Well I didn’t quite make the July deadline like I wanted, but the 0.14.0 update is now finally ready for release.

What’s New?

As always you’re probably wondering what the big headline features for this update are. To begin with there is now a research system in the campaign game mode. Through this system tier 2 and tier 3 buildings can be unlocked alongside a couple of upgrades for fleets and armies. While there are only four options currently available, I aim to expand on this in the future with more options.

In addition to the new research system there is now also support for planet modifiers in the campaign game mode. Modifiers provide passive boosts to a given planet with each planet having its own set of unique modifiers. As with the previously mentioned research system the current implementation of the modifiers system is meant to serve as a starting point and more modifiers will be added in the future as I work towards making each planet feel unique.

Finally as with all my updates there was a large collection of smaller changes and additions implemented, the full list of which can be seen below. Some of the highlights of which are an updated reinforcement area meaning units can only be called in nearby player owned units or buildings.  An army manager GUI for the campaign game mode based off of the fleet manager, a more streamlined move marker system allowing for multiple move markers to be visible at the same time and updates to the save system to now include buildings and their positions on planets.

Update 0.15.0

With that out of the way my attention now turns to the 0.15.0 update and what I aim to have implemented by the time of its release. For starters I plan to update the tutorial box which shows when you load a battle for the first time as it has been some time since it was last updated. In a similar vein to this I also plan to add a tutorial box for when you load a campaign for the first time. While I would like to have a proper tutorial campaign at some point, for now the tutorial boxes will suffice.

In addition to this I also have plans for supporting cross battle damage. Meaning that should one of your units take damage in one battle, they will still have that damage in the next battle. With an option to repair said unit on the campaign map providing you have a valid space station at the correct tier.

Last but not least I should also mention that I plan to continue my efforts in optimising and polishing existing features alongside adding new ones. In particular I’m planning on seeing if I can make the debris system more dynamic by letting the engine handle the physics to induce more randomness instead of manually setting the position using an animation.

Closing Thoughts

Though it took longer than I would have liked and I didn’t get to refine as many of the existing features as I wanted to, I can still say I’m happy with what the 0.14.0 update turned out to be. Providing everything goes as planned I’m aiming to have the 0.15.0 update out sometime next month with 0.16.0 coming out the month after that. With all that said it’s once again time for me to say goodbye while I get to work on the upcoming features.

As always if you have any questions or queries then don’t hesitate to ask and similarly if you have any feedback for existing systems. Or indeed if you have any ideas, features or changes you would like to see implemented then also don’t hesitate to let me know.

As with all of my updates a full list of the changes made can be found in game, with the changes and additions pertaining to this update listed below:

• Added a option to conduct research on the campaign map
• Added a research GUI to the campaign map GUI
• Added a research lab as a new type of building to the campaign map
• Added a modifiers system which allows planets to have either positive or negative modifiers based on past and present events
• Added a notification system to the campaign map
• Added a notification to the campaign map for when a new research is completed, a building is upgraded, a new building is completed, a new unit is completed, a new fleet is completed and a new army is completed
• Added a sound effect to each of the different notification types
• Added a army manager to the campaign GUI where the army name can be changed and units can be exchanged
• Added a faction information GUI to the campaign map where an overview of the players faction and victory conditions can be found
• Added a fleet search option to the campaign map search GUI
• Added a army search option to the campaign map search GUI
• Added a label to the fleet and army info box to show the name of the currently selected fleet or army
• Added a animation when selecting which campaign to play
• Added a animation when selecting to load a save on the campaign setup screen
• Updated the move marker on the battlemap to generate a new one when a new order is given instead of resetting the existing one
• Updated the drag move marker on the battlemap to generate a new one when a new order is given instead of resetting the existing one
• Updated the look of pressed and toggled buttons to make them easier to differentiate from normal buttons
• Updated save files to include building positions when saving the game to ensure buildings are placed in the correct slot on a planet
• Updated save files to include the saving of space stations and their current tier
• Updated save files to include the saving of completed and in progress research
• Updated the planet info GUI to allow planet connections to be clicked on, resulting in the camera being centred on them
• Updated the planet info GUI to format large numbers so they are broken apart by comma's
• Updated the campaign map planet label to display an icon if the owning planet is conducting research
• Updated the campaign map AI to make use of the new research system
• Updated the campaign map AI to take unit and building upkeep into account when constructing buildings and recruiting units
• Updated the campaign map to disable a fleet or armies button if it is currently selected
• Updated the campaign map quit button to return to the main menu instead of the campaign setup screen
• Updated buildings on the campaign map to have upkeep
• Updated fleets and armies on the campaign map to have upkeep based on the number and types of units contained within
• Updated fleet and army meshes on the campaign map to be coloured with their factions colour
• Updated fleet and army buttons on the campaign map to have tooltips
• Updated the reinforcement area on battle maps to only be valid when around player owned units and buildings
• Updated the reinforcement area requirement to be removed after 5 player units have entered the battle
• Updated the reinforcement area to fade when transitioning from a valid to an invalid area
• Updated the reinforcement area to fade when at the edge of the battle map
• Updated the reinforcement area to extend beyond the edge of the battle map
• Updated the battle map AI to have the same reinforcement placement restrictions as the player
• Updated the destroy subsystem debug option to work on squad based units
• Fixed a bug where an object would remain in the hover state if the mouse was moved onto the GUI before being moved into an open space
• Fixed a bug where the game would crash when trying to open the fleet manager again after merging all units of an existing fleet
• Fixed a bug where the fleet manager GUI wouldn't always be correctly resized when all units of an existing fleet were merged
• Fixed a bug where the zoom level on the campaign map couldn't be changed when the mouse was placed over a planet label
• Fixed a bug where pressing the escape key while the save and load screen was open would un-pause the game
• Fixed a bug where player and AI income didn't match the total income expected from planets on the campaign map
• Fixed a bug where the buttons in the battle GUI would flicker when clicking a button to build a new unit or upgrade
• Fixed a bug where the reinforcement area wouldn't fade correctly when two fading areas overlapped one another
• Fixed a bug where the shield wasn't visible on the Alien Battleship
• Fixed a bug where the DPS indicators on the test space target would become dark if viewed from a certain direction