UnderEarth
UnderEarth is Cheaper Now!
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Update #4
Mac Build Released: There may still be some yellow emitter stats on screen in Sierra OS. If you see this, let us know and we will help anyway we can.
Crowbar Bug Fixed: The crowbar will now always be with the player after loading into the last couple of checkpoints (Load Config).
Toolbox Improvements: The toolbox may still be a bit cumbersome to initially pick up, but after that it should “do physics” just fine.
Power Distribution: The Lower Blocks power distribution save state is functional again when loading later checkpoints.
Checkpoint #2 Bug Fixed: The state of the lift that takes you to A1 is force checked upon loading into checkpoint 2.
Particle Max Draw Counts: Have been examined and raised or lowered depending on importance/situation. Some were simply high by default and could be lowered without any visible impact.
Log Bloat: Log files are now limited to under 10MB and will self delete after a nominal period of time after the game is closed.
Killed By Physics: It should be a little harder to kill yourself by flinging around heavy objects… but if you really want to, I am sure you still can.
As always, please let us know if you encounter any bug/issues with the game and we will help you (as long as it is not the issue of “This game is too hard and you guys suck.”) any way we can.
Happy new year!
Respectfully,
-CrackerJack Team
UPDATE#3 Optimize
Optimization Pass:
This update addresses some framerate issues on lower end machines and improves framerate consistency all around.
Culling distances and size adjustments have been made to occlude rendering of smaller to medium sized objects when the player is out of range.
Particle emitters have had their max draw distances further reduced to be sure that they are only being drawn if it is possible for the player to see them.
Audio/sound cues have had their attenuation further adjusted to fix one sound effect specifically but to also address indoor and outdoor sound bleed.
Respectfully,
CrackerJack Team
Updated #2: Launcher/Website
Made some changes to the UELauncher. Added a “Tips” section and title to the readme file icon and a link to the Valvorta company website (you can just click on the Valvorta logo) which can provide more information about the game’s world. We added/are adding some extra material on there as well, so check it out as a primer to the game’s story.
Respectfully,
Joseph & Joseph & the CrackerJack team
Patches Incoming
This first patch contains numerous bug fixes and VR tweaks. On the VR side, specifically, the performance of the game is more stable. The text has been made more legible and some of the inadvertent camera shake has been decreased.
The text's font and color were victims of the Oculus' widescreen resolution, and caused the text to sometimes be difficult to make out, particularly for scanning objects. For those that have tried the game with Oculus enabled, we are sorry we overlooked this.
This is the first of a wave of updates planned for this year. We've gotten a great amount of feedback from players, and while not altering the game design itself, we do wish to improve user-experience. If anyone has any feedback, you can submit it here on the Steam store page or contact us directly though info@crackerjackgamesllc.com
Respectfully,
Joseph & Joseph & the CrackerJack team
[Img] http://crackerjackgamesllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Update1.png [/Img]
(No Longer) UnderWraps
It didn’t take long for us to see some videos online that sent us reaching for our collars. We jumped to fixing anything we caught as possible, serious issues, and then hoped the rest would be overlooked. Our game hasn’t yet gotten its 15 seconds in the spotlight and yet early reviews revealed rough edges. These wear away at a developer’s serenity. We thought as long as there was no game breaking bugs, we could move on to the next thing, but we still have some anxieties about someone not enjoying our game or feeling like we were trying to pull a fast one, only showing our best and hiding our weaknesses.
So, in the spirit of solidarity, we will highlight our game’s weaknesses to add a (albeit strange) footnote to the press releases, websites and Steam updates.
1.) Too many cooks: Some models lack continuity (a handful of 3rd party models with varying resolutions, incorrect lightmaps, switched lead artists a year in, etc.)
2.) Lack of consistent player feedback loops (during multi-layered puzzles, new navigation points, etc.)
3.) VR compatibility with newer runtimes
4.) Poor planning lead to a huge crunch time which lead to a flawed release (had to rush to fix post release bugs)
5.) Sound design was not taken seriously (“I know how to do sound design!”-Joseph Wilhems)
6.) Physics: “Physics are a hell of a drug. You'll feel real good at first using them, and then things start to get real twitchy, frustrated and bummed out the more involved you get.” –Joseph Marin
Last.) In certain areas, we just didn’t know what we were doing. We knew how to design and develop the product but we didn’t entirely understand how to distribute it through steam or how to end the game… not gameplay/story wise, but what happens at the end of the game. How do we roll credits? Do we just reset the game? Do we boot the players to their desktop/force close the application? It has to end… right? Then came the need to update our VR code to work with the current Oculus runtime (still haven’t fixed as of this posting) because without it we have to downgrade our “Works with Oculus!” to “Functions on Oculus*
*Oculus DK2 with 5.0 runtime installed and in Extend Mode.”
And then the unanswered questions: Why were we able to make a Mac demo that functions but can’t make a full release package that doesn’t crash during its load in? What about a Linux build?
Did we handle immersion correctly… we wanted a game that left, as much as possible, the fourth wall intact. We stood on the shoulders of giants and then wanted to look down on them. “We can make the most immersive experience that any game has! …and now, with VR!” It was a struggle to use the fundamentals set forth by the games we loved and borrowed from while also trying to reimagine them so we could use in our game. “Figure it out as you go” gameplay can be challenging even if (or especially if) the player has experienced loads of games in the last decade.
The end result is UnderEarth. All that it is and everything it isn’t. We approached development of UE as obsessed parents; we were trying to give it every advantage possible while also trying to be progressive enough to generate no downsides and release on time. Now that UE has graduated from our care and guidance, we have to let it stand on its own and hope that we raised a solid member of the gaming industry.
-CJ Team
Minor Patch Updates
I wanted to let you know tht there have been a few small patches. The patches have consisted of extra optimization tweeks, double checking the save functions, and very minor art clean up for some rogue pixels. The main menu has also been redesigned.
These tweaks also fix some of the minor issues that have been mentioned in the forums.
If you run into any issues or something doesn't seem to be functioning correctly please inform in the forums so we can get it corrected.
Thanks everyone and enjoy UnderEarth!!
UnderEarth Tutorial and Gameplay
Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ainEYTEJ2A