Dev Blog #011 May 22, 2023

Hey everyone, work is progressing well and I have a load of new things for this blog.

Improved Missions

I've almost completed the updates to the mission system. I now have a bunch of mission types that are "repeatable" as well as custom hand made ones. This is the final part of the mission system as I am happy with it now, it should give me everything I need to make a whole bunch of missions as well as enough customisation to add new ones in the future.

AI updates

AI is getting more updates, ships now deploy drones or fighters and activate/deactivate any modules they need during combat. As well as better control over their modules they also now prioritize targets depending on the target distance, shield/armor, ship class and threat level.
The AI will also now work with their wingmates more, allowing them to share targeting information and keep each other in range.

Minefields

Mines! I've added Explosive and EMP mines into the game, they currently spawn in clusters inside Debris field sectors. The AI will automatically try and avoid mines but your ship won't, so that's up to you.
I'm working on mines being a defensive option for outposts, with mines having a friendly/hostile system so they don't blow up your own allies.

Dumbfire projectiles

There are currently 3 types of projectile in AQ2, "instant hit" like railguns or pulse cannons, "homing" like swarm or missiles, these track their target and move towards them over time and now "dumbfire" these are projectiles that move along a straight line over time.
Dumbfire projectiles will also have collisions with things like asteroids and other ships, so although they are powerful, using them is risky as they can hit other ships that might fly into range. I have not quite got this system right yet, so I might be amending how they work. I do have some concerns about accidental attacks, I will give more information on this once I have played with it more.

Ship collisions

Something I've been wanting to do for a while is ship collisions, I've had collisions and avoidance working with static things like asteroids for a while but doing it to all the moving ships has been too heavy on the server. But, I've managed to optimize it to a point now where server performance should not be an issue.
All ships now have collisions with each other ( no ramming sorry, that isn't possible yet ), they will also try to avoid each other with smaller ships having more avoidance when near larger ships. This stops ships overlapping in battle and is visually much nicer, fighters moving out of the way for larger ships and titan ships just plowing their way through other fleets is looking really good.

Trade Information

With the corporation building system coming along well I've been adding in-game information on the trade routes being used, now you can visually see the flow of trade between sectors and get an overview of the resources moving around.
This information can be used to locate profitable trade routes as well as guide Corporations on what new auxiliary buildings they might need to exploit the current demands.

Major Events

I'm about halfway through the first major event, an Incursion.
These major events will be run periodically, with different leaderboards depending on the event type.
The first event I am working on is "Incursion", during this event new sectors open up around the galaxy with pirate bases, each sector will have its own difficulty and spawns. The objective is to fight back against the pirates and destroy their bases to stop their ship production.

Patreon

If you're interested in supporting the development of AQ2 I have a Patreon page, everyone's support is really appreciated and this can really help development.
You can find it here: https://www.patreon.com/aq2expanse

Steam

I have an early page up on Steam, if you interested in adding it to your wishlist then please check it out at https://store.steampowered.com/app/1172070

Thanks for reading and I hope you like the new features!