[h1]DEMO NEWS[/h1] It has been two weeks since we released the demo and we are thrilled with the numbers and positive comments. We are planning to update this demo every two weeks with new features and content. Some updates will be bigger than others. We're also planning smaller Hotfixes in between these regular two weeks updates, especially if there are any game breaking issues. Let me try to sum up the biggest concerns we collected from the demo and try to answer them as much as I can: - The inventory / Chest Bug [FIXED]: This was a game breaking bug after a chest is built and interacted in certain ways. Previous Hotfixes have solved the gamebreaking part of this bug. There are still some glitches that cause some items to disappear from the item bar, but they are not lost. You just need to reassign them from the inventory to the item bar. We're not going to spend more time on this bug as there will be a bigger rework to inventory soon. - Lack of a Save System [ONGOING WORK]: This was a bit more complicated than we first assumed. I totally understand it's a bit frustrating not to have any save system even for a short demo, especially if you run into a bug somewhere along the way. We had to prioritize game breaking bugs first and I really want to ensure the next regular update will include the save system. This is also related to the multiplayer infrastructure and the optimization of multiplayer experience therefore it's normal it's taking a bit more than usual. - UI Communication issues, mostly around Blue Essences [NEEDS DESIGN REWORK]: This wasn't a very common issue, but multiple players reported they didn't understand what is a blue essence and how does it work. We're going to try to collect more feedbacks on this but changing the location they are displayed on the main HUD and adding a tooltip can be an improvement. Maybe along with a bigger tweening animation when you collect essences. We gained lots of new wishlists, surpassing 10K Wishlists. Demo has been downloaded around 5000 times. Demo was played 46 minutes on average, which seems to be quite good with a median play time of 25 minutes. We believe fixing the bugs and adding new content will increase this number further. [h1]NEW FEATURES AND CONTENT[/h1] [h2]Shaders[/h2] We already had a space and water shader before the demo but as we just migrated to a new world generation system just before the demo, we didn't have time to implement the space tiles. Also it was also a good time to rework the older water shader. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42510756/a86941384652f1b3d41cefebde63adf9a0b792aa.gif[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42510756/2ea06d65807114108eaf07b4a8a65f35b3af177d.gif[/img] We also worked a new wind shader that would make the branches of the tree shake a little bit. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42510756/3bef1aeda6ac9e512c611200787c50358ee30471.gif[/img] [h2]Starting Area Objects:[/h2] We felt the need to connect the intro cinematic to the actual game. With these new starting area objects the transition is a bit more seamless. Also it will remind players where they were born when they find the area once again during the game. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42510756/1e741c6928522a441553e7d58e6402bf319f242c.jpg[/img] [h2]Quests:[/h2] Our goal is to give the player lots of quest options to follow. Some of them will be combat oriented some of them will exploration or crafting quests so players can choose the suitable quest for their playstyle. We've added new Quests to Level 3 Cities NPCs We are also reworking Steam capsule images [h2]SFX:[/h2] There has been a bunch of new SFX added from monsters to animals and UI. [h2]Multiplayer Groundwork:[/h2] As Good Heavens! is our first multiplayer game, we're learning a lot of things from scratch. There were some snippets of multiplayer code left from the early prototype days of Good Heavens! but we didn't improve any of those. Therefore right now, we're back on the topic as if nothing has been done before. As we're not going to offer any PVP, we don't need any authoritative server. We just need to assign a host and client architecture and try to decide how often to send packages to the clients and what should each of these packages hold as info. Also, some of the existing systems should be iterated to comply with this new architecture including animators, behavior, detection and aggro systems, quest system and others. So thousands of decisions and optimizations. Easy fun work (!) [h2]FULL PATCH NOTES[/h2] [list] [*] Added space and water "biomes" to world and minimap [*] Fixed UI scaling issues [*] Fixed Quest Tracker resizing after changing quests [*] Fixed Trees giving additional loot if hit during fall animation [*] Updated minimap to stop refreshing while indoors [*] Updated Chunk size to handle Chunk loading on wider screens better [*] Added Biome ambient sounds and many other new sound effects [*] Fixed Branch pickup sounds [*] Fixed heart shaped smoke layers [*] Removed heart shaped smoke from Drylands Settlement [*] Fixed Farmer vendor items [*] Added Sprite Mask to Tent and Shack [*] Fixed Critical Health Overlay blocking UI input [*] Fixed various visual and functional bugs in Inventory and Quickslots [*] Updated NPCs to inherit quests from previous Settlement stages [*] Fixed Vendors not updating content and UI layout properly [*] Fixed some NPCs Quest dialogue markers [*] Fixed some buildings not enabling and disabling their renderers [*] Fixed incorrect Vendor entry for Broccoli Seed [*] Updated Quest Dialogue Box buttons to be clickable only on last dialogue index [*] Updated Quest Descriptions in Journal to be clearer [*] Updated multiple Quests for balance and typos [*] Added multiple Quests to Evergreen and Drylands Biomes [*] Added Wind Shader effect to Trees [*] Updated Sprite Masking components in multiple objects [/list]