Sept 2021 Dev Log - Beta Launch Date

Hi friends!

I'm back from my mini vacation to see family and am feeling good about the beta build. I was able to get a tiny bit done in the mornings during the vacation, but, even so, I have a bit more work to do to get this build out into the beta branch for Steam, Itch, and GoG. That said, I'm going to push for
October 1st

as the date that I upload the build. I'm very excited and nervous to start getting players to see the new changes.

Aside from that announcement, let's take a look at some things I've been working on since our last post.

Rafts!

I want players to be able to settle any tile they choose, so I added the option to select water tiles as a settlement point. Players can then select a water block for their starting position, and the game will generate a little raft for you to start on. This isn't limited to ocean tiles. You can also do this in, say, the middle of a lake in a Taiga tile.

Later on, I'll be adding a lot of sea creatures and marine plant-life. I think it'll make islands and ocean tiles a lot of fun.

Items Can Fall Into Water

Because I want the bodies of water in the game to feel more alive, things like items and plants will be able to enter water blocks. They'll then slowly sink to the bottom.

There are a couple ways to get the items back...

Fishing Can Catch Items

This will pick up items from below, but will also occasionally find random unique items. Fishing isn't the only way to get items from the water....

Entities Can Now Swim In Water Blocks

Entities can enter any water block to go get items, or just do underwater jobs.

I was on the fence as to whether I wanted to make this change or not. Initially, a bit apprehensive, I thought it would be an absolute mess to implement. On the other hand, it sucked how water was essentially blue lava. To have water pathable opens up a lot of fun options for players. So, what the heck, I decided to make them pathable. Plus, it turns out it wasn't such a mess to add, only needing some extra animations for characters.

I will later be adding some threats for being in water, but that'll have to wait.

Somewhat Realistic Temperature Physics

Torches and other heat sources will now emit heat that fills up rooms, rather than, like the game's lighting, flood fill an area.

Action Text

This is something I've been meaning to add for a looooong time. Before, you would only see output by looking at the notification log. Now, you'll see these values appear when doing work or in combat.

FX And SFX Additions

I've added a bunch of new sfx and fx for things. Namely, spent a whole day spicing up the audio. Plus, you'll now see things like cracks that progressively get bigger as you remove a block.


That pretty much covers it for now. I'm going to work my butt off to get the beta build ready for Oct 1. Thank you for all the support. Hope you all have a great day.