End of October Update - More Optimization, and some Redesign Considerations

This update will be pretty sparse on actual screenshots, as most of the work done this month has been on rather unexciting optimization work and fixing bugs, and new design (and redesign) proposals.

First off, just to get it out of the way first, the attached video is a new shellmap, which is the ingame map the game loads when the game first boots up. The main reason for this is to just have a very basic scene that contains things like lighting, shadows, combat, destruction, etc, so we can more easily notice any problems in case any of these things are broken in an update. This isn't a substantial change, but I figured it out be good to include it in the update post, since it's the only real visual thing you'll get to see here.

We did a major overhaul of the game's audio system, as it was previously rather inefficient. WAV files would be loaded into the game as-needed, and this loading method could often cause momentary stutter during gameplay. The new system is much more efficient, so loading a new WAV file never takes more than a millisecond, removing the stuttering problem. We also improved the way audio levels work in relation to the viewport, so now scrolling the camera results in sound effects becoming louder or quieter relative to camera distance in a much smoother way; previously, the sound would be somewhat "stepped" when crossing various distance thresholds. Also, we finally made it so music actually works correctly. Due to usually testing the game with the audio muted - or at least, without music - a lot of audio problems remained unresolved until recently, since they generally took less of a priority. Due to the game's OpenRA origins, which in turn used ancient, crusty .AUD files from the original Command & Conquer games for music, the game engine was never quite intended to use WAV format for music, so music tracks would often randomly stop for seemingly no reason. This problem has now fully corrected, and music will play normally now.

We also spent more time filling out the logistics system, adding features such as the ability for Technicians (the building operators) tied to a building to abandon it, and options for buildings to self-destruct, allowing players to demolish their own buildings but re-acquire some of the lost resources in the rubble. We also altered building supply behavior; rather than each building having a dedicated resource storage amount, which could result in major problems (like resources being stockpiled in a building that doesn't need them at the moment, while other buildings that do need them are left empty), resource requirements are now on-demand, and will be delivered only when buildings are undergoing unit production. Recruits will also be sent to crew vehicles/transform into infantry when the unit production is underway, which is much more convenient than waiting until the unit is completed. We've also added a few test buildings, such as a Munitions Plant and Sulphur/Nitrate Mine (more on that later).

We also spent a lot of time discussing how the game should proceed, and which systems should be radically redesigned and altered, as the logistics system as it was wasn't quite turning out the way way wanted. We are thinking of adding some field logistics to the game, so that logistics isn't only related to unit production, but also unit upkeep. Units will now actually have ammunition storage that needs to be considered. Now, you might be worried that this will make the game tedious and punish the player way too easily, but we are going with a more abstract method of upkeep. While units will require ammunition, there will only be a single generic type that all units use. Running out of this ammunition also will not actually literally make them unable to fire their weapons, however. Only heavy weapons and explosives (such as grenades, cannons, missiles, etc) will be unable to fire if the ammo is depleted, however, small arms will continue to work, such as infantry rifles and machine guns for vehicles, though they will receive a rate of fire nerf. Ammo can be restored by designating supply zones, which will automatically send out ammunition carrier vehicles from your base to the zone, and units that stay within these supply zones will get their ammo restored. Note that these supply units are not directly controllable, and so ammo replenishment is more about setting up designated supply areas that should be defended, rather than microing supply units alongside your main battleforce.

As mentioned earlier, we are adding a Sulphur/Nitrate resource that is used to manufacture Ammunition. There will be some other resources as well, such as Food (used largely for biological, non-infantry units such as cavalry and large mutant creatures), and Advanced Materials, which is basically rare, advanced technology that can be found by unearthing old technology vaults (this resource will be used for only the most advanced endgame units). We are also likely going to merge the Authority resource into Power, as Power is currently a rather boring resource that works exactly like it does in C&C, and seems a little out of place. Power will now be less about maintaining an amount above a threshold, and more about outpacing the amount of power consumed every moment, while also reserving enough of a capacity to be consumed for performing airstrikes, call-in abilities and other special powers, and so unlike C&C power, it can be both drained and hoarded.

We are also tinkering with the idea of having squads of infantry, rather than individuals, though this is more just an idea at this point, and given how many other areas of design it will affect, we're not committing to this just yet. The reason we are interested in squads, however, is that it does present some more rich design aspects to infantry units, since it can allow for infantry types to be multi-purpose, without needing too many separately buildable infantry units. For example, it means you can have a basic rifle squad that has some anti-tank ability by giving one of the members a rocket launcher, without needing to give every single member a rocket launcher, which would make it way too powerful and effectively turn it into a rocket infantry type specifically. You could have separate squad members with different weapons, such as snipers, light machine guns, and grenade launchers, without the need for those to be separately buildable units in the menu. This also solves another problem that's cropped up, where Recruits need to run to a Barracks to transform into a single infantryman, which artificially massively increases the build time of all infantry units. Having infantry build in squads could mean that an entire group of Recruits could run over to the Barracks while the infantry squad is being assembled, which is much more manageable. Also, squads essentially mean you just have less units to worry about clicking on and keeping track of, while still keeping the scale of the game intact. Of course, as mentioned, there are a number of problems with this system that would need to be tackled, especially in relation to things like building garrisons, inserting squads into transport units, etc.

That's all for this update. As always, thank you all for the continued support.