In order to avoid a half-year wait for the next update, I'm going to try splitting the next big update into several smaller parts. Here are the tentative plans:
All safe zones have been unified into a single public safe zone. Having multiple safe zones sounds interesting in theory, but overall I think it has been detrimental.
A 1x1 block navigation unit device has been added. It is claimable as a starter item, and will have several functions. It's main purpose is to select the zone to travel to. New zones might need to be unlocked, and some zones may have a cost to visit. New zones might include some restrictions on entry, but the old "combat rating" mechanic will largely be scrapped.
The navigation unit also functions as a primitive always-on shield projector, so new players can build passively-filled shield systems more easily.
Introduced much larger zones.
Zone were split back into Lawful (PvE) and Anarchic (PvP) variants. PvP damage is completely removed in Lawful zones. It is currently possible to obtain all resources in both Lawful and Anarchic zones, but Anarchic zones have a 2x drop multiplier.
As for entering and leaving these zones, I've brought back the old behavior with some adjustments. Ships will spawn in to zones around the outside perimeter. Several exit portals spawn throughout the zone. These portals are dormant until shot at, at which point they will start pulling ships in. Once a portal has been active for 60 seconds, it will die and another dormant portal will spawn somewhere else.
This update makes a lot of changes to bots: Bot factories were removed, and bots will once-again spawn throughout zones, with some slightly smarter spawning logic. Each zone spawns several boss bots, which are visible on the mini-map. These bosses have more unique mechanics and larger drops. They also spawn minions that can be farmed.
This set of changes will hopefully land in a series of smaller, quicker updates.
PvP events will occur at least once and possibly several times per day, in a single server. They will occur in one of the Anarchic zones, most likely Falcon. The schedule will be posted in advance. During these events, the PvP loot multiplier may be increased further, and more loot may be available throughout the zone (flux tiles in mining areas? better boss drops?). The exact format of the events is unknown, but we will probably start with something battle royale-esque. This seems straightforward and hard to abuse.
I'd like to introduce some seasonal leaderboards. These will likely run for three months at a time, then be archived and reset. This should be long enough to encourage competition, but not so long that older players gain an insurmountable advantage. Initially, these leaderboards will track:
You will have the option to group leaderboard points by ship, by individual user, or by clan. Users will have an option to select which clan they want their points to count toward. There are no plans to build a more comprehensive clan system at this time. The initial leaderboards will run though the end of March 2024. We MIGHT grant some additional rewards to high ranking players at the end. I am not sure whether this is a good idea yet.
We'll return to something similar to the old crit mechanics. Emergency or "crit" teleports will be initiated on a timer, instead of by tracking damage. This timer can be initiated or cancelled at any time using the navigation unit, but it will return to the initial value if restarted. The timer can be initiated automatically upon taking substantial damage, or upon an owner leaving, both of which will probably be the default behavior. Activating the timer may have some drawbacks, such as slower ship movement speed. The time it takes to use the emergency teleport will vary by zone.
Finally, the r/place helper rewards will be granted during this phase.
Integrate storages as a first-class mechanic. Players shouldn't need to worry about loading a storage and moving it around. Instead, you can designate a ship as your storage, and it will always load in a stationary location in a private safe zone. It might be possible to upgrade the maximum size beyond the normal limits.
Possibly introduce machines to add more information to the mini-map. Could display blocks on the map, icons for points of interest, or even ships. I don't have super detailed plans for this yet.
A lot of this work should enable me to build a real tutorial as it's own private zone. A tutorial will never explain every aspect of the game -- even the new shield and RC mechanics will probably be omitted -- but it should explain most basic aspects.
Zones will be built primarily out of pre-designed chunks, instead of the sketchy random generation. Could involve more interesting events like the pits being placed directly inside zones. Might also involve a complete rework for bots with nicer designs and more varied behavior.
This is probably shelved, sorry. I'd still like to try placing big set pieces in the enlarged zones, but exclusively using pre-built chunks isn't happening. Might be re-introduced with dungeon zones some day.
The poll has been closed.
Wow this is so Cool cogg. Keep up the good work. I'm very excited for the Zone Rework, and the lore you mentioned the other week. :)
all this is awesome hopefully the private safe zones will be accessible by other people/ships if you allow them to so that we can make ship builders in that way as well
I really like the idea of Private Safe Zones and Larger ship storages. ALl of this makes me feel like Drednot is on the way to becoming a somewhat open world, like Droneboi 2.
to be honest, it would be a shame to move away from gates. i like the idea of a larger zone with more inside. there are, however, some things this game could really improve upon in a zone update:
Zone layout. The way the zones are laid out right now works, but it's not pretty. While looking through really old posts in the news channel on the discord, i found a zone map. It looked something like this:
Freeport I Freeport II | | Finch I ----- Sparrow I ----- Finch II | The Pits
I like some things about this layout. Sparrow doesn't have a freeport. This makes it actually somewhat high-stakes, and you could maybe have higher reward for going there.
Freeports are connected by a gate. Freeport I has a gate to the east, Freeport II has a gate to the west.
Possibly, the zone below Sparrow is the current mission. I dunno. Replace Finch I with Hummingbird, and Finch II with Finch. The two zones would be connected with portals so that you can go between the two zones without needing to go through Sparrow. These could also be necessary is, say, the gate to Sparrow had a Combat Rating cap. Sparrow would be almost twice as large as it is currently, with the farthest out square being I9.
Sparrow has a control point in the center, and the ship in first place when the zone regenerates receives a reward. Not sure how this would work. Maybe it's as if the ship picked up an item, or it goes into the owner's inventory?
Along the lowest row of the map (aka I), there will be 1-2 zones called Pits. These are similar to the pits in The Pits mission. They yield roughly the same reward, however there are more rocks inside. Some terrain above a Pit zone will be cleared so that boulders can go up and away. Pit boulders that enter gates go through and are deleted. Maybe Pit squares regenerate every 30ish minutes, and boulders outside of the pit zones are deleted?
Around the control point square, portals to other zones spawn frequently - but also disappear quickly. Who knows what these zones might be? Mazes? PVP arenas?
There are many possibilities here, and I'm going to draw up some maps later.
Bots. Bots are a somewhat interesting enemy, but the major problem with them is that they aren't special. Nothing about fighting them is particularly interesting. The one exception, for me, is the roamer bot. It's interesting to fight because its movement AI and attack AI are almost entirely separate - or at least it feels like that.
The only bot that really ever hits you is the Sparrow sniper bot. All of the other bots either do little damage or their bullets are too slow. Bot bullet speed should be increased.
Fighting bots is honestly boring once you know how their AI works. It's monotone. Bots need something. More advanced AI? Buffs? Probably both. Maybe Sparrow sniper bot bullets can bounce once or twice. Maybe there's a bot whose bullets can damage walls. Shield bots were a welcome addition to the game, because they're interesting to fight. They could form a wall with their shields, and you'd have to find a way to get through them. Another interesting bot could be one that can deflect your shots. Every 2-3 seconds, it pulses some sort of force field, deflecting any items or bullets in a close proximity to it away from it
Missions. The mission system has always needed work. Unlike gates, it'll probably never be perfect. It works, but it could always be better. Earlier in this post, I proposed a zone below Sparrow that is just whatever the rotating mission is. Still not much different, but it's something.
I really, honestly don't have many ideas for missions.
That's just the truth.
What I don't like. This game is special in another way: It doesn't add features focused on the community. For example: The game krew.io Krew.io has grown around its userbase. Originally, to be in a clan, you'd put the clan name in your boat's name and hope others in said clan would recognise you. Now, there's a whole clan feature, where the kaptain of a boat's affiliated clan goes next to the boat name automatically. Additionally, same-clanned boats can't damage each other.
This is similar to things like the large stationary storage. Yes, things like storage ships were bound to be made, but it isn't something really required. I'm not particularly against it, but it's honestly not a thing i'll be looking out for. Also, how would it change hands? What if you want to give it to someone else?
The navigation unit is honestly... Overpowered. Being able to teleport to other zones on command is quite powerful. Fights easily get broken up. It's also a bit overpowered to be able to see other ships.
Possibly, ships are shown in the last place you saw them. For example: You pass by another ship. It's shown on the map, and its location is continuously tracked for 5ish seconds, then its point on the map freezes.
Something similar to this could be showing the terrain. This would be an upgrade. Terrain that is somewhat in your FOV is added on your map. If you pass by again, and say maybe someone mined through something, that gets updated on your map.
Thoughts on a tutorial. A tutorial is a great idea! Things like the quickstart just aren't informational. They're outdated and not very detailed.
Issues with the current update. The crafting system is nice. You can use whatever you craft pretty much immediately. This is a real problem for me personally with the fluid tank. For a beginner, they craft it, place it, and wonder why it doesn't do anything. Maybe they notice their ship health go up, but not regenning. Either add better guidance, or make the tank recipe unlock when you first get a shield projector?
Scout ships Scout ships (small ships, 0.6x0.6), now have 2k shields. It just feels wrong. I suggest making old shield logic apply when you make your ship smaller than the starter size.
That's all I have. If you want to talk, contact me via Discord at mudkiep#0691.
These are some really good ideas. Especially looking forward to private safe zones
I don't like the "private safe zone" idea. I think designating the storage might be a good idea, I'd rather one communal safe zone, that all ships load into.
The zone rework sounds like a great idea! Personally I think it would bring more players to the game as most new players are perpetually stuck in Hummingbird without knowing that there is more out there. I would replace the “quick start” with a proper tutorial as well. When I first started playing I did not know what quick start was, even in the meantime renaming it to “tutorial” for the benefit of new players.
this is a great idea! drednot.io is going to become better. i love this because all fps will merge into 1 fp and the private safe zone :D
At first I was a little sketchy about this, but after reading it, it's quite amazing. The zone connection will make storages in Freeport I and storages in Freeport III finally able to interact with one another. Making the zone based off of a more constant layout is a good idea too, as combat will be more terrain-based. I love this idea, keep doing this kind of stuff.
"First, all safe zones will be unified into a single public safe zone. Having multiple safe zones sounds interesting in theory, but overall I think it has been detrimental." I agree, freeport 1 has been a joke for a while and I think having one central safe zone is far better. It's integral to still have many ways to get to freeport and hopefully the multiple exit portals fulfill that.
"A 1x1 block navigation unit device will be added. It will be claimable as a starter item, and will have several functions. It's main purpose is to select the zone to travel to. "
I do agree that a device capable of helping players navigate could be useful. Then again, it's debatable will it be simple enough, how useful will it be and what are the other alternatives?
"Introduce much larger zones, at least 4x the current area. Zones will be built primarily out of pre-designed chunks, instead of the sketchy random generation."
It's not pleasant being screwed by an unlucky spawn, the spawn gates did reduce that but there are still some occasions where generation doesn't make much sense. I still hope their is another variety, where the zone doesn't become too predictable. A zone 4x the size would make the game feel more expansive, so I'm interested how this plays out.
"These portals will pull ships in, and randomly move to different locations from time to time. "
Like wormholes? Cool. I hope there is a healthy amount; Not too many, not too much.
"Players shouldn't need to worry about loading a storage and moving it around. Instead, you can designate a ship as your storage, and it will always load in a stationary location in a private safe zone."
I agree it isn't enjoyable loading my storage and having to find a suitable spot to eject items to. I think a private safe zone would be a possible solution, but I also like the communal setting that comes with having a global freeport. A designated storage ship does sound appealing. "Emergency or "crit" teleports will be initiated on a timer, instead of by tracking damage. This timer can be initiated or cancelled at any time using the navigation unit, but it will return to the initial value if restarted."
I like the time-based system over the critical teleport as it has a more interesting approach, like chewy hitting the hyperdrive. Admiral Ia suggested a wormhole in a bottle that you can load into an RC and shoot out to escape. A interesting alternative, maybe it cost a lot of resources.
"Split zones back into PvE and PvP-locked variants. PvP damage will be completely removed in PvE zone."
I think the combat rating didn't really achieve separating that difference and it will be clearer this way. There will probably be some players that cheese this and try to steal loot but it's probably minimal.
"Possibly introduce machines to add more information to the map. Could include blocks, points of interest, or even ships. I don't have super detailed plans for this yet.
Detecting bots and ores sounds great but I think players should be more difficult to detect. Since the map would expand, it likely won't be overkill. Maybe you have to sacrifice some RC spaces to do this.
Tutorials- I think if done properly it can guide new players but it should remain simple. Junon.io has a very detailed tutorial that makes it hard to pick out the more important details. How much time investing in it is debatable though.
hopefully there will be custom backgrounds rather than the boring ol' gradient
Honestly, I would be up to see more map information but for it to be not as powerful, maybe kinda like terraria style where you can see the amount of players that are on the current zone, or maybe the map is colored based on player density and updated every once a while (for example no players is white and then if like 1-2 players are in it, it turns yellow and if there are even more then it turns red etc) which avoids you fully being able to track where everyone is but at the same time tell you where the points of interest are.
As for the larger zones, for me personally it'd be a very welcome change, but also bringing the missions inside the existing zones would bring more attention to them, making the risk larger and the loot not being worth it at some point, so it would require better loot or another solution.
The bot designs could be changed into ship-like I guess instead of some random balls with colors and face features.
As for the storage ships, that would be a great change. The only way of doing it that I can think of that would have no cons is a portal which once you enter, gives you a list of available storage ships, kinda like the normal ship chooser and capitans also can pick whether to make the storage ship public and appear on the list or make it private and only let people who are capitans on that storage ship be able to access it with other ships but anyway once you pick one, it teleports you in that private safe zone with the storage ship docked permanently on the bottom for example. Oh and as a prevention to avoid blocking storage ships, collision with other people's ships is off while in it and only the storage ship can pick up ejected items.
And for the tutorial, all aspects of the game can be definitely explained with enough effort but even a basic one is a good step in the right direction. Maybe have popups explain some stuff once you get certain items(for example if you pick up a turret booster for the first time, a pop up appears telling you in a quick way how to use it)
really nice to see a update, this game is really dying now....
I love this update, and im so glad the you are doing this, its gonna make the game so more fun to play. I can't wait to play it.
but bro its been 2 weeks and only new expando thing on test-still rly cool :)
https://drednot.io/c/roadmap/t/zone-rework-next-major-updates#p23
That is true though… ever since cogg removed public ships on test… 00 looking at you cogg
I like the idea Of Better Rewards in PvP Zones , and the idea of splitting PvP zones and PvE zones,that would make battles better for no things that annoy in battle like : Bot Spawners,Bots , Etc.. But i am looking forward 1 thing does private zones include battle zone for clans to have fair fights etc???not a suggestion btw
I do like the fact thet PvP damage will be removed in the i guess i will call them bot zones to allow for much safer farming for people like me that farm and sell items to other players.
Just wanted to say I do really like these planned changes, I last played this game years ago and am happy to see it is still a thing, i'm hoping to be here when you do a full release, but until then I suggest bringing back the old turret (https://drednotio.fandom.com/wiki/Turret) having a craft-able turret is something I felt was good for early game, if you feel that's too overpowered, I suggest maybe it can only hold 8 instead of 16 ammo, just a thought, excited for the next update! Again I can not express how much I like the game, but I do hope for some more things to craft, one last suggestion, maybe a menu like the "just enough items(JEI(https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/jei))" mod for minecraft, having something like that should make this game feel more intuitive for players, being able to see every item, how to get it, what it does etc, obviously if theirs something you don't want to have appear you can code that in, like an Easter egg or admin item for example. Either way i'll be here for the new update! GL!
The navigation unit in test is cool! the color is orange, and being the starter item, but...
I miss inter-zone links :(
Edit: Finnaly they added inter-zone links back, and navigation unit as a on-sheild projector
Navigation unit is better then a shield projector
hey cogg, you should add some sort of "rich text" in the formatting here like some markdown so you can have bold colored text and more cool stuff, i know thats a pretty useless idea but, yeah
I think the update in general is good but navigation units aren't a good idea. Shield projectors would be rendered nearly useless and this wouldn't be fair to the people who worked hard to get them. I suggest either making shield boosters do something else or making the navigation unit have a limit of fluid tanks to power up. Just one safe zone is a good idea though and make for easier trading. Phase 2 and integrated storages will be very helpful and time-saving. Mapping utilities would also be a good idea, especially if they track bots, blocks, and ships. However, they should require a cost to activate (like rcds) and only activate for a certain amount of time and/or only show a certain radius.
This is just a suggestion but there should be an option where a captain clicks on a player and they get kicked, or maybe a kick, ban, or cancel menu pops up. Too often players grief ships and by the time captains ban them everything is destroyed.
https://drednot.io/c/roadmap/t/zone-rework-next-major-updates#p36
"This is just a suggestion an option where a captain clicks on a player and they get kicked, or maybe a kick, ban, or cancel menu pops up. Too often players grief ships and by the time captains ban them everything is destroyed."
The problem with this is that the player moves around a lot and it might be hard to click on them
Now i don't have to bring ships from other portals now, was difficult but i like it, good job and we want more amazing updates for make funnier and neated the game
Whats wrong of expermintal finch's bots?
They didnt shoot spikes and they didnt drop loot when killed,
When i tried to kill the Expermintal Finch Bot (EFB for short), it dosent drop loot.
Maybe they are not hostile?
Ass @Sheep Egg said, Why are the yellow bots in finch broken?
@hotdogs friend smile, because that Experimental Finch bots are broken, it reallly dosent shoot spikes and it dont drops loot.
So im basically call this EFB into a Shootless bot.
@hotdogs friend smile, maybe try to shoot the bot in test.drednot.io in the experimental finch?
@hotdogs friend smile, that is a experimental finch bot, not a finch bot.
I am excited for this update! I think the addition of the nest has worked out well. Keep up the good work!!!
Ideas for phase 2:
A. All zones will be enlarged by 9 times the area. exepect hummingbird. When the bot factories are removed, bot will spawn randomly, it cant be spawn in middle, portals are reworked, and being having a large size, when the ship is pulled by a large portal, the forcefield will appear.
B. Decrease the fluid tank cost into 32 iron.
O pls dont remove the 4-flux dirt tiles :( theyre actually really nice for small players. Then again, Kinda op when farmed: went from 0-1600 in the past 12 hours in my current storage from canary and the dirt pittances.
Yo where's the phase 2 update???? It's been months since hasn't been released
I 100% agree with mudkiep. A reply upvote would be a good idea
also, i have an idea with emergency teleports: copy something from Stellaris. In Stellaris, you can manually tell your ships to disengage (after a timer) and try to warp out of the situation. However, you ships get damaged and may lose some (mostly smaller ships) something similar can be applied to a future drednot emergency teleport where your stuff might get damaged
also can you add the thing where if you break blocks, it has a small chance to give you iron? I found it not very useful (its just a waste of ammo), but I found it adding more 'realism' to the game somehow.
delete please i think this is a duplicate
WHY DID YOU ADD saw bots to humming bird now us little guys are struggling even more #MAKEDSAGREATAGIAN
I started playing the main DSA again 6 months after all test ships got privated. I continued the line of NedaGamerShips, this game is pretty fun but please reduce the amount of those blue saw bots. (or either reduce their damage or health if you still want a lot of them to spawn in).
I was playing another IO game and came up with a neat idea. What if there were drones or other unique combat mechanics for special combat-related turrets? Also, I have another idea. Maybe adding some more exploration content like hidden zones and hidden resources to discover for keeping the players interested in the game longer.
too many bots and a lot of useless garbage, such as blueprints and ice =(
Cogg is very pro, he is very pro game dev. His games are pro. all updates are pro, and Coog is very, very pro. Good Job Coggers!
And I am also pro, but not as pro as Cogger
I want a new ammo like a guided bullet that does high damage and is slow, but can fly far.Also, I would like to see a block added that consumes shields and heals damaged blocks.
I want a new ammo like a guided bullet that does high damage and is slow, but can fly far.Also, I would like to see a block added that consumes shields and heals damaged blocks. - me tho bc repairing manualy takes a horde of time also cogg plz add back old shield system and keep this one too - keep fluids and generators but add back the shield boosters that heal if you press anywhere and the super cool 10 min battles - thats reason why many people left cuz ur makin dumb updates also make test drednot back public!
Blue rushers may good at loot but you shouldn't put them in hummingbird or finch,If you want keep them in these zone,please nerf it or reduce spawn count and make them rarer to see. Thank you
I think you should add in a loader but its red and places expando boxes, another thing I would like to see is public test ships.
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