Version 0.0.04 Released!

It has been a long time coming, but here is almost a full year worth of game dev! Below you can see the changes for Pre-Alpha 0.0.04, but be warned: that is like 1/100 of the actual list. It’s more of a summary of the larger points than an actual full change log. I’ll get around to making one later but my god was this update huge (granted, a lot of the changes were small things, but that’s a lot of work over time)

I actually plan on doing a “soft restart” of Homelands. While the game is in a good state now, it’s grown into a spaghetti code mess and there are a lot of issues younger me caused that I’m not sure are easy to get rid of. I have already restarted this project once, so I feel that rebuilding entities and items from the ground up would be a cakewalk AND worth it.

Changelog:

New Content

• Camera recoil when firing a weapon

• New Danger Dunes map - massive sprawling desert with sandstorms and ruins

• Ranged weapons can now zoom in, with the Reaper and Sniper Rifle having their own scope

• New weapons: Plasma charger, rocket launcher, stinger SMG, and snowballs!

• Added rocks - used to craft the new stone building parts

• Added anvils - used to craft certain items and can be dropped onto enemies to deal damage to them.

• Added Cupid and Axe arrows - Axe arrows can be used to destroy foliage and building parts from a distance. Cupid arrows are the most powerful arrows in the universe and defeat your enemies with LOVE (Disclaimer: please do not believe in the power of love in a combat scenario)

• Dual wielding - press the dual wield button, then the corresponding hotbar number to place that weapon in your second hand. Only works for smaller firearms and some other items

• Drop item button

• HUD element shows item pickups

• Stealth kills - punching an enemy that is not actively in combat will kill it instantly, regardless of health or armor

• Added wall jumps - Punch a wall while airborne to propel yourself away from it.

• Added fragmentation and blue wire grenades - can be thrown in hand or from the inventory with Q

• Added an item pickup sound

• Added wooden and stone building parts - used to build proper structures. Utilized primarily in the Siege mini game

• Damage indicators

• Standing next to a crafting station will now allow you to utilize it without directly interacting

Changes

• Removed L2 pistol

• Projectiles now come from camera (centered)

• New character model & animations

• Updated assault rifle inventory sprite

• Renamed Dark Forest to Foggy Forest and Old Temple to Timeworn Temple

• Foggy Forest now has a stinger instead of an assault rifle.

• Reduced standard inventory size from 32 slots to 10 slots, except for sandbox mode

• Configure menu has been revamped (I will release documentation for this at some point, but for now, feel free to experiment!)

• Zombies will now spawn with weapons in arena mode

• Vastly improved zombie AI

• Fire coral now deals damage

• Internal changes to resource drops

• The item tooltip is now more legible

• Weapons in target practice now have infinite ammo

• Vastly improved main menu

• Recreated Cruel World (menu theme)

• Arrows no longer stick to stone or metal

• Shovels can now scoop up and throw materials

• Max item stack size is now 100 instead of 99

• Ambiance on the island sandbox map is now localized to the island

• Pickaxes now deal more damage against stone objects

• Stamina drains faster from sprinting

• Using a non-pistol firearm will now stop the player from sprinting

• Some particles are now attached to their weapons

• Some items can now be crafted without a workbench

• Changed and added some crafting recipes

• Destructible foliage now respawns

Fixes

• Eyeling eye rotation is no longer snappy

• Fixed some issues with zombies spawning with pumpkins

• Fixed a bug that caused some zombies to hit the player from any distance the moment they are noticed

… and a LOT more!