Update 0.5: World generation

Hey folks,

finally the world generation update is available! This is a real game changer, because the game now provides a very varied, randomly generated world.

The game now generates various huge islands surrounded by an infinite ocean. The islands contain many details like bays and lakes, but also mountains. Tall mountain peaks are covered with snow.

There are also temperate climate biomes available, like diverse forests, and the game also generates various terrain details to keep the landscape rich in variety.

Water is now dynamic (albeit still experimental), this means it will adapt to the terrain if you dig up the banks of a lake, for example. In creative mode, you can either spawn dynamic water or static water (which makes building a bit easier sometimes) - there are various new water-related tools available in creative mode now. However, this isn't the final implementation yet, so this still has some limitations. There will be another, dedicated water update in the future.

In order to travel between islands, there are two boats available: A rowboat and a rigid-inflatable boat. More vessels, especially larger ships are planned.

When creating a new world, you can now also create superflat worlds (similar to how they worked in the Java version). Old demo worlds (created prior to this update) also stay compatible. If you wish to create a new demo world, just use the seed "Demo"

There are also new ores available (which spawn underground), a new pumpkin plant as well as various new items, including a measuring tape, which allows you to measure the distance between two points (which is quite helpful when building).

Another handy change affects the paint roller and paint brush: right click now brings up a color selection dialog, including a color picker.

There is now a ton of other Quality-of-Life features available (hotkeys for inventory, preview on blueprint items etc), backup functionality (especially relevant for multiplayer), we've done some optimizations to speed up the creative mode terrain and removal tools and of course we've also fixed a lot of bugs.

Apart from the new content, we've also reworked the Steam P2P multiplayer mode (i.e. the "Play with friends" option). It's now based on Steams new "Networking Sockets", which should provide better performance compared to the legacy P2P networking.

The game spawns a lot more vegetation now, which may have performance implications unfortunately, especially on lower hardware. We're aware of this problem and we're working on some optimizations which will handle vegetation much more efficiently. Unfortunately this wasn't ready in time, but we will get it ready as soon as possible.

As always, if you find any bugs or if you have questions or feedback, please let us know! Stay tuned for the next update, which will introduce NPCs!

Changelog 2022-10-31 (0.5):

• [New] World generation

  
  

  • Random island generation
  • Infinite ocean
  • Random generation of bays and lakes
  • Random generation of tall mountains
  • High mountain peaks are covered with snow
  • Randomly distributed temperate climate biomes (forests, meadows etc)
  • Randomly generated terrain details
• [New] Flowing water (experimental)
• [New] Added 30 new terrain materials / textures
• [New] New boats: Rowboat and RIB
• [New] Rowboat is expandable with a storage compartment
• [New] New item: Measuring tape to measure the distance between two points
• [New] New ores: gold, aluminium, tungsten, coal and sulfur
• [New] New cultivable plant: pumpkin plant
• [New] New items: pumpkin, pumpkin slices and jack o' lanterns
• [New] New items: cloth, fibers, yarn, rope, wires, circuitboard
• [New] Spinning wheel, which is used for spinning yarn from fibers or cotton
• [New] World creation dialog where you can change ore amount and world type (default and superflat)
• [New] Paint roller now brings up a color selection menu on right click (which also enables you to select a custom color)
• [New] New creative mode water tools (F5): Place water (5), Paint water (6) and Water area tool (7)
• [New] New "edit attribute" console command to change element attributes (e.g. prevent doors from getting obstructed)
• [New] New "recalculatelods" console command to regenerate currently loaded LOD chunks (to fix gaps between chunks, for example)
• [New] Crafting menu now automatically scrolls to the last position
• [New] Sort and merge buttons are now also available for storages
• [New] Added teleport options to player list (i) context menu (multiplayer)
• [New] Added option to duplicate an item in inventory in creative mode (rightclick on item in inventory or hotkey while hovering item)
• [New] Added optional hotkeys to split items in inventory, duplicate item in inventory or change block shapes
• [New] Added small lamp icon to the lower right screen corner which is shown when the creative mode light (L) is active
• [New] If a world conversion is necessary, the game first creates a backup of the world (in case something goes wrong)
• [New] New "worldbackup" command to create a backup of the currently loaded world (also works in multiplayer, compatible with scheduler)
• [Change] Implemented new Steam P2P Multiplayer (based on "Steam Networking Sockets", which provides better performance)
• [Change] Added more details to terrain materials
• [Change] You get more stone now when mining terrain
• [Change] Improved transition between various terrain materials
• [Change] Added text showing the current elevation of the creative mode terrain (F5) flatten tool (enter)
• [Change] Greatly sped up undo command for large blueprints
• [Change] Sped up creative mode removal tool (when removing lots of elements simultaneously)
• [Change] Sped up creative mode terrain tools when working with a large brush
• [Change] Terrain tools in creative mode (F5) now show preview images of terrain textures
• [Change] Increased max stacksize of cotton to 999
• [Change] Blueprint item icons now contain a preview image of the blueprint content
• [Change] When adding new items to inventory, the game first checks for any existing item stacks they could be added to
• [Change] Update crafting recipe of bandages and certain other items (temporarily)
• [Change] Elements now also align their rotation to the world element if manual pivot snapping is active
• [Change] Hunger and thirst is now enabled by default
• [Change] Creative removal tool now only removes elements if the selection area contains at least 50% of them
• [Change] Increased range of paint roller
• [Change] "Copy block" key now only adds a single item to your inventory (can be changed in config file)
• [Change] Hotkey to drop an item now also works in inventory (press the key while hovering the item you want to drop)
• [Change] You can now switch to inventory while you're in crafting menu (and vice-versa) by pressing the inventory/crafting hotkey
• [Change] You now get damage when standing right on top of a smelting furnace or when getting too close to the fire
• [Bugfix] Fixed bug that caused furnaces to smelt a single ore only (while smelting over night)
• [Bugfix] Fixed bug that caused terrain to disappear in rare cases when using creative mode terrain tools
• [Bugfix] Fixed wrong billboard (depending from view angle) of spruce
• [Bugfix] Fixed error when joining a multiplayer P2P session through the Steam friend list
• [Bugfix] Fixed blueprints not placing construction elements correctly if they contain a modified surface and the blueprint was resized
• [Bugfix] Fixed various issues with the console and command suggestions
• [Bugfix] Planting chili saplings no longer results in instantly fully grown plants
• [Bugfix] You no longer fall through the ground after sleeping in a tent
• [Bugfix] Fixed error when trying to send a report while using a large screen resolution
• [Bugfix] Fixed mouse button input sometimes being suddenly no longer recognized
• [Bugfix] Fixed bug that prevented you from climbing inclined ladders
• [Bugfix] Fixed floating plants sometimes not being removed while using creative mode terrain tools
• [Bugfix] Fixed server browser sometimes not finding LAN games
• [Bugfix] Depth-of-field effect no longer blurs the night sky
• [Bugfix] Fixed some smaller typos and other issues

Hotfix 2022-11-01:

• [Bugfix] Fixed crash when trying to place a rowboat
• [Bugfix] Fixed wrong orientation of boats when placing them
• [Bugfix] Fixed seed not being used on dedicated servers (when creating a world)
• [Bugfix] Fixed crash when playing multiplayer (Steam P2P) with more than 2 players
• [Bugfix] Fixed issues with smoothing tool and rake
• [Bugfix] Fixed some typos

Hotfix 2022-11-01:

• [Change] Crafting count is set to 1 when selecting a different recipe (except for construction elements)
• [Bugfix] Fixed hard crash when launching the game, which could only be fixed by reinstalling the game (need feedback)

Hotfix 0.5.0.1 2022-11-02:

• [Change] Increased spawn rate for surface iron ore boulders
• [Change] Increased spawn rate for underground ores (TBD)
• [Change] Deep underground area (below forests) is no longer filled with dirt
• [Change] Vehicle controls can now be changed in the controls settings
• [Change] Updated some sounds (more birds in trees etc)
• [Change] Increased music volume
• [Bugfix] Fixed water chunks sometimes disappearing or missing (need feedback)
• [Bugfix] Fixed smoothing with rake, hoe and sledgehammer
• [Bugfix] Fixed terrain smoothing tool (F5) not working properly with certain materials (like grass)
• [Bugfix] Fixed error when trying to join a multiplayer server right after playing via Steam P2P
• [Bugfix] Fixed block icon in inventory not updating properly when changing the shape retroactively
• [Bugfix] Fixed performance issues when lots of lamps were placed in the world
• [Bugfix] Fixed wall torch breaking when modifying nearby terrain

Hotfix 2022-11-03:

• [Change] Changed sapling count you get from apple trees
• [Change] Increase spawn rate for aluminium ore (most aluminium spawns in mountains)

Hotfix 0.5.0.2 2022-11-09:

• [New] Add terrain material selection menu for creative mode terrain tools (F5)
• [Change] When crafting a block, the current screen now stays active (no longer getting kicked out to previous screen)
• [Change] Add option to open folder path of a world (rightclick on world in singleplayer menu)
• [Change] Add option to create a backup of a world (in .backup folder in Worlds dir, rightclick on world in singleplayer menu)
• [Change] Add option to rename a world retroactively (rightclick on world in singleplayer menu)
• [Change] When adapting a block to another block (key INSERT), it now properly adapts the rotation
• [Change] Reduced brightness of torch in deep underground areas (below 0)
• [Change] After unequipping an item (key H), you can re-equip it now by pressing H again
• [Change] The "gotospawn" console command now takes you to your bed or tent (if available)
• [Change] Further increased ore spawn rate, also make aluminium spawn more frequently now above sea level
• [Bugfix] Fixed memory leak causing crashes in multiplayer (need feedback)
• [Bugfix] Fixed bug that main menu background scene sometimes had missing textures
• [Bugfix] Fixed inventory sort not working in multiplayer
• [Bugfix] Fixed pumpkin plants not giving seeds if being cut while not fully grown
• [Bugfix] Fixed furnaces sometimes being on even though they're actually turned off
• [Bugfix] Fixed bug that caused the whole screen to turn black sometimes (caused by NaN in grass mesh)
• [Bugfix] Removing color from a block now properly removes it (previously caused them to not stack in inventory if being picked up again)
• [Bugfix] Fixed various multiplayer-related bugs
• [Bugfix] Fixed "findbase" console command

Hotfix 0.5.0.3 2022-11-11:

• [New] Added new object: standing torch
• [Change] A single tree log now yields 4 lumber (instead of 2)
• [Change] Player made caves close to the surface are now darker
• [Change] Spinning wheel works faster now
• [Change] Superflat worlds now have a grass surface (can be changed in config via "Game_NewFlatWorldTerrainID")
• [Change] It no longer takes longer to dismantle loam blocks with a sledgehammer now compared to stone blocks
• [Change] If the debug console is active, it's now moved to background automatically
• [Change] Icons in inventory for walltorch and brazier are now brighter
• [Bugfix] Fixed sickle not working properly if equipped from inventory (instead of hotbar)
• [Bugfix] Fixed wrong wind and rain sounds inside buildings
• [Bugfix] Fixed wrong view direction on chairs and benches
• [Bugfix] Fixed undo command sometimes creating holes in terrain
• [Bugfix] Fixed wrong climb direction on ladders in certain cases
• [Bugfix] Fixed wrong day length if set to 24 hours

Hotfix 2022-11-13:

• [Change] Increased spawn rate for lettuce
• [Bugfix] Fixed wrong language in crafting menu tooltip
• [Bugfix] Fixed random water "pop" sound that was heard sporadically for no apparent reason

Thanks a lot for your feedback!

Quote from Dn25Crow

I hope updates now will come much faster after this huge achievement with the world generation update.

The world gen update was indeed the biggest update so far (especially in terms of workload), so yeah, next updates should be a lot smoother hopefully

Thanks for your feedback!

Quote from Galochka

Red, what are you going to work on now? (what update is waiting for us next)

The main focus of the next update will be animals (and maybe we'll also add posters)

Quote from yahwho

API?

We will indeed start working on the API again soon Unfortunately we didn't touch it the past months due to the world update... but we try to get it ready ASAP! It's a pity that the API is still not available

It's our intention to have it ready before replacing the Java version on the store page

Quote from yahwho

One thing I've noticed so far, it's really hard to find iron ore, I've had a look in the server.properties file, but there does not appear to be a setting to change ore levels?

Unfortunately the ore spawn is not yet exposed for the server... but we will try to add it with the next hotfix!

This, however, requires you to create a new world unfortunately

Quote from paulevs

Just a small bug report - if you will place boat paddle on kit you will crash the game (I already send report). Another small bug is that boat kit will ignore surface normal and will be always placed horizontally (like on screen), after boat will be finished it will fly away into the sky due to collisions.

Thanks for the report! This is indeed a bug, we're trying to prepare a hotfix for it ASAP!

About the inflatable boat, this is definitely not intended Thanks for letting us know!

Quote from paulevs

I also didn't understand how boat controls work (tested on RIB), it just didn't move (but engine sound changed)

You have to change the gear in order to drive (similar to how it worked in the Java version). The current gear is shown in the lower right corner of the screen. Use Q to shift down and E to shift up

Quote from paulevs

Edit: a small question, is it possible to disable underwater blur?

Unfortunately there is currently no option to disable that... our original intention was to add diving goggles which would remove this effect

Quote from paulevs

Another small report, sometimes water looks like this

This is definitely a bug, but unfortunately I'm not sure what's causing this exactly... we will try to fix this, but I'm not sure if the fix will make it into the next hotfix...