RoVerse Development Newsletter #197

Hello everyone! Welcome to the 197th issue of the RoVerse Development Newsletter, where we keep you updated on the progress we've made this week.

This week, Idyllic has been hard at work implementing Capital ship weapons to the development version, with freshly-rigged turret models, code that makes turrets act like turrets instead of gimbals, and the first bits of code to make them go pew. Let's go!

With the outpost turrets we developed as a guideline for how Capital turrets would need to work, the first step necessary was rigging them up with welds - Fighter turrets operate with a very specific layout of welds that make them point in the right direction.

So we rigged up the military outpost turrets with a modified version of the fighter turret structure, and tested it out. However there was a flaw. Fighter gimbals pivot in their sockets, and don't remain upright from a ships point of view. This just wouldn't work for turrets that have to stay upright.

So Idyllic did some math, and worked out a way to keep the turrets upright, no matter which direction the ship was facing. With that problem out of the way, the next problem was splitting the turret between the base, which moves left and right, and the elevator, which moves up and down. 

Fighter weapons don't have these constraints, so some new code needed to be worked out. Without splitting these two directions, the turret-tops would just point at the cursor, which doesn't look very good. So some more fancy math was devised.

Horizontal was a piece of cake, ignoring the y axis of rotation, and only moving left and right. Egomoose then called us out on twitter, in a post with oddly coincidental timing.

Because when it comes to CFrame rotations, plugging in different orders is the only way to do it. It must be, because Idyllic got the turret elevators working.

Followed shortly by a lower boundary, so you couldn't aim below the horizon, and an upper boundary so you can't aim over 80° upwards. Skinny then took up the task of doing a final polish on turret effects like muzzle flashes and bolts, as we work towards the final implementation of these weapon types we've waited so long to see working.

With one turret working, it was then to rig up the other turret types.

​Which all culminated in the most chaotic gif yet.

There are a few more things that need to be polished on the turret front, and a few new weapon types available to capitals that aren't available to fighters that need to be finished up. Next on our list is a capital-based gamemode, which will finally mark the beginning of the Capital Update. We'll keep you posted on our progress.


Don't forget about the RoVerse Community Egghunt Part 2, The Calexian's Strike Back - available for a limited time.

An Emissary of the Calexian Imperium has been stationed on Hyperion Station to offer a new hunt to find a fabled Calexian Vault. In the Calexian Update, players can experience:
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- Four Brand new Eggs
- An exploration on Nexus and beyond through locations both new and old
- A brand new activity to do in Hyperion Station
- A brand new Calexian Industries pinnacle reward ship named Sails of Cheer
and many more...

Talk to the Calexian Emissary at Hyperion Station to get started!

The sixth week of our weekly Community Dogfight Event was held this week. Members of the Community and abroad got together to blast each other to bits in the chase towards the top of the leaderboard and the chance to win this cycle's exclusive reward ship, the Veptor. This week, we had a few dedicated pilots arrive for the fun - here are some action-shots for those who couldn't make it. If you have cool screenshots on your end, we'd love to add them to the collection.

​This week, there were 102 kills, 61 with laser, 16 with auto, 12 with beam, 10 with plasma, and 3 with railgun. The most dangerous ship was the Gladiator, with 27 kills, followed by the Excalibur and Iridium with 15. The most dangerous map was Frostland with 40 deaths, followed by The Great Hollow with 24.

And now, the moment you've been waiting for...
The three players that topped the leaderboard were devOmegax, with 28 kills and 16 deaths and a 1.75 KDR; IdyllicDestroyer with 16 kills, 28 deaths and a 0.57 KDR; and FangABXY with 14 kills, 19 deaths, and a 0.73 KDR. Nice work pilots!

This wraps up the 6th cycle, and was the last opportunity to unlock the Sonicor Veptor, but we'll have a brand new ship for players to earn in the coming cycle.
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If you'd like to check out the rest of our data, you can find the spreadsheet here: Phase 1 Data (Week 41)

Now, for the overall cycle stats!

Pillarum was again the most dangerous map, with 311 kills, followed by Frostland with 297, and Ecumenopolis with 191. The top ship was the Excalibur, with 503 kills, followed by the Cardinal with 151, the Iridium with 136, and the Hex with 104. The top weapon was the Laser, with 578 kills, followed by Auto with 281, and Beam with 279. Plasma marked up to 109, Railgun with 51, and Torpedo with 15. An outstanding 73 pilots participated this cycle and earning at least one kill, while 100 players died at least once. The lowest KDR belongs to SconesGame and EmperorDoge, with a .07 KDR. The dogfight has seen 5,063 visits, with an 83% approval rating (118-23) and 257 favorites.

This cycle there were 1,313 kills total, only 3% of which were by the Outpost. Topping off this cycle's leaderboard was IdyllicDestroyer, with 177 kills, 217 deaths, and a 0.81 KDR. He was followed closely by TheCandyVanMan with 167 kills, 133 deaths, and a 1.25 KDR, and Phaytox with 132 kills, 98 Deaths, and 1.34 KDR. These three pilots have unlocked the exclusive Golden Veptor Skin, coming soon to a dogfight near you. 

If you'd like to check out the rest of our data, you can find the spreadsheet here: Phase 1 Data (Championship Series 6)

 
​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: How will capitals store bombardment weapons?

A1: Bombardment weapons are merely the turrets the capital has mounted, rather than a special turret for shooting downwards. In that case, it is important for the turrets to be arranged in such a way that allows them to be fired in the direction desired, so take care when designing Capitals.

Q2: Will a heavily-damaged capital be cheaper to rekit?

A2: I don't think that damaging something more should ever come out to a net gain, which seems to be the implication here. Expect rekitting prices to be the same for a ship, whether it is damaged or not.

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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!