Landless
Landless Progress Report 1/16/2018
Please watch the video to hear our progress report.
Notes:
We are aware of the fps drops during base defense on islands and will be addressing it little by little until a full resolution.
We are planning on changing our currency conversions to better reflect steam's standard for every country, meaning more competitive pricing for countries outside of U.S. and others.
We understand some people are experiencing freezes, even though crashes have been minimized and will be addressing it little by little until a full resolution.
Experimental 2.0E HOTFIX 1 (Crash Fix)
We've got some great news! If you are experiencing crash issues please download from the open_experimental branch which can be found under "Betas" after right clicking Landless in your library and selecting properties.
I know this was a thorn in our side for a long time, but we needed to examine all the texture errors and see what was chewing up the memory. We've got everything optimized and players should also experience smoother gameplay. So many thanks to everyone's patience in this matter. We can now finally look forward!
If you have any troubles, please email us at codebullet@protonmail.com
Big thanks to those who took the time to email us their crash reports and communicating with us about what was going on.
Now that we have the game working again, we can now put our focus now on content drops and more workshop features.
Make sure your version says Alpha 2.0E Hotfix 1
Hope you'll enjoy!
-CodeBullet
Alpha 2.0 Experimental Released! Steam Workshop
Welcome Shark Huggers!,
We are releasing our first part of the steam workshop feature in the open experimental branch. We are a small team and we need your help finding the kinks and suggest improvements.
The first part has been released for this reason so we can make sure we have a clean launch with steam workshop to the general public.
In-game you will see a big steam workshop button, click that and you will be given options to edit the different things in the game. Out of game, you can replace textures, this should be done by experienced modder. We will bring more in-game modding abilities so that anyone can mod!
Only current customers will be able to see steam workshop at this time. This means if you have not purchased the game you will not have steam workshop visibility yet.
Part 2 will be the full version which will make it visible and we'll have the rest of the features done for the in-game tools such as model replacement and such. As well as a new map editor mode which will allow players to create their own Landless environment in their image!
We are working on Part 2 right now and will be using your bug reports and design suggestions to help speed up the process. After about 2 weeks, I will be able to provide a ETA on Part 2.
Dev Notes:
We are no longer using the old version numbers and instead going to make the final steam workshop to be released as Alpha 2.0
If you are experiencing frequent crashes, try increasing your system paging file to 16gb. Our current textures are not fully optimized yet and will chew up memory from time to time.
Right-click on Landless in your steam library>click on the beta tabs and select open_experimental to receive the new update.
We will be issuing hotfixes for any big bugs in the steam workshop.
Remember this is not a full blown release, so no fancy PR yet, but we are very close to finishing Part 2 and we'll have tutorial videos and such ready on launch.
Thank you for your continued support of Landless. Email us codebullet@protonmail.com for immediate support. We are still active on the forums but reply times can be delayed greatly.
Thank you,
Codebullet
Landless Hotfixes
Sorry about the negligence on the PR department, we had hotfix 2 scheduled on Tuesday, but I awoke on 2am that day to my step dad having a heart attack. (Was at the families over Thanksgiving Weekend) Unfortunately, the paramedics were not able to revive him and I had to watch someone close to me die in front of me.
I got the hotfix uploaded that day, but my mind was preoccupied on something else. Right now I have been pretty busy planning the funeral and everything.
On the development side, We are still working hard on Steam workshop, so i think people are going to love being able to modify and share landless, in landless. We we're kinda in the zone so to speak until this news hit, but I will recover and maintain consistent updates for everyone.
Thank you to everyone for your patience in this and thanks to anyone who wishes to offer condolences.
-Hot Fix 3 should fix the Tribute feature now
-Hot Fix 2 consisted mostly of performance and optimization fixes. Such as less crashing, better fps, and no freezes on the start screen.
Dev Notes:
I know our testing department is also on the ropes, but it is still operating efficiently given what we have. We should also have a lot user experience improvements in the game with the steam workshop release. So I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on that.
Once again thank you to all our loyal supporters of Landless. There are a lot of ups and downs in life, but it's how you make it through the "downs" that will define you.
0.35.9.5 Update
0.35.9.5
Going to keep the details short here as we got a lot of things to prepare for steam workshop. I will leave notes at the end for anyone who’d like to keep reading about the development of Landless.
Early Conquest Prototype:
Players can now begin claiming random npc homes as tributary homes. This feature will help lead up later to our settlement management feature coming out after workshop. Players will find another NPC in random homes with whom they can strike up a dialog. Players will be given 2 choices, either pay off their debts to pirates to claim them under you or fight off the pirates to stake your claim against them.
Once an NPC Home has become a tributary home, you will be able to collect tribute from the radio UI by pressing its button. This can only be done once per day. The more tributary homes, the more tribute. Tributes do not rollover into the next day if you forget or choose not to collect your tribute. We will be working on more tweaks and polishes to get it more perfected, so we thank your patience in the matter.
Patch Notes:
-Enemy Rafts no longer sink and turn into barrels, but instead require the player to use the crowbar to search its contents (More of a salvage feel)
-New Angular Fish added to the ocean depths, they lurk around the ruins of the old world.
-Resizer option added to the inventory window, simply click on the orange triangle at the right-bottom corner of the window and drag the slider to adjust your size to make inventory more visible for users.
-New Seamines added, research them, craft them and place them. Only affects pirates currently.
-Metal building parts crafting enabled, Players will now be able to craft metal parts for their structures. They also have better hit points than wooden parts.
-Fixed a pathing error for wildlife AI.
-4 New achievements added, discover a container ship, discover a carnivorous island, settle on an carnivorous island, and settle on a container ship.
-Enemies should no longer be appearing and waiting for the player, when the player resurfaces from diving.
-Changed sonar buoy detection textures to be more noticeable.
-Underwater building now placed correctly on ocean bottom.
-Merchants should now be saying goodbye when player leaves.
Optimization:
We been hard at work investigating the recent performance issues and we believe we’ve found the culprit. To begin, I’d like to say the game has gotten much bigger than we have ever conceived at EA release. That said, we’ve added a lot of different models and textures over the summer and we are starting to find where the heat is coming from. To be able to continue expanding the game while still maintaining optimal performance, we’ve decided to lower some of the texture sizes in the game to help with loading, crash issues, and frame drops.
We don’t really have the budget for an art department anymore these days, so we’ve decided to focus more on optimizing performance, so that we can keep adding more new content and mechanics to make Landless fun to keep playing!
What’s Next?
Steam Workshop. That’s our main focus now (along with more polishes and bug fixes as usual). However, we will still release hotfixes when needed.We’re working now on making a lot of game moddable and want to also at the same time make it easy and fun for the user as well. We will be posting a progress report in the near future to give players a clearer picture what will be available and what to expect. The Steam Workshop feature has had a lot of work done to it already and we are getting very close.
Thank you,
CodeBullet
Landless 30% Off Starting @ 9:50am PST 11/22/2017
Alpha 0.35.9 Boat Builder Update
We have one hell of an update that you won’t want to miss out on! Today, we are proud to unveil Update 0.35.9 The Boat Builder Update!
First, you can check out the video here to get some visuals on how it works.
https://youtu.be/dEHj7-qHuQ4
How to build your boat?
Craft the “Pontoon” item and place it in the water. Once placed you will need to place down an engine for propulsion, a nearby generator for power, and fill up the fuel tank next to the helm. Once this is done players can then take control of the helm and control their boat.
You will need to test out different spots to place your items. The boat is physics based, so to get that perfect boat will require a lot of physics testing which is good news for the players, because they can now have crazy fun experiments now with the boat builder!
Enemy Camps Replaced:
We wanted to make the enemy camps more manageable as well as use the new building parts. We wanted to start out slow and start with smaller camps first that only hold roughly 5 enemies on it. The camps are now a lot easier to raid and allows us to build up from here. For instance, when we have the dynamic difficulty in play, players will start discovering bigger and tougher bases. But for now, we want to get all the basics covered.
New Awnings Pack:
New awnings for your base. Choose from Shark Skin, Shark Straps, or the timeless classic, the blue plastic tarp. Also added is the new pillars to help give your home the support it needs!
Optimizations:
-Optimized cargo ship for players experiencing crashes near it
-Physics optimization, may feel a little rough at first, but we are going to start smoothing it out in future patches, particularly around the islands. Players should start noticing some better frames now around enemies.
Patch Notes:
-Placing a bed on a container ship will prevent enemies from respawning there
-Hydro Turret range has been extended by an extra 100%
-Water Sound FX on the game menu has been changed to it’s max settings for it’s default state. Some players were complaining they could not hear the ocean. If you already saved your own settings, just turn the water sounds all the way up to hear the sounds of the sea
-Random NPC homes have been updated to longer include the older models anymore and have been substituted with smaller more optimized buildings
-A lot of new icons have been added. We are slowly transitioning out from all the placeholder icons we had that never really matched the items anyways
-All woil costs for cooking has been reduced by 20%
-Changed stacking rules for a lot of items, more items should be able to stack now
-New underwater sound effect added
-Gunboat and Drugboat aggro ranges have been increased by an extra 100%
-Feathers added to floating loot containers. This is a temporary solution until we get the seagull coops in
Dev Notes:
Alright, we’re now zeroing in on steam workshop, almost there! Going to be doing some more fixes and polishes in the next update, then it’s Steam Workshop time in the following update! Game is on sale now for the Halloween Steam Promotions. So spread the word and take advantage of this limited time offer!
Follow Us:
https://www.facebook.com/codeBulletUS/
https://twitter.com/codeBulletUS
https://www.youtube.com/c/codebulletgames
http://www.indiedb.com/games/landless
Thank you,
Codebullet
0.35.8 Hotfix 1
Patch Notes:
-Fixed boat repairing
-Fixed A.D.S. helm Interior: Reverted it back to the concept art, the detail you saw was a work in progress not intended to be put in yet.
Thank you,
CodeBullet
Update 0.35.8
Today we have another update going out, and it is nearly all about building.
Okay, Let’s break it down:
The floor pieces were not quite on board with attaching to the bottom of the ramps, but they are now!
There have been some real optimizations going into the building mechanic, Doors, windows, and even the walls can now be flipped 180 for perfect placements.
A placement guide system has been made to see where all the snap points on an object are for easy building.
Windows and doors will now save their state,(though there may be a problem with saving on islands, this is being looked into.) which means, if you leave it open, it stays open!
As I mentioned in the On the Horizon post, the build item identity crisis has ended, what you place down, will stay what you place down!
General cleaning has been done on the stabilizers snap points as well as in general, making them easier to use.
As more and more items get added to the crafting list it gets harder to find what you want to build, as such more categories have been added along with a search feature for you to get to just what you want!
The first test in an “In-Stock” feature has been implemented, what does that mean? Well if you have items In-Stock via a chest near a workbench or distillery, they will pull the items from the chest to craft items. The goal of this feature is to allow the player to stock up their personal warehouse and then craft without having to manually fetch the items each time.
Did you know you could build in a downwards direction? Well you can, if you and building up and over, or just find it easier to place a wall down from a higher floor you can.
This used to make the wall, window, or door go upside down, but no more; also you can now snap walls to the side of other walls for quick wall/window placement.
The first go of a Crowbar mechanic has gone into this update, now you can use your axe multi-tool to “pry up” unwanted build items/furniture. This works with a click and hold, to give you just enough time to change your mind.
The first phase of a basic climb feature has been added, now you can select the edge of a platform to climb out of the water!
All of these changes are meant to give you more ways, as well as cleaner/smoother ways to build your dream home on the sea!
We have also started a new testing process that will allow for cleaner updates with fewer bugs!
The water has also had some lighting changes, let us know what you think.
On top of all that beautiful build additions and optimizations, there is also now hitboxes for headshots, fixed a code error with the creature repellent, a new outline shader when placing and more! See the full list of add-ons and fixes below!
Thank you all for reading and enjoy your time on the sea, may the waves be merciful!
Update Notes:
-Hitboxes for enemy headshots added
-Better collision detections on the enemy gunners
-Props added to cargo ship
-Floor pieces can now connect to bottom of ramps
-Windows and doors states now save
-Workbench can be moved a little closer to the walls
-When in placement mode, snap points will appear to help better coordinate your building effort
-Minor adjustment on the snap points so they do not overlap as much, such as putting a wall between floors
-Fixed code errors for the creature repellent
-Snap points on stabilizers more refined now
-Search function added to the crafting UI
-Bow ammo now updates when picking up loosed arrows
-Workbenches and distilleries can now pull materials from nearby storage chests
-Fixed swapping bug that would disappear items u had in placement mode and switching to another during.
-Fixed storage chest removals after emptying
-Arrows now stick to their targets correctly instead of being out of sync
-Added more categories for crafting to better organize the UI
-Building parts now have colored outlines when in placement mode instead of the giant colored cube
-Stabilizers can now be removed from above as well
-Island platforms should not require a crane to remove any more
-Building parts can now be rotated with mouse wheel
-Building downwards will no longer flip the piece upside down
-Crowbar mechanic to remove placed items
-Added climb up feature
-Water lighting cahnges
On the Horizon Part One
Have you been wondering what CodeBullet is up too? Have you wondered who CodeBullet is? Do you want to know what to expect to arrive in Landless? Do you want to know when I will stop asking these questions? Well, wonder no more!
Okay, let’s break it down:
Boatbuilding
As I read through the fourms I find that many of you want to know if you will be able to get more watercrafts, well the answer is yes!
What? Do you want to know how boat building will work? Calm down, I am going to tell you.
When boat building is introduced it will allow you to make modular rafts/houseboats.
It will start off based on the existing build system, allowing you, the player to make crazy moving platforms, rafts and again houseboats.
By putting this feature in the game, CodeBullet will be able to test how this works and tweak as needed, creating the system for custom vehicles in the game.
So at this first stage, boat building will be more raft building/the ability to make moving bases. (Think square)
Once this is done, the second stage of Boatbuilding will be to allow for sleeker boats and ships, a ship dock will allow you to make pre-shaped hulls of varying sizes and styles.
Once the hull is upon the water, the basic and more advanced features will be able to be built and placed upon the deck. So the upgrade system of the current boat will be a visible build system at this stage.
Now along with these custom boats, the team is also looking into all sorts of things from the motorized rafts the Wasters and Salters use being able to be used by the player, to things like jet skis.
The final note on this one is this: The first stage of boat building is being worked on now! Here are some pictures:
Rain Collector
Water Pump
Radio and Computer
Engine
Generator
The Build system:
Okay let’s be honest, the current build system is a bit rough around the edges. I know you are thinking it! It’s fine, we know it too. CodeBullet’s focus is to get as many base features into the game as possible, to show and test what the game can do. Then after the base is working the polishing stage will begin, cleaning up, smoothing out, and making Landess run and look great.
That's right I did say look great; Landless is using a lot of placeholders allowing the team to work on mechanics before beauty. Now say it with me “PLACEHOLDERS”
That's right this is hardly the final look of the game, but enough about that, on to the build system!
Well, it is getting some love, in fact, the next experimental update will have some good changes with it!
Now you may want to know what is coming over the next few updates, well here is what is being worked on:
More building assets
Major bug fixes
More fluid placement and removal
Expanded rotation
And a new placement UI and guide
Let us go over some of these right now:
More building assets, Oh yes more is coming, not a lot to say on this one for now as it is a little bit further down the road. (Though not too far.) But I can say this, want to build with metal? Good, it is on the way. Want more shapes like triangle floors and walls? You are going to get it. Want more just plain decor and building options like beams and supports? I have good news! There is so much planned, and I can’t wait to do a showcase on this once we have enough to show everyone.
Bug fixes, man there has been such a bug hunt, I tracked one down myself the other day for the coding team to stamp out.
Now have you ever woke up from a good night’s sleep at sea only to have some part of your home have an identity crisis? A floor became a wall? A wall became a window? A door became air? Us too…. Well, we found what was causing it, and our internal testing has shown that the problem is gone! So if after the next experimental update this happens again, please report it immediately as it should be gone completely now.
More fluid placement and removal, so right now placing is not so bad, but we want to ever improve it. Meanwhile removing items can be a bit of a pain. (I prefer to be blunt.) So they are both being worked on.
A crowbar mechanic is coming up that allows you to click and hold for a few seconds to remove unwanted building assets and furniture fluidly as well as easily, as well as more responsive hitboxes. (So no more needing to crouch down to remove floors.)
Expanded rotation, so you can rotate furniture, but why not doors, windows, and floors? Well, I will tell you! There is no reason why not what so ever, thus it is on its way! Soon people such as myself can easily have floors that always face the same way, choose how doors open, in or out. (I care way too much about this one personally…..)
A new placement UI and guide, to get ready for rotation and things of that nature, a new on-screen guide is being made to make placing and building as easy as possible. Here are some pictures of the beta version of our visible snap point guide:
They will not be staying as squares just so you know.
Okay so now I just want to peer into the future a moment, some of these things will be a good while off, but I want everyone to have a clear picture as to what the plan is for Landless!
Landless is planned as a Survival/RPG hybrid, that means:
Character creation
Clothing and armour system
Skill tree
More farming and full cooking system
Some animal… ranching is not the right word, yet it is?..... Well keeping at least
Full settlement management along with hireable crews
A main story and goal
Open world events
Upgradeable A.D.S (think power armour)
Denser procedurally generated underwater exploration (there will be a lot more to see down there)
More advanced fishing, with swimming models and spear fishing
More trophies and harvestables from creatures
Workshop Support
Multiplayer (Co-op only)
And so much more!
Now there are a few things I want to write to wrap this up, first of all, I am a gamer like all of you, in fact, I am a gamer first and foremost.
So I will not be acting like the politician and just writing what you want to read, and I am not afraid to point out faults, after all knowing our faults is how we get rid of them. So I am here because I want Landless to be amazing! That is my personal goal.
To do that we need your help, give us suggestions, report bugs, and write a positive review.
Remember, early access is a two-part program: A pre-order system for a game not yet released, and an investment program to ensure the game can keep being developed. Landless can only reach its full potential as long as the team gets to eat. (Though I personally have skipped meals working on things…. But I distract easily…. What was I saying?)
So if you believe in Landless, all I will personally ask of you is to put in a positive review. A good review score affects how easily the game shows up in searches and increases the likelihood of sales, thus staying in business. So I am not asking you to pester your friends to buy the game, just put in a kind word or two with a thumbs up on the store page.
Well, that is my personal letter to all of you. I hope you have a great day and may the waves be merciful.
P.s, Remember I
wrote something about animal keeping? Well, check out our seagull coop! Now to catch them!
Experimental 0.36e12 Update has Docked!
So are you eager for the next Experimental Update? Cause it’s here!
Okay, let’s break it down:
So CodeBullet has heard you and been hard at work with some fixes as well as some improvements, such as more lenient hitboxes when placing furniture, as well as an indicator as to where the front of an object your placing is!
The groundwork for a more advanced cooking system is here! This groundwork is only the very start and includes creatures dropping their own meat for different types (and various qualities) to food. An example would be, you now get Raw Sea Fowl for birds, and Raw Tuna from Tuna.
This will allow for recipes in the future to have different types of food made using different ingredients. So if your dream is to be the Iron Chef of the sea, it’s coming don't you worry.
A much-requested feature has been added: The Spyglass! Just craft and then spy on the whole Sea!
The first update to the hostile cargo ship had been dropped, this includes enemy patrols and the groundwork on the ship’s interior! You can now enter the ship's control room (full props and furniture to come, this is just a sneak peek.) and don't worry the cargo hold is coming too, just a little later.
The floor alignment bug has been found and executed with extreme prejudice.
The ramps now have a snap point at the bottom and can be used as stairs along with the existing stairs.
The Distillery Cooker was giving some attitude, not allowing us to use it unless we were highly specific and where it was activated, we have given it a stern lecture and it should be less moody now.
There is more and you can read the full patch notes below.
I also want to say the Boat Building update is going great with more on that to come!
Well you people are wonderful and I hope you have a great day, may the waves be merciful!
Experimental 0.36e12
-Added sit down features for the chairs and benches
-Enemy boat turrets are now working properly
-Fixed the shooter animation so it does not sit and shoot
-Seaweed text for harvesting will not display when you are on the boat
-Furniture can now be placed closer to walls
-Fixed the ragdolls on the enemy, enemies dying should now look like collapsing to ground
-Redesigned cargo ship with a new interior. Rooms are empty at the moment, but will have props put in soon to fill them up. Players can also build on the cargo ship by using the island platform. (Recommend not building in the interiors until we put in the props)
-Player can now climb into the boat not only from the ladder
-Objects can now be placed on top of surface-like furniture pieces (tables/shelves)
-Walking patrols added to the cargo ship
-Object placement preview has been changed so that player can easily identify the front
-Removing an island platform will now give back the correct item
-New Food varieties. Specific meat types now from different creatures. Can still process that new meat into raw chum or raw spam, which can be used to craft the bait for the sharks
-New spyglass item added. Must be crafted and equipped
-Distillery trigger expanded
-Map optimization should be now correctly updating with your position, even on reload
-Orca no longer damages on contact, but instead, try to attack when about to contact
-Furniture pieces can now be placed on the island and cargo ship floors
-Fixed floor alignments
-Player can now snap building pieces to the bottom of ramps
-Random taunts now added to the enemies