Hello everybody! As you probably noticed, the 2.0.0.9 update has been silently rolled out over this weekend. I would like to address this update in detail with this announcement as well as share some information with where we are going next and talk about preparing the build for the main branch merge.
Radio Tower
A brand new Radio Tower building became available with this update. The radio tower allows players to engage in interactive events. The event choices rely on the character stats like strength, endurance, agility, etc.. The radio tower building has available upgrades that increase the Signal Strength stat which in return influences the events generated. Each event can have up to three phases, each phase has three steps that players can make choices for. Depending on the success of each step, a reward is being yielded in the event rewards tab. Upon completing the event, an event completion reward is being granted based on the overall performance of the event steps.
The interactive events are being generated at a cost of camp fame stat. The camp fame can be gained from constructing camp upgrades, bought for cash from the general camp vendor or gain by killing enemies in free roam. Each enemy kill now grants different amount of fame, depending on which enemy players have taken down.
Item Database Expansion
The item database has been expanded with additional tools to grant players the stats required for the radio tower interactive events. Additional firearm and melee weapons grades were added. New items were added to support the new crafting recipes.
Crafting Recipes
New crafting recipes were added for firearms and components.
Quick Start
A special crate has been added to the main camp general area that contains everything players need to kick start the beta testing gameplay. Camp Upgrades, Armor set, Weapons, Inventory Expansion bags, etc..
Outstanding Items
I would like to talk about the preparation for the main branch merge. There are still several outstanding game feature items I would like to get into the game before the beta build will replace the main branch build.
Some of those features include the following:
Main Camp - Docks building that will govern over the Factions features
The Hub - A market place level where players will trade with Factions
Free Roam map expansion
Human enemies types expansion
Enemies loot
Secondary and Sidearm weapons
Crafting recipes expansion
Item database expansion
Interactive events expansion
Playable Characters expansion
Once these features have been implemented I will prepare the beta build for the main branch merge.
Feedback
Please leave your thoughts, feedback and ideas in the following thread:
Please feel free to ask questions in that thread as well.
Gaining Access to BETA
Please note that this update is for the game's BETA branch only. To gain access to the BETA branch please follow the steps below:
1) In the Steam game library right click The Withering and select properties
2) In the properties window, switch to BETAS tab on top
3) Enter gimmebetapls in beta access code and click on Check Code
4) Select the Public Beta Branch from the drop down menu and allow Steam to download the new build
If you do not see the Public Beta Branch, please make sure you entered the code correctly.
Thank you!
The Withering 2.0.0.8 Update
The Withering 2.0.0.8 update is now live!
General Information
Hello everybody! In this update I have included a new section of the free roam city map. The map is nearing a completion state, however there are still several key elements to be added. Additionally, a crate spawn system has been added to the map. Players can now find special crates scattered around the city that have equipment in them. The options interface has been extended, players now can adjust the draw distance and invert mouse settings.
What Comes Next
I will be focusing on expanding the camp management interface, item DB and Crafting Tables for the next update. There are several outstanding features that I would like to implement fully before the main branch merge. I will be announcing more details next week.
Feedback
Please leave your thoughts, feedback and ideas in the following thread:
Please feel free to ask questions in that thread as well.
Gaining Access to BETA
Please note that this update is for the game's BETA branch only. To gain access to the BETA branch please follow the steps below:
1) In the Steam game library right click The Withering and select properties
2) In the properties window, switch to BETAS tab on top
3) Enter gimmebetapls in beta access code and click on Check Code
4) Select the Public Beta Branch from the drop down menu and allow Steam to download the new build
If you do not see the Public Beta Branch, please make sure you entered the code correctly.
Thank you!
The Withering 2.0.0.7 Update
The Withering 2.0.0.7 update is now live!
General Information
Hello everybody! In this update I have included the Camp Management control expansion, character stats expansion, melee and primary weapon expansion and crafting mechanics expansion. In the second part of the update that is scheduled for next week I will be adding a new section of the free roam city map.
New Camp Management Features
The camp management has been updated with Missions interface, players are now able to assign squads and take on different missions directly from the camp interface. Each mission types have different governing stats that are responsible for the mission yield result. With higher governing stats in the squad, more chances apply to gain better mission rewards.
Additionally, the Marketplace functionality has been expanded with Economy type. Players can now select the desired profits from Marketplace trading from ammo, fame, resources or currency.
Crafting Mechanics and Vendors
Players can now craft different weapon and armor types for their characters. Additionally, camp vendors inventory has been updated with new items. A new Dismantling mechanic has been added. Players can now break down resource items from assembly interface for components. This mechanic will be greatly expanded in the following updates.
What Comes Next
The next update will be focused on the free roam city map expansion and quarantine zone design. The QZ will become available for players to explore and engage elite enemies for better loot. I will design the QZ layout and estimate the release date that I will announce with the next week update.
Feedback
Please leave your thoughts, feedback and ideas in the following thread:
Please feel free to ask questions in that thread as well.
Gaining Access to BETA
Please note that this update is for the game's BETA branch only. To gain access to the BETA branch please follow the steps below:
1) In the Steam game library right click The Withering and select properties
2) In the properties window, switch to BETAS tab on top
3) Enter gimmebetapls in beta access code and click on Check Code
4) Select the Public Beta Branch from the drop down menu and allow Steam to download the new build
If you do not see the Public Beta Branch, please make sure you entered the code correctly.
Thank you!
The Withering 2.0 - Development Update #3
Hello everybody!
I would like to share some information with you in regards of the upcoming update and my plans for the next couple of weeks.
Personal Announcement
As I mentioned in one my previous announcements, for the past couple of weeks I was working on expanding the camp management gameplay elements, crafting mechanics / recipes and several other gameplay features, including the construction of the city map. I would like to share that development progress with you.
New Features
During this last engagement I was able to implement several new features that I am personally excited about:
Camp Management Missions The camp management interface now have fully functioning missions that allow players to use the survivors favors. There are different mission types and each type has different survivor skill requirements, such as diplomacy, scavenging etc.. These missions will yield rewards based on the performance of the squad assigned. New items were added to the item database that are required for the mission control management.
Camp Management Economy Another expansion of the camp management is the new economy type feature that allows players to choose their marketplace economy. Players can now choose what type of trading goods the marketplace produces, such as ammo, resources, fame or actual currency.
Crafting I have also updated the crafting tables for existing and new items. Players can now craft melee weapons, new armor and other equipment. Another cool feature that I was able to work on is the assembly mechanic. Player can now break down resources into components that can be used for crafting. I will be expanding the assembly even further in the future.
Weapons As a part of the item database expansion, new weapons were added and upgraded with new features. The new equipment (armor, weapons, trinkets) now have new stats that influence a character. New armor types focus on melee or ranged combat. Trinkets now have additional stats that influence combat, character stats (stamina and health regeneration) and several other stats that will be used in camp management gameplay.
Rarities and Specializations The new weapons added to the database now have different rarities that influence weapon stats and performance. Additionally, several weapon variations were created to allow players to choose how they prefer to approach combat in the game. For example, three different variations of an AK-47 Assault rifle were created, one is a classic balanced weapon, the other is focused on critical chances and damage and another is focused on aggressive close combat with extended magazine and higher rate of fire. Other variations were created for different weapon types.
City Map I am currently working on expanding the city map and designing a quarantine zone that will become a part of the city. I will be talking about the quarantine zone in more details in one of the future announcements.
Upcoming Update - Scheduling
I would still like to invest additional efforts in finalizing the development of the features that I mentioned above. It is a lot of work and a very time consuming process, but I am very happy with the results and keeping the development tight to the estimated time frame.
I will be splitting the update into two parts and releasing the new camp features update by the middle of this week. And the city map expansion update will come shortly after, I estimate it to be ready by the end of this week or early next week.
Summary
Overall, the development is going very well and I was able to implement a lot of features during this last engagement.
We are getting closer to the main branch merge with every day, but there are still several outstanding items that I would like to address before the main branch merge.
Some delays might be expected, but I have no reasons to believe that they will be drastic. Once the next two updates will be released, I'll be able to sit down and evaluate the next phase of the development to put together a schedule and time frame estimates.
Feedback
Please leave your thoughts, feedback and ideas in the following thread:
Please feel free to ask questions in that thread as well.
Thank you!
The Withering 2.0.0.6 Update
The Withering 2.0.0.6 update is now live!
General Information
Hello everybody! The new update for the 2.0 version has been released earlier today and in this announcement I would like to go over some of the new features that I introduce with this update as well as talk about some of the things coming in the next update.
New Camp Elements
The camp management interface has been expanded with the new features. Players now have access to manage the Living Quarters, Workshop and Marketplace. Each of these camp structures now produce different types of goods and Living Quarters now produce population recruits.
Each structure's output item is governed by different stats of the structure. Players can now construct addons to increase structure's productivity and gain better output items.
Additional structures will be added in the future updates.
City Map Expansion
The free roam City map has been expanded in this update and an entire section of the Skyway underpass is now available for exploration and scavenging. There are several areas in the city that are currently reserved for future feature deployments.
The Horde
A new enemy type is joining the game, and players will now encounter groups of infected roaming the streets.
What Comes Next
For the next update I am focusing on the Camp Management features and Free Roam city map construction. The camp management gameplay elements will be expanded with new features like missions, diplomacy and camp reputation related expansions.
Feedback
Please leave your thoughts, feedback and ideas in the following thread:
Please feel free to ask questions in that thread as well.
Gaining Access to BETA
Please note that this update is for the game's BETA branch only. To gain access to the BETA branch please follow the steps below:
1) In the Steam game library right click The Withering and select properties
2) In the properties window, switch to BETAS tab on top
3) Enter gimmebetapls in beta access code and click on Check Code
4) Select the Public Beta Branch from the drop down menu and allow Steam to download the new build
If you do not see the Public Beta Branch, please make sure you entered the code correctly.
Thank you!
The Withering 2.0 - Development Update #2
Hello everybody!
It's the end of a very busy week again and I wanted to introduce some of my new friends to you!
The Horde
As you probably know, in the next update I plan to add the infected enemies back into the mix. And I would like to share the development update with you.
The development is going very well and I was able to implement new infected enemies and AI functionality this week, as well as continue the expansion of the city map.
The infected enemies AI and spawn system allows for the same functionality as the other enemy types in the game. It is being optimized for performance and internal testing are showing very good results so far.
The new infected enemy models are also optimized for rendering performance. This optimization in combination of the AI and other optimizations will allow for a greater number of enemies to be spawned throughout the game environment.
I will try to record and post a gameplay video with the new infected enemies and my commentary sometime next week.
The next development steps will include the expansion of the events system to include new event types involving new enemies ,city environment expansion and spawn system expansion for the new enemy types.
Feedback
Please leave your thoughts, feedback and ideas in the following thread:
Please feel free to ask questions in that thread as well.
Thank you!
The Withering 2.0.0.5 Update
The Withering 2.0.0.5 update is now live!
General Information
Hello everybody! Another update for the 2.0 is here and we are going steady according to the schedule. New features are coming in and the map is being expanded with every update.
Random Events
With this update I am introducing the new events system that will manage the randomly generated events across the map. With this system in place I will be able to build new types of events and easily implement them into the game with future updates.
These events will randomly spawn across the environment and players will get a notification message when one of these events is nearby. Once you receive the notification, be on a lookout for a red signal flare smoke. There will be multiple types of events: random resources, infestations, rescue, boss fights and so on.
Each type of event will yield different loot. For example a resource cache event might hold medical supplies, military supplies or a large component cache. Other events will offer better gear drops, special components, etc.
City Map Expansion
The free roam City map has been expanded in this update and I estimate it is now about 45% of the final size. A large portion of the Skyway underpass is now available for exploration and scavenging.
What Comes Next
I am planning to release the next update by Aug 31 as it was scheduled. With that update I will be introducing the new infected enemies and gameplay elements such as infestation events. In addition, the update will bring the camp gameplay back into the beta with new functionality.
Feedback
Please leave your thoughts, feedback and ideas in the following thread:
Please feel free to ask questions in that thread as well.
Gaining Access to BETA
Please note that this update is for the game's BETA branch only. To gain access to the BETA branch please follow the steps below:
1) In the Steam game library right click The Withering and select properties
2) In the properties window, switch to BETAS tab on top
3) Enter gimmebetapls in beta access code and click on Check Code
4) Select the Public Beta Branch from the drop down menu and allow Steam to download the new build
If you do not see the Public Beta Branch, please make sure you entered the code correctly.
Thank you!
The Withering 2.0.0.4 Update
The Withering 2.0.0.4 update is now live!
General Information
Hello everybody! I will keep this announcement short and to the point. In this update I am introducing a section the new City map for players to explore as well as the latest version of the character controller.
Important Information
The purpose of this release is to primarily gather the feedback from the players in regards to the controller mechanics and the new map performance. The map has been optimized for this build, however, this is not a final optimization pass. Once the map has been fully constructed it will undergo additional optimizations. Also, I will expand the player options to allow more detailed graphic settings for players to adjust for different systems.
The city map construction is going very well and on schedule. The new environment is by far less demanding than in the previous 1.x version of the game, and the memory consumption has been optimized.
The city map will be expanded in the next update and new random events will become available in the city free roam.
Current build controller has been expanded to work with the new character stats system and the new HUD system. Currently there is only melee and primary weapons available to players. Secondary and Sidearm weapons will be added in the future updates.
Additional controller functionality will also be added and current features will be expanded down the road.
Feedback
Please leave your thoughts, feedback and ideas in the following thread:
Please feel free to ask questions in that thread as well.
Gaining Access to BETA
Please note that this update is for the game's BETA branch only. To gain access to the BETA branch please follow the steps below:
1) In the Steam game library right click The Withering and select properties
2) In the properties window, switch to BETAS tab on top
3) Enter gimmebetapls in beta access code and click on Check Code
4) Select the Public Beta Branch from the drop down menu and allow Steam to download the new build
If you do not see the Public Beta Branch, please make sure you entered the code correctly.
Thank you!
The Withering 2.0 - Development Update
Hello everybody!
It's been a very busy week and I am very happy with the results! I am slightly ahead of the estimated schedule with the development and the end result is better than I have anticipated!
I would like to share a few things with you on what was achieved in the past couple of weeks as well the plans for the near future.
Environment and HUD
The player HUD development was completed. HUD now fully functioning with the new player stats system and weapon display.
The following screenshots were taken from the new game environment that will become a part of the Withering 2.0 city map.
Let's break it down a little bit. One of the major changes in 2.0 is the scale of the map. If we look at the buildings in the distance, they are over one thousand game units away from the character. Now to put it in perspective, the largest map in 1.x is currently Upper St.Claire section of the city. St.Claire is built on a 500x500 game units map. What we see on the screenshot above is twice the size of an entire St.Claire map.
Let's talk a little bit about performance and optimization. I was able to develop a more advanced level design approach that allows for the same amount of details to be implemented while costing less resources. This also allowed for a larger scale construction. In addition, new features were developed such as cloth behavior emulation is now controlled via shaders rather than physics engine, and as such will reduce the processing cost and increase an overall performance. New improvements were also implemented for particle systems and other gameplay elements.
My initial internal testing yielded a much better results in comparison to the 1.x build. This testing was done BEFORE the major optimizations are applied. I am expecting an even better results once the map is fully constructed and optimized.
Development Roadmap
In the light of the latest development and testing, I am now able to adequately estimate the development road map for the Withering 2.0 up until the merge into the main branch.
July 03 - July 16
Aggressive city map construction work
July 16th - Patch Rollout
July 17 - July 31
City map construction
Random events development
July 31 - Patch Rollout
Aug 1 - Aug 15
City map construction
Infected enemies development
Aug 16 - Aug 31
City map construction
Camp interface expansion
Camp mechanics development
Aug 31 - Patch Rollout
Sep 1 - Sep 15
City map construction
Camp interface expansion
Camp mechanics development
Sep 15 - Sep 30
City map construction
Item database expansion
Crafting mechanics expansion
Sep 30 - Patch Rollout
Oct 1 - Oct 15
Polishing and fine-tuning of game mechanics
Preparation for main branch merge
Oct 15 - Oct 20 - Main branch merge!
I will be posting a detailed announcements per engagement.
Feedback
Please leave your thoughts, feedback and ideas in the following thread:
Please feel free to ask questions in that thread as well.
Thank you!
The Withering 2.0.0.3 Update
The Withering 2.0.0.3 update is now live!
General Information
Hello everybody! In this update I am introducing the new combined character controller into the gameplay. The new functionality consists of all three previously separate controller states, unarmed, melee and gunplay. The new controller functionality now combines all three states into one.
In addition, the new controller now fully supports the coexistence of the 2.0 character / item stats system. This introduces an enormous verity to the gameplay. As well as opens the door to additional features that will further expand the gameplay elements for the players.
The demo scene has been adjusted and players can now engage in both melee and gunfight combat with enemies being re-spawned across the map.
Important Information
Currently there are several elements still being developed for the new controller. The ability to switch directly between Melee state and Gunplay state is one of them. Players are still able to do that with the current controller version, but it requires to switch the combat mode off and on again.
The controller functionality will be expanded in the next update and it will fully support the direct transition between these states. As well as a fully functioning HUD. The new HUD will reflect the character vital stats such as health, stamina and fatigue, as well as have a fully detailed weapon display functionality.
Melee combat stats
With this new update, melee combat is being expanded to support the weapon stats. Each melee weapon now has combat stats such as damage, critical hit chance and critical hit damage. In addition, the heavy strikes now deal higher damage to enemies.
The melee combat mechanic has been upgraded to fully support these stats or any stats that will be added down the road.
Firearms combat stats
In addition to the melee stats expansion, the gunplay mechanic has been upgraded as well. Several firearm weapons have been added to the game and players can try them out in the demo scene.
Each firearm now has the following stats that have been fully integrated in the gameplay mechanic:
# Damage
# Critical Hit Chance
# Critical Hit Damage Multiplier
# Accuracy
# Stability
The last two stats work together to introduce an additional weapon control mechanic into the gameplay. Accuracy is governing the precision of each shot. Each following shot will be slightly less accurate as the weapon kicks, and this is where Stability weapon stat will dictate how fast the accuracy will be regained. For example, firing a long burst with a fully automatic weapon will suffer accuracy penalty with each shot. But bursts with a short pause between them will allow the weapon to be stabilized and suffer less accuracy penalty. Stability is critical for both, automatic and semi automatic weapons.
Next Update Planned Features
In the next update I plan to have the new controller functionality to be fully implemented and finalized.
The new player HUD will be added.
The construction of the new playable environment will begin.
Feedback
Please leave your thoughts, feedback and ideas in the following thread:
