Kia ora peeps! We've got a few things to cover this fortnight -
Experimental Beta Branch Patch Notes
Preview of a post-Planet Editor patch
New features
- Both in-game and in the Planet Editor, middle click now samples whatever is under the cursor to allow you to place it without navigating the bottom-left menu
- When placing Resource Caches and Research piles, you can now choose what they should contain before placing, rather than having to place them and re-select to choose what they contain.
Bugfixes
- The Planet Editor is no longer affected by any difficulty settings you change in New Game
- Difficulty settings in New Game are correctly applied to any Custom Planets in that game - specifically around amount of resources in Mountains/Rusty Hulk etc
- You can now switch the specific model used in Sunken Ruins
- Save Game and Steam Workshop thumbnail images are now higher resolution and (more importantly) the correct aspect ratio
- Significantly improved the render speed of the Atmosphere
- Fixed multiple overlaps and similar issues with translations
- Fixed an issue where tooltips near the top-right sometimes go off-screen
- Improved how removing land tiles is described in the one-page tutorial for Planet Editor
Retrospecting on The Planet Editor
This update was an interesting one; Sam (aka ChiefMonkey) had always intended the Planet Editor to be included in the original launch of Before We Leave, but had to cut it in the interest of focusing on more important features and meeting deadlines. Despite it being partially implemented already, the update still took a surprising amount of work (alongside adding some really nice quality of life features too, which you can read about in the patch notes). We’d originally intended to have it come out in early August to get more content to you all ASAP, but September quickly became a much more viable option. Team17 suggested having a Beta Branch available too, which turned out to be a huge boon - the feedback given to us by you all was crucial!
Finding our Feet
Speaking of Team17, the Planet Editor update is the first update we’d worked on and shipped with them, after their new partnership with us back in April. Like in any new relationship, finding normalcy and routine proved to be a bit tricky, but it feels so good to have guidance from a very established company full of experienced and knowledgeable folks.
Ugh, Lockdown
New Zealand’s latest lockdown also made getting the update ready a little more challenging - I’m sure everyone reading this will know of that terrible brain fog, apathy and exhaustion that comes with being shut inside, protecting yourself from the giant, lethal pain in the butt that is Covid-19.
But now the update is here! We’re able to relax a little more, and enjoy watching community made custom planets trickle into the Steam Workshop. <3
What’s next?
Well, we’ve made some changes in the studio - specifically around how we organise ourselves and plan changes to the game! In game development, this magical thing is called Production. The people that live and breathe this discipline, Producers, are essential for any growing studio, and it’s very nice to have someone in that role now!
As for our next Before We Leave update, this is going to be maddeningly vague for some of you reading this but we actually don’t have anything concrete right now (if you watch our YouTube News videos, like the one linked here, this might sound a little familiar to you). We’ve had many planning meetings and analysed feedback - we’re at a crossroads right now, with many different paths forking away from us. What we do know is that addressing common feedback about Before We Leave being boring and repetitive without negatively affecting what people love about it is key.
I hope to have our revised update Roadmap out in the next couple of weeks - stay tuned for more info!
Ngā mihi nui <3
Emily, Community Manager