Hi,

besides of adding more gameplay features like first aid kits, reviving crew members and an overhaul of the fields system, during the last month I've concentrated on the match making system and the lobby.

Game modes can now define how many ship slots are available, whether players can freely join when game already started, whether ship is controlled by an AI, etc. . Every game now has a certain amount of ship slots available and players can freely join and leave, even if the game has already been started.

For example campaign game mode may have some fixed ship slots for players available and does not allow to add additional slots, add AI or change anything after the game has been started. On the other side, a free sandbox mode may let players join, add ships and also leave freely.

The game browser has also been enhanced and there will be a quick-join system where players just have to enter a code to join a session.

I've added 3 screenshots that show some screens of the new lobby.

The first screenshot shows the lobby from hosting player perspective, game has not been started yet. There have been 3 ship slots for players been set up, the other 3 slots are AI.

The second screenshot shows the same view from a joining player's perspective. The game has already been started and 5 out of 6 ships are already in game. The player has still the possibility to join ship 1 or open ship slot 3, load an own ship and join. Slot 2 is locked, so the player cannot join there.