CAT Interstellar News

• Voice Acting - You now how the option to switch between voice acting and subtitles at the main menu. Thank you to all the community members who submitted voice acting for the game. If you don’t see your submission in the game yet I’m still processing the audio files and it will be in the next update.
  
  
• Destructible meshes - The rock animations for opening up new cave sections was awful. They’ve all been replaced with destructible meshes that your grav lift can blast through. Really interested in feedback on how to make this even better.
  
  
• Music - Rebuilt the music system to be more dynamic in terms of what song plays when. Should help a lot with ambience.
  
  
• DOG’s Light - I’ve doubled its effective distance, thanks to optimizations in other areas, and added an IES profile to make it look a little better.
  
  
• Rock collisions on The Surface are fixed. That’s right, everyone one of them is literally perfect. The collision for those meshes are now based on individual triangles. No matter how much the rock has been scaled up you should be able to climb in every nook and cranny without a problem.
  
  
• Loading screen - Not very exciting but worth mentioning.
  
  
• Ansel screen capture added (More on this at the bottom).
  
  
• Dozens of smaller fixes, Dog’s HUD corrected, DOG’s sensor ability now tied into the flashlight, adjustments to level indicators, timing on speeches, audio volumes, trigger box adjustments, Android interactions, Surface lighting sharpness, landing particles, rock textures, push physics, flashlight added to player android, etc...
  

If you haven’t been keeping up with the beta branch the game is definitely worth another play-through from the beginning.


Achievements have been added!!! There is an achievement for each level but I also added a number of additional ones based on unique areas in the game to encourage exploration. There are also a few pertaining to easter eggs. I plan on adding a lot more so if you have any requests I’d love to hear them.

On this note I also plan on adding stats. This isn’t really the traditional type of game that stats would matter but right now I’m dependent of forum posts and playthroughs on YouTube to figure out where I messed up. So in the next update not only will your government and every social media site be collecting information on you, but I will too.





Almost every environment has been revamped. From very slight changes, like the direction of the SkyLift (Thanks LigH), to massive expansions in The Caves. The Base has some optical illusions that should help convey its size and The Mine needed a little more atmosphere and light work.


I had to tweak the story a little to reconcile an issue I’ve had since the beginning. If your sensor detects bacteria or “life” it should light up for every single instance of bacteria on the walls of the cave. This turned out to be essentially impossible to do because of the number of draw calls. I think the new “mission” fits a little better but as always I’d love your feedback on it.

• Cut scene at the end of The Caves (what happens to DOG and Android 42).
  
  
• Signals - Control Mechanics. I’ve been watching all the playthroughs on YouTube and it’s painfully apparent I messed up the control mechanics here. When the cat jumps it gets an additional force based on the direction you’re looking. Looking up gives the cat the highest jump while looking horizontal gives the cat its furthest jump. I thought that by adding the crates at the beginning it would force the player to learn this but it didn’t work the way I thought it would. That is the main road block in finishing Signals.
  
  
• 3D Menu - This will rid the game of everything 2D. I should have something to show in the next week but, beyond fulfilling a lifelong dream of a 3D menu, this is essentially the last piece needed to implement VR.
  
  
• Optimizations (always) - You probably don’t hear this much from Early Access titles but I’ve tried to be good about optimizations from the very beginning. I’ve made few changes to how some of the dynamic lights work so you should see improvements in frame rates throughout the entire game as well as the notorious frame drops inside the elevators. I’d still like to do one more purge of the system and combine/replace as many textures as I can. This won’t make as big of a difference as past purges but each one counts.
  

Ansel screen capture allows you to take all kinds of screenshots (Super Resolution, Add Post Processing, and 360 Capture). It will eventually replace the spectator option but for now it is just experimental. I’m in the process of getting white-listed by Nvidia but until then you’ll need to go through a few extra steps to get it working. For more information go HERE. There hasn't been any negative reports in the beta but I have not personally tested this with and AMD card so if there is a problem just report it in the forums and I'll push a quick-fix.


First off, thank you for your patience with this. There are two things I’ve been struggling with when implementing VR: How to handle the menu and implementing motion controllers.

The menu is going to be a high priority over the next couple of weeks. I honestly have no good excuse for hesitating on it this long. Similar to the subtitles, there are some obscure limitations inside UE4 when interacting with a 2D UI in 3D space and the idea of building a system from scratch seemed enormous. Those days are over and I’m very confident this new menu system will work.

The gameplay was another issue. Originally the game supported only Oculus with a gamepad because that’s literally all I had to develop with. Playing with motion controllers totally changed how I viewed VR and I really wanted to integrate that into the game but didn’t know how. The plan moving forward will be to stick with the original control scheme: sitting/standing VR with movement controlled by the keyboard or gamepad with one possible exception I’d really like your input on:

I want to change the last level for VR users from controlling a cat to controlling an android with the motion controllers. This would make an interesting dynamic in the community because VR users and normal users would have to share their experience to get the complete story. The VR DLC will be free so you can always go play Signals in 2D. This way you aren’t being denied content or being penalized for using VR and we have some wiggle room to design the last level specifically for VR users. At least that’s how I view it but I’d really like to know what you think. This could totally be an awful idea.


Sorry, but we ran out of animals to DNA test for the community events. Instead, I contacted a shelter I worked for and we, the community, are sponsoring 5 dogs. For those of you who haven’t worked in a shelter, it is extremely difficult to get older dogs adopted (anything past puppy status is an older dog). To try to help with with that we’re paying the vet fees and adoption fees for some of the dogs that haven’t had much luck. For now I’ll just tell you their names, ages, and breeds:











This will obviously be a recurring theme whenever I get updates. I’ll keep the community informed on their status and we should have some videos of them coming soon.

As always,
Thanks again for everything,
:ionizedgames:



Fixed a collision issue preventing the player from enabling subtitles at the start.
Fixed a bug with Android 42 not continuing through mine when using subtitles as well as interacting with drones (Thanks LigH).

Added 3D Menu!!! It isn't perfect but I thought it was better to get feedback on this as quick as possible. Please let me know if you run into any bugs or annoyances with this.

I realize this .gif sucks but it gives you the idea.


I'm going to try to start pushing updates every week.

- Signals Details.
- Menu redesign
- Android 42's navigation around destructible meshes.
- Scaling first person camera movement (VR).
- Adding Community Voice Acting

Don’t be deceived by the title this is more of me trying to get your opinion than an update. I was hoping to get this out yesterday but Colorado has had some pretty crazy winds the last couple days (100+mph) and the internet has been in and out. I’ll go over the update notes, Community, and then a little bit about development. I’d love to get your input on any of it.

• Android 42’s textbox problem has been resolved using a priority type system. Thanks for all the community help on this. It’s also ready for voice acting to be added back in (see community section).
  
  
• Linux brightness bug has been fixed by adjusting the auto-exposure. If you still encounter problems try setting the post processing quality to 0 in the menu.
  
  
• Screen resolution can now be set above 100% to 120%.
  
  
• ‘E’ has been removed as a default menu button.
  
  
• Debug Viewmodes have be enabled in the dev tab. This will help troubleshoot frame drops.
  
  
• Fur material added to Cat character.
  
  
• Box mission on the surface only has 1 box. This was never meant to be a time sink. Finding one box gets the message across about what your sensor can do.
  
  
• Improved level transitions and adjusted DOG’s speed per level.
  
  
• Android 42’s dialog has been slightly extended.
  
  
• Signals is now available to play test. Mainly to test the optimization and control mechanics.
  
  
• Android 42 now has IK foot placement so we’re now officially competing with Uncharted 4 for game of the year.
  

All the dialog has been written and I’m ready to start adding the voice acting back in. I originally planned to do all the Android voice acting but a few people have offered their voices to make the Androids a little more unique. If anyone else is interested in helping out I’ve created a document with all the different dialogs here.

You can comment on the document with which Android you want to voice. You can also comment on changes to the dialog if you think something better would fit. It doesn’t matter as long as the core message doesn’t change. Also, feel free to add your own personality to them.

The only rules:
Allow a few seconds of silence before and after you talk so I can get a noise profile.
DON’T do any editing yourself. Don’t normalize it, don’t add effects to it, and don’t try to take the background noise out of it.

The only way this crazy experiment could possibly work is if I edit all the audio the same way. If you do want to help out please send your dialog in a .wav format to [email protected]

It doesn’t matter if you send it all as one file or if it’s stereo/mono. I can handle all that on my end. You can also send me multiple versions of a dialog or do multiple Androids if you want. The only android you can’t do is 42. Sorry.

The format of the google doc is:
*Android’s #*
*Statement 1*
*Statement 1*

*Statement 2*

Any time there is a line it indicates a new dialog box. A good way to get an idea of the spacing is by watching the first two androids talk.


I cannot pay you money. Sorry, this is about as “indie” an operation as it gets. What I can do is give you keys, give you credit, and promote whatever you want (as long as it isn’t offensive (whatever that means (now we’re real deep in parenthesis))). The “credits” in this game will be an interactive level you can walk around. The reason for this is 2D scrolling text sucks and a lot of the credit of this game goes towards assets that were purchased on the Unreal Marketplace and I want to give the creators proper credit for that (run on sentence).

Here’s an example of what Luo’s cave section will look like. You obviously do not have to give me any information you don’t want to and I won’t post anything you don’t specifically give me permission to. If you don’t feel comfortable posting any information I could always just use a nickname a picture of one of your pets. It’s totally up to you.




I can’t say whether I’m developing good or not but I hope that I’ve at least been honest and open about issues and progress. I’m trying to give you as much of an incomplete story as I can without ruining it at the end. It might seem weird now but I promise the Androids, the caves, the cat will all come together in the end. I know development is taking a lot longer than expected so thank you for sticking with me.

Just to give you some idea of where we are:
The layout of the cave is about 90% and you have access to the whole thing. All that remains as far as static environment is just touchups and detail meshes on the last cavern. The last major thing that’s needed is what I’ll call for now an “event”. The complexity of that event is about the same as the opening sequence but you can’t see it until it’s done. It’s taking longer than I thought because I’m trying to get some destructible meshes for Houdini (sigh...).

You now have access to Signals to test to movement mechanics of the cat and how well the level is optimized and lit. Signals is about 60% complete. What’s remains to be done is audio dialog (you won't interact with the characters like you do as DOG).

I’ll keep posting a major update ~once a month but I’ll post to the beta about everyweek. You can access the beta by right clicking CAT Interstellar in your steam library >> Properties >> BETAS tab >> Select beta1 in the drop down. I’ve removed the password so anyone can access it.


I have mixed feeling about VR. Part of me wants to stick to the original plan of the VR origin being DOG (first person) and using a gamepad or mouse/keyboard for movement. The other part of me thinks we can do better. I’m not sure which will win out but I’d love to know what control types you like.

One of the things I’m concerned about in VR is the time it takes to beat the game. Personally I usually get burned out and a little nauseous after ~30 minutes. I know this is just my own experience so I’m really curious what it is like for the rest of you. Have any of you played Allumette or Obduction? What did you think?

This might be a little cheesy but would you have a problem with cursing in this game? This isn’t supposed to be a kids game but it also isn’t some gory mess. Maybe it’s because I just discovered Rick and Morty but if a cave is literally collapsing around you it’s likely you would at least mumble “damnit” to yourself. This is just something I came across while writing the dialog and I’m interested in what you think.

Thanks again for everything,
ːionizedgamesː

Don’t be deceived by the title this is more of me trying to get your opinion than an update. I was hoping to get this out yesterday but Colorado has had some pretty crazy winds the last couple days (100+mph) and the internet has been in and out. I’ll go over the update notes, Community, and then a little bit about development. I’d love to get your input on any of it.

• Android 42’s textbox problem has been resolved using a priority type system. Thanks for all the community help on this. It’s also ready for voice acting to be added back in (see community section).
  
  
• Linux brightness bug has been fixed by adjusting the auto-exposure. If you still encounter problems try setting the post processing quality to 0 in the menu.
  
  
• Screen resolution can now be set above 100% to 120%.
  
  
• ‘E’ has been removed as a default menu button.
  
  
• Debug Viewmodes have be enabled in the dev tab. This will help troubleshoot frame drops.
  
  
• Fur material added to Cat character.
  
  
• Box mission on the surface only has 1 box. This was never meant to be a time sink. Finding one box gets the message across about what your sensor can do.
  
  
• Improved level transitions and adjusted DOG’s speed per level.
  
  
• Android 42’s dialog has been slightly extended.
  
  
• Signals is now available to play test. Mainly to test the optimization and control mechanics.
  
  
• Android 42 now has IK foot placement so we’re now officially competing with Uncharted 4 for game of the year.
  

All the dialog has been written and I’m ready to start adding the voice acting back in. I originally planned to do all the Android voice acting but a few people have offered their voices to make the Androids a little more unique. If anyone else is interested in helping out I’ve created a document with all the different dialogs here.

You can comment on the document with which Android you want to voice. You can also comment on changes to the dialog if you think something better would fit. It doesn’t matter as long as the core message doesn’t change. Also, feel free to add your own personality to them.

The only rules:
Allow a few seconds of silence before and after you talk so I can get a noise profile.
DON’T do any editing yourself. Don’t normalize it, don’t add effects to it, and don’t try to take the background noise out of it.

The only way this crazy experiment could possibly work is if I edit all the audio the same way. If you do want to help out please send your dialog in a .wav format to [email protected]

It doesn’t matter if you send it all as one file or if it’s stereo/mono. I can handle all that on my end. You can also send me multiple versions of a dialog or do multiple Androids if you want. The only android you can’t do is 42. Sorry.

The format of the google doc is:
*Android’s #*
*Statement 1*
*Statement 1*

*Statement 2*

Any time there is a line it indicates a new dialog box. A good way to get an idea of the spacing is by watching the first two androids talk.


I cannot pay you money. Sorry, this is about as “indie” an operation as it gets. What I can do is give you keys, give you credit, and promote whatever you want (as long as it isn’t offensive (whatever that means (now we’re real deep in parenthesis))). The “credits” in this game will be an interactive level you can walk around. The reason for this is 2D scrolling text sucks and a lot of the credit of this game goes towards assets that were purchased on the Unreal Marketplace and I want to give the creators proper credit for that (run on sentence).

Here’s an example of what Luo’s cave section will look like. You obviously do not have to give me any information you don’t want to and I won’t post anything you don’t specifically give me permission to. If you don’t feel comfortable posting any information I could always just use a nickname a picture of one of your pets. It’s totally up to you.




I can’t say whether I’m developing good or not but I hope that I’ve at least been honest and open about issues and progress. I’m trying to give you as much of an incomplete story as I can without ruining it at the end. It might seem weird now but I promise the Androids, the caves, the cat will all come together in the end. I know development is taking a lot longer than expected so thank you for sticking with me.

Just to give you some idea of where we are:
The layout of the cave is about 90% and you have access to the whole thing. All that remains as far as static environment is just touchups and detail meshes on the last cavern. The last major thing that’s needed is what I’ll call for now an “event”. The complexity of that event is about the same as the opening sequence but you can’t see it until it’s done. It’s taking longer than I thought because I’m trying to get some destructible meshes for Houdini (sigh...).

You now have access to Signals to test to movement mechanics of the cat and how well the level is optimized and lit. Signals is about 60% complete. What’s remains to be done is audio dialog (you won't interact with the characters like you do as DOG).

I’ll keep posting a major update ~once a month but I’ll post to the beta about everyweek. You can access the beta by right clicking CAT Interstellar in your steam library >> Properties >> BETAS tab >> Select beta1 in the drop down. I’ve removed the password so anyone can access it.


I have mixed feeling about VR. Part of me wants to stick to the original plan of the VR origin being DOG (first person) and using a gamepad or mouse/keyboard for movement. The other part of me thinks we can do better. I’m not sure which will win out but I’d love to know what control types you like.

One of the things I’m concerned about in VR is the time it takes to beat the game. Personally I usually get burned out and a little nauseous after ~30 minutes. I know this is just my own experience so I’m really curious what it is like for the rest of you. Have any of you played Allumette or Obduction? What did you think?

This might be a little cheesy but would you have a problem with cursing in this game? This isn’t supposed to be a kids game but it also isn’t some gory mess. Maybe it’s because I just discovered Rick and Morty but if a cave is literally collapsing around you it’s likely you would at least mumble “damnit” to yourself. This is just something I came across while writing the dialog and I’m interested in what you think.

Thanks again for everything,
:ionizedgames:

As Always, thank you for all your support through this project. I’ll give the details about the current update, an update on development, and another community key give away.



Full Linux support*
*until proven otherwise.

I’ve traced down every build error and shader issue. The game currently runs as well on Linux as it does on Windows.

All Linux testing was done on:
Ubuntu 16.10
Using Nvidia proprietary driver 367.57
Intel Core i5-3570k
With a Nvidia 750 gtx

If you are a linux user and you have the free time please go Here and let me know your system specs and whether the game is running properly.



Volumetric lighting


Vertex Painting



Particle effects for walking/running

• Camera rotation lag added – This will make movement even more fluid and provide a buffer when running into objects.
  
• Elevator Transition worked on – It now actually raises or lowers based on where you’re heading.
  
• Android 42 will follow you through all cave levels - Android 42’s navigation seems to be working good but if you find a problem please let me know.
  
• Android 42 got a flashlight.
  

• Added Dev tools tab to options menu to help troubleshoot future bugs.
  

• Re-worked the surface to make it more intuitive and encourage exploration.
  
• Filled in dead zones with events and more environments. I’m deliberately not being specific about this.
  
• Decals in the base make directions easier.
  
• Placement of generators in the Mine level are placed “less arbitrarily” with more support around them.
  

• I rewrote most of the dialog to make the story much easier to follow. You’re going down into un-explored caves with Android 42 to see if you find anything weird. All the back/side story is still inherently in the game but, it isn’t crammed into the core dialog sequences.
  
• The Mine level has been flushed out with Android 42 walking you through to the generators.
  
• Android 42 has been added to the Caves and there is even a testing area for his navigation.
  

• Music not looping on Surface level.
  
• Fixed the fullscreen bug.
  
• Screen settings will stick from the intro level to DOG.
  
• Assorted holes in the map
  

“Signals” is still not done. I’m hoping to at least open it up to the beta branch for testing by next week. I sincerely apologize for this taking so long. Lack of content is, without a doubt, the #1 complaint. I’ll give you more details on why exactly it’s taking so long when I release it to the beta branch.

I have also tried to stick to a bi-weekly update scheme without much luck. The situation that arose this time was Linux. Why release a build when you could fix a few shader issues and release to Linux at the same time? Now that Linux works it's two weeks later and you need you need another week of double time to stay on schedule. It's an organizational problem I'm trying to get better at.

I've already gotten feedback on a beta build I pushed last night so I'll aim to release a hot-fix of some minor issues by Friday of next week. I'm going to try to stick to bi-weekly updates until release. When's release? I think the best guesstimation for a release date is a month after "Signals" is released. The game really isn't that long. Space, Base, Surface, Caves, Earth, Space, Done.


Originally, I was going to do another “find the cat” giveaway since I moved her to a more appropriate place but it’s a little too obvious. Instead, I’m going to try to get your ideas on how to handle a problem with Android 42’s text boxes.

In order to get this update out I did what any good programmer would do and brute forced a solution. You can find all the details about it HERE.

To get a key go there, leave a comment, solution, inspiring quote, whatever you want.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO PROGRAM. The problem is a logical one. There’s literally dozens of ways to solve it I just thought it would be interesting to see what you all came up with.

Once we decide on a solution I’ll give everyone a key (Once Chazz shows up with the solution).
Once again, The post is HERE.

Also, let me know what you think of these community things. I don't know if they're cheesy or not. Do you want more?


Signals is not done but the game is worth another play through.



Almost forgot about VR!!! The awesome people at Epic games sent me Vive and a Rift to develop on. I have to spend this month focusing on content but holy cow the Vive is incredible. I can't wait to get it working with CAT Interstellar. I'm racking my brain on how to implement the motion controllers. If you have any ideas or examples of games that did it right I'd love to hear about it.

If you don’t know how to program you can still help. This can be thought of strictly as a logical problem.

There are dozens of ways to solve this problem. I just thought it would be really interesting to see what you all thought. Just leave a comment here or start a thread if you want to get crazy. I'll hand out keys to everyone when we decide on a solution.


Android 42’s dialog text box is a little different than the other Androids. In the game I use overlapping volumes to update Android 42’s text. When he overlaps one of these cubes it sends a message containing what new lines to show (string array). His text box is then closed (destroyed) and rebuilt/resized based on the number of lines he receives and their length. When a text box is updated it is automatically opened. This is to ensure he says things at the right time.





When the texbox is updated it is automatically assigned a delay. This is to ensure the player has time to read the text before it disappears. Currently it is set to 6 seconds (6s) per line. In other words, 6s for each element in the array. The length of each line doesn't matter***.


The two ways to update and open the text box are by overlapping one of these boxes or when the player interacts with him (left mouse click).




The problem occurs when you want to send him a new text box but the count down delay has already been activated from a previous box. If he is sent a message with one line (6s delay) and then 5s later he is sent another message with a 6s delay the box will close 1s after the text box for the second message opens. Effectively opening an updated text box for 1s (You might experience this bug in the current game).




This happens most often when the player interacts with Android 42 right before he is triggered by another box.


Being the professional Programmer I am, I created a very simple (but temporary) fix for this.

Here's the original delay:
When the Android is triggered you are given a delay time and regardless of what happens you will close your text box.



Now here's the (TEMPORARY) fix:
Scenario 1 (perfect scenario):
A message arrives and is assigned the "delay 1" branch. When that delay is complete it checks to see if another message has arrived before it's done. If not (delay 2 is FALSE), it completes it's task and closes the text box.

Scenario 2 (OMG!!!):
A message is received and is assigned the "delay 1" branch. Before delay 1 is complete another message is received and is assigned the "delay 2" branch. When the first delay branch finishes It checks to see if a second delay was received. If so, it will also take that branch and activate the second delay before ultimately closing the text box. This effectively adds the delays.





Like I said, It isn't pretty but it works for the most part. One bad thing is that the delays are constantly counting down in the background. Eventually they will close the text box and it might not be the best time. You can also only handle 2 delays. You could put another branch or twenty but I'm curious what else you think of.



You CANNOT reject or delay a message. When Android receives updates he MUST accept them and immediately display them.

Similarly, You CANNOT "save" messages to display later.

You CANNOT change, add, subtract, pause, or alter a delay in any way once it has been started (you CAN ignore it when its done though).

You CAN close a message early.

You CAN add as many branches as you want.

You CAN break delay times up (e.x. 10 delays of .2 seconds Vs. 1 delay of 2 seconds).

You CAN literally do anything and we can rewrite the code but if we keep these rules it will make it a lot easier to insert .wav (voice acting) later.





The delay could be based off the number of total characters and you could even add additional time for each '_' to account for complete words. It's actually pretty interesting. That's not the problem though.