Greetings Pioneers!

The shiny new menus and the UI boot sequence for the start of the game have been getting implemented this week. Also this week the energy blade has been making its way back into game under the same format as our new melee system with blocking and parrying. Meanwhile an extra tester joins the team and more critical issues are continuing the be found and fixed up by the dev team.

Here’s what we’ve been up to in more detail:

John – Lead Designer

There has been a revelation, something that I’ve always felt to be true, yet only recently realised it. My children have breathed new passion into me with a new calling, paleontology. I just can’t get enough of uncovering old dinosaur bones. No doubt I’ll get bored of my new found love as soon as I return to the office, where my passion for AAA game making will be rekindled.

Matt – Art Director

The the art team have been focusing on cleaning up any of our blockout models that have existed in the game for quite a while, but unfortunately have not been important enough to receive any love up to this point. We’re also going to be stuck into the process of building smaller structures out of the in game build system which players will be able to pull apart and re-build.

A lot of polish has gone into the UI and menu systems, which has now been fully realised by Joe and Charlottes work. Very much looking forward to showing our new UI intro sequence in game!

Lee – Technical Director

This week I have been looking at some hard to produce bugs because they won’t happen all the time, like occasional clipping of AI through geometry. I’ve also tried to continue to focus on adding polish to the existing AI and making life as easy as possible for designers to add more behaviours.

Tristan – Lead Developer

I’ve been to all corners of the earth, nothing can satisfy my thirst for distant exploration on this globe anymore.. So I’ve taken it upon myself to take a week off to train as an astronaut so me and my partner can go sightseeing on the moon. I fear one day the moon may not satisfy my want for distant travel, and on that day I fear I may not have enough money to get home.

Joe – Lead Artist

I’ve pretty much finished the rework of our menu systems this week, and have been fixing up a few bugs and polishing animations. I have also been working through the “boot sequence” with Charlotte and reviewing various bits and pieces the other guys have been hammering through!

Captain Tom – Designer

Reviewing polish work that is going into the levels which is being driven by Tom Hughes. Bits of directional feedback that should hopefully make a big difference to smaller aesthetic touches.

Tom W – Designer

This week I have been going over the crafting and building designs to make sure you can still build and craft everything from before. Some of this has been changed to some that it has better context for our new raw materials. Also we have a couple for new components to streamline crafting and give components 2 or 3 uses in crafting and building.

Katrine – 3D Artist

Hello gamers! Lately I have been working on other projects here at Flix, however I did have some time for an Eden Star model this week! Say hello to a new fancy H2O Canister! Keeping you hydrated and fresh in the sandy dangerous lands of Eden Star. Top yourself up with at least three litres a day, sprinkled with some oxygen and you should be ready to soldier on.

Tom H – Designer

This week I have been implementing final touches to the AI inside the Dam as well as continuing to polish up these areas from a gameplay perspective, making sure the level design is fluid and clear so players will be able to guide themselves effectively through the Dam. Additionally I have been fixing up the edges of the Map with new rocks and structures, making sure there is no way players can get trapped inside rocks or in crevices. In addition to this I have been polishing up the landscape around these areas and adding in points of interest and rock formations.

James – Environment Artist

Been working on getting the new mineable rocks ready to rock *excuse the pun* along with working on a Satellite Dish to phone home!.

Charlotte – Concept Artist

Boot sequence is starting to really come together, we’re implementing the finishing touches to it at the moment and we’ll hopefully be ready to show it off in all its glory next week!

Ryan – Developer

I have been fixing more crashes and hard to track down bugs this week, these bugs have consisted of anything from tough multiplayer only bugs, to UI/Inventory bugs, duplication bugs and building bugs.

John T – Environment Artist

This week I have been working on getting the dev build tools fully functioning for our new Scrap build set. This will allow us to create new structures with the same mechanics as a player. Also this will allow player the cannibalise and adapt these premade structures as they see fit!

Will H – 3D Artist

I got down with a sickness this week, so not much to report, but I have been continuing to revise the mineral rocks when I can. The previous iteration had too much of a cobblestone look, so we are heading for a more singular, solid form.

Lauren – Lead Animator

The baton and the much loved Energy Blade have been getting some tlc this week, we wanted to bring them in line with the axe in terms of functionality. Now we have the ability to block and parry and now include deflected animations for hitting solid objects.

Andrew H – QA

This week I have been mainly trying to reproduce bugs that needed retesting. Most of which seem to have been resolved which is great.

Been working with Ryan on a game crashing bug, testing to figure out what is the main cause.

I have also dug out a few minor bugs for the team to tuck into.

See you in the fray!

-Team Flix