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Discussions Rules and Guidelines
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-Taught AI how to retreat
-New province discovery system (exploration is back!)
-Lots of stuff to do with not seeing things beneath unknown provinces, awarding xp for exploration etc. took a while to work out the kinks.
-controller work for the menu system. So you can navigate complex menus with controller if you wish (thankfully a Richard task!)
-Adding a player faction (locked me down for a while)
-New bandit base art for the different tiers
-Lots of callout system work on the starmap.
-Added the "click stack" if I had not, you would have hated me. Its a system to click on an object and to be able to select and see info on any overlapping object (happens a lot)
-lol checkins like "click stack getting smarter" "click stack getting useful" "feelin fairly intuitive now" :)
-Added skirmish system (method for faction neighbors to conduct border disputes based on relations)
-Objective framework (a missions system, mostly used for story flow)
-Starmap event log tracking and menu
-Added a whole new class of ship parts.
-Added Scrap yard raiding for crappy ship parts on respawn
-Added special ship parts for transports to look cooler.
-Objective button system. Working like contextual tutorials, have dialogue too.
-Ahh heck, story flow work begins...
-Building the intro fight level. (some of this may be spoilery beware) We have now started to add the story flow (It acts as a tutorial for the sandbox mode)
-Part destruction system (for zombie and scrap parts)
-Flow into intro junkyard works, yay! (where we teach you how to put ship together)
-AI ship refit logic (time to go shoppin!)
-Repair at starbase (vs just repair in the field)
-AI is tracking junkyard raids and getting angry
-Added tactical overlay
-Flow all the way into the starmap now works
-Started building the weapon definable weapon grouping system
-Implemented new soft targeting system. (no hitting T to cycle targets) worked out very well!
-Added variable speed projectiles due to soft targeting. lots of new weapons possibilities.
-Can now change resolution in game (long time pet peve)
-New starbase explosions
-New zombie doodads (doodad is an accessory we add to a ship)
-Converted new aiming system to multiplayer
-f**king sexy missiles (checkin label) some track target, others track cursor.
-fixed weapon mount blocking detection (cant shoot through own ship)
-added a hint system to combat (what button to press to do what, and progress trackers)
-Starmap tutorial started
-System to force specific level props to spawn based on province state
-new zombie egg life system
-bunch of story mission implementation
-texture life states for zombie infections (Richard shader magic)
-zombie fetuses
-advanced tutorial system (if people want to know detailed info)
-new resource ransacking system (quick and dirty theft)
-Added speech synthesizer for dialogue testing (hilarious)
-revised starmap fleet speed calculation, also added indicator
-Added sandbox mode (Story mode is tutorial for this)
That brings us up to date for interesting stuff till June 3 2015. This section has mostly been all about getting the story flow in, but doing so has revealed some issues, and we have been fixing them as we go. It has been a good couple of months.
- Zombified Space Stations/Territory Control V2.0
- Contextual tutorial work
- Zombie patient 0 tech for sandbox
- LOTS of story flow implementation
- Zombie War Metagame (not gonna divulge it yet)
- More faction wars (AI takes threats more seriously)
- Large amount of Lore Database work
- Starbase defender strike craft hooked up
- Sound system dialogue aware (lowers music/fx volume when dialogue active)
- POI marker system on starmap for story flow
- Infection spread mechanics V2.0
- Zombie super roid art pass (sounds scarey now too)
- Tonnes of dialogue checkins
- Human -> Zombie -> Human conversion system maintaining stats.
- Text Database system work for easier localization
- Better LOD long range lighting
- Zombie AI improvements. More hive mindey. Make better use of their time.
- Controller hook up to menus, ongoing. lots of menus...
- Zombie part breeding system reworked (now breed at starbases, more centralized for the sexy times)
- Dynamic music system, no more hard cuts
- AI better at not dog piling onto battle and getting ganked afterwards
- Can herd zombies with proximity and salvage... nasty
- Universal combat targeting icons for non ships (so you can find important stuff)
- BIG: Contextual live fleet command system.
- Shader update
- Texture Optimization
- BIG: Strike craft management hierarchy menu
- Spawn hierarchies working in multiplayer too
- Warp out beacon done.
- Real chatter hooked up to in game events. "Shields Down" etc...
- Strike Craft contribute to and die in simulated battles
- Tractor beam showing combat info for grabbed part
- Dispensers converted to a tacpan button for individual control.
- New mass bomb dispenser prototype (fling the ball o' gravity death)
- AI understands how to grab stuff with tractor beam, no throwing yet.
- 5 New Weapons: (Been waiting on this one for a while!!!)
- Damage Type system hooked up now, following rules from SPAZ 1. Energy vs Shields, Projectiles vs. Armor, Explosive vs Hull.
Weapon work will be ongoing for a while. We have a lot of cool stuff planned. It is really exciting to be working on guns and devices again :)
Note: We are making a fresh post for this for visibility, but will move it to the other "what we have been up to thread" once we make the next post.
August 13 2015 Update (From July 12 2015)
-Added new missile class, Warheads, ship sized missiles.
-Corrosive warheads (eat armor)
-Warheads understand how to blow near, if they miss target
-Ion Warhead (shield killer)
-Explosive warhead (hull killer)
-Lots of dialogue checkins
-Penetrator missile tech (sticks into hull on impact)
-Grav missile (penetrator, slows ships)
-Lots of fiddling to make sticking a missile into an object made of 50 colliders look somewhat right
-Effects work on the new missiles
-Proper damage types hooked up to shockwaves (Ion, Explosive, Corrosive)
-Lots of HUD work
-Work merging dispenser and device tech, so we have a nice common interface to deal with special weapons
-Scan window for tractored parts so you can see what you are holding.
-Fighter bay tech. Lots of checkins and swear words.
-Fighter tech, how to make itty bitty ships work/not be too expensive cpu wise.
-Device tech knows how to define its own tactical buttons in multiplayer vs starmap mode.
-Many checkins about “subscale” Makes scan view scale by monitor resolution. Cool, many tears.
-Fighter bays now have controls so you can command each bay individually
-More fighter love, lets not fly straight into rocks.
-Shotgun, nuff said
-Sniper Cannon, see above
-Ok fighters need their own weapon class now.
-Leech beam work
-Work on the skybox/planet generator that I don't understand
-Art passes on Long range and Chainsaw beam.
-Added a bomber, projectile, and ion bomber fighter
-Fighter launching looking cool
-Networking fighters (yay multiplayer)
-Big dialogue and lore checkin fest
-Fighters know how to color themselves like their parent ships
-Fighter role systems, so different fighter types behave differently
-AI ships can now use fighters
-Secret weapon started (cant ruin the surprise, takes about 4 days)
-Ion Beam and Bomber (cuz who likes shields)
-Fighter art pass
-Hangar art pass
-New weapon class Bomb. With new inertial based launch system. WWII dive bomber stuff.
-SO we needed a bunch of bombs now, Ion, Corrosive, Explosive, and moved over Mass Bombs to this
-AI can fire bombs (but not well yet)
-Secret weapon Art pass
-New depth of field shader, 1% cost, blur for everyone (who wants it)
-Bomb art pass
-Dialogue infusion
-New bloody explosion effects for zombies, gore gore gore
-Secret final level art stuff.
-All weapons have menu icons, cuz who likes reading.
-Soft particles, Richard happy
-Rewrite of collision avoidance, decent now
-Smart shield system for AI, detect imminent collisions and turn on shields.
-AI learns to ram small stuff, but not explosive small stuff.
-When cannons shoot, they eject shell casings, cuz our inner 8 year old.
-Big meeting on Tuesday, changes how we view tactical combat. Tactical combat actually tactical now instead of street fight/clickfest. (May do a writeup on this soon, but it is pretty unique so we also want to make it a surprise)
-Lots of work to implement new combat idea.
-Multiplayer battle with Richard using new combat method. Was the most fun either of us have had in combat since the project began. (that was 2 hours ago)
That't it this month. 256 checkins total, highlights above. Right now we are both super stoked about the combat.
Hi Everyone, 270 changes were checked in this month, and here are the interesting highlights.
- Builder mode (design/combat testing of ships for multiplayer or singleplayer) BIG TASK
- Work on the Objective viewer for Starmap
- Large scale weapon mount rework. Both code and art.
- Converted all code to use a unified ship building system (multiplayer and singleplayer build ships the same way) pre-emptive bug squish
- Special Strike Craft weapons for smaller ships
- Strike Craft and Stations can be called into the multiplayer level for testing
- Mount spawn rarities hooked up, so unusual weapons come up less often and are much more expensive.
- Sapper SRMS, swarms of tiny missiles that kill shields.
- Shader work and optimization.
- Booster count is now are more dynamic and based on territory demographics, so some uber rare and powerful stuff can spawn if you have enough of the right provinces and are very lucky, and you better be rich to buy em.
- Starbase stores now stock their items better based on local province features.
- Each province now gets a subsystem feature AND a part feature. Makes strategy at a glance a lot easier (also good for shopping)
- New multi threaded save game system because hitches suck.
- Added Quick save system (Good ol' f5,f9)
- Added Autosave system (timed and on quit)
- Added feature mission saves (in case you want to backtrack and didn't save on your own)
- Bunch of work giving the strike craft their shiny new weapons.
- Cleaned up shutdown and exiting back to the main menu
- The Raid system added (Starbases can project their power into a neighbor province and leech over time, crippling the neighbor. (BIG TASK)
- AI ships understand what Raids are and decide if they care to stop them
- Lots and Lots of textbible work (localization hookup)
- Raids good at triggering war states over time. Neighbors start to really hate each other now.
- Massive UI facelift. Very clean now. (BIG TASK)
- Raid menu work so the player can do what the AI do.
- Added missions to early tutorial flow to add more combat and teach early systems like the Raid.
- Bit the bullet and built a mission manager. Fixed some well hidden bugs in the process. Side effect loading is clean from any game state now, no left over data dangling. (BIG TASK)
- Rejiggered all missions to work in the mission manager.
- Moved all combat to the mission manager's loading/cleanup systems because it is our new best friend. This unified combat presentation too.
- Got whole game flow back in place, can play from start to finish, though some missions and dialogue still place holder. Mission manager makes upgrading missions much simpler now
- Agent focus system for the starmap so menus frame the thing they are menuing
- Bounty system upgrade. Bounty all the things! (Raids, Bandit Hives, Starbases,
Transports, Bandits, Captains)
- Starbases, Transports, and Strike Craft all inherit their owner's perks.
- AI logic upgrades for determining when a fight is worth fighting. Like don't fight two enemies, instead, wait and fight whoever wins but is wounded from that previous fight.
- Base building bounties work. Telling people to build stuff for you. Cooperative building where the faction leader puts up some of the cost but the builder puts up the rest with the promise of a base of their own to run at the end.
- Started opportunity cost AI calculations, so AI factors its expected damage and repair cost into decisions about taking on bounties.
Thanks everyone for your continued patience and support! Questions are welcome as always. I have been less active on the forums this last month just due to the work load. All the posts are still being read multiple times a day though (usually while compiling)
Hi All,
So this month 393 Checkins, and here are the highlights.
Sorry for being a bit late with this update. The month went really fast. Time seems to be accelerating somehow. Anyhow I digress.
- Faction leaders now placing starbase construction bounties using their own tax money and budgeting.
- Bounty refund system for non completable bounties. If you refund yourself it is only 50% back to prevent abuse.
- Added a funding factor to bounties (especially for bases) so over time the bounty increases until it is rich enough for someone to take the bait.
- Part purchases now taxed locally and faction wide. Good earners are some large bases.
- Scanview system merged into one uber system to show all thing green and scanable (this is how we show you the parts and ships in menus as real 3d objects built with the proper stats)
- AI logic for joining factions improved. Factions also have lower requirements if really need people badly and are more apt to take you if you are strong.
- Player can ask people to join, and boot people from faction
- New Starmap entity framing system for menus. So the menu frames what you are interacting with.
- Player assigning Starbases to faction members.
- Controller vs Keyboard auto control switcher (press controller button to be in controller mode, press keyboard button to jump to mouse and keys)
- Ability to change the capital province of a faction (for a price) Capital transports adjust their routes accordingly.
- Each captain got a short personalized description
- Brand new perk system. Every levelup you can pick 1 of N perks (decided by difficulty) and you have to make due. Perks still unlock via a hierarchy but all branches not always available. This better fits the game theme of scavenging and adapting. We also unlock weapons, cores and part sizes though the perk tree now. Lots and lots to buy and much better for progression.
- Added infinite levelup system. Some perks are repeatable so no level ceiling
- Super Asteroids rework to make break much more naturally.
- AI levelup perk picker. Since the AI can level up too, they need to pick their perks smartly.
- Perk system saves next available perks to prevent save scumming to roll the perks you want.
- Tech-O-Pedia. So you can see all the perks you own, and get an idea of what will someday be available (without spoilers) Also shows accumulated bonuses of current perks.
- The Core Dump. Our new combat mechanic went in. During battle to prevent simply holding down the trigger and spamming forever we added a reload to the ships. It added a ton of tactical opportunities in battle because battle is now broken into short shooting and then evading and reloading sections. Having limited ammo per reload also forces the player to use the right weapons at the right time, else they are using power better spent on firing the right weapon more. You can see the enemy ship's capacitor state as well so you know when they can fire and when they can not. Works for first person shooters, and works for starships (it also looks cool)
- Lots of tutorial work and weapons tuning checkins
- Attach helper system. Now when you grab something, little arrows will show you where it can be attached.
- AI wont trade their equipped parts or strike craft anymore. To easy to buy their guns and then kill them (was funny though)
- Player has their own starmap mouse over (been on the todo list for a year) shows more advanced info on the player like rez consumption per second also ship damage.
- Showing restocking times on starbases, so you know when it is a good time to shop and the stores aren't all picked over.
- The Markup system ( posted about this one because it was really exciting )
http://steamcommunity.com/app/252470/discussions/0/490121928348193308/
- Killing a Starbase causes it to dump all goods. This may be exploity, remains to be seen.
- Damage type icon system in the scan viewer. So you can know at a glance what weapons are good at what.
- Added a loot menu so you can see exactly what you got from a successful salvage operation.
- Used the loot menu for bounty payouts too, since it is nice to see rewards.
- The great yellow hunt of 2015. Removed all 77 warnings from the build.
- Lots of early flow tuning. Richard and I sit down now and actually play together a bit and subsequently take a week worth of notes on things to fix.
- Lots of contextual helper work. Buttons yellowing that need to be looked at, extra advisory updates for when there is a problem needing fixing. Nothing that gets in the way, but definitely good to have reminders. A lot to keep track of at once.
- Perk dialogue. My favorite thing from this month. Some perk levels have unique dialogue and it can be pretty funny. Since Richard wrote it all, it is a joy for me to level up and hear new stuff.
- Bandit bases are now drone focused. They can be deadly without some kind of point defense weapons to thin the drones out.
- AI knows how to avoid ships in the act of exploding. They try to get out of the way before the big pop and subsequent shockwave of death.
- Added local feature icons to the starbases, so you can see at a glance what a starbase is good at.
- Lots of relations change tuning for different actions in game (Each AI captain watches for about 80 different things, so lots to tune)
- Got a video working within a tutorial window. Moving pictures!
- Bandit hives much stronger and therefore AI attacks them less. This leads to less bandit genocide in the game. AI captains were too efficient at wiping them out.
- New Popup help system for buttons. Lessens the requirement for smaller tutorials. Some things can just be learned by hovering the mouse now.
- New single shader based Starmap entity art system. (instead of massive compound objects) Stuff looks better and costs less.
- New Campaign and Sandbox menus are now isolated from each other. Story has pre set sliders that cannot be adjusted, whereas the sandbox is wild west do whatever.
- Zombie appearance slider for sandbox, early...never.
- New smart missile locking system. It manages to hold lock for a while after mousing off an object, and also has a locking bleed so locking smaller ships is much easier.
- Objective arrow system made smarter. So if you mouse over an objective it will tell you where to go if it can. Removed red herrings, like pointing to a starbase to buy a part, but that part is not currently in stock, or pointing to a raid that is already being attacked etc...
- Starmap dragging system so you can move the camera wherever you want.
- Lots of new dialogue/tutorial checkins
- Fixed the smart fire system, so only guns that are in range will shoot (saves power)
- High level bandits made bigger and nastier.
- Mouse over bandits and transports to see what they are carrying (so you know if it is worth taking)
It has been a busy month. Our additions are getting smaller and smaller which means the end is getting closer. There has definitely been a shift from building to fixing this month!
(AHH we ran out of slots!!!!)
Edit: Nice list. It's easy to forget about how many little details need to go into a complex game. Good work. Definitely not a "Notch-style" development cycle, but I feel safe in assuming the fat stacks of cash won't be missing on release.
Edit2: Back to Skyrim. I need to go buy more logs to make shelves. Rivetting. (I need epic space fighting action. halp.)
This type of game could have been done without a meaningful story and still been fun to play but the story in the first one added a ton of character to it.
Also "♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Sexy Missiles" is one of the best Changelog/Patch quotes I have seen in a while.