Hello and welcome to another edition of the DevBlog. We’re sorry we skipped last week’s DevBlog, but this week normal service has been resumed. So, what’s been happening around the Atom Republic Studio you ask? Well, quite a bit actually, where do we start?
Firstly, we've released not one, but two new updates for our Kickstarter backers on Steam and as you’re reading this blog, we’re currently working on a third update! (we'll keep you updated on the process).
Arcade Plaza is now available!
If you’re one of our lucky Kickstarter backers or competition winners who have access to the Steam version of Atom Universe, you can now access the Arcade Plaza and have a game of Bowling. You’ll need to access our test branch on Steam,
if you head over to our forums you'll be able to find the correct information on how to access the testing branch.
Front-end menu changes
There has been a few changes to the front-end menu of Atom Universe, most notably is the previews of what coming soon, you’ll be able to see screenshots and videos of all the games, private spaces and The Hub (why’s that there? We’ll answer this further down).
Avatar Customisation
You'll now be able to have a choice of selecting your Avatar's clothes colour, highlight colour and hair colour separately. You'll also notice the outfits selection at the bottom, this gives a little preview of some different clothes style that your avatar will be able to wear in the near future. Finally, you'll be able to change the skin colour of your avatar, bringing diversity to Atom Universe.
The Hub
One of the thing you’ll notice with the latest update is that you’re unable to enter The Hub. For a short period of time, we’ll be closing this off to the public as we’re going to reiterate the design and make The Hub look even more spectacular than before. Unfortunately, we don’t have a time frame to when it will be available again, but we’re hoping sooner rather than later.
Weekly Developer Activity
Art;
- Improved informational messages on upcoming games
- Added effect on seats
- Created new splash screens
Design;
- Implemented sound FX into the front-end menu
- Implemented pop-ups to show information of upcoming mini-games
Programming;
- Stress testing the server with bots
- Scalability solution to support hundreds of online connected players
- Working to server code to allow players to block troublesome players
Community;
- Partaken in some video production and created videos for the previews in the front-end menu
- Dived into Unreal Engine’s Matinee editor to create cut scenes.
- Drank 20 cups of tea.
That's all for this week, but stay tuned for more news!
Great DevBlog! I've been testing the Alpha for a while and tried out the 1st build of the Early Access version last Saturday and the latest build last night and noticed the new changes mentioned which all look great! Most of the major issues which I encountered in the 1st build have been addressed in the build that we got last night and it's exciting to know that yet another build will be coming soon. While I understand that the avatar customization options in the Early Access version seem simple, I think they are steps in the right direction and overall work nicely. I noticed that The Hub not being accessible in the Early Access version last Saturday, but was still available in the Alpha version then so not sure if the note about The Hub closing also applies to the Alpha, but even if that is the case, no worries on that as I've already spent a lot of time there and there are other things to play with now, especially if a 3rd update to the Early Access version is on the horizon. I did notice the "Art" and "Design" changes in the latest Early Access version last night and think those are great. The voice heard during the startup menu is a nice touch and makes me feel like I'm in a command center or something lol. I see more work has been done on stress testing which I think is really important before a launch to the general public and so it's good to see that is mentioned again. Interesting to see some kind of "block" feature on recently too as I have seen that voiced on the AU forums as something the community wanted in the game and agree it is an important feature. But I think the most important part of this entire DevBlog is the amount of tea consumed versus coffee as I am more of a tea drinker myself. I would be interested to know how much coffee was consumed in the last 2 weeks by the AU team as I'm sure there have been a lot of late nights at the studios. Keep up the great work and I look forward to the next update to the Early Access version and hearing more in the next DevBlog! :)
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