5.5 Patch notes

NEW STAR SYSTEMS

• A new class of stellar body has been added to the universe.
• These purple-class systems are additional stars, allowing the universe to expand with increased diversity without regenerating existing planets or resetting the exploration and construction efforts of the community.

TERRAIN GENERATION

• The terrain generation algorithm has been evolved and refined to generate more diverse planetary shapes, with mountains, deep valleys, and sprawling plains.
• Specific improvements have been made to reduce repeating patterns on individual planets, increasing the range of different shapes and terrain styles seen on a single world.
• Other improvements include the ability to generate significantly deeper oceans.
• These new terrain settings have been applied to all planets found within purple star systems. Terrain in existing systems has not been regenerated, and bases have not been reset.
• On all planets in all systems, large resource deposits can now appear underwater.

NEW WORLDS

• Planets found in purple-class star systems feature a significant range of new environments and planetary characteristics.

• Find gas giant planets, with their hostile planet-wide storms and challenging conditions. These titans dominate the collection of moons found in their orbit, warping the effects of gravity.

• Other planets are totally dominated by water, with seas that dwarf even their highest mountains. Specialist aquatic landing technology will be required to land upon such a waterworld. These worlds feature exceptionally deep oceans, stretching down kilometres.

• Find rare non-gas giants, colossal worlds on a scale never before seen.
• Non-waterworld planets in purple-class star systems may also feature extremely deep water alongside their conventional terrestrial features.
• Moons in purple-class star systems can now feature water.

• Gas giants and waterworlds have their own unique and valuable terrain deposit materials, as well as new atmospheric gases to harvest.
• All planets in purple-class star systems feature deposits of Quartzite, a new stellar mineral.
• New refining crafting recipes have been added to take advantage of these new materials.

WATER RENDERING

• Surface water rendering has been significantly improved, with a large increase in fidelity.
• Clouds, nebulae, and other planets are now correctly reflected in the water surface.
• Terrain reflections have been improved with accurate lighting and fogging effects.

• Subsurface scattering has been enhanced, creating spectacular glows when the sun’s light grazes the crest of a wave.
• Wave foam rendering has been enhanced.
• Wave foam now benefits from a greater range of colours.
• In rare circumstances, wave foam now pulsates with strange and alien effects.

• Underwater rendering has been entirely reworked to feature accurate light scattering and transmittance, creating realistic and atmospheric deep water environments.
• Support has been added for underwater crepuscular rays as light shimmers through the surface.
• Water caustic effects have been significantly improved.

• In rare circumstances, water can now settle into absolutely tranquility, creating a perfectly still surface.
• Rain will now generate tiny ripples in the water surface.
• Other objects - such as creatures, starships, vehicles, Travellers, and weapon systems - will also generate dynamic water effects as they move through the surface.

WATER VARIETY

• Significant new levels of environmental diversity have been added to the seas of all planets, including those in non-purple systems.
• The water environment has been enriched with a range of new effects, coming to life with bubbles, algae blooms, bioluminescent organisms, strange floating flora, and much more.

• Additional levels of environmental diversity are to be found in the deepest oceans…

DEEP WATER GAMEPLAY

• Swimming into deep water now has additional hazard effects, including an increased rate of oxygen consumption, increased strain on life support systems, and magnified planetary hazards.

• A new technology has been added, the Pressure Membrane, which can be installed to offset some of the harmful effects of deep water.
• The baseline amount of time a player can breathe underwater has been increased.
• The bonuses provided by water breathing upgrades have been increased.

• A valuable new item, Seaglass, has been added to ultra-deep water.
• Find ultra-rich terrain deposits in the deepest waters, material seams with exceptionally high yields.

SWIMMING AND BUOYANCY

• The player now responds accurately to the waves, gently bobbing in the water or being thrown around in a storm.

• The swimming camera has been significantly improved, responding to the water state as well as player actions.
• Fixed a number of popping and jerkiness issues with the swimming camera.
• Fixed a number of visual glitches with player swimming animations.
• Improved the responsiveness of player movement while swimming.
• The camera now allows a much greater range of movement while underwater.

• The depth of the sea floor beneath the player’s position is now displayed on the HUD.
• Jetpacking straight up to ascend to the surface of the water now uses less jetpack fuel than boosting horizontal speed.
• The jetpack’s water ascent speed has been increased.

• When underwater, the player torch now behaves as a volumetric light.
• The player torch is now more stable and consistent in its position, avoiding casting a bright light on the back or arm as you run.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the player to drop to the bottom of the ocean if a popup appeared while they were swimming.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the normal jetpack effects to play while underwater.

LIGHTING

• The lighting and material rendering system has been totally overhauled, increasing the precision of light sources.
• The engine's material model has been completely reworked, and the ambient occlusion shader (GTAO) has been rewritten from the ground up. Slice sampling is now stochastic, the shader has been extended to compute screen space bent normals, and many new heuristics have been added to the shader to make up for common issues inherent to screen space ambient occlusion techniques.
• Light is now more accurately reflected and absorbed, adding richness and detail to all surfaces.
• Specular highlights are now more pronounced and dramatic, particularly on distant terrain and metallic objects.
• Indirect lighting is now more localised and representative of the environment around the player.

• The brightness and colour of lighting in enclosed spaces such as bases, space stations and planetary buildings is more precisely localised.
• External lighting conditions are more accurately occluded by opaque surfaces, creating cosier interior atmospheres.
• Lights placed in planetary bases now more accurately illuminate their surroundings.
• Lighting within caves is now more accurate and properly matches the expected darkness of the deep underground…
• Shadow rendering has been totally reworked for a richer and more detailed experience.
• The ambient occlusion system has been dramatically reworked, adding rich microshadow detail and increased contrast to everything in the universe - from lifeforms to ships to potted plants.

MISSIONS

• A significant new chain of story-driven missions have been added, “In Stellar Multitudes”.
• Work with the Autophage to uncover stories of the Atlas and Atlantid, and weave together time and space on an epic adventure to recover that which was lost…

• A new multiplayer fishing mission has been added to the Nexus.
• A new procedurally generated fishing mission has been added to the Space Station mission listings.

• Fixed an issue that could prevent the Atlas Path from being displayed within the Collected Knowledge catalogue on very old saves.
• Fixed a number of issues that could lead to a blocker in the Space Anomaly mission when players have no discoveries to present to Helios.
• Fixed a rare issue that could lead to two copies of the Atlas Eternal mission running at the same time.
• Fixed a number of issues that could lead to two copies of the Space Anomaly mission running after completing an expedition.

PLANETARY VARIETY

• Planetary variety and diversity has been increased all across the universe.
• Dense jungle worlds can now be found all across the universe.
• New desolate desert worlds can now be found all across the universe.
• Rare and strange ruined relic worlds can now be found all across the universe.
• These new worlds have been added to both existing systems and the new purple-class star systems, but in such a way as to minimise change to existing worlds.
• The diversity and variety of hazardous flora on all worlds has been increased.

• On top of this, significant additional planetary diversity can be found in purple-class star systems.
• A large number of new procedurally generated varieties of scorched, frozen, toxic and barren worlds have been introduced, as well as additional variety for worlds featuring floating islands.

• A new resource, polished stone, has been added to relic planets.
• Players who search the ruins of relic planets may uncover plans to construct replica ruins of their own.

• Planetary weather hazards such as lightning and tornadoes have been reworked for additional visual impact.
• Additional localised planetary hazards have been where appropriate, providing both visual diversity and additional exploration challenge.
• Hazards included localised clouds of toxic spores; small-scale radioactive fallout; electromagnetic anomalies; volcanic eruptions; geothermal geysers; and localised gravity inversion zones.

QUALITY OF LIFE

• When landing at a space station, the starship will now attempt to land at the closest free landing pad to the main terminals.
• A “Favourites” tab has been added to the teleporter interface, allowing easy marking and retrieval of commonly used destinations.
• Buttons have been added to the inventory to consolidate and sort items according to various criteria, including name, value, type, and colour.
• East and west markers have been added to the compass.
• Technologies and products in the Catalogue can now be visualised as a crafting tree, allowing players to see a full map of all construction steps.

• The third person camera has been improved when in tight interior spaces.
• Brood Mothers now drop a token of your victory, which can be donated to the Mercenaries Guild.
• The Quicksilver Synthesis Companion has been made easier to interact with.
• A number of smoothing improvements have been made to player locomotion.
• When piloting in first person, the throttle and stick within the starship cockpit now respond accurately to player inputs.

UI

• Improved the visual presentation of inventory and other popup headers.
• When picking up an inventory item, the cursor is now slightly offset to allow a more clear view of the slots.
• Inventory slots are now slightly highlighted on hover, improving feedback as to which slot is selected.
• Fixed a large number of issues on the title and banner customisation screen.

• Fixed an issue that prevented the components bar from displaying as 100% complete when a technology component is fully repaired or installed.
• The responsiveness of interaction and target labels has been improved.
• Preview holograms when summoning Exocraft, the Exo-Skiff and the Trade Rocket now behave more consistently.
• Starship images in the summoning Quick Menu are now more correctly aligned.
• Each type of Exocraft now has its own specific HUD and compass icon.

• When copying a starship between an expedition and a main save, improved the clarity of messaging if the copy is an exchange that will replace the current primary ship.
• Fixed a number of issues that caused starship alert messages to stay around on screen when no longer relevant.
• Fixed a number of consistency issues when determining if gameplay-critical plants count as discoveries.
• The mousewheel now scrolls the list of creature/plant/mineral discoveries correctly.
• Fixed an issue that prevented some UI sounds from playing in the refiner UI.
• Fixed an issue that caused the options menu to repeat the names of each button as a header next to the button.
• When choosing to speak an alien word, the translated options now use the appropriate highlight colour for that language.
• Fixed an issue that could truncate text when choosing words in an alien language.
• Fixed an issue that prevented passing ships from having their distance displayed on the starship HUD.
• Targeted starships now display their name in the ship HUD.
• Pirate starships now have their own procedurally generated name.

COOKING

• Cronus now maintains a market aboard the Space Anomaly. Each day, they will seek a different range of edible items. Travellers may donate large amounts of these items at a time, in exchange for nanites and esteem.
• When presenting food to Cronus for judging, the options available will always include your highest-quality food.
• Cronus’ station aboard the Space Anomaly now has a functional grill available.
• The Exo-Skiff now has a functioning grill for mid-sea cookery.

• The recipe catalogue has been overhauled. The catalogue is now sorted by output item, and variant recipes can be viewed by expanding the main recipe.
• Recipe names are now presented more clearly in the catalogue.
• The recipe catalogue now allows access to a crafting-tree style view of any recipe, allowing intermediate steps to be seen more clearly.
• As well as in the catalogue, these recipe details are also available while using the Nutrient Processor.

• Filter options have been added to sort ingredients by quality while browsing ingredients to place into the Nutrient Processor.
• The Nutrient Processor’s ingredient storage can now be accessed at any time while nearby.
• Procedurally generated tasting notes have been added to the descriptions of edible products.

• A new Exosuit technology has been added, the Nutrient Ingestor. Once installed in the Exosuit, the Ingestor allows players to input large amounts of edible items, which will be consumed one at a time as necessary, providing powerful and long-lasting benefits.

TITAN EXPEDITION

• Expedition Seventeen, Titan, will begin shortly after the conclusion of the redux edition of the Cursed Expedition and will run for approximately six weeks.
• This expedition invites players to explore the beauty and the danger of the new planets and stars added in Worlds Part II.
• Rewards include new posters; a dazzling new starship customisation material; an explorer’s cape; the Pillar of Titan staff; and the Wraith starship, a unique living fighter.

TWITCH DROPS

• A new package of Twitch drops will begin shortly. Sign up and connect your platform accounts on the Twitch Drops page, then tune in to Twitch to earn exotic base parts, high-tech starships, fireworks, appearance modifications, and more.

OPTIMISATION AND FILE SYSTEM

• The filesystem has been reworked to take advantage of cutting-edge compression technology, allowing for larger content updates without increasing download size, and making all future patches smaller.
• Load times are up to 4x faster, and improved data caching reduces hitches during transitions, such as when flying from planetary atmosphere into space.

• Introduced a memory and performance optimisation related to object physics.
• Introduced a performance optimisation for planetary props.
• Introduced a performance optimisation related to shaders.
• Introduced a performance optimisation for many UI elements.
• Introduced a number of significant memory usage optimisations.

• Introduced a performance optimisation for the particle system.
• Introduced a performance optimisation to the wind system.
• Introduced a performance optimisation related to culling drawn objects.
• Introduced a performance optimisation for cloud rendering.
• Introduced a performance optimisation for terrain generation.

RENDERING AND VISUAL EFFECTS

• 120Hz display output and variable refresh rate (VRR) is now available on PlayStation 5 for supported displays, enabling ultra-smooth visuals, reduced latency, and higher framerates without introducing stuttering.
• The particle system has been reworked to take advantage of 3D mesh particles.
• Moving objects now interact more consistently and smoothly with foliage and grass.

• The atmosphere entry effect has been overhauled.
• New varieties of space storm have been introduced to purple-class star systems.
• Fixed an issue that prevented clouds from rendering properly while near very tall mountains.

EXOCRAFT

• The Colossus has been made easier to interact with.
• Fixed an issue that caused the player to be placed underneath or inside the Colossus when disembarking.
• Added the Mineral Processing Rig, an advanced refining unit that can be installed within the Colossus.
• Added the Mounted Flamethrower, a new short-range weapon for all Exocraft.
• Fixed a number of issues that caused technology to be categorised incorrectly when installing items in Exocraft.

• Exocraft handling in first person, particularly when controlled with a pad, has been significantly improved.
• The seating position within each Exocraft has been adjusted to improve visibility in first person.
• When driving in first person, the steering wheel and throttle within the Exocraft cockpit now respond accurately to player inputs.
• The Exocraft speed display now outputs in kilometres per hour rather than meters per second.

• Specific “dive” and “surface” control options have been added to the Nautilon submarine.
• The base speed and manoeuverability of the Nautilon submarine has been increased. The upper limit of the strongest Humboldt Drive upgrades has been tweaked slightly to compensate.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Nautilon to slowly rise or sink by itself.
• A Dredging Laser has been added for the Nautilon Submarine, allowing underwater terrain excavation.
• The Nautilon can now activate a short boost to reach higher speeds, similar to other Exocraft. No technology upgrade is required to access boost in the Nautilon.
• An alternative Floating Nautilon Platform has been added, allowing construction of a Nautilon chamber on the surface of the water.

CREATURES

• New types of procedurally-generated fish have been added and may appear in any seas.
• New types of procedurally-generated squid have been added and may appear in any seas.
• New types of procedurally-generated hermit crabs have been added and may appear in any seas.
• New types of procedurally-generated manta rays have been added and may appear in any seas.
• New types of procedurally-generated seahorses have been added and may appear in any seas.
• New types of procedurally-generated prawns have been added and may appear in any seas.
• Particularly large versions of sea creatures can be found in the deepest oceans.

• New types of strange and exotic creatures have been added and can be found on planets in purple-class star systems.
• New types of bioluminescent creatures have been added and can be found on planets in purple-class star systems.

• Creature navigation systems have been improved, allowing creatures to better select and reach destinations such as food or water sources.
• Ragdoll and death effects for underwater creatures have been improved.

ABANDONED MODE

• A new option has been added to the difficulty settings that allows players to remove all advanced alien life from the universe.
• This option is only available when starting a new custom game, and cannot be changed once a save is in progress.
• This option drastically changes the play experience and will disable the story and tutorial.

STARSHIP AND MULTI-TOOL ARCHIVING

• Players with a capital ship can now make use of long-term storage for their starships.
• Find the starship archive at the fleet management terminal on the bridge of your freighter.
• Archive up to 18 starships, in addition to your active fleet.
• Archiving a ship removes it from your list of available starships, freeing up space to acquire new ships.
• Archived ships can be reactivated from cold storage at any time, as long as there is space in your active fleet.
• Archived ships retain their installed technology but will be purged of all loose cargo.

• The buildable Weapon Rack base part now serves as a point of access for Multi-Tool archiving.
• Archive up to 18 Multi-Tools, in addition to your carried equipment.
• Archiving a Multi-Tool removes it from your list of available equipment, freeing up space to acquire new Multi-Tools.
• Archived Multi-Tools retain all installed technology and can be reactivated at any time, as long as you have space to carry them.

FISHING

• A new array of fish have been added to waterworlds and gas giants.
• Players may now fish in the moonpool of their underwater base.
• Players may now occasionally catch a Child of Aquarius. Release this strange creature to attract the attention of a Deepwater Guardian…

• New titles have been added for players who reach significant fishing milestones.
• A collection of unusual customisation options have been added for players who reach significant fishing milestones. Apply these cranium/aquarium interchanges at an Appearance Modifier.

• The float used in your fishing rig can now be customised. Apply these options from the Bait menu.
• The colour of your fishing line can now be customised.

BUGFIXES

• Fixed a crash related to NPC networking.
• Fixed a rare crash related to texture rendering.
• Fixed a number of rare crashes related to core maths functions.
• Fixed a number of rare crashes related to starship and exocraft piloting.
• Fixed a number of rare crashes related to creatures.
• Fixed a number of rare crashes related to memory management.
• Fixed a number of rare crashes related to marker rendering.
• Fixed a rare crash related to homing projectiles.
• Fixed a Nintendo Switch crash that could occur when playing in docked mode.
• Fixed a rare infinite load on PlayStation 4.

• Fixed an issue that could prevent recipes from being pinned while a mission to locate a salvaged interceptor was in progress.
• Fixed an issue that made it difficult for Sentinel forces to target player Exocraft.
• Fixed an issue that caused other player’s companions to move erratically while aboard the Space Anomaly.
• Fixed an issue that caused the camera to get the wrong side of the player in combat while using left-handed mode.
• Fixed a number of rare issues that could occur when finishing an expedition and converting the data back into the main save.
• Fixed an issue that caused ships being redeemed from an expedition to fail to set up their inventory as expected.
• Fixed an issue that could cause various quicksilver unlocks and other related items from correctly transferring when using cross-save.
• Fixed a number of rare issues that could cause starships to reset themselves to an incorrect state.

• Fixed a number of visual glitches when using the Ironclad ship material option on dropships.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Mod Warning screen to flicker.
• Fixed a number of visual glitches related to creature networking.
• Fixed a number of visual issues related to NPC networking.
• Fixed a visual issue with some leaves found on trees on lush worlds.
• Fixed a rare issue that could allow the player starship to become stuck within a floating island.

• Fixed an issue that could cause item highlighting to fail to detect living ship technology.
• Fixed a rare issue that could cause settlement charts to be consumed despite not finding a settlement.
• Fixed a number of issues that prevented discoveries with custom names from using that name in mission or dialogue text.
• Fixed a rare issue that caused incorrect introduction voiceover to be used if starting an expedition aboard a freighter, then returning to the main menu to start a new game.
• Fixed a number of animation glitches affecting the various gestures that involved posing with a hologram.
• Fixed a number of visual issues affecting starship trails when viewed underwater.

• Fixed a number of cases where storm warnings / storm passing alerts were displayed when not appropriate.
• Fixed a number of cases where planetary hazard HUD would flash red when not appropriate.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the “item is in a different inventory” message to be displayed when inappropriate.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the audio of passing stars from working correctly in the starfield load.