Here are the things we’ve done within the last month, December 2020!
Core changes
Standalone Build
Previously there were many compiling problems with the standalone version of the game. The problems were fixed and we’re making a standalone build now for testing the networking (so that you can run more than 1 copy of the game on the same PC).
Save / Load
We implemented the first version of the saving system. This will work just the same way it works in such games as Minecraft or Don’t Starve: there will be a host who created a world and he/she holds the save of this world. Each player who joined the world has their character in this world, which is unique for this world & player.
Netcode + Relay Server
In the very beginning, we used to implement networking using the Unity Netcode framework. One player is hosting the game, others joining it. However, due to problems with NAT restrictions, players can’t just join a game because a host sits behind a router in a local network. Therefore, we need a server that’s going to be “proxying” requests from clients to host and vice-versa.
Unity Netcode has no support for this feature so we had to replace it with our own solution. We created our own proxy server which is called a Relay Server and already made a few tests with it. We also implemented “rooms” so that you can see a list of currently running games.
This tweet was made using the Netcode & Relay Server. All of us joined the game and were playing together to decorate the Christmas Tree (which will actually appear as an event object in the final version of the game!).
Chat
To show that we’re really playing together and didn’t script anything, we decided to implement a chat for the Christmas video. Instead of just showing the messages from other players in a special chat window, we decided to show it above the players to make it more personal and real. We will definitely add a chat window later as well though, don’t worry :)
Buldings placement
This tweet shows the way we implemented the building placement. You click on an item in your inventory that is actually a building and chooses a place for the building itself. The building placeholder is highlighted with green if it can be placed and with red if not. There is also a building grid that we will extend to show you where you can place the building.
Day / Night Cycle (+ World Time)
We implemented the so-called world time, which is a time passed since this world was created. Then we added a sector time, where a sector is that exact area you’re currently in (the Exodus planet), which has a day & night cycle. We can control how long lasts the day on Exodus and how long is the night.
Last, but not least, we added the first implementation of the day/night switch, which can be seen in this tweet.
Pause menu
We added the first version of the Pause Menu to be able to change settings or leave the game.
Object’s Views & Animation Support
What is meant here is that we added a possibility to start/stop animations/change the view of an object when the player interacts with it. For example, in the Christmas Video, we change the view of the Christmas Tree based on the items that players are putting inside it.
Main Menu
We already have a main menu for the game, which includes all the following features:
- Starting singleplayer game
- Hosting a game online
- Joining a game online
- Loading a game from save
- Settings
However, we’re not ready to show it to you just yet as it doesn’t look good enough for sharing :) We will definitely do that this month though!
Mini Map
You probably already seen the mini map we’ve added to the game. We will make a devlog about making it in the future to give you some developer’s insights on how it’s done.
Gameplay changes
Growing / Renewing Trees
We implemented a feature of gradually renewing plants that you gather in the world. Once you gather a plant, it will switch to a renewing state, which means it can’t be gathered anymore for some time. After this time, the plant will reach a stage when it can be gathered again, the “growing” state. However, you won’t get as much resources if you just gather the plant again without waiting for it to finish growing.
We will also show you this feature in the very nearest future!
Electricity cables
You could probably see that from our videos that we have an electricity network implemented. Here is an example of the electricity network between 3 buildings:
All of the buildings connect to the same network that has production & consumption and you shouldn’t consume more than you produce, otherwise, the network will shut down.
This system definitely looks like the one in Factorio, but don’t worry, we have our own vision for this and we will surprise you a little bit later :)
Forest + Winter biomes
We will definitely have multiple biomes in the game, such as the Forest (which can be seen on the videos) and the Winter (the one from the Christmas Video) biome. We believe that we have a good enough style already for both of them so the next step is to add creatures & resources to those biomes to make it “alive”.
Workbench for crafting (+model)
You probably see the Workbench in one of our tweets. Here it is. You’re going to be using the Workbench for crafting complex items on your base.
Laboratory for researches (+model)
Laboratory will open a possibility for researches. We already have the research mechanism implement and will share it with you pretty soon!
Electricity Network UI
We’ve added a simple UI with a graph to show the player how much the consumption & production is. We will definitely add more features to this UI later to give you more overview of your network.
Here is the tweet showing the electricity network UI.
Solar panel (+model)
Solar panel will be used as an electricity producer which has an obvious drawback: it doesn’t work at night.
Here is the video of the solar panel model.
Fuel burner (+model)
The fuel burner will be the first electricity producer that is available to you in the game. It’s concept is about burning the fuel to get electricity for your buildings.
The model is done, but will be shared a bit later (so that we can show you something each day!).
Ore miner (+model)
The miner will be used for automatically mining ore when there is a power supply for it. The first version of the model is done, but it will be improved in the future.
The first version of the miner can be see in this tweet.
Furnace + Refinery (Logic only)
Furnace will be used for smelting the ore into the ingots.
Refinery will be used to refine resource and extract other resources from it.
Both share the same concept but is used for different items.
There are no models for it yet, but will we most probably make those this month!
That’s it
How do you think, are you doing good so far? Please share your opinion on our Discord server!
See you soon and thanks for reading!
