Revisiting Sensors in Retrograde: Legends
Hey folks! Today I want to talk about sensors in Retrograde: Legends and the several stages of iteration that sensors have gone through from earliest ideation to the current mechanic.
Sensors in Retrograde are key to making the gameplay fun and keeping the hard sci-fi setting feeling real and grounded. They turn vision into a core part of the game and capture some of the basics of how space object detection works in real life. So, whether you're entwined in a high stakes game of cat and mouse or just cruising through Belt looking for rocks, sensors add a unique, immersive and strategic spin to your Retrograde experience.
While this approach, inspired by the gold-standard orbital combat sim: Children of a Dead Earth, was theoretically appealing, it didn't mesh well with the open-world, sandbox gameplay that I envisioned in Retrograde. The detailed line of sight, vision cones, and need to match weapons to individual sensor tracks felt overwhelming, confusing, and frustrating in a game world as bustling as Retrograde: Legends.
To streamline gameplay, I deviated from the original vision and developed a system where sensors had a default 360-degree view. Object visibility was determined by distance, heat, size, and radio-frequency output within a distinct maximum range for each sensor type. Despite being an improvement on the original concept, the binary nature of visibility (an object was either visible or not) made gameplay feel abrupt and unpredictable.
To combat this, I introduced an intermediary state, allowing players to see a simple question-mark icon (but not the model) of an unidentified object until a sensor strength threshold was reached. While this addition injected more dynamism into the the most basic interactions in the game, it was still far from perfect. Plus, performance issues became prominent due to the high volume of calculations needed for every sensor component on every ship.
With the performance issues and the lack of interesting gameplay choices, I went back to the drawing board and redesigned how sensors work. The new system simplifies the gameplay while retaining the fun elements. Now, players get a rudimentary "heat map" based on an object's IR and RADAR signature.
All sensors contribute to a ship's maximum sensing range, with diminishing returns for each additional sensor added. Objects within range of a ship's sensors will always generate some signal, so you're never caught 100% off guard by an incoming object. Distance, heat, and mass determine when sensor contacts become fully resolved and their models become visible.
This approach, with its easy-to-understand color-coded visual aid, has proven more effective. Condensing the maximum range to one circle for all sensors makes it easier to understand when objects will appear or disappear. I also like the sparkling visual of the current VFX.
The new sensor mechanic presents mini puzzles that reward strategic thinking about an object's trajectory and signatures. Is that a destroyer in silent-running gliding toward me for a quick kill? Or just a few warm pieces of scrap aluminum from a recent wreck? I find that this guessing game creates a sense of mystery and tension whenever a new contacts pops up, resulting in a more satisfying gameplay experience.
The system, though promising, still requires balancing, and certain aspects need reimplementation. For instance, RADAR sensors' active mode, essential for locking targets in combat, still needs to be reintegrated.
Despite these pending tweaks, I'm excited about this step forward and am always excited to continually iterate and refine even Retrograde's core game mechanics. This philosophy is crucial to me as it forces me to focus on what is truly enjoyable and engaging for the players.
Sensors in Retrograde are key to making the gameplay fun and keeping the hard sci-fi setting feeling real and grounded. They turn vision into a core part of the game and capture some of the basics of how space object detection works in real life. So, whether you're entwined in a high stakes game of cat and mouse or just cruising through Belt looking for rocks, sensors add a unique, immersive and strategic spin to your Retrograde experience.
The Original Sensor Mechanic
In the early days of Retrograde's prototyping, I envisioned a complex and intricate web of interactions between sensors and the game's combat system. The idea was that sensors had to be aimed in specific directions, only detecting objects within a specific field of view. Additionally, weapons wouldn't fire without a specific sensor's input. All aiming and firing would be automated.While this approach, inspired by the gold-standard orbital combat sim: Children of a Dead Earth, was theoretically appealing, it didn't mesh well with the open-world, sandbox gameplay that I envisioned in Retrograde. The detailed line of sight, vision cones, and need to match weapons to individual sensor tracks felt overwhelming, confusing, and frustrating in a game world as bustling as Retrograde: Legends.
The Second Pass on Sensor Mechanics
Example of separate sensor ranges for IR and RADAR sensor groups on my ship.
To streamline gameplay, I deviated from the original vision and developed a system where sensors had a default 360-degree view. Object visibility was determined by distance, heat, size, and radio-frequency output within a distinct maximum range for each sensor type. Despite being an improvement on the original concept, the binary nature of visibility (an object was either visible or not) made gameplay feel abrupt and unpredictable.
To combat this, I introduced an intermediary state, allowing players to see a simple question-mark icon (but not the model) of an unidentified object until a sensor strength threshold was reached. While this addition injected more dynamism into the the most basic interactions in the game, it was still far from perfect. Plus, performance issues became prominent due to the high volume of calculations needed for every sensor component on every ship.
Objects popping in as unidentified contacts as their radar signals become strong enough for my ship's sensors to pick up but not strong enough to ID right away.
The Latest Sensor Iteration
Nearby ships resolving into identified contacts as they heat up their engines and weapons to attack me.
With the performance issues and the lack of interesting gameplay choices, I went back to the drawing board and redesigned how sensors work. The new system simplifies the gameplay while retaining the fun elements. Now, players get a rudimentary "heat map" based on an object's IR and RADAR signature.
All sensors contribute to a ship's maximum sensing range, with diminishing returns for each additional sensor added. Objects within range of a ship's sensors will always generate some signal, so you're never caught 100% off guard by an incoming object. Distance, heat, and mass determine when sensor contacts become fully resolved and their models become visible.
This approach, with its easy-to-understand color-coded visual aid, has proven more effective. Condensing the maximum range to one circle for all sensors makes it easier to understand when objects will appear or disappear. I also like the sparkling visual of the current VFX.
The new sensor mechanic presents mini puzzles that reward strategic thinking about an object's trajectory and signatures. Is that a destroyer in silent-running gliding toward me for a quick kill? Or just a few warm pieces of scrap aluminum from a recent wreck? I find that this guessing game creates a sense of mystery and tension whenever a new contacts pops up, resulting in a more satisfying gameplay experience.
The system, though promising, still requires balancing, and certain aspects need reimplementation. For instance, RADAR sensors' active mode, essential for locking targets in combat, still needs to be reintegrated.
Despite these pending tweaks, I'm excited about this step forward and am always excited to continually iterate and refine even Retrograde's core game mechanics. This philosophy is crucial to me as it forces me to focus on what is truly enjoyable and engaging for the players.
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