Blackstar Ranger

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• Patch Notes·17 Jun 2026Official

  Demo Update 06/16/2026

  This will likely be the last demo update as I push toward the retail release. All the systems for release are now set, and I will begin further polish of missions and existing systems. The permanent demo will be updated alongside the retail version, when released, to ensure the quality remains comparable.Adjusted the volume for the additional AI voice lines added to the tutorial in the previous update. The new lines had a higher volume than the existing audio files and were quite jarring.Made another pass at making the AI fighter materials more visible to the player.The targeting lead pip scale was reduced by 20%.Adjusted the rotational damping behavior of the mouse steering system. When the input is below half of the max input, the dampening will increase. This serves two purposes; It increases the rotational braking power after a hard turn to curb overshooting the intended stopping point and creates finer control when making small aiming adjustments.Added a new control for “space brake”, which is only available when compensation is OFF. When held down the computer will override all player movement inputs and use the thrusters in tandem to cancel all fighter movement. It won’t be instantaneous and will have the same behavior as switching from compensation OFF to compensation ON while at zero throttle. If using throttle locking, the brake will zero the throttle before activating.Adjusted the camera clipping distance. This solves a geometry rendering issue at the horizontal extremes for 32:9 “super-ultra-wide” monitors.Added limited pilot FOV adjustability. The binding controls are “FOV Increase” and “FOV Decrease” and can be adjusted during gameplay. The default FOV(70) is the maximum limit and the minimum is 55 degrees. This was mainly to accommodate players using a 32:9 monitor ratio where the full field of view is pretty dramatic. The limit can later be adjusted according to feedback.At player request, I set the gun reticle and targeting sprites to the same dista...
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• Patch Notes·14 Apr 2026Official

  Demo Update 04/14/2026

  Added a slight delay to reactivating weapons after using the RESUME button from the pause menu. This keeps the weapons from firing when resuming the game when your fire button is the same as your menu select button.Fixed an issue with the enemy fighter materials that made them look darker than they should at short to medium distances.I finally got around to refactoring the missile launch physics. Before, a missile was spawned off the rail under the right-side wing but did not inherit the players ship velocity. This could make the missile look like it was coming from all manner of places on the ship during heavy strafing. Now the missile inherits the players ship velocity for a short period until its own propulsion overrides its inherited momentum. This makes the missile fire look more consistent when doing lateral thruster maneuvers. This also makes dumb-fire missiles less accurate when used during heavy strafing because the missile has to overcome the players ship inertia when fired and dumb-fire launches use the fixed gun sight.Disabled the safety override that blocked missiles from being fired while in uncompensated flight mode. The physics change above made this a more feasible option.Changed the restriction in place for using the boost engine. Now it is possible to boost while in either of the compensation modes. If CMP mode is INACTIVE, the onboard computer will automatically switch to the ACTIVE CMP mode before engaging the boost engine. It will NOT return to an INACTIVE state automatically. The pilot will have to switch it back manually once the activation input is returned to an unlocked state. This is a compromise that allows it to be used in any CMP state but still requires the pilot to actively switch modes (if returning to INACTIVE mode) NOTE: A new system has also been added to ensure that the spacecraft is moving in a forward bias before boosting can occur. This is to keep the boost engine from being deployed while strafing sideways past the minimum s...
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• Patch Notes·15 Feb 2026Official

  Demo Update 02/15/2026

  Fixed a bug in the Nanite Repair System logic that incorrectly detected the proper damage level that allows the system to be activated.Fixed an issue when using mouse steering and trying to rearm. Letting off the throttle, when not using throttle locking, would fail to trigger the repair bots unless you physically hit the throttle down key after the throttle had already auto-declined to zero.Added a randomizing starting point for the player for each mission. Not all missions in the full version will have this feature. It will only apply to those where the player would have the option of how to enter the area or where to wait for an attack.AI skill settings for fighters have been reworked to only include defensive armor and damage output based reductions and had their maneuverability handicaps removed. Enemy missile damage and ballistic turrets will also scale now with difficulty level. This keeps the overall combat experience more consistent between levels.Added a slider in the options menu to control the bloom level in the cockpit. This effects mostly the holographic HUD brightness.Added a new mission loading screen with rotating player tips.Made the ballistic rounds fired at the player more visually prominent. They were very hard to see when pointed directly at the player camera.Activated the recently completed Compendium (the game information library) for the demo.Updated the Rewired Input Manager to the latest version. I’m hoping this will help with some fringe issues with some rudder pedals.Added 180HZ to the max FPS graphics option.The critically damaged hull warning alarm will now auto reset when a Nanite repair is initiated. Any other time it needs to be manually reset (default key: R)Cheers!
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• Patch Notes·3 Oct 2025Official

  Demo Update 10/03/2025

  This is mostly a security update for the Unity Engine.Recompiled the demo after an engine level vulnerability was disclosed by Unity and subsequently fixed with a Unity editor update.Reduced the holographic HUD brightness by 20%.Cheers!
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• Patch Notes·22 Sept 2025Official

  Demo Update 09/22/2025

  This may be the largest demo update yet, so here goes.Thruster control can now be bound to an axis. This was actually in the last update but missed the release notes. NOTE: Currently the axis works just like a button, the thrust is either on or off and the axis will NOT have fine control. This may change later but will require a rewrite of the thruster system. I wanted to at least get in for the players who have requested it.Refactored the player bullet impact function when the projectile hits an enemy fighter specifically. The old system spawned the hit effect at the point of impact, but with the speed of combat the target had moved well clear of the impact zone which made the effect spawn far out behind it. The new system detects and relocates these hits to where they look more natural.The key bind system now supports binding single modifier keys (shift, control, alt) independently or as a key combination. The MP3 player is now available in the training range. It will ignore the “auto- start MP3 on mission load” option, but the pilot can choose to start the MP3 player manually once they formally enter the range.The mission area for “Free Exchange” has had more world dressing around the space station.I have made some graphical updates to the stations and world objects by adding a subtle metallic map to them. They only had albedo and normal textures before. This gives them a deeper color tone and a more appealing look without the normal shimmering edge effects like you get in most space games.The enemy turret HUD overlays have new tech to determine if the turret is obscured. Turrets that are behind objects will be displayed as an icon with a line through it, showing that it is obscured from the direct sight of the player.Reworked the in cockpit hit sound effects. They were a little flat before, but I feel these are better. I’m not 100% happy with them, but then again, sound is my Achilles heel. A common ask among players is the addition of repair in the hanger bay. ...
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