It's been a while since we last updated you about the development of Rooted, so it’s time to catch up!
These past months have brought exciting news for Headlight Studio. We’ll soon share more details about the big steps we've taken to continue on our mission from the start: remaining fully independent! Headlight Studio is moving forward thanks to you, so a huge thank you!
Phase 3 will represent the true beginning of the player experience as we originally envisioned. This area introduces each survivor to the lore, immersing you psychologically into this post-apocalyptic adventure.
Here, you'll discover who you are and unravel your story, key aspects for a deep immersion. This zone is also where you'll make your first discoveries regarding gameplay elements, from basic interactions to initial experiences with hunting, fishing, weapon handling, combat, and much more. I’d love to spoil the setting and story, but I’ll limit myself to sharing a few blockout screenshots, so you can enjoy discovering everything yourself when the update goes live!
Communication Tower
The Communication Tower plays a central role in the lore of Rooted. Present since the very first Alpha build, you'll finally experience it as initially imagined. Majestic yet ravaged, bearing witness to past battles, violence, and a time when humanity lost itself to the fear of death, the Comm Tower will become a landmark.
Remember the days when you built scaffolding around it with unlimited resources? (This is not a challenge!)
Survival Gameplay
The environment evolves, and so does gameplay! With hunting, fishing, gardening, and all the related gameplay, the survival experience really takes shape. Food management becomes crucial and diverse. You'll have to juggle various methods of obtaining food, influencing where you decide to set up your base.
New tools will make your life easier. Remember, the game takes place around the year 2100... Remnants of past civilization that you find during expeditions will start becoming useful in your everyday survival!
Firearms (and Early Phase 4)
Although combat was originally scheduled for Phase 4, it arrives earlier in a lighter form tied to hunting. This phase introduces your first firearms, helping you survive encounters with animals looking to turn you into dinner. Or the other way around, for you to prepare substantial meals!
Character Rework
You've frequently mentioned on social media that character animations weren't our strongest suit. While motion capture allowed us to level up in this unfamiliar domain, we've listened to your feedback and are making adjustments to enhance your gaming experience.
We're also now using Mutable, a cutting-edge technology for character customization, perfectly suited for our ambitions.
Have You Named Your Drone Companion Yet?
For a few months, you've had a small drone attached to your backpack, never leaving its spot until now. You know where I’m going with this, right? :)
Beware of Severe Weather Conditions
I can’t reveal more, otherwise, that would be too much of a spoiler. Sorry!
Optimizing the Open World
This is a huge topic, and we're committed to delivering an experience worthy of Rooted. Leveraging Unreal Engine 5 technologies, we're doing everything possible to ensure smoother gameplay. While we can't promise incredible framerates yet, you’ll notice significant improvements in Phase 3.
UI Overhaul
We admit, we haven't focused much on the UI through Phase 2.
That's because many elements were evolving rapidly, and UI wasn't our main priority in the early Alpha stages. Although UI isn't becoming our top priority now either, we’re leveraging recent experience to improve it and make your gameplay more enjoyable.
When Will It Be Released?
This question comes up frequently, and we love that! You're eager to play, and we're eager to see you play! Many of the new elements and improvements I’ve mentioned are interconnected, making it challenging to release updates piecemeal as we've done previously.
Expect releases throughout this year. We've fallen a bit behind our initial timeline because we've been working extremely hard in the first half of the year to maintain our independence. And we've succeeded! But that's another story, because what matters here and now is Rooted! (Spoiler: Headlight Studio just reached an exciting new milestone!)
A Huge Thank You!
Massive thanks to everyone who continues supporting us daily, pledging to the game, and trusting us. You're amazing! Even though we've been quieter on social media lately - totally focused on development - you remain incredibly active and supportive. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! <3
Exciting Updates on Rooted – Alpha 2 is Here!
Hello Survivors,
We’re thrilled to share some exciting updates about Rooted! Thanks to your incredible support, the game has evolved significantly, and we’re proud to announce that Alpha 2 is now live!
What’s New in Alpha 2?
Expanded Open World: The playable area now spans over 30km², featuring new Points of Interest such as the Mansion, Monastery, Gas Station, Bunker and more.
New Gameplay Features: Enjoy crafting, infection mechanics, and a dynamic weather system that enriches the survival experience.
Coming Soon in Phase 3: We’ve already started working on new additions like hunting, fishing, and gardening, as well as refining existing systems.
We deeply appreciate your unwavering support, which has been vital in bringing these updates to fruition. We look forward to continuing this incredible journey alongside you!
Join the Alpha or Wishlist the Game
Haven’t joined the Alpha yet? There’s no better time to experience the evolution of Rooted:
Play the Alpha: Visit our Official Website
And Wishlist on Steam
Thank you for being part of this incredible journey. Stay tuned for more updates, and feel free to share your feedback or questions with us.
Warm regards, Mat
Rooted Alpha Phase 2 Preview: open world, Building, Drones, and More!
Hi everyone! Although we haven’t officially launched the second phase of our Alpha, we’re excited to share all the new features available for our alpha testers.
Open World
A large portion of the Open World is now accessible, featuring over a dozen points of interest. Some are in near-final form, while others are still in blockout, but all showcase our progress.
Building and Resource Gathering
With our latest Alpha build, players can now gather resources and construct their first cabins, houses, or bases, depending on their ambition! We’re actively developing the building and crafting systems, and we’ll be adding new features in the coming weeks.
Drones
Players can now find drones scattered across the world. These allow for faster exploration of certain areas and enable players to place a marker on a location spotted from the sky, making it easier to find from the ground.
Infection and Gas Masks
The bacteria responsible for the apocalypse is becoming more present in the world. An antidote – or even better, a respirator mask – will allow you to explore some contaminated areas with reduced risk.
Swimming
As an introduction to fishing activities planned for Alpha Phase 3, swimming has been added and is now accessible across the map. In the near future, more lakes and rivers will also be available.
Vehicles
Although vehicles are planned as mid-game gameplay elements, we’ve started introducing them to Rooted. Besides the Alpha Car, a special vehicle for alpha testers to explore faster if desired, we’ve added, for example, a forklift that enables players to access hard-to-reach areas.
We’ll be releasing a devlog when we officially launch Alpha Phase 2, but we hope you enjoyed this sneak peek 🙂
Thank you very much for your support and interest in Rooted ːsteamthumbsupː
Watch Our Exclusive 28-Minute Gameplay Video!
As we gear up for the second phase of Rooted's Alpha, featuring the open world and building elements, we're excited to bring you this 28-minute gameplay video!
This video allows players to explore Rooted through the Monastery, our first highlighted point of interest for alpha testers. Remember, this is a work in progress (WIP). If you spot a tree sticking out of a concrete slab or a placeholder truck in the marketplace, no worries :) Our team is working hard on all the details, and what's unfinished now will be ready soon.
In this video, you'll dive into the exploration side of Rooted: discovering ways to enter buildings, uncovering hidden secrets, and learning the history of the location. Combat and building features aren't included yet – they'll come in future alpha phases as outlined on our ProductBoard.
A big thank you to our community for your continuous support!
HOW TO SUPPORT ROOTED:
Spread the word about the game and share our official links
As we approach the launch of Phase 2 of the Rooted alpha, we're excited to kick off this series of posts on our website to share our development journey, including the technical and artistic challenges we face. In summary, these posts will give you a glimpse into our daily life as developers, working on what excites us all: Rooted!
In this first post, I'll discuss managing the Open World.
Map Opening
Phase 2 of the Alpha allows us to include a large portion of the map in the build. Following a first Alpha session that was limited in scope (only the Monastery was available), you will now have the opportunity to explore and test the building system in a significantly larger area. Use this Alpha period to scout for the best spots for your future bases, but be cautious... there's no guarantee that a point of interest won't appear later, in the lead-up to Early Access!
Open World: Challenges and Technological Choices
Opting for an Open World for Rooted was a significant decision that comes with major challenges, necessitating critical technological choices.
World Partition and Server Streaming
Choosing Unreal Engine 5 plays a major role, especially due to the World Partition technology, which segments the map into a grid. All zones are loaded and unloaded dynamically based on players' locations, easing the load on players' PCs.
Implemented in Alpha 2, the tests are promising except for one issue: in the current version of Unreal Engine, the World Partition does not support Server Streaming. This means that the player hosting the game must load the entire map to manage player collisions in different cells.
With Unreal Engine 5.4 expected soon (announced at GDC 2024), Server Streaming will allow the server to load only the zones where players are located. We've tested this with a build version of the engine where we enabled Server Streaming, and the results are promising. We are eagerly awaiting UE 5.4 for our Alpha 2.0.
Developing Our Technology
To avoid being overly dependent on updates to Unreal Engine 5, we are collaborating with Victor Careil, developer of the successful Voxel Plugin for Unreal. This collaboration has led to a technology that manages the loading and display of all map environment props based on a Pool system.
In real time, a Pool of actors is updated to display all props near the player. These props include items like tables, chairs, pens, glasses, and PCs. For context, over 16,000 actors are involved in just the Monastery alone, amounting to several hundred thousand in the final game, displayed by only a few thousand actors making up our Pool. Essentially, this is a contingent of actors that we move around, dynamically assigning them appearances.
A major advantage of this solution is that it also functions in editor mode while we work on our map. In areas with a high density of props, this saves precious time and greatly enhances our comfort and efficiency in development.
Landscape and Vegetation Generation with PCG (Procedural Content Generation)
Landscape
Although our game is not a solo narrative type, we have created a Lore that allows us to forge a coherent environment, which we consider essential for offering a high-quality post-apocalyptic setting and atmosphere.
For this reason, we have naturally created our Landscape and then sculpt it in-engine to add layers from past civilizations, their stories, with buildings and road infrastructures.
For the Material Landscape, we use the RVT (runtime virtual texture), which provides natural transitions between the landscape and environment assets such as rocks, trees, and roads.
Foliage
However, procedural generation helps us create a rich world. This was already the case at the Monastery with our generator for walls, floors, and vaults, which, even on a small scale, allows for realistic results. For vegetation in Rooted, we use two technologies:
PCG, which allows us to develop our own procedural logic to generate a consistent environment based on various factors (masks, terrain inclination, altitude, etc.). The size/age of trees, their density, and absence on roads are all meticulously managed through procedural generation.
Grass Node, relating to foliage types such as grass, tall grasses, and ferns, communicates with our Landscape layers. Depending on what we define in the shader, specific types of plants and grasses are added to the environment.
I'll discuss how we manage the harvesting/farming of natural resources in a dedicated post.
Rendering Optimization
I mentioned challenges at the beginning of this post, and here is a significant one. We are developing Rooted to run on the average PC that will appear in Steam's statistics in a couple of years, with the goal of pushing technical limits further without reinventing what already exists. However, we are aware that many people are eager to participate in the alpha, and for this reason, we are making significant efforts to improve performance now.
Alpha 1 was very instructive in this regard. It's never simple with a major first title like Rooted, developed on a recent engine with new technologies and thus with limited feedback from other developers, to definitively validate all our workflow choices. And that's precisely why we decided to launch an alpha very early—to avoid realizing too late that some choices we had made were not the right ones.
Following this incredible initial testing period, we have revisited several points.
Materials
Our basic idea is simple: create and reuse as many generic materials (metal, wood, concrete) as possible to minimize the number of textures needed to avoid overloading your PCs. A low number of textures also allows us to opt for a higher initial resolution, thus achieving a truly beautiful rendering.
This is what we did at the Monastery: using instances of this material, with Material Layers we created to add layers of dirt, moss, and other imperfections. Think of Material Layers as effect layers in Photoshop. Unfortunately, this choice rests on the incompatibility of Vertex Painting on meshes using Nanite. Vertex Painting allows for painting instances of meshes present in the world, adding elements like moss or dirt, as we mentioned in an old tweet.
The feedback from the Alpha has been excellent in this respect, but from a performance standpoint, it's not feasible to rely solely on this workflow. The reason: the number of material instances the game must load at runtime to display all objects. From a technical standpoint, Nanite performs a drawcall per different material, and the more materials there are, the more resource-intensive it is to generate a frame.
With the aim of reducing the number of drawcalls, we have begun to enrich our materials workflow by adding "real generic materials" and using trimsheets. Thus, a single simplified material with few instructions covers much more assets. The result is just as clean, with a substantial savings in drawcalls.
WPO, Triplanar
Among other technical points we have worked on, I can mention:
World Position Offset: allows for movement of all vegetation based on wind or collision with a character. While the visual rendering is interesting and essential, it is nonetheless resource-intensive. We now control this element in Alpha 2, preventing movement on meshes too far from the character.
Custom Triplanar: projects the texture into the world, especially on modular assets, to maintain visual coherence at the junctions, ensuring continuity of material rendering. There are no visible seams between walls. Its major disadvantage is its cost in resources. We have created for Rooted an optimized Triplanar, using only one texture sampling (versus three with the classical Triplanar), with specific UV calculations in the shader. Thanks to this, we have an optimized Triplanar that allows for a very nice visual rendering with a very low impact on performance.
Here are some of the points we wanted to share with you. If you're interested in this type of post, and would like even more detail on the technical aspects, don't hesitate to let us know on social media!
See you soon and thank you again for your support!
Mat
Alpha: 'Rooted's' Time Loop Event Takes Players 20 Years Back!
Rooted Halloween Special Event
The Halloween season offers a chance to see the Monastery in a new light... and by night! Dive into the lore of Rooted, taking you back 20 years when everything changed, leading to humanity's disappearance. We are seizing this event to introduce new features.
The Halloween Event - ROOTED Alpha Session
Event Dates: From October 28, 01:00 am CEST to November 10, 2023, 11:59 pm CEST.
Event Purpose: Owing to the Halloween event, play between life and death with a high enough infection rate to see traces of a ghost guiding you to the most notable and useful places, and discover the ghostly scenes of the past. Make proper use of all remnants from the past, including the injectors and... pumpkins! They will greatly assist you!
Exclusive Halloween items: it's now or never! We have specially created Halloween items for the occasion that you will find in-game in chests you'll need to discover. Only one chest per game session, and everyone can loot it if you're playing with others. No pressure!
The items obtained are permanently tied to your account.
Game Update Features
The emote system
Interact with players using the new emote pie menu. Enjoy the initial emotes! Not all of them will stay, and new ones will be arriving soon.
The infection
Tackle the deadly bacterium from two decades ago. Plants spread this infection, and other players can infect you!
The health system
Monitor your health closely. Eat and drink to stay fit, and keep your infection rate in check!
The equipment system
Gear up with items from the Rooted world.
We've also addressed many bugs from your reports. Please continue reporting any issues through our in-game system. Your feedback is invaluable!
Halloween Special Items Information
Availability: These items are up for grabs only during the event, ending on November 10th. Miss out now, and you'll miss out forever!
Permanence & Exclusivity: Once secured, these items are yours through every stage of the game. However, they are non-transferable.
Looting Mechanism: One chest per session, lootable by all, ensures every player gets a unique item.
Alpha Invitations Details
Limitations: One Alpha invite per player. Not all will get one. Redemption Process: Scored an invite? Head to our website, log in, go to 'Rewards', and send the invite to a friend. Scope: This invite is for the Alpha only. It excludes other game stages and pledge rewards.
We continue the game development steadily, and no, don't expect an event for Christmas! While some new items will most likely be added to your collection, we need to focus on the game's development :)
Happy Halloween to everyone!
Mat
Everything you need to know before launching the first alpha
Hi Survivors! The alpha is fast approaching, and we are in the process of finalizing preparations for its launch this Monday, September 4th.
Here are some key pieces of information you should know:
Key to Access the Alpha (Steam Playtest version of the game)
You are Founders (Lone Wolf and above) The key granting you access to the Alpha of Rooted will be communicated to you between September 2nd and 3rd, 2023, via your Rootedthegame.com account and by email. Remember to check your spam folder, or simply log in to the Rooted website!
You are registered on the website to participate in the alpha Invitations will be sent by email throughout the duration of the alpha. If you haven’t received a game key in the coming days, don't worry! You may have a chance to receive it a bit later. No need to register again.
Important Information Several people have asked us on Discord if we plan to let you pre-download the game to be ready right at the alpha launch. Know that we are truly thrilled by your enthusiasm, but we are only in the first alpha. We're saving marketing techniques for the early access launch!
For now, we're focused on development, and there's a good chance the build you'll be able to download was compiled just a few minutes before :)
Alpha Launch Date
We are planning to launch on September 4th at 2:00 PM CEST.
Alpha 1.0 Content
As announced for several months now, this first phase comes early in the game's development. It has several objectives:
To thank all the founders who support Rooted by allowing them to set foot in the World of Tomorrow as soon as the alpha goes online.
To obtain initial feedback from players, whether it’s feedback, bugs, or technical information exchanges,
To continue developing Rooted transparently, as we've been doing since the beginning, to build this amazing post-apocalyptic survival experience together.
In this first alpha, you'll be able to control the character for the first time, discover the entire Monastery area, (listen to your PC's fans), play with the initial puzzle game elements, explore dark or hard-to-reach areas... And day by day, week after week, we will be releasing fixes and updates for content and features.
Craft your own adventure or connect with friends to discover the Monastery area together. Joining existing games is also a great way to make new friends! Features are limited for now (VOIP, chat, friendly fire enabled by default to test your friendships...), and they will be quickly improved and supplemented by others.
Duration of Alpha 1.0
This first alpha phase may last several weeks, or even months. We will correct bugs reported by players, optimize the game, add new features, and improve existing ones based on player feedback.
Don't hesitate to log back in regularly to discover new content!
Gameplay Time for This First Session
It's hard to quantify this, as our internal tests have produced very different results depending on the players. What I can tell you is that the alpha isn’t just about walking around. Open your eyes, explore, and analyze! Discovering the remnants of past civilization is not necessarily an easy task.
Where to Follow the Alpha News, Access Patch Notes...?
Since day one, we’ve been transparent about our progress, sharing numerous things on social media and our Discord server. So why an NDA asking all testers not to share anything about the Alpha?
Rooted is receiving strong enthusiasm from players, and we simply don't want the alpha to be presented as the final game. In terms of gameplay, environment, user interface, and many other points, there is still much to do. Sharing on social media would not serve much purpose at this stage.
For content creators, we will share numerous screenshots and videos in our Media folder that will allow you to talk about Rooted and the Alpha launch, the Monastery, but we rely on your discretion not to talk about what we do not show :) Thanks from the entire team!
Let's move forward together using the tools provided to build a great Rooted experience, and you'll have the entire future to share content about the game during early access.
The NDA will be available at the game's launch. You will be required to review and accept the NDA, as well as link your Rootedthegame.com account to the game (by providing the email address used on the website), in order to gain access to the Alpha.
Report Bugs
We have added an in-game bug reporting system so you can easily inform us about the issues you encounter while playing. We instantly receive the tickets, and we make every effort to publish fixes quickly. You can directly check the status of bug reports in the game.
Even though we have created dedicated channels for the alpha on Discord, no bug reports will be considered there. For organizational reasons, please use exclusively the in-game reporting system for any issues.
Want to Interact with All Other Alpha Participants?
Our Discord server has private channels dedicated to the Alpha. To access them, it’s simple and automated:
Our bot automatically assigns you the correct roles, granting you access to the private channels if you have access to the Alpha.
What Hardware is Needed to Play the Alpha
The alpha will allow us to receive lots of feedback on performance, and we will optimize rendering accordingly.
Rooted is a "next-gen" oriented game developed with Unreal Engine 5 and uses many of the new features of the engine, for which newer PCs will naturally have better performance. However, we will take into account your feedback and make the necessary adjustments so that the experience is as enjoyable as possible even on older hardware. Feel free to play with the graphical settings to achieve better performance.
The latest technologies like DLSS 3 with Frame Generation are also available. If you are the proud owner of a Nvidia 4000 series, don't hesitate to activate it!
An Alpha with Respect for All
Our entire team is ready and excited to face the influx of feedback from you, while continuing to fully work on the game to roll out updates. We know it's customary to compare indie productions with AAA studios, but no, we are just a few enthusiasts dedicating all our time to the development of Rooted! Please consider this when giving your feedback.
We have something special to share with you today! A brand-new, in-depth developer diary video has been released, filled to the brim with exclusive content and behind-the-scenes peeks into the world of ROOTED, our post-apocalyptic survival game.
Our 2 big announcements!
Our first big news is about the incredible Opening Titles of ROOTED. Composed by the talented Manaberry, the game's opening titles has been launched on Spotify and other leading streaming platforms. With an enthralling blend of acoustic and modern electronic instruments, Manaberry has crafted a captivating soundscape that perfectly encapsulates the atmosphere of ROOTED.
The second piece of exciting news is the announcement of the first Alpha's release date. Mark your calendars, as ROOTED will make its Alpha debut on Monday, September 4, 2023, at 2pm CEST, available on Steam.
Don't miss the video
This newly released video is a goldmine of previously unseen insights and behind-the-scenes content. A comprehensive walkthrough from our game's conception to its current development phase, this video provides a compelling peek into the world of ROOTED that you can't afford to miss.
It also showcases the extraordinary work of Manaberry, our composer. All the music in the video was composed by Manaberry for Rooted.
More about the Alpha
The Alpha phase is a significant step in our game's evolution, allowing us to refine and adjust various aspects of the game based on your feedback. Please remember that this is not a near-final version of the game, but rather a way for us to further develop ROOTED in partnership with you. If your preference leans more towards a finished gaming experience, we would recommend waiting for the Beta version.
We're looking forward to welcoming you to the world of ROOTED on September 4th. Until then, we highly recommend you check out our video to immerse yourself in what we're creating.
Stay safe, and prepare for survival!
The ROOTED Team
Alpha roadmap for Rooted is now live
Hello everyone!
We're stoked to announce that our Alpha roadmap for Rooted is now live! 🎉
From day one, we've been committed to transparency in the development of Rooted. Your feedback and engagement have shown us just how much you appreciate this approach, and we're thrilled to continue on this path.
This roadmap provides a clear view of our plans and progress dedicated to the Alpha. We're eager to reach Alpha, but we believe in taking the necessary time to ensure we deliver the best possible experience.
Please remember that the roadmap is a plan, and plans can change as development progresses. Your feedback is not only welcome, it's vital!
Check out the roadmap now at https://portal.productboard.com/rooted/2-rooted-alpha. We can't wait to hear your thoughts!
We are also thrilled to announce you that the team is growing with new talented people!
Let's continue this journey together 🙌
Mathieu
1st Alpha session: Exploration and Survival, Monastery
Happy New Year to the survivors!
After an incredible year of 2022, where your interest in Rooted kicked our predictions into high gear with over 450,000 wishlists on Steam, a Kickstarter campaign that reached 200% of its goal, incredible support on the site with already over 25,000USD in pledges, over 15,000 registered people wishing to participate in the alpha sessions, we are there!
FIRST ALPHA SESSION: EXPLORATION AND SURVIVAL, MONASTERY
The alpha sessions will be progressive, and will allow us to validate the main features of the game and to test/improve the solidity of Rooted's foundations. Each new major alpha session will be an opportunity to add a new feature to those already tested, to arrive at the end of the year on a Beta. This doesn't mean that it will be finished, but we will have made good progress!
Important: it is good to remember that the Alpha version will be the most buggy and the least representative of the game in its final version. Thanks!
I know you want to know when it will be available. I really like the month of May, don't you? (Subject to change).
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ALPHA
To join the Alpha: - try to win your access by registering on our website - support the development and pledge the game, and choose your alpha, beta, early access, always on our website https://rootedthegame.com
OUR PROGRESS
- Motion Capture
Thanks to your support, we were able to acquire a complete Xsens Motion Capture system, which allows us to record all the animations we want. This is way beyond our expectations, but your support allows us to do crazy things. Thank you for your support!
- Gameplay Footage
We will soon share some gameplay footage with you, because as we said before, we wanted to have our own animations for this. We look forward to your feedback!
FOLLOW OUR PROGRESS CLOSELY
On social networks, and especially on our Discord server, we share our progress by showing WIPs of our POIs, their evolution.
We also take into account all the ideas proposed by the community in the dedicated rooms. Don't hesitate to join us to exchange with the developers and the 7K+ members! https://discord.gg/invite/rootedthegame
