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Badiya Alpha 1.5 is now Live!

Hello everyone,

It's our great pleasure to introduce Badiya Alpha 1.5.

Here is the update trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EHb1G-zM7Q

* Important Note:

  • If you encounter a crash or a bug, go to the game's folder and search for a file named "Output_log.txt" and send that to us on the email [email protected] This file tells us exactly what happened from the moment you ran the executable to when the crash or error happened and it will help us identify and fix the issue.
  • Saving as of Alpha 1.5 is manual. You have to build a "Lean-to" or a "Tent" and go to it to perform a save action.

And here is a breakdown of the new features:

* Human Enemies:

  • We added human enemies (Soldiers/Bandits) to both old and new points of interest to make them more challenging and rewarding to raid or explore.
  • This is our first release of the Combat AI system and the goal was to make it challenging while giving the player more opportunities to engage it.
  • You will always be outnumbered and outgunned in these encounters and so you need to plan your attack first by surveying the area from afar and looking for opportunities to reduce their numbers before engaging in open battle.
  • You can do so by gearing up with weapons, ammo, knives, health packs and then stealthing your way through and using the take down feature if you get close to an enemy undetected.
  • Takedowns can be performed with hands or with a knife if you have one equipped which will give you many different animations.
  • You can search the bodies of falling enemies to find valuable loot and to take their clothes (in the future this will be the basis of the disquise system)
  • You can drag the bodies out of sight so that they are not detected by their comrades.
  • If you are detected, enemies will attempt to flank you and will go to your last seen position. So use the environment as your cover and play a game of cat and mouse with them.
  • You can use the environment to your advantage by shooting exploding barrels or vehicles to cause them to explode. Explosions now support chain reactions so they can be quite deadly if clustered close to each other.
  • You can attack enemies with melee attacks bare handed or while hodling a rifle or a gun. However, they can do the same so try to be the one that takes the throws the first hit.
  • You can regain stealth! If you manage to hide behind cover and move quickly, the enemies will search the area for a while and will go back to their patrols if they don't find you.
  • As this is our first roll out of the AI system, bugs and glitches are expected to happen. Please provide us with feedback both on the forum and through email ([email protected]) with as much info as possible so we can fix them in the following patches and updates.

* Building System:

Badiya now has a system that allows you to build your camp and fill it with tools such as:

  • Camp fire
  • Cooking station to cook receipes
  • Spit on fire to cook individual items
  • Water pots for water storage
  • Chests for storing items
  • Crafting bench
  • Smelting station
  • Processing Tool
  • Fences
  • Watchtowers

* New Points of Interest to Explore:

  • Crashed Airplane
  • Ranches
  • Bandit Hideouts
  • Nabatean Ruins

* More Animals:

^ Wild:

  • Arabian Leopard
  • Hyena
  • Lynx
  • Wild Grey Hound

^ Prey:

  • Ibex
  • Deer
  • Gazelle

^ Domestic:

  • Donkey

* Gameplay Tweaks:

  • New items: Bone Knife, Rock Knife, Wooden Knife, Tallow, Soft Wood, Plant Fibers, Frankinsense bark, Silk Cocoon, Horn, Feathers, Musk Gland, Musk Powder,Emerald, Sapphire, Diamond, Gold Ore, Copper Ore, Iron ore, Soft Leather, Hard Leather, Copper Bar, Iron Bar, Incense Resin, Silk Twine, Nuts, Juniper Berries, Acacia, Clay, Dried Meat, Dried Poultry.
  • All killed animals will now drop meat
  • Reduced thirst and hunger depletion by 30%
  • Item indicators on top of pickable items on the ground
  • Added hotspots on vehicles and tanks so that you know what parts of the vehicle you can interact with and what tool is needed.
  • Animals now have a health bar

* Ambient AI - Stage 1:

Ambient AI is all about adding life and realism to the crowds in the villages in the game. Imagine a scenario where crowds talk to each other, talk and bargain with merchants,
use a hammer to fix a door, sit on chairs and tables and other such activities. Those activities won't be pre-planned which will make them feel even more alive.
In Alpha 1.5 we developed the foundation of the system and we currently have one usage which is that 2 or 3 civilians can gather and start a conversation for a while before continuing on their way.
More utilization of the system will come in the upcoming Alphas.

* General Improvements:

  • The ground in all points of interest will no longer be fully flat. Instead you will natural variation in height that result in a better look.
  • Options menu now has more features in the game tab, you can have great control over every single HUD element (Item indicators, health bars, hit direction, etc...)

* The Future:

Our very next update Alpha 1.6 will be a "House Cleanup and Performance" update. The goal is to give the team a breathing room to refactor and clean the code, optimize the game to run smoother and on a wider range of hardware, focus on gameplay balancing and making the most out of the current set of systems to make the game more fun.

Following updates (Alpha 1.7 and Beyond) will feature:

  • Reaction System: Crowds will react to your hostility (aiming your weapons at them or shooting) and depending on if they are carrying a weapon or not a battle may start in villages and tents.
  • Quest System: Ability to take quests from NPCs in villages and camps.
  • Map System: Reveals explored locations as well as quest markers.
  • Improved AI: Grenades, Whistling to make enemies approach your position, throwing objects to guide enemy attention to a particular location, Disguise, Slingshots, Bow and Arrow, Body Armor.
  • Farming
  • Advanced Building System: Ability to build your house block by block as seen in other survival games.
  • Caves and underground tombs to expand the game world.

On behalf of all of us here at Semaphore, thank you very much for your continued support of Badiya and the best is yet to come!

Ahmad Jadallah
Director of Development
Semaphore Lab
@SemaphoreLab
@AhmadJadallah