Hello everyone! Steve here again with another exciting update - we’ve had a busy month, so let’s get right down to what’s improved and changed in Alliance since we last spoke!
MASSIVE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS
We took a hard look this month after the last demo feedback at the memory and storage systems of Alliance. Some people who were running 8 GB of RAM were unable to play, or the game would partially load before timing out. We want the game to run on no more than 4-6 GB of RAM, with an integrated graphics card, and we want a consistent 60 FPS target on all facets of the game, including the UI.
So we went back to the drawing board, and Brandon, our lead UI programmer, was able to use and integrate Unity’s Addressables system, along with intelligent resource pooling, to dramatically improve load times, game generation times, and most importantly, memory usage! The game should now run on at least a 6 GB machine, and we continue to work towards 4 GB machines as well.
In addition, load and game generation times have been cut by 60-70%. This is the most significant performance update we have ever done.
UPDATED MILITARY SYSTEM
We have continued to work on the military system. It’s a little different from typical 4X games in that you are more or less fighting between elements of the Empire, and a war between Houses is basically a civil war.
So we initially tried to frame wars as Challenges, which were civilized duels between Houses, and only one House could ever challenge another House. They had specific goals and win conditions, usually either territory or Warscore, and in theory seemed like a good idea. However, players found them confusing and restrictive, so we decided to more or less scrap that system and allow Houses to wage war with as many other Houses (including your House) as they like, as long as their Operations Capacity can support it.
What we’ve done is streamline the process of war - all you have to do now is declare war against another House, and that’s that. Each House gains Warscore by destroying or doing things during the war, and that ratio plus each leader’s attributes and skills determines what peace options are available to end the war. Basically, the higher the Warscore ratio, the more ‘punitive’ options are available to a House to end a war, up to and including subjugating a House (if another House is losing badly) or claiming the Throne (if your House is losing badly)!
We have also streamlined the Operations creation process, added a space combat viewer (so you can finally see your fleets in action), added Task Forces, added offensive patrols that also scout systems, added Inquisitor missions that gather military intel on targets, and much more! We will be writing a separate dev blog about the military system in the next few weeks, so be on the lookout!
UPDATED TECH TREE
To fit a redesign of the early game and onboarding experience, we have also radically updated the tech tree. Before, there were 2 main categories - Empire and Military. Empire techs could be used by the whole Empire, but only you could research them, while Military Techs were independent to other Houses and could be researched by all (but only that House would get the benefits).
This setup, while easier, didn’t make much sense in the context of the game. The idea was that the Empire had slowly declined in technology since the height of the Terran Alliance 500 years prior, just before the Second Xyl War decimated it and reduced humanity to the Core Systems. So the idea that all this high technology is still around and easily replaceable didn’t seem to make sense in the context of the game’s background. Also, other Houses contributing to technologies that didn’t benefit them didn’t make sense either.
So what we did is added a third category called Supremacy. This is where we’ve put all the real juicy unlocks, including concepts like EICs, Inquisitors, Exploration expeditions, LGN construction, and more. The catch is that these techs only benefit the Empire directly, so other Houses will be upset that you’re basically expanding the Emperor’s power at their expense. Conversely, the Empire tree has techs that are less game-changing, but which all Houses can use, and thus they will be pleased when you direct your (combined) scientific efforts towards these techs. The idea is that you have to build up sufficient support from the other Houses in order to afford to research Supremacy techs, introducing a recurring interesting decision to the research tree - is my position strong enough to afford this reform? To help new players learn the ropes of the system, your Vizier will also give you his opinion on the matter.
This also has the effect of now gating many Projects and some game systems, including the ability to create System and Province Projects, build new LGN Hubs and Nexii (required to expand to other Constellations), exploration Expeditions, etc. This will make the initial game less overwhelming to the player, since they won’t have a firehose of options to start, and it forces the player to really spend time rebuilding their relationships with other Houses since the Empire’s scientific apparatus will be… shall we say… less than efficient and effective at game start. We’re really excited about these changes!
UNIFIED UI EXPERIENCE
We have finally more or less locked down the final version of the UI for all the game systems (except for game setup, which will be in the next update) so we have started ensuring that all windows work the same - close with a right click, go back to the previous step if there’s an arrow, but right-click should ALWAYS now close the screen, regardless of step. Basically, left click - select/zoom in; right-click - close/zoom out. Also, due to QOL requests, we are adding the middle mouse wheel pan capability, and zoom to cursor on the galaxy map!
EXPANDED HELP SYSTEM
We will now have popup help for all UI windows that require interaction, as well as expanded Encyclopedia entries for all UI windows that have a UI Popup. We will also be testing a guided tour of the interface, and we’ve added an expanded Grand Vizier help system that shows opportunities within the Empire and ways to correct them. We have also added many more Encyclopedia entries for additional game topics that expand on strategy and how to use them. We have also added remaining missing tooltips to the game, so virtually all labels and numbers now have a tooltip!
MORE EVENTS
We have added even more events, and now have over 50 events in the game, many with numerous branches and endings for variety!
That’s all for the October 2022 update - we don’t have anything further to share regarding our release timeline right now, but make sure you watch this space!
-Steve Hawkins
Lead Developer, Alliance of the Sacred Suns