435 Days.
Wow.
This release of version 8 signifies a pretty major milestone in development.
The game has now been remade for its third and final time.
All major technologies are in place and now it's just time for the hell of actually building.
Version 9 should include a bunch more basic settings adjustments, but the next goal is a demo release.
Here's a couple highlights.
Tutorial!
There's actually someone to teach you to play the game now.
It's a fully voiced friend to make you feel bad.
This should be a good intro into the basic mechanics.
Vector Graphics
All menus, text, and animations are now fully rendered in-engine with vectors which should allow for perfect scaling on any display.
FMOD is properly integrated now, and all audio is now handled dynamically.
This allows for dynamic music in game, as well as more reactive controls.
I've started adding more tracks, but I still need one for the main game. Sorry if the tutorial music gets a little grating.
It also lets me do fun things like keep the pause music linked with the in-game track for seamless beat-match switching.
Main Menu
Settings have been added, but they do nothing right now.
Level End Screen
This now shows you how many resources you're able to take to the next level.
It also tracks how long you spent on the level.
Achievements!
Just a test right now. But the integration work is completed.
Steam Input
Controller support is still in development, but it should sorta work.
Ideally I'd like them officially supported. Especially for SteamDeck.
Map Screen
This lets you choose where you're going to land next. Basically no where during the playtest and demo release though...
It's only accessible after the tutorial.
Saving & Loading
Saved games, finally.
You can do that from the menu.
You only get 1 slot right now and can't change that, but the goal is to give multiple slots.
That's what the DATA tab in the main menu will do.
The RESTORE button will load the latest save.
100% re-work on how blocks are constructed.
They now handle resources themselves, and pass information between wires.
They also have a little display on them showing the available resources inside.
Wires. Drawing should be more natural now.
You can right click to go back a point, and the camera will zoom to the location of the last point.
They have a handy material that shows the direction of the inputs to outputs.
Research
There's a tree now. It's pretty basic at the moment, but it will let you unlock a couple things to progress through the first map.
I also may have accidentally made it a music game, as every internal clock cycle is now synced to the beat. So the music should always match any blinking displays or counting numbers.
Enjoy.
Yours truly,
1W2P320D0A
It's come a long way.
