Once again it seems that time has managed to pass me by and with it another full month has passed, meaning a new update is now released and ready for testing. With the update this time around being 0.42.0.

What’s New?

As is ever the case the first thing I’ll talk about is some of the new things you can expect to encounter in the newly released update. The first of which is a new look for the Human transport unit, the specifics of which can be seen in the image above. In addition to making a new look for the unit itself I also took the time to update the look of the Human faction variants of the engine subsystems. While I say I updated the look, what I really mean is I changed the front portion of the engine to have more detail than before. Normally this section of the engine is not visible when it is used on other units, but as they are being used in such a way that the front portion is visible on the transport unit. I felt it was necessary to give them some more detail, at least until I can make a more custom looking model for use by atmospheric units.

Beyond just the new unit model this update also brings the first proper implementation and use of the events and objectives systems that I added in the previous update. What I mean by this is that the campaign map tutorials are now fully event driven, whereas before they were very much reliant on a map script file to handle custom logic like displaying information and adding new objectives for you to complete. As a result of the change to being fully event driven the campaign map tutorials should also be at least somewhat more stable and less likely to break than before. Provided of course that you mostly stick to what the tutorial tells you to do. I also didn’t get to update them this time around but it is my hope that for the next update, the battle tutorials will also be remade to be event driven rather than being reliant on a script file as they currently are.

While I was updating the campaign map tutorials to work with the new events system I also found a whole bunch of different conditions and outcomes that I hadn’t thought of before but that I found I needed if I wanted to fully convert the tutorials. As such this update also includes a whole slew of new event conditions and objective types. Many of these new conditions and objectives should also be much more performant as I perform the check only when said condition happens rather than at the end of every day as is the case with most of the existing conditions. Other than just adding new conditions I also made some updates to the event manager itself. In particular it is now possible for events to be locked while an already triggered event plays out, support for playing a set of general events in addition to the map specific ones and support for multiple stages contained within events. Meaning each new outcome doesn’t need to belong to its own event which would have drastically increased the number of in game event checks.

Last but not least as with all my updates there was the usual collection of bug fixes with some of the highlights this time around being a variety of fixes for some numbers now displaying an additional .0 after the main number (a result of updating to the newest version of the engine), a fix for the materials of squad based units not being set correctly and a fix for duplicate sets of units being added to the ship build options on the campaign map as a result of the list not being cleared each time a building is upgraded. As a final point of note I should also mention the updated warp in animation which took more time to implement than I want to admit. The new shader’s a great new addition and adds an extra level of polish to the animation I felt was missing previously.

Update 0.43.0

With all that said you're now probably wondering what you can expect to see in the next update, that being 0.43.0. Well to begin with and in keeping with tradition the first thing on the list will be an updated look for one of the in game units, which in this case will be the Astel starfighter. In addition to just making the new look for the unit as this will also be the first updated model for the Astel faction, I’ll also be adding a new look for the tiny engine and tiny laser turret to be used both by the new unit and for all other Astel faction units going forward.

Other than an updated look for one of the units 0.43.0 will also continue my work on both the events system and the objectives system with both systems being extended to allow them to work on battle maps. Both those set in space and those set on ground maps. To take advantage of this extended functionality I’ll also be updating the space battle tutorials to make use of the events system just as I did for the campaign map tutorials in 0.42.0. Depending on the amount of time available I may or may not also finally get around to making some ground battle tutorials. Something which I have been putting off for sometime now and as I’m working on the space battle tutorials anyway I may as well take the time to write some additional ones to teach you about ground based battles. Even if they are largely the same as those set in space, it makes sense to at least complete the trifecta of tutorials.

In addition to making greater use of the events system as a whole I’ll also be looking at making further expansions to the system itself. In particular I’m going to see if I can’t add support for more types of event outcomes, such as being able to transfer ownership of a campaign map location, adding units or a new fleet as reward for completing an objective and playing an animation to showcase different parts of the map. Speaking of playing an animation I might also see if I can’t add support for displaying a message in a different way, one which doesn’t pause the game and take up the majority of the screen space. But one that instead lets you still see the map while also being able to see the message that is being displayed.

Finally while the updated models and the expanded events system are the main aims of the update I’ll also try to make some other smaller scale but still necessary updates and changes. These include expanding the paid content to include at least the first chapter for both the Human and the Astel factions story campaigns, using the new warp in shader effect I created for space units to redo the build shader for buildings on battle maps when they being upgraded and adding support for locking and unlocking parts of the campaign map to allow the story campaign maps to slowly be unlocked as you advance through the campaign.

Closing Thoughts

Well that’s another update completed, pushing me one step closer to the original vision I had for Stellar Odyssey: Galaxy at War back when I first started working on it. Truth be told I am a little disappointed in myself for not getting any of the paid content I had planned done in time for this update. Though considering said content couldn’t be accessed even if it were to be added I’m not sure how much it really matters in the grand scheme of things. Nevertheless paid content is kind of important if I ever want to, you know, be able to sell the game and so as I laid out above I’m hoping the next update has more to show when it comes to said content.

Regardless I am at least happy with the state both the events and objectives systems are in now that this update has been completed. Truthfully I wasn’t sure exactly what either of these systems would look like or even exactly how they would function when I first started working on them. But having worked on them for a couple of updates now I feel like they’re in a pretty good place. Not a good enough place to call them complete, but good enough that I feel happy to start making further use of the systems even if manually creating such events can be a somewhat time consuming process (A solution for which will have to wait until I have the data layouts for both events and objectives fully locked down).

Anyway that’s all from me for now. I have more than enough things that I need to get working on for the next update and so I’ll bid you all farewell for another month. By which time I hope to have completed the 0.43.0 update and am ready to show you a whole host of new and exciting additions and changes.

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 new warp in shader effect for when space units warp into the battle map
• Added a button to the debug GUI to set whether squad based units should be added directly to the battle map or as a reinforcement unit
• Added support for checking if two factions have declared an alliance with each other as a new objective
• Added support for checking if two factions have revoked an alliance with each other as a new objective
• Added support for checking if two factions have declared military access with each other as a new objective
• Added support for checking if two factions have revoked military access with each other as a new objective
• Added support for checking if two factions have declared war with each other as a new objective
• Added support for checking if two factions have revoked war with each other as a new objective
• Added support for checking if two factions have declared a trade agreement with each other as a new objective
• Added support for checking if two factions have revoked a trade agreement with each other as a new objective
• Added support for checking if the recruitment GUI has been shown as a new objective
• Added support for checking if the fleet manager GUI has been shown as a new objective
• Added support for checking if the building GUI has been shown as a new objective
• Added support for checking if the research GUI has been shown as a new objective
• Added support for checking if the location GUI has been shown as a new objective
• Added support for checking if units have been moved in the fleet manager as a new objective
• Added support for checking if a fleet has been renamed as a new objective
• Added support for checking if a fleet has arrived at a given location as a new objective
• Added support for checking if a certain level of income has been reached as a new objective
• Added support for checking if a battle has been triggered at a given location as a new objective
• Added support for checking if a battle has been auto resolved at a given location as a new objective
• Added support for checking if all objectives have been completed as a new event condition
• Added support for highlighting a part of the campaign map or battle map GUI as a new event outcome
• Added support for clearing the highlight from a part of the campaign map or battle map GUI as a new event outcome
• Added support for selecting a location on the campaign map as a new event outcome
• Added support for deselecting a location on the campaign map as a new event outcome
• Added support for clearing the current objectives as a new event outcome
• Added support for manually triggering an update to the information box as a new event outcome
• Added support for adding a new objective as a new event outcome
• Added support for dynamically highlighting a part of the campaign map GUI as a replacement for the hard coded functions currently used
• Added support for dynamically highlighting a part of the battle map GUI as a replacement for the hard coded functions currently used
• Updated the code to support the necessary changes for Godot 4.4
• Updated the model used by the Human Transport Ship
• Updated the models used by the Human tiny, small, medium and large engine variants to have a more detailed forward section
• Updated the image used by the Human Transport Ship to match the look of the new unit model
• Updated the event manager to support multistage events with a different set of outcomes at each stage
• Updated the event manager to support playing a set of general events in addition to map specific ones
• Updated the event manager to support locking new events from being triggered while an event is currently being played
• Updated the event manager to support running an event check after a set of objectives have been completed
• Updated the event manager to support manually triggering an event for when a map is first loaded
• Updated the campaign map camera movement and user interface tutorial to use the events system for progressing the tutorial
• Updated the campaign map unit recruitment and fleet management tutorial to use the events system for progressing the tutorial
• Updated the campaign map planet management tutorial to use the events system for progressing the tutorial
• Updated the campaign map fleet movement and campaign map combat tutorial to use the events systems for progressing the tutorial
• Updated the campaign map message container to support advancing the current event
• Updated the shield node to be hidden when a unit is warping into the map
• Updated the engine node visual effect to be hidden when a unit is warping into the map
• Updated the warp in animation to better match the new warp in shader effect
• Updated the warp in animation to scale based on the size of the unit being called into the map
• Updated the warp in animation to work with squad based units
• Removed the old code from the campaign map tutorial scripts as all the campaign map tutorials are now event driven
• Removed access to the battle map tutorials until they can be updated to work with the new events system as they are currently broken
• Fixed a bug where a player owned fleet or army could not be seen if it moved onto a location connection where neither end of the connection had an intel level
• Fixed a bug where the FPS counter on the campaign map displayed a .0 after the main number as a result of the engine upgrade
• Fixed a bug where the UC income on the campaign map displayed a .0 after the main number as a result of the engine upgrade
• Fixed a bug where the UC income breakdown on the campaign map displayed a .0 after the main number as a result of the engine upgrade
• Fixed a bug where the UC income on the battle map displayed a .0 after the main number as a result of the engine upgrade
• Fixed a bug where the FPS counter on the battle map displayed a .0 after the main number as a result of the engine upgrade
• Fixed a bug where the patch number on the main menu displayed a .0 after the main number as a result of the engine upgrade
• Fixed a bug where the build progress label on the campaign map and battle map displayed a .0 after the main number as a result of the engine upgrade
• Fixed a bug where the subsystem list for individual units within squads remained empty resulting in subsystem materials not being correctly updated
• Fixed a bug where the recruit unit GUI on the campaign map displayed duplicate versions of all currently available units when a space station was set to a new tier