V0.0.1 - Logbook and Research

Finally put enough finishing touches on things—and got enough of the refactoring done—to feel comfortable pushing V0.0.1! I didn’t expect it to take quite this long, but taking a bunch of one-off systems I’d written and pulling them under a proper base class took some time to get right.

So, what pushes this from V0.0.0 to V0.0.1?

If 0.0.0 was just a little sandbox, 0.0.1 starts to put together the actual framework of the game loop:
Make Discoveries / Research → Collect Data → Refine Data → Send It → Receive Reward.

To be clear: it’s still very early, and the full loop isn’t completely there yet—but it’s finally coming together.

Thoughts & Discoveries

Now, when you interact with the Weather Station’s components, your character gains Thoughts. Thoughts are little pieces of research or information a character can learn. These can come from systems and components (like the Weather Station), but in the future they’ll also appear transiently—witnessing an aurora, spotting new plant life, noticing an anomaly, etc.

Characters only retain a Thought for a limited time. This duration will eventually vary from character to character based on proficiency. To keep a Thought permanently, you need to log it.

Right now, that’s only done through the physical Logbook—each character has one, and it stores field notes. Later on, there’ll be digital tools that allow for easier storage, filtering, and refining of data.

Refining & Sending Data

Depending on what’s been logged, some research can be sent immediately, while other types can be refined further. For example:

• Digital photos might need to be developed on-site.

• Weather readings could be compiled into forecasts.

Once your data is ready, it’s time to send it off using the Satellite Dish. You’ll have to align it with an orbital satellite and beam the data up. For now, this satellite is your only link to home base. I’ll talk more about satellites later.

The dish itself isn’t in 0.0.1 yet—I didn’t want to delay the update any longer—so that’ll be coming soon.

Give it a try! It’s still mostly a sandbox, but the beginnings of the core loop are finally taking shape. And now that the refactors are done, it’s much easier for me to roll in new discovery types and research logs at a faster pace.

Full Changelog

• Added in the Logbook. 
• Interacting with some scientific equipment, such as the Weather Station, now gives you Research Thoughts. 
• Research Thoughts can be logged permanently into your Logbook. 
• Refactored all of the Interactables to live under the same base-class
• Added Wind Baring and Windspeed values to the Weather Station
• Giving some Explainer Text on components on the Weather Station that can be interacted with further. 
• Added in an ice/snow covering shader effect. Now, the character, environment and their equipment start to frost up as the temperature dips. 
• Fixed up the spawn point, as previously we seemed to spawn slightly out to sea - where it could be hard to get back inland
• Disabled No-Clip mode, as this was a bandaid to fix scenarios like the above. 
• Overhauled the Interaction System - the player now has a contextual reticule that more clearly shows what they're trying to interact with. 
• Interactions can be chosen based on either looking directly at them, or standing in range.
• Started work on the Dynamic Weather Station. Wind now slowly evolves over time. Still requires more work. 
• Making the flag and windSock orient to the direction of the wind
• I've started adding in Weather States behind the scenes - but these aren't fun or varied enough yet to enable.