0.7.8 is here!
Today’s update is a big one. The sort of big one we like here. I feel like this will start to address some of the feedback we’ve been receiving lately as we start to move into adding more gameplay options and opportunities. There are two large visual changes we want to show you all, along with a couple other big changes that will provide so many more options for gameplay.
The new HUD
We’ve been experimenting all throughout Wave 2 with our new UI and making refinements, and the one thing we have been asked since introducing the avatars is what we can do to make your personal choices and characteristics more meaningful. Since the very beginning people have also asked us to make information even clearer, and explain more about how things work. To that end, I’d like to introduce you to our new HUD!
This makes wonderful use of the new unified theming system used across the game, and we've tested it with the wonderful Dark Mode mod.
By default the new HUD is on, but you will be able turn it off up for the foreseeable future as we try some new approaches. We’ve also added unique icons for PC, Stamina and more. You’ll see these show up in the Steam pictures over time too.
Introducing 3DX
This one I can't quite believe - we've fixed most of the common issues with 3D mode's performance and built something new ready for play.
We’ve rewritten the 3D renderer from scratch, basing it on the fantastic performance we’ve achieved on the Wave 2 2D. 3DX is up to 5x faster than 3D view was previously, using significantly less resources to do (we’ve managed to cut triangles down by 70%, and save over 100MB of VRAM in testing). We’ve also made significant optimisations to how wards are rendered - the switch to ward view on fast machines is now instant. We're working continuously to make things even faster!
3DX will replace traditional 3D view from 0.7.10 onwards once it is stable and fully tested - 2D and 3DX share all features, and new features will natively support both.
Network View improvements
Network View now uses our wonderful constellation view, which shows relationships and links to everyone else in the world. It’s a much smaller world than we think sometimes… and usually you’re only one handshake away from something massive!
The all-new Calendar tab!
Calendar View has returned from the 0.5 days in the form of an all-new player calendar tab. Organise events, hold gatherings and begin to game plan in advance. We're going to be adding a lot more to this over time.
(You can also see we've made PC and energy costs a little bit more obvious too!)
Languages
This is something we’ve been asked about by modders - can we add language skills to players? I know of at least one mod coming that simulates a country with multiple official languages, and that requires some degree of language simulation. With that in mind, you can now have a skill of speaking a language. Ethnicities can also add a higher chance of second language fluency too!
In the UK scenario we have support for people speaking English (of course), Welsh, Irish and Gaelic, as well as French, German, Spanish, Hindi, Urdu, Polish and many more. You can also create posts in languages your character doesn’t speak - especially useful if you're campaigning in Holborn and St Pancras!
We've also added support in the UI for showing multiple native scripts for names and organisation - especially useful if you're creating mods for multicultural/multilingual scenarios.
New party features: constitutions and conferences
The Leader of the Opposition can now appoint full shadow cabinets in the same way PMs can appoint ministers, and Party Leaders can appoint spokespersons in the same way.
We’ve also finally added in-game support for editing party constitutions, such as backbench committees, party offices, leadership election rules, and what power is given to the members.
We’ve extended the Party Editor to fully support editing party constitutions and procedures. Constitutions dictate who makes choices - will it all down to the members at conference or will it be up to the leader?
We’ve also added support for party election committees, who can now play a role in leadership election procedures.
Eventual plans for 0.7.9 and beyond include supporting for a multi member NEC, allowing you to stack the NEC with factional/personal allies, campaigning for changes at conference, and hosting events and debates at conference.
Hexagon View
Possibly one of the most requested features is Hexagon View - we’re very happy to now include that in the game too! This works in 2D and 3DX views and is dynamically built from the map you have!
Other features
As you can tell we have packed a lot into today's update. Here's a few other new things we've added:
We’re very excited to announce that 24 Hour Time is now supported fully in engine. We’re using this sparingly for now but currently it is used to fully play out election nights. We’re going to experiment with where else it could be useful, but it’s an important feature we’ve wanted in our engine for a while and we’re happy to now have it.
The tutorial has been lacking a little bit since Wave 2, and with the new HUD
We’ve extended how Information works. As a proof of concept, we designed Information to initially just be related to scandals. After a lot of playing with it, we have found it is the perfect system for information sharing across the game. We're going to be building this out more so watch this space!
Event modals have been had some internal improvements, allowing them to run way faster. We're also pushing even more speed improvements over the next few days.
We hope you enjoy it and can't wait to see what you get up to!