What changed.

Combat flights, site intelligence and developer Studio

Relay-triggered reinforcements, optional command bosses, stable site ratings and advice based on your actual fitting.

Added

• Eight combat-site profiles with two or three flights. Each flight has a relay leader; killing it early brings reinforcements while surviving escorts remain.
• A seeded 8–24% chance of a command boss after the final escorts in non-rookie sites. The same encounter and casualties are shared by every Persistent pilot.
• Site intelligence opens when combat scanning completes. It shows the site rating, wave and boss budgets, and advice using the current ship, fitted weapons, ammunition and remaining defenses.
• Floppy Space Studio is a separate desktop developer app with source-backed catalogs, blueprint and world formulas, a compiled balance chart, isolated validation, change previews and local rollback. It is delivered separately from the game.

Changed

• Close-range assault, skirmisher and artillery behavior now use distinct engagement distances, bounded turns and separation. Damaged NPCs open their range; multiple pilots attract individual NPC targets.
• Combat sites have stable C-number ratings and two-letter type codes. Original rookie sites occupy the 000 range; stronger native sites use 100, 200 and 250 ranges; further realities start at 300.
• Ordinary encounter strength now reflects site type as well as reality. Advanced native-space encounters were adjusted against legal reference fits. Optional bosses retain their stronger dedicated budgets.
• The source-backed chart compares 64 site/reality combinations against ordinary and mutated legal fittings. Advice is an estimate that assumes movement, escorts first, and no overlapping waves or repairs.

Fixed

• Destroyed ships and pending reinforcements survive revisits and save/load. Completing the currently visible wave no longer completes a site that still has reserves.
• Persistent signature installation preserves the encounter ledger alongside the ships. Two authenticated pilots receive the same casualties and reserve wave.
• Reality Predator flanking no longer teleports the ship sideways. Relay leaders are identified in target information.
• Local navigation retains a scanned combat site’s rating and fitting advice for later review. Native Escape and the warm launcher theme remain intact.

0.41.0-experimental.1 — Combat flights, site intelligence and developer Studio

Ship roles, dangerous realities and live pirate lanes

Stronger hull and module progression, encounters tied to their reality, and pirate warnings backed by a shared, clearable raid.

Added

• Pirate lane raids now have a saved system state. Verified radio reports describe an active raid or a real quiet interval, and defeating the raid opens the routes for everyone in Persistent.
• During a raid, some station-to-station routes pull ships into the same pirate encounter. Destroy the officer or boost more than 26 units away from it to regain warp. Low-tier ships should use escorts or avoid threatened routes.
• A complete hull, module and NPC balance catalog and a fleet-role expansion plan are included with this release. New fleet hulls in the plan are proposals, not unlocked ships.

Changed

• Combat hulls have stronger defenses and faction weapon affinities. Mining hulls gain working cargo space, haulers gain larger holds, and specialist hull bonuses distinguish their intended jobs.
• Weapon sizes and reality tiers now produce substantial output gains. Fitting power still limits combinations, and larger weapons still depend on projectile range, flight time and aiming.
• Defense, engine and scanner modules scale by size and tier. Even the basic 100-quality shield, armor and engine modules now provide a real benefit.
• Higher realities use explicit NPC health and damage budgets. Escalation bosses demand strong fittings and favorable, obtainable mutations; staying still under fire can strip a ship through armor into hull.
• Bosses engage at longer range and lead predictable movement. Changing course and controlling range matter. NPC damage is tied to its actual firing cadence, including split volleys.
• Persistent remains one shared universe. The server accepts existing releases alongside Experimental; Steam and itch client packages are not changed by this release.

Fixed

• The first system in a further reality no longer inherits the original Sol tutorial enemy strength. Original-reality tutorial protection remains.
• Mining beams start at the visible fitted mining emitter, or the rookie cannon muzzle. They follow hull position and rotation instead of drawing from its center.
• Persistent weapon cadence, ammunition effects and size scaling match Solo. Experimental also sends bounded mutation damage and projectile-speed effects without changing legacy player snapshots.
• Simultaneous hits are no longer discarded by a per-hit grace timer. Layer spill applies each resistance once; collision and respawn protection remain.
• A combat site cannot require more NPC kills than it can spawn. Named hunters use their own budget instead of accidentally receiving escalation-boss health.
• Leaving a lane encounter does not resurrect defeated pirates or reroll the route. Replayed transit receipts retain the same arrival.

0.40.0-experimental.1 — Ship roles, dangerous realities and live pirate lanes

Buy missing fabrication materials

Review and buy just the missing recipe materials directly in Fabrication, then build when ready.

Added

• Right-click a material in the Build Component hover card to review the missing quantity, station unit price and total before buying.
• Clicking Build Component with missing materials opens the same purchase review for all missing recipe inputs, without another permanent screen button.

Changed

• The Build Component hover card fits the recipe text, stays open while moving onto its materials and highlights the hovered material.
• Purchase quantities count both ship cargo and storage at the current station, including material-efficiency improvements. Bought materials go directly to station storage.
• The review shows the material total and wallet separately from the later fabrication fee and license run. Buying materials does not start construction or spend a license.

Fixed

• Cancel, click away or change tabs without purchasing. Steam Escape and browser F8 close the review using their normal platform controls.
• Recheck price, quantity, credits and storage before purchase. Changed quotes require another review; failed or repeated confirmations cannot partially fill an order or charge twice.

0.39.2-experimental.1 — Buy missing fabrication materials

One shared game, platform-aware controls

The approved Experimental game, tutorial, interactions and blue interface are synchronized across Steam and itch while each platform keeps its launcher and integration.

Added

• Content-sized blue cards, consolidated object prompts, and button-style contextual actions in space and on planets.
• System audio and interface settings, Display, Controls and Key Bindings tabs, with persistent preferences and configurable gameplay keys.
• Discoveries cards for system information, place history and discovery records; complete clickable release history in each launcher.

Changed

• All three editions now use the same 116-lesson tutorial, objectives, economic rules, gameplay controls and approved Experimental interface.
• Use E for interaction, docking and landing; hold left mouse to use the selected tool; Space jumps on foot and Alt+Q/E banks in flight. Legacy G/M aliases remain optional.
• Station Market and Captain Exchange keep the order form available beside the selected item. Change tabs or items freely; quantity and price drafts never trade until confirmed.
• The working fund waits for the displayed cash goal. Subsequent lessons move into component production instead of repeating the refinery walkthrough.
• Steam retains Escape and its native launcher/save paths. itch retains F8, browser fullscreen/pointer lock, touch controls and account-scoped browser saves. Native-only window/VSync options stay native.

Fixed

• Right click and the target key use the same forward-reticle asteroid/vessel picker. Peaceful ships reject combat locks with an explanation.
• Neutral NPC patrol turns remain smooth at a distance; the Persistent host correction already deployed remains compatible with protocol 31.
• Profile resets retain the graphics backend, preserving the planet-approach performance correction without lowering native scene quality.
• Creature prompts no longer appear twice. Landing instructions explicitly say 5 m/s; orbital HUD width stays steady while speed/altitude change and expands for long names.
• Browser controls and prompts now match the actual E/left-mouse interaction behavior. The extra browser connection lesson no longer shifts tutorial numbering.

0.39.1-experimental.1 — One shared game, platform-aware controls

Clear production lessons and peaceful-ship targeting

The working fund waits for actual credits, component production follows the familiar mining route, and peaceful vessels reject combat locks.

Added

• A live checklist for the first component recipe, counting ship cargo and storage at the current station.
• A cross-release security audit and a plan for shared gameplay updates, validation and rollback.

Changed

• The working-fund target is a stable cash amount; unsold materials do not lower it.
• After funding, open Fabrication and gather the component inputs before learning masters, licenses and building.
• Existing attackers remain targetable; peaceful rival corporations require active warfare outside shared-home Sol.

Fixed

• A queued Continue rechecks the current wallet, and disappears if the money requirement is no longer met.
• The post-income lessons no longer repeat the refinery walkthrough. Existing recipe materials count immediately.
• Right-click and the target key reject peaceful vessels with an explicit explanation. Turning warfare off clears a newly protected lock.

0.39.0-experimental.10 — Clear production lessons and peaceful-ship targeting

Release history and Persistent NPC patrols

Browse every experimental update in its own card and read the complete notes in the large panel. The patrol correction now reaches the shared Persistent server.

Added

• Clickable release-history cards with complete Added, Changed and Fixed sections in the main reading panel.
• Bundled experimental release notes that remain available offline, including the earlier interface, controls, market and targeting updates.
• A release workflow that updates the visible changelog and launcher version with every experimental change.

Changed

• Release notes wrap to the available width and scroll vertically; card selection stays in place when server content refreshes.
• The footer shows the installed experimental build version rather than the shared server's older manifest version.
• The launcher retains its original warm dark background, gold accents and ivory lettering.

Fixed

• Persistent NPCs no longer repeatedly reverse 180 degrees beyond their patrol boundary. The correction is applied to the running server, whose movement overrides local client simulation.
• Neutral vessels turn back smoothly at their existing cruise speed; altitude differences alone cannot trigger a horizontal reversal.
• Older shared-server or itch-specific changelog entries cannot replace this build's experimental release history.

0.39.0-experimental.9 — Release history and Persistent NPC patrols

Asteroid targeting and local NPC flight

Right-click selects ordinary asteroids using the visible flight reticle. Local patrol ships turn smoothly when they reach their patrol boundary.

Added

• One reticle picker shared by right-click and the configurable target key for rocks, rare resource nodes, ships and stations.

Changed

• Nearer surfaces under the reticle take priority over objects behind them; a small aim allowance helps with distant objects.
• Left-click mines the selected asteroid through the existing equipment and range checks.

Fixed

• Normal ore asteroids were excluded by the old hostile-only right-click search.
• Target selection now follows the drawn reticle when the chase camera is offset.
• Solo and locally hosted neutral patrols no longer reverse every frame outside their boundary. The shared-server follow-up is recorded in Experimental 9.

0.39.0-experimental.8 — Asteroid targeting and local NPC flight

Station market and Captain Exchange flow

Quantity and order controls are ready when a market opens. Switch tabs, filters or items freely while reviewing a transaction.

Added

• Editable quantities, Max controls and direct Captain Exchange unit-price entry.
• Explicit Buy Now, Sell Now and Place Order actions with totals, tax, fees and escrow shown before submission.

Changed

• Selecting a buy or sell mode prepares its order controls immediately.
• The same order-review flow is used at the station market and Captain Exchange.

Fixed

• The quantity dialog no longer blocks navigation until Cancel is clicked.
• Invalid quantities, prices, wallet limits and pending duplicate requests are checked before a transaction proceeds.

0.39.0-experimental.7 — Station market and Captain Exchange flow

Steady orbital flight statistics

The orbital information card keeps a stable width while speed and altitude change, while longer names can still expand it.

Added

No separate added notes.

Changed

• Numeric space is reserved for a three-digit speed and a four-character altitude, including a minus sign.

Fixed

• The orbital card no longer changes width on each speed or altitude digit change.
• Ship and location names continue to use their actual text width.

0.39.0-experimental.6 — Steady orbital flight statistics

Clear interaction cards and landing guidance

Object information and button-style actions share one readable card. Landing guidance separates the speed requirement from the ascent control.

Added

• Button-style action labels inside existing creature, mining, gas, ship and recovery information cards.

Changed

• Contextual instructions use the configured interaction and ascent keys.
• Landing guidance spells out the height and speed units and gives ascent its own sentence.

Fixed

• Duplicate creature and resource interaction popups are consolidated.
• The landing prompt now clearly asks for 5 m/s or less instead of looking like a combined 5/R shortcut.

0.39.0-experimental.5 — Clear interaction cards and landing guidance

Discoveries and integrated settings

System information and place history live in readable Discoveries cards. Settings are integrated into the system menu.

Added

• Thirty working preferences and twenty-five remappable actions across the settings pages.
• Content-sized cards for discoveries, system information and place history.

Changed

• Audio controls are part of the system menu, with display and controls settings available in their own pages.

Fixed

• The old standalone Audio / UI Scale popup and minus/plus scale buttons are removed.
• Settings controls apply to the real game and persist with preferences.

0.39.0-experimental.4 — Discoveries and integrated settings

Readable panels and planet approach performance

The launcher returns to its original warm dark colors. In-game information panels fit their text, and approaching a planet retains GPU rendering.

Added

No separate added notes.

Changed

• Information panels and tooltips size to their contents without cutting off long names.
• The launcher uses the original brown-toned palette.

Fixed

• A new-profile reset no longer drops the Direct3D renderer and causes the severe planet-approach slowdown.
• Planet detail, materials and lighting quality are preserved.

0.39.0-experimental.3 — Readable panels and planet approach performance

A connected interface and shared controls

The precautionary Steam Release Experimental copy brings planetary and space interfaces closer together.

Added

• A consistent blue card style with sharper corners and clear contextual action labels.

Changed

• E is the common interaction control and left-click is the primary weapon or extraction action.
• Legacy G and M controls remain optional aliases.

Fixed

• Menu clicks, typing and released-cursor input no longer leak into primary gameplay actions.

0.39.0-experimental.2 — A connected interface and shared controls

Steam gameplay synchronization

Steam receives the gameplay improvements developed alongside the itch release, while retaining its native delivery and launcher.

Added

• The revised tutorial sequence, readable explanations and 200 credits for new pilots.
• Right-click inventory actions and quantity-aware transfers and market transactions.

Changed

• Updated prices, refining and progression requirements follow the current gameplay rules.

Fixed

• Existing pilot progress is preserved; browser embedding and itch-only launcher requirements are kept out of the native release.

0.39.0-experimental.1 — Steam gameplay synchronization

Persistent Universe Foundation

The Steam engineering build now has account-bound release profiles, a native persistent host, and a clean first-flight path.

Added

• Native Linux persistent-universe host with authenticated control telemetry
• Secure launcher registration, sign-in, rotating sessions, and short-lived game tickets
• Launcher-native selector for solo, private-hosted, and persistent play
• Shared discovery catalog for realities, galaxies, and systems
• Discord universe status, map, and discovery reporting

Changed

• Fresh launcher profiles begin at tutorial step one with default filters and audio settings
• Private hosted sessions can be created or joined by code directly from the launcher
• Steam release sessions no longer expose the in-game F10 connection menu or its tutorial lesson
• Tutorial rewards were replaced with directions for acquiring required equipment
• Persistent saves migrate through isolated preflight validation before deployment

Fixed

• Launcher connection status now targets the public HTTPS gateway
• Launcher activity now derives verified status from health and universe data when an older gateway lacks the dedicated feed
• Legacy Wine and native hosts can no longer be left competing for the same UDP port
• Headless server tick pacing no longer consumes a full CPU core while idle