[h3]The Weather & Storms Update is now live![/h3] In addition to Rain, Storms, Lightning, and Waves, this update brings new contraptions, new/improved UI, and new gameplay. Check out the Rain video and more details below: [previewyoutube=FDtbTfjN_5s;full][/previewyoutube] [h3]Collecting Rain Water[/h3] Rain adds to the simulation and collects on the ground. The water can flow down hill, and will collect in areas not covered by roofs or floors. Clouds now also cast shadows on the world and affect where the ground wetness reacts. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38996910/bec0f5243077ed4f15dc77a23c4908875109bec8.png[/img] [h3]Covered Areas[/h3] Since Rain can now put out fires, covered areas will keep the rain out and floors dry while your fires stay lit. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38996910/dbd73e87f7281a2fb88523d3ca5edcc8f341c7b8.png[/img] [h3]Storm Winds and Sails[/h3] Storm winds now exist while you travel the world. When you enter a storm area, the waves get bigger and the winds will start to shift. To help, there is a new Sail Wind UI feedback that shows up when you adjust the sail rotation. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38996910/cbf933fa94d3ab5d13bc944990f598b8ecd676e6.png[/img] [h3]Improved Building UI[/h3] When building, you can now see thumbnails for each variant this object has for quicker selection. The building logic has also been improved for better interaction. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38996910/8ed932503b3bcf3e659b708a66e569b6e7067932.png[/img] Some new contraptions and contraption variants have been added to the game. You can now build a Peaked Thatch Roof and new Wood Wall shapes to help round out the options and make more structures possible. [h3]UI polish and additions[/h3] There is now a Time Of Day UI attached to the minimap to help you know if its day or night when you are in the middle of a storm. The remote workbenches UI pips have also been updated next to the minimap to read a bit stronger. The building hotkeys UI has been moved to the side of the screen for consistent feedback and to make the build info window smaller. I addition to the above, I completed multiple quality of life changes, performance improvements, and bug fixes. Check out the build notes below for the details. [h3]Whats Next?[/h3] The Weather & Storms update involved a lot of changes to how the world works and improvements to existing rendering. All of it is working towards adding the Serpent Titan combat, plus new features like Typhoons to the world. I am also looking ahead at some new enemy types and islands, plus a big improvement/addition to core gameplay which would impact across early and late game. Hope you enjoy the Weather & Storms Update. This is the first step towards releasing the Serpent Titan since their gameplay is connected. Keep an eye out for that release happening soon. [h3]Build notes[/h3] v0.8.99.1 -Fix for a world spawn bug that could happen in Free-Survival worlds when playing online. v0.8.99 -Setup new UI feedback on Sail orientation to the wind. -Setup new Day/Night UI feedback in the minimap. -Improve boat splash vfx. -Updated shader to make Grass sway during storms and improved other sway shaders. -Fixed an issue where the rain would not always make the ground and rocks wet. -Fixed an audio issue with Rain blending in and out when mounting and unmounting contraptions. v0.8.98 -New and improved Contraption Building UI update to show images for the variants you can build and which you are you currently building. -Optimized ocean sim related GPU render performance. -Reduced the build cost for wood floors, walls, beams, pillars, and stairs. -Improved some UI communication related to snapping to sockets. -Increased fog during storms some. -Decreased default camera distance some. -Changed default spawn pattern of storm clouds. -Impact spark update. v0.8.97 -Storm clouds with rain, wind, and lightning! -Improved ocean rendering and new Storm and Calm wave areas. -Rain will slowly add water to the ground/water sim. -Rain doesnt fall indoors and wont make the ground wet or add water in covered areas. -Wild Fires will be put out by rain. -Cooking contraptions now will have their fire put out if they are not under a roof/cover during a rain storm. -Update to Solar Still to make it generate water faster during a Rain Storm. -New Roof Cap piece! (which includes 6 variant shapes) -New Roof upside down triangle piece variant to fit some specific triangle shaped holes users can create with roofs. -Improved distant ocean rendering quality when screen space reflections is turned on. -Fixed a rendering artifact in SSR that would show up in specific situations. -Updated Rat spawn logic to try and resolve an overspawn issue that happens for some users once in a while. -Updated online games to not spawn rats from dead bodies to help reduce network load. -Update to how trees walk to improve rendering and reduce popping -Fixed Paper menu so it correctly auto selects the next button when using a gamepad. -Fixed the reversed selection order on the confirm upgrade window when using a gamepad. -Added the Boat Cannon Blueprint to the Boat Shop Vendor sell list so there is another place to buy it from. v0.8.96 -Improved Wall build logic to reduce false negatives and expose more feedback. -Clouds now have shadows on the ground and on water. (More cloud improvements coming next as I finish work on Storms) v0.8.95 -Fixed a water loading issue when traveling to new islands where it would use the wrong data for object heights causing unexpected waves. -Fixed placeable large island shapes in Creative Mode so they can be deleted with the Demo Hammer. -Various performance and memory improvements. -Change to German word used for Custom in settings menu.