Happy Holidays!
A few months ago, I asked David (Gervais, AI's artist) for some "new dirt tiles", and he ended up giving me over 300 beautiful new terrain images that eventually set in motion a complete remodel of planet surfaces.
Last week, he asked me if there was a level editor so he could "make some ships". I said there wasn't, but I'd make him one. I did...so...
[h3]You get a level editor, and you get a level editor, and you get a level editor, and YOU GET A LEVEL EDITOR![/h3]
Approaching Infinity 1.6e3 comes with a built-in level editor where you can design not only shipwrecks, but also caves, planets, and sectors!
What David made opens up some very interesting...
What do these ships (shapes) remind you of?
Could it be...
The playable ships?!
Yes! This just screams "bones files": finding the remains of previous runs in your current game. Maybe you didn't die for nothing, and you can come back later and loot your own space-corpse (yes, I feel weird saying that).
OK, but once you've played a predesigned level, won't you know what to expect?
Nope.
AI already uses a few pre-designed levels (not many, but certainly the one that looks like a giant "AI", yes, I made that a long time ago).
But to keep it fresh, Approaching Infinity makes...
The game occasionally takes something that's already made, wipes it clean, and gives you entirely new content.
This is also useful in that, if you want to make a cool shipwreck or planet, but want to leave it without specific monsters or treasures, you absolutely can, and AI will add whatever is appropriate to the player's level and location.
That's right, Approaching Infinity will populate your levels for you. Let's take this cruiser that David designed, and see what happens:
It adds different enemies, set dressing, loot, even additional force-fields, traps, and damaged areas. It almost always adds lots of commodities to the big open space in the middle, but everything else is pretty unpredictable ;)
No.
Not yet.
The editor comes with a built-in "submit" function that uploads your map to a database where I can look through what has been created and add to one of the periodic updates. Your steam name gets appended to the file name so you'll get credit for it.
What about Steam Workshop?
Maybe someday. I don't have the integration for that right now. Approaching Infinity has a huge potential for modding, in addition to creating levels, so that can be addressed in the future. For now there is still so much content waiting to be added.
So for now, upload it:
There are a few other limitations, too:
[h3]What else?[/h3]
Feature-wise, there is one new addition to the game, partly inspired by my own over-use of nuclear weapons in the game, and the subsequent infamy boost that creates. But the motivation to actually do something about it comes from a Discord user trying to start a particular alien quest line.
Having too much Infamy will slowly but surely erode your reputation with certain races, and until now, there hasn't been any way to counteract this...
Monks, Limoquee, and Unifier embassies will now offer a paid service to remove 20% of your infamy. Each race calls it something different, but it has the same effect.
The more total infamy you have, the more it will cost. There's also a fairly long cool-down after using the service, to prevent abuse by criminals. In that picture, I'm in sector 2487, with nearly a billion credits. It won't be that expensive for you. Probably.
OOh, what about special services from other races? Yep, they're coming. It is already planned to have Tentaculons and Vordalene offer a "Skill Re-Spec" service for your officers. What else can you think of?
That's it for now. Activated officer cool-down skills are coming in early 2021.
So Happy Holidays! Stay safe! I look forward to seeing what you create
Last week, he asked me if there was a level editor so he could "make some ships". I said there wasn't, but I'd make him one. I did...so...
[h3]You get a level editor, and you get a level editor, and you get a level editor, and YOU GET A LEVEL EDITOR![/h3]
Approaching Infinity 1.6e3 comes with a built-in level editor where you can design not only shipwrecks, but also caves, planets, and sectors!
What David made opens up some very interesting...
Future Possibilities
What do these ships (shapes) remind you of?
Could it be...
The playable ships?!
Yes! This just screams "bones files": finding the remains of previous runs in your current game. Maybe you didn't die for nothing, and you can come back later and loot your own space-corpse (yes, I feel weird saying that).
OK, but once you've played a predesigned level, won't you know what to expect?
Nope.
AI already uses a few pre-designed levels (not many, but certainly the one that looks like a giant "AI", yes, I made that a long time ago).
But to keep it fresh, Approaching Infinity makes...
Adaptations
The game occasionally takes something that's already made, wipes it clean, and gives you entirely new content.
This is also useful in that, if you want to make a cool shipwreck or planet, but want to leave it without specific monsters or treasures, you absolutely can, and AI will add whatever is appropriate to the player's level and location.
That's right, Approaching Infinity will populate your levels for you. Let's take this cruiser that David designed, and see what happens:
It adds different enemies, set dressing, loot, even additional force-fields, traps, and damaged areas. It almost always adds lots of commodities to the big open space in the middle, but everything else is pretty unpredictable ;)
I can play my own levels!
No.
Not yet.
The editor comes with a built-in "submit" function that uploads your map to a database where I can look through what has been created and add to one of the periodic updates. Your steam name gets appended to the file name so you'll get credit for it.
What about Steam Workshop?
Maybe someday. I don't have the integration for that right now. Approaching Infinity has a huge potential for modding, in addition to creating levels, so that can be addressed in the future. For now there is still so much content waiting to be added.
So for now, upload it:
Make something awesome and *everyone* can play your levels!
There are a few other limitations, too:
- You must be logged into Steam to use the level editor
- You need to have reached sector 5 in the game
- You can only upload 1 level every 2 minutes
- That's it. Go nuts!
[h3]What else?[/h3]
Feature-wise, there is one new addition to the game, partly inspired by my own over-use of nuclear weapons in the game, and the subsequent infamy boost that creates. But the motivation to actually do something about it comes from a Discord user trying to start a particular alien quest line.
Absolution, Expungement, Repentance
Having too much Infamy will slowly but surely erode your reputation with certain races, and until now, there hasn't been any way to counteract this...
Monks, Limoquee, and Unifier embassies will now offer a paid service to remove 20% of your infamy. Each race calls it something different, but it has the same effect.
The more total infamy you have, the more it will cost. There's also a fairly long cool-down after using the service, to prevent abuse by criminals. In that picture, I'm in sector 2487, with nearly a billion credits. It won't be that expensive for you. Probably.
OOh, what about special services from other races? Yep, they're coming. It is already planned to have Tentaculons and Vordalene offer a "Skill Re-Spec" service for your officers. What else can you think of?
That's it for now. Activated officer cool-down skills are coming in early 2021.
So Happy Holidays! Stay safe! I look forward to seeing what you create