Last patch we added new terrifying cultist enemy types. Now, we're making night time even scarier.

At around midnight in-game all music stops playing, the world falls under extreme darkness, Bellcoats go insane, and cultists begin roaming the lands in larger quantities.

To account for this, we've made Torches a 99-stack item type to fulfill all your early game pre-electricity lighting needs.

(Note: If you played on February 8th or 9th, we've since updated the lighting to be a little brighter. You played part of this patch early! Also, we'll be continuously tweaking the day/night mechanics in the coming patches.)


The Waist Light is also much stronger now and will rotate towards your view direction.

If you want to go into an experimental first person mode like in this screenshot above, you can press F1.

Good luck! We'll be adding even more midnight threats in the coming months, so it might be wise for you to invest in acquiring a Clock.

Don't forget, you can always safely skip the night by sleeping in a bed. At least for now...


We've changed how the game looks throughout the day for a less contrasted, more balanced look.

This also smooths out light attenuation, so you'll be able to light larger swaths with fewer light sources. You can see this in the paper lanterns in the image above!

Render distance is now an option under the Visuals section. You can turn this down if your computer doesn't have a strong GPU.

We had some pretty crazy upscaling combined with lowered render scale this whole time which made the whole game look rather muddy in exchange for reduced GPU load.

In this patch, we've reset render scale to 100% and added an option to toggle upscaling under the Visuals settings so that you can choose to enable or disable this yourself.

Upscaling will now be off by default. If you want to have the same settings that you had before, just lower your render scale to 0.8 and turn on upscaling. However, this patch features many optimizations so you shouldn't need this as much anymore!

If you want the old behavior back for possible reduced GPU load, you'll have to do the following:
- Set Render Scaling to something low, like 0.5 to 0.8
- Set Upscaling Method to FidelityFX 1.0

Other games normally reduce render scale automatically.

Check out the list of optimizations down below for a full list of improvements.

Read the full patch notes below. We've made some changes throughout the game to make it feel more dynamic, immersive, and fun.

Some highlights:

• Previously, enemies would sometimes rush into your base. Now they will respect line of sight more, so close your doors to be safe!
  
• Updated fire FX
  
• Glider rebalance
  
• Damage numbers setting option
  
• Sleeping mechanic changes
  
• Better enemy balancing

• Human Cage attacks no longer push around props to make shop attacks less punishing for the player
  
• Enemy senses tweaked when attacking you in your shop base
  
• When using the Glider, all your velocity will be redirected towards your facing direction now which will make velocity gains when sliding off mountainsides utilizable
  
• Rebalanced Glider values to have more consistent movement, lower gravity, but lower speed
  
• Stamina no longer regenerates when the player is airborne
  
• Added Damage Numbers gameplay setting and turned this off by default for better immersion
  
• Added melee crit VFX
  
• Adjusted jumping off hill slides to feel more consistent
  
• Adjusted fog, lighting, and post processes for all times of day
  
• Changed tone mapping technique from ACES to Neutral for a more balanced, less contrasted image
  
• Lighting attenuation should be much smoother now (Torch at midnight)
  
• Significantly reduced night visibility
  
• Made midnight time scarier with visual changes and more enemy spawns
  
• Zone music, regular combat music, and shop music no longer play during haunted midnight hours
  
• Torches can now stack up to 99
  
• Updated Torch flame VFX
  
• Updated Campfire flame VFX and SFX
  
• Updated "on fire" attribute VFX
  
• Equipping a Torch will keep it lit forever as long as you're holding it
  
• Picking up a Torch will relight it automatically
  
• Increased light power of Waist Light
  
• Waist Light now rotates towards your camera for greater ease of use
  
• Significantly increased burn duration of Torches and other lights
  
• Added a few Gas Lamps near the starting area to help out with the night
  
• Employee needs now simulate with work schedules when away
  
• Sleeping now advances 8 hours instead of waking up at 7AM every time
  
• Sleeping now has a small cooldown
  
• Sleeping causes hunger and thirst to deplete by a flat 40 amount instead of halving current levels
  
• Sleeping now fully regenerates health and armor for all beds except the Bed Roll (added to description)
  
• You can no longer sleep or use Totem fast travel if you are in combat with a nearby entity
  
• The player can now use beds and chairs from farther away
  
• Changed Revolver sound to feel more powerful and satisfying
  
• Collecting runes now give from 10 to 500 player XP, depending on how many Runes the player has already collected
  
• Mastery XP no longer rolls over into player XP
  
• Bosses and cultist enemies give significantly more player XP on death
  
• XP bar no longer glows in its entirety when gaining XP and only glows the amount that it is at for better visibility
  
• Changed time of day and music of main menu
  
• Removed music from NPC shops for better immersion
  
• Added animated UI indicator to show when dialogue UI is able to continue
  
• Adjusted sounds for dialogue UI
  
• Adjusted sounds for hover and click sounds
  
• Adjusted sounds for crafting UI
  
• Changed pink highlight in settings menu to a white underline instead
  
• Sped up settings UI animations and added SFX feedback
  
• Added specular highlights to big bush plant
  
• Significantly increased fire rate of Zena's Shotgun
  
• Adjusted several particle materials to better suit darker night time
  
• Bellcoats now have a stronger leap attack with unique animations
  
• Bellcoat leap now applies knock up status
  
• Boar Rider Gunners now have higher accuracy, reducing the chance that they shoot into the ground
  
• Boar Rider Gunners now have infinite ammo and can shoot faster
  
• Boar Rider Gunners will perform deadlier strafing attacks at higher speeds
  
• Added many more Boar Rider Gunners to the desert
  
• Bullets will now penetrate the Golf Cart instead of being blocked by it, allowing you to shoot out the vehicle and also be shot from outside
  
• Updated some Map icon UI
  
• Map icon names can now be viewed from farther zooms for better usability
  
• Updated map shader for smoother discovery masks and better map tiling
  
• Changed Dirt Floor mesh
  
• Tweaked bullet trail VFX to feel more immersive and better communicate its trajectory
  
• Common rarity FX is no longer visible for better immersion
  
• Added optional upscaling graphics graphics setting toggle instead of having it always on by default
  
• Added SMAA x2, SMAA x3 anti-aliasing graphics settings
  
• Properly implemented FXAA graphics setting

• Added Render Distance graphics option with dynamic adjustments in-game
  
• Changed ambient occlusion technique from HBAO to SSAO for better GPU performance on lower end machines
  
• Removed unused components from Customer AI
  
• Removed memory GC allocations in world spawner code
  
• Reduced memory GC allocations in physics raycasting code
  
• Removed memory GC allocations in environment query code
  
• Removed memory GC allocations in movement code
  
• Removed memory GC allocations in enemy senses code
  
• Reduced CPU costs of water collision code
  
• Optimized character code slightly
  
• Optimized update manager to not pile up with lots of requests, which should help with larger shops
  
• Optimized AI update code when far away, which should help with village framerates
  
• Optimized warmth code to not rely on collisions
  
• Removed unnecessary environment queries from Mop and Shepherd Pod Door
  
• Greatly reduced GPU usage at night by culling distant meshes
  
• Fixed a bug where high quality SMAA was enabled no matter what, which is super heavy on bad GPUs

• Fixed customers taking damage from starvation and dehydration causing police to attack them
  
• Fixed audio feeling weird and crunchy because there was unintentionally added global reverb (this is now removed)
  
• Fixed edge case where you could blow up a building in one frame, skipping building integrity tests
  
• Fixed death voice playing from where you killed the enemy instead of their body and too loudly
  
• Removed high pitched noise from blood splatter sound
  
• Fixed camera spinning upon loading in or using a bed with no mouse movement
  
• Fixed Totem light culling out too early, which caused the light to go out even though you're next to it
  
• Fixed invisible employees being able to open doors
  
• Adjusted Waist Light material to properly be emissive
  
• Fixed synchronization issues with Waist Light not replicating on status
  
• Fixed bullet trails "disappearing" because pool limit was too low (8)
  
• Fixed "Quick Sale" attribute displaying for non quick sale registers, and not displaying for quick sale registers
  
• Fixed cultist torches not saving and behaving properly when combined with the regular torch
  
• Fixed wavy grass in prologue
  
• Fixed duplicating attributes when placing down or splitting stacked items with attributes
  
• Fixed Torch light culling too early when facing away from the Torch
  
• Fixed damage numbers on gun attributes not updating properly
  
• Fixed "can't sleep in bed" messages not replicating to clients

Doing a quick update turnaround this week! Wanted to try a new combo icon representation which is hopefully cleaner and faster to process in the heat of combat compared to the text. Next I plan to do the level rework update as I mentioned last time, but figured there was no reason to hold back these changes in the meantime. See the full patch notes below:


Combo Icons allow you to more quickly identify combos at a glance by their color, allowing you to focus more on the action. If it doesn’t work for you, feel free to click and toggle back to text, but I’d recommend giving it a good chance first as I can guarantee it will lead to smoother gameplay!

Content

• Added new combo icons option as replacement for text. You can still toggle to text by clicking on the combo popup UI
  
• Made the starting area in all portal rooms more of a proper jump / airdash tutorial which can be safely practiced without risk of falling

Balance

• Made the duelist’s blade dance ability do a fast whirlwind instead of slow whirlwind to make it more appealing to use
  
• Buffed Berserker’s starting health and speed significantly in order to compensate for his weak early game
  
• While combo shuffle is active, a full moon combo will be skipped if you are not actively in combat, so that you don’t have to initiate a fight with such a long combo
  
• Exiting an area with unsold armor and weapons will now instantly sell those items and give you their essence value.

Polish

• When crouching in tight areas, the game now checks to make sure your head won’t clip through the ceiling when you stand up
  
• The invincibility radial meter now accurately represents the time left for the part that is visible on screen
  
• Pressing the progress screen (T) will now show the current round you are in addition to the difficulty
  
• The ability icon is now color coded for each palette to better match the new combo icon color
  
• You can now move the combo popup with the mouse or dpad / analogue stick, rather than the clunky button mapping that were there before
  
• Navigating the combo list with controller / keyboard will now automatically select the last selected combo rather than always scrolling to the top of the list

Bug Fixes

• Fixed the platform height not lining up with tiles in one of the portal rooms
  
• Removed an invisible wall in one of the portal rooms
  
• Fixed bug where some quest rewards carried over between runs were permanent
  
• Fixed bug where starting the game with any health modifier skill such as vitality made you start at less than full health
  
• Removed a rock in the cave entrance tunnel that was possible get stuck and soft locked in
  
• Fixed bug where grain setting would reset to zero regardless of what value was saved
  
• Fixed bug where exiting a portal room normally could cause your weapon to be destroyed

I wanted to make a note that I am trying out a switch from the IL2CPP scripting backend to Mono for this update. Mono is a lot more common for most unity games, and allows for easier modding potential. I did not notice any major performance difference in my testing, but if this affects you a lot, please let me know as this is not final and I want to get more data on it. I’m also hoping it might possibly help the users who get abnormally long load times on their setups.

it seems like the last hot-fix was lukewarm .. at best.

The release date is pending steam build testing. We hope to have the game released by the end of the month. Possibly sooner.

New costumes

New AI War 2 build! https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:Post_Completion_Part_II#5.585_Sidekick_Updates

This is a pretty small one, with mainly updates to the Sidekicks mod, by Badger.

This also suppresses an occasional error about memory leaks that is very much a false positive (it usually is indicative of a thread being a bit slow, not an actual memory leak). Rather than being up in your face with a scary message about what seems to be a major bug, it just logs a silent warning instead. This really only is a tool for modders; if they see a log flooded with those, then they should know they are doing something wrong and be able to fix whatever their issue is. But regular players, often not even using mods, would occasionally get one or two of these and think there was a much larger problem, when in reality it was just kind of a burp of one background thread being a bit slower to give something back than ideally is the case.

The network improvements from the prior build are reportedly really helping the game a lot in multiplayer, so I'm very glad to hear that.

Enjoy!

Regarding Heart of the Machine, if you've been following our discord, then you know that the testing on that got pushed back some. Testing will likely resume in March. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2001070/Heart_of_the_Machine/ It's really nice to be able to give the game the amount of development time it truly deserves, but thanks for your patience with the repeated delays on it. Feel free to go to our discord https://discord.gg/arcengames and post here: https://discordapp.com/channels/240637654717300736/1086679572373848244 if you're interested in being a part of one of the phases of testing in the future. There is now a direct signup form here: https://forms.gle/sYj9hH3Bh2TJ2Hbx5

Evolution Survival Build 60 V0.22

Added:
-Stone Building Materials (Roof, Foundation, Wall)
-Crystal Rock (Only for Iron at the moment)
-Wall Torch
-Lava on some maps (for star expansion)

Fixed:
-LimestoneRock name Desyncs

The game is shaping up to be what I had envisioned and I'm very excited to share it with you!
This patch focuses on one of the core aspects of Loya: Crafting and survival.

• You now play around your base, it allows you to unlock items, classes and can move around!
  
  
• You no longer lose anything when your character dies, you respawn in your bed or in the starting point. Dying too many times in a row triggers a timer (max 1min wait)

• The procedural world map has been re-enabled, the biomes generation system has been improved.
  
• The snow and desert biomes now do ice and fire damage to you. You need to be shletered to not take damage from elements.
  
  
• Changed night lighting to be pitch black, you will now need torches to see. There is now a limit to how many torches you can place in the same spot (for performances)
  
• You can now accelerate time by sleeping on a bed, you will also regenerate hp faster if a campfire is on nearby.
  
  
• You can now punch trees to get wood (slowly)
  
• Natural caves can spawn in the forest and ice biomes (mushroom caves, ice caves), they are considered separate biomes with different monsters and collectibles.
  
  
  
• Every destroyed collectible is now saved, making the changes to the world persistent.

• Monsters now attack your base on different events such as reaching a certain base tier or level.
  
• Monsters will attack you if you start collecting resources around them.
  
• Building around monster spawners will now make them attack your buildings.
  
• An interface shows you when the next wave will attack

• Classes can be unlocked in a new building: the Altar
  
  
• Added a new system that allows you to unlock/change classes in exchange for items or tasks.
  
• You also need specific items to unlock skills for your classes.

• Added new buildings:
  
  • Core: Your main building, allows you to build other structures around it, can be upgraded and can walk at tier 2.
    
  • Auto Turret: High single target damage.
    
    
  • Canon turret: Deals splash damage.
    
    
  • Healing Machine: Heals surrounding entities, drains energy.
    
    
  • Altar: Allows you to unlock classes (out of 4 avaliable classes + fishing) and change your main class. Also allows you to unlock new skills for your class.
    
  • Wooden beam: a large beam that you can place on the roofs.
    
  • Wooden roof edge: a roof part for the edges of your buildings.
• You are no longer allowed to build in the ground outside of the starting biome. You have to use your walking base.
  
• Added a new item: Repair hammer

• Depending on what you eat, you get different bonuses that last 5minutes.
  
• You can only have one bonus type at a time. The bonus types are "Well Fed" and "Well Hydrated"
  
• Your hunger bar needs to be at 90% for you to get a bonus.

• Added a Paraglider, uses the trinket slot. Can be crafted with a crafting table.
  
• The glider drains stamina, and uses inertia to move.

Procedural items: Stats now depend on the item's slot. Sword have damage type stats, shield defensive stats etc...
Added 5 new items that a used to unlock classes and craft items:

• Arcane dust (obtained by mining underwater)
  
• Fire dust (obtained by mining in desert areas)
  
• Nature dust (obtained by mining in autumn biome)
  
• Ice dust (obtained by mining in ice biome)
  
• Shadow dust (obtained by killing undeads)
  
• Lightning dust (obtained by killing lightning monsters)

Added new ingredients:

• Ice flower
  
• Sand
  
• Empty potion

• You can now make items with the forge using ingots and ingredients to define their stats.
  
• Added a new minigame for the forge. The quality of the item depends on how well you did in the forge. You can reforge items at no cost to try and improve them.

• Reworked the interaction UI, you now only have to press your "Use" key to interact with an entity, if the entity has other options, they will be displayed in an other interaction UI with click.
  
• Added a new UI that shows mana and state for turrets.
  
• Added a progress bar that shows casts for all entities.
  
• Buffs and Dots are now easier to see, and have been moved to the upper right side of the screen.
  
• Improved the building UI interface. It handles non flat surfaces and empty areas properly.
  
• 
  
• Added a new UI to track your core's state (hp, supply, energy)
  
• Added a new UI that tells you what the state of the active raid is (if any)
  
• Increased the crafting table UI size.
  
• Added a new UI when you sleep, shows a clock

• Added a new playable character model: Mushrooms!
  
• Enabled the male character model and fixed his bones alignement on run.
  
• The crafting table items can now require more that one type of component to be cratfed.
  
• Added a new tutorial quest type for the starting phase.
  
• 
  
• Reduced performance costs related to shadow and grass.
  
• You can now reduce grass density and cloud quality.
  
• Improved the punch animation and range.
  
• Added a new slot for trinkets

• Fixed a bug where placing building in a plaform that had an angle would ignore that angle.
  
• Fixed a bug where you would attack after closing game UIs
  
• Fixed a bug where deleted entities would come back when restarting the server.
  
• Fixed a bug with boar charges not looking at the right direction.
  
• Fixed a bug where some enemies would stop attacking in combat.
  
• FIxed a bug with monsters Y position and floating islands.
  
• Fixed an exploit where leaving minerals in a furnace and restarting the server would allow it to be melted for ever.

- Added new backround effects
- UI changes

Update v1.9

We resolve all crashes, bugs and glitches. We also implemented returning to the last slide that was when you exited your game. We listen to your feedback. And we resolved everything that was reported.
Next update we will implement Linux version and more improvements.