Big Building Update
Version 0.121 is now out! It features a bunch of new large structures, 3 new/updated Sandbox islands, and some improvements to how destruction works (particularly with large structures). Here's the full changelist:
* Added a bunch of new large structures (towers, office buildings, warehouses, and bridges).
* Added a new Sandbox island to test bridges (Bridge Tester).
* Updated Structure Zoo 1 + 2 and made Structure Zoo 1 the default.
* Improved structural collapses so buildings insta-crumble far less often.
* Reduced debris flying up way too fast from a block breaking into pieces.
* Improved particle debris so it doesn't bounce crazy high.
* Fixed some sides being damaged (or not) when they shouldn't be as structures break apart.
* Changed how treads collide so they glitch out far less often.
* Island Editor: Improved how built-in structures are referenced so custom islands won't lose references in the future (See ISLAND EDITOR NOTE below).
* Structure Editor: Added a warning if decals are not connected to a block.
* Structure Editor: Added a button to select disconnected decals.
* Structure Editor: Fixed sound fading out over time in the test mode.
* Island Editor: Fixed multiple small issues with the ground editor.
ISLAND EDITOR NOTE: If you've built a custom island that references built-in structures, those structures will be incorrect. Adding/changing new structures to the built-in list broke them, sorry! This shouldn't happen again in the future (after the level is saved), even as more structures are added.
To show off the new stuff, I made another video. I think this format works the best for me because I don't have to worry about VO and that makes them fast to record/edit (recording also doubles as extra testing session).
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Some of you may notice this is not the 0.121 update I had said it would be. Here's some background on why that is:
After the 0.120 update, I planned to work on new islands for a while. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the new islands, so I procrastinated by working on a new version of Draco to test all the new terrain features and find any other issues with the in-game editors. While that new version of Draco isn't in the game yet, the editors did get some refinement, and I felt ready to figure out some island ideas.
While working out what new island designs/concepts to build, I decided I wanted to push the limits of how large buildings could be in the game and have these massive buildings/structures be the focus of some new islands. I started to work on the larger structures, but kept running into small problems. The limits of the game were just a bit too low, particularly the number of maximum links between pieces in a structure. So I increased some numbers, but as I worked on large towers and such, debris was not looking as natural as it should, with too much stuff flying up randomly, and small particle debris bouncing far too high.
The particle debris was easy enough to fix, but it took me way longer than it should have to figure out where the fast-flying medium debris was coming from (it was mostly from incorrectly initialized variables). Once that was finally resolved, I spent a while tweaking numbers to prevent the instant-crumble phenomenon that happened pretty frequently when larger towers started to collapse.
Eventually I got some new towers in, and a couple new office buildings (one of them is not in the video/sandbox island because it's not very unique and will likely get revised). The warehouses and bridges took a bit more time to get right, as they required yet more destruction/stress tuning (as well as general experimentation).
I realized while working on all these structures that they should be the focus of this update, and I'd work on new campaign islands after. So new islands are still coming, but it'll be a little while longer.
Long-Term Structure Improvements
Now that this update is done, I think it's pretty obvious I need to make a significant change to allow much better long-term variety in structures. That change is adding support for some sort of wedge or skewed box as part of a structure. As everything about structures and blocks uses a standard box shape, it's not going to be an easy change, but I can think of a few different approaches that might help make it a little easier to add.
I'll also make it possible to rotate blocks/building arbitrarily once that happens, but there's no rush quite yet. I doubt I'll be adding many new structures after this update (until the change happens), as the structural style will change quite dramatically when it happens. I need to think more about the problem before I commit to any sort of timeframe. There are also other dramatic changes I might want to do first, such as multi-select in vehicle build mode.
Adventures in Failing to Focus
To be honest, the past few weeks have been a bit of struggle in terms of my work consistency. Some of the things I've been working on have been pretty tedious, but my productivity problem has been more mental than anything else. I've been doing less programming lately, and that means I have a harder time focusing. Working on structures/islands/art/etc is relatively straight-forward and my mind has always wandered while doing that kind of work. I won't get into details, but that's lead to more problems and distractions than usual lately.
Some of the recent struggles are just due to burnout from working 10+ hours for 6 months, and part of is a natural cycle I tend to go through. Usually the best thing for me to do (when focus is hard) is to just work on anything on the game, regardless of whether it's important or not. Just need to find something that seems fun and easy and do that. Eventually the focus will return and my abnormally high productivity with it.
* Added a bunch of new large structures (towers, office buildings, warehouses, and bridges).
* Added a new Sandbox island to test bridges (Bridge Tester).
* Updated Structure Zoo 1 + 2 and made Structure Zoo 1 the default.
* Improved structural collapses so buildings insta-crumble far less often.
* Reduced debris flying up way too fast from a block breaking into pieces.
* Improved particle debris so it doesn't bounce crazy high.
* Fixed some sides being damaged (or not) when they shouldn't be as structures break apart.
* Changed how treads collide so they glitch out far less often.
* Island Editor: Improved how built-in structures are referenced so custom islands won't lose references in the future (See ISLAND EDITOR NOTE below).
* Structure Editor: Added a warning if decals are not connected to a block.
* Structure Editor: Added a button to select disconnected decals.
* Structure Editor: Fixed sound fading out over time in the test mode.
* Island Editor: Fixed multiple small issues with the ground editor.
ISLAND EDITOR NOTE: If you've built a custom island that references built-in structures, those structures will be incorrect. Adding/changing new structures to the built-in list broke them, sorry! This shouldn't happen again in the future (after the level is saved), even as more structures are added.
To show off the new stuff, I made another video. I think this format works the best for me because I don't have to worry about VO and that makes them fast to record/edit (recording also doubles as extra testing session).
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Some of you may notice this is not the 0.121 update I had said it would be. Here's some background on why that is:
After the 0.120 update, I planned to work on new islands for a while. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the new islands, so I procrastinated by working on a new version of Draco to test all the new terrain features and find any other issues with the in-game editors. While that new version of Draco isn't in the game yet, the editors did get some refinement, and I felt ready to figure out some island ideas.
While working out what new island designs/concepts to build, I decided I wanted to push the limits of how large buildings could be in the game and have these massive buildings/structures be the focus of some new islands. I started to work on the larger structures, but kept running into small problems. The limits of the game were just a bit too low, particularly the number of maximum links between pieces in a structure. So I increased some numbers, but as I worked on large towers and such, debris was not looking as natural as it should, with too much stuff flying up randomly, and small particle debris bouncing far too high.
The particle debris was easy enough to fix, but it took me way longer than it should have to figure out where the fast-flying medium debris was coming from (it was mostly from incorrectly initialized variables). Once that was finally resolved, I spent a while tweaking numbers to prevent the instant-crumble phenomenon that happened pretty frequently when larger towers started to collapse.
Eventually I got some new towers in, and a couple new office buildings (one of them is not in the video/sandbox island because it's not very unique and will likely get revised). The warehouses and bridges took a bit more time to get right, as they required yet more destruction/stress tuning (as well as general experimentation).
I realized while working on all these structures that they should be the focus of this update, and I'd work on new campaign islands after. So new islands are still coming, but it'll be a little while longer.
Long-Term Structure Improvements
Now that this update is done, I think it's pretty obvious I need to make a significant change to allow much better long-term variety in structures. That change is adding support for some sort of wedge or skewed box as part of a structure. As everything about structures and blocks uses a standard box shape, it's not going to be an easy change, but I can think of a few different approaches that might help make it a little easier to add.
I'll also make it possible to rotate blocks/building arbitrarily once that happens, but there's no rush quite yet. I doubt I'll be adding many new structures after this update (until the change happens), as the structural style will change quite dramatically when it happens. I need to think more about the problem before I commit to any sort of timeframe. There are also other dramatic changes I might want to do first, such as multi-select in vehicle build mode.
Adventures in Failing to Focus
To be honest, the past few weeks have been a bit of struggle in terms of my work consistency. Some of the things I've been working on have been pretty tedious, but my productivity problem has been more mental than anything else. I've been doing less programming lately, and that means I have a harder time focusing. Working on structures/islands/art/etc is relatively straight-forward and my mind has always wandered while doing that kind of work. I won't get into details, but that's lead to more problems and distractions than usual lately.
Some of the recent struggles are just due to burnout from working 10+ hours for 6 months, and part of is a natural cycle I tend to go through. Usually the best thing for me to do (when focus is hard) is to just work on anything on the game, regardless of whether it's important or not. Just need to find something that seems fun and easy and do that. Eventually the focus will return and my abnormally high productivity with it.