A new Corvette is born from the preorder funds; if you were following the twitter you’d have seen it a little early. This Light Corvette forms the second ship of the nine ship Pleiades corporation line-up.

Head over to the blog to see more images and the 3D turntable and if you haven’t already pledge, and help us make many more of these beauties!

Worlds collide in this weeks instalment of lore as we explore Samuel’s involvement in the Gift.

This weeks instalment of lore comes in audio form voice-acted by our very own resident author John Harper, a traditional transcript is also available - both on the website: http://shallow.space/shalloms-personal-diary/

"I have to admit, walking onto the bridge of the TCN Concordia, its captain’s gaping throat gurgling blood over his chair, I felt a sense of accomplishment I have never felt before. It was a hare brained scheme to lift this ship, but Marlon came through, true to his word, and now I feel closer to my goal than ever before."

The latest development video from us, not recommended if you have a heart condition, definitely recommended if you're looking for a kick!!

There's a hell of a lot of new stuff crammed into this one so expect a full debrief on the blog early next week.

Essentially though apart from the obvious Ship Configurator:

- We have the 3D improvements to the UI, spheres show ranges (Green - deep scan radius, Red - weapons radius, Yellow - status effects radius.)
- Status effects (more info) and scan ranges added.
- A new artist makes his mark with some beautiful background artwork.
- optimizations to turrets go in and fixed weapons get a rewrite - both now using completely simulated projectiles (more info.)
- All factions (all 9 of them) now represented as entities in the alpha.
- Drag selection box rewritten to allow Battlegroup formation moves and grouped Corvette wing moves.
- Enhancements to the fleet UI to support drag selection groupings.
- Game ported to Unity 5.1

Crank it up and enjoy!! (I know my hearts still racing...)

A cogent summary of progress over on IndieDB as some more budding contractors join the team and we hint at some of the customisation options that recent advancements bring.

Also catch a sneak peek at the latest ship that’s about to hit our screens, the PLC Heavy Corvette!

“The game engine is progressing at a phenomenal rate, at lot of the stuff I did last month paved the way for this rapid progress so mechanically we are witnessing some of that enhancement as the roots start to bud on the surface. It’s shocking how quickly we are moving towards the ‘end-game’ scenario now with the planned ‘Overlord AI system’ and the Map editor looking pretty close on the todo list.”

Read on in 'Limit of Exploitation'

The latest OMEGA ship model is up for show; a 'PLC Heavy Corvette' joins the three ship line-up.

A 6 man ship with 4 medium fixed weapons mounts [FW-M] and a medium [M] turret point, these craft normally form the pointed end of QRF (Quick Reaction Force) response to an incursion.

This puppy is 2.5x the size of the Light Corvette, so you can imagine how big its carrier is going to be!

View the 3D turntable over on the blog.

There are 8 human factions in the Shallow Space universe:

The 3 core empire factions with overall control of the majority of humanity.
The 3 mighty corporations, nipping at the emperors heels for dominance
The 2 subversive authorities living outside of the core worlds of Shallow Space in the fringe colonies nibbling at the edges of the Imperium.

Some of the factions are further split into subordinate authorities or companies, some with Elite units and/or special abilities.

Find out about the next revealed core empire faction the 'Terran Confederate Navy' over on the blog...

[Abbreviated: TCN] The Terran Confederation Navy was formed in response to the discovery of the Pleiades Corporation, descendants of the presumed lost worldship UES Halifax. When the Pleiades Corporation refused to enter the Terran Empire, Emperor Christian decided to force the issue. He issued the construction of a military fleet to occupy the Pleiades system....

Introducing the new Matar class (Medium Cruiser, 3 x Heavy Turret Points [H])

Love it. Keep this good work.

The latest development blog article is up, this one discusses some of the concepts of the Ship Configuration and Fleet Configuration screens and there's also a VERY juicy extension video to #45 showing some extended gameplay footage, the ship and fleet config screens in action and a fly around the new PLC 'Matar' - medium cruiser!

Take a look at 'of Ship Customisation and the Mustering of Forces'

"The Flotilla Identity acts as both a way for the Player to glean a formations purpose and its position in the theatre but also encourages the Player to think more carefully about their formations. So it is the intent that this identity system grants bonuses pertaining to that particular squadron’s characteristic. For example the EW Squadron would get increases to passive and active ECM/ECCM modules, Defence Practitioners might get natural damage resistances."

Love it. Keep this good work.

Cheers! Was beginning to think no-one was listening lol

It's a weird sensation, its like walking down a street at the dead of night with a hundred gleaming eye's peering at you from the depths...