Planetary exploration has been released, the latest feature in our big Economy Update. We are excited to tell you all about one of our newest and most wide-ranging updates, and give you a few reasons to log in and check it out today!
With planetary exploration, you will roam the most remote corners of the galaxy, discovering the location of resources, which you can pick up yourself in your spaceship, or flag a friend to pick up for you. You’ll also see some of the strangest aliens the galaxy has to offer, and either study them from afar – or defeat them if you can, and collect the unique loot they drop!
Triangulating Resources
If you aren’t a fan of searching for asteroids and scooping gas in space, you can search for those resources on foot, instead – or, use the planet-side exploration to supplement your existing resource collection business. In each wilderness zone you explore, there are three control points. With a triangulation device (available for purchase in every faction city), you will be able to locate and flag the richest commodity nodes available in the area.
Triangulating takes a bit of time – you should beware of aggressive wild animals that might be in the area during the channeling process.
Collecting Resources
Once the triangulation process is complete, the resources are yours to claim – or to designate to a friend for collection. But how do you do that, exactly? Resources are collected from space, just like an asteroid or a gas cloud. That means you’ll need your ship nearby as you’re exploring, or have a friend waiting in orbit. Make sure you (or your friend) has scoops and a tether in their inventory so that it will be possible to collect the commodities from the planet’s surface with the SHIP PICKUP command.
From there, it is simply a matter of hauling your newly collected commodities to a refinery, where they can be made into a variety of different resources for manufacturing.
Advanced Xenozoology
The wilderness zones which you can find on nearly every planet are not only thriving with resources, they’re also home to alien fauna which you will not be able to find anywhere else. The loot they drop is also unique – and specifically themed to exploration! If you’re a xenozoology buff, you’ve gotta scan em all.
Remember to bring a friend to help you. These animals tend to be more aggressive than ones you might find elsewhere. Maybe take your patented RoamTek trophymaker with you, too – how else will you turn a particularly stubborn target into a stunning decoration for your ship’s trophy room?
Come Play With Us!
And that about sums up Planetary Exploration. We can’t wait for you to discover what’s new in the worlds of Starmourn. So log in, triangulate your resources, collect a special exploration-themed lootset, or just flesh out your xenozoology database. It’s really up to you and how you choose to play! See you in the wilds!
Our biggest news of the day is that Starmourn’s very first auction is open! Auctions offer special artifacts, items, and prizes that can usually not be obtained in any other way. There are two types of auction prizes available:
- Credit auctions. We will only accept credit bids for these powerful new artifacts, fantastic customizable prizes, and other unique, never-before-seen offerings.
- Mark auctions. Feel free to empty your bank accounts on these lots, which are only available for those willing to spend Covenant Marks! They include existing artifacts.
You can see the available auctions by using the AUCTIONS command. Check out the details of a specific auction by using AUCTION INFO . You can bid on an auction from anywhere in the world using the BID command. For a more in-depth explanation of the system, please refer to HELP AUCTION.
Credit Auction Lots:
- Sa’hak-ren Flesh Ship – A fantastic vessel obtained by the Breakers at great cost, this alien ship is of a type rarely seen by those not of the Sa’hak-ren race. A spacegoing vessel controlled by a fully organic ship-brain interface, the ‘Heartbeat’ is an utterly unique home. Though some elements of her design may take getting used to, captains will appreciate her exotic beauty, superb handling, and superior firepower. From the Rhelomar Shipyards.
- A Custom Ship NPC – You will work with the admin team to create a custom NPC that will reside on your ship. This should be limited to either a crew member, butler, servant or something similar. No important, existing, fantastic, unrealistic characters.
- A Custom Pet – You will work with the admin team to create a custom pet for you, complete with reactions. This has to be a lore-appropriate pet. No sentient creatures (no, you can’t have a W’hoorn kitty pet), no fantastic/magical beings.
- World Housing – Ever wanted to own a fancy home somewhere? An office building? This is your chance. You will work with the admin team to create a private residence/office for yourself or your dynasty (max 10 rooms) on a planet of your choice.
- World Shop – Ever wanted to own your own restaurant? Cafe? Jewelry Shop? Clothes outlet? Now’s your chance. You will get a one-room shop anywhere in the world to make your business thrive.
- Portable Heartstart Device – Allows you to use OPERATE HEARTSTART just like an Engineer with the proper skill can
- Signal Jammer – Blocks all forms of spying in your current location (such as Scoundrel bugs, Nanoseer envelop/relay)
- The Animus Experiment – This bladelike weapon was developed by a top-secret Y’saari research institution on a moon that has been labeled a black site by navigational charts. It possesses unusual kith-based properties and forms a sympathetic bond to its “host” upon joining. When it senses the destruction of its host’s body, it generates a massive amount of power, capable of delivering a mortal blow to nearly anything in the sector. Researchers suspect the experimental weapon was created using technology from a now extinct Elder race.
- Super Stimpack – The Super Stimpack is usable once every 6 hours and will instantly cure all your afflictions, subsystems and health.
- RoamTek Suspension Field – Another traveler’s companion from RoamTek, the Suspension Field will make sure you don’t drop any of your junk in the case of your untimely death.
- Miniature Wormhole – Experimental technology has been installed at Omni Station. The winner of this auction will be allowed to select up to 3 wormhole destinations on non-factional capitals or Cosmpiercers where they can instantly travel to from Omni Station (on foot).
- Refilling Liquid Container – Breakthrough advancements in fluid sciences and nanotechnology allow this container to never run out of the liquid of your choice, as it is synthesized on the go.
Marks Auction Lots:
- Y’Saari Voidgate Permit
- Custom fish – You will work with the admin team to create a custom fish for your fishtank. This fish will behave like other fish, and will need food like every other fish in the game! Fishtank and fish food included.
- Any level 3 stat boost
- Hourly Stat Reset
- 25 paristeel crates
- Ship Beacon Jammer
- Ship Return level 1
We hope you enjoy the exciting, competitive nature of bidding on these coveted prizes, as well as the chance to (hopefully) get your hands on a high-value item for less! Have fun, space travelers, and good luck!
(IC) The Starmourn News Network:
Word spreads across the sector that New Dikamazi, the Bushraki colony, is under new leadership in the form of a council,rather than a single individual. News reports indicate that a minor coup was enacted several months ago, removing the founder of the colony, Tsake Shayato, from power. Bushraki on the ground in New Dikamazi have informed commcasters that a trio of individuals from Scatterhome, along with Tran Shayato (Tsake’s grandfather) were responsible for the coup. The exact identity of these individuals is not known, but rumor has it that the d’Erebus and T’aeir dynasties were somehow involved.
The current situation in New Dikamazi suggests that efforts are being made by local Bushraki to prune back some of the more outlandish and aggressive botanical cybernetics that had begun to take over the colony. Says one unnamed gardener that was interviewed recently: “Look, we’re still finding our feet. Once we deal with the plant problem, we’re going to be major players. You’ll see.”
(OOC) Changes to New Dikamazi:
- Tsake Shayato’s quest has been removed, and access to her lair has been made available to everyone.
- Mob dialogue has been adjusted throughout New Dikamazi to account for recent events.
- Lootset adjusted to include loot from elsewhere in the sector, along with a chance to obtain Bushraki-styled weapons and armor.
- The mobshop no longer sells hydroponic pods.
- The drop rate for poppy petals has decreased.
- New Dikamazi is now recommended for players level 50-75.
- Everyone who completed the quest to fight Tsake Shayato has received the “Bionic Gardener” title.
Thank you once again to Soren for all his help with this area and all the associated events!
As we’ve discussed previously, we’re in the midst of revamping a lot of the key elements of our economy, most notably the manufacturing chain.
This has been in the works a while and the first batch of changes are now in! These have to do with manufacturing specializations. You may now specialize in Mining, Refining or Processing and get some sweet boosts to your that part of the manufacturing chain. That doesn’t mean that you have to right away or that you can’t perform the other activities, but you will definitely have an easier time if you do.
Other notable changes are the fact that you can no longer own an infinite number of refineries and autofactories and that autofactories can now be used by everyone, not just the owner. For a full list of details concerning these changes, hop on in-game or on our forums (where you can also join the discussion): https://forums.starmourn.com/discussion/990/announcements-post-67-more-economy-changes
Gotta scan ’em all!
That might actually be the best way to summarize this month’s new fun activity (as described by our players)! If you ever wanted to learn more about the world of Starmourn and do it in a fun, In-Character way, now you have XENOZOOLOGY. Courtesy of RoamTek, you can now go around the planets in the sector and scan alien creatures in an attempt to learn more about them. The more people scan the same creature throughout time, the more info about it is revealed! Just be sure to bring a friend or two as some of the more aggressive creatures in our world really do not appreciate having bioscanners pointed at them.
Everything else in Starmourn this month is themed exploration. Our promo chests for the month include exploration themed vehicles, devices that allow you to stuff and preserve your trophy kills, global bounties for everyone that reward sweet new loot and much more!
Come learn more about this month’s updates and activities here:
Players of Starmourn, you like showing off, right? Of course you do. The month of June has been all about showing off, and we’re happy to announce we’ve introduced a whole bunch of new titles and honors that you can use to pimp your character.
Last week, we introduced a plethora of new honors and titles, and have plans in the work to feature more. Here’s a brief rundown of what’s newly available to you, the players.
- 5 new titles for the top 5 ranks of explorers
- 5 new titles for the top 5 ranks of hackers
- 5 new titles for captaincy, obtained at level 10, 20, 30, 40, admiral rank 1
- 2 new titles for people who complete shopfront honors
- Song Dominion and Celestine Ascendancy leaders can now display their position as a title
To change your displayed title, and to see a list of titles you currently have available, you’ll want to use the CUSTOMIZE TITLES command.
You can also display some of the honors you earn, via the HONORS FEATURE function. You can display MOST of them at this time, but not all. Notable exceptions are the newbie honors (the ones that refer to learning basic game functionality), manufacturing/factory ownership ones, and a few others. To see a list of all the honors you have earned, use the HONORS LIST command.
As always, this is a work in progress and more titles and honors lines will be added. Please feel free to comment in the forum thread with your ideas and suggestions for expanding this list! We’re listening and we want to hear from you!
The Economy Update
We’re working hard to make our new, upcoming additions to the economy as great as possible. Our awesome coder, Garryn, has just finished the first draft of our planetary exploration system. We’re having fun playing around with it, and are in the process of creating unique environments and enemies for you to explore and interact with. Stay tuned – we’ll have a demonstration of the feature when we’ve worked out a few more bugs!
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