Greetings Pioneers!

Refinements and many many fixes have been the focus of this month with core player interactions and the melee combat experience getting some much needed development time.

Multiplayer has also been getting steadily better in the background and we’re looking forward to sharing the next update with you all to play when it’s ready.

Matt – Art Director

It certainly has been a while! Lots to update everyone on as you’ll see from the rest of this blog.. we’ve been updating and refining drop items to make the progression system feel more grounded and connected to the environment.

There’s been a focus on driving the interior quality of our base structures, we’re particularly proud of how the visuals for these environments are coming along. The end result will be something consistently repeatable and customisable. Lastly, I’m looking forward to the production team giving us permission to get a new experimental build drop scheduled so everyone can sample the delights!

Tom Whaley – Lead Designer

I’ve been busy with re-working a lot of the AI encounters. The hunters are looking pretty good and have been passed on our developer and animation team. I’ve also been working with a handful of other devs on improving the AI in the upcoming content updates, as well as improving AI movement on higher difficulties and so on.

We’ve also been working to improve the AI behavior in all of the smaller-scale encounters. I’m hoping to get some of the larger ones playable and tested before release. I also plan to make some changes to how certain encounters are handled, so that they are less frustrating for the players as well.

The biggest item on the list for the upcoming content updates is the UI. After the feedback I’ve gotten from the community, I think there will be a ton of potential for improvement. I have a few ideas for improvements, but we’ll see how it goes.

• 

So many Jumpermites were harmed in the making of this video!

Melissa – Technical Designer

The last month or so has seen a great deal of progress in the build wheel and buildables. The wheel has now been fully implemented and is now in the stage where we are just tweaking & ensuring everything is set up to use the new system. The controls are much smoother too and it works with gamepad! (Animations and art are still being improved)

I have also been working on other elements of the UI such as the block points that are used when blocking in combat. I’ve also done a revamp of the TAG Unit (previously Eden Kit) and fixed some issues with the stages of upgrades as well as some UI tweaks.
The build wheel should be completed and fully implemented fairly soon, so hopefully you guys will get to play and test it out in the near future!

Ryan – Designer

Hey! I recently joined the team and have been working on the progression through the beginning of the game, refining the crafting system so the game has a smoother build up in difficulty. I have also been reworking the landscape to be less bumpy to allow for easier base building and navigation.

Charlotte – Concept Artist

Hey there, this month I have been doing many different concepts for things! I started with some various different iterations of mineral node types, like quartz, silicon and lithium for players to mine.

In addition to this I have been creating a lot of different drop items that will be picked up from destructibles, such as scrap metal, mesh patches, fibre, smaller pieces of the mineral nodes and crafted items like refined fabric, bandages and a makeshift flare.

Lastly, I have worked on a couple concepts for different rooms in the dam like reworking a previous one of the recreational canteen and for the toilets.

Katrine – Senior Artist

Hello! Lately I have been focusing on upgrading some of our drop items like fabrics, oils, resin and guts (yes, my job sometimes consist of making monster intestines)

While not splattering around monster meat, I am fixing bugs here and there, making sure that the player experience is as awesome as possible. 

Andy H – Lead QA

Wow some big changes have been going on and I’ve been very busy testing it all! From massively improved interactions, a massive Dam makeover to a new build menu. 

I’ve also been investigating bugs and verifying fixes here, there and everywhere from the Engineers, Animators, Artists and Designers. They have been fixing problems with the new respawn system, Interaction markers, Interaction in general, melee weapon issues, A whole bunch of HUD/Menu issues. Problems with the pioneers animations/camera, Decals, Floating rocks/minables/foliage, fixing the fuel system with the in-game utilities, collision issues with new Dam rooms and more. But the biggest thing that I have been testing out has been the work on getting…

…MULTIPLAYER back to a playable state!! Woohoo! Well back to more testing I go.

Glenn – Senior Artist

I’ve been hard at work making some exciting looking rooms to explore in the dam. These rooms are currently mostly empty as this helps us re-use them where appropriate.

The lighting still needs work but it’s already feeling atmospheric and industrial. I’m really looking forward to when we get more story elements in there and have some tense encounters with lurking creatures!

Ellis – 3D Artist

Hi Pioneers! My name is Ellis and I am a new starter here at Flix. Since onboarding I have been working on various drop items and scrap metals for Eden Star as well as learning my way around Pharus 7. 

Hannah – 3D Artist

Hi everyone! I have recently joined the Flix team and have been busy making various drop items for Eden Star. Check out the Lead asset I made during my first week, which will soon be added to the game as a pickup item that can be obtained from the metal ores dotted around the landscape:

Lauren – Lead Animator

Recently the animation focus has been on the core combat experience with player and enemy attack animations getting further refinement passes. We’ve been tweaking the way AI react to the player blocking and parrying which adds a new dimension to the combat for players who are after a more skill based approach.

While you can still just bash attack and run you also have the ability to block incoming attacks and push back the enemies so long as you manage your stamina. Overall these changes will be giving more rewards for well timed interactions and creating more challenge and fun for combat in general.

Dan – Developer

The new spawning system has been finished, ensuring players will have the world loaded and ready for them before they take control of their Pioneer. This also includes some improvements to the appearance of HUD elements when spawning in. There have been some improvements to the display of hit markers too. 

Multiplayer has seen a host of improvements and fixes that are bringing it closer to being stable. This includes work on the in-game HUD, loading, respawning and local IP games. There has been some tweaks to the network code too, to improve client-side performance. 

Leon – Programmer

I’ve spent August making some big changes to how interaction works across Eden Star so that you can more reliably scavenge scrap, and harvest the organs of our Alien foes across Pharus 8.

In addition to this objects in the world now display a much more appropriate icon on their marker giving the player a better idea of what type of item they are picking up.

Outside of interaction work I’ve been extending the functionality of our latest iteration on the tent so that the player is forced to crouch when entering as-well as supporting Ricky and Melissa with input functionality and data handling for the new version of the build wheel!

Overall it’s been a very productive month and I’m excited to see these features finished over September.

John R – Developer

There are a range of melee weapons that can be used for quick attacks, or you can keep holding the attack button to charge-up your attack and give a more powerful hit.

Enemy attacks can be blocked using melee weapons.  Some weapons are more effective at blocking than others and there are shield icons shown on the HUD to indicate how effective your current weapon is.  

• If the shields get too low then it’s time to fight or run.

• If you time your block just right then you can parry the enemy’s attack and damage your opponent.  This is a useful trick that’s worth taking the time to perfect.

• When the enemy is too close then you can shove them away and, depending on their size, watch them stumble back giving you a valuable opportunity for revenge.

The final melee action is the ability to dodge an enemy attack.  You can jump away from an attack for a fast dodging action.

See you in the fray!

-Team Flix