Dec 16, 2022

Breakwaters: Crystal Tides - Soaring Pixels Games

First off, thanks for the continued support everyone. I hope the year ends in a great way for all of you.
I am excited about the coming weeks and sharing the in-progress updates with you very soon.

Its been a while since I posted about major changes and what's been updated in the game or what's happening in production. In summary, I have been hard at work on improving the game, expanding the content, and updating the online tech to the new system (more on everything below).

Roaming Titans:

The Roaming Titans update is live and changes how Titans live in the world plus how you fight them. It's also a milestone update for a large list of smaller improvements I have been working related to quality of life elements.

You will need to be more careful while exploring the world because multiple Titans now roam on their own and will attack you if you get too close. Black stone walls can now block Titan Beam damage, so keep that in mind when building a beach base. If you build more inland, the Titans wont show an interest in your base though.

A new item, the Titan Cage Conch, can summon a Titan Cage any time you are close to a Titan. It will trap the Titan inside but if you wander off the Titan will try to break free by destroying the pillars.
Some other new items have also been added during this most recent update, like the Silk Sail which provides the fastest boat option. Boat movement also received updates and have a much faster base speed plus better buoyancy.

This update was an important change because it setup the game to support the coming Serpent Titans. Lots of improvements to the loading logic have been made, plus the Titan AI so they can live in the world freely.

Quality of Life updates:

Another area of focus has been quality of life improvements to the game. I made a lot of updates to how the survival, crafting, UI, and performance logic works to reduce friction on different parts. I have a few more updates in-progress which I hope to finish before the end of the year but be sure the check out the latest build to see the mountain of previous improvements. Many of these improvements feed directly into the new online tech work by improving steady state perf and fixing bugs.

Online tech status:

The switch over to new online tech has been an ongoing effort. Being a solo dev it takes a while to make such a large change, but its almost done. I am doing private testing with a few users right now and will continue expanding the test group until the update is merged into the main branch.
My current focus is on improving how the ocean simulation works across different speed computers in an online game, and fixing world/mission bugs. I hope to release the new tech to everyone as soon as possible. If you have questions or want to chat about it, jump into the Discord and let me know.

Story/mission updates:

Early missions have been rewritten and improved with community support. If you haven't played in a while, start a new world and check out the new content.

Whats next?

My primary focus right now is getting the online tech update out to everyone as soon as its ready. I am working on final bug fixing/testing and hope to move it into the beta branch in the coming weeks. My preference is asap, so keep an eye out for news updates related to that.

Localization is also finishing up which means the game is just about ready for a big translation pass to include more languages.

I have one or two more improvements I would like to get into the game before the end of the year if I can. Specifically, to stone/hammers/contraptions. I would like to clean up the grey stone resource and introduce stone earlier in the game. To do that I likely need to update how stone hammers work. Overall it would mean new resources, new contraptions, and a better progression.

Build updates since the last major news post:

Since the last major news post there have been 37 build updates with over 430 improvements, not including the online tech and creative mode work that has been ongoing.
Here are the build notes if you're interested in details:
(Steam news posts have a text limit, so I was only able to post back to v0.5.44, which means the oldest 9 updates are not listed, they are in the Discord build_notes channel if your interested in them.)

v0.5.71
-Fixed roof and wood wall having the incorrect item stack count when broken down
-Updated Titans so they can only attack Titan Pillars with ranged attacks and not melee attacks
-Adjusted fish movement logic
-Improved Titan melee vfx visuals
-removed old trail render setup from pirate tower cannonballs
-Update to ocean navmesh area around dead titans
-Improve the pause screen so it will now turn off sfx while its open to reduce unpleasant sounds from constantly playing while paused
-Setup additional charge shot impact vfx feedback

v0.5.70
-Titan beam attack danger zone visual improvements
-Changed the Demolition hammer to break down contraptions into dropped contraptions instead of resources. All other weapons still cause resources to drop when used to destroy a contraption.
-Setup Titan Pillar destruction vfx for while it moves through the water
-Made Titans stop attacking the player if they enter into a ferry and start traveling
-Setup additional button remapping options to handle the quick bar being remapped to other buttons
-Fixed a fish rendering bug when traveling between islands
-Improved ocean rendering to reduce camera rendering clipping below it
-Fixed an issue where you could put paper items into the water barrel like empty bottles can be put in

v0.5.69
-Fixed Titan death bug
-Organized completed missions UI into a group so its easier to understand which ones are unfinished
-Increased treasure drop from treasure chests
-Resolved an issue where setting vsync wouldn't always remember its state and would revert back to the default
-Improved logic for when titan combat music will turn on
-Improved Titan spawn location logic
-Localization and various name updates
-Improved shadow rendering on water in "high" quality mode
-Setup a description note on Black Stone wall type contraptions that it will block Titan Charge Beam damage

v0.5.68
-Improved Titan Cage Ruins mission logic to catch some corner cases where the treasure would unlock too soon

v0.5.67
-Setup Wandering Turtle Titans in the world. They will attack you if you get too close and will run away from a fight if they are not trapped in a Titan Cage.
-Made Titans attack a Titan cage pillar if they don’t have a player target nearby. They will attack until they can escape the cage.
-New Silk Sail blueprint for faster sailboat movement has been added to the world, plus some supporting silk thread and fabric objects in a few rare places.
-Increased boat buoyancy logic and wave logic
-Boat movement forward improvements mean boats can now jump off of waves and float on the water more accurately and smoother while moving
-Reduced player health earned from level ups and spent skill points. Updated the health bar to show additional heart precision
-Increased Golem health and adjusted their spawn logic and damage
-Increased Titan Beam and Melee damage
-Made Blue Crystal Boars more aggressive and gave animals the ability to run while in attack mode
-Updates to some missions to align with the new Roaming Titan feature and story adjustments
-Foam and water now render shadows on them
-Improved cannonball flight trail so it looks better and stays around for much longer
-Setup Green Jelly slime movement sfx
-Improved cloud meshes
-Misc system improvements based on user reports and testing
-Fixed backpack light physics interacting with water physics incorrectly
-Updated cannon reticle reload ui so it correctly turns off when you unmount while mid reload
-Setup localization for tutorial popups
-Setup localization for dropped items
-Adjusted various audio volumes
-Setup a basic campsite for the first island archaeologist to help attract new users to the area
-Improved main menu button click noise logic to not play on false positives to reduce the amount of clicking noise happening
-Additional misc Localization setup
-Made Black Stone walls immune to Titan Beam damage

v0.5.66
-Fixed some animals spawning at the wrong scale. This wont fix any animals saved over the last day or two, but it wont happen on any future spawned animals.

v0.5.65
-Updated Slide so that if you are sliding on wet ground you will gain speed
-Improved conversation camera blend in/out logic
-Camera adjustments while swimming and in conversations
-Update to mission dialog so you can press "E" to exit the dialog a short moment after the dialog has completed
-Adjusted resource drop logic to spawn resources a bit closer to the player. This helps Boulders in particular.
-Updated the minimap to show icons relative to the player position instead of relative to the zone position so that you can better sail towards a location without the icon being slightly inaccurate
-Updated input system code and improved gamepad rebinding logic
-Slight visual update to deep ocean rocks to increase their fidelity
-Improved Cannon ball logic so it collides with fewer false positive objects
-Updated respawn logic to get back to gameplay faster.
-Fixed square distortion in foam and normal map that would sometimes show up in deep ocean water areas
-Improved deep ocean rock shader visuals and how they interact with water
-Improved world map menu fade in/out shader
-Improved Ocean shader visuals
-Improved world map scroll speed with mouse wheel to be more consistent across different frame rates
-Fixed a rendering issue where pooled objects would not spawn at their expected size while the player roams the world
-Object and Memory cleanup improvements when exiting to the main menu and into another world

v0.5.64
-Changed Hawk boat so you can mount the rudder while its grounded on land
-Improved cloud shader
-Fixed a bug with water loaded from disc when switching between worlds to a new world without water on disc to load

v0.5.63
-Improved water sim zone change logic so that it happens sooner and is less visible if you are moving quickly through the world.
-Big Loading optimizations and logic changes to improve loading/spawning perf and to dynamically change the task to spawn near the player first more often.
-Setup additional logic in the pause screen to prevent a soft lock scenario where loading and saving block completion notifications
-Setup sfx and vfx for fence death/destruction
-Fixed a refresh bug in the Boat UI so that the bars correctly update based on the current boat you are on
-Adjusted ocean shader and ocean init logic when switching zones to better blend with the deep ocean waves
-Changed the Hawk Boat rotation speed while flying
-Performance and memory optimizations to various objects init logic
-Increased wood wall render distance
-Setup wood floor lod to make it shimmer less in the distance
-Setup fence lod to reduce flickering in the distance
-Fixed incorrect word in mission dialog
-Setup click sound for Mission menu button
-Lowered the max tide a little bit
-Water file save load related bug fix
-Setup additional detection for some objects to know when they have somehow gotten below ground and to fix it
-Reduced equip item sfx volume
-Setup crystal decorations near a sunken chest used in a mission
-Turned on minor vfx for yellow sea crystals in the world to better show that they push water away
-Improved Crystal shader to change the glow based on the objects size
-Updated Ferry travel dialog
-Improved NetBag visuals
-Setup wave noises for when the first yellow pedestal is used and pushes water away

v0.5.62
-Improved Minimap logic to update visuals with less delay while switching world zones.
-Optimized map icon rendering logic to improve zone transition performance
-Update to various minimap textures
-Improved boat foam trail logic to render more consistently
-Removed overlapping icons for some NPC built contraption structures
-Fixed visual glitch where the boat water trail would pop away from the boat for a few frames when a new island loads in
-Fixed visual pop in the ocean when it transition to a new island location

v0.5.61
-Setup Grabber arm claw to play Thud sounds when it hits a boat.
-Setup SFX for when boats run into things at higher speeds
-Setup boat sail to show additional feedback while its in "rotate" mode
-Made the water pipe port on work benches to all be the same height on the bench
-Adjusted Hermit spawn location on the second island to not have overlap logic with the MegaGolem spawn logic
-Fixed water pipe ports on work benches so they save at the correct height when the bench is placed on a Floating Dock
-Fixed Crate lid not rendering in the correct place when put on a floating dock
-Fixed pause menu logic where gamepads would not reselect the save button after pressing save.
-Fixed NPC boats dropping their anchor when they dont need to
-Fixed objects not always rendering correctly on top of Docks
-Fixed building contraptions with a gamepad accidentally switching contraption variants on start instead of showing the first contraption option

v0.5.60
-Improved Grabber Arm detection for ignoring false positive targets.
-Improved logic for NPC boats switching how they save when their boat has been "grabbed" so that they will transition across zones correctly
-Improved boat rotation logic while towing a boat
-Improved NPC logic for driving away from the player when their boat has been grappled.
-Changed Grapple chain to have a minimum distance of 10 meters when it grabs onto another boat
-Removed Boat Overweight speed penalty
-Improved Grabber Arm targeting accuracy

v0.5.59
-Fixed rotation speed on a specific boat variant that didnt get the update when the logic for boat rotation was improved

v0.5.58
-Setup NPC on NPC boats. If the NPC is removed from the boat or dies, the player can hijack the boat to make it their own, but it can't be customized like a player built boat. It can be Dismantled at a boat dock.
-Player built and NPC built boats can now be salvaged for resources at a dock.
-Setup Grabber Arms to be able to hook onto boats and tow them
-Moved Cannon and Ballista camera up a little
-Updated Sail shader
-Increased Grabber arm return speed
-Setup Grabber Arm "quick return" where if you press the button again it will come back right away
-Increased move speed while walking on boats
-Increased sail turn speed
-Increased Grabber Arm distance
-Increased wood wall rendering distance
-Increased object init perf budget to reduce how long it takes to init all objects
-Additional explosion audio variants for on land and in water
-Reduced Bow draw time to maximum accuracy
-Updated Bow to have the accuracy decline while looking around quickly
-Updated Bow camera logic to use the same look speed as the regular camera mode
-Changed Demolition hammer to not damage player contraptions but to still allow them to destroy it
-Increased Demolition hammer and Repair hammer detection radius to better hit thin objects like pipes.
-Improved camera movement along roofs in tight spaces
-Improved animal swimming logic
-Adjusted cloud height in the distance
-Fixed glass bottles trying to move with the tide in water that is too shallow
-Improved ruins mesh visuals
-Improved button icon rendering at low texture memory settings values
-Improved Quit to main menu logic to better cleanup if quit happens while a part of the world is loading
-Fixed mouse scroll and auto scroll in merchant buy menu
-Updated Kelp shader to account for the kelps visual scale so that it always floats on the water
-Improved boat turn logic to provide more consistent rotation speed across low and high performance machines
-Shovel will now dig up unique items in sand vs grass areas. Clump of Dirt will only dig up in Grass areas and Fine Sand will only dig up in sand areas too.

v0.5.57
-Setup boats to roll over onto their side if they become beached without a player on them
-Made pushing boats while they are on land much easier
-Increased Grabber Arm vertical look range
-Increased the distance NPC boats need to stay away from shore so their boats don't get beached as easily.
-Setup no-sail zones for NPC to help keep them out of areas they struggle to navigate in like docks
-Setup mesh LOD for NPC
-Adjusted Dock recipe from 25 nails to 24 nails
-changed Repair and Destruction hammers so they don't work on Crops.
-Update to Titan Pillars visuals and logic
-Improved camera zoom logic and how fast it animates in different situations
-Optimized new world load screen logic
-Optimized world cleanup logic when exiting a world to the main menu so it runs faster
-Updated camera curves to let it look farther up and down
-Cleaned up thatch roof rendering
-Increased regen benefits of Updrafts for Gliders and added a temporary speed boost
-Setup gamepad "Move" stick input to cycle the quick bar like the d-pad does
-Fixed distant ocean flickering visuals issue
-Improved boat WindLean logic
-Fixed dropped item logic so it doesn't print into the player log in some situations
-Fixed NPC swim logic so they can better chase the player in water
-Update to the Ballista camera settings to be similar to the Cannon settings

v0.5.56
-A bunch of camera logic tuning to make the player move through doors better and through indoor spaces better
-Setup a delay before the camera moves all the way back out when it hits a collision close to the player. This helps in indoor areas navigation
-Updated rendering system to have improved perf and produce smoother rendering when interacting with objects
-Updated pirate spawn to use more deterministic, based on world seed and other variables unique to the world, for choosing which random pirate to spawn in pirate towers
-Changed grass over to using the faster rendering system to improve performance and allow people to render more grass in their world
-Smoothed out mouse scroll logic so it doesnt "pop" to the next value
-Fixed flag placement and rock base placement of towers at Black Rock Tower
-Improved sprint fov transition to be less noticable on the exit transition
-Adjusted weapon damage values
-Improved build logic for wood walls so that they will ignore obstruction from wood floors and stairs
-Setup camera collision on wood windows to keep the camera from moving in and out of them as much
-Improved cannon aim logic to better show when a nearby object is in the way of the cannon ball trajectory
-Changed tide min/max range
-Setup torches at Black Rock Tower to auto relight after a while if they are put out with water
-Improved melee weapon damage logic
-Update to the cannon camera position while mounted on it
-Improved automatic on-ground visuals for wood doors as it could sometimes block easy movement in and out of the door if it was placed on dirt or sand
-Adjusted save/load/spawning perf allocation to increase spawning speed and maintain a better min impact

v0.5.55
-Updated Pirate Towers with a new layout, Random Pirate NPC, explorable space, Player usable cannons
-Partial fix for boats rotating while in boat docks
-Improved camera movement logic to produce better visuals when perf is between 30 and 60 fps
-Changed Repair Hammer and Destruction Hammer to check in your are in a mounted contraption or not
-Setup door death logic
-Improved Dirt Field to build more easily on varied surfaces
-Updated repair hammer to not damage player contraptions, but to still damage NPC, animals, and plants if used as a weapon
-Updated Dirt Field, Dirt Pile, and Flower pot to not take damage from Blue Crystal Item damage from items like the Blue Crystal Sickle
-Setup Cannon visual lod mesh
-Setup additional deep ocean rock mesh lods
-Fixed "rubber banding" issue in boat inventory when using click drag with the mouse.
-Reduced Fire Flower Seed drop rate since there are now more Fire Flowers on Tropical Islands

v0.5.54
-Setup the quickbar to let the user switch which row it looks at in the inventory. While the Quickbar is active, rows can be changed with scroll wheel on the mouse or dpad on the gamepad.
-Changed water plant seed to not be an edible item so it can be planted correctly.
-Changed terrain to use the cheaper rendering pipeline to provide better performance
-Fixed terrain mesh seams rendering issue on very low graphics qualities
-Changed IsSwimming logic check to have a little buffer so it cant flip flop quickly in the water while walking in/out
-Setup character movement so that is slows down some while running in deeper water
-Setup a UI warning light for when your crystal supply is low in a boat motor
-Put a light on the Boat Dock bench similar to other benches
-Setup unique icons for blue crystal boat motors and yellow crystal boat motors
-Fixed small terrain displacements not always rendering in some zones of the world
-Improved vertical look camera logic to reduce some stuttering
-Increased Fire Flower plant spawn rate on Tropical Islands in the world (excluding the starting island)
-Setup Blue Crystal Boars and Green Golems to spawn on Tropical Islands
-Spawned additional pirates on Tropical Islands
-Updated Kelp rendering so it wont clip out when looking at it from unusual angles
-Setup Kelp to spawn in small numbers around distant Tropical Biome Islands
-Improved grass rendering
-Setup underwater grass rendering
-Optimized walking trees logic
-Optimized Stick Weapon Trail setup
-Removed on screen warning from main menu about high res screen settings and perf

v0.5.53
-Updated camera movement logic to make a few movements smoother
-Improved Player animation transition from falling to grounded to reduce visible transition stutter
-Improved medium boat deck collision so the player looks like their feet are correctly touching the deck
-Added Meat&Fish recipe to the cooking table list as it was previously missing from the learnable list.
-Reduced dehydration rate by 11% (dehydration happens slower now)
-Prevented block while not on the ground
-Update to NPC look-at settings and logic while in conversations with them
-Setup a Reset All button in the settings menu which deletes all Saved preferences values from the computer and enters new default values
-Increased transition speed of the camera FOV when entering and leaving sprint
-Setup Settings screen variable to toggle Sprint FOV on/off
-Additional UI updates in the settings menu

v0.5.52
-Setup particles at the Treasure X locations to make it a bit easier to find when it is hidden by bushes or something similar
-Moved Treasure X up a little more from the terrain to make it more visible
-improved pirate base setups to interact better with the new Destruction Hammer logic
-Fixed boat storage save/load logic to retain the correct number of slots

v0.5.51
-Softened the transition from running/jumping into swimming so it looks more natural
-Smoothed out ferry float logic when the player is far away from it and it has entered LOD state
-Fixed z-fighting on wood floor edges when placed in specific rotations
-Setup AI navigation data on deep ocean rocks, Titan Cage Ruins, Dead Titans, and Pirate Towers so that rats and pirates can combat correctly with the player in those areas
-Changed starting island npc to give a net bag instead of a pouch
-Reduced the cost of a Cloth Bag and a Backpack and updated the icons to better fit the level of the object
-Update to what items the Forge can build to cleanup where arrows show up and adding the base bow next to the advanced bow
-Increase Mega Golem rock throw damage and Ground pound attack damage
-Setup UI click on buttons that are missing it
-Setup click feedback on contraption rotate and contraption variant switch
-Turned down click sfx volume
-Setup UI volume slider in settings menu for new click sounds in menus
-Changed character creation menu to loop the options when you cycle to the end of the variety
-Setup settings menu and character menu to check if a button is held down and to repeat the input.
-Updated recipe preview UI to match the other UI
-Changed held item UI to now show the stack count if the count is zero
-Improved "on water" cannon reticle visibility at night
-Changed Ferry Boat menu so it wont close to the selection menu when you travel in it or revive a boat
-Fixed issue where depending on how far away a boat is being revived from, it may not spawn correctly. Boats not revive correctly regardless of the distance.
-Changed Ferry Boat collision to block the camera from moving inside of it
-Prevented using Block while placing contraptions
-Changed melee weapons so they wont damage player built structures while fighting animals or npc near your built structures
-Changed Repair hammer and Destruction hammer so they do 1 point of damage when used as a "normal" weapon and not on a contraption
-Setup health bars to show "previous" health values and to slowly animate down so you can better see how much damage your attack did relative to their total health
-Setup Player health bar to also show previous health when taking damage to better show how much you took
-Setup Kelp to have biolume visuals at night
-Changed Kelp to use a much cheaper rendering method
-Various UI button visual updates
-Setup inventory items to highlight for a few seconds if an item is added to their slot so users can better tell where items went when built or transferred from storage
-Changed inventory logic so that if inventory is full, but an item is added that could be equipped, it will equip it instead of dropping it
-Expanded UI for "other" inventory so that it is 8 items across instead of 7
-Increased Crate slot counts across all crate types
-Increased min boat storage size from 4 to 8
-Changed Boat Crate to add 16 slots instead of 8
-Added Boat Crate Large to the build options
-Improved step up logic to smooth out transition stutter when that logic kicks in

v0.5.50
-Additional ocean shader improvements
-Improved Flare to Conch auto upgrade logic in the save load system so old save files give the new conch if the character knew the flare recipe
-Setup additional file loading error case protection

v0.5.49
-Improved water edge integration with vertical and tall terrain transitions
-Improved foam and biolume visuals in the ocean
-Fixed the issue causes a NaN in rare situations and put in additional NaN detection safety nets
-Look rotation protection code to prevent zero values
-Fixed motion blur setting on dirt clumps from moving blue crystal pine trees

v0.5.48
-Fixed buy/sell menu so it selects the correct default button when switching menu tabs and correctly resets the scroll bar.
-Update to NPC interactions to fix some cases where gamepads would press past an interaction.
-Changed Escape key (pause menu) logic to be blocked by fewer open menus so it reacts as expected in more cases by opening the pause menu.
-Improved gamepad interaction with ferry boat UI options
-Improved cannon aim logic so it better accounts for unusual placement scenarios and remains accurate
-Fixed blue crystal trees not playing their dirt move vfx while moving

v0.5.47
-Setup safe guards against NaN in player position save/load
-Changed character delete menu to default to the cancel button instead of the delete button
-Update to character and world delete menu visuals
-Improved Death screen a little
-Setup throw-able items like Refined Yellow Crystal Bottles to show their stack count in the held item UI so you know how many more you have
-Setup Boat Yards to be travel locations for the Ferry
-Increased slide down hill speed
-Setup Esc as a listed button in the Basic Controls info

v0.5.46
-Improved movement logic (Greased Pig logic specifically) to better handle jumping when close to objects so that it wont get "stuck" on the collision and fail to jump correctly
-Made jumping onto docks from water more successful when your collision clips the edge of the dock mid jump or you are swimming forward quickly
-Setup improved "step up" logic for moving up heights that are less than a certain amount
-Setup stronger placement logic to prevent placing an object when the player is too close to it so the player wont get stuck under floors etc because it was built directly over them but too close
-Setup "flipped" floor triangle shape variant to make specific build setups easier to achieve with fewer steps
-Fixed a issue in building wood floors where it would rotate after cycling through all build variants
-Improved wood floor build obstruction setup to allow building in more cases
-Changed wood doors to not require metal hinges so they can be built earlier and cheaper
-Improved logic for flare>conch upgrade path when a old world is loaded into the new mission structure
-Improved Health bar feedback visuals
-Adjusted Health caution ui to turn on below 25% of a single heart of health instead of 20% of max health
-Setup Bush take damage vfx to play some leaves in addition to the spark feedback
-Setup sparks vfx and sfx feedback on fire flowers to better indicate what it might do to new players.
-Changed wood pillars so you can build them in deep ocean world areas... and on Titan backs
-Improved boarding a boat while swimming fast so that you carry less momentum during the transition
-Improved Conch of the Sailor spawn logic when spawned near a dead Titan
-Improved Refined Blue Crystal bottles so they will put out fire in a radius around them upon first breaking open
-Improved camera movement in very close collision areas
-Increased player "grounded" distance

v0.5.45
-Changed Dead Titan collision layer so that it collides with foot down logic correctly... which also means you can now build on the back of a dead titan.
-Fixed logic for fish that become out-of-water and don't properly detect being back in water.
-Updated Kelp visuals
-Changed pickup logic for dropped satchels that contain a stack of an item but only one item type. It will no longer open the menu and instead will try to add it to the inventory.
-Engine update to a newer unity version
-Updated input system to the newest version

v0.5.44
-Fixed menu issue where opening and closing menus quickly could put them out of sync and have the wrong elements on/off
-Improved player slide vfx logic and setup dirt slide vfx
-Setup starting npc and second island npc to have lit backpacks on so you can better see them at night.
-Turned off the Shark water hazard
-Setup additional build feedback text for another state
-setup controller rumble on jump/fall landing
-Tightened up the jump/fall landing anim transition so it looks a bit tighter
-Set time of day value while the character screen is open so it doesn't use the lighting from the previous played world which might be night time.
-Changed pedestals to turn off their interaction once slotted since you can no longer unslot their interaction object
-Changed damage logic so that kick doesn't damage contraptions, only regular attacks will
-Changed build system logic so if you cancel building using a gamepad it wont also kick
-Improved health bar/hunger bar/hydration bar feedback so the goal line is more accurate an turns off correctly in some logic corner cases
-Increased Titan beam and melee damage
-Fixed golem foot print sizes so they match the character size
-Improved UI feedback for low hunger and hydration
-Changed UI feedback for hydration when you are sprinting and it is being consumed at a faster rate

Dec 16, 2022

Yueltidings & Yonder

Halo Infinite - misplacedyank

Well folks, 2022 is coming to an end and the studio is soon to close its doors for the Holidays. But before we go, I think we’ve got time for one last Community Update to look back on the year just gone – our triumphs, our learnings, our amazing partners, and our pathway into 2023 and beyond...

Let’s get the end-of-year party started with the end-of-year Holiday Community Livestream, where we catch up with various teams around the studio, showcase some Season 3 content for Halo Infinite, and host our final Community Playdate of the year.

Halo Infinite

From Sean Baron, Head of Halo Infinite Live Service

What a year.

Launching Halo Infinite’s multiplayer experience on the day we celebrated the franchise’s twentieth anniversary was amazing. Since that day, you have pushed Halo Infinite to the biggest launch year in the history of the franchise.

In fact, let’s do a quick stats rundown:

170+ million multiplayer matches played
50+ million campaign missions played
16+ billion Spartans slayed
2+ billion bots dispatched
6 million Spartans “Ninja’d”
130,000+ maps made in Forge

(...And a partridge in a pear tree!)

That’s a whole lot of Halo!

We’re so grateful for the time you’ve spent with us and the passion you have for this franchise. The year has been full of challenges and opportunities.

Yet, your energy and engagement has driven us. We’ve changed the way that we develop and even the way we’re organized. Needless to say, we’re committed to making Halo Infinite better with every single update!

So, enjoy the rest of the Winter Update. Happy Holidays, and we can’t wait to show you what’s in store for 2023!

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

From the MCC team

2022 has been a truly incredible year for MCC!

We said at the start of the year that we had some unfinished business with this title, that we are dedicated to maintaining it with legacy-focused updates to bring in fan-requested features, bug fixes, and new experiences.

Since then, we’ve brought the Flood to Halo 3: ODST’s Firefight. We’ve given full title support to the Custom Game Browser and mod tools (along with Steam Workshop support and Plug ‘n’ Play); campaign crossplay, customization, and collectibles; Match Rejoin, retroactive Spartan Points, UI updates, new armor sets, and so much more!

We are so grateful for the feedback and support from the fans which has enabled us to close the book on this year on such a high note.

So thank you, happy Halodays, and we’ll catch up with you all in the new year.

HCS

From Tashi, Esports Lead

To say this last year of Halo esports has been historic would be an understatement, and it’s all thanks to everyone who poured their passion into the scene.

Teams, players, fans, all of our partners, the broadcast talent, and hundreds upon hundreds of staff around the world who busted their butts in support of our mission to deliver epic entertainment to Halo fans around the world with competition at the core of everything we do. Thank you.

Here are some of the things I’ll cherish from this past year...

Big Team Battle Bonanza 2: This one of the craziest things we ever tried to pull, and looking back on it I’m so glad we did. It was important that we set the tone for the FUN we wanted fans to have with HCS whether you’re watching in person or at home.

Different champion for every Major: A testament to the strength of the scene as well as the balance of the game coming right out the gates at launch. Every tournament has kept us all on the edge of our seats with nonstop surprises and unbelievable plays.

Halo World Championship 2022: It had been four years since we hosted all of you in Seattle and it was important to us that the event was welcoming to Halo fans, not just HCS fans. From the Community Stage, to all of our partner activations, to the playable Winter Update build, and of course the amazing tournament – HaloWC 2022 was special no matter how you sliced it. We wished it didn’t have to end!

I’m stopping myself at three because, as I look through our photo gallery, I realize I could probably make a list of 100 things.

What's Next?

Okay, that’s enough of the past, let’s look forward!

We already shared a few details at HaloWC of what to expect. As you may have seen, the OpTic event has been postponed into 2023 and we’ll work closely with OpTic to ensure it lines up nicely with the HCS calendar and that it’s a great event for all fans to attend.

Kicking us off in January, however, is the Spartan Snowdown from the amazing minds at Spacestation. More details to come before the Holidays, but this will be one you don’t want to miss as it’ll be the first competition featuring Argyle and Empyrean, the reimagining of The Pit. Definitely curious to see all of the rosters at that time.

And, of course, the first Major of 2023 will be in Charlotte, North Carolina from February 24-26 with our partners at Esports Engine. This will be an open event featuring open bracket players from around the world that want to enter, as well as all of the top pro teams back on the mainstage once again for the first time since the Halo World Championship. You can expect VIP and GA tickets and team passes to go on sale in January.

You can also expect the all new HCS Partnered Team Bundles to drop shortly after Charlotte with the launch of Season 3 for Halo Infinite. The teams have really outdone themselves with the designs and we’ve given them access to a few more tools to be more creative than in Year 1. We can’t for you all to see them!

Later in January, we’re targeting to have the rest of the HCS 2023 roadmap available – as we did last year. We are in the midst of finalizing the roadmap as well as the format updates and we’re looking forward to sharing more in January. Our primary goals are around viewership and participation, and we’re making adjustments to maximize those as best we can.

I can’t understate how monumental of a task it is to put together a full year roadmap, particularly when we were just traveling around the world running the first year of Halo Infinite esports at the same time. In some ways, it’s been more challenging than before the game launched. We are committed to the long-term sustainability of the scene and we want fans and players to be able to plan out their entire year ahead of time.

On the topic of maps, modes, and settings – you can expect to see the full list of map/mode combinations in the New Year, as well as some updates to settings on Argyle and Empyrean based on player feedback. Additionally, the studio is working on a balance update to land just before Charlotte to further refine competitive play just before the big event. Look for more specifics in early January.

Finally, I want to give thanks to the rest of the HCS Team who have gone above and beyond all year long to make this all happen for the community. We’re a small team, but we pack a punch!

(Yes, I got us all matching hoodies just for our team!)

Thank you – happy Holidays and happy new year!

Halo Gear

From Megan Castro, Marketing Manager, Halo Consumer Products

It’s hard to believe we’re nearing the end of another amazing year of Halo, but time flies when you’re having fun.

For the Halo Gear team, this year has been filled with incredible partnerships, programs, and amazing product releases. In 2022, we continued to build on our long-term partnerships, began new ones, expanded into more categories through unique collaborations, and we tried something new in the Halo Gear Shop with the Halo Gear Rewards program – where players can earn physical rewards from playing Halo.

This year we released many amazing Halo products, and we’ll highlight a few here that are sure to bring joy to the Halo fan in your life this Holiday season.

Just released, comes the next drop from our partnership with Wolverine – the Halo Spartan Boots are inspired by armors from the Halo Infinite multiplayer experience. The Green Camo boot is now available! Stay tuned for more drops from Wolverine x Halo coming in Spring 2023.

That’s so metal, Halo Metal Posters! Adorn your walls with these metal posters from Displate, featuring new graphic artwork of the Master Chief, the Weapon, Halo Insignia, vehicles, and more.

Let’s ride! Get up to 9MPH on the Halo Warthog Electric Ride On. This drivable Warthog comes with working lights, sounds, moveable Gauss Cannon, and laser tag vest and blaster – available now only at Walmart.

In collaboration with Haworth comes the Haworth x Halo: Fern Gaming Chair. This premium ergonomic chair is precision engineered to provide maximum comfort for hours of work and play. Perfect for the home office that doubles as the gaming room. #ComfortEvolved

In collaboration with Adidas Originals, we created the Halo Infinite Adidas NMD V3, and Adidas classic meets Halo with design inspired by the AI characters in the Halo Infinite multiplayer experience.

For the foodies, this year we welcomed Halo: The Official Cookbook! Authored by Victoria Rosenthal, this massive cookbook has over 70 recipes with step-by-step instructions and photos to create these Halo-inspired foods at home. Level up this gift with the Master Chief 117 dinnerware set from Ukonic, available in the Halo Gear Shop.

Mega Construx released the massive UNSC Forward Unto Dawn collector building set, complete with a Miranda Keyes micro action figure and display stand – available exclusively at Target.

Dark Horse Comics delivered two incredible Halo statues this year: the Spartan Yoroi and Spartan Chonmage/Yokai (Halo Gear Shop Exclusive), featuring the formidable Spartans from the Halo Infinite multiplayer event Fracture: Tenrai. A great collector’s piece.

From Jazwares, the Master Chief Deluxe helmet with working lights, sounds, and VO from the Chief himself, and the highly detailed figures of the 6-inch Spartan Collection and 4-inch World of Halo lines are the perfect addition to a Halo collection. Find Halo Jazwares products at GameStop and other major retailers.

For the lore-lovers, return to Zeta Halo and dive deeper into the universe with the latest novel from Kelly Gay, Halo: The Rubicon Protocol.

We’re proud to work with our costume partner Disguise Costumes to create and release the first adaptive costumes for children with accessibility challenges, a Master Chief costume with mask and Warthog wheelchair cover.

Be sure to visit the Halo Gear Shop – your one stop shop for all things Halo including, exclusive apparel such as the Halo x Action Figure Miles collection, seasonal Halo styles, HCS Gear, collectibles such as the Spartan Chonmage/Yokai statue from Dark Horse Comics, housewares, novels, jewelry, and more!

Stay tuned to @HaloGear on social for all the latest news and updates.

Partnerships

From Katie Jerauld, Sr. Marketing Manager, Brand Partnerships Lead

2022 might not have been a launch year for Halo, but that didn’t stop us from launching huge, hilarious, and h…impactful partnerships.

As the year draws to a close, we wanted to share some exciting 2022 Halo partnership highlights, remind you all of programs you can still participate in, and round it out with an update on our newest program to get you through the Holidays:

Awards!

In 2022, we saw some awards come in for previous programs, and like a proud parent, I couldn’t let the end-of-year blog slip by without sharing that the OPI x Xbox program (which featured a Halo-themed nail color as well as matching armor coating) won a Clio award in the "Partnerships & Collaborations Campaign" category.

Our 2021 Swarovski x Halo partnership also won a Gold Reggie for the beautiful 20th Anniversary collectables we created together. We love it when we get a glimpse of a crystal helmet in the background of a stream, and to see the sparkly Spartans in the OPI coatings that are still present in almost every MP match.

Trolli

We're partnered through the end of this year with the delightfully dark brand. Let us never forget the Feedler, the booth at the HCS World Championship, the Hunter made out of Trolli gummies (because how could we not?), and last but not least please let us not forget Sketch living his (and our) glorious gummy dreams.

(We will take any opportunity to remind people of this glorious video!)

You can still enter to win a Trolli Ultimate Gaming Bundle and you’ll still find the 4 collectable Halo-themed packs with 2XP and Challenge Swaps in stores though the end of this year!

And we would be remiss if we did not shamelessly plug the limited edition Feedler tee. It would be a great stocking stuffer for the family Troll…..i fan.

Rockstar & Doritos

Master Chief is still on Rockstar cans and Doritos bags around the world as part of the Xbox partnership with Rockstar and Doritos. In some regions, fans can even get their hands on the 2022 Tasteful Sensation Razorback coating.

(*slaps roof of Razorback*) This bad boy can fit so many Spartans in it!

Honda Fan Cup Tournament

We're in the home stretch of the Honda Fan Cup Tournament featuring Halo Infinite. There’s just one qualifier left – on December 18.

It’s not too late to show off your skills and take a shot at the massive $20,000 prize pool. In addition to the prize money, the top finisher in the Finals will win an exclusive Haworth x Halo Fern Gaming Chair.

Register now, and we hope you’ll tune in to watch the Finals, which will be livestreamed on the Xbox Twitch channel on January 7 at 11am PT.

Calm

Just in time to round out the year and support your mental health during the Holidays, Xbox has partnered with Calm – the #1 app for sleep, meditation and relaxation – to bring the first-ever video game-themed soundscapes to the platform.

We've created a soundscape that takes you on a relaxing ambient journey through Zeta Halo, and players can also enjoy a soothing soundscape from Sea of Thieves, both available on Calm Premium.

Listen to the calming soundscapes of Zeta Halo here!

To ensure players can listen to the new soundscapes with ease, Xbox and Calm are offering an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perk, where Ultimate members can receive three months of Calm Premium for free, and then 50% off their first-year subscription for new Calm Premium members. Those who aren’t yet Ultimate members can take advantage of Calm's 7-day free trial to Calm Premium.

The partnership with Calm is part of Xbox’s ongoing commitment to supporting players’ mental health and connecting them with resources to support their well-being. Learn more here.

We hope you’re able to snack, play, listen and relax this Holiday season, and see you in 2023!

Halo the Series

From Cheryl Marine, Sr. Transmedia Producer

Halo The Series – Special Collector’s Edition, now available for the Holiday!

Season 1 has just released on DVD, Blu-Ray, including a Limited Edition Steelbook that makes for a great collectible.

In a war for humanity's survival, our deadliest weapon is our greatest hope. Master Chief, Cortana, the Covenant, and the Spartans of Silver Team weave a personal story with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.

The series, currently streaming on Paramount+, stars Pablo Schreiber (Master Chief, John-117), Natascha McElhone (Dr. Halsey), Jen Taylor (Cortana), Bokeem Woodbine (Soren-066), and is produced by SHOWTIME® in partnership with 343 Industries, along with Amblin Television.

The special 5-disc collection features the complete season – that’s all nine episodes at 4k quality – plus more than five hours of behind-the-scenes special features, including 75 minutes of exclusive content that takes you beyond the screen, providing a deeper look into the world of Halo. The cast and crew share their experiences creating the worlds, characters, costumes, and props that helped bring Halo to life on such a massive scale.

Also included are all nine episodes of the companion series Halo The Series: Declassified, a premium case, and collectible art cards of Master Chief, Silver Team, Dr. Halsey, and other favorite characters from the show.

This collectible Steelbook is perfect for the Halo fan on your Holiday gift list to see an even more in-depth look at the Halo television series. You can order your collectable Steelbook here.

We have other options too. If you’d like it on DVD, Blu-ray, or 4K Ultra HD, those are also available at Amazon and other retailers. And a digital download is available from the Microsoft Store.

And, in case you missed it, Silver Team is back in production filming season 2 in Iceland and Budapest. We hope to bring you more details about the series in the new year.

The Artist's Corner

Our final Artist’s Corner piece from Halo Mythos for this year comes from Jean-Sébastien Rossbach, depicting the Spartan-IIs.

With no end to humanity’s civil war – the Insurrection – in sight, its outcome looking increasingly grim, Dr. Catherine Halsey initiated the SPARTAN-II program.

This saw the full-scale production of biologically-augmented, armor-enhanced super-soldiers. Their origins, however, cast a dark shadow on these living legends, as they were kidnapped as children and replaced by genetically defective flash clones. The candidates were put through torturous training exercises from the age of six, and many would not survive the augmentation procedures that reforged their bodies into the UNSC’s most powerful weapons of war.

But it is their actions which inspire hope amongst those who have seen them in action, or heard the stories passed between fellow soldiers about armored super-soldiers who were able to turn the tide against their unstoppable alien foes. And the Covenant would come to know these Spartans by their own name – demons.

Grab a high-res copy for yourself right here!

Fin

That’s a wrap for us this year! It’s been a hell of a ride and we’re flooring the accelerator when Season 3 (“Echoes Within”) arrives in 2023 as we look forwards to more regular content drops and updates for Halo Infinite... but, for now, let’s pump the brakes and enjoy the Holiday break with our loved ones.

Download a 4K copy from here!

We have, of course, got the Winter Contingency II event launching next week which will feature a free Event Pass consisting of ten new Holiday-themed cosmetics – including a particularly festive helmet attachment that I certainly can’t wait to rock in matchmaking! You can definitely expect to see a launch blog for that to cover all the details on Tuesday.

Otherwise, be well, be merry, be kind and good to each other. Thank you for all your support over the course of this year, we can’t wait to share our plans for the future with you.

See you in 2023!