Well hi there! Let's talk about April :)

The Video.

Unfortunately, with the release of LTP only two days ago, I haven't had enough time to make a new video for this update - however, there's not really anything new to show over the LTP video.  So, with the highest level of sorrow, I will direct you to the LTP official tutorial video, which I'm going to pass off as this month's dev update.  It does show you pretty much all of the LT developments this month!  Sorry for not getting around to making a new video :/

Watch the LTP Tutorial Video Here!

The Summary.

And I thought March was insane.  Pshh.  But April just blew it away.  By a wide margin.  Here's some of what happened:

• Ability to load and save the game
• Significantly improved combat AI
• Better graphics, particularly thrusters and weapons
• A main menu
• Massive cleanups in the engine (particularly stability and memory handling) to prepare for release
• Preparations for distribution (resource archive, installer, etc)

And of course...

• The first version of LT to be released to the world (well, some of it)!!!

Bigger Battles

LTP already features massive fleet battles of 50-60 ships ("Major Conflict" missions).  The engine can, for the most part, handle these titanic clashes without any problem.  But that's only going to get better, and the scale of the battles that you'll see in the final game is only going to be bigger!

Bigger Ships

Shooting asteroids has always been fun.  But with everything up to frigates available in LTP, harassing asteroids has never been better.

Now, I've saved the best development of the month for last! I'm very pleased to present you with a nice surprise..

Introducing Andy Thompson, Art Lead!

I'll bet you thought you'd never see the day when LT would become more than a one-man team, but that day is here, and I'm extremely excited to introduce you this month to Limit Theory's new Art Lead, Andy Thompson! Not only is Andy my best friend, but he's also the most skilled artist that I know, and one of the only people on this planet that I would trust to handle the intense scope of LT.

When you see some of Andy's work, you'll know why I'm excited to have him on-board. Although he's only 20, Andy's already garnered some seriously-impressive credit in the art world, which I'll let him tell you about.

You might ask, why would we need an artist for a project that is fundamentally procedural in nature? Well, although LT is indeed totally procedural with respect to assets, those assets are modeled off of artistic visions. I don't generally just slap random code together and hope that it makes something pretty - I always have space concept art books by my side while designing the procedural algorithms. As you may or may not have noticed from gameplay footage up to this point, my attempts are still somewhat lacking in certain areas (*cough* ships..*cough*). But I blame it on my lack of artistic talent, not on procedural techniques! Andy's going to be working with me to build the best possible content creation algorithms, and he's going to be able to inject a level of artistic knowledge that I simply don't have. On top of content generation, however, there's still a lot of art-related work to do for LT, including interface aesthetics and layout, logo and branding, the t-shirt, the poster...you get the idea! The more of this that Andy can take over, the more time I will have to code...which will make me one happy camper!

Ok, enough of me talking, let's meet the man himself...I present to you Andy Thompson!

Hey everyone!

My name's Andy Thompson. Some of you may have met me on the forums, but for everyone else this is just a formal introduction! I've been involved with Limit Theory since its inception. I'm Josh's best friend IRL, and will be handling the art & creative direction, UI, and helping Josh develop systems for constructing beautiful space graphics!!

A little bit about me and my work - in case you were wondering. I've been accepted to Pixar's art internship program as well as Universal Studios post-production internship. I've won (2 gold & 2 silver) ADDYs. I did tour visuals for Skrillex, Zedd, Madeon, Nas & Speedy J last summer in LA. I'm currently doing contract compositing/modeling work for Vera Wang's commercial director remotely, working as a 3D Artist at a local game studio in Baton Rouge (Pixel Dash Studios), and doing various contract concept art, graphic & motion design for a variety of clients remotely. I'll be finishing up these projects and my semester classes this month and turning my full attention on Limit Theory.

I love games, I love Limit Theory, I know what it can be, and I'm really looking forward to being a part of this great community and continuing to work side-by-side with Josh to create the best game possible! I also look forward to hearing art suggestions, etc.. as I'm fully open to anything and everything. Feel free to contact me on the forums if you haven't already!

If you're interested in seeing some of Andy's non-LT-related work, I encourage you to check out his Instagram account, http://instagram.com/binarydream !

In the mean time, Andy's already signed up and active on the forums, and has made an introduction thread here: http://forums.ltheory.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=910. Feel free to drop in and say hi, or poke him, or really anything you like.

Conclusion

Remember last month when I questioned whether the trend of doubling productivity each month could continue?  Well, the good news is that it did.  April blew March away.  If you keep up with the dev logs...you know what I'm talking about ;) But the real question is...can it continue even further!?!?!?

We shall see, friends.  We shall see.

~Josh and Andy

It is with the utmost joy that I finally, after much intense labor, hand you the fruit of these past months :) I'm sorry that it comes at the rather awkward time of Sunday night, but I wanted to get this thing to you sooner rather than later!

Limit Theory Prototype ('LTP')

Compared to what I initially planned to ship, LTP is a beastly thing.  It's certainly not Limit Theory - not yet - but it's got a respectable array of bells and whistles and, in my opinion, makes for a nice little space combat mini-game.  Here's what you can look forward to doing:

• Explore and conquer 4 systems
• Pilot and own 12 distinct types of ships, ranging from small fighters to respectably-sized frigates
• Suit up with loads of different weapons and armor/shields
• Buy and command as many ships as you like; build up massive fleets and use them to steamroll opposing fleets
• Build up your own personal armory with in-station storage
• Save helpless ships from certain destruction, or join in massive conflicts to turn the tide of battle
• Fly into battle with your (highly-capable) AI wingmen by your side!

How Do I Get It?

The digital download system that I'm using to distribute LTP currently has it in the queue, and should be sending you an email with a secure, private download link within the next 15-30 minutes!  That gives you just enough time to watch the tutorial and get excited :) Speaking of which...

The Official LTP Tutorial

If you're not the kind of person that likes figuring out stuff by himself/herself, then you won't like LTP.  The game lacks any form of in-game help system at this early stage.  In lieu of that, I've provided a fairly thorough tutorial video to acquaint you with the knowledge necessary to dominate LTP.  If you want to figure stuff out on your own, go ahead, but it's worth glancing at the tutorial to make sure you don't miss out on any features!  Besides, what else would you want to do while waiting on that email!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUPKTTsseHQ

Some Gratuitous Eye Candy

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Share Your Thoughts!

Don't be shy.  I know you have something to say about LTP, whether it's "THISISAMAZING," "This is totally underwhelming," or "RAWRRR IT CRASHED." Either way, hop on over to the forums and use the appropriate LTP sub-forum to let us know.

Enjoy!!!

Thanks to everyone, not just LTP-level backers, for helping me get this far.  As you know, it wouldn't have happened without your support.  I'm having entirely too much fun making this game, and I want you to be able to have entirely too much fun playing it (which is, again, why you should hop over to the forums and tell me what would make it better!)  But this is just the beginning.  For those of you who don't get LTP access, don't sweat it...the full game is going to be so much better!  LTP is just a little snack.

Now. See you on the forums :)

~Josh

Hello everyone, I am very sorry to bother you with two updates in one day, but Kickstarter does not allow editing of previous updates (older than 30 minutes, that is), so I have no way to correct the video link given in the previous one.  As you may or may not know, the previously-linked update video had no audio for the last few minutes. I've killed off the corrupted version and uploaded a new, fixed one. Here's the new link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoZ4MOeyH0M&hd=1

Sorry about that mistake!  Won't happen again :)

~Josh

NOTE : It has come to my attention that the upload did not go through in its entirety, the last few minutes are missing audio.  Terribly sorry, I will re-upload as soon as possible.  I am working off of a cell phone connection at the moment, and don't have access to high-speed internet, which is probably why such a large upload went awry in the first place.  Am working on a solution as we speak!!!  I will leave the current video up, but please know that I am working to fix it.

Happy Easter! Nice day for an update, don't you think? :)

The Video.

At three months, it's practically a tradition.  You know what to do!

Watch the Video Here!

The Summary.

March was insane. It was a month of oceans of code and rivers of gameplay. Here's a partial summary:

Immense number of new, functional interfaces, including

• Buying / Selling at a docked location
• Mission boards
• New ship viewer / cargo / power router
• Docked ships viewer / buying ships / repair

Lots of new HUD features, including

• Target trackers for easily seeing where your friends/enemies are in relation to you
• Aiming guides for knowing where to aim to hit your target
• Objectives overview for current mission
• Power status / health status / ammunition status displays for hardpoints

And some miscellaneous stuff:

• Better graphics, including more detailed surfaces and smoother metal
• Functional docking, currently only for asteroid bases, but the same tech will be used for planets, regular stations, and carriers
• Procedural items, including ships
• Functional sensors / targeting / "knowledge" system (including limited visibility in command interface)
• Underlying mechanics of mission system + a few basic mission types!
• Preliminary combat AI

Screenshot time!!

More Stuff to Buy!

Because last month, you couldn't buy or sell anything...but this month, you can buy anything from a measly Lambda Magmahammer to a hulking, 1-km-long dreadnought.

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More Cash to be Earned!

Because last month, credits didn't even exist in the game...but this month, you can reel in paycheck after paycheck if you've got the right equipment.

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More Ways to Blind Your Enemy!

With an infinite variety of procedural weaponry, you'd better be ready for some serious space fireworks.

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The Prototype!?

You bet. At the risk of being overly-optimistic, I will say that I believe I'm still on target for an April launch of the Prototype! Over the next week or two, I will be wrapping up the loose ends, packing this puppy up, and figuring out how to ship it on over to the people that pledged for it.

I really appreciate your patience in waiting for it; you guys have been great and no one has lit any fires under me yet, even though "early 2013" seems to be quickly coming to a close. Nonetheless, I think you will find that your patience has been rewarded, as the Prototype that I am delivering is significantly more than the initially-promised "combat prototype." As you can see from this month's demo, the game already includes a good bit more functionality than just combat, and this will come with the Prototype! So, on top of combat, you'll get a chance to:

• Buy / Sell procedural equipment, upgrading your ship until you get the best of the best
• Buy and pilot new and bigger ships, up to and including some fairly large sub-capitals
• Run basic missions to fatten your wallet
• Explore single systems and dock with locations therein

I think this will really give the Prototype a lot more context, and perhaps make it feel slightly more like a a genuine slice of the LT vision for which you pledged, rather than a naked feature in isolation. Granted, it's still only a tiny slice of the whole pie, but it's already pretty fun to play with...in my totally-unbiased opinion ;) I'll be keeping you all up-to-date on the prototype situation via KS updates, as usual!

Conclusion.

March was a great month, there's no other way to say it. I think this month saw about twice as much total progress as last month. Now here's the real question: can this doubling trend continue??? I sure hope so!

Onto April we go!

~Josh

Hey there!  Let's get straight to the point...

Update Video!

I guess I don't need to tell you what this is all about...head on over to YouTube and see the monthly LT progress for yourself!

Watch the Update Video Here

Summary

As I mentioned last month, my focus for February was intended to be gameplay, not graphics.  Given that I stuck to this, you won't see much graphical difference, at least in the 3D world, from last month.  What you will see, however, is a boatload of new functionality surrounding the interface.

I'm also really pleased that we've now got sound in the game!  I've been working closely over the past month with François Jolin (http://www.eonsounds.com) to get a few of the sound assets in place.

Some of the more prominent changes of the month include:

As always, for a more detailed report of the progress, visit the daily "Dev Logs" in the forums: http://forums.ltheory.com/viewforum.php?f=12 .

And now, some pretty screenshots and bold text, just in case you didn't get enough excitement from the video...

Windows within Windows!

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Longer-Range Weaponry!

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More Color Choices!?

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What About the Prototype?

By now, I'm sure you must be starting to wonder about the combat prototype if you've pledged at that level. At the end of last year, I quoted "sometime in March" as a preliminary estimate. Now, I've got good news and bad news. The bad news, as you can probably guess, is that March is, realistically, looking a bit too optimistic. The good news is that I'm now planning to include more functionality in the prototype than I originally intended to! Granted, it's still fundamentally a combat prototype, but I'm beefing it up a bit, in ways that I will describe more as the time approaches! So, that being said, I will now say that April is seeming like the more realistic month of the prototype - I hope you don't mind waiting, but I think giving you a more fleshed out, enjoyable product is going to be worth a teensy bit of extra wait time :)

Please be aware that shipping the prototype has been and will continue to be my sole and absolute focus. I'm working as hard as I can to get that puppy on your hard drive!

Conclusion

I honestly have no idea how February slipped away so quickly! If someone knows how to slow down time, please let me know, as I'd really like to keep March around a bit longer. Despite the hasty passage of time, I still feel great about the work accomplished in February. I may not have gotten around to as much combat / AI work as I would have liked, but I ended up with a lot more on the interface front than I anticipated having at this point in time.  That's only going to make it easier to keep pushing gameplay next month, as I'm now in great shape to visualize and control the game with ease and style.

Thanks for watching/reading/caring! See you next month :)

~Josh