Smart Splitter, Bigger Inventory, & Cloud Saving Update!

Smart Splitter

The "Conveyor Splitter Tier 2" has been reworked into the new "Smart Splitter Conveyor"

It has a sensor, and will only change directions when objects pass through them. This results in a nice 50/50 split when you have a low amount of objects running through them, like 1 or 2 blast furnace's worth of ingots.

Also, the arm speed has been reduced to hopefully prevent larger objects from getting knocked off the belt.

New Merging Conveyor

The T-Junction has it's merging capability REMOVED, and added to the new "Merging Conveyor" (previously Straight Merge Conveyor). There's also a new 3 to 1 merger variation. You can cycle through the merging directions by pressing "Q"

Increased FPS

Object pooling has been introduced for Ore Pieces (including processed resources like ingots)

Ideally, the game should function exactly the same as before, but with slightly higher FPS.

Steam Cloud Saving

Steam cloud saving is now enabled! If you play the game on multiple devices, your saves should now be synced across them.

Bigger Inventory

The inventory was too small, so we made it bigger. Enjoy an extra row of inventory slots!

There's also a couple bug fixes & QOL features, like inventory slot numbers on the hud, and the ability to drag items out of your inventory to drop them.

Clogged Sorter

The new Vertical Bulk Sorter was still clogging and overflowing sometimes if too many objects were trying to go through it. I was able to reduce the chance of it clogging in the previous update, but that didn't completely fix it.

Now, this bug has become a feature!

If the Vertical Bulk Sorter detects it may be clogged, it will create a loud error sound, and flush all stuck objects down the center chute.

This should only happen very rarely, if at all for most setups. If it happens often, it's a sign that your sorter is probably overloaded.

Changed in the latest update, no longer clogs: view

Version 0.1.2.0 released:

• Added Field of View setting

• Added new 3 to 1 merger (variation of the "Merging Conveyor" item)

• Added Object Pooling for Ore Pieces (makes fps higher)

• Added an additional row of inventory space

• Added slot numbers to the hotbar

• Added ability to drag items out of the inventory to drop them

• Reworked "Tier 2 Splitter" into "Smart Splitter Conveyor"

  • Uses a new sensor to detect when objects are moving through it. Only changes directions when objects have passed through it recently

• Moved merging version of the "T-Junction" to the "Straight Merge Conveyor" & renamed it to "Merging Conveyor" (T-Junction is now only a splitter)

• Updated Vertical Bulk Sorter to flush itself automatically when clogged

• Updated warning when trying to load a legacy demo save file to be even scarier and have red text! Please don't play on the demo save files, they do not work anymore.

• Updated FPS limit setting to mention it only works if VSync is OFF

• Updated Loading Menu to skip and invalid save files (instead of completely failing to display any if one was invalid)

• Updated save file backups to check if they're actually valid before being saved

• Updated "clear physics ore" button description to be more descriptive

• Fixed Drill Bit descriptions "Dril Bit" instead of "Drill Bit"

• Fixed main menu Steam News thing looking weird sometimes

• Fixed T2 Blocker not saving it's open/closed state

• Fixed "F" button to close computer shop not using key binds

• Fixed cannon conveyor being really inconsistent and not launching things as far as it's supposed to

• Fixed dev mode being forced on when loading a legacy demo save file

• Fixed some cases of ingots getting stuck on conveyors randomly

• Fixed some cases of objects phasing through the Roller Ledge

• Fixed inventory items visually disappearing when closing your inventory while dragging an item

Future Thoughts:

Physics Engine

The current physics engine (unity's default, PhysX) is at it's limit. There's not much more I can do to improve performance with the current physics engine.

So, I've started looking into a NEW physics engine! Specifically, the very confusingly named, non-default "Unity Physics" (or potentially Havokif that works better), which is multithreaded. I've done some initial testing, and it looks very promising, allowing for much more physics objects.

However, this will require a LOT of work, so it likely won't be ready for a while.

New Map

We started working on a new, much larger map. This will be an option you can choose from when starting a new game.

Experimental branch

We plan on creating an experimental branch on Steam for people to test out the latest changes before future updates go live! We'll be posting more info on this in the official Discord server. Come join if you want to test new features like the new map and new physics engine!

Thanks for playing MineMogul! We look forward to all your feedback in the Steam Discussions and Discord.