Welcome to the first Devlog here on Steam! Make yourselves comfortable, this will be the new norm in here. So let's get to the meat of it right away.
Fech The Ferret is out in Early Access! This version - out since September 21st - marks the release on Steam and the introduction of many elements to the game such as: online play, all 4 total rhytm aras shown thus far, 1 new enclosed level, polish to the world structure and a new intro cutscene.
Overall one of the main goals with this version was to better define zone thresholds using visual and audio cues as well as beginning to delimit "hub" sections of the open world. You'll certainly see more work on this in the coming months, like in that tiny piece of land in between the quarry and the river Eridhen.
HIGHLIGHTS:
2022-09-13 The world map is more compact thanks to structural changes to the ferrest and quarry. Removed empty stretches of land in the quarry
2022-09-15 Revamped zone landmarks
2022-09-15 The river now pushes Fech back
2022-09-17 New hub before the river zone
2022-09-18 Two brand new songs for the river zone
2022-09-20 Added a new intro cutscene for Fech waking up
CHANGES:
-Many big and small updates to props
-Hitting an obstacle in a rhythm ara now cuts off the audio for a short amount of time
-There's a lot more trees in the world
-Added rain effects on rock sides in the river zone
-Added on-rail camera for specific enclosed set pieces
-New *much better* dirt texture. The whole game looks quite nicer now
-Quicker and more accurate visual transitions between zones (especially quarry and river)
-Reshaped the overall visual mood of the river zone. More teal-coloured, easier to understand the level
-Removed old placeholder-y river song. It was nice but incredibly tiring to listen to in a loop
-When it's rainy Fech can only cling onto walls and slide, not climb them
-Fech gets wet under the rain
-Rhythm aras' treadmills no longer require running
-No more head movement while Fech is sleeping
-Small improvements to the first rhythm ara
-Added third ara level and placed it in the quarry hub with poles
-Removed old text from the second ara level
-Lowered the volume of the dash version of cava rattina's song
-Added saving notice in the main menu
-Updated credits
FIXES:
-Fixed oversight that removed the camera lookahead movement when rolling on the ground
-Fixed major piston spring softlock
-Fixed bug that would make the stamina restore automatically
-Fixed way back exit in ara good filter
-Improved look of the toon shader (no more darkened landmarks)
-The edge running bug *might* be gone. Reason: unknown
-Fixed bug that would make Fech's jump animation not trigger consistently
-Saving inside of an enclosed level (rhythm ara, the grotta level) no longer returns an invalid game position
-Fixed the most glaring issues in the power plant (softlock and spring)
-Fixed small bug in ara good filter
-Added collisions to the octopuses
-Fixed sewer NPCs dialogue
-Fixed issues with reflection probes
-Online room names are now case insensitive
-Fixed bug that would make fech stuck in the rhythm ara
-Fixed major bug that would load only 1 zone when starting the game
-Fixed third rhythm ara's exit missing
-Restored Fech's grass trail
-Fech can no longer drown while in the main menu
-Early optimization measures for the river zone
KNOWN ISSUES:
-Various issues with climbing and sliding down walls of inclination close to 90°
-Infrequent camera collision issues, mostly tied to underpasses
-Every time there's a scene change, the mouse cursor appears
-The third rhythm ara (ara tuuti) is too long and unpolished
-Various small issues in the river, among which lack of grass
-Not all dialogue variables are set
-The advanced cranes were temporarily made incomplete
-Fech's notes don't change based on the zone
And lastly before closing up this devlog I'd like to say I've managed to update the roadmap. Expect touch-ups every now and then as we keep on working!
