#colonywars
Posts and pages on Ape Apps tagged with <strong>#colonywars</strong>
Today Colony Wars has been updated to v0.14.0 and should be available soon on all supported platforms! This update fixes some existing bugs and adds a little new flair, so let's take a look!
The first thing you will notice in this release is that the title screen has been revamped! Now instead of a static still image, the game will load up a random map from all maps that you have installed, fill it with AI players, and set them at war with each other. If you are bored and want to watch the AI's fight, then you can pop some popcorn and sit there watching the title screen.
On larger screen devices, I have also revamped the game sidebar, undocking it from the left side and giving it a semi-transparent effect.
I am considering adding a radar to the top of the sidebar, but I am not sure if it is needed since you can also zoom the game in and out, but you can let me know what you think.
In addition, I fixed an issue where bombers would actually end up bombing themselves, and now when you are playing a quick match, all enemy units will actually be destroyed when the player loses.
Next I want to change the controls a bit for keyboard/mouse play. I want automatic map scrolling when you mouse to the edge of the map when playing in fullscreen, and also on mouse i want you to be able to drag/select units without clicking and holding first.
Anyway, that is it for this release. Once I think the engine is good and healthy again, I will finish adding the United Earth faction units and move on to implementing LIS.
https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
The first thing you will notice in this release is that the title screen has been revamped! Now instead of a static still image, the game will load up a random map from all maps that you have installed, fill it with AI players, and set them at war with each other. If you are bored and want to watch the AI's fight, then you can pop some popcorn and sit there watching the title screen.
On larger screen devices, I have also revamped the game sidebar, undocking it from the left side and giving it a semi-transparent effect.
I am considering adding a radar to the top of the sidebar, but I am not sure if it is needed since you can also zoom the game in and out, but you can let me know what you think.
In addition, I fixed an issue where bombers would actually end up bombing themselves, and now when you are playing a quick match, all enemy units will actually be destroyed when the player loses.
Next I want to change the controls a bit for keyboard/mouse play. I want automatic map scrolling when you mouse to the edge of the map when playing in fullscreen, and also on mouse i want you to be able to drag/select units without clicking and holding first.
Anyway, that is it for this release. Once I think the engine is good and healthy again, I will finish adding the United Earth faction units and move on to implementing LIS.
https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
Tody comes a new update to Colony Wars, bringing the game version up to v0.13.0. Besides bug fixes, this update adds some new settings to the new match screen.
We are now able to customize some of the gameplay parameters when starting a new match. You can adjust the amount of starting money, adjust the tech level, and there is now a toggle for Quick Match.
The starting money option is obvious. For the tech level, it is loosely based off of the tech levels from the original Red Alert, and the chart I used for reference is here: http://ra.afraid.org/html/ra/a_tl.html.
Quick Match should be a welcome addition to all. When Quick Match is enabled, a player will be defeated once his last building is destroyed, so you no longer need to scour the map for all of the AI's hidden units.
I have been in an RTS mood lately, so I may do some more Colony Wars updates. Let me know what other game setup options you would like to see in the future. United Earth could also use a few more units and structures, and then after that I think I am ready to start implementing the LIS faction.
So there is the update, check it out, let me know what you think, and stay tuned for more!
https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
We are now able to customize some of the gameplay parameters when starting a new match. You can adjust the amount of starting money, adjust the tech level, and there is now a toggle for Quick Match.
The starting money option is obvious. For the tech level, it is loosely based off of the tech levels from the original Red Alert, and the chart I used for reference is here: http://ra.afraid.org/html/ra/a_tl.html.
Quick Match should be a welcome addition to all. When Quick Match is enabled, a player will be defeated once his last building is destroyed, so you no longer need to scour the map for all of the AI's hidden units.
I have been in an RTS mood lately, so I may do some more Colony Wars updates. Let me know what other game setup options you would like to see in the future. United Earth could also use a few more units and structures, and then after that I think I am ready to start implementing the LIS faction.
So there is the update, check it out, let me know what you think, and stay tuned for more!
https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
I had planned on working on Colony Wars all weekend, but I just found out that I am going to be otherwise occupied until Monday, so I am putting out what I have gotten so far on the next update, with more to come next week. These notes will be short because I'm short on time, but let's take a look!
The focus on this update was to get Super Weapons working in the game! I got the basics down, but there are no sound effects/animations/etc yet, and they still need tweaked, but you can test them out this weekend and let me know. When you deploy the Lander, you unlock the Radar Sweep super weapon, which lets you reveal a spot on the map.
There is a new Orbital Uplink Station, and building it gives you the new Orbital Bombardment super weapon. I am still working on this one, in my tests it ranged from doing almost no damage to destroying an entire base in one hit, so obviously I have more work to do.
I think there is also a bug right now where Bombers are bombing themselves.... Let me know if you can reproduce this.
That is it for now. Sadly I have to run or else I would have put more time into this update, but I will be back working next week to continue the Super Weapon rollout. So try it and let me know what you think!
https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
The focus on this update was to get Super Weapons working in the game! I got the basics down, but there are no sound effects/animations/etc yet, and they still need tweaked, but you can test them out this weekend and let me know. When you deploy the Lander, you unlock the Radar Sweep super weapon, which lets you reveal a spot on the map.
There is a new Orbital Uplink Station, and building it gives you the new Orbital Bombardment super weapon. I am still working on this one, in my tests it ranged from doing almost no damage to destroying an entire base in one hit, so obviously I have more work to do.
I think there is also a bug right now where Bombers are bombing themselves.... Let me know if you can reproduce this.
That is it for now. Sadly I have to run or else I would have put more time into this update, but I will be back working next week to continue the Super Weapon rollout. So try it and let me know what you think!
https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
Colony Wars has just been updated to v0.10.0, and the update is packed with engine changes that I'm sure will cause an issue or two! So what's changed? Let's take a look!
This update brings support for high resolution graphics, as long as the base file for those graphics is in SVG format, so this includes all units and buildings, but not terrain items (yet). At some point I will probably convert all game graphics over to .SVG so that everything works in high resolution, but it isn't my #1 priority now. To see the new resolution, just zoom in while you are playing.
Next, I added the new Drone Pad structure and the Bomber Drone unit. This is the area where it will take a few updates to iron things out, as there are several new engine changes that needed to be implemented to support these types of flying and bombing units.
Before now, all current units shared standard movement and attack routines, but the introduction of the bomber changed all that. This required adding support for units to have a Z property for elevation, so the unit could take off and land. Flying units also no longer need to use the path finder, as they can fly straight towards their targets. Next, the bombing has to be done while the unit is in flight, and a bomber can't just "stand there" like other units can to attack.
With all of these required changes, the bombers might be a bit glitchy yet, and the AI still doesn't really know how to use them effectively, but they will get better in time, I promise!
The Bomber must dock at a Drone Pad, and must return to the pad after every attack to reload on ammo. So make sure you have at least one drone pad for each bomber unit.
Finally, another big update that I promised a while ago, the Map Shop!
There is now an option in the in-game map editor to submit your map to the Map Shop. The map shop allows you to submit your map and publish updates. Users who download your map from the shop will also automatically get the latest updates and version of your map. It's a far easier way to share your map than before, so if you are a map maker, check it out and make a submission!
That is all for this update, stay tuned for more!
https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
This update brings support for high resolution graphics, as long as the base file for those graphics is in SVG format, so this includes all units and buildings, but not terrain items (yet). At some point I will probably convert all game graphics over to .SVG so that everything works in high resolution, but it isn't my #1 priority now. To see the new resolution, just zoom in while you are playing.
Next, I added the new Drone Pad structure and the Bomber Drone unit. This is the area where it will take a few updates to iron things out, as there are several new engine changes that needed to be implemented to support these types of flying and bombing units.
Before now, all current units shared standard movement and attack routines, but the introduction of the bomber changed all that. This required adding support for units to have a Z property for elevation, so the unit could take off and land. Flying units also no longer need to use the path finder, as they can fly straight towards their targets. Next, the bombing has to be done while the unit is in flight, and a bomber can't just "stand there" like other units can to attack.
With all of these required changes, the bombers might be a bit glitchy yet, and the AI still doesn't really know how to use them effectively, but they will get better in time, I promise!
The Bomber must dock at a Drone Pad, and must return to the pad after every attack to reload on ammo. So make sure you have at least one drone pad for each bomber unit.
Finally, another big update that I promised a while ago, the Map Shop!
There is now an option in the in-game map editor to submit your map to the Map Shop. The map shop allows you to submit your map and publish updates. Users who download your map from the shop will also automatically get the latest updates and version of your map. It's a far easier way to share your map than before, so if you are a map maker, check it out and make a submission!
That is all for this update, stay tuned for more!
https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
Similar to the Colony Card for My Colony 1 games, I have created a new BB Code tag for the forum for Colony Wars, which is the Colony Wars Combat Record Card. Usage is simple:
In order for the tag to work, you must play a game of Colony Wars (multiplayer or skirmish, does not matter) while signed in to your Ape Apps Account, using Colony Wars v0.9.1 or later.
You can play the latest release of Colony Wars online here: https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
[colonywars]bastecklein[/colonywars]The name in the tag is any Ape Apps user you would like to display Colony Wars gameplay stats for.
In order for the tag to work, you must play a game of Colony Wars (multiplayer or skirmish, does not matter) while signed in to your Ape Apps Account, using Colony Wars v0.9.1 or later.
You can play the latest release of Colony Wars online here: https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
Colony Wars has just been updated to v0.9.0, and the update should be hitting all devices very shortly. This update brings some new units, a new structure, a new map and a host of interface improvements, so let's take a look at what is new!
To start with, I made some minor tweaks to existing content. The armor rating for the Amphibious Transport has been increased a bit. The money generating speed or the Ore Fracking Operation has been increased. Building an Engineer no longer requires a Research Lab first.
Moving on, two new engine improvements have been implemented in this release, Primary Building Selection and Building Repair! Now when you have multiple unit production structures, the barracks for example, you can now set which one will be your primary, which means all new units will come out of the primary building. Additionally, you can now finally repair your buildings that have been damaged. Both of these features are represented by new icons on the Structure Options box that appears when you select a building.
Some UI tweaks have been made. Now when you mouse over a structure, it will become semi-transparent, so that you can see units behind it. Also, mousing over a unit will put an outline around it, so you can also better see units behind structures. It will also increase the render order of the unit to put it above the structure.
Moving on, I created a new map for this release called Beyond a Path, inspired by the Red Alert map, a Path Beyond. This is an 8 player map featuring both land and sea combat, and it's a lot of fun!
A new structure is introduced in this update, the Gold Synthesis Lab. This later game structure will allow you to continue generating funds, even after all ore deposits on the map have been depleted.
Three new units were added in this update. The first is the Field Medic. This helpful unit can be embedded into your infantry force and will automatically heal nearby infantry units during battle.
And speaking of infantry forces, the new A.P.C. (armored personnel carrier) is a land based transport that can carry up to five infantry units safely into a combat zone. It has the highest armor rating of any land unit and is equipped with a light machine gun for minor defense, but it is probably best to escort an APC with some tank units.
And finally, the big boy of the release. Previously, naval combat was not overly interesting, with the lowly Patrol Boat not being much of a force. This changes now with the introduction of the Cruiser! As of now, the Cruiser is the most powerful unit in the game, with the firepower of about 2.5 medium tanks and more than double the firing range, with a high armor rating to go along with it. If your opponent is able to sneak up on you with a fleet of Cruisers and you are not properly defended, then you might as well just kiss your base goodbye.
So that about wraps up todays Colony Wars update. As I mentioned before, I am now putting Colony Wars development on top priority, so expect frequent updates. Let me know on the forum what updates/features/new units you would like to see, and stay tuned for more!
https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
To start with, I made some minor tweaks to existing content. The armor rating for the Amphibious Transport has been increased a bit. The money generating speed or the Ore Fracking Operation has been increased. Building an Engineer no longer requires a Research Lab first.
Moving on, two new engine improvements have been implemented in this release, Primary Building Selection and Building Repair! Now when you have multiple unit production structures, the barracks for example, you can now set which one will be your primary, which means all new units will come out of the primary building. Additionally, you can now finally repair your buildings that have been damaged. Both of these features are represented by new icons on the Structure Options box that appears when you select a building.
Some UI tweaks have been made. Now when you mouse over a structure, it will become semi-transparent, so that you can see units behind it. Also, mousing over a unit will put an outline around it, so you can also better see units behind structures. It will also increase the render order of the unit to put it above the structure.
Moving on, I created a new map for this release called Beyond a Path, inspired by the Red Alert map, a Path Beyond. This is an 8 player map featuring both land and sea combat, and it's a lot of fun!
A new structure is introduced in this update, the Gold Synthesis Lab. This later game structure will allow you to continue generating funds, even after all ore deposits on the map have been depleted.
Three new units were added in this update. The first is the Field Medic. This helpful unit can be embedded into your infantry force and will automatically heal nearby infantry units during battle.
And speaking of infantry forces, the new A.P.C. (armored personnel carrier) is a land based transport that can carry up to five infantry units safely into a combat zone. It has the highest armor rating of any land unit and is equipped with a light machine gun for minor defense, but it is probably best to escort an APC with some tank units.
And finally, the big boy of the release. Previously, naval combat was not overly interesting, with the lowly Patrol Boat not being much of a force. This changes now with the introduction of the Cruiser! As of now, the Cruiser is the most powerful unit in the game, with the firepower of about 2.5 medium tanks and more than double the firing range, with a high armor rating to go along with it. If your opponent is able to sneak up on you with a fleet of Cruisers and you are not properly defended, then you might as well just kiss your base goodbye.
So that about wraps up todays Colony Wars update. As I mentioned before, I am now putting Colony Wars development on top priority, so expect frequent updates. Let me know on the forum what updates/features/new units you would like to see, and stay tuned for more!
https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
The My Colony Universe Real Time Strategy (RTS) game Colony Wars has just been updated to v0.8.0, which is live now at it's new web domain and should be hitting Android over the coming days. This is the first real update to Colony Wars in about two years, so the game was long overdue. v0.8.0 contains a lot of updates "under the hood" and some quality of life improvements throughout, so let's take a look what is new!
The biggest change "structurally" to the game is one I mentioned in a thread earlier this week, which is that Colony Wars has been migrated off of the Web App Core framework and is now a stand-alone web app hosted at https://wars.my-colony.com/. If you previously had the Colony Wars progressive web app (PWA) installed to your device from the old Ape Web Apps location, you should uninstall it and reinstall the new one from the new URL.
The next change is the revamped title screen, which you can see in the screenshot above. The old title screen was also a component of Web App Core, so after migrating off of the library, I had to re-write the title from scratch. I sort of tried to copy off of the Red Alert 2 title screen (at least in terms of layout), since many of the game concepts are borrowed from RA2 anyway. Eventually, the background image on the title is going to cross fade between different battle scenes.
You will notice on the title screen that there is a new Quick Match button. This was added in response to Play Store feedback that setting up a new game could sometimes be too complicated on mobile devices. Now if you just want to quickly play a match, hop in the game and click on Quick Match. You will instantly be taken to a random map in Skirmish mode against how ever many AI opponents the map supports.
Improvements have been made to the New Game Lobby. You can now finally assign different teams to AI players, and change the color of the AI opponents as well. You can even assign AI players to be on your own team, if you wish. You might also notice a new map available called Crossroads. This was created by @GeneralWadaling , so if you enjoy the map please let him know!
Since we are on the subject of new maps, the Map Editor has also been improved. Namely, all of the functions on the map editor now work. Before, the abilities to import a map or open a saved map were not functioning, but now everything should be working properly (at least on the web app, Android might still have some bugs, but that will be sorted out in 0.9.0).
There was a lot of feedback on both the Play Store and through my email that the game was too difficult to control with touch screen, so several changes have been made to hopefully improve the situation:
This also works for units. If you have multiple units queued up, you can click on their number in the sidebar to cancel the build.
Another much-requested feature has been added. You can now see the health bar for a structure by clicking on it (or mouse-hovering it, if your device has a mouse). In addition, there is now an option to sell a building, or to quickly set a rally point for new units. You could previously do the rally point with a keyboard shortcut, but now you have access to the option on touch screen too.
Once in the game, you will notice a couple of additional changes. Firstly, all of the interface voice recordings ("construction complete," "low power," "harvester under attack," etc) have been re-recorded. My wife was kind enough to lend her voice for the recordings, so perhaps the sound will be more "soothing" now that it was before!
The AI's "brain" has been ratcheted up a bit in this release, especially as it relates to attacking your base. Previously, an AI would send some tanks into your base, destroy one building, and then just sit there like an idiot. Now the AI will actually go all-in and continue attacking your base until the job is done (or his attack force is destroyed).
Overall in-game performance should be better as well in this release, as the underlying Scroll2d engine has been updated to the latest iteration, which has about two years worth of improvements baked in over the previous release.
Finally, the multiplayer experience should be greatly improved in this release. As with Scroll2d, there are also two years of improvements brought over from my in-house multiplayer library, many of the code improvements coming thanks to the real-time multiplayer nature of My Colony 2. Multiplayer games now feature better performance, and much better handling of error states, such as player disconnects.
So the main focus of this release was to get Colony Wars migrated to its new home and bring about some of the most requested interface improvements. The next update is going to focus on adding new units and structures to the game. United Earth still needs a few things added before it's considered a complete faction, and if you have any suggestions on new structures and units for United Earth, now is the time.
Once the United Earth faction is done, I will focus on adding LIS to the game. Like in My Colony, LIS will have some similarities to United Earth, but with a few different specialized units and structures.
Once LIS is implemented, it will be time to add Zolarg into the game, and maybe the Alpha Draconians too for good measure, I haven't decided on that yet.
Finally, once all factions are done, the focus will switch to implementing the single player campaign, which will play through the story of the Human civil war, and the LIS's break-away from United Earth. I mentioned in a thread the other day that I want to have RA2 style cheesy cutscenes in the game. I might make them using Death 3D, but I also might get myself a greenscreen and an "Admiral Tots" costume. Haven't decided yet...
All the while adding the above mentioned items, I want to add other improvements as well. More options to the Multiplayer/Skirmish lobby, like setting your starting funds, game speed, AI difficulty, and tech level. The game needs Super Weapons too.
So that is it for this update. Expect more frequent Colony Wars updates, and let me know what you want to see added (as well as what issues you find with this release). Thanks for playing, and be sure to bookmark/install Colony Wars from it's new URL at my-colony.com:
https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
The biggest change "structurally" to the game is one I mentioned in a thread earlier this week, which is that Colony Wars has been migrated off of the Web App Core framework and is now a stand-alone web app hosted at https://wars.my-colony.com/. If you previously had the Colony Wars progressive web app (PWA) installed to your device from the old Ape Web Apps location, you should uninstall it and reinstall the new one from the new URL.
The next change is the revamped title screen, which you can see in the screenshot above. The old title screen was also a component of Web App Core, so after migrating off of the library, I had to re-write the title from scratch. I sort of tried to copy off of the Red Alert 2 title screen (at least in terms of layout), since many of the game concepts are borrowed from RA2 anyway. Eventually, the background image on the title is going to cross fade between different battle scenes.
You will notice on the title screen that there is a new Quick Match button. This was added in response to Play Store feedback that setting up a new game could sometimes be too complicated on mobile devices. Now if you just want to quickly play a match, hop in the game and click on Quick Match. You will instantly be taken to a random map in Skirmish mode against how ever many AI opponents the map supports.
Improvements have been made to the New Game Lobby. You can now finally assign different teams to AI players, and change the color of the AI opponents as well. You can even assign AI players to be on your own team, if you wish. You might also notice a new map available called Crossroads. This was created by @GeneralWadaling , so if you enjoy the map please let him know!
Since we are on the subject of new maps, the Map Editor has also been improved. Namely, all of the functions on the map editor now work. Before, the abilities to import a map or open a saved map were not functioning, but now everything should be working properly (at least on the web app, Android might still have some bugs, but that will be sorted out in 0.9.0).
There was a lot of feedback on both the Play Store and through my email that the game was too difficult to control with touch screen, so several changes have been made to hopefully improve the situation:
- Tapping on a unit twice will now select all units of the same kind in a 6 tile radius
- Units will now automatically attack all in-range defensive turret type structures (pillboxes, SAM sites, etc)
- When units are selected, you can simply tap on an enemy structure to order an attack, instead of having to click on the "move units" button first
This also works for units. If you have multiple units queued up, you can click on their number in the sidebar to cancel the build.
Another much-requested feature has been added. You can now see the health bar for a structure by clicking on it (or mouse-hovering it, if your device has a mouse). In addition, there is now an option to sell a building, or to quickly set a rally point for new units. You could previously do the rally point with a keyboard shortcut, but now you have access to the option on touch screen too.
Once in the game, you will notice a couple of additional changes. Firstly, all of the interface voice recordings ("construction complete," "low power," "harvester under attack," etc) have been re-recorded. My wife was kind enough to lend her voice for the recordings, so perhaps the sound will be more "soothing" now that it was before!
The AI's "brain" has been ratcheted up a bit in this release, especially as it relates to attacking your base. Previously, an AI would send some tanks into your base, destroy one building, and then just sit there like an idiot. Now the AI will actually go all-in and continue attacking your base until the job is done (or his attack force is destroyed).
Overall in-game performance should be better as well in this release, as the underlying Scroll2d engine has been updated to the latest iteration, which has about two years worth of improvements baked in over the previous release.
Finally, the multiplayer experience should be greatly improved in this release. As with Scroll2d, there are also two years of improvements brought over from my in-house multiplayer library, many of the code improvements coming thanks to the real-time multiplayer nature of My Colony 2. Multiplayer games now feature better performance, and much better handling of error states, such as player disconnects.
So the main focus of this release was to get Colony Wars migrated to its new home and bring about some of the most requested interface improvements. The next update is going to focus on adding new units and structures to the game. United Earth still needs a few things added before it's considered a complete faction, and if you have any suggestions on new structures and units for United Earth, now is the time.
Once the United Earth faction is done, I will focus on adding LIS to the game. Like in My Colony, LIS will have some similarities to United Earth, but with a few different specialized units and structures.
Once LIS is implemented, it will be time to add Zolarg into the game, and maybe the Alpha Draconians too for good measure, I haven't decided on that yet.
Finally, once all factions are done, the focus will switch to implementing the single player campaign, which will play through the story of the Human civil war, and the LIS's break-away from United Earth. I mentioned in a thread the other day that I want to have RA2 style cheesy cutscenes in the game. I might make them using Death 3D, but I also might get myself a greenscreen and an "Admiral Tots" costume. Haven't decided yet...
All the while adding the above mentioned items, I want to add other improvements as well. More options to the Multiplayer/Skirmish lobby, like setting your starting funds, game speed, AI difficulty, and tech level. The game needs Super Weapons too.
So that is it for this update. Expect more frequent Colony Wars updates, and let me know what you want to see added (as well as what issues you find with this release). Thanks for playing, and be sure to bookmark/install Colony Wars from it's new URL at my-colony.com:
https://wars.my-colony.com/
#colonywars
A couple of months ago, I announced that I would begin phasing out Web App Core, the cross-platform app wrapper I have been developing and using since around 2012. I have been making this change due to the fact that Progressive Web Apps (PWA) have now become the primary development target for Ape Apps, and their capabilities have reached the point to where using a big, heavy and bloated app wrapper like Web App Core is no longer a necessity. In addition, many of the features of PWA's work better when each app is hosted on its own domain or subdomain, as opposed to having every single app hosted on the same address like Ape Web Apps currently does. So this migration away from Web App Core/Ape Web Apps and towards individual domains has been a slow one and has taken up a lot of my time over the last couple of months, but progress is being made, and the next title on the migration list is none other than the long-in development game Colony Wars!
As of today, Colony Wars can now be accessed from it's new URL on the main My Colony Universe website: https://wars.my-colony.com. I think it is now almost up to fully functional from its previous release on Ape Web Apps, minus the Map Editor which I am still converting off of Web App Core. Out of all of the titles I have already moved off of Web App Core, Colony Wars has been the most difficult, as it utilized nearly the entire suite of Web App Core provided functions. I hope to have the conversion fully completed by the end of the week.
This conversion will bring Colony Wars up to v0.8.0. The primary changes in this release will be (obviously) the migration off of Web App Core, but also some new features as well. I have added a new Skirmish option, which will allow you to more quickly launch an offline battle VS the AI players without first going through the online multiplayer lobby. I am also adding an even faster Quick Match option, which will immediately put you into an offline Skirmish match on a random map with AI players already set up. There are also some bugs/UI issues that will be cleaned up that have been on the to-do list for ages now.
Beyond v0.8.0, I am planning to bring Colony Wars back to life off of the back-burner. Spending some time playing old school Command and Conquer with my son as convinced me that Colony Wars needs to be completed. Beyond new units, buildings, and maps which are all needed, I also need to start working on the single player Campaign. I want to have cheesy cut scene videos like in old Command and Conquer games, although I am not going to be hiring actors and doing any filming. I think I am going to render all of the cutscenes using Death 3D, creating characters using My Tokens and scenes with the Death 3D map editor. I have begun scripting out the story, which takes place in the year 2083 and begins with the LIS declaring independence and ambushing the United Earth Space Marines detachment on Terra Nova. Chronologically, the Colony Wars story takes place about a year before the events of Death 3D, and about a decade or so after the events of the Deimos trilogy.
So anyway, that is a look at what is coming down the pike for Colony Wars. If you want to check it out at it's new domain while it is still being worked on, you can access the site using the beta URL parameter to prevent it from activating it's service worker and caching the in-development code: https://wars.my-colony.com/?beta=1
#colonywars
As of today, Colony Wars can now be accessed from it's new URL on the main My Colony Universe website: https://wars.my-colony.com. I think it is now almost up to fully functional from its previous release on Ape Web Apps, minus the Map Editor which I am still converting off of Web App Core. Out of all of the titles I have already moved off of Web App Core, Colony Wars has been the most difficult, as it utilized nearly the entire suite of Web App Core provided functions. I hope to have the conversion fully completed by the end of the week.
This conversion will bring Colony Wars up to v0.8.0. The primary changes in this release will be (obviously) the migration off of Web App Core, but also some new features as well. I have added a new Skirmish option, which will allow you to more quickly launch an offline battle VS the AI players without first going through the online multiplayer lobby. I am also adding an even faster Quick Match option, which will immediately put you into an offline Skirmish match on a random map with AI players already set up. There are also some bugs/UI issues that will be cleaned up that have been on the to-do list for ages now.
Beyond v0.8.0, I am planning to bring Colony Wars back to life off of the back-burner. Spending some time playing old school Command and Conquer with my son as convinced me that Colony Wars needs to be completed. Beyond new units, buildings, and maps which are all needed, I also need to start working on the single player Campaign. I want to have cheesy cut scene videos like in old Command and Conquer games, although I am not going to be hiring actors and doing any filming. I think I am going to render all of the cutscenes using Death 3D, creating characters using My Tokens and scenes with the Death 3D map editor. I have begun scripting out the story, which takes place in the year 2083 and begins with the LIS declaring independence and ambushing the United Earth Space Marines detachment on Terra Nova. Chronologically, the Colony Wars story takes place about a year before the events of Death 3D, and about a decade or so after the events of the Deimos trilogy.
So anyway, that is a look at what is coming down the pike for Colony Wars. If you want to check it out at it's new domain while it is still being worked on, you can access the site using the beta URL parameter to prevent it from activating it's service worker and caching the in-development code: https://wars.my-colony.com/?beta=1
#colonywars
Today I am putting the finishing touches on My Colony 2 v0.17.0, which should be hitting all platforms over the coming days. In some ways, v0.17.0 on the outside is a minor update, but in other ways it begins to completely change everything for the My Colony series, as several new concepts are coming online. So let's take a look at what has changed and what is new with My Colony 2 v0.17.0 - The Phara Update!
The My Colony 2 engine is starting to gain support for AI controlled civilizations, and the first work has been started in this regard with the introduction of the Phara, a new Desert World native species conceptualized by @GeneralWadaling nearly a year ago. Desert World players will start to notice the new faction and their settlements crop up around their maps.
There is still a ton of work to be done with the AI, and some bugs to work out. At present, the AI doesn't do much except for generate new settlements, so don't expect any interactions or diplomacy quite yet. The AI routines are going to be fleshed out over the next several updates, and the initial AI processing is going to be largely based on the AI code from Colony Wars, but more on that later.
I have wanted AI controlled civilizations in My Colony since the first release of MC1, but have never gotten around to it. You may or may not know that My Colony 1 was initially envisioned as a futuristic version of Sid Meiers's Colonization, and was to have native species to deal with and you would also have to fight against the "king" for independence (in My Colony's case, United Earth). The game never turned out like that, and My Colony 2 will not have fighting for independence either, although the engine might in fact support that scenario soon, but we will get to that later too.
I next want to move on to a new concept I have added to the game, which is progression through both Player and Settlement leveling up.
Settlements now have a Level, which you can increase by using Civics. Behind the scenes, Players also have a level which can be increased using Money, but that part is not yet implemented.
Right now there isn't a huge point in leveling up, although eventually some government type structures and policy options will require either a specific player or settlement level to unlock. This adds extra goals and an additional player progression aspect to the game. Various forms of this have been suggested throughout the years for My Colony 1, so keep an eye on these features as they are fleshed out over the coming updates.
Next, I want to touch on what has been by far the #1 requested My Colony feature since the game first came out - Military and Combat, both of which are now making their way into My Colony 2!
This is another concept in it's initial phases and some of it still doesn't work right, but let's go through it. There is a new early-game tech called Colonial Security which is now needed for the Security Station and also unlocks the new Barracks. From the Barracks, you can now construct the first military unit, which is the Infantry unit. The Infantry is able to either attack or defend. It will automatically attack enemy units if in range, and will attack an enemy structure on command. A lot of the initial combat code has been taken from Colony Wars.
So what constitutes an enemy? The engine now accounts for diplomatic relations between each player behind the scenes. Players can either be Neutral (the default status), Enemies, or Allies. To become an enemy, you open the Players tab in the Statistics window, click on a player, and choose to declare war on them. They will instantly be notified of your treachery.
Now, here are the limitations. The 'Propose Alliance' and 'Sue for Peace' options currently are not functional, so if you do decide to declare war, there is no getting out of it. So keep that in mind.
There is a lot more to say on AI's and the new Combat features, but there have also been some other tweaks to the game that I wanted to touch on before getting too deep into the woods.
Firstly, when you go to build a new unit, it will now appear at the Construction Yard that is the closest to where your current camera position is location. In other words, if you are actively looking at a construction yard and you build a new unit, it will pop out of the construction yard you are looking at. This comes in handy as settlements begin to spread out and grow.
Another big change is that new players who join your public game will no longer start out at chunk 0:0. I know that it could be annoying to have all Landers start the game at the exact same spot, so the new Landers will now be randomly placed, somewhat in the area of the currently settled world, but away from all other players.
Now some kind of bad news. You may know that I recently updated Voxel Paint with some cool new features, such as metallic voxels, transparent voxels, etc. Well, I went to implement those features into the My Colony 2 engine, and it completely kills performance. I don't know why yet, but just having one structure with a metallic texture destroys the game, and that is on a high end PC with a good video card. So until I can get the performance situation worked out, the cool new features from Voxel Paint will have to wait. 🙁
Now I want to dive a bit deeper into some of the new features, and how they tie to what I have planned for My Colony 2 going forward.
Some of you may have heard during some of my Podcast episodes or from various release notes here on the forum that I had long wanted to make a game called 'New World' that involved showing up on a new continent in ships like the Spanish did, and trying to get rich on a land inhabited by natives. Well, Amazon recently beat me to the New World game, but the idea still remains in my mind. A lot of this updates recent changes, including AI civs and combat, go directly towards making that game concept a reality.
Additionally, there has recently been discussion with GeneralWadaling about migrating Colony Wars to the Scroll3D engine. I think that my new strategy instead is going to be to have the My Colony 2 engine be sophisticated and customizable enough to be able to be morphed into a Colony Wars type Real Time Strategy game. This would be great for multiple reasons. Firstly, less game engines to maintain is always a good thing for me. Secondly, it will greatly increase the capabilities that modders have to make different types of games for the My Colony 2 engine. A win for everybody!
So with the above two points in mind, here are some things I need to work out before I can make everything a reality, which should give you an idea of some of the features that will be coming soon to My Colony 2.
Firstly, there needs to be more World options then the current infinite maps. You need to be able to create maps of a specific size, and also maps that have a predefined layout, which means some type of map editor. To get started on this work, the next World type I am adding to the game is going to be the My Colony Classic world, which will be roughly equivalent to an MC1 large sized Red Planet map (probably not suitable for multiplayer). It should be a fun challenge for some players, but will also bring important new features to the engine.
Next of course, the AI needs to be expanded and improved. The first order of business is to get the AI's capabilities to be roughly in line with those in Colony Wars, which will allow basic war and RTS support. In addition though, the AI needs to be able to conduct peaceful diplomacy and trades. And for that matter, players need to be able to trade with each other as well.
Modders need to be able to customize various UI aspects. The game UI needs to be able to basically look like the Colony Wars UI, which means options need to be added to show/hide elements and to more the position of different elements. The new/join game screen also needs to be customizable.
And of course, the game content needs to be expanded as well, and that will happen over time for sure.
So there is a ton of work to do, and absolutely all feedback is appreciated. In the meantime though, check out the v0.17.0 update to My Colony 2, and stay tuned for a whole lot more to come!
#mycolony2 #colonywars #voxelpaint
The My Colony 2 engine is starting to gain support for AI controlled civilizations, and the first work has been started in this regard with the introduction of the Phara, a new Desert World native species conceptualized by @GeneralWadaling nearly a year ago. Desert World players will start to notice the new faction and their settlements crop up around their maps.
There is still a ton of work to be done with the AI, and some bugs to work out. At present, the AI doesn't do much except for generate new settlements, so don't expect any interactions or diplomacy quite yet. The AI routines are going to be fleshed out over the next several updates, and the initial AI processing is going to be largely based on the AI code from Colony Wars, but more on that later.
I have wanted AI controlled civilizations in My Colony since the first release of MC1, but have never gotten around to it. You may or may not know that My Colony 1 was initially envisioned as a futuristic version of Sid Meiers's Colonization, and was to have native species to deal with and you would also have to fight against the "king" for independence (in My Colony's case, United Earth). The game never turned out like that, and My Colony 2 will not have fighting for independence either, although the engine might in fact support that scenario soon, but we will get to that later too.
I next want to move on to a new concept I have added to the game, which is progression through both Player and Settlement leveling up.
Settlements now have a Level, which you can increase by using Civics. Behind the scenes, Players also have a level which can be increased using Money, but that part is not yet implemented.
Right now there isn't a huge point in leveling up, although eventually some government type structures and policy options will require either a specific player or settlement level to unlock. This adds extra goals and an additional player progression aspect to the game. Various forms of this have been suggested throughout the years for My Colony 1, so keep an eye on these features as they are fleshed out over the coming updates.
Next, I want to touch on what has been by far the #1 requested My Colony feature since the game first came out - Military and Combat, both of which are now making their way into My Colony 2!
This is another concept in it's initial phases and some of it still doesn't work right, but let's go through it. There is a new early-game tech called Colonial Security which is now needed for the Security Station and also unlocks the new Barracks. From the Barracks, you can now construct the first military unit, which is the Infantry unit. The Infantry is able to either attack or defend. It will automatically attack enemy units if in range, and will attack an enemy structure on command. A lot of the initial combat code has been taken from Colony Wars.
So what constitutes an enemy? The engine now accounts for diplomatic relations between each player behind the scenes. Players can either be Neutral (the default status), Enemies, or Allies. To become an enemy, you open the Players tab in the Statistics window, click on a player, and choose to declare war on them. They will instantly be notified of your treachery.
Now, here are the limitations. The 'Propose Alliance' and 'Sue for Peace' options currently are not functional, so if you do decide to declare war, there is no getting out of it. So keep that in mind.
There is a lot more to say on AI's and the new Combat features, but there have also been some other tweaks to the game that I wanted to touch on before getting too deep into the woods.
Firstly, when you go to build a new unit, it will now appear at the Construction Yard that is the closest to where your current camera position is location. In other words, if you are actively looking at a construction yard and you build a new unit, it will pop out of the construction yard you are looking at. This comes in handy as settlements begin to spread out and grow.
Another big change is that new players who join your public game will no longer start out at chunk 0:0. I know that it could be annoying to have all Landers start the game at the exact same spot, so the new Landers will now be randomly placed, somewhat in the area of the currently settled world, but away from all other players.
Now some kind of bad news. You may know that I recently updated Voxel Paint with some cool new features, such as metallic voxels, transparent voxels, etc. Well, I went to implement those features into the My Colony 2 engine, and it completely kills performance. I don't know why yet, but just having one structure with a metallic texture destroys the game, and that is on a high end PC with a good video card. So until I can get the performance situation worked out, the cool new features from Voxel Paint will have to wait. 🙁
Now I want to dive a bit deeper into some of the new features, and how they tie to what I have planned for My Colony 2 going forward.
Some of you may have heard during some of my Podcast episodes or from various release notes here on the forum that I had long wanted to make a game called 'New World' that involved showing up on a new continent in ships like the Spanish did, and trying to get rich on a land inhabited by natives. Well, Amazon recently beat me to the New World game, but the idea still remains in my mind. A lot of this updates recent changes, including AI civs and combat, go directly towards making that game concept a reality.
Additionally, there has recently been discussion with GeneralWadaling about migrating Colony Wars to the Scroll3D engine. I think that my new strategy instead is going to be to have the My Colony 2 engine be sophisticated and customizable enough to be able to be morphed into a Colony Wars type Real Time Strategy game. This would be great for multiple reasons. Firstly, less game engines to maintain is always a good thing for me. Secondly, it will greatly increase the capabilities that modders have to make different types of games for the My Colony 2 engine. A win for everybody!
So with the above two points in mind, here are some things I need to work out before I can make everything a reality, which should give you an idea of some of the features that will be coming soon to My Colony 2.
Firstly, there needs to be more World options then the current infinite maps. You need to be able to create maps of a specific size, and also maps that have a predefined layout, which means some type of map editor. To get started on this work, the next World type I am adding to the game is going to be the My Colony Classic world, which will be roughly equivalent to an MC1 large sized Red Planet map (probably not suitable for multiplayer). It should be a fun challenge for some players, but will also bring important new features to the engine.
Next of course, the AI needs to be expanded and improved. The first order of business is to get the AI's capabilities to be roughly in line with those in Colony Wars, which will allow basic war and RTS support. In addition though, the AI needs to be able to conduct peaceful diplomacy and trades. And for that matter, players need to be able to trade with each other as well.
Modders need to be able to customize various UI aspects. The game UI needs to be able to basically look like the Colony Wars UI, which means options need to be added to show/hide elements and to more the position of different elements. The new/join game screen also needs to be customizable.
And of course, the game content needs to be expanded as well, and that will happen over time for sure.
So there is a ton of work to do, and absolutely all feedback is appreciated. In the meantime though, check out the v0.17.0 update to My Colony 2, and stay tuned for a whole lot more to come!
#mycolony2 #colonywars #voxelpaint
