Update Details (22nd July 2018) - Dynamic Weather and a lot more!

Hi all! Today's update introduces a dynamic weather system into the world. This is something regularly requested/suggested by players since launch, and something I’ve been eager to work on for a long time.

The new system impacts both the world and player, and obviously provides much more varied visuals while exploring and living in the world, as well as extra survival considerations and consequences.

I’ve put algorithms in place to control when fronts move in/out, and at what strength and ferocity. Players starting out a fresh profile won’t experience any bad weather until they are past their second day. This is to give the chance to get basic shelter up.

Existing profiles that are many days in will likely experience a full weather front very soon. This is just because of the way the algorithm works, it will consider one long overdue.


Even subtle changes in weather will affect the overall temperature within the world. Prior to the update temperatures would change based on time of day and altitude. Weather now adds an additional factor into that equation for the player to consider. A heavy weather front can drop the temperature by up to -8 degrees. Being caught up in the mountains, late in the day, with a storm front moving in could be costly if ignored. So dress for the occasion.

There is now a new system to calculate how sheltered the player is at any moment. Previously it was either fully sheltered or not at all. Please take note of the temperature changes from moving in, out and around your base. There is a fair amount of warmth given from a fully enclosed base (even one without a lit woodburner).


Players will now get wet, either from swimming or being out in the rain. An icon will display to indicate when you are wet:

The impact of being wet is that it drops your tolerance to cold (by 4 degrees below what is listed in your clothing profile), which also reduces your strength regeneration rate. Once in the dry, the player will start drying. Being near a campfire or lit woodburner will accelerate the drying by 2x. Being wet is fine if the temperature is mild, but be careful when at high altitudes, at night or during weather fronts.


Previously the ambient sounds of the world would be unchanged as players entered their base. This always bothered me and hurt the feeling of immersion when entering your base from out in the world. You will now notice ambient sounds phase in and out, based on how enclosed you are. I think this makes a big difference in terms of immersion.


From a technical perspective (in a world where players can build enclosed structures wherever they please) it’s challenging to handle weather effects (such as rain) transitions between interior and exterior. Some games simply disable the fx as players move inside.

However I really wanted players to be able to look out on a stormy day from the comfort and warmth of their base (especially with the glass structures). So I coded something to handle this. It’s not perfect, but I feel does achieve the “cosiness” effect I was after.



Previously players were able to add other players to their base without their consent. Due to other changes (keep reading), players now need to use the BCU to send invites to players.



Tying in with the new invite system; bases in co-op games will only auto-generate power and mass if all base members are not part of another base which is auto-generating power and mass. This is to prevent the exploit where co-op teams can create many satellite mini-bases to farm lockpicks/refine-ore/etc.

Many players were rightfully displeased when the removal of the Wellhead left water procurement difficult for bases in arid areas of the map. There’s now a water option to the mining drill.

I’ve finally added proper error handling for clients joining servers. Now if the connection fails, the reason will display in a popup, allowing players to resolve the issue more easily.

Previously, players that chose to host public games had very limited control over their server. I’ve added a set of admin commands to give server admins more insight into their game-worlds and control to keep their servers clean and welcoming to other players.

The console can be opened using the “=” key. To list available commands type “help”. I also updated the visuals and color scheme (now transparent so admins see what’s happening when open).

Available commands:

• ListPlayers (list all players currently on the server)
• KickPlayer [player name/id]
  
• KickBanPlayer [player name/id]
  
• ListBans (list all active bans on the server)
• ClearBan [player id] (clear a specific ban for a player id)
• ClearAllBans
  
• ListBases (list all player bases on the map, will show number of base members and how many currently online per base)
• DeleteBase [base id] (delete a specific player base on the map)

There is also a new bindable key (available only to server host) to delete player built base items on the map (it's unbound by default).

The idea is to allow server hosts to clear abandoned bases in their world and keep things clean. I would kindly ask server hosts to be considerate when using these tools.

• Dropped kit despawn time has been increased (10 mins in normal, 15 mins in easy).
  
• Hunters will now switch bases that they are targeting based the status of the base.
  
• Bottles of water can be used to fill canteens. I see this a temporary workaround to allow for drilled water to be used in the oven recipes.
  
• Replaced place-holder model for player dropped kit (and new sound for accessing it).
  
• Plantbeds get a small amount of water from rain (if they are not covered).
  
• Fixed bug that could cause player’s dropped kit spawning inside rocks and trees (really sorry for anyone who lost upgraded weapons to this bug).
  
• BCU and workbench now have extra inventory slots and larger craft list sizes.
  
• Added new underwater particle fx.
  
• When accessing player dropped kit, you can now see all slots.
  
• Added ambient glow for floodlight faces.
  
• BCU now has the option to disable it’s base beacon.
  
• Alt-F4 now works for exiting the game.
  
• Password fields in the co-op hosting and joining menus are now hidden (so streamers don’t need to worry about people crashing their servers).
  
• Whole chickens can now be cut into smaller pieces of premium meat.
  
• Random (non-bed) spawns will avoid spawning players at high altitudes during storms.
  
• New death sounds for killing chickens in your inventory.
  
• Eating when full now takes into account whether the proteins/fruits-veg bars can accommodate eating the food item. So if you’re hunger is full, but your fruits and veg are low, you can still eat tomato soup etc.
  

I think that covers all the main features and changes. Please know that the new weather system is almost certain to change. The frequency of weather fronts and the balance in terms of the effects on the player is something I’ll be listening heavily to the community about when tweaking.

Please let me know your thoughts on the new changes on the Discord (invite below) and steam forum. You can also follow the official Twitter @playSubsistence and Facebook page.

This one was quite a challenge, and a lot of fun to work on! I hope everyone’s having a great weekend!

Cheers,
CG

Discord invite: https://discord.gg/zyy4jQs