Icarus News

[h2]Hello again, Prospectors![/h2]

Welcome back to another Community Update. It's been a great month as we continue to develop Icarus. Our private beta branch is up and running, we’ve had some guest streamers and journalists play it recently and we're busy making improvements around the clock.

We've reached over 5,000 members on our Discord! Our server is thriving and is a wonderful place to just hang out with friends, post memes, talk about our Twitch streams and YouTube videos. So here's to the next milestone of 10,000!

[h2]CREATOR SPOTLIGHT[/h2]
[h3]Introducing Viktoriahhh![/h3]

Viktoriahhh is a content creator based in Australia growing her YouTube and social channels around horror and survival games, one being Icarus! She's charismatic and to the point, providing her community with "spicy" information found across our streams, YouTube development blogs and our once-in-a-while Discord leaks (thanks Dean!). We're excited to continue to support the women in our community and can’t wait to see more of their content!

[previewyoutube]https://youtu.be/-pagmGkpxXs[/previewyoutube]
“I’ve always been passionate about survival games, but when I saw Icarus, I knew it was love. For me, the appeal of most survival games is choosing my own adventure, setting my own goals and figuring out what I can survive. Icarus adds a whole new dimension to the challenge by making your time planet-side limited and every drop is a fresh start on a new adventure with all of the perks you earned along the way. Usually the survival part is easy and it’s the enemies you have to look out for, so I’m looking forward to facing new challenges like insane weather and literally just breathing. In the end, the thing I am really most excited for is the very first time my house catches fire. It’s going to be lit.” - Viktoriahhh

Go subscribe to It's Viktoriahhh's YouTube! and follow her on Twitter

[h2]Notable Mentions[/h2]
Earlier this month we collaborated with two content creators, Gladd and BigFry!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Gladd will go down in history as the very first content creator to get their hands on Icarus, while playing with the developers Dean and Lorii!
It was a fantastic stream filled with a lot of hype. Gladd didn't shy away from talking to us about Icarus' game development, took the time to learn the game and built a safe haven cabin. In the end he was mauled by bears. Thanks Gladd!


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
YouTuber BigFry sat down and played Icarus with Dean, although that day’s particular beta build became unstable as they played. BigFry dove into a no-holds-barred intricate, professional and sometimes personal interview around Dean’s career in video games before Icarus, and how the development is coming along with his fresh set of eyes. Thank you BigFry for a wholesome "Non-PR" themed chat.


While we love playing with raw beta builds, after the session with BigFry we took a step back and re-evaluated some of our processes to make sure we have a stable build ready to go when we play with guests. We’ll be reaching out to more content creators soon! We can't wait to host you and have you play Icarus.

[h3]Until next month![/h3]
Do you create content around Icarus? Be sure to tag us @SurviveIcarus or use our hashtag #surviveicarus so we can see your work!

Join our Discord server Discord.gg/SurviveIcarus/ and follow us on Twitter! @SurviveIcarus

- Lorii

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

[h2]Greetings, Prospectors![/h2]

As we continue to cover many facets of Icarus’ systems and features, this week we are taking a closer look at the brooding weather that dictates your movement and strategy on the planet.

[h2]The core functionalities of Icarus' weather system[/h2]
The weather cycles in Icarus boast both beautiful and frightening visuals across a single day. As your drop ship settles onto Icarus’ soil in the early hours of the morning, you can expect to cast your eyes on stunning clear skies and sunshine that touches the trees, lakes and mountain tops.

You are given ample time to forage for resources, craft early tier weapons and build shelter prior to your first storm encounter. There is no rhyme and reason for which storm you will experience first, meaning the more prepared you are, the better.



[h2]The different tiers of weather[/h2]
There’s no ‘one size fits all’ to Icarus' weather systems. The weather tiers in Icarus range from light showers to chaotic, torrential downpours. They are also unique to their biomes, with blizzards in the arctic and sandstorms in the desert.



Storms aren’t the only weather event that will be experienced either. Wind scales from light breezes through to wild hurricanes that will challenge even the strongest structures.



[h2]Impacts on structures and the environment[/h2]
Each weather tier provides a visual and audio experience and even more importantly, a game-altering experience based on its severity. One of the biggest culprits is lightning. A targeted lighting strike will set your structure ablaze, along with your character if you’re not careful when out of cover. One of the coolest features is how it interacts with the environment. A tree caught by a lightning strike will spread its fire throughout nearby trees and ground-level foliage. There’s nothing quite as terrifying as a lake of fire creeping through the bush towards you.



Buildings are also susceptible to slower but noticeable deterioration during extreme weather events. A strong enough gale will tear a roof clean off a hut if you’re not prepared to repair it on the fly. While it will provide protection for your resources and crafting benches inside, neglecting to keep your walls strong and roof reinforced will lead to your most valuable possessions being damaged. Key upgrades will show their worth as you progress through the tech trees, such as lightning rods, which can be the difference between losing a homebase and surviving to fight another day.



[h2]Dynamic shelter[/h2]
One of the coolest features we’re excited to introduce to you is dynamic shelter. While most shelter experiences in video games is a simple ‘roof = safe’, we wanted to provide an experience that was a bit more ‘real’. Instead of using simple overlaps, or predefined safe areas, we use thousands of bounced rays to analyse your surroundings. We process these to provide a realistic representation of how exposed your character is. This provides some unique and realistic tricks to increase your shelter, such as building against the side of cliffs, carving into rocks or even huddling with your friends.

Exposure is a genuine danger, and while a player can attempt to push through a storm without shelter, the debuff and damage modifiers will scale quickly. The same goes for unsheltered equipment which will deteriorate and break over time.



A big focus for Icarus has been the realities of weather in a survival setting. We believe a weather event shouldn’t be a visual nuisance, but a real threat to consider in your quest for exotics. By recreating these experiences, we feel confident you won’t ignore the clap of thunder in the distance, but instead will prepare for the real dangers it presents.

As someone that's constantly stalking survival games, I’ve been keeping an eye on Icarus. Through some bushes. While covered in mud. Dean "DayZ" Hall’s return to the survival genre is a speed-dating version of traditional survival games, dropping players into shorter sessions (lasting hours and days rather than months) where you make planetfall, set-up a base, grab resources, then sell them post-mission. To keep players interested in the long run, there's a lot of character progression, with over 250 talents to unlock. Here's a small look at them.

Read more

[h2]What is the Talent Tree?[/h2]

With over 250 combined talents to choose from, Icarus' Talent Tree gives you the ability to reflect your unique play-style inside three primary archetypes: Survival, Construction and Hunting.

This time around we will cover Survival and Hunting, with Construction coming in its own separate post.

[h2]Survival Tree[/h2]
The survival tree is designed for general character survival on the planet, storm detection and weathering, resource gathering and consumption, farming, and anything to do with a character’s basic needs.



[h3]Resources[/h3]
Do you like collecting materials? If so, unlocking the talents in this branch of the survival tree will make your yields more fruitful. Once you begin missions to mine exotics and return them to the orbital station you'll find a talent waiting for you called "Exotic Specialist" which marks one Exotic Deposit on your map to get you underway as fast as possible. It will save you time and maybe even your life.



[h3]Exploration[/h3]
If you know our Community Manager Lorii, who explores but finds herself in some sticky situations like luring bears, unlocking talents in the Exploration branch can ensure you a quick getaway!

Swimming in Icarus is necessary for cooling off when your character gets too hot, if you are on fire(?) or need a shortcut. You can also swim to escape a predator. Luckily for you there is a talent to allow you to zoom through water quickly and it might even be faster than running. Here you are also able to unlock abilities to support your team like storm detection, better shared XP gain and Field Medic that allows you to revive your friends with more health.



[h3]Hunting[/h3]
Talents like On the Trail make you a master tracker, highlighting animal footprints to give you a advantage while hunting. There are complementary buffs for crouched shots, cheaper arrow crafting and more efficient resource gathering from prey to make you a valuable team member no matter the mission you're undertaking. And perhaps the most notable talent here, Running with the Wolves, makes you neutral to wolves so they won't bother you unless provoked with an attack.

[h3]Cooking / Farming[/h3]
Here you'll find slower food decay, increased food buff durations, raw meat ingestion perks and talents for farming! That's right, FARMING! Ever wanted to grow your own food? In Icarus you can. This branch of the survival tree means you can work your Green Thumb to your heart's content with a handsome amount of crops to prove it.



[h2]Combat Tree[/h2]
This tree focuses on talents for damage-dealing weapons like bows, spears and firearms to protect and advance through to the late game.



[h3]Bows[/h3]
Movement speed is integral to hunting pursuits, especially as a bow wielder who sees a new target and wants to quickly move into a good spot to go for the kill shot. Here you have the chance to unlock talents that bleed your prey and/or completely immobilize them.



[h3]Spears[/h3]
Spears are reliable for multi-tasking, using them for both melee and projectile damage. When equipped with a spear, if you utilize one of the stamina regen talents, you'll find yourself catching your breath much more quickly. This is both good for your endurance when crossing multiple terrains in one stint or chasing a predator. In this branch you'll find other talents like cheaper spear crafting and throwing a spear to put out a fire (don’t ask).



[h3]Blades[/h3]
Everyone loves a stealth kill! Want to get the upper hand on your prey? While crouching with a knife, there is a talent here that makes you almost undetectable. Ever wanted to skin your prey instantly? If you work your way down the branch, you can. The knife is a great tool that has many uses and we trust you will execute all of them here.

[h3]Firearms[/h3]
Nice try, Prospector! We will delve into the details of these in a separate post. Because they sure deserve one.

[h3]There is more to come![/h3]
Your character is your identity on Icarus and as you customize your antics to suit any mission you'll feel yourself grow, improve and refine as a player.

Join our Discord server, we would love to have you! Discord.gg/SurviveIcarus

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

[h2]What is the Planetary Tech Tree?[/h2]

When you first land on Icarus as a poor prospector you bring nothing with you. As you start gathering stones, sticks and flora with your bare hands, mine rocks using your newly crafted pickaxe, chop down trees and collect wood with your stone axe, you’ll earn experience points (XP), level up and earn points to unlock items to craft in the Planetary Tech Tree.

The items you choose will help you customize your own play style and increase your chances of staying alive longer!

The first two tiers of Icarus’ planetary tech tree have over 150 items for you to unlock and craft.

[h2]Tier One[/h2]
Tier One provides the foundational tools to survive as a prospector. These items are fast to craft, use easily found resources and set you up with the basics to survive on Icarus.



[h3]Basic Hunting[/h3]

Wolves and Bears are in abundance on Icarus’ more Earth-like terraformed areas and will approach you if you’re in their line of sight. Without the bare minimum of a Wood Spear, Wood Bow or Stone Knife, you may become a meal.

• Stone Knife: requires Fiber, Sticks and Stones.
  
  It has baseline melee damage, skinning efficiency (how much leather you collect per skinning), yet low projectile damage when thrown from afar.
  
  
• Bone Knife: requires Wood, Leather and well... Bones.
  
  Slightly higher melee damage, providing more efficient skinning as well as better projectile damage compared to the Stone Knife.
  
  
• Wood Spear: requires Fiber and Sticks.
  
  Decent melee damage with projectile damage to boot! If you're interested in getting up close and personal with your enemies, this spear is for you. You can also aim and throw from a distance while being able to retrieve it from inside your prey or from the ground.
  
  
• Bone Spear: requires Wood, Leather and Bones.
  
  Better melee and projectile damage than a Wood Spear.
  
  
• Wood Bow: requires Fiber and Sticks.
  
  Sufficient but limited projectile damage. Accompanying the bow are two choices of damage-inducing arrows made from Stone orBone. If you happen to be lost or need help, you can also craft a Flare Arrow to pinpoint your position in the sky or a craft a Flame Arrow to set something alight!
  

[h3]Basic Shelter[/h3]

Building in this tier has the sole purpose of providing a shelter to survive within your immediate means.

• Thatch: is your quick craft option.
  
  While only requiring easily accessible materials such as Fiber and Sticks, thatch shelters give you limited durability. If you are away from your main homestead this is a good choice for a temporary hunting shed. Just remember to stay away from fire!
  
  
• Wood: provides something a bit more rugged!
  
  As you weather your first storms inside your cabin, you'll need a Fire Whacker to stave off flames and Repair Mallet to fix your structure's durability. Your odds of outlasting torrential wind, rain, and thunder increase drastically here but you must stay alert!
  

[h2]Tier Two[/h2]
Once you’ve hit Level 5, you will be granted access to the second tier! From here you will unlock the Crafting Bench from which every other craftable item stems from. Tier two is a little more technical, pushing you to be more strategic when gathering your resources and deciding what to spend them on. Raising the question: What are you trying to achieve during this session?





[h3]Enhanced Hunting[/h3]

• The Stone Furnace: smelts a range of elements including Iron, where you can craft deadlier weapons like the Iron Knife, Iron Spear, Crossbow and bolts. Want to hunt more efficiently? This is the way.
  
  
• The Skinning Bench: is great for improving your Meat, Fur, Leather and Bone gathering as your "value-per-prey" efficiency is increased per carcass. Rather than skinning your kills with a knife in the field, carrying carcasses back to the bench will provide more resources.
  

It is important to note that you need to have a complete cabin (connecting floors, walls, roof) in order to use the Crafting Bench and the other heavy duty items that require protection from the elements.




[h3]Enhanced Building[/h3]

• The Masonry Bench: gives access to Stone tier construction, making your home a far safer haven than wood could ever provide. Storms shouldn't be an issue for you now, prospector.
  
  
• The Carpentry Bench: makes room for players to get creative with their interior design, but most importantly adds an extra layer of durability during storms. You also gain the ability to create ‘trophies’ of your favourite hunts to add some flavour to those bare walls.
  

[h3]Armor[/h3]

• The Armor Bench: this is your first time being able to craft your own armor, congratulations! Each type has its own perks and purpose, suited for each of our biomes. Crafting Leather Armor provides a quality upgrade to protect you from early-level elemental exposure. Fur Armor is ideal for cold to freezing environments, while Ghillie Armor provides a clever advantage as you blend into the forest and shrubs around you.
  

[h3]Consumables[/h3]

• The Herbalism Bench: enables you to bake, cook and create sustainable food options with nutritional perks and a larger expiry window. These will alleviate the constantneed to be on the lookout for prey. Bread Dough is a must have, yet Stamina, Oxygen and Health Pastes provide boosts that can give you an edge in a tricky spot.
  

[h3]What are your thoughts?[/h3]
We've aimed to provide prospectors with a full toolkit of core survival features, with many more for you to discover. We will dive into tier three and four's more advanced machinery and materials another time.

Join our Discord server and take part in the conversation! Discord.gg/SurviveIcarus

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