Medusa Frontier
Update 0.3.2.0
The revised game scale is more cohesive for base building and art production without excess precision.
Also worth mention, the new game scale has good synergy with a simple but effective lighting system being developed for both inside bases and outside terrain lighting.
Gameplay Revisions
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*Added Abundant Resources to New Game scenario.
*All building disabled except 8x8 walls and floors.
*Player view lifted to 4.0 units.
*Player walk and run speed revised.
*Collision: Player now bounces downward when jumping up causes collision against objects from underneath.
Engine Changes and Revisions
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*Game world scale revised to 1:1ft
*Player view lifted to 4.0 units.
*Player Collision Sphere now 2.0 unit radius.
*Texture pack revised to speed load time.
*1k textures reduced to 512x512.(4x less load time)
*Collision tweaked for world scale compatibility.
*Explorable mapsize limited to 512x512 terrain patch during major engine revisions.
Spring Fog Update - 0.3.1.4:
Todays update continues codebase cleanup and revisions due to the OpenGL 4.5 conversion and adds a new terrain detail texture in celebration of Pi Day and the Steam Spring Sale.
Changes and Additions.
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*Improved Terrain Shader.
*New Terrain Detail texture.
*Various Shader revisions.
*Various rendering tweaks.
*Fog Restored.
*Bugfix: Buildable objects now appear during build mode.
Medusa Frontier Game Lore: The Spring warming has cause the vast frontiers thin terrain ice to evaporate forming a thick mist leaving most of the planet covered in a blanket of ionized fog.
Communications with the Alliance orbital fleet is nearly impossible even with Emergency beacons or extremly rare Quantum Linked Tablets. Fear of Citizens being lost in the mist has lead to quarantine and lockdown. Exploration and prospecting permits have been halted and all citizens are quarantined to their squared settlement claim.
Update 0.2.9.8
Winter Harvest Event Ends.
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Spring approaches and Medusa Frontier warms slightly causing dry soil in valleys to increase and lava pools grow slightly larger. Winter has receeded but most of the frontier is still dangerously cold as terrain above thirty altitude remains frozen.
Additions & Changes.
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*Steam Inventory play time reward checking is disabled in the game client.
*Terrain elevations adjusted for seasonal theme.
*VSYNC Enabled by default via wglSwapIntervalEXT(1);
Notes about VSYNC
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Update 0.2.9.8 VSYNC update should improve rendering and remove frame stutter on most GPU configurations using options such as "Application Choice" or "VSYNC Enabled".
Frame stutters and fluctuations in FPS can still occur if VSYNC is forced off via tweaks or configurations panels.
Update 0.2.9.7 - QOL, Anisotropic Filter, & more
Additions & Changes.
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*Landing pod moved closer to starting outpost.
*Player respawns closer to outpost. Location 225 300
*Player respawns on normal soil.
*Health recovery increased to 4 points per minute.
*The #8 removed from red racer vehicle skin
*Revised shaders and textures for Winter Season theme.
*Revised. Ruby Settler vehicle skin.
*Revised Camera Rotation / Mouse Range sensitivity.
Rendering Features
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*Added enabled 4x Anisotropic Filter on texture loads.
Significant Change
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Per Frame Timer Update.
The query peformance and per frame timer has been adjusted to be far less frequent or agressive.
The adjusted frame timer should reduce rendering micro stutter and reduce cpu usage on most systems regardless of VSYNC configuration.
The current per frame timer is designed to provide 60-70 fps game simulation regardless of monitor refresh rate or VSYNC configuration.
Dev Blog: Features & Work in Progress
Winter Season has come to Medusa Frontier along with a few exciting revisions that improve the foundation for continued development and a better game experience.
First off, Early Access supporters will be glad to know several key engine features critical to developing a more entertaining game experience and complex crafting system are in place and players need only Press E to interact with an Outpost Generator or enter a hovercraft for a humble example of things to come.
Basic interaction with game objects may not sound very exciting, but the engine code and design is being refined for universal interaction with nearly every object in the game world. That means every rock, crate, window, wall, landing pod, vehicle, plant, wreckage, rubble or player built structure will be potential salvage, loot, or a point of interest.
If all goes well, nearly every object in the game world will offer potential reward or regretful salvage that gives players a unique interactive game experience where repairing unique objects, vehicles or outposts can be just as rewarding as salvaging everything or rebuilding from scratch.
In other news, this weeks development will focus on a much needed revision to core game textures as seen in the above image. The revised metallics and normal map make the texture ideal for Alliance Settlers and Orbital Fleet outposts that visually suggest tougher and refined building technology. Hopefully this will improve visual ambiance for future development where NPC habitats owned by the Orbital Fleet or Settler Alliance are not easily salvaged or looted.
Development this week also includes a revision to Settler Hovercraft textures and prototype development of a vehicle decal system for free and monetized skins and decals. The revised Ruby Settler skin seen above is freely available during Early Access Development and will eventually become distinquished in rarity or value by trading Steam Inventory based items like Ruby Crystals for skins or decals that establish a more persistent sense of value using Steam Inventory features.
Update 0.2.9.6
This weeks update contains revisions and improvements to basic game mechanics, new game scenario, quality of life compass, and revised Steam Inventory based daily rewards.
Additions & Changes.
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*Added Compass widget to active game hud.
*Camp Generator now requires input to charge suit.
*Press E to examine or interact with camp generator.
*Added landing pod near player spawn location.
*Added Emerald Settler Hovercraft near outpost.
*Added Standard Settler Hovercraft near outpost.
*Added Alliance Scout Hovercraft near outpost.
*Added Alliance Sentry Hovercraft near outpost.
*Adjusted Steam Inventory item drops.
*Removed Saphires from RNG daily item drop.
*Lava pools and valley soil elevation adjusted.
*Ice covered terrain is very abundant.
*Habitable valley soil is sparse.
*Heat producing lava is sparse.
*HeatBourne Mushrooms renamed to Fireborn Mushroom.
*ColdBourne Mushrooms renamed to Iceborn Mushroom.
*Start menu ui mouseover sounds restored.
*Small revisions to core audio for improved sound playback.
*Revisions to core texture pack are in progress.
*Object data revised for better item interaction.
*Revised New Game scenario outpost and hovercrafts.
*Game Lore*
The Winter Crystal Harvest.
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The eliptical orbit of Medusa 2537 enhances winter cooling and causes lava pools to receed while ice covered terrain advances into temperate valley soil. Rare gems are randomly found in receeding lava by automated suit scanners but energy is critical for survival so the Citizen Alliance has limited daily gem production to five gems per day. Settlers and Researchers welcome the regulated Crystal Harvest as tradition and frontier economy by trading with ambitious Rangers and Prospectors. Meanwhile, Gold Slingers and Imperials scoff regulation by shrewdly trading scraps and damaged crates to struggling settlers that need rations and basic supplies more than rare gems.
Rumors of a wandering Jolly Settler are unconfirmed.
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Holiday Season Drops.
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A Ruby or Emerald is awarded to Steam inventory every three minutes of playtime with a limit of five items per day.
Steam Based inventory items are in development and notification may not appear in game. Play time based item rewards are currently limited to 5 per day.
Current drop rate.
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Ruby Crystal 50%
Emerald Crystals 50%
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Update 0.2.9.5
Additions & Changes.
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*Added Steam Inventory based item drops with daily limit.
*Lava pools lowered to elevation 4 or less.
*Game Lore*
The Winter Crystal Harvest.
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The eliptical orbit of Medusa 2537 enhances seasonal cooling and Lava pools lower like a stable tide as winter comes to Medusa Frontier.
As lava pools receed, rare crystals and minerals can be found. However, energy is essential to winter survival and prospecting scans interfere with communication, so the Settler Consortium and Fleet Alliance has regulated rare crystal production to five rare crystals per day.
Settlers, Rangers, Prospectors and Alliance researchers welcome the regulated Winter Crystal Harvest as a first step toward a stable economy in Medusa Frontier.
Meanwhile, Gold Slingers, Mercenaries, and Imperials scorn regulations but welcome the opportunity to profit from trade with unskilled or desperate settlers.
Technomancers seek artifacts and synthetic crystals.
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Winter Season Mechanics.
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Daily reward drops using Steam Inventory.
Each day, players can recieve up to five event item drops to Steam Inventory simply by playing Medusa Frontier 25 to 30 minutes per day.
Rare crystals drop every five minutes of active playtime with a limit of five drops per day.
Rubys, Emeralds and Saphires can be collected and traded using Steam Inventory.
Medusa Frontier Item Drops are in development and notification may not appear in game. Item Drops are currently limited to 5 per day for Early Access development.
Current drop rate.
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Ruby Crystal 35%
Emerald Crystals 35%
Saphire Crystals 30%
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Update 0.2.9.4 GamePad, UIX & more.
Visuals & Art Quality.
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*Revised resource boulders.
*Corrected mesh normals on Striker Hovercraft
*Revised and inproved some inventory item icons.
*Improved UIX Start Menu mouseovers.
Additions and Changes.
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*Added UIX sound response in start menu.
*Added four new UIX sounds.
*Added one minute wind during startup.
*Added single Xinput based controller detection.
*Added gamepad inputs for build mode.
*Added gamepad input for exploration mode.
*Added gamepad input for vehicle mode.
*Added gamepad input for inventory, start & quit menu.
*Added gamepad inventory selector icon.
*Revised menu mouseover glow for better selection.
*Revised default controller support
*Revised item names for several crystals & rare gems.
Game Sound & Core Engine Revision.
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*Revised core engine sound framework to
stablize rapid repeating of short sound clips.
*Bugfix. Removed a bug that caused playback of
multiple sound clips when sound sets with different
sample rates, file sizes or bitdepths were loaded.
Known Issues
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*Core sound manager for rapid repeat & small audio clips is
currently under heavy revision to improve game audio stability.
*Some game sounds are currently limited to play one at a time.
*Forced Video Resolution modes are currently disabled for development.
*Intro background can appear distorted when using video resolutions that are NOT 16:9 aspect ratio.(This will be corrected very soon)
*Window & Mouse focus can behave differently on multi-screen systems.
Update 0.2.9.3
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*Added: Warning logic on stat meters.
*Added: Low Health meter overlay.
*Added: Low Power meter overlay.
*Added: Low Hydro meter overlay.
Collision & Buildings
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*Revised: Night cycle speed increased 2x.
*Revised: Heavy wall collision.
*Revised: Heavy wall hitbox to improve parkour wall climb.
*Revised: Terrain offset and noise algorithm.
*Revised: New Game spawn location for scenario development.
Input & Controllers
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*Added: Limited support for Xinput compatible gamepads.
*Gamepad and controller support is currently experimental.
Core Engine Info
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A few small revisions have been made to the core game engine and
game state system to improve development of intros, crafting,
tutorials, cutscenes and various game state changes.
Bugfix & Options update 0.2.9.1
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Revisions & Changes.
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*Default camera mouse movement resolution set to 500.
*Option Menu: Camera Movement speed is now adjustable.
*Option menu: Apply Settings now saves configuration.
*Revised startup configuration steps.
*Revised option menu rendering scale and UI.
*Build mode walls snap at 2 unit intervals.
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Additional Changes.
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*Bugfix terrain shader for gpu compatibility testing.
*Bugfix : shader revision for unused variables.
*Object rendering revision for testing steam deck compatibility.
*Configuration hotfix to allow 8k resolution.