Map Skeleton Discussion

[Cory Trese]

Here is an image of the map skeleton. This is the framework for the proc generator in v1.0.29



We expanded from 20 Nodes to 63. Maps are much bigger.

Discuss.

[Cory Trese]

This is what it was in v1.0.27

[Cory Trese]

Previous node system had 30 gates. Now has 87

[ChocoCrowbar]

That's a lot of squares and lines, much more squares and lines than the current amount.

Awesome.

My only question is how will mobile players remember so many planets in so many quadrants, since the "hover over ability" isn't on mobile? Is a workaround planned for .29?

[Cory Trese]

Not for .29

We're working on the mobile featureset.

No need to make maps this big, you can still set it to 12 if you want.

[Cory Trese]

one interesting question is about the long jump lines ... in v27 we had only 1 long jump, in 29 we have 4.

these 4 links have outsized influence on the map generator.

[bobc]

So if you select a 20 node map, will it be the same 20 node 'clump' every time ( as defined for .27), or can the proc gen select a 20 node clump from anywhere on the skeleton?

[fallen]

bobc - no, it is not gauranteed to be the same clump. Can be all over the place.

Here is a map Cory shared with me earlier today --

[fallen]

Mar 15, 2017 15:03:59 GMT -5 ChocoCrowbar said:

My only question is how will mobile players remember so many planets in so many quadrants, since the "hover over ability" isn't on mobile? Is a workaround planned for .29?

We are continuing to work on it, but as stated at the beginning of the alpha -- the best play experience is on desktop atm. The next update will include info buttons for Talents in Ship to ship combat and 35 new Talent icons, as well as a major HUD upgrade that will be great for mobile. We're improving as fast as we can.

[Deleted]

Will there be more than 4 jump gates in any given quadrant? 

[Brutus Aurelius]

So there will be a much higher limit on Quadrants in .29?

[tenbsmith]

It is very cool seeing this. I assume each box in the framework represents a quadrant.

Why are some boxes yellow?

It seems that fallen is saying that when you select less than the highest number of quadrants, the proc gen selects a subset of the skeleton.

Seems like this adds a lot of replay value, especially with smaller numbers of quadrants.

[bobc]

Mar 15, 2017 16:37:24 GMT -5 tenbsmith said:

It seems that fallen is saying that when you select less than the highest number of quadrants, the proc gen selects a subset of the skeleton.

Agreed, that is my understanding of the answer too, and also that the subset selected can be different each time you generate the map for the same number of quadrants.

[athios]

I'm a bit curious how the larger node size will come into play. In my current Map, I find repeated playthroughs to be helpful in my success, because l learn more about where the best trade planets are, etc. With a high-node universe, it may be impossible to develop that kind of familiarity. I think it will be helpful once user notes and planet list is implemented so we can make quick notes and references.

One possible big benefit is increased diversity (just from sheer number of planets generated). So if you find it hard to locate "the perfect planet" for Patrol/Spy/etc right now, it may be easier to find in the larger universe.

I am rather fearful what the huge Galactic Map will do to my iPad. Not sure why, but the crashing issue came back since my last post in the thread we discussed in was locked.

[Cory Trese]

Mar 15, 2017 17:15:15 GMT -5 athios said:

I am rather fearful what the huge Galactic Map will do to my iPad. Not sure why, but the crashing issue came back since my last post in the thread we discussed in was locked.

Sorry about your hardware issues. We're monitoring iOS crashes in real time and I'm glad to say that we're pretty much crash free outside of OS or other application issues (current iOS version.)

Are you running some older version or anything else on the device that's cause crashes. Maybe you're the one with the sound manager issue?

I'm VERY happy to report how stable iOS has been on all devices. Such a huge turn around from previous alphas, all that extra iOS work has really paid off in stability!