On the hangar controller updates.
First Friday of the month and as such, it is update time! A lot of new things and we're going to get right into it:
- New loadout system
Save, load, and modify. The new system takes all of our previously constructed elements for managing your starfighter in the hangar to include paint jobs, and unifies them into the new loadout screen. When you save, it will now be displayed with its cost along the top side menu.
- New Helm menu
A new menu has been added for changing planetary locations. This new menu is also accompanied by updated lighting and transitions during the warp travel.
- Completely overhauled input system now supports three main control schemes. Generic joysticks are supported in theory but we've had some difficulty getting it to recognize a HOTAS setup properly. More updates to come.
- Completely overhauled mouse and keyboard flight system. Part of the input system overhaul was due to this right here. So much had to be changed in the input system to make mouse flight function the way we wanted, that we had to completely rework the entire thing. That said, the new mouse flight system may feel familiar to those of you who have played other flight games.
- New module outfitting updates and menu screen. This new screen is merely a preview. We have a LOT more to get done on the module system. Nothing too heavy a lift for us, just a lot of little things and some small but significant additions like a new camera system to zoom in on the modules as you work on them.
- Completely new Turret system.
This new turret system still has some kinks in it, but it's got a pretty awesome feature set that we're excited about since it allows us to setup turrets in just about any configuration and not have turret artwork intersecting into their own structure or ship hull.
- New bullet system.
Though not fully integrated, and more changes are planned, this new bullet system is far more accurate than the previous one, using more tools for precise detection.
- New missile system.
Missiles can now lead and chase targets and are much more accurate but will lose their tracking completely if they over-shoot their target. No more lasso missiles looping around until they hit something.
- Numerous tweaks to camera system to compensate for changes and additions in the mouse flight mode.
- Completely new countermeasure system.
As part of the module system, countermeasures have been added to the game as a whole new mechanic that will eventually accommodate three different types of defense. Currently we only have flares, which will dot the sky behind the player with enough flares to disrupt a dozen missiles. Eventually a chaff module will be added that disperses a disruption cloud behind the player, and finally an EM field that will project a disruption field around the player as they travel.
- Completely overhauled hangar system for landing and reloading. Much of this work is foundational. Still lots to wrap up here, but it's all essential work for the future. Some of which are the new AI, wingmen, new reload sequence, and mid-mission weapon swapping.
- Numerous changes to the flight model to affect feel, performance, and play. This required rebalancing several parameters on fighters to adjust performance.
- Fixed another edge case that was causing missile warning cones to not go away.
While this week’s update does indeed break some of our levels, we're in the process of getting a bunch more artwork overhauled and new stuff added before our next update on December 3rd. Rest assured all levels will be restored to full functional state and some, hopefully many, will be completely reworked with a whole host of additions added to them.
Additionally, we're beginning work on the first set of missions that we aim to build with the quality in mind for the final product. A lot of this is being focused around preparation for the launch of our Kickstarter but will ultimately play into a better experience for everyone in the long run.
We also want to take this time to give everyone a brief run down on our schedule the next month and our contingency moving forward.
November 22nd - team will review over the period of a week.
November 29th - Decision will be made on whether or not the demo is ready for Kickstarter prime time.
December 3rd - Launch new demo and Kickstarter.
Contingent timeline in the event that demo approval is not met on November 29th.
December 3rd - Demo release as usual.
January 7th - Demo release and Kickstarter launch.
For the sake of getting this out the door, we're only allowing ourselves one opportunity to push the dates back! There will not be a second delay in release.
Oh, before we go, you will need to make a new save file. We added a whole bunch of small changes that we didn't go into because they were parts of the large changes listed above. These smaller changes required adding a number of additional parameters to the players save file.