Instruments of Destruction News

Development has returned to a normal (aka faster) pace the last few days, and this update has coalesced into one that features some significant new parts. Let's get into the changelist first, then we'll get into the new vehicle parts. [As has been usual recently, I made a video to focus on the newest features, so if you prefer that to reading, check it out below the changelist.]

Version 0.122 changes:
* New Part: Fixed Bomb - Attach it to anything, it'll explode on a hard impact (strength affects how hard the impact has to be).
* New Part: Vortex - Generates a gravity field that pulls or pushes on all nearby objects/structures/etc.
* New Part: Turbine Vacuum - Works similarly to the Vortex, but has a strong directional element.
* New Part: Drill and Drill XL - A spinning tool of destruction.
* New Part: Aiming Laser - Line things up, more or less.
* Added 2 new build music tracks (cycles through them each time you go to build mode currently).
* Minor updates for 2 gameplay music tracks (Destruction Complete and Manic Designs).
* More code adjustments to make buildings disintegrate even less than before.
* Fixed an issue where blocks acted like they were falling in water (when they weren't).
* Structure Editor: Probably fixed an issue where saving a structure would appear to overwrite the old one (until you restarted the game).

Here's the video highlighting the new parts:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Many of these parts have been highly requested, so hopefully they live up to everyone's expectations. The Aiming Laser in particular is one I never imagined, but there were a number of requests for a way to visually line things up, so it made sense and was quite simple to add. The rest were a bit more work.

The Fixed Bomb had many potential directions to go, and I decided on the attached and collision triggered version. I will likely add a way to detonate it with a button, as I'm sure there will be requests for that, but I think this design provides the best basic interaction that lends itself to many uses. It's a simple part but does create some new design options and potential challenges (in the future) for the main campaign.

The Turbine Vacuum and Vortex use the same basic code, though each uses a number of different settings/functions for interacting with other objects. I think the Vacuum is more interesting because of its directional nature, and the Vortex is essentially a magnet of sorts without the metal requirements. Both of them are reversible and can be overdriven, and the way they push or pull buildings apart is quite satisfying.

Finally, the Drill (+ Drill XL) is a frequent request. It uses the same code as the Circular Saw, but I added a new way to destroy stuff faster when it's spinning (which was also added to the saw). It works, but I don't think it's particularly cool or going to create new design possibilities the way the other parts will. If you have any ideas on how to make it better/more satisfying, I'm definitely open to suggestion.

Tanks Slight Delay

Due to a family trip I forgot about when setting the deadline, the next Featured Vehicles theme (Tanks) won't be reviewed/updated until June 21st/22nd or so. Sorry for the slight delay, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone has come up with this time!

Next Update Plans

After flailing around for a few weeks, I finally feel like I'm back on track for the most part. It feels good to get a new update out with a good amount of quality content in it. At the same time, I do have that family trip coming up, so the next update will be a couple weeks out at least. My goal is get least 2 new islands (and 6 new missions) into the game 2-3 weeks from now.

Beyond those 2 islands, I want to re-balance the single player campaign so it has more interesting challenges and "forced" uses of certain parts to highlight their utility. I think shorter missions with straight-forward objectives are also the way to go. The current missions are not that bad, but they can be tedious at times.

Virgo's Normal mission, for instance, takes way too long to complete. In theory, having to destroy a target without destroying the surrounding ruins is fine, but having to destroy so many tough walls with fairly high precision just isn't that fun. I think I also need to use the environment/islands to create more challenge/interest without making the islands too claustrophobic.

When all this re-balancing happens, it's quite likely the star score cutoffs for the current islands will be changed, and the unlocking order for parts/etc will be changed too.

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.

May's featured vehicle theme was Skids, and and I was quite impressed with the quality of the vehicles submitted. I played them all and selected 5 honorable mentions along with 8 new featured vehicles. Like last time, I created a video to showcase the selections:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Though I don't rank the vehicles, the highlights for me this time were Skid Rides, Crazy Speed Skid, Santa's Sleigh On Steroids since they nailed the overall direction of utilizing skids in a fast and unique vehicles.

Next Theme: TANKS

The monthly timeframe seems to be about right to me, so I'll be sticking with that for the next theme. The deadline for TANKS will be June 15th, and I'm looking for a focus on style and usability. Destruction power is nice, but not much of a challenge with all the parts available. A vehicle that is fun to drive and use (and moderate destructive power) is much preferred over something with 20 lasers, for instance.

Upcoming Updates

I've been a little slower on the update front lately, as I've become a bit obsessed about trying to diversify the terrain style a bit more, and have been experimenting with various combinations of settings using the ground editor. I've been doing some significant edits to Draco in particular, and expect to see a new version of it soon.

A new update with various fixes/improvements is coming this week, and I'll be adding at least one new island in that update. I expect 2-3 new islands in the near future, then will add some more parts. Beyond that, I will be figuring out how to get custom islands to work in non-Sandbox modes (more of an interface issue than a technical/code one), and add Steam Workshop support for custom islands.

Thanks for everyone's patience while the editors have been getting worked on. They are heavily geared towards my workflow over ease-of-use, and I hope to create some videos of me using them soon-ish. The upside is it's a lot easier to make new content now, so I expect to double or triple the gameplay content by the end of the year (while also adding/improving lots of other stuff).

* Added ground editing to layout editor
* Changed how ground data is saved in game
* Added objective editing to layout editor (currently hidden)
* Added warning message for too much grass/rock generated (layout editor)
* Extended reflection probe so it reaches the full height of the sky (and far beyond)
* Fixed default control customization UI not working
* Fixed deleting objectis in Sandbox also deleting treads
* Lowered base laser sound volume

Lots of small tweaks and bug fixes in this update:

Increased max island blocks + decals to 6000
Increased maximum detail debris settings (Medium is the old High setting)
Added option to change how much large debris is present (Medium is closest to old behavior on most islands)
Added checkbox for Low FPS smoothing (enabled by default aka no change)
Fixed magnets/pistons having reverse controls when placed on opposite sides
Fixed beam placement with PLACE ON HOLD disabled
Lowered volume of attachers (when more than 1)
Lowered volume of laser fire start (when more than 1)
Reduce camera shake from multiple parts creating shakes at the same time
Fixed Mirror mode lasers don't get range set (and delay on bombs/release connectors)
Added advanced option to adjust bomb aerial timer
Added FOV save/load
Locked mouse cursor to the game window
Make power explosions not affect launcher/cannon blast
Make launcher/cannon blast weaker
Fixed disabling shadows removing dust/etc particles
Kinda fixed undo showing controls for beams/ropes
Fixed parts showing as $0 after Undo (and mass/cost totals not being right)
Fixed setting start angle on pivot 90 rotates connector incorrectly
Improved vehicle flipping so it's less crazy (have to push the button more, but it's better overall)
Started changing how island ground data is saved/generated