Hi everyone, it's been a few weeks, more than that even!, shame on me... An unusually long time since updates. And unless you've been dipping into the public beta here on steam (via game properties/betas). But it's time to update some stuff on the main branch, that's been tested well enough and also solves some major issues with performance, and a ton of QoL and content features you all deserve to play with. Now there are some features in this update that will make you go hmmmmmm.. Tomas are you sure this is gonna fit that store description.. Well.. I'm not saying much for now.. But big things are coming to Shipshaper, bigger even than on the Beta. And they require a proper big celebration when the time is right. But lets not diss this update cuz it's massive!!!!!
Lets be honest, them gunports are the business, I just wish they would do something more... dunno what...tho.. I'm stuck..... New features
Infinite lights system. The old light system got replaced with some fancy height sliced lightmap splatting.. Basically infinite lights,, beware some builds may a full on Vegas after this update. Heck even spotlights cast lights. And this has also been applied to the environment, reportedly performance has massively improved for some people.. (old system was junk..pretty junk..but junk) .
Rotating guns. In world view your guns follow the mouse, we all knew this needed to be done.. And I keep forgetting what else guns should do.. no matter. Nobody reads these lists anyway, and I'll forget again tomorrow..
Broadsides, these now have hatches that open and the gun rolls out, deck guns haven't been given this treatment but it's on the list. broadsides to open and close in the world based on your cursor.. but also if you make them too low they will close to prevent flooding
Gun arcs. Hover a gun while building to see where it can turn and fire. Yeh I have no idea what this could be used for.. But it looks cool and scientific.... And even better that its accurate portrayal of the gun's traversal.. I have no Idea why I did that ...
Hover a gun while building to see where it can turn and fire.
Superstructures, emplacements, other guns and rails block the arc. Masts don't.
Horns and war drums.
Press H or use the horn button to sound them.
Place them on your ship, then press H or the horn button in world view.
They sound one after another from bow to stern.
Stretch a horn for a deeper note, scale it up to make it louder
Yes you can make your own warcall..
Sail flutter. Sails flutter when they lose the wind and while furling or unfurling. Cuz it looks cool.
Hull material. Wood, metal or composite, worked out from your planking and rivets. It changes weight and speed and shows in the ship stats.
Wind shadow. Sailing downwind of another ship's sails takes the wind out of yours.
Keel Items category in the Item Library, with the keel line highlighted while placing.
Keels go on the keel line under the hull and only matter with the stabilizer off. They also raise your stability rating in the ship stats. Basically they add weight but allow your tallest ships to stay upright.
Ballast keel. Heavy weight placed low. The ship sits deeper but can carry much more weight up top before it capsizes.
Keel fin. Lowers the center of gravity without adding much weight, and steadies the ship against rolling.
Twin keel. Two fins, twice the effect. or triple, stretch it out, you can even rotate em for a nice wing design.
A bigger keel does more. Scale or stretch it to make it stronger but it becomes heavier
Undo rewritten, it now catches every change.
Finally more localization got back from the translation, still not complete cuz I seem to make more stuff than can be transalated at speed.;)
The camera now can zoom out further, go up further and pressing space in world mode hides and unhides the UI, but esc will exit the world mode if you get lost.
New parts
Tirpitz smokestack and large smokestack
Side vent
Gallery superstructure
Ironclad lowboard and ironclad side gunport hull parts
Ironclad gunport side item
Keel ballast, keel fin and twin keel
Arch, wave and two crossbeam rails
Pirate square sail
Rangefinder, two styles
Ship horns, two styles
War drum
Water
Improved wake system. Ships push a bow wave and leave a V-shaped wake that spreads, bounces off rocks and coastlines and rocks other ships.
Wakes grow with speed, and stopped ships leave calm water.
Hulls throw spray as they cut through the water.
Dynamic ocean. Waves build up into surf along the shores.
The sea no longer cuts through your deck, the water settles around the hull.
Diving and sinking ships leave almost no wake.
Smoother ocean reflections.
Distant water uses less detail for better performance.
Physics
Physics and the full physics system got an insane amount of work done, it is really quite realistic. You will find that building cruisers with more than 4 triple batteries is going to require actual work. Guns are heavy and require big wide gun platforms. Luckily A lot of this is working for Easy Physics as well, you just don't sink...
Weight. Every part weighs something, based on its size and type. Heavy parts up high make a ship top-heavy, while weight below the waterline steadies it. Guns are the heaviest by far. Dunno why.. Even broadsides.. So beware of gun packing.
Hull material. Wooden hulls are lighter and faster, metal hulls heavier.
Hull slenderness. A long, narrow underwater hull reaches a higher top speed. A short, fat hull hits its limit no matter how many engines you add. Steep and blunt sections along its length are also counted.
Sails. Each sail counts with its real area, angle and type. Square sails are best running downwind, fore-and-aft sails across the wind. Where your sails sit along the hull affects how the ship steers.
Engines. Engines, boilers and smokestacks power your propellers and paddle wheels. Sails and engines don't add up, the stronger of the two drives the ship. Except in easy physics, you want 50 paddle wheels to make it race.. you can.
Heel. Ships lean in turns depending on their hull shape. Low, wide ships lean less. Wind heel follows how much sail is set.
Stability. Centre of gravity, list, trim and deck height all count. With the stabilizer off, a top-heavy ship can capsize and a low deck can flood.
Keels. See below.
Collisions. Ships collide with their real hull shape and push each other based on mass. Light ships slide off a heavy bow.
Ships lose drive and their sails go slack while pressed against rocks or other ships.
Fixes
Mirrored lettering read backwards on the starboard side.
Mirrored emplacements could build incorrectly.
Mirrored side items rotated the wrong way when dragged.
Clicking a sail could grab the mast instead.
Rails placed from the Item Library could all snap onto one turret.
The Item Library stayed up over the help screen.
Emplacements floated beside a narrower superstructure stacked on another.
Side items on some superstructures shifted when loading a ship.
Furled sails could flip when the ship heeled.
Gun settings could land on the wrong gun after loading a ship.
Side items can take the colour of the surface they sit on.
Sideways scale handle on some superstructures, emplacements and deck items.
Handles light up on hover, and rotate handles show an arc.
Hover text explains handles, hull nodes and mast icons.
World view buttons fade out in groups when not in use.
And the demo has also been updated!
Don't forget to follow me on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/developer/TomasSala/ (it's whispered if you get ten thousand followers, you receive a cake made from the soul of AAA)