Icarus Week 148 Update | QoL improvements, 1 week before Null Sector

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

Welcome to Week 148.

This week is the penultimate update before the release of the Null Sector, so we’ve focused on a bunch of QoL improvements and bug fixes in advance of this releasing. These include some recommendations from our community through Feature Upvote.

We’ve also got a bit more insight into what to expect with next week’s Null Sector release, and some details on how you can jump in and test it now on a temporary branch, if you want to help us find any outstanding issues.

Jump in and have a read.

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This Week: Quality-of-Life (QoL) Improvements
This week, we’ve focused on a range of QoL improvements and bug fixes as a lead-in to our planned release of Null Sector next week. We generally don’t release a major feature/content in subsequent weeks, and with the size of Null Sector, we wanted to dedicate more time to testing and refining it.

As is the case with most of our QoL updates, many of them have come from community submissions on our Feature Upvote[icarus.featureupvote.com], the most effective way for you, the players, to highlight to us what you would like to see included in the game.

• We’ve added flat variants of the wooden crates craftable at tier 1 for easier stacking. These are variants of the existing slanted-style crates, which you can select using 'R' when placing them
  
• All the Modules purchasable from the workshop now have their own unique icons, rather than varying colors of the stock icon they’ve had since release
  
• We have also fixed a few bugs and done a balance pass on the mission RELOCATED: Recovery - The Zebra Recovery Mission on Styx. The Zebra now have more health, and we have fixed some cases where the mission could get into a locked state, unable to be completed
  
• We have fixed an issue introduced recently with a big resource network refactor that meant you could no longer disconnect workstations from networks by R-clicking them with Water/Electricity tools

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This Week: Null Sector Beta
With the Null Sector planned for release in one week, we will be releasing a temporary branch on Steam later today for players to test. This branch will be updated frequently as we commit fixes and changes. So their maybe downloads every day, and some prospects may be put in a bad state.

Please report any bugs in the experimental channel. Keep in mind that there may still be issues and bugs that we are fixing and that this will not be as stable as the core game branch you’re used to playing on.

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How to switch branches on Steam:

1. Right clicking on Icarus in Steam
   
2. Selecting Properties, this will open a window
   
3. Select Beta's
   
4. Use the drop down box to select the branch you want - in this case it is nullsector

If the branch does not appear you may need to restart steam.[/expand]

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Next Week: Null Sector
As stated in the past, we are trying something different with the Null Sector, specifically regarding the environment and resource scarcity.

There is no map for guidance, the biomes have unique effects on prospectors, and there are very few natural resources, with some of the new missions focusing on logistics. We have also aimed to provide some more narrative than we have before with more set dressing, more interesting prebuilt structures, and the inclusion of some interactable NPCs.

Due to the new systems and complexities included, the Null Sector has taken some time to release. We wanted to spend a decent chunk of time testing it internally, not only for bugs but also for the feeling of the game within the new area and during the missions.

It is a very difficult region, and we have taken this opportunity to experiment with new features and approaches to all aspects of the game experience. If the systems work well, we'll consider using them as a template or baseline for future narrative content and expansions.

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Your support makes these updates possible.
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/40692/Icarus_Pets_Bundle/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/35727/Icarus_Complete_the_Set/

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Changelog v2.2.23.128142
New Content [expand type=details expanded=false]

• Added Flat variants of medium and small wooden crates, also included versions with signs and corresponding open and close animations
  
• Adding Flat wood crates as default wood crates, the old ones can be selected by holding 'R' when deploying the wooden crates, new icons have been added for these as well

[/expand]

Fixed [expand type=details expanded=false]

• Removed terminal interaction step that was auto-completing from RELOCATED: Recovery.
  
• Fixed bug in RELOCATED: Recovery where Zebras weren't getting their 'Quest Creature' flag removed correctly upon quest completion.
  
• Fixed bug in RELOCATED: Recovery where the mission could become blocked if Zebras were cleaned up for whatever reason without dying.
  
• Zebras in RELOCATED: Recovery now have additional health on easier prospect difficulties (+100% on easy, +50% on medium).
  
• Fixed BP IsValid error inside BPQ_Travel
  
• Fix exotic respiratory debuff mentioning increase food usage rather than increase oxygen usage
  
• Fix another intermittent terrain anchor crash reported in Sentry
  
• Fixed panini issue on Larkwell first person arms
  
• Mounts/Tames will now pause for a brief period after being reloaded before executing normal AI logic, this should prevent some cases where NPCs move outside of their enclosures before buildings/navigation has finished loading
  
• Added icons for Reinforced glass and window
  
• Fixed a compass widget related crash that occured when disconnecting from a server
  
• Adding audio to flat crates. Open and close
  
• Fixed a bug where the containers on purifier/electric oxite dissolver wouldnt update with the correct fillable amount on hover
  
• Added a curve to the pistol and rifle anims to ignore upper addtitive animations to help with the hand behaviour while swimming, better blend between top and bottom half would be good but for now 3RD person usability of both guns underwater has been improved
  
• Fixed a bunch of small things about how water is crafted.
  
• Crafting a water recipe will drag in the correct amount of thermos into the crafting inventory. When crafting is completed it will avoid placing it in an item that already has a crafted drink
  
• Field Guide: Hid Noxious Crust individual items, created an encoumpasing item that shows all the possible Noxious Crust types
  
• Added a tag to ignore validation on item static rows, for uses such as field guide pages that won't have full item setups
  
• Field Guide: Improved performance of resource network pages
  
• T4 Anvil - fixed collision on input proxy meshes
  
• Field Guide: Allow some items that are otherwise hidden to link to other items for inventory right click context menu (eg. pyritic crust ore variants)
  
• Fixed an issue where crafting tea would place the item in the wrong thermos because 'cooling' and 'warming' modifiers counted as crafted alterations. Now added a bool to ignore certain alterations when checking for priority
  
• Set MaxViewDistance for all PrimitiveComponents in DeployableBase to 1km to match client Icarus.Deployable replication distance. This should give a performance improvement for servers by no longer rendering Deployables beyond 1km
  
• Remove CullingDistance setting on Underwater mesh for Lakes. Turns out this is based on the centre point for the mesh so on larger lakes it stops rendering as you get further from the centre
  
• Fix decorative paintings using Unlit material causing them to glow in dark areas
  
• Field Guide: Setup a specific page for water containers, indicating all drinks you can fill them with and linking to them from items that make drinks
  
• Feature locked some very old items that aren't available in-game at all
  
• Updated Honey Tea alteration to the same Contains Honey Tea format as the others
  
• Field Guide: Linked Noxious Crust context menu to Noxious Crust entry
  
• Improve map performance for OLY and STYX for some hardware with larger prospects
  
• Added helper text to the initial open world quest to guide players to the field guide
  
• Field Guide: Updated water container page to list all water containers
  
• Field Guide: Improved feedback on which elements are clickable

[/expand]

Future Content [expand type=details expanded=false]

• Adding ice mammoth attack vocalisation, data table entry and duplicates of montages and attack animations
  
• Added Wall_CurvedAngle_Down and Wall_CurvedAngle_Up for Concrete tier, including materials, textures and meshes. APEX DMs still need to be done
  
• Adding all ice mammoth montages to ice mammoth behavior trees - replacing mammoth montages. Separating these out so unique audio can be added for each one
  
• More updates and additions to ice mammoth audio and animation duplicates etc
  
• Adding first pass dialogue events for Final Nulsec mission
  
• DLC2 map - adding detail and overall slopes
  
• Added a third Icesheet cave note to the DT
  
• Fixed a few typos
  
• Fixed Ice Mammoth first person arms floating mesh and replaced the ice shader with MA_ITM
  
• Fixed Ice Mammoth first person arms floating mesh and replaced the ice shader with MA_ITM
  
• Added some general resources and removed some foilage on Outpost 9, on Red Quad
  
• Adding waterfall base audio to ice mammoth boss waterfalls. FMOD event, and BP imp
  
• Collision and LOD setups for new mission military props, filename fixups and texture setup
  
• List of characters in character selection menu is now ordered by last play time (applicable once existing characters have each been selected at least once)
  
• DLC2 map - added rivers, crevasses and hills, smoothed out impassable edges
  
• Adding ice mammoth armor break audio and BP implimentation
  
• Increase min distance and distortion amount for ice mammoth death to increase notification to player of its death
  
• Fixed a bug where lava roat didnt have animations. Added missing anim bp
  
• Cliff Placement Pass and Riverbank Pass, Outpost 11
  
• Base deployable and DT setup for fire extinguisher wall mount, inventory and ability to store fire extinguisher to follow
  
• Adding correct ice mammoth montage to bird swarm BT
  
• More ice mammoth layers. Ice mammoth roar, notifys, adjusting speed to fit with animation etc
  
• Adding in extinguisher wallmount base assets and proxy mesh, deployable setup to follow
  
• Adding basic VFX to note items for testing
  
• Adjusting Nullsector final mission so you can destroy the blocker and progress through the cave
  
• Adding Dialogue Briefing / intro / outro to final nullsector mission
  
• Updating Icesheet Outpost prebuilt structure, note and body positions
  
• Update MapCreatorUtility widget to improve workflow and usability
  
• Adding ice mammoth death audio, event and data table setup
  
• Added subtitles for ABYSS quest dialogue
  
• Adding icemammoth flinch audio, evenet and data table entry
  
• Two people can sleep in a bunk bed now
  
• Adding New Nullsector story mission and steps, talents, quests, descriptions
  
• Adding New Military Tent and Fold out chair props
  
• Cliff Placement Pass and Macro Cliff Pass, Outpost 11
  
• More audio for the ice mammoth. Dig, kick adjustments and ai data table setup
  
• Added hornet saddle art assets including static mesh, three skeletal meshs, materials and textures to the project
  
• DLC2 map - refining shape of waterbodies
  
• Adding PG version of thank god youre here line which removes the vomit
  
• Adding more icemammoth layers and missing BT montages and adding kick audio event
  
• Adding first pass nulsec final mission dialogue entries to table
  
• Adjusting the flesh surface type to be carpet so it doesnt sound like dirt when walking on bodies. Carpet is more dull and more appropriate most of the time
  
• Adding metal grate PM and footstep events and data table setups. To play more appropriate audio when walking or jumping on
  
• Cliff Placement Pass and Manual Cave Pass, Outpost 11
  
• Fix an issue with trait component initialization in instanced level components
  
• Added BLD_Roof_CurvedAngle_Down_Concrete and BLD_Roof_CurvedAngle_Up_Concrete with Left, Right and Inverted variants, with all materials, textures and meshes. APEX DMs still need to be made
  
• DLC2 map - Adding noise, softening block out details
  
• Cleaned up Interactable Note UI
  
• Hooking up animation to spin the Heavy aircon blades when device has been turned on in the deployables BP
  
• Reverted removing of extra icon on crafting container, as this was used in other widget
  
• Reverting PM change which fixes creatures looking like feathers when hit
  
• Adding Flamethrower, it relies on biofuel to fire, deals fire damage at a constant rate, is midrange, does not set trees / buildables on fire
  
• Fix Test level play
  
• Bat Flying trail prototype
  
• Fire Extinguishers now require water to function, they can be filled up the same way as any other water vessel
  
• Adding Fire Extinguisher deployable item, in which you can interact with to add or retrieve a fire extinguisher
  
• Adding Straps to water / fuel portable tanks so they fit more with the world and make sense while carrying
  
• Added new module icons
  
• Added some general resources and removed some foilage on Outpost 9, on Red Quad
  
• Cliff Placement Pass and Riverbank Pass, Outpost 11
  
• Move actors out of Prometheus persistent level that shouldnt be there, cleanup root folder
  
• Add support for XYZ copy string pasting for Location input in WorldManager tool
  
• Removed IDetailTreeNode from ProcessingComponent include list
  
• Adding VFX for Nulsec Icesheet cliff face
  
• Fixed large heater and coolers affecting environmental temperature without being powered on
  
• Fixed a handful of typos
  
• Added a number of Concrete Beam assets, including their textures, materials and meshes. APEX DMs still need to be made
  
• Fix the build (private include)
  
• Fix an issue where unloading a level that was dynamically instanced and contains RVT volumes that point to RVT textures used in the main level messes up the virtual texture cache
  
• Setting up Narrative Lighting and Effects for the final nullsector cave
  
• NPC's Dialogue now replicated when people talk to them
  
• Added Cryo Spawn FX systems for pets
  
• Added bull art assets and blueprints to the project
  
• Added Some Meta Resources and Voxels on Outpost 9, on Red Quad
  
• Cliff Placement Pass and Riverbank Pass, Outpost 11
  
• DLC2 map - scree slopes and erosion
  
• Delete duplicate flamethrow SKitem BP. Improved flamethrow glass material and delete unused textures. Update existing flamethrower to have idle VFX based on having fuel. Added panini to candle material. Cleaned up redirectors
  
• DLC2 map - adjustments to path widths and impassable heights, removed some desert landscape features
  
• Added Bull entries to the data tables added skinned bull bones asset
  
• Remove generated tags from some actors in developer levels (busted worldgen script for Outpost_009)
  
• Cliff Placement Pass and Manual Cave Pass, Outpost 11
  
• Updating NPC Prebuilt Camp
  
• Fixing issue with the camp where the lanterns and lights where not inside the tent as intended
  
• First pass of gauntlet weapon prototype
  
• Adjusting NPC Camp so it is more filled out and appropriate for what it is, adding an additional teddy
  
• Added switch to MA_ITM for using secondary UVs for detail normals
  
• Cleaned up military tent asset geometry and updated texture to have more resolution
  
• Tag new items related to Null Sector quests as quest items
  
• Setup sledgehammer attachments
  
• Display 'Scan Area Unavailable' on map when inside an instanced level
  
• Ice mammoth boss - Ice projectile no longer breaks on impact but will bounce a few times. Spawned ice birds now follow two seperate circles to make it look more authentic
  
• Added BLD_Roof_Diagonal_Concrete and BLD_Roof_Diagonal_Concrete_inverted, with all textures, materials and meshes. APEX DMs still need to be made
  
• Added some extra status effects to gauntlet charge attack. Added knockback to gauntlet charge attack.
  
• Reduced Gauntlet attack cooldown.
  
• Gauntlet charge is now always right hand, light attack is left.
  
• Added some temporary sounds to gauntlet to get a feel for hit feedback

[/expand]