Version 0.1.1 released! Less crashes now!


Thanks for all your patience and bugs / crash / gameplay issue reports. Starstruck Vagabond v0.1.1 is now available, so please download and make sure that you're playing it from now on before sending bug reports. You'll know you're playing the right version because the version number will appear in the bottom right of the title screen.

The big fix is the save system; the original version was very hasty and had an embarrassing number of leaks that caused crashes when reloading games, but I'm fairly confident that I've cleaned up the mess. Please note that old v0.1 save files might not work and might still crash, so please delete old saves and start new games. Don't worry, there's a skip tutorial option now.

EDIT: Wouldn't you just know it, right after you upload a new build you do a bit of idle testing and discover a new major bug. There was an issue with the game locking up while attempting to board derelict ships. I've done a quick fix and reuploaded, so if you run into this problem, just re-download version 0.1.1. This shouldn't affect save games.

Here's the full change list:

Bug fixes:

- Save system now a lot less dodgy
- Fixed hopefully all crashes relating to previous, very poorly tested save system
- Fixed game locking up when receiving certain tutorial messages while console is up
- Fixed mouse controls not scaling properly in fullscreen mode
- Fixed mouse controls acting weird on save game menu
- You can now use shift to capitalise letters while typing your name at the start
- Fixed exploit where you could get infinite speed by continually rotating ram scoops (sorry glitch speedrunners)
- NPC ships no longer have room borders that seem to extend around the player's cargo platform
- Added workaround that automatically clips player into a free space if they somehow get stuck in a wall
- Fixed mysteriously spawning droplets
- Fixed upgrade units / quest items still spawning after being recovered from planets

Gameplay changes:

- Game now autosaves whenever you board ship, whenever you leave it, and whenever you open the cockpit computer
- Added system for deleting save games
- Added game version checker to save system
- Added option to skip prologue/tutorial when starting a new game
- Mouse controls disable on any key press and re-enabled with any mouse movement
- Added indicator on planets to show where your cargo platform is when offscreen
- Game now brings up the menu and disables controls while not in focus
- Softened the red overlay when ship power is disabled
- Reduced number of rocks that spawn on wild planets (for performance)
- Made warp ring in tutorial only need realigning, not cleaning as well
- Changed rock/bush/junk destroying sound effect
- Added random pitch shift to cleaning and air cycler sounds
- Slowed down time jump sequence in tutorial
- Added "gain money" sound to picking up credit chits
- Changed the colour of dialog outlines to be less glaring
- Adjusted system map tutorial for better intuitiveness
- Added wraparound to system menu option controls
- Player now stops when a PDA message comes up
- On civil planets, you are now unable to drop items outside of your cargo platform or the loading zone (the game only saves items in these areas)
- Oniris device now gives warning if you try to leave planet without placing it
- Alert icon appears whenever generator temperature is in the red, not just when it's about to explode
- Adjusted generator art to make it clearer which bit needs cleaning and which bit needs wrenching
- Spacesuit air supply now fully refills on returning to ship
- Pressing the BACK/CONSUME button while holding a tool now switches straight to empty hands
- Reduced the cost of a warp drive to 4000 credits
- Increased reward given for completing bulletin board quests
- Speeded up info ticker on warp confirmation screen

Files

Starstruck Vagabond alpha demo 0.1.1 (newest) 6 MB
Dec 08, 2020

Get Starstruck Vagabond

Comments

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(7 edits)

Played for another hour or so, a lot smoother than last time! However I did encounter additional, repeatable bugs:

-Received "derelict ship" message, hailed them and received the "repair guy" message (?). When I tried to take the cargo platform over there as instructed, the game locked on a black screen. I was able to repeat this bug when I loaded my save, and later on. The derelict ship event seems to be bugged.

-On a distress call there was a one-tile invisible obstruction just below my character (see image)

-Same bug, different distress call. Invisible wall to the right of my character in this image:

-

-Final bug: got stuck in a door/wall when I tried to place a box down into the door tile:

Really looking forward to this!

After playing for about an hour, I really like it! It has a strong gameplay loop and the writing is just as sharp as ever. The visuals are clean, so it's easy to tell things apart, but not so simplistic it looks like a crayon drawing. The audio provided satisfying feedback for each action and generally just made the game more fun.

However, I did find 3 problems, two of which were major bugs:

-The first (and least important) one is that when walking through uninhabited planets the framerate would randomly slow down. My computer is kinda terrible at running a lot of games so that's most likely the problem, but just in case it isn't exclusively my computer's problem, thought you should know.

-The second problem is a lot more complicated: So you can accept missions from the Galactic Federation through the ship's comms, right? Well I did that...but I selected the "TAKE JOB" option three times, which meant I had accepted the job three times. So when I arrived at the planet and got ready to take the cargo into my ship, I was greeted by not 5 crates of vivadium ore, but 15. I had also picked the "Speedstar Salmon" ship, so that was kind of annoying.

-After blocking off several doorways with cardboard boxes, telling myself "I'm sure this won't break while I'm flying" I encountered the third problem. Because it was so fast I can't exactly tell what happened, but what I think happened was this: I was holding the final box ready to put it in the cockpit because I had run out of space in the ship. I walk to the cockpit and, realizing it won't fit at the front, I walk back and I must have dropped the box on the doorway while the door was closing. The game froze and no matter what I pressed nothing happened. I tried alt-tabbing and then opening the game and all that did was turn the screen completely white. The game also refused to close unless I turned off my computer, so I did. However, when I turned my computer back on, the .exe file was missing from the folder. I tried downloading the game again and it seemed to work. Even my save file was still there. But after I tried opening the save file, the screen turned white and I got this error message:

############################################################################################
ERROR in
action number 1
of Draw Event
for object con_onboard:

Variable Index [0] out of range [0]
at gml_Object_con_onboard_Draw_0
############################################################################################
gml_Object_con_onboard_Draw_0 (line -1)


Overall, the game is great and I am really excited for the next few updates, but the problems I listed above, especially the last two, are quite literally game-breaking. 

Best of luck with the development,

-A random stranger on the Internet

So, after playing for about an hour on the new build, I think the biggest thing it's missing right now is a generic "action" button. Something that can be applied to the spacebar, which is already the main button, or another one like "e," but for simply talking to NPCs and looking at (or searching) desks/shelves/trees/etc. Also more of a penalty for reneging on contract jobs would be good, and (in the long run) some sort of ever-changing commodity market like what was in Fantabulous Wonderment, where I can take these bananas across the star system to the people who worship bananas and make a fortune as the supplier for the banana religion.  

Reading through the fixes and changes, and it sounds like an awesome amount of work went into improving things. Keen to try this out tonight!