Hello starchasers! What, did you think you'd never see me again? Did the Doubt Gnome whisper his foul magics in your ears and make you believe like this wasn't something that was gonna be pulled off?

Well, surprise! Multiplayer's here! Sort of. It's going quite well, actually. I guess you could say that the cat's out of the bag on how we're handling it.

Originally the plan was to make our multiplayer tests a closed, controlled beta. But, truth be told, I need data. I've got see how it runs, how badly it explodes, how much people can screw it up, if there's any balancing issues in PvP I can safely ignore because PvP balancing is for rubes, etc. We HAVE had some initial multiplayer tests for our private beta testing team, and things have been going great there.

But now, we're opening it up to you, the community, as an opt-in beta branch. This beta branch contains the most up-to-date version of Underspace's multiplayer component, and is free for all owners of the game. To access it, simply navigate to Underspace -> Properties -> Game Versions & Betas and set your game version to the beta-testing branch.

However! It does come with some caveats. First, this is an early version of multiplayer, released primarily to test latency and connectivity issues. As such, many things are missing or not synchronized. This includes no synchronized NPCs, missions, quests, bosses, and of course, no multiplayer campaign. Most notably, there is no integration with Steam multiplayer and no server browser. Hosting a server and connecting to a server is done via direct IP address, and you will have to forward your ports to host said server (I recommend port 7777, by the way). I'll be publishing a more in-depth guide for direct server hosting and the differences between multiplayer and singleplayer soon.

That being said, plenty already exists in the game and (as far as we can tell) works! This includes, but is not limited to:

• Server hosting and dedicated server hosting tools with multiple options.

• Synchronized player actions, including combat, movement, talking, etc.

• The ability to play as multiple custom characters, including other races.

• Full support for character customization across servers, including ship appearances, character appearances, and player housing.

• Full support for mods, with servers able to set and enforce mod load orders.

• Synchronized world states, including storms and player simulated dynamic economy (if the option is available).

• Multiplayer exclusive gameplay, including the ability to pirate other players, group with other players, warp to other players, trading with other players, sacrificing, yourself for the greater good of your fellow players, and hosting house parties!

• And other stuff I'm probably forgetting.

That's not all though. This beta branch also includes the usual smattering of bugfixes and QoL fixes (including some serious FPS improvements on lower end computers), and also mod support for factions, encounters, loadouts, new vanity items, new housing items, game races, abyss drive and fast travel settings, and more. I've also fixed mod issues where things like new equipment wasn't working, and also expanded the more esoteric things that equipment can do. Want a gun that fires money? A thruster powered by drugs? That's all possible now.

This beta branch will, like our previous branches, will receive more regular updates. There'll be a delay as the branch first has to get past our private internal testers, but if you want to experience the current multiplayer paradigm, feel free to opt in.
That's all for now, have one more bag cat before you go, and this time, I'll actually see you out in space.