DevLog #9 - So many changes and updates!

Way too long for a DevLog...

Finally getting closer to a real alpha build that includes all mechanics and systems on an at least basic level! There are so many new things that from now on I will have bi-monthly devlogs again.

I tuned down social media activity and focused more on the game.

New Features - Overview:

• Home base refined: I removed a room I had no real use for (machine room) and rather refined the other ones.

  

• Added functionality to the control room: Analysis of weather, monster nests, and alien ore before going to the outpost.

  

• Added Mining! Get your mining drone ready and mine this mysterious alien ore

  

• Added monster nests and aggression system (orange bar on the left)

  

• Ranged monster. High attack damage but low HP.

  

• Robot Bay implemented. Manage your robots, assign abilities, repair, etc.

  

• 2 robot archetypes: Striker (fast & low HP) and Defender (slow & high HP). Repairs and ability changes create jobs in job queues

  

• Monster AI update: More natural movement / flanking instead of walking in a straight line

  

• Evac Zone at the Outpost: Leave robots behind if neccessary for the survival of the rest

• Planning Mode for your trip to the outpost. Analyze weather, monster nests and ore locations and plan accordingly.

New Features - Details:

Robots

Archetypes:

Robots are divided into 2 archetypes:

• Striker (fast / low HP)

• Defender (slow / high HP)

Based on weapon loadout (not implemented yet) and abilities, the player can "create" subclasses, for example a sniper or a tank. However, striker and defenders have different abilities and loadout possibilities. Strikers are used for fast recon, flank attacks, and high damage output while Defenders are used for crowd control, zone defense and damage absorption.

Subsystems:

Robots have 4 subsystems (as mentioned in the last devlog) and I implemented a damage distribution system and penalties if the subsystems's health falls below 25%:

• Head (Vision - Attack range and vision range) - Penalty: 50% less range

• Arms (Damage) - Penalty: 50% less damage

• Legs (Movement) - Penalties:

  -> Striker: Running animation switches to walking animation: Speed goes down from 9 to 3.5.

  -> Defender: Only has walking animation: Animation is slowed down by 30%. Speed goes down from 3 to 2.1

• Core (Abilities) - Penalty: Abilities can't be used anymore.

Energy:

Robots require energy to function when they are at the outpost.

• Permanent energy decrease (+ weather multiplier if applicable - Ion Storm)

• Abilities (for example Laser or Shield)

If a robot's energy is depleted, he shuts down immediately and cannot be used anymore.

(Not implemented yet: By replenishing energy with an emergency battery cell, the robot can be restarted.)

Energy is replenished at the home base. However, energy is a resource created by the generator. Always using all available robots for a trip to the outpost will result in an energy deficit.

Robot Bay:

Visual update for the robot bay.

A maximum of 9 robots can be managed simultaneously.

• Each robot is assigned to a station slot.

• Energy is replenished when robots are back at the base (They can also be left at the outpost).

• Energy is replenished over night for robots that do not join the player at the outpost

(Not implemented yet: Since energy is a scarce resource, the player will be able to selectively activate or deactive energy loading for each station slot. This creates a task that needs to be finished by a character before the changes apply.)

Job Queue:

Each change to a robot

• adding an ability

• switching an ability

• removing an ability

• repairing a subsystem

• upgrading a subsystem (not implemented yet)

creates a job in a job queue for each robot station. This creates a task for a character. In addition, repairs and upgrades also cost building material.

(Not implemented yet: Jobs can be stopped or reordered. All active jobs are reset if a robot goes to the outpost.)

Monster

Monster Nests:

There are several fixed monster nests in the world, which spawn a few monsters continuously every x seconds. Not all of them are active everytime.

They are different from each other regarding:

• Spawn time (the time between 2 consecutive spawns)

• Monster type

• Amount of monsters in each spawn (random value between min value and max value + jitter)

• Aggression level (increases min and max spawn amount)

• Max aggression level (meaning, some nests can become more dangerous than others over time)

(Not implemented yet: The player can disable a monster nest by attacking it / performing a task. If not disabled, it stays active and becomes a bigger problem each time. When attacking a nest, an alarm attracts large monster crowds, which requires a player to carefully plan a nest attack.)

(Not implemented yet: Regularly, additional nests are activated so the player is advised to disable/destroy at least some of them.)

(Not implemented / modeled yet: The world can be destroyed in parts. For example, a bridge may give access to a resourceful location for the player, but also create a pathway for a very dangerous monster nest. At some point, the player may decide to destroy the bridge.)

Ranged monster:

A scorpion-like monster performs fast high-ranged attacks and should be focused by the player.

2 other enemy types planned (not implemented yet):

• Mostly stationary energy-consuming monster: only active during Ion Storms. P layer needs to scan to find it and kill it for special bonuses

• Heavyly armored monster that leaves toxic gas behind after dying. Player needs to plan carefully where to kill it. An armor system is already implemented.

Monster AI:

Previously, monsters always ran the shortest path, which led to unnatural movment, i.e, all monster ran in a line. Now, monsters pick a point in a radius around their actual target, which automatically leads to different paths for each monster. In open spaces, this also leads to flank attacks.

(Not implemented yet: Different monsters behave differently. Weather may also change the AI.)

(Partly implemented yet: Monsters don't just attack the closest target but rather they pick a target based on aggro. Aggro can be created in different ways, for example a character that performs a specific task might create a lot of aggro, which requires the player to defend it carefully.)

(Not implemented yet: Monster patrols / Monster defense in specific areas)

Aggression:

In addition to the local aggression level of the monster nest aggression level, this aggression level is added as well and can be changed by the player, whereas the aggression level of a monster nest cannot be directly controlled.

Killing monsters creates global aggression (seen as the red slider on the left in the screenshots). Mining also creates a large amount of aggression so the player needs to plan carefully if the current trip will be focused on mining or not.

(Not implemented yet: The player should be able to decrease the global aggression level or lower the rise of aggression by performing tasks with the characters or similar)

(Not implemented yet: When the global aggression level reaches a new level, a large monster wave appears.)

Control Room

Planning the outpost phase will be an important aspect of the game. Based on several factors, you should decide how many and which robots the player deploys (while also paying attention to their individual health and energy statuses), and which characters to send to the outpost based on their skills and current status (fatigue, hunger, stress).

Tasks:

Currently, the control room has 3 separate tasks to scan the outpost for:

• Weather: Shows, which weather is active during the next trip.

• Alien Ore: Shows the location of all ores. The player only has limited time to mine the ore, otherwise it disappears due to instability.

• Monster nest (scanning not implemented yet): Shows the status (if active or not), details (aggression level, monster type, etc...), and position of monster nests

The player does not have to perform all of these tasks. In fact, since time is limited, oftentimes the player won't be able to. Every decision should be a trade-off. Information is important, especially when you plan a more dangerous trip where you try to destroy a monster nest.

Weather system:

On each trip to the outpost, the weather might change (not during the trip). Currently, 2 weather types are implemented and 1 more is done in the next few days.

• Clear Sky: no modifiers

• Ion Storm: Energy decrease of robots multiplied by 3

• Quakes (not implemented yet): Regular earthquakes so robots cannot correctly adjust their focus

  -> damage by robots decreased by 20%

I also plan to add 1 or 2 weather types with positive effects or rather positive AND negative effects.

(Not implemented yet: For these and further weather types, I plan to add components for robots to counteract the negative effects.)

Outpost preview:

The player can check the outpost any time and see the status (based on completed control room tasks) and task details of the outpost to decide what to do next.

The player can analyze:

• in which area the ore is

• which tasks are active and which requirements they have

• The devlog is getting too long...

Mining

Mining will be the player's main option to get building material. In contrast to fast paced RTS-games, mining in Frost Protocol is slow and dangerous. The player needs to defend the mining drone because the aggression level is increasing quickly while mining.

Mining requires planning:

• Where is the closest alien ore?

• Which monster nests are next to it? Are they active?

• How difficult is the area to defend?

(Not implemented yet: Research to increase mining speed, drone speed, drone capacity, aggression level decrease)

Character traits

Initially, I planned to have a very deep character system with emotions and relationships. But the complexity of such a system (if done correctly) might be too much (especially at this stage). So for now, I plan to reduce this complexity and focus on a few mechanics.

I implemented simple traits (ok, just 1 for now). For example Green Thumb, which reduces the time required for all tasks on the food creator station by 15%.

These traits will be used for tasks at the outposts as well. But I need to find out, how to combine this with the skills that are also already implemented. Currently, 4 skills are available:

• Engineering

• Physics

• Biology

• IT

These skills are used as requirements for the tasks at the outpost, i.e., a character requires a min level in a skill to perform a specific task.

Minor changes

• Evacuation zone: Robots may be left behind if they are not in the evac zone when ending the trip. Characters will die if they stay at the outpost.

• Stations in the home base keep running during the trip (robots loading in the robot bay / plants growing in the life support station /...)

• Added 1 tactical resource (no name or purpose, yet). I'll either remove it in the future or use it as some kind of last resort resource during difficult times.

• UI changes: Time is displayed as a clock instead of a slider and several other even smaller UI changes...

Next steps:

• Everything above mentioned as "Not implemented yet".

• Characters: Hunger, fatigue, stress, and how these values change their behaviour (penalties on tasks or slower movement, etc.)

See you in 2 weeks!