Nautikin Adventures News

[h2]Summary[/h2]
This update contains many new parts and the overhaul of the submarine features. There are some new mechanics available in build mode and many of the existing features have been more polished (SFX, VFX). This update also contains various bug fixes. This build marks the end of a large chunk of planned work, which is exciting because it included a lot of content and that I will get to start work on more destruction stuff next (explosions). There is one more large chunk of work before version 0.8 (which indicates some solid progress towards completion)

[h2]Highlights[/h2]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZNOVsO-HvU

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• Added BallastTank part
  
• Added OxygenTank part
  
• Added SubmarineAntenna part
  
• Added SubmarineConningTower part
  
• Added SubmarineSail part
  
• Added SubmarineDriverSeat part
  
• Added SubmarinePassengerSeat part
  
• Added SubmarineFin part
  
• Added SubmarineStabilizer part
  
• Added SubmarineTail part
  
• Added SubmarineUpper part
  
• Added new underwater island
  
• Added CargoBowThruster part
  
• Added CargoSternThruster part
  
• Added SmokeEmitter part
  
• Added Material group to BowThruster part
  
• Added Material group to SternThruster part
  
• Added Material groups to CargoEngine part
  
• Added Material groups to StandardBoatEngine part
  
• Added Material groups to HandMotor part
  
• Added Material groups to RacingEngine part
  
• Added Material groups to SpeedBoatEngine part
  
• Added Material groups to TugBoatEngine part
  
• Added crew list UI that lets you disembark specific crew members
  
• Added NextPosition/PrevPosition for switching between manned subvessels (Boat / Crane / HarpoonLauncher)
  
• Added Observer indicator to vessel UI
  
• Added LOD to waterfall
  
• Added recovery buoy item
  
• Added toggle fast move controls
  
• Added sinking audio sfx
  
• Added more delivery sfx/vfx
  
• Added delivery area vfx
  
• Added remaining delivery counter to delivery status
  
• Added beach ball item
  
• Added keys in build mode to cycle through all parts including visually obstructed parts
  
• Added keys in build mode to adjust the current part relative to the camera perspective
  
• Added support for apply / sampling materials from visually obstructed parts
  
• Added high / low tide indicator to map
  
• Fixed bug where a failed adjustment in build mode can make the part unselectable
  
• Fixed bug related to automatic adjustments of child parts when scaling a part
  
• Fixed bug that prevented returning a previously launched vessel to drydock for alterations after launching a new vessel
  
• Fixed some shark movements
  
• Fixed some problems with camera layers
  
• Fixed some bow thruster animations
  
• Fixed UVs for various boat engines related to propellers
  
• Fixed bug where some keybindings did not apply because they were initialized before the saved binds loaded
  
• Fixed bug where child parts of network parts may move slightly during initialization
  
• Fixed a bug with crane optimization related to highlighting controls
  
• Fixed bug with saved damage
  
• Fixed bug with vessels saved at the bottom of the ocean sinking again on load
  
• Fixed bug related to displaying fuel mass in build mode
  
• Fixed bug where Nautikins could possibly take drowning damage while spawning
  
• Fixed multiplayer bug where uncontrolled vessels would not sync engine state on join
  
• Fixed multiplayer bug where uncontrolled vessel would not shut off engines when out of fuel on clients
  
• Fixed a multiplayer bug where a client gets out of a moving vessel and are offset forward during auth change
  
• Submarine features are now part of ship mode
  
• Wake simulation will now more strictly enforce underwater wakes for submarines and sinking vessels
  
• Tweaking buoyancy physics
  
• Improved accuracy and performance of underwater detection when small triangles are ignored
  
• The physical force of waves underwater will now be applied proportionally to depth
  
• Changed the way that water states sync
  
• Delieverables will now be kept in bounds of map
  
• Spawned order of network parts is now more reliable
  
• UI will now display 99 when hull integrity is greater than 99 but less than 100 to prevent rounding errors and confusion about repair state
  
• Updated colliders on submarine engine to be more accurate
  
• Updated abyss visuals
  
• JetBody seat is now airtight
  
• StandardPlaneBody seats are now airtight
  
• Vessels now interact with underwater vegetation
  
• Improvements to vegetation shader
  
• Shark AI will now prioritized prey in multiplayer
  
• Ropes can be attached to sharks again
  
• Changed the way underwater collisions sound as a Nautikin
  
• When in singleplayer and opening the menu, the game will now pause
  
• Build mode will no longer allow camera rotation while making adjustments
  
• Improved dynamic water audio performance
  
• Bow thrusters now have sound fx
  
• Bow thrusters will now visually rev up when starting
  
• Bow thrusters will no longer work unless the engines are turned on
  
• Bow thrusters will no longer work unless the engines are in the water
  
• Bow thrusters will now have underwater FX
  
• Boat engines will now spin the opposite direction when moving in reverse
  
• Bow thrusters now use fuel
  
• Bow thrusters can now hurt Nautikins
  
• Propeller underwater fx is now more accurate in reverse
  
• Increased power of smaller bow thrusters
  
• Propeller colliders are now baked
  
• Flare particles now respond to wind
  
• Flare smoke now works in fog
  
• Fog is now better applied to glass
  
• Rain drop impacts are now more precise instead of numerous
  
• Light states now save / load
  
• Lights will now glow in the fog
  
• Lights can now be different colors
  
• NetworkParts now support material groups
  
• Nautikins now breath if not completely underwater
  
• Changed the way that thickness handles input errors such as 0 thickness
  
• Delivery containers will now play water sfx splashing
  
• Loading damaged vessels will no longer play damage sounds
  
• Adjusted some delivery areas
  
• Current activity will now query status whenever activities are opened
  
• Nautikin can no longer be damaged by moving items
  
• Game will now save a separate higher res preview for vessel to be used for workshop purposes
  

[h2]Notes[/h2]

Previously small amounts of damage on large durable vessels (steel) would register as 99.56% (for example) and this would display as 100 on the UI because it does not decern decimals for the sake of real-estate and rounds up. In cases like this the UI will now display 99 until the repairs are complete and hull integrity reaches 100%. The only downside to this is that small dings on very large vessels (which may take a bit to repair) will have little indication of progress due to being such a small fraction of the vessels hull integrity, but will now be noticeable on the UI. This may have been previously detected visually and repaired even though the UI said "100".

Submarine engine propellers will now damage the Nautikins due to updated colliders that erroneously prevented damage.

There are now over 100 parts in the game.

Change notes listed as "Bow thruster" also apply to stern thrusters

Next / Prev position does not have controller bindings.

Smoke emitters do not have controller bindings.

New build keys do not have controller support.

New build adjustments keys support scale, stretch, and move. They do not support rotation or pivot (Backlog item)

Saving a vessel will now save 2 preview files. The first one is for in game previews which are small for performance reasons and because the preview is small. The larger images will be used in case the vessel is uploaded to the Steam workshop later in order to produce a higher quality default preview image without having to manually edit the preview. If you have a workshop item with a low res preview you can save the vessel again and the high res preview will be used for the next update of the workshop item.

I will upload the submarines from the video to the workshop.

Guides will be updated soon.

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• Added new BoatCabin part
  
• Added max active activities
  
• Added Unlock counter display for Islands in campaign
  
• Added Light on/off toggle for light parts
  
• Added underwater light VFX
  
• Added Lights toggle to controls
  
• Fixed problems when detecting collisions for characters on map objects
  
• Fixed some log spam related to collisions
  
• Fixed an audio issue related to treasure
  
• Fixed some problems with loading vessel damage
  
• Fixed bug where pilot nautikins can spawn at the drydock
  
• Fixed bug where buy shack shells can be negative
  
• Fixed a bug where grid settings where not loaded initially
  
• Fixed camera snapping when walking behind trees
  
• Fixed bug where vessels in the abyss are moved when the map moves
  
• Fixed flickering issue with many lights on vessels
  
• Blind fix for unwanted log message related to shark movement
  
• Removed runtime error log for inputing invalid values into material thickness in build mode
  
• Reduced the number of triangles on colliders for fuel connectors
  
• Death eyes will now be hidden in first person
  
• Map collider loading refactoring
  
• Reduced max collider distance
  
• Improved performance for grid collider loading
  
• Improved performance of idle Nautikins
  
• Updated vessel UI
  
• Updated UVs for racing engine
  
• Updated mod tools
  
• Lowered abyss height so that sinking vessels can visually disappear into depths
  
• Lights will now scale with the size of the light part
  

[h2]Notes[/h2]
LightFixtures are now network parts

Using many lights will eventually cause performance problems and or light flickering, there are limitations to how many the engine can render, but there are currently no restrictions in build mode regarding lights. It is recommended that they be evenly spaced and not placed unless an area is not already lit.

Lights can be toggled with "L"

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• Added treasure hunt activities
  
• Added auto feather support to aircraft engines
  
• Added auto feather indicator to aircraft UI
  
• Added landing gear indicator to aircraft UI
  
• Added steering to ship UI status
  
• Added button to server tab to control whether or not to cleanup controlled objects
  
• Added landing gear impact / skid SFX
  
• Added airflow VFX
  
• Added airflow SFX
  
• Added heat blur to jet engines
  
• Added desert heat to Desertum
  
• Added buoyancy proxy to racing hull
  
• Adjusted settings for sea plane engine to reduce extreme g-forces with multiple engines
  
• Reduced power of sea plane engines
  
• Island camera will re-enable mouse if forced to cleanup controlled player
  
• Cleaned up some log statements from airfoil changes
  
• Repair mechanics are now progress / time based instead of just time
  
• Fixed harmless error in logs when exiting to menu in some cases
  
• Fixed some problems with standing on helicopters while moving
  
• Fixed issues with getting on ladders at high speeds
  
• Fixed multiplayer error where a vessel takes damaged before the client has initialized
  
• Fixed a typo in UI
  
• JumpTo dropdown will now close when exiting the map
  
• Updated dropdown behavior
  
• Removed landing gear brakes when wheels are not grounded
  
• Landing gear will now stop spinning when underwater
  
• Propellers now create physical drag to better emulate diminishing returns when adding multiple propellers
  
• Aircraft trim is now clamped to max angles
  
• Tooltips in the main menu will now hide when loading starts
  
• Build mode camera can now also be rotated with Middle mouse button
  
• Updated controls UI
  
• Helicopter rotors can no longer control axis while resting in the water
  
• Changed the way that anchors initialize to prevent rotation problems with vessels that have multiple anchors
  
• G-force damage can no longer be applied to clients during initialization
  
• G-force damage can no longer be applied immediately after a physical impact
  
• G-force damage can no longer be applied when crashing into the water
  
• Anchors no longer create underwater drag when above water
  
• Anchors now create aero drag when in the air
  
• Increased ocean LOD
  
• Activities refactoring
  
• Changed how objectives render on the map
  
• Head gear is now hidden in first person
  
• Eyes are now hidden in first person
  
• Saved activities will no longer activate all HUD indicators at once when loading a save
  

[h2]Notes[/h2]
Previous improvements to buoyancy (accuracy) may require reconfiguring larger vessels that have lots of surface area as they will be more buoyant.

Any vessels saved with old damage may appear undamaged until damaged again.

Auto feathering will trigger in any scenario where the engine detects it is no longer contributing to thrust and creating drag. This is most likely to happen in a couple of ways:

1) A jet engine is attached to a plane with propellers that are overpowered and now creating drag.
2) There are multiple propellers attached to a plane that is moving beyond the effective maximum power of the engine type
3) In a nose dive with multiple propeller engines

Normal configurations of single propeller aircrafts are unlikely to trigger auto feathering.

Nominal airflow will not trigger FX. G-force's + high speeds will.

Planning on updating the guides soon.

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• Added server tab to operate cleanup actions
  
• Added flooding UI element that displays the current amount of hull flooding
  
• Added support for hydrofoils using plane parts
  
• Added new internal buoyancy proxy mechanic to allow for parts to delegate water simulation
  
• Added buoyancy proxy to SeaPlaneLandingGear
  
• Added buoyancy proxy to SeaPlaneBody
  
• Added buoyancy proxy to StandardPlaneBody
  
• Added buoyancy proxy to JetBody
  
• Added buoyancy proxy to StandardHelicopterBody
  
• Added buoyancy proxy support to mod loader
  
• Added a control mode switch for vessels that allows switching between Ship and Aircraft functionality such as Jets vs Rudders
  
• Added throttle display for ship UI
  
• Updated splash screen logo
  
• Updated aircraft status panel UI slightly
  
• Updated compass gimbal textures
  
• Parts are no longer restricted to aircraft vs ship and can be used for either
  
• Ship steering wheels will now animate as aircraft steering when in aircraft mode
  
• Aircraft steering wheels will now animate as boat steering when in ship mode
  
• Fixed typo in keybinding label for "Right Stick Button", RSB
  
• Fixed layout / alignment issue with controls view scrollbar
  
• Fixed some bugs with buoyancy resulting in abnormally large forces when underwater
  
• Fixed a config for standard plane wing that was causing inverted adjustments in some cases
  
• Fixed aggressive deformation when impacting vessel in some cases
  
• Fixed an erroneous warning message in the log related to mirroring plane propellers
  
• Fixed bug where you could interact with seats with inventory open
  
• Fixed bug where tooltip can get stuck on screen when disembarking if the new mouse position happens to be on a new interaction
  
• Fixed minor UI display issue with return to drydock button when launching an empty vessel
  
• Fixed bug with airfoil generation related to part scale
  
• Fixed multiplayer sync issue with hull integrity display and observers
  
• Saving now schedules task for the end of frame to avoid potential screenshot rendering issues.
  
• JetIntake part can now be scaled
  
• Doubled the lifespan of flares in the air
  
• Improved character collisions when bumping into solid objects
  
• Improved character collisions when swimming underwater
  
• Improved ease of getting on ladders underwater by increasing interaction distance
  
• Improved aiming collisions when against solid objects
  
• Improved camera occlusion when looking straight up in 3rd person
  
• Removed automatic camera distance adjustment
  
• Decreased min zoom
  
• Nautikins that were seated when saved will now default to the exit position of the seat instead of the seat itself
  
• Nautikin cameras will no longer be occluded by vessel geometry or other players (ultimately less camera snapping)
  
• Lowered clipping threshold when in first person mode
  
• Mirrored engines will no longer mirror propellers
  
• Vessel load dialog will now search for multiple word matches
  
• Part search now supports multiple word matches
  
• Load game search now supports multiple word matches
  
• Selecting or adjusting a part will now deactivate the tooltip in build mode
  
• The rotation of piston engines such as rotors or propellers for aircraft will now save / load
  
• Vessel mode states are now saved
  
• Vessel mode engine states are now saved separately
  
• Water buoyancy physics will no longer start until vessel has completely initialized
  
• Vessel placement on launch will attempt to make the vessel kiss the water before dropping instead of initial partial submerging
  
• FuelTanks will now register fuel mass in design mode
  
• Helicopter rotors now calculate angular drag independently to allow yaw control in the water
  
• Helicopter rotors no longer create angular drag when the engines are not running
  
• Vessels with hull damage / general damage can no longer operate engines
  
• Updated vessel water crash / impact behavior
  
• Warehouse containers will now play impact sounds
  
• Aircraft wheels will no longer spin when airborne
  
• Heavy updates to airfoils and physics behaviors for aircraft to making handling smoother
  
• Aircraft will now respect the density of air at higher altitudes
  
• Lowered inertia tolerance relative to max speed to help prevent spontaneous warp speeds
  
• G-forces over 20 will now cripple an aircraft
  

[h2]Notes[/h2]
In campaign, aircraft parts cannot be used in the drydock until you have purchased the runway, once purchased they may be used in either build area.

Vessels impacted with extreme deformation that had been saved previously may need to be cleaned up and redeployed. It is possible to repair the extreme deformation in some cases but it may take an unreasonable amount of time.

The goal with the camera changes is to make the camera movement more smooth and consistent. Vessel cameras already pass through the hull so it makes little difference to allow the Nautikins to do so as well and it prevents the majority of jarring camera position snapping due to the constant movements of the boat and infinite potential configurations of geometry. There may also be functional reasons for being able to noclip the camera inside a vessel such as examining a center of mass issue or accessing interactable parts inside the structure. Occlusion will generally only be applied for map objects now.

Buoyancy proxies allow for more approximated water forces to be applied to concave shapes that would otherwise have difficulty floating or would not realistically float but need to float anyway. Parts can now have proxy meshes which represent the target the water simulation will evaluate in order to either simplify the math or otherwise alter the outcome. Examples of this would be any buoyant mesh that has concave surfaces inside of it such as an open doored aircraft hull or an animated part that curves inwards in order to support animation, but would in reality be water tight. The mod loader will search for a new keyword "BuoyancyProxy" similar to "ColliderMain" when parsing the mod parts. In cases where a buoyancy proxy is needed but not supplied behavior may occur where vessels with said part can get stuck underwater due to anti-buoyant forces being applied to the concave interior surfaces either counteracting or overpowering exterior convex forces.

Aircrafts which take hull damage will no longer be able to use engines to alter the state of the vessel. This will later be replaced by damage to individual parts such as Rotors, Propellers, engines, etc. But current damage is handled as a whole until more vessel destruction mechanics are completed. This avoids problems with things like bent rotors applying thrust.

Aircraft aerodynamics have been updated so that may mean that some designs may require tweaking. Part of the reason for these changes were to correct some unwanted handling problems and reduce the risk of extreme maneuvers causing aircrafts to reach speeds they shouldn't really be able to reach. Some of the math may break down at higher speeds due to the indestructability of the aircraft from airspeed and G-forces. In the future such extreme force may simply cause the aircraft to tear apart in some way or otherwise no longer be able to increase in speed. Because of the new atmosphere changes propeller aircraft will have a harder time getting to high altitudes, you will likely start to see diminishing returns around 2000 meters.

[h2]Highlights[/h2]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJsuPE826rU

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• Added material groups to sail rudders
  
• Added material groups to sea plane rudder
  
• Added material groups to standard plane engine
  
• Added new "PilotSeat" part for external control of aircraft
  
• Added new very large and far away island "Desertum"
  
• Added new item PilotSuit
  
• Added new Item PilotHelmet
  
• Added flare launcher item
  
• Added SeaPlaneBody part
  
• Added SeaPlaneDorsalStabilizer part
  
• Added SeaPlaneEngine part
  
• Added SeaPlaneHorizontalStruct part
  
• Added SeaPlaneIntake part
  
• Added SeaPlaneLandingGear part
  
• Added SeaPlaneLandingGearRudder part
  
• Added SeaPlaneNose part
  
• Added SeaPlaneRudder part
  
• Added SeaPlaneTail part
  
• Added SeaPlaneVent part
  
• Added SeaPlaneVerticalStruct part
  
• Added SeaPlaneWing part
  
• Added SeaPlaneWingRear part
  
• Settings view in main menu can now be closed with escape key
  
• Fixed initial empty animation with tooltip
  
• Fixed initial empty animation with context menu
  
• Fixed IK bug related to aiming / interaction mode
  
• Fixed bug where child parts of interactable parts trigger interaction on the parent.
  
• Fixed bug where parent interactions can trigger interaction on child parts
  
• Fixed visual smoothing issue with boundary enforcers in multiplayer
  
• Fixed UI error where health would not display as zero on client in some cases
  
• Fixed multiplayer bug that would cause a disconnect if the client attempted to recall thier vessel during boundary enforcement
  
• Fixed problems with floating origin and ocean rendering jank
  
• Fixed issue with wind speed sync in multiplayer
  
• Fixed material groups ordering for helicopter main rotor
  
• Fixed animation weights for various Nautikin movements in jumpsuit related to feet
  
• Fixed repair sync issue with multiplayer
  
• Fixed damage serialization issue when colliding with ocean related to save / load
  
• Fixed a bug with character slope detection where the incorrect location would be returned in some cases
  
• Fixed issue where landing gear steering allowed the gear to be retracted when not centered
  
• Fixed potential problem with propeller rotation in multiplayer
  
• Fixed harmless background error related to loading unlockables in sandbox mode which are not used
  
• Fixed bug where center of mass display would not always update when loading a complex vessel in build mode
  
• Fixed bug where unlockables may not register in sandbox mode if load times are slow on older machines
  
• Fixed bug where unlockables serializations could store duplicate ids
  
• Fixed bug with client unlockable sync in campaign
  
• Fixed bug related to Steamdeck checks that caused background errors
  
• Jet engines will now damage nautikin if standing in thrust path
  
• Jet landing gear parts can now only be scaled uniformly
  
• When launching an aircraft in sandbox mode, the harpoon launcher is now swapped out for a parachute
  
• When launching an aircraft in any mode, the standard outfit will be swapped out for a pilot suit
  
• Seaplane engines can no longer start underwater after being repaired
  
• Map can no longer drag / move when waypoint options are being selected
  
• Parts that cannot be physically mirrored now have thier own flag
  
• Mirroring parts on a part that cannot be physically mirrored with adhear to the orientation of said part
  
• Parts can no longer be physically mirrored if any parent part cannot be physically mirrored
  
• HandMotor no longer allows rotation
  
• SpeedBoatWheel no longer allows rotation
  
• Racing driver seat no longer allows rotation
  
• Uniform scaling now updates the UVs on the mirror part
  
• Undo stack will now apply build layers regardless of mirror mode
  
• Increased skybox limit
  
• Increased max view distance
  
• Increased map bounds from 50km to 100km
  
• Decreased intensity for ambient occlusion post processing
  
• Updated wind compass display
  
• Updated helicopter rear rotor behavior to function better with drag / stalling
  
• Updated mesh for feet in jumpsuit
  
• Updated item drop height for harpoon launcher
  
• Updated Jet part costs for campaign
  
• Updated Helicopter part costs for campaign
  
• Center of mass will now update immediately when using the UI in a way that changes the COM
  
• Return to drydock can no longer be called when vessel is taking longer than expected to initialize
  
• TrapezoidalSail now ignores cables when calculating surface area
  
• Clothing items are now replaced with pilot items when launching an aircraft in sandbox
  
• Shipyard buy shack now sells ship related clothing
  
• Runway buy shack now sells aircraft related clothing
  
• Improved multiplayer collision sync accuracy for things like spining or moving objects (rotors)
  
• Several buy shacks now sell flare guns / launchers
  
• Nautikins can now be hired from the hanger at the runway
  
• Improved propeller colliders
  
• Decreased min throttle for engines to improve idling/landing on runway
  
• Part icons will now reset to a visible rotation when no longer in use
  
• Firing a projectile at a wall point blank or straight down will no longer allow the projectile to pass through the surface
  
• Wind physics are now disabled when seated in helicopter pilot seat
  
• Input logic for repair / welder now prevents getting stuck on with controllers when activated in the wrong order
  
• Can no longer embark a vessel while dying
  
• Improved parachute shader code
  
• Sail shader now has a speed limiter
  
• Network clients will now default to localhost if Steam is not available.
  
• Subscribed mods will no longer attempt to load when Steam is not available (local mods should still work)
  
• Game should now be playable if Steam is not available
  
• Version label now appears during load screen
  

[h2]Notes[/h2]
Some of the visuals for the ocean on the horizon depend on the view distance being set high. If the view distance is too low, flying extremely high may degrade visuals depending on hardware. Post processing can affect very far view distances when looking down or at shadows. You may want to disable Ambient Occlusion when increasing to the extreme.

There are now over 90 parts in the game.

I will upload the vessels from the update video to the workshop.