New Big Bandit Base
I've made a new Big Bandit Base consisting of 3 levels (2 surface, 1 under ground) and a short switching puzzle that is required to get to the loot room.
Above: The big bandit base main factory floor area. In the distance you can see a Blue switch...
This bandit base features the new Red Burning barrels that act as half-spawners. These spawn up to 2 Bandits for bases that are levels 1-2 and 3 Bandits for levels 3-5. These could be useful for modders to place multiple half barrels in a bandit base instead of a single spawner.
New Car Shop
I've made a car shop to compliment the last patch's Hovercraft and Boat shops. The Caryard is a 2x1 lot of the Commercial Vehicles/Cars type. Cars will spawn when you enter the lot and there is an NPC inside that will sell you most of the civilian vehicles in the game, or you can just steal a car from the yard. But watch out, stealing a car is a crime!
Likewise there is now a VEHICLES zone for LotPack modding, so you can make random civilian vehicles spawn in your lots.
Waypoint System
A massive QoL improvement is the Waypoint system. Markers on the map can appear in the 3D world making navigation easier.
You can choose between:
- Your Marker
- Your Allies' Markers (for Multiplayer)
- Next mission objective
- All mission Objectives
- Hostile Bases and Attacks (for Turf Wars)
By default the first 3 are enabled and the last two are disabled, as in certain situations things can become cluttered (such as a 3v3 Turf War). You can pick which ones you want to be enabled in the Graphics Settings menu
If a lot has multiple markers they will be merged together.
Above: Multiple waypoints merged together
This was achieved by using the GluProject function and writing a proper backend for marker management.
Mouse Code
The game now uses the system cursor (also known as a hardware cursor) for UI interaction as opposed to the software cursor. Software cursors tend to be a couple of frames behind the actual cursor position giving a subtle feeling of dragging the mouse through mud. Using a hardware cursor makes UI interactions snappier.
I've also used SDL2's relative mouse movement functions - these have proven to be much more reliable than the old method of measuring delta movements and re-warping to the centre of the screen (which occasionally caused snapping artefacts).
Strategic Pausing
This is something that solves the problem of AI factions taking over multiplayer servers when players are offline. Strategic Pausing disables the Economic Simulation and disables AI Faction actions, such as Starting Wars, collecting income and setting up rackets. It technically disables all onHour() functionality, so stuff like Aggression and Reputation Decay will also be disabled.
Above: Strategic Pausing notification message
Strategic Pausing can also be enabled by pressing Esc to go to the Game Menu and waiting 1 minute. So if you've got something you need to do and don't want to shut down the game (such as filming/video editing) you can use this. If you are in a multiplayer Strat. Pause will also engage if ALL players are in the Esc menu for 1 minute.
Because it disables onHour() stuff it could be advantageous for exploit-seeking players trying to deny onHour income to AI players early-game, hence the 1 minute requirement.
Engine Improvement
Geometry now uses up to 30% less VRAM. The effect is more prevalent the less developed a lot is (so a blank lot will be ~30% less VRAM, an apartment building may be ~10% less). There is scope to further optimise VRAM usage (by double digit percentages) but its extremely non-trivial to implement.
Often Requested Stuff Implemented In This Patch
Some of these weren’t explicitly requested by players but are in response to issues raised by players.
- You now have an infinite base limit in Build Mode.
- You can now build roads with Streetlights
- CDF immunity range doubled when near player/faction bases, bandit bases or relevant mission objectives
- Borderless windowed mode (I have no idea why anyone would want this, but its there now!) Use the "--borderless" launch option
- Health Vials can now be purchased from an NPC at the Hospital
For Updates, hit Watch, or Get the game now on Steam
Until next time,
Twigz.
Hey Twigz, reason people pick Borderless Windowed mode is for multiple displays. Much better being able to move the mouse over to the second screen versus Alt-Tab.
Thanks for your effort on the game!