Jan 30, 2018

Patch Notes - Early Access (0.4.0.10890)

Trailmakers - stidsholt

Early Access launch is finally here! The game has been through a lot of changes since our closed Alpha demo release last year, and we’re just getting started! For all the new Trailmakers joining us, these Release Notes contain all the major changes and additions we’ve made to the game since that first demo!

General

We’ve made a unique Sandbox Island, complete with Ball Puzzles, Ramps, Pipes and Hidden Cosmetic Items! You can play here alone or with up to three friends!
We’ve added a Free Cam mode whilst driving. Just hold down the right mouse button to look around, zoom in and out with the scroll wheel!
We’ve added multiple different camera positions, just press C to cycle through them!
We have removed the mini map.
Pressing [TAB] now opens a map. You need to explore to uncover it all!
The map screen will also display your progress for the island you’re currently on! Check how many Blocks, Power Cores and Bolts you’ve collected!
The Monument V1.0 is placed in the world! If you pre-ordered and responded to our emails asking which name you want displayed, if you don’t see your name don’t worry - we’ll be updating The Monument with more names as we receive them!
We’ve added French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Polish and Danish localisations to the game.
Character Customization is now available. Choose name, gender and main/secondary colours! You can also change these at any time from the Customization menu in game.
Physics have been tweaked. This includes aerodynamics and water physics.
The player character is no longer strapped into their seat tightly. They’ll lean into turns, jolt forward when braking and even fly out of their seat on large impacts. Safety first, kids!
Basic Xbox One Controller support added. Now you can press B to repair, X to enter Build Mode, Y to enter/exit vehicle and A to activate the jets. MORE SPEEEEEEEED! (Build mode is still keyboard and mouse only, we have big plans to improve our controller support!)
Added a Time of Day slider to preferences - usable in Sandbox Island.
The game now pauses when you press Escape!
We added hints to Loading Screens!
We updated to Unity 2017.3.0f2. Exciting!
We updated the look of the water!
Improved grammar on block descriptions!
New Power Core Tutorial screen for new players!
New dynamic force distribution! Larger structures should now react better than before when crashing, breaking and exploding.
Some new ambient sounds when on Sandbox Island.
The Enter Seat key has changed to F!
We removed the Build Bubble.
New, super early Sandbox world! Entering Sandbox mode from the main menu will take you here. You can still play Sandbox mode in the Expedition world by loading that world, and selecting Game Mode from the Escape Menu when in game!
New micro explosion added.
New block welding system v. 0.1! (I don’t know either!)
We’ve introduced a CPU Complexity Value per block. The current limit is set to 1000, we’d love to hear your feedback regarding this limit, it’s by no means final!
Tiling on rocks increased = prettier mountains
We’ve added so many new sounds to the game, both to blocks and to the world we’ve created, we hope you’ll enjoy them!
Awesome new loading screen when starting Expedition.
Lots of backend changes to network code.

Multiplayer
We have added a separate Multiplayer game mode called Dethrone that is accessible from the Main Menu. The objective is to hold on to the Crown for the longest amount of time, whilst trying your best to fend off attackers. Up to 4 players can join the same game. We have a lot of plans regarding new multiplayer game modes.

You can now play Sandbox Island in Multiplayer! No objectives or goals, just you and some friends building stuff and hanging out!
Multiplayer has a bunch of new sounds related to events!
Multiplayer now has more options when creating a server! Infinite Power Cores, No canons, you choose!
Added new Dethrone Introduction screen.
You can now steal the crown by colliding with someone. Tag, you’re it!
You can now text chat in Multiplayer! Just hit enter to type! Sorry for the definitely placeholder Comic Sans!
Removed player spawn positions from center island in King of the Hill
Updated the bridges.
More spawn points.
Implemented hooks and data flow to detect one player damaging or killing other player (work in progress) + added full wheel trigger to wheels to allow bullets to hit and puncture wheels
You can now earn XP whilst playing multiplayer, this is just the start, we’re planning on expanding what you can do with this!

Expedition

We have completely rebuilt the Expedition world compared to the first Alpha Demo. It is a lot larger, more detailed, and has a lot more areas to explore and secrets to find!
Animals - Be careful around the new wildlife in Trailmakers.
We have removed the feature where you had to drag a block into a green beam to unlock a teleport station.
There are now two kinds of checkpoints - ones that just save your progress, and ones that save your progress and acts as fast travel points. You activate them by driving into them.
You can teleport to fast travel points by opening the map (TAB) and clicking on the point.
Added a lot of pretty billboards at the start point.
Added some billboards to the current end of the Expedition which tease upcoming content!
New ramp added allowing you to travel back to Jump Island from Wind Island.
Climb Island has been slightly redesigned to improve the new player experience.
Added crates around the islands...maybe there’s stuff hidden inside some of them...
Improved lava look!
The map has various landmark icons added to it to make navigation easier.
Travelling between islands will display a drop down box showing your current collectible status and the name of the current island.
The Jetpack is now disabled in Expedition mode.

Substance
We have removed the concept of ‘Substance’ from the game as we felt that it did not add to the overall enjoyment of the Expedition. Having to “farm” Substance quickly turned into a punishing grind if you were stuck on a certain hurdle. To limit the vehicle power level in Expedition we have introduced ‘Power Cores’. See “Builder Features” below for more info.

Blocks

(NEW) Cosmetic Blocks - We’ve added many new Cosmetic Blocks which are unlocked in a variety of ways! You can find them hidden in both Expedition and Sandbox Island, you’ll get them as rewards from the Ball Puzzles on Sandbox Island and you’ll also receive them for collecting Bolts in Expedition mode! Happy hunting!
(Changed) Seat and engines are now explosive. If they suffer an impact, they will explode and the explosions can trigger other engines/seats.
(NEW) Block 1x4 - A larger variant of the 1x2 to allow you to build larger structures whilst also keeping the CPU Complexity cost down.
(NEW) Block 4x8 - A larger variant of the 2x4 to allow you to build larger structures whilst also keeping the CPU Complexity cost down.
(NEW) Small Modular Wing - A smaller version of the regular Modular Wing.
(NEW) Bulldawg Engine - Replaces the basic engine, and is now 2x2x1 instead of 2x2x2.
(NEW) Raw Engine - A more powerful engine than the Bulldawg Engine, but it weighs a lot.
(NEW) Dragon Engine - A very fast, but fragile engine.
(NEW) Hover Block - A lift engine that generates an air cushion under your vehicle.
(NEW) Raw Jet Engine - A new jet engine that is bulky, powerful and overheats. Good for rocket-boosted cars.
(NEW) Dragon Jet Engine - Replaces the old jet engine. This jet does not overheat and is a good choice for flight.
(NEW) Mini-Thruster - Provides a small amount of thrust.
(NEW) Gimbal Jet - A jet that fires downwards.
(NEW) Propeller - Provides propulsive power.
(NEW) Tailfin - Provides drag and direction stability.
(NEW) Simple Tailfin - Provides drag and direction stability.
(NEW) Cannon - The first weapon to be added to the game. It fires ballistic projectiles that explode on impact.
(NEW) Small Cannon - A version of the Cannon that shoots faster with smaller projectiles.
(NEW) Trailer Hinge - A ball hinge with two attachment points.
(NEW) Helicopter Servo - This block is easier to use than the old spinning block when building a helicopter.
(NEW) Large Hinge - A hinge that is two blocks wide.
(NEW) Racing Wheel - These wheels are slick and good for drifting.
(NEW) Monster Truck Wheel - A much bigger wheel with good traction.
We made some changes (not a nerf!) to wings, propellers and general lift physics. In short, you’ll need more speed to get airborne. Let us know what you think!
(Changed) Propeller - It spins properly!
(Changed) Wheels - New wheel damping logic.
(Changed) Aerodynamic Block - New look!
(Changed) Streamline 4x2 Block - New look!
(Changed) Cannon - New look!
(Changed) Cannons - Increased size of cannon bullets from 0 to 0.25 meters.
(Changed) Cannons - Added projectile hit effects to cannon.
(Changed) Cannons - Improved sound!
(Changed) Cannons - Added physical properties particle effect to bullet impacts.
(Changed) Wheels - Added puncture logic to wheels.
(Changed) Wheels - Added wheel brake sounds.
(Changed) Jets - Jet fire is now prettier.
(Changed) Large Hinge - Add sound effect.
(Changed) Hover Block - Added more connection points.
(Changed) Steering Hinge - You can now increase/decrease the speed which the hinges turn.
(Changed) Streamlined Block 1x2 - We found an issue with this block which we’ve fixed. This does mean however that any saved structures using this block, may have issues when trying to be spawned into the world. Sorry!
Aerodynamics function whilst transforming.
Blocks now have LOD! Exciting!
Various blocks have had their weight values tweaked. Let us know if you feel any of these changes are negative!

Builder

Power Cores - Having a limit on how big you can build in the Expedition is crucial to making the environment challenging. Power Cores act as the way to limit the power of your vehicles. The Power Cores you collect stay with you the entire Expedition, but every engine you put on your vehicle reserves some of the Power Cores. If you remove the engine, the Power Core is freed up again. Check the Power Core cost of the engines in the builder menu.
Block Count - You can now view the total block count of your vehicle in the top left corner
Total Weight - You can now view the total weight of your vehicle in the top left corner
Tinting - You now have the option to color some blocks. Click them and click the paint bucket tool to change the color. You can select multiple blocks and color them together.
Rotation - You can now rotate a block by holding down [ALT] and clicking the rotation bar.
Configurations - We have added a few new configurations to mechanical blocks.
- Toggle - In the keybindings menu, you can now put a checkmark under the keybinding if you want the key to toggle the mechanical block on/off instead of holding it down.
- Delay - You can input a number of seconds delay before the mechanical block activates.
- Repeat - You can input a number of seconds after which the activation repeats.
- Speed - The speed at which the mechanical block activates can be adjusted on some blocks.
Multi-select - You can select more than one block by clicking and dragging with the mouse or by holding down [CTRL] and clicking multiple blocks.
Multi-select configurations - When you have more than one block selected, if they are configurable you can “bulk configure” them. For example: You can select 4 hinges and change the key binding on all 4 at the same time.
Transformation - Experimental feature that allows you to transform your vehicle into another vehicle when you are airborne. Check out the Transformation menu for more details.
Blueprint History - If you forgot to save your vehicle, you can find the last versions you exited the builder with in the “History” tab.
Import Blueprint - You can share your vehicles with other players by sending them the blueprint. The blueprint is saved as a .png picture with the save data stored in the picture! The “Import” button lets you browse your computer for blueprints and import them into your game. By default, your blueprints are saved in your “Documents”.
Vehicles will no longer break on impact with the ground when you exit the builder.
We removed the collider which prevented you from moving the camera underneath your vehicles when building!
Builder UI has some new, improved icons!
You can now directly input a speed number rather than use the slider!
Refactored Builder - We did an overhaul of the builder so things like snapping, group snapping and performance in builder should be much better!
We changed the highlight of where a block will snap to to make it clearer.
Copying Blocks - Copying a block with custom keybinds should now correctly copy the bindings.
Custom Keybindings - Custom keybinds should now save correctly. (There is a known issue with keybindings resetting if you move a Block away from the structure, a fix for this should be in the very first update shortly after Early Access launch!
Implemented Power Core feedback when using blocks powered by them
New category icons in builder UI!

Collectibles
We have added two collectibles to the Expedition - Bolts and Cosmetic Items. They are optional collectibles meant to give you a reason to explore the world. Some of them are found in plain sight while others are very tricky to collect, and will require weird vehicles or insane stunts. Who knows what you’ll get for collecting different amounts of Bolts...

Players will now receive a message when trying to pick up Bolts on foot.

Performance

New quality settings for Fast and ugly: Maximum LOD level is now 1 but hard shadows are enabled.
Added GPU instancing support to some materials.
Forcing AnistropicTextures in the quality settings for Slow and Pretty + Medium settings.
LED arrows no longer cast shadows.
Cannon muzzle fire optimized.
Big change in how blocks are now controlled graphics wise!
All blocks now should be batching materials properly depending on whether they are in the world, inventory, builder or have become garbage.
We’ve added and tweaked our LOD set in numerous places to help performance.
Flags now have a stiff material for lower quality settings.
Enabling GPU Instancing on some more materials

Bug Fixes

We fixed the particles from the Triple Exhaust!
Fixed Knob pairs not being properly removed on some despawning. This caused edges to not be removed correctly.
Fixed scaling on Stackable Message when description text was very long.
Fixed TutorialHint MessageBox to handle mulitline text + small animation change
Fixed Transformation killing you.
Made a boolean for InputSeat, so it knows if it knows it's last velocity.
Fixed issue where sockets would be left open and you could not reconnect to a game if you select manual client port
Added "LetsThroughAirFlow" bool to metadata and implemented check in aerodynamic blocking logic (AKA made helicopters work again)
Fixed the Spike Rims.
Fixed decals on some exhaust and intake Cosmetic Items.
Fixed Color mismatch in inventory background ( Changed background to use Color instead of Material )
Fixed position-offset in inventory background pattern
Fixed toggle-highlighting in inventory main-tab-toggles
Made jet not spout particles in builder.
Fixed those pesky scrollbars not showing in inventory
Fixed searching for non password protected servers
Null guard in RemoveStructure, so it doesn't try to remove weldgroups from structures in buildmode.
Fix for DoSpawn being called on an object that was already despawned.
Guard for pulling in a structure with no unlocked blocks clientside.
Guard for respawning flow calling a repfunc after being destroyed by teardown.
Fixed the Cosmetics catergories.
Fixed issue where client could get stuck when not being able to reach backend
Fixed blocks references in buildsystem - And despawning of blocks in build, if the player disconnects.
Fixed servers dropping off the list while active
Fix for spawn parenting
Fixed offset for rootnode to rest of structure, so Transformation uses correct boundscheck
Fixing issue where server names with special characters ended up with ? in them
Fix for despawn on teardown not being called
Fixed Propeller not turning into garbage
Fixed keybindings being forgotten, again!
Fixed the tutorial getting stuck during the Steering Hinge and Wheel phase.
Fixed the Cosmetic Block reward pop up displaying multiple times for each player in the session in Sandbox Island.
Fixing issue where the game would hang in connecting if trying to join an non existing server
You will no longer need to repeat the tutorial when entering Sandbox mode.
The checkpoints between islands now activate correctly.
Fixed the issue with repairing blocks causing custom key bindings resetting.
The Piston block now has functioning initial key binding.
Fix for multiple crown pickups spawning in King of the Hill.
Fixed missing countdown in King of the Hill game mode.
Fixed the Trailmakers Logo remaining visible after the epic jump.
Fix for rotation of hinges in builder.
Numerous marquee tool and hover fixes in builder
Engine glow fixed.
Fixed some ramps not having colliders.
Fixed structures not being removed when respawning players.
Fixed Powercore stacking in HUD
Fix for the weird particle system bug.
Fixed build-sounds on various new blocks.
Fix for clients crashing server when joining from an old session.
Localization fixes.
Fixed builder categories screwing up when switching categories rapidly.
Rubber vs metal is now only smoke.
Fixed single frame without jets.
Fixing issue where seat could not be placed because of an issue with obfuscated compression hints.
Fixed players respawning without their current structure when a round ends while they are in the builder, and have yet to exit the builder. This error also made them unable to reenter the builder upon leaving it.
Changes to make sure players have a minimum number of Power Cores when they reach hover island.
Fixed customaxes input being set when reseating a character in transformations.
Fixed all multi-part blocks, if they end up in same weld group.
Fixed Power Core cost of multi-part blocks.
Fixed stupid issue in hingeblock logic + implemented TakeDamageResult in damage system.
Added colliders to the triangular checkpoints.
Standard impact is now a subtle smoke effect. Sand particles are for sand impacts only.
Fixed being able to pick up the crown while repairing.