The new biome generation/management system is in and working at last! It hasn't actually been all that many working days, but anything that takes more than a day or two starts to feel like weeks are flying by. There was some pretty rough math, which I do not have a degree in, required for blending multiple layers of biomes together from different directions with different layers of noise to keep things looking natural and so on.

I haven't had any problems updating worlds (other than the unavoidable building repositioning) or starting new games, but this is a big change to the base world generation system, so I would highly recommend starting a new world or backing up any worlds you don't want to risk getting weird if you're playing on the beta, just to be sure.

To reiterate from last week, the big upside to this new system is that an unlimited number of biomes can now be added in over time without them getting all mixed up within one another.

On that note, introducing the new swamp biome!



There are three new resources in the swamp so far, including silver, though they have been simplified to ore, mushrooms, and stalks for this patch until the recipes that make use of them get turned on. I also have at least two new animals that I'll be adding in to the swamp shortly, which will also provide new resources for crafting.

I also upgraded the desert / badlands a bit as it was kind of just a big flat landscape. There are new rocks, water holes (new topography), and circling vultures (though they're just an effect, please don't try to build a giant tower in hopes of shooting them down!).



The new biome system does allow me to specify locations or minimum and/or maximum levels for biomes, so for example the swamp biome could be set to only spawn at levels 10+, but I thought that better reserved for other, later biomes (volcano? enchanted?). The initial four "chunks" that connect to the starting area are being specifically set to grass, ocean, desert, and mountains, to ensure that there is "easy" access to ore and water starting out.

Now I can get back to the new crafting and harvesting updates with a better system for adding new materials into the world.

v 0.5.5.0 2019.08.29
- Added scrolling to the help windows
- Added swamp biome
- Updated world "update" to mark town building for repositioning to the surface in case of changed surface height
- Changed desert biome topography, rocks, and added circling vultures (just an effect, don't try to build a giant tower to catch them)
- Changed biomes to generate in 8x8 chunks with 2km blending somewhere within the 6km of the south and eastern edges
- Changed player projectiles (spells/arrows) to spawn in front of the player instead of the camera, using a vector generated by what the cursor is over
- Changed Squire's Shortsword recipe from a tier 2 to a tier 1 smithing skill
- Fixed text in the crafting stats window interfering with scrolling
- Fixed equipped bow positioning and angle
- Fixed the recurve bow's rotation and harmless warnings
- Fixed enchanted stone showing up just about anywhere

You may need to restart Steam for the update to begin.

To opt into Beta you only need to go to your Steam Library, right-click on Solace Crafting, select Properties, click on the Beta tab, and opt-in to the beta. The beta is not available to 32-bit users.

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