Endzone - A World Apart News

Fellow Survivors!

we've just released a bunch of new screenshots for Endzone 2, showing the current state of the game. From flourishing nature shots to grey and drab rainy seasons to dusty sandstorms; and we don't want to keep you away from those lovely sunsets, of course.

We hope you'll enjoy them! Here's a small selection - the full batch is available on the game's store page:


On top of the new screenshots, we're happy to celebrate yet another wishlist milestone: 175k - CHECK!

The recently aired Triple-i Initiative showcase has been a blast, and the additional exposure draw some new survivors to this place. Ultimately boosting our wishlists to more than 175k in like no time. We're baffled and more than thankful.

Stay safe, everyone.


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2144640/Endzone_2/

- "I wouldn't have imagined seeing a settlement like this just a few miles from here. And you're supplying yourself with just wells in that swamp? It's amazing to see how we all develop our very own strategies to survive out here." -



[h2]Research[/h2]
Endzone 2 allows you to claim, create, and manage multiple settlements. Settlements or Zones can only be built on plateaus. Each settlement has a certain progression for each specialization or "Settlement Branch" that essentially provides feedback about which buildings of which category are most prominent there. While this can naturally vary, the more you progress in the game, the more specialized certain zones may become. Some advanced buildings are only available after at least one zone reaches a certain progression level for the relevant branch. Each building is always categorized in one of the available Settlement Branches and provides progression points, once built.
To make things clearer, here is a breakdown. Here are the 3 different settlement branches:

Disclaimer: The graphics showing the UI are in German, as this is our mother language. We naturally prioritize creating localization for German first, as we can add new text on the fly and ensure that everything new is localized correctly. This is needed for testing purposes.



When you reach a value of 10, you unlock your first available research. In this example, that would be Advanced Housing. These buildings allow for a higher settler capacity and also provide a buff to nearby buildings of the economy type. At a value of 15, the Upgraded Material Storage can be researched and so forth. You can observe how advancing in multiple branches at a time is possible.


Every building is assigned into one of these three categories. However, it's crucial to note that each progression only allows for researching the new buildings but doesn't unlock them automatically.



In addition to resource costs, some technologies require Knowledge points, which can be obtained through expeditions. These points cannot be generated by a building but need to be manually collected. To do so, you will need to send your explorers to an expedition and progress until you reach a certain threshold.



It's important to plan ahead for your settlements, both in terms of space to build on the zone and the availability of certain resources and ground types to determine, which buildings need to be prioritized in research. Some zones are better suited to ecological use, while others profit from economic specialization.



[h2]Building Placement[/h2]
The simplest way to boost production of a branch is to place the correct housing type near a production building of said type. In addition, it is helpful to place the right type of housing near certain production buildings to avoid any negative effects. In this example, you can see how the housing below the selected coal maker is marked in red. Since the housing is of the ecological type and the coal maker creates a lot of filth in its production, the inhabitants are unhappy.



Production chains are not only important on paper. This means that in order to maximize your production efficiency you need to plan where to construct your buildings. This is important in relation to the resources it needs, as well as which resources it is providing. Further below, you can see how the Tool Maker has the Scrapyard, which produces scrap, and the Woodcutter, which produces wood, both in the direct vicinity of itself. This is beneficial because it requires both resources to craft tools. It is also connected to a storage, in this case, the Town Center, and a Road that connects both with each other. This, along with housing of the economy type in proximity, provides the maximum production value this building can possibly have.



Here are 2 more examples of complex production chains in Endzone 2. It's important to note, that buildings can only provide a boost to a higher graded building in the chain. This means, that a Wood Cutter does boost a Coal Maker, if they are in proximity, but not the other way round.

Production Chain of Coal Mask and Production Chain of Lead



https://store.steampowered.com/app/2144640/Endzone_2/

[h3]As Discord is our main platform for feedback and discussion within the community, we highly recommend joining us and sharing your feedback there.[/h3]

Survivors, now is your time to dive into the world of Endzone before Endzone 2 drops this Summer.
You can get at a discounted price in celebration of the recent triple-i initiative showcase.

In case you missed it, you can rewatch it here and check out the first Endzone 2 gameplay trailer:

• YouTube -> Endzone 2 Trailer Timestamp
• Twitch
• Steam Event Page

Also, if you can't get enough of Endzone, don't forget to wishlist Endzone 2:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2144640/Endzone_2/

Thank you everyone!

Fellow Survivors!

With your help we've recently surpassed the milestone of 150k wishlists on Steam for Endzone 2 - and we’re still going strong! There's still so much things about to happen on our road to release. We're truly grateful that you are part of our journey.

We can't wait to head into Early Access and shape Endzone 2 together with you; just like we did with Endzone - A World Apart a few years ago. This is gonna be an awesome ride.

Also, as part of today's Triple-i Initiative showcase, we're happy to show you a first glimpse at Endzone 2's gameplay:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Triple-i Initiative Steam Event Page

Keep the support coming and stay tuned for more!

Stay safe.

- "It's the hustle and the collective aspiration to elevate what we possess. Witnessing the machines in operation - observing our companions harvesting berries and sifting through scrap - that's what ignites the drive within each of us. We all yearn for advancement and renewal." -



[h2]What makes a game feel alive?[/h2]
A city-building strategy game thrives on detail. As a player, you want to be able to understand how your own settlement grows and comes to life. In addition to detailed buildings and a vibrant environment, animations play an immediate role in immersing oneself directly into the experience. In Endzone 2, it's important for us to continue visually depicting the lives of settlers and making all processes within the settlement readable and accessible. In this context, the term often used is the 'Wuselfaktor'. To achieve this, we have implemented several systems that enable animations of buildings and settlers within buildings.



[h2]Building Animations[/h2]
To animate buildings in Endzone 2, certain precautions need to be taken. It's necessary for us to plan ahead in the visual design phase and make compromises. For instance, all objects intended to receive animation must already exist as separate sub-objects within the final building. An example of this would be the crucibles that hold the molten metal of the Iron Caster.

Upgraded Well placed on swamp area.



Furthermore, we've developed several custom tools that allow us to create keyframe animations for each individual object. This involves generating a bone object at the necessary location. Bones can be envisioned as actual skeletal structures. By manipulating the rotation and translation of these objects at any given point in time, we craft smooth animations for the various components of the building.

In-engine screenshot of the Iron Caster Building, showing the single Bone components and interface.

Brick Factory Animation.



By individually treating subcomponents within the building, highly complex workflows can be coordinated and depicted as animations. For instance, the complete animation of the Iron Caster spans nearly 60 seconds. However, we typically aim to keep each animation within a range of 15-30 seconds.

Iron Caster Animation.




[h2]Fluff Paths[/h2]

"Fluff paths" is our system's term for a path that is detached from the actual navmesh. This allows settlers, who typically follow their established routes, to spontaneously wander into building areas and trigger scripted animations. An example of this would be the fishing hut. A settler walks from their house to the fishing hut, where, in a scripted animation, they take a fishing rod, walk to the front of the pier, and then cast their line. This is observable in the example below, where the orange area depicts the collision or “border” of the fishery and the small blue dots are visual pointers of the coordinates to the right. Each point represents a checkpoint of the path and a possible Animation that is played there.

In-engine screenshot of the Fishery, showing the available Fluff Paths.



The Fluff Path system is also used to specify where builders should stand to support the construction of a building with animations. Within Unity, we can precisely designate individual points or, in our case, "anchors," where a path ends and the construction animation can be played.

Another outstanding feature of our custom solution is the ability to directly link the number of possible Fluff paths and animations to the number of settlers working in a specific building. For instance, if the Iron Caster can accommodate up to 10 settlers working simultaneously, we can create 10 different animation presets. When a settler enters the building, they randomly select one of these presets. This approach allows us to showcase complex workflows while ensuring that settlers never get stuck in each other.



https://store.steampowered.com/app/2144640/Endzone_2/

[h3]As Discord is our main platform for feedback and discussion within the community, we highly recommend joining us and sharing your feedback there.[/h3]