Well, this is it! The final major Early Access update! While I wasn't able to do everything I had set out to, I'm still quite happy with how closely I've been able to stick to the roadmap.
Let's take a closer look...
New Beacon Type: Smoke BeaconThe smoke beacon creates a volume of smoke that obstructs the vision of most enemies, making it easier to sneak by. This brings the total number of beacon types up to 6. Along with this, a Beacon Expert achievement has been added (players will get this for trying out all of them).
I'm quite happy with how the smoke effect turned out: I'm using a combination of particles and interpolating the global fog based on how close the player is to the center of the fog volume. (I'm hoping to capture some footage of this in the next trailer.)
Two Separate EndingsAt the end of the final level, players will need to decide how they want to end things. This of course includes an achievement for each option, plus another for completing both. (I've also added a semi-hidden area in the final level, which players will need to find to get the Well-read achievement.)
Quality of LifeIn addition to the aforementioned input rebinding--which I think turned out really well--I've also added settings for music and SFX volume.
(P.S. I love FMOD... my SFX are comprised of multiple buses but I was able to roll them up into a single VCA to facilitate adding a single overall SFX volume setting.)
Bug Fixes/Improvements - More achievements: Mycologist, Binge Drinker
- Display day number at the start of each level
- Fix for glitchy mutant miner idle animation
- Various texture improvements
- Improve the appearance of fog, smoke, etc.
- Various optimizations
- Highlight newly found items in Discovery Log
- Fix for dead mutant miner clothes disappearing (Cyberpunk, anyone?)
- Add confirmation dialogs for retry and exit
What's next?I'll soon be switching into full-blown marketing and release mode, including preparing new marketing assets (screenshots, trailer, etc.), getting ready to hand out more review keys (if you know anyone who would be interested, send 'em to
KeyMailer), and all that fun stuff.
Once that's all taken care of, I'll set a date for the full release! To be clear, the full release doesn't signal the end of me updating the game; as with all my games, the more interest there is, the more I keep investing, and I still have lots of ideas I'd like to explore!
That said, it's been a pretty heavy grind to get to this point, so I do hope to take some time off after release. (I will of course be keeping an eye on things and addressing any major bugs or balancing issues, but it may be a few months before I get back to adding new content.)
Well, that about does it for now! Thanks for sticking with me through Early Access.