While still being tight lipped about any dates, progress continues steadily. Our current plan is to release the update(s) as episodes/chapters, that way we get to keep our sanity, and each update can exist on its own, but jell together in the end...
Oh yea, and "Big Bad" is back.
-c3sk
Progress update.
Hey all,
We're making slow but steady progress on the next update. For the past while, we have been quietly working on Noct in the evenings after work. Development has been nice and healthy since the last announcement for us.. a lot less stressful, and we are looking forward to rolling out the next update upon its completion. Unfortunately we cannot give an exact date yet, and we respectfully refuse to do so until it is tested and ready to be deployed. I believe that a broken update doesn't fix anything, and in the end, it just creates more problems going forward. A proper clean update gives us more breathing room, without having to spend months fixing issues that should have been addressed before a major patch goes live.
I realize that there will be continuous frustration because of this, however I very much appreciate the support and passion you have for this game, even in its negative form. We share those same frustrations with you, and are still here working on completing the game, despite many considering it to be a waste of time and effort.
There is no pot of gold at the end here for us. The only reward is knowing that we completed the game, and that we didn't quit. For us, that makes it all worth it, otherwise all the time we have spent on it thus far would be for nothing.
-c3sk
No update ETA
Morning All,
We had some catastrophic issues attempting to get a segment of the most recent update out ...obviously, which impacted our regular lives a little bit too heavily over the past 48hrs for working on this to be even remotely worth it. I'm sorry that may have ruined your plans. Going forward, we will not be posting any future release date plans until something is 100% complete and effectively ready, sitting in a corner, waiting to be shipped. TL;DR: Next update will be ready when it is ready.
Post angry comments to me below, you will feel better.
-c3sk
Update delay - July 11th
Hey all,
Unfortunately Mark and I need a bit more time with the update to smooth out some stuff. We are going to push the update release an additional 2 weeks.
I realize this is a huge bummer to those anxiously waiting, but this will enable us to provide a better overall experience.
Hey, it's only 2 weeks... considering how long we've been working on Noct, this is probably the shortest delay we've ever encountered. (lol)
Thanks for your continued support folks.
I'll try to answer any questions you have below.
(Can't answer any story content questions, you're just going to need to find out when the patch drops)
PS: Feel free to down vote the hell out of this post. We'll still <3 you.
-c3sk
June 27th Large Update.
Hi all!
We will be releasing a rather large update on June 27th. Rolling out the new inventory system, story campaign, and more! Expect more details to be outlined in the patch notes posted prior to the posted date.
-c3sk
Inventory Update
Hey all,
Was hoping to get this posted Thursday, but due to work obligations it had to wait until the weekend. Thank you for your patience!
We hit some obvious delays on the Inventory due to some hurdles with Unity's serialization limitations. I won't *Zzz* you with the details, Mark has been actively documenting on live streams here and there regarding the trials and tribulations of navigating said limitations. The good news is a lot of the inventory and weapon modding is finished, and is working well during initial internal play testing.
We have decided not to roll out the inventory update as a standalone, as its implementation was to support the story campaign of Noct. We just don't feel it would be enough of an update on its own to hold players over until the game is completed... So we are just going to roll everything out in a final large update essentially completing the game. Expect a release date/deadline as soon as we are moved on from inventory development.
Will be announced in the next two weeks.
As always, post your questions/rants below, I'll address them as best I can.
-c3sk
Inventory Preview
I am happy to report that our new inventory update is shaping up. As a result of construction on the new inventory system, we have also refactored and spiced up the old interface to allow for smoother interaction. This also will enable rapid expansion of interfaces in the future, contributing to faster workflow and content creation.
Bunker supplies/Stash transferring
As you can see below, you will be able to transfer a variety of different items to your bunker storage, or even other hidden stash points within the game world. Each individual item has weight and volume based on real world dimensions. The items list for Noct will now be quite vast, potentially containing hundreds of different items with their own procedurally generated stats. We are talking a multitude of different types of ammo, food, and equipment which can all be modified and combined to customize your own unique items!
Item Modification
The inventory screen is modular, and in addition to serving as kit navigation/storage, it also functions as a modification window for combining items for customization. Weapon customization is a great example of how players will be able to take a base rifle platform, combine it with optical sights, lasers, grips, barrels, and other equipment to increase the overall stats/value. That weapon can then be equipped/stored/traded/stolen and will retain all of its modifications/additional equipment. It will even be possible to find pre-modified items in the game world which can then be stripped down by survivors for their parts and components for use in other equipment.
We can't accurately project when the inventory patch will go live just yet, however our goal is to have this update finalized/released with a large and comprehensive item database by the end of February.
I'll have an announcement with more information on item modification and how we are handling item stats in that regard between now and release. We're pretty excited to almost have this out of the way. Mark did a tremendous overhaul on the previous UI to help get us here, and it has been well worth the wait!
As always, post your questions/comments below and I'll do my very best to answer all of them.
-c3sk
Dev thoughts/Narrative
When Noct initially went into early access with an incomplete story, this impeded the game and development more than I realized it would. Like supplying people with a half finished book, obviously you're not going to like it, it's going to leave you unsatisfied and wanting more. At that point why even read it? I don't think I understood that, but I get it now. I guess it's one of those life lessons where you won't fully understand something until you fail at it. For awhile, I completely regretted pushing the game into Early Access. Development can be, and is (at least for us) extremely chaotic. With Early Access, I feel that every build should be perfect, fans deserve nothing short of that, especially for supporting the game in such an infant state. The development reality is very different from that. Builds are messy, full of bugs, and you're constantly breaking your own game when you add new features... all this goes down while trying to rush out updates to keep your fans and supporters happy.
I don't feel the same way anymore. Noct is 100% directly influenced by it's Early Access community. It wouldn't be the game it is today, and it certainly wont be the game it can be tomorrow, without the small community that drives it. I've never worked on a project this long before, or one like this. I've also never felt an attachment to something like this as an artist.
I wouldn't choose do it any other way. If it wasn't a struggle, how would you learn and grow from it?
Narrative core: While we drastically improve the inventory and scavenging aspects of Noct, we are also busy working on the main storyline. I mentioned before how the bunker would play a direct role, working as some sort of hidden gateway to different parts of the Narrative. Some of these chapters will bring you topside. However the majority are focused inward, involving underground catacombs and passageways.
Will XMIT return? Will it feel like the old narrative? Yes. The mysteriousness of the satellite viewer will return.
When will the narrative update be released? As soon as the Inventory update launches, we will be full time on Narrative. With the changes now made to the game, we expect storyline development to proceed at an accelerated pace.
However, I want the full story to be completed and in the game before the update goes live. I don't mind it being buggy, I expect as much from development. What I can't stand is an unfinished story going out the door again.
As always, post any comments or questions below, I'll always do my best to answer them.
-c3sk
0.19.4 Preview notes and Inventory changes.
Hey all! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, Happy New Year!
As we close in on the release of the next update, I have some of the changes to share here, as well as the "why" behind them.
Currently the inventory/loot system of Noct is dated and began to hinder us when expanding the loot tables, so we have been spending time completely revamping it. This became a necessity to the future Story content of Noct, as we wanted to allow survivors to collect and store loot as a means of aid for their progression through the Story content. We also wanted to give players more control of their survivors inventory, especially with the introduction of more specific item types, such as accessories for your weapons, what type of bullets you may use, or the different types of food you may find in the game world.
After the update launches, the following features and more will be available:
- Loot can now be siphoned up so that you are no longer required to stand directly on an item to collect it.
- Players will now access their inventory from a menu list screen, which will also contain more advanced details and descriptions for the items you carry.
- Guns will now have the ability to be equipped with accessories.
- Items will have weight, which will cause encumbrance if your player becomes overloaded.
- Introduction of bunker storage, so that you can collect items for future use beyond the cataclysm.
- Items can be stolen from your bunker storage by other survivors.
- Reintroduction of a basic survival stat system where vitals must be maintained through the collection of food/water/and other utility management.
We are currently racing to get this update out the door, at this time I can't give an exact date for this one, as we still need to enter the debugging phase before marking it as stable for the early access build. However if that all goes smoothly , safe to expect this patch by mid January.
And as always, if you have any questions, post them below. I will do my best to answer them!
-c3sk
0.19.3 PATCH FIX
- Small patch addressing a peer to peer bug which would push some players to a black screen upon the end of a cataclysm
