Space Stations Progress
Performance Upgrade
As I was testing with bigger and bigger objects, the space stations proved to be an excellent benchmark. I couldn't resist to implement some performance tweaks. As I was checking the code for hotspots, I realized that my caching method for segments wasn't actually turned on, which means that every time a segment comes into vision, the complete lighting was recalculated. Turning that feature on speeds up the loading process of segments multiple times!
Memory
I also did some upgrades to the memory management of segments. After a few bit fiddling tricks I managed to squeeze a segment in even less space, resulting in a way better scalability
The Recycling Module
This module is the first "active" inventory module in the game. If a player places modules in it, the recycling module will automatically convert that object over time into a more valuable module, which can either be used, or sold in the shop. In the future, this module will be used to create unique items.
User uploaded ships
The first user uploaded ships are on the site for everyone to download. Also, feel free to upload your own creation to star-made.org
Here is the Party-Ship S9, a funky glowing disco cube with deadly missiles:
Here is the HSS-Frost, a ship with a hull of harvested ice blocks (not available in shops). Very impressive!
What comes next
Next, I'm going to tackle some long awaited features, first and foremost: block orientation. The technical basics are already implemented, but the logic and the graphical representation is still missing.
Thanks for playing StarMade,
- schema
