Medusa Frontier
Update Version 0.0.8.3 Heat Damage, Color Selection & More.
This weeks development was very rounded with improvements to UI, Art content, a first game mechanic, and the Early Access Supporter Custom Color selector for base textures and vehicles!
New Features.
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*Added: Stat Meter decoration for improved UI visuals.
*Added: HEAT DAMAGE! Lava can cause 60 points of damage per second!
*Added: Supply Hovercraft large and round.(Special thanks to Quaternius
*Added: Color Selection menu for Base decoration and vehicle styles.
*Added: Several rock and mineral textures.
*Added: Cleaner UI frame for inventory and cargo.
Changes.
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*Thick Base Wall length reduced to 4 units wide.
*Build Mode controls improved slightly on some pieces.
*Gathering is now based on proximity to the character.
*Gathering minerals will now destroy the object gathered.
*Gathering minerals still produces a random harvest.
*Auto-Zoom to third person view when using vehicles.
*Auto-Zoom to first person when exiting a vehicle.
*Harvested Objects no longer reappear after a successful shutdown.
Internal Engine Changes
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*Internal Change for new Texture format and loading.
*Improved UIX internal functions;
*Improved Shader for Color Selection features.
*Improved Save Game System.
*Small improvement to Sphere Environment Mapping.
*Reflective / Metallic Materials are less "chaotic"
BugFix
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*When player is in a vehicle, the vehicle no longer vanishes on exit.
*Vehicles will continue to be instantly craftable until save system and storage is very stable and reliable.
Configuration Patch for Update v0.0.7.2
Content Configuration Hot Patch
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Missing Resource Mesh data added.
Major Update v0.0.7.2
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A successful Terrain system revamp has blazed through version iterations and v 0.0.7.2 has hit a truly significant goal. Development in the the first week of July focused on a dramatic Terrain Engine rework to provide a much larger explorable game area.
Major Game Revisions.
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*Terrain Engine Rework has increased explorable map area dramatically.
*Terrain Engine & collision now works in negative quadrants / world coords.
*Explorable map area for Early Access supporters is 128,000 x 128,000 (-64,000 to 64,000)
*Terrain Engine Rework has reduced game load & run time memory footprint.
*(Just one terrain chunk is calculated at startup. As it should be. )
*(Swift game start is and will remain an intended feature of the final product.)
Game Environment, Mechanics, UI, Inventory.
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*Monument with Hover Vehicles added at new Player Spawn point.
*Harvesting basic terrain no longer changes ground texture.(May return in future updates)
*Mixed Dirt & Mixed Rocks icon updated.
*Random resource field is located in sector 16 16.(world loc 2048,2048)
*Gold Shrine Point of Interest updated in Sector 16 16
*Volcano mountain tops added. (No heat damage yet)
*Pressing Escape Key to quit now prompts a message box to quit game.
Art Direction / Environments
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*Summer Texture Splash texture testing has ended.
*Cobalt Phase Begins.(Cobalt In July theme during development.)
*Frontier Terrain set to iron rich volcanic biome
*Lava areas added.(Any terrain higher than 100 is now volcano top)
*SECTOR system created for in game Map Systems. Each sector is 128x128 world units large.
*Distance based Fog added with terrain rework.
*Hover Vehicle Speed Reduced. Will be adjusted acordingly as terrain and game engine improves.
*New Workbench Mesh. Larger and better uvmap for selectable textures.
*New Base Wall Mesh.
Major Bug Fix List
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*Corrected: Thin Floor "double drop" during construction mode.
*Save Inventory and Storage Errors on exit corrected.
*25 slots of Player Bag now save correctly on exit.
*25 slots of Cargo Storage save correctly on exit.
*Last five slots of Player Inventory & Cargo Container are now active and usable;
Update v0.0.5.3 Improved Rendering, Mesh Loading, Base building.
This update improves rendering materials, game mesh loading and game mechanics.
Medusa Frontier Mesh Objects are faster, more flexible and simpler than any previous attempts.
The new mesh format is also flexible and intutitive with mesh models that mix quads and triangles.
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Game Features, Additions and Changes
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*Thin Wall set to 4 units height.
*Thin Door set to 4 units height.
*Thin Roof set to 4 units height.
*Thin Roof Placement is based on players location.(+4 units of current floor)
*Thin Floor size reduced to 4x4 units.(Tier 1 construction)
*Monument Mesh simplified and mysterious yellow crystals surround it.
*Player Sprint & Walk Speed adjusted.
*Random resources and objects at the Gold Monument crater base.
*B9001 Frontier Ranger Hovercraft returns.
Crates and containers props added. (Not yet functional)
Crater sand pit texture changed to sandy basin. (Future Harvestable)
Fictional logo for Sunbliss Cola Removed.
Fictional logo for Cerberus Crate Cargo added to base orange suit.
Internal Engine Features and Changes
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*Improved material rendering. Metallics and roughness approximated more stable.
*New Mesh and model loader! Faster, more stable, and customized for Medusa Frontier.
*Shader adjustments to roughness approximation noise yields better visuals.
*Metal plate PBR test texture converted for Medusa Frontier rendering.
*Terrain Texture blend formula adjusted.
*Terrain View Distance set to 1000 units.
*Map area returned to 4k units(was temporarily 8k).
Bug Fixes
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Rogue invisible vehicle issue resolved by using Hover Scout mesh.
Removed experimental Terrain Optimization for broader compatibility.
Known Issues & Bugs
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*All Crystals / gatherable resources currently harvest random materials.
Medusa Frontier - New Demo build.
But here is a list of recent features added.ːsteamthumbsupː
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*New Demo build is available to sample mechanics and visuals in development.
*First pass of RNG resource gathering implemented.
*Player Inventory and Storage increased to 25 slots each.
*Improved base building and hotkeys.
*Thin Base building pieces added. Tier1 base construction.
*Thin Roof & Large Roof Collision Implemented.
*Hover Vehicle Glide Mode Implemented; Toggled using Space Bar.
*Sand pit texture and Lava texture added to terrain set.
*Strange Monument in desert like thermal area.
*Several random sci-fi themed crystals & rock resources added.
*Gathering near crystals gives RNG rare materials.
*Playable world area increased.(4k map area explore)
*Frame Rate and Player movement speed formula adjusted.
*Revised Stamina Drain is more consistent.
*Terrain Chunk Experimental Optimization.
*Terrain is nice though!(Really fast, but will likely be revamped for HUGE maps or worlds.
*Core Texture pack is now slightly over 10 megs.(On Target)
*Camera near plane currently locked for non vehicle gameplay
Known Issues & Bugs
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*Rogue invisible vehicle lurking in the area.Just a missing mesh file.Nothing serious.
*All Crystals and rocks currently harvest a random set.
Update v0.0.4.8 Gathering bugfix & More Bag Space
A quick bugfix on resource gathering and increased player inventory.
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Fixes & Changes
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*PLAYER BAGSPACE INCREASED to 25 slots stacks of 25
*PLAYER Cargo / Bank space increased to 25slots. stacks of 100
*Configuration & Bug Fix to incorrect RNG gathering.
*Gathering from resource nodes takes priority over basic terrain.
*Successful Gathering from Resource node now skips harvesting from basic terrain.
Previous version gathered from terrain surface AND resource node at the same time.
Update v0.0.4.7 Resources, Roofs, Monument
This update has wierd budget sci-fi vibes and random fun features as well as technical improvements and notable features.
Game Features, Additions and Changes
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*Added* 20+ Crystal Resources
*Added* Strange Monument in desert like thermal area.
*Added* Ship yard like base structure showcasing current art assets.
*Added* Gathering near crystals gives RNG rare materials.
*Added* Crystal Field converted into variety of rock mineral mesh /assets.
*Thin Roof now has collision! You can stand on it!
*No Collision on walls yet. :(
*Hover Vehicle Glide Mode Added; Toggled using Space Bar.
*Science Hab and some art assets use diffuse for PBR texture.
*Most gatherable resources currently have diffuse for PBR factor.
*Metalness & PBR calibration will be tuned later in development
*Frame Rate and Player movement speed formula adjusted.
*Changes* Revised Stamina Drain is more consistent.
UIX Control Changes:
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*Hover Vehicle Glide Mode toggled by pressing Space Bar.
*Walls are now default object when pressing B for Build mode
Engine Features and Changes
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*Terrain Chunk Experimental Optimization.
*Core Texture pack is now slightly over 10 megs.(On Target)
*View distance formula adjusted depending on situation.
*Camera near plane currently locked for non vehicle gameplay regardless of first or third person view. Z-fighting & precision may be noticable when using the Hover vehicle. This issue will be addressed with a more dynamic formula at a later date.
Known Issues & Bugs
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*Harmless duplication of vehicles when entering and exiting vehicles under certain circumstances.(Sorta intentional for testing but not really)
*Rogue invisible vehicle lurking in the area.Player can vanish and move around at scout vehicle speed.
*All Crystals / gatherable resources currently harvest gold ore.
Update v0.0.4.5 A stylish 720p update.
Todays update is continued development to improve game quality and compatibility.
This update contains improvements to game start up and minimum screen resolution support that is essential to basic product quality.
Fixes & Changes
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*Startup Screen Resolution detection improved.(hopefully) The current hardcoded Minimum screen resolution is 640x480 with 1280 x 720p or higher expected.
*Default Start resolution is 1920 x 1080p
*Startup improved to be more compatible with Steam Client "Big Picture" mode.
*Camera movement is no longer frozen during Build Mode.
*Simulation / FPS / movement per frame factor is under revision.
*Player & Vehicle movement formula under revision.
*Intended player walk speed is 4 world units per second.(4.26 minutes per 1k units)
*Intended player dash speed is 8 world units per second.(2.12 minutes per 1k units)
*Intended scout vehicle speed is 16 world units per second.(1.06 minutes per 1k units)
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Notification & Disclaimers.
*This patch contains game Initialization changes that may affect compatibility.
*GLM Math Library is no longer in use to prevent license confusion.
Update v0.0.4.4 Heavy Floor Bugfix.
Quick Patch / Update.
Todays patch resolves issues in the Engine 618 Summer Texture Update.
Fixes & Changes
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*Bugfix to Heavy base floors position drifting upwards when starting a new session.
*Tool bench UV Map improved to encourage usage of Summer Texture update.
*Tool bench size and position adjusted for compatibility with Thin Wall construction / T1 building.
*Crude Shelter size reduced to 4x4 world units. 1/4th of a thin Floor.
*GLM Splash Logo removed during startup due to the code lib no longer being used.
Internal Game Engine
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*GLM Math Library is no longer in use to prevent license confusion now and in the future.
Update v0.0.4.2c Construction Configuration Patch.
Configuration Patch v0.0.4.2c
Engine 618 / Summer Texture Update.
////////Save File and base building configuration overhaul.
This patch will distort previous save files with player created base building.
However, base building should remain much more stable beyond todays update.
Configurations and Changes
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*Added: Thin Floors are 8x8 world units wide by 0.20 units high.
*Thin Floors are UVmapped differently to aid development and interior aesthetics.
Press B for base building 1,2,3,4,5 etc for parts.
1=Thin Floor
2=Thin Wall
3=Thin Door
4=Thin Roof.
5=Base Floor
6=Base Wall
7=Base Door
8=Base Roof
9=Hut
0=Base Scout
Intended MPU (Mass Per Unit)for thin floors will be 12.
Intended MPU (Mass Per Unit)for Base Floors will be 64.