Well, the first alpha version of Metal X is out, version 1.1.0.1.

I’m elated how quickly this is coming along. HTML5 is fantastic because I don’t have to compile anything, and it’s available on the internet right out of the box. Javascript is okay, and I know I’m doing things wrong (my developing tool Firebug doesn’t know how to read my function names), but it’s workable. Learning as I go. I’ll probably buy Sublime Text 3 when it comes out, as I’m currently using ST2. I’m looking forward to adding each new game feature, and I get excited visualizing how I want the game to end up.

In the immediate future, you will be able to build ships from your fleet blueprints, launch and recall those ships, and send crew onto planets and watch them run around. I wrote a 15-point To Do list to achieve this, and it’s taken me a week just to get through the first two. Building buttons and text boxes from scratch is not sexy. But it was worth it, and I’m proud that they work. I did that.

Eventually they’ll be starmaps, and enemies you can shoot down, and factions, and multi-tile rooms for bigger and better weapons, engines, command centers, and more. First I’m focusing on building up your ship and fleet. Then comes advanced crew missions and orders. Then enemies and allies and collision detection in space. And then story mode. Maybe. Oh, and music and better visuals. Or I’ll just rename it to Adventures in Space with MS Paint: There’s No Sound in Space and call it a day.

It’s not 1.0.0.1 because I got rid of a build mode where it zoomed in on your ship and time slowed down. It looks cool and is still in the game, and I hope to use it later (to set repairs and see your crew / boarders). The build mode is now Blueprint mode, which for now just edits your fleet’s blueprints, but will eventually edit your main ship’s blueprint as well.

And it’s not 1.1.0.0 because there was a game crashing bug when exiting out of the text box. Yay for last minute code changes!

So it’s 1.1.0.1. I think. I’m not exactly sure about version history numbering.

I used http://javascriptobfuscator.com/ to obfuscate the code to deter offshoots and stealing. Like that’s going to happen. Next time I’ll try using the instructions from http://www.thetechhub.com/2010/04/combine-text-files-into-one-with-single.html instead of copy/pasting 20 .js files into one file by hand. Oh me.