Ahoy ShipShapers!
I hope you've been enjoying preparing your creations for the weekly challenge that was mentioned by Wired Productions yesterday - but today we want to tell you about the first proper major update to ShipShaper. This has been a mad dash all week to get a lot of your feedback integrated, while having a ton of fun with the enhanced physics I added last week and just bringing that to the next level. If you're up for a 40 minute rant on how this Early Access Is going to run (chaotically with a lot of player involvement and lots of development spurts), check out this video.
THE SQUADRONS UPDATE
Command a line formation, ram enemies, dive beneath the waves, massive QoL updates, new parts , new physics. A ton of stuff.
So basically the new full physics mode added earlier has started a mad dash to improve it and add much needed depth to the world sandbox. you can now have stuff to do and have a much more brutal and accurate simulation of your ship. Make a sailship too sharp and you might need to be careful not to keel it over in a tight tack. But there is a lot more, diving, color theme saving, item alignment snaps.. tons of stuff you have requested.. And we are only in week 2!! (I will be taking a few days off to rest up tho, its been mental)
Here is the full list:
SQUADRONS & WORLD MODE
Added squadron button to add more ships
Added AI ship pathfinding
Added intra-ship physics for ramming
After adding diving rudders you can get a dive and surface button in world mode
Added audio to engine and sailing ships in world mode
Turrets go to neutral in world mode
Prevented performance issues in going to world mode
Moved world mode buttons down
SHIP PHYSICS
Engine parts now affect the weight of the ship
Funnels/smokestacks affect the load of the ships in full physics
The scale of guns, funnels, engine parts etc. adds to the ship's physics load
Added steam power engine boost parts that increase engine power, deck boilers and haystacks.
Funnels also boost engine power
Leeboards and diving rudders stabilize ship roll, the deeper the stronger, the larger the stronger
Fixed sprits and masts adapting the ship hull physics measurements
Fixed that guns are treated as point weights acting on the hull, so rotation is irrelevant
Ship speed is now controlled by two speed telegraphs, one for engines one for sails
Added storm sails, fighting sails and full sails riggings for sail ships.
Engine powered ships can go astern
Added WASD steering
BUILDING & PARTS
Added several new guns
Added 4 standing lamps
Added two junk bows and two junk sterns
Added 2 new trapezoid superstructures
Added pinned centerline superstructure tech
Added extra 1/3rd height to masts
Added tripod fighting top
Added a new flatter bridge window extrusion
Finessed the existing bridge window extrusions
Command towers when cycled by the detail menu won't rotate and reset if cycling from a rotated gangway
Rivet placement is vertically displaced with the hull curve
SAILS & RIGGING
Added 3 new main mast stays for staysails
Adding a gaff no longer prevents staysails, but removes the bottom stays to make space for the gaff
Square rig sails are furled when not sailing loosely with the wind
Studding sails are furled when not sailing fully with the wind
fixed modern mast shrouds
CUSTOMIZATION
Added 5 color theme save slots, these store your color schemes for use on multiple ships
UI & EDITOR
There is now a height snap, a rotation snap and a scale snap for items on the side, like broadsides. On the hull they align to the hull shape, on superstructures generally horizontally
Added labels to all the handles to explain function
Increased the distance of the shape selector handle so it's easier to use/see
The mechanism filters in the item detail menu are max 3 rows deep, not 4, to prevent text overlap
FIXES
Fixed a bug where paddlewheels and animated props didn't always load in at the correct spot and angle
Fixed a placement issue with windows on forward/rearward facing sides
Fixed that resetting a ship would retain some hull themes on nodes
Fixed mast preview being similarly sized to the spawned mast
Added more translations
Removed some unneeded logging
Man, that was a lot to get through, but with the new features, new building options and continuous fixes and polish I am pretty confident this Early Access thing might actually really fit my development style. And I couldn't have done it without you all! So thank you, and thank you for your vote of confidence at 98% positive reviews... that's mind blowing.
Once again, don't forget to share your creations with us for the weekly competition - make the most of the Workshop uploads, and if you're enjoying your time with the game - leave a review with your honest thoughts (good and bad!) and maybe share it with a friend. We'll see you later![/p] p.s. and follow my developer profile so you can get updates about the entire franchise, cuz there's other stuff coming up like that medieval Bulwark DLC!
https://store.steampowered.com/developer/TomasSala