Shallow Space News

Good news, Update 5 has arrived!

This update focuses on adding the more intricate mechanics that will compliment both the singleplayer and multiplayer experiences.

In particular this update adds Shield Rebalancing, Subsystem Attack Mode, Engine Attack Mode and the Subsystem Targeting Ability. We've also added 20+ audio clips of an AI voice to compliment the UI.

Combat is due to become far more gritty and intense during Update 5.

1. Subsystem Attack Mode
2. Engine Attack Mode
3. Subsystem Targeting Ability
4. Subsystem Targeting Window
5. Shield Widget



As we hinted before, Update 5 now gives you the ability to 'rebalance' any of the ships shields. You can do this by selecting your ship and clicking on any of the four shield segments of the shield widget (5) to the bottom right of the abilities panel.

This opens up a host of new tactical considerations as simply right-clicking on the enemy to attack them might not be the best option.

Normally, the enemy will come to you if they spot you and let them. Try and position your forces to absorb the assault from a single direction and the power of shield rebalancing will become immediately pronounced. You can then pincer the enemy forces more effectively causing further disruption to their offensive using engine and subsystem attack modes.

Note that you cannot rebalance the shields past their initial maximum.



In three dimensional warfare, denying the enemy the ability to move is absolutely critical. You can now target the assailants engines using 'Engine Attack Mode' causing them to vent plasma slowing them down to a crawl.

Engine Attack Mode is only possible when it's shields are down. If the shields are up while this targeting function is active, it will count as a normal attack. If the shields are down, there will be a chance to disable the targets engines and reduced damage will be applied (damage counter shown in yellow.)

Toggle the Engine Attack Mode button to return to Free Attack Mode.



Any ship can opt to target an assailants external subsystems which presently includes turrets using 'Subsystem Attack Mode.'

If you wish to specify the targeting parameters, that is, the order in which the turrets should be disabled; you should select a Capital ship and use the 'Subsystem Targeting' ability.

Using the ability will bring up a window similar to the Inventory window in which you can click on the turrets to queue them for destruction. In doing so a number will appear indicating their position in the queue. As the turrets are disabled they will automatically be removed from the queue.

Subsystem Attack Mode is only possible when a ships shields are down. It is however possible to assign targeting parameters for your fleet using the Subsystem Targeting Ability when the targets shield are up.

As with all Abilities, the Capital vessel does not need to be in the same Zone (or even orbiting the same planet) to call out target subsystems for the fleet. You must select a context target to use the Subsystem Targeting Ability (click on a AI unit with Capital ship selected.)

If the shields are up while Subsystem Attack Mode is active, it will count as a normal attack. If the shields are down reduced damage (shown as yellow damage counter) will be done to the targets subsystems unless using Precise weapons, in which full damage is done.

Toggle the Subsystem Attack Mode button to return to Free Attack Mode.



- Added shield rebalancing via shield widget (bottom right of ability bar)
- Added attack mode: Free
- Added attack mode: Subsystems
- Added attack mode: Engines
- Added subsystem target window
- Added additional UI and tooltips to support attack types
- Added 20 AI voices
- Added voices to Abilities
- Added engine fire FX
- Added turret fire FX

- Fixed Status' given via Ability don't time out
- Fixes further to stats adjustment calculations
- Fixes to context windows closing on ship destruction
- Fixes to hang if using next/previous buttons in ship config if only one ship present in Zone
- Fixes to position and scale of Turrets on PLC Sadalbari Carrier
- Fixes to petty trade only giving first traded item
- Fixes to rare crash generating Battlecruiser

- Update - removed trading between zones restrictions temporarily to help with testing
- Update - added delay to ability buttons mouse over action
- Update - omidirectional/directional webifier abilities now affect rotation rather than speed

Time to settle back into the proverbial leather couch and let out some more. It’s actually incredibly therapeutic, last time it literally felt like a massive weight had been lifted from my shoulders practically from the moment I hit post.

So we concluded that fear is a big motivator to progress this thing.

Seems a little extreme, but everybody is motivated by fear – if we don’t find the means to provide for ourselves or those who depend on us then we perish. So really fear as a motivator is part of the process of being alive.

But then, it’s not the only motivator.

When anyone decides to leave the comfort of their jobs to go at it alone either consciously or subconsciously they decide what it is that ultimately drives them and I think it basically boils down to power, money or success.

I wouldn’t say I was motivated by power.

I’m a Beta male, quite happy to lead but just as happy to follow. I’m also a techy and I find that power gets in the way of the pursuit of knowledge because ultimately, by virtue of the man or his surroundings, power changes people and the way people deal with you and I’m weary of that.

Money is nice, but if I were motivated by cold hard cash I’d have stuck with my day job. No, the more you have the more you spend – it’s relative, I just want to be comfortable.

Then we settle on success.

Some might argue that power and money equals success; life has taught me to be very weary of those people. But, I’m interested in success in its purest form, which is simply to build a quality game.

So how do we define success or quality?

Well we can strive to make the game look and feel the best it can be. Use the potential AAA status as a golden carrot to drive it to making something that is directly comparable to other high budget ventures.

That’s a pretty standard objective and dare-I-say, a bit of a cheap shot.

So what else can we do? Well we can take the subject matter, in this case the RTS as a genre, slice it open from tip to stern, scope out the insides and place them to one side. We can then climb inside the skin and dance around in it, have fun with it, pretend to be it then toss it to one side. Then we look to the pile of innards and we start arranging them in their new form.

You see, it might be enough for most developers to simply pick up a famous RTS and clone it; I have the say the idea of that bores me to tears.

If I look at the list of strategy games I loved, not enjoyed, actually loved; the list is pretty short: World in Conflict, Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, X-Com (originals too) Starfleet Command, Transport Tycoon (really you have to try out that last one, it’s free too search ‘OpenTTD.’)

They are all pretty unique.

They don’t feature the immersion breaking mechanics of somehow building units in 15 seconds and the mindless selection box combat. They don’t adhere strictly to the template and simply sprinkle in something extra over the top.

They are grassroots different, from the base code to the external presentation.

Sadly we don’t really live in those sort of times anymore.

If a game doesn’t play like every other it’s normally damned by critics and Player alike as being ‘unintuitive’ (if it even gets a look in at all.)

So now we find ourselves cherry picking the best parts from the classics; the fluid controls of Homeworld, the concurrent activity of Sins, the consideration of tactics like Starfleet Command, taking all these things and tastefully merging them together.

Originality doesn’t pay in this industry, so we have to be sparing with it.

If I’d farted out another RTS I’d be bathing in cash right now and likely would have finished this a long time ago and looking back, it probably would have been the best option.

But I’m not happy with that, so instead we’re going to be intrepid but have to mimic the classics, because that’s what people recognise and consciously or subconsciously that’s what majority of people want.

Apparently if people are putting ‘looks like Homeworld’ or ‘looks like Nexus’ all over your stuff then you’re doing well.

I suppose like me, you too are inspired by classics and how they changed your lives. Perhaps you were in a bad place and that game was your escape, perhaps you remember being a teen sitting on the bus on the way to school daydreaming of playing, dying to get the day out of the way to get home.

This is how a game should make you feel.

So the measure of success isn’t how many copies we’ve sold (money) or how many people are following us (power,) leave that to the big-boys.

My measure of success is to make something that is visually beautiful, something that endears and reminds us of how games used to be and why we play them, build upon the reasons for such with a degree of originality and unifies it all into a quality product.

Because in the end, no mater how twisted the path travelled, quality always prevails and is therefore the only real tangible measurement of success.

James

You probably noticed the game updating over the weekend.

The changes made in 4.8.1 to the movement system were really quite massive and so we had a quick optimisation pass and a couple of rounds of bug fixing.



Next in the pipeline is Update 5, ETA 2-3 days.



- Fixes further to log spam
- Fixes to thrusters lagging framerate
- Fixed OOZ concurrency GC collection causing stutter every second
- Optimised adjusted stats calculations to avoid GC collection
- Removed SpaceObjects rocks from collision avoidance (munches CPU sadly)



- Fixes to collision avoidance crash on zone exit
- Fixes to fleet icons shown for AI OOZ units
- Fixed positioning issues introduced with new physics simulation



- Fixes (further) to collision avoidance crash on zone exit

Bit of a packed incremental update this time round as we continue to fine tune and some additional major work going on under the hood to further refine ship movements.

We tested Update 4.8 at a friends house to gather some feedback and it ended up as quite an exciting session for a number of reasons. As he played we described the pending mechanics soon to be injected; shield rebalancing, subsystem targeting - his eyes lit up.

But perhaps the most thought provoking reaction was when he turned to us and blurted out 'imagine this in multiplayer!'

Now this isn't news to us, we've been imagining it all year, but when looking at his face to gauge his actual excitement we realised that he'd literally been drooling all over his nice shiny new keyboard and that sparked a bit of a rethink about priorities.

Coding multiplayer is a big deal - but we are prepared for it this time round.

The biggest problem in our tests was the use of physics in versions 4.8 and earlier so we replaced it with a home-brew pseudo-physics implementation - the difference is immediately noticable with the inclusion of inertia in the ship movements, huuuugely immersive - take a look!

Keep the bug reports and feedback flowing - incredibly useful!



- Update all ship speeds increased
- Update all weapons ranges increased
- Update all turret turn rates increased
- Update formation spacings increased

- Added inertia to ship movements
- Added custom physics simulation (multiplayer preparation)
- Added modified object pool and prefabs (multiplayer preparation)

- Fixed issue with collision avoidance
- Fixes to ship thrusters
- Fixes to ability attribute modifiers
- Fixed siege laser effect
- Fixes include more defensive code to prevent rare particle crash
- Fixes further to log spam
- Fixes to enemy reveal in fleet panel
- Fixed intermittent bug introduced in 4.8 with soft groups disbanding

While we’re busy cooking up the sandbox we thought it might be an idea to put in a skirmish mode of sorts. Similar to the ‘Tactical Simulator’ in the older alpha, Quick Battle mode allows you to dive in and get to grips with any of the ships and get used to the controls.

Behind the scenes, Quick Battle mode will help to iron out the wrinkles, particularly with combat and already it’s sparked a bit of a rethink with regards to combat AI.

It might please you to note that there are no caps on the number of ships in the arena.

One of the things that makes Shallow Space unique against other similar titles is the detail of the combat, in particular the simulated projectiles and unpredictable nature of the ship movements. But it became clear to us when simulating larger battles that there needs to be some degree of predictability otherwise you’re effectively watching the AI battle it out – this update goes a long way to resolving that woe.

An example of the fixes this update introduces is the AI attacking from roughly the same direction each time meaning that combat can now be ‘anchored’ making it easier to flank them and making small but immersive mechanics such as shield rebalancing not only a reality, but extremely useful.

Look forward to the inclusion of shield balancing very shortly (literally coding it as we speak.)

Once more we appreciate all the support and feedback as we edge ever closer to our immediate goals. Keep those bug reports coming and remember to post screenshots of your new escapades Commander!



- Added hull customisation to Options menu (primary/secondary colours)
- Fixes to crash on Hard Group setup



- Added 'Quick Battle Mode'
- Fixed rare issue with orders being wiped on ship jump
- Fixed issue with selection box ignoring units
- Fixed rare crash allocating initial SFX channel
- Fixed issue with fleet icon not appearing when construction complete
- Fixed issue building Sadalbari Command Carrier
- Fixed crash updating rolling selector if ship changes groups
- Fixed issue with Combat AI 'eternal chasing'
- Update major tweaks to ship Combat AI
- Update 3D ship text no longer affect by time scaling