Space Station Designer News

We made a lot of progress since our last update in late August, and today we're very happy to release 'Space Station Designer' version 0.5.40. This update picks up where the previous one left off and allows you to open stations in higher orbits and even around the Moon, which we refer to as 'Phase III'.

In addition to this, this update includes our usual Quality of Life (QoL) improvements, bug fixes, data balancing, and new content. Please read on for the highlights and, if you're interested in the full changelog, you can review our live document here.

New mechanics
If you played the previous version of the beta, you may recall that it ended right before the acquisition of the 'Expansion Beyond LEO' research technology.


After acquiring 'Expansion Beyond LEO', the game will now let you establish stations in Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO), Lagrange Point 2 (L2), and Lunar Orbit.

All these stations can accommodate astronauts and space tourists, and they all feature exclusive modules that open up a lot of possibilities, such as being able to manufacture new types of commercial goods, including 'Carbon Nanotubes', 'Organic Scintillators', and 'Refined He-3'. We've also implemented a new mechanic that gives you the option to 'transfer' resupply spacecraft between stations, which adds a whole new layer of planning and logistics.


Lastly, we've added a new type of currency named 'Industrial R&D Points'. These points are generated by specialized modules, and it comes in four flavours: 'Industrial R&D LEO', 'Industrial R&D GSO', 'Industrial R&D L2', and 'Industrial R&D Lunar Orbit'. These new currencies can be used towards acquiring 'Industrial R&D Technologies', which can be commercialized to private entities.


The 'Industrial R&D' tech tree is relatively small for now, but we're aiming to expand it in future updates. That being said, the options to commercialize technologies and improve their value by running marketing campaign are already in place.

New content
In addition to the mechanics listed earlier, we've also added four new space station modules: 'Space Telescope', 'Space Weather Forecaster Center', 'Quantum Communications Research Lab', and the 'Refueling Module', which is a requirement for transferring resupply spacecraft to other stations.


We have also included the new 'Union M' resupply spacecraft, which provides a cost-efficient way to transfer goods and astronauts between the LEO, GSO, and L2 stations.


Following the approach from previous updates, we've included more than fifteen new contracts, including 'Below, Around and Beyond the Moon', 'The King's Gambit', and 'Scientia Potentia Est'.

Quality of Life (QoL) improvements
'Space Station Designer' is certainly becoming a very complex game, and with so many menus, screens, and buttons, we are well aware that it is important to streamline the user experience accordingly. This update includes several welcomed improvements, such as:

• The ability to automate the launch of resupply spacecraft and skip straight to the outcome. The game also provides two options that let you decide whether you want to approach the automated launch using a 'bold' approach or a 'cautious' one.
  
• The ability to 'skip' the Debris Avoidance Maneuver (DAM) animation and see the results of the maneuver.
  
• An automatic system that returns astronauts to their original assignments once their temporary assignment to a module repair ends.
  
• A button in the 'Maintenance' screen that assigns all unassigned astronauts to maintenance duties. This is particularly useful in the late stages of the game, when the size of the crews become quite large).
  
• A mechanism that preserves the filter selection of the astronaut management and modules selection screens as part of the save game file. This helps reduce a lot of clicking when visiting these screens.
  

Gameplay and content improvements
We realized during testing that our astronaut hiring process had room for improvement, so as part of this update we revamped the whole system. Starting with this version, astronauts can now only be hired during specific months, which matches more closely with the way NASA conducts astronaut recruitment. The opening of the recruitment season is now communicated via the 'End of Year' report.

We also found out that the requirements and financial rewards in random events were completely unbalanced for the late stages of the game, so we've introduced some 'inflation adjustment' constants that affect currencies and goods and create a much more enjoyable gameplay experience (no more ridiculously low rewards in random events that come up while playing Phase III).

The research tech tree has also been revised, and we've not only added new technologies (e.g., 'Research Level IV' and 'Megaproject'), but also fixed existing dependencies to ensure that there's a better consistency with other parts of the tech tree.

Closing thoughts
As with previous updates, 'Space Station Designer' version 0.5.40 represents another big milestone for us. For the next update, we'll be focussing our effort on graphical improvements and the initial implementation of the 'megaproject'. If you have any questions or feedback about the game, please don’t hesitate to contact us via the forums or our Discord. And if you're interested in helping us improve it, please sign up for the beta.

This will be our last update for 2024. Enjoy the Holiday Season, and see you again in 2025 🙂

-Ignacio, Mauricio, and Nicolas (Polar Motion)

We’re excited to announce the launch of the new beta for Space Station Designer.
Now is your chance to dive into space construction and management like never before. The beta includes all the content and game mechanics from Phases I and II, featuring three engaging game modes: Campaign, Sandbox, and Free Builder.

This beta version comes with fully balanced in-game data, providing a rich experience with more than 24 hours worth of content to explore.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on every aspect of Space Station Designer—from challenge level, balance, and AI to any bugs you encounter. We’re particularly interested in feedback on any areas you find unclear—whether in the user interface, tooltips, or in-game messaging—please let us know.

Join the Discord Server, shape the future of Space Station Designer, and experience the challenges of running a space station firsthand.

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

Dear Community,

As we mentioned a month ago in this announcement, we've partnered up with Slitherine, who has now become the publisher of 'Space Station Designer'. The development of the game continues at a steady pace, and we're now focussing on the development of 'Phase III', which includes new game mechanics and content. We'll be sharing more details (and pretty screenshots) in an upcoming post.

As part of our partnership with Slitherine, we've decided to close the Steam Playtest this upcoming Sunday (October 20th). The Playtest will be replaced by a closed beta, which we're aiming to open sometime next month. If you're interested in helping us shape up the game, please register your interest here.

From this point forward, official communications will be published by Slitherine, please know that the developers and producers will always be here for you on the Steam forums and on Discord. Thank you for your support and engagement.

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

Hello Players,

We are incredibly excited to announce that Polar Motion and Slitherine are joining forces to elevate Space Station Designer to new heights. Our collaboration with Polar Motion is not a new one; we previously partnered on the successful release of Buzz Aldrin’s Space Program Manager, which garnered 75% positive reviews on Steam. This ongoing relationship reinforces our mutual commitment to delivering exceptional experiences.

Space Station Designer is a construction and management game where you are in charge of building and expanding a network of space stations in Earth and Lunar Orbit. Perform a wide range of activities such as recruiting and managing astronauts, building and installing modules, providing commercial services, manufacturing commercial goods, bringing space tourists, acquiring and commercializing industrial R&D technologies, leasing modules, and a lot more in order to make your network the best it can be.

We deeply believe in Polar Motion’s vision and are confident that together we can bring Space Station Designer to a whole new level of excellence, ensuring it becomes the ultimate space station building experience.

Marco Minoli, Slitherine’s Director of Publishing, stated, "Working on Polar Motion's new project is exciting and rewarding. It surely means that Buzz Aldrin's Space Program Manager cemented our relationship, but it's also a sign that Ignacio and his team are building something special we genuinely believe in."

Ignacio Liverotti, Lead Developer at Polar Motion, added, "Space Station Designer is our most ambitious project in terms of depth, and being able to partner with Slitherine means that we can rely on their commercial expertise and focus entirely on developing a rewarding experience that strikes the perfect balance between an enjoyable game and a well-researched, realistic simulation."


USEFUL INFORMATION
Since the game is already available in Steam Playtest, we want to reassure you that you will still have the opportunity to continue playing and supporting us in its growth and improvement.

We're transitioning from the current playtest to an official beta phase, which will launch in the coming weeks. The playtest will close in alignment with the beta's opening. If you were part of the playtest, you’ll be able to subscribe to the beta to continue your progress. If you didn’t join the previous playtest, now’s your chance. Apply for the beta on the Slitherine website and be part of this exciting journey.

You can also join our new official Discord server here.

Stay tuned for more thrilling updates. We can’t wait to share more about the future of Space Station Designer.

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm.

Slitherine

Hello! After more than two months of work, today we're proud to unveil Space Station Designer 0.5.35. This new update includes all the mechanics of Phase II, along with a plethora of Quality of Life (QoL) improvements and fixes that benefit the whole game experience. Please read on for the highlights and, if you're interested in the full changelog, you can review our live document here: [Public] Space Station Designer - Release Notes.

Phase II and new game mechanics

Our previous update stopped after the acquisition of the 'Expansion in LEO' research technology (i.e., after completing what we call 'Phase I').



In this latest update, we've included a new set of game mechanics, such as Modules Leasing, Commercial Services, and Space Tourism. These mechanics were available in one form or another in older versions of the game, but they have been fully revamped and balanced for this new update. This is especially true for the Space Tourism mechanic, which now includes spaceports and space tourism shuttles.



In addition to these mechanics, we've added a new set of 20 contracts, which are available both in the Campaign and Sandbox modes. These 20 contracts, along with the new gameplay features, comprise 'Phase II', and add another 8 to 12 hours of gameplay on top of the ~10 hours from Phase I. We hope you enjoy them and, if you have any feedback, please don't hesitate to contact us in the forums.



Gameplay Improvements and tweaks

We continue refining the game's mechanics based on the playtesting feedback we receive. Here are some of the improvements and tweaks that are now available in the latest version:

• Selected modules must be within a maximum distance when setting up space tourism groups.
  
• Propulsion modules now suffer a propulsion penalty if they aren't close enough to electricity/cooling modules.
  
• Astronauts can now be fired.
  
• Stronger dependencies for certain research technologies in the tech tree. For example, 'Storage Level III' now has a dependency on 'Storage Level II'.
  
• The acquisition costs of the various Earth Facilities and their Continuous Improvement Programs (CIPs) have been adjusted for a more balanced gameplay experience.
  

If you're interested in learning about other tweaks and improvements, please check our release notes document: [Public] Space Station Designer - Release Notes

Quality of Live (QoL) improvements

While conducting our own internal testing, we continue finding ways to make the game experience more streamlined and enjoyable. Some of the QoL improvements included in this latest update include:

• A button to sort out entries in the 'Contracts' screen chronologically, which is useful for finding out which contracts are getting close to their expiry date.
  
• A mechanism to display the 'modules information card' of all modules unlocked by a research technology in the tech tree.
  
• Important information in the 'active events' screen so that the players can know, for example, the number of months remaining for a given event.
  
• A mechanism to assign astronauts to 'groups' via a color palette. The size of the astronaut corps grows considerably throughout Phase II, and being able to assign them to groups significantly reduces the difficulty of managing them.
  
• Visual indicators so that the player can see the station's current storage space in the resupply spacecraft payload screen, which aids with planning.
  
• Information on which specific objective caused a contract to fail.
  
• The ability to pan around and zoom in/out in the research tech tree screen using the WASD/arrow keys and the plus and minus keys, respectively.
  

Is there a QoL improvement you'd like to see? Let us know in the Steam forums!

Fixes

Lastly, this update includes a series of fixes to issues we came across during playtesting. Some examples include:

• We addressed some minor glitches in the 'Above and below the LEO station' => 'Earth Facilities' tutorial, so that it's in line with the various changes we've applied to the game mechanics in the previous updates.
  
• We identified and resolved a runtime error triggered when attempting to install modules that had collisions during the initial installation phase. This one was also reported via email by a playtester from the Steam forums.
  
• We fixed the Campaign mode so that the 'Expansion in LEO' research technology can only be acquired if all the mandatory campaign objectives have been accomplished.
  
• We addressed various UI issues in the Earth Facilities screen so that they are capable of dealing with large numeric values.
  
• We modified the logic behind the Earth Facilities in order to ensure that they can only execute a CIP for a given module/resupply spacecraft once.
  
• We fixed some minor visual glitches in various modules.
  

We're aiming to make Space Station Designer a bug-free game. If you run into any problems, please get in contact with us so that we can investigate and fix them.



Closing thoughts

This latest update represents another big milestone for us. If you have any questions or feedback about the game, please don’t hesitate to contact us via the forums.

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