Update 0.4 has completed testing and is stable enough for public release on the Default branch. Thank you to all the folks who tested MANY iterations of this update. Saving the sim from a "live" state involves storing a BUNCH of data for each moon, planet, ship, satellite, etc., etc. I"m certain there are some items that may have been missed; or will need to be added as new features continue to be introduced. However, the worst offenders seem to have been dealt with....

There are a few items you should be aware of with this release, so PLEASE be sure to have a look at the first post in the update release thread, located here:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/366000/discussions/0/2949168687328273488/

You can find the full change log for this update here:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/366000/discussions/0/364041776190769973/

Thanks for everyone"s patience during this update cycle, including the particularly lengthy testing phase!

This morning I updated RogSys" Test branch to version 0.4.00.0 As noted in the previous announcement, the update will stay on Test for a week or so while the more serious bugs are discovered and dealth with. When the build is stable enough then the Default branch will be updated.

Thank you!

The next update is nearing completion. As previously noted, this will add the ability to create, save and resume a "career"; and being able to switch from one saved career to another. Saving your career is obviously as critical to dynamic gameplay as was the addition of the basic economy model that was the focus of the previous update; and I will tell you this was no small task to get working properly (and there will be bugs with it at first, I have NO doubt).

I really wanted this update out by end of January/beginning of Feb. I had some personal issues pop-up that worked against me. Also, I have to admit, saving (and more to the point resuming from the point of save) did not come NEARLY as trouble-free as I"d hoped for, even with all the pre-planning I did for it in earlier code. Quite simply, there is just a LOT of data to capture for each ship; and some of it was more problematic than I expected.

I will release this update to the Test branch first, and leave it there for a week or so, so that folks can report any major save-functionality bugs. I"ll fix the worst of these before pushing the final version of this update to the Default branch.

I"m about mid-way through the work for the upcoming update. This will allow you to create a new career, manage saved careers, and resume a career. Obviously, this means being able to save your progress while inflight.

Being able to save and resume is a critical step in developing sandbox gameplay, which will offer you several ways to "earn a living" so you can maintain and upgrade your ship (or buy new ships). Likewise, you will begin to notice that the age of your ship, and the parts installed on it, will suffer age-related malfunctions (amongst other items that not having your ship constantly reset will reveal).

I"ve finished updating the galaxy generator, player avatar creator, and front-end UI to make use of these. All that"s left is to finish the code that allows you to save while inflight. I hope to have this finished, and this update out, by the end of January of the new year.

Thank you; and for those that celebrate (whatever you celebrate), I hope you all have VERY Happy Holidays, and a wonderful New Year!!!

Looking at the upcoming art for all the ships that will be required for the campaign missions, I"ve decided (since this is still a one-man effort) to move up some of the sandbox-like gameplay elements, such as an economy model and the buying/selling of trade goods. As well, I"ll be working on the art and code that will allow you to upgrade and repair your ship. I think things like this will allow more gameplay possibility in a shorter time without the overhead of all the ship art that would need to be done otherwise.

To go along with this, I"ve introduced the ability to refuel your ship while docked (you"ll need to request it from the station"s STC). In the next update this will cost funds, thus introducing the idea of having to earn funds to maintain your ship. I"ll be expanding on this over the coming updates. Also, the battery system has had its "final" revision, and with that it"s now possible to remove a physical battery from one ship and put it in another. In the next update you"ll be able to sell or repair used batteries, and buy new/refurbished ones.

The only caveat for all of this is that you can not yet save a mission in progress. This is the VERY NEXT item I"m working on, and I"ll release an update solely for this as soon as it"s finished and tested. Once this happens, you"ll begin to see that flight hours DO affect the functionality of ship systems, and the need to keep them maintained.

I do understand that many of you are looking forward to the campaign missions, and purchased RogSys for that reason. I"m VERY sorry for the delay that this new focus is going to have on the planned campaign. I have EVERY intention of still doing them. I just feel I need to start introducing some gameplay sooner rather than later, and the only way to do that is to focus on gameplay that does not rely so heavily on art. I hope that makes sense to everyone....

For a full list of changes: http://steamcommunity.com/app/366000/discussions/0/364041776190769973/

Release Notes: http://steamcommunity.com/app/366000/discussions/0/3183345176721962955/

As always, thanks for everyone"s support!

The next update for RogSys is scheduled for release towards the 2nd half of Nov., just before the Steam Autumn sale.

Along with the usual array of additions, refinements and fixes, I"m working on some new elements that I hope will begin to extend the gameplay possibilities for RogSys. I"ll have more info on this with the update release itself.

Thanks,
Michael

Hi all!

Just a quick note to let everyone know there was a very small hotfix update released today, putting the current version at 0.3.00.2

I fixed some audio issues associated with the recently added EVAS functionality, along with some mission briefing text corrections. Also, it"s now possible to do an EVA while in the process of docking/undocking.

Thanks to everyone who gave EVAS a good look and let me know about these items so I could get them fixed up in short order!

Version 0.3.00.1 is now live....

I will not pretend by saying the time lapse between the last update and this one has not been excessive. It has. Without offering up a slew of excuses, I will tell you that a lot has happened, both work-related and personally, that greatly exaggerated this update"s development cycle. With a sigh of relief, I"m happy to say I"ve come out on the other side, and development is once again moving at pace.

That said, I"m happy to introduce extra-vehicular activity suits (EVAS). You can enter the airlock, put on the EVA suit and helmet, and then command the exterior to open. The airlock is sealed and depressurized, and once done you are free to use the EVAS RCS thrusters to maneuver in open space. When finished, you can re-enter the airlock, seal it, and remove the suit once the airlock is re-pressurized.

There are a few minor things to know about this initial EVAS implementation. Please see the release thread here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/366000/discussions/0/1354868867721631189/

The good news is that with the completion of this update"s work, all required functions for RogSys have been prototyped and at least initially implemented--EVAS was the last remaining primary function (and the ONLY one that had never before had ANY prototyping). From this point on, RogSys" development focus shifts to content creation, gameplay addition, and system finalization. In other words, RogSys has now entered a proper ALPHA state.

I am VERY excited to get this phase underway, and to begin seeing Rogue System move towards the final Core Module 1.0 release.

The focus for the next update will be to add some new missions--to extend current gameplay--based on the systems in their current state. I also want to finalize at least one ship system"s functionality per update; and that will begin with this update. Finally, I will be adding a preliminary VMS HUD to EVAS to increase its accessibility.

As always, thanks for everyone"s support!

For a complete list of changes for this update, please look here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/366000/discussions/0/364041776190769973/

Hi all,

It was pointed out to me that, while I update the discussion forum on update progress, it"s been a good while since I actually posted a News announcement. So, I thought I"d pop on and do that now.

As you can obviously tell, it"s been a rather long, difficult development cycle for this upcoming EVA update. While not trying to make excuses, there were a few things working against me this time--a fair amount of art; a feature that had never been prototyped before; and some personal issues here at home, in all honestly. I"m happy to say I"m on the tail end of the work now, so I expect the new update by the end of the month (or VERY shortly thereafter ) assuming nothing else gets in the way.

Again, with this next update, you"ll be able to put on an EVA suit (EVAS), depressurize the ship"s airlock, and then exit the ship and perform an EVA. This will be first-pass, basic functionality; and I"ll expand on it from there.

The following update, after some discussion on the forum, will be a "gameplay" update, in that I"ll try to take everything we currently have and build some new missions up around it. This will give you all something new to do and hopefully help pass the time for the update after that, which will again be somewhat art-heavy.

Thanks,
Michael