Progress Report - June 12th, 2024

My focus has been getting the game to the point where I’d be happy to make this page public. That means that folks must be able to effectively navigate the solar system. So, I have been working on a system map that I’ve become pretty proud of.

That’s right, a 3D Solar system needs a 3D map.

I’m fixing up the waypoint system so that you can navigate to different points if interest in the system. Part of that means I have to add points of interest. Meet the first solar system body to actually have a model in the game, Ceres!

It’s being rendered at a realistic scale, with textures made from actual NASA imagery. I’m super excited about this!

Realistic points of interest also require, uh, actually being able to get to them within a few years. Right this moment, the shuttle only has a maximum speed of one hundred meters per second, and this Solar system has a realistic scale. So another one of my goals for this week is to implement a faster-than-light warping system. You’re going to be doing that a lot, so I’m trying to find a balance between something engaging and maybe a little challenging, but not too difficult. I’m looking for something between No Man’s Sky travel between planets and Elite Dangerous’s Super Cruise.

Lastly, I’ve put together a little title screen for the game. The game needs one, and Alana and I had a vision for it, so I thought I’d try a rough draft. It turned out looking better than I expected.

These changes are now available in the nightly build.