Devlog: Module Construction Overhaul

Here begins my slightly more regular devlog series. Really just changing the format of my news posts so I can make them a little more frequent. So let's talk about what I've worked on over the past couple of months!

Module Rotation

To begin, I started by doing a bunch of refactoring and tidying up the codebase around module construction, before I got stuck into module rotation. Previously, there was no way to change the orientation of a module when you build it. This meant that a lot of stations ended up looking fairly similar.

To solve this, you can now click R to rotate a module by 90 degrees before building it. You can also use the scroll wheel to cycle through available berths on a new module. Combining these two new features allows the player to construct module in any configuration they might like, allowing for all sorts of unusual arrangements.

Loopable Station Layouts

After I got the module rotation system working, I tackled a problem I had been dreading for a long time: loopable station layouts. The inability to make loops was another limitation of the old construction system that I felt stifled player creativity, but it's a feature that I always thought would be difficult. Turns out, it's not so bad!

In the backend, I didn't really need to change much. In essence, the modules now check with nearby modules to see if they have any berths that align perfectly. If they do, they attach, and opening the hatch is permitted.

One aspect that I thought would be difficult would be reworking the check for whether deconstructing a module should be allowed. Previously, I just needed to check how many attachments a targeted module had. If it was berthed to more than one other module, the player can't be allowed to deconstruct it. But as you can imagine, a module which is part of a larger loop needs to be allowed to be deconstructed, otherwise a loop of modules becomes indestructible once built.

However, after thinking about it for five minutes, I wrote a recursive method in ten minutes, which worked the first try. Needless to say, that felt pretty good!

Shared Module Storage & Crafting

Managing storage can be a pain. Now, storage racks share inventory throughout a module. You can also enable additional stowage zones specific to the module you're in. Also, with the flip of a switch, a workbench gains access to the entire module's inventory. No need to go hunting for specific items, just keep them all in the one module, and you're good to go!

Suit Upgrades Upgrade

I think this interface has been through the most upgrades by far. I'm just never happy with it, as there's always some level of confusion as to how it's meant to be used. Hopefully this is one of the last times!

Farm Upgrade

I've improved the farm growbed models, and made it much easier to use. In doing this, manually extracting/depositing fluids from any kind of tank is a much more pleasant experience now as well.

The Great Refactor

I've also started a major refactor - essentially rewriting/restructuring everything to do with station system simulation. I'll speak more about this when I finish it next month!

Business

In other news, I've been doing a load of admin work behind the scenes to organise my finances for what will (hopefully) be the final year of development without actual cashflow. This involved shuffling around the website to make room for a job listing page, and also officially registering True Anomaly Entertainment Pty Ltd as an Australian Company. I'm now almost ready to start looking for an employee...

Thanks for bearing with me! As always, for more regular updates, join the Discord, where you can view my daily changelog and get much quicker response times from me. Until next time!

Luna