Rogue System Version 0.3.01.0 Is Now Available
Rogue System - Michael_J
Looking at the upcoming art for all this ships that will be required for the campaign missions, I've decided (since this is still a one-man effort) to move up some of the sandbox-like gameplay elements, such as an economy model and the buy/selling of trade goods. As well, I'll be working on the art and code that will allow you to upgrade and repair your ship. I think things like this will allow more gameplay possibility in a shorter time without the overhead of all the ship art that would need to be done otherwise.
To go along with this, I've introduced the ability to refuel your ship while docked (you'll need to request it from the station's STC). In the next update this will cost funds, thus introducing the idea of having to earn funds to maintain your ship. I'll be expanding on this over the coming updates. Also, the battery system has had its "final" revision, and with that it's now possible to remove a physical battery from one ship and put it in another. In the next update you'll be able to sell or repair used batteries, and buy new/refurbished ones.
The only caveat for all of this is that you can not yet save a mission in progress. This is the VERY NEXT item I'm working on, and I'll release an update solely for this as soon as it's finished and tested. Once this happens, you'll begin to see that flight hours DO affect the functionality of ship systems, and the need to keep them maintained.
I do understand that many of you are looking forward to the campaign missions, and purchased RogSys for that reason. I'm VERY sorry for the delay that this new focus is going to have on the planned campaign. I have EVERY intention of still doing them. I just feel I need to start introducing some gameplay sooner rather than later, and the only way to do that is to focus on gameplay that does not rely so heavily on art. I hope that makes sense to everyone....
Full list of changes:
• Revised: PHYSICS -- changed how ship positions/orientations were updated each frame to better stay synchronized with collision system
• Revised: PHYSICS -- further work on ship-to-ship collision reactions
• Fixed: when hauling the target ring back to the station, the sim would sometimes crash when moving in close proximity of the station
• Added: UI -- the load text now indicates galaxy initialization, and local star system creation
• Added: UI -- the load text now indicates when headtracking has been activated
• Added: UI -- the load text now indicates when Post FX's are initialized
• Fixed: CAST -- instances of rapid flip-flopping when a character was tracked from one room to another
• Fixed: CAST -- instances of rapid flip-flopping when a character was tracked from an airlock into open space
• Refined: It's now possible to close the exterior hatch once outside of the ship during EVA
• Fixed: CAST -- bug that was causing duplicate cast ID's to be stored as part of a room's character list
• revised: BMS -- all batteries are now unbound from the specific ship they were installed to, meaning they can now be cleanly transferred from one ship to another
• revised: BMS -- cleaned up battery update code
• revised: BMS -- substantial re-work to battery damage code, fixing more than a few logic bugs in the process
• revised: BMS -- re-introduced instrument display glitching via display hardware damage
• revised: BMS -- re-introduced the possibility of an acid leak. The acid from a leaking battery can damage near-by components. This is core-dependent
• fixed: after revisions to ship-to-ship collision code, impact damage was not being applied properly
• revised: BMS -- batteries can now explode when beyond critical temp, possibly causing damage to surrounding components
• revised: BMS -- batteries can now suffer "memory" problems, which is core-dependent
• revised: BMS -- batteries can now suffer loss of charge due to cold conditions
• revised: BMS -- batteries can now suffer a reduced discharge rate due to cold conditions
• revised: BMS -- removing a battery while it is still enabled can cause damage to it
• fixed: CORE -- ship acceleration was not always offsetting camera relative to ship orientation
• fixed: UI -- if the display was set below the default 1920 x 1080 the look-at dot was not tracking with the mouse vertically, thus causing 3D cockpit control collision to appear "off"
• refined: LSS -- compartment pressurization can now draw power from the critical bus. The critical bus only requires a charged batter, with breaker set, and the ship "unsecured"
• refined: LSS -- the LSS power change now allows the airlock to be used even if a battery has not been "enabled"
• added: BMS -- modeled, unwrapped, and surfaced artwork for battery component
• refined: CORE -- component art has been "unlinked" from ship data, thus allowing components to be moved from ship to ship visually without any hacky data management
• added: FPS -- items free-floating in space can now be picked up, carried, and released by a player using an EVAS
• refined: PHYSICS -- ship-to-free floating item collisions now properly handled
• refined: PHYSICS -- ship-to-item being carried by EVAS now properly handled
• refined: CORE -- free-floating items' art can continue to be updated as required
• refined: CORE -- free-floating item's functionality can continue to be updated as required
• fixed: PHYSICS -- sometimes a collision with an undocked ship would sometimes cause the station it WAS docked with to react as if still connected
• added: STC -- preliminary refuel docking service has been added. Tanks to be refuelled need to be depressurized, and REFUEL ALLOW should be enabled for each tank
• added: STC -- refuelling can be cancelled directly while in progress
• added: STC -- all docked services can be cancelled at once
• added: STC -- departure requests can now be cancelled
• fixed: STC -- the STC should no longer complain if the player docks and then undocks without shutting down the LENR
• fixed: STC -- should no longer be able to get the COMMS menu "stuck" by attempting NYI service items
• added: MISSIONS -- new "startup" mission goal. Currently trigger when a ship is cold-started up to the point the MTS is ignited
• added: MISSIONS -- new 'rendezvous" mission goal. Triggered when the ship comes within a defined range of another ship (other objects NYI)
• added: COMMS -- several new COMMS messages have been added in support of new STC "docked services" items
• refined: COMMS -- made it easier to tell when a COMMS message is sent TO or FROM the player's ship
• refined: ECS -- a ship can enter start-up mode with only external power. An enabled battery is no longer required
• refined: BMS -- a battery can now be recharged via an external power connection
• fixed: UI -- on one control button there was a typo of the word ACTIVE
• added: ECO -- introduced new, initial economy code. Both planet-based colonies and orbital production platforms (NYI) affect local and (eventually) interstellar supply and demand.
• added: ECO -- colony and station personnel require critical items in order to survive.
• added: ECO -- a colony/station will try to create refined items (if their production supports it) from raw materials in stock.
• added: ECO -- a colony/station will try to remplenish raw items locally, if possible.
• added: ECO -- colonies/stations' economies are updated once per hour in the player's local system, and once per day in "distant" systems (WIP)
• added: ECO -- current buy/sell prices are calculated each update based on item availability and critical need.
• added: ECO -- job requests are made for critical items when stocks are low (an ability to access these jobs is NYI)
• added: ECO -- job requests are made for items required to manufacture others (if the production allows creation of them) when stocks are low (an ability to access these jobs is NYI)
• revised: ECO -- Species.ROG has been revised in support of the new economy system.
• revised: ECO -- sellableItems.ROG has been updated in support of the new economy system.
• revised: ECO -- the default galaxy file has been updated in support of the new economy system (NOTE: for the next update or two, the saved galaxy file in the player's save folder will be auto-updated at start up)
• revised: LSS -- initial tank contents now relate to critical gases as defined by a species needs, which relates to items defined in sellableItems.ROG
• added: CAST -- a Captain's available funds is now used to purchase cargo
• added: SHIP -- a room can now be tagged as a "cargo bay" along with the available storage capacity in cubic meters
• refined: SHIP -- a room can now be set to be pressurized or not. A ship MUST have at least one pressurized "cockpit" room (should be room 1), and this is forced during load
• added: UI -- the pilot's MFD now has a "CARGO" page where cargo can be bought/sold. This was a very quick design and implementation, so only the bare minimum functionality is included
• refined: UI -- MFD CARGO page now includes a list of the sellable items, and the colony's stock of each. The items can be filtered by class
• refined: UI -- MFD CARGO page now includes an inventory of all items in a ship's cargo bay(s). Items can be filtered by class
• refined: UI -- MFD CARGO page shows the total mass of ship's cargo, available volume (in cubic meters) remaining in bay, and available funds
• refined: UI -- MFD CARGO page shows the requirements for a purchase (volume, cost), as well as the mass that will be added
• revised: PHYSICS -- a ship's cargo mass is taken into account as part of a ship's total mass
• revised: MISSION -- the "Test Sandbox" mission has been updated so that there is at least one orbital platform (current training platform used as placeholder) in orbit around any planet/moon with a colony (current these are the moon of planet 2, and the third planet and all of its moons)
• added: MISSION -- a new "Test Ship Repair" mission was added to develop and continue refining the code to uninstall, carry and reinstall ship parts while using an EVA suit
• added: UI -- the pilot's MFD now includes a SAN page, which offers more wake options for the current SAN implementation
• refined: SAN -- now supports wake events for NAS trip warnings, time-based, and next periapsis/apoapsis event. Support was also added for specific NAS trip warnings, but had to be hidded due to last-minute bug testing...
• refined: SAN -- better control over update interations over the course of a time value. Currently testing at to 60 updates per minute
• fixed: TIMING -- a long-time bug was finally squashed which would cause unexpected "hiccups" that could cause system values to go out-of-range
• added: UI -- an initial, VERY bare-bones VMS HUD has been added to the EVAS visor. Shows: center-point, available O2, available propellant, suit pressure, and exterior flood light status
0.3.01.0 ECO Release Notes
Hello all. As you might have noticed from either the readme or the update's announcement post, I've decided to shift focus a bit for Rogue System. I am moving many of the sandbox elements forward, and pushing the campaign missions back. The reason for this is simply, since I am still a one-man show (and since I was forced to take full time work ALONG with working on RogSys), it has become apparent that the ship are required to make the campaing missions work will leave RogSys in virtual "state of limbo" gameplay-wise. The art will just take too long to get us to a point where we can introduce significant mission-based gameplay. Immediately, let me state that I am NOT dumping the idea of the campaign! I simply need to introduce actual gameplay as efficiently as possible.
To this end, I have added (along with everything I WANTED to do for this update) the initial economy system, along with the ability to buy and sell trade goods. The "Test Sandbox" mission has been updated so that there is a station orbiting each body that can contribute to the economy--any planet or moon with a defined colony basically. Our current training platform is a placeholder for the orbital stations that manage the flow of goods to and from a colony. Later, I'll also be adding orbital production stations that create manufactured items from raw goods; and then these too will add to the economy.
Colonies have a population, and these folks require critical items to survive. Colonies can "die" if they are starved of critical items. If there is a shortage of critical items (right now, these consist of drinking water and oxygen gas) their demand will go up (the colony will send out a request for these items if needed badly; but there is no way to access these trade jobs yet). The idea here is to introduce the idea the items get used and have to be replenished so there is never a point of saturation.
Right now, there are just over 50 items that can be traded. The ones we currently have will need tweaking as to mass, manufacturer's base price, etc. These will be addressed; and of course we'll need MANY more items available (ideas are welcomed!). Obviously, the entire economy model has a LONG way to go still, too. I am in no way saying what's there is perfect. It's nothing more than a solid foundation....
To buy/sell items, you can access the CARGO page on your MFD (for now) while docked with a station. That is a current limitation that will be addressed. The bigger limitation is that you still can't save your progress. I am working on this now, and I will release an update solely for this feature once it's available. We need to be able to save so you can begin to see the effects of age-related wear on ship systems, thus providing one of many reasons to maintain your ship.
Another new page on the MFD is SAN. This is an extension of the current wake events. While in orbital flight, you can set a wake timer (in increments of 15 minutes), or you can select the next periapsis/apoapsis event). These come in handle while in orbit--waiting for another object to get closer to you. While doing a NAS transfer, then you have the normal XFER wake events. I DID add the ability to select specific XFER events only, but had to disable this due to some last minute bugs.
Please note: I have DISABLED the current key combo to induce SAN. You MUST do it via the MFD's SAN page!
Another new addition is a simple VMS HUD for EVAS. This provides information on suit pressure, remaining O2 and propellant, as well as exterior flood light indication. This is VERY rudimentary, but it does the job. We'll come up with something pretty later on....
Lastly, the BMS system received its "final" revision. As part of this, not only is it now possible to remove batteries from the ship via data, there is alsp a physical representation of them. With an EVAS, exit your ship--just above the crew compartment on the port side, and below it on the starboard side, you'll see a small panel with a panel number decal. You can open this panel, unlock the battery, and then remove it. Once removed, it will float in space as anything else does. You can grab it and move it around with you. Again, this initial functionality is a bit finicky; but it does work.
There is a new "Test Ship Repair" mission where you can practice pulling the battery from your ship, flying it out to another, and installing it there so the ship can be recovered. More importantly though is that this introduces the idea of being able to change parts outside of the ship in order to affect repairs.
Be advised: if you pull a battery while it is still enabled, there is a chance you could short it out. Turn the battery OFF before removing it (battery one is port side, battery two is starboard)!
In the update immediately after save functionality, I'll introduce the ability to be able to sell old batteries, and buy new or refurbished ones. Eventually, you'll be able to do this with all the parts that make up your ship....
Along with all of this, there were many other revisions and fixes. Please check out the change log either here or in the readme for a more complete list of what was done.
I know many folks (myself included) are looking forward to campaign play. I am NOT abandoning this. Nor am I moving ALL the items forward that were to comprise the Maverick Module. I simply am responding to the need to develop RogSys into something that actually provides goals and gameplay. Doing so will hopefully open RogSys up to folks who have been on the fence about it up until now. If I can get it selling more steadily, then my hope is I can return to full time development on it and press on with the other features as originally planned.
As it stands now though, I have to make best use of the time I have--needing to build many ships, each taking a month or more, BEFORE any gameplay can go in simply won't work. I've done a lot of thinking and soul-searching over this; and this new plan seems to be the most efficient way to move RogSys forward.
In any case, as always, thanks for everyone's continued support!