Vectorio
Ben Nichols Developer
Ben Nichols Publisher
2023-08-18 Release
Game News Posts:
41
🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse
🕹️ Partial Controller Support
🎮 Full Controller Support
🕹️ Partial Controller Support
🎮 Full Controller Support
Very Positive
(324 reviews)
Public Linux Depots:
- [0 B]
v0.3 Progress Update
A quick side note - Vectorio is currently on sale for 20% off during the Steam spring sale! However, I don't wanna spend much time on this since I know many have been patiently waiting for the next update, so I'll leave the link here and get straight into what's coming in v0.3! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2082350/Vectorio/
A lot has changed since I last made a post on Steam, both in regards to what the original plan was for the next update (originally slated as v0.2.4) and what's actually changing with the update. There are a lot of BIG changes coming in, so let's get into it!
That's right the biggest change to the game yet is officially ready and set to go live with v0.3: infinite worlds! This update has been a massive undertaking, but it was absolutely necessary to bring the expansion gameplay loop to the next level. The first prototype of this system was completed back in February, with testing primarily focused on chunk generation and resource seeding. (below is a gif of this in testing)
This was by far the most time-consuming part of the new system. It required a fundamental overhaul of many underlying mechanics, as everything had to be reworked to support this change. Before this update worlds were finite in size, which severely limited what I could add to make the expansion gameplay loop more interesting and rewarding. With the new system, you start with a small plot of land and can expand in any direction, chunk-by-chunk, to build out your world. Expanding is straightforward just feed the Hub resources! Each expansion has a cost that increases the further out you go, eventually requiring Region Cores as the final cost for infinite expansion.
Now that the core of the system is in place, Ive begun working on integrating even more exciting features youll encounter while exploring these endless worlds. Some of the new additions include:
The goal is to ensure theres more than enough content for you to discover and experience before this update goes live. Theres a ton of exciting things to look forward to, and I cant wait for everyone to get their hands on this new system! It truly is a game changer.
In addition to the introduction of infinite world expansion, another significant upgrade coming in v0.3 is how resource nodes are now generated in the game. Rather than using pre-made node shapes, Ive implemented a noise algorithm that brings a new level of depth and variety to how resources appear. Here is a little screenshot of how the node data is generated in the editor, and what it then looks like in-game spawning in the world.
The beauty of this noise algorithm is that it allows for much more organic and varied resource placement, whilst ensuring that similar resource types spawn in a structured & characterized way.
Additionally, you now have the ability to adjust resource size in the world settings, giving you full control over whether you want a world rich in resources or one that's more scarce and challenging. Furthermore, as you expand further into the world, both resource size and density dynamically increase, rewarding your progress and ensuring that the deeper you go, the more youll findoffering both a sense of growth and greater variety as you push further into the void.
The goal with this change was to add more variety & control in how resources appear in your world. While the preset node shapes was fine for a time, it was always intended as more of a placeholder for a more fleshed out system like this, which is now ready to go live in v0.3!
The long awaited Build Planner from classic is making it's return in v0.3, allowing you fine-tuned control over how your builder drones deploy and what order they deploy in.
This has been long-overdue and should help instances where drones don't build exactly what you want. In addition to type-priority, you can also individually manage blueprints to prioritize specific ones, which is especially useful for more costly buildings.
This panel is optional and can be hidden, but is very useful in controlling your drones. It is also automatically synced across clients in a multiplayer environment, so can be used by all players in a session. (however the host can manage who has permissions to use it)
In addition to all sorts of UI improvements (which I'll touch on below), a chat has now been added to the game! This will allow you to communicate with friends or other players within the game now.
Not only this, but commands are also being added as part of this new system, allowing you to not only manage players more effectively ('/kick', '/ban', '/banip', etc.) but also customize your game session with new developer tools ('/cheats', '/gamerule', '/save', etc) This has been another big undertaking, as I've never added a tool like this in one of my games before. However progress is coming along nicely, and I expect it to be finished soon after this post goes live!
As mentioned above, I have spent a lot of time updating many parts of the games UI. This is done in an effort to create a more coherent design standard across the game. Prior to this there was not a consistent design across different UI elements, however I've gone through many different windows, overlays, and other sections of the interface and touched up their design to follow this new standard. A lot of this is directly working towards how the UI will look for 1.0's release.
Above is a collage of just a few UI elements that have been touched up since the last update, and you expect a whole lot more to follow this design change.
A major point of contention in the past has been game balance, so one of my main goals this year is to change how I approach it and dedicate more time to assigning values that actually make sense. To achieve this, Ive created a detailed graph that tracks the performance of each building. The performance calculation takes into account various factors, which are then combined and weighted according to how much each stat influences a buildings overall performance.
This has given me a clearer view of the game's numbers, and as a result, many values have already been updated for v0.3, with more adjustments on the way. Below are some of the updated values.
Ive also shared detailed posts about these changes on our Discord server, and Ill compile a full list of updates once v0.3 goes live. As always, this is an ongoing process, and while there will be plenty of balance changes in the next update, it wont be a final, all-encompassing list.
Above are some of the changes I've compiled on our Discord server, for those that are interested.
As with any major Vectorio update, there's some new music coming your way made by our amazing and lovely producer Drew! This update includes 3 new in-game tracks, 2 of which are ambient based used during gameplay, and the other used for one of the new secret features in this update! Below is a preview of the track being used in the new secret feature. Take a listen if you dare! [previewyoutube=i1jf-kHmQds;full][/previewyoutube] In addition to new music, the Vectorio OST will also be available for purchase on Steam! It is currently available for wishlisting, however it will not be made released until I have this update ready to deliver - I do not feel at all comfortable charging anything more until I have delivered on my end. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3231400/Vectorio_Soundtrack/ WIth that said, wishlisting does help a lot, so if this at all interests you give it a look above! It is slated to go live alongside v0.3's live release :)
That's right - Steam achievements are also finally being added in v0.3! This has been a highly requested feature over on our Discord, and I'm super excited to announce it here for the first time.
This has been another big undertaking, both in integrating achievement tracking in-game but also designing all of the achievements that will be available upon v0.3's release. There is a lot, and even more will be added as the games development continues into the future. If you have any suggestions or ideas for achievements, do feel free to let me know. I know this is a particular feature that people have been interested in contributing too, so I'm all ears!
This is just a small & dirty preview of what Ive been working on latelytheres much more coming in this update, some of which Ive kept under wraps to avoid spoilers, and others which I've talked about in other posts. Im really excited for everyone to experience it, but it's still not quite ready! This update has taken much longer than I expectedwhat was originally planned as a v0.2.4 release last year. But as Ive mentioned before, Im focused on the full vision of what Vectorio can be, not what it is right now. I know its not ideal to leave the game in its current state for this long, but Im approaching this update in the way that works best for me as a solo-developer, even if it means taking extra time and hurting the games image in the short-term. (which I know isn't ideal) With that said, I just want to re-assure everyone that I am very much committed to getting this game to a 1.0 state. I know it cant stay in development forever, and Im doing everything I can to get v0.3 wrapped up sooner rather than later. This means setting firm deadlines and cutting some things (temporarily, where needed) to get it to you as soon as possible. While Ive misjudged timelines before, Im aiming for a release by the end of April or early May at the latest. It will go into experimental for a few weeks before hitting live. Thanks so much for your patienceI truly hope everyone will feel that this update was worth the wait once it's live! As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions. I will do my best to respond to all questions or concerns in the comments below :) Discord Server: https://discord.gg/Vectorio ~ Ben
[ 2025-03-14 21:40:30 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well - it has been quite some time since the last update, and so I just wanted to put out a post going over some of what I've been working on lately, and give some information regarding why this update is taking so long, but more importantly, when you can expect to get your hands on it!
Get Vectorio 20% off (Spring Sale)
A quick side note - Vectorio is currently on sale for 20% off during the Steam spring sale! However, I don't wanna spend much time on this since I know many have been patiently waiting for the next update, so I'll leave the link here and get straight into what's coming in v0.3! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2082350/Vectorio/
What's coming in v0.3
A lot has changed since I last made a post on Steam, both in regards to what the original plan was for the next update (originally slated as v0.2.4) and what's actually changing with the update. There are a lot of BIG changes coming in, so let's get into it!
Infinite Worlds!?
That's right the biggest change to the game yet is officially ready and set to go live with v0.3: infinite worlds! This update has been a massive undertaking, but it was absolutely necessary to bring the expansion gameplay loop to the next level. The first prototype of this system was completed back in February, with testing primarily focused on chunk generation and resource seeding. (below is a gif of this in testing)
This was by far the most time-consuming part of the new system. It required a fundamental overhaul of many underlying mechanics, as everything had to be reworked to support this change. Before this update worlds were finite in size, which severely limited what I could add to make the expansion gameplay loop more interesting and rewarding. With the new system, you start with a small plot of land and can expand in any direction, chunk-by-chunk, to build out your world. Expanding is straightforward just feed the Hub resources! Each expansion has a cost that increases the further out you go, eventually requiring Region Cores as the final cost for infinite expansion.
Now that the core of the system is in place, Ive begun working on integrating even more exciting features youll encounter while exploring these endless worlds. Some of the new additions include:
- Redesigned Outposts
- Expansion Beacons
- Derelicts
- Incursions
- New Bosses
- Booster Zones
- And much more!
The goal is to ensure theres more than enough content for you to discover and experience before this update goes live. Theres a ton of exciting things to look forward to, and I cant wait for everyone to get their hands on this new system! It truly is a game changer.
Node Generation
In addition to the introduction of infinite world expansion, another significant upgrade coming in v0.3 is how resource nodes are now generated in the game. Rather than using pre-made node shapes, Ive implemented a noise algorithm that brings a new level of depth and variety to how resources appear. Here is a little screenshot of how the node data is generated in the editor, and what it then looks like in-game spawning in the world.
The beauty of this noise algorithm is that it allows for much more organic and varied resource placement, whilst ensuring that similar resource types spawn in a structured & characterized way.
Additionally, you now have the ability to adjust resource size in the world settings, giving you full control over whether you want a world rich in resources or one that's more scarce and challenging. Furthermore, as you expand further into the world, both resource size and density dynamically increase, rewarding your progress and ensuring that the deeper you go, the more youll findoffering both a sense of growth and greater variety as you push further into the void.
The goal with this change was to add more variety & control in how resources appear in your world. While the preset node shapes was fine for a time, it was always intended as more of a placeholder for a more fleshed out system like this, which is now ready to go live in v0.3!
Build Planner
The long awaited Build Planner from classic is making it's return in v0.3, allowing you fine-tuned control over how your builder drones deploy and what order they deploy in.
This has been long-overdue and should help instances where drones don't build exactly what you want. In addition to type-priority, you can also individually manage blueprints to prioritize specific ones, which is especially useful for more costly buildings.
This panel is optional and can be hidden, but is very useful in controlling your drones. It is also automatically synced across clients in a multiplayer environment, so can be used by all players in a session. (however the host can manage who has permissions to use it)
Multiplayer Chat
In addition to all sorts of UI improvements (which I'll touch on below), a chat has now been added to the game! This will allow you to communicate with friends or other players within the game now.
Not only this, but commands are also being added as part of this new system, allowing you to not only manage players more effectively ('/kick', '/ban', '/banip', etc.) but also customize your game session with new developer tools ('/cheats', '/gamerule', '/save', etc) This has been another big undertaking, as I've never added a tool like this in one of my games before. However progress is coming along nicely, and I expect it to be finished soon after this post goes live!
Interface Updates
As mentioned above, I have spent a lot of time updating many parts of the games UI. This is done in an effort to create a more coherent design standard across the game. Prior to this there was not a consistent design across different UI elements, however I've gone through many different windows, overlays, and other sections of the interface and touched up their design to follow this new standard. A lot of this is directly working towards how the UI will look for 1.0's release.
Above is a collage of just a few UI elements that have been touched up since the last update, and you expect a whole lot more to follow this design change.
Game Balance
A major point of contention in the past has been game balance, so one of my main goals this year is to change how I approach it and dedicate more time to assigning values that actually make sense. To achieve this, Ive created a detailed graph that tracks the performance of each building. The performance calculation takes into account various factors, which are then combined and weighted according to how much each stat influences a buildings overall performance.
This has given me a clearer view of the game's numbers, and as a result, many values have already been updated for v0.3, with more adjustments on the way. Below are some of the updated values.
Ive also shared detailed posts about these changes on our Discord server, and Ill compile a full list of updates once v0.3 goes live. As always, this is an ongoing process, and while there will be plenty of balance changes in the next update, it wont be a final, all-encompassing list.
Above are some of the changes I've compiled on our Discord server, for those that are interested.
New Music
As with any major Vectorio update, there's some new music coming your way made by our amazing and lovely producer Drew! This update includes 3 new in-game tracks, 2 of which are ambient based used during gameplay, and the other used for one of the new secret features in this update! Below is a preview of the track being used in the new secret feature. Take a listen if you dare! [previewyoutube=i1jf-kHmQds;full][/previewyoutube] In addition to new music, the Vectorio OST will also be available for purchase on Steam! It is currently available for wishlisting, however it will not be made released until I have this update ready to deliver - I do not feel at all comfortable charging anything more until I have delivered on my end. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3231400/Vectorio_Soundtrack/ WIth that said, wishlisting does help a lot, so if this at all interests you give it a look above! It is slated to go live alongside v0.3's live release :)
Steam Achievements
That's right - Steam achievements are also finally being added in v0.3! This has been a highly requested feature over on our Discord, and I'm super excited to announce it here for the first time.
This has been another big undertaking, both in integrating achievement tracking in-game but also designing all of the achievements that will be available upon v0.3's release. There is a lot, and even more will be added as the games development continues into the future. If you have any suggestions or ideas for achievements, do feel free to let me know. I know this is a particular feature that people have been interested in contributing too, so I'm all ears!
A lot more to come!
This is just a small & dirty preview of what Ive been working on latelytheres much more coming in this update, some of which Ive kept under wraps to avoid spoilers, and others which I've talked about in other posts. Im really excited for everyone to experience it, but it's still not quite ready! This update has taken much longer than I expectedwhat was originally planned as a v0.2.4 release last year. But as Ive mentioned before, Im focused on the full vision of what Vectorio can be, not what it is right now. I know its not ideal to leave the game in its current state for this long, but Im approaching this update in the way that works best for me as a solo-developer, even if it means taking extra time and hurting the games image in the short-term. (which I know isn't ideal) With that said, I just want to re-assure everyone that I am very much committed to getting this game to a 1.0 state. I know it cant stay in development forever, and Im doing everything I can to get v0.3 wrapped up sooner rather than later. This means setting firm deadlines and cutting some things (temporarily, where needed) to get it to you as soon as possible. While Ive misjudged timelines before, Im aiming for a release by the end of April or early May at the latest. It will go into experimental for a few weeks before hitting live. Thanks so much for your patienceI truly hope everyone will feel that this update was worth the wait once it's live! As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions. I will do my best to respond to all questions or concerns in the comments below :) Discord Server: https://discord.gg/Vectorio ~ Ben
[ 2025-03-14 21:40:30 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.3g | Available on Live
If you haven't already, check out what's coming in v0.2.4 below! This update was originally going to be combined with it, but because v0.2.4 is taking a bit longer then expected as it's grown quite a bit in scale (as per usual), this portion of it is going live now instead. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2082350/view/4576308214478571215
[ 2024-09-07 00:41:05 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone Hotfix v0.2.3g has been deployed to the live environment! While this patch has been tested, further testing is required to ensure the issues fixed in this build do not reappear. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know below or on our Discord server: https://discord.gg/vectorio
Patch Notes
CONTROL SCHEME:
- Added the ability to pan the camera using screen edge
- Scroll will always be calculated as long as pointer isn't over UI element
- Clicking on an empty spot in the screen will close the currently open UI panel
- Camera drag is now calculated in late update, to avoid accidental entity-clicking
- Added a new keybind for deselecting the current mode
- Options to adjust movement and zoom speed added to the settings
- Options to toggle edge panning and camera dragging added to the settings
- Movement now calculated in non-fixed update loop (will feel smoother)
- Some other minor tweaks to the default scheme to make it feel more intuitive
BALANCE CHANGES:
- Increased Sweeper damage from 2 to 2.5
- Reduced Sweeper power from 10 to 6
- Reduced Generator heat from 35 to 15
- Reduced Pulsar power from 18 to 10
- Reduced Foundry heat from 12 to 8
- Reduced Manufacturer heat from 35 to 25
- Reduced Ammo Forge power from 25 to 15
- Reduced Bomber health from 15 to 12
- Reduced Fighter health from 12 to 10
- Reduced Reinforced Saw health from 15 to 8
OTHER CHANGES:
- Added a max spawn value to hives, to prevent huge swarms
- Added headers to the settings menu, to help with organization
- Changed modifiers to show 1 digit instead of a whole number
- Temporarily disabled cloak checks on defenses, until Phantom Plains V2
BUG FIXES:
- Fixed builder drones causing session errors in multiplayer environments
- Fixed filters not resetting after a drone gets object pooled
- Fixed some of the modifiers not applying correctly after an entity is object pooled
- Fixed all enemy modifiers not applying correctly to enemy units and buildings
- Fixed hub not spawning on a new region if the region switch process fails
- Some other minor bug fixes
Update v0.2.4 Overview
If you haven't already, check out what's coming in v0.2.4 below! This update was originally going to be combined with it, but because v0.2.4 is taking a bit longer then expected as it's grown quite a bit in scale (as per usual), this portion of it is going live now instead. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2082350/view/4576308214478571215
[ 2024-09-07 00:41:05 CET ] [ Original post ]
What's coming in v0.2.4 & Weekly Sale
Before we dive into it this is also just a heads up that the game is currently on sale this week for 20% off, so if you like what you see here and have been thinking about diving in, now's a good time to pick it up! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2082350/Vectorio/ If you're still not convinced about the current state of the game, or are waiting for it to be fleshed out further, wishlisting & following it on Steam helps immensely. It improves the chances of Vectorio being shown to other people, and keeps you updated & in-the-loop on the latest news. A win win! Alright, I've said my piece, let's dive into what you can expect in the upcoming v0.2.4 patch!
This update is mainly focused around actioning initial feedback from v0.2's live release, as well as iterating on more gameplay systems that have been long-overdue for some love. Let's dig in...
One of the bigger changes to this update is how the claim mechanic works, which has been a big point of contention in the past with many players finding it annoying & difficult to work with. I agree, so in this update it will be receiving some large changes to help make building bases less of a pain... No Building Restrictions You will now be able to build anywhere without needing to worry about the area being claimed beforehand, which should make expanding much much easier!
Unclaimed Penalty The caveat to this is unclaimed buildings will receive an "unclaimed" penalty stat, When a building has this penalty, it will operate at a drastically reduced efficiency. This makes reclaimers act more as "power poles", except they don't require tethering across any power network. (yet, still in consideration) This penalty is still being worked on, and will be visible in a buildings info panel.
Removal Of Claimer Explosions When a claimer is removed, it will no longer destroy all the surrounding buildings. The buildings will receive the unclaimed penalty stat, but besides that they will remain. Again, this change is done in the hopes of making adjusting your base & expanding a much easier process!
As always with any update comes a host of new UI improvements, and this time my focus has really been on establishing a consistent design theme & quality-level that I believe would be more representative of what the UI would look & feel like at 1.0. Right now I've been establishing this design theme for the top bar, which includes your heat, power, and region overview. A good example of this updated UI is the heat element specifically... New UI design for heat:
You'll notice there's a bunch of new details in this UI element, including some background smoke, animated embers, reduced border width, cleaner text, and a more pleasing text layout. This is the type of quality I am hoping to achieve for 1.0 across every UI element in the game. I want different parts of the UI to feel unique to what it's displaying, whilst still retaining a design that is easy to read and fits the overall theme of Vectorio. It's a challenge, but one that is doable! Going back to this top bar specifically, this is the new design (still WIP) for this entire bar... Top bar design update (WIP):
You'll notice that the same smoke texture is repeated on the power side; this is not final and is very much placeholder, as I still need to design a small little animation for the power that does a better job at representing that strategic resource. Right now the idea is for this to be little sparks! This is all I can show you for right now, but you can expect more improvements & updates to the other parts of the UI around the game similar to this when the update goes live!
For those that haven't been keeping up on Discord, this is an entirely new tech tree dedicated to resources, where you slowly research new information about resources that enable you to be more proficient with those resources inside of your base. This not only includes previously hidden details like "power value" and "burn time", but also the rate at which these resources are collected, transported, and stored throughout your base. New resource panel with revealed info:
Below was an early mock-up of how I figured this tree might progress, where you'd input more of a specific resource to find out more details about it, as well as upgrade the efficiency of it inside of different logistical buildings. More of a passive upgrade path using pre-existing lab resources. Early mock up of Resource Tree progression:
However, I've started to iterate on this idea a bit more, and I'm now considering moving it out of the research tree and into a separate proficiency tree. However, more testing is required on my side to determine the best approach, just know this sort of "resource upgrade" type tree is planned for v0.2.4!
This update was originally planned to be v0.2.3g Live, however since the update has grown quite a bit in size, it's been renamed to v0.2.4 to more accurately reflect what's in the update. While v0.2.4 has it's own features with it, a lot of the improvements in this update stem from what was going to be in v0.2.3g, which is currently in testing on experimental. If you wish to read up on these changes, check out the update post linked below! It contains quite a bit of exciting stuff as well. https://steamcommunity.com/games/2082350/announcements/detail/4267810371710625315
While not directly related to new content, this is arguably just as, if not more important. A big point of this update is focusing more on quality of life, which mainly revolves around making the game easier and more accessible to play. Here's a list of all the QOL changes coming in v0.2.4! Highlight QOL changes in v0.2.4 (not inclusive):
What we covered here is just a taste of what's to come, with update v0.2.4 being very focused on making the gameplay feel a lot more smooth. There's more to come with this update, and this is just the start of a long line of updates planned to come out over the course of the next year. Just as one last reminder, Vectorio is currently 20% off on Steam for the next week. If you wanna stay up-to-date with what's being worked on, also consider joining the Discord server linked below! Discord Server: https://discord.gg/Vectorio Thanks for reading! ~ Ben
[ 2024-09-07 00:02:32 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well heading into the later half of this year! I know this is a busy time for many, so hopefully many of you are able to find time to take breaks, keep healthy, and play some games :) Following up on the last post - I am now moved into my new place and have my new studio area setup. This means I'm now back to work full-time, with my main priority this last week being on the upcoming v0.2.4 patch, which is shaping up to be quite a large content-focused update!
Get Vectorio 20% off (September 6th - 13th)
Before we dive into it this is also just a heads up that the game is currently on sale this week for 20% off, so if you like what you see here and have been thinking about diving in, now's a good time to pick it up! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2082350/Vectorio/ If you're still not convinced about the current state of the game, or are waiting for it to be fleshed out further, wishlisting & following it on Steam helps immensely. It improves the chances of Vectorio being shown to other people, and keeps you updated & in-the-loop on the latest news. A win win! Alright, I've said my piece, let's dive into what you can expect in the upcoming v0.2.4 patch!
What's coming in v0.2.4
This update is mainly focused around actioning initial feedback from v0.2's live release, as well as iterating on more gameplay systems that have been long-overdue for some love. Let's dig in...
Claim Mechanics
One of the bigger changes to this update is how the claim mechanic works, which has been a big point of contention in the past with many players finding it annoying & difficult to work with. I agree, so in this update it will be receiving some large changes to help make building bases less of a pain... No Building Restrictions You will now be able to build anywhere without needing to worry about the area being claimed beforehand, which should make expanding much much easier!
Unclaimed Penalty The caveat to this is unclaimed buildings will receive an "unclaimed" penalty stat, When a building has this penalty, it will operate at a drastically reduced efficiency. This makes reclaimers act more as "power poles", except they don't require tethering across any power network. (yet, still in consideration) This penalty is still being worked on, and will be visible in a buildings info panel.
Removal Of Claimer Explosions When a claimer is removed, it will no longer destroy all the surrounding buildings. The buildings will receive the unclaimed penalty stat, but besides that they will remain. Again, this change is done in the hopes of making adjusting your base & expanding a much easier process!
UI Improvements
As always with any update comes a host of new UI improvements, and this time my focus has really been on establishing a consistent design theme & quality-level that I believe would be more representative of what the UI would look & feel like at 1.0. Right now I've been establishing this design theme for the top bar, which includes your heat, power, and region overview. A good example of this updated UI is the heat element specifically... New UI design for heat:
You'll notice there's a bunch of new details in this UI element, including some background smoke, animated embers, reduced border width, cleaner text, and a more pleasing text layout. This is the type of quality I am hoping to achieve for 1.0 across every UI element in the game. I want different parts of the UI to feel unique to what it's displaying, whilst still retaining a design that is easy to read and fits the overall theme of Vectorio. It's a challenge, but one that is doable! Going back to this top bar specifically, this is the new design (still WIP) for this entire bar... Top bar design update (WIP):
You'll notice that the same smoke texture is repeated on the power side; this is not final and is very much placeholder, as I still need to design a small little animation for the power that does a better job at representing that strategic resource. Right now the idea is for this to be little sparks! This is all I can show you for right now, but you can expect more improvements & updates to the other parts of the UI around the game similar to this when the update goes live!
Resource Tree
For those that haven't been keeping up on Discord, this is an entirely new tech tree dedicated to resources, where you slowly research new information about resources that enable you to be more proficient with those resources inside of your base. This not only includes previously hidden details like "power value" and "burn time", but also the rate at which these resources are collected, transported, and stored throughout your base. New resource panel with revealed info:
Below was an early mock-up of how I figured this tree might progress, where you'd input more of a specific resource to find out more details about it, as well as upgrade the efficiency of it inside of different logistical buildings. More of a passive upgrade path using pre-existing lab resources. Early mock up of Resource Tree progression:
However, I've started to iterate on this idea a bit more, and I'm now considering moving it out of the research tree and into a separate proficiency tree. However, more testing is required on my side to determine the best approach, just know this sort of "resource upgrade" type tree is planned for v0.2.4!
Merging v0.2.3g
This update was originally planned to be v0.2.3g Live, however since the update has grown quite a bit in size, it's been renamed to v0.2.4 to more accurately reflect what's in the update. While v0.2.4 has it's own features with it, a lot of the improvements in this update stem from what was going to be in v0.2.3g, which is currently in testing on experimental. If you wish to read up on these changes, check out the update post linked below! It contains quite a bit of exciting stuff as well. https://steamcommunity.com/games/2082350/announcements/detail/4267810371710625315
Quality of Life
While not directly related to new content, this is arguably just as, if not more important. A big point of this update is focusing more on quality of life, which mainly revolves around making the game easier and more accessible to play. Here's a list of all the QOL changes coming in v0.2.4! Highlight QOL changes in v0.2.4 (not inclusive):
- Some entities can now be "replaced" (i.e. replacing walls with barriers)
- Power usage statistics, to help track what buildings are using the most power.
- Holding control in drone selection will let you select groups of storages, collectors, etc.
- Destroying a reclaimer will no longer destroy all buildings inside. (seen above)
- Area delete tool, letting you remove a large chunk of your base at one time.
- Turrets that require ammo will no longer require direct input, and will instead draw from your global storage bank instead. This is a VERY much a testing change and may not be permanent.
- Changes to some of the resource designs to make them look more unique and distinguishable.
- More ways to control the camera, including screen panning and a dedicated mouse drag button.
- And finally, at long last, a way to queue research techs!
Much more to come!
What we covered here is just a taste of what's to come, with update v0.2.4 being very focused on making the gameplay feel a lot more smooth. There's more to come with this update, and this is just the start of a long line of updates planned to come out over the course of the next year. Just as one last reminder, Vectorio is currently 20% off on Steam for the next week. If you wanna stay up-to-date with what's being worked on, also consider joining the Discord server linked below! Discord Server: https://discord.gg/Vectorio Thanks for reading! ~ Ben
[ 2024-09-07 00:02:32 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.3g | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
These are additions to the update that have not yet been enabled in experimental, as they aren't quite ready for testing. This is usually due to lingering issues in internal tests or the feature being incomplete.
If you haven't already, check out what's coming in Year 2 (and a look-back at Year 1) in the post linked below; there's a lot of exciting stuff coming, and you can also vote on the features you'd like to see first! https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2082350/view/4355629296435403976
[ 2024-08-23 17:23:50 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello again! A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~2 weeks
- Experimental Saves: Enabled
- Backwards Compatible: No
- Update Type: Experimental Patch
- Contains Spoilers: Yes
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
CONTROL SCHEME:
- Added the ability to pan the camera using screen edge
- Scroll will always be calculated as long as pointer isn't over UI element
- Clicking on an empty spot in the screen will close the currently open UI panel
- Camera drag is now calculated in late update, to avoid accidental entity-clicking
- Added a new keybind for deselecting the current mode
- Options to adjust movement and zoom speed added to the settings
- Options to toggle edge panning and camera dragging added to the settings
- Movement now calculated in non-fixed update loop (will feel smoother)
- Some other minor tweaks to the default scheme to make it feel more intuitive
BALANCE CHANGES:
- Increased Sweeper damage from 2 to 2.5
- Reduced Sweeper power from 10 to 6
- Reduced Generator heat from 35 to 15
- Reduced Pulsar power from 18 to 10
- Reduced Foundry heat from 12 to 8
- Reduced Manufacturer heat from 35 to 25
- Reduced Ammo Forge power from 25 to 15
- Reduced Bomber health from 15 to 12
- Reduced Fighter health from 12 to 10
- Reduced Reinforced Saw health from 15 to 8
OTHER CHANGES:
- Added a max spawn value to hives, to prevent huge swarms
- Added headers to the settings menu, to help with organization
- Changed modifiers to show 1 digit instead of a whole number
- Temporarily disabled cloak checks on defenses, until Phantom Plains V2
BUG FIXES:
- Fixed builder drones causing session errors in multiplayer environments
- Fixed filters not resetting after a drone gets object pooled
- Fixed some of the modifiers not applying correctly after an entity is object pooled
- Fixed all enemy modifiers not applying correctly to enemy units and buildings
- Fixed hub not spawning on a new region if the region switch process fails
- Some other minor bug fixes
TENTATIVE:
These are additions to the update that have not yet been enabled in experimental, as they aren't quite ready for testing. This is usually due to lingering issues in internal tests or the feature being incomplete.
- New "Resource Data" tree, which can improve burn time & collection rate for resources. This will eventually contain infinite techs which slowly improve resource values the more you research them.
- New building "Resource Analyzer", which provides double lab value for the Resource Data tree.
- New decoration tile "Concrete", added to the Decorations research tree.
Year 2 - Roadmap Plans, Priorities, and more!
If you haven't already, check out what's coming in Year 2 (and a look-back at Year 1) in the post linked below; there's a lot of exciting stuff coming, and you can also vote on the features you'd like to see first! https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2082350/view/4355629296435403976
[ 2024-08-23 17:23:50 CET ] [ Original post ]
Year 2 - Roadmap, Priorities, and more!
The first year of development has been quite slow, with only 2 major updates during this time...
The first major update was back in December, which was v0.1.4 (Power Rework) and was aimed at remedying some of the initial feedback from launch. Main Features:
The second major update was just released last week at the tail end of Year 1, which was the long-awaited v0.2. This is, and likely always will be the single most important update to the game from a foundational standpoint, laying the ground work for what will come next in Year 2 and beyond. Main Features:
Below I have compiled a ranked list of the most frequent feedback & complaints in reviews and refunds, including some notes from myself on what steps I'll be taking to remedy them... 1. Bugs and Technical Issues
Right now I am still laying out the general roadmap for this year, which includes what I want to achieve by the end of this year (that being, this time next year) and where I hope we will be.
However, It's important that I involve you, the community, in this decision. You guys are the ones that play the game, and that means I want to deliver the content & features you're most interested in. As such, below I've linked a poll which you can vote on for what you want to see first. Poll: https://strawpoll.com/7rnzVmKMdnO
For those that wish to view this list here before voting, or simply not vote, these features are...
The immediate priority is bug fixing. In order for these features to hit and be enjoyed upon their arrival, the game needs to, well... function. So over the next few weeks you can expect continuous patches and hotfixes to a lot of the current stability issues on live, as well as balance changes & additional UI info. If anyone would like to discuss any of these planned features further, please don't hesitate to reach out to me below or on our Discord, Like always, I try to read every message, even if I don't respond! Discord: https://discord.gg/vectorio Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a lovely rest of your summer :) ~ Ben
[ 2024-08-12 15:54:35 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone!
I hope you are all enjoying v0.2 and everything new it has to offer. Well there's certainly some rough edges with the patch, I think it's still been a major success and is setting us up nicely for the next year of development, which is going to be a lot more action packed then Year 1!
Speaking of, this post is aimed at covering what we accomplished in Year 1, what the immediate priorities are moving into Year 2, and how the rest of this year is shaping up. So let's get into it!
Year 1 | A slow, but very important start
The first year of development has been quite slow, with only 2 major updates during this time...
v0.1.4 (Power Rework)
The first major update was back in December, which was v0.1.4 (Power Rework) and was aimed at remedying some of the initial feedback from launch. Main Features:
- Complete refactor of the power and heat system.
- New generator mechanics, making them require resources to produce power.
- Removed collection mode and collector drones from the game
- Multiple hotbars, and the ability to quick scroll through them using left-control.
- Refactored gamemode handling to run everything through a central main scene.
- New backend stat system for handling entity stats
- Multiple refactors and updates to many of the manager scripts
v0.2.0 (The Big One)
The second major update was just released last week at the tail end of Year 1, which was the long-awaited v0.2. This is, and likely always will be the single most important update to the game from a foundational standpoint, laying the ground work for what will come next in Year 2 and beyond. Main Features:
- Multiplayer, join forces with friends on a shared world with up to 10 other players.
- New region, Phantom Plains, with an entirely new tech tree.
- Control schemes. with dedicated control modes. Supports click to drag camera movement.
- Strategic outpost mechanics, including internal simulations for each outpost.
- Variety of new resources with more complex recipes, requiring efficient drone networks.
- New settings menu, with many more settings to tweak the game to your liking.
- 50+ new stat modifiers to adjust, and a few new modifier presets to try and tackle.
- Drone route connection previewing, showing the specific route a drone will take.
- Predictive aiming for turrets, letting them lead shots to be far more accurate on moving targets.
- Defenses that require ammunition in order to fire. Used on stronger defenses.
- Resource x-ray utility, allowing you to see the resources stored in each building at a glance.
- New database & library system, replacing the old clunky library system. Whilst the old library system had it's benefits, it was very prone to errors and very inefficient.
- Component refactor; a complete overhaul to how entity logic is defined and applied. Will speed up the development of new content exponentially, and offer extensive modding support in the future.
- Vastly improved entity simulation, with the removal of the dynamic update rate in place of much more aggressive logic culling on certain entities. Reduces the active entity count substantially.
- New metadata system, which can capture entity metadata globally or locally. This will be useful when producing entity clusters (i.e. outposts) and be used heavily in the copy + paste utility.
- Update save system with better save-state capturing, storing entity conditions which were not previously stored in the old system (i.e. drone positions & action state)
- New sound system, creating more localized sound instances & interactivity by utilizing a simulated 3D environment based on spatial blending.
- Model animation system, for defining animation groups which can be interacted with from each entities script. Currently used by turrets, and will be expanded on in upcoming versions.
Learning from reviews & refunds
Below I have compiled a ranked list of the most frequent feedback & complaints in reviews and refunds, including some notes from myself on what steps I'll be taking to remedy them... 1. Bugs and Technical Issues
- Prioritize bug fixing, especially ones introduced in v0.2 relating to multiplayer
- Optimize rendering performance and reduce draw-calls
- Reduce load times when getting into a world
- Continue to iterate on general gameplay stability
- Streamline core mechanics and introduce them more gradually
- Add more context & information to the game (i.e. resource info)
- Redo the tutorial system, as many people find the current one frustrating
- Clarify game description and marketing materials to illustrate differences from Classic
- Do a better job highlighting unique features that differentiate it from similar games
- Communicate more clearly the current state of early access and what the planned features are
- Regularly update the game, instead of having these huge gaps between updates
- Done!
- Introduce more variety in gameplay element, especially when it comes to logistics.
- Consider adding challenges or more bite-sized objectives to maintain engagement
- Clearly define goal posts for the player to work towards
- Add more tooltips and general information to the game to help aid newer players
- Offer more color palette options or a colorblind mode
- Do additional research on more accessibility options for the game
- Continue to iterate on the control scheme for the game, making it more user-friendly
- Add more ways to customize the control scheme to the players liking
- Fine-tune game balance, especially when it comes to heat vs. power scaling
- Implement more difficulty settings that can help players adjust the game to their liking
Year 2 | What's the plan?
Right now I am still laying out the general roadmap for this year, which includes what I want to achieve by the end of this year (that being, this time next year) and where I hope we will be.
What do you want to see first?
However, It's important that I involve you, the community, in this decision. You guys are the ones that play the game, and that means I want to deliver the content & features you're most interested in. As such, below I've linked a poll which you can vote on for what you want to see first. Poll: https://strawpoll.com/7rnzVmKMdnO
For those that wish to view this list here before voting, or simply not vote, these features are...
- Modular Gunships: Design, deploy, and direct your own fleet of hand-crafted gunships.
- Cargo Freighters: Adding new types of long-range transportation methods to the mix.
- Building Animations: Creating animations that will make your base feel more alive.
- Decorations & Colors: More decoration blocks and the color-brush utility tool.
- Logistics V2: An overhaul of the logistics system, with more tools & unique challenges.
- Enemies V2: Improving the enemy AI logic and implementing enemy outpost construction.
- Frigid Fields: The next region, which brings temperature management & obstacles.
- Phantom Plains V2: Updating the plains region with more content & FOW-based challenges.
- World Gen V3: The worlds are still missing little details that will make exploration more rewarding, and I believe one more iteration on this system will remedy that.
- Upgrade System: Adding the ability to upgrade buildings & defenses with different modules.
- Turret Labs: The new challenge-based game mode, something different from adventure.
- Cosmetics / Skins: New unlockable drip for your buildings and units.
So what's next?
The immediate priority is bug fixing. In order for these features to hit and be enjoyed upon their arrival, the game needs to, well... function. So over the next few weeks you can expect continuous patches and hotfixes to a lot of the current stability issues on live, as well as balance changes & additional UI info. If anyone would like to discuss any of these planned features further, please don't hesitate to reach out to me below or on our Discord, Like always, I try to read every message, even if I don't respond! Discord: https://discord.gg/vectorio Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a lovely rest of your summer :) ~ Ben
[ 2024-08-12 15:54:35 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.3f | Available on Live
[ 2024-08-09 21:01:12 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone Hotfix v0.2.3f has been deployed to the live environment! While this patch has been tested, further testing is required to ensure the issues fixed in this build do not reappear. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know below or on our Discord server: https://discord.gg/vectorio
- Fixed builder drones occasionally freezing up and requiring a reload
- Fixed another small edge case where cargo drones could freeze up
- Separated drone-type update cycles so that each run independently of one another
[ 2024-08-09 21:01:12 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2 | Available now
A list of some of the gameplay enhancements coming in this update. These are changes or additions to the game you'll notice and interact with directly. (the below list is new to the live release)
A list of some of the gameplay enhancements coming in this update. These are changes or additions to the game you'll notice and interact with directly. (the below list has been mentioned previously)
A list of all the technical enhancements to the back end of the game. These won't be directly visible, but will be felt through general performance improvements and a far better development stream.
[ 2024-08-09 17:02:54 CET ] [ Original post ]
The time has come! The major v0.2 update is now available on live for all platforms. It has taken a tremendous amount of effort to get here, and while there's still a long ways to go this has been and will always be one of the biggest and most important steps for the game as a whole! Watch the trailer: [previewyoutube=rdc3YonFbSk;full][/previewyoutube] This update is simply too large to try and cover all the changes, but here's a breakdown of the footnotes with the most notable changes and new additions...
Gameplay Enhancements (new to live release):
A list of some of the gameplay enhancements coming in this update. These are changes or additions to the game you'll notice and interact with directly. (the below list is new to the live release)
- New region, Phantom Plains, with an entirely new tech tree. Challenge of this region mainly revolves around scanning, as there's a thick haze covering the region making the enemies in it hidden.
- Decoration tiles that can help you spice up your base and add a level of uniqueness to it.
- New strategic outpost mechanics, including internal simulations for each outpost. (for example, attacking the resource supply chain to it's generator array will shut the outpost offline)
- Variety of new resources with more complex recipes, requiring efficient drone networks.
- New miscellaneous buildings to help with designing your base, such as beacons.
- A plethora of balance changes across the board, altering pretty much all building stats and costs.
- New settings menu, with many more settings to tweak the game to your liking.
- 50+ new stat modifiers to adjust, and a few new modifier presets to try and tackle.
- New route designer, with built-in filter settings and route previewing utility.
Gameplay Enhancements (previously mentioned):
A list of some of the gameplay enhancements coming in this update. These are changes or additions to the game you'll notice and interact with directly. (the below list has been mentioned previously)
- Multiplayer, join forces with friends on a shared world with up to 10 other players.
- New control scheme with dedicated control modes. Supports click to drag camera movement.
- Improved drone logic, with better conditional checks and far more logical decision making.
- Drone route connection previewing, showing the specific route a drone will take.
- Redesigns on most of the UI, for better clarity & more intuitive navigation.
- Predictive aiming for turrets, letting them lead shots to be far more accurate on moving targets.
- Refactor of the resource storage & management system, removing resource restrictions in place of a locally shared repositories, as well as removing resource tier restrictions.
- New defenses that require ammunition in order to fire. Used on stronger defenses.
- Numerous shader improvements that will help overall clarity, notably on regional boosters.
- Variety of new sound effects to give your base more life (i.e. drone ports opening & closing)
- New resource x-ray utility, allowing you to see the resources stored in each building at a glance.
- And a variety of other smaller improvements, too many to list!
Technical Enhancements:
A list of all the technical enhancements to the back end of the game. These won't be directly visible, but will be felt through general performance improvements and a far better development stream.
- New database & library system, replacing the old clunky library system. Whilst the old library system had it's benefits, it was very prone to errors and very inefficient.
- Component refactor; a complete overhaul to how entity logic is defined and applied. Will speed up the development of new content exponentially, and offer extensive modding support in the future.
- Vastly improved entity simulation, with the removal of the dynamic update rate in place of much more aggressive logic culling on certain entities. Reduces the active entity count substantially.
- New metadata system, which can capture entity metadata globally or locally. This will be useful when producing entity clusters (i.e. outposts) and be used heavily in the copy + paste utility.
- Update save system with better save-state capturing, storing entity conditions which were not previously stored in the old system (i.e. drone positions & action state)
- New sound system, creating more localized sound instances & interactivity by utilizing a simulated 3D environment based on spatial blending.
- New model animation system, for defining animation groups which can be interacted with from each entities script. Currently used by turrets, and will be expanded on in upcoming versions.
- Pretty much all reported bugs on the v0.1 branch have been fixed, either by addressing them directly or fixing them indirectly through other technical improvements.
- Upgraded engine from 2021 LTS to 2022 LTS. This was mainly done as Unity has dropped support for 2021 LTS, and I plan to continue supporting Vectorio well into the future, even after full release.
[ 2024-08-09 17:02:54 CET ] [ Original post ]
v0.2 Release Date
A list of some of the gameplay enhancements coming in this update. These are changes or additions to the game you'll notice and interact with directly. (the below list is new to the live release)
A list of some of the gameplay enhancements coming in this update. These are changes or additions to the game you'll notice and interact with directly. (the below list has been mentioned previously)
A list of all the technical enhancements to the back end of the game. These won't be directly visible, but will be felt through general performance improvements and a far better development stream.
[ 2024-06-27 21:33:44 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well heading into the summer season :) Over the past few weeks since the multiplayer test, I have been gearing the update up for the live release coming in July. This includes applying the various tech improvements to the actual game now that we've been able to fully test them, and prepping the content portion of this update. Now with most of that prep work done, I'm able to announce the release date for this update. It will be released on July 26th, alongside the Steam Tower Defense festival. Thank you to everyone who has waited patiently these last 6 months and allowed me to make this update properly. It is pretty much an entire overhaul of the game now, with a plethora of improvements and new content additions across the board, all building on the amazing feedback you've provided. Below is a list that outlines what is making it into this update. While this is not at all an exhaustive list, it should hopefully paint a picture of just how big this update truly is...
Gameplay Enhancements (new to live release):
A list of some of the gameplay enhancements coming in this update. These are changes or additions to the game you'll notice and interact with directly. (the below list is new to the live release)
- New region, Phantom Plains, with an entirely new tech tree. Challenge of this region mainly revolves around scanning, as there's a thick haze covering the region making the enemies in it hidden.
- Steam achievements, with cosmetic unlocks tied to them in-game. (see below)
- Decoration tiles and a new color brush utility, letting you add more personality to your base.
- New strategic outpost mechanics, including internal simulations for each outpost. (for example, attacking the resource supply chain to it's generator array will shut the outpost offline)
- New offensive gunship units to aid in attacking outposts. Can be commanded or controlled.
- New logistical units to aid in long-range high-throughput resource distribution.
- Variety of new resources with more interesting logistical challenges associated with them.
- New unique defense mechanics, including turrets that can stun, push, and even convert enemies.
- New miscellaneous buildings to help with designing your base, such as beacons and signs.
- A plethora of balance changes across the board, altering pretty much all building stats and costs.
- New settings menu, with many more settings to tweak the game to your liking.
Gameplay Enhancements (previously mentioned):
A list of some of the gameplay enhancements coming in this update. These are changes or additions to the game you'll notice and interact with directly. (the below list has been mentioned previously)
- Multiplayer, join forces with friends on a shared world with up to 10 other players.
- New control scheme with dedicated control modes. Supports click to drag camera movement.
- Improved drone logic, with better conditional checks and far more logical decision making.
- Drone route connection previewing, showing the specific route a drone will take.
- Redesigns on most of the UI, for better clarity & more intuitive navigation.
- Predictive aiming for turrets, letting them lead shots to be far more accurate on moving targets.
- Refactor of the resource storage & management system, removing resource restrictions in place of a locally shared repositories, as well as removing resource tier restrictions.
- New defenses that require ammunition in order to fire. Used on stronger defenses.
- Numerous shader improvements that will help overall clarity, notably on regional boosters.
- Variety of new sound effects to give your base more life (i.e. drone ports opening & closing)
- New resource x-ray utility, allowing you to see the resources stored in each building at a glance.
- And a variety of other smaller improvements, too many to list!
Technical Enhancements:
A list of all the technical enhancements to the back end of the game. These won't be directly visible, but will be felt through general performance improvements and a far better development stream.
- New database & library system, replacing the old clunky library system. Whilst the old library system had it's benefits, it was very prone to errors and very inefficient.
- Component refactor; a complete overhaul to how entity logic is defined and applied. Will speed up the development of new content exponentially, and offer extensive modding support in the future.
- Vastly improved entity simulation, with the removal of the dynamic update rate in place of much more aggressive logic culling on certain entities. Reduces the active entity count substantially.
- New metadata system, which can capture entity metadata globally or locally. This will be useful when producing entity clusters (i.e. outposts) and be used heavily in the copy + paste utility.
- Update save system with better save-state capturing, storing entity conditions which were not previously stored in the old system (i.e. drone positions & action state)
- New sound system, creating more localized sound instances & interactivity by utilizing a simulated 3D environment based on spatial blending.
- New model animation system, for defining animation groups which can be interacted with from each entities script. Currently used by turrets, and will be expanded on in upcoming versions.
- Pretty much all reported bugs on the v0.1 branch have been fixed, either by addressing them directly or fixing them indirectly through other technical improvements.
- Upgraded engine from 2021 LTS to 2022 LTS. This was mainly done as Unity has dropped support for 2021 LTS, and I plan to continue supporting Vectorio well into the future, even after full release.
[ 2024-06-27 21:33:44 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.1e | Available on Experimental!
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
[ 2024-05-30 00:40:18 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello again! A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~2 weeks
- Experimental Saves: Enabled
- Backwards Compatible: No
- Update Type: Experimental Patch
- Contains Spoilers: Yes
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed instances where cargo drones would stop deploying after their output containers were full.
- Fixed input actions being executed when the cursor was over UI elements.
- Fixed units continuously circling a previously destroyed target.
- Fixed range not showing on equipped buildings, such as turrets and reclaimers.
- Fixed pipette data not applying in multiplayer sessions.
- Fixed ports sometimes spawning without a drone, making it so you couldn't edit the port. This was due to a rate limit on entity creations, which has been changed to support sub-entity creation.
Other Changes:
- Temporarily repurposed speed up / speed down to research button. This will be changed to a blueprint tool in the future. (speed up / speed down will not come back due to other considerations)
[ 2024-05-30 00:40:18 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.1d | Available on Experimental
[ 2024-05-29 04:23:36 CET ] [ Original post ]
Thanks to everyone who has been helping to identify and report bugs! Through a collaborative effort, we were able to deploy 4 patches today, fixing all of the most pressing issues with multiplayer. While there's clearly more work to do, we are making huge and rapid strides towards getting multiplayer into a stable state. I am confident with a few more long days, we can do it! Now for the actual patch notes; here's what's been fixed in v0.2.1d...
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a serialization issue causing clients to repeatedly disconnect from multiplayer sessions.
- Fixed invalid ID keys on the player manager, also causing clients to repeatedly disconnect.
- Fixed resource x-ray tool causing crashes and not displaying any information.
[ 2024-05-29 04:23:36 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.1c | Available on Experimental
[ 2024-05-28 23:58:21 CET ] [ Original post ]
For anyone having constant crashes or disconnects, this update should fix it. The issue stemmed from the entity pool where components sometimes wouldn't be matching. (mainly on blueprints)
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed entity component mismatch after entity was sent to the object pool. This should fix 95% of cases where players were disconnecting or even crashing.
[ 2024-05-28 23:58:21 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.1b | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
[ 2024-05-28 23:00:02 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello again! A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~2 weeks
- Experimental Saves: Enabled
- Backwards Compatible: No
- Update Type: Experimental Patch
- Contains Spoilers: Yes
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed network package execution order - now runs in the order the event packages were created.
- Fixed entity flags not syncing across all clients, causing strange interactions on some entities.
- Fixed host package-validation getting stuck, which could stop valid event packages.
- Fixed xray tool causing console error spam (still not working)
- Fixed coloring issues when using quick-edit
- Fixed buildings being equipable in route builder
[ 2024-05-28 23:00:02 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.1 (Multiplayer) | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
[ 2024-05-28 17:50:07 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone! Multiplayer is finally now in a state where I feel comfortable deploying it to a larger testing audience, specifically on the experimental branch. NOTE: The two major tech pieces of this update (Multiplayer & Component Refactor) have taken a considerable amount of time to put together, and while they're in a much more stable state now, I'm still expecting some issues to arise with them. Please bare with me as I work through these issues! Also note that some content has been stripped, as it's not quite fully updated to the new component system (these mainly being world features). It will be brought back as testing progresses.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~2 weeks
- Experimental Saves: Enabled
- Backwards Compatible: No
- Update Type: Major Patch
- Contains Spoilers: Yes
v0.2.1 Patch Notes
(not including 0.2.0)
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
Core Tech:
- The biggest tech overhaul to the game; the Component Refactor. Fundamentally changes how entities are defined and built in the games back-end entity manager system.
- Completed networking architecture (Multiplayer), join forces with friends on a shared world. Currently in testing and will likely have issues, but I'll be watching forums closely to address bugs and deploy patches for them as quickly as I can over the coming week.
- Updated save system, with better save-state capturing. (i.e. saving drone position & action)
- Automated model batching, which should drastically reduce draw calls each frame. This is disabled in the first build of v0.2.1 but will be enabled shortly after.
General Improvements:
- New control-scheme, including dedicated control modes and click & drag movement.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed global modifiers not applying properly.
- Variety of fixes from the previous mp-testing build.
[ 2024-05-28 17:50:07 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update on Multiplayer (v0.2.1)
As many of you know, I was originally estimating the release of multiplayer to be on May 3rd, but due to a few missing pieces of networking architecture a few days prior to that date, I decided to delay it a week in order to allocate enough time to finish it off and ensure the build was stable and ready for testing. However, during this week I went down a rabbit hole of component-based architecture, which somehow stemmed from a networking related issue that I was trying to solve. One thing led to another, and now the entire component hierarchy of the game has been completely changed - but for good reason. I'll touch on specifically what this is below, but for those who just want to know when they'll get to play multiplayer, I am confident I'll be able to have it out into your hands on May 17th. This final delay is due to the above component architecture change; not anything multiplayer related.
The component refactor is the culmination of the last year and half of work. It builds on top of all the amazing technological improvements I've been making over the past few months, and was the final piece of the puzzle in regards to paying off Vectorio's "tech debt" (requirements to support all future content) I cannot put into a single message how immensely powerful and significant this change is, but I'll explain below what is and why it's so important to the overall vision of Vectorio.
The component refactor is a massive hierarchy-based change to how data segments are defined and implemented into their component counterparts. Prior to this, components were defined in a "ladder-based" hierarchy, where similar data types & components would inherit all the previous attributes and methods from their parent. This worked well in the smaller scope of Vectorio, as many components needed to access or override similar logic to other components, so simply having them inherit / extend that logic was an easy and quick approach for setting up new entities. As an example, let's say we have a claimer-type building. Prior to this change, here is out the inheritance structure would've worked (note this is VERY much an over-simplification)...
In this picture, you can see that the claimer inherits all of the methods & attributes from the building component, and the building component inherits all of the methods & attributes from the base entity. This worked great and was an easy way to quickly get access to certain values or methods that a particular component would need, but doing it this way also locked the system out from being able to define entities that had multiple component functions to them. For an example, here is the drone port...
If we (theoretically) wanted to create a claimer that also housed some sort of drone in it, we couldn't, or at least not in a way where we could reuse the previous components. This made creating new buildings that utilized pre-existing logic impossible, making it hard to build and expand on. However, this has now changed with the component refactor. In this new component architecture, components are now defined as individual objects that inherit from a generic component interface, and are stored on an entity through the usage of a polymorphic data list. This means components no longer have a pre-defined structure to them, and are able to operate and execute logic independently of one another while still being able to communicate via their shared base entity. Here's an example...
While the above image may look confusing, essentially what you're looking at is a singular entity with a list of different components. This means the "Reclaimer" is no longer specifically built from a "ClaimerData" object, but instead a list of components that make up the Reclaimers logic (in this case, a Building component and Claimer component). While this doesn't change how the Reclaimer operates, it now separates the claiming logic into it's own component which any building can now use!
Obviously component-based architecture is nothing new, and it's one Unity's strong suits in regards to what utilities they offer, but this component system specifically builds on top of all the other amazing core tech that has been designed from the ground up to support the expanded vision of Vectorio. What I mean by this, is that the components directly interface with all of the systems that have been developed and iterated on over the past months. This means components can interface with the Entity Manager to receive update ticks, access and utilize the entity model system, interact and obtain info directly from the tile-grid, manage or edit sounds through the audio system, subscribe to events based on certain state changes, request and sync received network state info, automatically handle entity pooling without any boilerplate code, and so, so much more. This is a highly customized system that works in the scope of Vectorio, and provides components with all the utilities and data they need to function in an efficient and easy-to-access manner. On top of this, components communicate with other local components via the e-component system (highly custom interface for Vectorio components), which automatically handles conflicts or missing references without needing any additional checks. It's a very modular system that finally removes the barriers to some really exciting new content that people have been asking for for a long time.
In v0.2.1 alongside multiplayer! Well this isn't gonna necessarily change any of the pre-existing content, it should give a good idea of where we're headed and why this system was needed. It's the final leap towards a truly modular entity system; paving the road for future content and eventually, mods! In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns about this, please feel free to let me know! I know this was a lot of technical talk, but I think it's important to illustrate the significance of this system and why so much time has been spent working towards achieving it. So thank you, truly, for being patient during this time and allowing me to do this properly. I know early access has been slow so far, but you will see all this work come to fruition in the very near future :) Thanks for reading, ~ Ben
[ 2024-05-11 19:08:52 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello Everyone! I just wanted to send out a quick update on v0.2.1 and the introduction of multiplayer, as well as touch on the final exciting core tech improvement that will be included in this update. Before I get into this, I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has been testing out the 0.2 build on experimental. Your feedback and been invaluable to me, and has helped to quickly improve the overall quality and stability of the 0.2 branch for when it goes live later this month.
Multiplayer Support
Experimental Release Date (v0.2.1)
As many of you know, I was originally estimating the release of multiplayer to be on May 3rd, but due to a few missing pieces of networking architecture a few days prior to that date, I decided to delay it a week in order to allocate enough time to finish it off and ensure the build was stable and ready for testing. However, during this week I went down a rabbit hole of component-based architecture, which somehow stemmed from a networking related issue that I was trying to solve. One thing led to another, and now the entire component hierarchy of the game has been completely changed - but for good reason. I'll touch on specifically what this is below, but for those who just want to know when they'll get to play multiplayer, I am confident I'll be able to have it out into your hands on May 17th. This final delay is due to the above component architecture change; not anything multiplayer related.
Component Refactor
The Biggest Tech Improvement Yet
The component refactor is the culmination of the last year and half of work. It builds on top of all the amazing technological improvements I've been making over the past few months, and was the final piece of the puzzle in regards to paying off Vectorio's "tech debt" (requirements to support all future content) I cannot put into a single message how immensely powerful and significant this change is, but I'll explain below what is and why it's so important to the overall vision of Vectorio.
What is the Component Refactor?
The component refactor is a massive hierarchy-based change to how data segments are defined and implemented into their component counterparts. Prior to this, components were defined in a "ladder-based" hierarchy, where similar data types & components would inherit all the previous attributes and methods from their parent. This worked well in the smaller scope of Vectorio, as many components needed to access or override similar logic to other components, so simply having them inherit / extend that logic was an easy and quick approach for setting up new entities. As an example, let's say we have a claimer-type building. Prior to this change, here is out the inheritance structure would've worked (note this is VERY much an over-simplification)...
In this picture, you can see that the claimer inherits all of the methods & attributes from the building component, and the building component inherits all of the methods & attributes from the base entity. This worked great and was an easy way to quickly get access to certain values or methods that a particular component would need, but doing it this way also locked the system out from being able to define entities that had multiple component functions to them. For an example, here is the drone port...
If we (theoretically) wanted to create a claimer that also housed some sort of drone in it, we couldn't, or at least not in a way where we could reuse the previous components. This made creating new buildings that utilized pre-existing logic impossible, making it hard to build and expand on. However, this has now changed with the component refactor. In this new component architecture, components are now defined as individual objects that inherit from a generic component interface, and are stored on an entity through the usage of a polymorphic data list. This means components no longer have a pre-defined structure to them, and are able to operate and execute logic independently of one another while still being able to communicate via their shared base entity. Here's an example...
While the above image may look confusing, essentially what you're looking at is a singular entity with a list of different components. This means the "Reclaimer" is no longer specifically built from a "ClaimerData" object, but instead a list of components that make up the Reclaimers logic (in this case, a Building component and Claimer component). While this doesn't change how the Reclaimer operates, it now separates the claiming logic into it's own component which any building can now use!
Why is this so significant?
Obviously component-based architecture is nothing new, and it's one Unity's strong suits in regards to what utilities they offer, but this component system specifically builds on top of all the other amazing core tech that has been designed from the ground up to support the expanded vision of Vectorio. What I mean by this, is that the components directly interface with all of the systems that have been developed and iterated on over the past months. This means components can interface with the Entity Manager to receive update ticks, access and utilize the entity model system, interact and obtain info directly from the tile-grid, manage or edit sounds through the audio system, subscribe to events based on certain state changes, request and sync received network state info, automatically handle entity pooling without any boilerplate code, and so, so much more. This is a highly customized system that works in the scope of Vectorio, and provides components with all the utilities and data they need to function in an efficient and easy-to-access manner. On top of this, components communicate with other local components via the e-component system (highly custom interface for Vectorio components), which automatically handles conflicts or missing references without needing any additional checks. It's a very modular system that finally removes the barriers to some really exciting new content that people have been asking for for a long time.
When will this be available
In v0.2.1 alongside multiplayer! Well this isn't gonna necessarily change any of the pre-existing content, it should give a good idea of where we're headed and why this system was needed. It's the final leap towards a truly modular entity system; paving the road for future content and eventually, mods! In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns about this, please feel free to let me know! I know this was a lot of technical talk, but I think it's important to illustrate the significance of this system and why so much time has been spent working towards achieving it. So thank you, truly, for being patient during this time and allowing me to do this properly. I know early access has been slow so far, but you will see all this work come to fruition in the very near future :) Thanks for reading, ~ Ben
[ 2024-05-11 19:08:52 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.0d | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
[ 2024-04-25 03:43:50 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello again! A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
v0.2.0d Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~1 week
- Experimental Saves: Enabled
- Backwards Compatible: Up to 0.2.0
- Update Type: Experimental Patch
- Contains Spoilers: Yes
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
General Improvements:
- Re-Added the placement sound heard when drones construct a building
- Added new sound effects for the drone ports opening and closing
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed generators continously adding power to your power storage.
- Fixed an issue where buildings without a utility resource would cause the unlock window to error out, resulting in the Entity Manager terminating the lab that finished the tech.
Core Tech:
- Improved the efficiency of the entity pooling system & model cache system, by switching out the ID keys for hash keys, and storing recycled entities in a stack instead of a list.
- Re-enabled automated on-screen status updates. This was disabled earlier on in v0.2.0's development and never re-enabled, meaning in the builds prior to this all entities were simulating as on-screen entities. This is now fixed and performance improvements should be noticeable.
- Removed the entity priority system. This was tested in the initial v0.2.0 builds by having it disabled, and performance impacts were reported as being negligible from this change. Optimizations will continue to be made on each entities individual logic, utilizing the screen status to cull more expensive calculations or actions, and improving other areas of the overall simulation.
[ 2024-04-25 03:43:50 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.0c | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
The follow content has been enabled for testing...
Starting from this patch forward, I will be listing the balancing changes made in greater detail. This will help with understanding why portions of your base may change from update to update, and hopefully get more people engaged with balancing discussions as we move forward. Note: Balancing changes aren't final - it is a continuous cycle of iteration. If you don't agree with certain changes, please don't hesitate to let me know! Shotgunner
[ 2024-04-24 21:34:52 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello again! A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
v0.2.0b Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~2 weeks
- Experimental Saves: Enabled
- Backwards Compatible: Up to 0.2.0
- Update Type: Experimental Patch
- Contains Spoilers: Yes
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
v0.2.0 Enabled Content:
The follow content has been enabled for testing...
- New defensive building, Striker, which consumes ammunition to fire seeking missiles. Is available only to the player and can out-range Artillery to help with larger bases.
- New logistics building, Ammo Forge, used to craft ammunition for other buildings. Will be used heavily in stronger defenses that require some sort of logistical problem to solve in order to use.
General Improvements:
- Added a new resource X-Ray utility, that lets you see the resources inside of each building across your entire base, all at once. Should help with understanding where resources are going.
- Added internal storage containers & recipe info to the building UI. Currently there's no interactivity options for specifying things like filters, but these are in the works.
- Improved drone reliability by adding more conditional checks before they deploy. This is still being worked on, but there should be a noticeable improvement.
Bug Fixes:
- Re-Added the liquidator back into the research tech tree, as it was missing after the large database changes done over the course of v0.2.0's development.
- Fixed drones from doing bad deployments, where they visit targets not in their range.
- Fixed recipe & tech trees from asking for resources before you actually have unlocked them.
- Fixed missing recipe icons on the new unlock panel, if they were unlocked following a building.
- Fixed labs endlessly taking resources that have already been completed in a research tech.
Core Tech:
- Disconnected the new resource utilities from the resource building entity class. They've now been moved to their own composition module which any entity-type can access.
Balance Changes
Starting from this patch forward, I will be listing the balancing changes made in greater detail. This will help with understanding why portions of your base may change from update to update, and hopefully get more people engaged with balancing discussions as we move forward. Note: Balancing changes aren't final - it is a continuous cycle of iteration. If you don't agree with certain changes, please don't hesitate to let me know! Shotgunner
- Build Cost: Changed from 350 gold -> 120 crystallite
- Utility Cost: Power decreased from 5 -> 3
- Utility Cost: Changed from 8 heat -> 5 power
- Research Cost: Gold increased from 250 -> 500
- Research Cost: Crystallite increased from 120 -> 250
- Research Cost: Crystallite increased 350 -> 500
- + Research Cost: New cost added, 800 gold
- Research Cost: Gilded Crystal increased from 800 -> 1200
- Research Cost: Infused Essence increased from 500 -> 800
- + Research Cost: New cost added, 500 iridium
- Research Cost: Gilded Crystal reduced from 3500 -> 2500
- Research Cost: Infused Essence increased from 800 -> 1800
- + Research Cost: New cost added, 500 atomic alloy
- Research Cost: Gilded Crystal increased from 1500 -> 3500
- Research Cost: Infused Essence increased from 500 -> 2500
- Research Cost: Atomic Alloy increased from 800 -> 1200
- Research Cost: Gold increased from 120 -> 250
- Research Cost: Gold increased from 500 -> 1000
- Research Cost: Crystallite increased from 500 -> 1000
- Research Cost: Crystallite increased from 500 -> 1000
- Research Cost: Essence increased from 500 -> 1000
[ 2024-04-24 21:34:52 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.0b | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
Thanks to everyone who has been helping test these initial versions. I've been able to efficiently role through most of the larger issues, with now the main issues present being more related to balancing. I'll continue to monitor bug reports & deploy fixes ASAP, but I'm gonna start prioritizing actioning some of the feedback regarding the actual gameplay. Here is a list of what I'll be working on and rolling out over the coming week, alongside a number of other improvements...
[ 2024-04-21 04:27:26 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello again! A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
v0.2.0b Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~2 weeks
- Experimental Saves: Enabled
- Backwards Compatible: Up to 0.2.0
- Update Type: Experimental Patch
- Contains Spoilers: Yes
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed missing tech references on lumina, barrier, and lancer.
- Fixed resource delivery line drawing being inaccurate
- Fixed entity info type not updating when selecting an entity
- Fixed entity info displaying previous resource amount if entity doesn't have one
- Fixed turrets with barrels extending the tile range showing incorrect scaling on UI
Other Changes:
- Re-enabled turret range previewing, with a new shader effect
- Re-enabled queued claimer range previewing, with a new shader effect
- Updated depot models which follow design of new storage model
Note From Developer:
Thanks to everyone who has been helping test these initial versions. I've been able to efficiently role through most of the larger issues, with now the main issues present being more related to balancing. I'll continue to monitor bug reports & deploy fixes ASAP, but I'm gonna start prioritizing actioning some of the feedback regarding the actual gameplay. Here is a list of what I'll be working on and rolling out over the coming week, alongside a number of other improvements...
- Adding a "resource xray" toggle (via a hotbar button or keybind) that overlays all resources that are contained inside of a resource building, to better help you understand where your resources are.
- Finishing the entity building settings, as there is a lot of critical information not being shown.
- A lot of balancing changes to turret & resource values. The values haven't been tweaked too much from v0.1.4, but now with the new library & database system it'll be far easier for me to analyze certain values and make more informed changes, instead of just shooting in the dark.
- Finalizing The Abyss. There were a few new things left out of the original test because they weren't quite ready. I want to get these out and into your hands this week, as soon as possible!
[ 2024-04-21 04:27:26 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.0a | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
[ 2024-04-21 00:19:18 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello again! A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
v0.2.0a Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~2 weeks
- Experimental Saves: Enabled
- Backwards Compatible: Up to 0.2.0
- Update Type: Experimental Patch
- Contains Spoilers: Yes
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed Steam lobby not disposing connection properly on reload
- Fixed crafters not tracking processes & returning bad resource queries
- Fixed outposts coloring on minimap changing on reload
- Fixed outpost base layer not having proper coordinates set
- Fixed decryptors being destroyable by reclaimers
- Fixed decryptors not being removed after finishing
- Fixed turret barrels sometimes becoming unaligned
- Fixed heat window not being interactable, and sometimes becoming frozen
- Fixed drones grabbing resource info from the resource containers
- Fixed arrows on the hotbar not flipping the hotbar number
[ 2024-04-21 00:19:18 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.0 | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate. Please note, this list is definitely NOT inclusive of all the changes in this update.
[ 2024-04-20 20:01:25 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone!
I am happy to finally announce that as of today, v0.2.0 is ready to begin testing on the experimental branch with its initial testing rollout!
IMPORTANT: This update is huge, and because of that I am rolling it out in portions so that I can more easily collect, analyze, and action your feedback. Trying to dump the entire thing onto experimental all at once would make fixing bugs & addressing smaller direct feedback a nightmare for me.
You can use the above graph as a general breakdown of what to expect. I know doing it this was is a bit unorthodox, but it will help streamline the deployment of this update on my end drastically.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~2 weeks
- Experimental Saves: Enabled
- Backwards Compatible: No
- Update Type: Major Patch
- Contains Spoilers: Yes
v0.2.0 Patch Notes
(not including 0.2.1 or 0.2.2)
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate. Please note, this list is definitely NOT inclusive of all the changes in this update.
Core Tech:
- Complete refactor of the database & library system in the game. This will drastically improve initial loads into the game, as well as reduce load times going into saves. Will also improve general performance on library access calls. (i.e. whenever an entity is created, which happens a lot)
- New world generation algorithm, using advanced generation functions to create biomes that influence how a region spawns. This is still heavily work in progress and requires feedback.
- Improvements to the entity model constructor, that will make it vastly more efficient.
General Improvements:
- Improved simulation stack, with higher entity performance across the board.
- Predictive aiming for turrets, letting them lead shots to be far more accurate on moving targets.
- Refactor of the resource storage & management system, removing resource restrictions in place of a locally shared repositories. This is still being tested, but I am looking for feedback on it now!
- Removed resource tier restrictions from the game, letting any tier resource be stored anywhere.
- New model accent system, for applying custom colors & material values. Utilized heavily by the resource and faction system, making it extremely modular.
- New model animation system, for defining animation groups which can be interacted with from each entities script. Currently used by turrets, and will be expanded on in upcoming versions.
- Cargo drone distance prioritization, improving the overall efficiency and reliability of cargo drones.
- Drone route connection previewing, showing the specific route a drone will take.
- New sound system, creating more localized sound instances & interactivity by utilizing a simulated 3D environment based on spatial blending.
- Wall connection key improvements, for more efficient connection changes.
- Redesigns on most of the UI, for better clarity & more intuitive navigation.
- Updated how categories are defined and created in the inventory. Allows for dynamic categorization of entities at runtime, instead of categories needing to be predefined.
- Numerous shader improvements that will help overall clarity, notably on regional boosters.
- Many small improvements to the tile grid and tile selector system, making them more efficient & modular for upcoming expansions on these systems (i.e. copy + paste)
- Tucked away the info popup behind a keybind. Holding left control will now pop the window up.
- New resource query system & internal storage improvements, enabling the following changes...
- Burner generators can now take multiple resources, and the burner will always choose the resource with the highest power value to burn next.
- Labs will now prioritize converting the resource it has the most stored of. If multiple resources have the same storage amount, it will then priotize the resource closest to being finished.
- Crafters no longer need to have a specific recipe set. Just dump the resources into them and if the resources match an unlocked recipe it will be automatically crafted!
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed decryption finished event tripping the bug manager to pop up.
- Fixed unreadable text on some of the info popups do to coloring constraints.
- Fixed shader error on region boosters, which would make the shader extremely bright.
- Fixed damage numbers getting frozen in world in some instances.
- Fixed force closing UI's getting frozen on screen in some instances.
- Variety of other bugs fixed indirectly by numerous core system improvements. Please let me know if certain bugs carried over from v0.1.4, as I will priotize fixing these first.
[ 2024-04-20 20:01:25 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.2.0 | Rollout Schedule
The first test will start in just under 2 weeks from now, which will be primarily focused on testing all the gameplay changes running on the new database system. This is the most crucial part of the entire test, and I will be working closely with everyone to ensure a smooth deployment of it. What will be in this test?
The second part of the testing will be on multiplayer. The reason this is excluded from the initial update is to focus testing on the core system changes; trying to pinpoint and fix specific problems would be a lot more challenging in a multiplayer environment, as certain bugs may only happen in MP. What will be in this test?
The final part of the update is of course the new region, Phantom Plains. This is the big content portion of the update, which is what everything prior to this has been building towards. The date will be based on how the prior tests go, but most likely it will go right onto live after multiplayer is finished testing :) What will be in this test?
I'm sure many of you will have questions, so I've tried to address the top ones which come up repeatedly in our Discord server. (I will also try to answer any in the discussion thread)
[ 2024-04-09 00:06:41 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello Everyone!
As we approach the start of the likely long experimental phase for v0.2.0, I wanted to get everyone on the same page for how you can expect this update to be deployed on the experimental branch.
Due to the sheer size of this update, I will be gradually rolling it out in pieces; making it more manageable for me to collect, analyze, and action your feedback. This update isn't just touching on numerous gameplay enhancements; it's a comprehensive revamp of several core systems.
The main focus of this testing will be ensuring the stability and efficiency of the new database system, which has affected EVERY part of the games underlying code base.
So, here's the plan right now...
Initial Gameplay Test | 2024-04-19
The first test will start in just under 2 weeks from now, which will be primarily focused on testing all the gameplay changes running on the new database system. This is the most crucial part of the entire test, and I will be working closely with everyone to ensure a smooth deployment of it. What will be in this test?
- New database system, drastically reducing load times & optimizing library calls.
- Improved simulation stack - higher entity performance across the board.
- Multiple stability passes on individual entities (bug fixes reported in v0.1.4)
- Redesigned initial region, with a vastly improved generation algorithm.
- Balance changes to mid-late game, improving power vs. heat growth.
- New enemy mechanics, including base-reconstruction & outpost core connections.
- Redesigned user interface - all new windows with more intuitive navigation.
Multiplayer Test | 2024-05-03
The second part of the testing will be on multiplayer. The reason this is excluded from the initial update is to focus testing on the core system changes; trying to pinpoint and fix specific problems would be a lot more challenging in a multiplayer environment, as certain bugs may only happen in MP. What will be in this test?
- Multiplayer - join forces with friends (or strangers) on a shared base!
- Steam lobby & matchmaking support, play with others from around the globe.
- Iterations on the initial gameplay test; fixing up initial bug reports & actioning feedback.
Full Update (with Phantom Plains) | Date TBD
The final part of the update is of course the new region, Phantom Plains. This is the big content portion of the update, which is what everything prior to this has been building towards. The date will be based on how the prior tests go, but most likely it will go right onto live after multiplayer is finished testing :) What will be in this test?
- An entirely new region - Phantom Plains, with a new research tree & unique challenges.
- Iterations on the previous test; fixing up Multiplayer bugs & actioning more feedback.
Additional v0.2 FAQ
I'm sure many of you will have questions, so I've tried to address the top ones which come up repeatedly in our Discord server. (I will also try to answer any in the discussion thread)
- When will the update be deployed on live? I don't know yet! It will depend on how testing goes during the experimental stages.
- Can I test multiplayer early? No, there are still a few things missing from multiplayer for it to work seamlessly across clients, and I want to focus the initial testing on the other changes coming in this update first.
- What will be changed in the first gameplay test? Assume everything. While it will still play similarly to how it did in v0.1.4, you'll notice a lot of little changes across the board to every part of the game, based on the feedback provided in v0.1.4!
- Is insert bug here fixed? I honestly can't answer this. While many reported bugs were directly addressed, others have been fixed indirectly from changes going on under the hood. It will be hard to say until I get a larger audience testing it, but as a general consensus; the stability of the game has improved drastically.
- Will my save transfer to v0.2? Yes, although with a bit of caveat. There are changes that have been made to the world generator which I can't retroactively apply to older bases, as it'd cause all sorts of conflicts to arise. I strongly recommend starting a new save if you want to experience the full update, but if not, your older saves should continue working and will be converted to the new database system when loaded.
- Why not release Phantom Plains with the initial gameplay test? To answer honestly, it's not ready yet. This update has been such a massive undertaking that certain parts of the new region still aren't complete, and while it won't take much time to finish it off, there are changes to the initial region that I'd rather focus on right now and get smoothed out. This is going to be the final major update to the first region, so I want to make sure it's done right so I don't need to keep coming back to it and updating it every few months.
- What will be in the new region? You'll have to wait and see for yourself :)
- What's next after v0.2.0 is live? I'll probably spend a few weeks running continuous fixes on the live branch after its deployed, making sure it's in a good state before moving on. The next update coming after this though will be another new region, which should hopefully only take a fraction of the time to put together and release now that the game is closer to running how I want it to on the engine.
[ 2024-04-09 00:06:41 CET ] [ Original post ]
Major Update v0.2.0 | Nearing Completion
This is possibly the largest update I've ever put together across all my previous games in the past few years, and is jam packed with new features, improved systems, and a ton of iterations on pre-existing content based on all the feedback I've received over the past few months. This update is HUGE. Without going into too many specifics in order to let everyone experience this update with fresh eyes, here is a very VERY shallow overview of what you can expect to see in this update...
If the sheer amount of new features coming wasn't obvious enough, the reason is that I am trying to cover a wide range of improvements across the board to bring Vectorio up to that next level. While this is not the end all be all update for Vectorio, the size of it IS the main reason it's taking this long. While I have been working on this full-time for the last 3 and a half months, I am still the only developer that is working on it. These types of improvements take time and cannot be rushed.
I don't know, but hopefully soon. A majority of the work is done, and over the past week I've been mainly play-testing and improving little bits of it where I can. I've also been gearing up for the first multiplayer test, which will include all of the aforementioned changes except for the new region. As much as I'd love to give a date, every time I try to predict it I end up making myself look like a fool and completely missing it because of the varied amount of work required to make this update happen. With that said, I can 100% confirm that a majority of this update is done at this point.
Mainly because the first 2 months of work were on systems that I can't really show. I can tell you that I've improved the entity simulation or reduced loading times, but there's a difference between my telling you it and you experiencing it. The only reason I've come out and given a brief overview of it now is because it's been a considerable amount of time since the previous Steam post, and I've seen an increase in concerned players wondering why there hasn't been any updates in a long time. With this all said, I certainly have a lot that I could show now with all the new content that I've been adding to the game over the past month. But, because I am now in the final stretches of this update, I'm sticking to my gut and choosing to stay quiet about it until the full update is ready to go. I truly believe experiencing this update with relatively fresh eyes will make it far more special.
While I haven't been super engaged on the Steam side of things lately, I have continued an open line of communication with the player base over on our Discord server. There's a GitHub log channel that lets people stay relatively up-to-date with what's being worked on, and I constantly answer questions or engage with new discussions pretty much every day. If you want to stay in the loop, this is the absolute best place to do it, and I highly recommend joining. Discord: https://discord.gg/Vectorio With that said, I will try to keep up with questions or comments made in the Steam discussions as well. If you'd like to discuss anything about this update, please let me know either below or by making a post on the forums - while I may not respond to them all, I still read all of them. Thanks for reading ~ Ben
[ 2024-03-16 18:32:02 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello Everyone!
It's been quite a while since the last update or Steam post, and while this post isn't gonna be visually showing off anything in the upcoming update, I still wanted to update everybody on where I'm at in the development of it and give a VERY brief overview of what you can expect to see in it.
The reason for making this is just to echo what I've been saying to other members in the community in Steam forums or on our Discord server, as not everyone reads these and is aware of what's going on.
What is coming in v0.2.0?
This is possibly the largest update I've ever put together across all my previous games in the past few years, and is jam packed with new features, improved systems, and a ton of iterations on pre-existing content based on all the feedback I've received over the past few months. This update is HUGE. Without going into too many specifics in order to let everyone experience this update with fresh eyes, here is a very VERY shallow overview of what you can expect to see in this update...
- Multiplayer - join forces with friends (or strangers) on a shared base!
- Steam lobby & matchmaking support, play with others from around the globe.
- Vastly improved simulation stack - higher entity performance across the board.
- Entirely new database system, drastically reduced initial loading times.
- New animation & sound system, some buildings will feel more interactive and alive. (WIP)
- Multiple stability passes on individual entities, most reported bugs in v0.1.4 fixed.
- Heavy balance changes to mid-late game, improving power vs. heat growth.
- A completely redesigned initial region, with a vastly improved generation algorithm.
- Logistics V2 - new tools for setting, applying, and viewing drone routes across your base.
- New enemy mechanics, including base-reconstruction & outpost core connections.
- Completely redesigned user interface - all new windows with more intuitive navigation.
- Many new aesthetic tools - apply colors & place decoration tiles; make your base yours!
- An entirely new region - Phantom Plains, with a new research tree & unique challenges.
- And more!
Why is the update taking so long?
If the sheer amount of new features coming wasn't obvious enough, the reason is that I am trying to cover a wide range of improvements across the board to bring Vectorio up to that next level. While this is not the end all be all update for Vectorio, the size of it IS the main reason it's taking this long. While I have been working on this full-time for the last 3 and a half months, I am still the only developer that is working on it. These types of improvements take time and cannot be rushed.
When will the update release?
I don't know, but hopefully soon. A majority of the work is done, and over the past week I've been mainly play-testing and improving little bits of it where I can. I've also been gearing up for the first multiplayer test, which will include all of the aforementioned changes except for the new region. As much as I'd love to give a date, every time I try to predict it I end up making myself look like a fool and completely missing it because of the varied amount of work required to make this update happen. With that said, I can 100% confirm that a majority of this update is done at this point.
Why aren't you showing anything in this update?
Mainly because the first 2 months of work were on systems that I can't really show. I can tell you that I've improved the entity simulation or reduced loading times, but there's a difference between my telling you it and you experiencing it. The only reason I've come out and given a brief overview of it now is because it's been a considerable amount of time since the previous Steam post, and I've seen an increase in concerned players wondering why there hasn't been any updates in a long time. With this all said, I certainly have a lot that I could show now with all the new content that I've been adding to the game over the past month. But, because I am now in the final stretches of this update, I'm sticking to my gut and choosing to stay quiet about it until the full update is ready to go. I truly believe experiencing this update with relatively fresh eyes will make it far more special.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know!
While I haven't been super engaged on the Steam side of things lately, I have continued an open line of communication with the player base over on our Discord server. There's a GitHub log channel that lets people stay relatively up-to-date with what's being worked on, and I constantly answer questions or engage with new discussions pretty much every day. If you want to stay in the loop, this is the absolute best place to do it, and I highly recommend joining. Discord: https://discord.gg/Vectorio With that said, I will try to keep up with questions or comments made in the Steam discussions as well. If you'd like to discuss anything about this update, please let me know either below or by making a post on the forums - while I may not respond to them all, I still read all of them. Thanks for reading ~ Ben
[ 2024-03-16 18:32:02 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.1.4h | Released on Live
[ 2023-12-22 21:21:47 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone The next patch has been tested on experimental and all changes have been confirmed to go live. This update is mainly focused on bug fixes, and has no major changes to the game. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know below or on our Discord server: https://discord.gg/auDgRJqtT9
v0.1.4h Patch Notes
Balance Changes:
- Lowered dropship collider size by 25%
- Lowered dropship HP from 1500 to 1200
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed cargo drones not being destroyable when no route was set
- Fixed boosters from having an inverse effect on reduction-based multipliers
- Fixed storage boosters not working. Requires saving and reloading your world in order to fix.
- Fixed booster effects being infinitely stackable (now uses the most effective multiplier)
- Fixed model ID's changing on reload, making enemies appear as friendly
Core Tech:
- Small refactor to the new stat system, which should make it far more reliable and efficient by utilizing instance pooling and multiplier sockets.
- Added a new world-feature flag to the save and EM system, which allows entities to be defined as world-features. This will be expanded on in coming updates to enforce spawning world features.
[ 2023-12-22 21:21:47 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hotfix v0.1.4h | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
[ 2023-12-21 22:49:29 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello again! A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
v0.1.4h Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~24 hours
- Experimental Saves: Disabled
- Backwards Compatible: No
- Update Type: Experimental Patch
- Contains Spoilers: No
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
Balance Changes:
- Lowered dropship collider size by 25%
- Lowered dropship HP from 1500 to 1200
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed cargo drones not being destroyable when no route was set
- Fixed boosters from having an inverse effect on reduction-based multipliers
- Fixed storage boosters not working. Requires saving and reloading your world in order to fix.
- Fixed booster effects being infinitely stackable (now uses the most effective multiplier)
- Fixed model ID's changing on reload, making enemies appear as friendly
Core Tech:
- Small refactor to the new stat system, which should make it far more reliable and efficient by utilizing instance pooling and multiplier sockets.
- Added a new world-feature flag to the save and EM system, which allows entities to be defined as world-features. This will be expanded on in coming updates to enforce spawning world features.
[ 2023-12-21 22:49:29 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.1.4 | Available on live
Below is a compiled list of all changes throughout the experimental phase on the changes that have made it in for v0.1.4 live. Next weeks patch will tie up some of the changes mentioned here, as they require a larger testing audience to obtain good data and feedback on them.
[ 2023-12-16 01:16:32 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone!
The next power rework patch (v0.1.4) has been tested on experimental and all changes have been confirmed to go live. This update is largely comprised of many small changes, in addition to back-end improvements or reworks in preparation for Multiplayer. (v0.1.5)
NOTE: While many of the new features in v0.1.4 have been tested, some may require further testing. Expect a follow-up patch early next week to address any remaining bugs or balancing issues.
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Let me know below or on our Discord server: https://discord.gg/vectorio
v0.1.4 Patch Notes
Below is a compiled list of all changes throughout the experimental phase on the changes that have made it in for v0.1.4 live. Next weeks patch will tie up some of the changes mentioned here, as they require a larger testing audience to obtain good data and feedback on them.
New Additions:
- Complete refactor of the power and heat system. Power only affects defenses, while heat only affects logistics. This will heavily affect how the game is played, so I am looking for feedback on it!
- New generator mechanics. Now requires either resources or a resource node to produce power.
- Removed collection mode and collector drones from the game, in place of having cargo drones unlocked from the get-go, and improving the overall control-flow of the game. This change is not final, and I'll be looking at feedback from it very closely.
- New UI designs for many of the interface elements that were out-of-date due to the power rework. Should improve overall clarity and readability on many of the interface panels.
- The ability to repair entities with one button press, in exchange for resources.
- Two new music tracks for the in-game OST, Gridspace & Horizons.
- New menu music track for the menu, with a new menu scene for power rework.
- Complete new heat tree, including new heat levels 11 - 15 that add more challenge with new units later in the game. (NOTE: Some of these units are currently not finished)
- New tutorial screen, and the ability to replay tutorials through the pause menu
- New material for drone route previewing to enhance clarity at a longer distance
- New construction sound effect that plays when a building is placed
- A variety of other smaller changes to certain notification windows, to again help with the actual information being presented to you due to things happening in-game.
Quality of Life:
- Multiple hotbars, and the ability to quick scroll through them using left-control.
- New entity tooltip panel that shows info without needing to click on the entity.
- Quick-edit keybind that enables the ability to edit certain entities in one click.
- Defenses and reclaimers will now auto-reconstruct themselves if they get blown up.
- Holding shift to move faster will also increase the speed of camera scrolling.
- A variety of smaller QOL improvements to the overall control-flow of the game.
Balance Changes:
- Majorly buffed all turret stats, in turn for not being able to build as many now.
- Improved the default drone speed and storage, to help with early-game automation.
- Increased the cost of many of the earlier research techs, as well as the actual cost to build them after unlocking them. These changes were made in correlation to the power rework.
- Lowered the health pool of larger units signficantly (dropships & spectors)
- Lowered the power cost of many defensive structures
- Various tweaks to resource costs for certain buildings that were too expensive
- Lowered cargo drone cost from 50 gold to 20 gold
- Increased cargo drone speed from 35m/s to 45m/s
- A variety of smaller balance changes to improve the overall flow of the game.
- Final heat values are still being tested and balanced, but will be in next weeks build
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed an issue with power generators disappearing after reloading a save
- Fixed cargo drones deploying to previous routes after the route was changed.
- Fixed cargo drones being able to deliver to buildings of different factions
- Fixed region boosters causing negative values on certain multipliers
- Fixed Quantum Decryptors causing all sorts of strange artifacts when activating
- Fixed burners miscalculating power values when being deleted
- Fixed an issue with the new research complete event that was causing labs to disappear when finishing a research tech due to an unassigned variable in the interface component.
- Fixed entity tooltip not disappearing when hovering over blueprints
- Fixed old tutorial showing up when disabled
- Fixed labs causing a "Bug Reported" error when certain resources were put in them.
- Fixed cargo drones sometimes going to the wrong target after being object pooled.
- Many smaller bugs have been fixed from the core system improvements listed below.
Core Tech:
- Refactored the screen activity detection for entities, which now calculates screen space orientation during setup. This will fix instances where on-screen entities would simulate as off-screen entities.
- Completely changed the way gamemodes are handled. Everything now runs through a central scene which is constructed based on the provided modes data, instead of having separate scenes for each mode. This may cause short-term issues with creative while the kinks are worked out, but will enable extensive support for custom gamemodes in the future.
- New backend stat system for handling entity stats that will open the door for levels and upgrades in the future, as well as improve the reliability and accessibility of stats in the game now.
- Multiple refactors to many of the manager scripts, that should help to improve their overall reliability and help support the new content coming in v0.2.0, which will have new unique mechanics to it.
[ 2023-12-16 01:16:32 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hotfix v0.1.4f | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
[ 2023-12-05 01:20:12 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello again! A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below. Please note experimental updates can be unstable, so it is always recommended to backup your saves if you wish to avoid possible conflicts. Note: This is the final v0.1.4 experimental build. The live build will contain the final bug fixes and balance changes, as well as a few updates to the generator models / effects & menu scene.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
v0.1.4f Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~2 days
- Experimental Saves: Disabled
- Backwards Compatible: No
- Update Type: Experimental Patch
- Contains Spoilers: No
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
New Additions:
- New tutorial screen, and the ability to replay tutorials through the pause menu
- New material for drone route previewing to enhance clarity at a longer distance
- New construction sound effect that plays when a building is placed
Balance Changes:
- Various tweaks to resource costs for certain buildings that were too expensive
- Final heat values are still being tested and balanced, but will be in the live build
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed burners miscalculating power values when being deleted
Core Tech:
- Refactored the screen activity detection for entities, which now calculates screen space orientation during setup. This will fix instances where on-screen entities would simulate as off-screen entities.
[ 2023-12-05 01:20:12 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hotfix v0.1.4e | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
[ 2023-11-11 02:58:34 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello again! A new experimental patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the changes and fixes now. Side Note: Apologies for the delays on updates lately. Recently went through a huge shift in my life, which needed me to move twice within 2 months as I was figuring things out. However things are getting back to normal now, so updates will start coming out regularly again. More info will follow shortly on what's coming next once v0.1.4 is finally live!
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
v0.1.4e Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~4 days
- Experimental Saves: Enabled
- Backwards Compatible: No
- Update Type: Experimental Patch
- Contains Spoilers: No
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
New Additions:
- Complete new heat tree, including new heat levels 11 - 15 that add more challenge with new units later in the game. (NOTE: Some of these units are currently not finished)
Balance Changes:
- Lowered the health pool of larger units signficantly (dropships & spectors)
- Lowered the power cost of many defensive structures
- Changed walls from using power back to using heat
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed an issue with power generators disappearing after reloading a save
- Fixed cargo drones deploying to previous routes after the route was changed.
- Fixed cargo drones being able to deliver to buildings of different factions
- Fixed region boosters causing negative values on certain multipliers
- Fixed Quantum Decryptors causing all sorts of strange artifacts when activating
- Fixed a variety of smaller issues with the last experimental patch
Core Tech:
- Completely changed the way gamemodes are handled. Everything now runs through a central scene which is constructed based on the provided modes data, instead of having separate scenes for each mode. This may cause short-term issues with creative while the kinks are worked out, but will enable extensive support for custom gamemodes in the future.
[ 2023-11-11 02:58:34 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hotfix v0.1.4c | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
[ 2023-10-12 23:35:09 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello again! A new hotfix is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the fixes now. This hotfix is meant to address an oversight with the research unlock event, which was causing an error to pass into the entity manager.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
v0.1.4c Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~1 week
- Experimental Saves: Enabled
- Backwards Compatible: Up to v0.1.4b
- Update Type: Hotfix
- Contains Spoilers: No
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed an issue with the new research complete event that was causing labs to disappear when finishing a research tech due to an unassigned variable in the interface component.
- Fixed entity tooltip not disappearing when hovering over blueprints
- Fixed old tutorial showing up when disabled
Balance Changes:
- Lowered cargo drone cost from 50 gold to 20 gold
- Increased cargo drone speed from 35m/s to 45m/s
[ 2023-10-12 23:35:09 CET ] [ Original post ]
Patch v0.1.4 | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate. Please note, this list is not entirely inclusive of all the changes in this update.
The follow has been tenatively added to the release view for v0.1.4, but is not yet ready to undergo testing in the experimental branch. These changes may be pushed into a future update, but as it stands now they are still planned to be in v0.1.4 when it goes live.
[ 2023-10-12 22:12:05 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone!
The much anticipated Update v0.1.4 (Power Rework) is now available for public testing on experimental. This is a huge patch that completely changes how the power system works, as well as introduces a ton of new QOL features and other fixes to the game.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~1 week
- Experimental Saves: Enabled
- Backwards Compatible: No
- Update Type: Patch
- Contains Spoilers: No
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate. Please note, this list is not entirely inclusive of all the changes in this update.
New Additions:
- Complete refactor of the power and heat system. Power only affects defenses, while heat only affects logistics. This will heavily affect how the game is played, so I am looking for feedback on it!
- New generator mechanics. Now requires either resources or a resource node to produce power.
- The ability to repair entities with one button press, in exchange for resources.
- Two new music tracks for the in-game OST, Gridspace & Horizons.
Quality of Life:
- Multiple hotbars, and the ability to quick scroll through them using left-control.
- New entity tooltip panel that shows info without needing to click on the entity.
- Quick-edit keybind that enables the ability to edit certain entities in one click.
- Defenses and reclaimers will now auto-reconstruct themselves if they get blown up.
- Holding shift to move faster will also increase the speed of camera scrolling.
- A variety of smaller QOL improvements to the overall control-flow of the game.
Other Changes:
- Removed collection mode and collector drones from the game, in place of having cargo drones unlocked from the get-go, and improving the overall control-flow of the game. This change is not final, and I'll be looking at feedback from it very closely.
- New UI designs for many of the interface elements that were out-of-date due to the power rework. Should improve overall clarity and readability on many of the interface panels.
- A variety of other smaller changes to certain notification windows, to again help with the actual information being presented to you due to things happening in-game.
Game Balancing:
- Majorly buffed all turret stats, in turn for not being able to build as many now.
- Improved the default drone speed and storage, to help with early-game automation.
- Increased the cost of many of the earlier research techs, as well as the actual cost to build them after unlocking them. These changes were made in correlation to the power rework.
- A variety of smaller balance changes to improve the overall flow of the game.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed labs causing a "Bug Reported" error when certain resources were put in them.
- Fixed cargo drones sometimes going to the wrong target after being object pooled.
- Many smaller bugs have been fixed from the core system improvements listed below.
Core Tech:
- New backend stat system for handling entity stats that will open the door for levels and upgrades in the future, as well as improve the reliability and accessibility of stats in the game now.
- Multiple refactors to many of the manager scripts, that should help to improve their overall reliability and help support the new content coming in v0.2.0, which will have new unique mechanics to it.
Tentative Additions:
The follow has been tenatively added to the release view for v0.1.4, but is not yet ready to undergo testing in the experimental branch. These changes may be pushed into a future update, but as it stands now they are still planned to be in v0.1.4 when it goes live.
- Build planner, which enables you to customize blueprint priorities.
- New heat path, that will add more heat levels to the end-game in order to produce more of a challenge, and better distribution of the early-game heat levels in order to improve game flow.
[ 2023-10-12 22:12:05 CET ] [ Original post ]
v0.1.4 Progress Update
The main change in v0.1.4 is how power functions, and what buildings consume power. This rework fundamentally changes the way you need to think about power & heat as resources. For those that don't know, in v0.1.4 all logistics buildings (drones, collectors, labs, etc.) will no longer consume power, and ONLY produce heat. Defenses on the other hand (turrets, walls, shields, etc.) will no longer produce heat, and ONLY consume power. Ideally, this is meant to enable more strategic decision making on your part, making heat and power bounce off each other much more naturally instead of power feeling pointless & tedious to try and manage. In correlation to this change, since the total amount of available power has been drastically reduced, turrets are being MAJORLY buffed. This is meant to make each turret feel much, MUCH more impactful on your bases overall defensive capability. You'll require much much fewer turrets, and each turret will be balanced in a way where they can naturally bounce off each other to enable more strategic decision making with how you choose to setup turrets, instead of say defaulting to a wall of miniguns. For a deeper look into this subject, check out the power rework post below! https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2082350/view/3681182908908723466
One of the first things I noticed after beginning the power rework, was that the UI was lacking critical information that would actually help the player maker more informed decisions regarding power / heat balancing. The first change I made was to the inventory, which now much more clearly displays what type of resource a building uses, and the cost associated with that building. Here's an example of what power consuming buildings look like in the inventory panel...
And an example of what heat producing buildings look like...
I also changed where the power & heat counters are located, moving them to the top of the screen to free up space on the hotbar for multi-hotbar support. In the future, mode switching will be moved down onto the hotbar, and a "Region Overview" button will be added to the top near power & heat.
Finally, I redesigned the entity info panel, which is now laid out in a much MUCH neater way. The model preview has a little animation to it, and now supports custom model ID's & animations. When cosmetics are brought into the game, this is where you'll be able to select & view them from.
The way you produce power has also changed. Gone are the days of being able to produce free power at no cost to you - now, all generators will require some form of resource, whether that's directly from a node (like the essence reactor seen below), or from a resource input via a drone.
In the future, additional generators will be added with more unique pros vs. cons to them, letting you more strategically choose how you want to generate power.
Now here's where we come to the main issue I've noticed with the power rework - resource abundance. Before, the resource abundance was typically obfuscated by the fact you were constantly redesigning defensive structures, meaning you would typically notice a resource drain whenever constructing. However, as you now no longer need to produce as many defenses, it has critically highlighted how bad the issue with resource abundance is. Unless you're actively researching or expanding, there is practically no resource drains in the game. That has slightly changed now with generators consuming resources, but only a handful of resources are actually used towards power, meaning there's still plenty that have almost no real use-case to them beyond build costs & research costs. This is where the new planned levels & upgrades system comes into play.
The current plan for upgrades is as follows. Please note this is all very much subject to change, and is actually the topic of this weeks discussion podcast with our community over on Discord.
Here is a little example of what this would look like. You have a choice between three upgrades, each with it's own benefits, however each one effects the overall cost to run the building. In-game, this would also display the overall change to your bases power or heat if applied, showing if it would result in a heat level increase, or power outage.
This system is very much needed to solve to the resource abundance problem, and so I am doing what I can to at least get it partially in a testing state for v0.1.4 - however, this is something that requires a lot of thinking in order to balance properly, and so there's a chance it may not be ready in time. In the case it isn't ready on-time, other methods will be used to temporarily solve the resource abundance problem will be used, such as temporarily higher build and late-game research costs. But, the end goal is to move resource sinks towards upgrades and engineering, with upgrades being an additional motive to expand and gain new resources, and engineering being a huge resource sink you need to scale your base up to obtain. (as it'll have ongoing costs associated with it)
Finally, many people have been requesting expansions to the OST. Our lovely producer Drew and I are well aware of this, and we've both agreed that the OST would be expanded over the course of the games early-access lifespan, including unique theme tracks for each region. In v0.1.4 however, two additional tracks are being added to the main playlist. Here's a little sneak peek at them below, for you music lovers are out there!
A super spacey track that fits in perfectly with the rest of the soundtrack. Inspired by Com Truise, this track brings a new unique touch to the Vectorio OST! [previewyoutube=LFtWzIjJ44c;full][/previewyoutube]
A very chill ambient track that is meant to counteract the more futuristic / space themed tracks. This one was heavily inspired by one of the newer tracks in the early-access Steam game, Satisfactory! [previewyoutube=2kXxQ3oBtCw;full][/previewyoutube]
While not directly tied to v0.1.4, we recently had a survey on our Discord server that asked the community what features they'd like to see next. You can see a screenshot of the survey below.
With this survey in mind, certain feature priorities are being shifted around, here's a list of the changes being made so far, which will be reflected in an updated roadmap coming out sometime after v0.1.4 is released and stable on the live branch. [olist] Multiplayer has had a boost in priority, moving it into the release view for v0.2
RTS mechanics (unit control) will be partially implemented in v0.2, but not fully
Logistics v2 will be split into multiple segments, part of which will be in v0.2
Armory (cosmetics) & other gamemodes have been lowered in priority.
[/olist]
These changes are mainly to ensure that there are better ways to attack enemy bases and setup supply chains in v0.2, but will not be a fully inclusive update to either feature, as multiplayer will be receiving more of my attention going into that update!
Please let me know! I love hearing from the community and what they think about certain changes or features, and it helps me to make more informed decisions on specific features. New Discord Link: https://discord.gg/Vectorio This Friday we'll be hosting another episode of our community discussions podcast, which is where we pick a specific topic and let the community directly give their feedback on it. This weeks podcast will be on the upcoming levels system, so if you want to give your ideas or feedback on the subject, this is a great chance to do so! Like previous episodes, this will be uploaded on YouTube afterwards. I can't wait to see everyone get their hands on v0.1.4! Lots of new exciting changes are coming in it that will start to pave the path towards Phantom Plains (v0.2), the first major early-access update. Thanks for reading, ~ Ben
[ 2023-09-13 22:48:05 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello Everyone!
It's been awhile since the last update post, so I thought I'd throw together a quick progress report on the upcoming v0.1.4 update set to release on experimental sometime in the next week or so.
Also, just to quickly preface this post - I am aware that the Discord link in-game is not working. We recently reached level 3 on Discord, and were able to setup a custom URL. However, I was unaware this would terminate the previous link we were using, and so it unfortunately no longer works.
This will be fixed in v0.1.4, but for the time being you can only access our Discord using the new custom link. Please share it around for those that aren't aware: https://discord.gg/Vectorio
With that out of the way, let's get into v0.1.4!
Power Rework - Overview
The main change in v0.1.4 is how power functions, and what buildings consume power. This rework fundamentally changes the way you need to think about power & heat as resources. For those that don't know, in v0.1.4 all logistics buildings (drones, collectors, labs, etc.) will no longer consume power, and ONLY produce heat. Defenses on the other hand (turrets, walls, shields, etc.) will no longer produce heat, and ONLY consume power. Ideally, this is meant to enable more strategic decision making on your part, making heat and power bounce off each other much more naturally instead of power feeling pointless & tedious to try and manage. In correlation to this change, since the total amount of available power has been drastically reduced, turrets are being MAJORLY buffed. This is meant to make each turret feel much, MUCH more impactful on your bases overall defensive capability. You'll require much much fewer turrets, and each turret will be balanced in a way where they can naturally bounce off each other to enable more strategic decision making with how you choose to setup turrets, instead of say defaulting to a wall of miniguns. For a deeper look into this subject, check out the power rework post below! https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2082350/view/3681182908908723466
Power Rework - UI Redesign
One of the first things I noticed after beginning the power rework, was that the UI was lacking critical information that would actually help the player maker more informed decisions regarding power / heat balancing. The first change I made was to the inventory, which now much more clearly displays what type of resource a building uses, and the cost associated with that building. Here's an example of what power consuming buildings look like in the inventory panel...
And an example of what heat producing buildings look like...
I also changed where the power & heat counters are located, moving them to the top of the screen to free up space on the hotbar for multi-hotbar support. In the future, mode switching will be moved down onto the hotbar, and a "Region Overview" button will be added to the top near power & heat.
Finally, I redesigned the entity info panel, which is now laid out in a much MUCH neater way. The model preview has a little animation to it, and now supports custom model ID's & animations. When cosmetics are brought into the game, this is where you'll be able to select & view them from.
Power Rework - Generators
The way you produce power has also changed. Gone are the days of being able to produce free power at no cost to you - now, all generators will require some form of resource, whether that's directly from a node (like the essence reactor seen below), or from a resource input via a drone.
In the future, additional generators will be added with more unique pros vs. cons to them, letting you more strategically choose how you want to generate power.
Now here's where we come to the main issue I've noticed with the power rework - resource abundance. Before, the resource abundance was typically obfuscated by the fact you were constantly redesigning defensive structures, meaning you would typically notice a resource drain whenever constructing. However, as you now no longer need to produce as many defenses, it has critically highlighted how bad the issue with resource abundance is. Unless you're actively researching or expanding, there is practically no resource drains in the game. That has slightly changed now with generators consuming resources, but only a handful of resources are actually used towards power, meaning there's still plenty that have almost no real use-case to them beyond build costs & research costs. This is where the new planned levels & upgrades system comes into play.
Building Upgrades - The Plan
The current plan for upgrades is as follows. Please note this is all very much subject to change, and is actually the topic of this weeks discussion podcast with our community over on Discord.
- Upgrades will work similarly to research, in that you can have one active upgrade set at a time
- The upgrade will consume resources using a "Upgrade Bench", again similar to research
- Each building will have 5 unique upgrade levels to start, with more in the future
- With each level, you get to select from 3 different upgrades unique to the building being ugpraded
- Upgrade improves the effectiveness of a building, but in turn increases its heat & power
- Heat and power increase apply retroactively, meaning you need to be careful when upgrading
- Carelessly upgrading can result in power outages or heat level increases
- Upgrades are permanent, but you can completely reset a building back to level 1 at anytime
- In the future, upgrades will unlock engineering slots, which alter the way a building functions
- Ability to upgrade is unlocked after essence, with the new "Upgrade Bench" building
Here is a little example of what this would look like. You have a choice between three upgrades, each with it's own benefits, however each one effects the overall cost to run the building. In-game, this would also display the overall change to your bases power or heat if applied, showing if it would result in a heat level increase, or power outage.
Building Upgrades - What's in v0.1.4?
This system is very much needed to solve to the resource abundance problem, and so I am doing what I can to at least get it partially in a testing state for v0.1.4 - however, this is something that requires a lot of thinking in order to balance properly, and so there's a chance it may not be ready in time. In the case it isn't ready on-time, other methods will be used to temporarily solve the resource abundance problem will be used, such as temporarily higher build and late-game research costs. But, the end goal is to move resource sinks towards upgrades and engineering, with upgrades being an additional motive to expand and gain new resources, and engineering being a huge resource sink you need to scale your base up to obtain. (as it'll have ongoing costs associated with it)
Finally, many people have been requesting expansions to the OST. Our lovely producer Drew and I are well aware of this, and we've both agreed that the OST would be expanded over the course of the games early-access lifespan, including unique theme tracks for each region. In v0.1.4 however, two additional tracks are being added to the main playlist. Here's a little sneak peek at them below, for you music lovers are out there!
Vectorio OST - Gridspace Preview
A super spacey track that fits in perfectly with the rest of the soundtrack. Inspired by Com Truise, this track brings a new unique touch to the Vectorio OST! [previewyoutube=LFtWzIjJ44c;full][/previewyoutube]
Vectorio OST - Horizons Preview
A very chill ambient track that is meant to counteract the more futuristic / space themed tracks. This one was heavily inspired by one of the newer tracks in the early-access Steam game, Satisfactory! [previewyoutube=2kXxQ3oBtCw;full][/previewyoutube]
While not directly tied to v0.1.4, we recently had a survey on our Discord server that asked the community what features they'd like to see next. You can see a screenshot of the survey below.
With this survey in mind, certain feature priorities are being shifted around, here's a list of the changes being made so far, which will be reflected in an updated roadmap coming out sometime after v0.1.4 is released and stable on the live branch. [olist]
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Please let me know! I love hearing from the community and what they think about certain changes or features, and it helps me to make more informed decisions on specific features. New Discord Link: https://discord.gg/Vectorio This Friday we'll be hosting another episode of our community discussions podcast, which is where we pick a specific topic and let the community directly give their feedback on it. This weeks podcast will be on the upcoming levels system, so if you want to give your ideas or feedback on the subject, this is a great chance to do so! Like previous episodes, this will be uploaded on YouTube afterwards. I can't wait to see everyone get their hands on v0.1.4! Lots of new exciting changes are coming in it that will start to pave the path towards Phantom Plains (v0.2), the first major early-access update. Thanks for reading, ~ Ben
[ 2023-09-13 22:48:05 CET ] [ Original post ]
[EP2] Community Discussions Podcast | Resource Sinks
Today, we had our second community discussion podcast over on our Discord server. This is an opportunity for the community to voice their ideas and feedback on specific topics, each and every week! This week, we attempted to deep dive into Resource Sinks, and how they're currently missing from the game. HOWEVER, the podcast topic took a turn and we ended up touching on other subjects that are clearly needed to be improved on first before introducing more resource sinks. This was quite an interesting episode, and the community really drove the topic. Watch it below! [previewyoutube=ad6qzGtCna8;full][/previewyoutube]
You can find a list of timestamps in the YouTube video description for quicker navigation. I HIGHLY recommend using them as the topic does jump around quite a bit.
Below is a quick TL;DR of the priority changes that were a result of this podcast. Hopefully this goes to show that I will continue to use these podcasts as a way to create lines of communication with the community in order to better approach the timeline of certain features during early-access! Priority Bumped: (these features are now at the top of my list)
[ 2023-09-01 22:28:59 CET ] [ Original post ]
Community Discussions Podcast | Resource Sinks (Ep 2)
Today, we had our second community discussion podcast over on our Discord server. This is an opportunity for the community to voice their ideas and feedback on specific topics, each and every week! This week, we attempted to deep dive into Resource Sinks, and how they're currently missing from the game. HOWEVER, the podcast topic took a turn and we ended up touching on other subjects that are clearly needed to be improved on first before introducing more resource sinks. This was quite an interesting episode, and the community really drove the topic. Watch it below! [previewyoutube=ad6qzGtCna8;full][/previewyoutube]
Podcast Timestamps
You can find a list of timestamps in the YouTube video description for quicker navigation. I HIGHLY recommend using them as the topic does jump around quite a bit.
Priority Changes
Below is a quick TL;DR of the priority changes that were a result of this podcast. Hopefully this goes to show that I will continue to use these podcasts as a way to create lines of communication with the community in order to better approach the timeline of certain features during early-access! Priority Bumped: (these features are now at the top of my list)
- Multiplayer - the ability to play with friends and other people on a shared world
- Drone Systems - implementing better tools for interacting with & setting up drones
- Unique Generators - more unique generators that each have a give & take to them
[ 2023-09-01 22:28:59 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hotfix v0.1.3a | Available on live
Work on v0.1.4 has begun, which is focused on the power rework and further QOL improvements. Below you can find a list of tentative changes coming in this patch...
[ 2023-08-29 17:16:17 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone The v0.1.3a hotfix has been deployed to live! While this patch has been tested on experimental, further testing is required to ensure the issues fixed in this build do not reappear. Further ghost patches will be deployed as needed until the issues have been completely fixed. In the case some of these bugs still exist, a ghost patch will be deployed to ensure they are fixed. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know below or on our Discord server: https://discord.gg/auDgRJqtT9
v0.1.3a Patch Notes
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed an issue where labs would not research even when they had valid resources in them
- Fixing boosted storages from still being tracked inaccurately in the resource manager on reload
- Fixed resource icon from not disappearing if the drones route was cancelled mid flight
- Fixed shield bubble not updating to the correct faction after being object pooled
- Fixed an edge case where a drones resource icon could cause an EM termination call
- Fixed an edge case where certain resources placed in a lab could cause an EM termination call
Core Tech:
- Added a set of centralized utilities for interacting with & debugging resources, including a slight refactor to how base resource properties are accessed.
v0.1.4 In Development
Work on v0.1.4 has begun, which is focused on the power rework and further QOL improvements. Below you can find a list of tentative changes coming in this patch...
v0.1.4 Tentative Changes:
- Power Rework - A set of mechanic & balancing changes aimed at making power more of a strategic resource you need to think about. (for a full breakdown check the linked post below)
- UI Enhancements - Slight redesign to certain UI elements to display more useful information
- Build Planner - The ability to control build priorities, and see the costs of planned buildings
- Multiple Hotbars - QOL addition that lets you cycle through up to 10 different hotbars
[ 2023-08-29 17:16:17 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hotfix v0.1.3a | Available on experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
[ 2023-08-28 16:51:55 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone The next hotfix is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the fixes now. Please note experimental updates can be unstable, so it is always recommended to backup your saves if you wish to avoid possible conflicts.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
v0.1.3a Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~12 hours
- Experimental Saves: Disabled
- Backwards Compatible: Yes
- Update Type: Hotfix
- Contains Spoilers: No
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed an issue where labs would not research even when they had valid resources in them
- Fixing boosted storages from still being tracked inaccurately in the resource manager on reload
- Fixed resource icon from not disappearing if the drones route was cancelled mid flight
- Fixed shield bubble not updating to the correct faction after being object pooled
- Fixed an edge case where a drones resource icon could cause an EM termination call
- Fixed an edge case where certain resources placed in a lab could cause an EM termination call
Core Tech:
- Added a set of centralized utilities for interacting with & debugging resources, including a slight refactor to how base resource properties are accessed.
[ 2023-08-28 16:51:55 CET ] [ Original post ]
[EP1] Community Discussions Podcast | Power Management
Today, we had our first community discussion podcast over on our Discord server. This is an opportunity for the community to voice their ideas and feedback on specific topics, each and every week! This week, we deep dived into Power Management. Watch the podcast below! [previewyoutube=pmLjY2d83BI;full][/previewyoutube]
You can find a list of timestamps in the YouTube video description for quicker navigation. I recommend skipping the intro if you've already read the "Power Rework" post. (CLICK HERE TO SKIP) The first section of the video is dedicated to talking about local power networks, and how it may or may not fit Vectorio. The second half dives deeper into the power rework and what the goals of it are, and how it's meant to strategize the gameplay of Vectorio more than it's current implementation does.
If you aren't aware of the proposed upcoming changes, I recommend taking a look at this post. The video only touches on a brief summary of it, but this post goes deeper into the goals with the power rework. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2082350/view/3681182908908723466
Please let me know! I want to involve the community as much as I can in every step along the way. If you want to join the discussion, feel free to hop in our Discord server as well! Discord: https://discord.gg/auDgRJqtT9
[ 2023-08-26 00:07:39 CET ] [ Original post ]
Community Discussions Podcast | Power Management (Ep 1)
Today, we had our first community discussion podcast over on our Discord server. This is an opportunity for the community to voice their ideas and feedback on specific topics, each and every week! This week, we deep dived into Power Management. Watch the podcast below! [previewyoutube=pmLjY2d83BI;full][/previewyoutube]
Podcast Timestamps
You can find a list of timestamps in the YouTube video description for quicker navigation. I recommend skipping the intro if you've already read the "Power Rework" post. (CLICK HERE TO SKIP) The first section of the video is dedicated to talking about local power networks, and how it may or may not fit Vectorio. The second half dives deeper into the power rework and what the goals of it are, and how it's meant to strategize the gameplay of Vectorio more than it's current implementation does.
Power Rework Post
If you aren't aware of the proposed upcoming changes, I recommend taking a look at this post. The video only touches on a brief summary of it, but this post goes deeper into the goals with the power rework. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2082350/view/3681182908908723466
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Please let me know! I want to involve the community as much as I can in every step along the way. If you want to join the discussion, feel free to hop in our Discord server as well! Discord: https://discord.gg/auDgRJqtT9
[ 2023-08-26 00:07:39 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.1.3 | Available on live
[ 2023-08-25 05:39:25 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone! The next patch has been tested on experimental and all changes have been confirmed to go live. This update is mainly focused on QOL improvements & general stability. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know below or on our Discord server: https://discord.gg/auDgRJqtT9
v0.1.3 Patch Notes
New Additions:
- Added the ability to copy settings (MMB) and paste them on pre-exisiting buildings.
- Added texture mipmaps to drone ports to help lessen the light strobing artifact that happens at certain zoom levels. This may be applied to additional buildings in the future.
- Added new damage and destroyed warning system (toggleable in settings)
- Added bloom intensity slider to settings
BUG FIXES:
- Fixed turret heads becoming off-centered
- Fixed layout-rebuilder on inventory UI
- Fixed units skipping into base on reload
- Fixed buildings remaining linked to an outpost core after being object pooled
- Fixed drones remaining linked to their previous targets after being object pooled
- Fixed turret targetting system to not target objects that have been object pooled
- Fixed Atomizer turret from causing bugs
- Fixed explosion sounds for Artillery playing in the distance when off-screen
[ 2023-08-25 05:39:25 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.1.3 | Available on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
The follow has been tenatively added to the release view for v0.1.3, but is not yet ready to undergo testing in the experimental branch. These changes may be pushed into v0.1.4 in order to get the fixes available on v0.1.3 available to everyone on the live branch in a shorter timeframe.
[ 2023-08-22 20:41:31 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone! The next patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the fixes now. Please note experimental updates can be unstable, so it is always recommended to backup your saves if you wish to avoid possible conflicts.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~24 hours
- Experimental Saves: Disabled
- Backwards Compatible: Yes
- Update Type: Hotfix
- Contains Spoilers: No
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
New Additions:
- Added mipmaps for certain textures to help negate the strobing effect at certain zoom distances
- Added new warning system to notify you when buildings are damaged or destroyed
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed turret heads becoming off-centered
- Fixed layout rebuilding on inventory panel
- Fixed units skipping into base on reload
- Fixed buildings remaining linked to an outpost core after being object pooled
- Fixed drones occasionally flying away to previous route after being object pooled
- Fixed Atomizer laser not affecting buildings and sometimes causing the game to bug out
- Fixed turret targeting system from retargeting onto object pooled enemies
Tentative Additions:
The follow has been tenatively added to the release view for v0.1.3, but is not yet ready to undergo testing in the experimental branch. These changes may be pushed into v0.1.4 in order to get the fixes available on v0.1.3 available to everyone on the live branch in a shorter timeframe.
- Ability to daisy chain reclaimers to make expansion efforts easier
- Ability to hold control to lock the axis you're building on
[ 2023-08-22 20:41:31 CET ] [ Original post ]
Power Management Rework
The rework to power is mainly to contrast it nicely with heat, where the two are meant to have similar implications in the game and bounce off one another nicely. Right now, heat does a fairly good job at that, requiring you to balance your heat output to not attract too many enemies. Power however, feels underdeveloped in this area - it serves no real purpose other then to hinder your progress, and the solution is just "spam generators until the little red notification goes away". It's clear that power was not fully thought through, and so it will be first mechanic I focus on updating. I am doing this sooner rather then later because I believe this mechanic will heavily impact how the game plays, and having it in a good place before starting any major content updates is essential.
Below is a list of the proposed changes that have been drafted thanks to a discussion poll on our community Discord server. A lot of great feedback was collected, and here's what we came up with... [olist] Logistical buildings will no longer require any power to function. They will ONLY produce heat.
Turrets will no longer output any heat. They will ONLY consume power to function.
The initial power capacity you start with will drop drastically
The amount of power defenses consume will drop drastically (see below for examples)
Generators will output significantly less power, and all will require resources to function
Every defensive structure will be getting a MASSIVE buff to accomodate for this
[/olist]
Link to the discussion: https://discord.com/channels/766378337047543829/1143268255247646930
As you can see, these are some pretty heavy changes that will impact the game balance quite a bit. In this system, heat and power will bounce off each other much more naturally, creating a system where you need to strategically balance both. This will also incentivize being smart with how you construct your turrets, as each one will have a much larger impact on your base and how well it can defend itself.
In the below example, the values go off the basis of the Initial power supply being 100w, and generator effectiveness being reduced (compared to what they are now) and requiring resources.
Please let me know you think! This rework will go underway sometime next week once I've had time to discuss with the community what the new values of things should be, and there's a more solid idea of exactly how this system will work. It will go up on the experimental branch and be open for feedback. In the meantime, you can expect v0.1.3 and v0.1.4 over the course of this week, bringing more bug fixes and QOL improvement to the game. I am committed to working on Vectorio full-time so we can make it the best tower-defense / automation game it can be, and I hope this commitment to you all will continue to show as early access progresses, and discussions / feedback are actioned promptly. Thanks for reading, ~ Ben
[ 2023-08-22 01:10:32 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello Everyone!
It's been fantastic getting to watch everyone get their hands on the game and enjoy it. The reception seems super positive so far, and I'm extremely excited to continue working on the game alongside all of you. We have a long way to go, but we're off to a great start!
As many of you have probably noticed, I've spent a considerable amount of time the past few days cleaning up bugs players have been running into, and getting them patched in a timely manner. I want to ensure the playability factor is there before I begin working on any significant changes and new additions to the game; that mainly being the first major update (which will take a few months in development) and reworking some of the systems in the game.
One of these systems is power management. It has been abundantly clear you guys do not like the power system in the game atm, and for good reason. It serves no real purpose other then to slow you down, and is clearly not a fun challenge to try and solve. So, it will be receiving the first rework!
Power Management Rework
The rework to power is mainly to contrast it nicely with heat, where the two are meant to have similar implications in the game and bounce off one another nicely. Right now, heat does a fairly good job at that, requiring you to balance your heat output to not attract too many enemies. Power however, feels underdeveloped in this area - it serves no real purpose other then to hinder your progress, and the solution is just "spam generators until the little red notification goes away". It's clear that power was not fully thought through, and so it will be first mechanic I focus on updating. I am doing this sooner rather then later because I believe this mechanic will heavily impact how the game plays, and having it in a good place before starting any major content updates is essential.
Proposed Changes:
Below is a list of the proposed changes that have been drafted thanks to a discussion poll on our community Discord server. A lot of great feedback was collected, and here's what we came up with... [olist]
Rework Balancing Example:
In the below example, the values go off the basis of the Initial power supply being 100w, and generator effectiveness being reduced (compared to what they are now) and requiring resources.
- Repeater power consumption decreased to 1w (Range & Damage buffs applied, to make the repeater capable of dealing with light enemies in a more reliable fashion)
- Shotgunner power consumption decreased to 3w (Damage & Firerate buffs applied, possible range reduction to make shotgunner more of a close-range defense built for waves)
- Ranger power consumption decreased to 5w (Range & Accuracy buffs applied, so that it can reliably take out larger units. Possible nerf to firerate, to make fast-firing units more appealing)
What do you think?
Please let me know you think! This rework will go underway sometime next week once I've had time to discuss with the community what the new values of things should be, and there's a more solid idea of exactly how this system will work. It will go up on the experimental branch and be open for feedback. In the meantime, you can expect v0.1.3 and v0.1.4 over the course of this week, bringing more bug fixes and QOL improvement to the game. I am committed to working on Vectorio full-time so we can make it the best tower-defense / automation game it can be, and I hope this commitment to you all will continue to show as early access progresses, and discussions / feedback are actioned promptly. Thanks for reading, ~ Ben
[ 2023-08-22 01:10:32 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hotfix v0.1.2a | Available on live
New Additions: - Added a new builder-type drone, Fabricator. Much faster drone that can help with bigger expansions. Bug Fixes: - Fixed an issue that would cause boosted storages to take away resources on reload - Fixed an issue with boosted drones not moving from their port when deployed
[ 2023-08-21 07:48:34 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone A hotfix has been deployed to both live and experimental. This hotfix addresses a major issue with region boosters that would cause storages to take away resources on reload, resulting in negative resource counts. Additionally, this hotfix adds a new drone type to help with later-tier expansion. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know below or on our Discord server: https://discord.gg/auDgRJqtT9
v0.1.2a Patch Notes
New Additions: - Added a new builder-type drone, Fabricator. Much faster drone that can help with bigger expansions. Bug Fixes: - Fixed an issue that would cause boosted storages to take away resources on reload - Fixed an issue with boosted drones not moving from their port when deployed
[ 2023-08-21 07:48:34 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.1.2 | Released on Live
- Blueprints can now be queued outside your claimed area without needing a reclaimer. - Builder drones now remain operational during a power outage, and will prioritize power production - Removed the ability for enemies to spawn in claimed areas during decryption events - Queued reclaimers now have a "preview area", allowing you to better plan expansions - Cargo drones now refund unused resources as a temporary measure to avoid resource-loss
- Fixed cargo drones not delivering to unset storages - Fixed regional boosters not affecting drones - Fixed incorrect status indicators on collectors, causing them to sometimes error out - Fixed safeguard beacon causing errors when placed near the hub - Fixed research progression to use Scoria instead of Nitrium - Fixed missing texture on advanced crafter - Fixed all remaining techs to ensure the game can be completed from start to finish
- Added a new force-terminate utility for the entity-manager, which will forcefully remove any entities that do not successfully finish their update loop. The goal of this utility is to ensure worlds continue operating when experiencing issues that cause the EM to freeze up. In the case an entity is terminated, it will be logged so that it can still be accurately reported without locking your save up temporarily. This requires further testing to try and discover any edge cases where this may cause other issues to arise. - Refined off-screen calculation for turret that will drastically improve performance, especially on lower-end hardware where entities may appear to "skip" every so often. - Began work on async loading for saves, allowing them to load without clogging the main thread. This should be semi-noticeable in v0.1.2, but will not see it's full potential until a later update. Additional improvements are being worked on and looked at to improve overall loading times.
[ 2023-08-20 22:01:56 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone The next patch has been tested on experimental and all changes have been confirmed to go live. This update is mainly focused on QOL improvements & general stability. NOTE: This update changes part of the underlying tech for the game - whilst this has been tested and confirmed to be working, there may still be strange edge cases we missed. If you notice any sort of artifacts happening that were not happening before, please report them so they can be fixed quickly! Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know below or on our Discord server: https://discord.gg/auDgRJqtT9
v0.1.2 Patch Notes
Quality of Life:
- Blueprints can now be queued outside your claimed area without needing a reclaimer. - Builder drones now remain operational during a power outage, and will prioritize power production - Removed the ability for enemies to spawn in claimed areas during decryption events - Queued reclaimers now have a "preview area", allowing you to better plan expansions - Cargo drones now refund unused resources as a temporary measure to avoid resource-loss
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed cargo drones not delivering to unset storages - Fixed regional boosters not affecting drones - Fixed incorrect status indicators on collectors, causing them to sometimes error out - Fixed safeguard beacon causing errors when placed near the hub - Fixed research progression to use Scoria instead of Nitrium - Fixed missing texture on advanced crafter - Fixed all remaining techs to ensure the game can be completed from start to finish
Core Tech:
- Added a new force-terminate utility for the entity-manager, which will forcefully remove any entities that do not successfully finish their update loop. The goal of this utility is to ensure worlds continue operating when experiencing issues that cause the EM to freeze up. In the case an entity is terminated, it will be logged so that it can still be accurately reported without locking your save up temporarily. This requires further testing to try and discover any edge cases where this may cause other issues to arise. - Refined off-screen calculation for turret that will drastically improve performance, especially on lower-end hardware where entities may appear to "skip" every so often. - Began work on async loading for saves, allowing them to load without clogging the main thread. This should be semi-noticeable in v0.1.2, but will not see it's full potential until a later update. Additional improvements are being worked on and looked at to improve overall loading times.
[ 2023-08-20 22:01:56 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.1.2 | Released on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
[ 2023-08-20 10:26:09 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone! The next patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the fixes now. Please note experimental updates can be unstable, so it is always recommended to backup your saves if you wish to avoid possible conflicts.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
v0.1.1 Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~24 hours
- Experimental Saves: Disabled
- Backwards Compatible: Yes
- Update Type: Hotfix
- Contains Spoilers: No
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
New Additions:
- Buildings can now be queued outside of your claimed area. (should help with expansion)
- Cargo drones will now refund unused resources to avoid wasting resources.
- Planned Reclaimer's now display their claim range, to help with planning.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed enemies spawning inside claimed area during Decryptor events
- Fixed regional drone booster not affecting drones
- Fixed collector status indicator sometimes appearing incorrectly
- Fixed safeguard beacon erroring out when placed near the hub
- Fixed Nitrium-based techs by replacing it with Scoria (found in the large outpost)
- Fixed missing texture on the advanced crafter
Performance Improvements:
- Optimized off-screen turret calculations - this should help players on lower-end hardware.
[ 2023-08-20 10:26:09 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.1.1 | Released on Live
[ 2023-08-19 06:00:29 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone! The first update has been tested on experimental and all changes have been confirmed to go live. This update is mainly focused on general stability improvements.
New Additions:
- Added the ability to set the save icon
- Added pipette to the tutorial sequence
- Added new tutorial segment for crafters
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed blast collector from not functioning properly
- Fixed an issue causing Celite unlocks to appear incorrectly
- Fixed an issue where the recipe for infused crystal would not show up
- Fixed an issue which could cause errors when a reclaimer was destroyed
- Fixed an issue with labs & drone ports not always displaying their status correctly
- Fixed a grammatical error on the Osmium description
[ 2023-08-19 06:00:29 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update v0.1.1 | Released on Experimental
[olist] Locate Vectorio in your Steam library
Right click and go to "properties"
Find the "betas" branch
Using the dropdown, select "Experimental"
[/olist]
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
[ 2023-08-19 02:41:21 CET ] [ Original post ]
Hello everyone! The first patch is now available for testing! You can access it on the experimental branch by following the instructions below if you wish to get access to the fixes now. Please note experimental updates can be unstable, so it is always recommended to backup your saves if you wish to avoid possible conflicts.
How to opt into experimental:
[olist]
v0.1.1 Experimental Info:
- Testing Cycle: ~24 hours
- Experimental Saves: Disabled
- Backwards Compatible: Yes
- Update Type: Hotfix
- Contains Spoilers: No
Patch Notes
The following is a list of changes pushed to the experimental branch. While changes are usually tested beforehand, please note that some may require further testing to validate.
New Additions:
- Added the ability to set the save icon
- Added pipette to the tutorial sequence
- Added new tutorial segment for crafters
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed blast collector from not functioning properly
- Fixed an issue causing Celite unlocks to appear incorrectly
- Fixed an issue where the recipe for infused crystal would not show up
- Fixed an issue which could cause errors when a reclaimer was destroyed
- Fixed an issue with labs & drone ports not always displaying their status correctly
- Fixed a grammatical error on the Osmium description
[ 2023-08-19 02:41:21 CET ] [ Original post ]
Vectorio is a base-building game that combines tower-defense, automation, and supply-chain management to create a unique experience like no other.
Originally concepted over two years ago, Vectorio Classic was slowly built up alongside its dedicated community to try and introduce a new take on the tower-defense genre, mixing together the best aspects from similar games and streamlining them into a minimalistic design for all to enjoy. With the game now rebuilt from scratch to introduce tons of new mechanics and content, there's a lot more to uncover in this new version of Vectorio!
Game Features:
- Adventure Mode
The main mode - expand and conquer across the first dimension! - Creative Mode
Create the base of your dreams and try out different buildings with no build costs! - 50+ Research Techs
Collect resources and feed your labs to research over 50 different research techs! - Powerful Defenses
Deploy strong defenses to fight back against the growing onslaught of enemy shapes. - Logistical Puzzles
Solve logistical problems by setting up resource supply chains with a variety of drones. - Non-Linear Progression
There is no one set path - you choose how to play and what to unlock!
MINIMAL SETUP
- OS: Ubuntu 12.04 or later
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6320Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: GeForce 7600 GS or equivalent
- Storage: 512 MB available spaceAdditional Notes: Requirements may differ slightly in future updates
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