Hi 2019! I hope everyone had a few nice days between the years and that a great new one is coming.
The last year was a very busy one for me. Beside working on Pre-alpha 0.3 I also did some contract work to keep the whole thing running. I don’t feel I should do a kickstarter at this stage though (funny how much effort you have to put in before “kickstarting”).
However: Pre-alpha 0.3 is now in the last phase of testing and features some really nice unexpected additions. I’ll go into greater details about this next time! And even though the game has grown way bigger then it ever was, the current version is the most stable one. Primarily thanks to extensive testing and bug fixing and me favoring stabilizing existing features instead of adding a ton of new (broken) ones.
But today I want to cover a few new features which didn’t made it into their own post yet.
The new preview system for placing construction sites
Engineering 2.0: New Construction Preview
I’ve improved the way how placing construction sites work. As before you see a transparent preview of the structure you want to place. But now you can put it somewhere. And you just need one solid block as starting point. So no more guessing why you can’t build. Just place the preview and work around it to remove any intersections or holes in the foundation. As soon as all preconditions are met the preview is automatically replaced by the construction site and you can start with the actual construction.
Engineering 2.0: Lanterns
This is a smaller change but an important one. It allows structures to carry the same kind of attachments as actors (e.g. a helmet) or items (e.g. a candle on a helmet). Of course they don’t carry helmets but maybe a candle. This makes items now even more important and structures more customizable.
Constructions use a basic stability system
Engineering 2.0: Anchors and stability
Something super important I nearly forgotten to mention: The new stability system. It defines where and how structures are connected to each other or the ground. Say you would build a bridge without pillars. At some point it just has to collapse.
Now every structure you place is anchored to it’s contact surface. In most cases this will be the ground below but some structures can even be placed on top of other structures (like pieces of a pillar) or on walls. If a structure looses its last anchor it collapses – which in turn might cause other, connected structures, to collapse too. That way certain types of structures even become meaningful (pillars) and awkward looking constructions are less likely to show up.
Btw: everything for now without “BlingBling” or eye candy. First getting the systems right.
Looking forward
As I told you: Pre-alpha 0.3 isn’t far away anymore and I’m eager to show what’s new. And Pre-alpha 0.4 will bring the first AI creatures to the game and I can’t wait starting to work on it. So chances are 2019 will be at least as busy as last year.
Thank you for visiting and see you soon!