The starting ship overhaul (announced last week) is going over very well and should be coming to the main branch soon.
The exciting news this week is
The Shipwreck Remodel has begun!
Shipwrecks are an exciting yet threatening environment in Approaching Infinity, "full of danger and loot" as they're described in tool-tips. You can find some of the best treasure there, but also the deadliest foes. But for all their awesomeness, there's room for improvement. Like, LOTS of room. Maybe not even "rooms", but DECKS!
"Transit Tubes"
I've started to look at how shipwrecks are generated, and how they can be improved. Something that has been suggested, and I've played with before but never really put in, is ships having more than one deck (floor). Well, it's in the beta branch now!
You'll still dock with the "Main Deck", the same place you've always encountered. But now, there's a chance there will be "Transit Tubes" that lead to other decks, other parts of the ship.
For now, they're uninhabited, and have no loot. THAT WILL CHANGE.
For shipwrecks, I resist the method of procedural generation that just takes hand-designed rooms and puts them together in a random order. (I do use this method to make "silver cities", but that's different.)
Instead, I want to take the abstraction up a notch and teach the game how to make an area *look* like it was designed to be a bunkroom, med-bay, kitchen, or crafting lab.
Now we can have an entire *deck* dedicated to cargo storage (and therefore LOOTING)!
This is just the beginning, and many things will change at a fundamental level. But for now, if you've got the extra oxygen, take a transit tube up to the tower (topmost deck) and look around ;)
(Beta Branch Only)
Main branch folks are still in 1.6 territory...
Discord
Are you interested in Approaching Infinity, but aren't ready to get it yet? Just want to talk about space games or roguelikes? Have an amazing idea that you want to make sure I hear?