We commissioned Ionut, the original designer of DOG, to make an ultra hi-poly version that leveraged Unreal Engine 5's nanite mesh Technology. The resulting model is about 500,000 polygons and is a huge improvement in terms of fidelity and detail.




We were able to implement PULSAR BYTES Cine Cam as a screenshot tool so players have a lot more control over their in-game screenshots.

You can see the screenshot tool in action here:


Even though this game has substantially higher minimum requires over the first -

I think it's still important to keep optimizing where we can.

• We've reworked a number of the lighting components that should improve Chapters 1 and 5.
  
• We've made some improvements to the Chaos Physics System. This allows us increased collision resolution and almost double the number of debris while still hitting 120fps.
  
• We've also totally reworked the navigation system which will prevent a number of navigation issues.

Screenshot Competition

What you've all been waiting for!!!
The winners will get an in-game achievement added based around the screenshot they took, a free Steam gift key, and a call out on the next update! The two categories are:
The Surface - best screenshot capturing Chapter 2: The Surface's environment
DOG VII - Best screenshot capturing the new DOG model

This Event is open to everyone that ones the game. Additionally, I'll be offering 20 free game keys on our twitter account. We've also invited invited the the members of Beautiful Screenshot Lovers to take part in this.

All you have to do is post your screenshots to the community page. Good Luck!

We are accepting screenshots of the base game but highly encourage you to use the _ue5 beta branch with enhanced features and environments or the separate application available here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1684710/CAT_Interstellar_Recast/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1684710/CAT_Interstellar_Recast/


We're going to be live streaming development of the upgraded CAT Interstellar. Working on the cave environment.


We're gonna stream here for an hour then switch to RECAR

CAT Interstellar: Recast
is now available on the Steam store.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1684710/CAT_Interstellar_Recast/

https://steamcommunity.com/broadcast/watch/76561198165474704

We'll be doing broadcasts for most of the day so feel free to drop in even if it's just to tell us what we did wrong. Seriously, If you've followed this game for any amount of time you know that I genuinely appreciate your feedback even if it's bad and respond to everything.... You could also just say "Hi". I don't want to tell you what to do.

Otherwise, we'll be highlighting some of the development that went into the revamped version of the game like:











If you have any technical questions on how we did anything definitely ask those too.

As always,
It's a blast interacting with the community and that wouldn't be possible if... you know... there wasn't a community so thank you.

So, you might have noticed we launched a Steam store for a Remastered version of CAT Interstellar using the Unreal Engine 5. I will now attempt to explain

• Why we decided to remaster the original
  
• Improvements made to the game
  
• Why we made it a separate application
  
• How owners of the original can get access before release

This post goes out to GraVE. Feel free to comment on any of his three separate threads but please spread them equally.
Remastered? Episode 2 ?
Remastered? Episode 2 ?
Remastered? Episode 2 ?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1684710/CAT_Interstellar_Remastered

Why Waste Your Time Remastering Trash. We want Episode II

Remastering the first game was definitely not in the original plan... but then Unreal Engine 5 was launched. We knew the sequel, CAT Interstellar: Episode II, would almost certainly be developed using the new engine and the original CAT Interstellar game was a perfect candidate for learning this engine. Even though I made a whole post about why it wasn't worth it to fix/update/add to the original game I now stand before you... writing this announcement. There are some areas and events where I thought the story could be a laid out a little better. Not changed but just presented better. Remastering the game gave us a unique opportunity to do that while also working on the sequel.

Improvements

This is gonna blow your mind. We've totally revamped The Surface level using Unreal Engine 5's nanite technology. There are billions of polygons on this level now and we're using photoscanned models:




We've even added our own scans to the environment:


And posted them for you to download too
https://sketchfab.com/models/c8cdc54f321645d2bc673f8a385cebde/embed?ui_theme=dark

It's not just visual fidelity either... We've added some more interactive elements as well to further bring the world to life.


We plan to do this type of photoscanned high fidelity upgrade to the cave system (Chapter 4) and Signals (Chapter 5). Beyond that, you'll immediately notice some additional content and android dialog. Again, THE STORY HAS NOT CHANGED, but based on the loads of feedback which can be summarized as:


We've decided to flush out a few areas with more story content and to tie up loose ends. As an example the ending of Signals will be extended to make it clear the cat doesn't die... In fact it is actually on the same "team" as the humans... Speaking of the cat... one of the barrier we faced when updating the game was our cat animations sucked and with UE4.16 the fur plugin we relied on was abandoned. Alas, a new day has risen and like the Phoenix... something, something, THE NEW CAT MODEL IS GREAT!

The GD thing can even swim! So expect much more verticality on that level.

ALSO!!!

We recommisioned the original artist who made DOG VI to make an updated DOG VII with no poly limits and it's turning out great! Here's a sneak peak:

Why a Separate Application

THE MONEY!!!!

Just kidding. I've made it pretty clear we make very little money with these games. Maybe next time I'll remaster a ghost hunter multiplayer game....
Anyway, the real reason is because CAT Interstellar is a finished, published game on multiple platforms. UE5 only supports 64-bit windows and we can't/won't drop support for 32-bit Windows, Linux, and PS4 for what is essentially a glorified learning project. As to where the profits to this game will go - we never post about donations and charity work until afterwards so you're just gonna have to wait and find out.

It isn't just OS support that's an issue either. The barrier of entry for UE5 is a GTX 1070 MINIMUM. We painstakingly optimized the crap out of the original game to get 1080p@30fps on a GTX 750ti and 1080p@60fps on a GTX 970. Again, we can't/won't alienate that portion of the player base that's already purchased the game. Which brings me to the last, and possibly most important portion of this post...

How to Access the New Version

Go to your Steam library >> Right click CAT Interstellar >> "Select Properties..." >> Select "BETAS" >> Select the _ue5 branch >> download >> play game

This branch will be updated along with the Remastered application so everyone who owns the original game will have access to the remastered version.

How you can help

Also, this is likely the first game published using the Unreal Engine so any feedback on your frame rate and graphics card would be incredibly helpful.

P.S. I need the Fancy Pants, Super Star, Mind Blow, Heartwarming awards to win them all.

Sergeant Gary Freeman, your leave request has been denied indefinitely. I’m sure you expected as much but I hate to be the one to officially decline it. I understand you have a son back on Earth but we require your immediate attention. We do not yet know all the details that led to the collapse of our Martian SkyLift network nor the likelihood of the complete planetary destruction of Mars. Stabilizing the degradation of the plant and analyzing the potential of orbital debris impacting Earth has been rightfully allocated to the Army’s Corp of Engineers. Our responsibilities, as usual, are more direct in nature.


The catalyst that started the destruction of our SkyLift network began in Sector 17 and cascaded around the equator of the planet. Military Intelligence has discovered several unusual work orders and taskings in that sector but, most notably, the commission of a DOG-IV unit to assist an android in recovering some surveyor drones. Given these drones are disposable by design we think this may have been a cover. We cannot yet prove the Androids purposefully caused this catastrophe, but tensions have been rising and this incident certainly ensures a large portion of forces will be occupied.

Your mission is to travel to Sector 17, deactivate Android 42 and recover his data log. As you know your Marine Transporter has a planetary drop pod capable to breaching the debris fields and reaching the planet’s surface. Extraction will be a more difficult task but, as you’re reading this message, the U.N.S.S. Gabrielle is positioning herself in orbit around Mars. The Gabrielle has a dozen ships capable of surface extractions.


Given your current orbit, the drop pod can only get you as close as Sector 15. From there you’ll have to navigate through the B.13 Passage. Your power armor should make traversing the terrain possible. We’re also looking for any equipment cache in the area. A pair of jump-jets would be very useful.


That passage terminates at a water processing plant. Assuming the emergency power is still on you’ll be able to take the elevator down to Turing Canyon. There’s an unmanned Marine outpost there where you’ll be able to get whatever weapons and equipment you think you’ll need. I’m not sure if the Osprey VTOL is practical since the massive increase in meteor strikes but the Puma Rover should get you to the Power-Station at the edge of Sector 17. This is the last location we Android 42 accessed the network.

Your mission is to find Android 42.

P.S. Thanks to the 40+ people that made it to the live stream last night! That was a lot more fun than I expected. I'll keep the store front open to anyone who wants to stream until the sale is over. We'll definitely do it again with some key drops (I'll make sure the chat works this time ːsteamhappyː ). To the other 7.5 billion people who couldn't make it... you're dead to me.

I've never done one of these live streams before but we have to gin up support somehow so... Let's do a Face Reveal!?!

Join The Discord Server!!!

I am so flippin excited to announce what everyone probably already guessed:

That's right, we're officially developing the second installment of the CAT Interstellar series and it's gonna be nuts!!! We got Martian Rovers, Marines hunting Android 42, possibly the ability to fly this thing


and best of all - some closure to the story arc ːDOGV4ːːDOGV4ːːDOGV4ːːDOGV4ːːDOGV4ː


I mainly wanted to you this post to thank everyone who helped to support this game. Development of Episode I was incredibly difficult, frustrating, and there were times I genuinely thought about giving up and abandoning the game in Steam's Early Access graveyard. It's a sad reality that most all indie games never make it to a full release. I didn't realize the technical, financial, and mental hurdles I was up against when I started this game so I mean this in the most literal sense: The interactions with the community is something I didn't really expect when I started but was blown away at how engaged people were. There are people who have been following this game for 5 years and still drop in to show their support and give input. At some point I even started appreciating the hecklers. I mean seriously, this game was actually good/bad enough to catch their attention. They noticed us and even that's pretty cool. I think this next installment is going to go a little smoother. I'm definitely more prepared considering I made almost every mistake you could with the first game. I really enjoy writing science-fiction and developing games. I also love engaging with the community.



Just to recap some of the stuff WE did:

• We shipped over 100,000 units of the game on PC, Linux, and PlayStation.
  
• We had a compitition to guess what type of breed my dog was.
  
• you all fixed must of the bugs for me, and basically wrote the story []1

[/url], 2. 3].

My dog was promoted to Senior Programmer and then somehow Chief Financial Officer.

I raised the price in a get rich quick scheme.

We vastly improved the main character.

We used proceeds from the game to sponsor a number of dogs in foster care.

That isn't even half of the fun we had making this game and it's just the beginning.

[/list]

One other thing I never really mentioned was that when I was developing the game full time I was working from home. One of the benefits to this was my wife and I were able to foster a lot more dogs than we could of otherwise. We fostered and found forever homes for over 34 dogs during the ~2 years I developed the game. I just thought you might want to know that you helped support that. And as fate would have it, we actually just started fostering dogs again after about a year long break when my son was born. Meet Lando and Max.

Don't let the freckles fool you. They're little terrorists.

Aside from donating all your money to us the most helpful things you can do to support the game are:

• Reviewing The Game <======
• Follow and Wishlist CAT Interstellar: Episode II <======
• Spay and Neuter your animals

Lastly, if there's other smaller indie games you like to play. I would highly recommend dropping in their forums and giving them a piece of your mind (in a good way). Most developers would love to talk to you about their game even if it's about the problems with the game. It can be a lonely world out there.

You read that correctly, against all conventional thinking I’m actually going to raise the price of this game to $9.99 USD. The one thing I want all the newcomers here to know is… we have no idea what we’re doing. Seriously, not a clue. BUT I’ve learned a little bit over the last 5 years releasing this game on Steam and the PlayStation Store and I can assure you I won't make an extra dime directly by raising the price.
It's simple, nobody buys this game. We only sell ~1 unit a week If the game isn’t on sale and I still intend to do HEAVY sales like we always have. So, if you’re thinking about buying the game before the price increase DON’T!!! wait until the next sale on April 22nd and pick it up for $0.99!!!

So why increase the price? One thing I learned too late is that companies must make money to stay in business. Not us though because we donated most of our profits to animal shelters like chumps ːsteamsaltyː (I'm actually very proud of what we were able to accomplish as a community). Most distributors and publishers need to make money to pay their employees and keep the ball rolling. I guess that’s understandable but because of that they generally don’t see games under $10 as financially viable to promote. So, by raising the price we gain a lot more leverage to promote the game.

Currently, my personal goal for CAT Interstellar is to get as many people to play it as possible. I really enjoy the game development process, writing science fiction stories, and I absolutely love interacting with the community. Maybe one day, years from now, I’ll be seasoned enough at game development to do this as a career but I currently still work a full time job and have a family so it takes me a lot longer than other studios to get content out. Additionally, I totally understand all the criticisms and critiques you all have voiced about this game. There are thousands of forum posts and reviews and I have read every single one of them and tried to respond to most… Except the latest forum post “Hey. DEV WHY U MAKE SO HARD WORK FOR NOTHING???” which I’m still trying to think of a clever response. Seriously though, I can't even begin to tell you how blown away I am that people bought this game 5 years ago and are still active on the forums.

As for the big announcement, there’s gonna be a sequel and it’s gonna kick some major ass. I wasn’t shoveling manure when I said I understand the criticisms. As a first-time game developer, publisher, and writer there was a number of mistakes I made (mainly with the story) that I didn’t even realize until it was too late. I totally see how the game seems disconnected but it is not and I fully intend to close a lot of those holes with Episode II.


I really believe this game will carry a lot more weight when viewed in the context of the whole story arc. the primary purpose of the CAT Interstellar story is to introduce a faster-than-light (FTL) drive called The Stutter Drive. A concept I started while getting my physics degree and have been working on for 6 years!!!


As an example of my failure to properly story tell (spoiler): The Stutter Drive is a derivative technology of the stutter assembler seen here:


I’m a little disappointed than none of you picked up on that considering I made no mention of it in the game or dialog. The game is littered with similar references like this to Earth, the U.N.C., and even the moon. Btw, the cat at the end doesn’t die. In fact, Nature is about to make a major comeback on Earth. I’ll be dropping a lot more details about the sequel leading up to an actual announcement but we’re going to do a episodic structure. You can also follow us on twitter @ionizedgames where we’ll be tweetering things.

Lastly, the CAT Interstellar: Episode II will be a separate application. There's just no realistic way to merge the two after 5 years of engine updates but I figured one thing I could do is open a beta branch so you all can have access to the second episode at least through the beta. I'll also try to dig through the mountain of Steam documentation and see what else is possible. I genuinely appreciate your support and I couldn't have made it this far without you. I hope you're all buckled in for the next iteration of the CAT Interstellar universe because it's gonna be nuts!!!





P.S. I know people have strong feelings whenever cost is mentioned. As always, you can be a harsh/blunt to me as you want since I'm just a computer but please be respectful to other users.

A favorite site among Martian Advertiser selling the idea of a terraformed Mars. Turing Canyon was formed from millions of gallons of defrosted water runoff caused by the initial nuclear bombardment stage of the planet. The storm pressure above the canyon raises the barometeric pressure to 9psi allowing for larger Earth origin fauna and flora to live without pressure suits.

Rovers are required to traverse the terrain.