This log should really be the eleventh one since its a couple months after the previous update. However, I will stick to my rule this time and finish off the final dev log before closed alpha release, thus it is part two of dev log ten. There are other reasons for my choice, but that is irrelevant, no need to waffle on about in the intro. Lets get on with it.
1: Finalizing the core of procedural research:
A quick primer for those who don’t know: The research system is procedural and partially physicalized. This means techs are generate not predefined and the logistics system is involved with research projects, which exist within the game world. It also means you can lose research projects, even to enemy action.
There are multiple types of research points to spend which will be earned via different ways of course. An example would be doing scans/surveys on planets for “natural science” points or “military science” points via military action. However I will implement unconventional ways to attain the same points. In order to balance it for different play styles like pacifists. Previous versions had an additional research points cap but that was removed, due to it being much too annoying and redundant for the player to deal with and for me to code.
Research power(“sci” or “science” in the UI), involves lab capacity, scientists(population and lead scientist characters) plus other bonuses from the location the projects are based. On ships the scientists are in the crew, which are separated by type, so you don’t have worry about manually filling ships with scientists, it will deal with that via the supply/logistics system.
There are two research windows, main one(first screenshot) and a small(above). The main window is where the research “tree” or rather paths are and where you select what to research. The second smaller window is to view and control each project being researched at the location they are being researched in. Each path as you progress will generate related techs which you can apply to for example your ships. Base techs are those which apply globally to certain abilities throughout your civilization like colony sensors and bonus/RNG for other useful tech like miniaturization.
Bottom line in regard to research, the hard part of the code is completed. Research is now officially functional within the main gameplay loop, and fun(I hope). Believe me, it took some hefty elbow geese to get it to this point. As with everything in development it seems, it was tougher to deal with than it looked.
2: Finalizing the core of design:
This is where you apply much of the end results of your research. Currently it is only used for ships, but that limitation will only for the initial early access. Other types of designs especially for ground forces and special buildings are in the works. Ships have multiple parts that will contain bonuses and slots for weapons and add capacity to the ship for other components and cargo space. This even though ships have limited weapons slots by design its its more customizable than it looks. Other components do not require slots and only require open capacity. Also, research projects can be done on colonies and ships in space, if they have labs to do it. One project per lab. Labs are also a tech themselves which can be improved upon.
I made the design window in a way that should allow rapid setup of ships for production, with simple clicks instead of dragging buttons around especially for common equipment. Also, only weapons require slots, you only have to worry about space for other types of components. I will publish proper videos of this entire game loop after a bit more refining in closed alpha, it would have been a waste of time for this log. Overall the design window was a pain to deal with, even worse than the research window, but compared to the trouble with my previous coding endeavors in early development it was a cake walk.
3: General UI:
As you can tell by comparing older screenshots of the UI, it has been changing over time. Though not yet final, it is becoming easier to look at(for me at least). Much of this improvement is due to standardizing some UI art assets and windows especially the smaller ones. There is a certain style I am attempting to achieve of course, one based mostly on NOT looking like a user interface for a fancy online shop. I often feel like many modern game UI feel like you are browsing for kitchen appliances or something to that effect. There is still much room for improvement in the UI, and I guess it will never truly be finished, but I am finally happy enough with it to release.
Conclusion:
The past two to three months of development involved an arduous amount of work put into the research system and particularly the related user interface, the latter of which also happens to be my weakest element as a developer. It did however expose quite a numerous amount of tiny, but non negligible mistakes and issues, which have now been mostly dealt with. Sometimes one does not notice what is broken, until the numbers are on the screen in game.
Well that is that for part two of the final dev log before the initial release into closed alpha. I was considering doing a part three for the next bit of work but there is no need. I have placed a link below to the Star Zeal 4x discord channel. That is where the closed alpha development will be updated regularly.
Links:
Discord: https://discord.gg/pTekFg3h
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1791630/Star_Zeal_4x/
If you wish to support development you can do so via paypal here: https://starzeal.wordpress.com/funding/ or use the paypal link to the right of this page.
You can also follow Star Zeal 4x on:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKCFIhlv7VuJpNfMKxeE7qw
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Akuu_D_E
IndieDB: https://www.indiedb.com/games/star-zeal-4x
STAR ZEAL 4X 