Fully Re-written Vacuum Code

Well this weekend was a huge success. I've completely re-written the vacuum code for the game and it's now 100% functional again. It required a redesign of the space station and tossing hundreds of lines of code but I've got it all much, much, much more efficient. The code that handles vacuum on the station used to be hundreds of lines, it's now a few dozen. Also, instead of thousands going on tens of thousands of objects flooding the screen and performing collision checks there's now only about a dozen objects. This should drastically improve the performance speed when your station is falling apart. What does all this mean? Well re-writing and tweaking this code cost me a month. I think in the end it was hugely worth it though, as the game can now utilize it's primary mechanic without the rest of the game suffering. Going forward I'll be able to add additional features as opposed to tinkering with this primary component. In short, I'm hoping I can finally start adding tons of new content to the game.

Getting There

Rewriting the Vacuum code is proving tricky. While I was quickly able to get a new, much better "fill" for the vacuum, having it rescind has proven much more difficult. I'm devoting this entire weekend to working it out and making combat more prominent in the game. It's gonna be 48 hours of crunch time as I want to push out another update before October ends. Also working to incorporate some of the last backer oriented "events" although they won't be fully implemented until some of the more complex AI systems are involved.

Updating the Vacuum Code

So for any of you who have played the first version of the Alpha you know that too much vacuum in the space station can really slow down the game. I've been working hard to overcome this and nearly have the entire vacuum system retooled. Rooms in the station are now much smaller and more modular. This should make combat much more interesting and allows for the game to much more easily handle a spreading vacuum. Previously the game was trying to calculate where the vacuum was spreading with thousands of calculations and then check for collisions. This resulting in tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of calculations happening on top of all the typical game material. This new system reduces that load to a few hundred, more a thousand or two maximum, calculations occurring (and that's assuming you've vented all the air in your station). So everyone should see a drastic improvement in this aspect. This update also allows doors to function more easily and to re-air sections that were exposed but were then closed off from the location of the vacuum.

Moving Forward

Hey everyone, just wanted to say I've been ironing out gameplay issues and hoping to have a great showing for Alpha002. September was unfortunately a very crazy month. Between a family bereavement, a wedding, law school, and coming down with a nasty cold I wasn't able to get nearly as much done as I intended for Alpha001. I've been programming the game on my MacBookPro since day one. While this worked great for the first portion of the game I eventually had to ditch the older GM4Mac that I was using in favor of the much faster and more updated GM:Studio. This required me to run Windows on my Mac, as the software isn't supported on Macs. This got me to where we were in September perfectly fine. However, when I went to export the game I learned that I wouldn't be able to export to Linux or Mac (ironically) from a Mac running Windows in a virtual machine. I took the next step to purchase a PC and begin developing on that. It's been a great transition for programming. Not only am I able to export to all my intended platforms shortly, but the software runs much more smoothly and I'm hoping development will be nearly twice as fast as it's been. I'm hoping to have some much more pronounced updates for the October release. I'm also hoping to release the Zombie Stretch goal, or the first iteration of it, in time for Halloween.