This summer, part of the Data Realms team got together in our annual "Summer Stugan" in Slovakia to collaborate for a few weeks and then playtest the game in our booths at Gamescom, PAX, and Tokyo Games Show. The result of these INTENSE months of work is distilled into today's huge update to Planetoid Pioneers! It is a big step toward its eventual release out of Early Access.
Here are the highlights:
Polished Beginning section of Primoid a LOT based on all the feedback we have gotten from you and the players at Gamescom, PAX, and TGS. We also added some seeeecrets.
Added still work-in-progress Defendoid, which is a new wave-defense style planetoid, which is already very tense and fun!
Improved Carnageoid with new entirely new arenas and lots of polish.
Reworked all weapons to actually aim where you point, have nice effects, juicy feedback and have ammo, explode and give you the blueprint when they are empty. We also added some new ones.
Improved stability. The majority of the crashes have been caused by Lua scripts corrupting memory. Miro and Brian wrapped most of the classes used in Lua so Lua can not crash the game that way anymore.
Scenes load faster by optimizing library load times and removing texture compression.
The game saves in all relevant scenes and continues where you left off. Hopefully, most of the bugs with saving should be fixed too. Let us know if you find any, though!
The coliseum uses all workshop blueprints tagged "Gladiator". This is the start of integrating workshop items into the game seamlessly. Stay tuned to the LIVE NEVERENDING CARNAGE and start tagging your published blueprints to see them automatically show up in the Coliseum :]
The coliseum also uses the new Pioneer AI. Try it yourself by activating the AI connector on pioneers in the scene editor.
We started using the loot system which will give you random loot including resources, weapons, blueprints and pioneers on Primoid through loot orbs.
New control scheme for Xbox controllers. Making better use of the ABXY buttons and relying less on bumpers. To get closer to what you are used to.
Added line from Pioneer to cursor for aiming shots and throws and also help identifying your cursor in coop.
Better pioneer crawling controls.
AFK players fall asleep after more than 20 seconds of no input
Made all texts bigger so they read better on TV screens, videos and steams.
As always lots of bug fixes and polish. There should be way fewer Lua errors now.
See the full changelog here and see some of whats next here.
GOE Build 2 - Save with your friends!
We have been pushing a bunch of updates since the Game-Only release two weeks ago, with a big lump of em going live now. Get the scoop:
Highlights:
Saving now works in Co-Op and on every relevant planetoid incl. Contributor-made ones
Auto saving on game quit
Auto saving every 60 seconds - in case there are any crashes (should be fewer)
Saving partial blueprints and fixed other saving bugs
Pioneer adjusts his legs to uneven terrain when standing - see this card for details
Inactive players in Co Op get removed automatically from active gameplay by falling asleep
Fixed gamepad controls in Asteroid Belt map
Made pioneer selection clearer in Asteroid Belt map
Added WIP objective marker to zoomout map in Primoid tutorial
Lots of other little tweaks to tutorial based on new player feedback
Fixed player respawning into wrong capsule in Primoid tutorial
Added industrial fragments to texture library
Crashes should be greatly reduced - but please report any!
We are still working on making a perfect save system that will take care of the discovery map (the dark areas), and also the entire state of the world; however, it's a big task with many prerequisites, but we're working toward it.
Thank you so much for providing feedback in the ingame feedback forms, steam forums and even making videos. It helps us a lot for improving the Primoid experience. We are also working on tracking down the crashes some of you reported, and hope you'll notice a difference.
Game-Only Edition OUT TODAY for $9.99!
After years of using our own engine and tools to build actual playable game content, we are super proud and happy to present the Game-Only Edition of Planetoid Pioneers for only TWO FIVE DOLLAR BILLS! Check out the shiny launch trailer
So if you or anyone you know hesitated to dive into the more expensive Contributor Edition, you can now just enjoy the pure gameplay that is ready to be experienced properly - solo or in Co-Op with pals!
The team has really pulled together quite the game experience for our Game-Only Edition that is coming out... well, just stay tuned this week :) Please help us by playing the Primoid and let us know your thoughts and issues you run into in the Contributor Community Discord server (find access to it on the Steam Forums here once you log in!). Better yet, build or improve existing areas with the Crush2D tools and show us your ideas! If we like them enough, we'll see about integrating them and giving you official credit in the game.
Changelog highlights:
Contributor Edition Build 4 - Play and help us improve the Primoid!
We are nearing the launch of our Early Access game-only preview, which will cost a lot less than the special Contributor Edition! (however, it won't include editors or access to the Contributor Community) In preparation for this, we have been busy building the real caves and challenges that will eventually fill the "Primoid" Planetoid completely. With this fourth update to the Contributor Edition, we invite everyone in the Contributor Community to use the built-in feedback forms to tell us, but also wield those Crush2D editors to show us what you would change or improve!
Highlights of the goods:
A good THIRD of the entire first adventure Planetoid, aka the "Primoid", now has playable content and is ready for your feedback and improvement:
Tutorial, where baby Pioneers learn how to walk
North Hub, which connects several areas. Also serves as a rocket silo, suitable for the eventual construction and launching of a reusable spacecraft. You will need that to escape this rock in and complete this first Planetoid's Robinson Crusoe-esque scenario.
half of Carbon Cave, where deadly organic creatures lurk, ready to tear you apart.
half of Metals Mine. Remains of a mining operation by humans to get the Aurium buried deep inside this Planetoid. They seem to have dug too deep and bad things happened. Various robots and mining machinery can be found here, useful for collecting the resources you need for building that rocket.
and the Surface, a terribly dangerous gauntlet in a vehicle, and downright suicidal without one. Creepy fauna and natural obstacles present extreme hazards, but it's the only way to get to the southern hemisphere (for now).
Playtesting feedback forms integrated into the game at the end of each area named above - can you get to all four? Tell us directly what you liked and what you'd like to see improved.
Massively improved locomotion mechanics of the Pioneer, also consistent over all the main Pioneers
Lots of improved creature behavior (bird pooping AI is a go)
A massive amount of bug fixes and betterment everywhere as we "eat our own dog food" producing the real game content with the Crush2D editors
Breakable lamps make for fun target practice. Also, atomize them for resources, and Assemble them wherever you want to improve the ambience. Or toss one at a monster, maybe it will scare them. (light-sensitive creatures may be a thing)
Spoiler Alert!
To get an overview of what we're planning for the entire Primoid, and an up-to-the-minute state of development, go check out our Trello board here
Contributor Edition Build 3 and Autumn SALE
If you have been tempted to take the plunge with the one of the world's most powerful 2D physics engine and tools, right now is a good time to jump since the Planetoid Pioneers Contributor Edition is a solid 20% off this weekend!
With it, you get a killer game development environment seven years in the making, and now also a real juicy preview of what the game we are building with it will play like. As a Contributor, you have a real chance to take an active part in the development of this unique action adventure!
The newest version with much of the content and features we put together during our team's summer sprint called "Project Slovakia" is in this Contributor Build 3 (already available to our Contributor Community for a few weeks now).
Some of the highlights:
New local PvP game mode/Planetoid ("Carnageoid") with three arenas
New tutorial segment on the "Primoid" Planetoid
Visual overhaul of many Planetoids
Smooth zoom out on large Planetoids, minimap overview system
Blueprint mass scanning unlock sytem
Refined pioneer controls and behaviours
Massive optimizations everywhere, and more to come
Pio can pickup any assembly up to 150kg
Pio and creatures can get knocked out by hard hits, especially to head
Pio can carry 200kg lumps of resources and throw them
Pio automaticaly prints lumps when he cant carry more resources
Pio can stow things on back, swap them with what is held in hands
Pio can use one-handed tools
Improved AI systems with behavior Zones in scene for simple setup
AI and Pioneer team tag system - build pets and helpers!
Improved player feedback via HUD
Tons of new and improved blueprints like tools, weapons, and structures
Fancy new particle systems, terrain assets, sounds
Hundreds of bugfixes, see them all here: https://twitter.com/DataRealmsDev
Lots of new useful Lua functions
PPCE Build 2 is HERE - Mount them monsters!
So we're a bit late with this one - it was supposed to be out a month ago, but we had several (good!) things distract us, like preparing for our two-month sprint with the core team together in a cabin in Slovakia, which is now ongoing:
ProjectSlovakia images on Twitter
Anyway, we did have some great feature news to share even back then, like:
New Labroid Planetoid Scene and Activity, with a monster boss battle in the core
Several new Blueprints like teleporter, flamethrower trap, new chests, etc.
Pioneers can now pick up and throw smaller, circular resource chunks (200kg) vs the huge and frankly unrealistic 1000kg ingots before (which required physics cheats to be lifted). The large ingots are still useful for storage and maybe for towing in a mining cart that is pushed or pulled by a robust Rover.
Entire Asteroid Belt maps can (theoretically) be completed now and are shown as such on the metamap. They are completed by successfully finishing all the Planetoids in them.
BP Fauna Knuckles: The first AI that is mountable, rideable, and controllable after having been printed (so it is friendly toward its creator). KNUCKLES SMASH!
Most printed AIs now ignore the Pioneer that printed it.
Abstracted out and added a generic biped move-behavior to the lua folder. Used both by Bot Flip and the new blueprint, Bot Sentry.
So go forth and enjoy the above in the latest build in the main (non-beta) branch!
- Team Data Realms
Contributor Edition Build 1 OUT!
The first major build of Planetoid Pioneers Contributor Edition has been released, and it's a juicy one! Major improvements include:
Primoid gameplay runs much faster
All Editor modes run the simulation MUCH faster
Carnageoid with last-man-standing gameplay
Lots of Scene Editor improvements and added layer control features
Steam controller support now works again
Better full-screen handling; two alternatives with Alt+Enter and Ctrl+Enter
Screen shake!
There's plenty of other changes based on Contributor feedback, so head over to our repository twitter stream for the nitty-gritty details.
ALSO, we have opened up our beta branch for those of you who want the very latest features straight out of the oven! Just right click the Planetoid Pioneers entry in your library list and go Properties in the drop-down, and then opt-in to the beta under the Betas tab. (leave pw blank)
That's all for now! Next major update will be gameplay and content-focused, so stay tuned ~
