✨ Server Patch
⚙️ Behind the scenes: combat now has engines of its own. Tonight’s maintenance was one of the biggest changes we have made to Forged Space, and if we got it right, you will not notice a thing. Here is what we did, without the jargon.
Before tonight, one single engine ran the whole game. Every login, every trade on the Exchange, every chat message, every mail, every docking and every pirate fight in every asteroid field and hideout, all took turns on the same engine. It coped fine, but the more captains we have fighting at once, the more everything else would have had to wait its turn behind them.
From tonight, combat has its own engines. Every asteroid field and hideout in the galaxy is now looked after by one of two dedicated combat engines, each with its own share of the server’s power. The main engine is left to run everything else: the website, trading, chat, missions and the rest.
What that means for you: • A big fight in one field no longer slows down someone trading at a promenade, or chatting, or docking. • The two combat engines share the fields between them, so a busy night in one part of the galaxy does not crowd out another. • We have a great deal more room to grow. With Steam on the horizon, that matters a lot. Fields and hideouts work exactly as before. Same pirates, same loot, same wrecks, same everything.
The only difference is where the work happens. A big thank you for your patience during the downtime. If anything in combat feels different or odd, please let us know straight away. Fly safe, Captains. 🚀
🚀 New Feature – NPC Guide
📖 New: Who’s Who in the Galaxy, your guide to every contact out there.
The galaxy is a busy place. Between the storyline contacts, the ore buyers, the Marshals, the Cartographers and everyone else with a job going, it is easy to dock somewhere new and have no idea who is worth talking to. A few of our newer captains told us they were feeling a little lost in a sea of faces, so we have put together a proper guide.
Who’s Who in the Galaxy
This lists every contact in the game, where to find them and what they can do for you.
Storylines first
Every storyline contact has their own card showing where they are, how many missions they offer and, most importantly, the reward waiting at the end. Most of those rewards are blueprints, so finishing a storyline keeps paying long after the last mission. Where one storyline leads on to another contact, the card tells you who is next.
Start with Jonas
Brand new to Forged Space? Jonas Hawk at Starbase 51 in Feris is your first stop, and he sits right at the top of the guide.
The bounty storylines are listed separately
They are the toughest runs in the game and pay the most credits, so save them for when your ship can take a beating.
Every mission-giver is in there too. Grouped by the kind of work they offer: ore buyers, refined materials, supply runs, pirate hunting, station repairs, prisoner escorts, wreck surveys and planet surveys. Pick a kind of work to see only those contacts, search by name, place or system, and sort by law level to find the work that suits your ship. You will find the guide pinned at the top of your Personal Notes in the Information Centre, and on the Welcome Back screen when you log in. It opens in your browser, so you can keep it open alongside the game. Fly safe, and go and say hello to someone new. 😉
⚖️ Balance Change
More time with your wrecks: 12 minutes in fields, 20 in hideouts. Thank you to everyone who let us know how the new wreck clean-up felt. You were quick off the mark, and we have listened.
Hideouts now give you 20 minutes
A hideout is not an asteroid field. Its garrison is limited, so an assault never leaves the hundreds of wrecks a busy belt can, and a long fight against a base deserves more breathing room before the spoils start breaking apart.
Asteroid fields now give you 12 minutes
Up from 10. That is a little extra slack to finish a fight, get your salvage drones working through the pile, or dock, empty your hold and get back out. Pirates brought down by a field station’s guns still go after 6. As before, the clock starts when the ship is destroyed and keeps running whether you are in the fight or docked, so do not leave a good haul sitting for too long. We will keep an eye on how this plays and keep reviewing it, so please do keep the feedback coming.
Loot ’em or lose ’em, Captains, just with a bit more time to do it. 😉