Hey everyone, Regarding the upcoming playtest release: we had to create a new Steamworks account and are currently in the process of moving our game to it. This will allow us to solve the issue with the locked playtest release button. Given all the circumstances, we decided to mo
Hey everyone,
Regarding the upcoming playtest release: we had to create a new Steamworks account and are currently in the process of moving our game to it. This will allow us to solve the issue with the locked playtest release button. Given all the circumstances, we decided to move the Playtest release to Q4 2026. We apologize once again for making you wait. On the bright side, we continued adding more content and features into the game, which will make the experience much more fun for everyone when the Playtest finally launches. Now let's talk about some of those new features!
Horses
We implemented the new version of horses to replace the old ones. Your new companions will have much more realistic looks and animations, and the variety of sounds has been increased as well. We fixed many issues and improved movement by making it more responsive and realistic. It now supports the full variety of horse gaits (move patterns, such as walk, trot, canter, and gallop). The horse colors now include only believable variants from a genetics perspective.
Vehicles Crash Test
In addition, we started implementing the first version of vehicles into the game. It might sound surprising to some of you, but system-wise horses share a lot with vehicles, so it's no coincidence we work on both at the same time. The first version of vehicles supports driver/passenger seats, as well as realistic movement physics.
Enemy AI updates
We continue working on the in-game AI. Now the enemies have different levels of perception, which means if you're crouching, they have less chance to see or hear you. Enemy cover occupation and peeking have been improved as well.
In this GIF, you can see the player sneaking around the corner to kill the enemy guard while remaining unnoticed.
Missions
We expanded our in-game mission system to support a much wider variety of mission types and started filling it with new content. Some of the new missions are connected to developing your faction, while others can be started by talking to various characters in the game world.
We updated the mission log to support a bigger mission list, grouped by category. Clicking a mission in the log will now focus the map on it, and there is also a new button that snaps the view back to your character.
We also improved the map itself: tweaked the zoom levels, added objective tooltips, alongside other minor improvements and bug fixes. Also, you can now place waypoint marks on the map, which will be visible to other players in your session.
Level Design
We continued set-dressing the environments and improving interior lighting. The lighthouse and the large army tents now have proper global illumination, so they're no longer washed out by light bleeding through the walls. You can see before/after comparisons in the screenshots below.
Interactive curtains have been added to the windows of many barracks.
We're also working on adding new outposts and improving existing ones.
Engine Update and Lumen Lite
We updated our project to Unreal Engine 5.8, which might be the last version for the next couple of years. For us, it means we can focus on polishing the game for this version without worrying that another update will break something or require a rework of existing features.
With the new version, Lumen Lite was introduced. This lightweight Global Illumination mode offers good visual quality while being significantly less demanding to run. It can be enabled by switching your in-game GI setting to Medium. You can see the comparison in the screenshot below.
Character Creator
You can now select a penguin in the character creator. Yes, a penguin can lead a faction too! You can also choose your character's name now.
Partial Gamepad Support
We added partial gamepad support. Now you can control your character, fight, interact, build, or give commands using a gamepad. Some UI functionality for the inventory and main menu still needs tweaking to support gamepad controls.
Game controllers that have been tested and are supported:
Xbox Series X/S Controllers
Xbox One Controllers
Third-party Nintendo Switch Controllers (needs more testing but most seem to be working).
Current Playtest Situation Dear community, We wanted to let you know that we're making progress on resolving the issue with the Steam playtest release. Unfortunately, it's taking a bit longer than expected. We've been seriously considering launching the playtest on another platfo
Current Playtest Situation
Dear community,
We wanted to let you know that we're making progress on resolving the issue with the Steam playtest release. Unfortunately, it's taking a bit longer than expected.
We've been seriously considering launching the playtest on another platform as a temporary solution. However, at this point, making it available for just a few weeks on a different platform doesn't seem worth it: it would add extra workload for our team and potentially split the PC player base across two platforms — something we want to avoid. This would only make sense if the timeline for resolving the Steam issue were unclear, but as things stand, we still expect it to be resolved fairly soon.
Once again, thank you for your patience.
Level Design Progress
Meanwhile, we haven't been sitting idle; work on the game continues. Recently, we've also been focusing on level design and adding more detail to the game world. Most of the recent changes concern interiors: many of them have been dressed with props to make military outposts and bases feel more alive.
Global Illumination Improvements
We've also significantly improved the lighting inside military barracks. Previously, light was leaking through their very thin walls, since the engine's global illumination has trouble accurately representing geometry below a certain thickness. We've implemented a solution that simulates thicker walls specifically for global illumination calculations, without changing the visible geometry of the level. Going forward, we will apply this fix to all types of interiors. You can clearly see the difference in the screenshots below!
Unfortunately, resolving the playtest launch issue with help from Valve didn't lead to any results. We are honestly very disappointed about that. We are now in a situation where we need to take legal action in order for this issue to be resolved. We expect this to be resolved thi
Unfortunately, resolving the playtest launch issue with help from Valve didn't lead to any results. We are honestly very disappointed about that.
We are now in a situation where we need to take legal action in order for this issue to be resolved. We expect this to be resolved this month.
In case it takes longer than expected, we have already prepared an alternative way to give all interested players access to the playtest. This might include making the playtest available on other platforms alongside Steam.
Please understand that we cannot share in-depth details about the issue just yet. But once everything is solved, we will gladly share all the details with you!
This issue puts a lot of pressure on our tiny team, but we're trying to stay calm and clear-minded and do what needs to be done. In the meantime, we have already started working on fixes and additions for the first big content update!
Once again, thanks for your patience and understanding! We will keep you updated!
We have figured out what caused the issue and are currently working with Valve on resolving it. It looks like the roots of this issue might be deeper than we thought at the beginning. We know this may sound disappointing to some of you, but there’s nothing we can do right now unl
We have figured out what caused the issue and are currently working with Valve on resolving it. It looks like the roots of this issue might be deeper than we thought at the beginning. We know this may sound disappointing to some of you, but there’s nothing we can do right now unless the issue is resolved.
The game is just sitting on Steam and is waiting for us to press a button, and we were really excited to do it, but it didn’t work. No way we could have foreseen this, as we never had any issues prior to this one. We released the closed alpha back in the day, and there were no problems.
We’re grateful to all of you who showed their interest in our game, and especially those who expressed their support to us in the situation that happened.
As soon as we have any news, we will let all of you know!
Also, the sign-up button stays active, so if you haven’t requested access yet, feel free to do so to not miss the time when the playtest releases finally.
Meanwhile, don't forget to join our Discord to keep up with the latest news, or just to chat with other folks.
03.04.2026 Update:
Thank you all again for your patience. We really appreciate it! We wanted to let you know that we’re still working on resolving the issue with Steam release permissions, so please don’t expect the playtest to start within the next few days.
We’ll share another update on the current situation sometime next week and hopefully give more clarity on when this can be resolved. Meanwhile, happy holidays to everyone who’s celebrating Easter!
First of all, this is a huge milestone for us! Thanks to everyone who followed the development or just learned about our game recently and signed up for the playtest, or just wishlisted the game! Your support means a lot to our tiny team of 3 people. Please remember that this is
First of all, this is a huge milestone for us!
Thanks to everyone who followed the development or just learned about our game recently and signed up for the playtest, or just wishlisted the game! Your support means a lot to our tiny team of 3 people.
Please remember that this is an early Alpha version that does not represent the final game.
It may contain bugs and missing or unfinished features. The playable area is currently limited to a small portion of the full game world.
Please use our official Discord server to report bugs or write feedback.
If you encounter a crash, please submit a report and briefly describe what you were doing before it occurred.
We’ll be monitoring your feedback and bug reports and releasing a few hotfixes over the next two weeks.
There’s currently no set end date for the playtest. We will continue to update the game as we move toward the Early Access release. This means there will be regular game updates, which will introduce new content, bug fixes, and more!
What can you do in the playtest
Play the Intro section
There is a short intro where your goal is to capture your first outpost and start building your own faction.
During the Intro, you’ll see a few tutorial screens showing how to control your troop and capture bases. Please don’t ignore them.
Play solo or invite a friend
After finishing the intro, you’ll be able to invite a friend to join your session. Just press ESC and select “Create Session.” Once it’s created, send the invite code to your friend.
Your friend can use the code after creating their character.
Please note that sessions are currently limited to 2 players, but we plan to increase this to up to 4 players for locally hosted sessions in the future.
Create your character
Use the character creator to customize your faction leader however you like.
Enjoy the persistent world
Our game features a save system that keeps your progress in the world, so you can stop and continue your session at any time.
Control your troop
You can control a troop of up to 3 soldiers, and they will follow your commands.
Only the commander can give orders (or a soldier can give a command to themselves). Aim at a soldier and press C to give a command. If you press C without aiming at anyone, the command will apply to the whole troop.
You can also take control of any soldier in your troop. Use the command wheel or Shift+1, Shift+2, Shift+3 hotkeys.
Capture outposts and areas
You can invade enemy outposts and eliminate their defenders to take control.
To capture an outpost, interact with its Command Tower (shown on the map). When all outposts in an area are under your control, the entire area becomes yours.
Build your base and assign soldiers to work
To establish a new base, you need a Radio Module. You can buy one from traders or find a few free ones in a crate near the trader at the starting base.
You can only build a base in an area you control. Go to your desired location and build a Command Tower using the build menu (B). This requires some resources.
Once the Command Tower is placed, you can build other facilities around it.
Note: You can build simple structures (like wooden buildings) without establishing an outpost.
Collect resources
There are two main facilities for gathering resources: Wood Storage and Metal Storage.
You can assign soldiers stationed at an outpost to collect resources.
Play as a penguin (soldier deployment)
You can deploy different creatures using DNA containers.
Launch a container (human, horse, or penguin) onto the ground, and it will join your troop if there is enough space.
Ride horses
You can ride horses to move faster across the world.
Keep your characters fed
Make sure your troop doesn’t get hungry or thirsty, or they might die.
Play in first-person or third-person perspective
You can easily switch the perspective by pressing P.
Craft items
Some facilities allow you to craft items.
Important tip:
After finishing the intro, you can find a crate with plenty of items to make testing easier.
It’s located in the same room as the starting base trader (check the trader icon on the map).
Known issues
Joined players may have issues climbing ladders. If you’re a client, we recommend avoiding ladders for now. Hosts should not have this problem.
Clients may experience network issues, such as being unable to interact with objects. To reduce the risk:
The host should invite a friend shortly after finishing the intro.
If issues occur, both players should restart the game before continuing.
We don’t recommend starting a new playthrough with a character used in someone else’s session.
You currently cannot change a character's skin color.
Common questions
Can I stream or create videos? Yes, absolutely! Feel free to share your content with us on Discord.
How much content is in the playtest? There is currently enough content for about 1–2 hours of gameplay. We’ll expand the world and add more features and locations over time.
How long will the playtest last? There’s no set end date. You can keep playing as we continue updating the game on the way to Early Access.
We're happy to share that we've already received more than 2000 playtest sign-ups! Thank you all for your interest in our game. It really means a lot to us! In case you have not signed up yet, you can request access on our store page . We also wanted to let you know that you will
We're happy to share that we've already received more than 2000 playtest sign-ups! Thank you all for your interest in our game. It really means a lot to us! In case you have not signed up yet, you can request access on our store page.
We also wanted to let you know that you will be able to invite up to 3 friends to join the playtest. This feature will be available before the playtest launches.
There is also a new video, showcasing the penguin soldier gameplay. Check it out!
We're excited to announce that ALTERA Playtest will launch on March 31st . It was originally scheduled for February, but we decided to delay it slightly to provide a more polished experience for everyone. Sign-ups are now open on the game store page ! Just click the "Request Acce
We're excited to announce that ALTERA Playtest will launch on March 31st. It was originally scheduled for February, but we decided to delay it slightly to provide a more polished experience for everyone.
Sign-ups are now open on the game store page! Just click the "Request Access" button. Everyone can participate. If you have the game in your Steam library, please be sure to request access anyway. We'll be using the Steam Playtest feature exclusively until we release the Early Access version.
Plus, we've prepared a new gameplay trailer for you! Check it out here.
PLAYTEST We’re happy to announce that the upcoming Playtest is planned for February 2026 . The number of participants will be unlimited. Sign-ups will open sometime prior to the Playtest, so stay tuned for upcoming announcements! We wish everyone a Happy New Year ! Intro Section
PLAYTEST
We’re happy to announce that the upcoming Playtest is planned for February 2026. The number of participants will be unlimited. Sign-ups will open sometime prior to the Playtest, so stay tuned for upcoming announcements!
We wish everyone a Happy New Year!
Intro Section
We have invested a lot of effort into creating the Intro section, which is designed to introduce the most important game mechanics. The Intro will be relatively short and is not expected to exceed 30 minutes of gameplay. It can only be played in solo mode. However, once you complete it, you’ll be able to invite other players and continue your journey together.
First Mission Type: Hostile Camps
Our first mission type will appear in your journal when hostile groups occasionally sneak into your area and set up camps. Your goal is to clear these camps to ensure there is no hostile activity within your faction’s territory.
NPC Dialogues
You can now trigger dialogues with other characters. Through these conversations, they can give you quests or share other important (or sometimes not-so-important) information. Dialogue text appears as a box on the screen above the character’s head. Other players can easily observe these dialogues in real time.
NPCs will also look at you while talking, or sometimes simply when passing by. This feature makes them feel much more alive.
Climbing Feature
You’re now able to climb ladders, making it easy to reach the top of towers and check the surrounding area.
Map Progress
We’ve designed several new military outposts, as well as desolate villages, expanding the variety and depth of the world.
Third Person Perspective
The third-person perspective has been reworked and now includes two sub-modes. When you have a weapon equipped, the camera switches to an immersive mode that follows your aim point precisely. When the weapon is holstered, the free camera mode activates, allowing you to rotate the camera freely and view your character from any angle.
AI Patrolling
Work on AI continues. We’ve added preset patrol points to outposts, making soldier patrol routes more logical and believable.
New Outfits
A couple of new outfits have been added. You can expect many more outfits in the Playtest version.
Facilities & Resources
The new facility, Metal Storage, works similarly to the wood storage. Assigned characters will collect and transport metal. We’ve also reworked the overall resource-gathering system. Soldiers stationed at a base can now only collect resources available within the area where the outpost is located.
Wood Resources Overhaul
Instead of a single wood resource, we now have three types:
Logs
Planks
Sticks
Each serves a different purpose. Logs are collected by characters assigned to wood storage facilities. They are a raw resource with limited usage, but can be processed into planks using the new Sawmill facility. Planks are commonly used for construction and can also be further cut into sticks. Sticks are useful as firewood or for crafting wooden items such as bows.
Name System
All characters now have unique names, making it easier to distinguish members of your faction.
This soldier is part of your faction. You can also exchange items with other soldiers.
Building Expansion
We’ve invested a lot of work into expanding the variety of buildable objects. Our goal is to allow you to construct not just simple wooden structures, but complete outposts with walls, towers, living containers, and a wide range of facilities and usable objects.
Loot System
Further progress has been made on expanding storage object types, including boxes, crates, weapon racks, and sacks. Certain items are now more likely to be found in specific storage types. For example, sacks are more likely to contain flour or bundles of wood rather than weapons (unless someone was smart enough to hide one there).
Global loot randomization has also been improved to make item spawning more logical overall.
Save System
We have completed the major work required to ensure that the entire world state, including all dynamic objects, is safely saved between sessions.
Hello there, fellow commanders! Today, we’re excited to share the features we’ve been working on recently. The Facility System is a major new addition designed to diversify gameplay and make outpost management a much more engaging and enjoyable experience! The new facilities incl
Hello there, fellow commanders!
Today, we’re excited to share the features we’ve been working on recently. The Facility System is a major new addition designed to diversify gameplay and make outpost management a much more engaging and enjoyable experience!
The new facilities include the Workbench, Wood Storage, Water Collector, Firewood Oven, and the Campfire. Most of them can only be built within outposts, while the Campfire can be placed freely anywhere in the game world. Let’s take a closer look at each one.
🔧 Workbench
It’s hard to imagine a military outpost without a workbench — a place for crafting everything from basic tools to weapons, as well as repairing damaged gear. In this first version, you can craft a hunting bow, wooden arrows, and a portable lantern.
The Water Collector gathers rainwater over time. The rate of collection depends on the intensity of the rainfall. You can now refill your flask directly from it, making hydration management much more practical.
🪵 Wood Storage
This facility acts as the hub for wood production at your outpost. Assign stationed soldiers to work here and they’ll handle woodcutting and logging. Harvested wood is essential for crafting, cooking, building facilities, and constructing living structures.
🔥 Firewood Oven
Use the Firewood Oven to bake food — yes, including fresh, crunchy bread rolls! Baking requires a healthy supply of wood, plus our new resources: flour and yeast. These aren’t easy to find; you’ll need to trade for them or take them by force from enemy outposts.
The Campfire is a great way to stay warm during long nights — whether you’re on guard duty or traveling to a remote location. It also lets you cook meat, a food type that’s coming in future updates.
When building structures, crafting at the workbench, or cooking at the oven, you no longer need to carry all the required resources manually. If the necessary materials are stored anywhere within the current outpost, they will be used automatically.
Certain buildings, like the Workbench and Firewood Oven, also include built-in storage. You can place resources directly inside them and use those materials for crafting or cooking on the spot.
However, if you're out in the wild or setting up a new outpost, you'll still need to carry resources yourself — or rely on your companions to help haul the load.
🛠️ Item Durability
Weapons now have a durability stat. The more you use a gun, the more it wears down. Poorly maintained weapons will jam more frequently, so keeping your gear clean and repaired is key to survival.
📦Updated Storage UI
The storage interface has been redesigned! It’s now a dedicated window, separate from your personal inventory, making resource management easier and more intuitive.
We've also added weapon condition indicators, so you can keep a better eye on your gear's durability.
🌤️ Weather & Daytime Indicator
A new, handy UI element has been added: the Weather and Daytime Indicator. It’s a small but crucial feature to help you stay aware of time and conditions — especially useful for planning expeditions or anticipating rain.
Thanks for reading, commanders! As always, we’re excited to hear your feedback. Stay warm, stay sharp — and we’ll see you in the next update!
We’ve worked hard over the past months, and it’s time to share some exciting progress with you. From a brand-new map to new weapons and facilities, the world of Altera is growing and we're getting closer to the upcoming public playtest. Let’s dive into what’s new and what’s comin
We’ve worked hard over the past months, and it’s time to share some exciting progress with you. From a brand-new map to new weapons and facilities, the world of Altera is growing and we're getting closer to the upcoming public playtest. Let’s dive into what’s new and what’s coming soon!
New Weapon: Wooden Bow
The wooden bow is one of the simplest weapons available early in the game. It’s silent, perfect for hunting, and can also serve as a deadly weapon against humans. Arrows are now a separate ammo type and can be either crafted or purchased from traders.
Characters
We’ve optimized our human characters to make them much more performance-efficient while maintaining high visual quality.
New Map
We’ve dedicated a significant amount of time to developing a new map, which will replace the Haven map. Like Haven, it features an island setting — but this one is much larger. While Haven was 4 square kilometers, the new map is four times bigger at 16 square kilometers! Our goal was to make exploration even more exciting and to give players a constant sense of scale.
We first focused on designing and testing the layout to ensure that the vast scale feels natural and that exploration aligns with our sandbox game vision. Once we were satisfied with the flow, we moved on to foliage distribution, using procedural generation to create diverse landscape layers and sub-biomes.
We’ve also replaced the old biome with a completely new one. The new island is covered with expansive pine forests, ranging from lush, mossy woods to drier, sparser areas.
Overall, the new map will look stunning — towering mountains, deadly high cliffs, sprawling valleys, dense forests, and breathtaking distant views. We’ve carefully analyzed every aspect of the old map to improve immersion and make the world of Altera feel even more alive and exciting.
Another highlight of the new environment: massive terraces and cliffs, which are not only visually impressive but also hint at the future climbing mechanics we plan to introduce!
These improvements will elevate the visual quality of the environment, while system requirements are expected to remain the same.
New Starting Base
We’ve created a brand-new starting base, larger than the previous one. It will serve as a starting point in the game.
Starting base layout (WIP!)
New Facilities
We’ve designed the visual style of several new facilities and are currently working on their technical implementation. Here’s a sneak peek at some of them!
Wood storage
Workbench
Portal Dungeons
We’re also developing a new version of the portal dungeons. They now feature environments filled with unfinished buildings, adding new atmosphere and challenge to these areas.
Save System
The save system has been updated to use local storage instead of saving directly to the cloud. This ensures that your data is reliably saved, even in case of network issues. Don't worry — Steam Cloud support remains in place to keep your saves safe and backed up.
Additionally, the save system has been expanded to include more game components. The following states are now saved:
Sky and weather conditions.
Built facilities and structures.
Permanent containers placed on the ground.
We’re getting closer and closer to the upcoming public playtest on Steam! We can't wait for you to dive into the world of Altera, explore everything we’ve been building, and share your impressions with us!
Full list of changes:
Reimported and optimized human characters.
Optimized human hair quality on setting below Epic.
Fixed visual bug with the extreme closing deformation on low and medium settings.
Animation: Improved crouch state.
Animation: added movement transition states.
Implemented wooden bow.
Enhanced weapon recoils.
Updated AI cover system.
Improved AI peeking animations.
Fixed bug when units were spawning on top of the buildings.
Replaced the old map with a new 16 square km terrain.
Created the new starting base.
Designed starting area of the map.
Designed models for the workbench, wood storage, wood oven, and portable flame heater.
Developed procedural setup for the upcoming version of portal dungeons.
Hello and welcome to the new dev update! Before we jump into the dev update we need to address the playtest release first. Sadly we will not be able to launch it this year. Originally we planned to release it as an early Christmas gift in December but we decided to delay it until
Hello and welcome to the new dev update!
Before we jump into the dev update we need to address the playtest release first. Sadly we will not be able to launch it this year. Originally we planned to release it as an early Christmas gift in December but we decided to delay it until the next year. The delay is mainly because we want to improve the AI further and optimize the server performance. The latter will also require more testing, that's why can't wait to invite all of you to test the game! Now let's jump to the dev update.
In this article, we’ve aggregated all the exciting changes and new features we’ve worked on over the past six months. So let’s dive into the details!
Horses
Who doesn’t love these beautiful animals? We love them too, which is why we’ve added horses to ALTERA! These loyal companions will be your best friends on your journeys. Thanks to their endurance and strength, they’ll help you traverse long distances quickly and carry large amounts of gear.
Horses come with a variety of coat and tack colors, based on our new random appearance system. This ensures every companion feels unique and distinct.
Traders are neutral characters who visit your outposts to trade goods with your faction. They sell all kinds of equipment, gear, and supplies. If you need to restock your troop quickly, keep an eye out for a trader!
Our first sniper rifle. It’s hard to acquire, but its devastating long-range stopping power makes it worth the price.
Ammo: 8.60mm
AKM:
A widely used rifle originating from Earth. It offers decent damage, though with low stability and a below-average fire rate.
Ammo: 7.62mm
B-25R:
A rare and expensive automatic rifle that delivers high damage with a lower fire rate. It’s very effective at medium to long range.
Ammo: 7.62mm
Weapon Attachments
We’ve implemented an attachment system to provide more customization options for different playstyles and combat scenarios. Guns can now be equipped with scopes, magazines, and more. Attachments can be looted in-game or purchased from traders.
New Attachments:
Red dot sights (3 variants).
Holographic sight.
x2, x3, x4, and x7 scopes.
Extended magazines (2 variants).
Drum magazine.
Adding attachments is simple: equip a gun, then drag and drop the attachment onto it. Removing them is just as easy with a single click.
Flashlights
All guns now come equipped with flashlights, allowing you to navigate more effectively at night.
Each DNA grenade contains an imprint of a character encapsulated in the size of a handheld device. Just put in your backpack and use it to spawn help. There are three types of grenades, each designed for a different species:
Humans.
Penguin soldiers.
Horses.
Save System
We’ve laid the groundwork for a robust save system. While largely invisible to the player, this system enables seamless cross-play and cross-progression by saving all data in the cloud. With this system in place, we’ve also unlocked the possibility of implementing new features like character creation and customization.
New Main Menu
The main menu has been completely redesigned. Upon launching the game, you’ll see the environment of an old, abandoned house. A single table with a PC—showing signs of recent activity—is your gateway to the game world. The PC screen displays information about your active save slot. There are three save slots available, allowing you to manage three independent game sessions.
Character Customization
After selecting a save slot for the first time, you can create your character. Customize the body type, skin, hair color, hairstyle, eyebrows, beard, mustache, etc. And this is just the beginning. The system will be expanded in future updates.
AI characters in the game world also have randomized appearances, ensuring a diverse and unique cast of characters. This system mirrors the one used for horses.
AI Updates
We’ve made significant improvements to AI behavior:
Cover System: AI units now analyze their surroundings and seek cover when under attack.
Behavior Variations: Different soldiers act based on their loadouts. Snipers maintain distance, while assault marksmen prefer close combat.
Building System
We replaced the radial buildings menu with the new tile-based one. It allows you not only to place structures but also facilities and other placeable objects. The number of those will gradually increase over time, that’s why we decided to make a tile-based menu which will provide more space and better organization of the items.
The models of the building parts have been reworked and now look like this:
Crate system enables allows various types of cotnainers, boxes and chests in the game world. Players are able to move items freely from their inventory to an external storage or just throw them to the ground.
There are two types of crates:
Constant crates can be placed in the game world to provide an extra storage option
Temporary crates appear when any item is dropped to the ground. Dead enemies now also drop their loot.
Players can easily share items with their troop, as well as with each other. Just come close to a desired character, press the interaction button, and move items freely between the characters.
The items lying on the ground can be easily accessed with TAB looting. Any time your inventory is open but you’re not interacting with a specific crate, all nearby items will be displayed based on proximity.
Portal Dungeons
Crates with valuable loot can now be found in portal dungeons, making them essential for your economy.
User Interface Improvements
Updated item appearance with a clean tile view.
Re-captured and edited inventory icons with added shadows for better readability.
Notifications for interactions and building restrictions.
Weight and Overload System
Characters now have a weight limit. Overloading reduces movement speed, requiring careful inventory management. Horses can help carry additional weight while leveling up specific skills increases your carrying capacity.
Resources
ALTERA Cash, wood, and other resources are now displayed in the inventory alongside other items, therefore they can be shared as well.
Clothing and Gear System
We’ve introduced several clothing sets:
Casual outfit.
Survivor outfit.
Basic military outfit.
Special operations outfit.
Tactical military outfit.
Clothing and gear can be bought, looted, and equipped like other items. The inventory now also includes armor slots for enhanced protection.
Changes to the Game Loop
We've made a few changes to the core game loop. Now all enemy outposts have a control tower just like the player-controlled ones. To capture the outpost you don’t need to destroy the tower. Instead, just hack it to bring it under your control, but only if the outpost is cleared. To capture an area you have to control all towers in it. The number of towers in an area is now not limited to just one, enabling you to build your own outposts completely from scratch!
The preset outposts now have active lighting towers to provide visibility and aid the base defense at night.
User Interface
We changed the overall colors of the UI to a more greyish tone and applied the same color scheme to all parts of the UI in the game.
We updated the appearance of the minimap and the quality of the icons. Numerous new icons were added, including displaying the friendly units and loot.
The “Escape” menu has been reworked to look similar to the main menu. It also features information about the active locally hosted session.
The game settings have been split into a few separate screens: Video, Audio, and Input.
Some of the keybings for the deprecated features have been removed. On the other hand, a setting was added to enable MegaLights - a new experimental feature that provides a better performance of scenes with a large number of light sources.
Shader compilation screen
We added the shader compilation screen which now appears right after the game launch. Pre-compiling the shaders will prevent stutters during the gameplay.
Other Changes
Soldiers in your troop now wear backpacks, while those protecting the outposts do not.
The area belonging to each outpost is now rectangular instead of circular.
Items can be switched using the mouse wheel.
Updated building controls.
Updated default graphics settings and resolution.
The engine version was updated to 5.5.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug causing player control loss after riding far from a horse’s spawn point.
Fixed a bug preventing enemy spawns in portal dungeons.
Fixed multiplayer teleportation issues in dungeons.
Fixed desynchronization of enemy weapons for remote clients.
Fixed neutral character attacks by enemies.
Fixed disappearing character heads in inventory previews.
Thank you for your continued support and feedback! We’re excited to hear your thoughts on these updates.
We wish all of you a Happy New Year and see you in ALTERA!
Hi everyone, Today we want to tell you about all the amazing stuff we've worked on the past few months. The overall biggest change of this update is that we found a practical way of merging the Sandbox and Campaign into one unified game mode . We think this is much better and ove
Hi everyone,
Today we want to tell you about all the amazing stuff we've worked on the past few months. The overall biggest change of this update is that we found a practical way of merging the Sandbox and Campaign into one unified game mode. We think this is much better and overall will reduce a lot of confusion for all players.
MetaHumans
We implemented new human characters that are based on Epic MetaHumans. There will be a lot more characters in the future as well as a lite character editor!
Clothing
It wouldn't be appropriate for our newly created characters to be without clothing, so we've implemented a few initial sets. The starting characters wear survival-styled outfits, while most enemies are currently dressed in military uniforms. We plan to significantly increase the variety of clothing in future updates. Soldiers accompanying you on adventures now put on backpacks, allowing them to carry more gear, which is necessary with all the new items we've implemented and plan to add.
Hunger and Thirst system
In this update, we've added hunger and thirst systems. If a soldier's hunger or thirst level reaches zero, they will start losing health. To support this system, we've introduced new items. You can find them in the game world or buy them in the shop, all featuring our new carefully crafted animations.
Apples keep your soldiers well-fed.
A water flask is a must-have item for every soldier.
New health item
Use the Syringe Gun to refill your soldier's health.
New grenade
We've added a new frag grenade, the well-known M67. But don't worry, this doesn't mean we're getting rid of all the old grenades. The terrifying mango grenade is still available and can be used to eliminate entire enemy troops!
Recoil updates
The recoil system has been further refined to provide smoother and more satisfying gunplay.
Animation updates
We've continued improving our animation system to work seamlessly with the human characters. The missing movement states have been migrated from the old animation system to the new one, designed to work neatly with UE5 skeletons. Additionally, we've focused on creating transition animations that were missing in older versions but are crucial for realistic movement. These include full-body animations for equipping, holstering, and swapping items. We're continuously working on the animations to make them feel and look more polished with each update.
A small insight: the animation system was probably the most challenging and extensive task in this update because it involves implementing and seamlessly blending countless movement states, transitions, actions, and reactions, and making all of it work in both first-person and third-person perspectives. Moreover, crafting animations and tweaking them for the best appearance is a very time-consuming process. But we've made great progress, and we're proud of the results!
Swapping animation example.
Inventory updates
We've made significant improvements to the character inventory. Each soldier now has an individual inventory. The slot configuration has been reworked as well. Every character now has 2 main weapon slots, 2 secondary slots (for items like bows, pistols, and melee weapons), and 6 belt slots (for grenades, food, drinks, etc.). The inventory interface has also been updated; item slots are now larger for easier access and gear management. Additionally, a 3D preview of the character is displayed.
Skills
We've further developed the skill system. The skill for increasing health has been removed, as we plan to allow players to protect themselves by equipping body armor. The skills window has been moved to the inventory tab for easier access. Several bug fixes have also been made to ensure the system works as intended.
User interface
Our user interface has been reworked and now features greenish military colors that better match the game's mood and feel. The main gameplay UI has also been significantly redesigned. The appearance of items has been improved, and they are now displayed in square boxes.
New outposts
We've designed new outposts in a military style. There are living quarters, medical facilities, and a command post where the faction command (you and your friends) can meet to discuss plans and strategies. There are also checkpoints on the main roads, equipped with facilities for controlling bypassers, large watchtowers, and spacious storage facilities. No hostile troop will pass by—or will they?
The new addition to the outposts is the watchtowers. Soldiers positioned in the towers help build a multi-layered defense, making capturing the camp a more challenging task. Additionally, the command tower model has been updated to resemble a radio tower, serving as a communication hub between your outposts in different territories.
The road system has also been updated to look more realistic, with the new meshes and new textures replacing the old ones. And by the way, are you excited about the possibility of building your own outposts? If yes do not forget to check the next update too!
Missions
A new set of missions has been added to guide players through their first steps in the game. The mission system itself has received numerous improvements and fixes to ensure tasks are properly replicated for all players.
Co-op
We've simplified the process of inviting players to a session. After starting a session, you can now copy the invite code and send it to a friend, who can enter the code in the main menu to join your game.
Full list of changes:
Added new playable human characters.
Enemies on the outposts and inside the portal dungeons were replaced with humans.
Added blood visual effect upon hitting another character.
Added two new survival clothing sets as well as a basic military outfit.
Added backpacks.
Implemented hunger and thirst system.
Added the red apple food item.
Added the flask with water as a usable item.
Added the syringe gun used for healing.
Added M67 grenade.
The bow now deals damage instead of a stunning effect.
When an object or enemy is hit with a bow, an arrow realistically persists on the impact location.
Updated muzzle flash effect on the weapons.
Improved weapon recoil.
Added unarmed movement state.
Improved equipped movement state, especially when moving sideways.
Added equip and holster animations for rifles, bows, and belt items. (
Added item swapping animations.
Updated item slot configuration.
Improved the appearance of the slots in the inventory.
Added real-time character preview in the inventory.
Moved skills to the inventory screen.
Removed Viable skill (increases maximum health)
Changed the color scheme of the UI.
Changed the friendly faction's main color to green and the enemy's color to red.
Improved various UI elements.
Improved appearance of quick access slots on the main gameplay UI.
Replaced character stats appearance with numeric.
Updated the appearance of the status UI of the friendly and enemy units.
Added military outposts.
Replaced the command tower model.
Added new road meshes.
Replaced the road textures.
Added initial set of missions.
Troop size was limited to 3 characters.
Every commander and a soldier can now be revived by an ally.
Implemented inviting friends with an invite code.
Performance and visual updates to the time of day and weather systems.
Added additional graphic settings and simplified DLSS quality selection.
Updated project to Unreal Engine 5.4
Updated DLSS to the latest version.
Bug fixes:
Used items are now properly removed on the client.
Fixed animation when going through the portal.
Fixed bug when jumping interrupted the reloading.
Fixed Stable Hands and Quick Hands skills. their effect now properly affects reloading speed and recoil amount.
Fixed bug when active missions were not replicated to a newly joining client.
Fixed bug with displaying mission progress.
Made various fixes and improvements to troop commands.
Hi everyone! Before we jump into the news we just wanna thank everyone again who voted for us in the IndieDB 2023 awards! For those who missed it, we made it to the 8th place in the category Best Upcoming Indies ! Check out all the other amazing games that made it to TOP 10 here
Hi everyone!
Before we jump into the news we just wanna thank everyone again who voted for us in the IndieDB 2023 awards! For those who missed it, we made it to the 8th place in the category Best Upcoming Indies!
Check out all the other amazing games that made it to TOP 10 here.
Alrighty now the blog post part.
We've made great progress this year and we would love to share it with you all! As you can see we included a new screenshot that shows a real-world environment of the main game. All people who played the Prologue probably know that it was set in a simulation environment. That simulation has great popularity in all nations of ALTERA. The Prologue ends with the player being hacked by the main antagonist, a mysterious villain, METALGRAVE.
For the main game, however, things will be different, visually speaking. The visual style of the main game is a mixture of sci-fi and post-apocalyptic elements. And before you get sad: no, the robots did not fully disappear. Introducing human characters and "other" ones is one of the main goals of the main game.
To give you all a better understanding of the lore and world of ALTERA please read this overview:
The world of ALTERA is set in an alternative fictional universe. Humans, animals, and machines on this planet lived in peace and harmony for many hundred years. But METALGRAVE does not believe in the progress that was achieved and wants to erase all technology from ALTERA.
The main goal of the players is to form a faction, recruit soldiers, and put an end to Metalgrave and his morbid plans. Unlike the Prologue, in Act 1 of the campaign, the player is sent to a remote island formation, which serves as a home to the numerous refugees who fled from another universe.
The universe of ALTERA is far developed and many technological inventions have been made. The many different species that live on the planet all take advantage of this progress. On the surface, there are no wars, no unemployment, and no big issues that plague the many nations of ALTERA. However, all this came at a great price. ALTERA’s history is several thousand years old. And across the centuries there was a great effort to hide and bury all wrongdoings of the past.
That and much more will all be uncovered in the campaign.
Human characters
The implementation of the first version of human characters is nearly finished. The human characters are currently playable and most of the animations are working. The animation system itself got numerous improvements and polishes.
More ballistic weapons
We have started implementing more ballistic weapons in the game. The first ones are M4A1 and AR-15. You can expect around 12 new weapons in the upcoming playtest.
Realistic recoil
During the Alpha stage, many of you gave us feedback regarding the gunplay. The main point was there was a need to improve the recoil. With the new procedural system, the recoil now looks and feels much better!
Sleepdealer animations
The Sleepdealer animations have been also updated and now are much more realistic. The shooting mechanic was reworked as well. Now you need to pull the string by holding RMB first and then release it to shoot.
Character level and skill system
We have implemented the skill system, which allows you to enhance the stats of your troop commander, using skill points. Those are obtained by leveling up.
Your troop gets experience by killing enemies and executing other actions in the game world. The skills allow you to increase your health, stamina, sprint speed, reload speed, decrease recoil strength, etc.
All soldiers besides the troop commander invest their skill points automatically. All the enemies will also have unique skill combinations, and their levels will vary, which will make some of them dangerous opponents!
Stamina system
The energy has been renamed to stamina and now plays a much more important role in your gameplay. You lose stamina by sprinting and using the Sleepdealer.
Take a look at the stamina bar, the level is decreasing when pulling the string of the Sleepdealer. When the stamina is at the minimum it's no longer possible to shoot.
Fall damage
Now you receive damage after jumping down from height.
On the gif below you can notice that the health level slightly drops after landing. Bigger heights will cause much higher damage.
Faction system
Now you can position friendly soldiers near the towers or do the opposite and command the stationed units to join your troop. All those soldiers are part of your faction and the more towers you have the bigger your faction can be. You can always check how many soldiers you have and where they are positioned on the new faction screen.
Units stationed near the towers will protect their tower from enemy attacks. This process will happen automatically even if you are far from a tower.
At any point in the game, you can return to any tower to help your faction soldiers protecting the area (or just go there and observe what's happening from a safe spot 🙂 )
Troop commander death rules
When the troop commander dies, you need to select a soldier from your troop and assign them as a new commander. But this costs a lot of money so we recommend you watch out for your commander carefully. If you don't have money to assign the commander, you can still do it but you will get into financial debt. You can also always assign another unit to act as a new troop commander.
Other changes:
Inventory items are now displayed on the bottom of the screen so you can always see what items your controlled soldier has.
Maximum troop size changes based on having many other players join you in the game.
Also, as a bonus, here's a screenshot that teases the new redesigned main menu. Just ignore the UI bug haha.
Hello everyone, Before we outline what was happening this year and our future plans, please do not forget to vote for ALTERA for the best upcoming FPS! There is only one day left to vote, soldier! We spend this whole year implementing many new game systems and features. All aspec
Hello everyone,
Before we outline what was happening this year and our future plans, please do not forget to vote for ALTERA for the best upcoming FPS! There is only one day left to vote, soldier!
We spend this whole year implementing many new game systems and features. All aspects of the game also received further improvements and we fixed a lot of crucial bugs. Act 1 is ready and now we can finally start the production of Act 2 as well as the Sandbox game mode.
The next big milestone for us will be the public playtest in 2024. The Closed Alpha version will stay available on Steam and will be replaced with the playtest when it's ready for release. The playtest version will have no NDA which means everyone can share gameplay, screenshots and feedback publicly. There will also be scheduled testing times to assure that custom game lobbies for campaign and sandbox are filled properly.
What content will be in the playtest version:
Full Act 1.
A small portion of Act 2 (one questline as well as many side quests).
Many new game systems and features that will unlock during Act 2.
New map to explore.
New units.
NPCs.
Traders.
Skill system for troop commanders and units.
New weapons (ranged & melee).
Realistic procedural recoil for all ranged weapons.
New grenades.
New utility items.
Sandbox game mode with custom rules.
Full support for self hosted servers (yes dedicated servers are coming!)
AND MUCH MUCH MORE!
The focus of the playtest will be to receive further feedback on current and upcoming new game systems. As well as to give as many people as possible access to the game before the Early Access release. Like the Closed Alpha the Playtest version will be updated on a monthly basis and you can expect not just bug fixes but new features as well as quality of life improvements. We will keep you up to date on the progress of the playtest here on Steam and on social media. In case you have not joined our Discord please do so.
Anyways that's all from us in this year. We wish you a great holiday season and we cannot wait to return fully refreshed and continue working in the next year!
CLOSED ALPHA 0.14.6 PATCH NOTES:
Changes:
Added ability to join friend sessions from the main menu.
Added category "All items" in the inventory.
Increased enemy marking distance.
Added snow weather in Prologue and Sandbox. (for nice holiday vibes)
Fixes:
Fixed music interrupting in cut scenes.
Fixed bug where unit grenades received as a reward were not spawning a unit.
Fixed bug when it was impossible to respawn on some of the beacons in Sandbox.
Hi everyone! We made it into the TOP 100 thanks to you! This means the second round of voting has started. Vote now to help us win the award for best upcoming FPS ! We still have some Closed Alpha keys to give to people who supported us. Share your vote with us on our Discord to
Hi everyone!
We made it into the TOP 100 thanks to you! This means the second round of voting has started. Vote now to help us win the award for best upcoming FPS!
We still have some Closed Alpha keys to give to people who supported us. Share your vote with us on our Discord to get your key!
Hi everyone! We're competing for the Indie of the Year 2023 award on IndieDB!🏆 Vote for Altera to help us win the award for the best indie FPS game! People who share their vote on any social media will also receive a Closed Alpha key . Make sure to cast your vote as soon as poss
Hi everyone! We're competing for the Indie of the Year 2023 award on IndieDB!🏆
Vote for Altera to help us win the award for the best indie FPS game! People who share their vote on any social media will also receive a Closed Alpha key. Make sure to cast your vote as soon as possible because the number of keys for the giveway is limited!
The new update brings back Act 1 which is now renamed to Prologue. One of the missions in the Prologue was reworked too. We also continued improving the portal dungeons and added interactive doors and the initial timer. Penguin Unit Updates: Penguins can now enter portals. Pengui
The new update brings back Act 1 which is now renamed to Prologue. One of the missions in the Prologue was reworked too. We also continued improving the portal dungeons and added interactive doors and the initial timer.
Penguin Unit Updates:
Penguins can now enter portals.
Penguins can now carry weapons but can not use them.
Penguins are now able to use health cores and throw grenades.
Penguin default attack can now be selected by pressing 1, 2, 3, or U (Unequip).
Disabled penguin's run splash effect.
Act 1 Updates:
Act 1 is back now and was renamed to Prologue.
We reworked the mission in which the player transforms into a penguin. The portal dungeon where the mission takes place was replaced with a normal dungeon environment. When entering the dungeon the whole troop will teleport with the commander.
Fixed a softlock that appears when the first tower gets destroyed by enemies and then is placed anew by the player.
Fixed enemies not dropping ammo on death.
Fixed the mango basket location (used to appear under the ground).
Other Changes:
Added doors in portal dungeons.
Added starting timers in portal dungeons. After entering a dungeon players will have time to prepare before the dungeon entrance door opens.
Added fade-to-white effect when going through a portal.
Character's health now will be restored once recovered after knock-down.
Disabled ability to deactivate a friendly commander.
Fixed issues with troop following in portal dungeons.
Fixed the bug where enemy units sometimes spawn on trees.
Fixed short freeze when getting close to the starting base portal.
Highlight effect on the characters was disabled for cleaner visuals.
Disabled quest marks in cut scenes.
Added cinematic graphic settings.
Known Issues:
You can only invite friends to your session while you are on the starting base.
The new patch introduces a major update of the Portal Dungeon system, as well as numerous new features, improvements and bugfixes. Portal Dungeons: Portal dungeon system was significantly improved. The new improvement allows multiple dungeons to be active at the same time. Portal
The new patch introduces a major update of the Portal Dungeon system, as well as numerous new features, improvements and bugfixes.
Portal Dungeons:
Portal dungeon system was significantly improved. The new improvement allows multiple dungeons to be active at the same time.
Portal dungeons now initiate a quest. You need to complete the quest in order to receive a reward.
Only the host player can now interact with the portals. When they do it, all players with all their troops will be teleported to the dungeon.
When players die inside a dungeon, they get teleported back to the corresponding tower.
Implemented dungeon map and mini-map.
Improved dungeon props layout. Removed props from the starting room.
Added windows inside dungeons.
New Features:
Implemented bullet spread system. AI units now will shoot less accurately when they are far away from the target. The spread also applies when the player is not aiming.
Added troop unit icons on top of the screen. Now it's much easier to keep track of your troop.
Added highlight for the currently active unit in the Inventory and Troop Manager.
Implemented multi-quest system. Now multiple quests can be active at the same time.
Implemented quest rewards.
Implemented flashlights to make nighttime navigation easier (default key is L).
Implemented new system for the troop following behavior. Now troop units don't get stuck in narrow interiors.
Implemented dynamic detection range for AI units. The sight range will increase if units are alerted. This will solve the issue when the units are under attack but don't react to it.
Improvements:
Increased spawn radius for all enemy spawners.
Improved navigation generation around enemy spawners (navigation is used for the bots to be able to navigate the map).
Deleted fallen trees. Those often caused bots getting stuck in forests.
Added sound notifications for quest completion/failure and various area events.
Increased weapon bullet speed for most of the bots.
Increased shooting range for most of the bots.
Added knocked state for H-Bots and Penguins.
Added cull distance for the tower UI.
Added a hotkey to toggle on/off gameplay UI (default key is O).
Added few spawn beacons on the island.
Bugfixes:
Fixed bug when sometimes all enemy units could spawn at the same location.
Fixed bug when it was impossible to select respawn tower.
Fixed bug when environment decals were affecting the Sleepdealer weapon.
Fixed weapon physics after the death of a unit.
Fixed bug where a wrong orientation of the view was visible inside the base portal.
Fixed bug where client was trapped on the base after respawn.
Known Issues:
Act 1 is temporarily disabled in this patch. It will be enabled again in the next patch.
You can only invite friends to your session while you are on the starting base.
This is a small patch with some bugfixes. Changes: Improved troop teleportation: units will no longer be recovered from stun or knock down when going through a portal. Updated some of the dungeons layouts. Bugfixes: Fixed a bug when an exit portal sometimes didn't spawn in a dung
This is a small patch with some bugfixes.
Changes:
Improved troop teleportation: units will no longer be recovered from stun or knock down when going through a portal.
Updated some of the dungeons layouts.
Bugfixes:
Fixed a bug when an exit portal sometimes didn't spawn in a dungeon.
Fixed a bug when a client sometimes wasn't able to travel through a portal.
Fixed a bug when some actions on a client were locked after going through a portal.
This soldier is part of your faction. You can also exchange items with other soldiers.
