Hi everyone. We are still working on ALPHA 18, and while taking a bit longer than we had initially hoped, we think it has been worth doing it all together in this one update. Here is what we've been working on since the last dev post.
Projectiles and Physics
We have been re-examining some of the existing physics effects in the game, and how that affects combat. We have also been tweaking networking of player vessels (mostly affecting multiplayer). We have also been looking at projectiles.
What we have now is the ability to more easily move vessels via physical forces, whether that's caused by environmental or weapon effects. Players will now be able to push each other more easily than before, and similarly be able to group up and push larger objects together. Also explosions (reactors, torpedoes, etc) now will affect ANY object within a radius and can cause damage.
Projectiles have been improved a number of ways, with different effects being data driven via the templates and very customizable. This now means things like projectiles that track & seek targets and projectiles that "glom" on and slow the target down like a giant anchor are possible. It also allows the introduction of mines--stationary, eternal projectiles that can be saved across game sessions--that can cause all sorts of mischief and headaches for players and AI alike.
Energy
Finally, we have been working on energy draining, so now it will be possible to reduce or cause temporary deactivation of components. Why destroy a tile, when you can just drain its energy and then steal its cargo? This should open up a number of new possibilities for game play.
We have also added a number of performance improvements in regards to logging, namely item and template loading. These changes should improve logging from anywhere between 200-350% faster.
We're still working towards that Pre-Release build, and once we have something ready to test, we want to get it out there for initial feedback. All I will say is it will "as soon as possible".