Patch 0.6.1
Another patch aiming to improve both stability and performance prior to beta keys going out.
The subscene system has been expanded to further segment out the world components. In most cases this should result in lower standby RAM usage -- though you may still experience spikes and/or brief hitches while island data is loaded in, particularly if you are running an HDD.
I have also forced VSYNC in the background. (I plan to eventually make this a toggle feature, but for now it's in testing.) The reason for this is by normal operation the game will pile on frames until the GPU is sitting at 100%, resulting in excessive noise and heat.
On my system (RTX 4070), GPU utilization with this patch at 1440p went from 100%-~35%.
Other changes:
Slightly reduced overall quality of cloth physics. Shouldn't be too noticeable, but appreciably lessens cpu load.
Significantly overhauled many game textures, and introduced more aggressive mipmapping. This should lead to lower RAM usage and quicker loads -- though textures will appear blurry until they've loaded. This will also lower the install size.
Fixed a major bug on the Watcher that caused significant performance impacts.
Made numerous changes to the positional calculations of the player and ship -- this should fix unexpected behavior on loading, and lead to more predictable save/load. (If you have ever loaded only to have your ship start cosplaying as a breakdancing beluga, this is what I'm talking about.)
Simplified many meshes to improve performance.
Most of these changes will be most noticeable on lower end hardware -- though the game remains somewhat heavy on the cpu/gpu.
Performance tested on Steam Deck:
Pre patch - FPS RANGE - ~10-20 | avg ~15
Post patch - FPS RANGE - ~22-60 | avg ~35
Regarding overall development, I have received the first batch of beta keys, which will be going out within the next few weeks (or sooner). Then I anticipate a fairly short period of testing and feedback, though it could stretch longer if a lot of major issues are encountered. After that comes EA.