Greetings, space explorers and star engineers! We are pleased to introduce you to the Alpha 3 update. Below we list the new features, focusing only on the changes in Supernova Shards. For details on other game features, you can refer to reviews of previous versions.
Firstly, we’ve reworked how players start their journey in the game world. Previously, you had to purchase a body and spaceship in advance. Now, Life Corporation is pleased to offer you a body for free, so you can dive right into the world of Supernova Shards with no preconditions.
These empty bodies are produced from biomass and stored at the station. As soon as you hit PLAY, you’re entering your first agreement, following which a reborn-room worker transfers your future body from a glass tank to a bed. But this is no ordinary bed; it’s a device that transfers your consciousness.
The second new feature is a training room at the weapons store. The machine located in the center can create holograms upon request, which we can use for practice. Hit the training enemy with your fists, damage him with melee weapons and, of course, shoot a couple of clips from a rifle. For now, in Alpha 3, fighting is limited to this area. But in upcoming updates, you’ll be able to battle both monsters and other players.
The third new feature is a spaceship store. Try to order one! When the order is completed, the spacecraft will be delivered to the nearest parking lot. After this, use the station service to ask a tug to dock the new ship so that you can board it.
The fourth new feature – updated spacecraft flight mechanics. Now, they fly much more naturally, able to maneuver over and under each other. There are no more bugs like in previous versions when starships got stuck and couldn’t find their path.
The new flight mechanics also significantly move us closer to developing realistic ship model. In the next versions, we’ll be able to implement game mechanics so that generators actually power engines, and each engine independently propels the spaceship forward.
Fifth, and most time-consuming and important: the reliability of synchronization between game clients has significantly increased. Moreover, known pathfinding errors that caused the most unpleasant issues in previous versions have been fixed.
Presenting the first Alpha version, we referred that our multiplayer platform was ready, and based on it, we could now focus on developing gameplay features. However, player feedback helped us understand this was not quite the case. The unique approach to multiplayer development we chose continues to provide us with new challenges, leading to significant delays. But the good news is Alpha 3 is still not perfect but has critically come closer to it.
Another bonus for those few players who asked us to release a version for Linux. We are happy to fulfill this request – that it was not difficult thanks to our cross-platform approach.
Watch this video if you have any difficulties or just want to save your time, but stay up to date with our progress:
We have now started working on Alpha 4. Its main goal is to make the game more intuitive and fun. In the upcoming version, it should be easy to figure out on your own, without the need for my video walkthroughs. It should finally be fun to play. Alpha 4 aims to be more of a game than just a tech demo, unlike the previous releases.
We sincerely thank our loyal audience for your support – it’s crucial in helping us move forward, creating our complex yet incredibly engaging project.