S.E.A. v1.4.2
The latest S.E.A. update brings another vertical slice of enhancements to prepare it for Steam Next Fest. Enjoy new engine sounds, experimental changes like surface strafing, and various tweaks and fixes.
Spoiler Warning
This build also includes experimental changes to underwater gameplay. Terrain is now revealed on collision as another way to interact with it. Scan results are now communicated in a timed sequence to improve their clarity. And strafing has been enabled on the surface to maximize freedom of movement. I'd value your feedback on these changes.
What’s upstream
For a limited time starting June 16, this build will be available for download on Steam as a demo. Please join me on Sunday, June 20, on the shiftBacktick Discord Server to discuss the state of the game and its future. Throughout the festival I may go live with an impromptu livestream.
Please dive in and let me know what you think!
v1.4.2 changes
- Audio
- Reduced default compass volume by half
- Reworked engine cues to be more responsive to input
- Graphics
- Adjusted splash screens to show off new star effects
- Draw nodes consistently across draw distances
- Fixed drawing on resize when graphics disabled
- Increased default draw distance to maximum value
- Increased film grain refresh rate
- Prevented periodic GPU crashes when tracers enabled
- Rendered tracers for sun, moon, and stars
- Movement
- Allowed strafing on surface
- Improved mouse turning and sensitivity values
- Prevented haptics while game is paused
- User interface
- Added confirmation screen before starting a new game
- Renamed motion blur setting to tracers
- Miscellaneous
- Updated documentation to reflect changes
- Updated desktop builds to Electron 13 (Chromium 91)
Spoiler Warning
- Graphics
- Adjusted exploration node coloring
- Improved background color depth transitions
- Limited maximum number of exploration nodes drawn
- Movement
- Allowed surfacing regardless of vertical velocity
- Doubled normal underwater speed
- Improved underwater collision detection memory usage
- Remembered collisions as exploration nodes
- Scanning
- Added binaural processing to scan results
- Attenuated reverb while scanning
- Improved load times for games with many scans
- Reworked scan results cue for directional clarity
- Voxelized scan collisions
- Simulation
- Simulated speed of sound of current medium
- Treasure
- Added musical instruments as possible junk
- Expanded munitions with new adjectives and nouns