Update 0.9 - Serenity
[h2]Patch notes[/h2]
[h3]Improvements and changes[/h3]
- improved quest handling and dialogue of priest quests around New Delphi
- updated mutant runner behavior: two charges instead of three, added cooldown, prevent multiple charging runners
- set shotgun and automatic weapon bullet speeds to the same value as rifle bullets
- quest inventory has unlimited space now (and added UI for handling this)
- improved perma-death mode: on death directly restart at gameplay start of game, keeping original character creation decisions
- make 'Usable Parts' stackable
[h3]Usability improvements[/h3]
- overview map: mouse click on exit will lead to character using that exit after having walked over
- overview map: allow click to walk commands also for control schemes using keyboard movement exclusively
- improved handling of point and click commands in combat
- fixed point and click commands with some destructible objects
- keyboard input only: fixed usage of charge up weapons
- keyboard input only: fixed abilities using mouse cursor for direction
- co-op: fixed issues on mouse / controller combination while having multiple controller connected
- fixed default button prompts for DualSense controller
- fixed player character stopping movement when drag and drop equipping
- fixed comparison tooltip being cut off at screen border
- disabled character looking towards hovered combat target when using direct movement
- deassigned default ranged and melee selection keys (used in manual mouse input mode) due to conflicts; updated related tutorial messages
[h3]Bug fixes[/h3]
- fixed issues with infection and puking in non-physical worlds
- fixed issue with blocking
- fixed animation issue with flying robots
- fixed turrets salvo visuals and actual shooting direction diverging
- fixed mutants being able to open door in some situations
- fixed some other issues with NPCs investigating doors
- fixed some NPC behavior issues
- fixes UI and other feedback issues with weapons like Flamethrower and Automatic Rifle
- fixed "Lock Mouse Cursor" setting not getting applied
- fixed potential issues in Titans Heart
- fixed some animation issues
- fixed NPC wait command (which fixes a few issues with NPC behaviors)
- fixed NPC potentially getting pushed through walls from explosions
- fixed a few potential crashes with mod loading
- fixed rare crash on NPC investigating something
- fixed a rare crash that would happen when loading save games
- fixed more rare crashes
- minor text changes
[h3]Technical improvements and changes[/h3]
- improved loading times
- updated spawning NPCs: prefer level design values over values in savegame
- added "combat" playtest entry
- added missing font support for some community translations on some systems
- additional minor bug fixes, improvements and framework additions
[h2]Current state of things[/h2]
[h3]1. Version numbers[/h3]
Since years we followed a certain pattern of versioning the game: 0.7 being the first demo release, 0.8 the Early Access release, and 0.9 would be the feature complete version shortly before the final release, and 1.0 would be the finished game leaving Early Access.
That means that Early Access updates so far followed a scheme of being something like 0.8.?.?.
I witnessed often enough now people measuring Early Access development progress by these numbers. But these numbers don't signify any kind of percentage of completion.
Version numbers are just there to differentiate different game versions. And in some cases to differentiate a hotfix from a previous regular update. That's their only purpose. No percentage indicator.
To avoid this confusion we will from now on simplify these numbers and set our updates version numbers from 0.9 (this one) to 0.10, to 0.11, then 0.12, and so on. Until, someday, there's a 1.0, when the game leaves Early Access. (And there's probably be 1.1, but that is a different story.)
Hotfixes following the updates will have minor number increases, for example 0.9.1.
[h3]2. Unity[/h3]
Death Trash is made with the Unity engine. A few days ago Unity announced a future runtime fee that got heavily criticized (rightfully so) and in the follow-up days the exact details of it are still not clear. Some people were interested how this might affect the development of Death Trash, so here are a few thoughts about the topic:
For now at least there's no impact on the development of Death Trash. If the runtime fee will be established there might be a financial impact in the future which would impact sustainability and the budget of future projects. But it would not stop this game from getting finished.
What's really damaged though is our trust in the future and the makers of this game engine.
We'll be keeping an eye on how this develops and won't be making any decisions right now, but longterm we'll be looking at a range of game engine options for our next game.
[h3]3. Beta branch[/h3]
I would like to mention again that we have a beta branch where we update the game more frequently.
This is how it works: We update the game on the beta branch on average once per week and after a few updates when we see that all is working out fine, that last version is pushed as an official update.
You'll find more info about the beta branch and about testing in general over here:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/941460/discussions/0/3427823001996731965/
[h3]4. Next Update[/h3]
The next update will be ready on October 24th.
[h2]Conclusion[/h2]
Thank you for your continued support. I appreciate your interest and patience.
- Stephan
[h3]Improvements and changes[/h3]
- improved quest handling and dialogue of priest quests around New Delphi
- updated mutant runner behavior: two charges instead of three, added cooldown, prevent multiple charging runners
- set shotgun and automatic weapon bullet speeds to the same value as rifle bullets
- quest inventory has unlimited space now (and added UI for handling this)
- improved perma-death mode: on death directly restart at gameplay start of game, keeping original character creation decisions
- make 'Usable Parts' stackable
[h3]Usability improvements[/h3]
- overview map: mouse click on exit will lead to character using that exit after having walked over
- overview map: allow click to walk commands also for control schemes using keyboard movement exclusively
- improved handling of point and click commands in combat
- fixed point and click commands with some destructible objects
- keyboard input only: fixed usage of charge up weapons
- keyboard input only: fixed abilities using mouse cursor for direction
- co-op: fixed issues on mouse / controller combination while having multiple controller connected
- fixed default button prompts for DualSense controller
- fixed player character stopping movement when drag and drop equipping
- fixed comparison tooltip being cut off at screen border
- disabled character looking towards hovered combat target when using direct movement
- deassigned default ranged and melee selection keys (used in manual mouse input mode) due to conflicts; updated related tutorial messages
[h3]Bug fixes[/h3]
- fixed issues with infection and puking in non-physical worlds
- fixed issue with blocking
- fixed animation issue with flying robots
- fixed turrets salvo visuals and actual shooting direction diverging
- fixed mutants being able to open door in some situations
- fixed some other issues with NPCs investigating doors
- fixed some NPC behavior issues
- fixes UI and other feedback issues with weapons like Flamethrower and Automatic Rifle
- fixed "Lock Mouse Cursor" setting not getting applied
- fixed potential issues in Titans Heart
- fixed some animation issues
- fixed NPC wait command (which fixes a few issues with NPC behaviors)
- fixed NPC potentially getting pushed through walls from explosions
- fixed a few potential crashes with mod loading
- fixed rare crash on NPC investigating something
- fixed a rare crash that would happen when loading save games
- fixed more rare crashes
- minor text changes
[h3]Technical improvements and changes[/h3]
- improved loading times
- updated spawning NPCs: prefer level design values over values in savegame
- added "combat" playtest entry
- added missing font support for some community translations on some systems
- additional minor bug fixes, improvements and framework additions
[h2]Current state of things[/h2]
[h3]1. Version numbers[/h3]
Since years we followed a certain pattern of versioning the game: 0.7 being the first demo release, 0.8 the Early Access release, and 0.9 would be the feature complete version shortly before the final release, and 1.0 would be the finished game leaving Early Access.
That means that Early Access updates so far followed a scheme of being something like 0.8.?.?.
I witnessed often enough now people measuring Early Access development progress by these numbers. But these numbers don't signify any kind of percentage of completion.
Version numbers are just there to differentiate different game versions. And in some cases to differentiate a hotfix from a previous regular update. That's their only purpose. No percentage indicator.
To avoid this confusion we will from now on simplify these numbers and set our updates version numbers from 0.9 (this one) to 0.10, to 0.11, then 0.12, and so on. Until, someday, there's a 1.0, when the game leaves Early Access. (And there's probably be 1.1, but that is a different story.)
Hotfixes following the updates will have minor number increases, for example 0.9.1.
[h3]2. Unity[/h3]
Death Trash is made with the Unity engine. A few days ago Unity announced a future runtime fee that got heavily criticized (rightfully so) and in the follow-up days the exact details of it are still not clear. Some people were interested how this might affect the development of Death Trash, so here are a few thoughts about the topic:
For now at least there's no impact on the development of Death Trash. If the runtime fee will be established there might be a financial impact in the future which would impact sustainability and the budget of future projects. But it would not stop this game from getting finished.
What's really damaged though is our trust in the future and the makers of this game engine.
We'll be keeping an eye on how this develops and won't be making any decisions right now, but longterm we'll be looking at a range of game engine options for our next game.
[h3]3. Beta branch[/h3]
I would like to mention again that we have a beta branch where we update the game more frequently.
This is how it works: We update the game on the beta branch on average once per week and after a few updates when we see that all is working out fine, that last version is pushed as an official update.
You'll find more info about the beta branch and about testing in general over here:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/941460/discussions/0/3427823001996731965/
[h3]4. Next Update[/h3]
The next update will be ready on October 24th.
[h2]Conclusion[/h2]
Thank you for your continued support. I appreciate your interest and patience.
- Stephan