Rocket Plumber v0.1.0 is finally here, and it includes the new gameplay I teased in RPB#2!
I was not planning on there being 6 months between releases, but I kept deciding to add “just one more thing” and now here we are with a 40% increase in application code in one release. All this new gameplay has made Rocket Plumber feel a lot more cohesive, and while it’s far from finished, I’m a lot more comfortable calling v0.1.0 a game instead of a tech-demo!
- Download Rocket Plumber v0.1.0 for Windows or Linux! (Release notes)
- Check out the game’s source code and docs on GitHub!
- Sign up for the mailing list to stay up-to-date on releases like this!
What’s in Rocket Plumber 0.1.0?#
A lot has changed in this update. Given I’ve already half-forgotten what the last public version was like, I doubt anyone else remembers either. So I’m just going to tell you what’s in the game now:
- An in-depth fluid network simulation, based on electrical circuit simulation maths, where pressures, flows, and even the layout of your pipes affect how your engines behave.
- Several types of rocket propellants, including cold-gas, monopropellant, and fuel/oxidiser bipropellant.
- A range of propellant feed systems, from simple pressurised gas and pressure-fed liquids to more complex turbopump-driven engines.
- Build your own rocket engines by moving components around, connecting them with pipes, and experimenting with different designs.
- Fine-tune your more complex engines, adjusting valves to balance mixture ratios and flows, prevent overloads and overheating, and maximise thrust.
- Plan encounters with other ships on the Space Map, plotting trajectories that you’ll need to execute precisely using your engines.
- Progress through the galaxy, salvaging increasingly powerful fuels and components from the ships you encounter as you accumulate velocity.
- And finally, a way to escape the galaxy and win the game! Build up a powerful enough ship to complete the final manoeuvre in one enormous burn!
So, Should You Try Rocket Plumber?#
This is the first release of Rocket Plumber I would actually want people to consider playing. I’ve been having fun playtesting it myself, and I’m at a point where some player feedback would be really valuable!
The game is still very much a work in progress. The game loop and progression are still fairly basic, there isn’t a huge depth of content, and the UI is still pretty ‘developer-y’ with lots of extraneous information. But I do think there’s at least a few hours of satisfying learning and progression, and it can give you a taste of where the game could go. There is also a ‘Learning System’ with lots of tips and tutorials, so you shouldn’t feel left in the dark.
If you are after a polished game and early access is not your thing, I’d still hold off. But if Rocket Plumber sounds interesting to you, then download it and have a crack. It’s free, so you don’t have much to lose!
Technical Notes#
On the technical side, there have also been a bunch of improvements in this release!
I’ve done some massive structural optimisations to reduce heap allocations (I plan to do a full writeup on this in some upcoming blog posts), and now, at least on my machine, the GC stuttering is much less noticeable.
Another subtle but important improvement is automatic component reactivation. Previously, components like tanks would get stuck inactive when they ran empty, requiring you to manually reset them. Now they automatically reconnect to the fluid network when they’re able to operate again.
I’ve also set up precompilation workloads and a GitHub Actions workflow to create my game builds (it’s not quite as simple as ‘gcc rocket-plumber.c’ with Julia), so this should make more frequent public releases easier.
Let Me Know What You Think#
I’ve still got lots of ideas for Rocket Plumber! I’d like to make some of the things you encounter a bit more interesting than piles of fuel and parts. And of course there’s a lot of new fuels and engine systems I can add. I’ve been dying to implement expander cycles ever since I added fluid temperatures. But right now, I’m particularly interested in hearing what people think of what’s already here, to help guide that future work.
If you do try it out, there’s a feedback email link in the game! Please send me your thoughts and criticisms. What did you enjoy, and what didn’t you? What systems were easy to figure out, and what did you get stuck on? And if you manage to complete the galaxy escape, send me an email with your ship that did it! I’m really keen to see if anyone else gets that far, because if they do, that means the game must be at least a little fun!