Interplanetary Update #6.6: Patching it Up

Can't see anything anymore!

Greetings, Interplanetarists! We come bearing glad tidings.

To ease the wait until the next proper update (it'll be a doozy!), we decided to put out a little patch to fix some big annoyances.

First of all, we've begun a great networking overhaul, one that should fix a huge amount of the current problems with online play. While the results are still a couple of updates away, today's patch contains an important network fix, sort of as a teaser of things to come: the turn processing fix!

There's nothing quite as aggravating as having your game crash in between turns because of some random reason. That random reason turned out to be lasers. Due to some hitbox weirdness, a laser blast would sometimes not reach the planet surface at all, causing the game being confused and calculating the attack forever. This should now be fixed.

Lasers, nature's little troublemakers.

Next on our list of fixes is something many of you have been waiting for: the structure graphic/intel fix.

A while ago we made an experimental intel system change that allowed players to see the locations of enemy structures, but not any of the details. This turned out to be pretty unpopular, so we're hereby changing it back! As of this patch, all the city graphics and building graphics will be hidden unless the player has enough intel to see them. Because of this change, we also made a couple of balance tweaks, mainly having to do with beefing up the targetable weapons and nerfing defense buildings to account for this added layer of defense.

That's all the big changes now, but do check out the detailed changelog for every little thing.

Interplanetary Version 0.6.4981_EAC_6.6

• Fixed online games crashing at turn processing due to Laser weirdness
• City and Building graphics are now visible only if the player has enough intel
• Camera now centers on the player planet when entering Targeting View
• Material production upgrades changed to consume Planet Material
• Cities now get destroyed when population reaches 0, as opposed to 1/6 of maximum
• Sun gravity increased
• Laser effects made slightly more visible
• Defense building Visibility increased
• Railgun Visibility slightly decreased
• Missile Population damage increased
• Laser Population damage increased
• Defense Energy consumption increased
• Upgradeable Intel amount for Data Security Hub decreased
• Upgradeable Counterintel amount for Telescope Array decreased

 And what better way to celebrate the patch than...

The previous Whack-a-Dev turned out to be so cozy, we thought of having a home-broadcast again. So, catch the whacking stream on our Twitch channel and join the discussion in the chat. Just like the previous time, a couple of us will be playing a match or two of Interplanetary and chatting around, answering the questions you post in the chat.

And, as always, for every dev you manage to defeat we release free Interplanetary Steam keys into the world. You can follow the giveaway at our Twitter and Vkontakte pages.

Blast you soon and blast you hard!

Interplanetary is available on Steam Early Access.

Interplanetary Wiki Launch and Networking Fixes

Like a bolt out of the blue, it's Interplanetary Wiki! Curse has been gracious enough to offer us a space on their Gamepedia and now we have our very own space for all knowledge on Interplanetary. Being a wiki, anyone can add to it and they should! So to all you wiki enthusiasts: go have a field day! Just keep in mind the usual rules of conduct.

Can't wait to see what kind of things will start popping up there! Of course, we may join in periodically to add in some super secret information...

What about the Game?

While the wiki is a pretty awesome thing, I'm sure you're curious about how Interplanetary is progressing. We are still planning on rolling out with an alpha update within the coming weeks and we haven't forgotten about you Linux users either! I'd say that the big thing causing us trouble, at the moment, is networking.

A common problem reported to us has been the non-functional "Start Game"-button in the Online Lobby. We've found the problem, and while the fix hasn't been implemented, it is possible to work around it by restarting your computer and trying again. The problem is connected to the way the game chooses a random port to use in the online game, and if the port isn't free, the game won't start. By restarting your computer, the game chooses a new, hopefully free port.

Frustration!

We were actually working on updating the alpha over a month ago, but while adding the new features, we noticed that our online game just didn't support them well enough. Back to the drawing board, then! For now, we're working on adding support for the upcoming features, in addition to fixing some of the other things. As some of you may have noticed, Defenses aren't very reliable in online games; this is not by design!

Other things that we're fixing include the addition of host migration, accurate victory screens and better data synchronization between players.

It's been a doozy, but solving the issues with networking will surely make things easier for everyone. Expect an update in the coming weeks, but be patient! There's still a lot to work out.

Northern Game Summit 2013 & how to pitch a game

Full house!

Northern Game Summit was held second time last week, and we thought this would be a perfect time to share our experiences.

Kajaani is quite a remote place to hold a gaming conference at, but NGS was still very populated event. (And the only one to date that has started with karaoke!?) All in all the event was pretty excellent, we had a chance to meet lots of new people and keep in touch with old friends. The lectures we're interesting too, even after some technical difficulties.

Afterparty was a big part of the event as usual. The organizers came up with an interesting combination as the stands you would expect to see in most gaming events we're actually part of the party. Worked very nicely!

Ever played Alan Wake on 300" screen?

This time we took part in the pitching contest, which was probably the most important single event throughout the summit. While the pitching didn't go as well as it could have with proper preparation, it was well worth the trouble. Pitching an idea in front of real business people is an excellent way to get some free EXP, something we definitely recommend to any game developer. Since it's possible to learn from anyone, not only from the best, check out this short list of what we gathered:

-Prepare early. This provides you a chance to go through your presentation multiple times and in different mindsets, and gives you more time to...

-Practice. This one should be obvious, but it might still be just a little bit too easy to trick yourself into believing you know your idea/project well enough to present it spontaneously. Do this in front of someone not familiar with you as well, if you have a chance. There a second layer to practice as well: In addition to practicing every single pitch, you should practice pitching in general as often as possible.

-Gather your team, or at least consider doing so. Preparing a game pitch is something you can do alone, but it's almost always better if you can prepare it with your team or even a couple of friends. This helps you to cover multiple points of view, get more feedback and root out some hitches that might have gone unnoticed.

-Back it up. Do some research that prepares you for difficult questions about your target audience, competition, sales estimates, even tech. Including those things in your pitch in a simple format gives a feeling that you know what you're doing, as long as they are facts.

-Make it look good. Having some cool concept art can definitely help you get the point across. Mockups or bullshots are better, and if you have a chance to include a short section of gameplay video, you're all set!

In the process of preparing for a pitch one time too little.

PS. We haven't completely forgotten about Interplanetary either. The development effort is back on track and running smoothly now that we have settled in our new premises. More on that later!

Post-Assembly disassembly

False advertising, we admit. The pizza was a lie.

Hello people of the Internet! We are sorry to have sneaked on vacation without announcing it properly, but we now are back, refreshed and running. This is Niklas, bringing you a few words on the process on Interplanetary and some more on my trip to the Assembly Summer '13 with the rest of the KAMK crew.

Before the well earned holiday we worked Interplanetary to the point where we could start working on in-team alpha testing. Some bugs and gameplay issues popped up immediately as usually happens with tests like this, so we will now focus on making things better. After that, it's time to start dragging in test users outside the team. If you're interested in being one of them, drop us a line and there's a good chance we will include you! Notice that unless you have a friend to play hotseat with, you may need a VPN client and end up playing against one of us.

This is what it's all about to many of us.

Now then, Assembly Summer '13. I will take the liberty to write from more personal perspective as I was the only member of TJR to travel this time. We originally intended to bring a two-man strike team, but Jukka succumbed to a nasty stomach bug prior the trip. But I still had a chance to take part, thanks to the very generous people at KAMK. The event itself was of course awesome as always, but this time I didn't quite manage to get the best out of it.

Here's what lacked, so you can do better!

We did not enter the game compo. This was a decision we made pretty early on. Interplanetary is not the sort of game that fits very well in a compo like this. It takes at least half an hour to really get into the game, and that's simply too long, we thought. However, games are presented to the audience in a game trailer form, which would have been doable for us and the compo is really good publicity. M.A.D, a KAMK game we had running at the stand got a lot of attention, and many people mentioned they had found it through the compo.

We did not bring a game demo with us. This is something we actually planned on doing. The demo wouldn't have been exactly Interplanetary, but instead a modified version of the early proof-of-concept version you can download from right there on the right hand side. We planned on having the game run on a touch screen we had on the stand and have people compete for small prizes. The modifications didn't make it in time though, as we prioritized finishing the alpha. In hindsight, the demo version would've been a better choice.

We did not direct our marketing to the players. I was seeking out professional contacts as usual, even though there weren't many around. This is something we should have considered earlier: Assembly might be one of the best places to reach the target audience directly when you are making a game for fairly hard core PC audience.

We didn't prepare well enough. The event was too fast upon us, and we had decided some time ago to have our vacation right before the trip. Because of simple mistakes like this, we didn't have enough time to think through what would be our goals, prepare marketing material etc.

I neglected social media. Like mentioned in the guide I made earlier, events like these provide excellent content for social media, and it's also a good chance to communicate with people who are either present or just interested in what's going on on site. Unlike Nordic Game Conference and Free Your Play, this time there really wasn't  a good reason behind as we had both working wifi and native 3G to work with.

I brought those awful shoes I had at NGC again. Ouch.

Nevertheless I still consider the Assembly trip well worth the time. I met new people and got to spend good time with some fellow nerdy people. Next year TJR will be there again in one form or another, and we will make the best out of it. See you there!

No matter what the locals say, Pasila can be quite pretty. Next year again!

The second most popular gaming conference in the north

Networking ®, the Trading Card Game

Hello! Now that our bearded scout squadron (with glasses) is back from Sweden and recharged, it's time to write a couple of lines about our trip to Nordic Game Conference, Unite Nordic and some related events.

For us the trip went very well. People seemed to like the idea behind Interplanetary a lot, and Hedgehop, one of the games we still very much hope to finish at some point, was very well received by the few people I had a chance to show it.

We thought about writing a longer post mortem and a more detailed description of the events, but there are plenty of those around at this point, and you can always watch some of the presentations online. So, instead, here are some things you should keep in mind when it's your time to travel to NGC. (Majority of these points apply for most games industry events.)


Nordic Game Conference tips for the newcomers:

Plan ahead.
Make it clear to yourself what you require from the trip and plan your actions accordingly. Is there someone you want to talk with? A company you want to connect to? Are you looking for a training place? Do you want to find a publisher for your game, or are you there for advice?

If you travel with a group, discuss your goals beforehand. This way you can keep on the lookout for your friends as well: If someone spots a person you want to talk with, they can give you a call.

Cutting out your 150 fliers manually is very indie.

Prepare some material for your game or team.
Think of the message you wish to deliver to your target audience, and what that target audience will be. Prepare the materials early. You may also want to prepare an elevator pitch for your company, team and/or your game.

Make reservations as early as possible.
This allows you to find cheaper flights and accommodations. Comfort Hotel Malmö is a good choice, it's located right next to the Slagthuset where the conference is held.

Pack light.
You'll end up needing only 1/3 of what you have in most cases. Linens and a towel are usually not needed, even if you stay in the cheapest possible hostel.

Wear good shoes.
Your trip is likely to involve lots of walking and standing, and it'll be a lot harder to focus on important things when you have blistered feet.

Be aware that the price level in Sweden is very high.
This is true even from a Finnish perspective. You can expect a McDonalds meal to be around 10€, a beer in a bar around 8€ and drinks around 12€. There's a good China Box at Gustav Adolfs torg which is not exactly cheap, but it's a good alternative to the other fast food places.

Data roaming is around 0,8€ / MB and wifi access in the conference area is pretty unreliable, so you might want to consider Swedish prepaid for the event.

Conferences offer lots of quality content for social media.
You can post interesting things often, and if you tag the people or companies you meet, there's a chance you will get retweets/shares etc.

Travelling in good company is optional but recommended.

You don't need to attend every talk.
Though the talks may appear to be the main thing, most of the information you will get is something you can find by googling. The real value lies in stuff that you can learn when discussing face to face with the professionals. Attending their talk may be a good way to earn a chance to speak with the person later, though.

Have some business cards with you.
It's so much easier for the people to remember you afterwards if you give them one. Offering yours is also a less awkward way to get one.

It may be a good idea to wear clothing with your team/studio/game logo.
This makes you more recognizable and memorable. It also makes it easier for people that know your game to recognize you and start a conversation.

Make use of your previous contacts.
Game industry people are usually friendly and eager to help- it's usually ok to ask them to introduce you to someone they already know.

Go to the afterparties every day, even if you don't drink.
There is a good chance you will get your most important contacts there. And if you do drink...

Don't drink too much.
Most of the evening parties offer free drinks, but you'll get more out of them if you stay reasonable.

Most importantly, talk to people.
This is the core of everything. Only by socializing you'll end up getting new contacts and strengthening the existing bonds.


So there you have a couple of points to keep in mind, some of which we have learned the hard way. Hopefully now you can avoid them and have even more fun and productive conference experience!

All in all, the trip to Malmö, Sweden, was very, very worthwhile. Thanks to Neogames, Wooga and Kavio Cluster for making it possible!