This is a start to a weekly series that I will call, State of the Game. This will get the big updates on what we are currently working on, no matter the state that it is in. While we will still post on the stuff as we get it done, we want a nice format that will be a way to give out more information on everything, from concepts, to implementation.

So, what have we been doing? The current focus has been on the M.A.V. editor implementation. We have ‘most’ of the functionality in to build up your M.A.V. to prepare for launch. This includes a functional U.I. for selecting parts, displaying stats, validating builds, and launching into a level.

In the pictures you can see the building process at various stages. The validation currently checks very few things, only weight, total parts, and that there is not an intersection of the parts.

Now that we have a good way of building up M.A.V.’s we have moved over to focusing on some levels. These levels will be 100% for testing only, as the final game will have procedurally generated worlds. The primary goal for these levels are to provide a predictable testing environment so players (And Us!) can test different parts and M.A.V. builds and have a decent way of comparing the results. Here are the test areas we are currently working on.

Firing Range:

This Level will be set in a Canyon environment. There will be many targets at different elevations and distances. Some targets will move along preset patterns while others will stay static. Our goal with this level is to provide long and medium range players a way to fine tune their builds and skills.

Traversal Level:

This level will be setup in a hilly forest, with many other obstacles in the area. There will be static enemies firing at you from a distance while you travel to a set number of goals and then exit the area. This level will allow us to test all of our handling settings, speed settings, and general motion. It will also train players for ‘scout’ type builds and avoiding enemy fire. (Or shooting them first!)

Urban Level:

This will be our first full combat area. It will be setup to be handled in a variety of ways but it will be very hostile. We will also use it to test destruction areas, weapon settings, and general full balance. This will be our primay AI test area as well.

We have a few more ideas, but we have not started on them yet and want to hold off on them until we get these primary 3 to a playable state. One more thing, each test level will have a timer and scoring system. This allows the test level to become a mini-game as well, and will give you a better measure on if that tweaked setting actually helped or not. We may turn this into a leader board feature, so you could upload your top scores and ‘compete’ with others. We also talked about letting you tackle the test levels in a multiplayer setting as well, but that will likely get postponed until our focus moves to multi-player.

Well, that’s the current state of the game! As always, tell us how you feel!