Lost Isle News

[h2]What's New?[/h2]
The first month of a new year has come to its end (what), and we've made colossal strides towards Lost Isle being ready for early access later this year. The map is bigger than ever, with significantly higher vegetation and landmark density. Best of all, even with a bigger, more dense map, performance is also better than ever with higher frame rates and server reliability.

Before looking at server performance improvements and what that means for the state of the game... a few experiences from earlier today.

[h3]The Duality of Game Dev[/h3]

We pushed a freshly updated build to Steam for a few rounds of internal QA. I spent some time observing various wildlife AI, hoping to uncover the trigger for their locomotion sometimes not working properly. I encountered probably 10 different wolves. Some worked perfectly and others had issues. I documented my observations and was about to exit the game, when out of nowhere a lupine abomination howled in the distanced and challenged me to mortal combat.



If you're wondering what's in the player's hand at the beginning, those are top-tier bandages that heal and stop bleeding. Despite its appearance, it can actually kill and be killed. It caught me so off guard that I almost died before I could think to spawn in (hacks) a stack of bandages and spam use them while I ran laughing to safety.

Here's another in-game POV shot from today. I am horseback, sidehilling towards an ever-burning tree in the distance. I intend to chop it down with a freshly crafted axe, and to then use the energy-infused lumber to make a magic staff capable of shooting fireballs at the pesky skeletons guarding some fat loot chests. And all of this on a fantasy jungle island under a beautifully clear starlit night sky.


The lighting at night needs some adjustment - it's a bit too dark. The rider's hands aren't setup yet to grasp the reins properly, and the horse's head should probably be higher in the player's FOV. That tree will have different open-world spawn rules than it does now, and it's somehow missing the cool-looking spark particles that played in its branches a few weeks ago.

Our punch lists of bug fixes and polish look different these days. Instead of line items reading "server crashed when attempting to spawn a mushroom", now they more often read something like "1 out of roughly every 10 wolves requires an exorcism" or "where'd the tree sparks go?".

We still have a lot of ground to cover before our early access launch, but that today I was able ride a horse to a magic tree on a fantasy island, cut it down to craft a staff and shoot a fireball - all without the server crashing ;) - means that we're really getting somewhere.

[h3]Server Memory Optimizations[/h3]
Since the beginning, our goal for Lost Isle has been to allow for up to 200 players to experience the island together in a single server. We're big fans of Rust and other games like it, and we envisioned a game like that, but with our own unique spin on it. Making a compelling open-world multiplayer game capable of supporting that many players comes with a steep range of mountains to climb, and as of last week, we're happy to announce that we've successfully summited one of those peaks!

Without getting into the minutiae, here are the key details:

• Our server memory limit is about 12GB, meaning we experience crashes if server memory exceeds that number.
  
• When scaling our map up to the goal size (large enough to accommodate up to 200 players), our server memory would climb to nearly 13GB after loading everything in like vegetation, AI, landmarks, loot, etc. and this was before accounting for any significant number of players. Not good.
  
• Our programmers made a plan with the goal of bringing it down to 8GB and went to work. After a few dedicated weeks, they were able to not only meet the requirement but reduce server memory by an additional 50%, bringing the baseline down to around 4GB. Heroes.
  

So what does this mean?

• We can reliably build with a large map that can comfortably support up to 200 players
  
• With the additional memory optimizations, we can also push the limits for quality
  
• Higher vegetation density with increased LOD and culling distances for smoother transitions and less popping
  
• More major and minor monuments and landmarks across the map
  
• More wildlife, enemy and NPC AI units
  
• More player-built structures
  

The list goes on and on, but basically this just means that not only will we be able to build our map bigger, but also much better! Who knew server memory optimizations could be so exciting?

[h3]Other Notes[/h3]

• Playtesting will resume again very soon! If you're interested in participating as a playtester make sure you join our Discord! (link below)
  
• With playtesting coming up soon we're looking to collaborate with content creators of all types and sizes. If that's you, join our Discord and send us a message!
  

[h3]Stay in the Loop[/h3]

Don't miss out on important updates - make sure to wishlist Lost Isle here on Steam, join our Discord community, and follow us on X!

[h2]What's New?[/h2]
Our team's current development sprint has been nicknamed "wax on, wax off" - an appropriate name considering our sole focus right now is polishing game systems. QA, bug fix, polish, repeat. We're making steady progress on that front and things are feeling better than ever. The most recent systems to receive this treatment have been research and crafting.

[h3]Research and Crafting[/h3]
Players start server wipes with completely fresh research trees. There are some items in each category that require no research before crafting, like very basic clothing, tools, and a few other necessities for early survival, but everything else requires unlocking through research.



The "primitive" section is the first tier within each research tree, and items within this category can be unlocked right from the start without having to build a crafting station first. For this, and any other items beyond these, you'll need a resource called Motes. Motes are the essence of creation and can therefore be acquired by simply playing the game in almost any form; woodcutting, mining, harvesting plants and wildlife, and even from killing unfriendly players.

Items within tiers 1-3 of each category will require you to be nearby an appropriately upgraded, corresponding crafting station before you can unlock them. The workbench, anvil, spinning wheel, and reliquary all start at level 1 and can be upgraded to levels 2 and 3 with additional resources.

Research is one of only a few forms of persisting progress in Lost Isle, meaning you won't lose progress in your research tree if/when you die. The only occasions when research trees will be reset are when you join a new server, or when your current server is force wiped (force wipes are always predetermined and publicly scheduled so the timing will never be a surprise).

Once you've unlocked something in research, you can swap over to the crafting tab to make it. If it's a survival or primitive tier item, the item will be displayed with the resource cost only. If the item's background is green that means you have the required resources and you can right click to add it to your crafting queue.



The more advanced items from tiers 1-3 will additionally require that you're in close proximity to an appropriately upgraded, corresponding crafting station before you're able to craft it. If an item does require a crafting station, it will have a tag on the right side that displays which station is required. Once an item has been added to the crafting queue you're free to walk away from the station and it will be automatically added to your inventory when it's complete.

One last thing. In case you were wondering why you get motes from killing unfriendly players, that's because you lose half of your motes when you die... My advice would be to always spend your motes! Remember that progress in your research tree persists through death, so hoarding motes will only benefit the player who kills you and loots your corpse.

[h3]Other Notes[/h3]

• Beta playtesting kicks off in December! If you're interested in participating as a playtester make sure you join our Discord! (link below)
  
• With Beta coming up soon we're looking to collaborate with content creators of all types and sizes. If that's you, join our Discord and send us a message!
  

[h3]Stay in the Loop[/h3]

Don't miss out on important updates - make sure to wishlist Lost Isle here on Steam, join our Discord community, and follow us on X!

[h2]What's New?[/h2]
The Lost Isle team has been working diligently on systems testing, bug fixing, and lots of polish ahead of our official beta testing period which begins soon. We're very happy about the progress made this month and excited about the direction each individual piece is headed as it all comes together as one awesome whole. Here's a look into some of the cool things we've been cooking up with combat:

[h3]Builders and Spenders[/h3]
In previous posts we've gone over our Focus system, which essentially rewards players for consistently hitting their target with a weapon. Each consecutive basic attack will build up Focus that you'll be able to spend to activate a powerful special attack.

While rarer weapons of each class will have a unique ability, even common, lower-level weapons (including the humble Kitchen Skillet) will have a special attack called Keen Strike that simply deals 2x base damage. While hitting things with kitchenware is undoubtedly a good time, below are a few examples of magic staff special abilities.


Light Staff Special: Solar Beam. Call down a pillar of blinding light that deals heavy damage per second.


Nature Staff Special: Cyclone. Summon a violent vortex that pulls enemies towards the center and deals medium damage per second.

Side note... If for some reason you're feeling bad for the skeletons used in testing, notice that the skeleton's leg pops at the end of the cyclone indicating that it really loved the experience. Anyways...

An interesting note about these two specifically is that they are ground target, but during the channel duration you're actually able to slowly move them by pointing your reticle in the desired direction and the effect will follow. Very fun to use, if I do say so myself.

[h3]New Tooltip Design[/h3]
We've also made some major changes to our item tooltip design. The goal here was to really simplify how much is displayed and how it's displayed, so that players can easily digest the stats and effects of an item at a quick glance.



An important part of Lost Isle's game loop is running monuments - high risk high reward areas where the very best loot can be found. You're often doing these as quickly as possible to get in and get out with what you came for, so the quicker you're able to open a chest and decide whether you need an item badly enough to make room in your inventory or replace what you have equipped the better!

[h3]Other Notes[/h3]

• Beta playtesting kicks off in December! If you're interested in participating as a playtester make sure you join our Discord! (link below)
  
• With Beta coming up soon we're looking to collaborate with content creators of all types and sizes. If that's you, join our Discord and send us a message!
  

[h3]Stay in the Loop[/h3]

Don't miss out on important updates - make sure to wishlist Lost Isle here on Steam, join our Discord community, and follow us on X!

[h2]What's New?[/h2]
One of the cool things we're discovering about Lost Isle during development is that as we lean more and more into the fantasy side of our medieval fantasy theme, it turns out that there aren't really any creative limitations! Gandalf inspired staves and Harry Potter-esque wands for magical combat? Don't mind if we do!



Below is a quick breakdown of our core magical combat systems and components. In addition to these, there are also cursed grimoires used for raiding enemy player bases, scrolls for providing temporary buffs, and puzzles that require crystals to activate and unlock certain areas, but we'll talk about those things another time. This month we're diving into magical weapons.

[h3]Infused Crystals[/h3]
The cosmic energies flowing through the Lost Isle are heavily concentrated in the various crystals you'll encounter during exploration, and these are the main resource required for all things magical. The five different types of infused crystals you'll find and their corresponding elemental properties are ruby (fire), lazuli (ice), jade (nature), topaz (light), and amethyst (shadow).


You can find them in many different places, like randomly in specific loot containers, but the two most reliable methods are from 1) opening geodes that randomly drop from regular mining nodes, and 2) finding a rare intact crystal node as shown in the image above.

Crystals as a raw resource will manifest in two different forms: shards (common) and pristine (rare). Shards are used in basic magic crafting, and perhaps most importantly can be crushed and combined with arcane powder to make spell dust - the ammunition required for magical attacks. Pristine crystals on the other hand can be refined using an artificer's toolkit and shaped into polished crystals, which are required for crafting top tier magical weapons like wands and staves.

[h3]Wands[/h3]
Wands are a short-medium ranged weapon with small magical projectiles for basic attacks. Their play style is quick and light. There are three tiers of wands, and their basic attack not only increases in damage with each new tier, but also gains additional effects like the fire wand igniting the target causing it to take burn damage over time. Wand attack projectiles deal single target impact damage and do not splash.

The Focus spender (if you need a refresher on how Focus works in Lost Isle, you can go back and read about it in a previous dev log called "Hocus Focus") for wands is a channeled beam of elemental energy matching the corresponding crystal type. For example if you were using an ice wand and you reached 100% Focus, you'd be able to unleash a powerful channeled ice beam in the target direction. Similar to basic attacks, the duration, damage, and effects of these beams scale with each tier. Since this is a channeled spell, any input aside from aiming the beam's direction with your mouse will cancel the effect early.

[h3]Staves[/h3]
Staves are a medium-long ranged weapon with large magical projectiles for basic attacks that require fully charging before being able to shoot. Their play style is heavy and potent. Similar to wands, each new tier of staff gives their basic attack increasingly powerful additional effects. Staff attacks deal splash damage in an area around the initial impact, the size of which also scales, making this weapon a great option for taking on multiple enemies at once or shooting into open doorways when base raiding.

The Focus spender for staves is a frontal cone with devastating elemental effects. For example, the light staff frontal cone deals instant damage, pushes enemies back and blinds them for several seconds. These abilities are instant cast and are a brief but useful deterrent against foes that manage to close the gap against the staff wielder.

Most people, regardless of the specific title they're playing, typically gravitate towards a certain fantasy or another whenever the options exist. Some enjoy the brutish ways of the warrior, some the tactful precision of a ranger, and others the arcane mastery of wizardry. In Lost Isle we're doing our best to ensure that all three of those preferences are not only competitively viable but also maximally fun. We're excited for the day soon when you can get your hands on these unique weapons and take them for a spin!

[h3]Other Notes[/h3]

• Beta playtesting is almost here! If you're interested in participating as a playtester make sure you join our Discord! (link below)
  
• With Beta coming up soon we're looking to collaborate with content creators of all types and sizes. If that's you, join our Discord and send us a message!
  

[h3]Stay in the Loop[/h3]

Don't miss out on important updates - make sure to wishlist Lost Isle here on Steam, join our Discord community, and follow us on X!

[h2]What's New?[/h2]

Reading that Lost Isle is an open world survival game might leave you asking yourself, "Ok cool... but what's different about it?". We're setting out to answer some of those questions by diving into a few of the things that make our game a unique experience in a genre overflowing with tree chopping and arrow flinging mechanics.

Lumberjack and archery enthusiasts alike can take comfort knowing that we do indeed have both of those mechanics, but what makes our take unique is that it stems from the lore that the Lost Isle exists in an alternate earth setting. Set during the medieval period, the island itself is the prison-tomb of a fallen god named Mauroth - whose cosmic energies flow through earth, root and vein.

[h3]Smolderbark Trees[/h3]

Ever-burning trees that have long been dead but have never really died. Whatever it is that makes a tree living is particularly stubborn and unwilling to give up the ghost, as it were, in this species. Many of the very best weapons are crafted with Smolderbark wood due to its strength and resilience.

[h3]Elementium Deposits[/h3]

Elementium is the mineral result of Mauroth's celestial tomb being thrust down to earth with immense heat and force. Armor and weapons made from this refined ore are nearly indestructable.

[h3]Shimmerstalk Plants[/h3]

These plants are the best case scenario for when mystical meets natural. Each fiber is imbued with fantastically magical properties that make robes and other apparel woven from Shimmerstalk Plants the envy of wizards and warlocks across the world.

[h3]Stonehide[/h3]

Last month's dev log covered Night Beasts - the twisted, wicked, flying abominations of Mauroth's deliberate creation. The silver lining of their existence is that their skin, Stonehide, is incredibly durable. Should you successfully hunt these creatures, you'll be able to craft leather armor that any archer would be lucky to wear.

[h3]Forest Golems[/h3]

Forest Golems will largely remain a mystery to discover at launch, so consider this screenshot a teaser. The only spoilers I will offer are that these are peaceful creatures until they're not, and that they're an amalgamation of Smolderbark, Elementium, Shimmerstalk, and Stonehide.

[h3]Other Notes[/h3]

• Beta playtesting starts tomorrow (August 30th)! If you're interested in participating as a playtester make sure you join our Discord! (link below)
  
• With Beta coming up soon we're looking to partner with content creators of all types and sizes. If that's you, join our Discord and send us a message!
  

[h3]Stay in the Loop[/h3]

Don't miss out on important updates - make sure to wishlist Lost Isle here on Steam, join our Discord community, and follow us on X!