Hey Colonists!
It's time for another major improvement to the game. Maybe I'm slowly becoming obsessed with optimization, I hope not 😅
What exactly is Async planet generation, and why is it so important?
INSTANT ASYNC PLANET'S GENERATION
Before the update, only the planet surface was calculated in the background (async).
When elements of the planets (resources, rocks, and plants) were generated, it caused a hitch (lag).
Right now, all planet objects are generated seamlessly (async). Player cannot even notice when a planet is generated.
This change makes the experience pleasant, reduces the load on the CPU, allows older PCs to run the game, and makes Multiplayer syncing and joining quicker!
MAP IMPROVEMENTS - GAS CRATER
It was a frequently requested feature to show more types of resources, like geysers, directly on the map.
There is no need to visit each planet to find gas anymore!
OPTIMIZED VEHICLES
Spawning multiple vehicles was causing a huge performance drop. After the latest improvements, this is no longer the case. It's now possible to spawn 10–20 vehicles and keep 60 fps+.
IMPROVEMENTS & FIXES
- new async system to generate planets
- snap objects have the correct visuals when placing
- snap objects when picked → constructed are replicated correctly to clients - keeping pasted size
- map improvements showing new types of resources like gas
- remaining multiplayer shader objects are fixed when moving (tools and some devices)
- sounds have now corrected attenuation, fixing the problem that other players in multiplayer can hear distant sounds
- asteroids should now look sharper
- new improved algorithm for anti-aliasing, making it less blurry
- vehicles are optimized (performance 10x)
SALES
The game is currently discounted, so please use this opportunity if you still haven't played it!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1614550/Astro_Colony/
Despite all the effort and many improvements, the game is getting less visibility and fewer reviews than usually. It is quite concerning that the number of reviews dropped drastically, from 60 last month to only 20 this month.
Soon Steam Summer Fest will start, and I will stream the game and make the demo available once again, so I hope that will help spread the word about the game!
Thank you, guys, for supporting the project!
Kind regards,
Tefel (Terad Games)