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High Scores Screen.
Achievement Experiments Have Started:
I'm publishing an experimental build of the update early to begin working on achievements and stats. As a result, you will see "Developmental Build" in the lower right hand corner of the screen. This build is a small portion of what I want the next update to be because I am trying to implement and test achievements and stats.
Stats added (but not necessarily implemented) include things like the number of times you've crashed, the highest score you've obtained during the game, and a few other surprises.
Most of the achievements are (theoretically) implemented already and I'll be working on implementing the rest of them quickly. Please provide feedback on how the achievements are working (or not working).
A few closing notes: The command module now has an AI that will kill its rotation, there's a click sound for changing the HUD mode (mostly as a sound test right now), and the new undock, staging, and kill rotation mechanics have been implemented.
As a bonus, I changed the command module and ascent stage textures to show where the docking ports are. Just line up the pixels almost exactly and you'll be redocked.
Also, I would like feedback on how to improve the achievement thumbnails. Particularly the one modeled after NASCAR's disqualification flag. If anyone sends me a 64x64 image for any achievement, and I use it for that achievement, they will be listed in the game's credits..
Aesthetics Update Is Live:
The first major update to this game is out. This update mostly provides visual enhancements to the UI, starting with the main menu. Everything is now big and centered on the screen.
There is a new Help screen to replace the old help information on the main screen and gives a bit more detail about the various parts of the UI. The Help screen will be updated as needed based mostly on player feedback.
There is a new settings screen that allows you to assign keyboard and joystick button inputs. These settings are saved so that you don't have to reassign your buttons every time you start the game. There's also an option to reset to the default settings. Due to some limitations in the Unity engine, axis assignments are done via a dialog box that now comes up before the splash screen. The axis assignments are "X Translation", "Y Translation", "Rotation", and "Throttle."
The graphics settings are currently set using the same dialog box to set the axis until I get a better system in place. Cockpit sounds and developer commentary are coming soon.
The in-game UI has also been greatly improved. There is now a HUD that gives you all the information that you need to land and redock. A button on the top center of the HUD allows you to change the HUD mode between surface-relative and command module-relative information. At the request of one of the players, the HUD now has a horizontal speed indicator.
The default controls have been adjusted slightly to allow you to separate the main engine from the vertical translation thrusters (there's an option in the settings panel to change this back if you want). You can now use your thrusters to assist your main engine or cancel-out some of its thrust.
The major control differences is that you must now hold the stage/undock buttons in order to maintain thrust, and that the keyboard/button inputs now instantly go from 0 to 100% and back when you use them. This is a consequence of me overriding the Unity's default input system.
The screens to view and submit your high scores have also been given a visual update. And a screen has been added for those who complete all the levels of the game without crashing..
Time Warp Update Released:
Time warp and pause have been added to the game. Both can have their controls configured in the settings screen. The Time Warp will increment and decrement by a factor of 1x. Time warp will start becoming ineffective at around 10x normal speed, but may vary between systems. Just to make sure you don't lose control over the vehicle, all controls except camera zoom are disabled while in time acceleration.
Other Additions.
Gameplay Update Preview:
Over the past couple of months, I've been working on some more aesthetics as well as gameplay and physics updates.
Here are some screenshots of what's in store for the new updates (starting with the physics):
The unity engine has a collision buffer on 2D collisions that prevent the objects from actually touching each other. Since I couldn't reduce the buffer or scale-up the game, I simply adjusted all of the collision meshes.
Here's a screenshot of the command module being nudged by the lunar module (I advise against that). Most of the command-lunar collisions should look a lot more convincing now. A product of this is that you no longer have that "jerk" that is associated with undocking and staging.
Now for some aesthetics:
The engines now look like their doing something when their fired. I added a particle system to the engine so that you get different amounts of particles at different thrust levels. The best part is that the engine exhaust can collide with other objects. Careful not to fire your engines too close to the command module. Otherwise, you can crash the command module without even touching it!
On the topic of gameplay, I've added upgrades that will give you a variety of items to choose from. I'm still working on balancing the upgrades, but since this game is in early access, I'll let the community help me decide what needs to be tweaked in that department. Here's the upgrades screen (I may make some changes though):
For our final screenshot, we have an updated settings screen. Be aware that this is still a work-in-progress, so what you see here is going to be different than what you see when the update is launched.
As the screenshot suggests, you will be able to change stuff like the screen resolution fully within the game itself. The update screen's width matches that of the help screen, so it's more consistent with the rest of the UI. I still haven't figured out how to change joystick input settings from within the game, but there will be sound, contrary to what the screenshot would suggest.
Among what's not shown in the above screenshot is going to be an update to how controls are assigned. One button per possible assignment.
Here are some other things to be updated that are not shown in the screenshot:
- Reaction Wheel Removed
I just couldn't get a realistic reaction wheel and one that made the vehicle maneuverable. That said, vehicle control is now done exclusively with the RCS thrusters, just like the real live counterpart. And that's going to make the game a little bit harder.
- Kill Rotation Updated
The flight computer is now aware of the minimum throttle setting that'll cut-off the RCS thrusters if the throttle is below that setting. The result is a more accurate kill-rotation mechanism.
- Persistent Stage, Undock, and Kill Rotation
You will no longer have to hold down the key to undock, stage, or kill rotation to ensure the safe completion of said tasks.
- Steam Achievements and Stats
This will be the first update that will contain stats and achievement tracking. You'll get achievements for progressing through the game, being very skillful, and being very stupid.
- Mission/Story Framework
I've put in place the foundation for a story-mode and mission framework, but there are some other things I really need to get out of the way before I start flushing-out a mission set or story mode.
It will probably take a couple more months before the update is out. In the mean time, feel free to leave some feedback on what should also be improved, what needs to be fixed, or what should be added..
Quicksaves and Performance Optimizations:
I'm still trying to figure out how to get the Command Module AI to get back into orbit if you manage to get it out of orbit, but in the meantime, I've implemented some new features and increased the performance of the game.
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