Dawn Apart News

[p]Hey There Everyone![/p][p][/p][p]We are creeping closer and closer to our Early Access release date and with that we've been making some massive changes. We are super excited to get them in your hands and hear what you think about them:[/p][p][/p][h2]Optimization[/h2][p]We spent a good amount of time optimizing the game. Both in terms of rendering and game logic. We reworked how our renderer handles voxel data to allow not only for more efficient space skipping. We now store all voxel data in the gpu in a format that allows us to do some bitwise operations to determine if and 8^3, 4^3, or 2^3 region of voxels is empty before finally checking the lowest 1^3 level. In simple terms we use a smaller amount of faster operations during rendering. In even simpler terms: less + faster more gooder than more + slower.[/p][p][/p][p]This new structure also comes with more or less also built in levels of detail (LOD)![/p][p][/p][p]Because of our top down camera you will almost never see a higher LOD, but we take advantage of them by using higher LODs when rendering shadows. Starting off we use 2^3 as the lowest level for shadows, but then we also aggressively use higher LODs for things outside the camera frustum. This results in some visible artifacts at the highest camera height, but for the moment the advantages far outweigh the drawbacks.[/p][p] Aside from rendering we also did a lot of work on general game system optimizations. We massively improved performance of mining drills causing terrain updates and addressed some issues with agent pathing that resulted in huge frame drops.[/p][p][/p][p]To be clear though while we made huge strides with this update we are still going to continuously work on optimizing. Even still it's not quiet where we want it to be for lower end hardware, but I am 100% sure that we haven't exhausted all the potential avenues for optimizing so expect this to keep getting better with future updates.[/p][p][/p][h2]Progression & New Building Content[/h2][p]We've been taking a hard look at progression and updated a large number of recipes along with general path progression takes. Previously the early game required a lot of items made from various resources making it a bit hard to just get in and learn how to play without being overwhelmed.[/p][p][/p][p]We've also been adding more and more content to the game in terms of building. This includes new variations, or completely new sets of walls and floors. Below is an example with the new Shoji & Tatami set.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The awesome thing about all these changes is everything here requires absolutely no code changes. It's all just changed values, or new elements in our client side definition files. We'll most likely post more information about it after Early Access, but because we've always built the game with modding in mind, anyone can easily add new buildings, recipes, items, pretty much whatever.[/p][p][/p][h2]Agent Improvements[/h2][p]As mentioned before, agents were also hit with a number of updates. Agent behavior is something that is being continuously worked on and updated. They've gone from dumb dummies some months ago to very capable with some slightly odd behavior, mainly doing things in not very efficient ways. This of course is a true nightmare to efficiency enjoyers. [/p][p]We buffed their capabilities by making workbenches faster and giving them the capability to "Bulk Craft". This means that if you queue 20 conveyor belts, they will bring as many materials as possible to craft them. We also increased their carry capacity to allow them to craft more items at once. We will most likely continue tweaking their capabilities as this made them absolute crafting machines.[/p][p]We are also working on other improvements at the moment which would allow them to use items on the ground for tasks instead of needing to store them first.[/p][p][/p][h2]New Camera Controls[/h2][p]The original camera controller was one of the oldest things in the project and never really got a fresh coat of paint. We decided it was finally time and instead of doing a fresh coat we threw the old one out the window. Instead of being locked into 90 degree angles the camera can be freely rotated with right click or q/e. You can rotate in 45 degree increments with shift + q/e, but the new freedom of movement allows for a refreshing level of exploration of the voxel world. You'll also notice that scrolling in and out is very smooth instead of actively fighting you, so that's great![/p][p][/p][h2]Priorities Updates[/h2][p]We've heard your feedback about the priorities window not being very user friendly. We got rid of the moving boxes that all look the same and replaced them with sprites that are much more simpler to read at a glance. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]First Pass Audio Update[/h2][p]We are working with Plume Pulse to overhaul just about everything audio in our game, and this will be the first version with many of those updates included. This means active and idle machines, mining drills, workbenches, ambient noises, weapons, and more. There is some functionality not implemented into the game yet so over time the soundscape of the world will just keep improving, but it's a massive improvement over the original sounds.[/p][p][/p][h2]First Pass Localization[/h2][p]With this update we added the first pass of French, Spanish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Russian! We do have some missing strings and incorrect visuals in the ui that will be fixed in a future update.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Changes[/h2]

• [p]Plume Pulse Audio Update[/p]
• [p]Re-implemented stockpile state changes on middle mouse[/p]
• [p]Added logic to not start camera panning if a ui element is hovered[/p]
• [p]Fixed agent formation logic not properly running during move commands[/p]
• [p]Added fallback logic if a terraform tile order continues living after completion[/p]
• [p]Fixed empty stockpile action not properly utilizing agent storage requests[/p]
• [p]Fixed hpa build error where parent nodes with no children were treated as bottom level nodes[/p]
• [p]Added small offset to all non-terrain premade objects to avoid z-fighting[/p]
• [p]Fixed agents not being able to path to chunks for interactions[/p]
• [p]Fixed agents not facing tile they are mining/terraforming[/p]
• [p]Fixed idle wandering clearing plans [/p]
• [p]Added speech bubble to space port with active trades[/p]
• [p]Fixed improper grammar in hungry agent text[/p]
• [p]Added toast message when an item is being picked up and no free stockpile is available[/p]
• [p]Fixed player being able to haul from trader (causes a crash)[/p]
• [p]Updated tutorials to use copper instead of iron[/p]
• [p]Fixed wrong font being used in the building stats of some DetailViews (miners and cranes)[/p]
• [p]Fixed output item images being stretched in ConverterDetailView[/p]
• [p]Refactored gpu upload and brick map trace to use morton ordered voxel data for efficient space skipping for objects, plants and trees[/p]
• [p]Adjusted post-processing effects[/p]
• [p]Increased ambient moon light intensity[/p]
• [p]Improved performance of plant/tree tracing[/p]
• [p]Updated plant/tree shadow tracing to use the default voxel object trace path when wind disabled[/p]
• [p]Added shadow tracing specific lods[/p]
• [p]Reduced shadow map size 4096 -> 2250[/p]
• [p]Slightly djusted fog values[/p]
• [p]Made 70% fixed resolution scaling the default for new players[/p]
• [p]Updated sun/moon to update incrementally over time[/p]
• [p]Updated rts camera to use freelook cinemachine camera[/p]
• [p]Updated how middle mouse and right click inputs are handled in relation to new camera inputs[/p]
• [p]Updated terrain meshing system to only add the render mesh components the first time through[/p]
• [p]Added terraformed terrain flag to brick map attributes[/p]
• [p]Updated all forms of terraforming to set the brick map attribute and render with a terraforming palette[/p]
• [p]Clicking on a currently animating TextTyping component now instantly completes the typing effect[/p]
• [p]Fixed gifs in messages not starting while the game is paused[/p]
• [p]Removed quantity count for global stockpile categories[/p]
  • [p](still being counted but not shown)[/p]
• [p]GlobalStockpileController can now also spawn blueprints that stem from base items (like base-lantern or base-wood-wall) on click[/p]
• [p]Whenever a crafting pioneer brings ingredients to the workstation they will bring extra amount to fulfill the recipe queue requirements (if the same item type).[/p]
• [p]Crafting pioneers are no longer forced to store the items they craft, instead items are dropped on the ground for another pioneer to store. So the crafting pioneer keeps working until the queue is empty or no longer possible to craft.[/p]
• [p]Fixed GetNearestHpaNode returning a dynamic blocker node in one case[/p]
• [p]Fix health bars blocking raycasts (ie. selecting stuff in the world)[/p]
• [p]Fixed space port being able to be placed over other spaceports[/p]
• [p]Added slider to haul to menu [/p]
• [p]Fixed context menu button missing disable animation causing button colors to get stuck[/p]
• [p]Fixed missing bubbles on converters without fuel storage[/p]
• [p]Added bubbles to drills (missing fuel & output blocked)[/p]
• [p]Made output blocked the most important display information[/p]
• [p]Updated idle logic for energy usage (10% usage when idle)[/p]
• [p]Updating mining drill logic to allow for going idle/depowering when output is blocked[/p]
• [p]Fixed autoscrolling text not working when the game is paused[/p]
• [p]Fixed toast messages not using unscaled delta time for lifetime[/p]
• [p]Added new trader ship (Beetle)[/p]
• [p]Priorities modal showing icons instead of different sized bars for level of priority[/p]
• [p]Darkened color of images in priorities modal[/p]
• [p]Added explanation texts to priority modal[/p]
• [p]Added tooltips to skill categories in priorities modal[/p]
• [p]Changed success chances for mining from 6%-60% (lvl 1-10) to 20%-90% (lvl 1-10)[/p]
• [p]Changed success chances for wood cutting from 6%-60% (lvl 1-10) to 20%-90% (lvl 1-10)[/p]
• [p]Agents are now interrupting a mining action after 20 mining attempts (regardless if they were successful or not)[/p]
  • [p](Was previously 10 successful attempts, which made them stay for a very long time in the lower levels)[/p]
• [p]Moved help button beside the modal buttons[/p]
• [p]Removed play button from the time controls[/p]
• [p]Renamed "disable shadows" option to "shadows"[/p]
• [p]Deactivated unused back button in HelpModal[/p]
• [p]Stonemasonry , Chemical Workbench, Mechanical Workbench, Advanced Workbench and High-Tech Workbench craft 2x faster[/p]
• [p]Carpenter's bench crafts 1.5x faster[/p]
• [p]Stone blocks take twice the time to craft (thus effectively overpowering stonemasonry compared to punch press)[/p]
• [p]Punch press recipes come later in the game now[/p]
• [p]Changed some recipes to start with copper ingots, then copper plates, steel ingots, steel plates and then steel gears rather late, thus making the cutter more important and the punch press only necessary later.[/p]
• [p]Red Assembler recipe fixed (was somehow buggy)[/p]
• [p]Assemblers got affordable, thus making a mass scale production of - for example - conveyor belts without pawns possible.[/p]
• [p]Spaceport accepts two voxels height difference in the landing zone[/p]
• [p]First item trade is now only producing 30 conveyor belts and is more expensive (asks for plates instead of ingots)[/p]
• [p]Conveyor belts and feeders are earlier accessible at medium scale[/p]
• [p]Added new terrain specific box collider system with optimizations specific to terrain with height maps[/p]
• [p]Added various optimizations to generating box and compound colliders when using quaternion.identity rotation[/p]
• [p]Added HpaPathingMode enum which describes the type of Hpa pathing which is being performed[/p]
• [p]Added logic for SuperCoarse pathing which ignores dynamic obstacles and quickly verifies there is a potential path between start and end node[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where the same hpa nodes could fully tested during planning[/p]
• [p]Adjusted interaction ranges for agents slightly[/p]
• [p]Patched issue with invalid prototype data entities breaking the entire save on load[/p]
• [p]adding glass door, copper door, hardened steel door, steel door (the new stone door), Shoji (paper walls) and Tatami floors (soft mat), Sandbags[/p]
• [p]Added first pass French, European Spanish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Russian localization files[/p]
• [p]Added WIP credits to main menu[/p]
• [p]Fixed messages modal toggles not being localized[/p]
• [p]Fixed messages modal back button not being localized[/p]
• [p]Fixed tab buttons in settings menu not being localized[/p]
• [p]Fixed text not properly fitting in dropdowns in settings menu[/p]
• [p]Fixed roof level view button not being localized[/p]
• [p]Fixed various tooltip texts not being localized[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where one item could take up multiple input slots and block up a converter[/p]

[p][/p][p]We hope that you'll notice all the improvements as soon as you launch the game. Have fun playing and we can't wait to hear what you think![/p][p][/p][p]Until next time! [/p][p][/p][p]The best place to get in touch with us and see what we are working on is by joining our Discord server. So if you haven't yet, stop by and let us know your thoughts![/p]

[p]Hi everyone,
[/p][p]Ready to establish your outpost on Sirius B 3 and kick off your intergalactic mining operation?[/p][h3]We’re excited to announce that Dawn Apart launches into Early Access on July 14![/h3][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Hot off the PC Gaming Show, our new release date trailer is here—and we can’t wait for you to finally dive into the game, automate your factories, optimize your workflow, and defend your operation against the It’ak.[/p][p][/p][p]While you wait, be sure to check out our newly updated and vastly improved demo, just in time for Steam Next Fest, starting June 9.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks for being part of the journey—see you soon on Sirius B 3![/p][p]The IT&W Team[/p][p]
[/p]

[p]Dear Prospectors,

As we move closer to the Early Access launch of Dawn Apart - our hybrid of factory building and space colony simulation - we’re excited to announce that the game will be featured in this year’s PC Gaming Show!
Tune in on June 8th at 12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT / 3AM CST/ 9pm CEST to catch our brand-new trailer (spoiler: it’s got a very fun twist!) and find out the official Early Access release date—which is right around the corner!

We’ll also be hosting a live watch party with the community in the #Witchcraft channel of our Discord. Come hang out, chat, and enjoy exclusive PC game reveals—including ours. 😉

But that’s not all…

On June 9th, Dawn Apart returns for the Steam Next Fest – June 2025 Edition, featuring our completely updated demo!

This new version includes:

- Major performance boosts

- Overhauled UI

- Loads of quality-of-life improvements

Whether you're new or tried the demo back in March, now's the perfect time to jump in—and don’t forget to leave an honest review on our demo page!

We’re incredibly excited to be this close to launch and can’t wait to get Dawn Apart into your hands. See you soon on Sirius B 3!
[/p]

We are pushing out a small hotfix update today to address some issues we were seeing reported. Mainly the modals which were offscreen in certain resolutions.

This update also brings with it the first test run of achievements! Currently we only have one that pops on starting the game, but in future updates we will be adding more that are linked to gameplay.

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• Added Steamworks.Net Stats & Achievements Provider
  
• Fixed modals spawning offscreen for QHD resolution
  
• Fixed modals going off-screen on opening
  
• Added a predefined safe zone inside the MagPie on game start
  
• Prevented mining of lucrum by prospectors
  
• Adjusted camera's DoF effect depending on the zoom level
  
• Adjusted the shadow draw distance when fully zoomed
  

For the foreseeable future we are going to be focusing on bugs, crashes, general stability, optimization, and quality of life. As always if you run into any issues please submit a bug report and we will look into it and fix as much as we possibly can moving towards our Early Access release.

Thank you for all your support and we hope you all are having a great time playing!

Until next time!

The best place to get in touch with us and see what we are working on is by joining our Discord server. So if you haven't yet, stop by and let us know your thoughts!

Hello again everyone!

Today is the day we push our next update, and it's another huge one. With it comes performance improvements, massive QoL updates, improved agents, functioning doors, and so many more small things.

Many of the changes come from the work we've been doing getting the game ready for combat, which is approaching a place where it's alright to playtest. In the coming weeks we will begin pushing smaller updates, at a quicker pace, with bug fixes, improvements, and most likely enemy waves.

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• Disabled agent grouping check for agents which have a specific end path node
  
• Added logic for finding the approximate nearest interaction position to use during move to action
  
• Added fallback logic for if an item doesn't exist on a trade (Needs to be fleshed out sometime, this just stops it from completely breaking)
  
• Moved logic for finding smart object interaction positions to be in-line instead of pre-calculated and cached
  
• Added Ignore HPA Override type to remove a voxel object from the graph completely
  
• Updated fire vfx graph to use the wind texture from the wind simulation
  
• Added logic for attack move
  
• Updated Pioneer detail view buttons and to show weapon even if not drafted
  
• Added no weapon tooltip
  
• Fixed agents not properly facing certain entities during interactions and combat
  
• Added small animation to hitscan line renderer
  
• Updated aiming animations to avoid weird animations during shooting
  
• Fixed rotation issues with weapon aiming ik
  
• Added procedural weapon recoil system
  
• Updated target sensor system to keep aiming in more cases after starting to aim for a shot
  
• Reduced the threshold for limb severing
  
• Added Goap action to take incapacitated agents to regen pods
  
• Added Goap action to store weapon when desired set to empty prototype
  
• Added logic for recovering from a ragdoll
  
• Added logic for gathering and handling all static and dynamic hpa dynamic obstacles during hpa pathing & movement
  
• Added logic for opening doors
  
• Created new HelpMenu window
  
• Added functionality in ModalsManager to make sure modals spawn inside of the available screen space
  
• Added functionality in ModalsManager to spawn every modal with a slight offset
  
• Added functionality in ModalsManager to always move the newly opened modal to the front
  
• Added support for displaying videos in BaseMessageContentControllers
  
• Added functionality in MessageLines to stay highlighted when selected (in the HelpMenu)
  
• Added speech bubbles to machines (EX: Blueprint not in stockpile, mining deposit depleted, workstation missing ingredients)
  
• Add time to Idle component and do simple example for idle machines speech bubble
  
• Added 2d outline material to be used for floating text icons
  
• Shortened fade out for FloatingTexts
  
• Highlighted buttons in ConstructMenu and RecipeSelectMenus with green tint when the respective ingredients are available
  
• Reduced columns in RecipeSelection menu from 8 to 7 columns
  
• Repositioned the crafting queue of the WorkstationDetailView
  
• Added health bars for entities with health
  
• DefaultMenuActionMap now staying active when entering any MainControls menu (meaning for example pressing "x" will also work while the construct menu is open)
  
• Reduced the number of sync points across the frame
  
• Added prewarmed object pools to many game object pools to avoid instantiation at runtime
  
• Removed AgentPlanningSetupJob
  
• Re-enabled burst for destroying flora
  
• Refactored a large number of jobs to be burst compiled (This is just a straight up free performance gain)
  
• Disabled blood decal spawning from explosions
  
• Added component for smart object entities which have disabled interactions to avoid unneeded looping
  
• Right click inside a MainControls menu now only closes the active menu when a drag is not currently in progress
  
• Moved blueprint hints behind other GUI elements
  
• Fixed orders buttons not reacting to the active category hotkeys
  
• Moved MainControls buttons to create equal spaces between them and the DetailView
  
• Increased max zoom of camera
  
• Inverted (rotated) maximizeIcon while window is maximized
  
• Made all modals and menu windows movable
  
• Added support for variable pivot points and anchor positions in the DragWindow component
  
• Resized CloseIcon and MaximizeIcon for menu and modal windows
  
• Removed maximize button from the load menu
  
• Added option to lock/unlock the cursor to/from the game window
  
• Updated various resource color palettes
  

[h2]Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed store goap action not checking if path exists
  
• Fixed item crafting not displaying the correct amounts
  
• Fixed CraftQuestStep not incrementing by the correct amounts
  
• Fixed issue where entities which haven't be fully realized were being used as smart objects
  
• Fixed certain tooltips not having missing ingredient text localized
  
• Fixed converter not having localized made in text
  
• Fixed nan issues with floating text
  
• Fixed floating text having multiple - elements for negative numbers
  
• Fixed issue with units not taking into account current acceleration
  
• Fixed units aiming and looking at the bottom of feet during combat
  
• Fixed ui elements not properly being initialized when ui is disabled
  
• Fixed stolen item floating text not showing negative numbers
  
• Fixed "tree" showing up in possible weapons
  
• Fixed space port having small walkable enclosure
  
• Fixed converters with removed recipes still being considered by agents if they were valid for feeding on removal
  
• Fixed thin walls not properly creating hpa nodes
  
• Fixed workstations that aren't satisfied still being planned on if there is another satisfied workstation
  
• Added safe zone creation functionality
  
• Added logic for pathing within a safezone when the GlobalAlarm is active
  
• Added new GlobalAlarmActive component which is used when the alarm button is pressed
  
• Added sfx and vfx for alarm activation
  
• Added toast for alarm activation and deactivation
  
• Added logic for not planning for a smart object if it doesn't have interaction points within a safe zone
  
• Fixed issues with world space drag orders behaving strangely if the drag starts while hovering an object
  
• Updated multi goap interactions to find and use the closest when starting
  
• Updated the construct action to start constructing the nearest locked blueprint in relation to their GetItemEntity (a stockpile for example)
  
• Added new goap action to update the current multi target entity based on distance
  
• Fixed small vertical voxel gap in stockpile asset
  
• Fixed various components not having serialization attributes
  
• Fixed dead / incaped agents keeping their hpa paths
  
• Fixed foot grounding not properly using IkActive state
  
• Fixed various Ik systems still working with dead or incaped agents
  
• Fixed attacking without weapon
  
• Fixed multiple weapon slots causing issues with weapon swap
  
• Fixed weapon swapping ui not working if agent is drafted while ui is open
  
• Fixed weapon swapping not working when first selecting agent, also mixing up data between agents
  
• Fixed voxel models with odd number of voxels not properly getting snapped to the grid
  
• Fixed AABB being incorrect when using a raymarching offset component
  
• Fixed DeconstructMenu also closing on pressing x (like other menus)
  
• Fixed ConstructMenuOpened and DemolishingModeChanged events being triggered twice
  
• Fixed issue with damage not being cleared for non-voxel objects
  
• Fixed maximize modal button not working sometimes when window is maximized
  

[h2]A Note on Save Breaking PT. III[/h2]
In the last update we said there would be at least one more save break coming with our combat update. This is what we've been calling non-combat combat and with it came the large sweeping changes that broke a bunch of stuff. We are now in a better spot to keep saves working with updates. So hopefully after EA starts we won't have to write another one of these messages.

We are so excited to finally be getting such a massive update out into your hands. We hope you will instantly feel all the updates, and have a much better experience at every stage of the game.

Have fun playing and we can't wait to hear your thoughts.

Until next time!

The best place to get in touch with us and see what we are working on is by joining our Discord server. So if you haven't yet, stop by and let us know your thoughts!