Hey everyone, the next update has been coming along extremely well, so I felt it was time to lift the lid and show off some of the things you can expect to see in the next update. One important thing to note: I will not be talking about any fixes in this post, just new features. However, I have also been hard at work on reported issues, especially related to missions.
Anyway, let's take a look at 0.5 — Busy Work Part 2.
Plains Overhaul
Taking everything learned from Busy Work Part 1, the Plains is receiving the same treatment and getting fully revamped. With 0.5 this region has gone from the least detailed and interesting to the most detailed.
Every POI has been enhanced or entirely rebuilt. New POIs have been added to reduce dead space between larger locations, and numerous roads, railways and paths have been connected to create a believable world instead of the disconnected feeling between each POI in the current build of the game.
Here are screenshots of just a couple of the new areas.
Rebuilt AI
Quite possibly the biggest change I have ever made to the game will debut in 0.5 — AI3 (appropriately named as it's the 3rd iteration of the AI system!).
AI3 is a complete rebuild from the ground up and massively improves encounter variety and behaviour. In 0.5 the undead are confirmed to be upgraded to AI3, with human NPCs likely coming in another patch shortly after.
This also brings something players have been asking about for a long time: overhauled zombie animations and sounds, making them far more interesting to fight.
AI3 now allows multiple attack types driven by animation. For instance husks will now launch themselves at you when within range using their new leap attack. Normal zombies may perform their regular attack or, in some cases, perform frantic swipe combos making them more dangerous at times.
All of this is also far more stable and performant thanks to a new behaviour tree system powering AI3. This is one of the biggest and most exciting changes coming with this update and beyond as it continues to expand.
Sandbox Physics
With this update swimming and water are getting completely overhauled. Graphically, water now uses a brand new system making it more performance friendly and much better visually. Swimming has also been reworked and now supports underwater movement using the new water physics system.
This leads into the final change — water physics implementation. Dead bodies, items, grenades and even the player now use a true physics-based floating system. Dropping items while standing in water will see them realistically float back up, enemies killed will naturally bob back up to the surface and even float downstream if they are in one. This is the beginning of a major push to expand sandbox physics and make gameplay more dynamic and interesting.
Skill system
The skill system is also getting a rework based on player feedback. The talent tree system is being replaced by a new per-skill tree system allowing you to gain experience and perks by performing actions related to each tree.
The new system has two layers: you still gain main player levels and are granted skill points which can be used to unlock major perks within a skill tree. As well as this, progressing through each tree will automatically unlock several minor nodes allowing for constant progression as you play naturally.
Graphics
Fargone is also getting a huge facelift with this update. The game now supports a new volumetric cloud system (which can be disabled for performance if needed) as well as a brand new vegetation rendering system built again from the ground up.
The vegetation system not only looks significantly better but is also far more performant — internal testing so far has shown an overall increase of about 20–30 FPS in most areas of the map.
Other major improvements
There is a lot more coming in this update, however two things I want to touch on are a new rendering system and the mission system.
You may have noticed Fargone has long had an issue where when you travel far across the map things begin to shake and jitter — extremely noticeable when using the datapad or PIP scopes. This is a common issue with open world games and honestly one I struggled to fix for a long time.
After extensive research and testing I have built a new rendering system that eliminates this issue, meaning the game now looks smooth and jitter-free. This is also a huge internal win because the world can now be expanded in the future — previously I was already at the size limit Unity could handle without severe shaking.
For the mission system, I am rebuilding large chunks of it to fix long-standing issues such as objectives not appearing or AI not spawning. With 0.5 missions should be far more consistent and less prone to bugs.
There is plenty more to come as I get closer to finishing this update. While there is no specific date yet, I am targeting a March release and will continue to update you all as we get closer!