Osiris: New Dawn News

Hello Explorers,

Today, I have got some exciting news to share with you all.

The next update will be released by the end of this month on the Experimental Branch. This is one of our major updates to be released and will focus on key areas such as:

• Expanded Story Elements and Missions
  
• Power System with dynamic wiring
  
• Physically Responsive vehicles (Try running Creatures over when you get the chance!)
  
• Expansion of the new Creature AI
  
• Underground Area Level Design
  
• And tons of quality of life adjustments, balancing, and bug fixing
  

[h2]New Power Distributor Utility[/h2]

These nifty units will be the central hub of your base's power grid.

[h2]Power Routing Interface[/h2]

Dynamically configure your bases power grid.

[h2]Structure Power[/h2]

Wire your structures up to power them, now clearly displayed in the HUD.


All powered up. Come on in!


Solar Panel fields gathering energy and routing to your Power Distributor.


[h2]Physically Enabled Vehicles[/h2]

Wasn't sure how else to describe this - but you will now be able to rollover and smash virtually anything with your vehicles! Ram over mineral nodes, regardless of hardness, and mineral nuggets fly in all directions! Roll over and destroy plants. Even knock into trees and fruit falls down! It's like having a monster truck on another planet!

[h2]Send Creatures Flying[/h2]

Run over creatures and watch them ragdoll like the primitive bugs they are!


[h2]Cockpit Interaction[/h2]

Much like the Space Ship, you will be able to enter and exit the Nav Panels easily.

[h2]Navigation Module Cockpit[/h2]

You will be able to chart your path from the comfort of your captain's chair.

[h2]Improved First Person Space Walking[/h2]

Fixing the space walking from the last Experimental Branch, we furthered the feel by adjusting the collider size, allowing you to maneuver far easier through tight spaces.


Traversing through your Space Station's interior is now a breeze.


[h2]Improved Space Rendering[/h2]

Combining the right balance of direct and indirect light, star brightness, and reflections.


[h2]Overhauled Bin System[/h2]

For more interactive and responsive, plant soil, seeds, and harvest plants in your Biodome.

[h2]Larger HAB Windows[/h2]

A much requested tweak from the community, these large windows allow for much better viewing inside and outside of your Hab.


"Hey! Bug! Stay out of my base!"


The other big announcement is that we have one more major update planned before leaving Early Access! This is a massive milestone for the game, our community, and Fenix Fire and I can’t wait to share more information with you all in the coming months.

- Brian



"Get a good idea and stay with it. Dog it, and work at it until it’s done right."
-Walt Disney

*Note - These changes are only on the Experimental Branch. To access the Experimental Branch, be sure to select it in your Steam Library. If this app does not appear, please check if this app is hidden in your Library. Experimental Branch changes typically upgrade to the primary branch monthly.



Hello explorers! The focus of this experimental build was to clean up the Salvaging interaction and Salvage Saving, along with cleaning and clarifying the Save Game system in general. This update is important as it further separates the modes and how each behaves in terms of data saving.

[h2]Salvaging System[/h2]

We fixed the preventing of Salvaging by removing the ownership of the Salvaged item. This means that in all modes any Salvageable object found in the world is not owned by anyone, until of course, it is fully salvaged and made operational.

The progress of the Salvage is also now saved properly, meaning that the salving you have done will not be wasted if you leave the game mid salvage. This also removed a loophole where Salvageable objects become constant loot givers by cycling going to the title menu and back.

[h2]Single Player Saves[/h2]

Single Player saving is all about "Bed Saves" - or saving at a Hut or Bed. This further emphasizes the importance of the base area and the feeling of being tethered to it - which we feel is important to reinforce the subject of being on an alien planet with drastically different atmospheric and temperature conditions to Earth.


Your last save is now clearly displayed.


[h2]Multiplayer Saves[/h2]

Multiplayer Save keeps the Automatic Save system, which records everything each player does at regular intervals. Bed Saves are less important in these modes and are mostly about restoring some health.



[h2]Change List[/h2]
Added Time Stamp to Single Player Character Select Profiles
Added Time Stamp to Private Universe Select Profiles
Added Time Stamp to Public Universe Select Profiles
Added Salvage Objects save in all modes properly
Changed Save System in Single Player Mode
Fixed Salvaging objects interaction and harvesting
Fixed Time Stamp on Cycled Servers in Character Selection Profiles
Removed Auto Save in Single Player - for now


This update was a slight detour from the planned Missions, AI, and Economy Balancing objectives, but nesseary as many of our players on Discord raised concerns. Be sure to join our Official Discord Server .

-Brian



You Paint Some Flames On The Side, Maybe Like A Rainbow Unicorn, You Got Something.
- Lt. Gordon Malloy of "The Orville"

*Note - These changes are only on the Experimental Branch. To access the Experimental Branch, be sure to select it in your Steam Library. If this app does not appear, please check if this app is hidden in your Library. Experimental Branch changes typically upgrade to the primary branch monthly.



Hello explorers! This experimental build includes the new Physically Based Creature AI, along with important gameplay balancing tweaks to shape the overall experience of the game.

[h2]Physically Based Creatures[/h2]
*Note - Larvae is the first creature to get this treatment.

Months in the making, I am proud to introduce our first creature to receive the new AI treatment. What does "Physically Based AI" entail? It means that the creature is treated and processed as a physics object, with all the forces and collisions in the world correctly acting correctly upon it.


What does Physically Based Creatures get us? Creatures will now properly respect defensive walls, structures, utilities and anything that has collision. Creatures can now even be run over by vehicles! Also, no longer restricted to the Pathfinding Navmesh, creatures can now traverse anywhere in the world. It also means we can eventually remove the nav meshes - a huge optimization and will lead to us being able to continue with ground deformation when building large structures.


In addition to driving these creatures by physics, the actual behaviors have also been updated. Larvae will sprint at you when coming in for an attack, circle your base, and back away quickly. They've become feisty little buggers, and this AI system is far more easily expanded and less error prone than solutions we've used in the past.


Creatures are also spawned more at night, creating a "explore by day, defend by night" feeling.



[h2]Oxygen Matters Now, A Lot[/h2]

Automatic replenishing of Oxygen has been moved to a Suit Attachment. This adds value to the attachment while doing something critical to gameplay - you will now be very "tethered" to your base. You will need to really plan your expeditions, going further and further with each stage of your journey. This also adds lots of value to vehicles.

[h2]Pod Crash and Furnace Now Give Oxygen[/h2]

To balance the Oxygen usage, the crashed Pod contains two tanks on board that can be forever used to refill some oxygen. Once you build a Furnace, it refills your oxygen even more. Of course, once you have a HAB or enclosed vehicles like the Rover oxygen will be fully replenished.


Overall, we find this gives much more of a feeling of being in space, on another planet, and adds lots of interesting strategy.

[h2]Mission Refinements[/h2]

The opening missions have been tweaked to reflect the various changes and tweaks to the balancing. More tweaking will continue as we go, eventually going into the later "levels" of the game.

[h2]Durability is Much More of A Thing[/h2]

Durability balancing, screen indications, and Repair Tables have all been adjusted to create a feeling of being mindful of your gear and the Maintenace of it. This also reinforces the feeling of safety when back at the base, providing a chance to refill oxygen, fix up your gear, and reinforce your base from attacks.

[h2]Workbench Can Now Repair By Default[/h2]

To balance the updated durability system, repairing has been added to the Workbench inherently. The Repair Table is still an upgrade, and now does even more repairing per repair usage, adding a time saving value to the upgrade.

[h2]Discovery Harvesting Yields Are Now Unlocked[/h2]

Keeping the act of Discovering by interacting for the first time, we went ahead and removed the locks per weapon type to allow for strategy when approaching a plant or creature. Using various weapons and tools will yield different resources, and it makes sense that as a scientific explorer this information would be included in the discovery.

[h2]Dust Storms Now Damage Structures[/h2]

Furthering the feeling of maintenance and the shelter of your base, along with pushing the vulnerability and dangers of survival on a distant planet, damage by weather pattern has been added. The dust storms on Proteus 2 now can damage your base objects, and Maintenace of these objects will be vital to your survival.


This also sets up possibilities for more skills and tool advantages, like being able to repair past 100% or being able to build objects that are impervious to storms.

[h2]Clearer Interactions[/h2]

Just some nice quality of life displays to illustrate how much time until an action can occur, or how many objects left in a tree.



[h2]Updated Main Menu[/h2]

Lots of polish on the Character Select Screens across all the modes, along with clean up of the Options area.

[h2]Updated Language Localization[/h2]

Working with our community, the language files have been updated. As development occurs, new words need to be added to localization, so you still might see some words that remain in English. However, these will all be addressed by the time we leave Early Access.


[h2]Minor Balancing Throughout[/h2]

Many minor balancing tweaks, for example Small Radar Dish range has been slightly expanded.


[h2]Lots of Fixes[/h2]
Stars now display properly in space. Ownership blocking in multiplayer is fixed. Salvaging bugs in multiplayer are fixed. Here's the full list:

[h2]Change List[/h2]
Added build small satellite dish mission
Added Oxygen replenishing feature to Workbench
Added color coding to replenish triggers
Added display to show how much time is remaining on cooldowns
Added color coded info to harvesting amounts of plants and trees
Added support for harvestable segments to be skinned
Added support for crafting tables to have the option of repairing functionality
Added support to get upgrade from buildable objects in code
Added support for durability hit flash on item icons
Added support to display quick slots when receiving a durability penalty
Added Repair tables now display the amount of repair and modifier
Added more intelligent creature spawning to allow balance frequency of encounters and difficulty
Added support to spawn any creature from under the ground
Added legacy AStar support to new AI behaviors
Added proper hit stunning of creatures
Added prop blood spawning when hitting creatures
Added skinning support to consumable items
Added skinning action to player control system
Added further support for skinning creatures across weapon system
Added debug support to display interface object
Added player sounds for getting hurt in various ways
Added grunt sound when taking damage from fall
Added button down holding interface for crafting actions
Added support to play skinning animations on creatures when harvesting
Added support to flash durability penalty
Added and polished fading in and out throughout Main Menu
Added gas to geysers for testing/developing modes
Added support to properly record all structures in save game display
Added support to properly record all utilities in save game display
Added support to damage structures during weather patterns
Added support to change brightness of stars based on location and time
Added creature skinning animation in 3rd person
Added structures and utilities icons to properly display in Avatar Selection screen
Added Larvae animations
Added upgraded blood FX to creature hits

Changed Updated localization files
Changed Updated Main Menu
Changed Updated Character Select screen in Main Menu
Changed Updated language interface in Options
Changed Updated Options interface
Changed Updated Key Binding interface
Changed Updated Server Buttons in Main Menu
Changed Updated Character Buttons in Main Menu
Changed oxygen no longer replenished automatically
Changed Improvements to Mission Interface
Changed Improvements to inventory object icons
Changed Updated terrain files
Changed Rebalancing of crash site pod objects
Changed Minor adjustments and fixes to some structures and vehicles
Changed Small Satellite Dish now has a larger detection radius
Changed Reordered intro missions slightly
Changed Minor changes to recipes in Workbench
Changed Forge required much less to build
Changed Ghost and Sentry have been upgraded to retro fit the new AI system
Changed Charred Alen Bits now give more nutrition
Changed Oxygenator now can refill oxygen completely
Changed Updated Larvae to new physically based AI
Changed Updated Player to include all new systems
Changed Updated repair table function to work with all systems
Changed utility upgrades to build automatically and not need the blueprint interface
Changed creature indicators to only display health when hit
Changed Improved knockback on creatures
Changed Improved death ragdoll on creatures
Changed Increased durability usage when firing guns
Changed Increased durability usage when repairing and salvaging
Changed Balancing of player sound
Changed Less player breathing in idle and low impact states
Changed More player breathing sound when hurt or in danger
Changed Increased heart sound during stamina penalty
Changed Increased footstep sounds
Changed Lessened amount of hunger and oxygen used when using melee weapons and chisels
Changed balancing of durability rules
Changed Set Player Leveling to have a more steep XP curve
Changed mouse cursor to no longer turn off in map mode or in character rotation
Cleaned up game hints in load screens
Changed Hut and Bed saving text to "Save Successful" instead of "Location Saved"
Changed Improved 3rd person character animations
Changed Improved starting and stopping in 3rd person
Changed Audiomixer settings for player sounds
Changed Updated soundtracks for all levels
Changed Updated particle shaders
Changed Updated blood shaders
Changed Updated all Geyser Particle Systems
Changed Updated grass shaders

Fixed data saving on Crash Site
Fixed Zinc mineral LODs no long pop
Fixed Furnace now has proper icons for all upgrades
Fixed Workbench upgrade icons
Fixed to Crash Site object save game data
Fixed durability usage on equipped items
Fixed Clean up of one shot audio functions
Fixed null instances on PF particle systems
Fixed creatures spazing out in ragdoll form
Fixed Clean up of new AI system debug target indicators
Fixed Cleaned up durability system on inventory objects
Fixed left hand in IK system when holding rifles
Fixed to Timed Destroy function
Fixed Cleaned up creature damage system to show particles
Fixed Cleaned up planet names displayed from save games
Fixed Minor material fixes

Removed Royalty Free Music
Removed Collect hide mission
Removed the building of kits for various objects
Removed ownership on repairable objects for now
Removed storage ownership for now
Removed notice that oxygen is replenishing
Removed unneeded debug log
Removed harvesting locks after discovering new plant or creature
Removed ownership on fuel systems
Removed ownership when salvaging
Removed unneeded collision detection from interface system
Removed vehicle ownership for now
Removed ownership on elevators for now
Removed ownership from repairing structures

Overall, this update marks a very important move in the design of the game by clarifying the gameplay and emphasizing the survival aspect. The goal here is to not make it "harder", but to add strategy, goals, and a feeling of advancement through the experience.

We will be continuing down this path by furthering the missions, upgrading more of the creatures, balancing the economy, and folding in the story as development continues. All in all, I've personally never been more excited about the potential of the final experience for the game as I am now, and I've been working on this project for over 10 years!

As always, feel free to chat on our Official Discord Server .

-Brian



Always remember, your focus determines your reality.
- Gearge Lucas

*Note - These changes are only on the Experimental Branch. To access the Experimental Branch, be sure to select it in your Steam Library. If this app does not appear, please check if this app is hidden in your Library. Experimental Branch changes typically upgrade to the primary branch monthly.



Hello explorers! We have some nice quality improvements for you today, along with some important groundwork for things to come.

[h2]Ground Deformation[/h2]
*Note - The Inflatable Dome is the first (and currently only) structure to get this treatment.

We are experimenting with deforming the ground when building structures. When building a structure, the ground becomes level and smoothed out around the base of the structure and any grass around the structure is also removed. This will greatly open up the amount of locations bases can be built, along with being able to build larger bases with many interlocking hallways and modules.

[h2]Dynamic Suit Readings[/h2]

The Scientist Class backpack has been outfitted with the latest tech to display your vitals directly on the suit itself. Suit Breach, Oxygen Amount, and Health amount are now all displayed dynamically on the back of your suit.

[h2]3rd Person Animations[/h2]
Player movement animations such as run, sprint, stop, strafe, and idle are properly animated and smoothed for a much more polished 3rd person experience. The Melee stance has also been removed.

[h2]Cinematic Camera[/h2]

We now have support for Cinematic Camera moves in gameplay (single player modes only) and added this to the Intro Sequence.

[h2]Camera Zooming[/h2]

Right clicking in game will zoom in and view the environment in both first and third person modes.

[h2]Improved Interactions[/h2]

Lots of minor, but important clean up, fixes, and polish to the outlining, interact menus, cursor and center indicator have been added.

[h2]Updated Main Menu[/h2]
Getting back to our "Classic" Main Menu background, we've begun work on the final Main Menu interface. This has started with a more streamlined and minimal look, along with nice smoothing and fades between screens. We'll be refining this further as we go.

[h2]Updated to Latest Unity[/h2]
We've updated the entire project to the latest Long Term Support Unity Version, allowing us to explore some new technology, optimization, and graphics improvements to the game.

[h2]Change List[/h2]
Added Ground Deformation for Inflatable Dome
Added support to remove grass when building
Added Suit readouts to backpack for Scientist
Added interaction context menu for Fabricated objects
Added fade in and out during character select in Main Menu
Added support to remove cursor when viewing characters in Menu
Added support to removing cursor when navigating the map in Map mode
Added support to adjust first person camera sway
Added Foot IK interpolates in based on movement speed, reducing foot artifacts while climbing
Added Water interaction
Added Both camera modes can now zoom to see into the distance
Added Footsteps now create dust
Added cinematic camera shot of Pod destruction

Changed Outlining is not more selective based on what mode or tool you are using
Changed cleaned up always up redicle activations
Changed updated suit breach overlay
Changed Highlighting of objects is now more clear, based on if you have a tool equipped
Changed Cleaned up Main Menu avatar load screen
Changed First Person Bob values for less roll and more step movement
Changed Hover IK is now smoother
Changed version of Unity to latest LTS
Changed Larvae is temporary replaced Larvae with the Skeliopod

Fixed Main Menu multiplayer mode selection interface for new layout
Fixed fire reappearing on crashed pod when returning to game
Fixed First Person camera is now more smooth
Fixed Pod save on first play
Fixed Missions not appearing on subsequent plays
Fixed Center Indicator in opening Tutorial
Fixed Center Indicator while running
Fixed Center Indicator when returning to game
Fixed destruction fire no longer displays on subsequent plays
Fixed running up steep hills no longer accelerates you
Fixed Repairable objects no longer have an Inspect option of no details are given through design

Removed Early Access text from all menus
Removed step in avatar screen in Main Menu

As always, feel free to offer feedback on our Official Discord Server . In the meantime, we will be moving onto the next batch of material and improvements.

-Brian



What have you become?
- Obi Wan Kenobi
I am what you made me.
- Darth Vader

Hello explorers! After vigorous testing throughout the month we're happy to report that we are graduating the new multiplayer Crossplay feature to the Main Branch! This means that we have support for both public and private universes to work across platforms.

Added - Crossplay multiplayer support
Fixed - Load error reported on Quadro graphics cards

Happy playing!

-Brian