<Tiyuri> Some time soon im going to put up something like

<Tiyuri> a development roadmap

<Tiyuri> that maps out the major features of the game

<Tiyuri> up until beta

<Tiyuri> and what exactly we're working on

<Tiyuri> I really want people to understand how the development process works on a game like this

<Tiyuri> its very different to the usual development process

<Tiyuri> for example

<Tiyuri> we can add

<Tiyuri> every armor in the game

<Tiyuri> in.. maybe 2 weeks, 1 week even if we all work on it?

<Tiyuri> but

<Tiyuri> the reason we do it so fast

<Tiyuri> is because we have a special armor system

<Tiyuri> and that SYSTEM

<Tiyuri> can take a month if its very complex

<Tiyuri> the entire game is made up of systems like that

<Tiyuri> content is kind of secondary

<Tiyuri> and happens extremely quickly when the system are done

<Aesthetic-Defile> So most of what is in the game is a unique bit from aforementioned system?

<Tiyuri> right

<Aesthetic-Defile> I like that.=D

<Tiyuri> but its problematic

<Tiyuri> for us as developers

<Tiyuri> because the time line looks like this

<Tiyuri> work 1 or 2 months with zero armors to show you > work 1 week more and it's possible to show you all the armors

<Tiyuri> it's not like we put out 1 armor per week

<tramsan> /\/\/\/\?

<Tiyuri> where i can show you a new one each week

<Tiyuri> right tramsan

<Tiyuri> exactly

<sny^> many interconnected systems in a simulation take a long time to balance, as I've learned from Warren Spector's excellent manifesto of Deus Ex

<tramsan> Leaning toothpicks \o/

<Tiyuri> im going to keep using armor as an example, because its a good one

<Tiyuri> then the problem is

<Tiyuri> we have all this content come at once

<Tiyuri> and it would be a major spoiler to show everyone all the armors in the game

<Aesthetic-Defile> Right.

<sny^> but since this isn't a game that requires heavy balancing and will be open for modding, I'm all for making the systems as intricate and polished as need be for content added later to fit in seamlessly

<Tiyuri> right sny^ we agree

<Tiyuri> we're working realllly hard on making these systems really easy for everyone to use

<Aesthetic-Defile> For the API?

<Tiyuri> this isnt really an api

<Tiyuri> its just the way the game works

<Tiyuri> An api would be something that lets you design NEW systems

<Tiyuri> not use the existing ones

<Aesthetic-Defile> Oh. Gotcha.

<Tiyuri> but the whole game is modular like this

<Tiyuri> for example

<Thieffi> That's how a good programmer works :P

<Tiyuri> we have the falling sand now right?

<Aesthetic-Defile> Right.

<Tiyuri> well its not just falling sand

<Auxilium> how will modifications done? dll? xml+lua? or..

<Thieffi> Do a lot of work to avoid a lot of work in the future.

<Tiyuri> i can apply that to any block

<Tiyuri> with all kinds of settings

<Tiyuri> in 2 seconds

<Aesthetic-Defile> Oh damn.

<Tiyuri> the ocean biome

<Tiyuri> took me about

<Tiyuri> 20 minutes

<Tiyuri> to make

<Aesthetic-Defile> o_o

<Tiyuri> using our systems

<Tiyuri> but before i could make it

<Tiyuri> we needed our systems to be ready

<Tiyuri> and for example, now that the system IS ready

<Tiyuri> i could easily make a lava ocean

<Tiyuri> and acid ocean

<Tiyuri> again, in 20 minutes

<Tiyuri> but its tough to share content this way

<Tiyuri> I could just show everyone nothing for months and then show them tons of stuff at once

<Aesthetic-Defile> So that's why the roadmap?

<Tiyuri> we kind of tried that for a while but people were a bit upset by it, radio quiet + then a big exciting update, followed by tons more radio silence

<Tiyuri> so yeah

<Tiyuri> the roadmap

<Tiyuri> I want something super user friendly

<Tiyuri> like an actual map, with points on it you can mouse over and get more information on what we're working on

<Tiyuri> sorry this isnt much of an announcement

<Tiyuri> im just talking

<Tiyuri> getting ideas straight in my head

<ThatMrT> its awesome that you share it with us!

<Verbruiik> -casually stalks the chat while sitting in french class-

* photostyle wonders who will be the one to pastebin all this and dump it on reddit...

<Tiyuri> it also makes things very hard to stream also

<Tiyuri> A good example of that is npcs

<Tiyuri> npcs have a behaviour system, each npc piece can have a unique behaviour attached to it

<Tiyuri> and then it mixes and matches them

<Tiyuri> to get a unique npc

<Tiyuri> but of course, every npc behaviour we create (which are written in lua files, for the interested)

<Tiyuri> needs to be tested

<Tiyuri> and testing a new behaviour when there are tons of possible combinations is.. well.. not doable

<Tiyuri> honestly

<Tiyuri> so what we do is disable everything

<Tiyuri> and enable one behaviour at a time

<Tiyuri> but when i stream

<Tiyuri> people (reasonably) assume

<Tiyuri> that npcs only have one behaviour

<Tiyuri> and are dumb and boring

<tramsan> Are these compile time directives, or config flags, Tiy?

<tramsan> Disabling parts, that is.

<Tiyuri> config flags tramsan

<Tiyuri> dont need to compile

<Tiyuri> Also there are systems that are major components of the game that are not finished yet

<Tiyuri> so its hard to show gameplay

<Tiyuri> for example

<Tiyuri> spawning chests and items to find. It's actually a pretty complex thing to do well

<Tiyuri> and its a HUGE component to the gameplay

<Tiyuri> so we want to do it perfectly

<Tiyuri> but when that single system is missing, the game is entirely different

<Auxilium> containers are always not simple

<Tiyuri> oh containers work

<Tiyuri> perfectly :)

<Tiyuri> and again!

<Tiyuri> if anyone is interested

<Tiyuri> containers are another modular system

<Tiyuri> when we make a cupboard

<Aesthetic-Defile> Sweet.

<Tiyuri> we dont PROGRAM a cupboard

<Tiyuri> all i do is add the word "container"

<Tiyuri> in a config file for the cupboard

<Tiyuri> and its a container

<Tiyuri> and i can change the number of slots, etc

<Tiyuri> a result of us doing it that way is that pretty much everything you can see, that you would expect to be able to put things into

<Tiyuri> you can

<Aesthetic-Defile> You guys really have been busting your asses making the system easy to use.

<Tiyuri> its kind of required Aesthetic-Defile

<Tiyuri> because theres so much content

<Tiyuri> we need the programmers to be able to add it

<Tiyuri> err

<Tiyuri> artists*

<Tiyuri> without the programmers help

<Tiyuri> ok let me tell you guys what we're aiming for

<Tiyuri> for the beta

<Tiyuri> this might change

<Tiyuri> so dont take it as set in stone

<sny^> maybe you should let artists take the spotlight for content while you're busy hammering away at the plumbing (i.e. systems) in the background

<Tiyuri> sny^: that's exactly how it works :)

<Tiyuri> ok so the beta

<Tiyuri> it works like this

<Tiyuri> the game is divided up into 10 tiers

<Tiyuri> each tier has a range of 10 planet levels in it

<Tiyuri> tier 1 is level 1 - 10 planets

<Tiyuri> and so on

<Tiyuri> The planet level dictates the stats of npcs, guns, what kind of drops youll get, etc etc etc

<Tiyuri> the goal of each of the 10 tiers is two fold

<Tiyuri> 1. to complete the premade mission at the end of a tier (full release, not beta)

<Tiyuri> and 2. get the items and equipment you need to be able to do that

<Tiyuri> Every time you beat a tier, youll unlock new gameplay elements

<sny^> so they kind of serve as checkpoints for story/item progression

<Tiyuri> or fun bits and bobs

<Tiyuri> for example, dungeons arent presented straight away, they start appearing in tier 2

<Tiyuri> you can get "tech", which are kind of like passive spells

<Tiyuri> each tier has different tech available on it

<Tiyuri> ores change

<Tiyuri> monsters change

<Tiyuri> the ship gets upgraded in certain tiers

<Tiyuri> unlocking new features

<Tiyuri> this is essentially how the game progresses

<Tiyuri> play sandbox in the tier, gain the equipment you need to beat the tier's end mission > advance to next tier

<Tiyuri> you also need to craft certain items to activate the mission

<Tiyuri> so i guess without the missions being present in the beta, your goal will be to obtain that item

<sny^> does this also imply that we won't have access (or won't stand a chance) on planets with higher tier/level than our current progress?

<Tiyuri> you will, but only up to a point

<Aesthetic-Defile> Or, can the missions be disregarded all together by a player?

<Tiyuri> accessing the entire universe is the end game

<agni> Tiy how much of the game is actually ready ? What do you consider not finished yet?

<Tiyuri> the missions cant be disregarded the first time

<Tiyuri> lotsssss of things are not ready

<Tiyuri> but like i said its periods of what APPEARS to be little progress

<Tiyuri> as the systems behind everything are produced

<Tiyuri> and then we USE that system to *very* quickly create content

<aidey> Tiyuri, are you still confident in a first quarter release of any kind?

<agni> Have you shown any missions or these would be spoilers?

<Tiyuri> aidey: honestly im not sure, we try to predict because people.. want us to

<Tiyuri> I mean, we're asked for a guess a LOT

<Tiyuri> but it's really really hard for us to know how long everything will take to produce

<Tiyuri> sometimes we assume a feature is going to take a month and it takes a week

<Tiyuri> other times, we think something is going to be a single days work, and it spirals into a fortnight

<Tiyuri> its all putting a puzzle together, and you never really know whats going to happen until you start fixing it up

<Tiyuri> and problems pop up you have to solve

<Tiyuri> and sometimes you implement something and it's just.. not good

<Tiyuri> so you redo it

<tramsan> Time permitting, Tiy, maybe you could make a video where you highlight a few different kinds of NPC behaviours. Just to show what kind of variety there can be, since all(?) of the streams have been showing the basic beeline-for-player behaviour.

<Tiyuri> oops im running out of battery

<Tiyuri> let me grab a cable, hold on a sec

...

<Tiyuri> so

<Tiyuri> current progress lets see

<Tiyuri> world generation is basically complete, we're still adding content because.. the more the better, honestly. But its there and ready to rock. Content wise too, we have lots of biomes with tons of content

<Tiyuri> Dungeon generation is complete system wise. We have lots of dungeons done, not all of them yet, but getting there. There are going to be 2 hostile dungeons and 1 friendly dungeon (village) per race

<Tiyuri> Crafting works, but it's a little ugly at the moment because it doesnt contain all the info its going to contain. So i dont show it off much

<Tiyuri> Multiplayer is near flawless

<Tiyuri> we have a navigation system in but its a bit basic, we want to put in a full star map

<Tiyuri> vehicles arent in yet but we've found a way to do it that makes it very fast and easy

<Tiyuri> npc quests arent in yet, those are going to be quite a big one, take us a while to complete

<Tiyuri> i want to make sure theyre interested quests

<mollygos> WEEOOOWEEEOOOWEEEOOO

<Tiyuri> and not just walk 5 meters and hit 10 things

<Tiyuri> the wiring system is in

<Tiyuri> we have generators forrrr

<Tiyuri> 4 legged npcs, 2 legged npcs, small npcs, flying npcs, small flying npcs, bugs, fish, some other stuff

<dark_hawke> Tiyuri, I assume this will pop up, but given how Starbound seems to be system based, how many systems have yet to be started on? Are all systems at least partially complete?

<Tiyuri> all the big ones are partially or mostly complete

<Tiyuri> there are others like quests etc that we havent quite started on yet

<Tiyuri> and we add more to the systems over time

<Tiyuri> ike right now we have a system that generates guns with varying stats and behaviours

<Tiyuri> but its going to get spruced up by a projectile modding system

<Tiyuri> another system we havent started on yet is creature capturing

<Tiyuri> but thats actually probably a very easy one

<Tiyuri> probably

<dark_hawke> Tiyuri, So post release, I assume updates might be New system + new content for existing

<Tiyuri> right post release the artists and I will work on new content using existing systems

<Tiyuri> the programmers will probably work on new features

<dark_hawke> Tiyuri, could you add new Tiers as sort of expansions post release?

<Tiyuri> we could do

<Tiyuri> but tier 10 is being built as an end game

<Tiyuri> not just a regular tier that will leave you with nothing to do afterwards

<Tiyuri> its a LOT of content

<Tiyuri> with not much to DO just yet

<Tiyuri> if that makes sense

<Tiyuri> but that will be fixed very soon

<Tiyuri> when we throw in a couple of the cornerstones to all the gameplay

<Aesthetic-Defile> Tiyuri: Wait, so Tier 10 is endgame. Which means

<Aesthetic-Defile> Playability after main progression.

<Tiyuri> yeah thats the idea

<Aesthetic-Defile> So it doesn't just drop off with only buiilding left to do.

<Tiyuri> we're trying to craft a sort of.. day Z like experience in end game

<Tiyuri> and after release we want a level editor for missions

<Tiyuri> Day Z experience in the sense that, the player has a very large world to play in, a ton of tools to play with, needs that they're required to tend to (hunger, etc), and the ability (should the server allow for it) to fight other players, or ally with them

<Tiyuri> but with no mechanics forcing them to do one thing or the other

<Tiyuri> so you could decide to be a bandit, or form a group of space pirates

<Tiyuri> flying from planet to planet robbing other players

<Darkman802> Tiyuri: How do the size of the planets compare to worlds in Terraria?

<Tiyuri> or you could try to be peaceful, work together, help eachother out

<Tiyuri> Darkman802: our engine handles infinite sizes

<Tiyuri> buttt

<Tiyuri> they are capped at the moment

<Tiyuri> because we want to encourage people to visit others

<Tiyuri> and not just get lost in one

<dark_hawke> Do you always beam down to the same place on a planet?

<Tiyuri> within the same area

<Tiyuri> we're looking at whether we should change that up or not

<Seria-Myouna> It makes beaming down with friends less confusing :3

<Tiyuri> lots of people seem to like the consistancy

<Darthkitten> How do you spawn, in an ocean planet?

<Wuzhles> I suspect Ocean planets have small islands

<Tiyuri> haha right now you acn sometimes end up warping to the bottom of the ocean

<Tiyuri> when its finished, youll always spawn on an island

<Blazerer> Tiyuri, couldn't it be an option to build landing platforms which you can choose from when beaming down? This way you could combine consistency with early game randomness.

<Tiyuri> yeah thats a possibility

<Elisa> is there an air meter?

<Elisa> or some other kind of drowning mechanism

<Tiyuri> Elisa: there will be, we havent thrown it in yet, but its very easy

<Tiyuri> its designed too

<Seria-Myouna> Moonsorrow was asking about fishing, Tiyuri

<Tiyuri> ahhh fishing

<Tiyuri> fishing is one of those things thats really nice but might take more time to do that its worth

<Tiyuri> post release

<Tiyuri> though

<Tiyuri> we might throw it in