Just thought id post recent update to VO for anyone interested 🙂

Saturday, September 04, 2010 Vendetta Online 1.8.143

VO 1.8.143 includes:

- Mission postings are sanity checked, hopefully preventing any cases of non-functional Hive Skirmish missions.

- Fixed a shader error for the Android version.

- Bug with being unable to sell Synthetic Silksteel at stations has

been fixed.

- Windows version is better optimized due to using a newer C++ compiler.

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!

Saturday, August 28, 2010 Vendetta Online 1.8.141-142

Two major updates in one week is a bit unusual for us. In this case, the earlier patch was a requirement for an upcoming OEM partner, so we wanted to be sure and get all the "big download" stuff, such as large textures, in that update. That way, in the time between now and when their product finally ships, the patch updates required for their users will be minimal (this is good for us, too, less pressure on our update servers).

Anyway.. on to the updates themselves:

VO 1.8.141, on Wedneday, was largely client-side:

- Enhanced textures for the stations, new normal and specularity maps.

- Improvements to detail textures on certain asteroids.

- More efficient texture memory utilization.

VO 1.8.142, tonight, was mostly server-side:

- Modified Hives: the Siepos hive now spreads through Serco territory, while the Prosus hive appears in the Itani region of space. Milanar presence continues in grayspace.

- Each hive now drops unique Milanar, Prosus and Siepos Neural Nodule items, which will factor into "manufacturing" driven gameplay down the road. These nodules are easily destroyed in combat, and as a result are only a 1-in-10 chance of dropping from most hive members. Only the Leviathan, with its larger neural array, is guaranteed to drop some nodules.. but not very many.

- Fixed hive problem relating to NPC mining ships attacking instead of mining.

- Fixed hive issue with bots not respawning in the Milanar hives.

- Frame limiter is now enabled by default, set to 120 frames per second.

The frame limiter being turned on by default should yield cooler-running machines for some of our newer players. A lot more changes to the Hive can be expected over the coming months. Now that they're broken out into three separate definitions on the developer side, it's relatively easy for us to add a lot more gameplay specific tweaks. I intend for each Hive to be somewhat unique, eventually in looks as well as behaviour. Different AI, different weapons, different assortments of ships, and different drops. Some of these drops will then factor into various Manufacturing (crafting) roles that I'm planning to further introduce on the Conquerable Stations. Stay tuned!

Saturday, August 21, 2010 Vendetta Online 1.8.140

VO 1.8.140 includes:

- Gray hive is now called the Milanar Hive, and is made entirely of specially named bots, including a new type of Collector. Many other changes will follow soon, with Siepos and Prosus hives appearing in Serco and Itani territory respectively. Different hives will have unique looks, drops, behaviours, etc. All will play into the Manufacturing (crafting) system.

- Client now includes a framerate limiter, under Options, Graphics. This can be set to a desired FPS, such as 60, to help newer hardware run cooler. It currently defaults to 0 (unlimited). The defaults will probably change to 120 once we know the feature works well.

Expect more Hive changes next week.

Saturday, August 14, 2010 Vendetta Online 1.8.139

VO 1.8.139 includes:

- Increased detail and efficiency of some station textures.

- Many other small changes and updates to support the Android version.

I had to dedicate some time this week to improving a few station textures, for reasons relevant to the Android build. On the upside, players should now see significantly greater detail in the surfaces of some stations.

Next week I intend to get back to gameplay changes, bot improvements and new Manufacturing tied to the conquerable station.

Saturday, August 07, 2010 Vendetta Online 1.8.138 - New Manufacturing

VO 1.8.138 includes:

- Serco Vulture Guardian turbo drain reduced from 60 to 56.

- Classes for recently-added bot drops changed from "Special" to "Commodity" to support normal trade behaviour.

- Synthetic Silksteel is now dropped by static hive bots (different bots drop more/less often).

- New Manufacturing Mission for Latos Conquerable Station: Fused Composite Plating.

- New Manufacturing Mission for Pelatus Conquerable Station: Fluid Formable Silksteel Alloy.

The SVG tweak was a result of Ghost's very interesting (and highly active) 7-page thread on Suggestions "The State of Vendetta PvP". Please continue to provide feedback on the ramifications of this turbo energy tweak, and other areas that are in need of changing.

The new Manufacturing Missions should hopefully get a little attention. I am in the process of architecting a build tree for the construction of Big, Cool Stuff. Much of this manufacturing will be based around the Conquerable Stations. Some of it will also happen elsewhere.

This process also involves a lot of re-working of the bots, where they are and what they're doing. For one thing, I'm looking to break out the different hives into whole separate classes of Hive, which have unique drops that are specific to the region. Thus, the Serco Hive may behave and look a little different from the Grayspace and Itani hives, and also have different drops. These drops may then be utilized within Serco space to possibly create unusual advanced items. Or, certain high-value manufacturing jobs may require separate items specific to each respective Hive, requiring a ranging of geography and a variety of skillsets to be used when manufacturing something special.

There are plenty of caveats, of course. Tweaking of the War Convoys and the Border Defense Turrets, etc. But there is a specific gameplay goal in mind, something I think I can deliver relatively soon (not "Soon(tm)") and am steadily working towards.

Another aspect of the re-working of bots will include the previously-mentioned process of creating more "advanced" types within a particular structure. Such as "Veteran" or "Ace" bots, etc. These specialized bots may then also have some unique and unusual drops, some of which may be used directly, and others will be tied into specialized Manufacturing missions in various locations.

Finally, I'm looking to add in bots which appear in certain locations only at certain times. We've had the "Bar" in VO for, well, a very long time, and this sort of thing was always its intended use: as a mechanic for exchanging illicit or unusual information about the game, and as an alternate means of giving specialized missions. For the short-term, I'll just be looking to do things like distribute where and when a "special" bot might appear via methods like the Bar and others. Some of these appearances might be cyclical, but many will probably change, requiring people to get the "latest" info from a passing convoy captain, or a grizzled NPC at the bar.

We'll see how this all shakes out, but I'm excited to see it take shape. I hope you all are as well. Note: I'm not forgetting any of the economic or other work that needs to be done. Our coders are currently very busy on some major projects, and I've chosen this "bot" work, as I can accomplish much of it with minimal new code development. So, have no fear, we'll also fix many of the other issues, but this month, I think this bot work will potentially be pretty fun, and lead to some Bigger, Better Stuff.

Saturday, July 31, 2010 Vendetta Online 1.8.137

- Eight new PCC missions.

New drops from Hive bots:

- Synthetic Silksteel (most hive ships)

- Cybernetics Grade FF (mostly Guardians, Leviathan)

- Hive Nanite Replicator (mostly Collectors, Assaults, Leviathan)

Many more diverse drops coming, tying into crafting and other areas.

Saturday, July 24, 2010 Vendetta Online 1.8.136 and Upcoming Changes

VO 1.8.136 includes:

- New Manufacturing Mission for the Neutron MkIII Turret

- New Manufacturing Mission for the Aeolus Light Repair Turret

- New Manufacturing Mission for the FireCracker Turret

Each manufacturing mission is located in a specific Conquerable Station (one per station). Each mission may be taken twice in a 24 hour period by any given user (to prevent trivial mass-production). The Neutron MkIII and Aeolus Repair Turret are pretty self-explanatory. The FireCracker Turret is something new.. a very high-speed, high-maneuverability missile with significant force impact and very little damage. Basically a guided "flak" round, which can provide a significant distraction to an inbound attacker, and knock them off course, but not do much damage. The weapon has a six-round capacity, for now. Like everything in the game, it is open to tweaking and balancing should any issues surface.

Next week I plan to do some re-working of bots on the development side, laying out the organization for some of the planned "Universe Redux". In the short term, I intend for there to be a great deal more diversity in bot drops, which will then play a big part in upcoming manufacturing missions at Conquerable Stations, and hopefully leading to a Playable Trident sometime in the not-too-distant future. We'll see how that all goes, but the bot cleanup on the development side is sorely needed, so I can get a better handle on where we are and how to take us where we need to go. I'm also looking for a lot more diversity in bot types, so when we start rolling out Nation Patrols and things, you may see "Veteran" or "Ace" class NPCs along with regular ones, and the like. That's aside from a wider selection of Hive, and hopefully some specialized types that crop up in certain locations at certain times, with very interesting and unique drops.

It should all make for some pretty cool stuff that I can (hopefully) do in a short period of time. I'm looking forward to it, and I hope everyone else does as well. Take care.

Monday, July 19, 2010 Vendetta Online 1.8.135

VO 1.8.135 includes:

- Added ability to sort inventory list by item type.

- Conquerable station guards now cause tempKOS if they are shot by a key holder.

- Conquerable station turrets need to be damaged down to 80% before a notification goes out to key holders.

- Conquerable station turrets now properly use the IFF status of User Keys when the key's IFF status changes.

Saturday, July 10, 2010 Vendetta Online 1.8.134

VO 1.8.134 includes:

- Players are tagged as tempKOS if they are a keyholder and they damage a turret.

- TempKOS players are not allowed to dock to a conquerable station if they have an access key.

- Keyholders of conquerable stations are notified of attack when a turret drops below 90% health.

- Conquerable station turrets respawn at 10% health and gain 10% every minute for 9 minutes.

- Conquerable turrets ignore IFF keys if the player is tempKOS.

- 'Killing spree', 'spy', and 'hydrospanner' missions have been deprecated.

Saturday, July 03, 2010 Vendetta Online 1.8.132

VO 1.8.132 includes:

- New and Improved missions, courtesy of CrazySpence and Phaserlight.

- Removed Border Skirmish turret from Deneb C-10.

- Ship preset purchase/buyback now connects addons to the correct ports.

- Fixed rendering bug with cargo in space losing their glow when a capship or queen explodes.

Saturday, June 26, 2010 Vendetta Online 1.8.131

VO 1.8.131 includes:

- Low-priced items that were previously useful for trade XP have been restored.

- More lucrative trade routes added, particularly in grayspace and nation capitols.

- Holders of Owner Keys of stations get notified when a conquerable station turret gets destroyed. The notification occurs no more than once per hour.

- Added an optional 'Unload and Sell All' confirmation prompt.

- Fixed a rendering bug for Vulturius Anniversary Edition and other ships.

Saturday, June 19, 2010 Vendetta Online 1.8.130

VO 1.8.130 includes:

- Fixed rendering bug with HUD when capships explode.

- Fixed rendering bug with animating billboard signs.

- Many internal changes to support Android Tegra version.

The E3 show this past week was quite a whirlwind of meetings, hopefully we'll see some cool opportunities emerge from the aftermath. In the meantime, you can expect to see some more gameplay-directed changes in the coming weeks.