RoVerse Development Newsletter #124

Hello everyone! Welcome to the 124th 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 continued working on feature sets for Capitals, knocking out a ship christening system, complete with ceremonial champagne bottle, and continued work on the intra-system warp system effects and code.

A few newsletters back, we showed one of Sae's ships that featured quite prominently a nameplate designating that ship as the Bolitho-class ship the Athena. Since then, coding a feature to let everyone edit their ship's name live was on the checklist, and this week, between exams and construction projects, Idyllic found time to make it happen.

Included in this project was the creation of a default format for nameplates, to be included on any ships wishing to have customizable names, consisting of a forward-out facing stud sized appropriately for any length of text that could fit on the side of the ship. Here on the Avenger, this is a 2x6 stud area, on both flanks of the vessel and below. It's important to face the gui the correct way, or your nameplate could end up upside down.

Since the surfaceguis are parts on top of the ship, they function perfectly well with our ship skinning system, if you pick an appropriate color for contrast. We also recommend factions create naming conventions for their ships, to keep a consistent theme for fleet vessels - there is an opportunity for differentiating fleets by naming scheme, like a fleet of bird names, a fleet of prey species, etc. Be creative.

Speaking of color picking - the nameplates will have access to the full range of colors provided by our handy color-picking wheel or hex value input. Why be limited to a selection of preset colors, when the full rainbow is out there waiting for you? And thanks to former dev Fractality, a Color3.fromHSV function is already available to make it easier on the coders.

​In continuation of his work last week on intra-system warping, Idyllic has added a few default effects to the mix, including the dust particles you know and love from fighters, at a touch bigger scale, as well as some energy waves cresting off the bow, as well as upgraded the code to be a bit more smooth of a transition from regular speed to hyper speed.

These effects should be completely customizable per faction as long as they're in a similar format. If you plan on using attachments for your beams, have the host part in the same location as the ship's core so they're properly offset when attached.

​​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: Do fighters and ships need landing gear?

A1: It is entirely possible for us to anchor ships in place when you land them, but if hovering doesn't fit your faction's theme, I'd recommend building in legs of some kind, either inbuilt into the shape of the ship so that it can land flat, or extendable pylons.

Q2: Will landed fighters use VTOL?

A2: Yes - we're in the future, of course we will. Trying to make functioning runways is just asking for trouble, and would probably only see minimal use next to a ubiquitous hovering takeoff and landing. 

Q3: How big can civilian ships get? Giant Cargo ship?

A3: These ships are still in the planning phase, but if you want to build an absolutely ginormous cargo ship, we won't try and stop you. In reality, you'll have to balance the efficiency of cargo capacity with construction material requirements, to determine if a fleet of smaller ships is a better option, but we would like to see someone try. One of the wrecks in the dogfight alpha is a large cargo ship, I'd love to see one working.

Q4: RoVerse rts?

A4: While we aren't going to go change the style of the game at this point, there are aspects that may be similar to rts games. Faction commanders will have access to overview maps and troop movement monitors, that allow them to direct invasion and defensive forces like a top-down game would, but with real people and equipment being moved around.

Q5: What ships does a faction need at minimum?

A5: At a basic level, a fighter, a capital, and a mining ship, though there are defaults available, but we only recommend going that route if it fits your faction theme to do so. It won't look very good if you only put three ships worth of effort into it.

Q6: Would you be able to ''steal'' a clan's uniform in an attempt to stealthily infiltrate an area?

A6: While this would certainly be an interesting mechanic, we'd have to be sure to control it's use so it doesn't become common. Perhaps a rare drop from a civilian vessel or wreck.

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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!