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[finn_nielsen]

Thanks:-) Will do my best to update more frequently from now on.

[Daniel_Carlsson]

We are working on a logic system for the game alongside the development of the demo.

Currently we have added a delay logic block.
When the player steps on the pressure plate it will emit a cable signal that goes
through to the delay logic block. This will then activate an internal timer that depends
on the configuration slot. That is the number 4 on the block, there are four different settings
where 4 is the longest delay and 1 the shortest.
When the internal timer stops the block will repeats the input it got before the timer started
and send it as output signal.
In this example I have connected a pressure plate to three delay blocks with
the maximum delay and then attached the output to a hatch.
The delay is long enough for me to walk upstairs and jump down before the hatch closes.


This block is used to delay cable signals for a while.

With the delay block you could also feed the output from one delay block into another delay block that
then sends its output to the first delay block. With this we have a loop, this could be used to blink a
light like in this example. Imagine having this setup with a pressure plate as an alarm system for incoming mobs.


Loop made with delay logic block

We have also added an converter logic block.
In this example I have made a car that works with pressure plates.
The way it works is when the player walks on the right pressure plate.
That plate will send a signal to the converter with the configuration that is the right arrow.
There are four different configurations which are left, right, up and down.
So now we have converted the unspecified signal from the pressure plate to a right signal with the converter.
This signal is then inputted to the engine and now the vehicle are driving right.
When the player the walks on the left pressure plate, the signal is send into the left converter.
Then the vehicle is driving left.
If the player walks off both plates there are no signal and the vehicle stops.


This block takes any input and converts it to the configuration that is set.

With this we think that you, the players can create some really fun and creative builds.



Best regards,
Daniel Carlsson the intern

[finn_nielsen]

After driving through very heavy easter traffic on the M11, Tore and myself finally got to the NEC Birmingham and got the booth set up with two stations for playing the game + a screen running our trailer on loop. The festival started (relatively) quietly on Friday although we did have a quite a lot people interested in playing. It is really nice to see young kids tackle our game. It is quite obvious that many of them are already Minecraft experts, and these kids are able to dive straight into Mechanic Miner and almost immediately get the UI.



On Saturday the pace picked up even more as the exhibition floors were pretty much packed with people all day. Lots of people playing, kids and adults. Many of them played for quite some time, and often exhausted the (limited) content we had prepared - but quickly went on to experimenting with machine building. One guy managed to build a working tank with tracks, made out of maybe 50 small jointed blocks.

Apart from watching people play our game, we had also hoped to meet a few streamers by coming here - our game isn't quite ready for that yet, but just to talk to them a bit and get a better understanding of how they see things. Influencers are really important to indie devs like ourselves, who (eventually, at least:-) want our game to reach the gamers out there. And indeed, on Saturday a few of them stopped by. The last one, Myrathi, really seemed to like the game and stopped for a long talk. He gave us lots of advice and comments about stuff like streamer-friendly features in the game, approaches to modding SDK's, possibly relevant publishers etc. Plus a few really funny stories about streaming, like his own rage-quitting of XCOM in a livestream.

[foofter]

I don't usually like exploring/collecting/crafting games like Starbound or Terraria, but something about your pixel style of the mushrooms and vehicles and even the sand just feels nice. Good luck!

[finn_nielsen]

At i60, we exhibited a playable piece of the game, for the first time - the new tutorial. We had lots of people find our slightly hidden booth and play the tutorial - and lots of really positive responses. That event was an important milestone for us; it helped us focus on the next goal, which is to extend the playable tutorial into a playable closed alpha - i.e. more gameplay after the tutorial biome accessible to new players.



We have had to spend quite a bit of time on trying to get funding for the next phase, and also had to do a bit of work for hire to bridge the gap, but things are looking good now and we are on our way back to working full time on the game - that is, the closed alpha, which we hope to release in the fall.

If you are reading this, and would like to be a part of it, sign up for the closed alpha at http://www.mechanicminer.com!

We are currently adding a changed, more RPG-like system for health and experience points, and also creating machine-ready challenges for the desert biome, including a boss fight.