Difficulty and Size Update

Orbital Command Playtest · published

**System Generation Updates**
* There are two new properties when setting up a new run; *Lane Count* (aka System Size) and *Difficulty*. Additionally, the Starting Lane has been updated to a new Starting Sector.
* *Lane Count* will control the overall size of the system by limiting the number of lanes that can be populated
* * Small 4 | Medium 6 | Large 8 | Huge 10
* *Difficulty* is used when populating the lanes with Planets, Asteroids Belts, and when nothing is selected
* * This will also influence the Starting Sector if left to random
* * There are plans to integrate this into the Escalation Systems as well in upcoming updates
* *Starting Sector* now will be used instead of an explicit Lane Number to start on
* * Based on the size of the System, this could be only one specific lane, or a random between a few lanes
* * Inner First Third | Middle Second Third | Outer Final Third
* Front End Level has been cleaned up to better support all the changes above

**Planet Warp Gates**
* These were the U shaped objects around the Planet that would increase in number as the Utility stat was increased. These no longer get created when the Planet is Established
* When purchasing a Utility Satellite, one of these will now be added to the Orbit of the Planet
* When the Dyson Drone enters the gates, their speed is increased, reducing the time needed to send resources to the Star

**Enemy Updates**
* Enemies now have a Max Count overall, and for individual categories, that are influenced based on the difficulty
* The gamestate now does a better job of trying to decide what enemy to spawn, and falling back to other types if not successful due to max counts
* Scavengers now warp in from the Outer Ring
* All Enemies can spawn near to Occupied Planets, or Outer Ring Spawners, depending on which is closer to their Target
* Scavengers *turn into* Warp Gates instead of spawning them
* * They will still have to collect X number of resources before doing so, but once they do, they will spawn a permanent Station that will spawn enemies and fire at them

**Bug Fixes/General Updates**
* Level Generation is now systemic and builds out the System Lanes
* Occupation Component inverts Planet Gravity
* Increasing Impulse applied by Missile Explosions
* Front End Level Cleanup and Iteration
* Increased Player Movement Scale when zooming out
* Gravity Component Cleanup and Iteration
* * Better vector calculations
* * Better adjustments base on distance/size
* * Cleanup of values in Planet and Star
* Fixing Planets not properly setting Materials
* Increased spawning scale speed of Asteroids
* Targets only play spawn FX when being initially created (IE no splits or fragments)
* Mini Map Scales with System Size
* * It is known that where you click on the Mini Map isn't fully accurate anymore, and that the scale of the icons is not consistent
* Collector Stations have strong tractor beams
* Shield Stations now properly setup and finish construction
* Drones handle collision with Targets and can be destroyed
* Improved how Asteroids and Collectables handle their velocity exceeding a max value
* Collectables attempt to spawn in better locations to prevent clipping on spawn
* Disabling Alerts in Front End Level
* Fixed Player movement based on Sensitivity Settings
* Fixed Player getting stuck after attachment

Difficulty and Size Update · Orbital Command Playtest patch notes · SteamPeaks