Icarus News

Week Thirty-Three brings another Time-limited mission to Icarus, building off the positive response we got to last weeks two installments. ‘Flatline: Research’ will have you scrambling to repair a Biological Containment Pod under a ticking clock, so prepare yourself accordingly. We have also made an adjustment to how certain stat-based talents interact with their applicable deployables, and made a range of community-driven patches and fixes, thanks to your input on Feature Upvote.

You’ll also find an update on our Dedicated Servers project below, and a taste of what’s on the horizon in the near future.





// OPERATOR: Group 15
// BIOME: Dry Ridge
// BACKGROUND: The Operator intends to rapidly expand exotics operations, and has put out an urgent tender for survey data, specifically around new drop sites. This exploration and mapping mission is critical to the development of this region.
// MISSION: Operator is tasked to find damaged biological containment units, further information provided on planet.
// TERMS: Contractors will be provided with radar equipment. All other risk and resourcing is the responsibility of the Contractor. Expect elevated wildlife threats.
// TIME LIMIT: 5 hours

This weeks mission involves keeping a failing Biological Containment Pod alive which collecting parts to repair and stabilize.

While you've got slightly more time than on Abyss: Research, you'll have more to contest with as a the containment pod itself must be not only kept stable, but also fed a constant supply of enzymes found on the local wildlife. Larger and more dangerous creatures are, unfortunately, the best source of these.






This update includes a lot of system preparation for work that is to be released in coming weeks. Most notably that of the Alteration System. We have been working behind the scenes to allow players to craft item attachments for various items and alter them to provide extra stats and effects. Some very basic examples are modifying a pickaxe to increase the amount of gold obtained when mining or adding a Bleed effect to Axe damage. We are using this system to create a range of item attachment prototypes at the moment, specifically for melee weapons, and have some very exciting things coming in the next few weeks.





Some of you may have noticed that we have added another branch on Steam - this is not publicly accessible but can be seen on sites like SteamDB. This is because we are currently testing both our dedicated servers and the process of migrating players data local files for use by the client. We are currently well ahead of schedule - mainly due to the massive effort from the team - and are preparing to provide access to various dedicated server host providers so we can get as much feedback as possible. We hope to both bring Icarus' Dedicated Server up to the industry standard and add any features that will make it as easy as possible for both server providers and players to use. We will continue to provide updates as more progress is made, but hope to get the changes into your hands as soon as possible.





We don't have the resources to see every single community post on every platform across Steam, Discord, Reddit and more so Feature Upvote is a tool to empower you, the players, to collectively highlight anything from bugs, to feature requests or balance changes and ensure that the Dev Team has visibility of it.

Since the beta weekends, this has helped us to collate community feedback more efficiently. We've been doing some work internally to improve the usefulness of this tool, as it has some trouble distinguishing old items from new, more relevant ones. We'll be trying to include links in here to Feature Upvote pages that have been addressed in this update to highlight that your feedback is useful and important. Due to limitations inside Feature Upvote, the only field available to us to remove entries from the list is marking them as 'Done'. In some cases, this won't necessarily mean it has been implemented as requested- but we'll be using it to denote that an issue has been 'addressed'. Sometimes this is to say getting additional feedback on this topic is no longer useful to us and we don't want it to impact visibility of new items rising up through the list.

As with everything we do, this is always up for change and we welcome your feedback on how this process works.





[h3]Additions, Fixes & Changes[/h3]

• Adding Prospect Images for FLATLINE: Research, Setting corrected Locked State on the Talent Tree, Updating Mission Rewards to bring them more in line with the effort required for the mission
  
• Updating Various Talents so they work with the new alterations system, Spear Maximum Health Alterations Now Stack, Pickaxes now have increased durability on talent upgrades, and fixed knife felling damage awarding a virtual stat and not a base stat
  
• The number of Digested Enzymes that Drop when an Animal is skinned is Scaled by the number of Players Connected. A Maximum amount of time that can be added until the biological containment fails, this is based on selected difficulty. The amount of time provided by the Digested Enzymes is now displayed on the UI and a Maximum Limit is also displayed in the UI.
  
• Increasing Catalytic Gas Size, Increasing Time gained from Digested Enzymes in all difficulties
  
• Modified when the Catalytic Gas appears and added the Poison Modifier if players enter the gas during the FLATLINE mission
  
• Reducing the number of Digested Enzymes that are gained from skinning
  
• Adjusted the Catalytic Gas particle emitter so its clearer to the player that there is something dangerous
  
• Made Small adjustments to FLATLINE mission objective text to reflect changes
  
• Custom items no longer display a 'Star' but instead have a nice golden glow behind the item
  
• Updating Bloodclaws Spawn Location During FLATLINE: Research so the creature spawns on the Navmesh without issues
  
• Updating Quest Steps and reshuffled for FLATLINE: Research so the objectives are clearer
  
• Adding Custom UI for the Biological Containment World Interactable
  
• Buffing Bloodclaw the Unique Scorpion so it has far greater projectile resistance, melee will be the way to take him down
  
• Adding Various Tags for The FLATLINE mission items and creating new inventory setups for the Biological Contaiment Interactables
  
• Adding ability one a Biological Containment World Interactable to release Enzyme Gas which will casue poision damage to players within the vicinity
  
• Updating Stabilisation step of FLATLINE mission so the time gained, changes based on player selected difficulty
  
• Adding Item Attachments System Prototype. Adding a two new Benches Alteration Bench and Attachments Bench. The Attachments Bench can be used to craft attachements for items, the Alteration Bench can be used to place Attachements onto items. Adding protoype item attachment 'Sharp Blade' and a new Alteration 'Melee_Damage_1'. Adding new gameplay tags for Item Attachments. Updating Various Stat Retrival functions to allow accessing the item container system and therefore item attachements so they can be displayed on the UI and added to the items stat container for stat calulation during gameplay.
  
• Adding Dropship Spawns & Quest markers to FLATLINE: Research so the mission can be played on STYX
  
• Updating FLATLINE: Research so the Timelimit & Time Gained from Quest Objectives to be based on player selected difficulty
  
• Creature Bosses in FLATLINE: Research scale based on selected difficulty
  
• Adding new Unique Creature Boss for FLATLINE: Research
  
• Fixes for FLATLINE: Research, Removed Slow stat from smaller Armored Scorpions, Increased Timers by 5 minutes to all difficulty levels, Digested Catalysts now provide the correct time increases, projectile resistance has been reduced slightly on all amored scorpions, the number of smaller armoured scorpions now properly scales per players base of 3, for each player add 2 to a hard limit of 10
  
• Increasing the Armored Scorpions Projectile Resistance Dramatically
  
• Added Smaller Armored Scorpions which appear alongside Bloodclaw, adding new enteries into the AI setups for the armored scorpions
  
• Enabled the in-game tooltip for Enzyme Geysers.
  
• Added recipes to the Cooking Station to allow butchering of higher quality meats, allowing conversion of other meats into raw meat.
  
• Rebalanced Biofuel Composter recipes for cooked and raw meats. [Feature Upvote]
• Deep Ore Veins now spawn on Outposts in the same way they do on Prospects [Feature Upvote]
• Added a popup notification to the Titlescreen if the player's GPU is using a driver version earlier than our recommended driver version
  
• Driver out of date notification now only shows for NVIDIA and AMD cards which are at or above our minimum requirements
  
• Changed area marker for Abyssal Oxite Deep Vein to a single icon on ABYSS: Research. Updated descriptions to better guide the player of the mission requirements.
  
• Fixed an issue causing the Olympus E6 meta deposit from spawning.
  
• Changed Berry Jam and Glass Jars (filled with water) to allow them to be consumed from the hotbar. [Feature Upvote]
• Removing the Item Name Prefix for Alterations as it does not work with the current system, Renaming Display Prefix to Display Name, Removing ability to build item names via Alterations
  
• Update to tree cover audio - handle scenario where a tree has been partially felled, which was incorrectly applying tree cover parameters even if it was just a small trunk remaining.
  
• Fixed issue where the Electric Furnace wouldn’t connect to the power network [Feature Upvote]
  
• Fixed crash in editor where GFur was trying to access a pointer that hadn't been initialised yet
  
• Fixed Ramp Up Stockpile question description to Concrete Mix, instead of Cement Mix
  
• Scorpion Pincer Trap immobilize period now scales with Creature level. Lowest level creatures will stun up to 5 seconds, while highest level creatures will stun up to 2 seconds. Previously it was 3 seconds across the board
  
• Committing Missing Json file for the Attachments Prototype
  
• Fixing the Includes for the ItemData for the Attachments Prototype as it was breaking the build
  
• Fixed issue where hotbar didn’t stop scrolling when scrolling through crafting inventory [Feature Upvote]
• Keybinds are no longer reset to default when swapping from a branch with a new keybind to one without it
  
• Submitting auto-generated banks and uassets For chazz's change: Adding a small amount of quad delay to the character vocal bus
  
• Adding a small amount of quad delay to the character vocal bus
  
• Fixed issue where unique item components were not being added when upgrading (e.g. reinforced glass) [Feature Upvote]
• Fixing follower wolf spawn Transform Location pointing to Scale resulting in no followers spawning in the Alpha Wolf encounter In the BP_Boss_Den
  
• Fixed an issue causing beams to be placed in midair on certain building types.
  
• Ensure all Statue meshes use 26DOP collision rather than boxes or complex
  
• Fix folder setup for Statues (don't need individual folders for different material types)
  
• Removing the top Seperator for Alteration Descriptions, if they are first in the list to help clean up the UI
  
• Made the separator for Alteration Descriptions thinner.
  
• Fixed the modifiers for Vegetable Pie and Frostbite to give the correct modified stat (and relevant buff/debuff text).
  
• Greatly improved beam placement options when placed on ramps.
  
• Updating Cooking Station icon
  
• MERGE: Adding Icons for the Alteration System allowing players to see icons associated with each alteration in various situations, Also adding a popup to the alteration image which displays a descripton and the stats active due to the alteration. Basically players can now see what alterations are doing on crafted devices.
  
• Add Decoration Statues for Scorpion, Bear and PolarBear to Rustic Decorations Bench
  
• MERGE: Quick pass on some of the names in the D_Alteration table to try and better represent what the alteration is doing, for example using Expanded instead of Extended for extra inventory slots.
  
• Swapping out icons for the alteration system to ones that have a solid background to make the level of alteration more readable.
  

[h3]Future Content & Art[/h3]

• Made new LC Cave MED_001
  
• Impassable Blockout, Red Quad, Prometheus
  
• First impassible block out on Blue and Green Quads
  
• Updated Arrowhead Plant's base texture groups
  
• Updated TallWeeds Bush texture groups
  
• Updated Ponga Tree texture groups
  
• Updated Mangrove Sapling texture groups
  
• Updated Flax Plant texture groups
  
• Updated Cypress Sapling texture groups
  
• Updated Bog Flower texture groups
  
• Updated Blackberry Bush texture groups
  
• Updated Arrowhead Plant texture groups
  
• Changes Landscape Test Level
  
• Added tundra landscape textures
  
• SM_SW_TallWeeds_Bush mesh, textures and material
  
• Submitting Armadillodoge and textures
  
• Imported Terrain 019 DLC map, including developer level setup and initial ingame map render
  
• New LC Cave Template SML_001 Added, LC voxel added & Cave Stamps Added
  
• Created Swamp template SML_002, SML_003 and edited previous swamp templates with new materials
  
• LC Macro 03 - first pass
  
• ROCK LC Lrg 06 - disabled RVT on material
  
• Submitted asset SM_StatueCougar_Bronze into the project, created material and added textures
  
• Add/improve various LODs
  
• Various texture optimizations
  
• DCO_StatuePolarBear_Bronze adjusted colour to match other bronze statues
  
• Updated the texture group of the icarus decorative statue and added it to the prop small texture collection
  
• Added decorative statues to texture collections and changed texture groups to small
  
• Fixed filenames on Caveworm Statue textures. Fixed texture settings
  
• Updated collisions and reduced max texture size to 1024 on decorative statue assets
  
• Exposed to MPC extra options for Erosion on Impassables
  
• Updated T4 Generator textures
  

Icarus' missions have always had a time limit - but can you race against the clock to complete a multi-stage mission in under three hours? Week Thirty-Two introduces a new multi-stage, time-restricted mission which incorporates some of our original design intents with a ticking clock, alongside improvements to mission pacing and engagement to raise the stakes, and get the heart racing.

Alongside this new mission to sink your teeth into, we’ve made an array of improvements to our UI/UX and building pieces, along with adding deep ore mining veins to Outposts as part of our plan surrounding their development. Jump in and have a read!





Here’s your mission briefing:

Abyss: Research

// OPERATOR: Group 15
// BIOME: Ring Lake
// BACKGROUND: Unique ore deposits discovered on Ring Lake
// MISSION: Extract and research unusual ore. Monitor effects on environment
// TERMS: Initial scans detect unstable material. Proceed with caution
// TIME LIMIT: 3 hours

The Abyss: Research mission starts at the Ring Lake in the Styx terrazone, unlocked after completing the Zephyr: Expedition mission.

Of course, missions on Icarus don’t always go to plan. We’re continuing to experiment with more varied mission types and, for the first time, this mission includes an Optional Objective. If you reckon you have enough spare time to complete this extra request (to discover a way for prospectors to handle the new Abyssal Oxite safely) then you’ll gain additional Exotics as your reward.

Beware! With only three hours to complete the mission the risk of running out of time - and your character and all your gear being abandoned on the planet surface - is high. If you want to play it safe you can always purchase Insurance, which offers lower rewards but a guarantee that your character will be rescued if you run out of time.

Originally posted by author

One of the advantages of Icarus' session-based missions is that we can continue to vary and experiment with mission structures - such as shorter durations or optional objectives.

Over the course of developing Icarus we learnt a lot about how players respond to time limits. Originally we launched with a real-world timer, which was unique and not a common game design choice. The threat of permanently loosing your character and gear if you missed your deadline certainly motivated people, but when it took players by surprise returning to the game a week later, well, that it seemed unfair. In response to your community feedback, in April we changed our timer to a easier-to-understand in-game timer, although the penalty is still the same.

We also heard that some players missed the time pressure and the harsh permadeath-like penalty. So, just as we have a choice of difficulty settings, we plan to offer a choice of varying length missions. That should cater to players who like to take their time and prepare before setting out as well as those who love to recklessly race ahead.

However, we haven’t changed the time limits of any of our existing missions at the moment, so we don’t upset any of your missions-in-progress.

Jake Dodunski - Project Lead

The addition of the entire 64 km2 Olympus map as a permanent Outpost has proven very popular, and we are continuing to add features to Outpost mode. From this week you can now find Deep Mining ore deposits through all the Outpost maps, providing another way to gather large quantities of materials with a Biofuel-powered or Electric Deep Mining Drill.





We’ve made a range of key fixes this week that improve the UI experience for our players, along with some fixes and balances to the constructibles.

You’ll now be able to hide quest UI when in a prospect by pressing numpad 7 (this can be hot-keyed if you wish), and we’ve also adjusted the critical hit numbers on screen to read out the exact damage delivered rather than ‘20x’ which required more quick math than we had intended. We’ve also made some changes to armors impact from storms:

• Fixed the damage type of many tick damage sources to no longer cause damage to armor, notably storms. This means the damage taken from storms will no longer be prevented by armor, but armor will still provide exposure resistance. This means you will take more damage to your base health, but your armour will not deteriorate
  

We’ve also implemented some fixes to our constructibles and their interactions with deployables and weather elements.

• Fixed an issue where Concrete Items Crafted in the Cement Mixer would recieved the 'Reinforced Glass' Stats unintentionally
  
• Reduced Water Consumption on Glass Bench from 1000 to 250 - Upping Water Consumption on Cement Mixer from 100 to 250
  
• Added the long awaited Glass Floor buildable
  
• Fixed an issue with deployables losing shelter if they were placed on a Frame and then a Floor was placed on top of the same Frame, overlapping the deployable
  

[h2]Added[/h2]

• Added Mission: ABYSS: Research.
  
• Fixed tagging on ABYSS: Research items.
  
• ABYSS: Research, added area indicator for first objective. Fixed multiplayer objective tracking.
  
• ABYSS: Adding item icon for Environmental Monitoring Station in D_Itemable
  
• ABYSS: Research, fixed monitoring station balloon interaction. Rescaled pacing on optional objective.
  
• Mission fixes for ABYSS: Research, rewards are available, tooltips fixed, multiplayer progress shows properly, recipes updated.
  
• Configured ABYSS: Research dialogue, descriptions, timer and rewards.
  
• Corrected Feature Level and Added Talents for ABYSS: Research
  
• Implemented final core gameplay for ABYSS: Research, pending polish.
  
• ABYSS: Research mission framework in, pending assets and tree toppling.
  
• ABYSS: Research, additional content. Pending finalization, testing and polish.
  
• Initial setup of ABYSS: Research mission.
  
• Added Glass Floor Pieces.
  
• Adding Deep Ore Deposit spawn points to outposts 1-5
  
• Added a keybinding to show/hide the Quest UI (Numpad 7 by default)
  
• Adding new mission Items Partially Digested Enzyme, Biological Contaimment Power Source, Enzyme Containment Unit
  
• Adding new Session Flags for Enzyme Containment Unit
  
• Adding new functionailty so creatures can add items to their contence based on session flags
  
• Add unique screenshake and muzzleflash effects for each projectile weapon (Pistol, LeverAction, BoltAction, Shotgun). Weapons now project light when muzzle flash plays.
  
• Moved a bunch of Debug logic into a separate function in BallisticBehavior Base. Added some Trajectory debugging.
  
• Tweaked notifier in Pistol reload montage so that it finishes the animation before allowing the next shot to take place
  
  
  [h2]Fixes[/h2]
  
• Fixed the damage type of many tick damage sources to no longer cause damage to armor. Notably storms.
  
• Fixed issue with deployables losing shelter if they were placed on a Frame and then a Floor was placed on top of the same Frame, overlapping the deployable
  
• Fixed the crash which would happen by closing the game during an active weather event
  
• Map Icon for scanned Exotic deposits will now persist between sessions
  
• Resasving Inventory and Quests Datatables as there was unsaved changes when committed files related to the new Missions
  
• Fixing KillCam Damage numbers so they display the actual value dealt and not the artifically inflated values
  
• If a prediction triggers a KillCam, the damage will guarentee a kill on hitting the target
  
• Kill cams will only guarentee a kill on hit if the target is the same as the one in the KillCam predicted - this means, if a boss or other creature gets in the way after a KillCam prediction has occured, the boss or other creature will not be insta-killed if it is not the predicted target"
  
• Fixing issue where Concrete Items Crafted in the Cement Mixer would recieved the Reinforced Glass Stats unintentionally
  
• Reducing Water Consumption on Glass Bench from 1000 to 250
  
• Upping Water Consumption on Cement Mixer from 100 to 250
  
• First pass of audio terrain zone FMOD implementation. Base pass on Narrow, Medium and Wide canyon delay. Removed blend sends from quad delay.
  
• Cleaning up bad file commit in source art Script Folder as per request
  
• Improve reflection audio debug - create new log category and use it to activate visual debug too. Code review tweaks to audio reflection system. Remove deprecated reflection system from BP_PlayerEnvironmentalAudioComponent.
  
• Attempted fix for Floor Torch Niagara effects not enabling on rejoin of a Prospect
  
• Spam left clicking does not consume stamina
  
• Fixing issue with Sprinting while under the effects of BaseStaminaActionCost_+% costing no stamina
  
• Adjusting audio for updated geyser effects. More intensity and additional bonus splash at the end. Adjusted play rate to fit updates better
  
• Additional FMOD quad delay parameters which set weighted averages of left and right strength results. Will be implemented to pan delay channels away from adjacent cliffs etc.
  
• Adjustment to geyser audio volume and burst rate to match with intensity better
  
• Adding in geyser burst audio and blueprint functionality. Will require looped Niagra effect (coming soon)
  
• Audio terrain zone heatmap functionality. Allows us to set up heatmap gameplay textures to define zones in each terrain for audio-specific purposes. PlayerEnvironmentalAudioComponent samples the map and uses the results to set global FMOD parameters defined in a new datatable - this can be expanded to include other functionality. Have included a WIP test texture but havent assigned it in D_Terrains - audio team will test drive before we commit to using this.
  
• Minor ProjectionComponent refactor. Projection widgets should now have their fade in/out distance set by component only. Fixed some projection widgets not fading in and out correctly. Hunting blood trail direction indicator now stays visible as long as player is near (as long as trail has been interacted with previously). Slightly increased range at which you can see other players names. Added name widget to mount. Removed player name when riding mount
  
• Small adjustments to the quad delay (reduction by about 2db and slight eq tweaks) for better subtlety. Also adding biome specific impulses
  
• Fixed issue causing glass angled roof pieces to have incorrect materials when destroyed.
  
• Updated Dry Run: Expeditions map markers to use the latest systems. This fixes a bug in the old implementation. Fixed the location registration of the cave objective.
  
• Set up new convolution reverb routing based on biome group. This is a starting point to give us more flexibility around how different areas broadly defined areas will sound - further tweaking to follow.
  
  
  [h2]Future Content & Art[/h2]
  
• Added recorder component to Mounts. Mounts are now tied to a CharacterID owner/tamer. Mount names can be edited by their tamer and serialise for reload. Added saddle item to be used with mounts, you can only ride a mount if has an equipped saddle. Improved mount tooltip. Mount interaction is now done through the Character instead of the attached saddle. Added native mount base class. AIcarusCharacters now support Recorder classes and orchestration event binding in blueprint
  
• Added interface for interacting with mount inventory and equipment. Added ability for mounts to be named (only on server currently). UMG_DarkTitlebar is now localization friendly. Everything that was referencing UMG_DarkTitlebar should now be linked correctly to our string tables. UI Stat displays now support non-player targets. Mount AISetup now has Developer feature level.
  
• Added Mission: FLATLINE: Research - locked?
  
• Adding new Mission FLATLINE: Research - Where prospectors will need to stabilise a damaged biological containment unit
  
• FLATLINE: Research is playable from start to end
  
• Locked FLATLINE: Research behind Development feature level
  
• LC Cave Entrances 01 02 - first pass
  
• Created Swamp Cave 01 template and stalagmite stamps
  
• Added SW_Cypress_Var3
  
• Added SW_Cypress_Var2
  
• Added SW_Cypress_Var1, including first pass of chopped tree BP
  
• Created A New Test Level, To Play With New Assets And Block Out Concepts
  
• 2nd pass on Swamp Macro 03
  
• Fixed Random floating lily pads on Blue/Red/Yellow Quad, Styx
  
• Submitted asset SM_DCO_StatueGrizzly_Bronze to the project, created amterial and added textures
  
• 2nd pass on Swamp Macro meshes 01-02
  
• Updated compression on the wooden roof RMA map to match reflectivity to other wood pieces.
  
• Fixed random lily pads floating on map in Green Quad, Styx
  
• SW Cliffs - temporarily swapping out incorrect LOD materials
  
• First pass on SW cave entrances
  
• Added a new destructable mesh for the dropship made from the crashed dropship debris assets.
  
• Second pass on swamp macro 5, tweaks to master SW rock shader and tiling textures
  
• Improve grass types allowing them to appear farther in the distance. Fix SM LOD distances do they swap out sooner to improve perf.
  
• Added more cliff stamps for volcanic biome
  
• Made swamp cliff stamps for new DLC biome with SW Rocks
  
• Create cliff stamps for new Volcanic biomes
  
• Made cliff stamps for Swamp biome with new SW rocks
  
• Updated blackberry bushes with damaged leaf textures and tweaked LODs
  
• first pass on small swamp rocks
  
• First pass on Medium swamp rocks
  
• First pass on LRG swamp rocks
  
• DCO_StatuePolarBear_Bronze mesh, textures and material
  
• Added temp collision and LODs to Swamp Macro meshes
  
• LC Large Rocks - mesh, textures, materials added
  
• LC Medium Rocks - meshes, textures, materials added
  
• LC Small Rocks - temp LODs and collision added, material tweaks
  
• LC Cliffs - temp LOD and collision added, material tweaks
  
• Added Terrain 018 as a test map for artists
  
• Delete prototype assets for swamp water
  
• Added swamp surface function and required extra MFs and textures, changed MA_UniversalWater to include option for swamp
  
• Removed the flickering from the arrowhead plant bilboard shaders
  
• Updated flax plants bilboard shader to remove two sided flickering
  
• Added 3 variants of the arrowhead plant to the project.
  
• First pass on swamp Macro meshes
  
• Submitted the asset SM_DCO_StatueScorpion_Bronze to the project, created material added textures
  

This week, we’re celebrating some of the great suggestions our community have given us, along with our new ‘Free Build’ tool for our construction mechanics.

You’ll also find improvements to the entire building system with the addition of some new constructible variants and the return of some old ones. To cap it off, we’ve made it easier for those who wish to mod Icarus to access core game data.





Builders, get your hammers. We’re introducing Free Building options to Icarus, giving you the ability to construct structures without having to follow the laws of ‘snap-placing’ as you have done so far. This mode can be toggled on and off with the Home key, which will allow you to place your constructible in the exact position you’re envisioning. You can also press End to unfocus the current grid that you are snapping to.

With great power, comes great responsibility, however. Our physics system is still in effect, so be aware that your constructibles will still need to be supported properly to bear any weight or maintain integrity, so pay attention if you want to get creative.

To take it one step further, we’ve also added the ability to nudge pieces up and down (with PageUp and PageDown keys by default) so they don’t clip into the landscape around you, allowing for more refined buildings. Again, you will still have to provide adequate support, so if it’s floating - you’ll have a problem.

Free Build is ideal for the more advanced builders, but ‘snap-building’ will still be the default so don’t worry if you prefer a simpler system - this won’t affect your experience.





We’ve added/re-introduced a bunch of constructible variants alongside our Free Build option to give you more variety as you take to your hammer and nails. Double doors and windows are now available in thatch, interior wood, glass and concrete and aluminum walls, completing the set.

We’ve also improved the durability of reinforced glass, which will now have the same endurance as stone building pieces, ideal for those stormy nights in the arctic.



As noted in the past we are laying the foundations for how to improve the T4 and above experience. The last six months have taught us a valuable and hard lesson in how we need to approach the late game, how we need to blend the experience of building bases with the excitement of doing missions - but mostly how delicate achieving this is. As such, expect that we have a great deal more work to do here. Improving the building mechanics, outposts, balance, and pressures from enemies are vital steps to take towards improving the late game.

As always, please do let us know both here, on discord, and in feature upvote. We do take all this feedback on board, while still being careful to make cautious steps forward.





As part of our commitment to make the game more accessible to the community to run servers, evens and mod we reached out on a community subreddit for ideas to help support these efforts. One suggestion was to start shipping "PDB" files with our builds. This gives a rough sort of blueprint about how we built the game, and is useful to those making mods or cheats. Normally these aren't shipped with commercial builds but they will help a great deal with modding. Additionally, they provide more information for us to source crashes and bugs.

We will continue to work with the community to look at how we can expand content that can be changed and manipulated for new and exciting experiences by those in the community.



We have a number of projects across different teams in the studio, spanning a multitude of backgrounds and experiences. One of the great benefits of this is our teams being able to share ideas and approaches - both those that work and those that don't. All our teams have spent the last six months as part of a process of applying a "lessons learned" from the past to revamp and redevelop our studio, and it's approach to games across all our teams.



Recently the Stationeers team released a massive refactor, changing entirely how the game worked resulting in huge optimizations both for singleplayer and multiplayer. The game is now on a special weekend sale, and rocketed up to the top fifty global sellers. In fact, in the last few hours we sold 1% of the total copies sold ever for the title! We're all enormously proud of the team, and encourage you to check the game out. You'll notice a lot of the same approach to regular content, transparency, and developer relations.

[h3]We strive hard to get better at everything we do, sharing our process mistakes and all with the community. We work hard to maintain our independence and open approach to development. If you like what we do and how we work, please do consider checking out our other titles[/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/544550/Stationeers/



As part of making our process fully transparent, and making builds easier, you will see a lot of early work being committed to the changelogs that don't appear in the game properly yet. This is important because it means we spend less time making these posts and changelogs, and more time working on the game. Additionally, it means users have an idea of these changes going in - as even though they aren't fully enabled they may cause bugs. So there are several upsides in sharing our interim progress with the community.

I was recently in a meeting watching the work on Mounts, and was extremely excited for what this means for our plans with the DLC. While this might seem odd compared to doing vehicles, mounts offer us a safe interim step as transport options. Additionally it has fitted in very well with our existing systems for animals. We're hoping we might try showing off some of the work in progress on future streams, and share some of our internal processes so you can be part of the journey as we add this to the game.

[h3]As noted previously, the major DLC will also be released with a free update to the game, striking a balance to not lock too much content behind a DLC and fracture the community. Additionally, we will be making the DLC as permissive as possible so that if some don't have the DLC it won't cause issues playing.[/h3]

Better than expected progress has been made on this regard, so we are advancing our work towards having some limited external testing with game server providers. We will continue to provide information and discuss on Discord how we are looking at approaching various challenges as we roll this out. Our team, at this stage, are keeping quite an open mind - opting to get the tools working using the rough approaches before settling on firm decisions for functionality.



Our community feedback system FeatureUpvote hit a milestone this week of 100,000 contributions through tickets, comments and upvotes. It’s crazy to us that so many of you have poured your time and love into this game, and we’re celebrating with a slew of bug fixes and changes, as suggested by you guys.

[h3]Outpost Drop Zone selection[/h3] View on feature upvote
Changed how players return to Outposts instead of always returning by dropship:

• If you leave by "Return to Character Select" button then rejoin you'll return to the place you left like on normal prospects
  
• If you leave by dropship you'll return by dropship and bring with you the loadout you selected
  

[h3]Concrete Durability[/h3]
View on feature upvote

• Increased concrete building pieces durability.
  

[h3]Incorrect Prospect Difficulty[/h3]
View on feature upvote

• Fixed incorrect difficulty of Prospect shown in Join Prospect screen
  

[h3]Wood Composter not making fertilizer[/h3]
View on feature upvote

• Fixed issue causing wood composter recipe to not process
  

After 100,000 contributions, it’s safe to say you guys have had a big influence on what we do. Many of the most popular requests have already made it in to the game, such as talent respecs, an in-game timer, Olympus as an Outpost and even carrying torches and picks at the same time. We’ve come a long way since the ‘dark ages’ of blind mining. Thank you all again for your help.

• Changed how players return to Outposts instead of always returning by dropship:
  
• If you leave by "Return to Character Select" button then rejoin you'll return to the place you left like on normal prospects
  
• If you leave by dropship you'll return by dropship and bring with you the loadout you selected
  

[h3]Free Build/Building Update[/h3]

• Added ability for players to turn off auto building grid focus(Home Key), to allow players to place building pieces near one another without grid snapping being enforced. Buildings placed on separate grids will not provide structural stability to one another.
  
• Added ability for players to manually adjust the height of newly placed buildings grids (PgUp and PgDn keys). Buildings must still properly touch an anchorable surface to receive anchored stability.
  
• The Defocus Grid command (End key), in addition to starting a new grid, now also resets grid auto focus, and resets grid manual height adjustments.
  
• Fixed an issue where terrain trace hits could fail to snap to buildings and also not allow new building placement.
  
• Added double doors and windows to thatch, interior wood, glass, concrete and aluminum walls.
  
• Added keybindings for building Unfocus Grid and Raise/Lower Grid
  
• Reinforced Glass now comes with a health and wind resistance buffs so its on par with stone
  
• Removed wood beam variant that is not yet implemented.
  
• Increased concrete building pieces durability. [Suggestion] Concrete Durability should be higher than stone
  
• Add average quad reflection strength audio parameter and use for some basic automation of reverb volume - audio team will do another pass for further tweaks. Renamed all quad delay FMOD parameters for better clarity on what they now do.
  
• Adjusting quad delay from audio group feedback session.
  
• Adding quad delay tweaks as a starting base point for testing
  
• Adding new event notify for when a player launches a dropship
  
• Updating Exploration and Recon missions with extra quest step explaining that launching their dropship will end the mission, removed the interact trigger that was previously used as it was confusing to players
  
• Committing missing outpost file which was causing a build break
  
• Fixing up missing talent widget which required pins to be refreshed after modifying underlying data structure
  
• Adding new outposts table to store extra setup data such as mission / flag requirements to unlock
  
• Remove unnecessary values from D_Talents json and pointing outpost talents to use the new outpost row handle for setup
  
• Reducing outpost talent setup to be the base talent setup with the appropriate extra data so we arent storing information no longer required
  
• Added a description to the crocodile and kea carcasses.
  
• Fixed incorrect hardcore and insurance settings in Join Prospect screen
  
• Fixed incorrect difficulty of Prospect shown in Join Prospect screen [Bug] Mission difficulty not visible when joining a session
  
• Fix crevasse audio not working. BP_Crevasse needed an update in order to work correctly with recent changes to AudioListenerCollider.
  
• New FMOD parameter which can be used to make mix adjustments when the player is under cover of trees. Updated existing FLOD overlap check behavior to perform an alt test using a smaller radius which seems to do the trick. Not yet implemented in FMOD.
  
• Set grass density to 0 for unused grass type that was getting generated
  
• Removed Wood Composter workaround as this has been fixed.
  
• Further fixes to wood composter processing.
  
• Fixed issue causing wood composter recipe to not process. [BUG] Wood Composter timer for making fertilizer is broken
  
• Adding a system which allows adding extra stats to crafting benches if the crafting bench has an available resource of a specific type
  
• The Glassworking bench can now be connected to a water network
  
• Adding new stat for Reinforced Glass
  
• Crafting Glass building pieces at a Glassworking bench which is connected to a water system will be produce Reinforced Glass which increases the building tier by 3 making it the same strength as stone building pieces for stability and weather damage
  
• Take fractional millijoules into account across ticks. When ticks are very small sometimes the increment is less than one (an int). Also means we now track the displayed remaining build time in seconds more closely. Problems were specifically reported on the Wood Composter.
  
• Adding some Hint text which displays on the Glassmaking Bench to let users know they can now craft reinforced glass buildings with an active water connection
  
• Added blackberry item to the project
  
• Fixed Rain Reservoir not resetting stored water when the floor below it is destroyed.
  
• Fixed typo in Polar Bear Head Armor flavor text
  
• Added MF_Dolerite to M_RockMacroMaster
  
• Ensured all Knives and Axes are throwable, adding support to Shengong, Printed, Machete and Taxidermy items, Fixed some Physics Assets
  
• Modifying Error Text when there is no stat description from No Stats to Undefined Stat Description and adding a stat description for Overencumbered so the Heavy modifier no longer displays No Stats
  
• Tweaks to Meta Smoke and Explosion
  
• Adjustments to Meta Mista and Eruption VFX, also set delay to 0 for SFX
  
• Improved description on Healing and Strength Boost modules and their modifiers to clarify buffs do not apply to wearer
  
• Add icons for new Thatch, Stone, Iron, Glass and Concrete Double Door/Window building pieces
  
• Fix default settings for Icon Scene for Building Walls
  
• Changed font colour and added background blur to bench description.
  
• Tweaks to Meta Smoke and Explosion
  
• Updating Glassworking Bench and Electric Extractor Power and Water Resource Connection Points so they make more sense with the objects they are connecting to
  
• Fixed crafting bench description UI.
  
• Fixed glass door texture when damaged.
  
• Allowed glass doors and windows to benefit from reinforcement upgrade.
  
• Re-enabling the in world tool tips for resource networks which where accidently removed during a previous refactor
  

[h3]Art[/h3]

• Added first pass for SW_Cypress_Var1 2 and 3 SpeedTree imposter
  
• Added validation check function for gfur components
  
• Edited underwater LOD materials, added a cave, cliffs and decals, added ore deposit and polished riverbanks and landscape, Desert Outpost 007
  
• Added SW_GroundCoverA with 4 variants
  
• Updated collision, added RVTs to shaders and tweaked normals on billboard for SW_Mangrove_Var1
  
• Fix several Enzyme Geyser misalignment with terrain in Olympus
  
• Fixed landscape blocking cave in I7, Green Quad, Styx
  
• Fixed shadow geometry meshes for angled stone roofs
  
• Added missing physical materials to desert impassables
  

This week, we’re taking on all the great feedback we received over the last 8 days about Horde Mode, and making a batch of improvements and changes to improve the experience for our players. We’re spending a lot of time working on our upcoming Dedicated Servers release alongside this, which we’re excited to bring to you in the near future. Hop in and have a look at what to expect in our Pearl Anniversary, the big 30.





The reception to Horde Mode has been awesome, and we’ve been actively listening to all your feedback and thoughts, which we’ve organized into a slew of changes to improve the player experience when engaging with this new dynamic features.

New Creature Variations

We’ve added a range of new creature options to add variety to the experience, meaning you will now be able to also encounter Alpha Wolves, Alpha Cats, some cute Bear Cubs and more when using your Vapor Condenser on the Enzyme Geysers. More variation will mean different tactics will be needed, and therefore more planning into your approach.

Difficulty and Reward Scaling

We’ve also heard great feedback on the cost/reward payoff with engaging with these Geysers, and as a result, are scaling up the rewards based on the Prospect Difficulty (up to 2x Experience Points, and up to 4x Item Rewards size for higher difficulties), to make it more worth your while, and a valuable resource. We will continue to monitor feedback on the difficulty of this new mechanic and aim to offer many options for you to customize your experience and get great rewards for more challenging events.





We mentioned in a previous announcement that ICARUS is shifting towards a decentralized storage of save data. To achieve this goal, we are planning on removing the reliance of storing save data on our servers. We have been planning this change for some time - but due to recent issues with server outages, we have decided to turn our focus towards getting the new system into player hands sooner.
Our Servers currently store account, character and prospect data. As a result of this change, this data will be stored on disk rather than hosted on servers - and ideally, synced with the Steam Cloud.

This will allow players to play Icarus without:

1. needing an active server connection
   
2. needing an internet connection
   

This is similar to how things already work in the Offline Play mode. So, as a result, we are looking at combining the two game modes. This would mean that offline and online accounts would be merged and stored locally to your machine.

The vanguard programming team's usual focus is to implement new content and features, and improve the performance of the game. In preparation for the decentralized server changes, the vanguard team have been given a crash course on the new system - and many have been reassigned to work on these tasks specifically.

[h2]Important Things to Note[/h2]

• Multiplayer will stay the same
  The multiplayer game loop will feel the same as it always did - we are only changing where the data is stored.
  
• Only one person can host a prospect
  Due to the nature of prospect save data being stored locally to one machine, only the host will be able to resume the prospect.
  
• Dedicated servers are now an option
  Once we are done, players will be able to host prospects on dedicated servers that players will be able to connect to as clients.
  

We implemented our new change to providing our change log last week, and wanted to follow up this week with a bit more detail on what is now included, and how to understand the change in language and format.

1. The change log during larger updates, will now be split into sections, the first being details about this weeks update, and the following including overarching bug fixes and improvements, and then specific sections such as Art and Audio.
   
2. You’ll notice that included in the change log, will be patch notes that refer to ‘Work in Progress’ or ‘Future updates’, planning as far ahead as future DLC's. This is to give the players more insight into what our team is working on, and to simplify the process internally so the team can focus more on the work they’re doing, than the details of what is being made public facing.
   
3. Perhaps the most important part - Not everything in the change log will be guaranteed to make it into the game, as we are now including patch notes of work in progress and prototypes that are still subject to change and adjustment. Feel free to discuss these or ask questions about them, but we can’t guarantee we’ll be able to divulge further details or time frames relating to said features or content
   

.

• Add Alpha Snow and Desert Wolf creatures to Horde mode
  
• Sanity and consistency pass on creature character BPs, box sizes, capsule accuracy, component positioning, etc
  
• Fixed Geysers in Styx G2, J11, I3, and O8 with wrong Horde spawner row assigned, spawning incorrect creatures
  
• Fixed description of Enzyme Geyser.
  
• Optimized GFur on Creatures by implementing component LODs which lowers the layer count based on screensize
  
• Added Snow Wolf base material so it looks different from Conifer Wolf when no fur is visible
  
• Fix Polar Bear MRO textures not using Masks setting
  
• Fixed an issue causing hedgehogs to damage dead or ragdolling enemies.
  
• Improved collision setups on Desert Wolf BP
  
• Added missing engine texture to fix editor startup warnings
  
• Fix music cue not playing when player discovers exotics deposit - this was broken by refactor of AudioListenerCollider in 97584. Remove deprecated GetAudioCollider function from player character.
  
• Enabled flushing asset streaming on exit to fix crash when exiting the game
  
• Fixed floating voxels near D9, swapped materials on desert underwater rocks, Yellow, Red, Blue Quad, Styx
  
• Add DT validation to check AIGrowth for cases where stats and curves are used simulatenously, doubling up on values
  
• Corrected BearCub and Komodo creatures setups, retaining health values where they currently are
  
• Update Voyager prospect flavor text. - Minor tweaks to many other prospects flavor text to match formatting style.
  
• Stone Frame Buildable - reverted previous change that added a floor piece
  
• Fixed an issue causing stone frames to weigh 0.1kg instead of 5kg.
  
• Added right side of the half ramp pieces.
  
• Added collision to the top and beams of concrete half frames.
  
• Added logic to allow frames to be placed adjacent to existing floor.
  
• Swamp Water added Normal distortion to Mud/ Swamp Landscape added test MI and fix texture sampling
  
• Added 3 variations of the flax plant asset to project
  
• Added three variations of blackberry bush to the project.
  
• Added first pass test for SW_Mangrove_Var1 for testing
  
• Submitting Swamp Quadruped and its textures
  
• Submitting Swamp Quad and Swamp Quad carcass and their textures
  
• Updated the textures for the asset SM_DEP_Analyzer_Transmission Device
  
• Bullet is now visible in chamber of loaded pistol. Fixed issue where pistol reload would lerp bullet from chamber to hand
  
• DEV - update pass on prototype reflection audio system:
  
• Add reflection angle based multiplier
  
• Add surface-based high and low frequency response values to audio surface data, and use these to set new FMOD parameters when processing reflection record results
  
• Various tweaks and improvements, and some new debug features
  
• Updating bear cub audio to feel slightly smaller to match the size of the creature
  
• Decreased BearCub health from 600-1300 to 200-650 to better suit their size (smaller than a Wolf). Decreased BearCub melee damage max from 80 to 60
  
• Added a minimum delay between Accolade file saving to reduce lag during certain actions
  
• Reverting FLOD FISM optimizations for 1.1.3 so that we have rock collisions
  
• Added Dropships, Respawn Ships, Deep Ore Deposits And Polish, Outpost 008
  
• Polish Pass, Fixed Cliff Actors Sticking Through Caves and Fixing Cliffs With Visiable Seams, Outpost 008
  
• Placed the Deep Ore Depo Cleanup on Outpost 006, Forest Outpost 3
  
• Updated Mat and textures for Bullet on Single Shot Pistol SK
  

In our weekly update we included an engine upgrade to Unreal Engine 4.27. An unfortunate side-effect of this update meant that players could no longer rejoin multiplayer prospects in progress.



We do apologize for doing the hotfix, as we know it is disruptive with how the downloads work and some users experience long times where Steam has to verify the entire game. Unfortunately we really do need to get this change out, as it is badly impacting some players.




Details of problem:
Our host session parameters were not properly brought across during engine upgrade.
We were specifying that you could ONLY join via Steam friends thus when searching for old sessions none would populate. Would work first time due to crowbar join flow available only to the session browser as we had all required session data right there.

Learnings:
1. Rejoin flow MUST be included as part of our default testing loop. Especially when upgrading engine versions / upgrading match making plugins.
2. Keep locally staged builds relevant on remote PCs so we can be quicker to step through and debug these issues.

A big thank you to the engineers who worked today's public holiday to resolve the issue before the weekend.