This week I focused on some of the deeper 'behind the scenes' features, but they will have a big impact on the game.
One of the most exciting features for this week though is, Default support for the XBox 360 controller! You can now pilot your M.A.V. around with a controller, and as a side benefit, all the gameplay keys are re-mappable to work with any other joysticks you have.
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As I said before, one of my primary goals this week was to flesh out the backend systems for the game play systems. I focused on splash damage this week (because the howitzer was so over powered).
The splash damage before had a linear falloff, and hit anything within it's blast area. This made it so a well placed shot to a cockpit would end up doing 5-10 times as much damage as listed (because it would deal the full damage to the whole M.A.V. it hit). So the first update was to make area damage weapons only explode if they don't directly hit and enemy. This also helps play into the role of these weapons better, which is not direct fire but area damage and area denial.
Now, to modify the area damage more, I implemented a line check when a round explodes. This was to make sure armor was effective at preventing splash damage to the parts it was protecting. This also makes sure only the parts that are exposed to the blast get damaged.
Speaking of armor, there is a new part stat. The Armor stat actually affects damage in two different ways depending on if the damage is direct fire or splash damage. You will also notice a new weapon stat call Impact Force. This is the counter stat to armor.
Armor
The armor rating of a part shows it's ability to deflect direct fire weapons. When a part is hit, a comparison is done against the Impact Force and the Armor. If the armor is greater then the impact force, the round is deflected and it will only do 75% damage to the part. Now if the damage is coming from splash damage, the Armor rating provides a Direct Damage Reduction. So if you have and armor rating of 60 and get hit with 100 points of splash damage, your part will only get dealt 40% damage, or 40 points of damage. This makes armor a great counter to splash damage and smaller rounds, like machine guns.
Impact Force
Now, you can see how the impact force can affect the damage you deal against armor, but it also has other benefits. High impact weapons have the ability to affect an enemies aim and even leg stability. The high an enemies Aim Stability and Shock Absorption the less the impact force will affect them.
Shock Absorption
Mobility platforms have a new stat as well to help counter the effects of impacts. This is a straight percentage reduction stat, so a rating of 100 will completely negate all the affects of impacts. If you absorption is low and the impact is big enough it could not only affect your aim but also push you around on the ground.
Now that all the new stats are explained, here is a complete breakdown of this week's changes :
+New M.A.V. editor Part info dialog UI addition
+ Part duplicate added to the part info
+ Added Medium Armor Part
+ Added Heavy Armor Part
+Implemented Shock absorption
+ Implemented Armor
+ Implemented Impact force
+ Added support for xbox controller
+ Added gameplay key to the re-mappable input dialog (shown at the game startup)
* Modified the Biped Leg Animation
* Fixed a bug in the way inter-M.A.V. collisions were calculated in the editor
* Fixed a bug that allowed AI to build a M.A.V. without a cockpit
* Fixed a bug the prevented a M.A.V. from being destroyed when it's cockpit was not attached to the legs
* Fixed several bugs in the AI threat assessment system
* Fixed several bugs in the AI aiming calculations
* Modified all weapon stats
* Fixed a bug that prevented editing weapon settings when playing in Siege mode
Also, there was a great vote on the art style of M.A.V. in the message board. As you can see from the votes, the game is in need of an updated art style, so that will be my focus this week.
