Hi folks! Finally the building update is available for the new version! It introduces almost 200 different materials and 27 different construction shapes.
Unlike the Java version, there is no longer a distinction between blocks and construction elements. Instead every block can now be freely rotated and resized, which gives a lot more freedom compared to the old version.
We've also created new building tools from scratch, introducing various new features. For example, the modular snapping is now very powerful and enables you to easily create rounded structures in no time. There is also a visual radial menu now which allows you to change various building settings without having to use console commands.
Compared to the Java version, you will now experience much smoother texture transitions between different materials and also significantly less flickering on overlapping elements.
Unfortunately the crafting part is not fully implemented yet, so we've set up a temporary material selection at the workbench. The same material selection also shows up if you use the "item" command: Typing "item block" into console brings up the texture selection. Alternatively you can also just type "item construction" to bring up a shape selection as well.
We appreciate any feedback regarding the new building tools. We've implemented them in a modular way, so we can modify them quite easily if necessary. If you find any issues with the building tools or if you have any suggestions about them, please don't hesitate to let us know!
Apart from the building part, this update also introduces a few other changes and additions. Rain now produces proper puddles on terrain, and we've also added reflections for puddles and smooth construction materials (like metal or marble). We've also improved lots of sounds, implemented the "misc" settings menu (giving you access to various game options), changed the way how grass is generated, and if you prefer using a high FOV or if you play on an ultra-wide screen, you can now enable "panini projection" to reduce screen distortions. Find the full changelog below!
It's now our intention to add multiplayer and blueprints. We've already implemented large parts of the multiplayer, so the next update will be available a lot faster. Stay tuned!
[Bugfix] Fixed grid rendering on lowest grid sizes (0.0625 and 0.03125)
[Bugfix] Fixed broken textures (red spots) on LOD terrain
[Bugfix] Fixed sporadically occurring shadow artifacts on lit surfaces
[Bugfix] Fixed console key showing up in input line when opening/closing the console
[Bugfix] Fixed various other issues
Hotfix 2021-05-03 (0.2.0.1):
[New] Pivots for remaining construction elements (rounded block, corner elements etc) are now available
[New] New block shape: Half cone
[New] Fly mode no-clip setting is now accessible in the misc settings
[New] Added frame limiter setting (see graphics settings)
[New] Added "findbase" console command
[Change] Manual positioning now stays active after changing the item (need feedback)
[Change] Added additional preset slot to building radial menu
[Change] Increased default duration of a day from 42 to 60 minutes
[Change] Changed tiling for some wood textures
[Change] It now takes 2 hits to destroy blocks in creative mode
[Bugfix] Fixed wrong rotation if modular snapping is active
[Bugfix] Fixed texture issue on rounded block
[Bugfix] Fixed texture on slope getting stretched on certain rotations
[Bugfix] Editing surface offset of rounded block no longer breaks the mesh
[Bugfix] Fixed missing tooltips and drag&drop items after returning to the main menu
[Bugfix] Fixed rotation not working right after enabling the manual positioning mode
[Bugfix] Changing block shape after splitting the stack no longer affects both stacks
[Bugfix] Fixed inventory sometimes being cleared for no reason
[Bugfix] Fixed reset button in settings not working correctly
[Bugfix] Fixed wrong door scale (thickness) after resizing it
[Bugfix] Fixed wrong wind intensity on snow effect
First playable version now available!
Dear Community! We're pleased to announce that the first playable demo of the new version is finally available! It is available as a separate Beta branch on Steam - if you select it, you will still keep the current Java version and the new version will be downloaded into a separate subfolder. This first demo will serve as foundation for future update, and once it's a bit more fleshed out, it will replace the Java version (but of course you will still be able to play the Java version at any stage).
We've also prepared a new survey for the demo and would appreciate your feedback: https://forms.gle/7Tf95343NQtgSUou8
In order to get the demo, just rightclick on Rising World in your Steam library -> Properties -> Betas -> select "New Version Preview" and wait until the download is ready. When launching the game, a dialog shows up: Select "New Version" to launch the new version of Rising World.
NOTE: Always launch the game from your library, do not launch it right from the "Downloads" section because this always launches the default Java version.
However, there are a few important things you need to know about this version:
Features and Content
This version is quite limited and it lacks several features and any serious gameplay content. It rather serves as "tech demo" and is meant to give you a very first impression of the new version. We've also disabled some features in this version - for instance, only a small part of the world is generated and many plants and forests are missing.
Here you find a rough overview of some of the features of the demo version: https://forum.rising-world.net/thread/11064/
Performance
We're using Unity new scriptable render pipeline, more specifically the HDRP which has a rather high base overhead - much higher compared to the Java version. In return we're able to achieve much better scalability, especially if the world consists of lot of buildings. This means it's extremely important that your machine meets at least the minimum requirements of the game (which are stated on the store page). However, if you experience performance issues, please let us know! There is definitely room for improvements
View distance
One important note about the view distance: Basically the new version is able to achieve much larger view distances compared to the Java version. On the one hand, chunks are now twice the size. On the other hand, values are treated a bit different in the new version; while a view distance of 20 chunks, for example, referred to 20x20 chunks around the player in the Java version, this value now refers to 20 chunks in each direction (effectively being 40x40 chunks now). In other words: A view distance of 50 in the new version would be equivalent of a view distance of 200 in the Java version
Weather
There are a few weather effects available which can be set via console command. Just like in the Java version, type "weather " into console (if you put a "1" at the end, the weather changes instantly). In addition to the weather effects of the Java version, there is now snowfall available (which covers the world in snow over time). The names for these effects are "snow" and "heavysnow"
Linux
There are unfortunately a few bugs in Unity which are out of our control. They were reported to Unity. For instance, it's currently not possible to change the resolution on Linux without restarting the game (Mac and Windows are not affected by this issue). There are a few other issues as well, but if you find any bugs, please don't hesitate to contact us
Multiplayer
Unfortunately the multiplayer part isn't fully ready yet, but we already wrote the code with multiplayer in mind - so it's basically almost ready. It's our intention to release a working multiplayer shortly after the upcoming building update
Plugin API
Unfortunately the plugin API isn't ready either - this means it doesn't work in the demo yet. There is still some work to do, but we've set up a new section in our forum which contains more information about the new API: https://forum.rising-world.net/thread/11062/
Future
Obviously the demo took a lot longer until it was ready - much longer than expected. We're so sorry about that, but we also appreciate your patience! Good news is that many core mechanics are now implemeted or almost ready (and this was the most time consuming part), so we should soon be able to get into a state where content can be added more quickly
Feedback
We really hope you enjoy the demo! Even though it's still very limited and cannot be considered a full game, it should already give you a good idea of what Rising World will look like in the near future. We are looking forward to your feedback, please let us know what you think about the new version! As mentioned above, we've prepared a survey for that purpose: https://forms.gle/7Tf95343NQtgSUou8
Status Update: Getting closer to the new version
Hey folks! We're currently focusing on getting the first playable demo of the new version ready as soon as possible. The first version will be rather a "walking simulator", but it will serve as foundation for future updates. And the demo will still give a good impression of the gameplay and the technical component (graphics, audio etc) of the new version.
The last weeks we've been further improving the terrain generation. The game now generates more realistic, but also much smoother landscapes (i.e. no more "bumpy" terrain). Biomes (including proper forests) and dungeons are still missing, but the world is already more varied than in the old version.
We've also been working on the new building part. Our goal is to keep the freedom of the old system, but improve it to a extent that building becomes a lot less painful. Apart from fixing some issues of the old building system, we've reworked the way how snapping works from scratch. You will be able to change the rotation pivot of an element, and you will also be able to snap the object to a pivot of another element. As a result, creating curved structures will be much easier. Unfortunately the building part won't be ready for the first demo release, but it will be available in a separate update shortly after.
We also spent some time on a new auto-updater/launcher (for the non-Steam version) and on a Linux build. Unfortunately it looks like Linux/Vulkan support isn't Unitys greatest strength, which is a bit disappointing. We've discovered some bugs which are out of our control - most of the rendering stuff is "black boxed" in Unity and the source code of the engine isn't available. Only thing we can do in this case is to forward these bugs to Unity, however, if you experience any issues or crashes with the Linux version of the game, please don't hesitate to contact us.
As always, you find more information on our Trello roadmap
Status Update: Objects, doors and a short video
Hi folks! It's time for another status update! In the past few weeks we've been mainly working on objects - by this we mean furniture, doors, lamps etc. More specifically, we've been working on object handling, i.e. placement, sync between client and server, interaction etc.
It's our intention to rework most objects from scratch. For the time being, we've been focusing on doors: On the one hand, you will be able to place proper double doors. On the other hand, there will be more options to interact with doors - for instance, you will be able to lock doors. Apart from that, most objects (including doors) will be resizable.
You find more information about objects and doors on our Trello roadmap: https://trello.com/c/IaJZtotN/141-objects
We've also prepared a small video to show the current state of the game. Apart from the new doors, we've been working on new sounds and there are also a few other details (for instance, the player leaves footprints in the snow):
[previewyoutube="d9zXExafyKI;full"]
Apart from that, we've been working on lighting. The game internally manages all lights and culls every light source that's either not visible or too far away. To save some performance, you can set up a max amount of lights the game should render simultaneously.
Here is a screenshot of lighting in a cave:
Last but not least we've also spent some time on our build pipeline for Mac and Linux. We've already implemented it for Windows a long time ago, but it's important for us to not only focus on Windows during development, since some parts of the game code are platform dependent (especially the C++ part). So far, everything works as expected though.
Stay tuned for the next status update. Hopefully we will be able to get a playable demo ready soon™
Status Update: Vegetation
First of all, thank you so much for your active participation in the survey! In total we received 2941 responses. You can find the survey results here: Survey results
Now back to the status update: We've been working on grass in the past few weeks, and are currently working on vegetation, first and foremost trees. This includes wind effects, but also things like plant growth and tree felling.
There is still some work to do, but we're pleased to share a first video of the new version. It's really not much, mainly showing the grass and the current state of vegetation, but expect more videos in the near future ;)
[previewyoutube="Kh3CkinypvE;full"]
Unlike in the old version, wind is quite dynamic now and takes a direction and random gusts of wind into account.
The new vegetation models also provide a lot more detail compared to the old version. When it comes to tree felling, you will now have a certain degree of control over the fall direction of the log.
If you're looking for more information about the grass, please check out our Trello board - it contains some screenshots and an animated gif about how snow affects grass: https://trello.com/c/KODxdgZS/140-grass
About a playable demo: We will now finalize our work on vegetation, and there are also a few other, smaller things that need to be done before we can release a playable demo - but it's getting closer and closer.
Stay tuned!
Status Update: Items, Weather and a Survey
Hi folks! It's time for a new status update, but first we want to ask you for some feedback about Rising World and the upcoming version. We've set up a small survey and it would be awesome if you can give us some feedback - this will help us to focus on the features that are most desired. You can find the survey here: https://forms.gle/MdifGvidirQ3FRQL7
But now let's talk about the status update: The last weeks we've been working on terrain modifications (i.e. the ability to dig holes), added some first items (including proper item and inventory handling) and also implemented a few weather effects.
Compared to the Java version, we will see some exciting improvements in these areas. Speaking of items: We're currently working on the ability to place items (like tools and weapons) persistently in the world. This means you can place your pickaxe anywhere and it won't despawn. Of course you can still store your stuff in chests, but being able to place your tools on a table or put them on a shelf greatly contributes to immersion.
We're also reworking all objects (like furniture, doors etc). There is still a lot of work to do, but the new objects look so much better than the old ones. Here is an early image of the new torch and torch mount:
When it comes to weather effects, snow will now be a separate weather effect. This means you can enable snow even in temperate biomes, at least via command. We're thinking about having snowfall to occur naturally from time to time (covering your world in snow), this feature could then turn into actual seasons in the long run. Please let us know what you're thinking about that.
Last but not least we did some preparation for a new, much more powerful RCON tool and we've also integrated permissions for multiplayer, similar to our old implementation in Java. Main difference is that we're using JSON now instead of YAML, however, the new RCON tool will feature a permission editor so you don't have to edit permission files manually anymore.
As always, you can follow our development on Trello: https://trello.com/b/t5Leypcj/rising-world-development
Stay tuned, and more importantly, stay healthy!
Status Update: Terrain shaders
Hey folks! We want to give you a small status update of our recent progress.
The last weeks we've been mainly working on textures and proper terrain shaders. Unlike the Java version of the game, we're using physically-based rendering, which is basically a more realistic approach to render materials. Materials no longer consist of a single texture, instead there are various maps which allow the game to render the material accurately (including surface structure, glossiness etc).
When it comes to the terrain shaders, or more specifically, to the transition between multiple materials (e.g. sand, dirt, gravel etc), we're now taking the "height" of the particular material into account instead of just blending the materials. As a result, transitions between materials are more realistic now (compared to basic blending)
We've also been tweaking the terrain generation and started working on new vegetation. This is something we want to get ready before we can release a first playable demo of the new version. We know things take quite long, but we're sure you'll like it once it's ready :) Anyway, we are very grateful for your patience!
Last but not least we want to share a screenshot of a fairly high mountain. Even if it doesn't look that tall, but this mountain has a total height of more than 800 blocks! Just as a reference, the highest mountain in the old version had a max height of ~230 blocks. So yes, you can build much higher in the new version ;)
Stay tuned for the next status update! To get more information about what's happening in the meantime, please check out our Trello Roadmap
Status Update: Lights and Shadows
Hi folks! Today we want to share a few more screenshots with you.
Brief summary
The new version will provide much more realistic lights and shadows. In addition to that, lights no longer pass through walls. In terms of modding, we've started working on the new Plugin API and decided to stick to Java for the API.
Long story
As mentioned in our previous announcement, we will see some major improvements regardings lights and shadows in the new version. In the current Rising World most lights were static (i.e. computed once by the CPU during chunk generation) - this provides good performance, but the visual results weren't that great. In the new version, all lights will be fully dynamic, resulting in a much more realistic lighting. In addition to that, lights are able to cast shadows now. To make sure performance doesn't suffer too much, we will use a deferred renderer (which can handle lots of lights fairly efficiently) and a smart shadow updater (which regenerates shadows only if the environment changed).
We've prepared a small comparision between the new lights (still work-in-progress) and the static lights in the old version of the game:
Shadows play a big role and can be a real game changer. When exploring dungeons, for example, or walking through forests at night (just equipped with a torch), shadows create a completely different atmosphere.
Another big improvement thanks to proper shadows: Lights no longer pass through walls in the new version!
Apart from lights and shadows, we also started working on the new Plugin API. We decided to stick to Java for the API, since this language provides a much better performance (and full multi-threading support) compared to scripting languages. This also means that large parts of the current API stay compatible, however, there are still a few changes to the API so existing plugins need to be updated for the new version. We will post more information about that soon.
Stay tuned for the next status update! If you want to get more information in the meantime, make sure to check out our development roadmap on Trello :)
Merry Christmas!
Hey folks! We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We hope you enjoy the holidays and have a great time!
We would like to take the opportunity to give you a small status update of the new version. Right in time for Christmas we have a new screenshot for you:
The log cabin and fireplace were built with construction elements. As you can certainly see, lighting and shadows will improve considerably with the new version. In addition to that, we will use more detailed models (for the furniture, for example) and higher resolution textures.
Apart from that, we decided to stick to FMOD as audio engine. We've implemented a voice chat recently, with the ability to post-process the voice data (e.g. when the player uses a megaphone or walkie-talkie).
Unfortunately there will be no playable demo this year, because it's still too unfinished. However, we'll try to get a playable demo ready in early 2020.
As always, if you want to get more information about the development progress, you can check out our roadmap on Trello: https://trello.com/b/t5Leypcj/rising-world-development
Stay tuned for a thrilling year 2020!
Status Update: Terrain generation
Hi folks! Today we want to give you a status update of the ongoing changes (if you aren't aware of our plans to move to a new engine, please check out our previous announcement).
Brief summary
We've finalized the terrain generation (see some first screenshots below) and also implemented a few other interesting features. For example, the new version will be able to handle larger view distances and much higher mountains. In addition to that, we've added full gamepad support, we created a new UI from scratch (supporting various resolutions and aspect ratios), and also implemented a fast, UDP-based network system. Btw, there is also a new update for the Java version available, you can find the changelog in our forums.
Long version
We've made a lot of progress in the past months, but of course there is still a lot of work to do. One of the biggest (and most time-consuming) features we're currently working on is the new world generation. When it comes to this feature, we have two main priorities: On the one hand, we want to create more interesting and appealing landscapes, and on the other hand, it's our intention to enable larger view distances (without killing the performance). In fact we've made some great progress in this regard and will be able to handle larger view distances as well as higher mountains. We can't give exact numbers yet (because we haven't implemented all world features yet), but our first results look very promising!
Here are some first screenshots of the new terrain generation. Please keep in mind that they use mostly placeholder-textures (and we don't have any vegetation or fancy shader effects yet), but they should give you a rough idea of the new terrain:
In addition to that, we've implemented a native bridge that allows us to write performance-critical code in C++. This made our terrain generation, for example, a lot faster compared to regular C#! C++ also gives us more control over memory (no garbage collector involved) and allows us to use CPU features like SIMD.
Summary of the most important features
Here is a small overview of the most important features we've implemented so far:
New terrain generation: The new version features more appealing and realistic landscapes compared to the old version. It also enables much greater view distances and higher mountains (this also means you can create higher buildings accordingly).
Better player physics: We tried to create a player controller similar to the current one (in the Java version), but we made some improvements. On the one hand, there is no more "jitter" when standing on slopes, on the other hand, the character is no longer able to walk up steep inclines like a mountain goat. However, we found out that we definitely need some climbing gear now ^^
New UI: We're creating a new UI from scratch. We understand and agree that the old "wood" design wasn't really appealing, so we're focusing on a flat, modern design now. The new UI scales properly depending on the screen resolution and aspect ratio (so far we support 16:9, 21:9 and 32:9)
Gamepad support: We've implemented full support for Xbox360/One, PS4 and common XInput controllers. You can use your mouse/keyboard and gamepad simultaneously, but if desired, the game is also fully playable without a keyboard
UDP based networking: The new version will use "connection-less", UDP based networking. This should result in better performance compared to TCP, but most and foremost, this should help us to get rid of connection resets and other losses of connections
C++ integration: Not necessarily a "feature", but we've implemented a bridge between C# and C++ - this allows us to write performance-critical code in C++, resulting in less overhead and better performance
Localization: While we still don't have support for any other languages yet, we have at least support for chinese and cyrillic characters. The language files are easily accessible and modifiable, so community translations can be incorporated conveniently
There are of course many other things we've implemented so far. If you want to get a better overview of these features and if you also want to find out what we're currently working on, feel free to check out our development roadmap on Trello: https://trello.com/b/t5Leypcj/rising-world-development
We're still finalizing the world generation, but soon we will start working on more features which provide more "visual feedback" - e.g. animations, objects, vegetation etc. This enables us to share many more screenshots and videos at shorter intervals :)
There is also a new update for the Java version available by the way. You can find the full changelog in our forums
