Stratus: Battle for the Sky
Workshop Tabs separated and sun cannons being readied
Rain Workshop now is 100% working with integration of tech research from rain workshop to the production tab..
SUN CANNON'S
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JluXoBkBzh4&feature=youtu.be
In readying the new build we have redone the old unity3D animations we did before and have now updated from scratch the animations so they no longer stutter between clips and now are smooth between transitions..
The below youtube video show testing of the animations between different states in preparation to linking them into the behavior tree for the cannon unit for transitioning through states.
https://youtu.be/tMDuEdeCZDc
We are also finalizing implementng the healthbar systems and resource bars so expect those to be fully implemented in the coming update.
Stratus: Battle for the sky sun attack
Those who played the older unity build will remember the issue had with just about all attack units. Often not attacking or to the point of igoring newly constructed enemy units.. The new attack system under unreal4 has better attack and updating of targets for structure and also removing destroyed enemy units so that units do not get stuck in a loop attacking empty space were enemy no longer is..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHicl1i9U2c&feature=youtu.be
Stratus: Battle for the sky Island map creation pack ready
https://youtu.be/G0J7mkdcLoY
With the Island pack completed we are turning attention now to finalizing and debugging the workshop multi tab window for tech production and will then once that is fixed will be releasing the new steam build.
We are excited to see how the new build runs for people with the new mesh island prefabs and how the new elements also added improve game-play mechanics..
Moving forwards beyond this coming release. we will be focusing on combat and getting player joining and game hosting working under unreal4..
Stratus: Battle for the sky Island prefab packs nearly completed
We have now just about completed the first complete island prefabs, the new islands have been tested to ensure collision and building construction work, along with snapping bridge to edge placement.
We are just finishing up the island prefabs by adding vegetation on the undersides with hanging Vines, we will also be adding in the edge farms that block bridge placement.
World Island prefabricated islands
Stratus: Battle for the sky update video
New Islands are configured to be optimized and use instanced meshes to allow for populating of multiple islands on the world map without affecting speed.
HomeIsland-1 is now configured with its side detail edging meshes, now starting work on finishing adding the side detailing meshes to the 12 smaller island prefabs.
The 12 smaller islands are modeled off the shape of the old netstorm islands and also modeled to fit the world grid space for easy snapping to world grid...
https://youtu.be/5XXpHAmuCQ8
More work on readying Islands
The new prefabs have been brought into UE4 and tested to make sure they align and work proper in game.
Texturing and final adjustments now being done be before the final versions will be brought in and configured with island collision and setting for allowing bridging and construction on..
The new prefab islands also allow for easier implementing of user map editor to allow creation of maps and missions.
the next update to be rolled out will have the first 10 testing prefab islands and and moving forward we will be expanding the variations of the floating island prefab so that maps can be populated with random islands.
Also over the weekend we put in extra time on working on tweaking a final bug that was with the workshop tech put into production and are just finishing last remaining debugging then will be rolling out the new early access development build.
This build will have the following.
1. Sound and game option menu's
2. Fully implemented multi tab production bars.
3. Prefab islands now places and implemented on world map for testing..
Moving beyond this the next systems that will be the main focus are.
1. Networking.
2. Price assigning for units and structures from the resource systems
3. AI for testing AI for turrets and structure to allow further testing of units and creating maps for players to learn the elements of Stratus...
Stratus: Battle for the sky Gridded Islands
Old home island in Stratus:Battle for the sky and new test mesh showing single prefab island with underside.. Texture still to be set and edge farms and vines.. but island is setup to use adjustable textures.
The new home island is also properly setup for UE4 Grid scaling, now bridges can place and link up on island edges no mater where island is placed on map so that island shapes are always able to link up.
We are aiming to have 4 home island prefabs ready and 10 smaller islands for placing on world maps by the middle of this week. this will be setting stage for having islands for testing AI on and also test map for Multiplayer and setting stage for getting networking implemented so players can start actively playing again under the new engine.
Stratus: Battle for the sky Unreal4 build moving a long
Over the past few days we have been busy working on implementing multi-tab production tabs for the tech production bar on left hand of screen..
Before in prior test builds starting with the unreal4 engine we were limited to just the rain faction tab that had been configured as the only build tab once tech was put into production from workshop..
Now using the new array button system for each tab the bar is populated with the icons buttons that go for each tabs automatically and button in production bar update with buttons for which tab is currently active.. IE rain unit production icons populate the build tab for rain and sun units now are auto populated to the sun tab..
This new tab system also sets the stage for bringing in the workshops for Sun and wind to be usable in coming builds.
Also in the process of being implemented are user options control for setting the following settings..
Audio: music, ambient, sound volume.
Key Binding: for quick bridge placement and and unit production slot selection... also setting keys for camera controls.
Quick zoom to priest
new control binding setting is adjustable so more options can be added for key binding of other commands.
Once we finish getting the new options the steam build will be updated with new build for testing..
Stratus: Battle for the sky unreal4 developer testing build uploaded.
Players should be able to load up single player option and load into map and test building construction and resource collection on home island along with putting tech into production from rain workshop and try the new player camera controls which should be much smoother.
Note! the current build on steam is currently only for Windows, but we are getting Mac and Linux builds ready..
We are also in process of working with the art teams and studios and will be readying the priest designs for Wind, Rain and Thunder factions to fill out the concepts we already have for the Sun priest and early wind priest concepts.