Devlog 02.2023 About Changes and Development Process Based on Feedback Received
Here is our summary list of the developments, integrations, and adjustments we made in February 2023 as part of our revised production plans based on the reviews and feedback on the demo we released as part of the Steam Base Builder Fest. Thank you to all the players who tried the demo version and provided feedback, you are a massive contribution to the development process, and we are working even more enthusiastically to move forward with the development process.
Changes:
- In the demo, we had a function to swiftly construct copies of the building selected by typing +Shift press. Additionally, considering the popular demand, we started the works for implementing a new feature in our "Build" menu to enable players to construct a copy of the already-existing buildings in a serial manner.
- According to the feedback, the unnecessary and fast flow of the minute counter in time was inconvenient, so we removed the minute tab for now and edited it to show only the time of day. By adding another layer to our mechanical setup that determines the time flow of the universe and allows the user to play at three different speeds, we added a new layer that can flow at 0. We also added a new time interval feature that flows at a pace of 0.3.
Development:
- We added a feedback method where people living in the settlement criticize or support the current situation with randomized sentences according to the current mood (positive, negative, and neutral). This method currently works with five female and five male voices in English with different accents as British, American, and Asian.
- For the advisor system, we added bonuses and methods of obtaining 15 different advisor characters in addition to the UI infrastructure and storyline to make it playable in the following demo version.
- The "birth" and "death" systems have been completely implemented. Mechanics related to the death of various reasons and birth that we could not make it to the demo release have been brought to completion and integrated into the game. The birth rate governed by gender ratio in society, general morale, the status of diseases, the possibility of open settlement, and such multipliers is tuned to increase the workforce in a long-lasting story directly.
- Our general LOD system was missing a lot in our application in the demo process. LOD configuration for environmental elements was added and opened to customization as manageable from the general settings tab.
- Before the demo release, we had finished our preparations and substructures regarding the localization. Now, we started integrating language content by 100% in terms of UI and its elements and by 70% in terms of story and in-game texts. For the Early Access release, in addition to English and Turkish, we are working hard and swiftly to support German, French, Polish, Russian, and Spanish languages. We plan to add Simplified Chinese and Japanese into our localization repertoire post-Early Access period.
Bugfix:
- We added control elements to the 'Buildings VFX Load' process responsible for some Crashes.
- Our road system was our last-minute mechanic, so it had some unfinished features. On that note, we improved our L-shaped road-pulling process and added UI plugins that express our rule that short-distance roads cannot get built more clearly.
- We have activated our terrain collision and automatic camera positioning part, which we have not yet added to Free Camera mode. We have added the necessary fields on settings to edit camera controls.
- We detected the bugs from some third-party components and started the improvement works. Also, when necessary, we created alternative routes.
Changes:
- In the demo, we had a function to swiftly construct copies of the building selected by typing +Shift press. Additionally, considering the popular demand, we started the works for implementing a new feature in our "Build" menu to enable players to construct a copy of the already-existing buildings in a serial manner.
- According to the feedback, the unnecessary and fast flow of the minute counter in time was inconvenient, so we removed the minute tab for now and edited it to show only the time of day. By adding another layer to our mechanical setup that determines the time flow of the universe and allows the user to play at three different speeds, we added a new layer that can flow at 0. We also added a new time interval feature that flows at a pace of 0.3.
Development:
- We added a feedback method where people living in the settlement criticize or support the current situation with randomized sentences according to the current mood (positive, negative, and neutral). This method currently works with five female and five male voices in English with different accents as British, American, and Asian.
- For the advisor system, we added bonuses and methods of obtaining 15 different advisor characters in addition to the UI infrastructure and storyline to make it playable in the following demo version.
- The "birth" and "death" systems have been completely implemented. Mechanics related to the death of various reasons and birth that we could not make it to the demo release have been brought to completion and integrated into the game. The birth rate governed by gender ratio in society, general morale, the status of diseases, the possibility of open settlement, and such multipliers is tuned to increase the workforce in a long-lasting story directly.
- Our general LOD system was missing a lot in our application in the demo process. LOD configuration for environmental elements was added and opened to customization as manageable from the general settings tab.
- Before the demo release, we had finished our preparations and substructures regarding the localization. Now, we started integrating language content by 100% in terms of UI and its elements and by 70% in terms of story and in-game texts. For the Early Access release, in addition to English and Turkish, we are working hard and swiftly to support German, French, Polish, Russian, and Spanish languages. We plan to add Simplified Chinese and Japanese into our localization repertoire post-Early Access period.
Bugfix:
- We added control elements to the 'Buildings VFX Load' process responsible for some Crashes.
- Our road system was our last-minute mechanic, so it had some unfinished features. On that note, we improved our L-shaped road-pulling process and added UI plugins that express our rule that short-distance roads cannot get built more clearly.
- We have activated our terrain collision and automatic camera positioning part, which we have not yet added to Free Camera mode. We have added the necessary fields on settings to edit camera controls.
- We detected the bugs from some third-party components and started the improvement works. Also, when necessary, we created alternative routes.