Hi everyone!
First of all, huge apologies for the wait. I've spread myself pretty thin and made a big mistake of trying to do everything (and then figuring out how to put it all together), so I had to disable a couple of major things that are already done (just to have a bit more time to make them complete), but even with all of the stuff disabled, it is still a pretty big update from a technical and gameplay point of view. It is still a bit rough as usual (feels like I'm 100% fitting the "eurojank" genre of games), but, without further ado, let's talk about major changes that this first half of the update brings to the table.
Creatures Update
One of the biggest changes compared to the previous version is the addition of creatures into the game. Each biome now has a specific creature pool (1-3 creatures per biome) that you can encounter during the game (up to 26 new creatures total). Each creature is designed and set up specifically for every biome of the game. It took a lot of time to customize each and every single one of them, but hopefully they should make each biome a bit more unique.
Creature Behaviour
Like I said previously in a sneak peek, the majority of the creatures are territorial and get aggravated only if you stand near them for too long (if the creature dislikes you, it will emit a visual and a sound cue). I did my absolute best to make them distinct from each other, so some of them will be completely neutral, some of them will attack you only if you attack them, and some of them will just not care and run at you full speed trying to get the kill.
(Using a gif from previous sneak peek)
Creature Drops
One of the important parts of adding creatures into the game is to provide the player with a reward if you defeat them. Each creature has a 100% chance of dropping its own unique resource that will be worth 2x the highest ore cost in the biome. Additionally, each creature has an 8% chance of dropping a unique item attached to that specific creature. Almost all of them are unique and not just the variation of the items you can buy from the vendor. Swarm creatures cannot drop items.
Creature Difficulty
Creatures are not that common. Expect a couple of them in the biome, but there won't be a moment where you'll find 5+ creatures in a single place (most of the time, at least). I did specifically try to maintain the "chill vibe" of the game rather than turning it into the remake of Doom or something (although there are a couple of locations that require a bit more shooting than usual).
Each creature will deal damage equal to 5 * "current biome number" points of damage (less for ranged enemies and more for slow-moving ones). That means that it will take 7 hits to kill a player without any armor, and creatures in the last biomes will one-shot you (without wearing any armor). To compensate for that difficulty, I've added a bit of creature "stagger," which means that creatures will drastically slow down if you hit them, and buffed almost all of the sources of maximum health (perks and items).
Neutral Creatures
Each biome will also have a tiny bit of helpful robots to aid your progress. Expect traders that will sell you items at random prices (between 50% and 200% of the original cost), and you can also expect a robot that will restore your oxygen if you stand near them.
Don't forget that you can always enable "Peaceful mode" in settings that completely disable hostile creatures.
Music
I'm so glad to announce it, but Colony 37 now has a music system. Huge thanks to my friend Anton Orsher (an author of Main Menu music) for composing it, so expect the whole gameplay to be a bit less lonely. Currently there are 2 tracks (more will come in the future), but I've implemented a system that will launch the music at random intervals instead of a continuous loop, so it will not get too repetitive.
Ambience
I have completely rewritten all of the code that was related to in-game ambience. Previously, Colony 37 had only 3 ambient tracks — "Inside of the base," "Outside of the base," and "caves." To be honest, it was way too silly to hear water dripping when standing directly near the planet's core, so I just had to do that. Now expect more and different ambiance tracks for laboratories and biomes (it is still work in progress, but should be a lot better).
Improved Leaderboard
The leaderboard now has 3 categories: "Blocks Mined", "Credits Collected" and "Fastest time to the core." Fastest time to the core is achieved by activating a new computer situated right at the lowest depth.
Tools Rework & Item Changes
I have rewritten all of the code that was used by melee instruments and made it a lot more customizable. Expect different attack ranges, the ability to pierce blocks, and also the ability to attack multiple blocks (reworked this mechanic to integrate it into the tool itself, rather than it being an "effect").
All of the "heavy" tool variants are removed from the vendor, and now you can buy them from underground robot vendors (they have drastically improved stats and effects). Additionally, I've implemented a cleaner way for firing instruments (currently this feature is only available for 2 new weapons: Rusty Shotgun and Battle Rifle, although please tell me what you guys think about this mechanic).
- Added 25+ new items to creature drops.
- Minor tool rebalance.
- New Instrument: Rusty Shotgun.
- New Instrument: Battle Rifle.
- New Instrument: Emerald Drill.
- Added "Stairs" buildable. Allows diagonal movement between blocks.
- Added "Portable Loadout" buildable. Allows changing loadout on the field.
- Added secret item "Elevator-master Helmet." Makes elevators instant.
- All of the shovels are now able to mine multiple blocks.
- All of the drills now have reduced reach but are able to pierce multiple blocks in a line.
- All of the "Energy Regeneration" sources are reduced by 25%.
- All of the "Maximum Energy" sources are increased by 30%.
- All of the "Capacity" items now provide an additional 4-6 ore slots.
- "Emerald Armor" bonus health per cash maximum value capped at 300.
- "Emerald Battery" bonus energy per cash maximum value capped at 500.
- Wall climbing now has duration. Duration is replenished when on the ground and consumed on the wall (wall climbing boots now have a 6-second duration of wall climbing, so no more Spiderman miners).
- Added new flashlights that drastically improve visibility.
- "Oxygen Emitter" oxygen behavior changed from "-0.8x multiplier to oxygen drain" to "+15 to oxygen restoration per second" (it restores oxygen now).
- "Oxygen Emitter" price increased from 900 to 1500.
- Item cost multiplier increased from 0.9 to 1.1 of the original value (everything is slightly more expensive).
Savefile Rework / CPU Improvements
- Moved the save file folder to the game's folder (now it will automatically create "Saves" near the .exe file).
- Added an automatic backup system for save files (in case something gets corrupted).
- Saving now creates a temporary file instead of rewriting the main save file (exiting the game mid-saving will not straight up corrupt your save file).
It took me a while to do it, but hopefully it will make saves slightly more reliable. I'll add cloud saving soon. No need to start a new game; I've also implemented a feature that will automatically move previous save files in to a new folder.
- Completely redesigned code to use Block IDs instead of Block names (should slightly improve CPU performance).
- Changed "Completed quests," "Completed dialogues" and the majority of in-game things from lists into dictionaries (should slightly improve CPU performance).
- Completely rewritten load/unload blocks behavior (fixed multiple bottlenecks, slightly improved CPU performance).
- Oxygen/Radiation/Health now ticks 10 times per second instead of every frame.
It was such a pain to make it all happen since I had to rewrite literally the main core of the game, but, based on my testing and experience, the game feels a lot more stable now (still, optimization is something to be desired, and I will continue making improvements to code/visuals).
Visual Improvements
- Updated visuals of outside main building.
- Updated visuals of main entrance gates.
- Removed universal skybox.
- Added a surface skybox (seams between textures underground now should be black and a lot less noticeable).
- Reworked laboratory textures.
- Lamps in laboratories now emit "volumetric" light.
- Lamps in laboratories now emit sound.
- Slightly updated Geiger counter sound effect.
- Slightly updated textures in main building.
- Slightly updated crosshair.
- Improved camera shake when falling.
- Camera shake when taking damage is based on severity of damage (the more damage you take, the heavier the shake).
- Camera shake and damage sound effects will not play if the player takes less than 1% of damage.
- The camera now flies in the random direction when the character dies.
- Reworked the "Red forest" laboratory.
Miscellaneous Changes and QOL improvements
- Nurse no longer able to heal the player and restore energy.
- Vending machines are now repurposed to heal/recharge stations.
- Health/Energy consumables now spawn in the main base and laboratories.
- Added the ability to trade credits in to experience.
- Added the ability to reset your current perks.
- "Placement Distance" stat is renamed to "Instrument Reach".
- Starting carry capacity increased from 8 to 10.
- Starting oxygen increased from 120 to 135 seconds.
- Lack of oxygen now deals 5% of maximum health instead of 10% per second.
- Added "XP Multiplier" stat (Multiplies all of the incoming experience).
- Added "Creature spawn rate" stat (Increases spawn rate of creatures).
- Added "Atmosphere Density" stat (Reduces the biome fog, greatly increasing visibility).
- The "Current Credits" display is now showing the actual amount of credits a lot faster.
- Fixed and reworked the "Dismantle" mechanic. Now it shows a wrench icon when you're looking at things you can dismantle.
- Fixed and reworked the "damage block" mechanic. Now it shows the correct amount of damage blocks in your health bar.
- Laboratory oxygen restoration station restoration increased by 100%.
- Breakable boxes in laboratories now "refresh" after the laboratory closes.
- Double jump, wall climbing, and extra movement speed are now disabled in laboratories.
- "Shadow" damage changed from 15 to 50.
- "Shadow" spawn delay increased from 5-60 seconds to 30-100 seconds.
- "Desert wind" duration changed from 10-45 seconds to 5-12 seconds.
- "Spore Cloud" oxygen damage per second increased from 10 to 30 per second.
- "Compressed Gold" value changed from 30 to 20 + 0.5 per depth (we're rich).
- Maximum sensitivity in settings increased from 200% to 400%
- Updated laboratory entryways; they have small stairs now.
Perks
- Added new perk "Juggernaut Plating". Gives a character stacks that completely block incoming damage (up to 3). Recharges a stack every 60 seconds.
- Added new perk "Advanced Reach". Gives a character extra instrument reach.
- Added new perk "Improved Visor". Improves visibility in foggy areas.
- "Vitality Increase" perk maximum health gain changed from 15 to 25.
- "Maximum Energy" perk energy increase changed from 15 to 20 per level.
- "Energy Regeneration" perk energy regeneration changed from 0.25 to 0.2 per level.
Bugfixes
- Added top blocker that would not allow flying outside of the map.
- Fixed shadows having collision.
- Fixed an issue that caused Left/Right/Backward keys to not save properly.
- "Fixed" an out-of-bounds bug in the second laboratory's elevator.
- Fixed "Oxygen emitter" not being able to restore energy if the interact button is not E.
- Fixed an issue with hit colliders of frozen rocks.
- Fixed music volume being affected by mouse sensitivity.
- Fixed main menu missing a tooltip for (?) buttons in settings.
- Fixed an issue that caused "Total game time" to be affected by the current system time.
- Fixed an issue that caused "Sapphire Backpack" to give credits instead of energy.
- Gathered resource icons no longer fly to the player if he is dead.
- Fixed multiple out of bounds issues.
Future Plans & Creatures Update Part 2
In all honesty I probably missed a couple of changes, so if something goes right (or wrong) let me know. It is a giant update in terms of code I had to write/rework, so I had to postpone main story progression. The new laboratory is already done; I just need a bit more time to make the quest interesting (it will include multiple ways of completing it).
I'll try to release part 2 of the update in less than a week (since everything is pretty much almost done), but considering how bad I am with dates, please don't be mad if I slightly mess up with the schedule (a lot of things I want to add in combination with stuff that is still not fixed really makes it hard to pinpoint the exact date). I'll explain future plans with the part 2 update (since the changelog is already getting pretty long).
I'll try to fix all of the bugs you guys found and will do my best not to disappoint.