Hey folks, it has been awhile but we have a brand new content update hot off the presses. We had several goals with this update - We wanted to move the story forward a bit, add a new area to explore, and we wanted to add a repeatable combat encounter that would be both fun and practically useful. You will need to generate a new character or a new world (through the Sandbox Menu) to access the new area.

New Content

A new [spoiler]alien themed aread[/spoiler] to explore
- The area is entered via [spoiler]a portal that the Xenoid scouts open from their deployment pods that drop to the ground after you attempt to contact the Hephaestus with the satellite dish in the Pioneer Station.[/spoiler]
- 2 new [spoiler]intelligent alien[/spoiler] creatures
  - [spoiler] A Xenoid Specialist that shoots fireballs [/spoiler]
  - [spoiler] A tanky soldier Xenoid [/spoiler]
  - All of the [spoiler]Xenoid aliens can now teleport to the player as long as there is an unobstructed path.[/spoiler]
- 3 new [spoiler]less intelligent alien[/spoiler] creatures
  - [spoiler] A ProtoXenoid Crab [/spoiler]
  - [spoiler] A ProtoXenoid Slug [/spoiler]
  - [spoiler] A ProtoXenoid Hound [/spoiler]
- A new [spoiler]alien[/spoiler] device that can be used to [spoiler]duplicate items.[/spoiler]
  - The device has [spoiler]4 crystals that must be stabilized with alien energy[/spoiler] in order for the machine to function.
  - The [spoiler]crystals will spawn ProtoXenoids from special portals when the machine is on and the crystals are not stabilized.[/spoiler]
  - Items placed on the device's tray will [spoiler]be pulled up into the machine when the lever on the device is set to the on position.[/spoiler]
  - Once an item is pulled up into the machine, it will slowly be [spoiler]duplicated[/spoiler].
- A [spoiler]Alien Turret that fires alien energy projectiles.[/spoiler]
- A [spoiler]Xenoid Reflector[/spoiler] that can be used to [spoiler]redirect alien energy projectiles[/spoiler].
- Devices that can temporarily or permanently [spoiler]provide power to connected alien devices after they are struck by an alien energy projectile.[/spoiler]
- A device that [spoiler]disables the power in the new area, which disables the duplication machine, prevents the aliens from respawning and prevents the alien pods from dropping to the surface of the planet.[/spoiler]
- Added [spoiler]alien wiring that connects the new alien devices to power sources.[/spoiler]

Gameplay Changes

You no longer need to manually scan the environment to fill your map. Your surroundings are now scanned automatically
Added a Codex to track information that you have discovered about creatures, including a description and a list of drops
The primary function of the wrist scanner gadget is now used to scan creatures and add their information to the codex
Creatures should be more persistent. If you build a house and put a chicken in it, the chicken should never disappear unless you kill it. Our intention is to move in the direction of letting you "farm" creatures for resources, and this is a step towards that.
Increased the range of the wrist light
Improved functioning and reliability of the grapple laser. It still needs improvements to its functionality and graphics, but it should be better now.
Herb Catalysts and Remedial Herbs now get automatically sorted into Forager pouches.

Bug Fixes

Fixed some issues that would cause weapons and gadgets to stop firing occasionally.
Fixed an issue that would cause the inventory grid/gridless setting to not save
Fixed a graphical issue that would cause asteroids to be visible for a few seconds after entering the game
Fixed an issue that would cause the Backglider equipment to jiggle around when placed on a surface
Fixed some issues related to dying while using the Grapple laser
Fixed an issue that would cause the stone pressure plates to not function correctly sometimes

UI Changes

Enabled VSync by default. Let us know if you notice any new lagginess or input delay.
Added tooltips for items in the hotbar
Added an "info" button to the hotbar slots that opens the selected item's details
Changed the default font size from Small to Medium
Improved the descriptions for some of the creatures. Our intention is to do a pass over all the item and creature descriptions soon since quite a few of them need to be improved.
Now that the world is scanned automatically as you explore, the scan button on the HUD has been changed so that it now opens the minimap.
The various refiners (campfire, brick oven, advanced smelter) now require you to insert a firestarter.
Added tooltips and error messages for the refiners
Recipes that require a "heat source" will now recognize nearby (active) refiners as heat sources.

Graphics Changes

Improved and enlarged many item sprites.

Known Issues

We're not done decorating the new area, and we need to add some more/better rewards to find
There are likely still some multiplayer bugs, but I'll be squashing them as they come up.
Some sound FX are still missing for the new creatures and some new structures, but they'll be coming over the next couple weeks.
Currently, if you destroy all the alien drop pods (that drop to the surface of the planet and spawn the Xenoid Scouts) after [spoiler]disabling the power in the new area,[/spoiler] then you will be unable to enter/exit the new area.

What is next?

Our next goal is to flesh out this new area a bit. We're going to add a boss fight as well as some new weapons, armor and gadgets. Much of the planned work is already finished, so this should happen before the end of next month.
Our next planned large content update is going to be the intro/tutorial. This is something that we've been putting off for awhile because we wanted to make sure we didn't miss tutorializing anything important, but I think at this point we have a pretty good idea about what things give players trouble early on. We're always interested in hearing what gives folks trouble when they're first learning the game though, so don't be shy! The more feedback we get about the early hours of playing the game, the better the tutorial will end up being.

As always, we want to hear your feedback either in the comments or on the forums. Let us know if you think the new area is too hard or too easy, and definitely let us know if you run into any bugs.

[ 2018-06-21 09:54:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Signs of Life

Sweet Dog Studios Developer

Sweet Dog Studios Publisher

2014-01-27 Release

Indie Casual RPG Adventure Singleplayer Multiplayer Coop EA Tags

Game News Posts: 42

🎹🖱️Keyboard + Mouse

Mostly Positive (686 reviews)

http://www.playsignsoflife.com

Steam Store

The Game includes VR Support

Public Linux Depots:

Signs of Life Depot (Linux) [568.15 M]

Signs of Life is a sci-fi survival sandbox platformer with a combination of procedurally generated and hand-crafted content. You'll explore mysterious locations, Mine blocks for resources, and meet strange (and some familiar) creatures, some of which don't even want to kill you and eat your corpse. Along the way, you'll be able to craft armor, weapons, gadgets and more to assist you in surviving in an inhospitable environment.

Story

Sensing that an apocalyptic war was imminent, the United Nations executed a last ditch plan to save what they could of the human race. 2 crafts were launched, a massive colony ship called the Hephaestus and a smaller, faster scout ship called the Hermes. The destination was a recently discovered earth-like planet with the potential to harbor life located roughly 18 light years away. The Hermes reached the planet first in order to establish a presence in anticipation of the arrival of the Hephaestus.

4 years later, as the Hephaestus approached its destination a faint signal was detected from a nearby asteroid. Against their better judgement, the crew of the Hephaestus decided to investigate, and in doing so set in motion a chain of events that would ultimately lead to their destruction.

The good news is, you managed to survive by hitching a ride on a small escape pod just in the nick of time. The bad news is, everyone you knew and loved is dead, you have nothing but the clothes on your back, a standard issue multi-function wrist laser and a faulty artificial intelligence companion named AGIS. Oh, and the human race is probably doomed.

Probably.

Features

An expansive world with procedurally generated and hand-crafted content.
Online Co-Op Multiplayer
A bunch of weird alien creatures.
Some familiar creatures.
Chickens.
Mining, hunting, gathering.
Gobs of ores, materials and animal organs you can use to...
Craft all kinds of weapons, armor, gadgets, furniture, etc.
A bit of story and lore to hold the whole thing together.
Eggs.
All spiritual content in this game has been assessed by Dr. Halamkah, advisor to the stars.

Current State of Development

Signs of Life is currently in Alpha. We feel like we've put together a fun, satisfying experience that will allow us to get wider feedback while we complete the rest of the game.

Right now our first priority is making sure that the content we have in-game is as bug-free, balanced, polished and fun as possible based on feedback from you folks. We have a significant prologue/tutorial planned, as well as significant content beyond what is currently playable, so the sooner you get involved the more of an effect you'll have on the final game. We deal in hard science, and in working very closely with our personal science advisor at Sweet Dog Studios, that tends to lead to results.

We are still very much in development, and we would like you to join us in shaping the game from here on out. Your feedback is vital to us, so don't be shy =)

Caveats/Issues

Some sound effects are missing, but we are actively working on filling them in.

MINIMAL SETUPProcessor: Dual-Core 2 GHzMemory: 2 GB RAM
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: OpenGL 3.0 Compatible Graphics Device
Storage: 1 GB available space
RECOMMENDED SETUPProcessor: Dual-Core 2+ GHzMemory: 4 GB RAM
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: OpenGL 3.0 Compatible Graphics Device
Storage: 1 GB available space

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