Devlog #23

Hostile Mars

Hostile Mars is a factory-building game focused on combat! Explore an open world and discover new tech to unlock powerful weapons and structures. Create efficient supply chains using delivery bots. Salvage destroyed enemies for resources. Design your base to withstand increasing waves of enemies!

[img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38753232/58028238e2aa7cc57c380c8eb49f4d47ca6c1b4a.jpg[/img] Welcome to another edition of the Hostile Mars dev log! Going forward, you can anticipate a monthly dev log update, scheduled for the first of each month. We've got a wealth of exciting updates to share, including a new art direction, innovative gameplay mechanics, and much more! [h1]DEVELOPMENT[/h1] [h2]Player Ability System[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38753232/5f67d06e5b4df5949eda4c3ebad9ea3097de39fb.gif[/img] We are in the process of experimenting with various abilities and reimagining the skill tree associated with player backpacks, which effectively function as a class system. We'll provide more information as we finalize the details regarding progression and ability configurations. [h2]Bot Types System[/h2] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38753232/bf97e768f611310429a6ecc73c02e1a2a92c9ccf.gif[/img] The hover bot has been brought to the new 100% physics-based system as well. We were able to find an efficient and modular way to add more specific behaviors to each bot type separately. Previously this was really complex as all bots shared the same code, which meant many edge cases where the behavior of one bot could affect another and it was generally slower to work with, this is no longer the case! In the future, this will allow us to have more complex enemies with major differences much more easily. [h2][b]Movement Flow Improvements[/b][/h2] [previewyoutube=lR7UZRqeros;full][/previewyoutube] Continuing work on the revamped enemy system, we’ve been trying to improve the flow of massive amounts of enemies through mazes. One work-in-progress attempt is to use local avoidance to help reduce congestion around corners, as you can see from the sped-up clip the bottom version clears all turns significantly faster. However, this is costly on performance and introduces a lot of meandering around instead of a clean queue, so this will continue to be improved upon until big groups are able to take corners properly. [h2]Helping Bots Get Unstuck[/h2] [previewyoutube=GGYhzBk6Itk;full][/previewyoutube] On that same trend, we’ve also been experimenting with ways to help bots get unstuck, they previously requested a new path every few seconds, which did work but became ineffective at scale and didn’t catch all cases where the path couldn’t be followed. So we’re now detecting when an agent’s velocity stays under a certain threshold for long enough to trigger the path and a wall avoidance behavior to steer clear of them. While it still sometimes takes a few tries for a bot to go around an obstacle they so far have always succeeded in recovering from getting stuck. This should also help bots get stuck in the environment. [h2]Automation System[/h2] We're enhancing the automation system for speed, efficiency, and player clarity. Agents now strictly follow the visualizer's path, and a visible package indicates when the delivery bot carries items. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38753232/ea4de412351ef73ca7c94d1eb865a22d60467c4d.gif[/img] [h2]Integrating Panels into Build Mode[/h2] An important task this month was to improve the players' experience creating their base's defenses. The first step in improving this experience was to unify the way players placed objects in the world by taking the old method used to place walls, floors, and slopes, and bringing that into the new build menu. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38753232/37d67a35479387df7c7733832026d75fade8f0db.gif[/img] The second step was to give the player the ability to remove placed items without having to leave the build mode. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38753232/0754f57853bdddcf1005635f1c68ac0a36a48e67.gif[/img] [h2]New Item Data Architecture[/h2] A big backend task we had was to improve the architecture surrounding item data. We wanted a system where items could have unique attributes that represented data required for that item to interact with various systems in the game. This would allow us to represent item data using a composition-based approach instead of trying to cover all unique possibilities using inheritance. Along with this, we improved on our editor tooling allowing us to streamline adjusting item data and the creation of new items. [h2]Objective System Quality of Life Adjustments[/h2] There were a few quality-of-life adjustments made to the objective system mentioned in the last devlog. This includes some improvements to the data that some objectives required that help reduce the amount of work we would need to do if aspects of the objective were to change. Visually, we also opted to hide additional objective step information when said step is not active. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38753232/5ea7d4e2c88d5dc8e56ee37997cc906e116dfbad.gif[/img] [h1]ART[/h1] In the realm of art, our team has delved into diverse aspects, ranging from conceptualizing adversaries to designing the core base and its encompassing environment. Currently, we're refining a work-in-progress depiction of a downed satellite, which players will encounter during their exploration journeys: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38753232/dd02bbeee2b6752e16e087f49e2f82595ce4c228.jpg[/img] We've undertaken an update to some of the cliffs and rock formations in our environment, ensuring a more refined look: [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38753232/a0f18d32ce88c67e7bcd5f3f7cb6183522f8a155.jpg[/img] Furthermore, certain pickups and crates have been revisited for a fresh redesign. As players explore, they'll come across an array of props — just a glimpse into the intricate details that will populate both the base and the broader world. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38753232/5a01d3fb14803fe2c8d78ced68a6a76b36d70afa.gif[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38753232/fac54eea6ec2b51bbe51c58cdc287e5e8128dce3.jpg[/img] Please note that the presented concept art and in-engine previews are works in progress and do not depict the final designs. Additionally, our team is in the process of blocking out and brainstorming new variations for our adversaries, adding depth and diversity to the challenges players will face. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38753232/9c206898d445af4dcde181d6c9a9a6941fd37dd3.png[/img] That's it for this dev log. Moving forward you can expect a new one on the first of each month! If you want to keep up with development, join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/Xd88eF8Teg Take Care, -HM Team