Aug 23, 2020
Era of Survival - Jean Groenewald
Hello Everyone,
In this build we focused on bringing new features and enhancements to Era, we also addressed a few bugs and made changes which will dramatically improve the pace during gameplay. Tools and weapons have been strengthened and are more durable. We also changed the wolf and worked on his AI to make him a better enemy. Further we made effort to make this build our most stable yet.
Admittedly, since Devlog 13, we have been through a rollercoaster in South Africa trying to dodge a humanitarian disaster due to covid, whilst same time trying to keep people from losing their jobs, houses and livelihoods. This balancing act by our government had - properly - shaken even the most remote resident of our country and had a devastating impact on the ground. Some describe our country's response as the harshest in the world, draconian even. I mention this because I feel that players need to understand the situation my team found ourselves in after releasing Era in early access.
As a small team, the buck stops with us to finance and develop Era of Survival, something greatly jeopardized by macro influence, something we could have never seen coming mid Feb when we launched. In general it is known that Indie games do not generate 'big bucks' and normally the cost of running and developing, far exceeds income. Please keep this in mind when you judge Era. If you don't know what the term 'loadshedding' means, then you won't really understand the time gap between Devlog 13 and Devlog 14. Just google 'South Africa', and if your not from here, be very very glad!
Now that we got all that moaning and groaning out of the way, here is the juicy stuff :)
During these stressful times, it is that one message of encouragement that can sometimes keep a developer sane. My team and I want to express our gratitude to the few that has stayed in contact and kept supporting our project. We are firm on our commitment to you, to keep moving forward and to bring our shared dream to the fore for us all to enjoy.
Until next time,
Cheers,
Jean
In this build we focused on bringing new features and enhancements to Era, we also addressed a few bugs and made changes which will dramatically improve the pace during gameplay. Tools and weapons have been strengthened and are more durable. We also changed the wolf and worked on his AI to make him a better enemy. Further we made effort to make this build our most stable yet.
Admittedly, since Devlog 13, we have been through a rollercoaster in South Africa trying to dodge a humanitarian disaster due to covid, whilst same time trying to keep people from losing their jobs, houses and livelihoods. This balancing act by our government had - properly - shaken even the most remote resident of our country and had a devastating impact on the ground. Some describe our country's response as the harshest in the world, draconian even. I mention this because I feel that players need to understand the situation my team found ourselves in after releasing Era in early access.
As a small team, the buck stops with us to finance and develop Era of Survival, something greatly jeopardized by macro influence, something we could have never seen coming mid Feb when we launched. In general it is known that Indie games do not generate 'big bucks' and normally the cost of running and developing, far exceeds income. Please keep this in mind when you judge Era. If you don't know what the term 'loadshedding' means, then you won't really understand the time gap between Devlog 13 and Devlog 14. Just google 'South Africa', and if your not from here, be very very glad!
Now that we got all that moaning and groaning out of the way, here is the juicy stuff :)
Bug Fixes
- Rain occurs less frequent, is less harsh and will not rain the same amount every time.
Sometimes it will storm, other times you may only encounter a light shower - Storage Box Drag and Drop combination of items fixed
- You can now break wall lights
- Trees will now fall at a decent linear and angular speed
- Chickens will now crow only in the mornings, while crickets will only be heard at night
- Object placement and collision upon placement has been fixed
- Temperature influence from camp fire has been increased, however you cannot put other objects too close to the fire
New
- Signs
Players can now peg a sign outside with a custom message, or attach it to a wall, like a wall light - Roof Tops
This build introduces 3 new construction parts, a thatch roof corner, a thatch roof extension and a single thatch slab roof. You must snap them to the white placeholders generated by the foundation - New Stairs
We added railing to the stairs to prevent players from accidentally falling off when they quickly run up the stairs - Door Auto-Close feature
When on, all doors will close 3 seconds after being opened automatically. By default this is disabled. This setting can be found on the server. - New Wolf
We changed the skin of our wolf, apart from his behavior he looks completely different
Enhancements
- Weather, starvation and thirst stabilization
Weather, starvation and thirst will take much longer to kill the player. Rain is barely ever dangerous, but in very low temperatures, you can still freeze to death. - Tools and weapons have been enhanced
Resources gathered from tools have almost been doubled, trees will deplete much sooner and players will be able to build houses much earlier in the game. - Sky, lighting and atmosphere adjustments
This improves the overall look of the game whilst it transitions through its day/night cycle. - Rain - clouds will grow darker and thicker
During these stressful times, it is that one message of encouragement that can sometimes keep a developer sane. My team and I want to express our gratitude to the few that has stayed in contact and kept supporting our project. We are firm on our commitment to you, to keep moving forward and to bring our shared dream to the fore for us all to enjoy.
Until next time,
Cheers,
Jean
Share: 
