Howdy folks! I’ve been up to a number of things the past few days, addressing a number of small problems that have been present for some time now.

As Metadept has continued to flesh out the wire system, bringing it ever closer to our original vision, it’s highlighted the need for some TLC with many of the objects. One such problem is that to this date, wire node positions would often end up sitting just off the object. This was fine in theory, up until you started putting a lot of wired objects together in a shared space. Having multiple nodes overlapping in one space caused a number of problems, and so I spent a bit of time addressing it. Now, all node positions are overlapping the object they are tied to.

All proximity sensor objects have also received a bit of attention and should now function more accurately. Some of you may have already noticed the addition of the new “scanner” type that shows up in the outpost. These are the first proximity sensors you can place up on a wall. They detect any players and NPCs in a small two block radius around them, making them ideal for automated doors. These will be craftable at the wire station once our progression changes are done.

Today, as part of our progression changes, I’ve made the starting ships even more broken than they already were. The teleporter, locker and door to your own bridge will be entirely uncooperative until you use your tech station and get your AI to reboot itself and the ships systems. Doing so will restore your ship’s basic amenities. For now on nightly, only newly minted characters will see this change.

I’m hoping to spend a bit of time on the weekend going through all our light objects and making them wirable, as it’s something I’ve wanted for the longest time. We’ll see how I go! See you next time!

GeorgeV here yet again and posting from the office.
Today I worked on finishing up another boss that you should eventually see in Starbound. It’s currently nameless but is an enemy that digs through the dirt and attacks you from it. Better dig it out so you can attack effectively!

Kyren and I have been working on debugging and configuring the new monster spawning system, and I’m happy to say that it’s starting to behave quite nicely. The biggest change from the previous system is that the set of monster ‘families’ that will spawn in an area are now specific to each biome. This gives the biomes a much more unique feel and is important groundwork for some planned features such as making monster palettes match their biome, and giving them immunity to poison or lava when they’re spawned in a biome containing those liquids.

The other major change is that the target density of each monster family can now be individually adjusted, so we have much better control of which monsters are common and which are rare. This is particularly important for monsters like birds that can be annoying if they appear too frequently. There are a few other changes we’re considering, but the basic implementation is now configured, so naturally occurring monsters are back in the nightly. Which is nice, because I was starting to feel a bit lonely out there in space.

Hey there, little bird. It’s good to see you.