Aug 2020 Status Update
First of all, let me apologise for not keeping up with the monthly schedule for the updates. I will try my best to fix it for the coming months.
Everyone surely wants to find out when is this actually coming out?! Well, while there is still time to announce when Namalsk will actually release, I can tell you that so far everything is on right track for the 2020 release.
But now lets get to an update on the situation, shall we? I have decided to split Namalsk into two separated mods.
First is called Namalsk Island and contains the terrain files and everything related (assets, sounds, scripts, effects). This package does not contain any game play changes. Second is called Namalsk Survival. This package contains new items, survival adjustments, event system and soundtrack. Survival package is dependent on Island and there are no other 3rd party dependencies.
Why have I decided to go this way? I know the community is formed from a variety of players and the survival part of Namalsk is simply not going to be for everyone. The split gives me more leeway for the survival package (and simplifies it lot too) and ensures the island package will be as simple as possible (reducing any compatibility risks) to allow a broader use within the community.
Now to some other news. While you may see the upcoming 1.09 update being wrapped up during usual experimental phase, there are far more things happening outside of it.
One thing I would want to talk about today is the long standing issue of item variables such as wetness and temperature not correctly updated over time. I am happy to report that this is no longer an issue internally and it is on a good track to be released with the 1.10 update. Lets dive a bit into details.
Wetting and drying process has been revisited on player character (to make sure the code goes through the complete inventory). Items dry/wet on the player character how one would expect to. On the ground, it is sadly a bit different story and items only dry over time (unless present in a water container). Due to performance issues, it isn’t possible to implement more detailed wetting/drying on ground – cases such as when items is thrown into the water and left outside exposed to rain.
The heating and cooling of the player inventory has been implemented on the player character, meaning player will “consume” any heated item temperature, increasing the total character heat comfort for the time being (until item temperature is depleted). The game continues to recognise only heated items and uses 0 degrees Celsius as a neutral temperature. On the ground, it is same as with the wetness – items only loose the temperature over time, returning to the neutral value.
These changes were originally planned with 1.09. But since majority of the player base right now dodges the cold survival by putting heated items in their inventories, these changes would be too drastic and they can’t come without a proper balancing pass on individual clothing (how fast it gets wet, how much it gets wet and how much it protects against cold). The actual work on this will start in a near future. That being said, update 1.09 already introduced a tiny balancing pass, focused at making clothes more effective when damaged. Damage state can greatly increase wetness absorbency rate and lower heat isolation and so the values were tweaked in a way that worn state remains 90% effective (was 75%), damaged remains 75% (was 50%) and badly damaged 50% (was 25%). Ruined state will continue to give zero bonuses and you should find a replacement for that piece asap or generally just avoid ruining your gear next time.
That is all for August of 2020.
And by the way, some weird things are going to happen. If you are true Namalsk fan, you do not want to miss it out! Keep an eye on my twitter and this blog 😉
