Sprocket

Attachable plate structures

Fixes

• Plate joint weld marks are now perfectly aligned.
  
• Fixed a common crash when deleting faces on smoothed plate structures.
  
• Fixed incorrect plate thickening causing unsightly triangles on smoothed plates.
  
• Cannon bores no longer receive decals.
  
• Rail and straight antennas are now able to be placed again.
  
• Freeform extrude and merge no longer resets thickness on the affected faces.
  
• Plate structures now correctly save and load isolated edges with no connected plates.
  
• Extruding a single point now correctly connects the new point with the original point with an edge.
  
• Plate structures no longer have interlocking plate textures on edges which aren't connected to another plate.
  
• General stability improvements.
  

Changes

• Freeform points are now drawn x2 smaller.
  
• Reduced z-fighting/flickering on certain plate thickening cases.
  
• The refocus hotkey now focuses on the centre of all selected freeform points/faces/edges, instead of on the origin of the structure.
  
• Significantly reduced the download size of future updates.
  
• You can now select face corners in freeform. This allows precise control over how thickening behaves.
  
  
• Freeform fill can now be done with 2 points selected to form an edge between them.
  
• Dropdowns now display up to 10 options at once.
  

Additions

• Added addon plate structures.
  
• Added duplicate action to duplicate all selected freeform geometry. (Shift+D by default)
  
• Edges can now be marked as welded, allowing them to ignore the smoothing angle threshold.
  
  

Fixes

• Fixed undo breaking under a specific combination of powertrain layout edit actions.
  
• Fixed a cause of freeform splits causing plate structures to become corrupt and break.
  
• Fixed transmission selection hitboxes being unpredictable.
  
• Fixed incorrect shadowing on transmissions. Particularly noticeable on large transmissions.
  
• Snap to centre is now disabled when placing on anything but plate structures. Fixes mirroring issues when placing on fenders and cannon barrels.
  

Changes

• All driveshaft edits now support mirroring.
  
• Transmission sizes are now more realistic and less extreme.
  
• Driveshaft diameters now scale with the maximum amount of torque expected to be run through them. Allows small engines to have smaller drive shafts.
  
• Driveshafts now have mass.
  
• You can now split/dissolve more than one driveshaft/junction at once.
  
• The resize tool can now be used to change the positions of powertrain parts. It behaves similarly to the resize tool in freeform.
  
• Splitting a driveshaft now disables autopositioning for the created junction.
  
• The edit GUI is now displayed for all selected powertrain components. Allows you to edit the engine and transmission simultaneously if you have them both selected.
  
• Driveshaft splitting default hotkey binding changed from 'X' to 'K' to avoid conflict with the symmetry hotkey.
  
• Engines are no longer automatically flipped depending on the location of their output.
  
• Loaders now travel 25% slower.
  
• Loader one handed pickup time changed from 0.25 to 0.5 seconds.
  
• Loader two handed pickup time changed from 0.5 to 1 second.
  
• Loaders now ram 50% slower by hand.
  
• Loaders now ram 75% slower using a crane.
  

Optimizations

• Optimized rendering of transmission models.
  

Reload time rework

• One hand - The loader can move the shell from rack to breech using one hand. Having a free hand allows faster pickup and ram times.
  
• Two hand - The loader requires both hands to lift the shell from the rack to the breech.
  
• Two piece - The loader requires both hands to lift the projectile or the propellant. They'll have to make two trips to the rack.
  This is a quick functionality-only implementation and a more in-depth two piece ammunition system is planned.
  
• Crane - The loader will need to use mechanical assistance to move the shell from rack to breech. Requires a longer pickup time and travel speed is much slower.
  This is a placeholder that lets you reload large cannons until multiple loader assignment to cannons is ready.
  

Fixes

• Fixed factions created in 0.2.x not saving vehicle preview icons with designs.
  
• Fixed the predicted cannon load time in editor not matching the resulting load time outside of the editor.
  
• Fixed duplicated fuel tanks using the same blueprint. Sometimes causing them to change shape when loading in.
  
• Disabled cannon counterweight influence on breech size. A stopgap until counterweights are replaced entirely in 0.2 by simply attaching heavy parts to cannons.
  
• Wheel arrays now have a minimum of 1 wheel. Setting their length to the minimum would result in no wheels, which isn't supported.
  
• Gun layers can now move the cannon along the azimuth and elevation axes simultaneously.
  
• General stability improvements.
  

Changes

• Reworked breech height and length. Breeches are now x2 shorter and their length is more tied to calibre.
  
• Restored all 0.127 part scale limits.
  
• Headlamp and tail-light parts can now be selected for placement again.
  
• The required shell load space behind the breech is no longer obstructed by crew members.
  

• Re-enabled engine design page selection, allowing you to switch between basic and advanced modes again.
  
• You can no longer select fixed wheel mounts to use for roadwheels. This wasn't functional and simply deleted your roadwheels.
  
• Fixed cannons not fully resetting when returning to the editor.
  
• Fixed factions created in 0.2.0 being unable to save and load blueprints.
  
• Fixed poor shading of box fuel tanks.
  
• Fixed flipped suspension arm models, causing a gap between the axle and the suspension arm.
  
• Fixed unexpected driveshafts appearing with loaded vehicles.
  
• Undoing deletion of a turret now correctly restores the turret's plate structure.
  
• Fixed toggling between move/rotate/resize modes sometimes not updating the tool gizmo.
  
• Fixed the left sided powertrain output being inverted on vehicle load.
  
• 50 Cals, MG34s, Crusader MG turrets and fuel ports are now available to place again.
  

Additions

• Added turret baskets.
  
• Duplicate and move now applies to every selected part, instead of only the last selected.
  
• All parts attached to a part will now move when it is moved.
  
• Parts can now be placed on cannon barrels.
  
• Parts can now be moved on planes, instead of purely on single axes.
  
• Rotation sensitivity can now be halved while placing parts by holding shift. With snapping enabled, this will half the snapping angle.
  
• Rotation snapping can now be toggled by holding control. If rotation snapping is on by default, holding control will disable snapping.
  
• Part repositioning toggle is now per compartment and is saved across loads.
  
• Part move, rotate and resize can now be started using the same hotkeys as when editing points in freeform.
  
• Freeform can now mirror deletions, fills and extrusions.
  
• Added colour variation on vehicle dirt.
  
• Added paint colour variation. Particularly noticeable on flat paint, which is no longer one solid colour.
  
• Suspension arm length can now be edited.
  
• Track length and width syncing to the hull can now be manually toggled.
  
• Track wheel array total length can now be manually set.
  
• Track wheel grouping can now have an offset. Letting you layout wheels like [oo ooo o] instead of being limited to [ooo ooo].
  
• Cannons can now be assigned to more than one firegroup.
  
• You can now hold the group select key (Ctrl by default) to select an entire plate in freeform.
  
• Added ability to switch parts in-place by selecting the desired parts and picking a different variant. Only works on certain part types (side skirts, plates, fenders, cupolas and exhausts)
  

Changes

• Freeform has been rewritten from the ground up.
  
• Open-topped vehicles are now possible. The requirement to have compartments fully sealed is no longer necessary and has been removed.
  
• Turrets now have a hole in the turret ring.
  
• Generated hulls now generate a hole in the top, for turret placement.
  
• Ammo racks can now be extended lengthways.
  
• Ammo rack obstruction is now based on the area you allocate, instead of the shells themselves. Allowing you to make changes to shell size without invalidating all of your ammo racks.
  
• Adjusting turret ring height no moves all parts, regardless of whether they're picked up by part repositioning. This includes freeform turrets.
  
• Cannons are now placed independently from mantlets. Though they wont be able to move unless they're placed on a mantlet. Multiple cannons can be placed on each mantlet now.
  
• Cannons can now be selected by right clicking on their barrel.
  
• Rewrote input handling. Should make every input more predictable across the editor.
  
• Crew roles are now assigned by assigning parts to operate, instead of setting the role and then configuring it.
  
• The vehicle editor to a more point and click to edit style of navigation, instead of navigating through tabs. e.g. Selecting a cannon will enter the cannon editor.
  
• Cannon blueprints are no longer deleted if no cannon is using them, they'll stick around until the designer is restarted or a new design is started/loaded.
  
• Collision detection between parts is now much more accurate and responsive.
  
• Cannon rotation constraints are now set manually. This then creates an area of space required to be clear for the set rotation range.
  
• Made edges half as thin on designer GUI overlays.
  
• Overlays are now switched via buttons on the bottom right of the screen, instead of a dropdown.
  
• All tabs can now be activated by dragging the pointer over them while the left mouse button is pressed.
  
• The vehicle editor now goes through a more thorough reload when changing designs and eras. This increases general stability.
  
• Removed slider to recess cannons into the mantlet, as this can now be done via the move tool.
  
• Track design options are now only displayed for the selected track part, so you wont have to search through a long list of track options anymore.
  
• Track belts now adjust track segment length slightly when belts are generated, allowing belts to fit together perfectly, without a non-aligned belt segment near the rearmost roadwheel.
  
• Track wheels are now moved using the placement tools, like every other part.
  
• Wheels now receive unique paint mapping, so they'll appear less repetitive.
  
• Paint mapping is now updated while placing parts, instead of only updating when the part is placed. This isn't really necessary but it looks cool.
  
• Standardized fender dimensions, so switching between fender variants shouldn't require you to rescale them.
  
• Part mirroring is no longer detected by their positions, but by a solid link. Meaning if they get out of alignment, moving them with mirroring enabled will re-align them.
  
• Disabling mirroring now disables mirroring when moving parts via the move tools. Instead of only disabling mirroring during placement.
  
• Autosaved designs now preserve their design name, instead of renaming the vehicle to 'Autosave'.
  
• Improved responsiveness of the move placement tool and generated compartment click & drag, removing the disconnect from the part and the cursor.
  
• .blueprintMeta files are no longer necessary and wont be created for new designs.
  
• Undo redo has had a complete rewrite. It should be fully reliable now.
  
• Click and drag editing of compartments can now be cancelled by right clicking.
  
• Made freeform vertex and edge selection more predictable and responsive.
  
• Freeform snapping is now enabled by default, with the default precision changed to 1mm. Units changed from metres to millimetres.
  
• More grime is now added closer to the ground.
  
• The hotkey to exit and enter the vehicle editor can now be rebound separately.
  
• Remodelled and retextured the spoked wheel to bring it up to standard with the rest of the game.
  
• On axles with more than one wheel, the inner-most wheel will now face inwards.
  
• Changing suspension arm angle and length now changes the suspension position, instead of the wheel positions.
  
• Exhaust visual effect reworked to plume more and linger longer.
  
• The number keys are now used to switch between editor overlays.
  
• Message logs now have a solid shadow background, instead of a blurred one.
  
• LOS armour plate thickness is now more realistic and is more accurate on plate corners and sides.
  
• Edges are now permanently visible when editing in freeform.
  
• Part obstruction has been removed for all decorative parts.
  
• Removed the scale rod from sandboxes as correct vehicle scale is now enforced.
  
• Rotated flat sandbox sky 180 degrees and reduced contrast to brighten dark areas.
  
• Decal URL input field character limit raised from 64 to 2048.
  
• Reworked freeform slope tool to use a linear input instead of a radial one. It now acts like dragging a glacis on generated compartments.
  

Fixes

• Resize tool visual gizmo now matches resize direction when global space is enabled.
  
• Global rotation with the rotation tool is now possible.
  
• Fixed camera clipping into certain cupolas when zoomed into commander first person.
  
• Fixed alignment of the Churchill VII front and midsection fenders.
  
• Fixed a memory leak that occurred when saving designs.
  
• Improved freeform detection of mirrored faces.
  
• Fixed camouflage misalignment on scaled parts.
  
• Mirrored non-planar plates will now be perfectly symmetrical across the vehicle. Also prevents some cases of part auto-repositioning breaking part symmetry.
  

Optimizations

• Custom paintjobs and decals now load over time, instead of all at once.
  
• Cannons now have lower levels of detail generated, speeding up their rendering when far away.
  
• Improved speed of track belt generation.
  
• Optimized vehicle shader paint coordinate calculation.
  
• Optimized many models.
  

Open Alpha

• The vehicle editor including geometric internals and all of its rewrites.
  
• Standard sandbox testing of vehicles, excluding enemies to fire at.
  

• Backwards compatibility - Your old designs wont be usable in the alpha.
  
• Tank combat - The new damage model isn't quite ready yet.
  
• Enemy tanks - AI isn't fully functional.
  
• Scenarios - Dependent on tank combat and enemy tanks.
  
• Rivets - I'm replacing the tedious rivet placement with a more enjoyable and optimized system that's integrated with freeform. Including an automatic rivet generator made possible with the freeform rewrite.
  
• Individual component saving and loading - This is being replaced with a new system which also lets you save multiple regular parts, preserving their structure. Allowing things like particular interior layouts to be reused across designs.
  
• Several parts - HVSS, spare tracks and spare wheels.
  
• Fender generation - To be brought over to 0.2 with a more flexible system.
  
• Clutch braking powertrain
  

Progress

• Reversable suspension arms and editable suspension arm length. Not currently applicable to single arms but the potential is all there.
  
  
• All parts are now able to be mirrored. You can select multiple parts and hit 'F' to manually flip them and disable future auto-flipping.
  
  
• Holding control while rotating parts toggles snapping.
  
• Moving a part will now move all parts attached to it. Useful for parts on fenders.
  
• The part repositioning and mirror toggle is now per-compartment and is saved with them.
  
• Freeform delete, fill and extrude actions now support mirroring.
  
• Track wheel grouping can now have an offset.
  
  
• Holding control while selecting in freeform will now select entire plates.
  
• Ammo racks are now extendable lengthwise.
  
  
• Overlays are now toggled between via buttons instead of a dropdown. They're hotkeyed via the number keys now.
  
  
• Exhaust effects have received a makeover.
  
  
• Armour plate thickness is now visible in exterior view:
  
  
• Freeform edges are now permanently visible when editing faces and edges.
  

Placeholder models removed

Crew Role Reworks

Part File-Definitions

• It's a large step towards part mod support. All part limits are defined here, so you can change the limits of a part if you disagree with it, though your changes might get reverted with a game update.
  You can even define your own parts - which isn't very useful until you can add custom models, textures and behaviour.
  
• They let me switch out the code associated with each part behaviour much more easily. The part simply defines a 'model' and doesn't care how it's implemented.
  
• Parts can be tweaked/fixed without having to recompile the game.
  

Open Compartments and Physical Holes

Dirt closer to the ground

Freeform Rework

• Inverted faces are a thing of the past. The invert button will remain so you can flip which side of the face thickness is added on to.
  
• Point and edge selection have been perfected. These should now behave as consistently as you'd expect.
  
• Part repositioning is now handled in a way which completely stops parts jumping around unexpectedly during certain combinations of operations.
  
• Undo redo has been perfected. Conversion from a generated design to freeform can now be perfectly undone. This allows the removal of the confirmation prompt and the 'Back to generated' action, as the undo button can be used instead. This perfection also applies to undo for part place and movement, where a few major issues spoiled its reliability.
  

Plate Thickness

Automatically Generated Rivets

Expanding the Team

What is taking so long?

Part repositioning

Sloped return rollers

Multiple paint jobs

Paint job tinting

Undo/redo rewrite

Belt collision models

1. Moving each segment in the track, every frame. Though this is actually done quite quickly thanks to some data orientated programming, which CPUs love.
   
2. A box each segment takes up in the world is calculated every frame (with expensive maths), used to tell whether a segment is on screen and should be rendered. This is multi-threaded well but is another punch to PCs with lower end CPUs. It'd obviously be far more efficient to calculate a single box of all segments, though unfortunately, it's an engine constraint.
   
3. Finally, the cost to render each triangle on each segment, up to 400 per segment at the highest quality. Hence why track belts in Sprocket currently make up about half of all triangles used to render a vehicle.