This can now be done by holding down R to switch the tool from curvy to straight lines.
Next week, we’re adding more player control over auto-saving and the regularity this occurs at.
Notable Improvements:
- Limit the maximum length of Prospect names so that elements of the UI can no longer break
- Improved visuals during Rain weather events, including rain droplets running down the HUD
- Optimized the Lava River lights draw distance on the lower Effects Quality setting to increase performance
This Week: Cable and Pipe Placement Improvements
We have added the ability to place electrical cables and water pipes in completely straight sections. Holding R can now switch the tool mode from curvy to straight. We’ve also improved the feedback when using the tool, and now the hologram should change color to tell you what's going on.
Many survival games only have straight wire segments, which adds a rigid feeling to endgame bases. Icarus chose to utilise ‘splines’ for interior cable and pipe placement so that they would feel less artificial when draped around a base. ‘Splines’ are a way of representing a multipoint line. Icarus uses spline points with tangent data influenced by the distance and direction from the previous point to give the cable a feeling of ‘momentum’.
However, players have often asked for straight splines. Sometimes, when building a large grid-aligned farm or big factory-style room, straight sections and drop-downs look the best. However, splines have had very little iteration since Icarus launched, and large core sections of the game depended on them working, so we didn't want to risk breaking anything for a relatively minor aesthetic change.
Since we had to do a deep dive into the splines for a game-breaking issue, we took a chance at trying out straight splines. Luckily, wrapping a few sections of the code in a mode toggle and then slightly changing how we save, send, and use the spline data in multiplayer allowed us to add this feature without reworking any underlying systems. So now you can switch your spline tool’s mode and alternate between traditional curvy and straight splines while wiring up your base.
Next Week: Auto-save customization
Next week we’re adding new options for being able to define the time between auto-saves when playing Icarus. More work is going on behind the scenes to try and improve the hitches that occur during the auto-save process, but in the meantime we’re adding a new layer of control for players in determining how often the game will automatically perform them.
This will allow players to reduce the auto-save frequency to reduce these ‘stutter’ events while we keep working on the hitches themselves.
We will also be adding a matching config variable for dedicated server owners to tweak.
Your support makes these updates possible.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3315290/Icarus_Great_Hunts_Campaigns/
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/35727/Icarus_Complete_the_Set/
Changelog v2.3.6.141490
New Content
[expand type=details expanded=false]
- Number of water pipes and electrical wires are now shown in the escape menu
- Changed spline placement logic to allow more than two colors for spline ghost holograms
- Added ability for spline nodes to use multiple colored ghosts
- Added new enum to define spline placement feedback rules
- Added ability for spline tool mode to be changed to place straight lines instead of curved
- Fixed a wire disconnect case which wasn't calling audio feedback
- Added text to show which placement mode a spline is in
- Fixed issue where Reload key prompt was visible on spline tools
- Adding 2d audio event to play when adjusting the splines curve
[/expand]
Fixed
[expand type=details expanded=false]
- Add several missing BurntFLODEntry references. Add some unhooked DT validation for checking asset usage
- Fixed a few typos in dialogue and quest text
- Update new CavewormScale durable entry to use Caveworm_Scale item
- Fix Caveworm armor requiring Sandworm scale to repair. Made Durable row more verbose so they don't get mixed up again
- Fixed spelling of Cocoa on workshop seed packet
- Added setter functions for PointLightComponent MaxDrawDistance and DistanceFadeRange
- Prospects now only accept names with up to 25 characters. For existing prospects with >25 chars, truncate but add full string display on hover
- Fixed rain droplet / lightning post process effects not showing correctly
- Decrease River Lava Lights draw distance on lower Effects Quality settings
[/expand]
Future Content
[expand type=details expanded=false]
- Update BP_PlayerEffectsComponent to support new DH PP effects
- Updated radiation post process effects material
- Radiation VFX should now correctly blend in and out
- Small volume balance for beach amb
- Reduce albedo on picnic table from 4k to 2k
- Added first pass NPC Iris SK mesh, textures, materials and updated BP_Mission_NPC_DH_Iris
- Update Picnic table to support sitting for 2 people
- Adding more appropriate hopping creature audio row until full audio setup is complete
- Elysium - cliff and macro placement, landscape sculpting in NW volcanic, red quad. Removed temp red quad nav blockers from persistent level
- Adding variation combat music track for DH to give a little variation
- Arctic Orka - Checking off checklist. Added basic attack/idle montages. added control rigs. fixed default rows being incorrect. gave extra range to make attacks work better
- Added item text for new recipes
- Added test dialogue for ELY0 and ELY1
- Touch ups to DH music cues and combat music transition points
- Generating edge splines for rivers in Island outpost to ensure that river audio works
- Reaver - Added ctrl rig for LookAt
- More variation additions to DH combat music
- Updated raptor desert textures
- Lots of improvements to DH combat music to make it work seamlessly with the correct quantized fade outs according to the songs tempo. Curve adjustments etc
- Added raptor carcass asset and updated the raptor dead BP
- Fixed log spam coming from invalid radiation manager
- Bounder/TundraDeer/HoppingCreature/Raptor/Chew - Duplicated montages for reskin creatures so we can have new audio on them
- Voxel Pass and Resource Spawning in Arctic, Green Quad, Elysium
- Balance adjustment to uranium rod pickup
- Cliff and Landscape Pass in Swamp, Orange Quad, Elysium
- Stomper - Most of implementation
- Elysium - cliff placement, landscape sculpting and decal painting in NW volcanic, red quad
- Adding truffle harvest audio event and data table setup and BP row
- Added Flightless tank carcass and bones art assets, Updated skinning on base mesh
- Adding hopping cre attack whoosh and bite audio events and anim notifies. Removing references to rock golem audio in animations that are shared between both
- Increased horizontal currency box in Biolab to fit currency
- Updated meshes and textures for GT_Dead_Tree variants
- Adding hopper flinch, death and aggro state audio, events and data table setups
- Replaced Deep Ore Deposit Spawn, Orange Quad, Elysium
- Elysium - added exotic, deep ore, enzyme and respawn spawn locations for red quad
- Adding new Biome Map with Region Names for Elysium
- Setting up new Weather groups for new Elysium Biomes
- Adding Hazmat Suit Icons & Talent image
- Adding Animation to Manufacturer
- Adding Description to Manufacturer
- Disable collision on OilPump geyser mesh at it is causing errors for 0 scaling. Remove unused/unreferenced variable and Niagara emitter
- Update CavePrefab to reject non-zero X/Y rotations on Terrain_021
- Cliff and Landscape Pass in Swamp, Orange Quad, Elysium
- Timing adjustments for hopping cre audio
- Desert Raptor - Implementation
- Elysium - cliff and macro placement, landscape sculpting, lava lakes and rivers in NW volcanic, red quad
- Adding duplicates of hopping creature eating anims for the duplicated anim montage
- Updated flaying tank LODs, material, and physics asset
- Adding hopper juvie insert idle duplicates to montage. Removing audio from other creature. Adjustments to music curves etc
- Hopping creature - added swamp variant and spawn/damage/resistance stats for a few creatures that were missed
- Adding Uranium Exotic node audio, event and BP addition
- Hooked up more test dialogue for ELY0 and ELY1, added placeholder subtitles for yet-to-be-recorded material
- Added Slinker Juvenile art assets to the project
- Added first pass NPC Theo SK mesh, decal textures and materials. Also updated BP's for Iris and Victor - changed the idle animation
- Added DEP_Pump_Jack_T5 with destructible, rig and animation, also populated BP
- Updating BP for DEP_Polymerizer_T5
- Added DEP_Polymerizer_T5, with destructible and populated BP
- Added DEP_Crude_Oil_Refiner, with destructible, animation and populated BP
- Add Haybale deployables for Homestead
- NS_AOE_Radiation update on material and amount of particles
- Updated Voxel_Ruby materials
- Cliff and Landscape Pass in Swamp, Orange Quad, Elysium
- More DH music additions and updates and fine tunes
- Chew Juvenile - Implementation
- Elysium - cliff and macro placement, landscape sculpting, lava lakes and rivers in NW volcanic, red quad
- Adding hopping creature attack vocalizations, event and data table setup. Duplicating animations to be added in to duplicated montages. Removing golem audio that was in animations. Hopper footstep setup, AI audio setup
- Adding Meta Resource Spawning, Exotic/Deep Ore Deposit/Geyser in Arctic, Green Quad, Elysium
- Chew - Added mount variant
- Updated Orka BP with the retargeted anim montages
- Retargeted additional animations and montages from the bear to the Orka
[/expand]
