This update includes a brand new map called “Evacuation” which is the largest map we’ve created so far, as well as the first Spearhead bonus content and scoreboard profile icons.

It’s no secret that we’re in the process of ramping up the team (last week we welcomed back Nicolai and Jess) and we’re still looking for more exceptional people (Game Programmer and 3D Environment Artist).

We have a few days of intense project planning ahead of us which might push the next update, but do not worry, everything is about getting more unique features, dynamic simulation and addictive gameplay into the hands of you awesome people.

• ADDED: New map "Evacuation" - a full size combat range with a staged crash site evacuation zone situated in a wet and moist swamp
  
• ADDED: Spearhead avatar icons to scoreboards and names
  
• ADDED: Support for installing Spearhead content such as soundtracks, art books and secret bonuses
  
• ADDED: The original "Interstellar Marines: The Beginning" soundtrack to the Spearhead folder
  
• ADDED: Profile section to the menu
  
• ADDED: Added support for layer-based reflections (advanced user options coming in the future)
  
• ADDED: Added water movement sounds (impact effects are still placeholders from "concrete")

• FIXED: "object flicker bug when light is close to pitch black" (Unity 4.2 bug). This currently prevents us from having complete pitch black lighting.

Your team at Zero Point Software

This update includes a brand new map called “Evacuation” which is the largest map we’ve created so far, as well as the first Spearhead bonus content and scoreboard profile icons.

It’s no secret that we’re in the process of ramping up the team (last week we welcomed back Nicolai and Jess) and we’re still looking for more exceptional people (Game Programmer and 3D Environment Artist).

We have a few days of intense project planning ahead of us which might push the next update, but do not worry, everything is about getting more unique features, dynamic simulation and addictive gameplay into the hands of you awesome people.

• ADDED: New map "Evacuation" - a full size combat range with a staged crash site evacuation zone situated in a wet and moist swamp
  
• ADDED: Spearhead avatar icons to scoreboards and names
  
• ADDED: Support for installing Spearhead content such as soundtracks, art books and secret bonuses
  
• ADDED: The original "Interstellar Marines: The Beginning" soundtrack to the Spearhead folder
  
• ADDED: Profile section to the menu
  
• ADDED: Added support for layer-based reflections (advanced user options coming in the future)
  
• ADDED: Added water movement sounds (impact effects are still placeholders from "concrete")

• FIXED: "object flicker bug when light is close to pitch black" (Unity 4.2 bug). This currently prevents us from having complete pitch black lighting.

Your team at Zero Point Software

It’s time to bring out the “M” in maintenance update (sorry, we just had to)!

This time we’ve updated the game to the latest version of Unity (version 4.2) which have solved a few of our outstanding crash bugs and given us a slight performance increase on all platforms. But the big “maintenance” news is that due to the huge support we’ve received on Steam we’ve added a few more people to the team which will help us get more beefy updates out the door sooon!

Update #4 is planned for Friday next week (if everything goes according to our plans) and in this update we hope to bring you a new large outdoor map staged to simulate an atmospheric evacuation zone right at the heart of a moist swamp environment. We’ll also be working on an initial profile implementation for your combat training stats and maybe we’ll even throw in a small surprise from your subconscious...

• UPDATED: game engine to Unity 4.2 (overall better performance)
  
• UPDATED: team with 2 new members (Reese and Necrosonic) and increased office map size
  
• UPDATED: game to default to fullscreen native resolution on first startup (possibly fixes "black screen on startup" bug?)
  
• UPDATED: OpenGL shadow filtering so shadows on OSX are just as pretty as Windows
  
• UPDATED: better shadow casting performance

• FIXED: GetThreadContext crash occurring on some Windows PCs
  
• REMOVED: temporary "game crashes on quit" hotfix

Your team at Zero Point Software

It’s time to bring out the “M” in maintenance update (sorry, we just had to)!

This time we’ve updated the game to the latest version of Unity (version 4.2) which have solved a few of our outstanding crash bugs and given us a slight performance increase on all platforms. But the big “maintenance” news is that due to the huge support we’ve received on Steam we’ve added a few more people to the team which will help us get more beefy updates out the door sooon!

Update #4 is planned for Friday next week (if everything goes according to our plans) and in this update we hope to bring you a new large outdoor map staged to simulate an atmospheric evacuation zone right at the heart of a moist swamp environment. We’ll also be working on an initial profile implementation for your combat training stats and maybe we’ll even throw in a small surprise from your subconscious...

• UPDATED: game engine to Unity 4.2 (overall better performance)
  
• UPDATED: team with 2 new members (Reese and Necrosonic) and increased office map size
  
• UPDATED: game to default to fullscreen native resolution on first startup (possibly fixes "black screen on startup" bug?)
  
• UPDATED: OpenGL shadow filtering so shadows on OSX are just as pretty as Windows
  
• UPDATED: better shadow casting performance

• FIXED: GetThreadContext crash occurring on some Windows PCs
  
• REMOVED: temporary "game crashes on quit" hotfix

Your team at Zero Point Software

It’s time to bring out the “T” in tactical combat!

This update we’re introducing the first iteration of one of our central tactical movement mechanics; namely the ability to boost your movement stance at the expense of noise (volume/range) and weapon accuracy.

To increase the immersion and dynamics of the combat we’ve added casings and smoke to the SMG as well as impact light to metal sparks. We’ve also added a few additional options to the settings menu such as v-sync, audio options and post-process effects.

Finally we’ve fixed another nice little batch of bugs, errors and inconsistencies based on all your invaluable feedback.

• ADDED: walk/run movement (affects sounds and weapon accuracy)
  
• UPDATED: weapon gun model is affected by hip aiming, zooming and movement speeds (multiplayer)
  
• ADDED: casing and ejection smoke effects to weapon
  
• ADDED: post-processing effects to settings
  
• ADDED: "v-sync" toggle option to settings
  
• ADDED: audio volume and mute option to settings
  
• ADDED: light flashes on metal impact effects
  
• ADDED: subconscious impulse

• UPDATED: short wait period (0.5s) after spawn before you can shoot
  
• UPDATED: mouse sensitivity in settings to a broader selectable range
  
• UPDATED: so only the tonemapping and bloom post-process effects are on by default (performance)
  
• UPDATED: the red dot to be slightly smaller
  
• UPDATED: the IM logo in menu to include the Early Access update number
  
• UPDATED: level camera so it respects the post-processing effects from settings
  
• UPDATED: level camera to change positions in half the time

• FIXED: "game crashes when using FRAPS and starting game"
  
• FIXED: Steam exception thrown on quit
  
• FIXED: "ODD warning doesn't show in OSX"
  
• FIXED: "cannot bind Shift and other modifier keys"
  
• FIXED: so bindings are not overwritten if already bound during load
  
• FIXED: "bindings are reset to default when not bound"
  
• FIXED: "sometimes weapon fires a bunch of bullets on spawn"
  
• FIXED: "if firing while going to a menu, the weapon doesn't stop firing"
  
• FIXED: "if holding fire while reloading the weapon doesn't start firing when reloading ends"
  
• FIXED: "settings button still selected when going from intro to menu"
  
• DISABLED: the buggy helmet occlusion prototype

Your team at Zero Point Software

It’s time to bring out the “T” in tactical combat!

This update we’re introducing the first iteration of one of our central tactical movement mechanics; namely the ability to boost your movement stance at the expense of noise (volume/range) and weapon accuracy.

To increase the immersion and dynamics of the combat we’ve added casings and smoke to the SMG as well as impact light to metal sparks. We’ve also added a few additional options to the settings menu such as v-sync, audio options and post-process effects.

Finally we’ve fixed another nice little batch of bugs, errors and inconsistencies based on all your invaluable feedback.

• ADDED: walk/run movement (affects sounds and weapon accuracy)
  
• UPDATED: weapon gun model is affected by hip aiming, zooming and movement speeds (multiplayer)
  
• ADDED: casing and ejection smoke effects to weapon
  
• ADDED: post-processing effects to settings
  
• ADDED: "v-sync" toggle option to settings
  
• ADDED: audio volume and mute option to settings
  
• ADDED: light flashes on metal impact effects
  
• ADDED: subconscious impulse

• UPDATED: short wait period (0.5s) after spawn before you can shoot
  
• UPDATED: mouse sensitivity in settings to a broader selectable range
  
• UPDATED: so only the tonemapping and bloom post-process effects are on by default (performance)
  
• UPDATED: the red dot to be slightly smaller
  
• UPDATED: the IM logo in menu to include the Early Access update number
  
• UPDATED: level camera so it respects the post-processing effects from settings
  
• UPDATED: level camera to change positions in half the time

• FIXED: "game crashes when using FRAPS and starting game"
  
• FIXED: Steam exception thrown on quit
  
• FIXED: "ODD warning doesn't show in OSX"
  
• FIXED: "cannot bind Shift and other modifier keys"
  
• FIXED: so bindings are not overwritten if already bound during load
  
• FIXED: "bindings are reset to default when not bound"
  
• FIXED: "sometimes weapon fires a bunch of bullets on spawn"
  
• FIXED: "if firing while going to a menu, the weapon doesn't stop firing"
  
• FIXED: "if holding fire while reloading the weapon doesn't start firing when reloading ends"
  
• FIXED: "settings button still selected when going from intro to menu"
  
• DISABLED: the buggy helmet occlusion prototype

Your team at Zero Point Software

Wow. Just wow. The last couple of days have been absolutely fantastic and we couldn't be more happy with the reception you all have given us. And now the waiting is over: we’re on Steam and we can finally focus all our time on actual game development!

We’re currently working on an update for next week, but we simply had to address the key binding issue that have prevented some of you from enjoying the game.

So today (a few hours past our bedtime) we’ve rolled out a minor update introducing custom key bindings and on request we’ve also spawned two brand new servers for stress testing intense 8vs8 combat training.

• ADDED: support for custom key/mouse bindings in menu
  
• ADDED: support for multiplayer games with up to 16 players
  
• ADDED: support for toggling rain in environmental states
  
• UPDATED: so 5:4 and 4:3 screen resolutions are available in the video settings
  ADDED: sprinkler prototype to Sandbox

• UPDATED: all input help to reflect the key/mouse bindings
  
• UPDATED: the master server listing to refresh more often
  
• UPDATED: the rain-detection on the marine (helmet + sounds) to be much more accurate
  
• UPDATED: Arch, Rupture and Mainline with rain
  
• UPDATED: rain FX on helmet with smaller droplets to make it more realistic
  
• UPDATED: rain environment sounds on Rupture (thunder and foggy/grey environment states)
  
• UPDATED: the Quit button so it's slightly more visible

• FIXED: "you can aim/suicide/toggle helmet while in menu"

Keep the great feedback coming!

Your team at Zero Point Software

Wow. Just wow. The last couple of days have been absolutely fantastic and we couldn't be more happy with the reception you all have given us. And now the waiting is over: we’re on Steam and we can finally focus all our time on actual game development!

We’re currently working on an update for next week, but we simply had to address the key binding issue that have prevented some of you from enjoying the game.

So today (a few hours past our bedtime) we’ve rolled out a minor update introducing custom key bindings and on request we’ve also spawned two brand new servers for stress testing intense 8vs8 combat training.

• ADDED: support for custom key/mouse bindings in menu
  
• ADDED: support for multiplayer games with up to 16 players
  
• ADDED: support for toggling rain in environmental states
  
• UPDATED: so 5:4 and 4:3 screen resolutions are available in the video settings
  ADDED: sprinkler prototype to Sandbox

• UPDATED: all input help to reflect the key/mouse bindings
  
• UPDATED: the master server listing to refresh more often
  
• UPDATED: the rain-detection on the marine (helmet + sounds) to be much more accurate
  
• UPDATED: Arch, Rupture and Mainline with rain
  
• UPDATED: rain FX on helmet with smaller droplets to make it more realistic
  
• UPDATED: rain environment sounds on Rupture (thunder and foggy/grey environment states)
  
• UPDATED: the Quit button so it's slightly more visible

• FIXED: "you can aim/suicide/toggle helmet while in menu"

Keep the great feedback coming!

Your team at Zero Point Software

We will be holding two live-stream launch events this Saturday evening to celebrate Interstellar Marines going live on Steam Early Access this week. Come join us, hang out with friends, shoot Bozar and perhaps even win some goodies.

The times for the two events are:

9pm CET (8pm UK time, 3pm EST) live on http://www.twitch.tv/zeropointsoftware

9pm EST (2am UK time, 3am CET) live on http://www.twitch.tv/zeropointsoftware

Bozar will be streaming for at least 2 hours during each event, longer if we can keep the coffee flowing, and will be joined by several people in the stream as well as answering questions from the channel chat. We’re also hoping Kim will be able to take part in the first event, so if you’ve ever wanted to ask a dev a question, now is your chance!

We look forward to seeing you there.

Zero Point Software

We will be holding two live-stream launch events this Saturday evening to celebrate Interstellar Marines going live on Steam Early Access this week. Come join us, hang out with friends, shoot Bozar and perhaps even win some goodies.

The times for the two events are:

9pm CET (8pm UK time, 3pm EST) live on http://www.twitch.tv/zeropointsoftware

9pm EST (2am UK time, 3am CET) live on http://www.twitch.tv/zeropointsoftware

Bozar will be streaming for at least 2 hours during each event, longer if we can keep the coffee flowing, and will be joined by several people in the stream as well as answering questions from the channel chat. We’re also hoping Kim will be able to take part in the first event, so if you’ve ever wanted to ask a dev a question, now is your chance!

We look forward to seeing you there.

Zero Point Software