Hi there! Here is a video presenting the latest additions on the way to the NPC traffic implementation:
The idea was to try and make the game world “naturally” derive from the existing data and physics:
- The main stellar systems were picked scanning the database of celestial objects for habitable planets. The main criterion was water, either in liquid or ice form. So in some cases “snowballs” and Mars-analogs would qualify.
- Then computing routes between them over a 10 year period determined where to place the refueling depots, stations and navaids constellations.
Of course this is only a first step but which was necessary to provide departures and destinations to work on the NPC traffic.
As a positive side-effect this should also give more structure to the current “ferry only” gameplay experience. And to build on this in the coming days the ship’s navigation sensors will be reworked to factor in accuracy errors,
and the Space Positioning Systems will be made operational.
Thanks for reading and stay safe!
Awe-inspiring work!