Frontier cover
Frontier screenshot
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Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Adventure, Indie

Frontier

Progress Update
We've been quiet for the past few days so we wanted to quickly let you all know what we're up to.

The code rebuild is going very well. Our lead programmer has made a lot of progress so far, and we are still on schedule for 0.1.0, which is due to be released around the end of the month (or shortly thereafter).

The first human NPC is now in the game, and is going to be used to demonstrate our dialogue system. He is a merchant, so you'll be able to talk to him and buy items to help you on your travels. I am still working on getting everything set up but this will most likely make it in 0.1.0.

We've also made a ton of optimisations and tweaks for a better user experience. After 0.1.0, our focus will be on adding in new features as the core features will be in a more polished state. This will give us the chance to work on new systems, while also updating existing ones. We plan on revamping the weapons system to make it more modular- this will let us add in new firearms in less time. There is still a lot of work to be done, but know that we're working around the clock to get things ready!

Thanks again,

-The devs.

0.0.5 Now Live (Changelog)
Hi everyone,

Today we have another update for you all. This will resolve a couple of the issues people have been having and also brings a couple of new features.

Changelog:



  • Added furnace preview- turn your ore into ingots
  • Added ability to select hotbar slot using number keys
  • Fixed issue with wooden planks falling through ground
  • Tweaked terrain shaders for a more themed look
  • Various code optimisations made
  • Several minor bugfixes (GUI issues, timing issues and other small problems resolved)


We are aware of issues a few of our Mac users seem to be experiencing but we have not yet been able to track down the source of the problem. It seems that the game is launching for some users but not for others, so it is most likely a conflict or a missing dependency. We are continuing to look into this issue and apologise for the delays, it's hard to work out what's going on as we are unable to reproduce the issue. We hope this will be resolved soon. In the meantime, if everyone could keep the bug reports and feedback coming we'd really appreciate it!

Thanks guys, and don't forget the devs are around on the forums to answer your questions :)

-Josh.

Frontier Smelting Preview
I spent the weekend working on a little smelting system for the game. You can throw your spare ore into a furnace and it will automatically mould it into an ingot for you. Check it out here:

YouTube

This will be making it into 0.1.0, along with the other new crafting mechanics. It still needs a lot of polishing off, but it's a good start. We're planning on making it so you can eventually pick up and drag items, so you won't even need to use a GUI- you'll just pick up your ore and drop it into the smelter.

Frontier Major Update #1 Reveal
Evening, everyone,

In light of recent discussions, we've decided to announce the first major update for Frontier so you cann all get a better idea of what's coming next. We will stoll be releasing additional patches before this update is out, so don't worry- we won't be going AWOL while we work on this.

Frontier v0.1.0 Alpha



0.1.0 Alpha is planned for release around the end of this month. The Early Access launch revealed a lot of bugs and with the help of the (awesome) community, we've already released two patches to tackle the worst of these issues. But things are still unstable, which is why the first uodate will be centered around stabilising our core code and overhauling the crafting system.

  • Rebuild inventory, building, crafting and save system code from scratch to fix bugs and increase stability
  • Add in new crafting mechanics, including smelters and workbenches plus campfire cooking
  • Many minor bugfixes, tweaks, optimisations and other various changes to improve your Frontier experience


The first map zone will be arriving not much later. The current map is a very basic demo. We will soon be replacing it with the "plains zone", a 16 square kilometre map which will be just one of several areas you can visit in the final game. We have a lot of things going on right now which are mostly focused on getting the current features working flawlessly, but before too long we will begin to develop exciting new gameplay features. NPCs are going to be a very important part of the game so we want to get started with those as soon as we can.

And finally, on behalf of the dev team, I want to say a huge thank you to the community! We have now been on Steam for 6 days and we've read and used tons of player-submitted bug reports already. We've been receiving great feedback so far and people have been very understanding where bugs are concerned, and we're excited that we can now start to really turn Frontier into a memorable experience with input from our players! As always, our door is open so to speak- you can come and have a chat with us on the official Steam group discssion forums about anything game-related. We have been extremely busy lately but we try our best to reply to everyone as fast as we can, so please check back for a reply :)

Thanks,

-Josh, Lacuna Corp.

v0.0.3 Alpha
v0.0.3 Alpha is now live! You can download this patch via Steam as soon as you are ready to explore!

We've been getting a lot of bug reports concerning the inventory and crafting systems. These should now (mostly) be resolved, meaning that you can craft everything once again. You should have no trouble picking items up either now, which was an unusual issue caused by the last update.


Changelog:



  • Terrain shader overhauled
  • New terrain textures and 3D effects- no more "flat" looking ground
  • Terrain colourmap applied- "green" terrain bug fixed
  • Item pickup bug fixed
  • Crafting not creating item bug fixed
  • Grass shader optimised for lower graphics impact


If you've been experiencing any severe bugs, we hope this resolves the issues you've been having. If there are still any major problems we may have somehow missed, please give us a shout on the forums so we can get them fixed ASAP. Thanks,

-Josh.

Terrain Problems
If you've updated to v0.0.2, you've no doubt noticed that the terrain has lost it's colour. None of this is happening on our end- everything looks great until we build the standalone games; the terrain is only corrupt in the compiled game. Which means something is messing up in our shader code when exporting, most likely. I thought this would be a quick fix but we are going to have to spend some more time looking into it. We apologise for the unexpected bug and hope to have it resolved in the coming days! Thanks,

-Josh.

Frontier v0.0.2 Alpha

Frontier v0.0.2 Alpha



The first update for Frontier is now available for download through Steam. It is targeted to fix some common issues people have been experiencing.

  • GUI rebuilt to prevent any resolution issues- UI will now dynamically resize itself to your current resolution
  • Loading screen removed and code compressed to reduce wait times
  • Options menu added to pause screen
  • Added the option to invert mouse Y-axis (by request)
  • Added the option to change mouse sensitivity
  • Added a volume control slider to the options menu
  • Fixed bug with hunting knife which caused it to play sound whenever selected
  • Fixed quit button on main menu
  • Minor optimisations made


The first major update for Frontier is planned for the end of the month. The inventory, crafting system, building system, save system and framework is currently being rebuilt. This will fix the vast majority of issues players are currently experiencing, and will dramatically increase game stability. If we have enough time, we will be bringing the first iteration of crafting mechanics- while it's possible that we won't be able to squeeze all of this into update v0.1.0, we have planned:

  • Cooking
  • Workbenches
  • Smelters
  • Basic storage


As always, the devs are available to speak with everyone on the official Steam group forums/discussions tab. Come and let us know if you find any new bugs and we'll look into them ASAP!

We know this hasn't been the smoothest of Early Access launches but the community has been very supportive and we thank you sincerely for that! We've already received a ton of feedback and bug reports, and it's helped us to track down the major issues and patch them pretty quickly. There are still a lot of problems but the first month or so of EA will be dedicated to patching bugs while working on update v0.1.0. We are aiming to make the game much more stable within 2-3 weeks.

Thanks guys,

-Josh.

Mac And Linux Fix
The "Missing Executable" error our Mac and Linux users have been experience should be resolved now. Please redownload Frontier through Steam and let us know how things go on your end!

So, What Now?
First of all, a huge thank you from the developers to everyone who has supported the game so far! We're happy to see all the feedback we're getting, and it's really going to help us out.

There are a lot of bugs right now, but the devs have been working through them already. We're planning a patch soon which will fix a large number of the issues people have been having. The first few weeks will be about fixing bugs and polishing off game features, and then things will start to get exciting. Our lead environment artist will be creating our enormous gameworld, a large reconstruction of the Western frontier, which we will work with the community to design. We also want to get a full player model in ASAP so we can get to work on multiplayer.

I have been away from my PC this weekend but I will be back home soon to answer all the questions on the forums, and then I'll look into issues with the Mac version. Some people have been reporting a "missing executable" error, so please bear with us- I'll have that fixed up as soon as I can.

To anyone who has been disappointed with what they have seen so far- please remember that Frontier isn't supposed to be in a stable state at this stage. We purposely released v0.0.1 knowing that there were bugs present so that we could gather feedback and resolve these issues with your help, which has been working very well so far. Upcoming updates will rework the save system (our lead programmer has already done this), revamp the main menu format, fix the current bugs (as many as possible in the timeframe), plus our current systems will be improved.

What about weapons and tools? Why is there only one rifle?

That's by design- before adding more weapons, the idea is to get the code powering our rifle perfect. That will allow us to extend the system to new weapons with minimal issues, meaning it will save time in the long run.

In the meantime, please keep sending your bug reports in! We'll look into every last one of them and aim to resolve your issues in the shortest amount of time possible.

Thanks,

-Josh.

Should You Buy It?
Now that the game/project is live, should you buy this project? Well, that depends.



If you answer "yes" to the following, then by all means- give it a buy:

  • Do you want to support the development?
  • Do you understand the early nature of the project?
  • Do you grasp that there will be bugs and unstable gameplay once in awhile?
  • Do you understand that the features listed are not ALL in the current build?
  • Do you understand that this is an extremely early access version that serves as the base for the game?
  • Do you understand that updates will come out as soon as we can get them out and each update will bring something different?


If you answer "yes" to the following, I strongly urge you to hold off on buying:

  • Do you expect a nearly complete game on release day*?
  • Do you expect a world full of NPCs / towns / caves / mines on release day*?
  • Do you expect objectives or missions on release day*?
  • Do you expect a procedural world highly populated?
  • Do you expect a bug/glitch free environment?


*Release day as in today, the release of the Early Access project.



Please, I beg you all, understand that this game is heavily in development and no way shape or form does it reflect the end product at this moment. We are asking for your support, your opinions or suggestions and patience. Developing is a cumbersome and difficult task and things will not always go the way we hope.

I look forward to building a lasting relationship with each and every supporter. Be sure to leave positive AND negative feedback but remember to do so in a civil and mature manner.

Thanks, and I hope this helps making the choice to buy or not a bit easier!

Keep those boots clean!
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