Read on for the latest development news for A-Spec First Assault and what will be appearing in the next patch.
Storyline
I have planned how I would like A-Spec to finish by the end of the final mission in the campaign. As of writing this update, I have ideas for several chapters leading up to that endpoint. Currently, it's looking like each chapter will be comprised of 3 story missions for a beginning, middle, and end for each chapter.
Chapter 2 Story Missions
3 additional story missions will be added for Chapter 2. They have already been scripted, the briefing and debriefing texts are 90% written, and all require extensive testing to ensure the scripting does not break during play.
One of these missions required additional improvements to the AI, to assist the player in completing their objectives. These improvements are 75% completed.
Side Missions
Chapter 1 included side missions, randomly presenting a new selection after each mission, for the player to choose from between main missions.
Chapter 2 will expand the number of side missions. I have about 2 dozen side mission themes to choose from which will also be used in the main story missions. I have yet to start on the side missions for Chapter 2, but will do so once the 3 main story missions are completed.
I'd like to know your feedback on how you feel about them so far. Like, are they fun for you, what would you like to see, would you rather just go through the main story missions, etc. Post them in the comments below!
Chapter 1 Briefings/Debriefings
The briefing and debriefing text for the Chapter 1 missions were written back before the prologue existed. Since the prologue is now starting to expose some of the game's lore, they needed updating to fit in. They were also a bit bland. This is already completed.
Expect text and dialogue to continue evolving through development as I learn and improve on creative writing.
Wingmen
Players will be able to have wingmen join them as they progress through the campaign. Chapter 2 will open up a wingman slot, for ship selection and configuration of wingmen. This is optional, the player can choose to go alone and use that extra Prestige to fit better weapons and equipment to their ship.
Audio ImprovementsSome repetitive audio effects are cascading and these will be significantly reduced (if not eliminated).
Also, explosions were cutting off too soon, this is fixed.
Explosion Damage Bug
TL;DR: Explosions would sometimes not damage the target. This is now fixed.
There was an interesting (read annoying) bug where exploding missiles would not damage the target. I believed I had solved this in the previous patch, but by a stroke of luck, I was able to reliably replicate the problem and on investigating found the actual cause. This was most notable on missiles striking the Gunship, but applied to any weapon with explosion damage.
When a missile explodes it creates a collider sphere and checks for objects overlapping it. The sphere can be configured to expand each frame (like a shockwave). I added some code to keep the test performant and avoid re-checking past collisions. This is a bit difficult to explain, a ship can have multiple damageable parts (i.e. the main ship and child objects including attached turrets and additional substructures). These are made up of separate collider objects. If a child collider is checked before the main ship collider the ship will not take any damage. I removed the relevant check, ran some additional tests, and determined the poor attempt at making it performant didn't make a difference. That single line of code is gone, the problem is gone, and no performance loss either.
Weapon Adjustments
Since explosion damage now works 100% of the time every time, I needed to reduce the MLRS explosion damage caused as became overpowered as a result.
Railgun damage has been scaled properly as they were overlooked the last time I re-scaled weapon damages. They are still very powerful and their Prestige and Fitting costs reflect that power.
A new, larger, enemy ship makes its appearance
The next patch will reveal a new much larger type of enemy ship whilst introducing a new game mechanic. I won't explain more as it's something the players can discover for themselves (or maybe they won't notice?). If you follow me on Twitter, this is a feature that I was working on around 14 months ago, for this very same ship. Now that the ship will make its appearance, I am now able to include the mechanic. It's functional and in the game, requiring some minor adjustments and additional configuration.
Bug fixes
I have found a lot of bugs since the last update. All that I have found has been squashed.
If you find a bug yourself, please let me know on either the Discord or the A-Spec Steam forum, explain the problem, and if you can repeat the problem or not.
If you can repeat the problem, provide the steps on how to do it, like a list of actions to perform to make the bug happen. Using that I can investigate and follow your steps to replicate the problem, and if I can replicate the problem I can then start working on a fix.
If it's a bug that appears often, but also seemingly random, if you are willing to provide a video recording of that moment, it may help.
Ultimately I want to keep A-Spec free of jank and bugs. Most of the bugs I found myself, which should be the case as I am on the front line. Though I am only one guy, and bugs do fall through, I work quickly to resolve them.
Game Bundles
A-Spec First Assault and Absolute Territory are part of the fantastic Independent Space Alliance Bundle 2024 containing an amazing collection of space games from other independent game developers.
This bundle is a refresh of the original Independent Space Alliance Bundle containing even more space games.
Both bundles have 60% off. Buy to complete your collection and Steam adjust the bundle costs based on any games you already have in your library.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading. I'm truly looking forward to the future of A-Spec First Assault. Given this is an Early Access game the first week sales were on par with Absolute Territory which was released as a full title.
Though putting it in perspective, Absolute Territory is still a failure sales-wise. I have learned a lot since then and hope to put that experience into making A-Spec a better success when the full release day arrives (which is still a while off).
