BugOut News

The weekly update is here with new fixes and a new starter scene ( The Campground )
The Campground is a new scene that you will start in when you start a new game. It's a much smaller map then the main map and gives the player a place to learn and play the game. This is also where most of the NPC traders and storyline will be played out through the game. New graphics and textures have been added for the new scene and I think they look much better, even though it still needs a lot of fine-tuning and optimization, it really looks great.

Now that I have the campground scene in-game I have decided to take the Main Map out for this week, it really needs to be updated to work with all the new weather and shader system. It also needs to be set up for streaming instead of a standalone map. Once the map is updated it will greatly improve performance for a lot of players. I will update the map this week and add it back into the game in next week's update. You will still start on the campground scene, but it will be connected seamlessly to the main map too. So for this week, you will only be able to paly on the new Campground Map, this small map will also allow you to test things quickly and allow me to make changes and fixes quicker.

This update also brings in some new content for testing, like Task from the NPC's. Some of these are just simple task so I can test the system, I will be adding to the task and quest system every week. Wood signs throughout the game can be found and can be very helpful. Just point at the sign and if the ( F ) option appears then you can use the sign for Discovery Quest, Information, and whatever else I can use it for.


So here is a list of some of the things in this update.

New Campground scene

First stage of 1st person added, use scroll wheel to test out.

4 test task quest and 3 discovery quest added

New Trees and bushes added

Added new action node to NPC's, they will now show an ( F ) and ( E ) options. F will always open the Talk to NPC window and E will open the trade and barter window.

Increased spawn rate of basic items.

Added a new Start Scene, no more background picture, we now have a live scene for the start scene. Let me know what you think

Added a Test NPC that is walking around the campground,

Can now crouch with ( C ) and get back up with ( C )

Some animals are added back in and being tested too, they can not take damage yet but will be able to in a few days.

There have also been a lot of small fixes.



What up for next weeks update:

Next week's update Sunday, January 5th will just be adding the updated main map back into the game, but I would like to state this week I will be doing little updates and patches throughout the week to the live build.

Once again Thanks for all your SUPPORT.

I know many have been upset waiting on an update, sorry about that, this is my first game and I am learning a lot from it. What I have decided to do is release what I have working so far, so that I can get over this hump of not updating. I really want to be updating once a week, but until now I have felt like the game was just too broken, I had to rebuild a lot of the game mechanics so that the updates would be easier in the future, I did not realize it would take so long to do that. Mistakes have been made on my part and I understand now how important it is to keep updates steady and keep the players informed. As of today, the first update is being pushed live, and I will have an update every Sunday before Midnight est until the game is complete. No matter how big or small the update is, I will push it and give a report of where I am and what is up for the next week. Even though I will be pushing an update every Sunday doesn't mean that is the only update each week, I may still push small fixes and improvements throughout the week too. With that being said I would like to give you some information on this update.

This update has a lot of new things that you may not even see, I have reworked the inventory system, AI system, and Build system. Not all are working yet, but all needed code and assets are now in the game. This will allow me to fix and update stuff much quicker, and allow for faster builds. I have also finished up what was needed to get the task and discovery system working, its still a work in progress but it is there and will be very easy to build onto. It doesn't seem like much but this few reworks is what has taken so much time, remember I am only one person working on this game 90% of the time, I do have a good friend that has been writing most of the code for me as he has time to work on it. Now that all this is done I will be able to add, fix and improve things much quicker.

Now on to what is in this first update that you can see.

New Inventory UI, completely changed the look and feel of the Inventory, it now opens with the crafting window and also has been readjusted on the screen so you can still see your player when you have your inventory open.

New vital icons on the HUD, no more bright-colored bars getting in the way of your game, now they are much cleaner and don't cover up so much of the screen.

New areas to explore, I have started adding the campground props and AI. The AI are just place holders for now until I get more Dialog in, then I will rework the AI to look better. Animations will also be added very soon.

Some task are now available for you to earn some rewards.

New event is now started in a new game, ( Drought ) Climate change is part of the events that will take place during the apocalypse, When you start the game now, you are in a drought and water is becoming harder and harder to get. This is stage one of the events. Creeks and waterways will start to dry up,

New AI ( Pops ) Pops will have information for you from time to time, like world events and weather.

New AI ( Janice ) Janice is an herbalist and loves to grow food and work in her garden.

New AI ( Elizabeth ) She is the campground nurse, or at least she tries to be.

New AI ( Jason ) Jason runs an old scrapyard, he is good at crafting needed items from old junk and scrap

New AI ( Eric ) A stressed-out man, that seems to know all the gossip around the foothills.

There are many more small things that have been improved and added that I have not mentioned. I want to remind you that this game is still in very early access and there will be bugs and Items that do not work properly. Now with this update out, I feel like I can do regular updates again now to show you guys I am serious about making this game a great survival game. Sorry again for the long wait, totally my fault.

What am I working on this week?
I am going to be working on Task and dialog for the new AI, and adding more details and props to the campground. I feel like getting more task into the game will improve the gameplay for those that are looking for something to do. Game will also be set to HardCore mode only to give it that true survival feel. I will also be fixing bugs.

Thanks for hanging in there and showing your support. See you Sunday, December 29th for the next update.

Almost there, I should be able to push the update out within the next 5 days, it will not be the full 1.0 update, but will contain 90% of it. The other content will be added through small updates, and patches. I look forward to getting this update out so that I can start doing regular updates. Never will it take long this long for an update again and the community will be informed of every move I make after this update. To make it a little easier to keep up with everything I will be directing everyone to the Steam group and Discord page if you want to keep up with the game. Discord is the best way to keep up with the game.
BugOut Discord----------- https://discord.gg/3MsSpYk

New task are ready for ya at trader Rons, starting with meeting the locals.


With new NPCs come new areas to explore.

This is a sneak pick at Jasons Junk spot.


Pops sits out on the porch of the trader, he is always listening to the radio and staying informed of the world events. Don't forget to check in with Pops to get the latest on weather and events.



New Inventory is coming along great, still needs some work, but I feel it is much easier to work with now.



Well, that's all for now, Look for another post in a day or 2, I will keep you all up to date on whats going on. Thanks for all your support.

I know , I know, everyone has been asking about the update, and I understand the excitement, sometimes it takes longer to do something then you
think it will, I guess the important thing is not to give up. I wanted to take the time to let everyone know, where we were, where we are at, and
what the future holds for BugOut. One thing is for sure , I will never give up on this game , with over 8000 hours into the build , I have
missed family events, holidays, and many other things just so I can spend more time working on Bugout. No one ever sees the amount of work
that goes into the games you enjoy playing every day, as a developer my end goal is to make a entertaining game that you can enjoy for hours
and hours no matter what it takes to get the idea from my thoughts to code. With all that being said, here is the past , present, and future
for Bugout.

Past: Bugout started as a unity basic character running around on a 500k x 500k map, with a simple inventory system. The water in the streams
didn't even move, you couldn't cut the trees yet, lol you couldn't even hold the ax, but what I seen was the best survival game ever. As I played the simple
little game in the unity editor, ideas would just pour into my head, not knowing for sure how to turn my thoughts into game play , I started taking
classes and learning as much as I could, after about a year I had a prototype of a game. I just wanted to see if the game was as interesting
to others as it was for me,so at this time I decided to release the game onto Steam EA , not as a fully playable game , but as a very early access game
to get feedback from a few people. So I prepared the Prototype for EA.

Present: The current version on steam is a beefed up version of the prototype that was first released on EA. As more players and the Bugout community showed
more and more interest in the game, I would do a few updates. What happened is that the Prototype was not built to be the full game, but just give an idea. So
I had to make a decision to go ahead and rebuild the core of the game to work with all the ideas the community had given me. This would mean months of work,
but the end result would be a core game that I could build the game from, and do anything I wanted. This is where we are in the development in Bugout, As of
August 8th 2019 the new game core has been completed and we have been testing it.The game is running great but there are a few problems left that I am working
on. Testing phase 2 will start October 5th , this is the last testing before public release to steam. I expect release very soon after this phase ( 1 - 3 weeks).

Future: I know that communication is very important , I have not done my part as developer in communicating and I plan to change that starting
right now. Starting today, I will give a progress report every Friday on Bugout, even if only one thing got done. Sundays will be known as Screenshot Sunday,
new screenshots posted each Sunday.
After 1.0 is released , updates will be pushed every Friday with the progress report, same as the report, the update will be pushed even if its just one change.
As far as the future game changes , I cant tell to much or it will give away some of the surprises that are in the new 1.0 update, But I can tell you a few
things I plan to add to Bugout in the future.

Caves to explore
A couple Small Mountain Towns deep in the valleys of the mountains
Apocalyptic events
NPC visual talking and audio
100's of Hours of story line and game play
Survivor leader board on steam
Steam Achievements
Steam Trading cards
Bugout Contest and competition

October will be the month of Bugout, I will be releasing Teasers often of 1.0, along with short video clips and screenshots.

Teaser Update #1

All new Starting and Loading screens.



Choice of Male or Female Character, with full character customization .







Cleaned up the HUD for less clutter, and redesigned the Vital Icons, instead of words and colorful bars , you can see the new Icons are much cleaner and easier to see.



Although I am still working on the look of the inventory I want to show you some of the changes. Once again everything has been cleaned up, player is in the center of the screen when inventory is opened, so you can always see whats going on and any animations being played. Basic crafting is now part of the inventory window, you do not have to open separately anymore.



You know your not the only person running to the mountains to survive, and not everyone makes it. You will now find more than a dozen new run down campsites to loot. All across the map you will find different styles of abandon campsites, loot them for much needed items. Here are 2 .





There is a new campground that has been turned into a survivors camp, Trader Ron over sees the camp. you will meet many people that have settled here to ride out the last days. All of them have task for you to do if you want to, and some have stories to tell, who knows were they may lead you. Help others out and earn respect and rewards to help you survive.
Meet 4 of the new characters you will see in BugOut.


Jason : He loves to collect junk and old stuff, always looking for new items. He can make stuff that you will need in game with scrapes and junk you find around.




Eric : He knows nothing about survival and is always worried about everything, but if you want to know whats going on around the campground, just ask. Sure he will know.




Janice : Janice is an older lady that loves working with herbs and flowers, she can whip up something for that rash or sickness if you have the right stuff, or she will teach you how to make it yourself.




Pops: You can always find Pops sitting at Trader Rons on the front porch. This wise old many has many stories to tell, if you ever need to know something, he will probably have the answer.



More teasers coming soon, keep an eye out.

Thanks for all the support and hanging in there.

This is a quick update just to let everyone know that I am now working full time on the game again, for those of you that have been keeping up, I recently moved my family and studio to the Appalachian Mountains. We are settled in and I was able to start back full time on BugOut . I uploaded the first new build to our Steam experimental branch today,it is NOT on a public live branch yet. Having a few issues with steam limits and the new terrain system we have , I will be working on this over the next couple of days and will keep you posted.

I still have a few days of hard work and some bug squashing then we can start talking about public release. The new build has male and female characters, but I had to hold off on the character customization until after the 1.0 release.

More information will follow over the next few days, just lookout for the BugOut Report.