Volcanoids News

Hey everyone!

Art assets are finally done, and we are slowly going towards a more specific update release date. All major features are implemented and we can finally move into proper testing and bug fixing period. We would like to thank to everyone trying out the preview branch and sending us feedback with bug reports, suggestions and ideas. It gave us a nice list of things that we can focus on.





All the placeholder icons got their proper look. All the COG heads, new components, ammunition and intel components finally look like objects from the game. It took a lot longer than planned, as real models had to be done in order to keep the visuals and light effects consistent. Almost everything you see are the new items that come with the new research system. Once the preview branch gets updated, you'll get a chance to check it out yourself.





Ondrej continues the work on quests and has almost all the tasks done. They are way more dynamic and much better at adjusting to your actions. An example would be a production task, that allows you to use both production and refinery stations as soon as you can produce needed items. We are really looking forward to seeing what you think about the new system, and how it influences the learning curve for new players.





Since it’s more than a month since the release and we would like to give you the new update as soon as possible, we decided to postpone some of the art assets for later updates. Specifically the new COG character models, that would require at least two extra weeks just for art. And another week would have to be dedicated to implementation and optimizations. The work already done on the models did not go to waste tho, as we could use them to make the dead COG icons. For now, the 1.17 will use different emissive color to distinguish the COG tier types. Please keep in mind that it’s just placeholder solution for now. It was a difficult decision to make, but we don’t want to prolong the 1.17 production any longer and want to move into the testing phase.





As mentioned at the beginning of the announcement, testing and bug fixing phase has started. Once the bug list we got from you guys is dealt with, we will keep playing the game over and over to polish the gameplay. Each time the preview branch is updated, we will let you know in Steam Forums or on our Discord.

Thank you for being patient with us throughout the following weeks. We really appreciate it, and we hope you will find the new update worth the wait.

This week was dedicated to art assets, minor testing, and quest system. A lot of time was spent on finding references and getting the correct feel for the visuals. Models, texturing and animating followed, which was basically going on until today.

On the technical side of the game, Ondrej completely redid the quest system and is now wiring up the quests one by one. Each time a larger amount of features gets implemented, we'll update the preview branch so you can test them out.



When designing the weapons, we tried to combine new designs with old feeling to it. It was a lot of fun, especially with the hand mortar. It's inspired by old hand cannons and new reload systems on today's mortars.

Something similar was done with the Gatling gun, which in this form is usually seen mounted on top of a carriage. A lot might change once hands are added, as they will most likely visually block a large part of the weapon.

We also paid a lot of attention to the ammunition and tried to come up with different visual styles that fit the purpose each ammo type has.





Another iteration of guns was done, but it's not the final one. The main goal was to have functional guns in the game to enhance the gameplay and make the destruction of enemy drillships easier.

There is still a lot of work to be done on animations and better visual of the models. Also, the hands are missing. We are very well aware of this and our plan is to hire a professional freelancer to redesign the guns based on today's industry standards. We'll keep you updated on that.





Preview branch was finally updated and anyone interested can check out the work-in-progress version of the upcoming update. There are still many unfinished things, bugs, and placeholders. So please give it a try only if you are interested in seeing what's new and if you want to report bugs/give us feedback.

We mentioned this in the previous Developer Update but will repeat it again as the branch was finally updated: to get access to preview branch and all the info about it please join our Discord and join the testers in #role-assignment channel. You will get instant access to the changelog and other info about the build.

Few of the beginning quests are already implemented and we fixed the critical issues, so players that would like to test can do so right away.





The quest system has been fully updated and we are now redoing all the quests that were in the game as well as making new ones since there is a lot of new stuff that needs to be covered. Those new weapons and ammo types will need new GUI icons so that's also planned.

And that's it for today! If you don't want to miss smaller updates and sneak peeks that we post throughout the week consider following our social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/volcanoids
Discord: https://discord.gg/volcanoids
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Volcanoids/

Enjoy the rest of your week!

First round of testing for the new update was done, and we got a lot of valuable feedback from the closed-testing group. The biggest input was, that we need to work more on the quest structure and help screens that would explain all the new features and content. So while a lot of balancing and minor adjustments were made, we started working on a new quest system and many support features. This is also one of the main reasons, why the build was not released on the Preview branch yet. But don’t worry, we will get there.



Based on gameplay testing, players were not motivated to travel around the map and visit different parts of the areas. To make the game more interesting, certain areas now spawn only specific COG drillship types that carry a large amount of components. This together with a random selection of drillships creates interesting scenarios, where players look for drillships and make decisions whether it’s worth to attack or find some other chance to get the needed items. All drillships carry components, but only the specialized always carry the most. So there should always be a way to move forward.





To give players a chance to discover things on their own, and make tutorial quests less directive, a new type of help screen will be added. Each time player crosses something new, an info page will be available to explain details about a feature, enemy drillship or tip on how to automate specific production tasks. The screen will be available for all difficulties and we hope it will help with uncovering all parts of the game, that were unknown until now.





A lot of work this past week was done in written text and tables, so we don’t have too many exciting pictures to show. Still, we would like to share with you the development of the quest tree and quest structure based on difficulty.

The tech tree is constantly going through iterations, as we try to find a good balance between building and combat. In the previous game, the player could stay in one spot and keep building without the need to leave the area. Current quest tree is combined from combat and production tasks that go together, uncovering the new gameplay progression.



A lot of players don't like that the tutorial quests tell them everything in such detail. On the following example, you can see how quest complexity will be affected by difficulty settings. Where on hard difficulty some quests won't be visible at all or will tell player only the general information. However, Easy difficulty still covers all steps to complete the quest.





The Volcanoids story "before" and "after" is set already, but there is still a lot of space in between. With the new quests, we are also setting up story anchors, that will work as a foundation for a storyline reflected in quests and connecting them together in a coherent way. For example, the Hard difficulty will get just and only quests connected with the story, while Normal and Easy will still have extra tutorial quests to help out with learning the game mechanics.



We will continue testing and balancing the game build together with the quest line. We're sorry that the Preview branch is not ready yet, but it didn't feel right to release it since so many things changed so rapidly. Once the quests are up to date, the game build will go to the Preview branch. The art assets did not move forward too much. Still, once the system is in place and the game is playable, it will not take long to add in the pretty stuff.

Thanks for reading! As always if you have any questions, let us know in the comments below or on our social media.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The work on 1.17 is progressing and we will soon start testing a functional build with the Volcanoids closed-testing group. Almost all parts of the game reflect the new progression and research system. There were a lot of changes and adjustments to improve the gameplay. It should bring more unique moments and wider decision making based on available options at specific moments.



First implementation of difficulty levels has been done, and the hard settings brings especially interesting challenges. Players will have to advance on their own and hunt down the first drillship by themselves. This may take some time since the drillship has to be tracked down and the crew must be defeated, all before the eruption happens. So it's possible that the submarine becomes your home base for a little longer than just a few minutes at the start of the game.



While playing on hard, there's no “island safe zone” (area 1) anymore and COG units (colored cones) can welcome you right when you step foot on the island.





Each area has now randomly selected COG drillships that are specialized in a certain field. You can distinguish the types based on logo markers and COG units running in the area. Each type has its items and technology players can get to upgrade their own drillship.

Player's progression will often depend on what kind of enemy drillship spawns nearby and how much exploration the player does to get the needed tech.



Every new game and after each eruption, a variety of COG drillships surface on different landing sites. The picture below shows the same area once occupied by Research, Military and Refinery units, while next time it is mainly populated by Production units. The cones with different colors mark positions of COG units, while the cylinder marks a surfaced drillship.





To give you a better idea of how the tech tree progress, see the following concept showing progression from the beginning to the late game.

There are now multiple ways of how to obtain upgrades and intel components. You can either search scraps on the island surface, attack patrolling COG units or directly attack a COG drillship. Some strategies can get you forward faster than others. We are still working with a lot of placeholder items and visuals tho. Right now it is all about setting the technical part of the game.



The same concept applies to all the Island areas, and each COG drillship carries new items and units. Players will have to seek and attack drillships that contain items that they need to move further on the map. Especially the movement upgrades now play an important role, as they can be produced only after obtaining damaged parts from COG drillships.





From now on, players will have to hunt down and completely destroy COG drillships to get the essential upgrade parts. These parts are crucial for upgrading the player drillship and advance towards new island areas. It is important to note, that only some drillships have the required upgrades. Players will have to inspect the drillship first, before taking the time and destroying it completely.



We will keep testing, bug fixing and balancing the current build. We still need to do the art assets, and also the whole tutorial quest line needs to be updated. Once the build is stable, we will make the test build available for further testing in the “preview” branch, available to anyone that owns the game.

If you are interested and want to be notified once the preview branch is ready, join our Discord and join testers in the #role-assignment channel. You will get access to change logs and other info about the build. Please keep in mind that it can still contain bugs and placeholder objects, so please join only if you want to help us find bugs and polish the build before it goes public.

Thanks for reading! As always if you have any questions, suggestions or ideas drop them on our social media or in the comments below.

Hey everyone, welcome to another Developer Update! As always here's what we've been working on for the past week.

Game design for the upcoming update is completed, and we've started with implementations. Majority of things you will see is a work in progress and there are a lot of placeholders. Every time a new feature is being added, we do multiple iteration rounds to make sure everything works well, and only then we do the final visuals and polishing.



A lot of players asked for more weapons and improved combat. Gatling gun and revolver with multiple ammunition types are being implemented, but they're still waiting for their final models. Testing is a lot of fun, especially when attacking a COG drillship with the Gatling Gun, shredding the entire crew and modules to pieces.

https://youtu.be/map3ZZ0JSRM



Apart from new guns, NPCs will also get an upgrade in form of new COG variations for each type. Until now colors defined the difficulty level, but in the upcoming update, each color will suggest a specialization.

Each COG will have its attributes such as speed, damage but also specialized abilities such as spotting player at longer distances. This ability makes the green research COG a priority target to make sure other units don’t notice the player too early.

Each specialization will have tiers, that will be deployed all over the island. The shown pictures are raw concepts to find shapes and visual differences. Once we test them in game, proper texturing and modeling will be added.





COG drillships will also get a lot of new features and will play a more important role in player's progress. Drillships will be specialized for a certain task, such as mining, refinement, research or simply guarding an area.

Each ship type will have its loot, crew, and symbol so that players can easily tell what type of drillship just surfaced in front of them. Together with that, some item recipes will be adjusted, and players will have to destroy COG drillships to get the necessary components for upgrading their own drillship.



On the pictures below you can see icons for damaged movement upgrade components you'll be able to loot from destroyed enemy drillships.





And to mention some of the smaller features, drillship movement upgrades will have an actual effect on the drillship attributes. Hull upgrades will grant bonus armor to all modules, while tracks upgrades will make the drillship faster both underground and on the surface.





More features are being implemented, but there is not much to show yet. Will keep you updated about the development in upcoming developer updates and on our social media.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/volcanoids
Discord: https://discord.gg/volcanoids
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Volcanoids/

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below.