LuaQuest · published
It isn't playable yet: think of this as a sneak peek. We're working on two fronts at once. You won't see the first one, but you'll feel it: the game's 3D engine is getting smoother. The second one is very visible: Datacenter, a DLC where you run your company in first person. And it will be free.
Before your graphics card draws a frame, your processor prepares it: which objects are visible, how far away they are, which shadows they cast. That's the work we've rebuilt in LuaQuest Engine, our in-house engine.
Every core of your CPU at work. Before, a single core prepared each frame. Now that work is shared across all your cores, right down to drawing the interface.
Instructions for the graphics card are written at the same time. The stages of a frame (shadows, scene, effects) are prepared together instead of one after another.
Leaner shadows. Nearby shadows are updated every frame so they stay sharp. Distant shadows, which barely change, are updated every other frame.
Only what moves is sent to the graphics card. A building doesn't move, so the game no longer resends it every frame. Only moving objects are updated.
Memory that adapts to your graphics card. The space set aside for textures now follows your card's memory instead of one fixed value for everyone.
What it means for you: a smoother game and a lighter load on your CPU. You should feel it most on modest processors, on high refresh rate screens, and as the city keeps growing.
Until now, the CPU has been sorting the objects to draw. We're working on GPU-driven rendering: the graphics card itself picks what's visible and at what level of detail, then draws it all in one go. The CPU has almost nothing left to do for the scenery. It already runs in our test builds, but it's a big change: it still has to prove itself before it reaches you.
At night, building windows light up, all the way to the horizon: the city no longer vanishes into the dark.
Street lamps light the streets better.
The same street at night: lit shop windows, and windows glowing all the way to the horizon.
Ping, the time the server takes to answer you, is measured more accurately.
In Wiresprawl, you wire glowing nodes on a board. In Datacenter, you step to the other side: you run your company in first person, in a city where you can walk around, step into shops and drive.
Your company's headquarters is in a tower, with its server room on the 12th floor.
Your machines arrive in boxes at the loading dock. You carry them, rack them, then run the cables, port by port.
Machines heat up: keep an eye on your racks with the thermal view, because above 35 °C they slow down.
The headquarters' server room, on the 12th floor.
Your employees live in the open space: they type, make calls, grab a coffee, then come back.
Give them jobs: pick up deliveries and install the machines, plug in the cables, upgrade the hardware.
Your salespeople call clients and prepare quotes. What your machines produce only pays once it's sold.
Sit down at a free desk to sell yourself.
Your team grows with your fleet of machines.
The team at the dock: the machines arrive in boxes.
Take the elevator down to the street: a whole neighborhood, on foot or by car.
Shops with real interiors: bakery, pharmacy, florist, bookshop, delicatessen…
A day and night cycle, traffic and passers-by.
A company car to drive, with a chase camera or a hood view.
A hardware store where you order your machines, then have them delivered to your dock.
A shopping street in the neighborhood.
A new game starts in the street, with no office. Across from the tower, the Pierre-Lune real estate agency is waiting for you.
Rent your premises (rent is due every in-game day) or buy them outright.
Sign the lease, and the elevator badge is in your name.
More office buildings are coming to the neighborhood, from a loft under a glass roof to an entire building, and you'll be able to hold several premises.
The Pierre-Lune agency, across from the tower, lights up in the evening.
Create your character: six body types, skin tone, hairstyle, beard, outfit and accessories.
Change whenever you like in the staff locker room, in front of the mirror, with several accessories at once.
Character creation.
Play co-op with up to four people in the same headquarters: everyone sees the others, their name above their head, the boxes they carry and what they install.
Games will be able to run on dedicated servers: a list of open games, one click to join. They're being tested.
Datacenter is still in development: what you see here may change. We aren't giving a date yet. One thing is certain: it will be free. What would you like to do in your datacenter? Tell us in the comments: we read every one.