Update#38 : Time-Out

Sorry for the lack of significant update and advancement... I do have what I was trying to do (mentioned in recent posts) but I've also been quite busy IRL, and will probably keep busy for the next week. Thus, I'm afraid, no promises for any real advancement or update between now and then.

After next weekend, I intend and hope to start being really devoted to the project again. It's not far from making regular big leaps, but I need to get past the next week and the current programming&design challenges; just the numeracy of planet generation.

Update#37 : Another Step

I'm reeeally close to having an equation for planet formation that does what I want  =D  I'll have it figured out tomorrow, I know it!

Update#36 : Quick Little Fix

As a planet's design is partly related to the star it orbits, I had to do some checking up on the numbers for stars... and I found that I had made a terrible little error with some math in the region map. You will see that stars in the region map vary significantly in brightness now. This is due to the difference in size; bigger stars appear brighter. I had intended this already but with a little mistake the difference was insignificant; now, it is significant.

I still have an annoying little bug to find and fix eventually, but it's minor and it can wait for now.

Also, I've finally narrowed down on how I'll get planets generated. I need to do a bit more math on paper, but the target is in sight. Pew pew!

That's all for this little update, and now I sleep, because sleep is necessary for good brainworkings.

Update#35 : Muddy, but Free

Alright, I'm feeling better, and am getting back to work.

Before tackling planets I have done a couple of tiny little things.

First: Fixed a teensy error with the region map star links, actually caused by new star generator.
Second: Added the little icon that most websites have for tabs and bookmarks.
Third: Installed a basic/placeholder System Map page for the stars to link to.

Additionally I discovered a little thing I could do to help make things easier for making some of my web pages; a little thing I'll have to go back and change on a few other pages to make them match, but not a big deal at all.

Also, if I'm understanding my options correctly, people should be now allowed to post comments =3



Revealed : Most, but not all weapon types will be available to a player when they start playing in UNIVERSE. Advanced weapons will not necessarily be better than older weapons, but will have some more extreme properties for you to try to take advantage of.

Update#34 : Caught in the Bogs

It's a 2x Double Bog Combo!

#1 - Allergies or a bad cold, I don't know, but for the last few days I've not been able to sleep or function well at all. This makes it very, very difficult to focus and do research and make the decisions that I need to move forward with ..

#2 - The planet generation scheme is... to make it do what I want, it's actually far more complicated than what I was expecting. There a bunch of factors that... the way I was going to try it before, they were somewhat interdependant on each other, to make the values that I want. That is, I couldn't roll a random number generator and start making a planet; all of the factors/generators need an initializing key. I have not yet figured out what is the first key, so I'm having trouble rolling it.

So, please bear with my lack of updates, as I'm trying to get over some illness and do something that - for me, right now - seems to be rather difficult or complicated.

Once I figure out that key, I'll let you know, and everything will start falling into place from there.

Update#33 : Nice, Lean and Clean

Ah, my re-re-reformed codeworks is very pleasant to work with. I thought it was going to be a real bother, rebuilding my basic star generator, but I made it rather pleasant... it's nice to look at, nice to work with, and worked perfectly with every test! I'm finally past all the rebuilding I think, and now it's just forward and on to planets  =)

Update#32 : Trimmed the Fat

O busy life! Busy busy life!

Aside from getting supremely busy with all the stuff going on about me, I've managed to trim one of my function libraries... I'd spent a long time making some powerful tools there. Many of those functions and tools were ultimately much less efficient than I wanted them to be, and others were simply unnecessary. I moved these parts into another file, making the 'common' library much more memory-friendly.

The 'powerful' tools came at the cost of being big... and I decided that I didn't want the system to load and prepare several huge pieces of code when I only needed one or two little pieces.

Overall, it's one of those things that's better done sooner than later.


I'm hoping that tomorrow I won't get bogged down with living too much, and can take care of rebuilding/tweaking the star generation system... that should be the last thing between me and my planet generation.


Revealed : One of the things that I want to add to the game some day are nebulas. The problem is, they can be so large in reality, that I haven't decided yet whether or how I can actually add them to the game!