RoVerse Development Newsletter #307

Hello everyone! Welcome to the 307th 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 continued work on the Economy Demo, completing the first steps of an inventory and time-delayed crafting system, as well as adding on a few additional menus to serve these new features.

Last week we showed a rudimentary inventory system, that kept track of how much ore you had collected by walking over it. It displayed this info only on the crafting screen for an item that used those resources, as a fraction of the amount required. This week, we've added a dedicated inventory screen, so you can see what items you have on hand outright.

Updates are fed from the server, that keeps track of your inventory. If anyone has any suggestions for other information they'd like to see on the inventory page, besides item and quantity, let us know. Right now, there's no maximum limit on the number of items you can hold, as we're still in the midst of discussion over whether it should be a quantity limit, or a volume limit. It seems that only the most realistic games try to go for an accurate scale of items between in-world and in-inventory, but is that the right choice for a game primarily based around mining ores in space, in the future?

We also didn't forget to make the total count numbers add up at the top of the menu:

With the inventory scroll out of the way, it was time to move on to the second pane on-screen when viewing a personal inventory. The middle of the UI has been reserved for character interactions, equipping tools and armor, selecting special upgrades, and perhaps even upgrading stats. With those plans in mind, we've begun working on that panel: 

We'll have more info about this panel, and the other inventory menus next week.

Next up was a very exciting feature - making the crafting system work. While there remain a few kinks to be worked out, and some further discussions to be had with the community about how crafting things is expected to work, on the visual side things are going quite well. We have connected the crafting button to some code that adds up the time to completion, tracks how long is remaining, and visually displays that info with a highlight. The timer counts down as progress is made, and if you change your mind you can always hit cancel.

And if you don't want to hang out in the fabrication interface for however long your crafting is going to take, we've mocked up what a progress indicator on your HUD might look like once you leave. 

It'll just be up to you to remember what you were crafting, and where you left it.

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: What can factions put in their Stations?

A1: Since the interiors of Faction Stations are entirely optional, and no gameplay aspects rely directly on there being interiors, what a Faction chooses to include inside is entirely up to them. If you want meeting halls, conference rooms, assembly spaces, it's all entirely up to you. Normal Station actions will still be accessible when in proximity from the outside, but you won't need to include a construction terminal or anything inside.

Q2: Can we build custom cockpits for our fighters?

A2: We discussed this a long time ago, and the consensus was that scale was not going to work with having tiny ships and even tinier cockpits. However, viewport frames may offer a compromise between the two. We can overlay a view from inside the cockpit on the client's UI, at normal scale, and have most things work - however, there are still some limitations, like dynamic lighting not working and particle effects not rendering. If you build it, we'll do our best.

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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!
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!