Alpha 0.524 - Ambient Music

The game's file size increased dramatically in the latest version so I thought it's time for another post to summarise what I've been working on in the last month. 

The reason for the large increase is due to ambient music being added to the world map. The music will switch depending on the environment you're in, for example it will be happier when you're trading in an Evolved Settlement and darker when you're scavenging Furless Ruins. The balance between the two might need tweaking over the next few versions, but hopefully I got it mostly right.

There's also been many changes based on continued playtesting, watching other people play and feedback comments.

With the Steam launch happening next week, I'll be posting again in a few days with some handy tips that showcase some game mechanics so watch out for that!

Full Change List:

Version 0.452

• Added checks for old save game compatibility

Version 0.453

• Tutorial tweak
• Tooltip doesn't disappear until mouse moved larger distance

Version 0.460

• Moved Campfire crafting to level 1
• If hunger, energy or thirst zero, start losing health instead of dying straight away
• Make low needs flashing bar more obvious
• Automatic close popup related to quest when quest completed
• Added description to more items
• Fixed eating action not showing anymore when stomach is full

Version 0.466

• Reduced status effects impact on eating actions time taken
• Add Fire Starter item and crafting
• Corpse sites are now searched with left click instead of using rummage action
• Added Bury action to Corpse sites which gives Virtuous status effect
• Switched to fixed seed in demo for map generation
• Potential fix for crash when generating large terrain feature on edge of map

Version 0.468

• Made introduction more descriptive and added images
• Updated Iron Armour and Helmet repair sound

Version 0.475

• Reworked item transfer display to add scroll bar
• Added status effects flashing near player character when needs low
• Changed ESC key to close UI menus first before opening main menu
• "Cannot move until quest complete" warning shakes Journal button
• Extended distance for tooltip remaining on screen when mouse moved and implemented on main menu
• Hiding tooltip happens on mouse down instead of mouse up
• Holding mouse down doesn't show tooltip for objects underneath

Version 0.480

• Moved help button in Rest window to be more prominent
• Added background to travel time display on map
• When hovering over item/site action, tooltip shows almost immediately and offset away from mouse a bit
• Change Stomach Capacity and Stamina perks to use percentage instead of fixed amount
• Overhaul of Character Modifiers section, can now hover to see all things affecting each modifier

Version 0.495

• Slightly increased chance and quantity for finding food in underbrush
• Craft repeatable changed to use transfer mechanic
• Rewrite internal requirement checks to account for repeatable crafting
• Actions on items can now be repeatable
• More flashing of needs bars when needs low
• Sleep window shows percentage required to reach max energy
• Cleaned up redundant requirement checks
• Optimised Interact UI to only update when all queued actions completed
• Pressing ESC cancels all current player actions
• Increased recycle action confirmation cache from 10 seconds to 30 seconds
• Recycling Metal Sheet requires Forge Heat instead of Extreme Heat
• Fixed craft not checking if required Site available before adding action
• Fixed Zoomie Mode icon not animating when loading game while already in Zoomie Mode
• Fixed flies not going away when closing windows via bottom buttons or ESC key
• Fix wrong sound for recycling can

Version 0.500

• Default to full screen when starting game for first time
• Add tint to main menu for readability
• Add lifetime transfer mechanics when item breaks into another item
• Changed blowtorch full and empty images
• Fixed some actions with conditions showing when they should be hidden until quest triggered or quest blocked

Version 0.505

• Optimised weight calculation for Interact screen
• Set weight display to refresh more frequently
• Update search and craft speed icons
• Maximum of 12 findable items per site search
• Fix nose wiggling triggers settlement tracking too soon

Version 0.509

• Increase probability and amount of finding stone in rocky area
• Esc key cancels pending player movement
• Fixed "Scavengers" journal entry appearing when defeating Independants
• Fixed blocked/required quest issue

Version 0.517

• Notification appears when Hunger, Thirst or Energy reaches zero
• UI text auto-scales when changing resolution (can still manually adjust)
• Increase max UI scale to 200%
• When starting game for first time ever, detects screen size and auto sets UI scale
• Quest journal choices removed delay before tooltip appears
• Remove resume and save button when player dies
• Pressing ESC key on Updates or Credits display returns to main menu
• Fixed a few UI scaling issues

Version 0.524

• Overhauled ambient music system
• Added ambient music for lots of different terrain types
• Removed autosaves at the end of battle, only autosaves at the start
• Fixed Autosave On Battle options setting being ignored
• Fixed scroll bars at game start being extra scaled
• Fixed music picker during battle not choosing from all possible music
• Fixed clicking on some UI elements enabled during intro screen