Major Update
Complete Surface Overhaul
It's been a huge 3 weeks since launch, and while the launch definitely did not go as planned, they've been one of the more amazing learning experiences I've had on this journey. Exhausting but immensely valuable. The first order of business is to thank everyone who stuck around, provided feedback, and helped lift the game to where it is now. It could not have happened without you. Thank you.
The controls have been reworked to provide a smooth, consistent experience for mouse and gamepad users and the UI has been lifted to a higher standard.
Many of the physics related glitches from the cart to the movement of metals have been either corrected or outright replaced with the new inventory system.
The mini-games have had the rough edge cases largely weeded out, and the game has shifted from bug correction to feature addition.
The NPC AI has been, and will continue to be, refined.
The original world level just no longer matched what I feel the game can become. It was drab, and it was too large. Too much wasted time moving from place to place, to much empty space leaving the game feeling lifeless and unfinished. To that end, it's been replaced with a newer, more colorful, more efficient version. I can only hope you like it.
Along with the visual improvement, the level has been upgraded to the new world-partitioned schema brought in with Unreal Engine 5, meaning less of the world should be loaded in at any given time, improving performance. I'm continuing to work to move load off people's GPU's where I can. The lighting now uses the new Lumen model, so should also be more efficient.
Obviously this huge a shift in the game may cause one or two teething issues. I've triple checked if you load an old game you'll keep your cart, mine picks, weapons, and quartermaster. All inventories stay intact. If anything does go wrong, please just let me know.
I expect the game to go back on sale in the next day or so, hopefully to a better reception. Whatever happens, thank you again for everything. I can only hope you got your $4 worth.