PhoenixGames

I have begun working on the implementation of the third main story for Spiritus Astrum.

The first two missions of the new story are now basically done. The artwork is not done yet, I am just using placeholder art, but the triggers and code for the first two missions are done.

I have added multiple enemy types, objectives, mission types, zone changes, and placeholders for story scenes, etc.

In addition, I have improved and extended the AI and space combat features in the game (Although I haven’t done any balancing yet).

My plan is to try to get the entire story done at some point next month, and then I can spend some time testing and retesting it before working on the artwork.

So far, it seems to be going well, and it seems quite promising.

There is, however, a LOT of work needed with this, from adding more missions, to bug fixes, balancing/tweaking, and adding story sections, and of course, the artwork.

I have now added support for friendly fighters within the space combat sim. Friendly fighters will launch with the player and follow them until enemy fighters are discovered, then break and attack the enemy.

Enemy fighters will also randomly target both the player and allied fighters.

This should be one of the last core mechanics to add to the space combat sim.

There were some issues getting these changes to work, but preliminary testing has gone well.

There are still a few bugs to fix, but one of these is intermittent, and difficult to pin down.

I have also added quite a few new features to the story mission itself, as well as bug fixes, improvements, etc.

The next goal is to continue testing and improving the space combat sim, and then begin assembling the new story quest, then work on the artwork, etc.

I have mostly completed the core mechanics changes for the new story that I am working on.

I am adding a new capital ship, which, while not directly controllable by the player, will need to move over long distances and high speeds. It will also need to change zones (Star Systems).

The player will also need to be able to leave and reenter this ship in various types of vehicles over the course of the story.

There is a lot of testing to be done on this, but I think that I got most of the core mechanics to work this week.

I had some major issues with storing the correct location on the server, since the game is currently not properly setup for multiple capital ship control objects (This is a feature I intend to add later).

However, I believe I have fixed these issues now, and the system seems to work very well.

It is now possible for capital ships to change star systems and fly to planets, and it is possible for the playe to enter and leave the capital ship in a vehicle. This is all saved persistently on the server.

I have also made some improvements to the code to make it easier to add and manage new storylines in the future.

I am currently working on adding another control object for the new story.

The player won’t be able to control this directly (Like the existing capital ship), however it will serve as the main capital ship for the player for the duration of the new story.

It is possible to launch and retrieve small fighter craft from the new control object, and I am now working on extensive testing of the new mechanics that I have added here.

This new control object has involved extensive changes to the existing system, which will require a lot of debugging.

Most of the initial setup and story code is working, but the problem now is the floating origin system. There are some issues with the positions of the player objects not being set correctly, etc, due to the changes to the core mechanics.

I also had some issues with server paging, as well as the physics system, etc.

I have an extensive set of tests that I want to run, which I hope to finish next week. I can then continue with the new story elements.

Most of the code for the new space combat mechanics is done. I had some issues with projectiles, not working properly with the floating origin system, but I have finally solved these issues.

I have added new features and UI improvements to the space combat system, as well as guided missiles (For both players and enemies) and other projectile types.

In addition, I have improved and extended the existing decoy and electronic countermeasures systems to work with the new mechanics.

I am now working on adding the new player-controlled fighter craft. The artwork is not yet finished, but I am adding the code for it, and so far, it is working well.

Players should be able to customise their weapon loadout, etc, with the new vessel.

So far, this is all progressing well.

The next step is to add a new capital ship to the game, this will be difficult, because so far, the game only contains one capital ship, so adding a second will require changes to the core mechanics.

I have added a shield effect to enemy star fighters, and I have added them to the existing tracking/nav map screen.

I have also made improvements to the nav map screen to allow the player to filter in/out enemy fighters.

The players shuttle also has shields too, and a “hull strength” value that will cause the shuttle to be damaged or destroyed if the hull fails.

Instead of adding aim prediction for the enemies, I have added “homing projectiles” instead, this was much easier, and seems to work just as well.

It was a challenge to add the enemies to the floating origin system, I ran into some issues that occurred at high speeds and high impulses, but this seems to work on now too.

The space combat system is now basically working, and I am quite pleased with it. There is still quite a bit of work to do, however.

In addition to some user interface improvements, the main area that I still need to work on is balancing the values for all of the different variables, such as weapon damage, shield strength, and the turn rate and thrust force of the enemies, etc.

There are also still some issues with projectiles experiencing unusual behaviour during floating origin shift events.

I am continuing to work on the art and art concepts, as well as the story, for the early access release of the project.

In addition, I have started added more gameplay features to the game.

I have started work on improving the space combat section of the game.

I am adding in the ability for the player to engage in dogfighting with other craft (In addition to combat involving capital ships). I am also working on designs for new starfighters and transport ships, which will hopefully feature in the story.

I have already added basic combat-related code to the players main shuttle, and this seems to work well. I still need to add more gui support to indicate where the player should be aiming, etc, but so far, the new changes are going well.

I am now working on the enemy AI for space combat. This will be kept fairly simple for the moment, but I will be incorporating things like guided missiles, shields, countermeasures/decoys, and possibly cloaking/stealth, etc.

I am still working on the concept art for the next story campaign in Spiritus Astrum.

So far, it is going reasonably well, although there will be quite a lot of art to add, in addition to support logic, etc, etc.

I am working on adding new vehicles (Although not all will be driveable) in addition to new enemies, etc. Some of the new art will be animated, and it is taking some time to figure out the best method of rigging and animating the models.

One of the largest and most complex pieces of concept art that I am working on is a new capital ship. This will not be directly controllable by the player (Unlike the current capital ship). The player will simply be a crew member in the new campaign.

This piece of concept art is going well, and the general layout (Exterior and interior) is mostly done.

The next phase in the project is to add all of the art assets that I will need for the early access campaigns.

This willl include more NPC/enemy types, and hopefully additional uniforms, etc, for the player, as well as more enemies, and environment art.

I have been working on some concepts for the new enemies in the game, and I have some up with some rough ideas that look ok.

I have been experimenting with animation and texture techniques too.

I am hoping that I will be able to get into early access by the end of this year, but there is a lot of work to be done.

I think the core mechanics of the game are close to completion, but I have a LOT of work to do to add the artwork and story elements.