Mmmmm, Galactose Progress

New Features
Galactose has changed a lot in the past week. We've even gotten some new features in! The environment has become more interesting with the addition of asteroids which the ships have to dodge around. They can also be used as shields or even weapons if pushed at enemies. The arrival of the dinner fleet is also more exciting now as the ships warp in, just a few at a time as if pouring out of hyperspace with their mothership.

New Models
Madeleine and Alissa have begun work on the full fleet of ship models! The player's armada of dessert based space fighters now consists of the cupcake (pretty much the mascot of Galactose), an improved cake mothership, and a bomber. The opposing dinner ships are comprised of a delicious but dangerous turkey command ship, broccoli bombers, and hamburger interceptors.

UI Improvements
The UI has gone through a few updates as well. The player is now more aware of the status of the battle thanks to health bars for their drone and the two motherships. The aiming reticule has been improved and now snaps to where bullets will actually impact a target. The missile lock is also nicer looking, now with its own texture. Finally, the minimap has also been updated and is more readable, helping the player to navigate the three dimensions of the battlefield.

Effects
Galactose is meant to be pretty, so a lot of work has been put into the graphical effects recently. Ships and projectiles now feature improved trails, which not only look cleaner, but they're also compatible with DirectX 10.1 making them available to older machines. Other particle effects have also been revamped, and the there's now more explosions than ever.

General
The engine conversion led to a lot of major changes, and some important parts of the game had to adapt. In our last post there was a distinct lack of hard points on the motherships and the AI wasn't quite what it used to be. Both of these have been properly integrated with the new systems now and are fully operational.