Space station simulator game Stable Orbit has a new update going live tomorrow, codenamed ‘Perihelion’, and it’s a big one! The new features significantly enhance the experience of building and maintaining your own international space station. Here’s an overview of the biggest improvements.
Research Contracts
In previous versions of Stable Orbit you earned money simply by adding laboratories to your space station. If you had enough labs you could automatically generate billions, as long as you had enough power and healthy astronauts to run them! Now, however, you earn those big science space bucks by completing research contracts. There are some straightforward contracts that offer easy money, but others require that you install specific upgrades in your labs or first reach a higher science level. Some contracts may offer much bigger payouts – but you need to be able to accept them before they expire!
Module Unlocks and Upgrades
As you progress you can now unlock new, larger, modules as well as upgrades that can be installed on your existing modules. “Standard” upgrades can be installed at will, and include things like capacity boosters for your storage modules. “Special” upgrades are limited to one per module, and allow you to do things like specialize your laboratories for research in one particular area – say pharmaceutical research. The Perihelion update introduces a number of these upgrades, with even more coming in future updates.
Maintenance
The modules of your station now have a maintenance cost, and if you fail to pay for maintenance there is a risk of modules incurring damage from wear and tear. As you expand your station, your overall maintenance cost will go up and counteract the increased money you’ll be getting from your science labs, keeping things challenging. You’d better bring in some of those big research contracts!
Waste Management
Waste is now another resource for you to manage and balance against the other needs of the station. If you let too much waste pile up, modules will become contaminated, living conditions in the station will deteriorate and your crew will have yet another reason to abandon you. If the waste situation becomes critical then waste will be ejected into space, but waste is a resource not to be wasted! The new Waste Recycling module will allow you to extract water, partially closing the loop on that resource.
Module Intersection Detection
Up to now, modules could be placed on any free connector (CBM), even if this would cause it to intersect with other parts of the station. This has now been fixed.
What’s next
The update after Perihelion will be called ‘Blackout’ and will include both Orbital Management and Disasters & Events. Following that will be ‘Umbilical’, adding Advanced Truss Structures and Pressurized Mechanics features. Finally, ‘Zenith’ will add the remaining features from the game’s roadmap, ultimately leading to the game becoming the official 1.0 release.
With this slew of new features this is a perfect time to get on-board (heh) with Stable Orbit. You can find out more about Stable Orbit on our hub and you can also grab your own copy at Green Man Gaming.