I just finished implementing three news features to the next version of Unending Galaxy. First, The new “ship equipment menu” is ready, it will be used when you buy or equip a ship. I also added parallax scrolling to the rendering. And, the first steps toward the management of a player owned empire have been made, it’s possible to start the game as an empire !

Shipyard Menu

It handles drag and drop of elements. Double clicking an installed item removes it while double clicking an available item installs it if possible. You can also buy your ships in batch. It’s not yet possible to save/load profiles to automatically setup ship equipments, but the feature is planned.

While this new equipment screen has only been implemented in the trade menu so far, I will use the same model to setup the ship you own.

 Player Empire

It is now possible to start with your own empire and sectors that will expand over time. Ship and station building is fully automated for now, but diplomacy isn’t, hence this new diplomatic menu:

Right now you can only declare war and enforce peace, but more options will come later. Once at war, your empire will automatically attack the targeted faction and try to invade sectors if possible. It’s not yet possible to choose which sector yourself. This is also where you will set your Friend/Foe settings, so your bullets don’t hit friendlies by accident. More tabs will be added to manage the ships and stations you own.

Now, the exact level of empire micro-management that will be available to the player is not yet set in stones. I do think that it is better for player built factories to use and replace any assigned trading vessels, to buy resources and to sell products automatically and within a specified set of parameters. This subject probably deserves its own design document.

Even if your empire is, so far, automated, you can still order any of your ship around with the standard commands.