PAST v0.08 Released

A lot has happened with PAST over the last several days since the 0.05 release.  I've been testing with Starfield POIs and the early game quests, fixing bugs and adapting the PANPC AI system to how Starfield does things. You can find the changelog here.

You can still find the latest package in the PAST #releases-latest channel of the GreslinGames Discord, available to Citizen role users. (If you don't currently have Citizen, please read the #read-this-first channel for instructions.)

We're at a point now where PAST is generally stable and playable in regular Starfield gameplay. However, until Creation Kit is released and I can recompile the scripts in the native Bethesda Papyrus compiler, this should be considered highly experimental. PAST will remain in the experimental series until this happens, at which point I will release v1.0.

So let's sum up what has happened since 0.05:

Save Game Stability. There have been several problems with PAST leaving scripts behind in save files after being uninstalled, even if the mod itself has been completely deleted.  I have been saying throughout this entire process that you should NOT be using these early versions on a save you care about, and this is what I was talking about. However, as of v0.08 these issues should be resolved, so long as you use the official update process.

Configuration Menu. There is no MCM for Starfield, and so I decided to go old school with PAST with a "pill menu": an Aid item called "PAST Configuration" that fires up a popup menu when used and lets you toggle a handful of PAST gameplay and debug features (including a new debug "Recon" mode that highlights every local NPC currently running a PAST AI script).

The first option in the menu is Shutdown. When you select this option, PAST will deactivate all of its scripts and put itself into park in order to be safely uninstalled. When you need to uninstall or update, use this feature to shut it all down first. Then save the game, exit, uninstall the mod, reload the game, and then resave it. The save should be clean now and ready for a new installation of PAST.

POI and Quest Testing. The overall PAST system is now pretty stable and the subsystems are working, so it was time to begin testing it in POI (Point of Interest) and early quest gameplay. I've been running it through the Abandoned Research Tower, Bionics Lab, Listening Post, Relay Station, and Mineral Plant, and have also been testing it fairly hard through the early game quests, from the first Vectera pirate battle through to Nova Shipyards.

Starfield definitely does things differently than Fallout 4, and once you get past the awful Bethesda AI implementation, I'm finding I actually like Starfield combat a bit more for one major reason: boost. The levels have lots of elevation points, and everyone having boost packs means that much of the combat is a true 3D experience. That's opening up a whole new world of gameplay complexity and I'm enjoying adapting that into PAST.

I'm finding PAST to be quite playable now in the base game, especially if you also are using my Aggressive Enemy AI and Companion AI Updated mods to fix many, many of the problems in how Bethesda configured the vanilla game. (I can't begin to overstate how highly I'm recommending using these mods together.)

Compatibility Patch Support. Like PANPC, PAST now has support for creating compatibility patches using keyword, faction, and race-level NPC identification. There are now four profiles available: Pirate, Spacer, Ecliptic, and Varuun.

Mostly I'm comfortable saying now that PAST is ready for regular gameplay. I've been reconfiguring things and adjusting other things as testing continues, and I think we're now in a fairly good place. I will probably begin extending support soon to the "protagonist" NPC groups, starting with UC Marines and Freestar Rangers. I also plan to do further work on ship landing sites.

Have fun,

- G.