Alpha 49 is primarily focused on introducing a new underground cave system, currently accessible only via deep-water scuba diving. Expanding on the later-game resource trees and adding further world exploration to the later-game progression. Along with many other new items, gameplay and graphical improvements, fixes and tweaks.
Scuba Diving:
Players can now craft scuba diving gear to explore the deep waters in the world. The equipment is crafted at the new “Diving Station”, a powered crafting station that can be crafted in the BCU.
Diving Station:
Must be placed within the radius of a BCU and is used to craft both the Diving Gear and the required O2 tanks.
Diving Gear:
The diving gear uses the chest armor slot on player’s clothing profile (however provides zero damage or warmth protection).
O2 Tanks:
The O2 tanks are single-use items and will consume their O2 contents while the player is wearing diving gear and submerged in water.
While in use, the standard O2 meter will update to show the tank-count and current tank O2 amount. As one tank depletes, the next one will take over and start being used.
Caves:
There is a new explorable cave system deep underground. Currently this area is only accessed via a dormant lava tube deep underwater in the largest lake. If you venture down there, be sure to pack extra O2, or risk stranding yourself with no means of escaping alive.
Building is not restricted in caves, although in the future I may need to put some restrictions on blocking entrances (on open public co-op servers). Resources are limited however, so players would have to transport resources if they wanted to start construction projects.
Crystal and Coal:
Throughout the caves, deposits of Crystal Ore and Coal can be found and mined. Mining crystal nodes causes more wear on tools than other ore types.
Crystal can be processed down in the refinery to produce raw crystal, which is used in later-game crafting recipes and item upgrades.
Coal can be used as an alternative fuel source for campfires/woodburners, lessening the demand to chop wood for fuel. It’s usages may be expanded in future updates.
Note: Cave ore nodes have a much longer respawn cool-down. So if you clear a cave area, it will take quite some time to repopulate.
Mining Hunters:
Groups of mining hunters patrol the caves. Unlike other hunters, these guys pack double barrels, .44’s and recurve bows, so can be dangerous.
I have plans to expand on their behavior and roles in future updates.
Clam Shells & Pearls:
Clam shells now spawn in the lakes in the world. Bash them open using an axe or pickaxe and harvest the pearl inside.
While these shells spawn at all depths, they are more common in deeper waters.
Circuit Boards:
Circuit boards are a new item, crafted at the workbench. They have been woven into the later-game crafting and upgrade recipes.
Ore Node Destruction Physics:
I’ve increased the size of the ore nodes in the world (also corrected their placement alignment). I added a more realistic destruction physics simulation to when they break apart. I think this makes harvesting nodes more satisfying, but let me know what you think.
Large Storage Unit:
There is now a larger 42 slot storage unit, which can be crafted in the BCU. This unit is intended as more of a lavish, later-game convenience item and should be a nice QOL improvement for established players maintaining large bases.
Blood Decals:
Taking damage, bleeding, harvesting animals, etc will now cause blood splatters in the surrounding environment.
This means that violent battles can result in quite a mess. Some players may not like this, so I may make a toggle for this in a future update.
Premium Weapon Parts:
Currently only used for 4th-tier weapon upgrades. These parts are currently only acquired from specialty crates spawned from detonating BCU crackers on established hunter bases.
The larger (more established) bases yield greater number of these parts. Destroying an underdeveloped base will yield none.
Fixed Loot Despawning Near Player:
Sorry for the delay on this fix (I know this was frustrating). Plants and ore nodes in the world will no longer despawn while the player is nearby.
Daytime Color-Grading and Foliage Density:
Previously the daytime color-grading had a heavy yellow tint. I've dialed it back to a more natural pallet, where the blues and greens can pop more.
I’ve also been experimenting with denser ground foliage detail (see image above), so you’ll notice certain areas look a bit different.
New Underwater Environment Detail:
Previously, as these areas were inaccessible, they had almost no detail. I’ve now added lots of new rock formations and detail.
Distance Visibility Culling:
Since the last couple of map expansions, I hadn’t updated the settings for visual culling on distant objects, meaning certain areas were making needless draw calls on very distant objects (especially on the west side of the lake). I’ve updated it to be far more aggressive. It’s unlikely you’ll notice distant objects popping out from view, but the stress on performance is now reduced in these areas.
Fishing Mechanic Tweaks:
A couple of tweaks to the fishing system: If a player is too close to the bait, the less likely fish will bite. Fishing in very shallow water will reduce the chances of hooking large fish.
I’ve been working on some other cool improvements to the fishing system, but couldn’t get it wrapped-up for this update, but it will follow soon.
Tool Degradation For Mining Nodes:
Tools now take usage damage when mining nodes (not currently for chopping wood).
Prevent Unneeded Med Usage:
Accidental usage of bandages, health kits and antidotes will now not consume if the player is not in need of that particular med type.
Camera Smoothing While Stepping Up Ledges:
Previously when stepping over geometry, the camera would instantly snap to the new Z axis. I’ve added smoothing to make this feel more natural. This is a subtle change, but I think makes a marked improvement to the feeling of play.
New Language - Romanian:
Huge thanks to VaeVictis for localizing this version!
Other Notable Changes:
- Slugs cost 1 less iron.
- Fixed bug that allowed items to be shift-clicked into the bed.
- New water splash particles in rivers.
- Fixed bug where HC profiles weren’t being successfully wiped in a fail-state.
- Reduced storm sounds while underwater.
- Fixed bug that could cause rain particles to play while underwater.
- Added new underwater caustic lighting fx (moving light ripples).
- New axe/pickaxe underwater swinging sound.
- Extended reach of axe and pickaxe.
- Increased size of kelp.
- Moose have had a slight stats boost.
- PvP kills now get logged in the launch log file (allowing server admins to identify them if they wish to ban).
- New console command “coord” will display the local players map coordinates (type “help” to see a list of available commands). This is primarily to help with trouble-shooting bugs with the community.
- Deer and moose will less frequently choose to swim in lakes when fleeing from danger.
- Fixed bug where you couldn’t switch ammo types when clicking the ammo-type icon while weapon was in slot 1.
- Fixed bug where hunters would fire random shot at the ground when fleeing to cover.
- Fixed co-op client audio bug where sleeping players would make reloading sounds.
- You now get slightly more gunpowder and casings when crafting at the workbench.
- Fixed glitched floating ore nodes and kelp at the foot of he western river.
- Fixed edge-case bug where moose would choose to stay in a particular area and stop roaming the world.
- Fixed hammer impact/repair sounds not playing for clients of co-op games.
Thanks for everyone's support and patience while I worked on this one. If you haven't already, please join the community on the Steam forums and the official Discord server (invite below). I welcome your thoughts and suggestions for the game moving forwad. Please stay tuned for more updates as the project continues to evolve!
All the best,
CG
Discord invite: https://discord.gg/zyy4jQs
Twitter: @playSubsistence
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playsubsistence/
Continued Translation Support Credits (in no particular order): I hugely appreciate the support.
Spanish (David Lascasas)
Hungarian (Erb Ármin)
Portuguese BR (Thiago Schumacke)
German (LPCaiser)
Italian (Marcello Brancaccio, Federico D. Ravagli)
French (Anthony Charrault)
Czech (Dílna U mnicha)
Danish (Morten Sørensen, Jesper Christensen, Bartholomeo Alexander)
Dutch (Damster_NL)
Russian (FRAME)
Turkish (Çagla Gurbet)
Swedish (Mattias Gustavsson)
Norwegian (Christer Djuvik, Svein Tore Stegemoen)
Romanian (VaeVictis)