Hey everyone! Finally a bigger AstraX update on today's agenda. This one is dedicated to resource collection and further UI/UX improvements.

The HUD and a few sounds are new indicators for the mining mechanic. When you approach an asteroid and discover a resource deposit on it, it is possible to gather its resources. Mining existed in 0.2 already, but it was an extremely bare bones implementation. Now there are deposits that can deplete, adequate sounds and UI feedback indicating the mining process.

There are context hints now that tell you which actions are available on target acquisition. A message stack gives feedback whether an action was successful or not. There is still room for improvement, but we're on the right track here.

Another big change are home systems that you can pick from on creating a new world. This includes a representation of our own solar system, including Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars and more. Naturally, you discover them with traits they (in some cases, probably) possess in real life.

What also got implemented is a camera  zoom functionality, that allows you to gaze at large planets in their full glory.

Outlook

Resources are a requirement for trading and spaceship construction. These two mechanics are the focus of the next few versions of AstraX, along with mod support and continuous user experience and quality of life improvements.

Here are a few planned items from my backlog:

• allow trading of resources when docked to a station
• spaceship computer systems (which can fail or give wrong readings in future versions)
• spaceship & space station construction editor
• saving games
• full mod support
• game data editors

Changelog

Version 0.3  

• When creating a new game: selecting a starter system
• When creating a new game: button for randomizing name & seed
• When creating a new game: added button sounds 
• Added mining drill sounds
• Added camera zoom (use 9, 0 for zooming in/out and o-key to reset zoom)
• HUD Targetor visual improvements
• Mining HUD visual improvements
• Bugfix: Hard crash on re-entering home system
• Bugfix: Texture improvements on Planets
• Bugfix: Asteroids showing up twice in the system
• Bugfix: Parallax not displaying stars properly

Version 0.2.6

• A few new UI sounds
• Sonar: Added sound and visual cue on target acquisition/loss
• HUD: Added priority messages & message stack
• Got rid of some annoying voice messages 
• Added context action hints
• Added extended mining mechanics with resource deposits
• Added mining HUD
• Added customizable planets
• Added our Solar System as starter system, fully discoverable
• Various bugfixes