It's been some time since the Co-op Update was released and we understand that not everyone is following us on our social media where I post sneak peeks and other short-form updates.
So here's some news about the upcoming update mainly for folks that follow us only here! But don't worry, even if you follow us everywhere (stalker alert), I'm still going to include things I haven't leaked anywhere else yet.
Next update = Combat update?
That's right! The majority of the feedback after the Co-op Update mentioned the state of combat. Seeing that, we decided to make combat the top priority and dedicate this next update to improving all aspects of it.
DISCLAIMER: Keep in mind that many things are still unfinished/placeholder-ish and will look different when the update releases.
Here's what we've been working on
[h3]First Person Animations[/h3]
The 1st person view is no longer just a static hand with a gun. Anything you do will trigger some kind of response from the player model. We spent a lot of time analyzing these "immersive effects" in other games. There are still tons of adjustments to do, but the system is done and now it’s just about tweaking the values.
[h3]Improved Shooting & Projectiles[/h3]
One of the biggest community complaints was about the hit-scan shooting. All weapons are now projectile-based with recoil, bullet drop, muzzle velocity, and many more features that you're used to from other games. This includes the ability to hip fire or aim down-sights.
[h3]Reworked COG Units[/h3]
Some of you might remember when I shared the old concepts for improved COG units a few months back. Well, the time has come and COGs will be getting a major facelift along with a new brain (smarter behavior). Since they're getting smarter they will be able to use a larger array of new weapons to cause you all kinds of trouble. Defending your drillship or attacking theirs won't be as straight forward anymore.
Apart from that, COGs won't be hit-scan shooting anymore either and their aim won't be as perfect too. We are also working on audio clues for them to signal things like spotting you, losing you, being idle, and so on.
[h3]New Drillship Turret(s)[/h3]
The long-awaited new turret is finally making an appearance and it's even better than what you hoped for! Because we are not going to add just one new turret but a whole bunch of them! These will even out your chances against attacks from the now smarter, better equipped, and noisier COGs.
[h3]Armor[/h3]
One of the biggest issues in combat was that you couldn't increase your health as the game got more challenging. So to solve that, basic armor is being added to increase your chances against tougher enemies. However, it is not the planned "power armor" suit yet but more of a bulletproof vest. The "power armor" suit is planned for a later update.
[h3]Co-op Focused Features[/h3]
As the enemies get tougher, proper teamwork will be even more necessary. That's why we're adding the ability to heal or revive your crewmates. Being able to drop items like you're used to from other survival games is also happening.
Other things I should mention...
We expanded our team even more recently, which forced us to update our project management systems but everything seems to be working better than ever now. Our concept artist, for example, is already able to work on things for future updates wasting no time.
Why is this important? Well, it should really help with the long delays between each update since a lot of the work is being done in advance. Here's one of the things he's working on:
Last thing the team wanted me to mention is that maybe not all of these features will make it in this update. We are very aware that this update is taking way too long... again, so if some feature starts being overly complicated, we will push it into the next update. Still, the combat focus of this update stands, and I'm sure most of these will make it in.
And that's all for now. Thank you so much for your amazing support! Let us know what you think and if you have any questions, leave them below or ping me on Discord.
~ Rich
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