May 18, 2018

First game update! Updates every 2 weeks plan in progress.

Acucalypse - WaRaN

ACUCALPSE: Update #1

Hello Hoomans!

Today begins the update schedule we planned to deliver changes, content and fixes to the game. This first update contains the changes listed below:

HUGE performance improvement: The game now will behave smoothly both in bunker management and attack.
Added resources feedback: Now rooms indicate lack of resources (workers & energy).
Added a lot of sounds to player’s actions and UIs (clicks, buttons, constructions…).
Added damage types: Each kind of bomb (Rock, fire, acid…) will behave differently depending on the hitted entity. SPOILER: i.e: Acid does not affect ground anymore.
Added visual feedback to energy system: When a room does not have sufficient energy supply the lights go off.
Priority UIs deactivated at the moment. We are reworking the whole system and will be added again when done.
Developer shortcuts removed.
Defence room reworked regarding slots for defences, energy management and workers.
Fixed bug with explorers not going out of bunker.
Fixed construction freezes when constructing rooms.
A lot of minor corrections and fixes.

As mentioned before in our last post, this new build will be under “experimental" branch in BETAS.

How can you test these new changes?

Go to Acucalypse in your library -> Right click.
Select BETAS tab.
On the dropdown menu, select the “experimental” branch.
Steam will download the new version. Enjoy!

Last but really important, feel free to leave comment, report bugs or share anything in your brains! We really want to hear you!

( ^__^)/

May 18, 2018

May Development Update 3!

EDEN STAR - Clarkeh

Greetings Pioneers!

The new icons to display interactive elements in the world have been getting implemented this week, these will assist players in determining the items can be picked up, the doors that can be opened and the buttons that can be pressed. The grenade and the spear have been making their way from the prototype stage to the new Weapon classes, these are set up in a more modular way will allow us to put together new weapons faster. Also this week, new spawners and animations for emerging enemies are being handed over to designers for placement in the world.

Here’s what we’ve been up to in more detail:

John - Lead Designer

This week I wanted to take the opportunity to address a few questions that have been raised in the forums, specifically surrounding when the next update will drop and if these updates are even real…

So! Firstly, I want to apologise for any confusion on this - to be clear - around 12 months ago we started collating feedback from the community and began a huge system overhaul in an attempt to nail down the actual story elements into the game world. The feedback on how we release this was to get it right prior to releasing, so we're trying to do that. In doing this, we didn't want to find ourselves needing to financially abandon the game at any point, because we believe in it and in you, the community that have supported it to date. But in order to fund Eden Star, Flix support development on a number of AAA titles (which is also an amazing way to collaborate with some incredible teams such as Sumo Digital). This means that we can implement YOUR ideas and feedback without pressure, like bringing back the different material types, adding more layers of build and crafting progression, adding context, story and reason to the world (which is a challenge in both single and multiplayer...), plus more content etc.

For anyone reading this now; Please only purchase the game if you believe that it's the game that you want to buy at the time of purchase (see the blurb on the store page) - or wait until the next release is out! In the blogs we are clear that they are development updates for those who want to hear about the game and share this experience with us. They are not intended as bait-to-buy or anything else - doing so would only harm the team and the project and the community (whom we have a massive appreciation for!).

Please know that we are massively appreciative of your support. We are trying to make a game that you and we will be happy with which really does take time. Especially if you're not always working on it full time.

Finally - we're not currently working on Eden Star as our sole focus because we want to push the game with our vision before we ever consider taking it to a funding partner who will then potentially want to change the game to incorporate their ideas. The further along we are, the more of our (your) ideas get into the project.

Hope that helps understand it a little better :)

Thanks again for your support!

Matt - Art Director

Churning through the final stages of unwraps for the assets in the drop pod. Including the pioneer chambers and the airlock surround with its doors. Once these pieces are fully textured in all their glory it should help unify the interior.

Lee - Technical Director

Refinements to the AI have been the focus of this week along with fixing a couple of issues were having with the spawning of creatures. One of the problems we have is spawning creatures too early before the navmesh has been generated correctly

Tristan - Lead Developer

This week I have been looking at more melee tweaks and bug fixes to cater for other types of melee weapons in the world. I have also been helping out with some item interaction logic to make sure its efficient but still gives the player the level of interaction they would like.

Ricky - Senior Developer

Getting some of our weapons systems modular to more easily implement new weapon types and I’ve got good progress with the Grenades and Spear weapons which can both be thrown while still allowing the spear to be used for melee combat. This also has touched upon the new Fuel system in which any item or action can use a new more universal resource type, so I’ve been laying the groundwork for that as I go.

Joe - Lead Artist

Working with James and Will to get the new Wreckage set setup and ready for level designers to use. I also added some visuals in preparation for new HUD elements such as the “Hold to interact” version of the Interaction Markers and the new Status Update notifications.

Tom W - Environment Artist

Been a bit sick this week :(, but outside of that have made lots more progress with our beautiful environment and one of the camps near the initial drop-pod.

Volumetric lighting and fog have been turned up to eleven, which really help that sandy, deserty feeling that we’re going for, as well as the more murky indoor areas like the Dam.

OG Tom W - Designer

This week I have been Implementing more destructibles in the existing world bases so we can now mine pipes, insulation, wiring and railings in the bases. I have also been revisiting our item crates and making them a little more explodey so you can easily access the items once you’ve destroyed the crate. This is currently a WIP and we’re hoping to have different types of crates the will react if different ways.

Sam - Concept Artist

I’ve been doing more work towards each of the separate items found in the shelter interior. We now have designs for the defibrillator, rebreather and basic breakable crates. Alongside these “general use” crates, we will also be adding military and ammunition versions, both of which will also be breakable with items such as the axe or spear, yielding in-game collectibles.

Lauren - Lead Animator

I have been finishing up the new spawners, getting variation animations for different AI and fixing them up for multiplayer. The stalkers have been the main focus this week with creating jump-down animations and spline following states, I have also been making animations for variant Splintermite appearances.

Along with the spawners I have also been putting a revised design together for the reactions of AI based on different force thresholds.

Andy - Lead QA

This week Jamie and myself have been looking into issues with certain AI not taking damage in multiplayer. From there I have been investigating similar issues within single player.
I have also been following up with artists on their progress with the creation of new assets such as the final model for new AI and new buildable assets.

Tom H - Designer

This week I have been finishing up the terrain changes near the Transmitter and Silo entrances, making sure that the terrain is traversable and also navigatable for our AI, navmesh checks have been the priority this week for the terrain as well as some more changes to areas such as the main entrance to the Silo and the Transmitter itself.

As well as this I have been making some more changes to the main bridge to the Dam, as this serves one of the first encounters for new players we have to make sure it is interesting and balanced in gameplay. The great new changes to the AI spawners allow us to have much more diverse battles in key areas such as this.

See you in the fray!

-Team Flix

May 18, 2018

Update Details (18th May 2018) Big Map Expansion! Configurable hunter attacks, difficulty tweaks and more!

Subsistence - ColdGames

Hi guys! Today’s update brings a vast expansion to the west side of the map. A new forest type hugs the mountain slopes and stretches out around the large central lake. Waterfalls, streams, lagoons and cliffs offer new points of navigation and locations for interesting base designs.

I’ve implemented new tree and foliage types to give the new areas a distinct aesthetic from the previous regions of the world. The increased foliage density may affect the difficulty in finding resources. Let me know what you think once you’ve tried it out.

The large central lake is now fully accessible from all sides. It always bothered me to have to fence off the central section of the lake, so I’m pleased to have this opened up.

The expanded lake area also means there are much greater areas of deep water. These depths aren’t currently accessible due to oxygen capacity. I definitely want to explore some ideas so that there are reasons and means for players to explore these depths in a future update.

Configurable hunter attack settings:

Players can now choose the hunter attack setting that best suits their taste. There are 3 settings:

Normal attack patterns:
Hunters will launch periodic attacks on player bases and revenge attacks.
Only revenge attacks:
Hunters will only attack player bases if they are avenging a player attack against them.
Never attack:
Hunters will still guard their territory, but will not launch attacks on player bases.

These new settings should give players better freedom to customize their own games. This setting can be changed whenever when launching a profile.

Reduced predator count in easy mode:

Many players have mentioned that the predators are too overbearing (no pun intended) in easy mode, and I have to agree. It’s not very welcoming to new players looking to get a feel for the mechanics to be bombarded by attacks. The reduction is close to 20%, so not a total nerf, but should make a positive impact for players of this mode. Note: This does not affect cougar spawns.

Compass:

Given the much larger space for players to explore, I’ve implemented a basic compass as an additional tool of navigation. This has been notably requested by co-op players, new to the game, to help locate one another.

This isn’t currently a craftable item, and simply displays as default in top-left of the hud. It didn’t seem worth making it craftable until there is a map implemented.

Base lights optimization:

Up until now interior base lights have been quite expensive on fps. This is due to their expensive dynamic shadow casting. It looks really cool, but could get needlessly taxing on system resources when there are many lights on at the time. I’ve implemented a system to dynamically toggle their individual shadow casting based on the current fps, so it should scale appropriately while maintaining a stable fps.

Increased Rogue Squads:

Due to the expanded map size, there are now slightly more rogue squads on the map at any given time. I’ll be keeping a close eye on how this balances out. I appreciate any feedback on this in the forums or discord.

Other notable changes:

Fixed bug that caused predator to group-up at one particular spot on the map (details for those interested: https://steamcommunity.com/app/418030/discussions/0/2561864094348880301/).
Fixed bug/exploit where clients of co-op games could build overly close to hunter bases (thanks GameEdged, Ohno, Emma, Selebear, Dread for finding this one ;) ).
Added splashing particle effect for players running through water.
Sinew removed from grenade recipe.
Updated sound for upgrading structures to armor-plated.
Glass roofs now require glass to repair (was previously wood).
9mm ammo now stacks to 50 and 7.62 stacks to 25 (included in prior hotfix).
Added system to ensure more even spread of deer in the world.
More pronounced hairs on wolves and bears.

Some players may feel that focus should have been on balance and expanding on gameplay mechanics. It’s important the map continues to grow incrementally to accommodate for future mechanics (there will certainly be more expansions in the future). I want travel and exploration to start to play a greater role as the game continues to grow. This month I had family visiting, so it made sense for me to take the opportunity and commit to a large map expansion for this particular sprint.

After such an art-heavy sprint, I’m really looking forward to moving onto many other pressing tasks. All with a much larger world to work within.

Thanks for everyone’s patience on this one. It means a lot to see support from players on the forums and discord. Please come and join the discord if you haven’t already (link below).

Hope you have a great weekend.
CG

Discord invite: https://discord.gg/zyy4jQs