Author Topic: AI War 2 Alpha v0.105 released!  (Read 2738 times)

Offline x4000

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AI War 2 Alpha v0.105 released!
« on: March 06, 2017, 04:42:02 pm »
0.104 was just a minor bugfix version on Friday.  This one, however, is hefty.

Lots More "Core Work" By Keith

 

Keith's been working on a ton of things, ranging from bug reports and minor feature requests from testers, on up to getting more of the game itself implemented.  It's really nice to see that progressing on both fronts solidly.

My favorite change on that front has to be how the guardian behavior is different -- it's a lot more akin to how guard posts worked in the first game, which was always the point.  It actually allows for some degree of stealth, etc.



Graphics!

 

Blue is doing a lot of work with players seeing what she can figure out on the squad icon front.  Basically there are a few competing processes pulling the design for those in different directions:

  • Blue is doing her best to make something that is attractive and that she can be proud of.

  • I and various players are trying to cram as much information as possible in there.

  • Blue, myself, and various players are trying to strip this down to be as simple as possible given the desire to have this be both attractive and informative.


So that's basically an iterative usability study, in essence.  It's a lot easier to arrive at something attractive when you don't try to hit it all in one go, so having you folks to work with on that has been golden.



On my end, I've been chasing upgraded ship shaders thanks to Cinth and some work he did.  I've also been working on the skyboxes and making those look better, which is something that had been on my list for a while, anyway.  I hadn't intended to work on that so soon, but the time turned out to be right.

So overall the game has taken a few leaps forward visually already in the last week, this build in particular... but we'll be seeing a lot more of that coming up as I get more shader work done and Blue gets more icon work done.

 

Enjoy!

Chris

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Offline BadgerBadger

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Re: AI War 2 Alpha v0.105 released!
« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2017, 04:54:59 pm »
I see you added the "Get Science" button! Thanks.

Offline x4000

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Re: AI War 2 Alpha v0.105 released!
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2017, 05:17:18 pm »
That was Keith. :)

Also, 0.106 hotfix is now out!
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Offline x4000

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Re: AI War 2 Alpha v0.105 released!
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2017, 12:54:13 pm »
By the way -- the other benefit of this shift to OpenGLCore on windows is that the BC7 format can actually be used, rather than it having to decompress it: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/class-TextureImporterOverride.html

So that's more efficient in a number of ways, including loading time, etc.  It only helps on OpenGL4+, though; so for someone with an OpenGL3.x card on windows, probably DirectX9 is going to run either faster or the same (I'm betting faster).
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Offline BadgerBadger

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Re: AI War 2 Alpha v0.105 released!
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2017, 06:20:47 pm »
So no .107 today?

Offline x4000

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Re: AI War 2 Alpha v0.105 released!
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2017, 01:22:08 pm »
Sorry, was my wife's birthday and so I was a bit out in the latter half of the day.  And Keith has some larger things in progress, to my understanding.  I'm also chasing down a couple of bugbears.  Will be a release today, though!
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Offline BadgerBadger

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Re: AI War 2 Alpha v0.105 released!
« Reply #6 on: March 08, 2017, 03:02:59 pm »
Birthdays are important, and hazardous to one's health if forgotten ;-)

Offline x4000

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Re: AI War 2 Alpha v0.105 released!
« Reply #7 on: March 08, 2017, 03:41:36 pm »
Indeed.  ;D
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Offline Dominus Arbitrationis

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Re: AI War 2 Alpha v0.105 released!
« Reply #8 on: March 08, 2017, 05:56:58 pm »
Indeed.  ;D

*Cracks whip*

Get back to work! Breaks for any reason are not authorized! Continue making ice cream! (https://youtu.be/4kDPxbS6ofw?t=3m32s)
Come help out at the Wiki!

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Offline x4000

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Re: AI War 2 Alpha v0.105 released!
« Reply #9 on: March 08, 2017, 08:35:32 pm »
 :)
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Offline Draco18s

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Re: AI War 2 Alpha v0.105 released!
« Reply #10 on: March 09, 2017, 12:28:56 am »
Get back to work! Breaks for any reason are not authorized! Continue making ice cream! (https://youtu.be/4kDPxbS6ofw?t=3m32s)

I knew what that was before I clicked on it.
(I love rewatching that video regularly)