Grief is tough
Jumping back into a global multiplatform launch mentality has been pretty daunting to say the least. For quite some time, making any kind of announcement simply felt too soon. Thankfully, with time, it is getting easier so we've taken the day to write this up. While this isn't everything we've been working on, it hopefully gives an idea of what to expect when we release v1.0.
Optimizations
We've been quietly working on the list of polish and optimizations we have left to do. During that time, we did discover some other additional optimizations that'll benefit pretty much everyone regardless of system specs or platform choice.
We'd like to share a few of those optimizations that'll be in the v1.0 release.
+ Improved proxies
Proxies are basically low resolution models that we use when unloading the sectors of the game that are far out in the distance. You can see the old ones currently in v5130 by turning down draw distance to 0. For v1.0, we've completely overhauled these proxies and made them look almost identical to the actual in game visuals thus allowing the game to run at a lower draw distance but still look and feel as if it were at a higher draw distance. This is probably the biggest improvement that will be seen by most players, as it improves visuals for low end systems but also allows for mid-tier systems to achieve improved visuals.
We've posted some images of both the latest development build and latest Early Access build. These were taken on a gaming laptop first with highest graphical settings and draw distance maxed, and then at its lowest setting. I did notice a small 2-3FPS drop when I took the screenshot using Windows screenshot tool so even these numbers are a little lower than what I saw in-game. Please understand these FPS results may not be the same for all systems but based on our tests there should be notable improvements for all.
FPS taken using Fraps
MSI GE66-Raider
i7-10750H CPU
GeForce RTX 2070 Super
32GB RAM
120hz monitor
+ Improved Overdraw (very helpful for GPU)
We've gone over every VFX in the game to reduce unnecessary particle counts. This again will help framerate across all platforms especially concerning low/mid end systems. The image above shows an example of the how much we've reduced overdraw. The VFX still look the same, but are much more performant.
+ Improved loading of game objects (very helpful for CPU)
Kind of tricky to show an image for this but the game does run better because of it:)
V1.0 Release when?
For now, we can say that the new bosses are ready and we've addressed nearly all feedback. Now we're fixing bugs, doing a lot of playtesting across all the platforms, and beginning on the launch trailer. Once those are complete, we'll have a date ready to share.
Thanks again for your support and patience.
Brian
PS: So I guess technically our game "released" on Xbox??
https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/25/22738056/microsoft-xbox-pc-games-steam-nvidia-geforce-now-streaming
GeForce Now is available on Xbox using their browser. if you own an Xbox and have a Steam key you can play the game using GeForce Now.
We've had a couple players reach out and let us know that it ran pretty well. Obviously, this depends on your internet connection but for those that can't run the game very well on their PC or simply want to see it on their TV/Xbox it's very possible.
