EVA

,

Lacuna Passage - Devlog #82 - The Pop Tent Update - v0.59

,
poptent1.gif

v0.59 now provides a new way for you to escape the elements of Mars. Emergency Pop Tents are now deployable items that you can enter to protect yourself for dust storms, eat while on EVA, and save your progress by sleeping.

The rest of this update is a little lighter on content than usual because I have had to spend a lot of time updating the game code to be compatible with the latest version of Unity. Unity required a security update and I figured it would be a good time to also just update everything to the latest version. I've gone from Unity 5.3.8 to Unity 2017.1. This required a ton of little fixes to ensure everything will work as it did before, and I'm still not entirely sure that everything will be functional. If you find something that seems out of place or inconsistent with how you remember the game working before, please let me know via the official bug reporting and feedback forum

Change Log

  • Updated engine to most recent version of Unity for performance and compatibility improvements.
  • Numerous bug fixes for issues related to Unity version update.
  • Loading of interior and exterior scenes should be faster.
  • Habitat interior lightmapping has been improved.
  • Terrain dynamic shadows have been improved.
  • Fog distance and blending with horizon have been improved.
  • Added deployable Emergency Pop Tents that allow you to take shelter from dust storms, eat consumables, and save your game while on an EVA.
  • Remote outposts with permanent pop tents are also useable now and they produce their own ambient oxygen so your suit reserves will not deplete while inside.
  • Added quick reference panels by interior airlock doors to see the status of your exterior life support modules at a glance while inside a habitat.
  • Equipped portable solar panels will no longer charge your suit battery while inside an airlock.
  • Dust storms now properly impact exterior module power production based on proximity to the storm’s epicenter.
  • Dust storm particle effect visibility due to proximity to storm epicenter has been adjusted.

Many of these changes were prioritized based on feedback provided by players on our Feedback Forum[lacunapassage.userecho.com]. Help me determine future development priorities by posting your ideas, suggestions, and bug reports there.

,

Lacuna Passage - Devlog #78 - The Survival Sandbox Homestretch

,

Kickstarter Backers

We are getting very close to a backer release for the testing of the Survival Sandbox mode. I'm going to get into my development progress since last month, but first I wanted to give a little more detail about how the rollout will work for the backer release.

First off, the release will be managed through the Humble Store download pages that you claimed with your Kickstarter email address. This will not be done through Steam just yet. I haven't gotten to Steam integration yet, so to start with all backers will need to download updated builds through the Humble Store download pages similar to how you downloaded the old demo for Lacuna Passage Prologue.

This rollout will happen in waves according to your Kickstarter Backer reward level, with Beta level backers and above getting access first. I'm only one developer, so I can't handle large numbers of bug reports and requests all at once. We will gradually rollout access until all backers are included. Then we will work on bug fixing, planned feature additions, and requested feature additions until I think we are ready to launch on Steam Early Access. I will then transition to Steam integration and all backers able to access build updates automatically through Steam. If some of you don't want to worry about encountering excessive bugs or having to manually update your build then I would suggest that you wait until I am able to add Steam integration before you try the game.

My development roadmap labels can help you determine what is and is not planned for the Early Access release. The Early Access release will be considered Survival Sandbox 1.0. However, not everything that is planned for Survival Sandbox 1.0 will be included in the initial backer release. So, what won't be in the backer release? Some things are practically finished but will not be included in the backer release because I want to get feedback on specific features and game mechanics before adding more features. Other features are just not ready yet. Here are a few notable things that will be absent from the initial backer release but will come in build updates prior to the Early Access Survival Sandbox 1.0:

  • Dust Storms/Dust Devils
    • These are practically complete, but since they are inherently random, I want to filter out any bugs that may be difficult to track down if they are bugs that sometimes occurring during random storms for some players and not for others.
  • Saving and loading game progress
    • This might seem like an odd omission, but I would like to focus early bug reports to the first 1-2 hours of gameplay. Early build updates might break game saves anyway so I want to avoid that at first.
  • Deployable Emergency Pop Tents
    • Since these provide a temporary shelter during storms and a place to save your game while on an EVA, there is no need to include them if those other features are not in place.
  • Some audio and music
    • Early backer builds may be noticeably absent of most audio and music. This is partly to save filesize for early build updates, but I also have just not had the development resources to focus on these aspects yet. They will be improved before the Early Access release.

Development Progress

One of my contract artists and long-time contributors to Lacuna Passage, Jeremy Brown, is nearly complete with what I hope will become one of our most iconic assets - the EVA suit.

So far only the high poly and low poly models are complete and already I think it looks great. It should look even better soon when the textures are finished.

Jeremy has also completed a wonderful new flag asset that I have applied cloth physics to, allowing it to react to our wind direction and intensity.

I've also begun the final lightmapping process on the habitat interiors. I've completed Habitat Alpha which you can see below.

I have two more habitat arrangements to complete, but all that consists of is essentially just rearranging the modular interior wall segments and rendering new lightmaps. This will help to distinguish the three discoverable habitats from each other while exploring the interiors.

I can also report that all 92 randomized discoverable locations on the map have been placed and the container contents of each location are being randomized on each new playthrough.

On top of all that I have punched out dozens of tiny bugs and added many quality-of-life improvements. None of which would be super exciting to describe here, but I've personally been testing the game lately and it's honestly starting to feel like a very compelling gameplay loop.

All-in-all, things are going great. Development progress has continued at a steady pace despite my wife and I working hard to prepare for our first child, and hopefully I can get our backers access to build downloads without much more delay. Hang in there!

,

Lacuna Passage - Devlog #42 - IRA, Hab externals, and the EVA Suit

,

We have spent some time this month working on the updated version of TIMEframe, but we are still making progress with Lacuna Passage too. In December we gave everyone a look at the early designs of IRA, our Intelligent Remote Assistant computer system.  We now have the design and layout complete for IRA’s entire section of the Habitat.

Click to enlarge

Besides IRA’s multi-purpose robotic camera arm the unit is equipped with a docking station for the datapad, a 3D scanning platform, and multiple server and maintenance racks.

IRA is just a small portion of Foundation Hab, and we are really excited to show the finished product.  Just to give you an idea of the scale, here’s a work-in-progress shot of the exterior of Foundation Hab:

Click to enlarge

As you can tell, the Hab has been a large and complicated part of our art progress with multiple artists contributing to its design.  Once the Hab is complete we will begin work on the Lab and placing all the elements of Foundation Base.

And of course you won’t be able to leave Foundation Base and explore the planet’s surface without your trusty EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) suit!  We are working with our concept artist Luke Kremer right now to nail down a design we are happy with, and we are really pleased with some of the design iterations so far.

Some early concept sketches. Click to enlarge

These designs are closer to the final suit that will be featured in the game. Click to enlarge

We really want this suit to provide mobility and dexterity for anything Mars has to offer.  The player will need to repair equipment, traverse dangerous terrain, and even escape the occasional dust storm while on the planet’s surface, but we think this suit will be up to the task.