Developer Log #26 :: Robotics Progress

I wanted to post a quick update regarding the progress so far on the next update. Alpha 0.11 is coming along very nicely, but is taking a bit longer than originally planned. Quite a bit of new content is being pushed in to this update including new items, recovery projects, object and even a new robot. Robot construction has taken more time as I had to figure out how much player customization goes in to building robots.

Robot Construction

The main focus of customization is the robot starting values for Smarts, Muscles and Athletics. I bounced around various ideas on how to implement and balance this and, in the end, decided to allow for direct distribution of points in to these attributes.

When using the new Robot Assembler players will have a certain amount of points that can be put in to the three core attributes. How many points you have available is determined by new data recovery projects. More points spent will also directly affect the final material requirements, which are different for each attribute. Robot construction will take a good deal of time and require an engineer to operate the Robot Assembler.

Deep Driller Bot

As mentioned in the previous developer log, a new robot is coming called the Deep Driller. The deep driller will only have one available job and that’s to mine the floor tiles that contain ore. This is a great way to get extra resources as well as convert that floor ore to dirt.

 

As with previous updates, Alpha 0.11 will be coming to the testing branch first. This should happen soon so, for those interested, keep an eye out for more information to follow. A big thanks to everyone who has provided feedback so far.