Dev-Com
Hello, world! Midway Branch of Penkura is now updated to 0.2.0 MW 7
Patch notes are a combination of patches MW 6.1 / 6.2 / 6.3 / 7.0
In this patch, we are introducing a new dialog system, special effects, a more "personal" appearance of Sara, improvements to all buttons, switches, and visual updates to Command Center and Med-Bay.
We felt that before we can introduce new even bigger dialogs in Penkura, we had to rewrite our dialog system. In the first rendition, it was designed with somewhat cumbersome features that slow down our development.
Now not only we can add much longer and more complex dialogs, but we can even insert exit points for players to "halt and save" conversations before making drastic decisions (very useful for the future feature). Of course, visual improvements and "fell" of using the system are also improved.
Next on our list are special effects. There are few "special encounters/events" in Penkura that we felt aren't a proper representation of the situation. For the last week, we added particle effects, sounds, lights, and everything else needed to make a proper "impression". To not spoil the future events, we will showcase one of the first problems the player will encounter. Tirix Power Plant power fluctuation, in the first rendition it was just a red alarm without any sounds or effects, now it showcases proper power discharges, sound effects, and light flickering.
Now, graphical updates, besides visually updating Med-Bay (which will soon become a buildable structure) and Command Center, we decided to finally give Sara some major appearance changes. In the older version of Penkura, Sara was just a simple Box labeled Neurocore, later on, we added an Avatar that showcased our concept art of Sara. But because Sara is one of the key NPCs of the game, we finally gave her some deserved attention and completely visually change her into what we originally imagen her to be.
Lastly, we want to talk about Buttons and Switches, a simple thing, but unfortunately in our first rendition, sometimes players didn't even know that they could be pressed, or inform us that they provide too little information. From now on, all buttons in the game will have a holographic display, representing exactly what they are affecting, how they are affecting it and most of all, they will change their look depending on the situation. This should make every interaction with machinery much easier.
We plan to release the next patch in 7 days, it will contain 3 new items, a new building, and rebalance of buildings and craftable items.
In case of any problems, always feel free to contact me here on Steam in Sub Forum "Midway Branch of Penkura"
Link ---> https://steamcommunity.com/app/739720/discussions/4/
or contact me personally on Discord.
LINK ----> https://discord.gg/2ukYHQm
A small tutorial on how to access the Midway branch is available in the link below.
Link ---> https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2357998690
Till the next Dev-Com, over and out.
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Patch 0.2.0 MW 7
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⊞ Bugs/Errors ⊞
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◈ Fixed window in Small Habitat being loaded with proper setter but improper position.
◈ Fixed trigger refresh for all doors in the Archeological Research Base.
◈ If the enemy body is despawned by the timer while the player is interacting with it, it will freeze the inventory UI making it impossible to exit.
◈ There was a chance for the Options Save trigger to not be triggered.
◈ Bio-Recycler didn't reset its power consumption/hydrogel consumption, in case of its tanks being empty.
◈ Minor spelling error fixed at Epsilon Base.
◈ C.A.T Storage, T-1 Storage, Ore Extractor Storage, and MMC Storage will now properly refresh when adding or removing objects from outside sources.
◈ Minor collision fix in cave tunnel connecting research base with communication station.
◈ Fixed sliders in Main Menu not loading properly.
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⊞ Improvements / changes / additions ⊞
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◈ Added new deco models that improve starting location to make navigation a little bit easier.
◈ Added soft hover sound effect in a dialog system.
◈ Drastically improve fog coloring, depending on the light intensity, cloud coverage, sun position, and time of the day.
◈ Improved "mission added" notification to make it more visible.
◈ On Journal open, if no missions were previously selected, the first available mission will be.
◈ Minor visual improvement to Journal.
◈ Changed wording of all Tirix Power Plant instructions to make it easier to comprehend.
◈ Improved Tirix Power Plant UI.
◈ Recreated power control panel in Tirix Power Plant, provides much more information to the player.
◈ Recreated Emergency Manual Reset Panel, provides more information to the player about the state of the Power Plant.
◈ Power Plant Fluctuating Error, now provides more visual effects.
◈ Added window to the med-bay (and improve visual errors).
◈ Improved Command Center Window.
◈ All buttons that control windows, and panels, now have screens that provide useful information.
◈ The dialog system is now saveable, adding points of exit.
◈ Added icons to the dialog system. (Exit Icon, Looping Icon).
◈ Sara is now physical rather than an empty Neurcore Box.
◈ Removed unnecessary background calculations after each dialog. (minor improvement to performance).
◈ Added Soft Fail to the mission system (if the player has data on the next step in the mission, and skips it while still completing other steps, the step will turn to Soft Fail, which will gray out the step as it cannot be completed anymore).
◈ Added additional steps to "Blackout Investigation" missions, to make it less confusing.
◈ Minor improvement to sound attenuation.
◈ World Material upgraded to make landscape textures less repetitive at long distances.
◈ Added security system to all objects, NPC-s connected to the inventory system, to make sure any effect done to them, won't block player UI from interacting.
◈ Improved building stat refresh when loading the game. (Game should load slightly faster and smoother).
◈ Quality improvement to some of the voice lines.
◈ Improved Missions Update notification.