EC.0-1 - WEEK 3: Gameplay loop expansion, asset highlights, near-future plans
A few days late to our usual weekly devlog! We had a brief personal hiccup (nothing to worry about!), which caused us to lose a few days of development. Not a worry whatsoever, though, we're right back on track and we made up for the lost days. In fact, we have a few exciting things to talk about!
Most excitingly, we've moved on from simple prototypes of basic aspects of the gameplay loop; we're now onto properly expanding it into the most primitive version of what it'll actually look like for the player, and with that comes progress on player character models, extractable objects and even brand-new gameplay aspects we've had yet to speak about.
A brief demo of our worldspace terminals being used to spawn a salvagable vessel.
This week, we'll be replacing it with a fully animated rail system that brings the ship into place.
Note that all assets/text shown are placeholders, bar the terminal itself which will be used for lore!
HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK
Major expansion of the planned gameplay loop, start-to-finish.
Creation of several new assets, including advanced components that will sell for more.
Near-completion of the extraction body, plus some changes to how it'll operate.
Design changes of the functionality of the storage barge; its usages have been expanded!
High quality PEC 7-P coolant regulator next to a cheaper RG-7 model.
Both will have unique value modifiers depending on condition & manufacturer.
The in-progress salvage body that you'll acquire early on in the game.
It will be derived from the original flight body, meaning they can transform into each other.
The right claw will be for prying away panels & the left will be for carrying objects.
EXPANSION OF THE GAMEPLAY LOOP
The currently-planned and in-development gameplay loop has been expanded.
You will;
Accept a salvage contract, which entails utilizing a dedicated terminal in the extraction bay,
watch the vessel arrive at the station through a fully automated docking sequence,
hover your storage barge into position beneath the vessel,
lock it into a 'park mode', which will expand magnetic legs,
exit the storage barge using your repurposed turret-turned-flight-body,
tear away the ship's outer hull using the barge's heavy-duty magnetic extraction system,
explore the inside of the vessel, utilizing a dedicated scanner to determine where technology is,
and pull away maintenance panels to uncover hidden compartments and valuable salvage.
Every ship is different; components will spawn at random and will be of varying values, utilizing a system of corporations and organizations that the components originated from. They will have conditions and have a full spectrum of varying 'qualities', ranging from cheap and jury-rigged to sleek and ultra-expensive.
You will then;
Carefully disconnect each component from its mounting points before freeing it from the ship,
wrestle your newly freed components back out of the wreck using bespoke zero-gravity physics,
and launch them into your storage barge, where they're automatically secured for transport.
Some components MUST be stripped out in order to send it along its way.
... others, however, will be optional; either extract them all to get as much as possible, or send it on its way so that you can get to the next vessel's components as quickly as possible.
From there;
Fly to the terminal and send the vessel on its way,
haul your cargo over to the trader ship,
have your haul appraised and sold in bulk,
use your profits to purchase station repair components,
and take these components to a dedicated repair hub.
With these components delivered to the station's systems, you'll unlock various upgrades which will place you one step closer to bringing the station back to its original self and, as a nice side-bonus, receive direct upgrades to your gameplay as well (we're still ironing those out!).
NEXT WEEK
Over the course of the next week, we're hoping to establish much of the gameplay loop.
Here's what to (hopefully!) expect in next week's devlog;
A video demonstration of a ship arriving.
Proper demonstrations of terminal text.
A few new assets, possibly including new terminals.
Proper demonstrations of components being placed into the storage barge.
... and maybe more!
This is, of course, all subject to time & unforeseen delays.
Thank you all for reading!
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