Dear Station Designers,

Back in early September we released 'Space Station Designer' version 0.5.72, which included a series of improvements and a whole revised set of Interactive Tutorials. Today we're happy to unveil 'Space Station Designer' version 0.5.90, which is exclusively focused on polishing the overall game experience. Please read on to learn about the main highlights. You can find full detailed release notes here[docs.google.com] if you're interested in the details.

We went through every screen in the game and added a coat of paint by including a series of animated backgrounds, which add a touch of personality compared to the dark backgrounds used in previous versions.

In addition to this, we expanded the game's OST by including a range of new tracks, and added sound effects across the whole user interface. Unfortunately, we cannot provide any screenshots for these two additions, but we're sure you'll like them!

The strings system has been revamped so that it includes not only characters, but also the various symbols and icons used throughout the game. This helps reduce the amount of 'walls of text', while also helping reinforce the game's concepts with their associated icons.

Information Awareness Tools

We continue conducting heavy playtesting of 'Space Station Designer', and despite the fact that we're getting really good at it, we realise that the late stages of the game can be quite intense: random events, multiple ongoing engagements, a large astronaut roster, four full stations to manage, etc. To help players stay on top of things, we implemented an overlay mechanism that identifies the modules that require their attention. This includes modules that:

• Are being refurbished.

• Are inoperative.

• Are missing a connection with a Core Module or a Control Center.

• Are too far away from a Cooling module.

• Are too far away from an Electricity module.

• Are partially inoperative.

• Are part of a Production Line that doesn't have adequate inputs to complete its monthly production.

• Is a Manufacturing module that isn't currently assigned to a Production Line.

• Has reached the end of its Service Life.

• Is getting close to reaching the end of its Service Life.

• Has no astronaut assigned to it (note that this is only applicable for Research and Industrial R&D modules).

We also took this concept one step further and added a mechanism in the Global Screen that points to the stations that require attention, too.

We've also added an indicator to let players know that there are no Research Technologies in development. This is particularly useful after the recently introduced changes in the Research system where technologies are no longer instantly acquired.

As mentioned in an earlier section, the cognitive load in the late stages of the game can be particularly high. To address this, we revamped the 'Dispatch Resupply Spacecraft' screen so that it includes the resupply spacecraft across all stations. We've also added additional sorting buttons, so that it's easier to find out, for example, which resupply spacecraft needs to be deorbited first based on its remaining autonomy.

We've also extended the astronaut management screen by including additional sorting buttons, and added a visual indicator that indicates the number of astronauts approaching their max stay at the station. This is particularly useful when coordinating crews across all four stations.

Some additional management-related QoL improvements include a mechanism to open the 'Production Lines' management screen from within the module information card, and a button to unassign astronauts from their current task, provided that it's not a long-term commitment (e.g., Space Tourism, or a Commercial Services engagement).

In addition to the management-related QoL improvements mentioned earlier, we've included some minor ones, including 'trackers' to the Contracts and the Campaign Objectives, more 'input' settings, and the removal of some confirmation dialogs which were slowing down the game experience (we may end up removing even more in future updates). We've also extended the save game slots, which now support a short description. This is handy for managing multiple game files!

Bug Fixes

No update is complete without a bug fix or two! You can find the full list in the release notes, but some notable offenders in this release include UV mapping issues in the Spaceport modules and minor string glitches. A special mention goes to the one that was causing a 'black halo' around the Core Module's launch rocket.

Which is now fixed:

Closing thoughts

We hope you enjoy all the improvements brought by this new update. We're currently running a closed beta, so if you want to give it a go, please consider applying by using the following link[www.slitherine.com].

This will be the last update of the year. For the next version, we'll be focussing on gameplay additions, new content, and more QoL improvements. We continue monitoring our Discord server and the forums, so don't hesitate to let us know if you have any feedback or comments.

--Ignacio, Mauricio, and Nicolas (Polar Motion)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1447650/Space_Station_Designer/

Welcome to the fourteenth Dev Diary entry of 'Space Station Designer'. In the two previous entries (Dev Diary #12 and Dev Diary #13), we went deep into the details of the Lunar Orbit station. In this entry and the next, we'll take a small break from discussing game mechanics and discuss some of the influences behind Space Station Designer.

When we set out to create 'Space Station Designer' (or 'Space Station Manager', as it was originally called), we had a few guiding principles that we adhered to:

1. The game should evoke the sense of wonder and optimism behind the American Space Program from the early 1980s.

2. The game should be based on an alternate reality where the designs of 'Space Station Freedom' (more on this later) became a reality, and humans had a permanent and productive presence in space.

3. The game should be grounded on reality, with no sci-fi or fantastic elements. Near future and/or plausible technology is acceptable, though.

The guiding principles above were our North Star during the first years of development and, initially, our goal was to create a game featuring a single space station in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Once we reached that point, we realised that managing a single station was too limiting, and we made the decision to add support for stations in higher orbits. These stations were originally meant to be uncrewed orbital platforms, but once the implementation was complete we realised during internal playtesting that there was so much to gain from turning these uncrewed platforms into full-fledged stations, so we went ahead and made changes in the codebase to make it happen.

The Lunar Space Elevator was only introduced about a year ago. Among all the elements in Space Station Designer, the Lunar Space Elevator is the one that is probably the farthest from the current state of the art in space exploration. That being said, the in-game requirements behind its construction and deployment fall well within the realm of "plausible technology" from the guiding principles laid out above. The Lunar Space Elevator will have its own dedicated series of Dev Diaries in early 2026, which will cover all these requirements in detail.

As mentioned earlier, one of our guiding principles is to make 'Space Station Designer' evoke the sense of wonder and optimism behind the American Space Program from the early 1980s. In case you've never heard of it before, 'Space Station Freedom' was an international effort led by NASA in the 1980s with the goal of establishing a permanent human presence in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

The proposal went through several iterations throughout that decade and the early 1990s, including the 'Power Tower' in 1984, and the 'Revised Baseline Configuration' in 1987. In 1993, the whole project was renamed as the 'International Space Station' (ISS) by the Clinton administration.

Fig 1: The 'Power Tower' configuration.

Fig 2: The 'Revised Baseline' configuration.

Fig 3: The 'Dual Keel' design from 1986.
Fig 4: 'Space Station Freedom' design as of 1991.

We made extensive use of artwork and technical documentation from this era when designing some of the modules included in the game, including the shape and texture of the solar panels, radiators, trusses, and laboratory modules.

Fig 5: 'Space Station Freedom' modules breakdown.

Fig 6: Another 'Dual Keel' concept illustration.

Fig 7: Concept art of 'Space Station Freedom' from the mid 1980s.

In addition to the visual references and NASA's documentation, we relied on a series of technical and history books to inform the design of 'Space Station Designer' and ensure that we stick to our guiding principle of basing it in reality. Sadly, many of these books have been out of print for years, but used copies for some of them are still available in online stores. We highly recommend them if you want to go deeper into the background of 'Space Station Designer'.

Fig 8: 'Space Stations and Platforms', by Gordon R. Woodcock (1986)

Fig 9: 'Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars', by Roger D. Launius (2003).

Fig 10: 'Project Space Station: Plans for a Permanent Manned Space Station', by Brian O'Leary (1983, reprinted in 2017).

Fig 11: 'Island in the Sky: Building the International Space Station', by Piers Bizony (1996).

Fig 12: 'Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous Months Aboard the Space Station Mir', by Jerry M. Linenger (2000).

Fig 13: 'Space Elevator Systems Architecture', by Peter Swan and Cathy Swan (2007).

Fig 14: 'Before Lift–off: The Making of a Space Shuttle Crew', by Henry Cooper (1987).

Fig 15: 'The Space Station Decision: Incremental Politics and Technological Choice', by  Howard E. McCurdy (1990).

Fig 16: 'The Space Station', by Kent Alexander (1990).

Fig 17: 'The Story of Manned Space Stations: An Introduction', by Philip Baker (2007).

This blog post provided an overview on the influences that shaped the design of 'Space Station Designer', including artwork and books. In the next Dev Diary entry, we'll cover some of the computer games that provided an inspiration for the game's mechanics.

Our closed beta is still active (more information here[www.slitherine.com]). We're hard at work wrapping up the upcoming update (version 0.5.90), which we're planning to release in mid-to-late November. This update includes several Quality of Life (QoL) improvements and loads of polish, so if you haven't tried 'Space Station Designer' yet, we think this will be the ideal time to do so!

See you in the next Dev Diary!

--Ignacio, Mauricio, and Nicolas (Polar Motion)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1447650/Space_Station_Designer/