Dev Update: Stations and Starmap Improvements!
Hi everyone! I bet you’re wondering - what’s new with Dust Fleet?
We’d like to update you on what we’re working on and what better way to do that than showing you what’s new! Let’s dive right in.
[h3]Stations[/h3]
These huge hulks of metal house civilians, shipbuilders and scientists. All four of them are now rolled out in the game, so let's talk about what they can do.
Each station has different amounts of hull and weaponry, and can fit different types of modules. There are a dozen station modules, which we'll take a look at in a future update.
[h3]Starmap Improvements[/h3]
The starmap is the heart of your campaign in Dust Fleet. From there, you can control fleet movements, ship manufacturing and the deployment of new stations. As we rolled out new station types, we took a look at how to make the starmap itself a smoother and more intuitive experience, leading to a ton of work under the hood.
Finally…
Psst - here's a sneak preview of one of the ship-mounted weapons that we're working on!
That's all for this update! Don’t forget to wishlist us on Steam!
There's plenty more to talk about, so be sure to follow us on Twitter and join our Discord to get future updates.
We’d like to update you on what we’re working on and what better way to do that than showing you what’s new! Let’s dive right in.
[h3]Stations[/h3]
These huge hulks of metal house civilians, shipbuilders and scientists. All four of them are now rolled out in the game, so let's talk about what they can do.
- The mining station, when combined with the right modules, generates resources to fund your shipbuilding.
- The science station can be used for generating research points or increasing the range of what you can see on the starmap.
- The manufacturing station can build bigger ships like cruisers and carriers.
- The combat station can fit tactical modules, such as bomber strike, and launch fighters if it's present in a battle.
Each station has different amounts of hull and weaponry, and can fit different types of modules. There are a dozen station modules, which we'll take a look at in a future update.
[h3]Starmap Improvements[/h3]
The starmap is the heart of your campaign in Dust Fleet. From there, you can control fleet movements, ship manufacturing and the deployment of new stations. As we rolled out new station types, we took a look at how to make the starmap itself a smoother and more intuitive experience, leading to a ton of work under the hood.
- The visible area of the starmap is now simplified - each ship and station has a radius they can see.
- Advancing the turn is now quicker and smoother. An autosave file is also quietly compiled, generated and saved while the player starts their next turn. We worked super hard on optimising this so the player's wait between turns is as short as possible.
- The starmap is now a buttery smooth experience - many more items now animated, and lots of annoying little stutters have been smoothed away. Here's a little example of the new animation we've got going on.
Finally…
Psst - here's a sneak preview of one of the ship-mounted weapons that we're working on!
That's all for this update! Don’t forget to wishlist us on Steam!
There's plenty more to talk about, so be sure to follow us on Twitter and join our Discord to get future updates.