Opening the Gates - Development Log #497

Michi is working on the gateway flight model and sends the first ships through the rings.

Michi (molp)

I have been working on the gateway flight model again this week. I finished integrating the gateway information into the pathfinding and mission planning parts of the code. Given that this is the first time that we've incorporated dynamic data into these systems, I am quite happy with the outcome. The navigation data and thus the navigation graph is now updated everytime certain gateway parameters change: For now it is the link and operational status, but others, like usage fee, will follow soon.

With the dynamic updates in place, it was time to implement the actual mission segments and integrate the gateways into pathfinding in general. Below are two screenshots of flights going from a gateway in the orbit of Umbra to Gibson in the Ebisu system. The top one is a regular flight, the bottom one uses a direct gateway connection between Umbra and Gibson.

As you can see, there are three new segment types: LOCK, GTW and DCAY.

LOCK is used to set up the gateway jump: The usage fee is transferred, the ship aligns with the gateway, the gateway establishes the polarity field. This step requires a small amount of time and STL fuel. It'll be the same amount no matter the size of the ship.

GTW is the gateway jump itself. Note that when a ship is traveling through a gateway, it will also receive damage from the FTL flight.

DCAY is the counterpiece to LOCK. The ship waits for the gateway's polarity field to decay and leaves the gateway area.

I also updated the FTL preferences: it is now called route preferences and allows selecting whether gateways should be used or not.

As always, we'd love to hear what you think: join us on Discord or the forums!

Happy trading!