Update 36 - A Call for Artists

Hey everyone! Happy Thorium Thursday Monday!

Development Update

Recently, my focus has shifted back to the star map, specifically making the editor as easy to use and intuitive as possible. That's included creating a new top-down 2D view to make it easier to place objects, revamping the 3D camera controls to support features like zooming to the cursor position, creating an editor palette to update the properties of objects, and starting work on the solar system map editor.

I've also completely overhauled the data fetching system to make it more robust and less error prone.

We haven't had a lot of external contributions in the last two weeks - if you're into web development and want to take a stab at building something, get in touch on Discord - there are a bunch of great features to work on and plenty of people to help you out.

Alpha 4

You can download the fourth alpha of Thorium Nova on this page. It includes the new ship map features, so you can start designing the decks and rooms of your own ships.

A Call for Artists

We're to the point where we can start thinking about different kinds of art to include in Thorium Nova. Here's what I'm thinking we'll need soon.

• 3D textures for planets and moons
• Ring textures for planets
• Cloud textures for planets
• SVG card icons

Do you have the skills of an artist? Get in touch on Discord and I can give you some examples and a bit more direction.

Ship Systems Discussions

We're still interested in suggestions and discussions about the various ship systems. If you haven't yet, take a look at these discussions, add your own thoughts, and maybe even submit a proposal of your own!

• Power & Damage Control
• Impulse Engines
• Warp Engines
• Life Support - Thanks Froginator45! Communications - Thanks Froginator45!
• Sensors - Thanks Froginator45!
• Chaff Launchers - Thanks Ryan!
• Tractor Beam
• Inventory & Cargo

Development Meetings

As usual, we'll be having our every-other-week meeting on Discord. We discuss the latest features, plans for the future, and any other developments. Anyone is welcome to participate, ask questions, and make suggestions. The next meeting will be on April 13th at 6:30 ET - check the meeting invite to see what time it is at in your time zone.

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That's all for this week. As always, thanks for being part of this journey with us.

Alex