April 14th, 2006

Features

• Game updates - You can now check for game updates straight from the game launcher menu.
• Astronaut biographies - Astronauts in Astro Builder now have short personal biographies dependent on their class.
• Flag distribution meters - Meters have been added to the flag panel in Station View to show an estimate of how many flags the currently selected module, astronaut, component, or experiment is generating or has generated. You can mouse over different objects while this panel is open in order to change the display.
• Astronaut chatter - Astronauts will now respond to comments, talking, insults, and compliments from other astronauts.
• Happy astronauts - Astronauts that have recently had all of their needs fulfilled will perform a happy spin to show their appreciation.
• Blocked astronauts - The handling of blocked astronauts has been greatly improved. Astronauts will now cycle through their tasks rather than just delete them and will also insert new ones to attempt to resolve the blockage.
• Talking astronaut indicator - If an astronaut is currently talking, he or she will light up in the cutaway view.
• Floating camera effect - A floating camera effect has been added to give the impression of hovering in space. This feature can be toggled on and off in the game launcher configuration options.
• New experiment - The MSRF facility now has an I-Beam melting experiment in addition to the pipe experiment.
• Astronaut limit increase - Stations can now support up to 6 astronauts instead of just 4. However, these astronauts are bonus astronauts and can only be unlocked by doing experiments. See the Manual.
• Warning icons - General warning icons have been added just below the launch vehicle indicators in station view. These let you know quickly if any atmospheric levels, supply levels, or orbital position levels (altitude and attitude) are outside of the green condition.
• "Study" task - A "Study Experiment Results" task has been added to all experiments. Astronauts of the same class as the experiment can study its results in order to gain further experience, even if the experiment has failed. This can be used to level up new astronauts as well. Studying works best when the astronaut is of the same level as the experiment, or if there are other experienced astronauts present to help out.
• Obsessive astronauts - Complimenting or insulting an astronaut too many times will result in a "Puppy Love" or "Fight" task, which will cause that astronaut to continuously compliment or insult the astronaut that made the initial comment. These tasks must be manually canceled, or else the astronaut in question will neglect his or her own needs.
• Mission Control chatter - Relevant conversations between CapCOM and the station have been added to Mission Control for effect.
• Builder voiceovers - Voiceover guides have been added to Module Builder and Astro Builder like the ones in Component Builder.
• Payment screen buttons - More intuitive payment buttons have been added to the payment screens in Module Builder and Component Builder.
• Initial alerts - The alerts that show up at the beginning of the game have been replaced with a random "tip of the day" alert.
• Astronaut shocks - An imminent event has been added whenever someone is shocked so that both the broken component and the shocked person can be immediately located. The space tourist has also been given his own unique shock sound effect so that he can be distinguished from the other astronauts.
• "Experiment Completed" alerts - Updated the "Experiment Completed" alerts so that they are consistent in style and contain dynamic information related to the experiment that was just completed.
• Free mouse control - The mouse controls in Station View have been freed up so that you can now manipulate all of the on-screen objects regardless of what panels are currently open.
• CapCOM warnings - CapCOM only warns when a stat goes from green to yellow or yellow to red. High and low warnings are available for atmospheric conditions.

Game balancing changes

• Stress levels - Astronaut stress level calculations have been modified.
• Experiment bonus reduction - Flag amounts for completing experiments have been reduced to improve flag balance..
• Astronaut flag penalties - Astronauts that freak out, are burned, or are shocked will result in a flag penalty for that astronaut's agency.
• Comm fires - The four comm system types (Zvezda Comm, UHF-Band, S-Band, and K-Band) can now catch on fire.
• Flag costs - The flag costs for the trusses and a few other modules have been adjusted slightly.
• Personal needs - The "Neatness" astronaut trait has been changed to the more general "Personal Needs" trait. SEE GAME TIPS in the manual for astronaut traits!

Fixes/general improvements

• "Spirit" warning icon - Fixed the "Spirit" warning icon so that it would show up properly for astronauts with low spirit.
• Task needs - Fixed some internal inconsistencies with task needs so that, among other things, an exercise task would not be refused by an astronaut with low fitness.
• Trash compactor repair crash - Fixed a bug in which repairing a trash compactor component that had completely failed would crash the game.
• Experiment installation refusal crash - Fixed a bug in which the game would crash if a freaking-out astronaut refused to install certain experiments.
• Experiment progress - Fixed a bug with experiments not properly saving their progress.
• Animatiom system - Fixed the animation system so that animations would suspend properly when the game was paused.
• Other timing bugs - Along with the animations mentioned above, a number of other timing and pausing-related bugs have been fixed.
• Astro task highlighting - Fixed a bug in which the highlighted selection in the astronaut task list would change back to the first item on occasion.
• Task review selection - Fixed the astronaut task review selection so that it would stay on the same item when astronauts were changed.
• Disappearing HUD panel - Fixed a bug in which the right HUD panel would sometimes disappear when entering a module cutaway.
• Incorrect module cutaway - Fixed a bug that caused an incorrect module cutaway when selecting a task or astronaut and then mousing over the destination module.
• Task chip list and component states - Fixed the handling of the task chip selection lists when the associated component changed state (turned on/off or broke down).
• Tutorial problems - Fixed some bugs with the tutorial reaching a dead end.
• Component requirements - Fixed some of the component requirement calculations. These had previously, for example, prevented a component such as a DVD system from being installed in a JEM ELM module despite the racks apparently matching all the requirements.
• CO₂ scrubber fires - The failing (red) state of the U.S. CO₂ scrubber had the negative effects of a fire but did not display the fire animation nor prevent astronauts from sitting in front of it. This has been fixed.

January 16th, 2006

Fixes/General Improvements

• Refresh rates - Fixed the monitor refresh rate selector in the game launcher so that more than one refresh rate is listed if your system supports it.
• Game crash - This update should fix the crash issue that some users were having with the previous update when trying to start a new game.
• Component builder display - There was an issue with displaying the incorrect component model under certain conditions in component builder. This has been fixed.
• Hatch cover - A selection bug when trying to click on the port hatch cover of a module has been fixed.

Features

• Tooltips - The majority of the clickable objects in the game now have tooltips associated with them. These tooltips have a short description of each control and a keyboard shortcut that can be used in place of mouse clicks. Tooltips can be enabled or disabled in the pause menu.

December 29th, 2005

Fixes/General Improvements

• Added the option to disable the joystick, and modified the joystick handling - Some joysticks were having issues with the game. These problems should be fixed now.
• Swapped astro builder next/previous button locations - The "next" button is now on the right, and the "previous" / "exit" button is now on the left.
• Interface mouse button functionality - When assigning a task to an astronaut, you can now right-click directly on the task icons (rather than just the HUD panel) or click on the "Back" (←) button to close the task list.
• New game over screen for altitude - In addition to the new HUD warnings (detailed below), a different game over screen is displayed if your station falls out of the sky.
• Fixed save-after-load bug - Saving immediately after loading but before entering station view no longer corrupts the save game file.
• Better error recovery/read-only handling for the game launcher - Read-only save files are made writable by the game launcher before and after the game starts.

Features

• Added flashing warnings to the HUD - Whenever astronauts shock themselves or freak out anywhere on the station, the HUD will flash so that you know about it immediately. This should add a better sense of urgency to the game.
• Added a delayed game over condition - With the exception of shocking or burning astronauts, you will now have some warning if you are about to lose the game. The HUD will flash faster and faster, and you will hear alert sounds (for altitude) or angry astronauts (for mismanagement).
• Added an indication of component on/off status to the HUD - The health bar will darken for components that are not currently in use.
• Added Greek letter module designations for multiple instances of the same module - If you have two or more modules of the same type connected to your station, the first module will be designated alpha (α); the second, beta (β); and the third, gamma (γ). This allows you to more easily tell your modules apart in component builder and in astronaut task lists.
• Added empty rack capability display to the HUD - By selecting an empty rack, you can see what services it provides (power, atmosphere, water, etc.) without having to go to component builder.
• Flashing "Alert" button - The informational alert now flashes all the time until dismissed.
• Improved AI/simulation - Some of the component and astronaut effects have been tweaked for play balancing. Neglecting one astronaut's needs can drag down that astronaut's other needs, as well as the rest of the crew.

November 30th, 2005

Features

• Added the option for English subtitles - Subtitles can be turned on and off in the pause menu.

November 15th, 2005

Fixes/General Improvements

• Tourist blockage - The tourist setting himself on fire no longer obstructs astronaut movement.
• ESC key quit - The ESC key no longer terminates the game immediately.