Grid Sage Forums
Grid Sage Games => Announcements => Topic started by: Kyzrati on March 30, 2018, 06:14:24 PM
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It seems I never run out of achievement stuff to show... because, well, yeah there are 256 of them xD
Here's the finalized icons for the second to last category: events and story-related elements!
(https://i.imgur.com/fjNak1Q.png)
Achievement work is progressing nicely. Yesterday I pretty much finished the internal framework, and also implemented most of the new related UI features (except for the main achievements UI). But I haven't yet recorded anything to share there, so it'll have to wait for a later SITREP. (We have pop-ups on the map when achievements are earned, as well as a new section next to the end game stats window if any new achievements were earned at the end of the run. All animated, of course :D)
LOW_CONTRAST
Remember POLYBOT-7 (http://www.gridsagegames.com/blog/2018/03/polybot-7-2018-7drl/)? Well it was quite the detour, but as mentioned before Cogmind benefited from it in a number of ways, one of those I haven't talked about yet being enhancements to low-contrast mode.
The "LOW_CONTRAST" renderFilter option I added in Beta 5 (http://www.gridsagegames.com/forums/index.php?topic=1015.0) has been getting some use among players, though it was always kind of a hackish thing in the first place. Lots of Cogmind code and scripts assume the background is black, but I went in and changed that assumption in a number of places where it was more accessible. All of these improvements came as a result of efforts to polish the distinctive look of POLYBOT-7, which uses a low-contrast aesthetic by default. For example:
Path visualization is now much more visible. (All sample images are using the SLEEPY preset.)
(https://i.imgur.com/9gDzko4.png)
FOV edges are somewhat easier to see.
(https://i.imgur.com/WVQGDcb.png)
(The following are all before-and-after gifs demonstrating adjustments.)
Activating an Optical Array.
(https://i.imgur.com/oDIGTX6.gif)
Motion trail fading.
(https://i.imgur.com/DYfpUA1.gif)
AOE visualization edges.
(https://i.imgur.com/zbT0WmY.gif)
Structural Scanner and cave-in visualization.
(https://i.imgur.com/P2pkWYJ.gif)
SFX visualization.
(https://i.imgur.com/yUQXaAF.gif)
Cogmind's Big Little Brother
Speaking of POLYBOT-7, this week I finished the last two parts of its dev postmortem, much of which is related to Cogmind:
- Part 3: Spending Too Long on Map Generation and Content (http://www.gridsagegames.com/blog/2018/03/7drl-postmortem-part-3-spending-long-map-generation-content/)
- Part 4: Finishing Touches (http://www.gridsagegames.com/blog/2018/03/7drl-postmortem-part-4-finishing-touches/)
Again there are lots of diagrams/images so I won't copy them all here, but here's a few to give you an idea:
My desk after reasoning through various POLYBOT-7 map layout needs.
(https://i.imgur.com/67NfkEu.jpg)
A sample 100×100 map layout, annotated (the generation algorithm is one borrowed from Cogmind, but many of the parameters are different).
(https://i.imgur.com/IOmoTGV.png)
Testing generation for one layout style (each floor has multiple styles) of the 125×125 map (fourth floor).
(https://i.imgur.com/s9xgJZu.gif)
Examining content across a section of map, including patrol paths (the colored lines). I use these same features to balance Cogmind.
(https://i.imgur.com/hcjWZm9.png)
Special prefab rooms, labeled. A lot of Cogmind's outlying maps have prefabs as well, and that's one of the main ways to create unique experiences for different areas, but in POLYBOT-7 there wasn't time to add very many.
(https://i.imgur.com/pS7AsHX.png)
The purge timer in action.
(https://i.imgur.com/UqyV22j.gif)
Oops! Bug-enabled hacking interface opening a theoretical exit into a Dispatcher. Most of the non-applicable Cogmind features were blocked off, but I had only blocked bump-hacking and forgot that when adjacent you can of course click on a machine to hack it xD. (Being a simpler, faster, purely combat-oriented game there is no hacking in POYLBOT-7.)
(https://i.imgur.com/9THZnKG.gif)
If you want to see (and hear) it in action, this week I streamed my first serious P7 run (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HinxP57TIhI), and won! :P
And POLYBOT-7 also appeared in PC Gamer (https://www.pcgamer.com/free-games-of-the-week/) this week :D
Community
I also streamed this week's Cogmind weekly seed, going for a purely wheels-based combat run. It's a very atypical build, but a lot of fun. The entire run was uploaded to YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81TU8ynVGZU), and you can find a written summary on the forums (http://www.gridsagegames.com/forums/index.php?topic=1075.msg7471#msg7471).
Also on the forums, Joshua has shared his notes on Cogmind's many "Resources," (http://www.gridsagegames.com/forums/index.php?topic=1081) essentially a breakdown that might aid some of you in understanding these concepts and in some cases how they relate to strategy.
b_sen's prequel mockups are becoming a recurring theme around here, but his reimagining of Cogmind and use of REXPaint are really inspiring :). The latest installment is "AI updating in the face of Derelict incursions" (source (http://www.gridsagegames.com/forums/index.php?topic=15.msg7466#msg7466))
(https://i.imgur.com/ggXoYVa.png)
Next time we'll take a look at the final achievements category! And probably see some of the achievements UI features in action :D
Since a lot of the relevant SITREP discussion happens on Steam rather than in the forums, for reference here's a link (http://steamcommunity.com/games/722730/announcements/detail/1654384966952752150) to this same news on Steam. But feel free to post replies here, too :)
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Great sitrep! Polybot-7 is amazing, and definitely looking forward to low contrast in beta 6!
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nuzcraft: low-contrast #1 fan for sure :P. I'm quite curious how many people are using that mode other than yourself, and fortunately I added the renderFilter settings to the score sheet so we can take a look at that aggregate data with the post-Beta 5 stats review :)
I was going to wait until future Betas to improve that mode (after seeing exactly how many people would really benefit), but you're lucky--POLYBOT-7 needed that feature so the number of Cogmind users no longer mattered ;)