Patch 6528 (September 25, 2026)
Greetings, Captains! Our latest update includes a fix for a MacOS crash that was plaguing users, enabling the Direct3D renderer for Windows for problem devices, and The Really Good preparing shaders sequence to eliminate one-time stutters. For assistance with issues, please join us on Discord.
Version 6528 (September 25, 2026)
Crash Fixes
- Fix a MacOS-only crash which could occur during gameplay.
Features & Changes
- Allow Direct3D renderer on Windows platforms for players having trouble with the Vulkan renderer (Intel GPUs can crash, some older GPUs do not support it). To experiment with this renderer, add the following to your launch options: --rendering-driver d3d12
Bugfixes
- One-time hitching when picking ships or firing weapons should be eliminated. The preparing shaders sequence will be slower on first run but should cover almost all ship 3D assets now.
- Note: Changing certain video settings like Antialiasing or Render Scale Mode may re-introduce stutters. Quitting and relaunching the game after these changes will re-run the preparing shaders sequence again. In a future version, the sequence will run again in-game if we detect that it needs to.
- Improved loading of potentially unloaded ship assets in online multiplayer when a remote player is selecting a ship.
Key Known Issues
- Certain Cyborg-controlled ships will stop firing at you sometimes.
- On MacOS, some ships will sometimes appear as black squares.
Notes for AMD graphics users
If you are not seeing ships or VFX during gameplay, please update your graphics driver. Anything older than 25.9.2 is bad, and drivers from 25.11.1 until 25.12.1 have issues. 25.9.2 and 25.12.1 (and later) are known to fix it.
if you are experiencing persistent, performance-related issues, please ensure your drivers are updated and try changing the VSync settings or disabling the AMD "Anti-Lag" feature. You may also try setting the Max FPS with the newly added feature to match your display's refresh rate.
If you are still having trouble, please get in touch (see below) with your driver & system information.
More to Come!
Thank you so much to everyone for reporting your issues and feedback so far! If you are experiencing any crashes, your reports are greatly appreciated, but we also need to collect some diagnostic files from you! There are instructions and tools in our Discord, but if you are unable to access Discord, please see the "Reporting Crashes" section of the play guide and send the requested files to bugreports@pistolshrimpgames.com.
Good luck out there, Captains! Let us know if you have any issues and thanks for playing.
Patch 6506 (September 21, 2026)
Greetings, Captains! Our latest update includes some crash and rendering fixes targeted at MacOS users as well as some improvements to the preparing shaders screen. One-time stutters should be far less frequent now. Please see the patch notes for more information. For assistance with issues, please join us on Discord.
Version 6506 (September 21, 2026)
Crash Fixes
- Fix certain crashes that were affecting MacOS users.
Features & Changes
- New "preparing shaders" sequence. It should be much faster on initial and subsequent launches now, and one-time stuttering should be far less frequent. A small number of ships and powers may still incur a brief hitch on first appearance.
- Add an Updates screen where any patch notes or other messages can be shown in-game.
- Add a Max FPS setting to video settings (default: Unlimited, i.e. matches whatever the display does with VSync on).
Bugfixes
Rendering Fixes
- Fix issue on MacOS (and possibly on certain AMD GPUs) where certain objects wouldn't display properly and would show just as black shapes.
Menu Fixes
- Fix issue where match results screen would not properly credit ships which defeated enemies if they were the last ship in play.
- Fix issue where Cyborg players showed the wrong captain's name in the captain's window.
- Fix some typos in text.
Ship Fixes
- Fix bug where missile expiration (i.e. dying without colliding with a target) VFX/SFX were not appearing (Kohr-Ah FRIED, Chenjesu Missile Fragments, Tarnoon Rapier, Akashaq Pounce release, and more)
- Fix bug where Melnorme's confusion ray would persist the full duration even if the Melnorme ship was destroyed. It now ends shortly after the ship is destroyed.
Key Known Issues
- Certain, newer MacOS models appear to experience occasional crashes during gameplay.
- Certain Cyborg-controlled ships will stop firing at you sometimes.
- Some Intel GPUs will crash during gameplay. This appears to be an Intel Vulkan+Windows driver issue and we will be adding Direct3D support in the next version which appears more stable.
Notes for AMD graphics users
If you are not seeing ships or VFX during gameplay, please update your graphics driver. Anything older than 25.9.2 is bad, and drivers from 25.11.1 until 25.12.1 have issues. 25.9.2 and 25.12.1 (and later) are known to fix it.
if you are experiencing persistent, performance-related issues, please ensure your drivers are updated and try changing the VSync settings or disabling the AMD "Anti-Lag" feature. You may also try setting the Max FPS with the newly added feature to match your display's refresh rate.
If you are still having trouble, please get in touch (see below) with your driver & system information.
More to Come!
Thank you so much to everyone for reporting your issues and feedback so far! If you are experiencing any crashes, your reports are greatly appreciated, but we also need to collect some diagnostic files from you! There are instructions and tools in our Discord, but if you are unable to access Discord, please see the "Reporting Crashes" section of the play guide and send the requested files to bugreports@pistolshrimpgames.com.
Good luck out there, Captains! Let us know if you have any issues and thanks for playing.
Patch 6484 (September 14, 2026)
Greetings, Captains! Our latest update includes the much-asked-for controller steering settings and manual button input which can be configured from the Controls menu in Settings. For more details on the latest update, check the full patch notes below.
Features & Changes
Disable OpenGL3 Rendering Fallback
- OpenGL3 rendering is disabled. The application will should now show error when trying to launch the game instead of letting the game run but not displaying anything correctly or crashing when getting further along. Only the Forward+ renderer (which will use either Vulkan, Metal, or Direct3D 12 depending on your platform) is supported.
Controller Input Options
- Joystick input defaults to Relative mode (how it currently works), but can be configured to be Absolute mode, meaning it behaves like the arrow keys. This can be modified in the settings menus.
- Note: this can be modified independently of thrust mode, but we recommend setting thrust mode to manual if using Absolute input! We won't tell you how to live your life, though.
- Key bindings for manual left/right turning are now exposed and default to Dpad left/right.
- Manual turn input UI prompts show in the Melee Lobby control display area.
Audio Changes
- Low crew klaxon sound does not loop infinitely, is quieter, and plays positionally depending on which player's crew is low.
- Mouse menu rollover sound is much gentler
Issue Report Screen
- Issue report wording changes to clarify some things. It really helps us to have your email address so we can follow up with you on any problems - otherwise we have no way of contacting you!
- Issue report menu will show errors and guidance messages if trying to submit reports with empty text fields.
Bugfixes
Menu Fixes
- Fix ship info screens (practice mode ship descriptions, ship details in fleet loadout) showing keyboard glyphs even when using a controller.
- Fix Settings menu becoming corrupted when navigating with mouse and clicking into the same "leaf" you were already in.
- Fix bug where changing the cyborg ship in practice mode would just add an additional ship. The menu option is now sometimes disabled.
- Fix bug in Fleet Loadout where emptying a Cyborg's fleet completely and then adding ships back in would prevent the match from starting.
HUD Fixes
- Fix bugs where the player's Crew/Energy display could disappear if pausing on top of it or changing the Cyborg ship in practice mode at certain times.
Key Known Issues
- Certain ships and abilities (e.g. Androsynth Bubble) may cause a noticeable hitch when seeing them for the very first time.
- On Mac (and possibly other platforms), the first run of the game will sometimes show invisible/black art during gameplay. This is fixed on subsequent launches.
- Some users are seeing invisible ships. This may be related to or the same as the above note, or for AMD graphics users you may need to upgrade your drivers.
- Certain, newer MacOS models appear to experience eventual crashes during gameplay.
- Certain Cyborg-controlled ships will stop firing at you sometimes.
- Match summary sometimes will incorrectly report the final ship in the list.
Technical Issues and Reporting Problems
For AMD graphics users: if you are experiencing persistent, performance-related issues, please ensure your drivers are updated and try changing the VSync settings or disabling the AMD "Anti-Lag" feature. We have received some reports of this but only have so many test devices and need your help to find the common threads. If you include your email in an in-game issue report or file your bug from our Discord, it will help us follow up! We are also working on exposing an FPS-limiting setting which may help you soon.
Thank you so much to everyone for reporting your issues and feedback so far! If you are experiencing any crashes, your reports are greatly appreciated, but we also need to collect some diagnostic files from you! There are instructions and tools in our Discord, but if you are unable to access Discord, please see the "Reporting Crashes" section of the play guide at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ccn5Mjcm7Cy8o1goyPJPH-u3k5hjInKwIp7npEcsn-Q/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.6gfy3xbawgnu and send the requested files to bugreports@pistolshrimpgames.com.
Happy Blasting!
Pistol Shrimp
