Dear Explorers, We’re so pleased to announce the new playtest is ready to go and waiting for you to jump in. For the next 2 weeks we’ll be gathering feedback on our latest focus, capsules, as well as some other new mechanics and features across the game. We're still early in development and as such, we're so excited to have you, the community, on board for the journey helping guide the direction of THE SIGNAL through regular playtests, so don't be afraid to give feedback wherever you can - on Steam, Discord or elsewhere, as it all makes a huge difference. Read on for a look at some of the key additions as well as an overview of all of the new content being added! [h2]Capsules[/h2] Take your inventions on the go! Instantly deploy your stored inventions with a simple toss - equipment, structures and even vehicles can be carried with you on your expedition! Capsules are a super interesting concept for us, because we think they’ll bridge the gap between typically distinct game loops. We’re looking to blur the lines between traversal, combat, and crafting loops by tossing (pardon the pun!) these into the mix. [h2]Mouse & Keyboard Support[/h2] The number one piece of feedback we received after our first playtest was “Mouse & Keyboard!” – so our Design team spent some time on this and got a first playable version in! Let us know how it's working for you once you've had a chance to test it out. [h2]Localization[/h2] We swapped out all of our hard-coded text, so that we can support more languages! You can find the new options for this playtest on the Steam page and they include French, German, Spanish, Italian, Spanish, and more! We will be gradually adding more over the coming playtests. Currently the localization in-game is somewhat placeholder and we'd love to work with the community as we grow to ensure it's in as strong a place as possible as we progress through to launch! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44513777/a8d4103fcc096d181c0d7219f17794ffb7311818.png[/img] [h3]Gameplay:[/h3] [list] [*] Removed Oxygen - Don’t fret! Oxygen will come back when we have more time to fix it! [*] Precise Build Mode - Now only available when the player is within the Network. [*] New Vehicle Chassis & Options - Ditch the car, and take off on a bike instead! Wheel and Hover options are available [*] Ping Scan - Explorers have a brand new system to help locate crucial resources and other points of interest. [*] New Points of Interest – our Art team suggested some cool new structures to explore, linked to the Dead Explorer objective. We’re not going to say more than that… you have to play to find out. [*] Barrier Fragment - Dare we call it a “BEARIER”? If a bear or other creature tries to chomp your face off, we’re developing a sort of energy fence that can contain them long enough to let you scan or interact with them. [/list] [h3]UI/UX & Graphics:[/h3] [list] [*] UI/UX changes for the Multitool - We rearranged the multitool options and icons; This will continue to be iterated on as we add new features to the game. [*] Reworked HUD - We moved the health bar and Network indicator to the top-left, and added Capsule inventory in the bottom right. [*] Improved surface snapping in Workshop and Build Mode - Playtesters asked for this, so we delivered it! Hopefully way less annoying gaps between the things you build and where you want to place them on. [/list] [h3]General Changes:[/h3] [list] [*] Draft Naming - Another huge request! Now you can name your drafts so you know what’s what. We haven’t set this up to work well with a controller yet, but it’s on our roadmap. [*] Improved vehicle handling/driving (they should flip less) - Some people might prefer when they flip more. Let us know what you think! [*] New Objective flow – Our last playtest really held your hand through a set of objectives. The intention was that we wanted to onboard the player as fast as possible to a complex and totally custom crafting workshop system. But as a playtest it also over-structured the first time user experience and limited what the player could mess around with. So now we’ve replaced most of that with a “discovery mission” – scan and learn about this biome, get to messing about whenever you want! [*] Dead Explorer narrative mission – find out what happened to the previous expedition but be careful! Voiced by Jeremiah Costello who was casting director on Game of Thrones (video game) and has voiced characters in Dead Synchronicity, Pineview Drive and Husk. [*] An easter egg from a different sci fi universe 👀 [*] Toxic Gas is on longer linked to Alien Junk - Gases come from gas vents, and can be extracted with the right tool. Removing Alien junk still helps the ecofootprint score, but we have bigger plans for this for a later update. [*] Reminder: Invented drafts from past game sessions can be ‘uploaded’ and reused in a new session via a cheat. We don’t have a save system implemented yet, but this is a shortcut to get access to your inventions again if you experience a crash or interruption in your play session! [*] Added useful links in the Main Menu - you can now provide playtest feedback from there, and can also sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest developments. [*] Ecofootprint system modifications - Fewer player actions upset the ecosystem. [*] Character run speed slowed down. [*] Time of day speed slowed down. [*] And of course various crash and bug fixes along the way. [/list] [previewyoutube=Jf5yuG8Ma2A;full][/previewyoutube] We can't wait to hear what you get up to out there, happy exploring! 🧑‍🚀 [url=https://twitter.com/goosebytegames?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor]Follow Goose Byte on Twitter[/url] 👩‍🚀 [url=https://discord.com/invite/UzRMYj5zHx]Join the community on Discord[/url] 👨‍🚀 [url=http://eepurl.com/iOiY5w]Subscribe to our Newsletter[/url] for updates and to receive a set of free digital wallpapers!