Within the Cosmos News

Hey again everyone,

I apologise for not being active on the forums, and social networks lately. Things have been a bit hectic, and I've been spending all day and night trying my best to finish up the game, and make sure it's in the best condition possible. I deeply regret having to say that the game will be delayed once again. This time I will not set a date, as I've, unfortunately, been unable to meet my previous deadlines. Creating, polishing, and releasing this game has been such a steep learning curve for me. I need a bit more time to continue polishing the game, and to implement a few changes.



As much as I wanted to release this game prior to the busy months of gaming ahead, I will not release Within the Cosmos until it is ready. I now have a target window of September. I will keep you all updated on how the game is progressing, and will set a firm release date in the coming days/weeks. This game has been life for the last 5 years, and I will only release it in the condition it was meant to release in.

Within the next couple of days/weeks, I intend to show you all how the game has changed since the gameplay footage was uploaded. There has been an endless list of changes, largely driven by the feedback you have all given me.

Just incase you missed the last announcement which stated some of the changes I've been working on, here's the list:

• AI: Added cover system for AI.
  
• AI: Enemies now vocalise their state changes.
  
• AI: Enemies react to being hit, as opposed to just taking the damage without much of an indicator that they've been hit.
  
• AI: Enemies accuracy has been changed. They are now less accurate.
  
• Animation: Facial animations have been improved
  
• UI: Improved visibility of the hit marker.
  
• UI: Damage indicator no longer makes the screen flash red. It now only flashes the edges of the screen, and the intensity of the red has been dialed down to be less jarring.
  
• UI: The Inventory UI has been completely revamped, as the one in the trailer was simply a placeholder.
  
• Sound Design: Footsteps, and dialogue used to drown out the background noise/background music. This has been improved since then.
  
• Sound Design: Gunshot sounds were drowned out by ambient sounds. This has also been improved.
  

I apologise for the delay, once again. I know many of you have been looking forward to the release, but as you've shown me last time, I know you will understand that this decision is what is best for the game, and for what you'll eventually experience. I hope you will see this as a sign of the commitment, dedication, and passion I have poured, and will continue to pour into this game.

Thank you all so much for being so supportive during this process! The support genuinely helps more than you can possibly imagine.



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Hi everyone!

Over the last few weeks, I've received a large amount of feedback from the 8 minute gameplay video I uploaded. Since then, I've been taking all of that feedback, and have been using it to improve the game.

Changes based on feedback include:

• AI: Added cover system for AI.*
  
• AI: Enemies now vocalise their state changes.
  
• AI: Enemies react to being hit, as opposed to just taking the damage without much of an indicator that they've been hit.
  
• AI: Enemies accuracy has been changed. They are now less accurate.
  
• Animation: Facial animations have been improved*
  
• UI: Improved visibility of the hit marker.
  
• UI: Damage indicator no longer makes the screen flash red. It now only flashes the edges of the screen, and the intensity of the red has been dialed down to be less jarring.
  
• UI: The Inventory UI has been changed, as the one in the trailer was simply a placeholder.*
  
• Sound Design: Footsteps, and dialogue used to drown out the background noise/background music. This has been improved since then.*
  
• Sound Design: Gunshot sounds were drowned out by ambient sounds. This has also been improved.*
  

* - Still being worked on

Thank you to all of you for the feedback!


The process of optimising the game has taken a bit longer than I expected. I have decided to delay it by 2 weeks, until the 30th of August. This additional time will be used to continue polishing the game, as I work on nailing down the system requirements. I understand that this delay (and the last 2 delays) could cause some frustration to those who are interested, but I hope you can understand that my intention is to release this in the best state it can possibly be in, and I don't want to rush this.



I was hoping to update the release date a couple of days ago, but the process of changing the date on Steam is a bit more time consuming now. As the game is nearing its launch, and as a solo-dev, time is certainly not something I have in abundance at the moment. I apologise for this last-minute change.

(I've already submitted the release date change, just waiting for them to update it.)

Thank you all SO much for all the support, feedback, and interest in Within the Cosmos! I'm looking forward to the day you all get to play it, and when we can shape the future of this game together!

I hope you'll look forward to the launch trailer!



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Hey everyone!

It's time to finally show you all some gameplay! I was hoping to record this earlier in the month, but I had some unfortunate setbacks. Either way, here's an updated look at Within the Cosmos, along with its new release date. The video is just under 8 minutes long. Some things are still being worked on, mainly the UI and audio. I hope you all enjoy it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq5J7nrHt9U

Now, regarding the release date change. About 2 weeks ago or so, UE4 crashed while I was working, and it corrupted one of the files that included one of the planets. I had to revert to an old save I had of it (about 2-3 weeks old at the time), and I've been working all day and night, re-doing all the work I've done since then. I was hoping I'd be able to make up the lost work, and still finish on time for the 1st of August, but I now see that that's impossible. As a result, the game will be delayed by roughly 2 weeks. The new release date is 16 August.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience and for the short notice. I hope you'll still look forward to the game!

Thank you all for your lovely comments, and wishlists!
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Hi again everyone!

It has been roughly over a month since the last update, and there's exactly 1 month left until the game releases! I feel like this is the perfect time to list some of the additions that the delay has allowed me to accomplish, including two big additions to the game that many people have wanted:

• Character Creator! - This wasn't intended to be in the game initially, but after many people expressed their desire to see this in the game, I tried my absolute best to make this a reality! It's a work in-progress at the moment, but it's nearly completed. You'll now be able to create your characters appearance, and set your characters name, among other things!
  
  
• Armour types - Previously, armour was something that stayed the same throughout the entire game, never changing in appearance or function. Over the last few months, people have stated that they wanted the ability to change their armour, and when I thought about it, I felt like it suited the game well. As a result, I implemented different armour types! Depending on the armour you have equipped, you'll be able to withstand more damage (of course), but beyond that, as the armour in this game is (largely) created by different factions, factions will view you and react to you differently depending on what armour you have equipped!
  

Aside from those two additions, I was able to complete the things listed below:

• Completed the Attachment and Skins system for weapons
  
• Improved Enemy AI
  
• Improved player animations
  
• The game is now fully playable with a gamepad
  
• Bug fixes and general polish
  

The two month delay has really allowed me to polish the game, and implement many things that the community has been asking for.

If you're interested in learning more about the game (RPG mechanics, gameplay, lore, etc.) you can read an interview I recently had over at OnlySP. I hope you'll check it out!

There's still a bit of work left to do, mostly animation, AI, and UI related things, but I hope you like how everything is coming along! Please look forward to the next couple of weeks (the weeks prior to release!) as I intend to upload some gameplay footage very soon, along with some new trailers! (the current trailer is quite dated)

Also, I want to say THANK YOU to all of you for the wonderful comments and all of the feedback. The feedback, positive comments, and interest that Within the Cosmos has received has been invaluable!

THANK YOU!



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Hey everyone!

I hope you're all doing well! As some of you have noticed by now, the game has a new release date of August 1st. As the date of May 31st approached, I realised that, that date wasn't as feasible as I had hoped, as a couple of new things were being added and still being worked on, such as:

• Enemy and Companion AI improvements
  
• Attachments for weapons (silencers, scopes, etc.)
  
• Weapon skins
  
• User Interface improvements
  
• Improved gamepad support
  
• Voice acting for a few side missions (most are completed)
  
• Optimisations in order to support a wider range of rigs
  
• Bug fixes and general polish
  

As you can see, the two month delay will allow the game to have a few more features, be more polished, and it'll be in the best state it could possibly be in, as that is what I am aiming to deliver for you.

With all of that said, I hope you'll look forward to a couple of new trailers over the next few weeks, which will showcase the games various features, and will show the game in its current state, as the current trailer is a bit dated.

Thank you so much for understanding, and I'm sorry for not explaining the reasoning sooner!