Crucible XIII 21/02/2014

Only had 4 days of programming this week, but I did get a good deal done. I decided to tackle my map randomiser issues head on, so I've pretty much fixed that- it's looking very nice I must say. I also added the pool of systems I wrote about last week, so there is a great deal of randomisation going on. I've got a fair few big changes lined up, I don't want to reveal too much, but be excited for them. I hope to have a playable beta out by April/May time too, but I'll need to do a lot of AI work before I get to that stage.

State of the Game (Build 0.73):

• Map randomiser is now 'finished'. 6 map sizes are currently available, and I've shown off some examples in the screenshot below. Due to the nature of the game, larger systems appear less random (because of the fixed systems) but they have more complex connections. It also takes about 45 seconds to create a 180 star system so I may limit the size to 90 or 120 on release. Map size dictates the scale of game objects, maximum connection distances, resource generation, and obviously the length of the match.

Demo of all working map sizes. The gap in the top right is the galactic core- try living there!

• The little button labelled 'Purge' will be your best friend if you play as Nereides. Instead of the boring resource generation ramp, Purge is much more active. Purge will destroy every set of 100 Science and Industry. This means if you have 201 Science and 320 Industry, Purge will reduce it to 1 Science and 120 Industry (that's using 200 Science and Industry). For each set of 100 S/I Purged, you gain a stack of Elation. Each stack increases your galaxy Industry production by 0.1%, and decreases the cost of research by 1 Science. This really is a glass cannon-y mechanic, since using it too early or too late can easily cripple an empire.

Before and after. Look at the industry production. Elation modifier is applied before other modifiers.

• I added a tooltip to the system improvements, and have given them better (though not final) names. This is mostly so that I know what I'm actually building when I play it.

That's right, a whole screenshot just to see the tooltip.

• General UI changes (again!). Fixed various bugs related to system improvements. Changed the icon for Science and Industry again- they are now much easier to identify, I don't think they will change much now.
• AI needs some serious work since it's now at breaking point (I haven't updated it in about a month). Selkies won't even take their turn now. I'll also be working on a main menu soonish.

Hope you enjoyed reading this. If you have any questions related to the game/code/mechanics/life in general please feel free to comment.