Concealed Intent News

TLDR; moved country and got a day job, so gamedev work will slow; but still aiming for a small Concealed Intent 1.3 update before end of the year.

It has been a while since my last update on the happenings and plans for Concealed Intent and Jarrah Technology – time to rectify that.

As some of you may be aware, just this week I moved from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to London, UK for my partner’s work (as was the original move to Malaysia). I am writing this while looking out on a surprisingly pleasant English summer day. Preparing for the move has meant I have not managed any significant time for gamedev work on Concealed Intent or my next game over the last couple of months.

Now I’m set up in London, it’s time for gamedev, right? Unfortunately not. London is an extremely expensive city, and indie gamedev will not pay the bills, so I will need a day job. In fact I already have one (not in games) and start tomorrow. This means my available time for my own projects will greatly diminish. However, I do not intend to completely stop, instead dropping down to probably just a few hours per week on average.

I am now a hobbyist gamedev rather than a professional indie gamedev.

The plan is still to release a 1.3 update to Concealed Intent by the end of the year. The aim is to have this include about 2 weeks of development work (plus testing). Only now that work will be spread out over several months rather than in a single block. This means that there probably will not be time to work on another game until at least next year. The first task on the 1.3 list is to update the game to the latest Unity 5 release to help ensure future compatibility and performance. Then work will focus on the items left out of the 1.2 release – mainly small UX improvements. After that I’ll reassess the time available and the scope of previously suggested “nice to have” features to see what can be realistically achieved.

My next update will give more information on the Concealed Intent 1.3 plan and features.

The Concealed Intent 1.2 release is out now! You may remember I said it would be out before the end of March. My apologies I am a week late, but on the bright side I now know a great deal about password hashing and HTTPS.



Among the bug fixes and minor improvements there are a few niceties added. Truly randomly generated skirmish maps (the 3 ‘?' option when configuring a skirmish). The Skirmish configuration page will now remember the last settings and return to it on restart, or just after a scenario. Also, there are two new types of drone: the Stealth Drone, an underpowered laser drone with some countermeasures; and the Detonation Drone, a heavy drone mounting an improved multi-pulse laser that unfortunately has a 95% chance of exploding when fired. Have fun!

The biggest change is a new version of the game without Steam’s DRM. This will go up on other online stores like Humble and Itch.io. However, that does not seem fair to Steam purchasers. Thus if you send me a message from your Steam account (so I can confirm you have a copy of the game in your Steam account) I will send you a link to a a non-DRM version download. Personally, I would not recommend this, the Steam DRM version is the best version as it handles online logins, challenges and turn notifications automatically for the player, but if you have a philosophical problem with DRM (then why are you using Steam?) there is the non-DRM version available.

The full list of changes is below. It is sadly a little shorter than I had hoped as the some items took far longer than anticipated.



As always any bug fixes will take priority over other tasks. Assuming I am not busy fixing issues, I will be completing all the tasks required to move to another country/continent in May (tasks which have been delayed a week while finishing this update). Afterwards there will hopefully be time for some work on my next game.

So, the plan is I will get back to the Concealed Intent towards the end of this year with work on a 1.3 update. That will start with the items left out of this 1.2 release due to running out of time. Then back to working down the list of suggestions (I read them all). As I get closer to starting, there will be a post here with more details.

---

Current Version: 1.2.0 (6th April 2017)

Known Issues:
* See Forum thread: http://steamcommunity.com/app/374150/discussions/0/490125103634714520/

Immediate Roadmap:
* Bugfixes

1.1.3 (14th November 2016) -> 1.2.0 (7th April 2017)
* Fix online server bug where signature for movement incorrectly calculated
* Speed of pulse and multi-pulse lasers now scaled by turn time
* Online refresh button
* Non-Steam online login screens and system
* State more explicitly that the helper ships in various missions are controlled by the player
* Randomly generated map option in skirmishes
* Make randomly generated Gather skirmishes a little easier
* Resize turn control according to screen size
* Fix crash bug when an unarmed entity attempts to orbit at optimal weapons range
* Added Stealth Drone
* Added Detonation Drone
* Remove Steam ContentPrep from OSX builds
* Check the player is visible at the start of a mission and move the camera if not
* Fix bug where focussing on a ship could move the camera behind a natural (blocking the focussed view)
* Store and display last skirmish settings between restarts and scenarios
* Fix bug on Linux builds in certain countries where ships' decimal stats are incorrectly parsed
* Fix bug where friends' Steam status is requested multiple times in a row due an incorrectly sized sliding window

The Concealed Intent 1.2 release is out now! You may remember I said it would be out before the end of March. My apologies I am a week late, but on the bright side I now know a great deal about password hashing and HTTPS.



Among the bug fixes and minor improvements there are a few niceties added. Truly randomly generated skirmish maps (the 3 ‘?' option when configuring a skirmish). The Skirmish configuration page will now remember the last settings and return to it on restart, or just after a scenario. Also, there are two new types of drone: the Stealth Drone, an underpowered laser drone with some countermeasures; and the Detonation Drone, a heavy drone mounting an improved multi-pulse laser that unfortunately has a 95% chance of exploding when fired. Have fun!

The biggest change is a new version of the game without Steam’s DRM. This will go up on other online stores like Humble and Itch.io. However, that does not seem fair to Steam purchasers. Thus if you send me a message from your Steam account (so I can confirm you have a copy of the game in your Steam account) I will send you a link to a a non-DRM version download. Personally, I would not recommend this, the Steam DRM version is the best version as it handles online logins, challenges and turn notifications automatically for the player, but if you have a philosophical problem with DRM (then why are you using Steam?) there is the non-DRM version available.

The full list of changes is below. It is sadly a little shorter than I had hoped as the some items took far longer than anticipated.



As always any bug fixes will take priority over other tasks. Assuming I am not busy fixing issues, I will be completing all the tasks required to move to another country/continent in May (tasks which have been delayed a week while finishing this update). Afterwards there will hopefully be time for some work on my next game.

So, the plan is I will get back to the Concealed Intent towards the end of this year with work on a 1.3 update. That will start with the items left out of this 1.2 release due to running out of time. Then back to working down the list of suggestions (I read them all). As I get closer to starting, there will be a post here with more details.

---

Current Version: 1.2.0 (6th April 2017)

Known Issues:
* See Forum thread: http://steamcommunity.com/app/374150/discussions/0/490125103634714520/

Immediate Roadmap:
* Bugfixes

1.1.3 (14th November 2016) -> 1.2.0 (7th April 2017)
* Fix online server bug where signature for movement incorrectly calculated
* Speed of pulse and multi-pulse lasers now scaled by turn time
* Online refresh button
* Non-Steam online login screens and system
* State more explicitly that the helper ships in various missions are controlled by the player
* Randomly generated map option in skirmishes
* Make randomly generated Gather skirmishes a little easier
* Resize turn control according to screen size
* Fix crash bug when an unarmed entity attempts to orbit at optimal weapons range
* Added Stealth Drone
* Added Detonation Drone
* Remove Steam ContentPrep from OSX builds
* Check the player is visible at the start of a mission and move the camera if not
* Fix bug where focussing on a ship could move the camera behind a natural (blocking the focussed view)
* Store and display last skirmish settings between restarts and scenarios
* Fix bug on Linux builds in certain countries where ships' decimal stats are incorrectly parsed
* Fix bug where friends' Steam status is requested multiple times in a row due an incorrectly sized sliding window

Hello everyone,

A few events have recently occurred, with a few more on the horizon. Thus it is time to replan work for the next couple months. First the important stuff - what I'll be doing. Then I'll explain why.



It has been too long since touching the Concealed Intent codebase. I'm getting withdrawal symptoms. Over the next month or so I will start work on an update to Concealed Intent. Aiming for around 3 weeks worth of work, plus testing. Assuming I haven't forgotten too much, it should be out by the end of March.

The first and main task of this update will be producing a version of the game without Steam DRM. Then a couple of new gameplay features will be added (a truly random map option in skirmishes, new drones). I have collected a few good suggestions to improve the UI, and I hope to get them done too. If there is still time after that I'll just keep going through my list.



Concealed Intent uses Steam DRM to identify and authenticate players. This information allows the game to automatically login players into the online system without the need for a username or password. This is why you can start Concealed Intent and immediately play online. The problem with Steam DRM is that it locks the game to the Steam platform, which is not a bad thing for people playing the game on Steam, but means I can't sell the game on other platforms.

Considering the potential impact of Steam Direct (see below), I think it is important to loosen this restriction on myself. Players on Steam will not notice any difference, but it will mean I can sell non-Steam versions of the game. These non-Steam versions will have online registration, logon and password recovery screens (and players will need to login before playing online), but will otherwise be the exactly same.



Steam Direct will be Valve's replacement for Steam Greenlight as the method to get a game onto Steam. Coming in a few months, it will require a flat fee be paid to Valve in return for each game added to the Steam platform. Estimates of this fee range from US$100 to US$5000. At the bottom of this range I fail to see how the fee will have desired effect (preventing exploitative games). At the high end of the range some small devs, like me, will struggle.

I should point out that I know Valve has every right to organise their platform how they want, and their stated goal is laudable. However, as a small indie dev it would be very easy to be crushed by any changes as an unfortunate, unintended and unnoticed side effect. Although I think it likely that the fee will fall towards the low end of Valve's range and I will probably be ok, it is still a wake up call. At the moment I am completely dependent on the Steam ecosystem and Valve's benevolence. To protect myself, I am going to start looking towards other platforms. Thus the non-Steam DRM version of Concealed Intent as an initial learning exercise and start upon this path.



First, I will fix any bugs that appear. Otherwise I will get back to work on my next game and look to start promoting it. However, this will be affected by the fact I will be moving country around May. This is likely to also require me to find a new job as developing games will not pay the bills in the vastly more expensive country I will soon reside. I cannot make any guarantees as to what I can achieve in the the second half of the year. However, I hope to finish my second game and release another small Concealed Intent update.



After taking a break over the holiday season, I have started work on a new game. I don't have a name yet and it is still all developer artwork (amazingly ugly!). So I am not ready to show people or talk much about it yet, although I am happy with the way it is progressing. Right now it has reached a natural pause point. After finishing the CI update I will get back to it with some refactoring, prettifying and expanding out of the already completed vertical slice of gameplay. Oh, and decide upon a name. Then it was supposed to be time for Greenlight... not sure what will happen now.

I have also been playing games again! While developing CI, there was little time to play games, but now I set aside a couple of hours per week to play games of interest or just from my backlog. To help keep this up I record my sessions and put them up at A Gamedev Plays... on YouTube.

Hello everyone,

A few events have recently occurred, with a few more on the horizon. Thus it is time to replan work for the next couple months. First the important stuff - what I'll be doing. Then I'll explain why.



It has been too long since touching the Concealed Intent codebase. I'm getting withdrawal symptoms. Over the next month or so I will start work on an update to Concealed Intent. Aiming for around 3 weeks worth of work, plus testing. Assuming I haven't forgotten too much, it should be out by the end of March.

The first and main task of this update will be producing a version of the game without Steam DRM. Then a couple of new gameplay features will be added (a truly random map option in skirmishes, new drones). I have collected a few good suggestions to improve the UI, and I hope to get them done too. If there is still time after that I'll just keep going through my list.



Concealed Intent uses Steam DRM to identify and authenticate players. This information allows the game to automatically login players into the online system without the need for a username or password. This is why you can start Concealed Intent and immediately play online. The problem with Steam DRM is that it locks the game to the Steam platform, which is not a bad thing for people playing the game on Steam, but means I can't sell the game on other platforms.

Considering the potential impact of Steam Direct (see below), I think it is important to loosen this restriction on myself. Players on Steam will not notice any difference, but it will mean I can sell non-Steam versions of the game. These non-Steam versions will have online registration, logon and password recovery screens (and players will need to login before playing online), but will otherwise be the exactly same.



Steam Direct will be Valve's replacement for Steam Greenlight as the method to get a game onto Steam. Coming in a few months, it will require a flat fee be paid to Valve in return for each game added to the Steam platform. Estimates of this fee range from US$100 to US$5000. At the bottom of this range I fail to see how the fee will have desired effect (preventing exploitative games). At the high end of the range some small devs, like me, will struggle.

I should point out that I know Valve has every right to organise their platform how they want, and their stated goal is laudable. However, as a small indie dev it would be very easy to be crushed by any changes as an unfortunate, unintended and unnoticed side effect. Although I think it likely that the fee will fall towards the low end of Valve's range and I will probably be ok, it is still a wake up call. At the moment I am completely dependent on the Steam ecosystem and Valve's benevolence. To protect myself, I am going to start looking towards other platforms. Thus the non-Steam DRM version of Concealed Intent as an initial learning exercise and start upon this path.



First, I will fix any bugs that appear. Otherwise I will get back to work on my next game and look to start promoting it. However, this will be affected by the fact I will be moving country around May. This is likely to also require me to find a new job as developing games will not pay the bills in the vastly more expensive country I will soon reside. I cannot make any guarantees as to what I can achieve in the the second half of the year. However, I hope to finish my second game and release another small Concealed Intent update.



After taking a break over the holiday season, I have started work on a new game. I don't have a name yet and it is still all developer artwork (amazingly ugly!). So I am not ready to show people or talk much about it yet, although I am happy with the way it is progressing. Right now it has reached a natural pause point. After finishing the CI update I will get back to it with some refactoring, prettifying and expanding out of the already completed vertical slice of gameplay. Oh, and decide upon a name. Then it was supposed to be time for Greenlight... not sure what will happen now.

I have also been playing games again! While developing CI, there was little time to play games, but now I set aside a couple of hours per week to play games of interest or just from my backlog. To help keep this up I record my sessions and put them up at A Gamedev Plays... on YouTube.