This is the July edition of the monthly technical update for Digital Extinction (GitHub).

Zakru has become a new contributor 🎉.

Here is a summary of the changes since our last update, consisting of commit range dc6e7a8..b7de64d. In total, there were 81 non-merge commits.

The most notable updates include:

• Nightly versions are automatically built and published.
• Significant progress has been made on multiplayer and networking.
• Animated arrows on terrain are displayed for selected factories, indicating the path from the units' spawn points to their delivery locations.
• Semi-transparent square markers are drawn on the terrain around selected buildings.
• Health bars are briefly displayed above units and buildings when they take damage or their health changes.
• The implementation and design of the “Energy” have started to take shape.
• The head-up display (HUD) shows the total battery charge and the number of selected units and buildings.
• The main theme song plays in a loop.
• The volume of the music can be configured.
• The aspect ratio of the minimap matches that of the game map.
• The option to invert camera zooming has been added to the configuration.
• The documentation has been converted to mdBook.
• Configuration validation has been simplified with the introduction of Rust procedural macros.
• Many other improvements have also been made.

Nightly Builds

Every night, a fresh build of the game from the main branch is automatically created and published.

You can download one of the following ZIP archives, extract it, and run de or de.exe to test the newest version.

• Linux x86-64
• Windows x86-64
• macOS x86-64
• macOS Aarch64

Multiplayer

The multiplayer consists of two parts: the game lobby and the multiplayer game itself. Over the past month, significant progress has been made primarily on the in-game networking part. A protocol based on UDP has been designed, a low-level networking stack has been implemented as a library, and a player interconnection server named “DE Connector” has been established.

Please refer to the multiplayer documentation for more technical details.

Energy

We plan to make energy the sole resource in the game. However, this concept needs to be tested and validated. We may introduce “material” as an additional resource in the future.

Unlike most other RTS games, energy as a resource won't become instantly and globally available once it's produced by power houses. Instead, it will be distributed via a power grid composed of “Power Hubs”, each with a maximum transmission distance and power capacity (in Watts). All units and buildings will have the ability to connect to the power grid and charge their internal batteries. As the battery drains, the unit or building will gradually lose its capabilities, such as attacking, constructing, or moving.

These game dynamics will compel players to plan, construct and defend their power infrastructure as they engage with their opponents.