I have added support for more advanced scanning, and improved the navigation beacons, etc, in the game.
I have also been working on improving procedural objects, etc, to allow for easier and more powerful integration into the story system.
I am relatively close to finishing the improvements to the new story. At that point, I want to test it much more extensively, and then add AI dialog, etc.
I can then work on the next main story quest.
It is now possible for the player to craft more advanced objects and buildings by converting harvested items and minerals directly into energy.
This basically unlocks a new “advanced” tier of constructable objects.
The next goal is to improve the scanning system so that I can not only detect cities that have not paged in yet but actually place beacons, etc, at their location to guide players.
This should not be too difficult.
I am still working on the new story.
I am adding more new, more complex elements to it, which require improvements to the story generator and supporting mechanics.
This should allow for the static and dynamic story generators to be substantially improved in the future, as more and more elements are added.
So far, these new features are progressing well.
The new story is going quite well.
I have added quite a few new events to it, and some new features, etc, too.
I am hoping that the basic building blocks of the story will be done in the next week or so, and I can then focus on adding the dialog, art, and other improvements and features.
There are still some bugs and issues, and a lot of testing to do, but I am making good progress.
![Spiritus Astrum [P0-B9]: p1461: Early Access](https://i.imgur.com/LBDWuj3l.jpg "Spiritus Astrum [P0-B9]: p1461: Early Access")
I have made several improvements and additions to the story, in addition to some minor improvements to the core mechanics of the game as well.
I have improved the “scanning” system so that more information can be obtained from planets in systems that the player has not visited.
This is extremely important, because the procedural story system uses this scaning feature to determine where to send the player next.
I have also modified and improved the ground cover for non-earthlike worlds.
I have recently become very intersted in running AI Large language Models (LLM’s).
With a view to furthering my research in this area, I have been planning a build for a machine dedicated to AI inference.
My goal is to be able to run 70b models at Q6 or even Q8 quants with a tk/s of 3-6 tk/s at least, and, hopefully, a 120b model with at least a Q5 quant at at least 1 tk/s.
The spec that I arrived at is:
These have 24 gbs VRAM each, for a total of 48 GBs, and they have just two PCIE power connectors, not three, making it easier to power them.
| 2×3090 Asus TUF Gaming GPUs | These have 24 gbs VRAM each, for a total of 48 GBs, and they have just two PCIE power connectors, not three, making it easier to power them. |
| Threadripper PRO 3955WX | I went with the PRO threadripper because of it’s support for more than 256 GBS RAM, and it’s 128 PCE lanes. I could have probably went with the 3945 model, since the clock speeds are similar, and the extra 4 cores (16 vs 12) of the 3955 probably won’t make that much difference for inference. |
| 256 GB 3200 MHZ DDR4 RAM | 3200 Mhz DDR4 is not the fastest, but it’s the fastest speed that the 3955wx supports, and I don’t think that over clocking 8x32GB sticks is going to work. I need 8 sticks because I want to use 8 channel memory. Memory bandwidth is very important for LLM’s, and 8 channel memory has about a 200 GB/s bandwidth, vs 100 GB/s for quad channel. |
| WRX80-E SAGE Motherboard | This actually cost more than the CPU, but it has 7 PCI-x16 ports, which I will need in the future if I intend to add more GPU’s, and because it has 8 channel memory support. |
| Corsair HX1500 | A 1500 watt PSU should be ok for two 3090’s, maybe even 3 if I underclock the card. If I get any more in the future I will have to get another PSU and connect them together. |
| 2 TB M.2 SSD | |
| Noctua Cooler | |
| Mining Case | I went with an open Air mining rig because it is the only setup that would allow me to add more than 2 GPUS. |
It will be some time before I get all of the parts, because most of them are used, and shipping will take time.
![Spiritus Astrum [P0-B9]: p1459: Early Access](https://i.imgur.com/RZpxlSQl.jpg "Spiritus Astrum [P0-B9]: p1459: Early Access")
I have finished the basics of the new story mission.
The basic triggers and events now work, the next step is to add more gameplay and story elements.
These gameplay elements will require quite a lot of thought. So far, the game relies on mostly survival and crafting elements for it’s core gameplay loop, but I want to extend this to add more things for the player to do, and more ways to interact with the world.
I could improve the combat system, add more random enemies, etc.
I have also conducted more tests on the story, and so far, it seems ok, except for a few minor issues.
I have been testing and improving the next story mission/quest for the game.
The main elements of the story work, it’s just a matter of adding the supporting gameplay logic.
This is going quite well, the project is designed to be easily extensible for exactly this reason.
Once I get the quest functional, I can work on adding the story elements, etc.
I have been testing the second main story in the game. This was finished in concept, but is not fully done.
The next goal is to finalise this story. It should, hopefully, be about 2-3 hours of content.
The game is currently arranged into multiple stories, with a different one being chosen based on the players choices in the startup screen.
Eventually, I want to have more procedural stories, etc, etc.
The testing has gone well, and the next step is to start working on implementing the story itself.
