Hello Gamecrafters!
We’re back and working hard on the next Gamecraft update. We’ve got another big one planned this time with some new major features, new parts, optimisations and a whole lot more!
This update is currently expected to land next week, although we might need a little bit longer to make sure it’s as great as it can be. We do plan on launching this update in the Preview branch again this time around. The main reason for this is to get a playable version of the wiring system in the talented hands of you crafters, so that we can get your valuable feedback.
Like some of our previous updates, the changes we’re introducing are massive and will affect existing saves. We don’t expect them to behave any differently (we’ll explain exactly why in the release patch notes) but there may be some unforeseen hiccups.
A few of the headlining features of this update will be:
Wiring system
We’ve been working on this for a while now and it’s almost ready to go! We’ve already shared a little teaser that you can view here: https://www.reddit.com/r/GamecraftGame/comments/eo65x5/hey_gamecrafters_were_back_from_the_holidays_and/
Our new wiring system will be familiar to those of you that have played a couple of different building games and we think our take on it will feel every bit as good and will definitely have a few nice additions. This system will completely replace the “signal channel” system we’ve been using up until now. We feel like we’ve reached the limits of what we can achieve with the signal channel system, and wiring opens up so many more possibilities that we’d just be silly not to switch.
We’re making sure that any existing save files are automatically converted to the new system, with all previous connections intact, so you won’t have to spend any time rewiring. With this, we’ll also be removing the conductivity and power systems as they’re no longer necessary and would often be limiting and cumbersome. We’ll also be changing the way multiple signals are calculated (e.g. having two levers control the same block). We’ll share more details on those when the update goes live
Tweakable Stats
A feature that has been heavily requested since the earlier experiments is coming with the wiring system as well! When you’re hooking up your buttons and motorised parts, you’ll be able to tweak a few of the stats of these parts. From the default “on/off” state of a switch to the maximum speed or default direction of a Motor; Tweakable Stats will give you much finer control over your creations.
Wheel Tweaks & New Wheels
It’s no surprise that loads of you have been creating a plethora of vehicles in a physics sandbox game. So we’ve taken a look at the current status of these and decided to make a couple of changes and additions that we’re sure you’ll all love.
The first change is a tweak to the friction settings of wheels. At the moment, wheels have a constant friction regardless of where your steering or what you’re doing. This makes it harder to create vehicles that can steer well, especially at higher speeds. To combat this, we’ve split forwards and sideways friction so that we can have finer control and offer more realistic wheels.
The second change is to have different friction based on the material the wheels interact with. For instance, if you’re driving on dirt, you would expect less grip on your wheels, when compared to concrete. We’ve broadly split these out into 5 categories; Road, Default, Offroad, Rubber and Oily. Each tyre will have different friction values for each surface so you can pick and choose the right tyre for the right surface.
With these changes we’re also adding a range of new tyre types. We’ll have 11 new tyres for you to play around with! From bicycle tyres and horse-carriage style tyres to massive monster truck tyres, we’re sure you’ll find the perfect one for each vehicle.
Graphics & Audio Settings
We know a lot of you have been asking for these for a while, and we’ve heard you. We added the Controls screen last update so we wanted to complete the set with Graphics and Audio settings. These are pretty straightforward so we won’t go into much detail here but you can also expect a few new “quality settings” to help find a sweet spot for each setup that offers a better balance between graphics and performance.
Performance optimisations
Seb’s been hard at work optimising our codebase, jobifying a massive amount and cleaning up some problem areas. These optimisations will be much more noticeable on CPU’s at the higher end but we’re hoping everyone should see some improvements across the board.
Quick Save
We know it’s easy to forget to save every do often, especially when you have to go through a couple of extra menus and buttons (we’ve all been there). We’re still planning out a better autosave system but that might be a while, so, we’re adding in a quicksave button in the meantime to take some of the pain away.
That’s it for this week’s devblog. We’ll aim to keep sharing some more teasers of the upcoming update next week while we iron out the issues and polish things up and hopefully get all of these amazing changes in your hands as soon as possible.
Please follow us on our social spaces and share your creations with us:
Twitter- https://twitter.com/Gamecraft_FJ
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/c/GamecraftGame
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/GamecraftGame/
Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/GamecraftGame/
Discord - https://discord.gg/gamecraft
Thanks for reading!
The Gamecraft Team