SEASONS, SKIES, AND PUBLIC EVENTS
It’s been a bit since the last update, but we wanted to make sure it was chock full-o-goodness.
So here goes:
[h2]SEASONS (PART 1)[/h2]
Getting our worlds to have active seasons turned out to be a thornier problem than we thought it might be, but the first part is done now, so we’re rolling it out.
This initial part is purely visual. It’s also highly accelerated in time so that you can see the passing of the seasons in each playtest. Later on, we’ll make the timeline much more realistic and customize it per planet.
[h3]RIGHT NOW:[/h3]
A game day is eight minutes long (4 minutes of day and 4 minutes of night)
A season lasts three game days (so 24 minutes)
There are four seasons in a year, so a “year” lasts 96 minutes.
Therefore, in a two-hour test, you’ll see all four seasons.
This isn’t how the game will end up later on. This is just for testing.
“Spring” : Grass grows back after the harsh winter and gets thicker. Foliage reappears on the trees. The trees eventually get to the lushest green of any of the seasons.
“Summer” : Grass starts to get browner and the trees are still green, but not quite as lush.
“Fall” : Grass starts to fade back and the foliage in the trees gets more sparse (if the trees are deciduous or don’t like the cold).
“Winter” : Deciduous trees get barren, the grass turns white and brittle and things look a lot more dead.
What’s coming in Seasons, Part 2?
The world simulation will respond to the temperature variations happening in the seasons and water will freeze in the winter.
Rain and snow will fall periodically in the appropriate seasons.
Different planets will have different seasons and temperature curves.
We’ll improve on the foliage appearing/disappearing.
But enjoy the first part for now!
[h2]SKIES[/h2]
There’s not much to say on this one, but the art team has been busy! Go visit the various planets and see the differences that skies, fog, and new celestial bodies can make for each of the planets. We think you’ll like it!
[h2]PUBLIC EVENTS[/h2]
We built a bunch of new underlying game infrastructure to let us roll out a wide variety of public events in the future. These events happen periodically (not constantly) while you’re in the world, adding variety to your normal activities.
The offerings in this update are just the start, but even so, we think you’ll enjoy them.
[h3]METEOR STORMS[/h3]
There are a lot of different kinds of “meteor events” that can occur: Cosmic ray barrages, acid rain, ice storms, hot hail, anti-gravium falls, regular ol’ meteors, and the dreaded megarock events. Some of them have devastating effects on tunnels and overhangs, some deposit huge chunks of resources on the planet and some are just plain old wreckage. Duck for cover or run to be the first to take advantage of the windfalls they bring. You decide!
[h3]BOSS SPAWNS[/h3]
The bosses on the planets have been removed from their permanent spawn positions…but they aren’t gone from the game! Instead, they now come into the world as public events, either from underground, out of hibernation, or even descending from space. When they do, the TPL will send out a broadcast warning that one of these new terrors is rampaging and they’ll set a waypoint so you know where to go to help destroy it (or you can just avoid that spot if danger isn’t your thing).
Be warned. We’ve tinkered with the bosses a bit. You may get a couple of surprises.
[h3]REFORESTATION[/h3]
The TPL is being monitored by the Servitors on a constant basis. When a planet starts to fall below an “acceptable” threshold of health, the Servitors warn the TPL to “do something about it before they are forced to do so”. Right now, when the TPL is warned about the number of trees being too low in the world, they sponsor a Reforestation event. Players are rewarded with Ranger XP for participating in the Reforestation event, as well as normal Forestry XP for planting trees. The event runs for a duration, and if the forests are brought back up to par, the event ends successfully.
If the event fails, the Servitors will make a red mark in the log…and that will come back to haunt you later (after we get the chance to add more systems in a future update).
There will be other “planetary health” events later on. This is just the first in a series.
[h2]BUG FIXES AND GAME IMPROVEMENTS[/h2]
We’ve done a LOT since the last update. In no particular order, here’s a list of bug fixes and improvements we’ve made to the game since then:
[h3]KNOWN ISSUES[/h3]
The clock is ticking, explorers.
Only 18 days left to back Stars Reach on Kickstarter. With seasons rolling in, meteor storms raging, and bosses emerging from the depths or descending from space, the universe is evolving fast. You can be part of shaping it.
Join the adventure. Shape the world. Secure your place before time runs out.
[Link to Kickstarter]
So here goes:
[h2]SEASONS (PART 1)[/h2]
Getting our worlds to have active seasons turned out to be a thornier problem than we thought it might be, but the first part is done now, so we’re rolling it out.
This initial part is purely visual. It’s also highly accelerated in time so that you can see the passing of the seasons in each playtest. Later on, we’ll make the timeline much more realistic and customize it per planet.
[h3]RIGHT NOW:[/h3]
A game day is eight minutes long (4 minutes of day and 4 minutes of night)
A season lasts three game days (so 24 minutes)
There are four seasons in a year, so a “year” lasts 96 minutes.
Therefore, in a two-hour test, you’ll see all four seasons.
This isn’t how the game will end up later on. This is just for testing.
“Spring” : Grass grows back after the harsh winter and gets thicker. Foliage reappears on the trees. The trees eventually get to the lushest green of any of the seasons.
“Summer” : Grass starts to get browner and the trees are still green, but not quite as lush.
“Fall” : Grass starts to fade back and the foliage in the trees gets more sparse (if the trees are deciduous or don’t like the cold).
“Winter” : Deciduous trees get barren, the grass turns white and brittle and things look a lot more dead.
What’s coming in Seasons, Part 2?
The world simulation will respond to the temperature variations happening in the seasons and water will freeze in the winter.
Rain and snow will fall periodically in the appropriate seasons.
Different planets will have different seasons and temperature curves.
We’ll improve on the foliage appearing/disappearing.
But enjoy the first part for now!
[h2]SKIES[/h2]
There’s not much to say on this one, but the art team has been busy! Go visit the various planets and see the differences that skies, fog, and new celestial bodies can make for each of the planets. We think you’ll like it!
[h2]PUBLIC EVENTS[/h2]
We built a bunch of new underlying game infrastructure to let us roll out a wide variety of public events in the future. These events happen periodically (not constantly) while you’re in the world, adding variety to your normal activities.
The offerings in this update are just the start, but even so, we think you’ll enjoy them.
[h3]METEOR STORMS[/h3]
There are a lot of different kinds of “meteor events” that can occur: Cosmic ray barrages, acid rain, ice storms, hot hail, anti-gravium falls, regular ol’ meteors, and the dreaded megarock events. Some of them have devastating effects on tunnels and overhangs, some deposit huge chunks of resources on the planet and some are just plain old wreckage. Duck for cover or run to be the first to take advantage of the windfalls they bring. You decide!
[h3]BOSS SPAWNS[/h3]
The bosses on the planets have been removed from their permanent spawn positions…but they aren’t gone from the game! Instead, they now come into the world as public events, either from underground, out of hibernation, or even descending from space. When they do, the TPL will send out a broadcast warning that one of these new terrors is rampaging and they’ll set a waypoint so you know where to go to help destroy it (or you can just avoid that spot if danger isn’t your thing).
Be warned. We’ve tinkered with the bosses a bit. You may get a couple of surprises.
[h3]REFORESTATION[/h3]
The TPL is being monitored by the Servitors on a constant basis. When a planet starts to fall below an “acceptable” threshold of health, the Servitors warn the TPL to “do something about it before they are forced to do so”. Right now, when the TPL is warned about the number of trees being too low in the world, they sponsor a Reforestation event. Players are rewarded with Ranger XP for participating in the Reforestation event, as well as normal Forestry XP for planting trees. The event runs for a duration, and if the forests are brought back up to par, the event ends successfully.
If the event fails, the Servitors will make a red mark in the log…and that will come back to haunt you later (after we get the chance to add more systems in a future update).
There will be other “planetary health” events later on. This is just the first in a series.
[h2]BUG FIXES AND GAME IMPROVEMENTS[/h2]
We’ve done a LOT since the last update. In no particular order, here’s a list of bug fixes and improvements we’ve made to the game since then:
- You now have a Title Object in your inventory. If you right-click it, it opens a UI widget that allows you to select from any title you have earned and display it proudly for all to see.
- You have the option to “Remove Current Title” so you display no title at all.
- You can earn titles by defeating bosses in Boss events and participating in a successful Reforestation event.
- The Servitors also granted you one complimentary title so you don’t have an empty list.
- If you gift the Title Object or delete it accidentally, you can make a new one at any Toolmaker station.
- You have the option to “Remove Current Title” so you display no title at all.
- You can now craft Drone Lights!
- Drone Lights are a recipe that all players know. You can make it at any Toolmaker station.
- You (currently) need five Tier 4 Metal and one Anti-Gravium to make it.
- You right-click it in your inventory and it auto-equips. It lasts for five minutes and then expires.
- It lights up the area around you! (And now that we have it, we can make nights and caves darker again in a future update!)
- Drone Lights are a recipe that all players know. You can make it at any Toolmaker station.
- Survey nodes are visible at a shorter distance, but audio cues while using the Pathfinder have been greatly enhanced to make the task of finding a survey node a more interesting and fun experience. So turn up your sound and go find those nodes!
- We now do client prediction on movement and projectiles! More work is to come, but you should notice significant improvement on most projectiles and specials (although we still have work to do to predict homing projectiles).
- Day/night cycles are now synchronized by the server. If you see daytime, then so does everyone else.
- There is now a text search field on many screens (like crafting terminals, inventory, etc.) where you can sort the results seen by what you type.
- We killed the dreaded targeting bug that plagued us during the last update.
- The tutorial text has been updated to be a bit easier to read and with lore based on the TPL having written it rather than the Servitors. (Expect more dramatic first-time user experience improvements in near-future updates.)
- The Paver can no longer be used on a Homestead you do not have permission to edit.
- If you’re not sure what world you’re in, you can type “/world” or “/whereami” in chat and it will tell you.
- A new alien tree has been added and is visible on Gaiamar.
- You get Botany or Forestry XP when planting seeds from a Xyloslicer (depending on what you plant).
- You can now see climate information on the HUD when you have the Harvester equipped and if you have the “Farming” node unlocked on the Botany skill tree. (This will be more useful later when we roll out the Farming skill tree branch, but it’s functional now.)
- When someone gifts you items, you’ll now see those items registered on the left side of your HUD (where you see gathered resources listed).
- The Gravity Gun no longer affects other players. (Preventing unwanted PvP in PvE-only areas.)
- Planting radii have been added to trees (like with plants) to avoid overcrowding. (This was an oversight when planting was added for bushes and flowers.)
- Creature loot drops were improved (previous implementation had a lot of them dropping only one of each item…this is fixed now).
- Creatures are more aware than they were previously and will react to you more often.
- Goji Berries (the fruit) are now harvestable.
- Goji Berries, Strawberries, and Cactus Fruit now have individual inventory icons.
- Field of View can now be enlarged up to 90 degrees. (The previous maximum was 75 degrees.)
- The chat pane no longer scrolls to the top if you hit ESC to close it.
- Mushrooms are now harvestable.
- Feline friends are now inhabiting the portal areas. (Taming them will come soon.)
[h3]KNOWN ISSUES[/h3]
- Oops! We left the stub of the Farming skill tree in the build. You can play with it if you want, but honestly, it does nothing useful in this version. We recommend just avoiding it for now.
- Space around Zaraxa seems to be unstable and travelers might experience difficulty traveling to the planet. (In other words, you may crash when portaling to the desert planet. If that happens, just restart and you’ll be there. You won’t have to portal again. We’re going to kill this bug someday soon. We think it’s caused by all the shifting sand, but we’ll find out.)
The clock is ticking, explorers.
Only 18 days left to back Stars Reach on Kickstarter. With seasons rolling in, meteor storms raging, and bosses emerging from the depths or descending from space, the universe is evolving fast. You can be part of shaping it.
Join the adventure. Shape the world. Secure your place before time runs out.
[Link to Kickstarter]