Frontiers Reach News

This weekend there is no update. The reason for this is because Phase 2 of the WARMAP updates is about to start and I it will take some time get the first update put together for Phase 2. That aside this announcement is specifically for covering some of the work that was done this week, and that which is to come.




Chapter 2 of the story for Frontiers Reach is well underway. Voice over is currently wrapping up recording for the main story missions and the first side quest for chapter 2 is wrapping up writing. Chapter 2 is going to be a major step forward for the WARMAP. It will include story missions to play on the WARMAP as well as new missions that will have the player fighting to rescue vessels in distress. Each vessel you save is added to your fleet of ships and will progress the story.

I don't have anything to show off for chapter 2 yet, but most of the work right now is prep work before going into scripting the missions into the game. What I will say though, is that new characters will be met in this next chapter with the return of some older ones.




As I mentioned earlier, the first real side quest for Chapter 2 is wrapping up writing and about to go into voice over recording! With this side quests comes a new addition to the game.

Sol Confederacy Black Sites.

Black sites are secret installations run in remote locations throughout the frontier worlds. Each side quest will end with a black site. And each black site is its own level with a complex structure that will require the player to participate in a large battle to complete the side quest. The first side quest will have the player working with one of the new characters being added to the game.

The first of the black sites is featured in the video below.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]




Additional player feedback has been received as well as a continued effort to refine and improve the game. On the list of things to do right now there includes new weapons types, additional 3rd Person UI elements, and more controls for the fighter like trim controls.

Below is a short video of an explosive charge that has been made for one of the new weapon types.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

To help balance these weapon types out a bit more a new type of guidance system is planned called "Semi-active". Semi-active guidance munitions will require the pilot to keep their locked target within the radar fan indicators used by guided weapons. If the target falls outside of those indicators the munition will lose tracking until the target is put back into the radar fan.


That's all I have for this announcement. Till next time!

- Fixed another bug that could break landing sequences.

- Fixed a bug that could keep the player from landing at the end of some story missions after they crashed during mission.

Phase one of the WARMAP updates has been completed.

With this a new game mode is now available on the WARMAP. This game mode is called Skirmish and is available on Republic held nodes that are in Stand Down. Additionally control inputs have been touched up with new keybindings being made available on the rebinding menus and several small artwork fixes have also been made.


So what is Skirmish?

Skirmish is a new game mode that is built as a long form play mode for Frontiers Reach. It allows a player to choose a Republic held node on the WARMAP that is currently in Stand Down and to roam the sector on that node freely. As the player roams the sector, the Scenario Manager (a core piece of code that runs the game when you're flying) will randomly select from a list of events to initiate. Once the event goes live enemies will spawn into the map and begin an assault. Where the enemies spawn and the targets they engage will vary depending on that event triggered, and the map that you are playing on as each map is rigged differently. Skirmish is available for play on both space and planet nodes.

Skirmish mode can be ended at any time by requesting to exfiltrate from the sector that you currently in. Be sure to check the rebindings menu to determine what the exfiltration key is for each control scheme.


Reworked Control Schemes.

Control schemes have been touched up with a focus on Gamepad controls. By default the Select button on the gamepad is now used as a modified to allow the A, B, X, Y, buttons to be used for other function. Additionally Hold, and Multi-tap functionality now exists for some bindings that previously did not have them. And last but not least, the control schemes have been adjusted to hopefully reduce the likelihood of different pieces of hardware fighting each other priority.


Artwork and Bug Fixes.

- The HF-22 cockpit texture has been fixed and should no longer have rain showing up inside of it.
- Tunnels and caves should now show reduced ambient lighting.
- Tunnels and caves should now disable ejecting from the cockpit.
- Collision checking has been adjusted to make it more likely that if you run into something you will actually blow up. This was done to reduce the likelihood that you will get stuck in a cave or tunnel and be unable to eject.

Phase one of the WARMAP updates continues with further tweaks and scenario additions.

First of all is the tweaks to the menu for the WARMAP. This update finally realizes the intended functionality of the WARMAP by randomly selecting 3 scenarios for each Defcon level; which actually have more than 3 scenarios but this will help reduce the likelihood that players will try to grind one specific scenario and hopefully reduce the likelihood that players will get bored with the number of available scenarios.



The scenarios on the WARMAP are intended to feel more like sorties in a much larger operation where in you, the player, are being tasked with a single objective, or a small set of objectives to complete that push the war effort on that node as opposed to pushing forward a story narrative.

More story missions are indeed coming and I'm currently working with some folks to get the voice acting done up so that I can move into scripting those missions as soon as possible.

This weeks update also includes 2 new scenarios :

- Mining Rig Defense : Defend a vessel in space as it conducts asteroid capture operations. This scenario is only available on space nodes, but is playable on all of those space nodes for each faction, with availability of the scenario changing from one DefCon level to another depending upon who owns the node.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


- Armored Column : Assist a small team of Republic Special Forces who have managed to pin down an armored column moving mobile SAMs through a chokepoint. Then exfiltrate the SpecFor team from the sector. This scenario is only available on Independent or Confederacy held nodes.


This update also saw some tweaks to terrain textures and the additional of large flora, or trees, on some maps. None of these new tree additions have colliders on them so you don't have to worry about crashing into them but you may find that they provide an extra layer of challenge with regards to positively identifying targets outside of your radar range and obscuring your vision when those targets are closer.




Last but not least, the debacle with Unity's pricing model seems to be more or less over not completely undone. As such the pricing for Frontiers Reach and future Unity based games will be coming back down although not to the original 20 USD price tag. I will try to enact this as soon as possible.