Dev Blog : March 14th 2015

[Bench]

​

We're back with another edition of Dev Blog. It's been a little while but we've had a number of exciting announcements in the mean time, so what's been happening.

DukeofRealms announced the Council of Intergalactic Representatives, a player council elected by the community that would act as a funnel for communication between the community and us here at Schine. This is something we've been working on for a couple months now, getting everything written up and how it will work all sorted out, and it's exciting to be able to be close to launching it. Now does this mean we will be frequenting the forums less? No. Does this mean we will be posting less news? Unlikely. We're starting this so that we have a bunch of community representatives that can work with the community to bring forward the big ideas and issues, and to be able to then distribute information from us back to the community.

Now we opened up discussion with the community on what they thought the application questions should be for applying to join the council, and we've just finished going through them and compiling the questions that will be asked. Applications will be posted in the application section of the council forums if they are approved by the moderation team that they can apply, after which the voting will happen. So we're definitely not far off having our first council coming together.

The start of March also saw the release of a lot of optimizations and balance changes. We also saw some fixes for that update a couple days later after public testing. Schema has been working hard with the guys to optimize a lot of the game, with a massive increase in the performance of both graphics and network. These updates also saw the addition of custom starter gear and the beginning of forcefields.

For those who play on the Dev Builds you may have noticed the addition of the new chat system. The new chat system is incredible. Schema has slaved away to build a brand new chat system from the ground up and it has a tonne of exciting new features built into it. Have a look and explore and we'll no doubt do the full run-through of all the bells and whistles once it comes into full release.

Since the performance updates are rounding up for this cycle, that means exciting news for you all as it means more features, features, features. Gotta catch them all. Namely, rail system.

Rail system is something we've been working on now since November/December last year. There's a lot of work conceptualizing exactly how a brand new mechanic will be integrated into the game. Our key thing is to ensure that it works with not only existing systems in the game, but that it is almost like a framework, allowing the players to create what they want to create with it. Initially many of our players were suggesting changes to plexlifters, or to build specific components to make a specific use work; but we wanted to make a system where you had the most options with the least amount of new blocks. Building that system takes time. In fact even getting your head around how that system would work takes time. And we've had to consider how players would be using it once implemented, to see what we're missing to actually make it work. So you may find some components of the game get a bit of an overhaul to better fit with our larger plans, and these overhauls need to happen to enable rails to work. Also, by the way, rails is a working title, they're not actually rails.

Finally as we head towards feature town, departing from performance pier, let's have a bit of a Q&A time. SO post your questions here and if someone from the community knows the answer they'll respond, otherwise the Schine team will do their best to answer them all in the next Dev Blog.

Until next time.

- Bench

 

[Megacrafter127]

How many released versions can we expect until entering the beta stage?

 

[Ithirahad]

Is Schema finally going to make his version numbers into a decent system? "StarMade v0.189996" is not okay. :P

Also, what do you mean by "you may find some components of the game get a bit of an overhaul to better fit with our larger plans?" What needs to be overhauled? '~'

 

[Jay_do]

If the "rails" are not actually rails. Then what design plan do you have?

 

[Valiant70]

Initially many of our players were suggesting changes to plexlifters, or to build specific components to make a specific use work; but we wanted to make a system where you had the most options with the least amount of new blocks. Building that system takes time. In fact even getting your head around how that system would work takes time. And we've had to consider how players would be using it once implemented, to see what we're missing to actually make it work. So you may find some components of the game get a bit of an overhaul to better fit with our larger plans, and these overhauls need to happen to enable rails to work. Also, by the way, rails is a working title, they're not actually rails.

So are you saying this will be a full-on moving parts system rather than just a multipurpose monorail track? The more I hear about this the more interested I become.

 

[Bench]

How many released versions can we expect until entering the beta stage?

I don't believe there's a specific number. There's a lot of plans for the game as well as constantly pushing for better performance, and we probably won't hit beta until both these are met.

Is Schema finally going to make his version numbers into a decent system? "StarMade v0.189996" is not okay. :p

Also, what do you mean by "you may find some components of the game get a bit of an overhaul to better fit with our larger plans?" What needs to be overhauled? '~'

Things like the way logic is dealt with on a code level will be overhauled to make it perform better but to also open up other options for us to extend the use of logic. Also the way we detect collisions is needing to be overhauled in anticipation for blocks now moving due to rail system.

If the "rails" are not actually rails. Then what design plan do you have?

They're not rails in the sense that Minecraft has rails. You'll have to wait and see, mostly because the exact systems are still being drafted.

So are you saying this will be a full-on moving parts system rather than just a multipurpose monorail track? The more I hear about this the more interested I become.

Yes and No. Both, sort of. In its own way.

 

[Megacrafter127]

Things like the way logic is dealt with on a code level will be overhauled to make it perform better but to also open up other options for us to extend the use of logic.

Will that result in the possibility of easily adding custom logic blocks?

 

[Mariux]

I have some questions on the rail system... Sorry if these have been answered before...

-Will moving parts have some sort of a gap between them, like docked ships do currently? I hope not.
-How customizable the movement speed of the rotors/rails will be? Will you be able to set upper/lower rotational limit on rotating parts?
-Can you chain moving parts and still be able to control their motors from the mothership? For example, part 1 is attached to the ship, part 2 is attached to part 1. Can you move the part 2 from the ship?

And some less related questions I thought I'd throw in just for the heck of it.

-Are RC drones still planned? I mean, ones directly controlled from a distance by a player/crew member, not AI-driven.
-Any contests planned? I want to make up for that major screw-up I did on the last one...

 

[EndoSkull]

Any chance of updating logic to have a single block with an interface that is like: https://www.scirra.com/construct2

If not any chance of creating a logic circuit block that is like the circuit board interface in little big planet?

 

[jstenholt]

Are you guys happy with the state of Starmade? With the state of the community? With sales?

 

[Websterandy42]

Any plans to move to GLNext? If so, what improvements will that bring?

 

[Zyrr]

Bench takes over Q&As.

I am pleased.

 

[Mered4]

Bench, what's the idea behind rails?
Is there a guiding principle you could mention to give us an idea of what to expect?
Something besides "They're rails....sort of"

Is there any previous invention from either VR or the RW we could draw from to visualize the concept?

When will the 'rail' system be in a state where it is acceptable to release into a Dev build?
Has the Schine team started the overhaul work necessary for the system to work or is that still in the planning stage?

 

[Panpiper]

Would it be possible to get a rough timeline of what additional features you currently intend (or hope) to implement? Perhaps not a timeline but more of a ranked order of features? (Some people will probably complain if you list an actual time and then slip.)

How soon can we expect AI to get to the point where we can launch, and then crucially 'retrieve' fighters from a carrier? How about programmable behavior for a Bobby AI? Will we ever be able to use crew to give AI to individual ship systems? Any hints about fleet AI?

Pursuant to giving players a reason to explore, I'd like for server admins to be able to create (and hide on planets/stations, etc.) 'alien artifacts' that can be used to upgrade ships in a way that exceeds the capacities of ships simply built with regular blocks (moderate bonuses that would be trivial for titans). Will such functionality ever exist in the game (something that can simply add capacities to a ship core)?

I understand that alien fauna is planned for some point. (Any idea when?) Will it ever be possible for modders to create their own such fauna, and just as importantly, will it be possible for such modders to write code to customize their AI?

Right now utterly useless, cosmetic components have the same mass as extremely useful components. This severely penalizes role playing and otherwise pretty to look at builds and rewards the building of (near universally loathed) battle cubes. How soon can we expect variable mass components?

I really appreciate your willingness to answer questions. Thank you.

 

[Mered4]

Would it be possible to get a rough timeline of what additional features you currently intend (or hope) to implement? Perhaps not a timeline but more of a ranked order of features? (Some people will probably complain if you list an actual time and then slip.)

How soon can we expect AI to get to the point where we can launch, and then crucially 'retrieve' fighters from a carrier? How about programmable behavior for a Bobby AI? Will we ever be able to use crew to give AI to individual ship systems? Any hints about fleet AI?

Pursuant to giving players a reason to explore, I'd like for server admins to be able to create (and hide on planets/stations, etc.) 'alien artifacts' that can be used to upgrade ships in a way that exceeds the capacities of ships simply built with regular blocks (moderate bonuses that would be trivial for titans). Will such functionality ever exist in the game (something that can simply add capacities to a ship core)?

I understand that alien fauna is planned for some point. (Any idea when?) Will it ever be possible for modders to create their own such fauna, and just as importantly, will it be possible for such modders to write code to customize their AI?

Right now utterly useless, cosmetic components have the same mass as extremely useful components. This severely penalizes role playing and otherwise pretty to look at builds and rewards the building of (near universally loathed) battle cubes. How soon can we expect variable mass components?

I really appreciate your willingness to answer questions. Thank you.

I second this man's concerns over mass/power relationships. :D

 

[Blodge]

Is there an eventual plan to develop the First Person experience of the game? I realise StarMade is primarily about building and flying spaceships, but enhancing the FP interactions on space-stations and planetary environments (other than just mining them from orbit) would greatly increase drive for exploration and improve immersion, not to mention widening the audience of potential gamers.

I never know whether to suggest ideas along these lines or not because I don't know if this is even something the Devs want StarMade to be about.

 

[kiddan]

Yes and No. Both, sort of. In its own way.

This is my guess for what rails will be then: (Note, said "Facing to the left", I mean right xP oops)

Plz, tell me I'm right! xP
[DOUBLEPOST=1426354948,1426354770][/DOUBLEPOST]

Is there an eventual plan to develop the First Person experience of the game? I realise StarMade is primarily about building and flying spaceships, but enhancing the FP interactions on space-stations and planetary environments (other than just mining them from orbit) would greatly increase drive for exploration and improve immersion, not to mention widening the audience of potential gamers.

I never know whether to suggest ideas along these lines or not because I don't know if this is even something the Devs want StarMade to be about.

Having a good First Person Experience would also make bases on planets more useful...
(off-topic question: ) Are there any plans to make a faction module only claim one side of a planet unless you own the star system?

 

[Snk]

RIP bench

died from too many questions

our medical cabinets could not save him

may he find a place in that star made in the sky where every suggestion he makes comes true instantly

 

[tete30000]

I heard about an id limitation, is it going to pose problems into the development ? Will you find a way to "bypass" it ?

And is it going to have some new materials more appropriate for building of cities or house on planets or will we need to wait for mods ?

Sorry for my english, it's not my native language :x

 

[AAlexandrosTGreat]

Will there ever be some form of rating system for reviews so that "DIS SHIP SO BIG CANNOT DOWNLOAD 5/5" is not the top review for a ship. (Also why has the "constructive review" warning not been enforced in any way?)