{ Status }
This is a very large update which includes many improvements across all features, including upgrading the base engine version, rebuilding the terrain system's physics, unifying all objects' rendering methods, starting to push core gameplay systems into mechanics that are needed for stable area development, improved save/load, improved vehicle and driver physics, and much more. This ALSO includes all redone areas to match the new systems - a necessity of the updates which I leveraged to build some better areas.
This update at its core was about upgrading and improving many of the core systems. I went through every asset, optimizing, unifying and improving the base tools used. Beyond overall better performance, this enabled more impactful graphics options. We rebuilt these options to allow for heavier hitting choices like restricted draw distance. We haven't validated & optimized for SteamDeck yet, but that's the goal and this update sets us up for that. The physics on the terrain and vehicles have also been both optimized and re-built to allow for multiple vehicles at once as well as way more terrain options and control.
A variety of features and core mechanics have been modified, including a resource system of "credits" and "wealth" .. credits are used PER AREA while wealth determines your STARTING credits in each area. As of now, credits are used primarily for recovering vehicles. These systems will be affected by difficulty settings, when they're added. Vehicle telepads and spawning is another core system that's been modified. "Vehicle Yard Spaces" have been added and are used to spawn vehicles into an area. You get a limited # of these per area, giving you a base choice on what vehicles to utilize. Once a vehicle is spawned in, it can be recovered and repaired using "Recovery Pads". This setup creates a much more permanent feeling game system per area which I love, and it also will work well with different difficulty options to allow players to have experiences ranging from infinite recovery & tries, to resource managed gameplay, to hardcore one-chance-only gameplay. Right now the only difficulty enabled is "resource managed".
The saving/loading system has been overhauled to allow for more precise state saving. This has improved how we save/load but will continue to help us make it so no progress is lost - especially when you're spending tons of time building something, it becomes crucial that save state is precise.
An encyclopedia has been added. It has a few entries now and more to be added. This will enable a nice way to communicate systems, allow for digging deeper into the more complex mechanics, act as reference and give a space for some fun lore :)
A variety of quality of life fixes have been made, including resetting controls back to defaults, default graphics/audio options, and quite a few UI/menu improvements.
The saves and progress are wiped - this is because all the areas are new. We won't be rebuilding the start areas again until probably near 1.0 release where we'll take a look again and analyze if they need a redesign. Until then, I do not think we'll be ever clearing full save data again, and hopefully we can avoid it entirely :)
The next step is to first work through issues that show up. I'm expecting some problems because this update is so large. A lot of new content, many new features, many core system changes - there are bound to be issues so please let us know so I can get things smoothed over. Everyone has been so encouraging and I really appreciate the friendly support. You folks, especially those in our discord, are the best. Seriously.
I appreciate you all. <3
{ Changelog }
- all areas rebuilt, new map sectors
- underlying engine version upgrade (this is huge and SO worth it, many great side effects from this)
- assets all rebuilt to unify features, shaders and LODing + analyzed for optimization
- improve and optimize textures for better in-game performance but also much less install space required
- vehicle bed collision checking for supply carrying improved and fixed (no more supplies falling through truck beds when hauling tons of supplies)
- FPS debug benchmarking graph/stats improved in options
- while graphics options tab is open, drops camera down to player's normal view to allow for live visual feedback
- add reset to defaults for audio and graphics options
- rocks now all have their own roughness/friction depending on type of rock
- overhaul to terrain physics, collision and deformation algorithms for performance, control and features
- add the ability to have better "soft" ground that doesn't directly collide, like mud or deep sand
- improve driver physics stability, especially on transportation
- block entering a vehicle if anything is in the seat (like supplies)
- fix issue where driver's hands would incorrectly be placed when grabbing objects as they fall/move
- add vehicle scan towers that scan vehicles to unlock them when you drive a newly found vehicle near it
- add encyclopedia
- add unlock UI animations and notification queue with messages for better feedback when unlocking things like areas, vehicle parts, encyclopedia entries, vehicles, etc.
- fix bug in the overview map when the game is paused
- wagon trailer visual improvements to suspension and tires
- add vehicle yard spaces, for spawning vehicles into an area) and add their effects/UI
- add recovery pads, like telepads but instead allow you to manage/recover vehicles in the area instead of always spawning new ones
- make recovery bad UI during pause overview map nicely highlight locations and give prices for better feedback on what recovering a vehicle will do
- add credits and wealth system to be managed as a resource for recovering vehicles
- improve vehicle rig stability to allow for better teleportation/transport of vehicles, this will also enable better performance optimizations for multiple vehicles
- recovery pads disallow recovery if they're blocked
- area unlock towers and zones to allow for very physical feeling unlockable connections between areas, (reach a specific zone at the edge of an area and you unlock a new area)
- objective system overhauled, including new icon feedback and wealth/credit rewards for objective completion
- trash visuals updated and improved
- add adaptable reset system for when you're just starting out in an area to keep initial area experience nice until you've reached a recovery pad and brought a vehicle in
- "auto recover" (settable by user which pad to auto recover to) using keybind and more specific recovery options enabled on the overview map replace the original telepad system
- credit replenishment system added into "school" areas to make early tutorial learning experience better
- improve foliage/bush system, better physics and performance for bushes and how they move/deteriorate as you drive through them repeatedly, including how they physically affect the vehicle
- physics and visual improvements across all vehicles
- trailers added as unlockable vehicles, able to be spawned in via a vehicle yard (using up a vehicle spot)
- fix rare issue where driver rig would incorrectly grab the wheel when getting into a vehicle
- add map icon on the pause overview map to allow for user to manually reset specific key objects in an area, like an electric trailer or boards on a bridge that must be crossed)
- fix icons on pause overview map incorrectly layering
- make transparent supply preview objects not jitter
- make hitch have better visual indicators of status and vastly increase physics stability
- add difficult select screen to new game, with only "medium" difficulty currently available
- fixes to system that makes vehicles get dirty, wet and muddy
- make high detail terrain deformation visuals last MUCH longer and improve their performance greatly, plus set groundwork for saving/loading of them and better control
- general UI improvements to pause menu and button placement
- fixed driver sometimes getting out a vehicle when another vehicle is in the way
- fix driver footprints to be correct placement and depth
- add better (and more comprehensive) context hints for hitch system
- massive improvements to save/load systems and game's data formats
- improve driver rig stability when standing up
- add area reset from pause menu, allowing players to completely reset an area's progress to try again
- save/load precise locations for things like trailers, vehicles, axles, tires, etc for more stable save/load and improved save/load experience (still some things here to fix, but the groundwork is set for this really well!)
- vehicle suspension system rebuilt to allow for more control and eventually parts like swaybars to matter
- add new objective systems to let areas have some more fun and versatile objectives in them (like knocking down rock piles)
- garages added, with much more to come on these but they currently allow some customization/tuning AFTER spawning a vehicle as well as free repairs
- vehicle yards and garages use a live vehicle and allow previewing of changes as you tune/tweak settings
- fix issue in tire physics that would sometimes cause jittering when they should have been stationary, much more stable tire physics now
- add a space sector and improve how sector data and unlocking works
- make exhaust thickness based on how well engine is operating to reach the desired air/fuel ratio
- add driver and oxygen sound effects
- improved out of bounds system and visual effects
- loading screen improved
- visual effects for driver head impacts and made to better reflect consciousness levels
- add mouse over hints to some things (need to add more still!)
- new optimized background terrains, allowing for nice background scenery at very low costs
- improve stuck detection and hints to give better feedback for players unfamiliar with how to get their vehicle unstuck
- vehicle customization/setup UI reflects what parts are currently equipped when selecting new parts for easier comparison
- fix to supply pile restocking ordering so no more floating supplies in supply piles
- build frog contracts sector menu with blorp-based unlocking of areas (currency from trash collecting)
- improve time trial gates, lights and live physical visual gate feedback for time compared to record run
- add weather control module that includes snow, wind and dust effects
- many dynamic icons added to pause overview map for things like trailers, vehicles, and objectives
- add collectible minerals and a generic objective collection system for future areas
- pull/push system added that uses a hand-laser to influence physical objects in the world (will eventually become an object carrying & placement system)
- vehicle radio UI added to give feedback on radio station changing
- overhaul oxygen sources so they can have many more options, including variable range and still be efficient
- add oxygen towers that have large range
- overhaul tire friction calculations for better user predictability and improved stability
- improve walking and driving context tutorials
- add render distance graphics option for massive graphics optimization if needed for lower end machines
- improve visual quality options to modify shadows more drastically
- optimize time trial checkpoint calculations for better performance and allowing for massive courses with many checkpoints ( for later... endurance races? :] )
- add new title screen, including improvements to driver and vehicle systems for better stability
- more tooltip mouseovers added for options screens
- add support for flexible unlocks/data changes from conversations, allowing convos influence the world in any way needed
- objective icons in objective list now partially fill when in progress of being completed
- during vehicle select/customization, flexible timed vehicle update system for optimal performance while maintaining experience
- fix loader object to more efficiently work, improving loading experience between areas
- improve hunger/starvation system to be more robust, as well as be more forgiving, for now
- add reset to defaults and cancel to control bindings options
- improve stand up animation to account for front/back correctly and blend smoothly, plus driver lets go of the ground as they stand
- fix tire track bug which caused visual artifacts with fast vertical camera movement
- fix rare title screen bug which caused graphical glitches
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Thanks for reading! Next up is listening and making fixes. After so many changes, I'm sure there'll be things to fix. While some of the time this update took was because of dependencies in such large sweeping changes, there will be no more of those. So we're on to smaller, little chunky updates! ;]
