Experimental Build v0.5.185

*Note - These changes are only on the Experimental Branch. To access the Experimental Branch, be sure to select it in your Steam Library. If this app does not appear, please check if this app is hidden in your Library. Experimental Branch changes upgrade to the primary branch monthly.

Hello brave explorers! We have another Experimental Build for you this week with lots of nice additions and polish. We had lots of conversations with you over our channels of what worked and what didn't in last week's build, and I think we found some excellent solutions!

Minimap and Map Markers

The mini-map is back with new features, the map now shows your placed markers. Simply right-click on any marker in the GPS to designate it as either Marker 1 or Marker 2, and these markers will display on your Minimap. You also have full Latitude and Longitude lines from before, and the map is a little smaller and more transparent, so it satisfies the goal we had to reduce its impact on the overall scene and exploration.

Creature Spawning

The day and night change from last week was a good experiment since it showed us that nights full of aliens is the right feel, but agree that it felt there was missing during the day.
We added a lot of detail to how and when various creatures would spawn through the day and night, and went through and adjusted all the creature spawns throughout the entire game. This allowed us to really dig into the ecosystem of the alien life, adjust what creatures appear where and when, which gives the world a more natural feel.

Unlock System and Proficiencies

We decided we like the Unlock System of buildables and revised the unlock logic further. We also added a unlock hint in the corner of each buildable that unlocks other buildables, which gives a nice subtle hint that these objects can be valuable to create.

We also added the Proficiency Points to the Skill Tree screen. How you receive skill points is still being decided - we may more this into an overall "Level Up" event, but for now this is a nice subtle evolution of this system.

Proteus 2 Mines and Hives

We've been building up the art for these for a while now, and are so happy to share these new beautifully dark and dank underground dungeons with you! We added a lot of dungeons to the world too. And there are multiple entrances and exits. And they're sprawling. And they're full of dangerous creatures!

Smaller Things

There's lots more, like a crude battery that can be made inexpensively to power your flashlight, and an Emergency Light that automatically illuminates if your flashlight is empty. Lots of little bug fixes and polish. FINALLY fixed that pesky bug where you unequip when dragging inventory out of an equip slot. Lots of things like that.

Change List

Added - Minimap to HUD
Added - Map Markers to Mini Map
Added - Right-click menu to Map Buttons
Added - All mineral descriptions to Map panel
Added - Updated Proteus 2 Mine Art
Added - Another art pass for Hives
Added - More Entry points for cave systems
Added - Creatures Zones now spawn different creature sets depending on location and time of day
Added - Readded and improved support for specific spawn groups to Creature Zones
Added - Decorated mine entrances
Added - Far LOD management for persistent objects
Added - Variants of Meteors to drop all types of ores
Added - Meteors now fall on Lutari, and at a much higher rate than on proteus
Added - Additional light to the top of the Spaceship to better highlight it at night when it's headlights are on
Added - Assault Rifle to random loot crates
Added - Automatic unlocking of already placed buildables
Added - Unlock icon to build buttons to denote buildables that unlock additional tech tree stages
Added - Custom option to toggle new Progression Buildable Unlock system
Added - Fullscreen support for GPS panel
Added - Crude Battery craftable in the Workbench that can power the flashlight at 25% efficiency
Added - Power Cells can be used as a power source for the flashlight at 50% efficiency
Added - When Flashlight energy is depleted, an emergency light on the suit will now activate, providing a small amount of light just around the suit
Added - Entry trigger to all huts to make third-person interaction easier
Added - Teleport feature to Third Person Camera for going in and out of dungeons
Added - Event to respawn to properly display all scenery
Added - Mouse over the display to inventory
Added - Support for hand-placed manually configured repairables for use in missions
Added - More features to voice log system for use in missions
Added - Entrances and exits to all mines on Proteus 2
Added - Hit interaction to rock walls

Changed - Reorganized buildable unlocks to be in a few large stages instead of smaller unlock paths, allowing more freedom in progression
Changed - Creatures will once again spawn at all times of the day, different creatures will spawn at different times
Changed - Improved look sensitivity with a game controller
Changed - Moved a creature spawn zone that intersected with a spawn point to instead be nearby
Changed - Moved a few creature zones to ensured each spawn point has at least 1 nearby spawn zone
Changed - Increased size of Battery charge meter in HUD
Changed - Disabled creature dust particles at night until their lighting is fixed
Changed - Improved Buggie UI
Changed - Improved Buggie sound
Changed - Improved Buggie handling and wheel sizes
Changed - Adjusted Drone Map UI
Changed - Meteors are now more common on Zer
Changed - Reduced prevalence of Radar Scanner in loot crates
Changed - Increase prevalence of Broken Wires in loot crates
Changed - Branches now have less weight
Changed - Leather now has less weight
Changed - Space Debris Chest now has 18 inventory slots
Changed - Silver material to more shiny
Changed - Weather sounds now fade faster to keep up with visuals
Changed - Increased size of unlock icon on the build button
Changed - Various Texture optimizations
Changed - Optimized various sounds
Changed - Updated Aziel Mines and updated wall/floor materials
Changed - Updated Aziel Distance Terrain
Changed - Optimized Aziel terrain
Changed - Optimized Lutari terrain
Changed - Optimized Proteus 2 terrain
Changed - Optimized establishing shot camera
Changed - Optimized Proteus 2 world art scene
Changed - Increased flight speed of Flying Skeliopod
Changed - Map icons buttons to click instead of mouseover
Changed - Adjusted Arachnoid IK values
Changed - Added improved transitions to Crab Monster animations

Fixed - Moving inventory off an equip slot now forces the player to unequip an item
Fixed - Alien Population slider is now respected and will multiply how many creatures are spawned from Creature Zones
Fixed - Flashlight energy is now persistent and no longer resets upon login
Fixed - Added additional colliders to the rear legs and the underside of the Colossus so it is easier to hit while near the creature
Fixed - Repairable colliders should now properly reenable when the player is nearby
Fixed - Player death animation now properly plays
Fixed - Battery meter now properly displays battery charge
Fixed - Clock in HUD now displays correct in-game time
Fixed - Proficiencies are now properly visible within the skills screen
Fixed - Spelling error for Fluorine in many locations
Fixed - Moved space debris on proteus that was stuck inside rocks
Fixed - Small Crates Appliance should be easier to interact with
Fixed - Repairable colliders should no longer randomly be disabled
Fixed - Should no longer spawn beneath a structure when logging out inside or above said structure
Fixed - Repaired structures are now properly unlocked as buildables after repaired
Fixed - Undiscovered structures can now be properly examined
Fixed - Crab scythe should now properly inflict damage on all intended targets
Fixed - Dismantling buildables with upgrades in the same session they are crafted should now properly return all used items
Fixed - Set map screen canvas size to properly border icons
Fixed - Set Easter Egg icons to appear on the map
Fixed - Various errors that were causing players to be unable to load their worlds
Fixed - Hydrocarbon Solution interactions
Fixed - Weapon and tool interaction when item lost durability
Fixed - Red Berry Tree collision with LOD system
Fixed - Gem Leaf fruit should no longer fall through the map
Fixed - Autowalk will now properly walk instead of sprint

I just want to say thanks to all the players (on Discord especially) who jammed with us this past week. There was a lot of passion, especially last weekend, and the collaborative effort we've had with you this week was great. There was a lot of truly valid criticism and we very much respect that, as we always welcome fruitful discussions about design. This is what we do, and we love what we do!

Anyway, enough of the sappy stuff. For now, please enjoy our latest Experimental Build!

"I see your point, sir. I suggest a new strategy, R2. Let the Wookiee win."
-Brian

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