Hey folks! Another month has come to an end, so it’s time for another update. Let’s take a look at the changelog.
CHANGELOG
QUESTS
We’ve improved the ‘Daily Bread’ quest. Now Rusty Nails is alright with any food Jack brings to him but the rot. Also, Jack can learn more about cooking his meals with a bonfire.
Rusty Nails is also eager to learn about his pal’s fate, so he has a new quest for Jack. Perhaps, this brave space cowboy can find any information about Rusty’s lost friend.
There are also some under-the-hood changes for some quests and their logic.
GAMEPLAY
We’ve polished combat finisher death animation, added a knockout visualization and fixed a few issues.
LEVEL DESIGN
As I mentioned in the previous update, our level designers were working hard on improving the abandoned ship, and today we are ready to show you the first results.
SOUND
We’ve reworked the balance of in-game sounds and improved sounds’ audibility and positioning of NPCs, environment and the protagonist. Also, we’ve fixed the layering of equipment sounds.
VISUALS
A great deal of work was put into the ship. We’ve added a bunch of new assets and new textures for humans. Also, we’ve transferred some new hats to PBR.
That’s all for now. Join our Discord, we will be back in a month with another update.
It’s the end of February, so another monthly update is already here.
Hey cowboys! It’s the end of February, so another monthly update is already here. What’s new, you ask? See for yourself.
CHANGELOG
GAMEPLAY
We are working hard to improve melee combat, and there is a new feature added for those who fancy knives. Now you can finish an enemy with a blade if his health is reduced to a certain amount.
We have also fixed knockouts, navigation errors for Outcasts and Scalphunters patrols and many other pesky bugs and issues.
QUESTS
Idol in Anomaly quest was significantly reworked. There are new ways to solve it and brand new cutscenes. On the top of that, now you can obtain beads whether you helped Scalphunters with the idol or didn’t.
There’s also a new quest connected to this one, it is called Making a Profit.
LEVEL DESIGN
Our level designers are very busy at the moment with an important task—they are doing their best to improve the abandoned ship, so there are no big changes on The Edge in this update but some furniture in the mining village.
SOUND
There are plenty of SFX changes, though.
First of all, we’ve reworked the attenuation of sounds in the game world to make it more plausible, decreased the initial volume of the game audio mix, improved the balance between all the in-game sounds and the positioning of sound effects close to the player’s character.
Second, we have also slightly improved the sounds of range weapons, reworked the sound of impact while shooting and fixed a bug where the sound of a hitting shot was not audible.
And, of course, we finally added sounds of a barge.
VISUALS
Another batch of apparel’s was transferred to PBR.
NEW TEAM WEBSITE
Recently we launched the official Exoplanet website with a forum.
And today we also would like to bring to life our old hacked and broken team’s website, www.alersteam.com. There’s a brand new and simple design, and we hope you will like it.
That’s all for now. Thanks for your support, we will be back in a month with another update
The long holidays are over and we are eager to show you the results of our recent work. This update contains less new quests or gameplay features but lays solid foundation for further major improvements coming up this year.
We have added only one but pretty fun quest that gives you more insight into Scalphunter tribe lore.
In terms of visuals we focused our efforts on improving the rest of the clothing models for aborigines, so they will look more colorful and diverse than ever.
VISUAL IMPROVEMENTS:
- All models of the aboriginal clothing now use Physical Based Rendering (PBR) technology for their textures.
- Our custom shader is applied when possible so designers now are able to dye these clothes in a wide range of colors.
- A number of hats were adjusted to fit other races and now use PBR, so they can come in different color variations as well.
- Terrain textures for the desert biome were replaced by a better set.
COMBAT MECHANICS GOT MORE DEPTH:
- Blocking was added as an option for the player in combat. Hold Right Mouse Button to block.
- Heavy attacks are now activated by pressing Shift+Left Mouse Button combination.
- NPCs now can choose behavior patterns between attacking, holding the distance, strafing, side stepping and blocking.
- In melee fights characters now will use more appropriate animations for different attacks (still placeholders though).
- NPCs now will reload their weapons when shooting.
AI:
- Obstacle avoidance algorithm for NPCs was improved.
QUEST CONTENT:
- A new Quest was added to the Scalphunter camp. Talk to the character called Wall Eye near the big cage with beasts to start it.
Thanks for staying with us and providing your immensely valuable feedback!
Don’t forget to join our Discord server for more news and discussions about Exoplanet.
Hey folks! It is almost Christmas, and there’s no better time to take a breath after this tough and exhausting year. We were working hard to release our biggest update ever, and we’ve put a great deal of effort into delivering as much content as possible to please everyone who fancies trying a space cowboy outfit on this holiday. So yeah, it is another regular monthly update.
Let’s see what’s in the box!
GAMEPLAY
We have released the very first iteration of stealth last month, and now it is time to improve it. We started with NPCs’ AI.
First of all, there was an issue when NPCs do not notice Jack when he is in stealth mode, even if he’s right in front of them. But not anymore!
Second, NPCs now have an indicator. If Jack lurks or sneaks somewhere nearby an NPC, the NPC gets suspicious. Thus, if the question mark above an NPC becomes red, it is time to fight or skedaddle.
We have another surprise for those who like to play as a thief. Pickpocketing. Master this craft to steal random loot from NPCs or to plant anything into their pockets. It is also the very first iteration and is not much useful in quests yet but we are definitely going to expand it by developing a crime system.
Of course, you need a teacher to learn something like this. Look for an abori in the Scalphunters camp named Short Fused. There’s a chance he will agree to teach ‘stupid huma’ his craft. Watch your pockets, though.
Another thing to mention is upcoming gameplay changes. We do understand that gameplay-wise Exoplanet could use an upgrade, and it is our top priority for the beginning of the next year. Particularly, melee combat and gunplay.
And the very first gameplay change is a small tweak for Jack. When the guy is out of stamina, he staggers and slows down in order to catch his breath. Not much for a Christmas gift but it is a harsh world after all. Deal with it, Jacky.
NPCs received a better present—speech bubbles to share their piece of mind. These bubbles are usually a reaction to events around them, to Jack himself and his success and failures.
LEVEL DESIGN
We have completely reworked the very beginning of the game. Jack still wakes up in the desert but the desert has changed. We have also improved the tutorial, so there are gameplay changes as well. The idea behind this change is to improve user experience, to give the player a direction and to show some basic mechanics.
This is work in progress, so we really need your feedback. Any comments are welcome.
QUESTS
There are two more quests for Jack. The very first one, Survival for Dummies, is connected with the new beginning. The next one, Dust Devils, can be found while exploring the world, so make sure you won’t miss it.
VISUALS AND SOUND
We’ve made a great deal of visual and sound improvements for this update. They are mostly cosmetic but it is still worth mentioning. We’ve also fixed some animations and assets, and replaced some old sounds with the new ones.
FUTURE UPDATES
While we are releasing updates for The Edge, there is another work in progress. We have been developing the new big location with the town for quite some time now. We will share more information about it later, so it is better to join our Discord if you want to see more sneak peeks in the new year.
NEW WEBSITE AND FORUM
Last but definitely not the least.
We just launched the official Exoplanet website with a forum. They are available at exoplanetgame.com and forum.exoplanetgame.com.
So far, our website is mostly a landing page with some interesting stuff and a news feed but we are going to expand it a bit later, once we have all the planned mechanics in-game. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive important updates about the game, and sign-up to our forum to ask us anything or to share your gaming experience. Keep in mind, there’s a chance the mail will end up in spam folder, we are doing our best to fix it.
That’s all for now.
I believe we all deserve a break to spend some time with our folks. And we wish you the same thing. Enjoy your holidays, have a great time with your close ones and be happy.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Alersteam and personally from Jack Sharp.