Hi folks,
Finally the new version is ready! This means that it is no longer in a separate beta branch, and we've also updated the store page accordingly.
If you're already playing the new version, or if you want to keep playing the old Java version, you can find more information at the bottom of this post.
We spent the last year reworking the game from scratch and move it to a new engine. We didn't simply want to port the game, instead we decided to use this opportunity to rework most game mechanics - especially those which weren't that great in the old version.
The new version not only provides better graphics and sounds, it also generates more credible and immersive landscapes, and most features are a lot more polished.
Compared to the Java version, the new version received some features which didn't exist in the Java version, e.g. seasons, flowing water, crafting progression and more.
The new version also provides more biomes, which are much more versatile compared to the biomes in the Java version.
While the new version doesn't feature the same animals as the Java version, it still has more animals than the Java version - and they're more polished, especially in terms of animations. For most animals, we now have a male, female and baby variant - so features like animal husbandry, breeding and taming are within reach.
Last but not least, we've reworked the building system. The new version provides a much more powerful building system compared to the Java version.
Every construction element can be freely resized, moved and rotated without any limitations. The new version also provides a powerful snapping tool, which is very helpful in order to create rounded or even organic surfaces.
This update also introduced some changes (compared to the previous update), but mainly smaller changes and bugfixes, because we mainly focused on replacing the Java version. Expect new content with the next update. However, you can find the changelog here.
Important features from the Java version, which are still missing, are dungeons and fishing. The latter will be added with the next update.
Stay tuned! If you want to get more information about development, you can check out our roadmap on Trello: https://trello.com/b/t5Leypcj/rising-world-development
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Technical information
This update changed the folder structure of the game. This has implications for players who already played the game before. Don't worry: All worlds and blueprints are still there.
Information for users who already played the new version
If you've already played the new version in the past (i.e. if the beta branch was active), the new version was installed in a separate "_New Version" subfolder. However, with this update, the new version gets installed into the main game folder (/Steam/steamapps/common/RisingWorld).
When launching the new version, it will move all previous worlds from the Java version into a separate "_Java Version" folder, and move all worlds and blueprints from the "_New Version" folder into the main folder.
If something goes wrong, the game will show a warning in the main menu. In this case, it could be necessary to move the game files manually.
Information for users who want to keep playing the Java version
The new version is shipped with the Java Version for now - the Java version gets installed into a separate "_Java Version" subfolder in the game directory. To launch the Java version, you have to navigate to that subfolder and launch the game from there.
If you don't want to get the new version and want to stay on the Java version, you can enable the "java - Legacy Version" beta branch - this will keep things untouched. To enable the Java branch, right-click on the game in your Steam library, select "Properties", go to the "Betas" tab and enable the "java - Legacy Version" branch (no code is required). Note: Don't do this if you want to play the new version as well!
If you run into any problems or if you have any questions, please create a new topic in our forums about that and we will gladly help you.
Steam Cloud Save
Unfortunately we had to disable Steam cloud save with this update. This means that save games won't be synced with your other computers anymore. Worlds will also no longer be recovered automatically if you uninstall Steam or format your computer.
We will add Steam Cloud support for the new version in an upcoming update.