Dynamic conveyor belts!
Hey there Pioneers, this week we want to give you an update on what is arguably the lifeblood of any automation sim: conveyor belts. Since they are going to play a key part in turning the rugged terrain of the planet Aurora into a profitable mining operation, we're constantly tweaking and refining their mechanics for maximum convenience.
But before we show you how we make delicious conveyor spaghetti that is cooked to al dente perfection, we want to shamelessly plug our social media presence, which is admittedly still in its infancy but slowly but steadily growing thanks to now regular content drops. We're on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook and of course Discord so feel free to hop on any of those channels and leave a follow, like or comment - we really appreciate it. Oh, and if you are actually came from one of those accounts to read this blog post, make sure to head over to our Steam page and wishlist Dawn Apart!
[h3]Fastening our conveyor belts[/h3]
Since conveyor belts are going to be such an integral part of Dawn Apart's gameplay, placing or dragging them across the map must be quick, intuitive and, most importantly, feel right. This poses extra challenges when it comes to verticality. As we pointed out in our last post, our building system was designed with sky-high factory compounds in mind with conveyors going in and out buildings as well above and below other conveyors.
So to get your resources from point A to point B in the most logical and satisfying way, we want to offer players conveyor dragging mechanics that are 'intelligent' and dynamic while still highly versatile and sandbox-y. As you can see in the video below, when dragged, conveyors automatically adjust to the terrain below or objects in their way, including going over or under other conveyor belts.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Conveying the problem[/h3]
As you may have seen in the trailer, as with any object in our game world, the conveyors are fully destructible (for example, when your factory is attacked by the It'ak, the indigenous humanoids who actively dislike foreigners digging up their home planet). We're not gonna lie, destructible conveyor belts initially caused a huge headache development-wise.
For example when an explosion blows up a moving conveyor transporting stuff, those items were removed, but in cases where the front/back conveyor of a given item group were destroyed it wasn't updating the list. In development we need to always know where the front and back items are to determine where in the Conveyor Group the Item Group is so eventually we would try to get some data from another null entity and it would crash.
Fortunately our coders did a terrific job of fixing those issues and now we can't wait to let you folks finally try to set up your own assembly lines and M.C. Escher-like conveyor mazes! Until then check out the second entry in our #MachineMonday-series. This time we proudly present the Ore Crusher 2.3 - an excellent device to both turn ores into fine mineral powder and cause horrible workplace accidents. See you next week!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
But before we show you how we make delicious conveyor spaghetti that is cooked to al dente perfection, we want to shamelessly plug our social media presence, which is admittedly still in its infancy but slowly but steadily growing thanks to now regular content drops. We're on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook and of course Discord so feel free to hop on any of those channels and leave a follow, like or comment - we really appreciate it. Oh, and if you are actually came from one of those accounts to read this blog post, make sure to head over to our Steam page and wishlist Dawn Apart!
[h3]Fastening our conveyor belts[/h3]
Since conveyor belts are going to be such an integral part of Dawn Apart's gameplay, placing or dragging them across the map must be quick, intuitive and, most importantly, feel right. This poses extra challenges when it comes to verticality. As we pointed out in our last post, our building system was designed with sky-high factory compounds in mind with conveyors going in and out buildings as well above and below other conveyors.
So to get your resources from point A to point B in the most logical and satisfying way, we want to offer players conveyor dragging mechanics that are 'intelligent' and dynamic while still highly versatile and sandbox-y. As you can see in the video below, when dragged, conveyors automatically adjust to the terrain below or objects in their way, including going over or under other conveyor belts.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Conveying the problem[/h3]
As you may have seen in the trailer, as with any object in our game world, the conveyors are fully destructible (for example, when your factory is attacked by the It'ak, the indigenous humanoids who actively dislike foreigners digging up their home planet). We're not gonna lie, destructible conveyor belts initially caused a huge headache development-wise.
For example when an explosion blows up a moving conveyor transporting stuff, those items were removed, but in cases where the front/back conveyor of a given item group were destroyed it wasn't updating the list. In development we need to always know where the front and back items are to determine where in the Conveyor Group the Item Group is so eventually we would try to get some data from another null entity and it would crash.
Fortunately our coders did a terrific job of fixing those issues and now we can't wait to let you folks finally try to set up your own assembly lines and M.C. Escher-like conveyor mazes! Until then check out the second entry in our #MachineMonday-series. This time we proudly present the Ore Crusher 2.3 - an excellent device to both turn ores into fine mineral powder and cause horrible workplace accidents. See you next week!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]