Heya folks, we've got a new update ready for ya. Our goal with this update was primarily to improve some mostly cosmetic areas of Signs of Life, as well as to lay the groundwork for future content. The high points are: Improved tile drawing on crafted tiles, an improved Equip menu, and a revamped plant system that should allow us to add all sorts of weird and interesting plants.

Improved Tile Drawing

Prior to this update, nearly every crafted tile in the game had an outline around it which resulted in really blocky looking buildings. With this update, we've gone through and added the ability for tiles to connect with each other in a way that looks a heck of a lot better. All crafted tile types (steel, wood, etc) now have a "wall" tile that can seamlessly stretch in any direction, as well as floor, ceiling and roof tiles that will stretch in a line. We also dramatically improved the visual quality of ores that you find on tiles in the world. Here is what it looks like in action:

New Doors

As we get (a bit) closer to the 1.0 version of Signs of Life, we've been going through and expanding on some of the elements that weren't very fleshed out. One of the things that has been on our list for a long time was adding more doors, so we did just that. We finally have more than 1 boring wooden door! Here is what they look like in action:
We've added the following doors in this update:

• Wood Door
• Ramshackle Door
• Stone Door
• Iron Door
• Steel Door
• Granite Door
• Marble Door
• Tech Door

New Equipment Menu

One of the things that has needed work for quite awhile is the equipment menu. We've remade it from the ground up to be larger and more user friendly. It's now a lot less cramped, and it has a panel on the side that lists all of the effects currently active on the player. We also increased the number of equippable accessories to 5.

New Plant System

For a long time we've wanted to add a bunch of new plants, but the plant system we were using wasn't very flexible or dynamic. It got the job done, but it really made it difficult for us to add any new types of plants. So - we ripped it out and re-did it completely. Now plants can be animated, they grow more smoothly, and most importantly it is dramatically easier to add just about any kind of plant that we can imagine. We also built the system from the ground up to be moddable. This update mostly just replaces the existing plants with updated versions, but very soon we'll be adding a whole bunch of new plants, fruits and nuts. You can punch trees (but make sure you wear gloves or it's going to hurt!) which causes the fruits to drop as well as occasionally causes some tree materials to drop out out. In this way, you can gather tree materials without destroying them by whackin' them every now and then.
And you can cut them down, now with fancy animations.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that would cause grid containers to not display all the items that they contain
• Fixed an issue that could result in your escape pod storage or equipment getting mixed up between characters.
• Fixed several crashes
• A bunch of little things not really worth mentioning, but just know that we love you.

What's Next?

In the very near future we'll continue adding some new plants, as well as some new early-game weapon options that utilize nuts for some nut-based combat. This update will come very shortly (within a week or two). After that, we're going full-steam ahead on the next major content update which will include a significant expansion of the Mining base, as well as a bunch of new mechanics, gadgets, and story content related to the [spoiler]intelligent aliens on the planet.[/spoiler] As always, we would love to hear from you about what you like and don't like about the update, as well as any issues you run into or suggestions you have. Feel free to post on this announcement, on the forums, or join our official Discord server. The eventual quality of the game is going to largely depend on the feedback we get from players, so don't be shy!

[ 2020-06-26 17:08:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

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.