Update EA 1.2.3 is Live! Terrain Optimizations Complete!
This update includes the terrain optimizations and other bug fixes and QoL improvements, you can see the patch notes here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/342910/discussions/0/1652169858535956404/
I have finally completed the terrain optimizations! Terrain is no longer loaded from client files, and is streamed from the server directly into client memory. You should hopefully experience a performance boost when loading into the game, and walking around in the world! This took a little longer than I expected as I was dealing with game engine rendering as well. ( Gotta be careful with that code :) )
With this update complete, my next task is going to be working on "breaking down" item mechanics. For example breaking down larger rocks into smaller rocks, larger hides into smaller hides, etc...
Update EA 1.2.2 is Live!
This update fixes many small issues with terraforming and shovels, and adds a couple of quality of life improvements. It also fixes crafting with liquids, and fixes the item crafting lock issue.
This update also starts the process of me removing the client-side terrain files from the game, as well as the access of them. There is no change that you will see with this update, but hopefully in the next update there will be no more file access to terrain on the client side. All terrain data will be streamed and accessed from the server which will hopefully improve performance on the client as well!
Update EA 1.2.1 is Live!
This update adds a few quality of life enhancements, tweaks, and fixes for the new content that was recently released "Hearth and Home".
I am charging through my development list quite quickly and it feels good! The "Hearth and Home" content update seems to have gone very smoothly and everything looks good!
I am really looking forward to the next iterations of content and optimizations.
The patch notes can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/342910/discussions/0/1771511442678766329/
"Hearth and Home" Is Live! [Update EA 1.2.0]
I am happy to announce that "Hearth and Home" if finally live! You can find the Patch Notes, which give a more in-depth description of all the content, here:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/342910/discussions/0/1839063537787459904/
This update was an incredible amount of work :) More than I expected, but it was all worth it. Aside from all the large, new buildings, I finally put the permanent terrain deformation into the game which was one of the final game play mechanics I planned to put into the game for a very long time!.
There is a full in-game tutorial section describing how the terrain deformation works in the tutorial window.
Many new game play elements were added into the game, including pre-placing craft objects, so you can see what they will look like in the world before you craft them. "Infinite" usable resources like snow and mud. And of course dynamic terrain loading and real-time terrain manipulation.
Again, this is a large update, and I will working on tweaking the mechanics and making them better. So of course let me know of any suggestions you may have.
Its time to build create some amazing villages! Have fun!
Final Testing for "Hearth and Home" Next Week!
I have finally done all of the work to implement all of the game play mechanics for all the new content for the "Hearth and Home" expansion. The amount of work I needed to do was quite a bit more then I was expecting so adding the content to the game took a little longer than expected. I had to add more items and game mechanics then I expected to, so sorry for that!
But I will begin doing the final tests next week and hopefully release the content soon after that! For now my initial tests seem to be great! No major issues at all.
I will of course keep you updated! But for now, my brain needs to sleep... :)
Announcing: Permanent Terrain Deformation for "Hearth and Home"!
I am happy to announce that the initial implementation of permanent terrain deformation in the game will be coming in the "Hearth and Home" content!
With this, you can use a "shovel" tool to either raise or lower the terrain in the game. This will allow you to shape your homestead or village land into something more useful and to more accentuate your living area and create flatter farmland.
You can also level out the land to place larger structures.
Shaping the terrain of course will take some time, and you can only shape it to a certain angle (you cannot build "spikey" mountains, and cannot dig down to the depths of hell ;) ).
However, you will be able to create some very nice layouts for your new hovels in the next update!
When this releases in the update, please keep in mind this is only the first iteration of the terrain deformation mechanics. Implementing this was very complex and I will continue to develop it. But I really want people to start playing around with it!
With this finally completed, after a little bit of cleanup work on the terrain deformation code, the last step is the actual implementation of the houses! Each house has a unique way of being built, some with their own unique resources that needed to be harvested (snow for an igloo for example). So I will be working on these next. I am working as quick as I can to get this content out, but there is a lot of work to it :)
Stay tuned!
"Hearth and Home" In-game Content Images!
I am happy to finally show you the newest artwork for the new "Hearth and Home" content that will come out soon.
Here are a few images showing some of the many houses and hovels that you can build, as well as a new fire animation which replaces my horrible programmer art version!
There is still a bit of work I need to do, including adding the new game play mechanic I was talking about to you before. I will of course keep you updated as I continue to work!
You can also see a video of the content here: https://youtu.be/q_sFJWhatxo
Also, if you notice, there is a primitive igloo and desert hogans you can build. You may be wondering "How can I build that when snow and sand are not resources in the game yet?" Well I will talk about that later after I have done a bit more work ;)
Up and Running for the New Year!
It took a little while longer, but I finally have my new computer set up and ready to go! I am looking forward to all the new development I will be doing, and hopefully I am now capable of doing some tutorial videos, and live Twitch streams in the near future, now that I have a computer that can do it.
The artists are working on the new art assets right now. And I will be working on a new large game-play mechanic that will work with the new content!
After this new content update is completed, the longer term plan of development is go to back to content creation. As in adding more professions, as well as a lot of items , skills and crafts for those professions.
Stay tuned!
Vantage Early Access Update 1.1.4 is Live!
This update hopefully solves several issues with server stability and game performance. And fixes a couple of inventory issues. You can look at the patch notes for more info here:
I also want to let you know that the artists have begun working on the "Hearth and Home" assets! I will give you some sneak previews of the new content as soon as I can!
Also, I am finally getting a new computer soon. With this I will hopefully be able to record some good game play videos and tutorials, as well as hopefully do some live streams of the game! I am looking forward to this!
"Hearth and Home" Content Announced!
I am happy to finally announce that a new set of content is being worked on which I call "Hearth and Home"! This content will add large houses of many various types to the game. These houses and hovels are also based on specific biomes of the world (desert, tundra, forest etc..) on which they will be easier to build on those areas, and some can *only* be built in those areas also!
Unfortunately the artists were not able to send any images for this content at this time, but after the holidays I hope to show you how this content will look in the game. So these images are only reference images.
In addition to the houses, there will also be a new, much nicer fire model in the game (replacing my horrible "programmer art" version!) As well as a wood fence you can create around your houses.
With this new content I will also be adding a new game mechanic: "item maintenance"! Very slowly over time objects (mostly large objects like houses) will very slowly degrade over time. You will need to acquire some materials to repair and maintain your houses.
However, this is not meant to be done done on a real-life daily basis, but more on a weekly or monthly basis. This mechanic makes it so you must maintain your house or village, but also this helps to keep game servers fresh and dynamic for players so areas in the world can be used by other players if the original players move on elsewhere in the world, and abandon their current abodes.
So this content will be added in addition to all my other research and development beginning next year as well. I will of course talk about that as well as I begin next year.
I will of course most more information and screenshots as I get them.
Thanks! And Enjoy! Happy Holidays!
