RoVerse Development Newsletter #106

Hello everyone! Welcome to the 106th issue of the RoVerse Development Newsletter, where we keep you updated on the progress we've made over the past week.

This week, Idyllic has returned from his road trip and dove right back into Capital Update coding, with a neat diagram of how it all fits together, and the pieces yet to be added. The Flak turret that was in-progress last week has also been completed, rounding out the last weapon class the be added before the update.

​Up first we have the long-anticipated flak turrets. Launching an unguided shell that explodes after a preset duration or distance, the shell violently launches shrapnel in all directions from its point of explosion. This shrapnel tears through any ship unlucky enough to be nearby.

Shown here used to create a 'smokescreen' protecting ships behind it from missile attacks, this Avenger has been outfitted with a full complement of flak cannons - an unusual arrangement to be sure, but a possible one. The red spheres shown are not the final particle effects, but rather the markers indicating areas that have just been exploded. Any missiles passing through this area will have a chance of being destroyed in-flight, saving the ship it was targeting.

Stat values, like transit speed and fire rate will be tweaked to ensure fair effectiveness of this defensive weapon. Also, keep in mind it won't stop a laser or conventional shell, so a flak ship should have an escort fleet.

We will also allow you to vary the time/distance to detonation, to protect the ship up close, to providing cover at an extended distance, probably bound either to the scroll wheel, or incrementally triggered by two keys, depending on our final keybinding scheme. Fighters will also have to watch out for these weapons - a well-placed flak explosion could knock you out of the sky.

With Flak turrets seen here, it is important to consider ship shape when designing ships for different purposes. Turrets on the far sides of ships that cannot aim at a target do not fire - if you're angled improperly, you may not be as effective as you need to be to win the day.

Now that we have all the weapon types available, it's time to return to our roots, and kit out the Bolitho with it's designed kits: three conventional turrets, and 4 flak. 

Impressive,

and with a shake of the hand, explosion effects!

Is idyllic unstoppable?

And while we're mixing together weapon types, why not randomize it completely to see what sort of beast we can make?

Also on Idyllics plate this week was mapping out how exactly the updates to the fighters and gamemodes have been structured. With the departure of thefurryfish and smellypencil, it's now time to figure out how the pieces lay, and how we're going to fit these awesome Capital features Idyllic has been working on together.

After the chaos that was the initial Dogfight Alpha release code, we knew it was absolutely imperative that we simplify and modulate the code it ran on, to be able to add new features, edit values, and ensure the best performance of the game. A while back we talked about just how bad the coding on the original dogfight was, so we won't go over it all again, but know that it has been fixed.

The new format for code is modular and easy to read and add to, and it should be a cinch to add Idyllic's Capital modules to it with limited problems.

In diagram form, the organization of the code is made simple, rather than slogging through thousands of lines of code for what you're looking for. The addition of Capital mechanics will tie right into the ship spawning code, health and damage will be straightforward, and adding gamemodes to include capitals will be a breeze.

All with the very important aspect of being Filtering-Enabled. We've had a few people in the community ask us about this the past week due to Roblox's policy changes, but we're here to reaffirm that yes, RoVerse will use all the best security features available, including being Filtering Enabled.


Each week we compile a Q&A section here whenever there are any new questions posted on the RoVerse Community group wall or in the Community Discord Server. Be sure to join if you have any questions about RoVerse:

ROBLOX Group: https://www.roblox.com/My/Groups.aspx?gid=2948290
Discord server: https://discord.gg/npxBGwJ

Q1: Will there be planet-surface based area denial weapons that require special equipment to pass through?

A1: There should be plenty of defensive measures to protect your ground bases and cities from attack, though the best defense will always be players there to guard and defend. Use of terrain and obstacles to deny vehicle access will be possible, as should explosives.

Q2: How will spaceports work?

A2: We've already covered how stations and outposts will take in ships, and a few newsletters back we debuted a structure for connecting parked capital ships to the surface, but we didn't cover all that much of the mechanics of it, as well as how smaller craft will land. You can try using landing gear on rough terrain, or build a helipad, moving up from there, there should be larger sized pads, up to the capital docks. Storage of ships would involve hangar buildings, but none big enough for capital ships. Other than that, you're free to travel to and from planets, just watch out for people shooting at you, or the impounder comes to lock your ship down.

Q3: How will ground-combat medical items work?

A3: There should be plenty of medical items for use by infantry in planetary invasions. While we don't have the specifics yet, medpacks are fairly standard, but could take different forms based on faction lore. A healing syringe for one, a bandage pack for another, a wrench for a third.

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​​You can support us by joining our Community Group or Discord server! So far, the community has been absolutely amazing, supportive, and very friendly. We are very appreciative of all the support you guys show us!

If you want to catch any of our developers streaming, you can always follow our official Twitch channel here!

Remember, we are always looking for new, talented builders, scripters and artists! If you’d like to help us you can always get in touch with us through RoVerse_Official on the ROBLOX website, or by contacting an Administrator in the community Discord! Don’t worry, we don’t bite!