Tag: flight

A-Spec First Assault: Patch 0.20.1 is live

Posted on by Dan Woods in Uncategorized

There is no significant evidence of spontaneously combusting turrets which may or may not be linked to…

Patch Notes 0.20.1

Note: This update will reset all existing bindings to default values to avoid conflicts with new generic HOTAS and generic flight pedal default bindings

Overview

  • Added an overview screen as a place to easily reference control bindings
  • Artillery and Autocannon weaponry adjusted to provide more distinct differences and use
  • Improvements to Torpedo Launchers (installation costs, flight specs, damage)
  • Kherson turrets significantly less likely to spontaneously combust when firing a launcher salvo

Added

  • Default bindings for generic HOTAS controllers
  • Default bindings for generic flight pedal controllers
  • Controller Bindings Overview screen (For a quick glance reminder of controller bindings accessible from the pause menu during mission flights)

Changed

  • Adjustments to all Artillery and Autocannon variants towards defining distinct useage of these weapons and to Artillery:
    • Artillery are long range weapons (range increases, while muzzle velocities decrease, as slot sizes go up)
    • Burst and Standard Autocannons are medium range weapons (range increases, while muzzle velocities decrease, as slot sizes go up)
    • All Autocannons have a slightly faster muzzle velocity than the equivalent it’s Burst Autocannons
    • Adjusted maximum projectile range and muzzle velocities to move autocannon use from long range to medium ranged
  • Torpedo Launcher (Medium):
    • Fitting Points cost changed to 61 (from 169)
    • Prestige Points cost changed to 1464 (from 1624)
    • Adjusted lock range and flight time and flight velocities
  • Torpedo Launcher (Large):
    • Fitting Points cost changed to 243 (from 675)
    • Prestige Points cost changed to 5832 (from 5400)
    • Adjusted lock range and flight time and flight velocities
    • Adjusted Explosive damage values
  • Torpedo Launcher (Extra Large):
    • Fitting Points cost changed to 648 (from 2250)
    • Prestige Points cost changed to 15552 (from 18000)
    • Adjusted lock range and flight time and flight velocities
    • Adjusted Explosive damage values
  • The launcher status bar in the flight HUD weapons panel will no longer play out the reloading UI animation when the launcher ammo is 0, instead it will remain as an empty bar
  • The Save/Load window in the Equipment Loadout Screen:
    • Window real-a-state has been increased and equipped items are listed with consolidated totals to ensure specification text is fully displayed
    • Players can now select Save/Load Slots 6-8 when using controller navigation
  • Controller axis binding for roll is now inverted by default

Fixed

  • Hard at work Akkadian Technicians have corrected a minor fault with the Kherson’s new forward positioned keel turret mounts. In completely unrelated news, the Kherson’s launchers have been repositioned further forward allowing missiles to reach their intended target that little bit quicker, oh, and-any-keel-mounted-turrets-will-no-longer-spontaneously-combust-when-firing-said-launchers
  • Several side missions were not using overrides to spawn vessels and instead used the data in the mission file (therefore no random spawns!)
  • Firing a secondary launcher with multiple salvo’s and then immediately switching to another secondary launcher will pause the firing of the previous launcher
  • Projectiles were applying the shooters velocity to position offsetting the spawn location from the muzzle (which is no longer needed due to a script execution order change in a 0.19.x change)
  • Explosive Damage Enhancer Passive Module is not being applied to equipped launcher missile explosion damage
  • Equipment Loadout Screen now highlights locations (Primary, Secondary, Turrets) and equipped weaponry (primary guns and Turret models) on the vessel when hovering or selecting the relevant equipment slot
  • Vessel Selection Screen: Vessel loadout specification text for assigned wignmen is not updated when navigating the UI with the directional keys/buttons
  • Adjusted Turret Hierarchy Order so that turrets listed in the fitting screen in a standard convention
  • Muzzle Velocity and Max Range stats for projectiles do not display correct adjusted values with the Frictionless Coils Passive Module equipped
  • Rate of Fire stat for projectiles do not display correct adjusted values with the Magnetic Callibration Passive Module equipped
  • Using a Controller with a Throttle Axis binding assigned will set the throttle value to 0 while a Flight Group (1,2,3) button binding is held
  • Help Glyphs are not using a fallback for generic controllers without glyphs, which would instead use the element descriptive name of the controller for the bound action

A-Spec first assault patch 0.17.0 early access

Posted on by Dan Woods in Uncategorized

Welcome pilots, the 0.17.0 update is here.

This latest update was intended to include the campaign’s Chapter 4, which will be released in the next planned milestone release. With this features update out of the way I will be focussing on the story campaign. In an effort to get more content out of the space dock, new features will be limited to allowing progression through the campaign missions.

Patch Notes 0.17.0
Overview

  • New cruiser and battlecruiser ships available to fly in Skirmish, along with existing weapon variants for their slot sizes
  • New and improved Multiple Launch Missiles (MLMS-CTAT, MLMS-POXY)
  • Performance and visual improvements
  • Lots of other additions, bug fixes and improvements

Added

  • Missing descriptions for certain guns and turrets
  • Reinforced Armour Plating module L and XL sizes
  • Engine Optimiser XL modules
  • Engine Tuning XL size modules
  • Explosive Armour Protection XL size modules
  • Frictionless Coils XL modules
  • Kinetic Armour Protection XL modules
  • Kinetic Damage Enhancer L and XL modules
  • Magnetic Callibrations XL size modules
  • Nanite Repair Optimisation XL size modules
  • Thruster Optimiser XL size modules
  • Thruster Tuning XL size modules
  • XLarge Artillery Main Gun
  • Large Artillery Main Gun
  • Hardpoint and Launcher mounting sizes
  • Battlecruiser for enemy military faction
  • Cruiser for player military faction
  • Mining Outpost model
  • Science Vessel model (functions like all Transports)
  • Rocket S, M, L and XL
  • Multiple Launch Missiles (MLMS) S, M, L, XL sizes (replacing previous MLMS secondary weapon)
  • Multiple Launch Missiles with Proximity detonator (MLMS-POXY) S size
  • Added scripting logic for defining Wingleader/Wingmen behaviours
  • Distinct debris for enemy faction transport

Changed

  • Added MLMS-POXY/02 secondary weapon to player starting ship default loadout in the main campaign
  • Reduced disk size requirements by using texture packing techniques (on going)
  • Changed Autogun muzzle flare VFX
  • Changed Autogun projectile VFX
  • Changed Autocannon muzzle flare VFX
  • Changed Autocannon projectile VFX
  • Changed Artillery muzzle flare VFX
  • Changed Artillery projectile VFX
  • Changed Railgun muzzle flare VFX
  • Primary weapons will target the center of a turret rather than the turret pivot point
  • Engine Optimiser S, M and L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with rulest
  • Engine Tuning L size modules modifier, prestige and cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
  • Explosive Armour Protection L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
  • Frictionless Coils S, M, L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
  • Kinetic Armour Protection L modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
  • Magnetic Callibrations L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
  • Nanite Repair Optimisation L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
  • Thruster Optimiser L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
  • Thruster Tuning L size modules modifier, prestige and fitting cost values adjusted in line with ruleset
  • Allowed Substructures to be protected by the damageable layer of the parent on a per substructure basis
  • Update the dying throes of all enemy faction ships
  • Reduced number of particle explosions called for death explosions across all ships from prologue to campaign, by using fewer more appropriate sized particle explosions
  • Blaster 4/8/16 direct and subsystem damage along with Fitting and Prestige costs
  • Torpedo model and VFX
  • Rocket model and VFX
  • Multiple Launch Missiles model and VFX
  • Improved raycasting times for AI actor collision avoidance checks

Fixed

  • Medium and Large turrets now use correct size projectiles and muzzle flares for their sizes
  • Null Reference error in Subsystem Repair
  • When a substructure is destroyed any attached turrets are destroyed resulting in null reference exceptions
  • Using the “Target turret under reticule” targets turrets which are offline and under repair and therefore invisible
  • Engine subsystems will stop being repaired when 2 or more engine subsystems exist but at least 1 engine subsystem is attached to a substructure which has been destroyed
  • Reinforced Armour Plating modules missing Thruster Max Velocity modifier
  • Reinforced Armour Plating modules modifier values adjusted in line with ruleset
  • Calculations for DPS and RPS for guns with multiple rounds per shot (Blaster & Burst Cannons)
  • Turret highlights become disconnected from F2 Cruiser when targeted
  • Explosion VFX on ships are included in the target highlight
  • Sub-targeting turrets will use the wrong turret mesh for the highlight (and other weird highlight behaviour)
  • When a ship is fitted with the Kinetic Damage Protection module and a substructure (i.e. Turret) takes direct damage, the damage feeds down to the ships hull even though if the ship has enough armour to absorb the full amount of damage
  • Group spawning without a wing leader will clump spawn at same location (spawning inside each other)
  • Equipment Screen: Equipped Turret slots arcs display issue
  • Invalid Operation Exception when disabling an active AI Actor by script

Absolute territory updated to 2.2.0

Posted on by Dan Woods in Uncategorized

2.2.0 Release (20210912)
Overview – Early enemy fighter weapons feel less overwhelming due to the fast firing rate

Gameplay

  • Amend – Track IR anchor point made same as VR
  • Amend – There are now two versions of the laser bolt cannon (Rapid Firing and Standard)
  • Amend – Vomitoria and Drosophilia now use slower firing laser bolt cannon
  • Amend – Updated weapon lore entries for the laser bolt cannon variants
  • Amend – Updated the 21 Absolute Territory missions to include the new standard laser bolt cannon. Added briefing text highlighting when new ships are made available. Added briefing text to make known about experimental laser weapon being available in mission 20

Simulator Modes

  • Amend – Wave and Gauntlet to include the new standard laser bolt cannon

Campaign Menu

  • Amend – Removed Tutorials as a campaign item selection (they are still available under Simulator menu). They no longer have skip dialogue, since all tutorials are available and there was no need to skip


2.0.1 Release (20210820)
Overview – Tunnelling can be disabled in options and an unsupported TrackIR implementation.

Visual

  • Added – Auto Exposure and Ambient Occlusion Postprocessing Effects
  • Amend – Gameplay scene lighting adjusted to use the Skybox instead of constant color.

Gameplay

  • Added – Toggle Tunnel Vision when using VR (Options > Game > VR Tunnelling
  • Added – An experimental and there not officially supported (I reserve the right to pull this feature at any time) Track IR implementation

VR

  • Amend – Press CTRL-F12 to recenter the VR headset in the main menu and in flight

An important developed note on the current Track IR implementation
As I don’t own any Track IR hardware I cannot reasonably test this myself and has been classed as experimental and officially unsupported. If you enable Track IR the experience may be sub-par or entirely broken. I will do my best to work with any Track IR users willing to be guinea pigs and provide relevant feedback towards improving the implementation. That is no guarantee that Track IR will become an official feature in the game and I reserve the right to abandon any further development on it.

Enabling Track IR
The command-line argument “-trackir” will be needed, I recommend you create a shortcut to the Standard game exe on your desktop and add the argument in the target box as exampled below.

Steam Workshop Support – Absolute Territory Dev Diary #22 (11 Mar 2020)

Posted on by Dan Woods in Uncategorized

Welcome pilot!

It has been another busy month where I had the unique opportunity to work on Absolute Territory for the past month on a full-time basis. During that time I ran a closed beta, squatted many reported bugs, added beta tester feedback, making many more improvements.

Some of the new features covered in this month’s dev diary include:

  • Tutorials
  • Transmissions (creating dialogue from NPC’s)
  • Steam Workshop support

Watch the video or read on below:

Watch this dev diary video
Add to Wishlist on Steam
Absolute Territory: The Space Combat Simulator Steam Store Page

Tutorials

Work has begun to include tutorials covering the different aspects of piloting your space combat fighter. They make use of a couple of new features added towards helping the player learn the controls. These tutorials are entirely scripted using the in-game level editor, and something the player could re-create themselves.

Transmissions

There was no way to convey the complex information needed to best instruct the player to pilot their ship. Transmissions have been added to solve this problem. Transmission sources can come from disembodied or embodied NPC’s. If the source is from an embodied NPC you will be able to see who is talking to you via the white bracket around the transmission source.

Help Glyphs

To further guide the player, help glyphs can be displayed to show relevant and appropriate controls on the HUD. These are context-sensitive and show help glyph for the currently used controller (if supported) with the correct keybinding (including user-defined). Currently, Help Glyph’s support keyboard, mouse and the Xbox 360 gamepad. Do you have a favorite controller not mentioned, post it in the comments below, as I look to expand on controller support.

https://media.indiedb.com/images/members/3/2913/2912252/profile/202003_Tutorial.png
The tutorial using help glyphs and NPC transmissions

Steam Workshop

From the conception of the level editor, one of the development goals was to have the ability to share missions with other players. With the majority of the features locked down and implemented, I was able to redirect development time into this area. From within the level editor, you can now submit your custom missions to the Steam Workshop using the publish form.

Fill in the title and description form your workshop item and hit submit. The level editor will then publish your workshop item with all the relevant files needed for other players to subscribe and play. You can make any last-minute alterations from within the Steam Community Workshop page itself.

Do you want to update your mission? Just load up the relevant mission, enter its Workshop ID and submit, your changes will automatically update your Workshop Item.

202003 Publish Mission

Have any feedback or suggestions or questions regarding this month’s dev update? Post them below.

Closed Beta and other Juicy Details – January 2020 Developer Diary for Absolute Territory: The Space Combat Simulator

Posted on by Dan Woods in Uncategorized

Greetings pilots!

In this month’s dev diary I cover all things juicy which help improve the aesthetics and feelings of the game, along with some not so secret details about the closed beta.

Watch the video to find out more:

Add to Wishlist on Steam
Wishlist Absolute Territory: The Space Combat Simulator on Steam

Absolute Territory – Developer Diary December 2019

Posted on by Dan Woods in Uncategorized

Greetings Pilots!

Welcome along to the Absolute Territory Developer Diary for the month of December 2019. The last month has brought in new post-processing visual effects, music, and more level editor improvements for more flexibility and provide easier use.

Read the Full Diary over on IndieDB.com

Welcome along to the Absolute Territory Developer Diary for the month of December 2019. The last month has continued to bring more challenges as I work towards a release date. The road may be long but I can see whats on the horizon for that all important 1.0 release.

Absolute Territory Developer Diary December 2019

Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational level editor – Absolute Territory Nov 2019 Dev Diary

Posted on by Dan Woods in Uncategorized

Welcome along to the November 2019 Dev Diary for Absolute Territory. In this developer diary I demonstrate the full power of this fully armed and operational— level editor! Most work for the last few months have gone into Conditional Actions allowing the player to create unique and exciting missions in an easy to learn environment.

You can read below for a summary of whats on offer or jump straight to the dev video where I show you how to create your own custom mission.

If you want to read up more on what the level editor has to offer, you can do so on this steam announcement post.

Absolute Territory November 2019 Video Dev Diary

POWER TO THE FIGHTER! ABSOLUTE TERRITORY OCT 2019 VIDEO DEV DIARY

Posted on by Dan Woods in Uncategorized

Greetings pilots!

This month has flown by, in part due to a well needed holiday. Now that I’m back, I’ve been continuing work on the Level Editor towards allowing you to create your own missions with a greater range of variety.

Here’s the run down on what’s discussed:

  • Current expectations for release.
  • Power management
  • Conditional Actions
  • Showcasing the heavy fighter and bomber.
  • What I will and won’t be doing next.

Absolute Territory is available to wishlist on Steam.

Wishlist on Steam | Itch.io | Game Jolt | Twitter | Website

Return of the Cockpit – Absolute Territory Sep 2019 Video Dev Diary

Posted on by Dan Woods in Uncategorized

Here is the rundown for this September 2019 developer diary for Absolute Territory:

  • Steamworks Integration
  • Release Date Expectations
  • Controller support improvements in-menu/in-game
  • Space Mine Fields (Hazard) and Nullifier Fields (Cancel out Hazards)
  • New ships
  • Return of the cockpit
Absolute Territory September 2019 video dev diary

Absolute Territory is available to wishlist on Steam.

Wishlist on Steam | Itch.io | Game Jolt | Twitter | Website

Absolute Territory Dev Diary Aug 2019

Posted on by Dan Woods in Uncategorized

In this August 2019 developer diary for Absolute Territory:

I demonstrate the new Navpont System for the Mission Editor. Navpoints break up the Mission into multiple zones for the player to complete a set of objectives as laid out by the designer (you!). If you have ever played the Wing Commander video game series you’ll be familiar with this format.

Based on feedback from the playable Alpha demo it seems players are not making themselves familiar with the abilities of their chosen space superiority fighter. To inform, I go into detail covering the basics and more advanced features that will help players increase their odds of surviving against multiple hostile opponents.

Watch the video to find out more…

Wishlist on Steam | Itch.io | Game Jolt | Indie DB | Twitter | Website