Hello everyone,
In this major update, the New Cycle Universe is revamping and upgrading some of its key assets and systems that we haven’t been able to dedicate time and resources to since the game’s launch.
Up until now, our major update series has primarily focused on completing the game’s design flow—featuring “new structures, new production trees, and new products.” This time, however, we’re focusing on the game’s oldest digital assets—the Humanoid NPCs—and the systems associated with them, and we’re completely overhauling our entire inventory related to them from the ground up.
In addition to this main focus, this update also brings a wide range of other improvements—from numerous small system tweaks and some new structures and props to a major engine upgrade based on powerful render optimization—all of which we hope you’ll enjoy.
Here are the key new features, enhancements, and other highlights included in this update:
Completely Redesigned Human Character Models and Animations
Renewed Shader system and New Runtime LOD Infrastructure
New Subsystem - Surface-based spatial audio system for moving objects
New Subsystem- Verbal Situational Expressions
New Subsystem - Random Prop Generation System
New Progressive Construction Animation Sequences
New Placement-based terrain leveling system
Revamped Structures, Numerous Improvements, and Minor Fixes
Also driven by the demand from our updates over the past few months—which included numerous new features—and to deliver the current scope of our universe more efficiently while creating room for future additions, we’ve implemented a series of major innovations.
The solutions we’ve implemented using quite radical new techniques—primarily in areas such as texture rendering/material optimisation, animation processing, and back-end triggers—deliver a 15–25% gain in GPU performance, particularly for endgame locations that have reached massive scales. (This range does not apply to every configuration; it may vary depending on the computer’s hardware combination and the selected quality settings.)
Why is this important?
We prioritise building a clean, robust infrastructure with a strong architecture to ensure a smooth, seamless gaming experience while also making room for the many new innovations that will join the ever-expanding New Cycle Universe.
We also strive to express our gratitude to our nearly 200,000 community members—who supported us during our early stages and empowered us to learn new technologies and methodologies every day—by providing an ever-improving and increasingly diverse experience.
Important reminder: This update is compatible with existing save files. However, since our next major update—which we plan to release following this one—will include significant innovations and changes that directly affect gameplay (such as the development tree, regulations, effects, etc.), save files will no longer be compatible once we reach that version. Of course we will offer access to earlier game versions though dedicated branches - as we did in the past.
Completely revamped NPC appearances and animations
Our 3D NPC characters, which symbolise society—one of the most important elements of the New Cycle universe—have been among the assets we’ve most wanted to improve since the early days of production.
In the early stages of our project, due to a variety of reasons—including our own knowledge base and technical capabilities at the time, as well as the technological infrastructure available back then—we were forced to create and place assets in our game that were highly optimized but somewhat lacking in visual quality.
However, at this stage, thanks to the significant advancements in game engine infrastructure over time and the growing expertise of our team—which has learned and evolved throughout the process—we now have the opportunity to replace these valuable assets with much more improved versions. Accompanied by a series of new character models and, in particular, carrying animation sequences;
Early-stage characters who appear somewhat colorless and worn out.
Early-to-mid-stage examples of characters featuring the first mass-produced clothing and tools
Mid-to-Late Stage, New Craftman Class Models Featuring First Metal Components and Robust Protective Gear
What’s Changed on NPCs?
All 3D models of humanoid characters, all animation sequences, and all work routines have been completely revamped
116 new animation clips have been added.
Animations, visual effects, and sounds for new work sequences—such as hand tools with motors (blow torch, circular saw, hand drill), a scythe, a rake, a one-handed saw and a wrench—have been added.
143 new transport objects have been added that are consistent in content with their respective functions and the structures in which they are used. (Materials coming out of the production facility, boxes, open crates, baskets, bales, barrels, etc.)
New subsystems have been added that can generate situational verbal responses and activate interactive sound-generation tools—such as footstep sounds and clothing foley sounds—based on indicators like surface types and weather conditions.
Semi-interactive state scenarios have been added that include special animation sequences such as conversing, sitting, wandering freely, listening to a performance as a group, carrying another injured NPC, and using a wheelbarrow.
Whether they’re aiming for the right spot while chopping down a tree, bending over to pick up a load on their back and then continuing on their way, or leaning against a wall to kill time—no matter what task they’re performing, we place great importance on the support our NPCs provide to the storytelling and to making the world feel more “alive.”
Given the importance we place on animation and its integration into the universe, the technical volumes of all our 3D character models have been increased by 2.5x and they have been retextured.
We’ve added variations and new animation sequences to expand our existing humanoid animation library by a double, focusing primarily on daily idle animations, work animations, and special animations.
Furthermore, by implementing fundamental innovations and changes in our animation execution procedures and our pathfinding algorithms in the 3D environment, we have achieved optimizations that significantly reduce the CPU workload.
Finally, while creating our characters’ new looks, we took great care to stay true to the original “New Cycle” designs that you’ve long been familiar with from the story windows and our other 2D visuals.
We hope that all of these developments will be very helpful in allowing us to present a more “life-like” universe and that you will enjoy it. New subsystem - Surface-based spatial audio system for moving objects
After updating all our characters and animations, we couldn’t overlook the most important element that would make this visually engaging environment feel even more alive. For this reason, we designed and added a new system component that can process all surface textures in the universe and trigger the appropriate “foley” sound effects based on the nature of the objects coming into contact with those surfaces.
This system was also developed to operate adaptively based on a variety of different variables, taking into account the surface's current condition and type, environmental conditions, and the speed of the moving object.
We followed a development approach designed to capture all the logical scenarios that could be reflected in real life—such as dusty roads, concrete roads, standard terrain, and distinctions between sandy and gravelly areas within the terrain, as well as the separation of these surfaces based on whether they are dry or wet. We supported this entire system with over 200 SFX assets, each designed to work in harmony with the surfaces they are intended for.
New subsystem- Verbal Situational Expressions
This subsystem simulates your community's interaction with you on the street—both among themselves and directly with you if you've approached them (while the camera or TPS mode is active)—accompanied by certain lines of dialogue.
For example, if they’ve been on a low-ration diet for a long time, if they’ve been working long hours for an extended period, or if your water supply is set to run out in a few days, they may share specific information about these situations or express their reactions with mild criticism.
Except in urgent or specific situations, they can also use general greetings, small talk in the workplace, everyday reactions to the weather, and generic short conversational phrases.
All of these functions have their own priority rankings and are categorized separately by gender. In addition to meaningful and intelligible sentence clusters, deep breaths, short and long coughs, whistling, humming, and generic sounds of surprise or bewilderment were added to this pool to help create an atmosphere more in line with the natural flow of life, and these sounds will be triggered intermittently.
We believe that, particularly within this broad life cycle—from a small community to a vast metropolis—the direct incorporation of the “human” voice into the flow of life will foster a greater sense of “aliveness.” We will continue to expand these voice datasets incrementally through upcoming updates and ensure they operate with greater situational awareness.
New subsystem
We are adding a new small subsystem to enable a more organic creation of the early-stage universe view and overall city atmosphere. This new subsystem activates autonomously after the first-level ‘residential’ structures are built. Over time, the structures will make small design touches to their surroundings with a series of different 3D objects, controlling several parameters such as their location, the presence of road-facing facades, and the suitability of neighboring structures' sockets, etc., in order to better simulate the normal flow of life and visually reflect it to the player.
This new system will operate without placing extra load on the game's main flow in terms of performance. It will spawn awnings, ropes or cables connecting buildings, suspended structure floors connecting two suitable buildings, props adjacent to the walls of the living area (crates, barrels, stools, various tools and equipment) adjacent to the walls of the living area, and certain plant types (shrubs, bushes, and ivy) depending on the biom conditions.
This subsystem was implemented in this update to operate across the entire Tier I structure inventory with approximately 80 new prop model combinations, based on appropriate placements. We are continuing to produce and integrate appropriate inventory for Tier II and Tier III structures in a way that preserves artistic and aesthetic integrity.
New Construction Animation System
We further refined the current construction stages and, for each building form, tested a step-by-step system that progresses gradually—first scaffolding, then the construction of specific building components—based on the duration of construction activities, to help create a sense of completion.
New Prop Sets
We’ve added nearly 30 new aesthetic objects of various sizes. These consist primarily of building edges, piles of objects that can be placed in squares, and materials, all designed to better create a sense of clutter in the cityscape.
We are also developing a new UI component to support a large number of prop layouts more efficiently and easily—preventing players from wasting too much time in menus.
We’ve introduced a small innovation to our line of placeable props and have started utilizing signage options with customizable text content.
New drivable vehicle and First, optional TPS mini-mission
In the previous update, we added horse-drawn carriages to the game as a means of logistical support in the early stages of the universe. In this update, we’ve added new controls for them, just as we have for all other vehicles in the universe.
For now, this new controller—which offers the opportunity to experience the New Cycle universe from a different perspective solely for the purpose of free exploration—has also served as a pioneer, enabling us to incorporate various other infrastructures into the overall universe framework.
In this context, we’ve added a small mini-mission under the “transportation” scope for the first time. We have completed and tested the new mission assignment infrastructure and its associated reward and effect system components. Next, we’re preparing more comprehensive and story-driven TPS mission links. We believe this feature will allow us to immerse ourselves even deeper in our city and give us the chance to view the universe we’ve created from a different perspective—but not so much that it makes us forget we’re a “strategy game” ^^
We eagerly await the opportunity to share the tangible results of this pioneering mission with you in upcoming updates.
New Terrain Leveling System
We have completely redesigned our tools that operate after a structure or road has been placed and shape the terrain according to playable elevation measurements.
Now, sections of terrain that fall above or below specific elevation thresholds will respond differently to the general leveling system. This will prevent early-access-era scenarios, such as mountains that can be completely leveled or seas that can be completely filled in.
Additionally, in situations such as automatic bridge construction, the system will operate more accurately without compromising the aesthetic integrity of the terrain.
Refurbished Buildings
We redesigned from scratch the 3D models of the Hunter and Gathercamp structures—which can be considered the first structures in the New Cycle universe—at the Tier I level.
With animation poses that better convey gathering and partial processing tasks, along with updated visuals reflecting the early period (relying on rough wood), we aimed to create a visual style for the universe that is much more harmonious with Tier I houses in particular.
Fence and Wall System Adjustments
All wall and fence components have been redesigned to occupy a space equal to a 1x1 grid square. This does not prevent free placement.
With this adjustment, a system has been created where the start and end points work in perfect alignment and are fully compatible with path components that pass through them, including three different gate sizes.
Additionally, to save players time during placement, paths can now directly delete the fence or wall segment they intersect with and provide an optional pre-defined area for gate placement.
New Building and Some Minor Changes
As a precursor to the GuardHouse structure, we added the “Watchtower” structure, which aligns with the universe's thematic art style. This will make the “security” need available earlier in the universe and allow it to function as an attainable stat.
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We have also repositioned the “Apartment” structure as a new level of the Level I “Tall Shack” structure. This structure will also be made available in Cycle 5, and existing “Tall Shack” structures will be upgradeable to it.
A new UI indicator that illustrates the building-staff relationship
To better depict work structures and the workers performing tasks in open areas, we’ve added a small set of indicators. As shown in the image below, when you select a building, you’ll see auxiliary icons above the workers’ heads that correspond to their tasks.
We’ve added a new “Wall” component and made the corresponding door models available. We believe that this new early-stage Wall-Fence hybrid structure will help create free-form/grid designs that will effectively enhance the aesthetic appeal of the scattered and makeshift architectural appearance seen in the universe’s earliest moments.
Render Optimization and Engine Upgrade
One of the key highlights of this update is, we’ll try to convey our new rendering improvements—particularly the technical adjustments made to the end-game flow, which features large-scale environments—without getting into too much technical detail.
We have redesigned and edited all of our existing shaders—excluding Nature entities—and the 420 material variants generated from them. This massive step forward yielded significant gains in terms of processing costs—particularly on the graphics card side—for the universe textures, which we put a great deal of effort into making look “realistic in their own style.”
Although we will closely monitor and continuously improve these new adjustments through future updates, the current structure not only delivers image quality in a highly stable manner but also produces results that provide better visual support for interactive changes such as “rain effects, snow cover effects, and burnt or weathered surface effects.”
We’ve added a new “Runtime LOD Generation” system to ensure that all 3D objects in the universe run more efficiently and with lower performance overhead.
Roughly speaking, this feature allows nearly all small 3D objects in the game to be reprocessed through real-time calculations—rather than being rendered as separate objects—so they can function as a single, massive material. This enables us to achieve a significant balance in the workload per frame on both the graphics card and the CPU.
While all these innovations contribute significantly to the current gameplay experience, more importantly, they allow us to enrich the universe’s potential future with new, more comprehensive plans that involve a wider range of participants.
Fixes and Improvements
[Fixed] The issue where horse-drawn carriages did not disappear properly when their structures were destroyed, and the resulting unwanted temporary traffic congestion, has been fixed.
[Fixed] The issue of having more than one Freight Depot connected in advanced production facilities has been resolved.
[Fixed] Issue where some production formulas were changed unexpectedly after a load or crash.
[Fixed] The UI component displayed on the overview screen, which rendered one on top of another due to an excessive number of effects, has been fixed.
[Fixed] Few animated components of the structure appearing prematurely during the construction phase of the recycling facility.
[Fixed] This problem—where oceans and inland seas generated “foam on wave crests” at regular intervals as the camera moved in “Pause” mode, and the foam did not disappear due to the pause state—has been resolved.
[Fixed] A bug that caused unwanted camera elevation movements after quickly switching between different locations on the map.
[Fixed] The Cart Yard structure began reflecting its active bonus prematurely, before its construction was complete.
[Fixed] Few animated components of the structure appearing prematurely during the construction phase of the recycling facility.
[Fixed] Bug that caused the volumetric cloud system to consume more resources than the range in which it should operate under “Ultra” graphics settings has been fixed.
[Fixed] In response to a report indicating that, under certain conditions, the net migration multiplier could be calculated at unreasonably high rates, the required changes were made.
[Fixed] Bug that caused NPCs to become stuck as a result of outdoor workers' (stone miners, woodcutters, etc.) resources being removed from the map has been fixed.
[Fixed] Bug that caused NPCs to become stuck as a result of outdoor workers' (stone miners, woodcutters, etc.) resources being removed from the map has been fixed.
[Fixed] Bug that could occur after saving or loading during the tutorial phase and that reset the counters for tutorial missions has been fixed.
[Improved] It was detected that, when certain structures were placed, the Decal components on their floors were unintentionally rendered as “ghosts,” and adjustments were made.
[Improved] The general lighting settings for the Northern Forest map have been adjusted; two separate new profiles have been created for daytime and nighttime, preventing the gameplay environment from becoming excessively dark at certain times.
[Improved] 2D asset improvements have been made to some UI elements.
[Improved] Some 3D objects that were outside the Tavern structure's layout area, along with their associated animation sets, were rearranged so that they remain inside the building.
[Improved] It was found that the sound sequences for horse-drawn carriages sometimes looped, causing the same sound file to play continuously. The necessary adjustments were made so that the system would play 6 different sound files in a randomized order.
[Improved] The sound, reverb, and distance limit settings for playlists that work together to generate generic “village” and “town” ambient sounds have been adjusted.
[Improved] Adjustments were made to the water elements—which help create a darker, more intense atmosphere, particularly in maps with a northern theme—in areas such as water reflections, clarity, and light absorption.
[Improved] The rate at which terrain details are removed around the “Wide Dusty” road during placement, and the impact multiplier for this process, have been readjusted.
[Improved] Sound effects have been added to the demolition animation sequences of structures destroyed as a result of disaster scenarios such as lightning strikes and fires.
[Improved] The sound effect for the Windmill I structure has been updated.
[Improved] The land surfaces of all biomes now feature small ponds formed by rainwater, and these ponds exhibit droplet effects on their surfaces that are proportional to the intensity of the rainfall.
[Improved] Multiple gather camps can now be linked to collectible resources on the surface, such as stone and iron, and any desired number of workers can be employed simultaneously
This update has provided us with the proper framework (both visual and auditory) to support the new design tweaks and fundamental changes we aim to implement, particularly in the mid-end stages of the universe. We are continuing our work with the goal of introducing powerful gameplay enhancements in the next major update, finally building upon the solid foundation we’ve arrived at.
Thank you once again for your patience and outstanding support.