Hello everyone! Welcome to the twenty-eighth issue of the RoVerse Development Newsletter, where we keep you updated on the progress we've made over the past week! It's been an incredibly promising week, as we've just refreshed our ranks with a whole new bunch of active and talented builders. This includes TheTermiteSmelter (aka BenjaminRanston) who has swiftly begun constructing the interiors of the military outpost. We've also found our writer who will be helping me with the newsletters from now on, and thank you everyone who sent in applications for the position, it really means a lot to us to see your commitment to the project! One of the biggest events this week has been making contact with Clan Community Studios, lead by Banman455 and discussing the mutual benefits of working together to bring fresh faces to the RoVerse Development Team and much needed active scripters. Thanks to CCS we'll be able to get up and running to tackle the scripting challenges ahead! This week ROBLOX livestreamed our Dogfight Alpha once again and expressed wonderful support for the progress we've shown so far - check out their Let's Play stream here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/117312866?t=27m44s. We've also finally set up an official RoVerse Community Discord server so everyone can chat in real time and see news updates more easily. You can join the Discord server by using this link: https://discord.gg/JU2zTv3 This week, IdyllicDestroyer has been working on fine tuning the desert biome before moving on to the new biome types. While the dunes of the desert may appear simple, there is a lot more math going on underneath than he expected. Last week you saw single lines of sand dunes, in a simple demonstration, now he is nearing the completion of the biome: He has also finished another capital ship - an aerial bombardment platform that is absolutely destructive in atmospheric fights, obliterating the ground with a number of downward facing turrets, with thick armour underneath. If you've always wanted to fly a helicarrier, now is your chance. Here's some concept shots of what it'll look like in action: Over the course of a week and a half Galbotrix has been streaming some of the Industrial Command interior's construction, alongside monitoring the optimisation of the brick count in each section of the interior. The mineral review room and the secondary smoke stack room have been optimised to have lower amounts of unions and bricks while maintaining their current look.As for the construction of the Industrial Command interior, it is close to being accomplished with just a few sections left. The largest room is currently assembled to be loosely based on concept art where it will have a resource bay and power generators as shown below: Each week we compile a Q&A section here whenever there are any new questions posted on the RoVerse Community group wall, so be sure to join if there's something you'd like to ask about RoVerse: https://www.roblox.com/Groups/Group.aspx?gid=2948290 Q1: What is going to be supplied to clans that want to register? Are the ship designs pre-made or do we have to submit our own to a developer? A1: We want clans to be genuinely represented in RoVerse and not feel like they're bound in who they are. For that reason, clans will need to supply their own builds for the architecture of the technology they use in RoVerse. All of the scripts will be taken care of by the game, but clans would need to design and build their weapons, ships, stations and buildings so that they feel at home when using their tech in RoVerse. There will be plenty of pre-made ships in RoVerse that will act as neutral civilian choices for players, but these are more for independent players rather than faction usage. Q2: Will RoVerse feature AI like PvE, or will it all be player based? A2: It'll be mostly PvP, since we want the game to be focused on the multiplayer experience just like the current clan world. However there is potential for AI such as patrolling NPC ships, or trade convoys, but it all depends on how scripted AI would impact performance. One aspect of the game which will definitely have NPCs for is wild animals you will find on habitable planets. Q3: Please say RoVerse won't be ruining its economy by doing sponsored Roblox events? A3: We definitely won't be doing anything that would break the lore/roleplay and immersion of the RoVerse world. Any sort of events that would be done in RoVerse would have to specifically fit with the setting and make sense in the game's story. When it comes to new players flooding the game who don't know how to play, they will have to pass a tutorial section before they can actually play with other players. At that point they would have to learn to play the game properly in order to survive. Q4: What sort of ship weaponry can we expect to see in RoVerse? A4: There will be a vast array of weapon types both on the ground and in space. They haven't been officially catalogued yet but you'll be seeing weapon types like kinetic, plasma, pulse, beam, missile, ion and more. We hope you enjoyed reading up on our latest progress! Let us know what you think over on the RoVerse Community Discord server and remember that we are always in need of more active talented scripters, so if you'd like to help don't be afraid to get in touch with us through RoVerse_Official on the ROBLOX website! Hello everyone! Welcome to the twenty-seventh issue of the RoVerse Development Newsletter, where we keep you updated on the progress we've made over the past week! This is Vaktus here, I'm finally back from a rough dose of tonsillitis! As most of you have likely noticed, we didn't release a newsletter last week, but do not fear! The reason for this was down to a combination of restricted real-life free time for our devs to work on RoVerse and myself being ill, unable to help with organisation and tracking the week's progress for the newsletter. This means everything will return to normal from now on, however the past couple of weeks has brought light to the issue of the newsletters relying on me being around. So to solve this from ever reoccurring, we'll be accepting one of the writer applicants to help me with the newsletters and keep things catalogued in the event I am absent. If you'd be interested in this, feel free to send a message to RoVerse_Official on ROBLOX, even though we already have writers for the job, there's always the chance you could help! During the past week the dev team has been dealing with real life work, returning to studies after the winter holidays, but progress is still being made slowly but surely! Some of the most important work going on right now is Idyllic's coding of the planet generation, at the moment he's perfecting the desert biomes which will allow us to have massive deserts with dunes that spread out into the horizon. These are the initial versions though so you can expect to seem them smoother in the final versions. As for the Dogfight Alpha, Fireband hasn't been able to get to adding the new features and fixes yet due to his scripting work for VOID, but he'll be making plenty of progress on the Dogfight Alpha once he's available again you can count on that! In the meantime we've built a nice capital ship design for use in the Dogfight Alpha once capital ship combat is ready to be implemented, you can take a look at it here: Galbotrix got his PC fixed, so he's now able to return to the industrial outpost interiors! He's got to work on adding detail to the mineral sorting room and begun construction on the module's main room. Here's a screenshot of the current mineral sorting room: Then we have the second furnace room, which has a more open and dangerous layout for on-foot skirmishes: Lastly we have a sneak peak at his start on the module's main room, alongside a concept art picture of what it's planned to look like: With ArcticCitadel's PC now able to handle some building, he's redesigned the civilian outpost exterior (work in progress!) and will be working on the other modules when he's available from time to time: Alongside the planet generation coding, Idyllic has also made progress on the pirate outpost, this time it's the farm module: Some really cool new debris assets were also built during the week which will be used in future maps of the Dogfight Alpha. The most interesting of which is a massive freighter with a whole hollowed out interior to fly through, including a massive engine port and the power core of the ship: Each week we compile a Q&A section here whenever there are any new questions posted on the RoVerse Community group wall, so be sure to join if there's something you'd like to ask about RoVerse: https://www.roblox.com/Groups/Group.aspx?gid=2948290 Q1: Will you be able to crash large capital ships into other ships or space stations for massive damage? A1: Yes you will be able to ram capital ships at the cost of massive damage and likely destruction. This tactic would usually only be employed as a last-ditch effort to take down an opponent with you, since the insurance cost to replace your lost capital is far too high to be viable in regular combat. Q2: Will there be space obstacles such as black holes, red giants, etc, etc? A2: Of course! There will be many different types of environmental hazards in space, such as explosive pockets of gas in nebulae and solar wind storms. Q3: Does RoVerse plan on hosting multiple community events? If so, could you elaborate? A3: If you mean during development, the main events would be streaming large updates to the Alpha or Beta tests. After the game's launch, we don't want to interfere too much with the "natural habitat" of RoVerse as we want it to grow and transform organically through the actions of the players and factions in the game. So most of the in-game events will be done by the clans and players themselves. Q4: Will transporters be a thing? You know, 'beam me up Scotty!' A4: Good question! When it comes to landing on a planet, starships generally employ short-range materialization to teleport the pilot from the ship to the surface beside the vessel. Long-range teleportation may be a feature however we don't want to detract from the fun that can be had entering a planet's atmosphere and flying through the clouds to land manually. Q5: "The main goal of RoVerse is to revitalize clans." It is a well put idea, but before a neutral player aligns himself with a faction, is he required to join the group on the Roblox Website? If so, it would be unfair to newcomers in realm of RoVerse. Some factions have rigorous selection processes which prevent less experienced players from ever being able to join them. I assume the faction revitalization idea will be more like advertising, but I request the detailing of that process be more specific. A5: We don't want RoVerse to become so popular as a game that the playerbase forgets it even has anything to do with clans, leaving the clan world none the better than before RoVerse. The plan for the game's system will likely adapt over time before release, but the basic idea is that clans will be able to allow people not in their group to start as independent civilians from one of the planets in their space. Either way, clans that are more peaceful/neutral and open towards new players starting in their space will be highlighted and likely given some bonuses to aid the newer players that aren't used to clans. Q6: Will players receive a handicap for not being in a main faction, regardless of whether the player is aligned with said faction? A6: No, a player's ability to do things in RoVerse will be entirely down to how many credits they have and how far their aspirations take them. The main difference between players is what career they have, for example the military will have access to much better ground equipment than civilians do and the navy will have access to much better starships. Q7: With my personal goal being to create a mining tycoon, will it be possible? I.E. Creating your own big and bad mining ships. If possible, please give me detailing about the situation, and what outpost would best cater to the choice. A7: Absolutely! One of the biggest end-game goals of RoVerse for an independent player is to create a sub-faction of their own by building an outpost station and gaining dominance in their sub-factions chosen area. Your mining corporation for example, you'd invest in constructing industrial outposts to act as a base of operations for refining your ore and selling it on the market, as well as constructing your own uniquely-designed mining ships. Then you can think of creating a corporate outpost to gain a better foothold in the market and begin constructing your own fleet of security ships to guard your mining fields. Or if you'd prefer to have some more experienced escorts you could contract a merc corp to guard your miners for you and split the profits. Q8: Customizable ships? A8: Yes, this was covered in a previous question, but generally you can expect to customize your ship's nose and wing paint, outfit it with the weapons and upgrades that fit your playstyle and even name her to your liking. Q9: What sort of performance are you expecting in RoVerse? A9: We're building the game from the ground up to cater to even the lowest specs so everyone can enjoy RoVerse without needing to fork out piles of cash on a super computer! Q10: What server size will you hope for? A10: The largest we can get, which we can only find out through testing. We're hoping to get at least 32 players but we want to get as close as possible to the ROBLOX maximum of 50. Q11: Will you use Universes/Teleportation between places? A11: Basically, yes. RoVerse uses the ROBLOX Universe system to have hundreds of games within a single place. Each star system and planet will be its own game with servers for when they become full. You'll be able to travel between star systems through warp holes and warp gates as well as with warp drives on larger vessels. Q12: How can RoVerse guarantee that the things that destroy clans today (unfair tactics) won't be replicated within your system? A12: The reason ROBLOX clans have so much trouble interacting with each other fairly is due to every clan having total control over their own bases. There's no globalized system to delegate wars and ensure things are done with fairness and fun. Thanks to RoVerse being a neutral user-made game, we'll be able to ensure all clans are on the same leveled playing field. Unlike in clan forts where balance is questionable and high rank admins have total control, RoVerse will be entirely automated through in-game scripts like a real competitive AAA game and no clan can be given a bias advantage over another. Every sport needs a referee and computer system doesn't play favourites! Of course it should be noted that just because warfare will be universal on RoVerse it doesn't mean clans won't have their own cultural identity and diversity. Clans in RoVerse being faithful to who they are in ROBLOX is a top priority for us and that is why everything a clan uses in RoVerse will be built by the real clans themselves. Q13: What is stopping people or clans from cheating within the system? A13: Well, the system we will use for warfare will be tested and ensured that there are no ways it can be exploited/cheated to gain an advantage. When it comes to hacking though, we will have moderators who will deal with hackers to the best of their ability, such as banning and even contacting ROBLOX directly thanks to our connections. Q14: How would such a system guarantee an improvement in clans (as it has promised) rather than the perpetuation of the very attitude that has demolished clans in the first place? A14: RoVerse is designed specifically to bring out the very best in clans, to protect and grow what makes the clan world so special and unique from any other online community on the internet. The attitude that is hurting clans is the uncompromising desire to win at any cost, and with control of wars and bases in the hands of these people there is nothing to stop them from sacrificing fun for wins on a scoreboard or a name on a defeated list. This will all change for the clans that join RoVerse, as they will never need to fear war terms, admin abuse or unfair forts. In RoVerse all clans will be treated equally and given their own space to make their own both culturally, politically and economically. Clans will be able to watch their actual real cities grow, their own planes soar across the sky, their patented bombs reigning on the enemy. RoVerse seeks to regulate clans just enough that they are safe from total anarchy, yet free enough to be themselves and be unrestricted in their enjoyment of the ROBLOX clan world. Q15: What do you aspire to create within the clan community by using RoVerse? A15: To put it simply, we hope to save the clan world from the plateau it has reached, we hope to finally bring back the passion of adventure and life that clans used to have when leaders were not afraid to risk defeat and just let their members have fun. In ROBLOX, clans can cheat their way out of defeat and as a result, clans that legitimately win are rarely believed to have done so without cheating somehow. Clans that join RoVerse will be proving the are not afraid of defeat, because in RoVerse there are no cheats to escape defeat, the open world sandbox gameplay ensures everyone is treated equally. We're sorry for leaving you guys hanging last week, we hope this week's newsletter will have made up for the gap. Thanks for your patience guys, and always remember that we're dedicated to you all and no matter what hardships we face, we'll see RoVerse through to the finish line and beyond! Greetings from the RoVerse Dev Team! This week we have the twenty-sixth issue of the RoVerse Development Newsletter, where we keep you updated on the progress we've made over the past week! Now that the holidays are past, our devoted development team is heading back into the game, working towards updates for the Dogfight Alpha released a few weeks ago, and further gameplay features for the actual game. Bug fixes will be applied as soon as possible, but keep sending in the reports if you find something that is broken. We really do take a careful look at these things and appreciate your feedback. This week, Vaktus has been out of commission, so the members of the dev team will be writing some articles for the newsletter. Things are a bit slow as the Holidays wind down and a large portion of the dev team starts returning to school. Currently, a lot of the effort is being placed into bug-testing. IdyllicDestroyer - For the past month, I have been working on creating the planets that will be the focus of ground gameplay. For the past few weeks I have been working from the top down, creating the basic icosahedron sphere, subdividing it into smaller tiles, dividing the tiles into tectonic plates with randomized drift, and have begun work on the weather systems that determine an areas biome. To complete this huge feature, it is also necessary to work from the ground up - I have begun working out how biomes and terrain are generated at the scale of the player, which is a huge task all on its own. Below is a demonstration of the creation of a dune-like landscape using math.noise. lordrex12345 - For the past couple of weeks I've been doing a variety of small tasks to get the Dogfight Alpha up and going. More recently though I've been really excited to work on RoVerse's chat system framework. Since I originally started, I've gone through six or more iterations with each one getting better and better. I hope to finish the project with a versatile system that will be crucial in player communication. More details -and maybe a surprise or two- to come. Each week we compile a Q&A section here whenever there are any new questions posted on the RoVerse Community group wall, so be sure to join if there's something you'd like to ask about RoVerse: https://www.roblox.com/Groups/Group.aspx?gid=2948290 Please Note: These answers are given to the best of the Dev team's knowledge, and may be subject to change. Questions 1-4 answered by IdyllicDestroyer. Q1: So if someone owns a company, will they be able to hand out jobs to players or 'AI'? Also, is the game only going to be players or will there be AIs? A1a: With a game the size of RoVerse, it would be impossible for any one player to be effective at every occupation available - everything from mining to piloting a fighter in battle. It wouldn't be fair to the people patrolling faction borders all the time if only the miners got paid, so payments from the faction to the player, and most likely player to player, will be possible. If you can pay someone to do something, I'm sure they'd be happy to do any mission you want. A1b: Having AI in the game would be extremely advantageous, but also extremely resource intensive. While there may be some minor AI functions, having a pseudo-player to do missions for you is most likely a no. Q2: Will there be different genders in-game? A2: Your ROBLOX character will be your ROBLOX character, with no additional gender characteristics involved. Clothing will be purchasable by anyone, as well as being able to wear items from the ROBLOX webpage. Q3: Will players receive a handicap for not being in a main faction, regardless of whether the player is aligned with said faction? A3: While the main goal of RoVerse is to encourage joining the Roblox clan world, an artificial handicap placed on a player that are not in a main faction is probably not the way to do it. While a solo player can theoretically do anything in game, the scale and cost of doing so would make it incredibly hard. Addendum: To play RoVerse, you must be in a participating clan in the first place. Think of them as “starting races” where you can, if you want, dedicate your time to helping them – or you can go off and do your own thing. You’re a citizen of your clan, but you don’t owe them 100%. Q4: Will it be possible to build 'big and bad' mining ships, and focusing primarily on mining lots of ore, rather than space combat? A4: Since we've been working hard on getting the Dogfight Alpha to release, we've been focusing mainly on the fighter ships, and not talking much about the other ships of RoVerse. RoVerse will have a wide variety of ships, each specialized to different occupations. A large mining ship, covered in drills and mining lasers, is entirely possible! (Questions 5-12 answered by HeroMaster. Answers may be tentative.) Q5. Will there be Vaktus Easter eggs? A5. No. Probably not, anyways. I don’t even know why I answered this question. The only Vaktus Easter egg is that Vaktus will likely be in it and he sort of leads that thing. Maybe you'll find an ancient statue of Vaktus on a desolate planet. Q6. Will there be escape pods for capital ships? A6. It has been discussed before and yes, the idea of escape pods has come up. I don’t think it’s confirmed, but it’s something we will definitely consider as we create the framework for Capital Ship systems. Q7. What sort of performance are you expecting in RoVerse? A7. One of the primary goals of RoVerse is accessibility. We know the average Robloxian might not have a high-tech computer with 50 Titans in it. Or maybe they even use a laptop. The point is, RoVerse is being made with performance in mind. Our end goal is to offer a lag-free experience even to those playing on lower-end devices and we’re constantly testing performance to make sure it’s up to that standard. Q8. What server size will you hope for? A8. We know server-size is an issue for us since we can’t possibly have huge clan battles in space with only 35 ships flying around, but with our main goal being performance, we’re going to be testing constantly to make sure we can get the largest server size possible without harming performance. I would personally be content with 50, but as ROBLOX changes so will we. Q9. Will you use the Universes/Teleportation between places/ A9. Yup. Kind of a given, but with the scale RoVerse is at it’s going to be hard to make a fully seamless environment and 1) have a lot of players in that area and 2) not lag. We’re going to find the best possible way to use Universes and make sure it’s put to good use. Q10. How does RoVerse plan on increasing the populace of the clan world? A10. That’s a bit complicated, but we (at least as I, HeroMaster, see it) want to do this by creating a demand to play RoVerse. One thing we’ve said before is that clans are factions, but they also act as a species or home world, sort of. You have to pick one at the start of the game to play and, well, if you’re not in a clan, how can you play? Clans that perform well in RoVerse will draw people in to join them just as if a clan were performing well normally. And when we release more gamified versions (an extensive, free-to-play version of the Dogfight module has been heavily discussed) players will play those and get a taste of the bigger game, drawn towards it and clans. I don’t speak for Vaktus but this is how I see it working. Things might change in the way we do them. The goal is to offer an experience unmatched elsewhere, where members of ROBLOX can get a taste of the clan world, and are encouraged to join a clan and get the full experience. Q11. What customizable features does RoVerse offer in-game? A11. RoVerse, for the sake of performance, obviously won’t have infinite customizability. The “civilian” ships won’t be heavily customizable in appearance, but you might be able to outfit them with different weapons or gear. The biggest customization comes from clans that join: they’ll have their own ships, stations, uniforms, guns – you name it. Q12. How about moon bases and planetary shields? A12. I certainly hope so. That sounds legitimately pretty cool. I don’t think we’ve really discussed planet shields (and it’d be an interesting thing to put in once super weapons are added to the game far down the line) but moon bases? I’ll put in a good word for this one. There were a lot of great questions that weren’t included in this Q&A session because they’re not really questions for me to address. I’ll forward them to Vaktus and make sure a proper, fully realized answer is given. |
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AuthorsVaktus: Leader of the Vaktovian Empire and head of the RoVerse Project |