Planetes - 2D Space Exploration Game

[Exclipse]

Mediafire, really? I prefer Dropbox, it´s ad-free and the non-premium version gives you more options than at mediafire. But better than nothing... trying it out now.

Let me know what you think! Very open to suggestions for improvement. You can expect an update around midnight eastern time. Hopefully have fuel lines in and proper staging along with time acceleration.

[Guest]

It would be very nice if I knew how much fuel is in that tanks I´m currently using, maybe when I hover the mouse over it. And: If I launch a rocket, and it doesn´t have enough power for lift-off, I can´t revert. I can return to space center, but I can´t build anything new because the other rocket blocks the building area. That would be a bug to fix. Apart from that: Nice game!

[Exclipse]

It would be very nice if I knew how much fuel is in that tanks I´m currently using, maybe when I hover the mouse over it. And: If I launch a rocket, and it doesn´t have enough power for lift-off, I can´t revert. I can return to space center, but I can´t build anything new because the other rocket blocks the building area. That would be a bug to fix. Apart from that: Nice game!

Glad you liked it even in it's very early state! The fuel representation is something I have been thinking of how I want to solve. I don't want big ugly numbers just sitting next to each tank, I was thinking maybe a little green bar next to each tank or something?

The issue of dud rockets is another big thing on my list... I was thinking of maybe going the comical route, where if you go to space center and there is a rocket on the pad it just violently pushes it to the side. You can clear it right now if you just place a capsule and the click launch it will delete anything on the pad that is not your current rocket.

New version sadly did not get uploaded last night as I got distracted making docking ports, and I am happy to say they are nearly fully functional! Fuel will now flow down tanks as well, so if you have a tank and then connect another tank directly to it. fuel will flow from the first placed to last placed tank.

[Exclipse]

New version is up!

This update ProtoV0.22 Includes:

New features include:

-Time acceleration/deceleration. (auto slows down when nearing planet/moon/star)

-Docking

-Fuel flow between tanks

-Control of parts via clicking on them in flight (applies to certain parts)

-Fuel quantity indicators on tanks

New Parts:

-Crew Transfer Capsule MKI (no crew yet) (has built in docking port)

-Docking ports

-Service Orbital Engine

-Medium to Small angled Adapter.

Additional:

-Flights already in motion for you to select and check out new features faster.

-Engine balancing. (fixed a bug that kept engine flame from properly heating things that they touched)

-Fire individual decouplers by left clicking them. (bug: at high velocities clicking is inaccurate and you may need to click many times quickly)

-Undock by right clicking them (same bug as above)

-Left click command modules to switch to controlling that vehicle (same bug as above)

-Left click engines to turn on/off (same bug as above)

Enjoy!

Download ProtoV0.22

On the list for Upcoming versions:

Issues/Features:

-Launch Pad fixes (issues with parts blocking launch pad, for now the best way to clear pad is make a rocket with a bomb and set it off on the pad hit key "B")

-Add distance indicator to target vector.

-Add distance indicator to asteroid vector.

-Add auditory indicator when entering the proximity of a planet/moon.

-Fix issue with clicking parts when traveling at high velocity.

Parts:

-Fuel Hoses

-Harpoon Launcher

-Grappler

-Booster Rockets

-Small diameter Fuel Tanks

-New Planet/Moon (request what you would like to see next!)

[Ethanadams]

One word moar

can we get cheats in the future?

[Starwhip]

What are you making this game in?

[Exclipse]

One word moar

can we get cheats in the future?

I could, but what for? What type of cheats? Are you having issues doing something in game?

- - - Updated - - -

What are you making this game in?

Programmed with C# using Unity3D, art is made in Adobe Illustrator.

[Ethanadams]

​unlimited fuel? Invincibility mainly

- - - Updated - - -

It's also a great game I found out the problem with textures it's my computer and not the game

[Guest]

Nice new version! Fuel lines would also be an idea now. And I´ve found another bug (sorry). If you launch a rocket with a bomb part, and you insert a name (in that "name-you-mission" window) that contains a "b", you rocket explodes because of bombs activating.

[Exclipse]

Nice new version! Fuel lines would also be an idea now. And I´ve found another bug (sorry). If you launch a rocket with a bomb part, and you insert a name (in that "name-you-mission" window) that contains a "b", you rocket explodes because of bombs activating.

Glad you like the update!

Fuel lines are certainly on the board for one of the next updates, they fall in with the same delays the harpoon launcher is having. I want proper hose/cable/rope simulations and it is taking more time to work out than I was hoping it would. I think it would be interesting to be able to get your rocket tangled in your own harpoon line and silly stuff like that. Also fuel flow between tanks will get some more tweaks as well, I am not sure I am satisfied with the current logic. Currently fuel flows "down" the connected tanks. For instance you place a center tank and place two side tanks on it, and the side tanks have engines. The fuel will flow from the center tank to the sides, but if you have an engine on the center tank it will only draw fuel from the center and not from the sides.

In short tanks suck fuel from the tank they are attached to, but do not suck fuel from a tank that was attached to them. And fuel only flows through tanks, RCS block included.

As far as finding bugs go... FIND ALL THE BUGS! Haha you certainly do not have to apologize, the more bugs you find the more you help me out a great deal. I have limited time to play test everything, so I can expect there are many bugs that need finding.

- - - Updated - - -

​unlimited fuel? Invincibility mainly

- - - Updated - - -

It's also a great game I found out the problem with textures it's my computer and not the game

Very glad to hear you got it sorted! I was puzzling over what the bug could be, if it was on my end. What was actually wrong with your computer by the way?

In terms of "cheats" I am not sure I should focus on that type of feature right now. I could add a "magic" fuel tank that never ran out of fuel. I am guessing you want these features so you can go explore everything easily?

[Ethanadams]

Yes and it turns out you can't have a rock for a video card and expect it to work

[Exclipse]

Today I solved a nasty performance issue with some code and optimized it greatly, boosting performance by about 300% So I made a little video with explosions and colliding dynamic objects to show off how smooth it all went! Throughout the testing frame rate held well above 150fps!

Enjoy! Watch in HD and full screen if you can, this will allow you to see all the dynamic debris that perpetuate destruction while in orbit. Sort of a mini Kessler Syndrome.

[Exclipse]

It has been quiet the last couple weeks, but with good reason! I have been prepping the game for an exposition which is today. So once it is over I will post a big update on everything I have done getting the game set for today.

Some of you will be glad to hear there is now a map, so you can see where you are in relation to everything else and hopefully avoid some of those nasty collisions with planets that you wanted to land on but had no idea how far away they actually were

More later!

[Exclipse]

Wow! It has been a busy last few weeks, but I am glad to get you all the latest version with lots of bug fixes, improvements and additional features!!!

Features:

-New Mini map (click the small button at the bottom left of screen) Once opened you can zoom it in and out with +/- buttons on map.

-Proper ship Trajectory and Orbit's drawn (toggle with T)

-New help tips

-New surface when zoomed in to a planet, this is a basic implementation but it looks much better, and will allow me to introduce much more interesting and varied terrain in the future. This also allowed me to scrap some of the massive image files I had, you might notice the file size is nearly half what it used to be, and load times are vastly improved.

-Many others but I have not kept track of everything, it has been a busy few weeks!

Bugs:

-Several actions while building a ship could leave floating parts not connected to the ship, most of these bugs should be fixed.

-Space center now properly closes when using other buttons.

-Fixed an issue where certain parts were doing double the physics calculations they actually needed.

Download Link:

Asteroid Initiative-Proto 0.23

Edited June 23, 2015 by Exclipse

[mike9606]

The issue that bothers me the most with that Performance Preview video is the fact that it seems the crafts just plain out entirely exploded when they crash too hard. See the docking scene whacking around the two ships. First the two docking ports exploded, and then when the adapters hit each other too hard the whole darn thing detonates like its made of nitroglycerin.

[Exclipse]

The issue that bothers me the most with that Performance Preview video is the fact that it seems the crafts just plain out entirely exploded when they crash too hard. See the docking scene whacking around the two ships. First the two docking ports exploded, and then when the adapters hit each other too hard the whole darn thing detonates like its made of nitroglycerin.

Hey! I agree 100%!

I have been working on changing some of the impact logic, currently it is just velocity based. So a small piece of debris travelling 200 m/s does as much damage as a large fuel tank traveling 200 m/s, don't worry this is changing. Another thing that is being worked on is heat, currently parts radiate energy when they explode, and when a part takes excessive heat damage it explodes as well. This is being changed so parts only radiate heat based on what they have inside them, IE how much fuel and such.

Even with the current system I have softened some of the the effects, and it actually possible to launch a rocket with explosions Orion project incoming?...

[Exclipse]

Happy Asteroid Day!

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[victory143]

This is Everything I want in a game

*Tips Tophat*

[Exclipse]

This is Everything I want in a game

*Tips Tophat*

I am glad you like the look of it!

If you get a moment give it a thumbs up on Greenlight/leave it a comment and share with your friends to help it get released properly!

Greenlight Link

[Exclipse]

New Planets are fun!

Although one of the next things I will be doing is increasing the size of planets by a decent bit!

[kreutzkevic]

Cool beans. Voted for you on Greenlight.

[Exclipse]

Cool beans. Voted for you on Greenlight.

Glad you like it! And thanks for the vote! Every bit helps!

[Exclipse]

Hello, So I wanted to share a couple screenshots of how terrain is coming along. And a station I built with the game's current resources.

I also wanted to let everyone here know I am looking to create a small testing team, as this next release 0.24 will be the last public prototype. After 0.24 all builds will only be tested by a closed team. So if you are interested please let me know here!

Upcoming for 0.24 (Anything not listed under COMPLETED is subject to change)

---.24 change log

--(COMPLETED)

-Added floating origin to allow for traveling near infinite distances. (far away rigid-bodies still need a method for going on rails)

-Put in more robust system for determining ships location, in preparation for multi-body gravity. (while N body gravity will not be featured, I am working on a system to simulate up to 3 bodies at a time, so a ship could be attracted by a moon, a planet, and the star all at once) Multi body gravity IS IN.

-Multi body gravity is in 0.24, but is not guaranteed to stay.

-Re-wrote thermal systems to allow for more customization and in prep for heat exchange.

-Friction heating when moving very fast through atmosphere.

-Fixed an issue with the ship building system where you could remove a part and leave the parts attached to it hanging.

-Added a new planet, Venusia.

-Added RCS to command pod

-General RCS balancing

-Changed how ship targeting worked to save on performance and reduce the possibility for errors.

-Home planet, Moon, and Saturnlike planet double in diameter, other planets and moons will have size increases coming as well!

-Terrain added to Home planet and Moon, coming soon to the other planets!

-Asteroids are now created like planets, this adds a lot more flexibility with what asteroids can be used for later.

-Adjusted Mini map Zoom.

--(INPROGRESS)

-Add mini map object labels.

-More asteroid metric data, distance, velocity, velocity vector.

-New Part Resource Intake.

-New Feature Resource clouds.

-New Planetary Building system or AI.

-Add throttle to UI.

-Add resource count to Stats Tab.

-Add ship pointing vector, that is visible in all zoom levels.

-Fix mini map trajectories not going away when T toggle

-Staging

-Power system

-New Solar Panel Part

-New Engine Chassis system.

-New Engine Chassis parts.

-Redo Engines to fit Engine chassis's.

Terrain!

Station gliding over Saturnlike Rings!

[Exclipse]

So it has been a very long time since I posted any progress, but progress there is indeed!

In fact I have also been working on a small prototype game that uses a lot of the code I have made for Asteroid Initiative.

Please Pardon the bad video quality! Something went wrong with my codecs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4319KQj3S0I

Edited December 14, 2015 by Exclipse

[Exclipse]

It is often bad when a games scope gets expanded. But that has happened with this game.

The original concept of protecting humanity from destruction by asteroids has been cast aside. I felt it was too limiting and the game had a lot more potential with all the features I was adding in.

 

So Asteroid Initiative is no longer the name, I am currently thinking of some new ideas, but that is not especially important at the moment.

 

The game as expanded to being about surviving as a ship captain, you build and upgrade your ship, gather resources from asteroids and planets, use these resources for trading or directly improving your ship. 

Combat has been added, defending from active threats(pirates) and passive threats(asteroids on collision course) is a thing now.

Travel between planets is currently in real time (or accelerated 5x time), and I am currently trying to decide if travel between star systems should be real time or add a method for FTL travel.

As it stands there is currently only the starting star system, which is hand made. Other star systems will be a thing once I have finished the procedural generation system for planets, but this is not a priority as the starting system is quite large anyways.

 

Anyways, I have been quiet for quite some time so I figured I should say something!

I have also been busy essentially rewriting all of my code, because it was for 3D methods and everything is now switched to 2d methods. While I did not NEED to rewrite everything to make the switch, I felt more comfortable rewrite everything, and it is rare that code is not improved by being remade.

 

On the art side, all graphics are being switched to vector art, so no matter how far zoomed in our out you are they still look nice and crisp, along with that the art is getting a pass with new assets being made and old ones being thrown out to better suit the games new direction.

The ship here is made with just 6 different part types.

-Cockpit (this is currently half the scale it will be once a new smaller cockpit is completed)

-1x(1/3) Grid

-(1/3)x(1/3) Grid

-1x1 Fuel tank

-Size 1 Space utility thruster.

-Size (1/3) mini thruster.