CAT Interstellar News

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1684710/CAT_Interstellar_Recast/


We're going to be live streaming development of the upgraded CAT Interstellar. Working on the cave environment.


We're gonna stream here for an hour then switch to RECAR

CAT Interstellar: Recast
is now available on the Steam store.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1684710/CAT_Interstellar_Recast/


https://steamcommunity.com/broadcast/watch/76561198165474704

We'll be doing broadcasts for most of the day so feel free to drop in even if it's just to tell us what we did wrong. Seriously, If you've followed this game for any amount of time you know that I genuinely appreciate your feedback even if it's bad and respond to everything.... You could also just say "Hi". I don't want to tell you what to do.

Otherwise, we'll be highlighting some of the development that went into the revamped version of the game like:

[h2]Environment Upgrades:[/h2]


[h2]Photoscanned meshes we made ourselves:[/h2]


[h2]Improved cat animations:[/h2]



[h2]Heck, Ziggy might even make an appearance if he ever wake up.[/h2]


If you have any technical questions on how we did anything definitely ask those too.

As always,

It's a blast interacting with the community and that wouldn't be possible if... you know... there wasn't a community so thank you.

So, you might have noticed we launched a Steam store for a Remastered version of CAT Interstellar using the Unreal Engine 5. I will now attempt to explain

• Why we decided to remaster the original
• Improvements made to the game
• Why we made it a separate application
• How owners of the original can get access before release

This post goes out to GraVE. Feel free to comment on any of his three separate threads but please spread them equally.
Remastered? Episode 2 ? Remastered? Episode 2 ? Remastered? Episode 2 ?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1684710/CAT_Interstellar_Remastered


[h2]Why Waste Your Time Remastering Trash. We want Episode II[/h2]
Remastering the first game was definitely not in the original plan... but then Unreal Engine 5 was launched. We knew the sequel, CAT Interstellar: Episode II, would almost certainly be developed using the new engine and the original CAT Interstellar game was a perfect candidate for learning this engine. Even though I made a whole post about why it wasn't worth it to fix/update/add to the original game I now stand before you... writing this announcement. There are some areas and events where I thought the story could be a laid out a little better. Not changed but just presented better. Remastering the game gave us a unique opportunity to do that while also working on the sequel.

[h2]Improvements[/h2]
This is gonna blow your mind. We've totally revamped The Surface level using Unreal Engine 5's nanite technology. There are billions of polygons on this level now and we're using photoscanned models:


We've even added our own scans to the environment:

And posted them for you to download too
https://sketchfab.com/models/c8cdc54f321645d2bc673f8a385cebde/embed?ui_theme=dark

It's not just visual fidelity either... We've added some more interactive elements as well to further bring the world to life.


We plan to do this type of photoscanned high fidelity upgrade to the cave system (Chapter 4) and Signals (Chapter 5). Beyond that, you'll immediately notice some additional content and android dialog. Again, THE STORY HAS NOT CHANGED, but based on the loads of feedback which can be summarized as:


We've decided to flush out a few areas with more story content and to tie up loose ends. As an example the ending of Signals will be extended to make it clear the cat doesn't die... In fact it is actually on the same "team" as the humans... Speaking of the cat... one of the barrier we faced when updating the game was our cat animations sucked and with UE4.16 the fur plugin we relied on was abandoned. Alas, a new day has risen and like the Phoenix... something, something, THE NEW CAT MODEL IS GREAT!

The GD thing can even swim! So expect much more verticality on that level.

[h2]ALSO!!![/h2]
We recommisioned the original artist who made DOG VI to make an updated DOG VII with no poly limits and it's turning out great! Here's a sneak peak:


[h2]Why a Separate Application[/h2] THE MONEY!!!!
Just kidding. I've made it pretty clear we make very little money with these games. Maybe next time I'll remaster a ghost hunter multiplayer game....
Anyway, the real reason is because CAT Interstellar is a finished, published game on multiple platforms. UE5 only supports 64-bit windows and we can't/won't drop support for 32-bit Windows, Linux, and PS4 for what is essentially a glorified learning project. As to where the profits to this game will go - we never post about donations and charity work until afterwards so you're just gonna have to wait and find out.

It isn't just OS support that's an issue either. The barrier of entry for UE5 is a GTX 1070 MINIMUM. We painstakingly optimized the crap out of the original game to get 1080p@30fps on a GTX 750ti and 1080p@60fps on a GTX 970. Again, we can't/won't alienate that portion of the player base that's already purchased the game. Which brings me to the last, and possibly most important portion of this post...

[h2]How to Access the New Version[/h2]
Go to your Steam library >> Right click CAT Interstellar >> "Select Properties..." >> Select "BETAS" >> Select the _ue5 branch >> download >> play game

This branch will be updated along with the Remastered application so everyone who owns the original game will have access to the remastered version.

[h2]How you can help[/h2]

[h3]

Updoot this thread and tell your mum you love her.

[/h3]

Also, this is likely the first game published using the Unreal Engine so any feedback on your frame rate and graphics card would be incredibly helpful.

P.S. I need the Fancy Pants, Super Star, Mind Blow, Heartwarming awards to win them all.

[h3]Encrypted Message from Colonel Alexander -[/h3]

Sergeant Gary Freeman, your leave request has been denied indefinitely. I’m sure you expected as much but I hate to be the one to officially decline it. I understand you have a son back on Earth but we require your immediate attention. We do not yet know all the details that led to the collapse of our Martian SkyLift network nor the likelihood of the complete planetary destruction of Mars. Stabilizing the degradation of the plant and analyzing the potential of orbital debris impacting Earth has been rightfully allocated to the Army’s Corp of Engineers. Our responsibilities, as usual, are more direct in nature.


The catalyst that started the destruction of our SkyLift network began in Sector 17 and cascaded around the equator of the planet. Military Intelligence has discovered several unusual work orders and taskings in that sector but, most notably, the commission of a DOG-IV unit to assist an android in recovering some surveyor drones. Given these drones are disposable by design we think this may have been a cover. We cannot yet prove the Androids purposefully caused this catastrophe, but tensions have been rising and this incident certainly ensures a large portion of forces will be occupied.

Your mission is to travel to Sector 17, deactivate Android 42 and recover his data log. As you know your Marine Transporter has a planetary drop pod capable to breaching the debris fields and reaching the planet’s surface. Extraction will be a more difficult task but, as you’re reading this message, the U.N.S.S. Gabrielle is positioning herself in orbit around Mars. The Gabrielle has a dozen ships capable of surface extractions.


Given your current orbit, the drop pod can only get you as close as Sector 15. From there you’ll have to navigate through the B.13 Passage. Your power armor should make traversing the terrain possible. We’re also looking for any equipment cache in the area. A pair of jump-jets would be very useful.


That passage terminates at a water processing plant. Assuming the emergency power is still on you’ll be able to take the elevator down to Turing Canyon. There’s an unmanned Marine outpost there where you’ll be able to get whatever weapons and equipment you think you’ll need. I’m not sure if the Osprey VTOL is practical since the massive increase in meteor strikes but the Puma Rover should get you to the Power-Station at the edge of Sector 17. This is the last location we Android 42 accessed the network.



[h3]Your mission is to find Android 42. [/h3]


[h3]- End Of Message[/h3]



P.S. Thanks to the 40+ people that made it to the live stream last night! That was a lot more fun than I expected. I'll keep the store front open to anyone who wants to stream until the sale is over. We'll definitely do it again with some key drops (I'll make sure the chat works this time ːsteamhappyː ). To the other 7.5 billion people who couldn't make it... you're dead to me.

I've never done one of these live streams before but we have to gin up support somehow so... Let's do a Face Reveal!?!
[h3]Ionized Games face reveal for 1 million followers and a billion dollars!!![/h3]


[h3]Ziggy, Our Chief Financial Officer might even make an appearance![/h3]


[h3]We'll take an inside look at Episode II[/h3]


[h3]And even see how close I've gotten to porting the Episode I over to UE4.26![/h3]


[h3]April 26, at 7:15 CST
That's 4,4370 minutes from the posting of the message.[/h3]

[h2]Join The Discord Server!!![/h2]