Now that the Kickstarter campaign is complete, we are restoring the new character experience so that it’s more like it is intended to be for the full game. Characters start with fewer tools, XP boxes need to be earned, etc.
Please note, however, that our intention now is to do fewer resets of the worlds and characters. We do not intend to reset the servers again unless a) we have to because the new features/code we add aren't backwards-compatible, or b) your worlds get so torn up that they're no longer useful and need to be reset.
The worlds and characters will be reset when we push this update live on Thursday, April 10th, and then we don’t have a planned wipe thereafter. (But it is still probable for a wipe to occur occasionally as we add major systems.)
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Player Starting Inventory Reset[/h2]
Starting player inventory has been reset:
- OmniBlaster
- Pathfinder
- Terraformer
- Harvester
- Grappling Hook
You also have more consumables:
- 3x Banana Plaster (health medicine)
- 3x Bellyache Relief (stamina medicine)
- 3x Lemon Squirt (focus medicine)
- 3x Power Cell (restores energy to batteries)
- 2x FlameOut (removes "On Fire" status from Heat damage)
- 2x ThawBones (removes "Frozen" status from Cold damage)
- 2x GoJuice (removes "Stunned" status from Kinetic damage and recovers Stamina)
- 2x CureAll (removes "Poisoned" status from Corrosion damage)
Skill trees have been reset and must be earned again.
A Note About Organizing Consumables: You now have more consumables in your inventory that can be shown on the consumables radial menu.
Although we don't have drag-and-drop implemented for that menu yet, you can alter the contents and order of your consumables radial menu by arranging them in your inventory differently.
The first slot on your consumable radial menu (“F”) is the consumable in your inventory that is closest to the left, top of your inventory. Place other consumables consecutively after that in any order you desire. Anything beyond six consumables will not show up in the wheel, so if you want something to show up, just make sure it’s one of the first six consumables in your inventory. (This will, obviously, be improved in the future as this is not functionality that’s intuitive, but you can use it for now.)
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New Character Variants[/h2]
We don’t currently have UI elements to let you customize your character or save your appearance. It’s coming, but it’s not in yet. However, our art team has been hooking up new hairstyles and prototyping some clothes systems, so we’re rolling out an additional two character variants per species per gender so that you can see and give feedback on those improvements.
There used to be two genders x two variants x four species = 16 characters. Now there are 32. You’ll still be randomized each time you portal to a new world.
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New Consumables[/h2]
GoJuice is a new consumable that removes the "Stunned" status caused by Kinetic damage and also recovers Stamina at the same time. It is made from Goji Berries and U-Al alloy flakes.
WattAway is a new consumable that removes the "Electrified" status caused by Shock damage and also recovers Focus at the same time. It is made from Oil (as a suspension medium) and Electrum and Brass flakes.
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New Combat Experience System[/h2]
We've changed the way combat experience is shared. The way it was implemented previously was just a quick-and-dirty first implementation and not conducive to long-term gameplay within an MMO..
Now, your share of the creature’s XP is loosely based on the aggro you generate. Not every type of aggro accrues points at the same rate, but in general, the angrier you make a creature, the higher your reward share of its XP will be once the creature is destroyed.
The creature is worth only a certain amount of XP, and that XP will be shared out to individual players depending on what percentage of the total aggro they created during the battle.
You can gain points by damaging the creature, healing enemies of that creature, being in proximity to the creature, attacking its Maker, and more.
This system is likely to need balancing and iteration, but should work quite well going forward.
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New Combat XP Rewards[/h2]
We recognize that difficult creatures (orange and above) are much more difficult to defeat than those yellows and whites below them. Thus, the XP rewards for creatures are now being increased for several factors, like shields or if they’re Makers, higher difficulty creatures are granting much more combat XP, etc.
On the other hand, if a creature is white and can’t really harm you (like a bunny or a fawn), you may receive zero XP instead. It depends on its abilities.
We will be watching XP grants and welcome your feedback, especially for creatures that require groups to defeat. Thank you!
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Maker Variants[/h2]
There are now Maker variants for every level of difficulty in the game. These range from the simplest Makers (which don't have shields and have very limited attack options) to much more robust Makers that have shields, multiple anchors that must be hacked, and savage attack options.
Makers now grant XP when defeated.
Bug fix: You should no longer be able to shoot through the Maker shields. To destroy a Maker now, you'll have to first hack the nearby anchors to drop the shield.
Playtest note: Sometimes an anchor is above-ground, or even underground. You have the tools to deal with those situations! It’s part of the game!
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Other Fixes/Improvements[/h2]
Combat and Controls
- Client-side prediction for where projectiles spawn and the handling of homing projectiles is now added to the game, making combat feel quite a bit smoother in those areas.
- The invert mouse option now exists on the game option screen.
- You can no longer use /camp while you're in a fight. If a creature is angry at you, then /camp will not function. You'll need to get far enough away from the creature so it forgets about you, or destroy it before you can use /camp again.
- A new boss has been added to the game. Fear the Fungusamungus.
- Bosses now have increased wander ranges, so they'll wander quite far after appearing.
- Creatures (and Makers) are now capable of creating point-blank area effect attacks.
- A bug has been fixed so that scaled-up creatures now have their orbital projectiles occurring in the correct place (so that they actually stand a chance of hitting a player).
- The Healix will no longer heal enemy creatures. (troll prevention)
- Velocirabbit and The Harror have been updated to use the new system. This means that velocirabbits should be exploding properly now and should be more dangerous.
- The Roachhive now creates flying roaches so they can be useful opponents in space.
User Interface
- There is a new information panel on your Inventory page (“I” key). On the right side of your screen, there is now an “Info” selection that shows you useful information like what planet you’re currently on, your /loc and information about where your Homesteads are located.
- Gravemarker resource information in your chat pane is now limited to only one decimal point of precision.
Homesteads
- We now have Homestead waypoints! You should be able to find your homestead if you lose it!
- You can no longer dupe objects outside of a Homestead.
- Fixed an issue that disassociated players from ownership of their Homestead.
Audio
- Audio support has been added to public events so you hear audio alerts when they start and stop.
- The "Drones" and "Gravity Gun" weapons now have audio!
Consumables
- Bellyache Relief consumable now properly restores Stamina.
- Blackhart no longer creates giant deer and then stands around staring stupidly.
- CureAll recipe now uses any type of mushroom.
- FlameOut recipe now uses Cactus Fruit.
Other
- The "Invaders from Outer Space" public event has been improved.
- Heat interactions now function properly again (e.g., melting sand into glass)
- Mining underwater should now work again. (The Terraformer currently…not permanently…ignores all liquids. If you attempt to mine liquid, you’ll actually mine what’s behind it instead.)