NOVASHARD

Updates

Every change to the game and the website, newest first. Updates are also posted in the Discord #changelog channel.

24 October 2026

Smoother flight and quicker combat controls update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Flying and fighting should feel more responsive after today's restart.

Changes

  • Your ship's movement and turning are smoother and keep up better when you change direction quickly.
  • Pressing an ammunition key (or button) while a target is locked now starts firing with that ammunition, and switches ammunition without stopping your attack.

Fixes

  • Fixed your ship freezing or drifting after a portal jump, especially when collecting a box just before jumping.
  • Fixed held movement input carrying over after jumping or reconnecting.
  • Combat range checks are more reliable when you or your target are moving fast.

23 October 2026

Kucurbium invasion fix hotfix

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

- Fixed Kucurbiums and Boss Kucurbiums being impossible to attack on 4-4.

- Invasion aliens now gather in the centre, pursue players who attack them, and return after the player is destroyed or disengages.

21 October 2026

Maintenance update maintenance

Game on desktop · Game on mobile · Website

Routine maintenance has been completed. Refresh your browser before reconnecting.

18 October 2026

Recruit your squad with referral rewards update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile · Website

New

  • Your invite link. Every pilot has one: find it on Home under Invite pilots. New pilots who sign up with it, or add your pilot name or code within 48 hours of creating their pilot (before level 5), are your recruits.
  • Rewards for the new pilot. Level 5: 50,000 x3 ammo + 5,000 Uridium. Level 8 within 30 days of creating the pilot: another 50,000 x3 + 10,000 Uridium. Level 12 after that: another 10,000 Uridium. That's 100,000 x3 and 25,000 Uridium in all.
  • Rewards for you. When your recruit reaches level 8 within 30 days: 50,000 x3 + 50,000 Uridium + 5,000,000 credits. When they reach level 12: another 50,000 x3 + 50,000 Uridium.
  • Recruitment titles. Violet titles for qualified recruits: Wingman at 1, Squadron Leader at 5, Fleet Admiral at 25.
  • Referral progress page. Home → Invite pilots → View referral progress shows your recruits, their milestones and what has been paid.
  • Recruiter rewards apply to your first 10 recruits who qualify each calendar month; titles keep counting past that. Rewards are subject to eligibility checks.

Icy Goliath referral skin hotfix

Game on desktop · Game on mobile · Website

- Unlock the Icy Goliath livery with 10 qualified lifetime recruits, including recruits beyond the monthly currency-reward cap.

- Equip the navy-and-ice skin in Hangar → Ships & skins. It is cosmetic only and gives no stat bonuses.

- [Website] Your referral progress page now shows the Icy Goliath milestone.

A classic look for the whole website update

Website

New

  • The 2009 look, modernised. Every page has steel panels, gold title bars and the classic layout, on desktop and mobile.
  • New header. A status display with your pilot, level, credits, Uridium and pilots online, and big icon tiles for every section.
  • Home. Your ship, rank and level progress up top, with news, invites, your logbook, active quests and the Hall of Fame below.
  • Hangar rebuilt. Your ship, configurations, slots and inventory all stay in view. Items show their icons and upgrade levels, quick-fit buttons fill empty slots with your best gear or copy your other configuration, and a save bar shows when you have unsaved changes.
  • Ships and skins as cards. Click a ship to fly it, or a skin to wear it.
  • Shop with pictures. Every item shows its icon, ships show their hangar render, and section tabs follow you down the page.
  • Galaxy Gates. A gate builder with a parts grid, your gate's status and the Materializer side by side.
  • Lab, Quests, Skirmish and Hall of Fame. An ore cargo display, a quest board with progress bars and rewards, a company scoreboard, and a podium for the top three pilots.
  • Support. Tickets now read as a conversation.

Change your company update

Website

New

  • Change company from your Account page. Pick MMO, EIC or VRU, confirm, and you start at the new company's home station next time you fly. Log out of the game first.
  • New pilots switch for free. Your first change is free while your pilot is level 5 or below, so a wrong pick at sign-up is easy to fix.
  • Everyone else leaves half their honour behind, as in the original game. Negative honour stays as it is.
  • Your company rank is worked out again against your new company's pilots, and a Skirmish sign-up moves with you. You can't switch during a Skirmish battle.

16 October 2026

Achievable quests at every level hotfix

Game on desktop · Game on mobile · Website

- Sector-sweep dailies now direct you to populated sectors instead of empty battle maps.

- Corrected early hunts, surveys and a weekly hunt to use aliens and locations available at your level.

- Daily selection now distinguishes alien sweeps from exploration and salvage for better variety.

- Mixed PvP mastery quests now wait until PvP quests are enabled, like other PvP objectives.

- Existing quest progress, completed history and rewards are preserved.

14 October 2026

MCB-25 now costs credits update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Changes

  • x2 ammunition (MCB-25) is now bought with credits: 40,000 credits per 1,000 rounds, in the Shop and in game. Your Uridium is free for x3, extras, ships and the Materializer. Ammunition CPUs set to buy x2 now pay in credits too.

12 October 2026

The Vengeance arrives update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

New

  • Vengeance. Buy it in the Shop for 30,000 Uridium, then switch to it in the Hangar while logged out. It's fast and agile: speed 360, 180,000 hull, 10 laser and 10 generator slots. Your Goliath keeps its own setup, so switching back puts everything where it was.
  • Each ship has its own configurations. Lasers and generators are remembered per ship, so you can kit out your Goliath and your Vengeance differently. Drones and extras come with you.

Choose what your CPUs buy update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

New

  • Ammunition and Rocket CPU settings. In the Shop you can now choose what your CPUs buy when you run low: whatever you're firing, a specific ammo or rocket, or nothing at all. Changes apply straight away, even mid-flight.

Fixes

  • When a CPU can't afford a restock, it now says so in your logbook as well as on screen.

11 October 2026

Drone icons fix fix

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Fixes

  • The small drone icons under a pilot's name now only show when drones are hidden in your settings. With drones shown, you see the drones themselves without the extra icons.

Five new CPUs in the Shop update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

New

  • Rocket turbo (ROK-T01): your rockets reload twice as fast.
  • Ammunition CPU (AM CPU): when your selected laser ammo drops below 1,000 rounds, it buys 10,000 more at Shop prices. A marker on the ammo bar shows which ammo it is buying.
  • Rocket CPU (RB CPU): when your selected rocket drops below 100, it buys 500 more at Shop prices.
  • Targeting guidance CPUs (AIM01 and AIM02): switch them on with the aim button for 25% (AIM01) or 50% (AIM02) fewer laser misses. Each volley uses 10 Xenomit from your cargo, and the button shows how many volleys you have left.
  • All five are in the Shop under Extras and are fitted in both configurations as soon as you buy them. Every configuration now has room for 14 extras.

Changes

  • Galaxy Gates: when you come back to a gate you left mid-wave (logged out, destroyed or a server restart), the aliens you left return in groups, as the wave did, instead of all at once.

Aliens no longer repair their hull update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Changes

  • Damage sticks. Aliens, Cubikons included, no longer repair their hull when left alone. Only their shields recharge, so a damaged alien stays damaged until you finish it.

Alien fire and Cubikon fixes fix

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Fixes

  • No more phantom fire. An alien that stops attacking you (fleeing to a corner, giving up the chase or switching to another pilot) now stops firing at once. Before, its lasers kept appearing to hit your ship from out of range.
  • Cubikon kills no longer freeze the map. Destroying a Cubikon could occasionally freeze everything on that map until the next restart. Fixed.

10 October 2026

No more freezing after a jump fix

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Fixes

  • Jumping while heading for a box no longer freezes your ship. If you clicked a bonus box, cargo box or ore just before a portal jump took you away, your ship ignored every click on the new map. Pending pickups are now cancelled when you jump.

Smarter aliens, gate radar and new daily quests update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Changes

  • Aliens retreat when nearly destroyed. At low hull every alien except Cubikons breaks off and flees to the nearest corner of the map, in Galaxy Gates too. Chase them down to finish the kill.
  • Stacking is back. Fly in circles around the aliens chasing you and they bunch up behind you into one stack, as in the original. The longer they stay stacked, the more often they miss.
  • Protegits in Galaxy Gates now surround and chase you like the other gate aliens.
  • Daily quests: the portal-jump dailies are now sector sweeps: destroy aliens on your tier's maps. Rewards are unchanged.

Fixes

  • In Galaxy Gates every alien now shows as a red dot on the minimap, wherever it is on the gate map.

9 October 2026

Extras fit themselves, and Protegits as in 2009 update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Changes

  • Bought extras are fitted for you. An extra you buy in the Shop goes straight into both configurations and works at once, in game too. You can still take it out in the hangar.
  • Protegits are back to their 2009 strength: 50,000 hull, 40,000 shield and their original speed. A destroyed Cubikon drops 64 Promerium and 64 Xenomit, as it did in 2009.

Fixes

  • Extras bought from the Shop while you're in game are delivered properly again.

8 October 2026

The Lab is open update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

New

  • The Lab. A new page on the website, as in the original game, with two parts:
  • Refining: turn the ore in your cargo into prime ore. 20 Prometium + 10 Endurium makes 1 Prometid; 10 Endurium + 20 Terbium makes 1 Duranium; 10 Prometid + 10 Duranium + 1 Xenomit makes 1 Promerium. It frees up cargo space too.
  • Ore upgrades: load prime ore into your lasers, rockets, speed generators or shields for a damage, speed or shield boost.
  • Both work whether you're in game or not. In game, the ore comes straight out of your cargo and your log confirms it.

Three new extras and a HUD button for mobile update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

New

  • Cargo bay expansion (CBX-2): doubles your ship's cargo space.
  • HM7 ore trade drone: sell your ore from anywhere in space with the drone button under Robots + Extras, no trip to the station needed.
  • Lab CPU: choose an ore for your lasers, rockets, speed generators and shields on the Lab page, and the Lab CPU keeps them loaded while you fly, refining your cargo when it runs low.
  • All three are in the Shop under Extras. They take some saving up: fit them in the hangar once bought. Every configuration now has room for nine extras.
  • Mobile A HUD button shows or hides the game's HUD, like the H key on desktop.

Fixes

  • Protegits swarm like the original. Instead of circling you at a fixed distance, they now dart around you from every side.

7 October 2026

Ships face the right way fix

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Fixes

  • Other pilots turn properly. On busy maps, other pilots' ships could keep facing one direction while flying another, so they looked different to you than on their own screen. They now turn to their heading, and face whatever they're shooting.
  • Aliens face the pilot they're attacking instead of turning away between shots.
  • No more odd heading when flying almost straight left: the last few degrees showed the wrong direction.

The 1-5 portal to 4-5 and a shield for each configuration update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Fixes

  • 1-5 has its portal to 4-5 again, like 2-5 and 3-5.
  • Each configuration keeps its own shield. Switching to your other configuration no longer carries your shield over and caps it. Each one keeps the shield it had, as in the original game, and a configuration you haven't used yet starts full.
  • Your shield is kept when you log out. Log out at 100% and you log back in at 100%. Shields that the old switch had left short have been topped up.

Ore upgrades and Protegits like the original update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

New

  • Ore upgrades are here. Load prime ore from your cargo into your ship on the new Lab page, as in the original game:
  • Lasers and rockets: Prometid +15% or Promerium +30% damage, 10 shots per unit.
  • Speed generators and shields: Duranium +10% or Promerium +20%, 10 minutes of flying per unit.
  • One ore per part at a time; the timers only run while you're in game.

Changes

  • Protegits fight like they used to. The whole swarm goes after one pilot, the first to attack the Cubikon and then whoever deals it the most damage, instead of being pulled apart by everyone who shoots them.
  • Protegits are tougher and faster (60,000 hull, 50,000 shield), and Cubikons drop more Promerium and Xenomit, as in the original.
  • When a Cubikon is destroyed, its Protegits roam the area and attack anyone who comes close until they disappear.

6 October 2026

Sound effects, the original Alpha Gate and smarter aliens update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Thanks to everyone who sent in the big bug list. Here's the first round of fixes.

Fixes

  • Sound effects are back. Lasers, rockets, explosions, portals, smart bomb and insta-shield all play again. The soundtrack is now on by default too (switch it in Settings).
  • The Alpha Gate matches the original: 40 Streuner, 40 Lordakia, 40 Mordon, 80 Saimon, 20 Devolarium, 80 Kristallin, 16 Sibelon, 80 Sibelonit, 16 Kristallon and 30 Protegit.
  • Cubikons work like they used to. The Cubikon plays its release animation when it's first hit, and its Protegits come out a moment later. They stay in a cloud around their Cubikon instead of chasing you across the map or to the portal.
  • Cubikon kills are shared. Everyone who damaged it gets a share of the reward, and the kill counts for everyone's quests.
  • Aliens turn on you when you shoot them, even from range, and give up the chase once you've clearly outrun them.
  • The minimap only shows aliens in radar range, not every alien on the map.
  • The level-up message shows the right EP for your next level at high levels.
  • Your ship's ammo storage is respected: you can't buy more ammo than it can hold.

Alpha Gate fixes, fleeing aliens and no ammo cap update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Alpha Gate

  • Aliens follow you everywhere. The whole wave chases you across the gate map and never gives up, so they no longer scatter when you run and leave you hunting for them.
  • Dying no longer resets the wave. You lose a life as before, but when you go back in you face exactly the aliens that were left, followed by the rest of the wave.
  • Your progress is always kept. Being destroyed, logging out, disconnecting, being moved out by staff or a server restart: you carry on from where you were.
  • Kills are counted. Your log and logbook show how far you got, for example "Wave 1 of 10 (Streuner): 10 of 40 destroyed, 30 to go."

Changes

  • Aliens run for it. Below 15% hull, most aliens turn and flee instead of fighting to the end, as in the original game (Cubikons and their Protegits stand their ground; aliens in the Alpha Gate always keep coming).
  • Smart bombs only hit pilots. They no longer damage aliens.
  • No ammo storage limit. Buy as much ammunition as you like, in game or on the website.

Fixes

  • SAB really drains shields now. An alien's shield no longer regenerates while you're draining it with SAB.
  • Mobile The arrow buttons for locking onto aliens have been removed; tap an alien to select it.

5 October 2026

Ships and skins in your Hangar update

Website · Game on desktop · Game on mobile

New

  • Website Your Hangar now has a Ship and a Skin choice. If you own more than one ship, pick which one to fly (log out of the game first). Skins change your Goliath's look, and other pilots see it straight away.
  • Four Goliath skins exist: MMO red, EIC blue, VRU green and Gold. Watch for ways to earn them.

Fixes

  • Other pilots' ships and Streuners now show exactly where they really are, so "out of range" matches what you see.

Quest log, titles page and Galaxy Gates that pick up where you left off update

Game on desktop · Website

New

  • Website Titles page: see every title you've earned and choose which one shows above your ship. Find it in your pilot menu.
  • Website Show or hide quests in game: on the Quests page, choose which quests the in-game Quests tab shows.
  • Desktop The in-game Log / Quests window now wraps long lines and has scroll buttons, so quest progress is never cut off.
  • Galaxy Gates now continue exactly where you left them. If you log out, disconnect or the server restarts mid-wave, you come back to the same wave with the same aliens still to beat.

Fixes

  • Website Your credits and uridium at the top of the site now stay up to date while you play.
  • Website The Hall of Fame and your home page show the original DarkOrbit rank icons.
  • Website Tidier Quests page (no gaps) and the top bar no longer cuts off "Hall of Fame".

The jump chip is back, and a tidier log window update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile · Website

New

  • Jump chip. Buy it in the website Shop under CPUs: 20 jumps for 100,000 credits. Press the jump button in Robots + Extras and after a 3-second countdown you jump straight back to your company's x-1 station. It works anywhere except Galaxy Gates, and not within 10 seconds of a fight.
  • Website Updates page. Every update is now listed on the website too, newest first. Find it in the footer.

Changes

  • The Log and Quests window now tucks away to the side. Minimise it and it slides off to the right edge, leaving a small LOG tab. Click the tab to bring it back.
  • Extras that didn't do anything are gone. The drone repair and aim CPUs have been removed from hangars and new pilots' kits, so every button in Robots + Extras now works.

Stacked Alpha Gates, a new log window and proper announcements update

Website · Game on desktop · Game on mobile

New

  • Alpha Gates stack. Keep spinning while your gate is on the map: the Materializer builds one more gate that waits for you. When your current gate is completed or lost, the waiting one takes its place straight away. You can hold one gate on the map and one waiting.
  • A brand-new Log and Quests window. Cleaner design, colour-coded rewards, a real scrollbar and mouse-wheel scrolling. Quests now show as cards with a progress bar for every goal. Drag it anywhere, shrink it to a slim bar, or make it taller.
  • Announcements in the middle of the screen, like the original. Galaxy Gate countdowns (10 down to 1), wave starts, gate rewards and server restart countdowns (minutes, then the last 10 seconds) now appear in red at the top middle of the screen.
  • Level ups are back to how they should be. A big "LEVEL UP!" announcement and the classic "Congratulations!" box open the moment you level up.
  • Repair button. When your ship is destroyed you now get the classic "Ship destroyed" window. Press Repair to return to your home station with full hull and shield.

Fixes

  • Red alerts now say what actually happened, instead of always showing a raw-material message.

4 October 2026

Touch controls for phones and a tidier log window update

Game on mobile · Game on desktop

NovaShard is now much easier to play on a phone or tablet, and the Log and Quests window can be tucked away or enlarged on every device.

New

  • Mobile A joystick in the bottom left: hold it and your ship flies that way, let go and it stops.
  • Mobile Big buttons for Laser attack, Rocket, Jump, Repair, Insta-shield (ISH), Smart bomb (SMB) and switching between configuration 1 and 2. They're see-through, so you can still see the action behind them.
  • Mobile A full-screen button, where your browser supports it.
  • Mobile The game asks you to turn your phone sideways: it plays in landscape.
  • The Log / Quests window has minimise and enlarge buttons, like the chat. Minimise shrinks it to just its tabs, and enlarge shows about twice as many lines. It remembers your choice.

Changes

  • The game now runs in high graphics quality by default.

Known issues

  • Mobile On wide phone screens the game still has bars on each side, which is where the controls sit.
  • Mobile Full screen isn't available in iPhone Safari.

Portal jumps and safe zones fixed hotfix

Everywhere

Thanks for the reports, pilots! Two fixes for flying between maps:

Fixes

  • Jumping into 4-4 from 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 1-5, 2-5 or 3-5 now drops you at the matching portal, ready to jump straight back. It used to leave you somewhere in the middle of the map. Jumping from 1-7 to 1-8 lands at the right portal too.
  • Aliens no longer keep shooting you once you reach the safe zone around your own company's portals and stations. Stop firing and they leave you alone within a few seconds, and they no longer sit at the portal waiting for you to come back. You can't shelter in the zone while still shooting aliens from it.

NovaShard is now playable on mobile! update

Game on mobile · Game on desktop

📱 Take the fight anywhere. NovaShard now has proper touch controls, so you can fly, fight and loot from your phone or tablet. Same server, same pilot and same progress as on your PC: log in on the website, start the game and turn your phone sideways.

New on mobile

  • Mobile Joystick: hold it in the bottom left and your ship flies that way. Let go to stop.
  • Mobile Combat buttons: Laser attack, Rocket, Jump, Repair, Insta-shield (ISH) and Smart bomb (SMB), plus switching between configuration 1 and 2. They're see-through, so you can still see the action behind them.
  • Mobile Tap an alien or a ship to target it, just like on desktop.
  • Mobile A full-screen button, on browsers that support it.
  • Mobile A reminder to turn your phone sideways: NovaShard plays in landscape.

New everywhere

  • The Log / Quests window now has minimise and enlarge buttons, like the chat, and remembers your choice.
  • The game now runs in high graphics quality by default.

Fixes

  • Smart bombs can no longer be set off from the safe zone around your own station and portals.
  • Mobile Tapping an alien no longer drops you out of full screen.

Known issues

  • Mobile Full screen isn't available in iPhone Safari.
  • Mobile On wide phone screens the game has bars at the sides, and the controls sit there.
  • Mobile Typing in chat on a phone is still fiddly. Improvements are on the way.
  • Tried it on your phone? Tell us how it feels in #suggestions or #bug-reports. See you in space, pilots! 🚀

Mobile controls fixed and a new thumb-friendly layout hotfix

Game on mobile

Thanks for testing on your phones! The touch controls are fixed, and the buttons have a new layout built around your right thumb.

Fixes

  • Mobile The joystick and buttons stopped responding after you tapped an alien. They now keep working however much you tap the game.
  • Mobile The joystick no longer picks an alien by accident when one is in your way. It always just flies you there.
  • Mobile Cfg 1 and Cfg 2 now always switch your configuration.

Changes

  • Mobile New layout: a big Laser Attack button sits in the bottom-right corner, right under your thumb. Cfg 1 and Cfg 2 are right next to it, with Rocket, Jump, ISH, SMB and Repair in an arc around them.

Mobile flight controls hotfix hotfix

Game on mobile

Thanks for reporting the mobile-control problem so quickly. Phones now load the correct

control-enabled game client immediately after an update.

Fixes

  • Mobile The joystick and Laser Attack work after reopening or refreshing the game.
  • Mobile Cfg 1, Cfg 2 and Jump no longer move the ship instead of performing their action.

Mobile combat and collection improvements update

Game on mobile

Thanks to Orochi for testing the new controls on a real phone and sharing detailed feedback.

New

  • Mobile Use the directional target pad above the joystick to select a visible alien.
  • Mobile Collect flies to the nearest visible cargo or bonus box.
  • Mobile Ammo and Rockets are two compact cycle controls, replacing manual Repair without changing the separate Laser Attack or Rocket fire buttons.

Fixes

  • Mobile Alien chase movement is synchronised with its server position to prevent sudden speed surges.
  • Mobile This synchronisation also prevents an alien from looking close while its combat position is still out of range.

Combat fixes and the classic extras hotkeys hotfix

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Thanks for the reports, pilots! This update fixes a couple of annoying combat bugs and brings back two classic hotkeys.

New

  • Desktop 7 fires your Smart Bomb and 8 activates your Insta-Shield, just like in the original game.

Fixes

  • Attacking an alien no longer sometimes does nothing. Stopping and starting your attack quickly, or switching to another alien, used to leave you "attacking" without firing, so the alien looked invulnerable.
  • Aliens chasing you no longer zip across the screen at crazy speed when you fly away from them. They now follow you smoothly at their normal speed.

Smoother aliens, fairer safe zones and one title per pilot hotfix

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Thanks for all the reports, pilots! This update fixes how aliens move and fight, and tidies up the title hunt.

Fixes

  • Aliens now move smoothly at their real speed. They no longer lag behind and then suddenly speed up, and an alien that looks in range on your screen really is in range.
  • In the safe zone around your own company's portals and station, only the alien you are shooting can fire back. Every other alien leaves you alone and stops following you there, so no more crowds waiting for you at the portal.
  • Switching between SAB and other laser ammo while attacking now shows the new lasers straight away.
  • Minimap dots for aliens now follow them live.

Changes

  • Circling works again: an alien is more likely to miss you while you fly, and most likely when you circle it.
  • One title per pilot: taking a new hunt title sends the one you held back to a random alien for someone else to hunt.

No more alien crowds following you around hotfix

Everywhere

Fixes

  • Passive aliens (Streuner, Mordon, Lordakium, Kristallon) no longer start following you just because you flew past them. They only react once you shoot them, as in the original game. Before, a crowd of them could build up behind a pilot and bunch into one easy stack.
  • Aliens chasing you now spread out around you instead of piling up on one spot.

3 October 2026

Galaxy Gates work like the original again hotfix

Game on desktop · Game on mobile

Thanks to everyone who flew the Alpha Gate today and told us how it felt. Earlier today, alien types piled on top of each other and there was no way out between waves. That's fixed.

Changes

  • The Alpha Gate has 10 waves again, one alien type per wave.
  • Each wave starts with a 10-second countdown on screen, then arrives in 4 groups about 10 seconds apart, whether or not you've destroyed the previous group.
  • Destroy every alien in the wave and two portals open: one to the next wave, one back home. Your progress is kept per wave.

Fixes

  • Different alien types no longer arrive in the same wave.

Everything in NovaShard so far update

Game on desktop · Game on mobile · Website

Welcome to the NovaShard changelog! From now on, every update that changes the game, the website or how you play gets a post here. To start, here's everything that's been built so far.

Flying in your browser

  • The classic 2009 space MMO, rebuilt to run in Chrome, Edge and Firefox on desktop. Nothing to install: start the game from the website.
  • Three companies to choose from: MMO, EIC and VRU, each with its own home sector (x-1 to x-8 maps), plus the battle maps 4-1 to 4-4 and the dangerous 4-5.
  • Every planned server restart gets an in-game countdown. Everything is saved, and you can log straight back in.

A level playing field

  • Every new pilot starts with a Full Elite Goliath: 8 Iris drones, LF-3 lasers, top shields and engines, a repair robot, auto-rocket launcher, smart bomb, insta-shield and drone repair.
  • Two ready-made configurations: speed and shield. Rearrange both in the website Hangar.
  • Starter ammunition to fight straight away: 100,000 x1, 50,000 x2, 100,000 x3, 50,000 SAB and thousands of rockets. Buy more in the Shop.
  • Completely free. There is nothing to buy with real money.

Aliens and maps

  • Every classic alien, from Streuners on your home map to Kristallons and Cubikons on the upper maps, plus Boss and Uber versions.
  • New pilots can fly to the battle maps from level 1, and to the enemy companies' x-3 and x-4 from level 2.
  • Higher maps drop more uridium from bonus boxes.
  • When a map gets crowded, extra aliens arrive so there's enough to go round.

Progress

  • Missions: a 24-mission story chain from level 1 to 16.
  • Quests: four level quests for every level, three daily quests and two weekly quests, all matched to your level. Rewards arrive instantly, even mid-flight.
  • Mastery: ten long challenges from level 20, each with its own title.
  • Ranks: 20 ranks, from Basic Space Pilot to General, decided within your company.
  • Titles: 18 hunt titles start on aliens around the galaxy. Destroy the carrier and the title is yours, until someone takes it from you.
  • Hall of Fame: pilots by top user points, experience, honour, level, ships and aliens destroyed, plus the clan and company rankings.

Galaxy Gates

  • Build the Alpha Gate from 34 parts in the Materializer. Every spin pays out something, including x4 ammunition, which you can't buy.
  • 40 waves of aliens, each announced with an on-screen countdown. Waves keep coming whether or not you've cleared the last one. You have 3 lives, and your progress is kept if you log out.

Events

  • Skirmish: company vs company battles on Saturdays at 20:00 UTC, when they're running. Sign up on the website.

The website

  • Register, create your pilot, then manage everything from one place: Hangar, Shop, Quests, Galaxy Gates, Skirmish, Hall of Fame, Inbox and Support.
  • Private Support tickets, including chat-mute appeals, with replies in your Inbox.
  • Rename your pilot once every 30 days.

Fair play

  • Bots and automation aren't allowed, and they're detected. Rules: https://www.novashard.net/terms
  • Bonus box rewards are reduced after a very large number of boxes in 24 hours, to keep the economy fair.

Recent fixes

  • Long chat messages now scroll instead of running off the edge of the chat box.
  • Other pilots now visibly turn to face whatever they're shooting.
  • Aliens no longer lose their title while being attacked.
  • Fixed static red dots on the minimap and pilots who were invisible after respawning on their home map.
  • Registration now tells you exactly what your password is missing (12+ characters, A-Z, a-z, 0-9 and a symbol).

Known issues

  • The game isn't playable on phones or tablets, though the website works on them.
  • Clans can't be created or joined yet.
  • Thanks for flying with us, and for every bug report so far. See you in space, pilots!