Sep 27, 2019

Kenshi developers ask if an engine upgrade is worth delaying a sequel

Kenshi - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Natalie Clayton)

I hadn’t actually considered Kenshi would be getting a sequel. After six years in Steam Early Access, I imagined developers Lo-Fi Games would look at doing anything but reliving that process all over again. But working on the strange sandbox RPG must be quite fun, because they’ve got themselves in something of a jam. Lo-Fi Games want Kenshi to be the best it can be, porting it over to Unreal Engine 4. At the same time, they’re prepping a sequel.

Worried that the update will significantly stall work on Kenshi 2, the devs are asking: do you want a brand new game, or a better version of what you’ve got?

(more…)

Sep 27, 2019

Kenshi's community can decide the fate of an Unreal Engine port

Kenshi

Kenshi, Lo-Fi Games' eccentric sandbox RPG, left Early Access almost a year ago, but the developer has started work on a new version. This has become a distraction from work on Kenshi 2, however, so Lo-Fi Games' CEO is asking the community to help him decide how to proceed.

Lo-Fi recently announced that it's switched to Unreal Engine 4, touting better graphics, performance, new features like cloth physics and other improvements. This isn't just for the sequel, either, which was announced back in March. Porting the original Kenshi's assets and trying to make them work with Unreal is now taking up more time than creating Kenshi 2, and Hunt's not certain it's worth it.

"Personally I feel like it would be better to focus on Kenshi 2, which will have exciting new features, new content and world to explore and mechanics to play with, rather than remaking kenshi 1, which would be essentially the same game."

You can leave a comment here and vote in this poll if you've got a preference. The original is, despite being a bit rough, already great, so it seems like Lo-Fi's energy would be better spent on making the sequel—but maybe you think differently.

Sep 26, 2019

Kenshi/Kenshi 2 Development News

Kenshi - Caliburn

Directly from Chris Hunt, Lo-Fi Games CEO and the man behind Kenshi:

"Good news everyone! There has been a change of plans with development, and we have switched to the Unreal engine!

Now, what does that mean?

GOOD SIDE:

Amazing graphics with little effort
Better performance
Less work for us long-term, as we don't have to worry about engine bugs and features. We can focus more on gameplay.
Fancy features, like maybe cloth physics for example
Better stability probably?
New pathfinding system

BAD SIDE:

More work for us short-term, porting is a huge job
We have less control over the engine
Modding support will be more complicated, Unreal is a difficult engine to work with and has limitations in this respect. I don't know the engine well enough to say how exactly. The likely scenario is "more powerful but more difficult". The FCS will remain the same, but will control less stuff. Mod support will be a high priority for us though, so don't worry.
Kenshi 1 update now uncertain:
Here's the kicker: Porting Kenshi 1 to Unreal engine is now way more work than making Kenshi 2, because we have to port assets and make the old stuff work, where for Kenshi 2 we are making the assets from scratch in the Unreal-compatible way. We have started porting Kenshi 1, but I'm not sure whether to finish it because it is a lot of extra work and will delay Kenshi 2

So I'd like some feedback from people. Personally I feel like it would be better to focus on Kenshi 2, which will have exciting new features, new content and world to explore and mechanics to play with, rather than remaking kenshi 1, which would be essentially the same game."

To get some more definitive feedback we've also put up a poll here: https://www.strawpoll.me/18697532

P.S. This does not mean Epic Exclusive, it's just a game engine choice. Don't panic.

Aug 6, 2019

Kenshi v1.0.33

Kenshi - Caliburn

This patch includes a number of changes which have passed the previous experimental branch version and additional fixes directly to the live branch.

Translations:

French translation updated to correct some errors
Chinese translation updated to correct some errors
Changed Chinese Language font - Following community feedback we have reviewed the Chinese language font with our translation partners and changed the font to one which is more legible.

Bug Fixes:

Random crash fix
Fixed dismantle button missing from turret info data panel if upgradeable
Fixed crash in Escape Cannibal Cage tutorial
Fixed clothing being chosen for characters before race limiter is set up
Fixed boots spawning on characters with no legs
Fixed boot slot not being disabled for characters spawned with no legs
Fixed crash when making savegame names ending in '...'
Fixed getting stealth XP when in a cage

Steam Community Forums:

We're currently working to update the stickied posts and consolidate some of the information into a more readable format. These updated stickies will be translated into other languages where possible.
Added Chinese language sub-forum on the Steam Community Forum - Our Chinese translation partners will be assisting us with user feedback here
Added Japanese language sub-forum on the Steam Community Forum - Our Japanese community manager will be assisting with user feedback here
Added Russian language sub-forum on the Steam Community Forum

Help my mods are missing!

This seems to be a wider Steam issue going on the reports from other game communities, leaving the mod restore steps below anyway for posterity but I recommend hanging tight for now and waiting for something from Steam.

If your mods are missing after this or any other client update we recommend the following steps, they're listed in this order to make it as painless as possible.

Restart your Steam client and see if this fixes the issue.
Restart your computer and see if this fixes the issue.
Change your Download Region in Steam settings, if this fixes the issue you can change it back afterwards.
Go to your steam folder (e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\workshop) and delete the appworkshop_233860.acf file. Right click Kenshi in your library, hit properties then 'Verify integrity of game files...' this should force it to re-download your mods.
Unsubscribe and resubscribe to the mods on the Steam Workshop. (If you favourite them first it makes it easier to find them again)
Remove and reinstall Kenshi. (Make sure to back up your save file first!)
If none of the above works please contact Steam Support.

Jul 18, 2019

Announcing Steam Trading Card Support

Kenshi - Caliburn

Following a huge amount of community feedback we've added Steam Trading Cards to Kenshi, once again thanks to everyone for all of your support. The current loadout includes a full set of badges, 5 trading cards, 5 backgrounds and 5 emotes which are previewed below.

Additionally, we're still working on finding an appropriate merchandise partner and hope to share an update around that sometime soon.

Badges:

Rank 1:

Rank 2:

Rank 3:

Rank 4:

Rank 5:

Foil Badge:

Trading Cards:

Skeletons:

Hivers:

Gorillo:

Bonedog:

Beakthing: - (Aware of a mistake on this including a space in the name, we've requested it to be changed)

Backgrounds:

Background 1 - Dunes:

Background 2 - Drifter:

Background 3 - Ashlands:

Background 4 - Shek:

Background 5 - Beep:

Emotes:

Emote 1 - Cactus Rum:

Emote 2 - Holy Flame:

Emote 3 - Greenfruit

Emote 4 - Dustwich:

Emote 5 - Beeped:

Jun 20, 2019

Update 1.0.31 Out Now

Kenshi - Caliburn

Translations:

Added Chinese language support – After working alongside external partners in China we’ve added Simplified Chinese as an additional language option, feedback for this would be appreciated.
Japanese language support progress – Following the previous translation rollback we are currently reviewing the Japanese translation with the help of our Japanese community manager Meg and expect to finish with an additional update.

Bug Fixes:

Fixed some additional stability issues
Fix for some situations where a carried person would never get put down if they died
Fixed dropping items onto portraits when view is scrolled

Miscellaneous:

Passive characters wont fire turrets unless attacked

Jun 14, 2019

Update 1.0.29 Experimental

Kenshi - Caliburn

Out now on the experimental branch only. To opt in to the experimental version, right-click on Kenshi in your Steam games list -> properties -> betas tab -> then choose “experimental”. If opting in, please be aware of bugs and instability.

Please report any bugs or feedback to either the Steam or Lo-Fi forums. Thank you.

1.0.29

Fixed a random crash
Fix for some situations where a carried person would never get put down if they died
Passive characters wont fire turrets unless attacked
Fixed dropping items onto portraits when view is scrolled

1.0.28

Japanese translation rollback to v1.0.22, last known best version. There is currently a mix-up with the japanese translation that we are working to fix, but we're not doing well because we don't understand japanese.