Greetings dear comrades of the Soviet Repubilc. We have an extended weekend in progress, but we will not miss the opportunity to spread the word about current stage of development. As we mentioned in the last report, we released the internal test version of the game already to get more people involved in the process of fixing critical or annoying bugs which are present in the game. We were already able to fix several causes of crashing. One of them was caused by clicking on helicopter, airplane, or ship, another one was related to line spacing while loading a save, then we fixed a crash while following a helicopter flying abroad. We adjusted the tolerance for fields because it was too strict in regards of terrain, and we also added a confirmation window before deletion of all notifications. So, you can see there is a lot to be done before we get this version to public beta branch.
Now let us have a look on upcoming features. One of them will not have so much impact on the game but there is plenty of people who would like to have better tools for sharing screenshots from the game. We made a special tool for the game which you can see in menu while your map is loaded under settings. You will be able to create screenshots or even time lapses easily. Currently you can use F12 which is working fine for most of games to create a screenshot. The main difference is that if you will use the tool available in game you will not need to turn off GUI using CTRL+G but the game will create the screenshot automatically without GUI. Another thing is that you can add prefix for files to easily distinguish them later and the pictures are saved into “…media_soviet/screenshots/” folder.
Another option allows you to create time lapses easily. First you need to choose the camera angle, then you set the timeframe, and after hitting the screenshot button the game will make screenshots from same angle every X seconds according to your settings. You do not need to worry about moving the camera accidentally, as the game will switch the angle for a moment when the screenshot is created into preset you have. Thus, even if it may be a bit annoying, you can move all around the map and it will jump the camera to location at each capture switching back to your current view after. Another thing worth mentioning is that you can continue to capture screenshots for time lapse after reloading the map later because the camera settings are saved with the map.
Then we have another new feature which will be a bit less practical, and it will serve mainly as option for creativity. We are working on tool which will allow you to paint certain surfaces for example as gravel or asphalt to create public squares in your towns or yards covered by likeness of asphalt. These will not be drive-able; you will need to place pathways and roads first, then paint the area as you wish. We can already imagine some great looking facilities or cities some people will be able to create as there were some attempts already when people used certain mods created by community.
We also want to introduce changes for weather. Sun was always shining bright from the north in our game, but now clouds are gathering above your Republics. There will be raining and volumetric fog after that. But that is not only about scenery and feeling because it will have effect on power output of solar power plants. Another thing will be the wind. The speed of wind will not be constant, and it will have effect on power output of wind turbines. It will be like in real life. The Sun will not always shine so brightly on the ground and the wind will not always blow strong enough to allow you to fully rely on renewable energy without significant investments, and rain will slow down the traffic on muddy roads. Then the indicator for temperature will serve also as indicator for sunshine and wind. You will be able to change that by clicking on it.
We continue to work on fixing the current internal test version to make it available as soon as we can. Stay tuned for the next report.
Thank You for Your Support
3Division Team