Hello Mars Fans!
It has been a while but we have been working hard to improve PeriAreion and are proud to release patch 4.0.0. This is our most comprehensive patch yet, a lot of bug fixes, overhauling systems for optimization, and retooling animations and textures. Here is a list of some of the changes.
OPTIMIZATION TWEAKS: PeriAreion was our first title, something we made while learning to program/etc. With that in mind the coding was far from efficient which translated into larger lag times. We have reworked nearly every script to run faster and reduce lag.
NEW COLONIST MODEL: The Colonist model has been completely redone to match the suits on the select screen. Additionally, we have added new animations for working, idle, death, and walk.
NEW BUILDING TEXTURES: We have been updating the building texture slowly to improve them and clean up their appearance. Most noticeable are the connectors between the modules which now have an entirely new model.
NEW COLONIST VOICE: We have been working on getting the voice actors we need to put in an international team. The first of this slow rollout, Australia, has been done and is in the game.
NAV MESH FIXES: The navigation system has been overhauled and should no longer cause pathing errors. We are still working on the click through feature for when the camera is behind terrain but for now your colonists should instantly go where you tell them.
ICON UPDATE: The in-game icons that identify intractable world objects have been converted from GUI to 3D Models. This should give a more accurate representation of where the object is in the world.
MAP SCREENS: The map screen has been changed to accommodate a new HUD. This is part of a larger visual reworking for the HUD that we wish to continue when we get time.
CURSOR SPEED:
BUG FIXES: We addressed as many bugs as possible (Thank you to Mark for sending a comprehensive bug list!) Here are a few
Empty ice spots will no longer spawn when starting a saved game.
Fog color/time of day will properly load when loading a saved game
Colonist will no longer die while in the rover
Colonists will no longer sometimes be invisible on exiting the Rover
Reaching sustainability will now properly play the ending movie/credits
Stopping your colonist from mining will no longer stop the tutorial from advancing
Fixed a bug where some POIs/Assignments were not completing properly
Indicators on the research tree should now instantly update to reflect availability
Fixed a bug where a research option might show as “locked” when otherwise not
Fixed a bug where the observatory would be invisible after being built
Module malfunctions will now stop all tasks in that module (except repair) as intended
Spectroscopy will now reveal all the resource map locations as intended
We hope you all enjoy the new patch. Over the next few days we will be releasing the Steam version and getting a DRM free version out to our backers. Our next areas of focus are a complete debugging of achievements, addition of new voiceovers, and updates to the module textures.
Thanks,
PeriAreion Development Team