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[Nition]

Mac build is now up. Linux build not, because none of my StreamingAssets stuff (i.e. file saving and loading) is working in Linux, and the only info I can find on it is someone else reporting the same problem. 

[Nition]

I've updated the builder release a bit with the few fixes:

Changes in version 0.0.10:
- Fixed Open Save Folder button not working on Mac
- Made vehicle’s weight in pounds round to to the nearest whole number
- Right Ctrl now works on build screen (left Ctrl still works also)
- Fixed bug where multiple cockpits could be placed via duplication
- Fixed a weapon rotation bug when changing link modes
- Fixed overzealous auto-flip from righting the vehicle while in the air

http://www.scrapsgame.com/download

[One Happy Giant]

Game's looking great so far. Love the premise. Will be following this one closely. Already having fun in the build now. Can't imagine how much fun it'll be on release.

TL;DR
NICE JOB

[Nition]

I just put Scraps up on the Steam Greenlight Concepts section. Not the real Greenlight where votes actually count towards something, but the sort of building-a-community section.

Anyway that's pretty boring, but the more interesting part is that I had to make a trailer for the game for it. I'm actually quite pleased with it as I think it manages to capture the intended tone and concept of the game quite well. Which is, y'know, build terrible vehicles and fight.





I should be clear though: Although it's all real in-game footage, the "fights" in  that video are staged - actual multiplayer isn't in yet.

[Nition]

I think the scale in the game is slightly off. Not that it matters hugely but I like things to be right (and correct scale makes the physics better). Observe a comparison with correct-size person and VW Golf MkIV (with no wheels):



The person is the right size for the cockpit, because I was careful about that. The chassis though are a little bit over-scaled I think. So rather than adding a "large" chassis size, I might make the medium slightly longer and create a new "small", smaller than the current small. Maybe a three-wheeled trike?

Also, please show your support for the game on Greenlight by giving a thumbs up:

You can also find it via the Steam app itself under Community > Greenlight > Concepts.

[Nition]

What's the most popular game on Greenlight Concepts today?



It's my game! :D

[Nition]

OK, I was wrong about the scale, it's actually fine. Especially when compared to an actual tank.



At the bottom right you can see my half-finished experiment with a trike that has a built-in cockpit; sort of a basic tutorial-esque vehicle base. I still kinda like it, but I definitely need a "large" chassis as well.

[Nition]

I just checked out a game called ROBOCRAFT that I saw someone mention. They're actually doing something pretty similar to what I'm trying to do, so it's interesting seeing how they solve some of the same problems. Although their game is very early in development too.

- When removing parts in Scraps, any parts which were only connected to the chassis through that part are removed. i.e. Parts can't float. In ROBOCRAFT, parts are left floating, but any floating parts don't translate to the in-game vehicle.
- In Scraps, I'm working on a system where weapons will try to stop themselves from being able to shoot your own vehicle, but you can still make a dumb design that does. In ROBOCRAFT, weapons just ignore your own vehicle even if they're actually shooting it.
- To get more parts in ROBOCRAFT, points drop from enemy vehicles and you spend them in the parts store. In Scraps, enemy vehicles drop parts directly. There's a reason for this that I particularly don't like: They're going to have a real money purchase option if you want to cheat to get more parts.
- They don't have an energy system - guns fire infinitely at a fixed rate. Their wheels contain their own power or steering. You still have to place a pilot/cockpit part.
- Rather than using a base chassis, you start with nothing and build with blocks, so it's a bit more freeform.

[Nition]

Behold the test map in all its aerial glory:

[BlueFeena]

I played your alpha build earlier today, I quite liked it!    Being able to build some pretty crazy car designs was a lot of fun, and I'd love to see how this all works out in multiplayer.

A few things, no particular order:

*  Consider redoing the hud.  It's very plain at the moment.  Perhaps something along the lines of the huds seen in various Saturn games would be better, as the flat shaded look might clash with something really modern.
*  The music seemed very out of place.  Rest assured, I'm the last person to lecture anybody on music design, but I do feel something like

might be more appropriate
*  The floaty physics aren't inherently a bad thing; I realize this issue was addressed on your site.  For one, the lighter physics forces the player to make some pretty tactical design choices with the car.  One design I developed had "wings" so to speak, as it helped displace the car's center of gravity and prevented the vehicle from tipping over quite as easily.
*  This may be pure stupidity on my part, but I was unable to fire multiple weapons at the same time.  I couldn't tell if I was supposed to be able to do that, or if I'm just plain dense.  The weapons do seem pretty weak on their own, and the projectile based cannons will be a doozy to aim when firing at any high speed car (I whipped up a few designs that hit 150+ mph!)  With the few weapons I did attach, they never seemed to drain much power, (I genuinely had to try in order to get a weapon to burn out all of my power) so maybe consider increasing the electrical requirements of the weapons / other parts.

Keep it coming. 

[Nition]

#1: Yeah, the HUD is kinda basic. But I'm not a very good graphic designer so I need to do things fairly simple or they start looking even worse. It could do with some work though, yeah. I know enough to see when things look bad but not quite enough to make them look good!

#2: The music could suit a little better but I am not doing a chiptune soundtrack! Next I'd be making it a 2D sidescroller.

#3: Would be good if wings could actually generate lift for you too. One day...

#4: Q

[Nition]

A new version of the builder release is up with some bug fixes and improvements. Most significantly, this version offers much faster loading of saved vehicles.

To Update

Just download the new version and delete the old one.

To keep your saved vehicles, before you delete the old copy, you need to copy your vehicles across. Go to the Vehicle subfolder and copy the .scraps files you want, and paste them into the same folder in the new copy of Scraps.
On Windows it's: \Scraps_Data\StreamingAssets\Vehicles
On Mac: \Contents\Data\StreamingAssets\Vehicles inside Scraps.app
OR go into the game -> Build screen -> Choose Save or Load -> Click Open save folder

You won't have to do that again in the future as I've moved the save files out of the game directory itself, and the new version will automatically move your files to the new location when it runs. The Readme has information on uninstalling everything thoroughly.

Changes

2013-06 - 0.1.0
Changes:
- Moved user vehicles and key config to an AppData folder, so it can be preserved when installing a new version of Scraps
- Added a button in options to remove said data
- Set rotate part to right-click as well as spacebar
- Delete held parts by pressing Delete (can already press Escape as well)
- Massively decreased the time it takes to load a vehicle, and made it visual so you can see the vehicle "building"
- Adding visual text for saving as well (but saving is extremely fast already)
- Improved button graphics a little
- Increased power drain on weapons by about 25%. Note that all stats are still in their early stages and not intended to be very balanced
- Removed antialiasing post-processing effect from the inventory parts camera, as it was a waste of resources
- Added (partial) keyboard controls to Save/Load screens
- Order of parts on in the build screen now goes small->large
- Made it a little easier to find the cause of other people's crashes
- Improved performance a little in-game for vehicles with many parts
- Added back button to the vehicle select screen
Bug fixes:
- Fixed most parts not tinting red/green when snapping, and made the time more obvious
- Fixed bug on the build screen where dragging would get stuck on
- Fixed up modal dialog code and switched to the new GUI.ModalWindow system
- Fixed anti-aliasing settings not applying correctly
- Fixed some craziness with the build screen platform
- Some other minor fixes and edits

2013-05 - 0.0.11
- Disabled bottom GUI controls when holding a part. Messing with them while holding a part could break things
- Fixed weapon stats tooltip formatting

2013-05 - 0.0.10
- Fixed Open Save Folder button not working on Mac
- Made vehicle's weight in pounds round to to the nearest whole number
- Right Ctrl now works on build screen (left Ctrl still works also)
- Fixed bug where multiple cockpits could be placed via duplication
- Fixed a weapon rotation bug when changing link modes
- Fixed overzealous auto-flip from righting the vehicle while in the air

[Nition]

I've put up a small update to fix a few bugs in 0.1.0:

• Fixed right-click drag while holding a part also rotating that part
• Fixed a bug with modal windows not being called correctly
• Fixed audio playing when pausing the game, minimising, and then restoring

http://www.scrapsgame.com/download

The audio pause/restore bug was caused by Unity indiscriminately unpausing the AudioListener when restoring the game window, even if it had been manaually paused beforehand. IMO, it should remember the state it was at before minimising and restore to that.

[Nition]

The builder release is now also available on Linux! http://www.scrapsgame.com/download

[siskavard]

I can't tell you how much fun I'm having with this.

Btw, you'd think this thing would run flawlessly!



..it actually runs pretty good!

[siskavard]

I should be working

[Nition]

Nice! Although you may want to avoid turning corners.

[karlozalb]

I should be working

  Optimus Prime is coming!

[Nition]

Just found a really old original design doc for Scraps that has you collecting "scrap metal" from destroyed enemy parts rather than parts themselves.

That actually makes a lot more sense. Then I don't have to handle repairing parts, how damaged they should be when they drop, IF they drop, showing collected parts on the build screen etc etc. Picking up scrap metal from destroyed parts can just go straight to your cash to spend on other things.

The only potential negative is that you will be able to build what you want, rather than having to strap on unsuited parts that you got from some completely different vehicle. So maybe we should have both, at least eventually.

Anyway, not much to report right now. Working on multiplayer but it'll be a while before I can say or show anything interesting.

[Nition]

Hey, I made like, an official Scraps forum: http://forum.scrapsgame.com