StarMade v0.188 - A completely new GUI

Hello players,

the new GUI is finally done. I know it took a little, but now the normal update cycle will start again.

Designing, programming, and testing a GUI is a very time consuming process, especially when it’s replacing an already existing one.

This update might seem lacking in new features, because it replaces a lot of things. But we hope it will make gameplay and usability a lot more comfortable.

GUI System Main Features

All of the art has been made by the awesome Kupu. Besides the new look, a lot of basic functionality has been added to the GUI. While the foundations for the new GUI designs are in,  we are aware some older windows need replacing and further work will be continued.

Window position and size save

Every window can now be resized and moved. Also the position of each window is saved and restored even after exiting the game.

Dynamic window resize

All key element of windows will dynamically resize with the window.

List optimization

Large lists will no longer cause lag.

List filters, sorting, and searches

Virtually every list in the game has now responsive search bars, filters, and sorting on every column. One feature many people requested for a long time was for example a shop search, which comes for free in the new GUI.

Also the fixed tabs have been replaced with a menu bar on top for easy access to every panel.

A lot of GUI elements like buttons give a lot better feedback to the user now.

HUD System main features

New Radar

The radar in the top right has been replaced with a completely new system that will show other entities relative to the player’s current horizon.

You can also switch on a bigger version in the options.

New Message popup System

The message system has been redone to be less obtrusive. There is still some work to do to get rid of unnecessary messages.

Effect and Feedback System

A pilot will now get feedback on what effects are currently affecting him. Also more instant information like power failure, being hit by a weapon with a side effect and much more will now appear in the HUD for the pilot to see.

Cleaned up HUD

The HUD has been made much cleaner with much less unnecessary info. Speed and other information is now in bars to the side. Information on what bar is what will display when changing into flight mode and then blend out to make the screen more free.

The 3 icons on the top right are “shop in distance”, “new mail”, and “trading” (which will be implemented very soon)

Small additions improving usability

• Selecting an object now displays shield and power on the top left. Also if the name is too long, it will automatically scroll the name back and forth.

• Options have been restructured to be much easier to navigate.

• Relations of other factions are now accessible in the diplomacy tab.

• Asteroid resource specs are now displayed in its name and also accessible in the navigation tab.

• Item description is now available in the inventory.

• Items can now be destroyed from the inventory

• If the game window isn’t focused (alt+tabbed), the first click on the window will be consumed, as it’s pretty much random for the mouse system where the first focusing click went.  This means no accidentally shooting a weapon or other unwanted actions upon returning to the game.  

Other features added

Navigation bookmarking

Players can now set up to 20 bookmarks (can be changed in server config) of sectors, and name them.

Station Blueprints

Stations now behave exactly like normal blueprints. You can now save your station from within a build block, and buy the blueprint of it. Buying the blueprint from the shop will cost 1m credits. This price can now also be changed in the server config.

Updated shop descriptions

Calbiri updated the shop description for missing entries and correcting spelling etc. More balancing will follow in the coming updates.

New Decorative Blocks

Kupu has added three awesome new decorative blocks;

Decorative Charts

Decorative Conduits

Scaffolding

Also the icons got updated to be more visible (e.g. for the glas).

Bugfixing

Some issues, large and small, have been fixed.

Something to mention is a fix for players that would prevent the world from saving at all.

Another new server config option is now also the separation of total thread pool and cpu thread pool. The default value of CPU thread pool has been lowered to combat the issue of  some machines slowing down to the point freezes.

Minor fix : Yellow Lights and Yellow Rods now have a working “OFF” state.
 

What’s next

There will be some cleanup required for the old graphics and code. Also the new GUI will be made more organized so that it can be made into GUI/HUD packs that will be put on the content page for sharing.

GUI layouts will receive a little more polish and some placeholder sprites will be replaced.
The big messages on screen will be cleaned up to not be as intrusive as they are now.

Also a new chat system with groups tabs and all the good stuff will be made (That’s why we held of changing the chat system for now)

A lot of servers reported performance problems when a lot of people are playing. Thanks to their reports I already found a lot of areas to optimize the pipeline to hopefully eliminate the problems.

The new docking system along with the rail system will be the next main project for gameplay.

We’ll also will do further work on the game API.

thanks for playing StarMade,

- Schema and the Schine Team