Optimization, Stability, and Making the Galaxy Behave (Mostly)

By Ashton Data Publishing, LLC — because frame rates matter, even in space

Greetings, performance enthusiasts and crash-avoidance specialists!

Welcome to Dev Blog #13! After building planets, missions, NPCs, UI, and entire economies, it was time to face an uncomfortable truth:

The galaxy needs to run smoothly.

This week wasn’t about flashy features or new aliens. It was about making sure everything we’ve built doesn’t collapse under its own cosmic weight.

Performance Pass: Finding the Bottlenecks

We conducted a full profiling pass across the game’s major systems.

Key areas reviewed:

• AI perception and behavior trees
• Planetary weather and hazard simulations
• UI refresh rates
• Vehicle physics
• Audio layering and adaptive music

The good news: most systems behaved.
The bad news: a few behaved too enthusiastically.

Frame Rate Optimization: Keeping It Smooth

Major improvements this week:

• Reduced unnecessary tick events
• Optimized AI update frequency based on distance and visibility
• Implemented level-of-detail (LOD) rules for environments and NPCs
• Streamlined particle effects during storms and combat

Result:

• Noticeable FPS gains on mid-range hardware
• Fewer stutters during heavy combat
• Smoother transitions between environments

Your eyes will thank us.

Memory Management: No More Hoarding

We addressed memory usage by:

• Cleaning unused assets
• Improving asset streaming
• Reducing duplicate textures
• Optimizing audio buffers

This prevents:

• Long load times
• Sudden freezes
• That moment where the game forgets what it was doing

Space is vast. RAM is not.

Crash Fixes: When the Universe Breaks

We hunted down and fixed several crash scenarios, including:

• NPCs spawning in invalid locations
• Vehicles entering states they should never enter
• Dialogue triggering during combat while boarding a ship
• Weather systems stacking infinitely

The galaxy is now significantly less explosive in unintended ways.

Stability Testing: Push It Until It Breaks

We intentionally:

• Spawned too many NPCs
• Triggered overlapping missions
• Flew ships where they didn’t belong
• Stacked mods that definitely shouldn’t stack

Results:

• Fewer crashes
• Predictable failures (the good kind)
• Clear error logging for future fixes

Breaking the game is part of the job.

Quality-of-Life Improvements

Along the way, we also added:

• Faster load times between areas
• More responsive menus
• Reduced input latency
• Clearer error messages (no more “Unknown Error 47”)

Small changes. Big impact.

Memorable Bugs of the Week

• An NPC achieved infinite speed.
• A ship briefly duplicated itself.
• A sound effect played forever.
• The galaxy map zoomed into a single pixel.

We fixed them.
The NPC has been grounded.

Final Thoughts for Dev Blog #13

Optimization may not be glamorous, but it’s essential. This week made AD Galaxy Traveler more stable, smoother, and ready for broader testing.

Next up:
Dev Blog #14 — “Pre-Alpha Review, Lessons Learned, and What Comes Next”

Until then, enjoy the smoother ride, watch your frame rate, and remember:
If the galaxy feels stable… it probably wasn’t last week.