Greetings Pioneers!

This week the team have been working on all new server host options for the experimental branch, allowing you to change settings and launch a server based on those settings, including setting a custom day-night cycle length and a whole bunch of other requested features! We’ve also been testing the scanner with the balancing for all the new materials, compounds and components. In addition to this we’ve been looking at the weapon tweaking we did earlier in the week and the modular weapons are feeling much more balanced.

Here’s what the team has been up to:

John – Lead Designer

This week I’ve been discussing potential new mining and Kinetic Blast mechanics as well as overseeing Lauren and Matt’s continued work on the introduction sequence. I also managed to get through a complete balancing pass over all of the stats for our modular weapons – tweaking and changing to get them feeling unique, believable and combat-ready! *tchk-tchk – BOOM*

Matt – Art Director

Some say I’m like a human solar panel, absorbing the rays of the sun in order to output my artistic energy.

Some say I can manipulate those rays into pixels of light on any computer screen.

I say those people are wrong. What I have actually been doing is crafting different level visual versions for the Eden Kit which will see their way into the game soon!

Lee – Technical Director

So this week I have managed to get some time on spawning AI inside the Colony bases. We plan to have some bases which are more strongly defended than others because they contain better loot.

Tristan – Senior Developer

This week I have been looking at creating a new charged blast module/upgrade. It’s quite fun even without any of the visual aspects so it should be even better once we get those in.

Ricky – Developer

Game Setting menu with configurable game settings has been the cards for this week, along with stopping the AI attacking the player while in the deployment UI which needed a bit of rejigging.

So we are including this new Game Settings menu which will allow you to tweak multiple settings of the game before you start. We are additionally looking into launching servers with these custom game settings from within game too and sorting some of the server logic out with regards to usability.

Yves – Senior Developer

Coming very close to wrapping up the feature end of network replication optimizations, next week will be begin the journey of fixing all of the things that this new feature would definitely have broken.

Marcin – Designer

I’ve been working very closely with Ricky on multiple Interface elements these past few days. Along with the new set of materials, we’ve done a pass on the Scanner Info and we added a new shiny highlight effect that goes with it too.

In addition to that, as Ricky has mentioned, we’ve been working on the view Game Settings feature, which will let you change most of the general balancing values in order to customise your game to your liking. That will include both single and multiplayer experience. Please keep in mind that the feature is brand new and it may change drastically before official release.

Joe – Environment Artist

I’ve been working on art for a few new base-specific decorators for placement in the abandoned compounds. With the upcoming release I’ve been hammering through bugs too, including highlights such as walking fish and finding thousands of rounds of ammo in crates. I’ve made a bunch of minor tweaks and fixes bases on all your feedback on the forums, so keep it coming 🙂

Tom – Character Artist

I’ve been working on the high-res model of a particularly nasty critter that will be lurking in a Swamp near you sometime soon…

Lauren – Animator

This week along with various meetings I have been continuing with the animation for the introduction sequence, which is coming along nicely!

Simone – Concept Artist

I’ve been working on the interior view for the drop pod having two different variants – a clean version and destroyed version. Also I have been making sure that all the armour sets have a base colour version ready for when Tom can start modelling them.

Andy – Lead QA

This week, as with last, I have been focused on the balancing of the minerals and weapons. Along with the balancing I have been looking at the issues you have listed on steam and in particular I have been attempting to reproduce an issues a few of you guys have been having with claimed turrets attacking you.

See you in the fray!

-Team Flix