Dev Blog #14 - First Playtest of 2025
Hello Voyagers! Michael / Spacenorth here with exciting updates from our first dev stream about creating UI in Voyagers.
[h2]Fresh Off the Ship[/h2]
We've just wrapped up testing a build packed with changes directly inspired by your Demo feedback. If you played in that Discord playtest, we’d love your even deeper feedback here (Google Forms Survey).
For those who love the details, you can find the full Patch Notes here, but let's dive into the highlights!
[h2]Combat Gets an Overhaul[/h2]
The combat system has received some much-needed attention:
[h2]Intermittent Fasting[/h2]We've completely reworked the hunger system to solve some major pain points and bring it closer to what players have been expecting:
[h2]Looking Good, Feeling Good[/h2]
New particles, adding clothing/hair physics, and the character creator is easier to find.
[h2]Major Quality of Life Improvements[/h2]
Keybinding v1:
[h2]Keep the Feedback Flowing![/h2]
These updates (and many more) all came from valuable, insightful player feedback we got during the Steam Demo launch. Thank you for all the survey responses, FeatureUpvote threads, Discord messages, and Steam discussions that have helped us jump on just a few ways that we can make Voyagers better.
If you're interested in playtesting, be sure to sign up through our Firstlook here: bit.ly/VoNPlaytest
And there’s more changes right around the corner! We're planning to update the public Steam Demo build in a couple weeks with even more improvements and will be eager to hear fresh feedback from all y’all then. Stay tuned!
- Michael and the Treehouse Team
[h2]Fresh Off the Ship[/h2]
We've just wrapped up testing a build packed with changes directly inspired by your Demo feedback. If you played in that Discord playtest, we’d love your even deeper feedback here (Google Forms Survey).
For those who love the details, you can find the full Patch Notes here, but let's dive into the highlights!
[h2]Combat Gets an Overhaul[/h2]
The combat system has received some much-needed attention:
- New motion warping system makes targeting and hitting enemies more intuitive
- No more sliding past your targets
- Better enemy behaviors
- More predictable enemy aggro and leashing
- Goodbye instant night spawns in a zone around you.
- We’ve seen too many players die to unjust enemy respawns at sunset!
[h2]Intermittent Fasting[/h2]We've completely reworked the hunger system to solve some major pain points and bring it closer to what players have been expecting:
- Made a balance pass so there’s less frequent eating required - build and AFK without constant snacking
- Hunger no longer deals direct damage to you
- Instead, you can get hungry in multiple states, which reduces your max stamina, health, and oxygen in increasing amounts
- Cooked food provides healing over time
[h2]Looking Good, Feeling Good[/h2]
New particles, adding clothing/hair physics, and the character creator is easier to find.
- Character creation comes at the start of creating or joining a new server instead of being hidden in a menu
- Longer clothing now has proper physics and long hair is back!
- Sea foam in shallow waters
- Wind trails and dust
- Underwater bubbles
- Improved character animations
[h2]Major Quality of Life Improvements[/h2]
Keybinding v1:
- We heard tons of great feedback on this and built our first version of customizable controls, making the game much more playable for non-QWERTY controls
- We're eager for your feedback on this!
- If you are a non-host player, gathering and inventory interactions will feel a lot more responsive now!
- Removed fuel requirement to streamline the experience
- Added crafting queues to stack up multiple batches when you’ve got lots to craft
- Did a visual redesign of crafting and refining menus!
[h2]Keep the Feedback Flowing![/h2]
These updates (and many more) all came from valuable, insightful player feedback we got during the Steam Demo launch. Thank you for all the survey responses, FeatureUpvote threads, Discord messages, and Steam discussions that have helped us jump on just a few ways that we can make Voyagers better.
If you're interested in playtesting, be sure to sign up through our Firstlook here: bit.ly/VoNPlaytest
And there’s more changes right around the corner! We're planning to update the public Steam Demo build in a couple weeks with even more improvements and will be eager to hear fresh feedback from all y’all then. Stay tuned!
- Michael and the Treehouse Team