Generationship News

[h2]Release Video[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Updates in this Iteration[/h2]

[h3]UI Highlight Effects[/h3]
I reworked the UI Architecture a bit, so i have now a 2. layer with "click through" effect. This makes it possible to add UI Effects over the current UI. I added some when a new element appears in the top right, e.g. new tasks or Warnings/Problems.
Thanks to "DragonLoon" to hint to that problem.



[h3]Highlight Buildings for Tutorial better[/h3]
The Buildings are now highlighted also with the rectangular box, so its easier visible what building should be clicked.



[h3]New Tutorial mechanism[/h3]
I got some response, that the tutorials are too hard follow, so i decided to improve them again. Due to highlight mentioned above i was able to improve this now with a way more interactive tutorial. It will just show the basic task in the window below and a big "help me" toggle-button. If this one is activated, it will directly highlight the area of interest and add the related text next to it. This should be way more intuitive than the big task-list before.
Thanks to "ScruffyJoe" for the hints.



[h3]Choose Worker Popup[/h3]
To assign the workers easier to buildings, its now possible to just click on an empty worker slot, and a popup is showing up where the player can choose one. Persons already working in the building are grayed out. This gets even more valuable, when the persons getting skills like "engineer" what effects the work efficiency (planned for later).
Thanks to "Greeny" for the Idea.



[h3]Supply cost Credits[/h3]
I added Credit Costs for the Supply Ship. The player for now is starting with 1 mio credits, so it should be way more than enough. I will see how much the players are using till the end of the game to adjust it a bit. I plan to add some additional credits for fulfilled achievements or other static events, e.g. the war on earth goes well. Its also planned to separate the Supply Rockets from the Docks, so the credits can be used for buy more supply ships in further iterations. He can than decide to go with just 1 ship with more supply over time, or faster and more often supply.



[h3]Highlight ResourceBoxes on Resource overview[/h3]
I also highlight all Resource boxes, when hover over the Resource Overview Icon. This should make it easier for the player to find the boxes when searching for it.



[h3]Added Steam Achievements[/h3]
I added some basic steam Achievement support. For now, its just finishing the first grid and winning the game. In further interations, i will add more of that and add also nicer icons.



[h3]Other smaller changes[/h3]

• Throw out Resources now also waiting till other animation is done
  
• Keep the Infrastructure at the target position at the "On the Way" state.
  
• Added Warning when infrastructure thrown out and no builder is ready (Thanks to Lakota)
  

[h2]Release Video[/h2]


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Updates in this Iteration[/h2]

[h3]Storage Settings[/h3]
[h3]Automatic throw out resources[/h3]
The original plan of the iteration was a new building: Ejector, that just throws resources out when something gets in. I think, this was not a good idea, due to in late game, the player need all resources to survive, and its just for the early game, when the player cannot recycle all resources and has limited storage space.
So i will add an option to the out storages to throw out the resources instead, when all connections are not accepting more resources.

[h3]Request partial if empty[/h3]
The second option, that has been added are for the input storages. In the playtests, it often happened, that the user needed to move some partial finished boxes from one store to another. To make this easier, there is now an option for requesting also not finished boxes from an other output storage.



[h3]Consumer Producer Deltas[/h3]
To see how much power is really used, the consumed and produced delta values have been added to the UI. With that, it should be easier visible if new power plants are needed. I also added it for the other Air-Values.



[h3]Under Construction Problem overlay[/h3]
Due to some feedback from some Playtesters (thanks to Greeny and Pyzen), i added the Problems of Construction Sites also to the Problem Overlays, where till now just work-Problems were added. Its now easier visible, that there is some Problems. For details the player can select and see it highlighted as red text with an overlay for more details.
Thanks to a feedback from "Lakota".



[h3]Steam Cloud[/h3]
Steam Could is configured now, so your settings and savegames should be in sync over different PCs. To make it more error resistent, i changed the folder where the savegames are stored. So if you want to keep your savegames, move

%userprofile%\\AppData\\LocalLow\\Scifan Studios\\Generationship

to

%userprofile%\\AppData\\LocalLow\\ScifanStudios\\GenerationShip

[h3]Rename Buildings and Persons[/h3]
Having several storages could lead to confusing when the player want to know where its going. So i added a renaming possibility this iteration.



[h3]Resource Overview Tooltip[/h3]
I also added a Tooltip for the Resource boxes, so its now easy visible where the resources are and how many are needed. The construction sites are also included, so its easy countable how much resources are missing.
Thanks to a feedback of "Greeny".




[h3]Max Docking time removed[/h3]
Before, there was a maximum time of 3h to unload the supply ship. With full storages, this could lead lost of resources. To prevent that, the player has now the responsibility to deal with a not automatically starting supply ship. Keeping the ship there counts as an additional storage he can use, but also has the disadvantage that he can not reuse it for more supply (it needs ~1 week to prepare for another launch).

Thanks to a feedback of "Lakota"



[h3]Other smaller changes[/h3]

• Fixed highlight and selection via mouse is possible during cutscenes (like intro)
  
• Improved Audio-Options. Having an "Off" value and starting from -40db now.
  
• Fixed Nullpointer when clicking on the "Storage for Construction sites"-Connection
  
• Timewarp inside of the Construction Buildings is now the same behavior as in the Construction Site
  
• Timewarp of Supply ship when unloading not jumps too far in the future anymore
  
• Fixed Zoom To Mouse from the overview camera, jumping on some far away positions
  
• Fixed no click-sound when using Ctrl-Click on a button (e.g. at supply ship)
  
• Fixed Construction Connection Icon not shown e.g. when changing order
  

In this Iteration was planned to add the Statistic History Feature for Persons. Also the Linux version should work now. A big change is the new Construction Storage behavior, that should make it way easier to deal with multiple construction sites.

[h2]Release Video[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Updates in this Iteration[/h2]

[h3]Problem Report[/h3]
In this iteration the Steam Playtest started. Part of the feedback was bug reports, that we couldn't analyse, due to missing info :( to prevent that in the future a new Problem Report tool was added. It can be reached by the player pressing F11 in the game or using the "Problem?" Button at the top left. Its sending the current screenshot, Savegame and other data that are useful data to analyse the Problem.



[h3]Person History[/h3]
The PersonDetails have now also a history included. Its showing the time using of the person in real-time of the last 24h for now. In further iterations, i plan to add more details and different timespans. For now, its just differentiating work and service usage (so sleep is the same color as eating).



[h3]Zoom to mouse from Overview[/h3]
When zooming in with the Mouse Wheel from the Overview Perspective its not zooming directly to the mouse position, so its way faster to switch to different parts of the ship.



[h3]Faster Timewarp[/h3]
The algorithm for the Timespeed animation has been redone. It warps way faster, also longer periods, so the waiting times are way less, to speed up the game pace if you want it.Also the timewarp buttons not acting smoother. No more need to double click, they just add the value to the current timewarp if the skip Timewarp is already active.The timewarp is also not longer FPS dependent, so it should be the similar timings on all pc's.



[h3]New Construction site storage behavior[/h3]
Before, the construction sites created connections to other storages. This had several problems: Once initialized with a storage, it was not reacting on changes of other storages anymore and were fixed to the first chosen storage. The storages was also flooded with many connections. The build priority could not be handled and much more.To improve that, i changed the behavior of the construction storages instead. The storage for constructions have now a separate connection for "Building lots" checking for it. This means, it can be prioritized as normal, without handling every building lot.It causes big changes in all parts of storage-handling, so it took a while to fix all of it. So what we have now?

• Easy setup and prioritize in the general storages
  
• Just 1 in and 1 out connection instead of 1 per each construction site
  
• Turn on and off easy, without troubles having old connections
  
• Construction Priority (the "!" Button in the construction site) have priority
  
• Distance Priority: If same priority, its filling up the closer one
  

[h3]Other smaller changes[/h3]

• Fixed Linux build (using now Vulcan driver only) (thanks to eli for testing)
  
• Fixed Exception when overlay is active and going back to main menu (thanks to ironman for reporting)
  
• Improved Highlight of the Problem solving tutorial
  
• Improved Tutorials (small changes)
  
• Added the Consultant avatar of the Achievement to the Task
  
• Improved the rocket Textures
• Improved Tutorial and achievement text
  
• Fixed Legend not hidden when resources are thrown
  
• Fixed Legend of CenterOfMass Overlay
  
• Fixed Lightning issue on new buildings and savegames.
  
• Fixed Camera overflow scrolling bouncing back.
  
• Walkway cost less steel to make ship building faster
  

[h2]Release Video[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Updates in this Iteration[/h2]
It was a bit a longer time since the last update than usual. The reason is simple, we launched our Steam page and created tons of graphics for it.

[h3]Air Leaking[/h3]
If the condition of a building falls below 20%, the building will leak air to space. To prevent that, the building can be dismantled. The inflatable Walls will prevent the air moving out then. Its easy to see what buildings, causing the leak, by an Event Popup at the right side (also pausing the timewarps) and some effects on the buildings.



[h3]Condition Overlay[/h3]
A new Overlay was added, to see fast what buildings need attention. It colorizes the buildings to visualize the condition. If the condition is low, the building will not work not so effective anymore. This happens over time, and in high humidity environments and can be fixed by maintenance.



[h3]New Building: Sabatier Module[/h3]
The Sabatier process creates Methane and Water out of Hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Hydrogen can be already generated by the electrolytics module, so now it's possible to generate methane in the ship. Another closed cycle :)



[h3]Consultant Tabs[/h3]
Before, if multiple consultants wanted to talk to the player at the same time, they just queue up. Now they get a tab at the side, so the player is able to switch to them.



[h3]Environment Submodule[/h3]
A new consultant has been also added, leading the player to build the first Life Support for the first Leader Task.



[h3]Better Tutorial Marker[/h3]
Additional to the "Where" Button in the tutorial, highlighting the elements where the tutorial belongs to, a new "permanent" highlight was added. This should make it easier to find.



[h3]Improved Environment[/h3]
Added a nicer sun and improved the earth by adding an atmosphere and custom shaders.



[h3]Steam[/h3]
We added a basic support for steam, so the Username in Savegames and Highscore is the Steam-Name by default if steam is running. More Steam features will follow soon, now just a fast tryout till everything is set up well. This will be also the first release on Steam Playtest.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1638030/Generationship

[h3]Other smaller changes[/h3]

• Updated Icon, Spashscreen and Title-Gfx
  
• Make the shortcut-area hidable in the options
  
• Highscores are now shared between patch-versions
  
• Fixed problem on High humidity and 0 condition
  
• Improved Legends so multiple legends can be shown
  
• Fixed UI-Problem in Options
  
• Fixed that Aging is not restarted after condition reached 0
  
• Make the Error-Popup more clean with an option to see all transferred data
  
• Merge UserContainer-Entries when there are several, to prevent overflowing on big ships
  
• Fixed internal Walkway-Door rotations
  
• Fixed freeze when pressing ESC while intro
  
• Prevent Resize of UnderConstruction on high speed when builders do something else
  
• Added Header for Efficiency Calculation
  
• Fixed Bug where non-construction storages were connected to constructions
  
• Added antialiasing
  

[h3]Who will be the chosen ones[/h3]
We will choose random players all over the world. We will start to choose 10 players. If everything works well, we will give access to more players over the weekend.

[h3]When is the next Playtest[/h3]
We plan to do a playtest after every release.
So be patient if you have not been selected. The next one coming soon.
If you can't wait Join our Discord, and we'll see what we can do :)

[h3]What is our goal[/h3]
We want feedback to identify problems in the gameplay and mechanics as early as possible.
The game is now ready to try out the core game mechanics:

1. Timewarp
   
2. Storage and Resource Management
   
3. Basic Crew Needs and Metabolism
   
4. In game Achievement
   
5. Tutorial for the basics
   

1. Go to our steam store page
   
2. Click on "Register" at the Playtest widget above the events
   
3. Confirm the popup
   

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1638030/Generationship/