Jaws of Extinction 0.3.0.0 has arrived! The last few months have seen Eden Nadir transform. The world has been completely reworked with two main goals - a new approach to performance and delivery of a more authentic and interesting environment. Today, players will be able to explore the new Hanouten and its surrounding areas again for the first time packed with new points of interest ranging from demolition sites to dangerous caves.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg though! A plethora of bug fixes, performance improvements and other enhancements have all been implemented. Take a look at the new and improved UI, new looting options and the addition of a NPC who will track down lost loot… for a price
Developer Comment:
It would NOT be advisable to use old saves on this build, pre 0.3.0.0a and to delete old game saves. Please start a fresh game.
0.3.0.7 HOTFIX LIVE
- Fixed saving and loading issues where loading a save game could cause players to fall from the sky, then sometimes teleport to where they left off sometime later.
- Fixed clipping issue with players head when opening inventory in first person
- Fixed issue where Lexi’s dialog and trade menu would overlap. Closing trade menu could cause dialog to get stuck on screen even though the conversation was over.
- Deer have been reintroduced across the landscape
- Bird audio triggers have been reintroduced into the world.
0.3.0.6 HOTFIX LIVE
- Added injured patients to the medical building (player spawn).
- Fixed foliage icon being intermittent when looking at foliage.
- Fixed foliage not being harvestable after looting house containers.
- Fixed Weapon, Health HUD and mini map overlapping inventory screen.
- Fixed Weapon, Health HUD and mini map overlapping building menu.
- Fixed quick access icons not displaying med-packs and bandages after reloading a save game.
- Fixed getting stuck in the 4x4 vehicle when flipped on its side or on it's roof.
- Fixed 4x4 flying away into the sky when flipping it back over.
- Fixed offset popup icon on bins.
- Fixed supply quest items still appearing after the quest has been completed.
- Fixed supply quest counter not initializing properly to the correct value when loading a save game.
- Fixed axe model being affected by decals in the world.
- Fixed CX8 Alaris pistol having a sell and buy price on $0.00.
- Tentative fix for when player loads a save game but unintentionally is placed in the medical centre instead of where they left off.
- Stopped camera moving position when opening inventory.
- Fixed issue with lighting going very dark in settings other than "Epic" (This will require the world to be reloaded if set in game, not at the main menu).
0.3.0.5 HOTFIX
- Fixed crash often occurring when loading a save game.
- Fixed issue where various items could not be interacted with/picked up after loading a save game.
- Fixed Jullian Skye not spawning in after taking his bounty quest.
- Fixed missing or incorrect quest markers.
- Updated loading screen text.
- Fixed old dialog belonging to Jess Foster indicating that Kenneth Hughes is in his office downstairs.
- Fixed not being able to harvest foliage
- Harvestable foliage now displays an icon indicating interaction ability
- Moved medical pick up items to not be so hidden at game start spawn
- Fixed Wick’s shop not spawning lootables
- Fixed missing interior on some buildings
- Fixed not being able to get to basement of some houses
0.3.0.3 Update Summary
This list of patch notes is a summary of the key changes since the game’s last major update. There have been many additional bug fixes and improvements in addition these key changes.
DirectX 12
We’ve recently upgraded to using DirectX 12. Steam should pop up a message when you launch asking which version of DirectX you want to use. Please make sure you open the game from the Steam library (not from the Steam Downloads screen) to ensure the DirectX popup appears. We’re currently investigating why the option doesn’t appear when opening the game from places other than your library.
Eden Nadir
- Hanouten Fishing Village is now more akin to a village, with more space between houses for gardens and other features.
- Hanouten is now designed to feel more authentic for a settlement of its size, with a wider variety of points of interest and generally more varied scenery.
- Roadways more spacious and terrain elevation gentler to encourage vehicle transport through the area.
- New major locations to discover:
- New train station with (work in progress) travelling train.
- New guarded contamination zone
- New boat yard
- New drydock
- New hidden caves
- New lootable roadside shops
- Redesigned Lake Garnet Campsite
- New farmland, barns and farmhouses
- New waterside logging facility
- New demolitions area
- New housing construction area
- And many more...
- Added hidden military crates across the map.
- Added bodies consumed by fungus around the map. They may still have something of interest on their person.
- New redesigned houses. Improved interior spacing and window access for shooting. Some houses have complete interiors which tell a narrative about the people who used to live there. Some have placeholder/partial interiors at present. All houses will have complete interiors in future.
Developers notes:
We are aware that a lot of the houses still only have the basic interiors and we will be working on unique interiors for each house with each patch we release from now on, each one taking an average of a day to complete so should not take too long to get them all done.
This will also include being able to claim a house and barricade windows and doors to stop infected and players coming in through openings in the structure, this should also be available within the next few updates.
Hanouten Safe Zone
- Complete redesign of Backwater Beacon Safe Zone. The layout is arranged to improve access to key facilities. More space has been afforded to regions within the safe zone making the area feel less cramped and more comfortable.
- New runner facility to collect loot. For a fee the runner will collect lost loot for you. Return the next day to recover your precious items from him.
- Armoury features an improved shooting range which closes during the night.
- Player will spawn (and respawn if incapacitated) in the Medical Centre inside the safe zone instead of on the beach.
- New friendly characters and entertainment facilities.
- New location banners to help the player identify the facilities available to them.
- New tutorial area designed to teach players the basics of movement (tutorial elements will be updated over time).
Developers notes:
The Hanouten safe zone is mostly complete, featuring all the major facilities that the player will need. There are some semi-developed non-essential areas such as NPC housing which will be built on further in future updates. Additionally, in future updates the new training ground will be expanded to cover a few more of the basics. The shooting range will track your accuracy when you shoot the targets, but we presently need a way to display scores and scoreboards.
Player
- Added new bleeding audio and visual effects to emphasise when the player must act to stop bleeding.
- New consumable hotkeys. Press [5] to use a health item. Press [6] to use a bandage to stop bleeding. The system will automatically select the best health item to use. For example, if you are missing 50 HP and have two health items, the item which recovers closest to 50 HP will be used.
- Player is now given a basic bow starting weapon and some arrows near the start of the game. Firearms can still be purchased or found in the world.
UI Improvements
- New radar with minimap visible on the UI instead of the overhead compass.
- Tidier and more readable health, stamina and weapons display.
- Player assigned item shortcuts have been removed, replaced with the new consumable hotkeys.
Developers notes:
We have future plans for improved designs for the inventory, character management, player skills and guide as well as new functionality and expansion that should also make the light of day before Early Access Release on Steam, depending on other systems being put in place.
New Looting/Harvesting Options
- Lootable cupboards and containers. You can now loot directly from many containers, drawers and cupboards, in addition any loose objects which may appear around houses and other lootable buildings. Items can also be stored in these contains (although these items will not currently be saved when reloading a save-game)
- Harvestable objects such as trees will now show an icon when you have the appropriate harvesting tool out e.g. trees will show an harvestable icon when you take an axe out.
- New searchable scrap piles. Searching piles of scrap can provide useful resources. Doing so creates noise however, and may attract unwanted guests.
- Trees will now fall down once chopped with an axe.
- Some foliage will breakup when interacted with like rocks and nettles (This will expand to other items, pending feedback)
Developers notes:
In previous builds scrap materials were littering the streets everywhere. Visually this cluttered the environment but it also meant that the resources were so common, there was not much gameplay value in finding them. The idea behind the significant changes to looting is to balance scrap resources better, while also providing more rewarding gameplay elements. You can now search piles of junk and bins for deposits of scrap resources. Doing so will create noise while you search (during a short timer, 5 seconds to search), but you will be given now multiple resources used for crafting.
Our reasoning behind allowing players to store items in house cupboards and drawers is to give the player storage options if the players choose to hold up in a building. We are aware that this system is not saving properly at present however and we will allow game save features for cupboards in the next patch.
Background Updates/Fixes
- Redesigned pickup items for performance/multiplayer using a custom built pooling system.
- New hitscan projectile system. Improved performance without particularly affecting gunplay.
- Hostile human NPCs no longer have pinpoint accuracy.
- Fixed major bug where player could instantly die to an NPC projectile.
- Fixed several animation issues regarding the character’s legs. Leg animations are smoother and are no longer prone to getting stuck in one orientation while the player moves in another.
- General implementation of multiplayer systems in preparation for multiplayer release. The changes should not be noticeable in singleplayer.
Developers notes:
The move to using hitscan traces instead of spawning projectiles has had a variety of benefits, mostly relating to performance. The actual gameplay effect this transition has had is more-or-less unnoticeable. We have plans to take this trace system further in future updates. We have made a prototype using traces which handles bullet velocity, air resistance, damage fall off and gravity. This will allow shots to arc over distances and provide bullet drop for long distance shooting. Gunplay will remain much the same over shorter ranges. This will allow us to bring slower projectiles such as arrows shot from bows on the system so that we can remove the need for spawning projectiles altogether.
Performance
- Reduced world tile size to mitigate consistent lag spike when moving around the world.
- Improved implementation of Levels of Detail (LODs) for landscape tiles.
- Hierarchical Levels of Detail (HLODs) generated for world architecture assets, enabling objects to be drawn from further away but with reduced triangle counts on distance meshes.-
- Fixed issue where equipping items would noticeably impact the frame rate.
- Removed semi-broken player ragdoll system which would trigger on death and replaced with more performant and visually improved death animation.
Developers notes:
Although we are seeing increased performance on our test machines following us fixing underlying issues associated with the old map, we are fully aware that this may not be reflected on all systems. We have other phases of performance development we would like to complete before Early Access release on Steam, so this should cover our recommended reg specs very soon.
Known issues & outstanding changes
- Various issues when interacting with a campfire.
- Camera position shifts when opening inventory, causing various clipping issues.
- NPC’s textures and LODs require updating for performance and visual quality.
- New startup video to be implemented in near future.
- New Protagonist character updates, textures and LODs require updating for performance and visual quality.
- Can sometimes see facemasks when looting and crouching in first person.
- Inventory does not add extra rows as it gets full causing issues when taking items at full capacity.
- Torch doesn’t illuminate directly towards the center of the screen making it difficult to examine objects in close spaces.
- Mouse wheel sometimes stops being responsive in the building menu.
- Game is missing left-handed support.
- Mouse sensitivity while dragging the map around can be difficult.
- Various issues with UI text in crafting menus.
- Discrepancies with save game names.
- In rare circumstances, the player's weapon may appear invisible or inside the character's head.
- Swapping an item with a Jerry Can in the fuel slot on the quad causes the other item to be placed in the fuel slot.
- Lantern doesn’t appear in the player's hand when equipped.
- Save files do not properly sort by date.
- Baseball bats cover too much of the screen in First Person perspective.
- When LED light runs out of battery, it unequips but does not re-enable belt chem-light.
- NPCs can have ‘black beams’ coming out of their eyes when running the game using FXAA.
- Occasionally, interacting with the bow causes pistols to reload one bullet at a time.
- Sleeping bags placed on foundations or flat ground can sometimes be placed at an unusual angle.