RoVerse Development Newsletter #53

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

Another week has passed with steady progress towards our next landmark goal - updates to the Dogfight Alpha that you've all been waiting for. The features we have planned for these updates - everything from ship selection and outfitting, to gamemodes and capital ships - will require diligent effort, so we can't quite give you any dates yet, but it will be soon.

Accomplished this week was the construction of our first mining vessel, near-completion of another capital ship design, continued work on the tutorial station interiors, and lots of behind-the-scenes planning and design.

WhoToTrus took a break from Corporate Outpost interiors to try his hand at shipbuilding, with a little bit of inspiration artwork and only a little bit of outside input, he created the WTT - 017 Medium Mining and Transport Ship.

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​He also got to have a little fun with the small details...

​On the ground vehicles side of things, JangoFettAlex has been working hard on a tank-like vehicle in a style completely different from the vehicles we've seen so far. I must say, the tracks seem to resemble a Scorpion tank from Halo, and I can't wait to see what sort of turret he has planned.

Sae'Tzar has been hard at work on his next capital ship design, in a similar style to the previous model. With a variety of styles and layouts, there's a capital ship perfect for your every need!

IdyllicDestroyer has continued to work on the Tutorial Station interior, jumping over to a clothing store adjacent to the armory. Before any player is ready to take on the universe, it's important that they are properly armed, and look the part!

I know I'd prefer to shop for clothing by hologram, any day.

You may have heard about the new prototype lighting system that devs get a chance to try out - amidst all the things Idyllic had to attend to the past week, he got a chance to try the new system out on the Station he's been working on.

​The results...

Neither the VoxelCascade nor the Shadowmap worked well at all, with both producing absolutely ridiculous results. I guess the new Star Trek got it right - the future is bright, and full of lens flares.

Quite a few developers were on vacation this week, slimming down the newsletter a bit. But don't you worry, we'll be back in the next few weeks refreshed with renewed vigor to bring you the game we've all been waiting for!

​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: If an outpost gets destroyed completely by enemies of a subfaction, do they have to start from scratch, or do they get to recover their station?

A1: When a subfaction leader creates a faction, and sets about constructing their first 'home' station, they purchase the Outpost Type kit they would like. From there, they supply it with mined resources, or purchase minerals from traders to construct the primary module. When a station gets completely destroyed, there will be some persistence of the resources - some will be destroyed and irrecoverable, but a portion may still be recollected by players of either the faction or an opponent. The station will be destroyed, yes, but not everything that makes up the station.

Q2: Will there be an intermediate step between the largest fighters and the smallest capital ships, with different controls?

A2: The largest fighters available will be quite big and slow, and possibly quite close in size, but the flight systems will be distinct. We want capital ships to perform a different role than a fighter of any size would, so the distinction is important. When we finalize the list of ships and scale requirements, we will have more information about each of the types of vehicles.

Q3: Do you plan to use constraints for vehicles, like tank tracks and such?

A3: While having physically-simulated tank tracks would be cool, the strain on the game servers would be enormous, even if we did get it to work with spherical gravity, and at a tiny scale. We will be demoing vehicle control systems shortly, and that'll give you a clearer picture of what vehicles will be like.

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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! Don’t worry, we don’t bite!