Update 0.1b
It has only been a few days since we launched the demo, but already we have had a bunch of great feedback that has come in from multiple platforms and sources. I truly appreciate your feedback, and this patch brings a lot of those great ideas and changes to the game.
There were a handful of minor tweaks to several areas. These are very minor and include such things as modifying descriptions, RND HUD now auto-scrolling to the top on changing categories, and a variety of minor tweaks to resources and recipes. This should help smooth out progression.
[h3]Landscape Changes[/h3]
A few changes were made to the landscape to further try and dissuade players from building in the rocky starting area. We have also smoothed out a few areas that the player could get stuck on.
[h3]Mission Objective System[/h3]
My vision for mission objectives was to be fully simulation style. As in not using the player HUD at all, but instead displaying and accessing mission menus from the mission control. We still have this, but to better help new players get started in the game I have brought the mission system to the player HUD as well. These mission objectives give an idea of what the next step you should take is, as well as tips for how to achieve that step. There are now 8 mission objectives in the early game that should help guide players toward understanding the mechanics of the game. Don't forget this mission objective as well as meter labels and numbers can be toggled off using the hide / show details key (default = v).
[h3]Arrows Indicating The Front[/h3]
As you may be aware machines that can be rotated have arrows that indicate the front of the machine to help players place machines correctly. These arrows would change between green and red depending on whether you could place the machine in that location, and it was quite hard to see the green arrow when the machine itself was green for placeable. We now instead have a solid red color on the arrows to show the front of machines, and this never changes color making it much easier to see.
[h3]Tomato Bug[/h3]
Shout out to Pezzi on Steam for finding this issue. There was a typo in the tomato structure that caused tomatoes to not work in any recipe that called for tomatoes. This has been fixed. Thank you Pezzi for going deep enough to reach tomatoes while the rest of the world just eats potatoes.
[h3]Difficulty Settings[/h3]
I have added the first 3 difficulty settings and tied them into the milestone scoring system. These include air drain rate, food drain rate, and water drain rates. I feel comfortable with the normal level after a few tweaks based on feedback and I want to allow players to make it easier or harder based on their preference while tying that back into the milestone scoring systems. You can now go from NONE which is no draining of meters up to INSANE which is nail-bitingly fast draining. You will have to work hard and fast to reach sustained food before you run out of M.R.E's on insane. As we continue to develop and find a normal balance for other aspects we will add more difficulty settings to the menu.
[h3]More Iron[/h3]
It is not my intention for players to manually grind iron for very long. I intend for you to gather some iron, but then set up drills to automate that collection. However, many players who don't know the game yet were spending a lot of time hand farming and finding it difficult to find more iron in the starting valley. So, I went ahead and added several more iron nodes to that area.
[h3]Interact Range[/h3]
I made a small increase in the interact range so you can access machines and buildings from further away.
[h3]Sprint Drains And Recovery[/h3]Some feedback came in that the sprint drained a bit too fast, and took too long to come back. After doing some testing I agree. The stamina burn rate has been decreased by 50%, the cool down to regain stamina has been reduced by 1 second, and the speed stamina recovers has been doubled. This should allow players to run a lot further in the early game even before putting points into stamina on level up. This also allows you to recover quickly for more running around. Overall it feels better to sprint more.
That about does it for this short patch. I would just like to take a moment to thank all of you amazing players for taking the time to try "Surviving Ceres" and then taking the time to tell me about your experience. So far, the feedback has all been very positive and it helps me stay focused on my work knowing that players are finding the game fun. We still have a very long road ahead, but I will continue to listen and grow the project with your feedback, while also working on the additional content for the game. The next thing I plan to work on is the initial translation setup. That way we can get rolling on translating the game for other players patiently waiting to give the demo a try. Thank you so much, and I hope you stick around for the journey.
Changes
There were a handful of minor tweaks to several areas. These are very minor and include such things as modifying descriptions, RND HUD now auto-scrolling to the top on changing categories, and a variety of minor tweaks to resources and recipes. This should help smooth out progression.
[h3]Landscape Changes[/h3]
A few changes were made to the landscape to further try and dissuade players from building in the rocky starting area. We have also smoothed out a few areas that the player could get stuck on.
[h3]Mission Objective System[/h3]
My vision for mission objectives was to be fully simulation style. As in not using the player HUD at all, but instead displaying and accessing mission menus from the mission control. We still have this, but to better help new players get started in the game I have brought the mission system to the player HUD as well. These mission objectives give an idea of what the next step you should take is, as well as tips for how to achieve that step. There are now 8 mission objectives in the early game that should help guide players toward understanding the mechanics of the game. Don't forget this mission objective as well as meter labels and numbers can be toggled off using the hide / show details key (default = v).
[h3]Arrows Indicating The Front[/h3]
As you may be aware machines that can be rotated have arrows that indicate the front of the machine to help players place machines correctly. These arrows would change between green and red depending on whether you could place the machine in that location, and it was quite hard to see the green arrow when the machine itself was green for placeable. We now instead have a solid red color on the arrows to show the front of machines, and this never changes color making it much easier to see.
[h3]Tomato Bug[/h3]
Shout out to Pezzi on Steam for finding this issue. There was a typo in the tomato structure that caused tomatoes to not work in any recipe that called for tomatoes. This has been fixed. Thank you Pezzi for going deep enough to reach tomatoes while the rest of the world just eats potatoes.
[h3]Difficulty Settings[/h3]
I have added the first 3 difficulty settings and tied them into the milestone scoring system. These include air drain rate, food drain rate, and water drain rates. I feel comfortable with the normal level after a few tweaks based on feedback and I want to allow players to make it easier or harder based on their preference while tying that back into the milestone scoring systems. You can now go from NONE which is no draining of meters up to INSANE which is nail-bitingly fast draining. You will have to work hard and fast to reach sustained food before you run out of M.R.E's on insane. As we continue to develop and find a normal balance for other aspects we will add more difficulty settings to the menu.
[h3]More Iron[/h3]
It is not my intention for players to manually grind iron for very long. I intend for you to gather some iron, but then set up drills to automate that collection. However, many players who don't know the game yet were spending a lot of time hand farming and finding it difficult to find more iron in the starting valley. So, I went ahead and added several more iron nodes to that area.
[h3]Interact Range[/h3]
I made a small increase in the interact range so you can access machines and buildings from further away.
[h3]Sprint Drains And Recovery[/h3]Some feedback came in that the sprint drained a bit too fast, and took too long to come back. After doing some testing I agree. The stamina burn rate has been decreased by 50%, the cool down to regain stamina has been reduced by 1 second, and the speed stamina recovers has been doubled. This should allow players to run a lot further in the early game even before putting points into stamina on level up. This also allows you to recover quickly for more running around. Overall it feels better to sprint more.
That about does it for this short patch. I would just like to take a moment to thank all of you amazing players for taking the time to try "Surviving Ceres" and then taking the time to tell me about your experience. So far, the feedback has all been very positive and it helps me stay focused on my work knowing that players are finding the game fun. We still have a very long road ahead, but I will continue to listen and grow the project with your feedback, while also working on the additional content for the game. The next thing I plan to work on is the initial translation setup. That way we can get rolling on translating the game for other players patiently waiting to give the demo a try. Thank you so much, and I hope you stick around for the journey.