Patch Notes Update Beyond - Chapter Four - Beta (Week 1)

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Will Flanagan

Product Manager
Frontier
Hello Commanders,

Please find the beta patch notes for the first week of beta.

Exploration

  • Discovery Scanner upgraded to include access to the new Full Spectral System (FSS) scanner mode
    • Players use the FSS Mode to discover stellar bodies, stellar phenomenon, USSs, scenarios, distress calls, mission targets and more
    • There is now only one Discovery Scanner available in game, that is based on the basic variant. Commanders that have purchased either the intermediate or advanced scanners will receive a credit refund
  • Detailed Surface Scanner upgraded to include access to brand new planet probes
    • Players can fire probes at bodies to gather data that can be sold.
    • Players can also use these probes to pinpoint places of interest on landable planets as well as uncover lucrative places in planetary rings to mine (mining tools will be available at a later beta release)
    • Each body has a "probe efficiency" target; if the player maps 100% of the body using either the same or less than the target, they are awarded a bonus
  • Added "First Mapped By" tag - the first commander to 100% map a stellar body and sell the data at a port will be named for everyone to see
    • Players will be unable to map Sol, Achenar or Alioth as these systems are already fully mapped
  • A credit bonus will be awarded for players that get either 100% first discovered or 100% first mapped in a system (these will not carry over to the live servers)
  • Added new things to find!
  • Orrery view added - players can access the schematic orrery view of systems from the system map
  • Exploration data and progress carried out in the beta will not carry over to the live game servers.


Codex

  • Codex added to the ship's internal (right hand) panel. The Codex contains:
    • Commander Stats
      • Logs important player statistics
      • Session Log records important game events for players review
      • Archive holds all text and audio logs taken from the numerous narratives from across the galaxy
      • Audio logs can be added to the improved Playlist feature
    • Discoveries
      • Contains either rumored, reported or discovered entries from across the 42 different galactic regions
      • Discoveries are broken down in to 3 categories (Stellar Bodies, Biological and Geological, and Civilisations)
      • Some content from the Biological and Geological section of the Codex has not been included for the beta.
    • Knowledge Base
      • Various articles from the rich history and lore of the Elite universe, from the history of the Super Powers, to important characters and corporations
      • Each article is narrated and can be added to the improved Playlist feature


Background Simulation

  • Factions can now be in multiple states within each system that they are present
  • Economic and Security status added
  • War, Civil War and Election states are now a 7 day conflict, where players engage in activities (such as winning conflict zones in War and Civil War states) and attempt to beat their opponents
  • Added a new 'Happiness' level for each faction, that is a combination of various states and influence. Happiness also plays into the Expansion state
  • Civil Liberty state added (part of the Security Status)
  • Added more information to the status tab in the right hand cockpit panel to help players manage/support factions


Megaships and Installations

  • Added new megaships and installations
  • Applicable megaships will move location, on a weekly tick


Scenarios

  • Added new scenarios with voice over direction and feedback, and on screen choices and objectives
  • Scenarios come in the form of USSs, Megaship locations and Conflict Zones
  • Conflict zones are now round based; players battle to win a round which then feeds into the war state
    • Side objectives can appear, and if the player completes them, they are awarded a points boost
    • Once a round has finished, a new one will begin after a short pause
  • Combat specific ambient chatter added.
  • Ambient chatter now is now in place throughout the entire game and not just around stations.
  • 3000 + lines of NPC dialogue added to support scenario driven gameplay.


Lighting

  • Added new lighting model, using dynamic exposure
  • Colour grading applied to various situations in the game, improving the look and feel of the game world
  • Added a new 'Night Vision' mode to Ships, Fighters and SRVs, to allow players to navigate dark sides of planets, rings and other areas of the game


Cockpit UI

  • Starport contacts now displayed as a grid, rather than a flat list
  • External Ship panel (left hand side)
    • Combined 'clear filters' option with the 'set filters' option on the Navigation panel
    • Added filters to the Transaction tab
    • Added context sensitive, quick action button to contacts (such as 'Request Docking' when targeting a port)
    • Combined sub-targets and inventory into one tab, with filters
  • Comms Panel (top left)
    • Reordered the tabs
    • Added support for combining channels in to one main chat channel, or set them as separate tabs
    • Combined invitations and multicrew tabs together in to a 'Social' tab which includes:
      • Multicrew (find crew, join a ship)
      • Friends invites
      • Wing invites
      • Online friends
    • Squadron feed tab added
  • Internal Panel (right hand side)
    • Added a new 'Home' tab that replaces the previous status tab
      • Includes new buttons to launch various features (holo-me, squadrons, codex, powers, Galnet etc)
    • Replaced fire groups "1, 2, 3..." with "A, B, C..." to avoid confusion between group and fire buttons
    • Added new contextual 'Ship' tab that replaces the 'Functions' tab and includes sections for 'Ship Preferences', 'Pilot Preferences' and 'Ship Stats'
    • Inventory tab now has icon filters instead of text filters, increasing usable screen space
    • Updated 'Status' tab to now include local faction information, Super Power and Powerplay status, a Session Log digest, info on Finances and acquired Permits
    • Playlist tab functionality increased to allow players to build up a playlist from other areas of the game


Text Chat Channels

  • New star system wide text chat now available


Friends and Group Management

  • Players can now filter and sort their friends list and private groups they are part of


Localised COVAS

  • Added 5 free localised COVAS packs:
    • French
    • German
    • Russian
    • Brazilian Portuguese
    • Spanish


Audio Options screen

    • Added “Wavescanner Autodocking” option. Disable this to hear the SRV wavescanner more clearly at high speeds
    • Audio Options screen is reorganised for more clarity and ease of use
    • Restore defaults button added


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Bug Fixes and Improvements

This update includes well over 2000 fixes for various issues that have been discovered and investigated during the development process.

For the sake of clarity, we have primarily listed below fixes for issues that have been reported to us by the community or other significant changes.

Adder

  • Fixed clipping issues when deploying weapons

Alliance Challenger

  • Fixed misplaced caustic damage decals
  • Fixed missing engine trails
  • Fixed Ship ID cameras being swapped

Alliance Chieftain

  • Fixed very quiet multicannons

Anaconda

  • Fixed size3 hardpoint doors getting in the way of the size4 hardpoint
  • Corrected mirrored text on external panel

Asp Scout

  • Added correct material to the reverse thrusters

Diamondback Explorer

  • Fixed LOD issues with hardpoint covers
  • Fixed gap in cockpit

Eagle

  • Fixed paintwork showing wear even when at 100%

F63 Condor

  • Corrected mirrored external decals

Federal Dropship

  • Fixed thermal vent placement

Federal Gunship

  • Fixed engine flaps animating incorrectly

Guardian Fighters

  • Fixed Small Guardian Gauss Cannon clipping through hardpoint when deployed
  • Corrected the left and right cockpit panel positions

Imperial Clipper

  • Fixed floating cockpit geometry

Imperial Cutter

  • Fixed some mirrored text on external panels

Imperial Eagle

  • Fixed incorrect shadow being used
  • Fixed gaps in cockpit when using EDTracker or VR

Imperial Fighter

  • Fixed clipping when docking with mothership

Krait Mk.II

  • Fixed Z-fighting in cockpit
  • Landing gear now lines up with ship door
  • Fixed the engine boost SFX sounding like 'Hello'
  • Decreased brightness of the red proximity warning lights
  • Fixed overly 'scratched' cockpit glass
  • Corrected the order of its bobble head slots

Type-10

  • Fixed cockpit seat being incorrectly placed
  • Fixed various model issues
  • Fixed winglets not animating correctly

Type-6

  • Fixed gap in between ship body and thrusters

Type-7

  • Fixed hole in the side of the ship
  • Can now put a Size 2 passenger cabin in the size 2 slot

Type-9

  • Fixed the schematic having incorrect drives
  • Fixed engine VFX being too far behind the actual thruster

Viper Mk.III

  • Fixed paintwork showing wear even when at 100%


AI

  • Fixed situations where security ships and Thargoids could incorrectly start attacking each other
  • Fixed NPC ships charging FSD with weapons still active
  • Ensure the 'Terrorist' archetype always comes with a bounty
  • Fixed authority ships occasionally firing Plasma rounds when scanning ships
  • Fixed NPC having no FSD cooldown after being interdicted
  • Destroying an NPC power plant now takes the ship down to 40% power (inline with player ship behaviour)


Avatar Animations

  • Correctly invert the joystick animations if the controls are inverted

Cockpit UI

  • Correctly display if a targeted ship is in a wing or multcirew
  • When firing weapons while looking at the module panel, the ammo count will now properly update
  • Widened the target panel to fit in longer ship names
  • Ensure ammo count is correct on the module tab after reloading weapons
  • Ensure Commander names are always displayed in the comms panel
  • Ensure module priority is retained after ship destruction
  • Comms panel will no longer expand without focusing on it, if players leave the ships Multicrew session
  • Fixed the navigation panel not displaying the correct destination system when in hyperspace in some cases
  • Ensure completed and finished community goals are cleared from the transaction tab
  • Make chat messages time display the same time as the galaxy time when using a machine in a different time zone
  • Fixed an issue that caused inbox messages to show incorrect, and sometimes invalid, times and dates. PS4 only
  • Fixed some inbox messages not clearing the notification icon once read
  • Fixed overlapping text between inbox message subject and date
  • Fixed cases where the fuel bar incorrectly indicates that the player has enough fuel to make a jump that it actually can't


Commodities Market

  • Fixed UI spacing issues with the commodities screen


Controllers/Inputs

  • Fixed the Thrust Master HOTAS S4 not appearing in the control screen
  • Ensure default mappings appear for the Thrustmaster HOTAS4


CQC

  • Fixed a potential server disconnect when using beam lasers in CQC
  • Fixed CQC structures disappearing when authority machine leaves the match


Crashes/Stability/Performance

  • Fixed a hang that could occur whilst fighting a Thargoid Interceptor
  • Fixed crash that could occur when a fighter is docking
  • Fixed crash that could occur on PS4 when in Multicrew
  • Fixed crash that could occur whilst docking at "Chelomey Orbital" in Cubeo
  • Fixed crash that could occur with Powerplay data
  • Fixed crash that could occur when selecting the galaxy map from the transactions tab
  • Fixed crash that could occur when exiting multicrew
  • Fixed crash that could occur whilst reading an inbox message during a hyperspace jump
  • Fixed crash that could occur whilst deploying a fighter when in a multicrew session
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when handing in a mission
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when dropping out of Supercruise at a port
  • Fixed frame rate issues after driving on a planet surface for an amount of time


Crime and Punishment

  • Ensure a Powerplay bounty does not cause a premium for transporting the ship it was incurred on


Engineering

  • Corrected some inconsistencies in Engineer descriptions
  • Added a line to explain that pinned blueprints may differ if applied to a different module
  • Ensure there is room to display the modified icon even with long module names


Fighter Crew

  • Fixed instance where fighter crew in control of the mothership were trying to use FSD when the ship was nav locked to another ship, causing ship to become unresponsive to player input
  • Fixed typo in crew lounge
  • Fixed fighter crew sometimes struggling to dock a fighter with its mothership


Galaxy Map

  • Fixed systems controlled by Pilots Federation not appearing under the civilisation filter
  • Selected filter settings remain selected when changing map configurations


General

  • Packhound missiles no longer clip through planet landscapes
  • Fixed odd VFX artifacts on ships drives when at low throttle
  • Ensure player set PIPS are retained when the ship is dismissed and recalled
  • Tweaked the position of the interdiction UI element in the three Alliance ships
  • Search and Rescue +/- buttons now increase/decrease if held down
  • Fixed incorrect ship schematics displaying inside some ships cockpits
  • Unify the GalNet logos to be the 7 points in all screens
  • Orca, Dolphin and Beluga optional internal slots no longer restricted to just passenger cabins.


Generation Ships

  • Removed the unnecessary warnings when firing weapons near a gen ship


Guardian Beacons

  • Corrected some text errors
  • Fix for VFX disappearing when scanned
  • Fixed LOD issues on beacon
  • Fixed pylons animating before fully powered
  • Fixed over sized physics
  • Fixed pylon light clipping through ships
  • Fixed ships being able to clip through the 'orb'


Guardian Sites

  • Fixed floating geometry


Installations

  • Added a new space bar, "The Orange Sidewinder"


Listening Posts

  • Fixed typos in Alpha Centauri B 1 listening post


Livery Items

  • Fixed LOD issue with onion head decal


Localisation/Text

  • Fixed truncated Search and Rescue Agent text in Russian
  • Corrected typo in Synthetic Meat commodity description
  • Fixed typo in Carbon class star description


Materials

  • Fixed description errors with Delta, Epsilon and Gamma obelisk data
  • Fixed Piceous Cobble being hard to collect
  • Increased the drop rate of more common guardian materials
  • Fixed the crystalline cluster model
  • Fixed Strange Wake Solutions description typo
  • Reduce the chance the of mineral deposits spawning inside surface rocks


Megaships

  • Ensure that rescue ships offer the limpet restock service
  • Ensure players don't get stuck in the Alcatraz Class Prison in HIP 17962 system, when dropping out at it's location


Missions

  • Increased wing delivery mission payouts
  • Fixed Federal rank not increasing when successfully completing applicable mission
  • Fix for valid massacre targets not counting towards mission progress
  • Fixed USS not spawning for 'Wet Work' missions
  • Corrected some Massacre missions that had inconsistent rewards for number of targets
  • Stop missions requesting cargo that it views as illegal (Federal mission asking for imperial slaves, for example)
  • Balance pass on Super Power reputation gain
  • Added destination faction to passenger VIP missions
  • Updated mission wording to reflect that ports in lock down do not have access to their commodities market
  • Stop planetary scan missions sending players to scan mission giving faction
  • Allow kills outside target system to count in assassination missions (fixes ships appearing to not be mission targets when they leave the target system)
  • Ensure follow on missions spawn at the players current reputation level
  • Added extra info to time bonus mission objectives
  • Altered Massacre faction selection to prevent the target faction generator from picking the same target that is giving the mission.


Multicrew

  • Fixed the saved plotted route being cleared when entering multicrew
  • Fixed geyser particle effects not appearing for a multicrew crew member


Network

  • Fixed situations where NPC ships could disappear from Supercruise when a player drops out of SC
  • Fixed Planet SYNUEFE VM-D C15-10 2 A causing players to get stuck in log in loop
  • Fixed possible disconnect when trying to escape a Thargoid


Outfitting

  • Fixed softlock that could occur when attempting to purchase or retrieve 5D Guardian Module Reinforcement
  • Fixed missing "?" in livery section
  • Fix for point defense module not restocking correctly
  • Timers for modules in transit should now reflect time remaining more accurately
  • Ensure modules are listed under correct categories in stored modules tab
  • Players can only fit one FSD interdictor, as there is no benefit to fitting more and causes confusion
  • Fixed outfitting stats becoming out of sync and applying incorrect values (a distance value for damage type, for example)
  • Ensure all applicable multicrew enabled weapons/modules are clearly marked in outfitting
  • Fixed dark lighting and outfitting cameras for the SRV


Passenger Missions

  • Added the faction to deliver to in transaction panel
  • Ensure VIP passenger missions display their expiration time on the transaction tab
  • Fix some passenger missions incorrectly reducing the timer by ~20mins when accepting them
  • Ensure passengers that claim to be unfazed by hull damage, are actually unfazed


Player Factions

  • Add faction descriptions


Player Journal

  • Multiple faction activestates – in Location and FSDJump events
  • The first “Cargo” event written to the journal contains full inventory
  • Added “AsteroidCracked” event
  • Added “SAAScanComplete” (Surface Area Analysis) event
  • Added “CodexDiscovery” event
  • Added “FSSDiscoveryScan” and “FSSSignalScan” events
  • Added several events for Squadrons
  • Simplify the “Category” in MaterialTrade
  • Clarify meaning of bit 14 in status file: was called “under ship” but actually indicates when turret is retracted
  • ApproachSettlement now includes Latitude and Longitude
  • Note Bounty event is different for Skimmer bounty
  • Update description of StoredShips event with InTransit flag
  • Add ActiveFine info to Docked event
  • EngineerProgress event at startup with summary for all engineers currently known
  • Note a new ShipTargetted event is generated after using KillWarrantScanner, with updated bounty for target
  • Note the MissionRedirected mission name now has any trailing “_name” removed
  • Added MyReputation in faction list in FsdJump and Location events
  • Added “FSDTarget” event when selecting a starsystem to jump to
  • Added MissionID to cargo to indicate if it is mission-related: in Cargo, CollectCargo, EjectCargo events
  • In ship loadout, indicate if it is ‘hot’
  • Cargo summary is now written to a separate file, and updated when data changes
  • Add “HullHealth” stat in the “Loadout” event
  • MissionCompleted now indicates correct destination after redirection


Player Stats

  • Ensure 'Time Played' updates correctly


Ports

  • Added missing habitation ring to "Greeboski's Outpost"
  • Ensured all new adverts are being displayed correctly
  • Fixed docking computer causing hull damage in a ship with no shields, when docking at surface ports
  • Fixed situation where loading into the game whilst docked on a pad can cause shields to go offline


Powerplay

  • Fixed broken 'Exploitation impact' column on Edmund Mahon's screen


Rendering

  • Fixed low quality shadows appearing when entering Orbital Cruise on PS4
  • Corrected the rendering order of nebula
  • Fix for the FSD charge up visual becoming mis-aligned after using vanity camera
  • Fixed galaxy background vanishing after a Thargoid hyperdiction
  • Fixed missing particles in some hi-res screenshots


Ship Launched Fighters

  • Fixed inability to deploy fighter weapons if the motherships weapons weren't deployed before switching


Skimmers

  • Ensure scanned skimmers return appropriate details on the target panel


SRV

  • Fixed the targeting reticule displaying when the weapon is deactivated


Stellar Forge

  • Renamed "Pleiades Sector Ir-W D1-55" to "Delphi"
  • Fixed connection issues around "COL 285 SECTOR CV-Y D41 7 E"
  • Fixed typo in the LHS 3006 system description
  • Moved 2 moons in Kyloasly DA-A f69 slightly apart so that they no longer intersect
  • Fixed "Lucifers" orbital period
  • Fixed the star in the system "HD 168352" having a too small radius
  • Ensure I Bootis B and C are a contact binary again
  • Renamed some duplicate systems
  • Persistent POIs now consistent for different graphics card vendors


Synthesis

  • Required grade 5 materials now display their correct grade icon (and not grade 4)


System Map

  • Corrected overly bright/shiny planets
  • Ensure players can set navigation targets from the system map


Thargoids

  • Thargoid Interceptors can now still engage players, even if they are close to them
  • Interceptors now launch Thargon kamikaze attacks if they detect a port
  • Corrected some lore inconsistencies found in megaship logs to do with the Thargoid Link


Vanity Camera

  • Fixed inverted joystick animations when using the vanity camera


Vanity Items

  • Improved some of the visual artifacts on the Corvette Razor pack
  • Increased space between the text and icon on the Trader Name Plate
  • Ensure all engine colours are correct when customised engine trail colours are turned off
  • Ship names can now have blank spaces at the front and end of it's name and they are saved
  • Fixed clipping on Vulture ship kit


Weapons/Modules

  • Ensure the 'Restock All' option actually restocks the 1F Guardian Shard Cannon (Turret)
  • Corrected inconsistency in AX outfitting descriptions
  • Fixed Guardian Shard Cannon clipping through Type 7
  • Fixed missing VFX on small Guardian Shard Cannon
  • Fixed LOD issue with small Guardian Shard Cannon
  • Fix LOD issue on Guardian Plasma Charger
  • Fixed Guardian Shield Reinforcement Packages preventing shields restoring after reboot/repair
  • Reduce the brightness of the enforcer cannon when it has a white weapon colouring applied to it
  • Fixed module reinforcement packages being disabled under certain circumstances
  • Corrected the cargo hatch closing when deploying a limpet and causing ship speed to change
  • Corrected the retract animation on the Guardian Plasma Charger
  • Limpets will now collect cargo that has been forcibly ejected from the players ship
  • Corrected the Advanced Plasma Accelerator recoil animation
  • Corrected typo in Remote Release Flechette Launcher
  • Fixed SFX for the Kill Warrant Scanner sometimes going missing when switching between ship and fighter
  • Fixed turrets firing at ships which are at 0% hull

Wing Missions

  • Fixed case where mission progress wasn't shared between players in Multicew
  • Fixed trade wing missions not sharing Trade rank progression with wing

Wings

  • Ensure the 'target my wing mans target' key works in all applicable situations
  • Fix for dropping out at a wake that is close to a planet, which should mean you drop out much closer to your intended target
 

Alec Turner

Alec Turner
I call shotgun!

tenor.gif
 

Joël

Volunteer Moderator
Joël
That's an impressive list!

Well done, Frontier! Thanks for the continued passion and enthusiasm for your games! : )
 

Jenner

I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
Jenner
Suuuh-weeeet.

Can't wait to play.

(looks at clock)

In about 12 hours. :eek:
 

Azirphaeli

Azirphaeli
  • Destroying an NPC power plant now takes the ship down to 40% power (inline with player ship behaviour)

Finally... I guess there was a bug after all huh?
 

DustyArne

DustyArne
Nice 1 guys.. very impressive..


Also, not until now I realize we only have to carry one scanner now that does the all the scanning instead of having to carry 2 scanners.. this means all my ships will have a extra module to use.. I'm happy!

(unless we now need to have a probe launcher with us now??)
 
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