RoVerse Development Newsletter #304

Hello everyone! Welcome to the 304th issue of the RoVerse Development Newsletter, where we keep you updated on the progress we've made over the past week.

This week, we've got a new tracking function using Highlights, another crack at a crafting tree, and the latest in boilerplate flight scripts.

A new feature that a few helpful members of the community tested out in the Dogfight, is a target-selection highlight function. Using the new highlights feature (what else?) we've made it so that when you target-select any hostile, whether that's a ship or an outpost turret, it gets highlighted for you. No more fumbling around in the dark corners of an outpost strike trying to find the hitbox of the turret you were diving in on, now it'll be revealed even in the darkest parts of deep space.

We're still discussing the exact visuals we want to use, so don't be surprised if it changes over time. There have been arguments made about the white outline and Frostland map in particular, and the red fill does wash out a lot of detail that we might be able to fade out as you get closer, or apply a pulsing effect.

Overall, it makes target selection that much easier - the target boxes are nice, but rather large and non-specific in the grand scheme of things. With highlights, you can see exactly what you're aiming at. We're also excited to test out highlights as a method of warp-destination selection - allowing you to highlight a specific structure at a significant distance and watch as it grows bigger as you approach.

Also, while we were messing around in the code, we found an explosion effect that wasn't parented properly to outpost turrets, so they'll now explode with a bit more gusto. We also added a feature similar to the capital wreck generation that messes up destroyed turrets, sending their pieces spinning into the void.

Explosion delayed to show visual destruction.​ 

We took about the 6th stab at developing an intelligible crafting tree for the various resources we've had on our list. Every previous tree has been abandoned because it ends up unintelligibly complex, and no one but Idyllic can read it. This attempt is no different, and we'll be looking at alternative ways of conveying the steps needed to construct the most complex machinery in the galaxy.

The crafting steps are very simple in concept - a higher-tier item is made of up to 4 different ingredients. But conveying that information has been very difficult. If any of you have any recommendations or references to how other games have done this, let us know and we'll check it out.
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This week wrapped up with spaceships. We've extracted everything flight-related from the dogfight, and boiled it down into the specific things that ships will need to fly in every other place we intend them to fly. That means that they have shed their gamemodes, their modification menus, and their various other fluff and fanfare - everything that doesn't make ships go vroom. All the new features that have been added to the Beta that haven't been available at the Hyperion ship hangar are now copied over into the boilerplate system - stuff like vector lock, the new target highlighting feature, and the latest keybinds. This also includes Capitals, that are just a little bit more work away from taking flight at Hyperion.

With the boilerplate systems copied over, we got around to organizing and condensing the various folders of assets that have expanded over time, as well as adding in code that handles the variations of scale between Hyperion Station and Star Systems - all the fighters from the Hangar we put together were copied over and dropped into their respective folders, where they can be summoned up with a small amount of editing.

From here, we'll be working out the kinks of scaled-up fighter combat, like turret attachment sizes, collisions, and being able to spawn capital ships on command. And last but not least - the ability to land your ship and return to your explorations of Hyperion.

​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 do we trade material at stations? Do we have to touch a contact point, or just a close distance?

A1: There are a wide variety of locations players will be able to exchange resources with each other or the system. At Hyperion, trades will take place at dedicated consoles in the Refinery Sector, between two different players. Players selling resources off their ship will be able to interact with the station from nearby or in the Tortuga Hangar. In Space, players piloting ships will be able to trade (or rob) ships in close proximity, while those close to faction stations will have to be in a pre-determined area.

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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!