We're still here. Working every day since our last development blog, the Iron Armada development team has been toiling away working towards the ultimate release of our game. This newly released version is the pre-release for our first non-early access release of the game. There will still be some bugs, and a chunk of more work to be done... but with your help, we are now nearing the first completed version of Iron Armada.

If you would like to read more, you can visit our website to read the full development blog.

What is included in this new version of the game?

Single-player missions and autonomous drones. Players can now construct and fight against autonomous drones in offline single-player modes. These drones also work in multiplayer matches, meaning that cooperative and PVPVE modes are also entirely possible.



Pressurization and airlock mechanics. Players now need to ensure that ships are airtight. Ships can be damaged and entire decks can be depressurized. Players can survive off of emergency oxygen reserves for limited amounts of time... but managing a ship's hull integrity is now of new importance.



Advanced logistics and docking mechanics. Players can now store resources in tanker ships, and transfer resources to other ships using docking bays. Docking bays can also be used to tow other ships, or even house fighters when the fighters are not being piloted.



Torpedoes and advanced weapon mechanics. Players can now construct torpedo bombers, and fire slow (but powerful) physics-driven rocket weaponry. Additionally new explosive, armor penetration, and weapon deviation mechanics will continue to make combat even more interesting.



Voice communications, squad mechanics, shipyards, and more. This update includes a significant number of additional features not listed here. To read more make sure to visit our website development blog!

Remember that this is the beta release for our upcoming full release of Iron Armada. Issues are still expected, and bug reports are much appreciated. However we hope that you will enjoy the new features that we have worked hard on, and once Iron Armada is fully completed... we hope you will appreciate the time we've put into building this game.

Hopefully I will see you on the battlefield again soon.

- Bluedrake42

Hotfix Patch 3.3.0

We just released patch 3.3.0 which fixes a few critical bugs, and also does some backend work to help us with future development! If you want to know the specifics, make sure you check our commit log here!

The primary changelog highlights for this patch are:

• Fixed crash when respawning on non-existant core
  
• Rebuilt underlying systems to be more organized for future development
  
• Fixed issue with selected servers not highlighting properly
  

Hello everyone! Today I wanted to go over our development meeting schedule, that is completely open to the public, so you can stay up to date (and even have an influence on) our weekly development cycle!



Meeting Schedule

For those of you who are interested in being a part of Iron Armada's development cycle, you can attend our weekly meeting sessions that we hold publicly in our Discord!

Our current meeting schedule is:

• Monday - at 4PM EST
  
• Wednesday - at 4PM EST
  
• Friday - at 4PM EST
  

Oxygen and airlocks

Last development blog you all voted on which of the three upcoming features we should implement first! Oxygen & airlocks won by a huge margin! Now today, we're here to talk about how we're going to implement it!

How will pressure will be implemented?

Many people forget what Iron Armada looked like two years ago! For those of you who forgot... here is a little reminder (this is actually relevant =P)



When we first started working on the Iron Armada engine framework... many things you take for granted now... weren't in the game at all (remember that Iron Armada isn't built on an engine like Unity! It is built from its entirely own custom codebase in Java... kindof like Minecraft)

Every little detail of the game (bullets, destruction, player death, animations, moving, building, walking, and more!) had to be built from scratch.

So... for example, when you used to break a ship in half (in older Iron Armada builds) it wouldn't break in half. This was because the computer literally didn't understand the concept of things "breaking apart" and we had to develop that concept from the ground up.



When you think about it... even the seemingly simple concept of "breaking" is a little more complex when teaching it to a computer. So to keep processor usage low, but still simulate convincing "breaks" for ships in Iron Armada... we devised the following mechanism:

Every time a ship tile is changed, or removed... the computer does a manual "flood fill" of the ship, originating from the point of the change. If the computer can still fill every tile of the ship during the flood fill, then it does nothing. However... if not, then the computer marks the isolated tiles and deletes them. Then at the exact same second, the computer re-spawns the isolated tiles as a completely new ship... in the exact same position they were when they were deleted.

This results in two separate physical objects... creating the effective illusion of a ship "break." That is currently how the destruction system still works today!

Why is this important?

Because that flood fill system (the one we developed years ago) is exactly the same mechanic we're going to use to simulate atmospheric pressure!

Every tile in Iron Armada currently has a parameter for "I have oxygen" or "I am a vacuum." For instance... this is why you recharge oxygen on a ship corridor tile, but lose oxygen while standing on an asteroid (try it yourself!) However this is also why (in the current version of Iron Armada) you can recharge oxygen on a floor tile... that is floating in the vacuum of space.

However now... In order to detect that oxygen is in a sealed environment... the "ship split" mechanic will be copied and re-purposed. Now, instead of finding "breaks" in a ship... the system will look for "holes" in a room.

Every time a ship tile is changed or removed, the same flood fill mechanic will originate from the offending tile. From here... the system will flood fill the ship, and decide if any "floor" tile (or otherwise non-pressurized tile) is touching a "vacuum" (or empty) tile. If it is... then that entire tileset is then set to vacuum.

Simple... clean... and hopefully also very network efficient ship pressurization! Which is what we've been hoping for all along =)

When is this patch coming out!?

Hopefully soon! We're still working on a few bugs and critical fixes in the mean time, but we'll be releasing a feature patch (with oxygen) hopefully shortly after!

If you all want to follow up with development, remember YOU CAN WATCH US DEVELOPING THE GAME IN REAL TIME ON GITLAB!

https://gitlab.bluedrake42.com/drakelinglabs/ironarmada

You can also follow our development blogs and posts on our Discord, and our forums! We really value your input, feedback, and most importantly bug reports! So if you want to help us get these great features in faster... please stick around there!

Outside of that... thank you everyone who has purchased the game, and supported development so far. We know we're still in an early state of development, but your support has already made a huge difference for us... and we are humbled by it.

We hope you all will visit us on our Discord, and stick around for our community events! We're excited to work on our next feature after oxygen... which will include a singleplayer update! This way... many of you nightowls can continue playing the game, after the rest of the community is fast asleep =)

Until then... I hope to see you on the space battlefield soon!

Links for our community portals:
https://forum.bluedrake42.com
https://discord.gg/ironarmada

Cheers!

~ Bluedrake42
Drakeling Labs

Hello everyone! Today I wanted to do an exclusive development blog about pricing (and the future versions of Iron Armada) answering many questions the community has asked.



Keep in mind, before anything else, that Iron Armada is currently an early access game. I cannot stress enough... that if you do not enjoy Iron Armada in its current form, you are not obligated to purchase it what-so-ever. We totally support anyone watching and waiting, to wait until the game meets their expectations before they buy =)

However for our loyal early supporters: the people who truly believe in our game... and want to help us succeed, your purchase will go directly towards helping this game develop. Drakeling Labs never did any Kickstarter, or any other crowdfunding project for this title... because we believe in letting players choose to support a game, based off of its current build... not off of vague promises of a better game.

So with that said... please remember. If you would like to support development, you can purchase the currently available Pioneer's Edition of the game... and participate in our early alpha builds (and receive the full game at launch.) However if you would otherwise like to wait... until the game is further along in development, before you commit your money... then we entirely encourage you to do so!

With that out of the way, let's answer some questions =)

Question #1 - What will Iron Armada cost on release?

We thought we had our price nailed down to 15$... but then after thinking more (and also finally having access to Steam's storefront API) we realized that there are so many other ways we could price Iron Armada to better suit our community.

For instance... I would love to have a free version of the game available at launch. Games like Unturned have done INCREDIBLY well by allowing their players to optionally purchase the game, and support development... but still allow everyone (regardless of purchase) to still play.

I would love to have something like that for Iron Armada. However we're not currently entirely sure HOW we would implement something like this.

Steam has a limited number of ways to manage your game's pricing, and some of these methods require Valve's approval (or complicated technical requirements that need to be completed before you are able.) Because of this... we're taking our time during early access to better understand Steam's storefront API, and what pricing options we're given during release (and what effects each option will have down the road.)

In the mean-time, we have a founder's early access edition of Iron Armada available to anyone who wants to immediately access the game... and support development. However if anyone feels they would like to wait until the game is more completed until purchasing, then we entirely encourage you to do so!

Question #2 - What is currently in Iron Armada?

Everything advertised on the store page is already in the game! We do not advertise any feature, or any aspect of Iron Armada... that isn't already included in the current version.

Currently in Iron Armada there are:

• Fighters, frigates, and capital ships that each player can build themselves.
  
• Resource mining, destructible asteroids, and capture-able planets (that we want to expand upon soon!)
  
• A structured team vs team gamemode, where two sides compete to capture planets, destroy enemy ships, and harvest greater resources.
  
• Cooperative ship features, including player manned turrets, boarding other ships, salvaging derelict vessels, and capturing enemy craft.
  

Hello everyone! We're constantly updating and building Iron Armada, and we like to incorporate our community into that process! Every few weeks we like to poll our players on what feature they would like to see next! In addition to our regular updates of fixes and upgrades of course =P



What would you like to see in the next major build of Iron Armada! Help us choose our research and development tree <3

Voite here: https://strawpoll.com/3b8c3146

Singleplayer & Automated Ship Drones

Currently Iron Armada is multiplayer only! However luckily for us... it is considerably easier to make a multiplayer game singleplayer, than a singleplayer game multiplayer!

We've been working on systems that enable local singleplayer. Basically allowing the player to invisibly host and join their own private multiplayer session, without needing an internet connection!

Of course it would be pretty boring to play by yourself without anything to shoot at... so we've also been developing a series of "drone core" blocks! These blocks act as artificial intelligence computers for the ships they are attached to! Meaning singleplayer matches could include waves of drone starships to fight, salvage, and capture!

If you want singleplayer to be our next priority, vote here!
https://strawpoll.com/3b8c3146

Pressurized Ships & Airlocks

"I want to see shoot at a ship, and suffocate all the crew!"

So do we dear player... so do we.

Currently Iron Armada has a basic oxygen supply system in place... players have their own oxygen tanks, which slowly deplete with off a ship! However that isn't as much fun as suffocating your opponants to death with a few well placed shots!

This feature is actually much easier for us to implement than many players would believe! Our ship blocks already have support for "this block does or doesn't have oxygen" and flood fill mechanics, both of which are the primary pre-requisites for a proper oxygen system!

If we implement this system... don't worry, player suits will still be a thing! However players without suits will be considerably less encumbered... allowing for greater ship-command capability! This will keep a smart balance between vulnerable non-suit players, and vacuum immune suited players!

If you want oxygen and airlocks to be our next priorty, vote here!
https://strawpoll.com/3b8c3146

Armor Piercing Bullets & Explosives

Sometimes blowing up a ship isn't fun enough... sometimes you need to blow up a ship in style.

Currently Iron Armada has simple damage mechanics. You have a gun. Your enemy has a block. You shoot gun at block. Block takes damage. Done

However... I'm not sure about the rest of you, but one of my favorite shows is The Expanse... and I can't get that one scene out of my head... you know, the one with the bullets tearing through their pressurized hull?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbyQlrNBFMA

We want our battles to feel like this when Iron Armada is done.

We have already laid the ground work for an advanced ballistics and armor penetration system... allowing for a huge variety of weapon types, and ammunition combinations.

Not just rounds that pierce through enemy armor... but rounds that explode after penetration. Bunker buster bombs. Rockets. High explosive anti tank rounds. Nuclear torpedoes... and more.

To begin this, we'll need to polish up and implement our base armor piercing and area-of-effect damage functions. We already have a few prototypes completed... but we'll need to have a few focus sessions to finish implementing it into the game!

If you want advanced weapon systems implemented next, vote here!
https://strawpoll.com/3b8c3146

Upcoming tech tree features!

These first three features are only the current systems we're working on... but as development progresses, we're expecting to have votes on future roadmap features as we get closer to our full release!

Some of the upcoming features we're working on are:

• In-game VOIP, including hailing other ships, and talking with other crewmembers using positional audio.
  
• Multiplayer campaigns, including a strategic meta-game, planets with buildable factories/shipyards/defenses, and player crew "squads."
  
• A complete power management overhaul, including new systems that influence ship power, require powerline connections, and reward dedicated power management "engineering" players.
  
• Expanded ammunition systems, that allow ships to dock and replenish ammunition stocks. Also allow for "targeted" attacks that can cause secondary internal explosions within ships.
  
• Ship fuel and fuel management functionality... requiring ships to mine, process, and maintain fuel stores. Also allowing the potential for "afterburner" thrusters that consume more fuel in exchange for additional speed.
  
• A complete user interface overhaul, making the entire game much more fluid, intuitive, and streamlined.
  

Here is a current log of current known issues, these will hopefully be fixed in the next patch! However we still think its important to let you know about them.



Improper closedown

Currently (if exited improperly, such as ALT+F4) the game will not properly close down... and will be left hanging in your processes. Since Iron Armada is a Steam game, sometimes this will be seen as Iron Armada "still running" when it isn't really.

In order to fix this (on Windows) all you need to do is press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC and (if you haven't already) press "more details." From there... simply find the process labeled "Iron Armada" and right click, then select "end task."

This will be fixed in the next patch, when we include a secondary check to ensure the entire game is closed... even if exited improperly. Little things like this is why we like to test the game with our community, because we find little things like this that we would normally miss internally =P

Crash when respawning in-between rounds, or on a non-existent core

Currently when your player is killed, and you are waiting to respawn before the game has restarted... your game will crash (because your character is trying to respawn on a core that doesn't exist anymore!)

This will be fixed with the next patch as well. Since we only need to put in a function that gives the game a fallback when the core you're trying to spawn on doesn't exist anymore. Hopefully an easy fix for 3.2.1!


Server browser highlights wrong server

Currently when using the server browser, it has trouble highlighting any other server other than the first one! Do not worry however, you can still join the server you're pointing at... its only the UI that is highlighting it improperly!

Again, an easy fix for next patch! <3

Thanks so much everyone for your help so far! Finding these issues and fixing them is very important for us! If you have any questions, make sure you head to our Discord and forums to post there!

After we spend some time bug-fixing, I'll be posting our next development update which will cover new features we're working on =) and also hopefully have a community vote on which feature we should include next!

Links for our community portals:
https://forum.bluedrake42.com
https://discord.gg/ironarmada

Cheers!

~ Bluedrake42
Drakeling Labs

Iron Armada's development is open to the entire community! If you want to see something in the game, we give our entire community the tools they need to help. Here is how you can...



Contribute to our source code!

Iron Armada is a game built by what was originally a gaming community. Our group started humbly, with only a handful of gamers that decided to take matters into our own hands... and learn how to make a game. That spirit never changed, and we keep our entire development infrastructure open to our community... so that anyone can help us make Iron Armada better.

If you are interested in helping us with Iron Armada... either by creating a mod, reporting a bug, or even contributing to the core codebase... then we make that possible by visiting our public source code repository:

https://gitlab.bluedrake42.com/drakelinglabs/ironarmada

This is where all the work on our game is done. So if you are ever interested in what we have been working on lately... you can check whenever you want, and help us out whenever you want.

Help us host a server!

If you are interested in hosting a server for Iron Armada, we make our dedicated server available through the tools section of Steam. If you need help setting one up... feel free to message us on Discord, and we can lend a hand.

Iron Armada's dedicated server application identification code is 770340. If you are a system administrator and have any input on our dedicated server tool (which I guarantee we can make better) please contact us!

Help us find new talented people to help!

Finally... if you don't feel you have anything to offer Iron Armada, I guarantee you are wrong! There are always tons of ways for anyone to help us with developing the game... starting with finding talented people to make our game better!

Iron Armada is built from scratch in Java... using the LibGDX library, the free Box2D framework for physics simulation, and Artemis ODB for our EC system!

So if you really want to make a difference... spend time crawling the internet, searching the LibGDX forums, talking to Java developers, and starting up a conversation with anyone you think might be interested in helping make Iron Armada better!

As always we will continue to be active on our website, forums, and Discord. If you ever have any questions about the game, or ideas to help... make sure you spend time in those places! The ways you can help Iron Armada will constantly be growing, and changing... so watch this space to stay informed!

Links for our community portals:
https://forum.bluedrake42.com
https://discord.gg/ironarmada

Thank you for your support, and attention!

~ Bluedrake42
Drakeling Labs

Hello! This is a quick walkthrough of how to play Iron Armada!



Preface

Keep in mind that Iron Armada is still in an early state of development, and there are many things that are still being developed. One of those things currently, is our control scheme. In the future, we are planning to implement flexible (and more standard) customizeable control mapping, in-game tutorials, and more intuitive default control schemes.

Our overall goal is to keep Iron Armada's control scheme as simple as possible... but allow the mechanics they control allow for the deep gameplay depth we're all expecting. This means that many of the current controls are placeholder, and will likely be phased out (or changed) as development progresses.

Basic controls

Iron Armada has a centralized control scheme for movement, both when piloting a ship... and when walking as a crewman (or infantryman.)

Basic controls for infantry are as follows:

E - Interact (used for entering cockpits, entering turrets, picking up items, using trade menus, and more)

T - Toggle power. Can be used to switch any friendly powered block on or off. Cannot be used on enemy ships.

W - Forward
A - Backward
S - Left
D - Right

Spacebar - Use your jetpack, and board (or de-board) ships.

Scroll wheel - Zoom your camera in or out.

Right click - Aim weapon, or deconstruct (when holding a repair tool)
Left click - Fire weapon, or repair (when holding a repair tool)

When piloting a ship, the onboard ship computer will automatically calculate which thrusters best translate to your command. Some players may not realize this... but all current ships operate on a basic "fly by wire" system (that we plan to expand) that powers ship controls.

Basic controls for piloting ships (or piloting turrets) are as follows:

E - Stop piloting ship, and exit the cockpit.

T - Toggle power remotely. When in a cockpit, a pilot can remotely power on or off any friendly block attached to the ship... regardless of distance.

W - Thrust forward
A - Thrust backward
S - Move left
D - Move right

Spacebar - Toggle strafing mode (while held)

Scroll wheel - Zoom your camera in or out. Zooming out while piloting a ship gives you access to the command map.

Right click - Aim
Left click - Fire all pilot-controlled weapons

Basic gameplay

Currently the primary gamemode for Iron Armada is an objective based, simple, team versus team gamemode. In the future we will continue updating this gamemode to be considerably more in-depth, as well as adding new modes (including singleplayer) that allow servers (and singleplayer players) to explore much more complex (and interesting) ways to play Iron Armada.

Ship core - These ship cores are the primary objectives of the game. These are where you purchase ship parts from, where you sell ship salvage for credits, and where you equip new infantry classes. A team is victorious when it destroys all cores owned by the enemy team.

Planets - Planets are capturable objectives that generate resources for the conquering team. Different planets generate different amounts of resources. We're hoping to considerably expand upon planetary gameplay in the future.

Asteroids - Asteroids are inert structures on the battlefield that can be salvaged (by any team) for resources.

Classes - Infantry classes can be equipped at medical bays and ship cores. There are currently three different classes, that are all subject to change.

• Pilot - Can pilot ships, build parts, repair parts, salvage parts, and man turrets.
  
• Marine - Has an assault rifle. Used for boarding enemy ships. Cannot pilot ships. Cannot build parts. Cannot salvage parts.
  
• Miner - Has a drill. Can salvage ship parts for credits, without needing to sell them at a ship factory (or core.) Cannot pilot ships. Cannot build parts.