settings were not fully visible in the ServerRunner window