Rising World News

Dear Community! We're pleased to announce that the first playable demo of the new version is finally available! It is available as a separate Beta branch on Steam - if you select it, you will still keep the current Java version and the new version will be downloaded into a separate subfolder. This first demo will serve as foundation for future update, and once it's a bit more fleshed out, it will replace the Java version (but of course you will still be able to play the Java version at any stage).

We've also prepared a new survey for the demo and would appreciate your feedback: https://forms.gle/7Tf95343NQtgSUou8



In order to get the demo, just rightclick on Rising World in your Steam library -> Properties -> Betas -> select "New Version Preview" and wait until the download is ready. When launching the game, a dialog shows up: Select "New Version" to launch the new version of Rising World.

NOTE: Always launch the game from your library, do not launch it right from the "Downloads" section because this always launches the default Java version.



However, there are a few important things you need to know about this version:


This version is quite limited and it lacks several features and any serious gameplay content. It rather serves as "tech demo" and is meant to give you a very first impression of the new version. We've also disabled some features in this version - for instance, only a small part of the world is generated and many plants and forests are missing.

Here you find a rough overview of some of the features of the demo version: https://forum.rising-world.net/thread/11064/


We're using Unity new scriptable render pipeline, more specifically the HDRP which has a rather high base overhead - much higher compared to the Java version. In return we're able to achieve much better scalability, especially if the world consists of lot of buildings. This means it's extremely important that your machine meets at least the minimum requirements of the game (which are stated on the store page). However, if you experience performance issues, please let us know! There is definitely room for improvements


One important note about the view distance: Basically the new version is able to achieve much larger view distances compared to the Java version. On the one hand, chunks are now twice the size. On the other hand, values are treated a bit different in the new version; while a view distance of 20 chunks, for example, referred to 20x20 chunks around the player in the Java version, this value now refers to 20 chunks in each direction (effectively being 40x40 chunks now). In other words: A view distance of 50 in the new version would be equivalent of a view distance of 200 in the Java version


There are a few weather effects available which can be set via console command. Just like in the Java version, type "weather " into console (if you put a "1" at the end, the weather changes instantly). In addition to the weather effects of the Java version, there is now snowfall available (which covers the world in snow over time). The names for these effects are "snow" and "heavysnow"


There are unfortunately a few bugs in Unity which are out of our control. They were reported to Unity. For instance, it's currently not possible to change the resolution on Linux without restarting the game (Mac and Windows are not affected by this issue). There are a few other issues as well, but if you find any bugs, please don't hesitate to contact us


Unfortunately the multiplayer part isn't fully ready yet, but we already wrote the code with multiplayer in mind - so it's basically almost ready. It's our intention to release a working multiplayer shortly after the upcoming building update


Unfortunately the plugin API isn't ready either - this means it doesn't work in the demo yet. There is still some work to do, but we've set up a new section in our forum which contains more information about the new API: https://forum.rising-world.net/thread/11062/


Obviously the demo took a lot longer until it was ready - much longer than expected. We're so sorry about that, but we also appreciate your patience! Good news is that many core mechanics are now implemeted or almost ready (and this was the most time consuming part), so we should soon be able to get into a state where content can be added more quickly


We really hope you enjoy the demo! Even though it's still very limited and cannot be considered a full game, it should already give you a good idea of what Rising World will look like in the near future. We are looking forward to your feedback, please let us know what you think about the new version! As mentioned above, we've prepared a survey for that purpose: https://forms.gle/7Tf95343NQtgSUou8

Hey folks! We're currently focusing on getting the first playable demo of the new version ready as soon as possible. The first version will be rather a "walking simulator", but it will serve as foundation for future updates. And the demo will still give a good impression of the gameplay and the technical component (graphics, audio etc) of the new version.

The last weeks we've been further improving the terrain generation. The game now generates more realistic, but also much smoother landscapes (i.e. no more "bumpy" terrain). Biomes (including proper forests) and dungeons are still missing, but the world is already more varied than in the old version.





We've also been working on the new building part. Our goal is to keep the freedom of the old system, but improve it to a extent that building becomes a lot less painful. Apart from fixing some issues of the old building system, we've reworked the way how snapping works from scratch. You will be able to change the rotation pivot of an element, and you will also be able to snap the object to a pivot of another element. As a result, creating curved structures will be much easier.
Unfortunately the building part won't be ready for the first demo release, but it will be available in a separate update shortly after.



We also spent some time on a new auto-updater/launcher (for the non-Steam version) and on a Linux build. Unfortunately it looks like Linux/Vulkan support isn't Unitys greatest strength, which is a bit disappointing. We've discovered some bugs which are out of our control - most of the rendering stuff is "black boxed" in Unity and the source code of the engine isn't available. Only thing we can do in this case is to forward these bugs to Unity, however, if you experience any issues or crashes with the Linux version of the game, please don't hesitate to contact us.



As always, you find more information on our Trello roadmap

Hi folks! It's time for another status update! In the past few weeks we've been mainly working on objects - by this we mean furniture, doors, lamps etc. More specifically, we've been working on object handling, i.e. placement, sync between client and server, interaction etc.

It's our intention to rework most objects from scratch. For the time being, we've been focusing on doors: On the one hand, you will be able to place proper double doors. On the other hand, there will be more options to interact with doors - for instance, you will be able to lock doors. Apart from that, most objects (including doors) will be resizable.



You find more information about objects and doors on our Trello roadmap: https://trello.com/c/IaJZtotN/141-objects

We've also prepared a small video to show the current state of the game. Apart from the new doors, we've been working on new sounds and there are also a few other details (for instance, the player leaves footprints in the snow):

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Apart from that, we've been working on lighting. The game internally manages all lights and culls every light source that's either not visible or too far away. To save some performance, you can set up a max amount of lights the game should render simultaneously.

Here is a screenshot of lighting in a cave:



Last but not least we've also spent some time on our build pipeline for Mac and Linux. We've already implemented it for Windows a long time ago, but it's important for us to not only focus on Windows during development, since some parts of the game code are platform dependent (especially the C++ part). So far, everything works as expected though.

Stay tuned for the next status update. Hopefully we will be able to get a playable demo ready soon™

First of all, thank you so much for your active participation in the survey! In total we received 2941 responses. You can find the survey results here: Survey results

Now back to the status update: We've been working on grass in the past few weeks, and are currently working on vegetation, first and foremost trees. This includes wind effects, but also things like plant growth and tree felling.

There is still some work to do, but we're pleased to share a first video of the new version. It's really not much, mainly showing the grass and the current state of vegetation, but expect more videos in the near future ;)

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Unlike in the old version, wind is quite dynamic now and takes a direction and random gusts of wind into account.

The new vegetation models also provide a lot more detail compared to the old version. When it comes to tree felling, you will now have a certain degree of control over the fall direction of the log.





If you're looking for more information about the grass, please check out our Trello board - it contains some screenshots and an animated gif about how snow affects grass: https://trello.com/c/KODxdgZS/140-grass

About a playable demo: We will now finalize our work on vegetation, and there are also a few other, smaller things that need to be done before we can release a playable demo - but it's getting closer and closer.

Stay tuned!

Hi folks! It's time for a new status update, but first we want to ask you for some feedback about Rising World and the upcoming version. We've set up a small survey and it would be awesome if you can give us some feedback - this will help us to focus on the features that are most desired. You can find the survey here: https://forms.gle/MdifGvidirQ3FRQL7

But now let's talk about the status update: The last weeks we've been working on terrain modifications (i.e. the ability to dig holes), added some first items (including proper item and inventory handling) and also implemented a few weather effects.

Compared to the Java version, we will see some exciting improvements in these areas. Speaking of items: We're currently working on the ability to place items (like tools and weapons) persistently in the world. This means you can place your pickaxe anywhere and it won't despawn. Of course you can still store your stuff in chests, but being able to place your tools on a table or put them on a shelf greatly contributes to immersion.



We're also reworking all objects (like furniture, doors etc). There is still a lot of work to do, but the new objects look so much better than the old ones. Here is an early image of the new torch and torch mount:



When it comes to weather effects, snow will now be a separate weather effect. This means you can enable snow even in temperate biomes, at least via command. We're thinking about having snowfall to occur naturally from time to time (covering your world in snow), this feature could then turn into actual seasons in the long run. Please let us know what you're thinking about that.



Last but not least we did some preparation for a new, much more powerful RCON tool and we've also integrated permissions for multiplayer, similar to our old implementation in Java. Main difference is that we're using JSON now instead of YAML, however, the new RCON tool will feature a permission editor so you don't have to edit permission files manually anymore.

As always, you can follow our development on Trello: https://trello.com/b/t5Leypcj/rising-world-development

Stay tuned, and more importantly, stay healthy!