First things first, hope y'all got through this year and kept your sanity. Secondly, thank you so much for being patient with us this whole time. This update is taking super long. Much much longer than we expected but I got some good news for you.
The estimated release of the Combat Update is mid-January 2021. HOWEVER, as we do realize that the update is taking too damn long already, it is possible to play it right now!
Combat Update on Preview Branch
The Combat Update is available on the Preview Branch and you can play it right now! Just keep in mind that this is a testing branch so not everything is going to be working optimally yet.
What's the Preview Branch?
The Preview Branch is where we will post upcoming updates (like this one) before they get officially released on the Main Branch so you can help us test the new features if you want to.
How to Switch to Preview Branch?
It's really simple actually, here's how:
don't make fun of my humble Steam library
Got more questions regarding the Preview Branch?
You might find your answer in the frequently asked questions here. If not feel free to ask below.
What to Expect
Reworked Combat
We basically reworked combat from the ground up since it was the weakest point of the game. Bullet drop, recoil, aiming down sights, better sound effects, and much more have been added to make combat more immersive and fun.
New Weapons
A lot of you requested something for long-range as well as something light with a high fire rate. So check out the brand new sniper rifle and SMG!
Reworked COG Units
New visuals, weapons, voices, sound effects, and behavior. The only thing we didn't change is their name.
New Turrets
You will be able to secure your precious base with 6 different types of turrets.
Armor
Armor up with 3 different types of armor.
Co-op Features
Last but not least, the ability to armor up, heal, and even revive crewmates is also coming.
Full Patch Notes
You can find the full patch notes on the "Preview Branch" forum here.
Estimated Release
The current plan is to polish the Combat Update during the holidays based on your feedback from the Preview Branch. And if things don't completely fall apart, the official release of the Combat Update will be mid-January 2021.
That being said, the team and I would like to wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Your support this year was nothing short of amazing and as we often say in our private dev group (to keep y'all humble), you are the best community we could ever ask for.
~ Rich and the other weirdos
Join the community on Discord Follow us on Twitter and/or Instagram for more sneak peeks and updates
It's been some time since the Co-op Update was released and we understand that not everyone is following us on our social media where I post sneak peeks and other short-form updates.
So here's some news about the upcoming update mainly for folks that follow us only here! But don't worry, even if you follow us everywhere (stalker alert), I'm still going to include things I haven't leaked anywhere else yet.
Next update = Combat update?
That's right! The majority of the feedback after the Co-op Update mentioned the state of combat. Seeing that, we decided to make combat the top priority and dedicate this next update to improving all aspects of it.
DISCLAIMER: Keep in mind that many things are still unfinished/placeholder-ish and will look different when the update releases.
Here's what we've been working on
First Person Animations
The 1st person view is no longer just a static hand with a gun. Anything you do will trigger some kind of response from the player model. We spent a lot of time analyzing these "immersive effects" in other games. There are still tons of adjustments to do, but the system is done and now it’s just about tweaking the values.
Improved Shooting & Projectiles
One of the biggest community complaints was about the hit-scan shooting. All weapons are now projectile-based with recoil, bullet drop, muzzle velocity, and many more features that you're used to from other games. This includes the ability to hip fire or aim down-sights.
Reworked COG Units
Some of you might remember when I shared the old concepts for improved COG units a few months back. Well, the time has come and COGs will be getting a major facelift along with a new brain (smarter behavior). Since they're getting smarter they will be able to use a larger array of new weapons to cause you all kinds of trouble. Defending your drillship or attacking theirs won't be as straight forward anymore.
Apart from that, COGs won't be hit-scan shooting anymore either and their aim won't be as perfect too. We are also working on audio clues for them to signal things like spotting you, losing you, being idle, and so on.
New Drillship Turret(s)
The long-awaited new turret is finally making an appearance and it's even better than what you hoped for! Because we are not going to add just one new turret but a whole bunch of them! These will even out your chances against attacks from the now smarter, better equipped, and noisier COGs.
Armor
One of the biggest issues in combat was that you couldn't increase your health as the game got more challenging. So to solve that, basic armor is being added to increase your chances against tougher enemies. However, it is not the planned "power armor" suit yet but more of a bulletproof vest. The "power armor" suit is planned for a later update.
Co-op Focused Features
As the enemies get tougher, proper teamwork will be even more necessary. That's why we're adding the ability to heal or revive your crewmates. Being able to drop items like you're used to from other survival games is also happening.
Other things I should mention...
We expanded our team even more recently, which forced us to update our project management systems but everything seems to be working better than ever now. Our concept artist, for example, is already able to work on things for future updates wasting no time.
Why is this important? Well, it should really help with the long delays between each update since a lot of the work is being done in advance. Here's one of the things he's working on:
Last thing the team wanted me to mention is that maybe not all of these features will make it in this update. We are very aware that this update is taking way too long... again, so if some feature starts being overly complicated, we will push it into the next update. Still, the combat focus of this update stands, and I'm sure most of these will make it in.
And that's all for now. Thank you so much for your amazing support! Let us know what you think and if you have any questions, leave them below or ping me on Discord.
It has proven to be very effective to go medieval on COGs in certain situations.
But do you know what would be even more effective? Going medieval with something that was actually designed for chopping off rusty robot parts rather than mining. And that's where you come in.
Submit your melee weapon ideas in our Discord server and we will pick a few of our favorite ones. After that, you guys will be able to vote which one of those will make it in the upcoming update and the person that submitted the winning weapon will get to name it as well.
You can submit your melee weapon ideas in our Discord server until this Friday, July 24 and the chance to vote will come shortly after.
Hey everyone, the Summer Sale is here again and Volcanoids is joining the annual wallet massacre with a 25% discount!
I know that many of you already own the game and in that case, now's a great time to recruit friends for your crew so you can commandeer drillships, survive eruptions, bathe in lava and fight robots together.
Latest major update
For anybody checking our progress after a long time, the most recent major update was the Co-op Update released on May 20 (roughly a month ago). This update added the highly requested co-op multiplayer, new devices, new items, and some QOL improvements. If this update flew under your radar, check out the trailer below.
[previewyoutube="nkKnscKinQA;full"]
Cool, what's next?
When going through your feedback after the Co-op Update we agreed that the thing that needs the most attention right now is combat in general. So the next major update is going to revolve around that. Here are some sneak peeks of what's coming.
Disclaimer: everything you'll see below is a work in progress
New enemy units
Friendly and not so friendly.
Default unit visual overhaul
New look, new guns.
Player will get some love too, don't worry
New weapons, new and improved first-person animations and more player-related goodies are in the pipeline as well.
There aren't many sneak peeks of this right now but once we have something, we'll share it on our social media channels, so keep your eyes peeled there.
Hey y'all! We released a new update focused solely on fixing, optimizing, and changing things based on the feedback we got from you since the Co-op Update. Check out the full changelog below to see if that annoying bug you told us about got fixed!
What's New
Full Changelog
Improvements
Quests now correctly handle missing devices/modules
Items are now moved into player inventory when deconstructing chests
Items in production are returned when deconstructing stations and worktables
Optimizations
Major drillship movement & deploy optimizations
Quest UI rendering optimization
Cog AI minor optimizations
Other minor optimizations
Fixes
Major occlusion culling fixes
Achievements now work properly on clients
Cogs now use a ladder properly after load
Minor networking fixes and improvements
Better system of password protection
Fixed issue with multiplayer lobbies
Fixed submerging lever not updating to drillship position
Fixed disappearing doors in drillship segments
Items no longer get lost when canceling production
Fixed issue with missing roof module that caused a hole in the ceiling
Items are no longer lost if player deconstructs mounted chest
Watch new trailers, teasers and tutorials on YouTube
As always thank you so much for your feedback and continuous support! If you haven't yet make sure to follow us on social media as we share sneak peeks of upcoming features pretty much daily now. Take care everyone!
What a ride it has been towards the release of this update, wow! First of all, we would like to thank you all for the amazing support during the build-up to this update, you know it means the world to us!
Now, let's move on to the main reason we're here, the Co-op Update. From now on you will be able to crew up with up to 3 other friends to commandeer drillships, scavenge, build, fight and survive together! Apart from the new co-op mode, there are also new worktables, bunk beds, items, and other improvements we made based on your feedback. We are also celebrating this update release with a 25% discount!
Check out the brand new trailer for this update below:
[previewyoutube="nkKnscKinQA;full"]
What's New
Co-op Multiplayer
To play the new co-op mode all you need to do is choose one person that will be hosting the game and take on the role of the crew captain - ideally, the one that has the strongest PC, since it has to manage everything. Once the game starts, others can join through the "join game" screen and start playing. Quests are completely synchronized within the crew, so everyone can take part in managing the drillship systems, fighting COGs, or gathering resources.
For now, the crew can own only own one drillship but that will change in future updates. Crew captain is the only person that can save/load the game. If the captain decides to end the game, it will also disconnect all the other players. Any new player that joins the game will spawn directly to the drillship, or into the submarine in case the crew has not claimed one yet (or lost one).
New Worktables
New devices were added to the beginning of the game to make the learning curve smoother for new players. Submarine and the starter drillship have been updated with research and refinery worktables working as standalone devices, meaning they don't need any other modules, storage, or energy to work. This means that players have more time to learn about all the advanced module systems.
The Boiler
Drillships were also equipped with a main panel placed at the front wall called "the boiler". The boiler gives access to all essential controls and information that is needed to successfully operate the drillship.
Player Respawn
Death is no longer an issue in both single and multiplayer games. You will simply respawn back in the submarine or a drillship if your crew owns one. When you get killed, a backpack with inventory will be dropped on the ground. You must act fast because it can get easily destroyed by the eruption or the COG drillships can carry it away in case you died in one.
In cases you unexpectedly leave a multiplayer game, your character will stay in the game for approximately five minutes (we may or may not added a silly emote when this happens). In this time, you can still log back in and continue where you stopped, unless your character gets killed by COGs or the eruption. After the time runs out your character will die and all the loot will be dropped on the ground in a backpack.
Bunk Beds
The new bunk beds play an important role in multiplayer. You can log off through them, and safely store all your inventory while your character is sleeping. So next time you log in, you will have all your stuff, and since the bed moves with the drillship, you won't have to catch up to your crew.
Full Changelog
Main Features
Co-op multiplayer
Quests are synchronized within all crew members
Player respawn (Single and Multiplayer games)
Refinery and research worktables
Schematics (different way of upgrading production in drillship)
Multiplayer screen for managing players in-game (kick/ban)
Custom logo accessible from the main menu
Major Changes
Players no longer have one life, they respawn either in drillship or submarine after death
All production stations now allow queue for crafting
Changed submarine interior to contain only starter technology (no modules)
Changed starter drillship interior to contain only starter technology (no modules)
Changed tech tree
Updated questline
Engine upgrades no longer require Core upgrade of the same level to be installed
Changed loot spawned in COG drillships
Other Changes
Adjusted audio throughout the whole game
Player now takes one stack of item from online storage by default (no longer taking whole coal storage - Shift = 1 item, CTRL 5 items, CTRL+Shift All items )
Updated research icons to better show what is crafted and from what - Suggested by TheFireDragon on Nolt
Updated scrap recipes to better reflect what happens with the item
Scrap metal and destroyed modules can be picked up without the need to use the pickaxe to mine them (press E)
Increased chest storage size
Increased front drillship storage capacity
Increased storage capacity in T2 and T3 Storage modules
Pickaxe is mining slower
COG respawn tube has higher HP
Bug Fixes
Optimizations at all levels
Fixed navigation issues in quests
Chests and devices are now properly saved on the submarine
Players can't accidentally downgrade their drillship anymore
Watch new trailers, teasers and tutorials on YouTube
Thank you so much again for your support and patience! Hope you have a blast with the new update and if you have any questions/feedback you know where to find us.
Hey! Would you like to play Co-op with your buddies before it gets released?
We're looking for 10-15 crews of 4 players that would stress test the Co-op mode.
We also got some special rewards prepared for the most helpful crew.
If you think your crew has what it takes (prepare to face unexpected bugs and glitches) head to our Discord server for more info and registration.
And if you're missing some crewmates, you will surely find them in our Discord as well.
Crews will be picked on Sunday, April 26th so hurry up!
~ Volcanoids Dev Squad
Development Update: Co-op is upon us!
Hey! Long time no see so here's another Development Update covering most of the things we did in the past few months. But before we get to that, we hope you're all doing fine and staying safe in these weird times. We are. The only thing that changed for us is that we had to move back in our apartments, so back to how things were before Early Access. Now we got that out of the way, let's get to the new stuff!
What's Coming
Co-op Multiplayer
Many new features and devices were added to support the drillship "crew life". Co-op in Volcanoids will be about operating the drillship and managing tasks together as a team. One player will be able to drive the ship, while the others set up production stations, spy through the periscope or create new items before the ship hits the surface.
Friends that get caught off guard by the eruption or a group of COGs and lose the fight will also lose their loot. However, they can quickly re-join the crew by respawning directly in the drillship.
Bunk Beds
To support the idea of group progress, players can log off in the new bunk beds that work as a safe point. Now, even though you're offline and all your friends are still playing, you're still going to travel with them since the bed is placed in a mobile base. And once you log in again you will be back with your crew right away, even if they progressed to a completely different part of the map.
Simplified start of the game
Based on feedback from the community and content creators the crafting system got a rework. The start of the game is now focused on being more gradual in terms of introducing new devices and systems. All the different modules, levers and buttons right from the start were often overwhelming for many players.
So from now on, players will start with basic crafting stations similar to other survival games and will be gradually introduced to modules later. We hope this makes the first experience for new players way more enjoyable and removes the frustration of having no idea what all the different buttons do while also getting stressed out by the upcoming eruption.
Some of the new content is still "work in progress" when it comes to visuals, and will be until we finish all the technical parts. For now, we are going with the sailor character, that will get improved in upcoming updates.
Content for future updates
Co-op is now at a stage where we just keep polishing and bug-fixing stuff, so to make sure everyone has something to do, artists (more on that later) started working on assets that will be added to the game in future updates after the Co-op update gets released.
Improved COG unit models
Volcanoids veterans will remember the raw models of new COG units teased on the roadmap some time ago. Now they are getting complete rework by Alex.
New front drills
Extra work also went also into designing new front drills, that would better reflect installed upgrades. It's based on community feedback where a lot of players got confused about which drillship has the upgrade they are looking for. There are more models to come, each representing a specific front drill upgrade.
New Locations
Lastly, more locations to explore are also in the pipeline such as these (drill)shipwrecks.
The Team
New team members
Since the Co-op Update is a huge task, more people have joined the team. The ultimate goal is to bring you more content with each update, and since there is only so much a developer can do, growing the team is the only way to achieve that. There are so many great ideas from the community and concepts that still need to be added and this will make the process faster.
Now let me introduce our new members! Alex is in charge of 3D modeling and animation. David focuses on audio design and his first task was to get rid of all the ear destroying sounds many players pointed out. Dusan and Tomas have been testing like crazy for the last couple of weeks, trying to catch them all! (bugs not pokemons)
Watch new trailers, teasers and tutorials on YouTube
We would like to thank YOU big time for all the support and patience you guys have with us. Stay tuned, more news coming soon! If you have any questions, ideas or feedback, feel free to let us know in the comments below.
