Since releasing the Discovery Update last month we found a good balance between adding new locations, adding new features, and polishing/fixing existing systems. All three fronts have seen massive additions, so let’s get right to the specifics!
Zer
The planet of Zer has not only been remastered from previous versions but has become vastly upgraded. Visually, we’re using our most advanced terrain tech, complete with lava flows, atmospheric effects, ground texture variety/detail, and wasteland areas.
All the creatures on Zer have been completely upgraded as well, using our latest AI systems to bring these creatures to life.
Deep Terrain Drill
The cornerstone of what we’re calling internally as “mid-game” progression is the new Deep Terrain Drill. This drill extracts resources out of the ground for you, generating impressive automation mechanics while giving you the choice of either preserving the drill or exploring further with other tasks.
The drill’s infinite power creates seismic disturbances, which may alert all nearby creatures.
Space Station Travel
The Space Station can now travel to distant planets, anchoring above the planet in Low Orbit and acting as a safe haven for exploring from space. Spaceship docking has been added, empowering you to bring your Ship and commute your supplies to the surface.
Species System
A significant addition on the AI front is the species system, which has been in development for several months. We’re so excited to finally unleash this robust feature in this extensive update!
Creatures have mutated into many subspecies, each with its individual strengths and weaknesses, furthering combat strategy and variety. Some can even spit fluids, which can be a devastating advantage in combat. Be careful out there!
Colossus has been given some much-needed animations too.
Underground Caves on Aziel, Lutari and Zer
Greatly expanding on our ever-evolving underground system are a suit of cave and mine locations dispersed across the solar system. Rich in visual detail, the caves are wealthy in minerals and threats, providing you with further opportunities to venture further and deeper in search of precious fortunes.
New Mineral Art
All the minerals have been upgraded to have unique and interesting 3d models, giving more variety in visual appearance and easier identification.
Strange Plants Discovered
Various unusual alien plants have bloomed virtually everywhere, even in the severe conditions of Aziel, Lutari, and Zer.
Buggy - with new Vehicle Upgrade System
Kicking off with a full-featured upgrade system is the Buggie! A durable, speedy, and inexpensive vehicle with sufficient cargo capacities. The Buggie is the first vehicle to allow for upgradability, allowing you to expand its capabilities to accommodate your needs.
Map and Radar Systems
The Map system has a multitude of new features, including zooming, panning, and full node interaction. You are now able to view and discover minerals by scanning the surrounding area. Use the interactivity of the map to identify what each mineral is with precise locations.
Satellite Dish systems now automatically sweep the area, giving you constant readings of what is on the surface!
Lots of Improvements
The Space Ship can now be accessed with an interactive ramp complete with a traversable interior. Robot wandering has been addressed, and space travel stability has been tirelessly worked on all month to enhance stability and create safeguards.
First Iteration of Ship Docking
OK, so this is SUPER rough, but the functionality is there. You can now dock your Ship at your Station, allowing you to travel with the entire Space Station to a new planet!
In fact, we don't even have the UI indications in yet. Just be sure to park within 20 meters of an Airlock for the ship to be considered docked. As we go further, this system will be more fleshed out with a Ship Dock module, interface systems, and docking conformations. For areas like these, our motto is "it's not perfect, it's progress."
Multiplayer Code Refactor
Significant efforts have gone into improving all of the multiplayer code throughout the game, with a focus on optimizing, stabilizing, and improving syncing. Every line of multiplayer code has been addressed, refined, and optimized. Our goal is to have rock-solid, predictable multiplayer stability with precise and smooth syncing. Besides our personal testers, we’ve been continuously interacting with the community to search and destroy any and all edge cases that arise.
We still have lots of work to do here, and consider our multiplayer refactor about 60% complete.
Full Change List
Added - New tutorial missions that also maintain story immersion
Added - Recipe in Forge to meltdown Scrap Metal into Aluminum
Added - Recipe in Printer to weave makeshift cloth bundles into ClothBundles with additional AlienFiber
Added - Support for text narration to missions
Added - New tutorial missions that also maintain story immersion
Added - Recipe in Forge to meltdown Scrap Metal into Aluminum
Added - Recipe in Printer to weave makeshift cloth bundles into ClothBundles with more AlienFiber
Added - Charred Alien Bits recipe to the furnace for early game meat food
Added - Support for text narration to missions
Added - UI Polish Pass on in Game GUI
Added - UI Polish pass on Main Menu
Added - Buggie vehicle
Added - Wrecked Buggies around Proteus 2 available for repair or salvage
Added - Vehicle Upgrade system first implemented on new Buggie
Added - Buggie Active Scanner Upgrade
Added - Buggie Fuel Reactor Upgrade
Added - Buggie Tank Hauler Upgrade
Added - Buggie Cargo Hauler Upgrade
Added - Small Radar Dish utility
Added - Beacons, Habitats, and Storage containers can now be nicknamed
Added - Additional ore clusters into the Dunes surrounding the continent on Proteus 2
Added - Pause system to the Menu Options screen
Added - Key Bindable support for all menu screens
Added - Support to change map heading rotation lock
Added - Updated Workbench Build Icon Animation
Added - Support for vehicles in the new fuel system
Added - Support for multiple inventories on vehicles
Added - Improved interact UI for liquid and gas inventories
Added - Vehicles destroyed will now spawn their repairable form if available
Added - Grilled Alien Meat recipe to Kitchen
Added - Makeshift Cloth Bundle recipe to Printer
Added - Makeshift Laser Chisel to the workbench
Added - Slightly slower MakeShiftClothBundle recipe to the workbench for earlier automated crafting
Added - Compass and Minimap icons for Buggie, GAV, and Rover
Added - Small resource clusters for critical resources on Proteus 2 that had one large cluster before
Added - Panning to map while in Map Mode
Added - Improved Laboratory build animation and FX
Added - Updated Laboratory Build interface to be more consistent with other crafting stations
Added - Additional interaction buttons to Crafting tables for Repair and Fuel Inputs where applicable
Added - Warp unstuck command to dev console
Added - Species system and associated setup functions in CreatureHealth and IK system scripts
Added - Species system settings
Added - Aim target settings and associated functions for creatures to utilize in behavior tasks
Added - Species selection control to CreatureZones
Added - Settings and associated control to ProceduralLegHub and ProceduralLegManager
Added - Projectile attack handling to creatures
Added - Expanded creature behavior systems to allow selection between melee and projectile attacks
Added - Expanded movement behavior tasks for automatic switching between walking and sprinting
Added - Cases to Seek/Attack Circle behavior tasks to allow for more fluid task switching
Added - Settings to Pursue behavior tasks to allow for single targeting and target offset for creatures
Added - New textures/materials for select creature species
Added - Configured Scorpion creature and added to Lutari
Added - Animation events for stepping and attacking to all applicable attack animations
Added - Increased spider animations in use
Added - Mouse Wheel zooming to Map Screen
Added - Interaction to all map icons in Map Screen
Added - Latitude and Longitude lines to Map
Added - Support to pan map at a proper speed based on zoom level
Added - Support for map items to pulse
Added - Radar scanning radius for the player - shown as white radar sweep
Added - Radar sweeps to satellite dishes set to proper radii
Added - Improved Resource Scanning while in Map Screen
Added - Support to display how many resources are found in a scan
Added - Animation to Small Satellite Dish
Added - Each species is now discoverable, discovery popup support is WIP
Added - Set Space Debris to be selectable in Map Screen
Added - Set Pod Stages to be selectable when in Map Screen
Added - Navigation Module allows Space Station and passengers to travel between Zer and Proteus 2
Added - Zer Planet
Added - Deep Terrain Drill
Added - Dungeons to Aziel Lutari and Zer
Added - Lutari and Aziel Dungeon Room Prefabs
Added - Minerals to all Dungeons
Added - Updated Aziel and Lutari Maps with more rocks, foliage, geysers, and Base Objects
Added - Creatures to Proteus 2: Aracheetle, Wingedling, Squitozoid
Added - Added creatures to Zer
Added - Functionality to enter and pilot spaceship
Added - Spaceship ramp functionality
Added - interactObject feature to allow any interaction with any design object
Added - Completely reworked aerial creature functionality and updated creatures as necessary
Added - Warp debug command now supports warping between moons and planets
Added - Wreckage variant of drill that spawns when the Deep Terrain Drill is destroyed
Added - Deep Terrain Drill icon
Added - New custom models to many of the minerals
Added - Updated Items for minerals
Added - Updated item icons for structures and mineral items
Added - Updated plant prefabs with a proper name
Added - Space Station now has red lights throughout that display when it is preparing for travel
Changed - Moved diamond chisel recipe location in workbench menu to improve visibility
Changed - Moved pickaxe and conduit bender to forge high precision upgrade to reduce their visibility
Changed - Updated Dull Survival Knife description
Changed - Optimized gameplay sounds
Changed - Further improved slope traversal
Changed - Minor UI Polish in Main Menu
Changed - Levels adjustments on fruit icons
Changed - Moved diamond chisel recipe location in workbench menu to improve visibility
Changed - Moved pickaxe and conduit bender into forge high precision upgrade, reducing visibility
Changed - Updated Dull Survival Knife description
Changed - Optimized gameplay sounds
Changed - Further improved slope traversal
Changed - Minor UI Polish in Main Menu
Changed - Levels adjustments on fruit icons
Changed - Optimized all UI icons
Changed - Added map zoom hotkey info to explore mission dialogue
Changed - Public multiplayer servers should now have resource recharge enabled
Changed - Giant Worms no longer require a dust storm to spawn, effectively reenabling them
Changed - Increased passive thirst usage
Changed - Increased sprint thirst usage
Changed - CircuitBoard repair recipe now only takes 1 broken circuit board
Changed - Diamond Chisel no longer requires the Tool Station upgrade to craft
Changed - Fern Tree Berries of both colors will no longer roll, making them easier to gather
Changed - Reduced default vehicle fuel consumption
Changed - Minor texture optimizations
Changed - Darkened Mini Map background and lightened Player Heading
Changed - Optimized Workbench Mesh
Changed - Tweaked Low Heat Upgrade on Furnace to be less expensive
Changed - Rock Outcropping materials have been updated to be less metallic
Changed - Reduced speed buff effect on Shower
Changed - Adjusted grass distance in Graphics Settings
Changed - Lowered cost of Hab Cloth walls and Roof
Changed - Lessened placement restrictions on defensive walls
Changed - Lead is now dropped from the Crashed Pod Bottom Section's heat shield
Changed - Updated all minerals and alloys to have a scientifically accurate description
Changed - Swapped out Tin on Gunmetal alloy recipe for Molybdenum
Changed - Renamed Electrum to White Gold and switched recipe to 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Nickel
Changed - Renamed Ni-Cr to Nichrome
Changed - Glass Container now requires 2 Aluminum instead of 1 Zamak
Changed - Updated Heat Sink Unit recipe to use Nichrome
Changed - Ni-Cr now properly requires Chromium instead of Carbon to be scientifically accurate
Changed - Renamed Carbon to Lonsdaleite and changed hardness and density
Changed - Scrap Metal to Aluminum recipe in forge changed to cost 2 Scrap Metal per Aluminum
Changed - Chisel moved from Forge to Workbench to further clarify tool progression
Changed - All users in private universes can now use the dev console, not only the owner
Changed - Hose recipe now takes 1 Iron and 2 Rubber
Changed - Moved Chisel progression to the center of workbench crafting list to improve visibility
Changed - Renamed Methane to Hydrocarbon Solution for scientific accuracy as a liquid on proteus
Changed - Overall sizing polish on in-game GUI and HUD
Changed - Updated Gnat to operate as an animation-driven creature as opposed to IK-driven
Changed - Set compass marker text size limit higher
Changed - Updated all CreatureData assets to reflect changes to format and species system additions
Changed - Updated all creature Animation Controllers to be able to utilize the species system's speed
Changed - Increased functionality of Animation Event Hub script for custom events with parameters
Changed - Smoothed Strafe and Forward values in MecanimBridge
Changed - Updated creature zones on Proteus, Lutari, and Aziel for spawning from the species list
Changed - Easter Egg map icons to green with pulse
Changed - Reimplemented and rewrote spaceship spawn after crash handling
Changed - Added more info to display during laboratory building
Changed - Reworked player respawn code to be more efficient and less error-prone
Changed - Drop inventory on death setting is currently ignored while the system gets rewritten
Changed - Trees now all input harvested items directly to inventory
Changed - Swapped plastic and scrap plastic icons to be more consistent with rubber
Changed - Reduced atmosphere density while in spaceship
Changed - Assault Rifle's recipe swapped Zircaloy for a Diamond
Changed - Creatures can now damage structures and vehicles
Changed - Any limb that has already been harvested on a creature will route damage properly
Changed - Queued up another Mineral persistence reset for version 0.5.0
Changed - Navigation Module now requires Engine Module within 500m to build
Changed - Updated Health Indicator prefab
Changed - Introduced public off-screen health indicator size multiplier, reduced size across the board
Changed - Updated all creature prefabs to utilize the new prefab
Changed - Sped up Space Station travel calculations
Fixed - Issue causing players to disconnect in multiplayer with 3 or more players connected
Fixed - Issue preventing legacy avatars from properly migrating, causing retrieving avatars spinner
Fixed - Crude Pipe can now be used as a weapon
Fixed - Removed unneeded logs to help memory leak and performance hit during longer play sessions
Fixed - Spawning under the map when exiting the crashed pod
Fixed - Frame spikes when creatures spawn
Fixed - Creature zones now spawn for remote players
Fixed - Propellant Tank now properly disappears when dropped on the ground
Fixed - The player is no longer thrown into the air when exiting the crashed pod
Fixed - Removed Highlighter from Silver minerals
Fixed - Multiple issues causing players to disconnect with 3+ players
Fixed - Issue preventing legacy avatars from properly migrating, causing infinite retrieving spinner
Fixed - Reworked UI scaling handling to properly support all common aspect ratios
Fixed - Improved first-person melee detection when inside of enemy colliders
Fixed - Crude Pipe can now be used as a weapon
Fixed - Removed logs to help memory leak and performance hit during longer play sessions
Fixed - Spawning under the map when exiting the crashed pod
Fixed - Frame spikes when creatures spawn
Fixed - Creature zones now spawn for remote players
Fixed - Propellant Tank now properly disappears when dropped on the ground
Fixed - The player is no longer thrown into the air when exiting the crashed pod
Fixed - Removed Highlighter from Silver minerals
Fixed - Redicle display when tool is not equipped
Fixed - Mission UI entries to properly display cancel button
Fixed - Collect rocks tutorial mission no longer completes after harvesting only 1 rock
Fixed - Mission objectives now display item display names instead of their item types
Fixed - Added missing LODs on plants, improving performance on Proteus 2
Fixed - Added LODs to Proteus 2 environment rocks, improving performance on Proteus 2
Fixed - Players under the map should now be automatically placed on the correct terrain if airborne
Fixed - Animation/RootMotion issue on Sentry Droid causing it to walk into obstacles
Fixed - Creature spawning: spawning into the ground, inside obstacles, dungeon spawn discrepancies
Fixed - Utility Canvas Flicker and Local Player trigger issues
Fixed - Two hidden inventory slots now visible
Fixed - Building is no longer possible in vehicles as intended
Fixed - Steam related input with XInput HID devices
Fixed - Oxygen consumption when using weapons with different Universe Settings
Fixed - CreatureZones on Aziel and Lutari
Fixed - Wire item should no longer fall through colliders when dropped
Fixed - Copper now shows proper hardness in GPS Filter
Fixed - Crash site pods now appear on GPS with Fabricated filter
Fixed - Mine entrances now appear on GPS with Fabricated filter
Fixed - Updated fuel values for numerous items
Fixed - Underground check will no longer teleport the player outside of the dungeon
Fixed - Input should no longer break after respawn
Fixed - Vehicle inventory persistence issues
Fixed - Reduced Glide unit cost to 4 ingredients
Fixed - Grilled Alien Meat recipe in Kitchen should now properly recognize Alien Tissue in inventory
Fixed - Jumping beneath an invisible asteroid will no longer teleport the player into low orbit
Fixed - There is now an input field as intended in the renaming dialog
Fixed - Buildable missions now properly complete
Fixed - Plants will now properly show as harvested in their LOD states
Fixed - Appliance build icons now properly destroy after building is complete
Fixed - Biodome Bins are once again properly persistent
Fixed - Fuel interface should no longer persist in various unintended places in the UI
Fixed - player count on server buttons is now accurate
Fixed - Regenerated discovery data, should fix mismatched and incomplete discovery data entries
Fixed - Remote clients now properly load buggie inventory
Fixed - The last item in inventory now properly networks changes to all clients when updated
Fixed - Map when in Pod Tutorial
Fixed - Harvestable creatures now display proper species name
Fixed - Player can once again swap equipable after death
Fixed - Panning while in player-facing North mode
Fixed - Blinking icons while scanning
Fixed - Recentering of the map when leaving Map Screen
Fixed - Cinnefern LOD materials when harvested
Fixed - Small Satellite Dish collision
Fixed - Fungle Thicket name on Map
Fixed - Names of Mines on Proteus in Interact Menu
Fixed - Creature corpse segment loot amounts are now properly network synced
Fixed - Crafting table inventory now properly syncs
Fixed - Scribe menu pagination now works
Fixed - Player deaths now appear in the scribe log
Fixed - Crafting table should now properly network all actions
Fixed - Durability system issue that caused durability to act unpredictably
Fixed - Crafting table fuel should now be properly networked
Fixed - Creature zones should now properly network their activation status
Fixed - Dropped items should now properly despawn after 2 minutes
Fixed - Incorrect color tag string on hardness readouts on minerals when holding the appropriate tool
Fixed - Nickname updates should now be properly networked
Fixed - Empty item persistence entries should not cause crashing on loading into the world
Fixed - Player models left behind after a user has disconnected should now be cleaned in all instances
Fixed - Guns should no longer be usable once durability has been depleted
Fixed - Respawn vitals should now respect respawn HP slider amount
Fixed - Shovels are no longer usable once durability has been depleted
Fixed - Buggie Hauler Upgrade should now properly sync its inventory capacity increase to all clients
Fixed - New lab building cancel option is now properly replacing the interaction button while building
Fixed - Prolific duplicate spaceship bug with the previous spaceship after crash spawn system
Fixed - Optimized creature networking bandwidth usage
Fixed - Biodome Bins now are now interactable in multiplayer
Fixed - Owned structure display in the main menu should not have duplicate entries in multiplayer
Fixed - Added missing Left Shift control display to build UI for fine rotation control
Fixed - Radar Scanners now respect the ownership
Fixed - Optimized new creature syncing bandwidth and performance usage
Fixed - Optimized new inventory syncing
Fixed - Optimized weather networking
Fixed - Multiple instances of objects being accessible when not owned
Fixed - Multiple instances of objects not being accessible in multiplayer
Fixed - Errors reported by our internal error reporting tool
Fixed - Terrain activating when leaving deep space
Fixed - Spaceship physics when entering and exiting the vehicle
Fixed - Updated Creatures data for missing/incorrect information.
Fixed - Duplicate rover mesh issue
Fixed - Improved spaceship load to be more stable and less crash-prone
Fixed - Improved stability of multiplayer load with multiple joining clients
Fixed - Player should no longer get infinitely stuck under Aziel or any other planet
Fixed - Player spawn point is once again properly set after exiting a Spaceship
Fixed - Turrets should now mind their aim better
Fixed - Descriptions in the Laboratory now properly update
Fixed - Inventory contents are now properly refunded when dismantled, including all attached furniture
Fixed - Entering atmosphere from low orbit will now properly clamp the spaceship's position
Fixed - Dungeon generation on Aziel
In Progress - Multiplayer code is in the middle of a full rewrite
Removed - Remnants of legacy creature variables from various scripts.
Thank you so much for your support! As always, our number one goal is to give you the best game we possibly can, and between your feedback and our efforts, we are accomplishing exactly that.
Going forward, we plan to ramp up on the polish of existing features and to focus on the single-player story and mission set; as we now have the features needed to flesh this out. In the meantime, please enjoy the Fires Of Industry Update!
“Houston, just to go on record, I have a bad feeling about this mission.”
- Brian