Devlog: roadmap status update 4

This is a status update for the public roadmap. (I may get tired from this mantra eventually)

This devlog was a tough one. For starters, I had to decide whether to go with IIII or a proper IV. You know it takes time to edit those post templates, right? With the hardest part behind, let's proceed to the changes made during these two weeks.

Steam Workshop: you can send your sandbox vessels to the Steam Workshop right through the game! The item will be published for others to see and rate. If you subscribe to a workshop item with a "Vessel" tag, it will be accessible from the game using the "installed from Steam" filter in your sandbox.



Workshop-augmented campaign: It is possible to meet player-made vessels in your single-player campaign! (You will need to have an internet to download them at the start of the campaign though.) Attack them, or maybe try to recruit them!



UI/UX: added an equipment comparison option when hovering over an item while having another one selected. Hold SHIFT to compare the two. Added an "avg tech level" counter near vessel design info.



Politics: added new options. Now you can invest into planetary military, or fund some shady stuff to have a chance at becoming friends with pirates.

Programming: added Thermal resist property querying. It's a value from 0 to 1 which reports the current thermal-damage resistance of the target. Unified some commands, now they return values from 0 to 1 (as a floating-point) instead of 0...100. This usually makes computations easier, although it WILL break the currently written code. Be prepared to fix or rewrite some of your code after release. I will try to reduce the breaking changes after release.

Flagship: added a flagship selection screen along with several starting options. They have different layouts suitable for different play styles. You can only select it during start of the game. Every flagship has its own upgraded forms.



Base building: added new modules. Kinetic ammo module, directed booster module, lab module (now it's needed to do research), shopscan module, resource mixers and synthesizers system (building resource converting pipelines to turn one resources into another).



Sandbox: improvements to simulation mode (faster, better stats collection).

Campaign: +1 new boss. Added "Cult Influence" mechanic, and Cult can now capture dominion planets. Added new cult-related markers (missions). All factions now have resolvable (and unique) win conditions. Added new pilot traits. Fenero slowly becomes a proper faction, you can now get trading info from them (more changes to come - they will have their unique armies). Siding with pirates is now a bit easier, but still requires some knowledge, finesse and determination.



Balance: crits now deal 150% damage instead of 200%, but this value can be increased through artifacts and/or pilot traits. Changed EVERY weapon price - it's still very much WIP, but we're getting there. I used simulations to compare stuff, but it's still not good enough.

Misc: added accuracy (% hit rate) tracking for every vessel. Useful when analyzing your android performance and comparing weapons. Added a proper game loading screen (it takes about 0.5s to boot up the game on my laptop, but it can take longer on weaker machines, so having a progress report is important there; also it felt amateurish with a black screen).