Icarus News

[h2]On Icarus always be prepared for change, Prospector.
[/h2]
Our first three Beta Weekends have absolutely exceeded our expectations. Nearly 200,000 people have played, many returning every Beta Weekend, for an average of 8 hours each. Many of you have sunk more than 20 hours into Icarus so far.

You, the players, have given us more insight, feedback, love and support than we could have ever imagined. We’ve aimed to reciprocate this in our work on the game, making an array of updates and changes to ensure each weekend is an improvement on the last. We’re feeling confident about our progress towards Icarus’ 1.0 launch.

With all these new insights, we have made a big decision that impacts the upcoming Beta Weekend (Oct 9th - 11th) and our eventual launch date that we want to explain below.

The key changes are:

• A new three-part Mission this Beta Weekend (9-11 October)
  
• An extra 24 hours on Monday for this Beta Weekend
  
• Desert Beta Weekend moved to 23-24 October
  
• All Beta Weekends rescheduled by two weeks
  
• Icarus’ scheduled launch date is now 4 December - but is still subject to change

[h2]Changes to our Beta Weekends Schedule[/h2]



We’re adding an extra Beta Weekend. This weekend (9-11 October) we’re going to send you on a three-part Mission to recover crashed bio-satellites and learn more about Icarus’ terraforming, rather than dispatching you to the Desert.

This epic three-part Mission spans the Forest biome, the northern Arctic biome as well as the newly-unlocked southern Arctic region, so we’re giving you an extra 24 hours to complete the Mission. That’s right, this Beta Weekend will continue until Monday evening (PDT).

This means the Desert biome will be unlocked in two weeks’ time, and the other Beta Weekends are also pushed back by two weeks. This lets us include more improvements to the Desert biome, based on the environmental tech art optimization lessons we learnt for the Arctic Beta Weekend. It’s a great example of how the focused Beta Weekends format lets us learn from one weekend and apply it to another.

Players loved the ‘hunt the Mammoth’ mission from the Arctic Beta Weekend, so we’re giving you more of it. Faction Missions, set by the various corporations and organizations operating on Icarus, with specific goals and rewards, are one type of Prospect that really showcases Icarus’ session-based gameplay. They provide a goal and purpose on top of our core survival experience.

We’ll share more details about the Mission Beta Weekend #4 with you tomorrow.

Expect more additions to the schedule in future. In the coming weeks we’ll announce details of the next Mission Beta Weekend (6-7 November) as well as plans and prizes for the Community Beta Weekend (20-21 November).



[h2]What this means for our 1.0 launch[/h2]

If you’ve done the math, you’ll know this pushes out our launch date from the date on our Steam Store page of November 20th, and we wanted to talk a bit about that here.

We’ve always maintained that we’d make any changes to our timeline necessary in order to deliver you a world-class game that we’re proud of. We have chosen to act on that promise here.

This means the new projected launch date is 4th December - although this could still change.

(This date may take a few days to update on our Steam Store page)

While we’re confident in our timeline, you can be the judge. There are two more months of Beta Weekends until then for you to measure our progress. Remember, during the Beta Weekends you can refund Icarus at any time. Once we launch, Steam’s usual two-hours refund policy applies.

Giving us this extra window of time allows us more room to polish all the new features and content we’ve been adding over the last few weekends. On top of this, an unexpected covid-19 lockdown here in New Zealand has put extra stress on our team and resources, and taking care of everyone's well being comes first for us. This has meant readjusting timelines, capacity and workloads.

And to cap it all off November 20th is a big day in gaming with the arrival of Battlefield 2042! While this title isn’t a direct competitor for our audience, it will take up a lot of airtime in the gaming world, so moving our launch outside this window is the best idea for us (and the players ultimately).

Delays are a common practice in gaming, as they are with any creative media. While we never take them lightly, they’re a decision we will confidently make in the interest of the game, the players and the team. The beauty of RocketWerkz self-publishing is that this decision is our own, and we will strive to communicate this to you at the earliest possible convenience.

Remember, there are some key features we are purposefully holding until our 1.0 launch. These include Exotics Missions, Outposts and the Workshop tech-tree in the orbital station. While some of you have already surpassed 20 hours in-game (wow!), there is so much content we’re yet to introduce.

[h2]How the Beta is Going[/h2]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Check out our latest Making of Icarus video to hear our views on how we think the Beta is going.

As we said earlier, our expectations for player numbers and feedback have been exceeded. The every-two-weekends format has worked really well for gathering player feedback and for our team. These regular updates are something we intend to continue post launch too. Icarus, both the planet and the game, will be a living and ever-evolving world.

- Liam

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Now that we’re nearly halfway through Icarus’ Beta Weekends, Game Runner Dean Hall reflects on how the process is going, including responding to the player community and the need to keep iterating.

Tech Lead Ben Carnall drops in to squash some bugs, and our Narrative Designer Henry shares the thinking behind Icarus’ backstory.

We’ve been filming the Making of Icarus series since November 2019. If you want to go behind-the-scenes of the game’s development and our thinking check out the complete series on YouTube.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Hello, Prospectors![/h2]
Wow, what an incredible Beta Weekend 3! Testing your skills against a savage and unforgiving arctic biome was always going to be a challenge, but so many of you did it with courage, creativity and a good dose of humour and joy.

It was quite a trek to make it from your peaceful landing zone to the arctic’s genetically modified mammoth, and it wasn’t easy taking them down at the end either! Bullets, bolts and thousands of arrows were shot into that mammoth over the weekend, and our team has thoroughly enjoyed watching your clips, hearing your stories and admiring your victory poses between those massive tusks!

Credit: DOMO1

We realise that getting to the mammoth was slightly harder than we had intended, and during the weekend we put out a small hotfix to balance the arctic wolf packs a bit. This reduced their spawn rate slightly to give players a bigger window to progress down the arctic valleys.

[h2]You creative geniuses[/h2]
As with each weekend, we were blown away by the awesome clips and content from our content creator community. Daring missions, savage encounters and many good-natured mishaps make for some incredible memories we won’t soon forget. We can’t share them all but here are a few we couldn’t get enough of:

- Teamwork makes the dream work - PartiallyRoyal
- The luckiest lightning survivor of the day - Cate7wolf
- One man, one bow, one mammoth - Foosh_005
- Kill.... Cam?

Tag us @survievicarus and use our hashtag #surviveicarus so we can see your content and give it a repost or like!

Credit: StixxAus

Content creators who would like Beta Keys can apply via Rainmaker or Woovit!

[h2]Community Tools[/h2]
Our Discord has hit over 20,000 prospectors - and you’ve been busy! Some dedicated community members have been making guides, wikis and tools to help others master Icarus. It’s great to see the First Cohort of prospectors working together. There’s safety in numbers.

Check out these unofficial tools we love:

• Icarus Wiki
• Icarus Talent Calculator
• Icarus Intel Map

Thanks to the Icarus Wiki Team, Therealfaux and FinallyRage for their amazing work on these sites!

Warning: Use them but be aware the info won’t always be accurate! While Icarus is in Beta anything can change. Because the tools aren’t affiliated with us, we can’t guarantee their accuracy at all times, even though the authors of them are doing an amazing job! Ultimately you’ll have to use your own wits to survive Icarus.

One tool you can use to contribute to the games development is FeatureUpvote by providing us with feedback and bug reports. The developers check this regularly and we’ve already implemented many of your suggestions and squashed many bugs.

[h2]Screenshots[/h2]
If you want to get a picturesque shot, remember to press 9 on your Number Pad to hide the UI, and post them in #screenshots in our Discord.

Credit: MachineOsaur

Credit: C Mat 2

Credit: Arrowgon

Credit: Angelos

Credit: TinTinMan

[h2]Get ready for Beta Weekend #4[/h2]
It feels like Beta Weekend 3 just ended, but we’re almost knocking on the door of Beta Weekend 4 already. Read about how they work here.

Beta Weekend #4 begins on:

• 5pm Friday 8 October PDT
  
• 1am Saturday 9 October UTC
  
• 1pm Saturday 9 October NZT
  

- Liam

Our next Beta Weekend begins on Friday 24th September at 5pm PDT where you’ll finally get a taste of the Arctic!

The arctic has been the most anticipated biome from our community. It’s home to a Mammoth, Polar Bears, Wolves, its own weather events like blizzards, and ice caves. Yes, that’s right! Ice caves!

As portrayed in our community Twitch streams with Dean and Lorii - simply getting to the arctic and surviving there is no easy feat. So, that’s why we’re going to give you a little guidance on how to get a head start on your prospects this weekend. We’ll also cover exciting quality of life updates, and of course some patch notes to keep you up to speed with the current state of the game.

Image by Discord member: Cav3dust

[h2]Don’t just run there, prepare![/h2]
You’ve landed in your drop ship and the door opens into the forest biome. You step outside and look for the closest point of entry to the arctic. You’re so excited and start running there...wait wait wait, hold on prospector -- there are a few things you should do first!

1. Collect resources and get crafting.
   Just like previous Beta Weekends, you will be presented with the same challenges as soon as you set foot on Icarus. Do what you’ve done best and chop down trees, hunt, build a cabin and craft necessities such as weapons and fur armour to prepare for your expedition into the cold.
   
   
2. Determine your prospector’s life-threatening needs.
   While the forest biome is sufficient with freshwater lakes and oxite, the arctic is not. Craft and fill a water skin and oxygen bladder so you can top up when needed. While you’re in the arctic you can find ice (scattered across the snowy ground) and melt them down into water by using a campfire, which will subsequently fill your water skin. Having an ample amount of food to satiate your hunger until your first arctic hunt would also be smart.
   
   
3. Bring supplemental resources with you.
   Once you’re in the thick of the arctic, having the ability to build a cabin for shelter midway to your final destination could save your life. Carry extra wood, ore, refined metals and any other crafting benches or tables that can fit into your inventory without sacrificing your weight or other important items. If you’re playing in a group, try dispersing these items among your team. In the case that you fall short of resources, caves make great safe havens and host an array of ore.
   

[h2]Map - Expanded Playable Area[/h2]
Each Beta Weekend we open up the Icarus map more than the previous! Since we are unlocking a completely new biome, there is a far wider area to explore and play. Yellow signifies the Arctic biome, and blue being the Forest where you have been before.



[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]

• All prospects have been cleared
  
• Characters who were on drops have been returned to the station ready to head to a new prospect with their current talent and skill unlocks intact
  
• Character level cap remains the same at Level 25
  
• Buildings constructed on cliff-faces will no longer destroy themselves when players reload into the prospect
  
• Animals will no longer try to path through dropships
  
• When placing a full Oxygen Tank into a hotbar slot, it will now fill the player’s oxygen to 100%
  
• Left clicking the Oxygen Tank in the hotbar now consumes oxygen
  
• Lightning can no longer destroy items inside caves
  
• Arrows will no longer duplicate when they are recovered from skinned corpses
  
• Players can no longer be struck by lightning while inside a house
  
• Logged out players no longer show as a dead prospector
  
• Logged out players no longer show as a dead marker on the map
  
• Players no longer fall through the world when reloading their prospect into a cave
  
• Animals can no longer attempt to path through cave voxel coverings
  
• Animal corpses now despawn after 10 minutes
  
• Animal corpses no longer respawn when the player reloads into the prospect
  
• Repaired building pieces (floor, wall, beam etc) can now also stack with newly crafted building pieces inside the player’s inventory
  
• Rifle rounds now break on hit
  

[h2]Quality of Life Updates[/h2]

• Modular Kitchens
  
• Functional Curtains
  

We also deployed quality of life adjustments among our developers! We enforced a relative stand-down to those who worked longer hours over Beta Weekend Two. If it wasn’t for their hard work, the mass of hotfixes and updates we pushed through would not have been possible! As a side, this means that the amount of bug fixing between Beta Weekends was limited. But we are more than happy with the results we have achieved, and with a well rested team.

Image by Discord member: kininja

[h2]Reporting Bugs and Suggestions[/h2]
We’re consistently amazed at how well our community is utilizing the platform we’ve chosen to receive feedback. We’re improving processes on our end so we can clearly communicate with you the status of each ticket, and how we prioritize them to our team. This is just a big ol’ THANK YOU for helping make Icarus the best it can be.

Please continue to report bugs and any other issues or suggestions during Beta Weekend #3 here: https://icarus.featureupvote.com/

[h3]See you in the Arctic![/h3]
We're looking forward to your Icarus gameplay, screenshots and your tales of journeying through the Arctic! Be sure to tag us @surviveicarus on all socials, and join our Discord server to hang out with us and our community this Beta Weekend! Click here

- Lorii

Helpful links:
Reporting Bugs Discord Twitter

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1149460/ICARUS/

Discord Member: Fantomas



Thank you for playing our second Beta Weekend! Was it really a weekend when it was four days long? ;-) We felt we owed it to the community to extend this beta after the “hug of death” many of you experienced, and we’re happy to hear you certainly made the most of it!

Storms were out in full force but you prevailed and created some amazingly intricate structures. The fun and mayhem that lightning brought to your gameplay was apparent, especially when your masterpieces went up in flames (we totally saw this coming!). Many of you also chose the blaze of glory approach and torched your own buildings at the end of the weekend.

This time we decided to create hotfixes over the weekend to ensure your gameplay experience was as optimal as it could be. If it wasn’t for your honest and well structured feedback, we wouldn’t have been able to recognize and achieve these improvements as much as we did. So, shout out to you! And also shout out to Icarus’s warm, fuzzy and cuddly bears.

Don’t forget you can provide us feedback in between Beta Weekends! This site is up 24/7 so head on over to icarus.featureupvote.com to upvote a current ticket or create your own.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]Check out our latest Beta Weekend Highlights video!

[h2]Popular YouTube Vids[/h2] SHIMOROSHOW Fooster Raptor Game Edged

[h2]Popular Twitch Clips[/h2] BikeMan HitPlay ToastFPS VERTiiGOGAMING

Content creators can still apply for a Beta key via Rainmaker or Woovit!

We’ve loved seeing our community tag us @survievicarus and use our hashtag #surviveicarus - it’s made it so much easier to see your content so we can repost or give it a like. Good job!!

[h2]Discord Community[/h2]
Another whopping 5,000 members joined our Discord server since the last Beta Weekend, bringing our total to over 17,000! We’re constantly updating and improving our Discord spaces to ensure you have the best time chatting with one another and can find the information you need. So why don’t you join us?

This week we are here yet again to showcase some of your incredible screenshots! Remember you can press 9 on your Number Pad (or another key of your choice) to hide the UI.

Discord Member: Clutchness

Discord Member: Drew43

Discord Member: Arrowgon

Discord Member: SkyNett81

Discord Member: ZerroBrave

Make sure to use the Beta Weekend #screenshots channel if you want the chance to be featured here! Thank you for sharing these pictures with us and the wider community.

[h2]WIN WITH LOGITECH G![/h2]
Our Gleam competition boasted some amazing Logitech G prizes and Steam Wallet funds. It has now come to a close and we have drawn our lucky winners!

Thank you to everyone for the tremendous number of entries! We were very impressed with the turnout and enjoyed looking through your screenshot and video submissions. Our winners will be contacted via email within the next 24 hours. Please keep a lookout as we may have to redraw if you do not reply promptly!

There will be more chances to win prizes with another gleam competition planned for our community focused Beta Weekend in November.

[h3]Beta Weekend #3 is Around The Corner![/h3] Our next Beta Weekend begins on Friday September 24th at 5pm PDT (Saturday September 25th at 12pm NZT / 12am UTC)!

For more detailed information on our Beta Weekends, click here.

Prospectors, you will need to utilize all the skills you’ve learned this far to ensure your safety across the Arctic biome. Prepare for the COLD! Blizzards, wolves and polar bears could create a very fine line between you and imminent death, so good luck!

- Lorii

Helpful links:
Reporting Bugs Discord Twitter

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1149460/ICARUS/