Approaching Infinity 1.5 is Complete as of Today!
Approaching Infinity has been on Steam Early Access for a little over 2 months, and we've accomplished SO MUCH! You can do things in this game that I never conceived of before. Some aspects are revolutionary, others were painfully and obviously lacking until now. But it's done: v1.5 is complete!
[h3]Planet Scanning:[/h3]
Today is the release of planet scanning into the main branch. It has been in beta for about 2 weeks, and has needed surprisingly little fixing.
Fly over a planet and activate your scanners. You'll get a readout of the general atmospheric conditions, followed by lots of little tidbits of information about what's actually there. Of course, you won't start off getting all this information: you need to upgrade your sensors for that. But still, it's a great way to see what you're getting yourself into...
I've done a few previous announcements about this new feature, so I won't overdo it here. If you want to know more, you can either read the previous news items, or check out this in-depth blog post I wrote about it.
[h3]Looking Back...[/h3]
So with the end of version 1.5, let's look back at what's been accomplished, before we look ahead.
The "Hail" feature allows you to communicate more directly with each alien ship you encounter, increasing your reputation and understanding of each race. You can even get a resupply, information about a location, or force them to surrender to you!
I also wrote a blog post about this: "How I created 12 alien languages for Approaching Infinity".
The "Graveyard" (Past Lives) section allows you to see some record of your previous runs. It shows the date, how you died, and a score based on what you accomplished. What, you didn't die? You won? OK, well it shows how you won, and an even better score!
The "Look" function lets you look around the map in classic roguelike fashion, aiming the cursor with your movement keys. This was always available with mouse-over tool-tips, but now purely-keyboard players have a way to do it too. It also lays the groundwork for things like grenades and teleporting :D
"Multiple Concurrent Games" means that you can now have up to 9 separate games of A.I. going at a time! When you get tired of playing your trader, just load up that sweet assault scout and blow stuff up! And when you unlock a new ship, don't wait, just start a new game and try it out!
It kinda took forever to get "Player Defined Keybindings" into Approaching Infinity. Sorry. But it's here now. Don't like the way the keys are set up? Customize it!
The "Captain's Log" feature was a big hit. It lets you take in-game notes about your adventures, and leaves a mark on the sector map so you can easily come back. This way, you can keep track of places you want to revisit, whether to pick up some inaccessible loot or save money and buy something you need.
Those are the major features. There were literally hundreds of other things: fixes, additions, tweaks, and balances. And I couldn't have done it without the Steam Community... Thank YOU!
...and cool new devices too...like...magnetic boots!
But now...
[h3]1.6[/h3]
Version 1.6 will start with the release of a huge graphical update to planet surfaces. The entire terrain system will be revamped, as well as the images themselves. Most of the tiles have been updated, and some things will be added that simply never existed before...
This whole thing started when I asked David, the game's artist, for some "new kinds of dirt." The first thing he sent me was about 20 new tiles for frozen planets (which aren't really represented well in the game). And then he just kept going... Mountains, flowers, trees, and yes, dirt too. And then some things I'd never imagined, but maybe always dreamed of...
No fewer than 130 new flowers, mushrooms, and truly alien, indescribable things. Imagine what can be done with these things in the future. Not just window dressing but...
And then, there's...
Gas giants!
You won't be able to land on these beautiful planets (they don't have a solid surface!), but that doesn't mean you can't use them for something...
[h3]Depth and Interactions[/h3]
I mentioned that I would be redesigning terrain for this update. It's not just to show you all the pretty pictures. It's also in preparation for the next step, where the world becomes much more interactive.
We need to know what happens if you set fire to an area: does it burn? What does it turn into? What if you freeze it? If you set off a "tactical deforestation grenade", is it affected by the gas? Does the gas even pass through the area, or is it blocked? Can you dig through that kind of wall?
So much to think about, and that's just regarding terrain!
Once the underlying framework is updated, it'll be time for the really meaty stuff. And that's where the game will change.
A.I. has always been very streamlined in its play, and I want to keep that as a core design goal. But there's a lot of room for improvement while still keeping things abstracted and easy to manage.
One thing A.I. lacks is activated powers. And there is just so much room for this within the setting. Here are some of the skills (with cool-downs) and items I'm imagining you'll be able to use in the future:
Officer skills will need to be completely re-written.
But I guarantee they will be BETTER than they are now. Probably a lot better. Some of the existing skills are redundant, or even boring. The classes will have much better life, differentiation, and options in the future.
And that's the beginning of version 1.6. I can imagine what I've outlined here taking about a month. That's not the entirety of what I want to accomplish, but I am going to quit talking now.
THANKS FOR PLAYING!
[h3]Planet Scanning:[/h3]
Today is the release of planet scanning into the main branch. It has been in beta for about 2 weeks, and has needed surprisingly little fixing.
Fly over a planet and activate your scanners. You'll get a readout of the general atmospheric conditions, followed by lots of little tidbits of information about what's actually there. Of course, you won't start off getting all this information: you need to upgrade your sensors for that. But still, it's a great way to see what you're getting yourself into...
I've done a few previous announcements about this new feature, so I won't overdo it here. If you want to know more, you can either read the previous news items, or check out this in-depth blog post I wrote about it.
[h3]Looking Back...[/h3]
So with the end of version 1.5, let's look back at what's been accomplished, before we look ahead.
The "Hail" feature allows you to communicate more directly with each alien ship you encounter, increasing your reputation and understanding of each race. You can even get a resupply, information about a location, or force them to surrender to you!
I also wrote a blog post about this: "How I created 12 alien languages for Approaching Infinity".
The "Graveyard" (Past Lives) section allows you to see some record of your previous runs. It shows the date, how you died, and a score based on what you accomplished. What, you didn't die? You won? OK, well it shows how you won, and an even better score!
The "Look" function lets you look around the map in classic roguelike fashion, aiming the cursor with your movement keys. This was always available with mouse-over tool-tips, but now purely-keyboard players have a way to do it too. It also lays the groundwork for things like grenades and teleporting :D
"Multiple Concurrent Games" means that you can now have up to 9 separate games of A.I. going at a time! When you get tired of playing your trader, just load up that sweet assault scout and blow stuff up! And when you unlock a new ship, don't wait, just start a new game and try it out!
It kinda took forever to get "Player Defined Keybindings" into Approaching Infinity. Sorry. But it's here now. Don't like the way the keys are set up? Customize it!
The "Captain's Log" feature was a big hit. It lets you take in-game notes about your adventures, and leaves a mark on the sector map so you can easily come back. This way, you can keep track of places you want to revisit, whether to pick up some inaccessible loot or save money and buy something you need.
Those are the major features. There were literally hundreds of other things: fixes, additions, tweaks, and balances. And I couldn't have done it without the Steam Community... Thank YOU!
...and cool new devices too...like...magnetic boots!
But now...
[h3]1.6[/h3]
Version 1.6 will start with the release of a huge graphical update to planet surfaces. The entire terrain system will be revamped, as well as the images themselves. Most of the tiles have been updated, and some things will be added that simply never existed before...
This whole thing started when I asked David, the game's artist, for some "new kinds of dirt." The first thing he sent me was about 20 new tiles for frozen planets (which aren't really represented well in the game). And then he just kept going... Mountains, flowers, trees, and yes, dirt too. And then some things I'd never imagined, but maybe always dreamed of...
No fewer than 130 new flowers, mushrooms, and truly alien, indescribable things. Imagine what can be done with these things in the future. Not just window dressing but...
- Collection quest targets
- Ingredients for disease cures
- Scientific research and cataloging
- Harvesting single-use items
- Catching horrible diseases
- Whatever else you can imagine!
And then, there's...
Gas giants!
You won't be able to land on these beautiful planets (they don't have a solid surface!), but that doesn't mean you can't use them for something...
[h3]Depth and Interactions[/h3]
I mentioned that I would be redesigning terrain for this update. It's not just to show you all the pretty pictures. It's also in preparation for the next step, where the world becomes much more interactive.
We need to know what happens if you set fire to an area: does it burn? What does it turn into? What if you freeze it? If you set off a "tactical deforestation grenade", is it affected by the gas? Does the gas even pass through the area, or is it blocked? Can you dig through that kind of wall?
So much to think about, and that's just regarding terrain!
Once the underlying framework is updated, it'll be time for the really meaty stuff. And that's where the game will change.
A.I. has always been very streamlined in its play, and I want to keep that as a core design goal. But there's a lot of room for improvement while still keeping things abstracted and easy to manage.
One thing A.I. lacks is activated powers. And there is just so much room for this within the setting. Here are some of the skills (with cool-downs) and items I'm imagining you'll be able to use in the future:
- Incendiary Grenade: a thrown explosive that sets the area on fire (given oxygen)
- Tactical Teleporter: move instantly to a nearby tile
- Pep Talk: reduces all other officer's cooldowns by 20%
- Deploy Cover: create a barrier nearby that blocks enemy movement, vision, and shots
- Engine Boost: move 3 tiles this turn
- Emergency Repairs: fix your ship's hull by 25%
- And this just really scratches the surface...
Officer skills will need to be completely re-written.
But I guarantee they will be BETTER than they are now. Probably a lot better. Some of the existing skills are redundant, or even boring. The classes will have much better life, differentiation, and options in the future.
And that's the beginning of version 1.6. I can imagine what I've outlined here taking about a month. That's not the entirety of what I want to accomplish, but I am going to quit talking now.
THANKS FOR PLAYING!