Replaced the "Showcase" tab in the Device and World browsers with a more functional "Most Popular" one that fetches the most trending workshop items of the last two weeks.
Improved crash reports.
FIXES
Fixed one of the most recurring crashes that would happen when creating a new world, quitting and then opening the game.
Fixed another crash that would happen when exiting Playtesting in a staged world while docked.
Fixed a nasty bug in the "Image Blitter" node that would introduce artifacts while blitting.
Hotfix for the hotfix for 0.3.0.4
FIXES
Fixed a bug that would show the whole homebase in Wireframe effect.
Fixed a nasty bug that would make repeatable nodes (Dispatcher, Modules, Repeater...) not output correctly.
Hotfix for 0.3.0.4
FIXES
Fixed a bug that would make all sensors stop working when mounted on a Player Connector component.
Fixed a vfx bug that would show a teleported device in Solid mode when it was actually in Wireframe mode.
Minor Update - 0.3.0.4
Just in time for the weekend! Enjoy the improvements and bug fixes!
IMPROVEMENTS
The "Distance Sensor" component now outputs Max Distance when "nothing" is detected.
The "Holo Projector" component now offers a bunch of new properties: Pitch, Yaw, Roll and Offset.
New "Data Type Reader" node that outputs the type of any piece of data.
Added Vertical Alignment property to the "UI Text" node.
The "Log Monitor" node includes the node's name in its output.
Added "fmod()" function to the "Math Expression" node. This evaluates the modulus on decimal numbers.
Removed limitation on input values for the "Random Number" node.
Encyclopedia updated.
Removed cringe from device/world share message.
Improved Tutorial experience.
FIXES
Fixed a bug that would soft-lock the game when trying to place a group of duplicated nodes in the Sketch, but there was no space. You can now cancel the operation by pressing ESC.
Fixed a bug that would load devices in the wrong orientation if they were saved while in Solid mode.
Plugged a few holes in the Desert biome.
Fixed ghost sounds for the "Smoke Emitter" and "Transceiver" components.
Fixed "Speaker" animation that would play when volume is set to 0.
Plasma - v0.3.0.3
The drones at PlasmaLabs Inc. have been working hard for the past few days to bring you this amazing update! Enjoy!
IMPROVEMENTS
Added a "Lock / Unlock Device" system: while looking at a device in Wireframe, press U to toggle between locked and unlocked. When a device is locked, it cannot be moved while it's in wireframe. Use this to avoid moving or rotating devices by mistake.
Added an "FPS Feel" to the Settings popup: turn it on to remove the momentum of your character and get a more instantaneous type of movement.
Added a "Time Controller" node: use it to get current in-game time info and also system time info. You can use it to set the in-game time as well, but only if you're not in a Staged world.
Small redesign of the Pause Menu: finding the button to go back to the Tutorial should be easier now; plus other small changes.
Added a "Console" window in the Sketch: if you get a notification in the bottom left corner (log, warning or error), you can now click on it and get a list of all notifications received since the last reset of the device.
Added a "Test Mode" to the Communicator component to simulate data transmission between two peers.
Some components are now labeled as "Experimental": this means the component is new and might not work correctly or might not be fully implemented.
Added a "Save Reminder" notification: it will pop up every 30 minutes to kindly remind you to save the world you're working on :)
The Image Importer will not try to scale up or down an image if it's already of the correct size (680x512).
Small improvements to Homebase biome and icons.
Default Feed Interval of the Camera component is now 0.
FIXES
Fixed one of the most recurring crashes: if a variable in a sketch was deleted, and it was still used in a component, and then a new component was attached to the device, the game would crash. In addition to this, the Guru Meditation window would try to save the world, which would now be corrupted, leading to another crash while trying to load it back.
Fixed another "popular" crash: a GPS Tag component switched to wireframe would sometime lead to a crash when trying to read its position.
Fixed a crash when deleting a freshly duplicated component.
Fixed a crash that would happen when the player was interacting with a Button (or similar component) while docked and being teleported back.
Fixed a crash with the Undo action.
Fixed a bug where the Player Connector component wouldn't output 0 at least once when the scroll wheel stopped moving.
Fixed a bug where the Raw Servo and Raw Hinge wouldn't output anything trough the Target Reached port.
Fixed the lighting on the Moon biome: now the sun won't illuminate objects from beneath the biome any longer.
Fixed naming of some components.
Bunch of other small things!
Hotfix 0.3.0.2
Some crashes fixed for players who played the demo
Redesigned Guru Meditation window to make it more clear and report more data about the crash
Light Sensor component fixed (it was causing a crash in the Tutorial world)
Sliding Door component won't fly away anymore (lol)
Docking Station and Screen component have new details added to identify orientation
"Wind" on the Moon is now less noisy (why is there wind on the Moon in the first place? We don't know)
Hotfix 0.3.0.1
Just a quick patch to fix a crash caused by deleting a Light component while a Light Sensor was active (was happening in Tutorial too).
Early Access Out Now
"After 5 years of development, hopefully, it was worth the wait"
Plasma is out now in Early Access!
Early Access Release Broadcast
Watch us be silly and play the game we've worked on for the past 5 years! 5 YEARS! AAAAH!
Changes since the Demo
As some of you know, Plasma was part of Steam Next Fest in October 2022, when we had a Demo of the game available to try out for a 3 week period. We are often asked what has changed since the Demo, loads of things went in (too many to list!) but we'll focus on the more important changes.
Homebase
We added a special world called Homebase, a reference point for players to always come back to and explore. This is the first place players visit when finishing the tutorial, and is designed to be the place you return to when you finish playing a Staged World or just want to relax in a familiar setting.
New Components
We added a lot of new components that you can have fun building with, here are some highlights:
Color Sensor - It senses and outputs colors
Component Spawner - It spawns a Component
Color Painter - Allows you to automate the coloring of Components
Zero Gravity - Disables gravity on the Device it's attached to
Holographic Screen - A neat new screen with no frame and transparent background
Death Ray and Self Destructor - Components that allow you to destroy Devices
Communicator - Allows you to send/receive data in real-time between Steam players
Handheld Devices
Using a special new Component, the Player Connector, we opened up the possibility of building handheld devices that mount to the player, allowing you to build all kinds of handheld fun! A good example of this is found in the Homebase, keep an eye out for it!
New Biomes
New exciting Biomes to build in!
Mars
Moon
A new huge (and we mean huge!) Lab world - totally flat and empty!
Staged Worlds
We overhauled and put a lot of work into the Staging tools. With these you can define a number of permissions in the World, effectively allowing you to create a specific experience to share with other players. These could be challenges, puzzles, stories, adventures, explorations, whatever you can think of you can make it happen in a Staged World. In fact, the Tutorial and Homebase you experience in the game were made using the same tools we give you.
New Lua integration
By popular demand we switched to Luau for our Lua implementation which allowed us to add:
Image creation and per-pixel manipulation
Proper table and array support
Better support for out-of-the-box Lua functionalities
Huge performance increase
Custom Palette
Some players found the in-built color palette too limiting, so we added the ability to edit the palette and customize it to your liking! Want to make that vomit green robot you've always dreamed of? Well now you can, while also annoying our art director at the same time!
Lots of Quality of Life improvements
Too many to list! But, just for you, here's a short list of some we can actually remember:
Added Array data type to Sketch (Number Array and Text Array)
Texture resolution increased to 680x512
Device maximum link capacity increased from 64 to 256 (a link is a moving part)
Configurable linear/angular drag on Devices
Documentation for some of the more complex nodes (Lua, Math Expression, etc.)
Thousands of bug fixes! Millions!
All the other things we can't remember!
It's been an incredibly long journey for the team to get to where we are now (over 5 years, in case anyone's keeping count) - we are so very excited for the Early Access release and can't wait to see what you will build in your engineering playground!
