This patch mainly contains fixes reported by players! (not player to player messages) Still an open-world environment, no major content updates.
You can view the closed issues here: https://github.com/MorgondagDev/lunar-soil-tracker/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed
🎵 New amazing soundtrack from Blaggletoad Check out some of his work here https://blaggletoad.bandcamp.com
⭐ Some highlights
More quality of life improvements for Steam Deck (default graphics option, keyboard popup).
Proton 8 seems stable now.
Zoom controls (thumbsticks and rebindable) - very large zoom out!
Separate camera sensitivity for gamepads (new default and higher values).
Mine bridge is now much more reasonable (might still be a tad hard).
Fall damage is lower to better match gravity.
Most accessibility gameplay level options are now implemented (still need to reload for toxicity and radiation) - You can turn off fall damage and other settings.
Gamepad fixes in general, thanks to all the Steam Deck supporters!
Numerous mesh and clipping fixes, let us know if you discover more.
UI back button and focus issues.
Small Battery should now be obtainable and created from the Ship bridge puzzle. (battery might still disappear but droppable)
You got new shoulder-lights and more energy to play with.
We will keep this playtest open until we move on to the next one, as we still have some open issues. 😍 Thank you so much for reporting and helping us improve the game. We will add you to the credits.
Playtest - The Overworld Environment
It's time to venture into the Lunar Soil! We have invited over 1200 players to participate in testing the game. Screenshot take from a Steam Deck.
Steam Deck Compatibility
To launch the game on Steam Deck, please ensure that you run it with a compatible Proton version. The recommended version for our game is Proton 5.13-6 (let us know if you have successfully used another version).
To access the Lunar Soil Playtest, go to your library and open settings > properties > compatibility, then select Proton 5.13-6. Install the Unreal 5 prerequisites and wait a bit for the game to install for the first time. [table] [tr] [td][/td] [td][/td] [/tr] [/table]
Lunar Soil overworld map
You can explore the entire map, but bunkers, caves, puzzles, and other external levels are disabled for this testing phase. Our focus is to verify world streaming, clipping, meshes, colliders, and performance. Please note that this Playtest does not encompass the full gameplay experience; it solely focuses on evaluating the baseline outside environment.
Feedback Center
We have introduced a new bug tracking system that you can access in-game by opening the pause menu or pressing F7.
Message System
Additionally, this Playtest introduces a messaging system where you can drop small pods containing messages for other players to see. As you explore the world of Lunar Soil, you may come across a few player-generated pods.
You can vote on the messages you open, as pods with higher total votes have a greater chance of spawning. However, we also reserve slots for new messages to keep things fresh.
To create a new message, press the R key on your keyboard or the X button on your controller. We are actively working on refining this system for gamepad usage, as we acknowledge that switching to the keyboard can be awkward.
We value your input on how we can further improve this system.
What to Look For:
Broken 3D objects and meshes
Performance issues
Collider problems
Clipping and rendering issues
Streaming or hiccups or glitches
Inspiration and ideas: What specific features would you like to see and where?
How to Submit Bugs or Ideas:
To help us make the game as polished as possible, we encourage you to provide feedback frequently and early on. Please utilize the new in-game reporting system as soon as you encounter any issues that need addressing. You can also report problems to our GitHub issue tracker (in-game reports will automatically generate a ticket there as well). For further discussion, you are welcome to join our Discord community.
Thank you <3
PlayTest Patch 0.0.6.1 is now out
Small update to the current playtest
Added a new checkpoint to the 8th artifact to prevent you from spawning without a lift
Updated the artifact robots interaction system to re-spawn on activation to prevent it from not showing up
Removed the restriction of high shadow quality level as lowest
Artifact levels now defaults to high quality shadows on level start
Fixed an issue with the Artifact Robots UI losing button focus
health, air and power re-fillers show now reactivate after use
Added health, air and power re-fillers to the example seen for debugging some findable gear in the artifacts may still have 0 amount of power, cant refill above 0.
New issue, suggestion and bug report system and API GitHub integration, 4k screenshot support, Report from artifact levels(press F7 or from pause menu)
During your explorations on Lunar Soil you might find powerful artifacts that can be analyzed. Once unlocked in another dimension, you can select a powerful bonus to aid your travels.
This Playtest includes the eight different artifacts retro pixelart platforming levels. The new options menu with settings. Parts of the new inventory and resources.
Experimental Steam Deck support! Try playing the game on your steamdeck.
Let us know what you think! What did you like or not like? What would you like to see more of?
Thank you for helping us making this game better.
The Ship Milestones
This is a huge update about some of the development and design milestones of the game with a focus on the crashed ship, crafting and core systems. Hope you like it!
Updates
The Ship
Dream Vault
The Artifacts
Gear and Resources
Options
Accessibility
Secrets
The Ship
The crashed ship is your main hub while exploring Lunar Soil.
Repairing the Ship
To utilize more of the ships potential you can gather resources and repair some of the core systems like map and navigation, workshops for crafting, artifact analyzer and the core AI onboard the ship. [table] [tr] [th] [/th] [th] [/th] [/tr] [tr] [th] [/th] [th] [/th] [/tr] [tr] [th] [/th] [th] [/th] [/tr] [tr] [th] [/th] [th] [/th] [/tr] [/table]
The Engine might be broken beyond repair but still an active energy source. [table] [tr] [th][/th] [th][/th] [th][/th] [/tr] [/table]
Dream Vault
As you explore you could stubble upon fallen previous copies of yourself. Explore their memories in the dream vault and gain access to alternative depths of Lunar Soil.
The Artifacts
During your explorations on Lunar Soil you might find powerful artifacts that can be analyzed. Once unlocked in another dimension, you can select a powerful bonus to aid your travels.
Gear and Resources
Better equipment will help you stay alive longer in the harsh environment. A range of consumable items and resources can be found as you explore. If you find enough of them you can refine and create them as you please. Some spacesuit have unique or locked item slots with specific bonuses that could aid in your current goals. Most leg gears will let you perform a double jump. Craft improved gear from your ships workshops via blueprints you find in the world.
Options
Gameplay options and controls are now customizable and configurable to better suit your playstyle and setup.
Camera Options
Video Options
Audio Options
Controls and rebindable keys
Support for different keyboard layouts, gamepad rebind and a simplified one-hand mouse mode.
Accessibility
Gameplay options to better fit your playstyle. If You don't want to be stressed about running out of air or want an extra challenge. These options can be switched on and off whenever you like. We are still debating puzzle mode as that would essentially turn the game into a pure walking simulator.
Platform helper
Platforming and jumping puzzles are not for everyone. We made sure some of the main locations will still be accessible without jumping puzzles. If your stuck in a certain place turn this options on, traverse and turn it off again. [table] [tr] [th]Platforming Helper Off[/th] [th]Platforming Helper On[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td] [td][/td] [/tr] [/table]
Secrets
The game is filled with exploration and secret locations. Exploration, discovery and puzzles are the games core.
Keycards - Finding these let you explore the depths of bunkers and required to unlock the endgame.
Memories - Previous You experiences.
Artifacts - Powerful bonuses and 2d challenges
Ancient Statues - Mysterious pillars of unknown origin
Locations - Keep tracks of puzzles or areas of interest and fast-travel at the map.
Blueprints - Craftable gear can be discovered for your workshops.
Commercials? - Industrial complex sales and infomatics, We are debating if we should keep these as they are the only AI-generated content in the game and the recent backlash of artist and copywriter issues with current diffusion models, we just want to make a good game not take part in hurting our fellow artist.
The world of Lunar Soil is full of things to unlock and explore.
We wanted to focus on making more of the games core system before we continue with playtest sessions.
Sign up to any future playtests and wishlish the game on Steam to get updates about the game.
Watch some of the optional boss gameplay in Lunar Soil:
The game is mostly about puzzles, exploration, platforming and some minor crafting and building selections. But there is some threats in the game like this boss.
Right now we are working to finishing off the main hub area, caves and lots of small levels to explore. As well as some of the main puzzle bunkers leading up to and unlocking the last part of the game. That is where we ended the early demo and playtests with the ship crashing on Lunar Soil.
Hope you enjoyed the boss fight, it was a really fun process to develop and design the Chasm protector. We do want to iron out the brutal mine spawning before we can make it into a smaller playtest.
PlayTest Patch 0.0.5.3 is now out
PlayTest Patch 0.0.5.3 is now out on Steam
This patch contains a range of issues in the new T-Cross Bunker and the game in general. Switch to Unreal Engine 5.1
- Fixed several wall glitches on beams and pipes. - Updated to Unreal 5.1 with some slight performance gain. - Enabled Virtual Shadow Maps ( shadows should now look more precise). - Disabled Hardware Raytracing in favor of software raytracing; this might have better performance. - Updated DirectX 12 shader format to SM6 to better support Nanite & Lumen. - Removed Game Analytics Metrics plugin due to phone-home requests and performance issues. - Updated Steam SDK to support more controllers and Valve fixes.
PlayTest Patch 0.0.5.2 is now out
This contains a range of issues in the new T-Cross Bunker. And a new simple secret path between the main hall and the server-rooms goal-room.
- 💟 Changed the platforming puzzles to fixed flat damage instead of based on altitude (you now get more chances). - 🪚 Moved some of the final saws in the saw-maze to prevent roof-clipping and made the puzzle slightly more challenging. - 🥷 Added a new secret passage from the main room to the server room, letting you bypass the servers entirely if you find it. - 🏃 Fixed several wall glitches in the main room leading to the server room. - 🪖 Moved the lobby helmet pickup to the back wall to work around line-of-sight pickup through glass walls. - 💩 Fixed the position players were moved to after going to the toilet to prevent poop on the shoes. - 🔋 Fixed a physics issue in the main hall that made players clip through the floor. - 💡 Corrected the ON/Off switch for the lights in the bedroom puzzle. - 🛏️ fixed an issue with picking up one of the pillows through the toilet wall. - 🔉 Further reduced the sawblades sound area to accommodate a new secret pathway. - 🔨 Repositioned lights in the secret hallway roof room to be attached to the wall.
Thank you so much for the feedback, reports and metadata so far ❤️
PlayTest Patch 0.0.5.1 is now out
This contains a range of fast-fixed issues in the new T-Cross Bunker. Amazing work @Vlammenzee for the hunt!
- Fixed an issue with sawblade ambient sound passing through walls. - Fixed wall glitches in server-room walls. - Fixed Vlammenzee-wallhack glitches in the robot room. - Fixed an issue with physic-simulated battery cells in one of the hallway rooms. - Disabled lobby helmet pickup until lobby is unlocked to prevent sneaky wall-looting. - Redesign the floor-is-lava hallway puzzle to make it more challenging. - Fixed an issue with the cube-bits not being visible in the dining area. - Fixed an issue in the backroom preventing level-climbing to clip the roof. - Set the respawn location to the main air-lock once you unlock it to prevent long walks back.
There will likely be another patch for this playtest before we prepare for the next playtest Thank you so much to everyone who reported and listed issues so far ❤️
Lunar Soil - PlayTest - T-Cross Bunker
We continue the playtest sessions with the planned bunker-level designs that will be a core part of the exploration of Lunar Soil. And we are happy to announce a new playtest, "T-Cross Bunker," is now available.
Make your way through the bunker levels' 18 puzzle designs. Some puzzle designs might be familiar if you have played the demo, but we are introducing some new concepts in this playtest.
T-Cross Bunker feature:
A new classical screen puzzle with connecting pipes.
A music sampler machine room where you can mix tiny tunes.
Dangerous Saw puzzles.
Hidden rooms and pillows.
New platforming obstacles.
A few logically challenging puzzles.
Tons of AI-generated artwork.
Some horrible toilet humor.
New switches and buttons.
Semi-puzzles and triggers.
Artifact collecting (more about that in future updates).
UI, Items and Gear
The fundamental UI and placeholder gear are still work-in-progress as we look into the collection system and equipment to play a more significant part in the meta-gameplay. The different spacesuits will have a more meaningful gameplay impact. For example, radiation protection suits will mitigate radiation poising, larger air-supply backpacks, helmet lights, and more.
Graphics and Performance
In the coming weeks, we are moving our plugins over to Unreal 5.1 and should see some more performance improvements. This game is still in development; more performance improvements are needed.
We are working on new inventory, options, and gameplay UI. For example, you can control the general air-supply length, FOV, mouse sensitivity, and better video settings UI.
We recommend running the game on 50% upscaling and high settings, even on beefier 3000+ cards. And for older cards, turn it down to lower-quality settings. Let us know what settings work best for you.
Please let us know what you do and don't like in the discord or in-game bug-report system.
Have fun and explore the new level design.
PS. The level doesn't contain the T-Cross Master Card, so you won't be able to progress down the big hatch.
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