This week on our Discord, we shared much information about new screens in version E.
There is the new Crew Registration screen, which was eventually made complete and is being merged into E. This new system involves reinvented crew generation programs and a way for you to get close and personal with your crew. It removes the need of further modifications to Station Approach.
Another screen being merged is the Damage Report screen.
As you will discover, your ship is eXode is not only a card...
but also an important part of your game, and with planets and citizens, is another central part of game design.
Let's see that in more detail!
Ships are also game icons!
Let's speak about the shiny things first!
Every ship in eXode received a new icon designed by @nachofigx.
In this new design we chose to feature some kind of abstraction and something sci-fi-blue-toned, introducing some clarity and originality.
This way we have a nice icon once zoomed... like here for the Baldie!
... which as a reminder comes from this card:
The good point about this icon is that it is clear.
We will use it in strategic views.
And they are to be used this month in Colonization
You will definitely see more of these icons this month.
They are to be used in Colonization: on your Space Radar screen when you are in space, as a safe site marker when you have landed, and as a Supply Card icon when you trade things on the supply market.
But let's get back to Evacuation:
as you will see some of them here, too!
Ships, shots, and damage!
Damage is now localized in version E.
When something hits your ship, it will target one of your ship sections (front, center or rear) and one of the modules there.
This will work autonomously in eXode, so you don't have anything to do.
You can even skip this article and "just play". It will work.
However, whenever something happens, it's never "gratuitous". It is because of something you can understand, and very often as well, have an influence on.
There are many available mechanics during Evacuation to avoid being damaged: one of them being to upgrade your Hyperdrive on time, load some Fuel, and just jump!
And another is to actually get into something much tougher, meaning, trying to survive: you can send your crew members to Manage Shields and try to prevent damage. You can also hire Escorts and use them in battle.
But now, let's see... what happens if you stay, and actually are damaged?
First thing that happens is that the game rolls a ship section to hit.
You ship has a total size but different size on Front, Center and Rear sections. All are calculated from the modules loaded there: the more and bigger the modules, the more size, and more chances to be hit on that section. And also, on that module area.
Of course, we abstracted a few things for gameplay reason. But what is interesting is that we can use this model, that we call "exposure", for different situations.
If your ship is considered facing the danger forward, Front Exposure will be increased; this means more chances to be hit on front section (but still some to be hit elsewhere). If your ship is fleeing, Rear Exposure may be more exposed. And so on.
Now let's imagine you are hit.
What happens? What modules can be destroyed?
There are modules and... critical ones!
In the Front section, you can lose manoeuvring jets, your tactical radar, your communicator or even some cabins and your atmospheric shield; and you will still survive. But the most important part is your Cockpit. Lose your Cockpit? then you're toasted! Literally speaking.
In the Center section, the most important module for an Archeon is the Energy Generator. Energy being often concentrated and stored in solid, pressured, and very radioactive form in 2325, it is called a Crystals Energy Generator. The problem with this Generator is not crystals. It is that a Generator can explode when damaged.
Other parts? you can lose your ship cantina, your lockers, your combat shields... or even your military reserves.
In the Rear section, there are engine modules such as your Propulsors and Hyperdrive. Losing Propulsors make you as still as a space rock, but losing your Hyperdrive makes you unable to jump. In both cases: you are dead, because you can't escape!
Oh, you may think that if it hits a less useful module, then it's okay.
And it's about right.
If you are hit in Hallways, then movement in the corresponding ship section will become slower. It's no big deal. Front means cockpit room, Center means ship interior, and Rear means cargo bay. People experienced in EVAC know what I am talking about here!
If all hallways are destroyed in a ship section?
Well then, people are stuck in the room they are.
If you are hit in Ship Structure, which also has all the structure, cables and electronics keeping things together, then effectiveness of all modules in the corresponding section is lessened. This can be much more an issue.
Once you will be in space in a new galaxy, you will be able to order emergency repairs. So some of all this will only be active with Colonization. You can do repairs only if you kept your Reserves safe; this is where important repair equipment is located.
Also, of course, you will love to have your Cantina still intact, because there is some spare food in there.
So yes, you can lose a few things.
You can be hit when it does not hurt.
Except that... maybe not.
Heavy shots can destroy a module and then get to the next. It even does that easily: shots that exceed half of the remaining resistance will get through and create additional damage to a new area. And it's bad.
But let's get now to the good news!
Something good in there?
Military engineers are clever persons.
Half the Archeon's armor is spread and can be found in every section. In addition to all-around protection (more about that later), hits can just randomly hit the armor plates, just like that, and be deflected. Armor easily blocks hits that come to it just because it is highy resistant.
But armor only makes some very small part of the ship.
There are other, much better news: the other half of your armor is actually used to cover the most important modules. Cockpit, Generator and Hyperdrive are all highly armored and should be able to absorb several hits before destruction. It's also possible that it will be the only modules to survive severe damage on your ship. Which is fortunate, as you are tightly sit in your Cockpit.
Propulsors are not armored on an Archeon, but this module is larger, it also does not explode, and is able to sustain more damage on this ship.
All these are good news!
The bad ones are, of course, that aliens don't use regular weapons, and seem to explode ships like popcorn. But... let's forget about that for a moment, and think again of our great ships.
For Evacuation? Military are the best!
Not every ship is equal regarding damage.
Military ships and crew members are always the best suited for evacuation and any combat situation, just like scientific and civilian ones are more fit for colonization.
Use of armor is common on military (and criminal) ships, but very rare for other factions. This means that Ark ships and others may lack any kind of armor on their critical modules and are much more vulnerable to hits. So take care pilots!
How does that fit with version E?
And colonization?
Version E will feature a new Ship Status button with a "global health" indicator. You may use it at all times to know when you really, really must launch.
And you may also click on it to get a more detailed Damage Report. You don't have much to do though; all of it works automatically.
You have to know that your ship will be damaged during evacuation, during the hyperspace jump, and when landing.
Once landed, your main objective on your new planet will not be to enjoy sun, beach and relaxation. No, it's not! Don't trust the ads.
In addition to hostiles on this planet - that you will maybe discover when exploring - you are certain aliens are still after you.
You must have an escape plan ready, and it involves being able to take off. To do that, you will have to fix your ship. This means you have to know what must be fixed, and the game must know what must be fixed. And to repair all that we'll get into Crafting later this month.
But as damage happens during EVAC, and damage happens during landing, the damage model is everywhere; an important layer that just got delivered.
Also, there is more to Ship Modules. Much more!
How does that fit with eXode big plans?
Thanks to this detailed implementation, we have also announced that you will be able to equip your ships. Ship Modules cards will be released and used for this. There will be an announcement about that later; we are for now focused on two different targets to play this month. We all know which ones!
Version E
First is version E. Our new screen, the Crew Registration step, was programmed, tested in development and looks like this ingame:
It needs a slight bit of polish, some final tests, and is then merged into E.
This screen took more days than anticipated! but fortunately, it has a very good gameplay impact. Ok, that's my opinion ; we will check your feedback on it!
As a reminder, it's not only the first gameplay screen, it is also tied to a new crew generation system.
The entire crew generation was to adapt because of the larger spread of quality levels we have now, and bad satisfaction there was to have with previous methods. The new method is much more simple, and that will be the point of an article later. We drop the grades (A+, A, D, E...), we share clear scores (42, 23...), low scores are now ok, and high scores are still enjoyable.
The Ship Database screen was made also as a way to test the damage model and ship structure.
I am already merging it into E.
I hope to complete this merging tomorrow, then make final tests on them on Tuesday. Once all that are merged I am adding the Ship Status access to EVAC, then options to use your Escorts.
After that, the version will be about as feature-complete as it can get. It's then all about using the new crew and weapon pictures which were developed before, the new crew stats, fixing what needs fixing, adding a few quick rules to EVAC (mostly to station halls, where you can recruit citizens), and adding some sounds.
The release to testroom will happen when enough things are ready to be tested.
We can smell version E is coming now, as I am talking of things "tomorrow", things "the next day", then a few tests and other things which can eat a few days. We can smell it is soon, because I did not use the word "weeks". Yup, using weeks is over.
Once it's in testroom you can play it, and once you played it and tests are ok, we will activate a countdown before the final release of version E.
Also, Colonization preview is immediately next and coming for this month - making September our happiest month of game features!
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More information about EXODE can also be found on our website, our Discord, or multiple posts such as this one about our epic characters, or this trailer made by a fan, or this review or this one . A summary of latest posts and events is also here.
Also running a witness node:
You can check the post about it here and if you like what this means you can:
See you soon in eXode!
It is wonderful seeing all the progress you are making in putting flesh on the bones of Exode.
As someone who is also pursuing a major project mostly on my own I admire your commitment and dedication.
Thank you immensely for these positive words @apshamilton!
I also wish you the best strength, focus and success on your project!
Keep at it and make everything come true!
Mmm interesting info