The Road Ahead – Interstellar Rift development update 014

Last week, we released a fix for the teleportation bug and in the process caused a few new ones. This is the reality of a game this early in development, fix one thing and break seven more. We’ve spent most of this past week fixing bugs and improving a few of the existing systems.

We have also added some new assets to the ship editor. Among these are a new wall, floor and the new cargo racks. We have also re-added the biodome to the editor. These new cargo racks are just for looks at the moment, but will become functional over the coming months.

Also, we figured you might enjoy a change of scenery, so we’ve changed the space environment a little. We’ve made the asteroids a little bigger, and added a very basic and early sun. Of course these are far from finished but we felt like changing things up and the new lighting will make it a little easier to see.

We’ve received quite a few questions about what’s in store since we gave you a sneak peek a month ago. Instead of answering each individual question we’ve made a roadmap that we want to share with you. This is what we’re planning to release in the coming months leading up to the alpha release. This map only displays the major milestones, of course we will be releasing general stability, performance and content updates along the way.

We hope you’re looking forward to the upcoming features as much as we are.

For more info please visit our forums or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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The great shining – Interstellar Rift development update 013

It’s that time again, two weeks sure fly by quick. This time we’ve spilled a rather large bottle of polishing agent all over our wonderful matte construction blocks. We’ve added support for specular maps, which means that the game will be 100% shinier.

Over the next several weeks you can expect us to keep adding more graphical features to the game now that our shader system and particle engine are coming online. But don’t worry, we havent just spent the last two weeks “polishing” the game. To celebrate our fancy new specular maps we’re adding new prop blocks for your ships or stations medical bay. As well as a series of cargo elevators that will let you move between two floors.

It’s not all content and polished floors this week. We’ve done a lot of bugfixing under the hood as well. we’ve made some changes to the ship storage code which should make your old ship compatible with newer versions of the game. Which means, no more crashes when pressing the power connection tool. This does however mean that you will need to re-connect the power on all your ships. but if we did this right, this will be the last time that is required.

Additionally, the next time you try to teleport to another ship you’ll notice that the teleporter interface is different. this is because you are now able to select to which teleporter on the target ship you go to. The teleporter will be named after the room it is placed in, to make it easier to identify where you wish to go. so don’t forget to name the rooms on your ship or station in the editor. With this new teleporter system you can also teleport within ships.

Exciting things are on the horizon, so stay tuned and, as always, see you in space!

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest info and development updates as they happen.

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A sample of things to come – Interstellar Rift development update 012

This weeks update includes quite a few menu upgrades. It is now more in line with the rest of the game and it offers a lot more space to place necessary settings. As such, you will find a few new settings to play with. The join game window has also been revised to match with what you’d expect from a server browser in most multiplayer games. While it is in no way complete, we feel its a step in the right direction and it should make joining servers easier and feel more familiar.

 

This week we’re also adding a new prop type with the tech II Ion Engine. This much larger engine has both an interior and an exterior component, this will eventually allow players to make repairs while in transit, unlike the tech one engines which will require a repair drone or a repair station.

We have received feedback, pointing out that the mirrored version of some exterior tiles were missing, and these new hull blocks have now been added. Mistakes like this are to be expected in a pre-alpha, but we are working to get the game as complete as we can, and feedback like this helps us to do it as fast as possible. Additionally, some missing quarter walkways components have been added to the game.

 

As an indie company, we like to support and get in touch with the industry as much as possible, so we went to gamescom to find out what’s up. Although we didn’t have our own stand or official presence this year, we met a lot of interesting people. We are very interested in the indie games industry, so let us know what you are working on.

Character customization

I’m sure you all really love our test character, but are eagerly awaiting the ability to change your character’s gender and appearance. We are planning to allow players to gather new armor pieces from the galaxy by looting, crafting and trading. Each armor piece will have its own module slots and stats. Here’s a preview of the Apollo armor set, designed by Anthony Scroggins. This is but one of the dozens of armor sets which players will be able to find in the game and mix and match with other sets to create the look that will make your character unique.

 

Graphical improvements

Also, behind the scenes, our programmers are working hard to improve the visuals of the game. One of the biggest challenges of building your own game engine is creating various special effects yourself and being able to take a specific twist on it so it meets the specifications of the game and the company as close as possible. Although it is not finished yet, we are working on a shader editor and particle engine, once these are completed we’ll be able to let the artists loose on those, which will greatly improve the way the game looks.

Here’s a teaser picture of the upcoming material system:

There are many more things to come, such as the procedural galaxy, enemies and a lot more. but we’ll reveal more about those when we get closer to implementing them.

For now, we hope you enjoy this new update and follow us on facebook and twitter for the latest info about Interstellar Rift

“Captain! I think it wants to communicate” Interstellar Rift development update 011

Last time, we let you guys get a first taste of multiplayer, and I must say that the results have been great. Seeing so many of you drop by the test server and exploring your ships has been a real treat for us here at the office. Of course there were bugs, like there are with any game at this stage. That said, there was something missing, something no multiplayer game should be without. We saw so many of you walk around and explore the test server but no one could talk to each other. And on the forums and through e-mail you have made your wishes perfectly clear.

So today we add chat to multiplayer. As well as a round of bugfixes that should fix most of the big issues in multiplayer, such as the characters which remained on the server even after the players had logged out.

Apart from that we’re also adding mass based ship controls. Based on your ships interior, the number of engines and the amount of maneuvering thrusters you place on your ship, your vessel will behave differently. The bigger your ship’s interior, the more engines and maneuvering thrusters you’ll need. Engines will provide your ship primarily with forward thrust and a slight amount of turning and strafe capability. While maneuvering thrusters will provide your ship solely with turning and strafe ability. Along with this, we have created a new space flight GUI to make things clear.

This is a very early incarnation and is going to be subject to a lot of tweaking. your feedback is very much appreciated.

As a final note, we have also put a new large hydrogen tank into the game and filled it to the brim with fuel.

Also, we’ve recently been getting a lot of questions from many different sources, asking: “When do you update the game?”.

We are currently on a bi-weekly update schedule, so every two weeks on Monday/Tuesday (depending on your location), we will release a patch. The next one is scheduled for August 18th/19th.

As always we appreciate your feedback and we look forward to seeing you guys and flying your creations on the servers.

This is the Split Polygon team, Signing off!

 

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To boldly go… Interstellar Rift Development Update 010

It has been an interesting 5 months. We went from building ships with the first release, to walking inside those ships and now we’re ready to release our biggest update to Interstellar Rift as of yet!

Two weeks ago we teased you with the prospect of multiplayer, this week we are ready to deliver! As of today the host game and find game buttons have become active. From now on you will be able to start your own multiplayer servers and join others from the server browser.
for the time being, all the multiplayer characters will be female as we are still slaving away on the male version.

You’ll be able to walk around onboard the starter station and spawn ships! Ships that you’ve built will be available at the ship construction terminal. Simply spawn them as you did before and wait a few seconds for the ship to spawn. Once it has appeared outside the station it will appear in the teleport list and everyone on the server will be able to teleport aboard.

But wait! there’s more! once you’re all aboard, go to the helm. (you will have to replace the helm on previously built ships, and power it) you’ll notice that you can now activate the helm. and yes, that is exactly what it means! hold on to your butts as space flight is now enabled in single and multiplayer! If you’ve connected your helm to a power source you’ll be able to fly your ship through the space environment we’ve created for you. Using the Tab key you’ll be able to switch between free flight and mouse flight, as well as third and first person viewpoint.

Now, this is a very early version of space flight, and many things will require iteration and tweaking over the coming months. At the moment, all ships handle the same way and travel at the same speed, regardless of their size shape and number of engines. This will be changing over time as space flight will incorporate ship mass, engine power, and thrust power into the flight model.

We are at a crucial moment where your feedback can help shape the future of Interstellar Rift, Please take a moment and let us know what you think of the ship controls and the current multiplayer incarnation.

Thank you and we hope to see you online!

 

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“Good things come in small packages” Interstellar Rift Development Update 009

Yes, it’s that time again. This week’s patch is on the modest side. We’re adding some new sounds, some old objects now have animations and we’ve added a brand new storage locker. In the future this locker can hold any number of items, from weapons and ammo to medkits and oxygen tanks. You’ll find it among the storage items in the Interstellar Rift Ship Editor.

 We also bring some good news for those of you who have been unable to play the pre-alpha thus far because of an outdated graphics card. We’ve added in backwards compatibility for OpenGL 3.2 and higher (instead of 4.0 and higher), if you have an older graphics card that supports this version of OpenGL you’ll now be able to play around with the Interstellar Rift ship builder and virtual tour mode. This has been the biggest source of game crashes in the past and with this new update we hope to enable you with older hardware to enjoy our game.

If you’re still have any trouble with this, feel free to drop us a message on the forums, and we’ll get back to you ASAP.

 As a new feature, we are adding 3d location based sounds to the game. Currently this only works in stereo, But we are working to add support for full 3d surround sound at a later date.

And now for a brief look into the future, as those familiar with our vision for Interstellar Rift know, this game will be heavily focused on multiplayer. And our biggest hurdle to get features implemented into the game has been this “multiplayer integration”. Every single device on your ship will need to communicate with the server and all new additions to the game will have to be integrated into our networking code. Sadly that also means progress is slow for seemingly small features right now.

And now for some good news, we’re close to getting the player character functionality ready for multiplayer testing. And that means very soon we’re going to let you invite your friends aboard your ship. note that in the beginning, this will only consist of running around and jumping but you’ll be running around and jumping with your friends inside your ship. We’re very close to having this ready for you guys but for now you’re going to have to make do with this silhouette of our test character.

If you’d like to know more, we pretty much have an AMA policy on our forums so please feel free to drop by, let us know what you think and what you’d like to see in the future.

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“Open Sesame!” Interstellar Rift Development Update 008

As you may have guessed from the title of this week’s update, we’re introducing functional doors!

That means: every single door in your ships will now require power if you want to pass through them. As with many of the features we’ve added these past few weeks, this represents another big step in adding engine functionality to the game. This time it’s the animation system that we’ve implemented, as with many of these engine features it is still in the early stages. Which means it will be expanded upon in the future, but for now, it will make sure doors open and close.

The second major update is the re-designed ship construction editor. While most of the editor still works as it used to, from now on, In Interior mode, you will only see the room which you currently have active. if you want to change active rooms simply move your mouse over to another room and press spacebar. With this new viewmode we hope to give you guys a better overview of what you’ve built, while also increasing editor performance.

A similar view will also be available for the power connection tool, when you activate the power connection mode you will now see your entire ship in blue ghost mode regardless of which buildplane you had active, with only the devices that generate and require power highlighted, including exterior solar panels. This will enable all you shipwrights to connect the devices more easily across your entire ship.

As always we would greatly appreciate any critique, comments and feedback you guys are willing to provide. and we hope you enjoy this latest patch

“Care for a snack?” – Interstellar Rift Development Update 007

Ladies and gentlemen! Come one, come all and have a taste of Higgs and Boson’s fine pastries’ latest creation! With great pride, we introduce the mass infusing Higgs Doughnut! Available now at your nearest “Hurles Co Vending Division” food dispenser.

This week is a rather light update as we introduce a few new props and interior decorations. Chief among them, the Hurles co. vending machine, and the new maneuvering thrusters. These thrusters can be placed on your hull and will eventually help steer your ship. Do pay attention to the direction they are facing, though. For it will affect their function once the ship flight update goes live.

Aside from the new props were are enabling power requirements for several systems. Most important among them, the teleporter. This means you will have to connect the teleporter or any of these other devices to a power generator. If they are not connected they simply will not function. That means you will be able to teleport to your ship but if it is not connected you won’t be able to teleport back.

The power connection tool has also gone through a few changes as we integrated it with our network systems. This has been partially based on your feedback and our own internal testing. This meant that we have had to change how the connection tool works. Rather than connecting everything to an input and output as before, you will now just have to click between the generator and the device you want to power.

Since you are not yet able to gather fuel, all fuel tanks are filled to infinity and you will not have to worry about running out of juice. That said, we are also reworking the values that these devices require and put out. So for the time being you can connect as many devices to a single generator as you wish. This will change soon however as we finish the design for this system.

We hope you enjoy this week’s update, and as always, any feedback you are willing to provide is much appreciated.

 

Interstellar Rift can be downloaded here.

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“You are here!” – Interstellar Rift Development update 006

Are you tired of getting lost on your own spaceship? Tired of trying to find the bathroom in the maze of corridors you’ve just erected? Well, trouble yourself no longer! The Interstellar Rift internal map system will allow you to quickly find where you are aboard your ship.

Firstly, we added the much requested large helm. This new bridge module has three seats. two for the pilot and navigator and one for the captain. We look forward to seeing what cool new ships you make with this new piece.

 

With version 0.0.7 we’re introducing the first part of the internal sensor grid. Starting today, the AGOS. wall and desk terminals have been made active. For the time being, you will only be able to access the “Systems”, which will bring you to the internal map of the ship you are currently on.

Using the up and down buttons you’re able to switch between different floors. The third button will center the map on your position. Eventually, the interior icons will have tool tips that display the status of the ship systems when you click on them. The map will enable us to do a lot of cool stuff in the future such as monitor where your crew is aboard your ship, seal doors, vent the atmosphere from certain compartments and much more.

We’re also chugging along on the network code behind the scenes. While these features are not yet relevant for you guys, they are very important for the longevity of the game going forward. This week we’ve started on device network sync. We’re also re-tooling some of the device connection mechanics based on your feedback and our own internal testing.

Here’s a little sneak preview of the upcoming Device Connection System (and new font renderer), coming to you in a future update:

We hope you enjoy this weeks update and as always, drop us a line in the forums, facebook or twitter.

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All Aboard! – Interstellar Rift Development Update 005

The first real steps into on-board machines! Try out the new Ship Editor Terminal and hop around using the Teleporters.

This week’s update brings you the first milestone on the space lane to the implementation of working space flight. The next time you launch the game you will start aboard a standard starting station. To check out your ships you’ll now have to go to the Ship Editor Terminal and select the ship you want to use. When you press the “Start Construction” button, your newly constructed ship will appear in space next to the Starter Station. To board your new ship simply walk over to a teleporter and activate it by pressing “E”. After selecting the ship you wish to teleport to, you will instantly be teleported. In v0.0.6, Teleporters have no power requirement as of yet. We just want to make sure they work as advertised before we hook them up to the powergrid.

We have updated the way the ship editor works as well. The Ship editor can now also be accessed from the Ship Editor terminal in-game in addition to accessing it from the main menu. We have also taken some advice from you guys and changed the way deleting props works. Now, when you right click on a prop it will only delete that prop, and not the entire room. The room tile will only be deleted once the selected room tile is empty.

We had to change the folder in which the game saves it’s config and ship files. This is because some users (especially those on windows 8) experienced problems saving their ships.
To preserve your existing ships, copy them into %appdata%/roaming/InterstellarRift.

As usual, these systems are still early in development and your feedback is much appreciated. Please feel free to drop by our forums and let us know what you think. A Split polygon Employee will be along shortly to answer any questions you might have.

 

Interstellar Rift v0.0.6 can be downloaded here.

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