LOGistICAL will be undergoing some major changes in the near future in order to cater for the anticipated growing number of DLCs.
Current Structure
A bit of functional overview to give a better understanding of what goes on under the hood.
When loading LOGistICAL, firstly all the current data for the main game and all the DLCs that you own are loaded.
Next the "save game" is selected and loaded.
Next is a processing section that processes the save game against all the game and DLC data. This now caters for multiple DLCs loaded in any order and indexes all the data for faster access.
This all works.
Why Change?
As LOGistICAL grows, so do the ways of playing the game. The base play methods won't change, but the way to access the growing data needs to.
It is a waste of resources to load all the original modules and DLCs if you have completed them, or don't plan on playing them at the moment.
The current map has grown from being Australia to covering the whole planet. Using maps are nice for a start, but they are skewed and don't portray north/south distances well around the poles and equator.
The Globe
I have been working on getting a globe into the game.
Firstly the globe will be used for selecting the module you want to play as well as giving an overall view of every country/module across the planet. This information will build up as you play.
As you spin the globe and mouse over the countries, information about each country will be displayed. I will also include any information about release statuses as well as "coming soon" statuses and dates, if known.
Basic information will be displayed about the country/modules like name, population, approximate number of towns and any specific rules of the module, like limits on trucks or building.
As you play the module, your information will also be displayed, like number of towns complete, leaderboards, etc.
Click on a country and it zooms into the country's game upon the current map.
Once the initial globe is stabilised within the game, I will then go about moving the game play interface onto the globe.
Lots of Data
With thousands of towns becoming tens of thousands towns, the amount of data to load and manage becomes large and subsequently slow to process.
As you play, you may find that you may only be playing in one or two modules. Loading all the others that are not being played are a waste of resources.
The data is already split into modules, but they all come together for the game with the intention of being able to play multiple modules simultaneously and also having the ability to move trucks and cargo between modules/countries.
Module data will be loaded, displayed and processed in different ways depending on what stage of the module you are playing at.
You may be just using the module for resources because you have finished all the towns, so there is no need to load all that information every time.
Save Games
This is still on the design table, but I have a method of splitting the save games into a base game and subsequent files for each of the modules.
These can all be bought into a nice internal package that processes the lot but still saves out individually.
The Upgrade Stages
Stage 1: Introducing the globe.
Stage 1 release will add the globe to the game. You will be able to spin it, read the data from it and open your games from it.
Stage 2: Modularising the Data.
Stage 2 will allow you to load the parts of the game that you are interested in playing at that moment.
If there are any dependent modules to the one you are playing (ie NZ to AU), then they will be loaded as well.
Stage 3: Multi Save Games.
Stage 3 will be about splitting the save process into the different modules with backward compatibility to the current structure.
Stage 4+ Getting the Gameplay onto the Globe
This is a little into the future and will be about moving the current gameplay onto the globe. It should all happen within a single release, but I am not sure if other things will be pushed in first.
All Stages: New DLCs
I will progressively build new DLCs along the way, trying to release one every 2 weeks.
Opinions and Helping out
I am happy for feedback on these proposed changes as well as help in getting them tested so the game only gets better.
I have been sharing the current beta testing around and am happy with the players that have been involved. If you would like to help out and beta test these changes moving forward, send me a message (through Steam). You should have experience with LOGistICAL and also be able to backup your save files.
There are only limited positions available and active participants will be rewarded with DLCs in the future.