ZF Alpha Update #15

Welcome back explorers, innovators, and colonisers!

We’ve been working on updating the environment rendering engine so that the planets in Zenith Frontier can better represent the conditions produced by our procedural generation and simulation algorithms. Additionally so that there is more visual diversity in the unique galaxy of your playthrough.

Next Update

We’ve been working on the system that converts the physical properties of a planet into the 3D rendered planet that the player will interact with in the galactic environment. We want this to follow a meaningful process so that the player is informed when, for example, selecting a colony site.

We’ve also begun experiments on a tectonic plate simulator to improve the realism of the geological features produced by the procedural generation system. There’s not much to show yet, but below are some screenshots of some example plates (identified by colour), the velocity of each sampled point (the blue-purple images) and the boundary maps (black lines).

A Look Ahead

For now, the plan is to continue development of the planet rendering and tectonic simulation systems described above. After that we will return to expanding the exploration mission system, including spacecraft chassis and outfitting to use equipment such as orbiters and rovers in the mission plan and execution.