I've never put as much testing and work into a single update as I have this one. The last couple of weeks really did feel like the quiet before the storm, but the storm is finally here. Star Vortex now has full online multiplayer support.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped test, both in real life and on Discord. This update is a lot more solid because of you guys.

Alongside multiplayer, there's also a pile of bug fixes, quality of life improvements and smaller changes, a lot of which turned up while I was tearing through the code getting it ready for other players.

Multiplayer Co-op

You can now host a session with up to 8 players flying in the same sector. Multiplayer games use the host's sector, but you bring your own ship, and whatever you earn during the session - experience, loot, credits and mission progress - goes home with you to your own save.

You can fight side by side or venture off alone as you progress through a sector. The host can choose between shared loot, where everybody sees the same drops, or instanced loot, where everyone gets their own.

PVP is also an option if you're into that sort of thing... nothing in this game is balanced around PVP though, so that should be entertaining.

Enemies scale in strength with the number of players in the session, so a full lobby isn't a walkover, and experience from kills is shared with everyone in the same encounter.

Finding a Game

There are a few ways to get into a session. Hosts give their game a name, an optional password, a player cap and a visibility setting. Joiners can then find games through the public game list, LAN discovery, Steam friends, or by entering an IP directly.

If a friend is already playing, you can accept a Steam invite and jump straight in, which can also help with hosting behind routers and firewalls.

When you host a game, its discoverability status is displayed in chat, so any problems should quickly be apparent, be sure to check your Windows Firewall as it likes to block incoming ports.

Chat, Player List and Dialogs

There's a new text chat on the HUD in multiplayer games with its own keybinding (Enter), and a player list next to the Radar showing where everyone is and what they're up to. Hosts can also kick or ban players from chat using the /kick and /ban commands if someone is being a jerk.

During combat, a dialog pauses the encounter for everyone so nobody gets shot to pieces mid-conversation, and dialogs auto-advance on a reading timer so one person can't freeze the whole session. The player list also shows who's reading, so you know why the game just stopped.

A small arrow next to each player's name in the list makes it clear whether they're in the same encounter as you, along with coloured highlights and sensor arrows when you're playing co-op.

Drop Back to Single Player

If the host disconnects for any reason, the game seamlessly drops you back into single player with everything you earned intact. No lost progress and no kick back to the menu. You just carry on flying, then save and exit at your leisure.

Demo Multiplayer

The free demo ships with full multiplayer support and can join full-game sessions in Sector 1. So if you've got a friend who's on the fence, they can fly with you in Sector 1 before they buy. If they do decide to purchase the game, their save transfers seamlessly into the full game.

Full details of the update are listed below. See you out there!

Patch Notes

New Features / Content

• Play online with friends: co-op multiplayer for up to 8 players.

• Enemies scale in strength with the number of players in the session.

• Experience from kills is shared with players in the same encounter.

• Host sessions with a name, optional password, player cap, and visibility.

• Find games via the public game list, LAN discovery, Steam friends, or IP.

• Accept a Steam invite to jump straight into a friend's session.

• Games can be set to PVP / Shared Loot as desired.

• Hardcore and Regular pilots can play together in the same session.

• Text chat added to HUD in multiplayer games with new keybinding to activate.

• Player list next to Radar shows other players' status and location.

• If the host disconnects the game seamlessly drops back into single player.

• Demo includes full multiplayer and can join full-game sessions in Sector 1.

• Dialogs in multiplayer now pause the encounter for everyone during combat.

• Multiplayer dialogs auto-advance on a reading timer so no one stays frozen.

• Player list now shows which players are reading a dialog.

• New multiplayer game list tooltips show each player's name, level, and mode.

• Hosts can now kick or ban players with the /kick and /ban chat commands.

Balance Changes

• Rarity upgrade costs in the Assembler have been halved.

• Your ship can no longer be destroyed at the fleet, so respawns are always safe.

• Cryo Torch and Kinetic Conduit are now available for sale in the mothership.

• Increased speed of Mjölnir's Lightning Orb by 40%.

• Reduced Hull Regen of Species-XI Broodnest by 25%.

Quality of Life / Accessibility

• Saves with missing mods now list normally, showing which mods are missing.

• Item descriptions have been corrected for grammar and clarity.

• Demo multiplayer screen now explains hosting and joining Sector 1 games.

• Gravity Cannon now shows a tether to everything it pulls, fading with range.

Bug Fixes

• Aim assist now works on ships mixing centered and off-center weapons.

• Later-sector enemies now accelerate faster to match their higher top speed.

• Enemy Glossary max speed now includes each enemy's own speed scaling.

• Galaxy map faction borders now absorb lone faction encounters beside them.

• Fixed an error when Shield Ward reflections destroyed enemies firing beams.

• Displacement and Black Hole jumps no longer land big ships inside tight gaps.

• Elite traps and enemy pathing now allow for each ship's true shield size.

• Fog visibility, sensor arrows and spawn spacing now use true ship size.

• Holo Drive images now copy legendary looks, skins and hidden parts.

• Vanity thruster nozzles now vanish with the ship during Phase Shift.

• Infected Cortex heat rays now line up on the target instead of sweeping past.

• HUD consumable counts above 99 no longer wrap onto a second line.

• Faction Transports and the Infected Cortex now unlock in the Glossary.

• Gateway Cipher and Sector Keystone now unlock in the Glossary once used.

• Dialog History entries now file under the sector they were encountered in.

• The Grays probe now appears in the Glossary once the Grays are revealed.

• Fixed a stray cursor lingering in amount entry boxes after typing.

• Fixed a clicking sound at the end of Spiral Laser sound effects.

• Music now changes tracks while the game runs unfocused in the background.

• Music now changes tracks only when combat settles, fixing pulses at the fleet.

• Weapon sounds started during Temporal Drive now slow and restore correctly.

• Ship parts hit off-screen no longer lose their texture and turn white.

• The vent icon now shows your vent toggle, not vents forced open by firing.

• Vanity thrusters now take on hyperdrive, displacement and Holo Drive looks.

• Encounters now hold at most one cache instead of sometimes stacking two.

• Legendary caches now always drop a legendary instead of a third rare item.

• Fixed Species-XI transports not fleeing during intercept encounters.

• Hyperdrive now takes the full charge time while a Broodnest is still alive.

Modders

• Equippable material and color Overwrite/Revert methods are now virtual.