Hi everyone! I bet you’re wondering - what’s new with Dust Fleet?
We’d like to update you on what we’re working on and what better way to do that than showing you what’s new! Let’s dive right in.
Stations
These huge hulks of metal house civilians, shipbuilders and scientists. All four of them are now rolled out in the game, so let's talk about what they can do.
The mining station, when combined with the right modules, generates resources to fund your shipbuilding.
The science station can be used for generating research points or increasing the range of what you can see on the starmap.
The manufacturing station can build bigger ships like cruisers and carriers.
The combat station can fit tactical modules, such as bomber strike, and launch fighters if it's present in a battle.
Each station has different amounts of hull and weaponry, and can fit different types of modules. There are a dozen station modules, which we'll take a look at in a future update.
Starmap Improvements
The starmap is the heart of your campaign in Dust Fleet. From there, you can control fleet movements, ship manufacturing and the deployment of new stations. As we rolled out new station types, we took a look at how to make the starmap itself a smoother and more intuitive experience, leading to a ton of work under the hood.
The visible area of the starmap is now simplified - each ship and station has a radius they can see.
Advancing the turn is now quicker and smoother. An autosave file is also quietly compiled, generated and saved while the player starts their next turn. We worked super hard on optimising this so the player's wait between turns is as short as possible.
The starmap is now a buttery smooth experience - many more items now animated, and lots of annoying little stutters have been smoothed away. Here's a little example of the new animation we've got going on.
Finally…
Psst - here's a sneak preview of one of the ship-mounted weapons that we're working on!
That's all for this update! Don’t forget to wishlist us on Steam!
There's plenty more to talk about, so be sure to follow us on Twitter and join our Discord to get future updates.
Task Force Admiral - Vol.1: American Carrier Battles - Drydock Dreams Games
Dear Fans, Dear Followers, Old & new,
Welcome to this October 2022 dev diary for Task Force Admiral.
Some new progress to show this month. Most has been showcased in our previous weekly updates on our social platforms, but as these are usually limited in terms of length of text and media quantity, this update is an opportunity to put that all somewhere, where it matters, and where it will last!
We will actually start with the main dish. Those who have been following us know that we have been making steady progress in the development of the GUI & gameplay-related functions over the last few weeks, bringing Task Force Admiral every day a bit closer to an actual game, rather than a mere tech demonstrator, if I was to be say it in a silly way. Here's a series of comments we posted regarding our scouting system and how the AI interacts with it, which will offer some insight in what we've been doing.
First of all, we've been teaching our Artificial Intelligence engine the ropes of carrier combat - and carrier combat 101 says that a good battle starts with some good scouting. This was also the opportunity to test our basic friendly fog of war. Indeed, we wanted to make sure that you actually lose contact with your scouts (at least as a permanently spotted, accurate plot on the map) the moment they leave your immediate sighting and radar range. That worked. And when they come back, they are also coming back as unidentified aircraft, so that works too. So far so good.
Still, it would be a bit unfair to leave you with no clue whatsoever in regard of where their position is, so we added a small icon on their flight plan which tells you where they should be if everything went well. Naturally, if they got shot down without sending a report, them not returning at all will be your first hint that perhaps not everything went so well on that specific search sector...
In other cases, we also had contacts spotted before a radical turn, and with the original spotter shot down shortly after its first report, the AI was not updated and sent its aircraft out there in the void. An embarrassing episode for that Japanese raid indeed, missing its target by a whole 50-60 miles. Bad luck, but all too historical actually!
By recreating the conditions for the random blunders of the era, we sure hoped to see our game recreate them organically, with as little intervention on our part as possible. Fortunately, our theory in terms of design did deliver ultimately, and we had our first small AI carrier vs AI carrier engagement proceeding as it should - that is, absolutely chaotically. We have described it below:
Ok, it wasn't really a full-fledged carrier battle, as we're still adding feature after feature, but that was the first time carriers actually engaged each other in some remotely comprehensive way that involved a full day of scouting & attacks, before retiring at night (which was helped by the fact that these ships cannot sustain damage as of now - again, upcoming features).
What was more interesting was that it was a full AI on AI battle, with no human intervention, and it was pretty fun to see how things evolved organically from very similar, remotely different standpoints using our observer mode. It might look like much from here, but believe me it tells some beautiful stories, really, and ends up being a happy confirmation that the gameplay certainly has much original potential. The day started with a scouting mission programmed for each side. Both carrier task forces had an "interdiction" task set for them, which implied that they would search a given sector, either provided by the scenario maker (the case here), the player (if it's a friendly TF) or generated from known data (that is, around the area the AI would expect the enemy to be the day following a loss of contact later during a scenario).
As scouts went on their respective business, they both encountered the enemy and reported its position. The scouts on the IJN side were sent up faster (as the US carriers started in a recovery mode, necessitating a few extra minutes of rearrangement of the aircraft on deck). That mere factor changed a lot of things, actually.
As the scouts left the vicinity of the enemy force (ultimately you will be free to order them to loiter & shadow relevant enemy forces, but it wasn't part of their instructions here), strikes were prepared on both sides. The scouts weren't shot down (we haven't programmed automatic CAP yet) so they went to the end of their research leg and returned. The info having reached the Japanese carrier force first, it meant that the Japanese raid went out first and cleared the decks before the return of the US scout above the Japanese TF.
On the other hand, the US strike was still assembling when the Japanese scout came back, and it was shot down by a fighter.
This resulted in the Japanese losing sight of the US force, while the US side didn't. As both carrier task forces changed their heading a few minutes after that to remain in range of the enemy, the US acout came back in time to report this change, but nobody was now in position to do so on the Japanese side. The result is that despite faster reaction times, the Japanese strike was sent on a wild goose chase. As the Japanese bomber slipped by the US force, missing it from 50-60 nautical miles, the US force went straight for the enemy. Yet, the US force also experienced its own issues: it was now approaching the Japanese carriers with part of its escort lagging behind after having attacked the snooper...
These events are actually reminiscent of actions that took place on different sides in 1942 (the afternoon IJN raid at Eastern Solomons, which missed completely the US force for the first one ; the catastrophic distraction of Hiryu's escorting force at Midway, going out of its way to intercept lagging SBDs on the ingress leg, along with a comparable event at Santa Cruz for the second). And it is refreshing to know that these kind of SNAFU events can be generated by the flow of battle as long as the conditions are met to recreate their causes. That's what happens with a handful of aircraft in the air - imagine when there will be dozens of them, with their comms & doctrine fully implemented. Can't wait!
As October went along, we added feature after feature to the engine. The AI is now capable of setting up CAP patrols and is actively engaging incoming strikes all by itself.
We are also working on AAA (anti-air artillery) logic. We are testing guns on a few platforms first, so as to make sure that they will be properly calibrated in-game. But even with just a mere two ships firing, the results are pretty convincing, if not impressive at times in terms of volume of fire... Approaching a US Task Force will ill intents will be costly, as it should be!
It's all very work in progress of course, but it's a good taste of things to come. This one is quite buggy, because the ships did not have a hitbox yet, and the aircraft don't explose on impact just yet, but here's a Val getting shot down on its dive and hitting the water just a few feet away from the carrier, like it happened so often in 1942. Hopefully this aspect will be functional in time for the next dev update - and I'll happily try to record a Val attack from Yorktown's vulture's row!
And, last but not least, a few shots of the Japanese strike getting home. Or at least, whatever is left of it after overstaying its welcome over the US task force (and yeah don't worry, Shokaku's antennas will be lowered during air ops, eventually!)
Ok, that was a long trek already. Now for those who like nice looking models, we had a new addition to the roster with Wasp, re-made with much love by our 3D artist Rizki. I am quite sure those among you who know about that one lady will appreciate the research he went through so as to recreate all aspects of her specific construction.
Her peculiar side elevator has always been a fan's favorite. It will be around for sure, at least, when we'll have understood how to animate it properly!
She's getting the full treatment, and is nearly ready for integration. With some more objects added...
... and her basic skin applied, she will soon encounter the digital paintbrush of Julien, our 2D artist, for her second life, a little more than 80 years after her dramatic loss.
Now, as a final shout-out, I wanted to mention two videos of importance released this month about Task Force Admiral. First, obviously Stealth17's blockbuster who brought us quite a few new fans from all around the world. If you were interested in hearing a second opinion about our July gameplay trailer, search no more, that man has you covered!
And yet, if the perspective of a longtime UAD player wasn't close to enough, let me introduce you to Tim Migaki's take on the very same trailer - only this time for a full hour, and coming from somebody who's into real-life naval matters. About that, if you're into Navy stuff of all sort, and especially literature, don't hesitate to pay his great blog Fair Winds & Following Seas a visit!
Big thanks to both of them for their kind coverage
That is all for today Folks! Thank you all kindly for your attention, dear followers. Hope that extended gibberish made sense. That was another long one, but don't worry though - unlike what has been claimed by some out there - to my bewilderment really... - these updates do not affect in any way the pace of development, besides providing our single dev with some comfort to see his work being acknowledged and archived (who knows, we might need that for a making-of some day!). Our online presence is fully handled by yours truly, the producer, who doesn't get to write a single line of code or author a single stroke of virtual brush. Besides contributing to keep our feet firmly on the ground, while developing a sense of responsibility in regard of the feedback we offer our community and our publisher, these updates are a handy way to maintain a presence online and reassure those who might be wondering about the state of development of our baby. Hopefully, some of you do enjoy these monthly rendezvous. At the very least, we do!
As always, if you aren't too fond of Discord, Facebook, Twitter or else, don't forget that we have a mailing list here specifically made so as to keep you updated of all our Steam updates and other announcements which might be big enough to deserve a special treatment. Click on the pic below to access the form.
We keep working on Snow Scout and this patch improves the general stability, fixes some bugs and is preparing for the next bigger update. We are almost done overhauling the cannon operation, complete with some new graphics and sound effects, but it will take a while until we can roll this update out. Still, the current solution works alright too, so hit those slopes for some stay-at-home workout.
More importantly though, it's Halloween tonight! So if you happen to own our game Rainbow Reactor, be sure to fire it up today or tomorrow for a little spooky surprise ːDottieHeartː
Today's newsletter is going to be a special one. It's Halloween time – the night of pumpkins and glowing eyes, of bats and spooky stories! It's time to tell you more about the Vampire – our new Beast in the game!
It's important to mention that the Vampire is still in development. Do not expect this Beast to be added in the next public Alpha-test. Nevertheless, we've already put so much work into this character, so we've got A LOT to share with you!
Where did it all begin?
it’s necessary to start from the beginning. The original idea of Beast Hour could be described like: "knights run away from werewolves in a gothic castle". As one of our very first gameplay prototype testers noticed back then: "the game is like Super Mario with multiplayer & Werewolves – all you can do is run, jump and collect coins".
Game rules were very simple – in the beginning of the match two random players out of ten became Werewolves. The remaining human players (it was before we came up with the name "Raiders") had to find, collect and bring spheres to activate portals. Once a player collected enough, he/she would be able to escape & win the game. Werewolves had to hunt down Raiders to turn them into monsters! With each minute the number of Raiders was decreasing and the number of Beasts – increasing! As a Raider you didn't have a chance to slack off because even the most skilled player couldn't stand against a pack of Werewolves.
Initially, we were not going to make each Raider unique. On the contrary, the plan was to have a blank slate to customize as much as possible. Only selected few pieces of armour could impact the hero's abilities. Yet, the following series of tests proved that our audience was not interested in this approach, and, truth be told, neither were we.
We decided to go with individual personalities and gameplay styles. Many players enjoyed playing as Werewolves – not many games bring them to the fore – we also realized that we needed more Beasts diversity too.
Why the Vampire?
We asked a bunch of people: "What other Beasts would you like to see in Beast Hour?" The answers varied, but the most common one was evident – Vampires! That's really not surprising, as vampires are very popular in modern games and movies. Plus, they are ideal for our game's setting! On top of that, we wanted to make something completely different from Werewolf gameplay – we wanted to make a flying Beast!
It was obvious that our Vampire should not only be easily recognizable, but also unique and memorable. We intentionally did not use the image of a "vampire aristocrat" – it would have gone against our vision. The character should be "the terror that flaps in the night".
We started to work on first sketches (yes, they were made on copy papers with a pencil):
Our sources of inspiration came from games and movies first of all. We were especially interested in characters from the "Van Helsing", "Underworld" and "Batman" movies. Talking about games, the greatest influence came from "Nosgoth", “Castlevania” and “Order 1886”. That's how we made reference boards like this one:
Typically, Vampires are portrayed like dark angels with human hands and webbed wings behind their back. But notice the fact that bat's wings are also their hands, which is a very unusual concept for Vampires in pop culture. So, this was the approach we used for our character.
How do you play it?
During the creation process an obvious question appeared: "What's it like to play as a Vampire?" To answer this we played many games with somewhat similar gameplay we wanted to deliver in Beast Hour. First of all, let's mention Nosgoth. Our team loves this title and thanks to a still very active and supportive community on Discord we managed to get a lot of useful info about the game mechanics and its heroes.
Sentinel from Nosgoth became a reference character for a number of Vampire abilities in Beast Hour. For example, we implemented our variation of Wing Flap skill. In Beast Hour it comes in handy considering we've got a very vertical oriented gameplay where you can throw enemies off the rooftops.
Also, Takeoff ability from Nosgoth seemed fitting to Beast Hour gameplay. This skill allows you to very rapidly gain altitude from any open area on the map.
Sentinel's flight had almost no limits – you could fly all over the map as you please, but for Beast Hour we decided that it would be a wrong decision to copy that. We call our game "parkour horror" for a reason – all Beasts should also explore the streets, use walls and look for prey in underground pathways. That's why we chose to use gliding.
For this mechanic we took inspiration from Batman Arkham Knight. In this game you could glide and do a cool move called Dive Bomb. It's a special attack you can make while gliding – your character starts to fall down to a point on the ground you picked and deals damage to enemies around the landing spot. By the way, if you haven't yet played this phenomenal game by Rocksteady Studios – go ahead and do it asap!
Is the Vampire ready?
No. We want to stress once again that this Beast is not yet ready. Or, as we call it, ready in "grey form".
That's how we make characters for Beast Hour: it starts with a concept art. Then we create a draft 3D-model in A-pose and see how it looks like in the engine (we use Unity). After some adjustments implemented (to make sure the size and body proportions of the character work fine in an actual game environment) the draft model is used to create rigs and animations. At this point we also make VFX. Once satisfied with the results – we build a high poly model, create and add textures, fix bugs.
Right now we are in the very final phase. Thus, to give you the Vampire to play with, we first need to finish its visuals and resolve bugs. The thing is that the Vampire has three types of movement – running, parkouring and flying. The transition mechanics between these states are the most challenging to fix, yet we've almost finished that process!
Do Vampires have any lore?
For every character, faction and location in the game we come up with lore. It's much easier to create visuals and build a gameplay style if you are aware of the hero's background. Now we are ready to share the most vital facts about these creatures, but be ready to find out much more in the game itself!
So, Vampires in the Beast Hour universe are united under the Eternal Ones clan banner. They got their name due to the almost eternal lifespan every Vampire is blessed with. Some of the clan members remember how the world looked like more than 3,000 years ago!
Eternal Ones have a single leader and are divided into two generations:
1) Aztli Talla ("Blood Mistress") – the Empress of the fallen empire and the head of the Vampires. She possesses an unprecedented power when in her Beast form, but she also can turn into a human.
2) The First Generation – the higher nobility and the circle of Aztli Talla's closest servants. As a result of their long hibernation they have lost the ability to return to human form. Their power is inferior to Blood Mistress.
3) The Second Generation – the youngest (not older than 550 years) and the most numerous generation. They still can turn into humans, but their power is significantly inferior as compared to the First Generation.
Eternal Ones believe that the end of the world – Beast Hour – shall soon come. In their interpretation of the prophecy the Blood God will return and plunge the whole world into darkness, thus making Vampires no longer afraid of the sunlight. In this new age the Eternal Hunt shall start – an endless battle between Werewolves, Vampires and other clans will rage across the continents. Only the strongest and most worthy will prevail in this battle to rule over the new eternity.
To sum it up
Our whole team behind Beast Hour development can't wait for you to get your hands on the Vampire! If you have any questions – go ahead and ask, we'll do our best to answer. Have no doubt – we're making Beast Hour for you!
Please, make sure to check out our livestreams we regularly have at our Youtube and Twitch channels for almost an entire year by now. The next stream will take place in the middle of November, and the latest one you can found on Youtube.
Wishlist Beast Hour on Steam, follow us on social media channels and support on Patreon – it does help our small indie team to bring Beast Hour to a next level!
By the way, Beast Hour needs your help to prepare German, Italian, Portuguese and Korean translations! And if you know French, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Arabic or Japanese – we have a bunch of texts awaiting your proofreading! You can contact us via email: info@beasthour.com
And if you want to take a deep dive in development or discuss other forms of cooperation, use this: bizdev@beasthour.com
The Containers you’ve grown used to in Techtonica feature four ports, one on each side of a 3x3x3 box.
Containers with ports are super helpful for factory automation games. Coupled with the right combination of Inserters and Belts, Containers can serve as hubs for complex layouts or temporary sinks for starter spaces.
But, the large Containers on display during the Alpha and Demo were not meant to be around forever.
3x3x3 is a lot of space to consume on a factory floor, especially when Groundbreakers grapple with optimizing layouts for maximum efficiency. We’re talking about 27 voxels occupied by a machine with only four ports.
Oh, sure, we loved them for how ridiculous they were! One early playtester dubbed their first Container a block of cheese. As a team, we affectionately refer to the Container as Chonkin’ Charles.
Chonkin’ Charles? He’s going away before the game releases into Early Access.
Jokes aside, the Container players found and either loved or loathed in the Techtonica Demo was always placeholder. We’ve had alternate, permanent iterations in our backlog for a while now.
So, what’s replacing the 3x3x3 Container we called Chonkin’ Charles?
It’s a 2x2x2 wonder.
Yep! When Groundbreakers delve below the surface of Calyx in Techtonica as it launches into Early Access, they’ll find a smaller, more efficient Container waiting for them.
Gone is the massive box with only one port per side. In its place comes a Container that occupies only eight precious voxels in your factory. Even better, it comes with double the port count, featuring two on each side.
Check out a sample of the concept process done by our art team above. Below, you’ll see a screenshot of the new Container at work in our in-development build of Techtonica.
The new ports and smaller space requirements will allow players to squeeze out way more efficiency for their factories, and we can’t wait to see how Groundbreakers put them to use.
As for its internal name? Obviously, we call it Medium Melvin.
If you haven’t heard the news, the Techtonica demo will leave Steam on November 8th, 2022, as we shift our focus to building the Early Access version of the game.
We’ll fill the gap left by the demo’s departure with lots of behind-the-scenes and in-development news for Techtonica. That includes posts like this one.
Thanks for reading, Groundbreaker! We have so much planned for Techtonica, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
Alongside F1® 22's recent 1.15 patch, all ten F1® teams have had significant face-lifts to bring them closer to their real-life counterparts. This is known as the Sport Liveries Update and is available now for all F1® 22 players.
Throughout the season, F1® teams make refinements to their team colours, branding, attire, and more. However, the most important changes are those made to the cars themselves.
As teams across the grid look to eke out those fractions of a second over their rivals, F1® car designs evolve throughout the season. What might look like small aesthetic changes to an untrained eye can be the result of thousands of hours of research, potentially being the difference between a point's finish and a spot on the podium.
With the Sport Liveries update released to F1® 22, changes to vehicle geometry, bodywork, sponsors, and colours have been made, as well as updates to team attires, hospitality spaces, and garage looks throughout the F1® grid. This will bring them closer to their real-life counterparts for enhanced visual realism.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the changes made to each of the teams in the most detailed Sport Liveries Update we’ve made to-date:
Oracle Red Bull Racing
Sidepod, top canopy, shark fin, side vents, and front floor strakes have been changed. Sponsor logos have also been updated, most notably the addition of Honda to the engine cover, introduced during this year's Japanese Grand Prix. Additionally, the colour of the RB18 has been refined to better suit its real-life counterpart in-game.
Scuderia Ferrari
Tweaks to the rear wing, wing mirrors, front brake duct, DRS housing, and slight sidepod changes on the rear end have all been made.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
The front wing and front wing end plates, floor sides, floor front strakes, DRS housing, and the sidepod shape have been updated.
BWT Alpine F1 Team
Changes to the sidepods, sidepods/top canopy vents, top canopy and shark fin, floor front strake, and the rear wing lower planes have been made. There have also been changes to the livery pattern, most notably the increase in exposed carbon fibre at the top of the sidepods, between the BWT pink section and the Alpine blue section of the car.
McLaren F1 Team Floor sides and front strakes, sidepods, and side vents have been changed on top of more carbon being revealed and changes to vehicle sponsors. This includes the change from Android to Chrome on the engine cover and the rear wing DRS flap changing from blue to black. Additional sponsor logos have been added to the front wing, rear wing and headrests.
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN Sidepod vents, front wing end plates, the DRS mechanism, and sidepod shape on the rear have all been updated.
Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team
Sidepod, top canopy, wing mirror, rear wing main plane, and floor front strakes have been changed. The AMR22 also now features a unique-looking "end plate" on each side of the rear wing, introduced during this year's Hungarian Grand Prix and run at higher downforce tracks like Zandvoort. The livery pattern has also been adjusted, exposing more carbon fibre on the halo and engine cover.
Haas F1 Team
Floor sides, front floor strakes, sidepod vents, rear sidepod shape, and front wing end plates have been changed. The most notable change on the livery is the addition of HaasTooling.com on the front wing end plates and the engine cover.
Scuderia AlphaTauri
Sidepods, sidepod vents, rear wing lower planes, rear wing main plane, DRS shape, and front wing colour changes have been made, as well as more carbon revealed on the body. The livery is now much darker than the launch version, with the front and rear wings now taking on a carbon/navy look compared to the white versions used previously. Notable sponsor updates include Ziba Foods on the nose and front wing end plates, and Buzz surrounding the headrests.
Williams Racing
Sidepods, top canopy, side vents, front floor strakes, floor sides, rear wing main plane, and a slightly different livery with more carbon being revealed have been implemented. In addition to the sidepod updates, Virtua's logos have been updated to reflect the change in their design mid-season.
We hope that you enjoy these updates to each of the teams across the grid and beyond.
Development has been really great the past weeks and I'm making a really good progress.
Recently, I've started to work on the map, choosing the right type of foliage (good-looking and as optimized as possible) and the right type of textures/materials in order to run the game the best way possible.
I've also been looking into Virtual Textures and they should drastically improve the framerate of the game as well if used!
Overall, a lot of work on optimization and choosing the right things before proceeding to build the full world!
