Hello everyone! Welcome to the 150th issue of the RoVerse Development Newsletter, where we keep you updated on the progress we've made over the past week. This week was a momentous occasion, with Phase 1 of the Capital Update being released to a limited selection of the RoVerse Community for its final rounds of testing. Members of the community, from the most active to the most renowned assisted Idyllic in hunting down those last few bugs that will need to be fixed before the game is ready for its grand opening in the next few weeks. Needless to say, the more... creative members of the community managed to break it in ways the coders had never foreseen, so the game isn't quite ready for a full release immediately, but we now have a list of things that must be fixed before the wider public gets a chance to play. The first apparent "bug" was that everyone that joined didn't mount any turrets on their ships, so their first round was full of flying, but very little shooting, and a lot of getting shot at. Remember people, make sure you have turrets equipped before diving into battle, no matter how tempting that deploy button is. To solve this, we will be developing a tutorial system for new players, to guide them through the laborious process of selecting a ship, adding a turret to each turret mount, clicking confirm to lock that selection in, then hitting deploy. Beyond the technical bugs that arose, some feedback on gameplay was submitted - beams accidentally had a very high damage value so they were significantly overpowered, and their range and accuracy being perfect made them nigh-unbeatable. It was fantastic seeing players try every combination of weapon and ship, creating some unusual combinations that are entirely strategically viable - like a heavy fighter with 5 torpedo turrets that spray missiles across the stars, or a nimble hummingbird chasing down everyone at the highest speed possible, but then exploding into dust. On top of this limited release, Idyllic added several new faction fighters to the Update, further refining the process involved in taking the beautiful public designs and fixing them up to work with our beautiful code. Command bar scripts were developed to weld and unanchor ship models, setting up engines for particle effects, and generally making Idyllic's life easier. The ships that were meshed a few weeks ago by Skinny for all the default fighters have also been imported and welded, replacing their other part-intensive versions. In the testing, there was nigh a complaint about the meshes that we are loading, so so far the process has been a success in making the game run smoother. We will be extending the testing to more members of the community in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. 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 ship boarding? A1: We considered this initially as an interesting combat mechanic, but unfortunately it would significantly cut into actual ship gameplay - nobody wants to stop mid-battle to teleport to a different server and start shooting at each other, only to be flanked by a warship. While an interesting concept, there is no way to fit it into our gameplay. Ship interiors are also a significant strain on factions to require them to be built, and if an important boarding mechanic was included, an interior would need to be built for every ship. We have kept the option open for ship interiors as a voluntary thing, where players can drop anchor somewhere and explore the inside of their ship, roleplay, etc. Q2: Anti-shield mines? A2: It's on our list. Q3: What will it be like walking through a city? Big blocks and lack of life with a few hubs? A3: Roughly. The feature isn't entirely fleshed out just yet, but there is no way we can do both an entire planet and a fully detailed city in one server. Picture lots of medium detail skyscrapers, roads crisscrossing between them, and a few landmark points to defend - city hall, an armory, or industrial district. Q4: Can we slingshot asteroids at enemy capitals? A4: No. Just no. Q5: Will there be a way to warn players that an area is restricted access and to not go there? A5: We might add a way to drop warning beacons or something, but leaving lots of ship corpses might be a good indicator that there are enemies nearby. Q6: How much detail can I write into my faction lore about the home system? A6: If your 'home system' isn't a physical place in RoVerse, you have a little bit more freedom with the details. Add planets, have weird phenomena, do whatever makes it interesting. If your home system is actually in-game, though, the max number of planets is 5, and systems are pre-generated so you'll need to find a home system that fits your liking. 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! Comments are closed.
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AuthorsVaktus: Leader of the Vaktovian Empire and head of the RoVerse Project |