Astral Terra
Friday Hotfix!
Greetings friends! There were a couple items that needed to be addressed quickly so we put together this update for today. We apologize for any weirdness players experienced after the big update on Wednesday, there were a few things we missed. :P Happy Friday and enjoy the weekend!
Patch Notes
0.3.1
- Fixed issue on Tropical and Canyon biome where player would get to far up in the world (mountains) and the terrain would unload, causing other issues with characters being saved out of position. Player will need to delete any old worlds where a character is stuck in a bad position (no terrain).
- Changed Terrain Align method, aligns more often now and more reliably.
- Optimized numerous biomes for better performance.
- Changed thread manager, resources being used more efficiently and increase in frame rate.
- Re-enabled Bloodfiends and Grottonoids.
- Fixed some missing materials in the create player scene.
- Fixed a few core shader errors.
- Fixed a couple environment items that had shader errors.
Epic Voxel Terrain update live!
We didn't want to keep people waiting any longer so we figured it would be best to put out what we have now and work through some of the remaining new bugs through the following weeks. If you find something broken our sincerest apologies. The process of updating Unity to this newest version was grueling this time. We did the update because a few key assets we use needed it, though this in turn caused a landslide effect of bugs and other things needing to be changed or updated (mainly our shader packages). After sorting through so many code changes and broken items and preparing the build, we discovered a few more nasty bugs. :P Today there were a few small updates pushed out to address these - please check the integrity of your game files to make sure you have all the updates pushed out today. :) Next in line will be a couple more rapid updates/hotfixes to address remaining issues or missing items, while also starting work on the big update that has been being developed in tandem with the voxel environment update (what was originally going to be our big March update). In addition, we are bringing on a few new artists to the team to start concepting the next wave of mobs as well as the next player avatar (the Elemental Sentinel). There are some great things on the way, this is an exciting time for Astral Terra! Enjoy the update, and as always we will be listening for your opinions and any bugs you find or suggestions on how to improve certain experiences.
Patch Notes:
v0.3
- Implemented new voxel terrain base code with lots of optimizations on code and world generation processes.
- Unity engine update to 5.3.
- New Terrain LOD for less overhead and longer draw distance (bigger terrains).
- New Voxel scale of 1 from 1.5. Build shapes are now smaller. 2 blocks in height = height of player avatar.
- New Terrain Shader update with support for dirt and Parallax Occlusion shading. Also supports new Glitter feature for Sand and Snow.
- New Winter biome (work in progress). Standard resources available, new resources being developed specifically for Winter biome.
- Removed Sphere and Cube from Terraformer, tweaked Terraformer settings so that these two options became redundant.
- Added support for non standard resolutions(multi-monitor support).
- New terrain algorithm for Canyons biome for larger, more epic looking land formations.
- New Terrain algorithm for Tropical biome for better mountains.
- Lots of Biome tweaks/edits.
- Changed how Trees and Ores are removed. Players will no longer see a large hole form in the ground when trees and ores de-spawn.
- Set the Terraformer Cube to always start closer to the player and above ground. ;)
KNOWN ISSUES
- Water generation is still being tweaked and new water detection with better splash effect and swim activation is also being looked at.
- Cube Terraforming is messy - new per click method being implemented for next patch for better cube formation via Terraformer.
- Quality settings (High, Medium, Ultra, Low) will not change Texture resolution due to a new bug found in the newest version of Unity. Work around has texture reduction disabled for the moment (reducing quality still effects shadows, particles and a couple other back end settings). A fix for this will come in a future patch.
- Bloodfiends and Grottonoids temporarily disabled due to new bug that has impact on performance. Some AI that we wrote In-House was changed due to the Unity update and needs to be worked on. These mobs will be re-enabled very soon in a future patch. All animals are still active in the environments.
Update Prep - Old worlds obsolete after update
As mentioned in the community feedback section, we have worked our way through a Domino effect of bugs that happened due to our voxel terrain update, then having to update Unity to 5.3, which in turn forced us to update a few shader packages, in turn causing more bugs. The good news is, all is right with the world now. :)
We will be pushing out the newest update this Friday, March 4th. This newest update has huge voxel terrain improvements, so much in fact that the system was re-written to accommodate LOD on the terrain, which in turn allows us to load in much more terrain while also reducing the overhead, therefore making terrain generation run smoother and go faster. Our main method has changed from Marching Cubes to Transvoxel, also allowing us to have a smaller scale for the voxels and chunks, therefore giving us finer detail in terrain and in future building tools. LOD optimizations, memory optimizations, better threading of tasks and a bunch of technical stuff on the backend has been improved or overhauled for better performance. There are a couple things that have changed however. Due to memory issues and storing the data, WATERFALLS have been removed for the time being. This is something we want to bring back but have to look at a new way to store the data. We have lava generation working as well for our experimental Fire Elemental Plane level - we hope to get this working with water so that in the future there will be Rivers in addition to lakes/ponds.
Because of all these changes, your old worlds are now obsolete and indeed are even at a different position in the 3D world because the method for terrain generation has changed. We want to give people a chance to collect their goods from their houses. This is why we decided to make this announcement today and wait until Friday to push out the update. Please take a moment to visit any world that has stuff you would like to save, and REMOVE all your household items (doors, beds, fireplace, etc...). Keep them in your backpack, they will be there after the patch. Players will lose the buildings they created, but at least this way there is a chance to save the items you crafted for your house.
After this update on Friday we are moving forward on the planned epic March update for later this month. Much of the work is already done on the code, we just need to spend time implementing it on the live build of the game. Much gratitude again for everyone's patience as well as interest in the game!
Small update with fixes.
We have been diligently working away at getting our newest build of the voxel terrain live for a fairly large update that is coming soon. In the meantime we wanted to push out a couple fixes for some of the reported issues. Patch notes are below as always, have a great weekend!
0.2.6b
- Fixed issue with screen resolution UI where some resolutions could not be selected. All available resolutions should work now.
- Removed Motion Blur.
- Changed the way ores are removed. Now rock is destroyed instantly on last harvest and new particle effect happens. New resource stack indication coming soon.
- Removed land from being drawn on the mini-map. Icons still show. Players should see a gain of 5-10+ fps.
Big voxel terrain update incoming!
The first big update is almost done and is a big improvement on our already awesome voxel terrain. Optimizations, a new transvoxel method combined with a new terrain LOD system allows us to make much larger terrains. It also allowed us to reduce the size of the voxels in a chunk, therefore giving players finer refinement with the Terraformer and smaller blocks with the build tools. The original scale for the voxel terrain was 1 real world unit = 1.5 voxel units. Characters stand 2 units tall (non dwarves anyway heh) - therefore 2 blocks stacked would = 3 real world units tall. Now 2 blocks stacked = 2 real world units tall (same height as a player). We're working on Doors and a few other items right now, as well as some bugs, to make sure everything fits correctly again. :) With a much further draw rate and higher density for tree cover, the overall look for the environment has improved as well. Lastly, we also have built out a new Nordic type of biome that's snowy and mountainous. The biome contrasts very nicely against every other biome and can be found between the Forest and the Canyon biomes. This rounds out our biomes to 4 now - Nordic (snow), Canyon, Forest and Tropical. Here are some screenshots showing off the new features, we hope to have the big update out to you guys by the end of next week (Feb. 5th)!
New thick tree cover in the Forest Biome.
Much larger draw distance on the Epic Canyons biome.
New Nordic/Snow Biome
New Nordic/Snow Biome
New Nordic/Snow Biome
Overhead showing large terrain. Player is in the center.
Update 0.2.6a
Here is a small update that fixes a few things, adds a couple new requested options and a few requested new building materials. With the big Winter sale and Holiday break going on we decided to take a little time off and get a little R&R (and Chris played Witcher 3 for the first time heh). There is also of course the big update we are working on that has a bunch of stuff that isn't live yet. Because of this, we decided to hold off on pushing out Chests to store items in, as the functionality is changing a bit and we want to minimize player loss of items. :) Here are the patch notes.
Update 0.2.6a
Patch Notes:
- Added new option for turning off Motion Blur (check options when in play mode).
- Added new option for setting Invert Y on the camera control (check options when in play mode).
- Added 3 new requested building materials: Gold Bricks, Stone Tile with Gold center and Fresh Dirt.
- Fixed issue with the Shovel where player would dig a hole in the ground when in Build mode or Terraforming mode and the Shovel was equiped.
- Fixed issues with getting hit by an enemy while harvesting, or dieing while harvesting. Harvesting now fires off one swing of the player's tool when they click on a node (tree, rare ore, farm), which awards them with 1 resource stack. All resources now give 6 stacks.
- Fixed issue with some Building materials not having the correct PBR settings.
- Fixed issue with texture alignment on wall, wall angle, post and roof post shapes. Now materials all line up regardless of the shape used.
Besides UI, crafting and feedback improvements, also in the works is a refinement on how swimming works so that players can run through knee deep water instead of swim in it, new water, chests, new household items, spells, weapons and armor. Of course refining monster AI is also at the top of our list and will be an on-going task. Thanks everyone who has stuck around and enjoyed the game in some way or another up to this point! After the next couple rounds of big updates mentioned, we have some great new voxel terrain code to implement that increases the density of trees and foliage to be on par with games like "The Forest". ːsteamhappyː Enjoy!
Update 0.2.6 - Bloodfiends and Grottonoids!
We just pushed out an update that introduces the first 2 aggressive MOBS: The Bloodfiend and the Grottonoid! These MOBS currently spawn in Caves and make their way to the surface and feature basic wander and chase AI for the moment. Expect better AI over time as well as a move to spawning certain MOBS only at night. We also added new Delete Tool functionality for the Build Tools mode, making deleting any shape effortless now. Enjoy, and as always, gratitude for everyone's continued interest and support!
Patch Notes:
0.2.6
- Added new functionality for Delete Shapes on Build Tools. While a shape is set, hold CTRL and right mouse click to accurately delete any shape in any position.
- Added new Bloodfiend and Grottonoid aggressive MOBS with Loot drops and XP.
- Adjusted swim exit animation timing.
- Fixed crafting panel scrollbar.
- Fixed bug with Strafe and jumping.
- Added new build tools delete tip, adjusted Terraforming tool tips.
- Adjusted Stalactite materials to match cave stone materials.
- Fixed a bug with House placement icon on the minimap.
Update 0.2.5 - Winter Solstice Holiday Update!
Patch Notes:
0.2.5
- Added new Winter Solstice holiday items! Check out the Holiday Tree, Holiday Wreath, Red and Gold Curtains, Green and Gold curtains as well as 2 new non seasonal rugs! More rugs, curtains and other household items on the way.
- Added a Mini Map and Large Map to the game.
- Added game hints to the information panel on the large map (hit M or the ? Icon to change from Mini Map to Large Map).
- Added icons for the Merchant(only basic merchants), Player Homes and other players. Monster Spawners will also show up in the future. A Player Home is anywhere a player has placed a bed. Once aggressive monsters are introduced, players will spawn on a bed location when they die.
- Added the ability for camera to zoom in all the way giving the player a First Person View type option.
- Added Strafe to the player control with Q and E keys. The Animations are temporary.
- Added the new Holiday and other items to the Rare Merchant and Crafting Cart.
- Changed Depth of Field for quicker adjustment and less blur in certain situations.
- Fixed numerous glossy construction materials so that they don't glare as much under certain light conditions.
- Fixed bug with canceling item placing and the icon and item doesn't go away but continues to place duplicates in the players inventory when hitting escape.
- Fixed issue with female button in character creation when it would set the Female Dark Elf as default, when not selecting the FDE tile, but not save the Female Dark Elf on creation (resulting in a Male Dark Elf).
- The basic Merchant now spawns AFTER the world is completely loaded. After spawning into the world, once the music starts that means the world is 100% loaded and the Merchant will show up.
- Code optimizations with camera code and some game methods.
Update 0.2.4b - Rain!
Patch Notes:
0.2.4b
- Fixed issue when rain starts and lighting is incorrect. Environment items no longer get dark on top and stay lit from bottom when rain kicks in (including terrain). Storm chance changed to 20% from 5%.
- Added wetness support for multiple environment items (environment props) and tweaked others as well. Rocks and some plants will now show wetness when it rains. Some terraforming materials support this as well.
- Fixed issue with some large Rocks/Stones in environment not being able to be harvested due to rock size putting player out of the set range.
- Increased the speed and smoothing for the camera follow functionality. Camera turns faster with player turning. Manual turning speed with right mouse reduced slightly.
- Added Crystal Lantern, Elven Sword, Magikos and Minor Healing Potion to the rare Arcane Vendor.
- Adjusted the prices of many items that had a base selling value of 1 gp.
Small Hotfix
We just pushed out a tiny hotfix to address two critical issues. Harvesting and Crafting will now properly give XP again and players can level up again. Also, we moved the Lock Rotation function on Terraform Free Mode. Hopefully this will alleviate the confusion from switching between the two modes. Enjoy!
Hotfix Patch Notes
0.2.4a
- Fixed bug with NO XP being given for crafting or harvesting. Also affects general XP, leveling now works correctly again.
- Moved FREEZE ROTATION on the Free Camera mode from Right Mouse Button to Middle Mouse Button (click down on scroll wheel).