Hi everyone,
the new Escape the Pacific version 'Alpha 30' is now available.
We are back after Winter holidays and for this update were mainly focusing on a new mechanic for Specialized island types and a new Foliage generator. There are new Tree types, a new tree Trunk object and a new Raft module. The Arrows break after usage and a couple of issues were fixed too.
The biggest change in this update is the new mechanic for generating fauna and flora on islands based on predefined profiles depending on a variety of parameters. The current implementation generates 'specialized' islands such as: Coconut, Banana, Papaya, Forest and mixed. Fauna is also 'specialized': Crab, Turtle, Seagull and mixed islands too can now be visited. This new mechanic allows us to generate more variable (Rocky, Sandy, ...) islands and more realistic looking foliage depending on the season and on the geo-location of the player. The newly added island, flora and fauna profiles will be fine tuned and new ones will be added continually in the future.
The mentioned Forest profiles are using 6 new Tree models - the list of types will be expanded in the future too. The new Tree Trunk object is spawning when chopping down trees and can be used for spawning Sticks or as a resource for crafting the new Trunk Raft module.
The save system has been expanded and now offers up to 4 slots in which the system holds the last (up-to) 4 savegames. With each save event older save games will be pushed back and the oldest one (the 5th) deleted. In some of the very next updates we will add 4 game profiles which will allow to play up to 4 different game session at once having 4 save slots for each of the game profile. Save states are now also synchronized to the Steam Cloud.
Arrows have gotten a new feature too - they break apart after they were shot certain times. Their durability is expressed in percentage: Simple wood ones break down 30% each time and the advanced ones break down 15% each time.
Amongst the fixed issues the most important one was when the player was very close (at-touch) to some of the built objects on the raft and started looking around (rotated) the raft was rocketed (pushed) around indirectly by the player character at high speed.
Changelog:
New features:
01. Added: New Flora generator mechanic
02. Added: New Fauna generator mechanic
03. Added: 6 Tree models
04. Added: Tree Trunk object
05. Added: Tree Trunk Raft module
06. Added: 4 Save slots
07. Added: Arrow break-down mechanic
Fixes:
01. Fixed: Looking around and touching an object on the raft does not rocket the raft around
02. Fixed: A couple of internal engine fixes
03. Fixed: Attaching a Roof module to a building on a Raft is correct (not jumpy)
We plan to concentrate more on improving gameplay and adding more content to make our game will be more entertaining and enjoyable for longer. Additional plans include also the Profile system, Smoker, Salt, different liquid types, Lanterns, new Cloud system, new Lighting system, Ship wrecks, Dolphins, Sharks ... We will also work on solving new issues and we will recheck some older issues too. Other new features will be added as implementing the planned features and fixing issues will allow us to.
Thank you for your patience and for your constructive feedbacks helping us to get rid of the issues as fast as is possible.
Do you like our game and want to help even more during development? We look forward to every positive review posted on our Steam page and thank everyone who decides to support us along the way!
Please be aware that during early access phase game code could change as much as affecting gameplay when loading/saving savegames from earlier versions. To always be on the safe side make sure to start a new game with each update. Thank you!
G4GTeam.
