As expected, I've missed the mark for a 2024 release of BRS v5, but you know, ob-la-de ob-la-da. I've been spending a lot of time getting better at making my shit look less shit, and I feel like it's been well worth the extra time.
Updated Planets & Moons
Aphro, N'gila (FKA Gila/Gimghoul/Yupityr), and the terraformed moon of Zaoth all have a whole new vibe which can fairly be described as 'Not a public domain NASA image plopped on a sphere primitive'. Aphro now uses the same planet generation technique as Tyra and FuShen but with a significantly less habitable appearance, and Zaoth has become sort of a quaint mini-Tyra. The gas giant now named N'gila for reasons beyond logic has a new texture c/o the wonderful, free, and pragmatically named Textures For Planets.
I spent too much time trying to get a flow map shader working for N'gila but could not for the life of me figure it out. In a last ditch attempt to help, my bud ChatGPT gave me this diagram, which made it really easy for me to say "yeah yeah, fuck this":
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| <3 U, never change |
As I mentioned last month, I've also been modeling a handful of bodies by hand. I don't want to spoil the thrill of exploration, but here are some before & after shots of Lua to give you an idea of the direction I'm heading in:
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| Lua (far), before & after |
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| Lua (near), before & after |
This is my first (arguably) successful attempt at shader work, and while there's obviously a lot of room for improvement, I think the result is a significant upgrade over 'billiard ball slapped with a NASA photo'. Better than before & good enough for now, that's kinda my whole thing.
The ice moon Memphis (FKA Graceland) and cutie patootie Mirchick got similar (but weirder!) treatments.
Dwarf Vibes
I've added a new dwarf planet called Svartalheim, nestled between the orbits of FuShen & N'gila. It was originally sort of based on Ceres, but I got a bit carried away and it turned into something much funkier. I have some thoughts on implementing an actual asteroid belt someday, but for now the inner belt is defined by this single dwarf planet, as the outer belt is defined by Mictlan. Things could change, of course, but this is the last planet that I'm planning on adding to the game.
Lore-wise, the belts are dominated by the Kingdom of Midgard, and Svartalheim is the only known natural source of Ichor, which is refined at Mekka into the Black TEA that fuels the warp drive.
New Station Interiors: Depot Complete!
I'm currently working on an overhaul of the space station interiors, which is going pretty well. The depot interiors are all done, since it's basically just a ship hangar, but it looks a lot better than before.
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| Everything You Need |
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| New Welcome Sign |
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| Coffee Stains Not To Scale |
Coming Up Next
I've still got a lot left to do with the station interiors, but once I've wrapped that up I'll be on to bug fixing as I finally round the corner into the home stretch for v5.
That racecar metaphor reminds me of an Old Earth folk song, so as I approach a full year of working on this version update, feeling an increasingly tired mix of shame and pride, sometimes wondering why I'm doing this, but always determined to go the distance, I'll leave you with this couplet:
No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine
He's haunted by something he cannot define
Until next time! o7
