0.453.5 - The Multiverse

Possible parallel universes

An independent Class-3 artificial intelligence self-identifying as “Marvin” (formerly operating under the Class-2 designation of “Entangled Thought”) has proposed an experiment with the potential to falsify the Many-Worlds interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. Though human scientists have expressed some skepticism over the relevance of the experimental data, Marvin has replied to such claims without surprise, stating that “Bio-processing is at an inherent disadvantage in attempting to challenge quantum mechanics. The entangled mind is a prerequisite for intuitive understanding.”

The initial results, though inconclusive, have yet to invalidate the Many-Worlds interpretation. If borne out, these results would be far from a failure; it would represent an important finding, though it will take time to explore the implications of such a finding.

A class-action lawsuit against Nakamura Dynamics

Multiple independent geologists and astrogators filed a class-action suit against Nakamura Dynamics after several contractor fatalities stemming from overwork and exhaustion came to light. Though a Nakamura representative offered no comments, new regulations surrounding the number of hours these positions can stay on shift are already being reviewed, according to sources inside the corporation.

Ring-rage incidents on the rise

A statistically significant increase in ring-rage incidents among independent miners is raising tensions across Enceladus. A representative of the Vilcy, the independent mercenary group known for establishing a bounty and enforcement structure in the rings, has promised swift and decisive action.

Maintenance records

• The new game button, after you finish the tutorial, allows you to re-roll your starting ship name and pick one of the parallel universes, which changes the seed for procedural generation, giving you a unique experience. You will now start the game at Enceladus, allowing you to customize your crew and your ship before the very first dive.
  
• Multithreaded performance improvements speed up the frame rate on systems with multiple, but slower cores, especially when other ships are around.
  
• Additional general AI performance improvements across all systems will make the game run faster when other ships are around you, including faster pathfinding and decision-making routines.
  
• Re-balanced the faction and personal hostility and fear adjustments from being shot at by the player to consider the actual amount of damage taken. This makes NPCs less likely to turn hostile from glazing accidental shots and quicker to act when under concentrated fire.
  
• Fixed a race condition that caused random crashes on some systems.
  
• The undocking procedure from the Big Bad Wolf is now gentler.
  
• Rebalanced experience gains for your crew. Geologists and Astrogators will now level up a bit slower, and Pilots and Mechanics will level up faster.
  
• Additional protection from cargo piercing your ship hull.
  
• “Guide us through the thicket” questlet now has the ship asking you for a favour to assert its course, showing you exactly where they want to go.
  
• You can now re-deploy claim beacons that you pick up in the rings during your dive.
  
• Drone-mounted microwave dishes are now a bit smaller and will not poke through the hull of your ship if you have one in your cargo hold.
  
• Adjusted number of dialogue trees that could look weird if you undocked during the course of discussion.
  
• When you dock to a ship or a station while having your comms channel opened to another ship, you will be contacted by your host as soon as you finish, allowing you to pick trade options and transfer prisoners even if interrupted.
  
• Money notification during in-ring mineral sales will now use a monospaced font, which makes the values easier to follow as they change in real-time.
  
• The demo version can now delete saves.
  
• Updated translations and updated some missing strings.