Hello everyone! It is time for one of our devblog posts. We are chest deep into BETA 14 which will be bringing some new things to the table. We are excited to talk about them here. First off, player teams. Second, custom factions. Third, mod support. [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12144927/9a59d91cd45ad30cf44f289c2a4f45c1b11d7b96.png][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12144927/9a59d91cd45ad30cf44f289c2a4f45c1b11d7b96.png[/img][/url] You heard right--player teams and custom factions. For a long time players have been requesting custom player factions. We heard you, and this is our take on them. We have broken this into two elements: Player teams are ingame groupings that players can create, join or ignore. This allows teammates to share access to their assets without having to open it up to the broader public. You will also be able to see where other teammates are within the galaxy when they are playing. [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12144927/0b403452d08e2a58d7ebaf35367049a821ccdf6b.png][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12144927/0b403452d08e2a58d7ebaf35367049a821ccdf6b.png[/img][/url] The second part of this is custom factions. Players will be able to use an in-game tool (from main menu) to create custom factions. These factions will have the same impact as the default games factions, from editable ships and stations to standings, custom colors, custom icon and they can be included in universe generation or you can choose to not. They can be used in singleplayer or multiplayer. [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12144927/d8b326c05a4d832cd00fbe80bb8771f475771709.png][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/12144927/d8b326c05a4d832cd00fbe80bb8771f475771709.png[/img][/url] Lastly, and related to the custom factions, and one of the core intended gameplay elements since the start, are mods. We have significantly improved modding support and utilization. This includes overhauling much of the way gamedata is loaded, now relying on a text based unique ids instead of numbers. From new items, new ships or new factions, this is all supported and more flexible. Additionally, mods can now be activated or deactivated from an ingame menu, and multiplayer now better supports mods with some integrity checking and validation. The Steam Workshop will support sharing these mods too. Altogether BETA 14 should be a pretty cool update, and is not too far away now.