Devlog 2 - Terrain!

Adding terrain and improving basic UI

Welcome again to EcoFactory's devlogs!
Today we want to share a bit of the tools that we'll be using to continue developing the game.
As we mentioned before, EcoFactory is meant to be played multiple times, so we needed some kind of randomizer that could help on keeping different playthroughs fresh, so we can start tinkering with the roguelike formula.

First of all, we don't want players to start on the same map everytime. Instead, we want to have a system that shuffles the terrain differently each time, so players always have to start figuring out how to use the resources they are given after starting a new run, instead of having a set ammount everytime.

To achieve this, we will be using the Terrain3D for Godot 4 plugin which as its name suggets, allows generation of personalized 3D terrains which can, indeed, be randomized! We still need to figure out how to link structures to the different types of terrain, but a first draft of the terrain generation has been implemented. This build is just for show though, since things like collisions with said terrain are still missing.

New features on this build:

- Terrain Generation!

Each time you boot the game, the scene will change randomly by creating a noisy mesh and assigning it different batchs of grass and stone-y floor. Take a look!

- Fast Forwarding

Are you waiting for something specific to happen? You trust your extractors to the point of leaving them alone for a while? Or maybe you just want to test your quick thinking? The game can now be fast-forwarded by clicking on the buttons on the top-right, which will speed up all processes relating to game progress (for now just means extracting and overworld animations).
This is mostly a QoL feature since ideally the final game shouldn't really give you a lot of time to wait and relax, but a lot of people might want to start speeding things up after they already have a plan figured out, so we think it's a nice tool to have.
For now it only works with mouse clicking, but we'll bind a key to them pretty soon.

-Loading Screen

Since the terrain gets generated before showing the scene (and on a much bigger space that it's probably needed), the main scene takes a few seconds to load. This made us realize that we could really use a Loading Screen, so you don't think the game just crashed or something.

- Credits

We also added a little draft of the credits screen. Of course, we'll be updating this screen accordingly whenever we need to import external assets or code so you can support other creators as well, or even try to experiment with them yourself! :)

- Friendlier UI

Finally, a chat-like textbox has been added to the UI which for now only displays the controls. You can also now reset the game, pause or go back to the main menu with the top-left button or by pressing ESC,  which will not just automatically close the game anymore.
Take a look!

Stay Tuned!

Next, we'll need to start with the main mechanics of the game, like introducing a timer for the quota, improving the "build" function and polishing the terrain generation so we can make it work with the game.
Expect more updates on the following weeks, and feel free to leave suggestions or feedback in the comments!

Note that you need to have both files of the attached .zip on the same directory, or the game will freeze when trying to generate the terrain!