Dear Stormworkers,

In this weeks announcement post, we discuss some of the new systems, and explain what to expect in the upcoming Space DLC, with regard to the mechanics of orbit and travelling to the Moon.

Stormworks Space DLC releases on the 12th October.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2383250/

As previously discussed, space in Stormworks will not be a true planetary body simulation. There are apparent limitations - the moon is in a fixed position directly above in the sky, and the world is a wrapping grid rather than a spherical wrapping one.

So, Stormworks: Space is just a new moon island high in the sky then? Well, no, and there are some cool new systems which model gravity, orbits, and planetary bodies which results in a simulation that appears to observe many of the rules and effects of physics found in planetary body simulations:

Gravity

Gravity in Stormworks: Space is derived from the distance to the earth and moon. The pull of gravity fades with distance with a physically accurate equation.



Elliptical Orbits

As the earth rotates, there is a centrifugal effect - objects would travel in a straight line except for the effect of gravity accelerating their path towards the centre of the earth, and thus curving their path. This acceleration due to gravity is constant. Motion in the horizontal plane is actually moving away from the centre of the earth very slightly, and as this horizontal motion increases, the acceleration away from the centre of the earth increases. This acts in the opposite direction to gravity.

The vertical acceleration due to horizontal motion is inversely proportional to the distance from the centre of the earth, so as you travel higher, there is less acceleration. This effect introduces elliptical orbits. To achieve a circular orbit, of constant altitude, you must have equal force due to gravity and horizontal velocity, and also have zero vertical velocity, at the same time.



Planetary Body Rotation

The earth rotates one revolution every day. As you launch from the surface, you launch with the horizontal velocity due to this rotation. This also means that to remain at a fixed position above the ground, you must also be travelling horizontally so that one revolution is also made every day. At around 300km above the surface of the earth, this velocity balances out the effect of gravity, achieving geostationary orbit.



Navigation

We are adding a new astronomy sensor that provides coordinates that better explain your location in space. The area between the earth and moon is mapped. Some navigation type sensors don't work in space such as GPS, which will stop working at a certain altitude, similar to the real world. The coordinate systems provided by the astronomy sensor are much more useful for understanding your position relative to the earth and moon.

As discussed, we are introducing world-wrapping at the same time as the Space DLC releases, meaning travelling across the edge of the map will wrap you back around on both the earth and the moon. This applies to quite a high altitude, but as you get deeper into space, the world will no longer wrap and you can travel infinitely.

We can't wait to share this new update! We look forward to your thoughts and feedback on these new systems.

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

This week we are releasing a minor update focused on fixes and features. Please see the change notes below for info on what has changed.

While the new fixes are relatively minor, we are pleased to be making positive quality changes, and our plan is to focus the minor updates on quality and bugs over the next couple of months.



One issue that players have been experiencing since V1.7.11 is random music or audio playing when Stormworks is running. It appears that Steam may have updated their overlay software, and at least in some situations, any Steam overlay browser will reopen and start playing any audio on that page. If you are experiencing this issue, you can press shift+tab, and close these browser windows.



With just 4 weeks to go until the new Stormworks: Space DLC, we are hard at work with final testing and tuning. We have a minor update planned for 29 September, and then the major update and new DLC arriving 12th October.



Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.8.9

Rework - #16776 #20088 Electric fluid valves now only consume electric when changing state
Rework - #18528 Adjusted default workbench storage vehicle position for Meier starter base
Fix - #16140 Linear track body hovering above connected tracks
Fix - #20283 Separator RPS node name
Fix - #20303 Pumpjack place/delete price discrepancy
Fix - #20329 Added drill grabber end to oil research group
Fix - #20439 Adjusted window diamond 1x4x5 placement surfaces
Fix - #20488 Fix back event for microprocessor save confirm screen
Fix - Fluid jet now correctly updates the the world oil data

Addon Lua:
Feature - #4786 Negative values for addDamage now repair the area

Dear Stormworkers,

In this announcement post, we will discuss some of the new systems we are creating as part of the Space DLC, and the associated free major update.

Compressed Gasses and Liquids

As previously discussed, compressed gasses are coming to Stormworks, with a significant rework of the fluids system. This has a big impact for space, but also for deep-sea where high pressure and displacement will work slightly differently.



Gasses in the new version are able to enter and occupy compartments, and these gasses are compressible. When liquids and gasses enter or leave a compartment, they are treated as mixed evenly rather than layered by height, for the sake of usability by players, so behaviour is more consistent and it is easier to understand what is going on. This is to avoid the situation where a port on a compartment cannot capture all the contents because the port is part way up the side - its difficult to understand that the fluid level may have dropped below the port. This is also consistent with current behaviour and avoids players vehicles from breaking.



However, when it comes to doors, it is easier to understand where the water levels are relative to the door and is visually explained, so our system is a bit more in-depth. As in the current system, doors will only allow water through when the level of the water is above the bottom of the door. With new gasses, gas can also only spill through then the water level is below the top of the door.

The implications of this is quite exciting. It means that moon pools will mechanically work, and gas will not escape once water covers the door. Don't forget that the gasses are compressible, so water can still rise and compress the gas, it is just that the gas will not escape. You can pump more gas in to increase the pressure, pushing the water level back down.



The opposite is also true. If you open a door in the top of the compartment, this will allow all your compressed gas to escape, reducing the pressure and allowing more water to enter.

For submarines, this system means that you could open valves (or even a door) between a compressed air container and a ballast tank with opening at the bottom. This would rapidly increase pressure, quickly pushing the water out and displacing it with compressed gas.



Where there is a pressure difference through a door, gas or liquid will get pulled through. Physics objects including characters will be effected by this and dragged by the pressure. At high altitude or in space, a rapid depressurization event can suck you or any other physics object out of the door.

We look forward to releasing this new system and many other features, and the new Space DLC on October 12th!

We look forward to your thoughts and feedback.

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

This week we are releasing a minor update focused on fixes and features. Please see the change notes below for info on what has changed.

Thank you to all who watched the Stormworks: Space live stream! The feedback has been fantastic and we are so excited for the release on October 12th! If you have not done so yet, please consider wishlisting below:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2383250/

As well as this weeks minor update, there will be 2 more minor updates before the launch of Stormworks: Space! These are scheduled every 2 weeks as normal.

We are working hard on the last few finishing tasks, and have already been testing for months. While the main features are in the DLC, the release will be accompanied by a major update including the gas and liquid reworks as well as others, which will be important updates for everyone.



Thank you to everyone who have helped inspire this new DLC, including all the incredible creators who have shared space content, and content creators who have made space themed content.

As well as work on the new DLC, there is work on several minor updates, major updates, as well as 'Not Stormworks 2'.



As always, we are interested to hear player thoughts, especially as we plan out what next. Please do let us know where you think our priorities should be, and what you would like to see next. If you have detailed proposals, please consider posting a feature request on the issue tracker too :-)

We are excited to do more, and so we are creating 1 or 2 new engineering jobs to expand our team! If you are a software engineer, check out the new careers section of our website.

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.8.8

Fix - #19773 Steam Deck crashing on launch
Fix - #19460 Updated Zizo workbench interactable
Fix - #19951 Fire extinguisher particles now respect velocity
Fix - #17902 Updated Bertha cannon voxels
Fix - #20287 Added ladder to archtech survey base
Fix - #20392 Triangle errors on arid isles 18_10
Fix - #20363 Several sign positions on Arid isles
Fix - #20544 Removed physics from FJWarner dock pads
Fix - #20012 Spelling error

Dear Stormworkers,

The new Stormworks: Space DLC will release on 12th October!

Wishlist the DLC here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2383250/

Watch the trailer here:



Stormworks: Space has been years in the making, and introduces space and moon operations to the world of Stormworks:

Space and Lunar Biome

Travel from earth, up through the atmosphere, across the vacuum of space, and down to the surface of the moon in a continuous simulation. Space is infinite nothingness, while the lunar surface is 900 square kilometers of grey dust, craters, canyons, and caves.



New Simulations

Gravity will be simulated and weakens as you travel away from the earth and moon. Ascend high for a geostationary orbit, or build horizontal velocity for a lower orbit.

Vacuum and compressed gasses are introduced, as well as the oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and nitrogen component parts of air. Maintain life support and avoid over pressure or under pressure, hypoxia and hypercapnia. Equalize pressure before opening doors or risk being sucked through.



New Components

Propel through space with the new liquid fuel engines, fueled by compressed oxygen and hydrogen which can be manufactured using electrolysis. RCS thrusters and gyroscopic actuators can be used for fine control. New navigation components help orientate and position you where there is no GPS coverage. Build spacewalk kit with the new seats.

New Equipment

Operate in vacuum with the new space suits. Limited air supply can be recharged in some seats.

Limitations

Our take on space simulation has some limitations, mostly because the game engine wasn't originally designed for space. For example, while in a seat, you have 6 degrees of freedom as usual, outside of a seat, the player always orientates consistently with the same up direction (no 6-DOF first person controller).

Taking the flat planar world of Stormworks and getting this to work as a spherical body planetary simulation has required a lot of thought. The surface of the earth and moon will tile / wrap around. Our solution remaps 3d space along gravitational field lines, and mostly makes sense in quantum space but is not a true euclidean simulation and has some limitations such as not being able to travel around the back of the moon.



Major Update

As usual, this DLC is accompanied by significant updates to the base game, in order to help with compatibility, and incorporate some of the new systems to the base game where is make sense to do so (such as compressed gasses, world tiling, etc). New components will also be cosmetically available in the base game, with limited functionality to help keep the workshop unified and compatible.

We look forward to your thoughts and feedback on this new update!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

This week we are releasing an update focused on quality improvements. This is a smaller minor update with several fixes, addressing minor issues reported by players.



See the patch notes below for full details. You will see the support ticket numbers next to each card, which corresponds to tickets raised by players on the official issue tracker.

Please do join us next week for the big announcement and dev live stream! We will be showing the next DLC and major update, and will be answering your questions live!



We look forward to your feedback in this update :-)

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.8.7

Rework - #19596 Updated default gantries and storage to be filter-less and instead delete incorrect fluids
Fix - #19846 Train wheel functionality when mixing flipped and rotated wheels
Fix - #19636 Reset explosion and fire buildup after repairing an engine, battery or furnace
Fix - #19748 Sawyer island terrain issues at bridge entry/exits
Fix - #19541 Emote menu background not filling wide aspect ratios
Fix - #19747 Missing rock face at airstrip base
Fix - #19606 Clear interactions when opening chat menu
Fix - #19623 Beret mesh issues
Fix - #19602 Mesh gap at Taijin dock
Fix - #1976 Removed extra cone on jet engine blade mesh

Dear Stormworkers,

On Friday 25th August at 4PM BST / 8AM PDT, we will be running a developer live stream, and debuting the announcement trailer for the new DLC!

Countdown Timer

The content of this new DLC has been a closely guarded secret, but all will be revealed in this developer live stream! We will start by showing the trailer, then some gameplay, and will be answering questions live from the chat.



This is just the announcement, and not a release. We will be discussing the DLC and will also share the release date at this event.

This new content has been years in development and we are very excited to share what we have been working on. Let us know what you think it could be in the comments :-)



Please subscribe to this event and join us in 2 weeks!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

This week is update week, and we have a bunch of fixes and improvements in this release!

The headline item is a new feature for Industrial Frontier DLC owners! In the third and final addition of new animals, we bring the gila monster and the tortoise as new animals that roam the arid desert.

These sweet and gentle beasts are non aggressive reptiles that live on the Meier Isles. They are shy wild animals, and will move away if you disturb them. In real life, the gila is venomous and tortoises can bite, and both carry diseases, so don't mess with them in the wild, but in Stormworks, they are chill.

Fixes and improvements include a bunch of useful stuff. We have fixed an issue with aerodynamics where we found a tiny typo that slightly changed how aero forces were applied to vehicles. This small offset probably won't be noticable except for very small vehicles with large aerodynamic forces such as missiles.



Other fixes include improvements to the rockets when fired while moving, a performance fix related to missions spawning in the wrong place, and others. Please see the patch notes below for details.

This is the last creature update we have planned, and we have no further plans to add new animals to the game at the moment.

In other news, we are on the final push for the new DLC and have started work on a trailer. We hope to launch this as an announcement trailer when we announce this new DLC, and we may do a developer questions and answers session at the same time. We will set up a Steam event for this when we are ready!



As always, we are also working on additional minor updates, and major updates.

We look forward to your feedback on this new update!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.8.6

Feature - Gila Monster and Tortoises
Fix - #17064 Aerodynamics surface processing issues causing unexpected behavior especially with small vehicles (missiles pitching up)
Fix - #17520 Rocket launcher weapon now respects relative velocity when fired from a vehicle
Fix - #17771 Fixed modular engine audio position and balance the effect radius
Fix - #18543 Centred oil rig base workbench
Fix - #18946 Fixed ocean_milani_explorer mission spawning inside physics (causing heavy lag in a specific area of the world)
Fix - #19418 Structure workbenches ignoring fuel requirements when infinite_fuel is disabled
Fix - #19534 Fixed LUA editor copy+paste for Mac
Fix - #19643 Player names not cleared from the server list if kicked during server join

Dear Stormworkers,

This week is announcement week, with last week being an update, and next week also bringing an update.

This week we discuss a new upgrade that we are planning to the vehicle management engine within Stormworks.

Currently in Stormworks, a single vehicle contains all the physical bodies related to that vehicle. This can include the main vehicle body, as well as any hinged parts such as custom doors or cranes, and any detached parts such as droppable bombs or lifeboats. Because these objects are all managed per-vehicle, this means that these parts load in and out together, even if they have become very spread out. They can become spread out if a part is dropped, or a solid rocket booster is fired off, or a lifeboat leaves its parent ship.

The issue with a vehicle being spread over a large area is that it is hard for the vehicle management engine to decide when that vehicle should be unloaded. This makes it difficult for the game to unload distant islands that the vehicle may be resting on, or unload these distant objects which can improve performance. With the explosions introduced in the Weapons DLC, a vehicle entirely encapsulated within an explosion can be completely destroyed and despawned. Sometimes you can see a missile hit a target before exploding then bouncing off the target or becoming stuck in it. These missiles should really be completely destroyed, but because they are considered a part of a larger vehicle, they are not.



So this is something we are reworking, deep within the game engine. We plan to split vehicles into sub-vehicles, and these sub-vehicles will be managed independently of each other. This will mean that each sub-vehicle will occupy only a small amount of space, which gives a huge advantage when managing them. Missiles and bombs will be destroyed when they hit their target. Distant vehicle parts will unload (unless they have a "keep alive block") which will help performance in some situations. This change will also be very useful for a future major update that we are working on.

The player experience should otherwise not be changed, and returning a vehicle to the edit grid will return the complete vehicle rather than just part of it.

While this is fundamentally a simple change to understand, vehicles connect to almost every system within the game so this change requires us to carefully and methodically upgrade lots of code in lots of places, and has been time consuming.



This upgrade should release later this year.

We look forward to your thoughts and feedback! We will return next week with a new minor update.

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

This week is minor update week! We are branding this update as the "critical fix" update, as we have fixed a crash issue that was the most common crash for most players. We expect this update to greatly reduce crashes in Stormworks for many.



We have also improved the physics sensor with extra output data. After releasing the physics sensor, some players asked for output in a slightly different format, so we have now added this to help with making certain microprocessors. This format relates to how angles are measured.

Otherwise, this update includes a series of other fixes which are mostly minor.



Thanks to everyone who gave feedback to last weeks announcement. We have read all this feedback and it is really useful to hear players thoughts.

We hope these fixes help, and we continue working on more minor updates, as well as all the other stuff we wrote about last week.

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.8.4-5

Fix - Added protective code to address recent crashing issues related to oil spill data
Rework - #18678 Physics sensor angular velocity calculation updated and added additional tilt/compass outputs
Fix - #17556 Crash when teleported by an addon while in the workbench
Fix - #18474 getVehiclePos and addDamage now work with sub-bodies and returns the correct voxel transform
Fix - #18673 Chaff clouds not spawning in multiplayer
Fix - #18683 Flashlight rendering in photo-mode
Fix - #18846 - Updated Hyanen garage mission zone survivor transform
Rework - #19327 Disabled broken blue van mission location

Dear Stormworkers,

Last week was minor update week, so this week is announcement week! In this announcement, we will discuss the plans and strategies we have for game development over the next few years.

Stormworks

We continue our support and maintenance plans, with minor updates planned every 2 weeks, major updates planned every 4 to 5 months. We also have a new DLC planned for the end of this year.

Stormworks first launched its closed Beta almost 6 years ago, and we are still having loads of fun developing it. We have as many players as ever, and we plan to keep these updates going for a long time.

Minor Updates

The issue tracker is driving most of the content in the minor updates, as we work towards tackling the remaining bugs there. Of the remaining reported bugs, some are fixed and undergoing testing, while many are planned and their work scheduled. We are making steady progress and are usually solving at least 10 issues each minor update.

While bugs and the overall quality of player experience are our main concern, we are trying to introduce the occasional feature as an interest point for players. This can sometimes be a friction point with the community where some players feel that 100% of effort should go into resolving all issues. For this reason, we are thinking about dedicating most minor updates to bugs and quality, and keeping features for the major updates. As always, this is subject to player feedback. What do you think?



Major Updates

We have major updates planned and are currently working on content for 2024. We typically announce major updates with 3 weeks to go before their release.

DLC

We are working on one new DLC to be released at the end of this year. We can't wait to announce this! Exactly how and when we make this announcement, we don't know yet. We want to get a bit more development done but will share info as soon as we can.

Not Stormworks 2

As previously mentioned, we are also working separately on a new game! This new game doesn't affect Stormworks development and is a separate title.

This game is super early in development and is mostly ideas, prototypes, technology tests, designs and discussions. Its a very long way from any release.

Our goal is to make an awesome new building game, inspired by Stormworks, but also inspired by player creations, many other games, and our own new ideas. We plan to make far fewer features, but to a higher quality, with a greater level of finish.

Until we have a final name for this new game, we are calling it "Not Stormworks 2". The point is that while we love Stormworks, there is no point cloning our own game. Most of the features from Stormworks won't be in the new game, but that's OK because it allows the new game to be it's own thing, and allows us to be creative and introduce new ideas!

There are a lot of expectations around a Stormworks sequel, and this is something we have thought a lot about. It is best we focus those expectations on improving Stormworks itself. "Not Stormworks 2" is an ambitious building game, but it's a different thing and isn't intended to meet the expectations of a sequel. It isn't Stormworks 2!

Something we are very interested in for a new game is full modding support. We have been researching and developing some really cool technology that is aimed at a new approach to modding that gives full control and access to mod makers.



Player feedback is super important to us so please let us know if you have any thoughts on any of the above! We look forward to your feedback.


Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Dear Stormworkers,

This week is minor update week. This weeks update includes several fixes and improvements in response to player feedback on the support tracker.

For Industrial Frontier DLC owners, there are also new predator animals!



The new mountain lions and coyotes are similar to the existing wolves and bears. They are quick, aggressive, and very dangerous! Mountain lions can also attack NPCs in the rescue missions.

The new crocodile is a little like a shark in the water, except sharks cannot chase you up the shore onto the land! Crocodiles spawn in water but can also walk on land.



Please check the patch notes below for full details of changes and improvements.

We look forward to hearing your feedback on the new fixes and features!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.8.3

Feature - Arid Island Predators

Crocodile
Mountain Lion
Coyote

Arid camp rescue missions can now spawn with a Mountain Lion

Rework - Stormworks crashes now have a submit crash dialog box
Rework - #19184 Always display component costs in editor

Fix - Random small oil patch rendering artefacts
Fix - Old save compatibility with new oil spill missions
Fix - Oil spill message spam on new spill

Fix - #17818 Crash when calling setAudioMood with invalid moods
Fix - #18936 Bullet casing direction for mirrored guns
Fix - #19188 Removed outdated logic popups for power and fluids
Fix - #19232 Fix vehicle thumbnails in save/delete confirm view
Fix - #19300 Updated pivoting and gimbal part descriptions to use turns
Fix - #19393 Removed invisible post physics at rail crossing

We have also added a link to the Geometa merchandise page to the game's main menu

Dear Stormworkers,

In this post, we discuss the upcoming changes to fluid pressure, and new support for compressed gasses. This update isn't planned to release for months, but we have been working hard on these mechanics and there is loads to discuss.

Context

Players have been asking for compressed gasses for years. We recently asked for community feedback regarding if we should rework this mechanic, with the condition that this would mean a change to the way the game works (hopefully of limited effect to existing vehicles). The feedback was overwhelmingly supportive of a rework to add compressed gasses.

The existing mechanics don't allow air to be contained in custom tanks, or be compressed into a smaller container. This isnt realistic but the idea is to make the game simpler. Where a container is already full of air, there is no space for fuel unless you allow air to compress, and also allow back flow, or add some kind of relief valve. The risk is that (like in real plumbed systems) you can get airlock where trapped air can block flow.



A New Approach

Simply adding special compressed air tanks isn't great, because it doesn't make sense that air behaves differently in different containers, and it doesn't match up with the existing simplified fluid flow and pressure mechanics.

So, it is better to rework the existing pressure and flow system to generally allow compression, and for flow and pressure to also consider compression.



Compression and Pressure

We are developing a new system where pressure is in real world units (atmospheres). Pressure directly relates to compression, where gas occupies a tenth the volume at 10atm compared to 1atm. By adding compression, and directly deriving pressure from this compression, you get a simple system that better reflects the real world.

Fluid flows from high pressure to low pressure. The rate of flow is driven by the difference in pressure, and once pressure equalizes, flow stops.

Compartments

Custom tanks and sealed areas can now contain air, and this air can be compressed and flow. This makes resolving flow through doors much more complex but has been interesting to develop. The existing mechanics only allow for fluid to overflow from one compartment through a door to the next. With compressed gasses, now you can have gas blow out or rush in, while fluid still needs to level out. This is quite complex: consider the situation where on one side of a door, there is high water level but low pressure, while on the other, there is lots of highly compressed gas but only a little water. What happens when the door opens, moment by moment?



Delta Height

Within pipe systems, currently delta height equates to pressure. This is a mechanic we plan to remove, because of the complexity it introduces, and how confusing it can be when playing Stormworks, especially with the introduction of compression. By giving compartments a single pressure value, its a lot easier to play and understand, compared to pressure being different based on height inside the compartment.

Airlock

If air can no longer be created or destroyed, this does mean that air can be trapped and build up pressure, or a lack of air can mean that a vacuum resists a tank from emptying fluid. This is the downside of this rework, as while it might be realistic, you may sometimes need to understand a bit about pressure and plumbing. We are adding new gas and liquid relief valves to allow air pressure to escape or be drawn back into vacuums to solve this issue. What do you think? Is this a more powerful fluid system or more difficult to play?

There is loads more to discuss, but this post is already quite long!

We are working on this update, many other new improvements and fixes, as well as major updates and a new unannounced DLC.

We look forward to your thoughts and feedback on this new info!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Fix - temporarily removed AI vehicles due to teleport issue

Dear Stormworkers,

The Oil Disaster Major Update is live now!



Ocean Oil Spills

The new oil spills system leaves a thick layer of oil on the ocean surface. This system is linked into Stormworks fluid system, so any oil that leaks from a vehicle will pollute the environment, and to clean up, the ocean must be pumped and filtered using the new oil-water separators.

These oil slicks will spread with ocean currents over time, as well as slowly diffuse outwards across the surface of the ocean.



Oil Disaster Missions

New missions introduce oil disasters to career mode. If not repaired quickly, damaged oil pipelines, or ships, can begin to leak oil, spilling huge quantities of oil into the ocean and creating huge environmental clean-up tasks.

The oil pollution runs on it's own mission system, similar to the forest fire system. Any oil spills will create new pollution clean-up tasks.



Oil Drilling Updates

We have added a new pivot-type pipe connector that is small, to make handing pipes much easier in many situations, as well as other fixes and improvements.



Lua Support

We have also added new lua functionality for add-on creators to interact with the new oil system.

Stormworks & DLCs is also on discount to celebrate the launch of this new major update!

We hope you enjoy the new content, system, and missions and look forward to your feedback! We have loads of new exciting updates in the works and will share more info soon!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.8.0

Feature - Ocean oil spills
Feature - #18571 Preset Oil Rig Example
Feature - Centrifugal Separator
Feature - New small oil rod end connector
Feature - Oil strike effect
Feature - Oil spill default missions

In this new update, oil that leaks into the ocean builds up and forms a visual film on the water surface.

Rework - Reduced playable area to 256km*256km
Rework - #18629 Removed length limit on drill rod segments
Rework - Improved anti-cheat support
Fix - #18764 Pumpjack multiplayer sync
Fix - Reduced oil drilling sfx radius

Addon Lua:

Added onOilSpill callback
Added getOilSpill and setOilSpill
Added new capability=oil tag support to the default missions script for oil spill missions

Dear Stormworkers,

Oil Disasters Major Update - 23rd June

In one week (on 23rd June) the new Oil Disasters Major Update will release!

This major update includes the new oil spill system where oil can leak into the environment, disperse, and spread with the current. Oil can be removed and the pollution cleaned using the new oil separators.

New mission content involves damaged oil tankers, pipeline leaks, requiring ocean cleanup as well as submarine repairs! Submersible ROVs will have new value and purpose with these new mission types.

As well as oil disasters, we are adding some new improvements to oil mining.



Anti-Cheat Update

A few weeks ago we announced that some multiplayer communities had asked for our help with some hackers who were using modified clients to impersonate other peoples Steam IDs, spawn weapons with infinite ammo, crash servers, pirate DLCs, etc. We take this cheating and hacking behaviour very seriously and we announced new anti cheat support.

It was a very sad day to add anti-cheat to a non-competitive, sandbox game, with an overwhelming majority of kind and creative players. Our strategy is to close the ability to use these exploits, as well as detect and ban these hackers so they cannot return with more creative attacks. Bans are only issued after multiple developers have carefully and thoroughly considered the technical evidence, and there is certainty.

Modding is not affected by this. We love checking out many of the creative mods that players have made, and are inspired by the incredible work and effort that goes into building them! We are only concerned with modified machine code that attacks servers or enables piracy.



Future Development

We remain hard at work preparing minor updates, major updates, and this years DLC which we hope to announce in the next couple of months! We are also already planning major updates for 2024 as we continue to support the game and the community.

We look forward to your thoughts and feedback! Join us next week for the launch of Oil Disasters!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers

Rework - Improved anti-cheat support

v1.7.9

Fix - fix crash with setVehiclePos if global vehicle is not found

Dear Stormworkers,

This week we add 3 new animals to the Industrial Frontier biome: the buffalo, the bighorn sheep, and the roadrunner! We have also added crates to this biome.



These peaceful beasts, and crates, can be found across the arid biome for owners of the Industrial Frontier DLC.

For all players, there are a series of fixes and improvements, many of which are important, so please check the patch notes below.



For Discord users, we have added a new verification and Stormworker role system! You can now use /verify and /stormworker commands to confirm your Steam account and request the Stormworker role (to verify you must own the game, and for Stormworker you must have 1000 hours in game).

This is important because, as with all Discord servers, there is a long standing problem with people and bots who do not own or have any interest in Stormworks, joining the server just to grief or offend. The hope is that we can get a high number of players verifying their accounts, and then could restrict posting images and links to verified players, or something like that.



We have also launched a new Stormworks merchandise webpage because many players have found the Red Bubble store confusing, and we are inclined to agree.

The major update launches in just 2 weeks! The Oil Disaster Major Update launches on 23rd June so be sure to check back then for the update.



Beyond that, we also have loads of minor updates in the works (for release every 2 weeks), and we hope to announce the upcoming DLC in the next couple of months.

We look forward to your feedback on this new update!

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers



Patch Notes

v1.7.8

Feature - Arid Island Herbivores

Greater Roadrunner
Bighorn Sheep
Buffalo

Rework - Improved anti-cheat support
Fix - #17851 Align medium tank tracks to their wheels
Fix - #17938 Slow doors on creative island
Fix - #18104 Monitors turning off when not looking directly at them
Fix - #18112 Fix controller losing focus in UI after binding ui navigation button to an action
Fix - #18345 setVehiclePosSafe now returns result position even on failure (fixed ai aircraft script error)
Fix - #18401 Added loot crates for arid and underwater islands
Fix - #18567 Mesh issue on the top of the Oil rig pumpjack
Fix - #19690 Hose int affecting rope length
Fix - #19692 Stopped clearing attach states for characters or creatures attempting to reattach to their current seat

Dear Stormworkers,

The Oil Disaster Major Update is our next major update and arrives on the 23rd of June!

Oil spills and slicks are introduced in this major update. Oil that leaks from wells, ships, pipelines, or anything else will pollute the ocean. This pollution will create an oil slick that sits on the surface of the ocean, and will disperse and be carried by ocean current over time.

The environment can be cleaned up by pumping this damaged sea water out of the ocean and through the new centrifugal separator. This separator takes in the mixture of oil and water, and uses an impeller to spin the fluid, pushing the less dense oil to the centre of the vortex, and the more dense water to the outside. One output port then filters off a more oily mixture, while the other outputs more water. The separator does not completely separate the fluids, so a multi-stage system is recommended as the most efficient.



New missions introduce oil leaks to rigs, ships, and pipelines, and these damaged systems will slowly leak oil until repaired. Significant leaks will create new missions to clean up the pollution, and these missions are tracked across the ocean as the current disperses the spill.

Further improvements are also introduced for the previous major update, including a small pivoting rod cap for simpler and more convenient interaction with rods, and other fixes and improvements.



Thanks to all the players who contributed oil industry ideas and suggestions! We have had a lot of fun working on this update and look forward to releasing this new major update soon!

Next week we have a minor update focused on the industrial frontier, and we continue work on compressible gasses (thank you for all your feedback on that!) which we hope to share in the next couple of months.

Much love <3,

The Stormworks Developers