We just got back from GDC, so first thing first, here are the a0.752 builds:
PC Mediafire Direct Download
MAC Mediafire Direct Download
LINUX Mediafire Direct Download
Next, due to GDC, we were really slow in replying to emails this week. We have a backlog of about 500 emails that we’ll try to get through in a few days. So if you emailed us and didn’t get a reply, please be patient and we’ll get to you. Sorry about that.
We’re looking at the problem, might be because the server ran out of disk space. We will try to get it up asap.
And here are the builds for PC and Linux, we’re still hitting the bug with OSX 10.9.1+ with Mac, so we’re still looking into it, hopefully we can get it solved early next week and put up a build.
Linux Mediafire Direct Download
Torrents to come.
Changelist:
Fixed I/so transferring failure bug in multiplayer(this one causes people to not being able to join game)
Fixed not showing resources above the head when gathering resources in multiplayer
Fixed not showing player kill data in versus mode
Fixed doors opening twice in multiplayer
Fixed AI fighting AI showing up at the top in multiplayer
Fixed player ui interface bug in multiplayer
Now friendly players show up as blue dots on the map, bosses as big red dots
Now weather is synced with every player on a server
Fixed a camera bug regarding ai
Fixed getting on a car and still in shooting position
Fixed most item bugs in multiplayer
Changed battle music to only when fighting bosses
The next major update will be a0.8, which should be ~late April. For a0.8, we want to include saving building structures as ISOs and making them share-able; adding in building block LOD to save on memory; adding in ai attacks on camps and colonies; DOTA like tree structure for item replication; missions in adventure mode; character select in multiplayer; new story missions; and more.
Finally, we will have a booth in the corner (since we signed up so late) at GDC Play at GDC in San Fran next week, so if any of you are going, drop by and say hi!
Hey everyone, it’s been a few days since Planet Explorers has been released on Steam, and it’s been so hectic ever since (we have gotten over 700 emails now in just 3 days, plus lots and lots of bugs). We haven’t forgotten about the none-Steam version owners, we will release the a0.751 build here within the next day or so.
The online multiplayer bug found in a0.75 where you can’t see the servers listed in the lobby has been fixed. A new build will be released tomorrow along with all the other platform builds.
Steam has approved us for release on March 11th, at 12pm PST. Yay!
We’ll will start emailing out Steam keys to all people who bought the game before Steam starting on Wednesday. It’ll probably take a few days to complete that task.
While we’re still waiting for Steam to approve of our build and release it on Steam, here’s the A0.75 PC build. We’ll release the other two platform builds next week.
Direct Download from Mediafire
If you’re looking for the optimum performance, the first things you can tweak are grass distance and amount, changing these to normal or lower will give you at least 10fps. Next would be water reflection, turn that off will give you another 10fps. Finally, tweaking the shadow distance will also give you large performance gains.
For memory reduction, turn down the amount of grass, trees, and terrain.
Changelist:
Water physics
Follow camera mode (F2)
New water shader
New animal species
New boss type
New attacks for the giant robot boss type
Optimized ai memory and cpu usage
AI behavior changes
New collisions for ai (no more single capsule collision)
Able to run over and damage ai with vehicle
Crashing on glider causes damage
Optimized adventure mode terrain generation
New types of terrain environment generation in adventure mode
Multiple biomes in a single seed in adventure mode
Water level randomized in adventure mode
New npc animations
New native alien animations and attacks
New story segments and missions
New npc characters
NPC no longer collide with player
Edits to some NPC looks
New type of armor set
Rainforest biome
NPCs can plant, care for, and harvest crops in colony
New textures for building blocks
New texture layout for building blocks
New glass block type
New shapes in Creation Editor
Custom decals in Creation Editor
Custom items in Creation Editor
Inclines in Creation Editor
Server will now autosave
Able to dig continuously in multiplayer
Able to export all objects from the Creation Editor to multiplayer
Steam launcher integration
Simplified Chinese localization
Bug fixes
Tutorial updated
Scuba mask
Planet Explorers has been submitted for Steam approval. Now we just sit back and wait. We’ll put out the a0.75 version here on Saturday. For now, it’s time to hit the sack.
Okay, just a quick update since people always ask. We are having trouble with some new bugs. They are mostly due to the fact that water physics is working. All of a sudden, we need new ways for AI to figure out what is water (plus how to drown properly) and how to save water that has spread to new places. The water physics looks good…even great with the new water shader. It does take a hit on the cpu when large areas of water start moving (like digging out a river), so the faster your cpu, the less it impacts the frame rate.
This doesn’t affect when the game will go on Steam, which is still on for midweek next week. We are going to try to put out a build here, asap, in the next couple of days (not working on Sunday). As we still want you to help us test out the new build.
We’re just a few days away from the a0.75 build. We’ll try to get it out by this Saturday here, but as you know, it’s never a sure thing. We’re still working on Steam and launcher integration (all 3 platforms) and will be testing that out over the next few days. Hopefully, there will be no problems (if there are problems, we’ll probably launch with PC first). If everything goes smoothly there, we’ll submit the build to Steam for approval, if they approve, then PE will be on Steam probably by ~midweek next week. That gives us enough time to fix any major bugs that you may find before then.
We’ve been optimizing a lot of the things in the current build, including the terrain formation speed in adventure mode. It is now about 3X what it was in the a0.72 build. What this means is that you won’t fall off the terrain on a glider or car anymore. Vtols are another matter, but players are making these go at 300-400km/h and we can’t really help that. Another thing about adventure mode is that there are multiple biomes within a single seed now.
We’re still working on block building lod, water physics, and multiplayer general testing, these things will decide when exactly the build will be done.
Below are some screen shots from the rainforest biome and waves on the shore, all works in progress:
We’re coming up pretty quickly to the end of the month, so we’re trying to get as much in as possible before the Steam build. We’re working on several notable areas for the build, they include: the farm building for the settlement, Steam integration for the launcher (across all 3 platforms), more Creation Editor features, voxel water (maybe flowing) and new water shader, better building controls and shaders, tweaking player controls, starting first person control design (what a lot of you want), ai optimization, more enemies and bosses (especially for multiplayer), rainforest biome, and story extension. We want to get the build out before February ends, so we will cut whatever’s not done when the time comes. So far, it looks like everything’s safe.
Here I’ll show you a couple of things, first, the water shader. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s starting to look pretty good:
Next, a couple of examples of the new free-form custom items and decals created in the Creations Editor:
