Hey all it’s time for your weekly update. This week, despite running into some issues with our new multi-threaded game update code, Flavien has made significant progress towards our next patch. While there’s still a lot of work to do on server-side collision detection of objects with planets the rest of the game is working well with the new networking code. We’re looking forward to getting it into the hands of players to put it through a proper stress test. In other news while testing the new path rendering code at 4k I found some new bugs. Unfortunately, this then lead to a vicious cycle of fix a bug, find a bug. The good news is I recently broke the cycle, the last known bug is fixed, and I’ll soon start fixing some website issues including Facebook login. After that I’ll be moving onto the process of building the initial mockup for the game UI.
A crazy shape originally rendered at 4k using our new path rendering
On the art side good progress continues to be made on the destroyer, station materials, and land base. In a week or 2 we’ll begin integrating all of the new artwork from the last few months into the game as we prepare for the next patch. We’ve accumulated quite a bit of new stuff so this is probably going to take one of our artists the better part of a week to complete.
Reusable living quarters greeble for space stations and land bases
That’s all for this week. While the server-side planetary collision detection still remains a major blocker with plenty of R&D unknowns the light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to come into view. We’re looking forward to putting this patch behind us and shifting our focus toward completing the Alpha.
The living quarters look kind of funny/cool. Like people bought living units and boltet them to the side of the station. Kind of fits the Starfold.
In what state is the path renderer currently in terms of usability? Can you just feed it vector files and it outputs it? Maybe with an aditional configuration file to tell it where to display these vector files (10% from left side, 10% from top)? Does it already render on top of the game? Is the interface, in order to change paths to reflect states, to the game already in?
I knew something is missing on those stations before, “LIGHTS”.
It seem cold but now
Now it looks cool!
I was dissapointed with alpha delay to be honest, but that’s how it works, keep up the good work!
The path renderer is in a pretty good spot at the moment insofar as what we want to do with it for the Alpha. The outstanding Alpha features include:
More thorough testing for multiple shapes
Colors/gradients
Additional features that still need to be implemented at some point, but may or may not be required for the release version of the game, are the following:
Stroking which includes a whole bunch of other stuff such as end caps and dashing
Applying textures
3D Rotations (translations, scaling, and 2D rotations are already supported)
Per-pixel effects such as applying blurs
I haven’t added support for SVG parsing yet, which is separate from the actual path rendering, however that shouldn’t take too long. The UI system already supports layouts, such as assigning margins like 10% from left, however it has not yet been integrated into the game. I also still need to add support for input. Once support for colors/gradients is completed the big remaining task is text. After that I expect everything else to move along fairly quickly.
I really like that image, zoomed in it looks great. If there is a little time in the final polish of the game maybe add the effect of some people/shadows of people moving around inside those windows. But to only trigger this when you fly your ship very close to the station, and then only the odd random window to catch attention. If no time pre-release then maybe in the first big post release patch.
I have no idea. It might be only be some animated map of some kind I would guess. Triggered by very close proximity of a ships cockpit, and then direction the player is looking. Used sparingly it could work for all sorts of small or large windowed areas from space station, to ground bases at night.
Which is why I added maybe a future post-release update.
Same as tracks to and from land bases with vehicles moving along the paths going about there duties etc. Bases and small outpost/mines set into and over hanging valley and cliff faces, with elevators being used.
Large space stations could also have exterior elevators being used. Exterior elevators like we see in the Sean Connery 1981 film ‘Outland’. As miners descend down a valley cliff face on a moon. [Youtube clip link] (3:20m onwards)
This kind of animation would definitely help stations/bases look more alive! I wouldn’t even mind if it was really simple, basic effects and tricks. Things that move just make the environment seem more interesting and immersive on a small scale. But you’re right, it’s a polishing task for after release really.
The moving resource haulers should help with bringing life to the environment as well.
How about we get font rendering in the game (which seems to be slated for after Colors/Gradient and will make it a post-Alpha release feature) before going on a wish-list spree? I mean it would be needed to display the score and other pathetic information like that, right?
Even some of the lights in the windows going on and off at random intervals would give a sense that there are people going about their business in there.
@cybercritic, Gotta have something to look forward to eh? Font rendering certainly doesn’t do it for me.
Hats off to you @hrobertson, I had the same idea in mind, to go through those updates and check the UI talk, however, nothing is going to change, that’s Keith’s modus operandi.
Well, in all fairness, UI is one of *the* most important aspects of a game. So as long as it all comes through in the end, no matter how long it takes, it will be worth it in the end.
I agree, and this whole vector based UI system should make iterating on the actual UI itself much easier than if it was all bitmaps. Plus it’ll be very moddable
The “issue” is just Keith’s estimates being consistently way off.
