Here it is!
This is the finalised list of what’s we’ll be releasing in the next update to Oort Online. And as I’m sure you’re all well aware, we’ve been working on this one for a while.
New Characters - Now we have characters! You can now choose between masculine and feminine player models
Character Customisation - There’s a few different really expressive head options to choose from
New Creatures - Spitter and Livestock creatures have full, detailed models and now spawn across all worlds
New Animation - Characters and creatures now animate and feel alive in 1st and 3rd person
New Tools - Hammer, Axe, Shovel and Chisel are all beautifully modelled
New Weapons - The Slingbow, Arrow and Explosive Arrow (!) are all painstakingly modelled
New Equipment - Grapping Hook has been beautifully AND painstakingly modelled
New Items - New items have been added including consumables like Raw and Cooked Meat, and recipe items like Essences.
New UI - Brand new Inventory, Crafting, HUD and Menu interfaces using a fancy new GUI system
Usability - New super-smart block placement logic (we’re proud of this one, it’s cool)
New 1st Person Assets - You now see what your character is holding in 1st person
New 3rd Person Assets - Other players can now see what you’re holding
New Damage System - The game is now powered by a godlike damage system! Capable of dealing different damage types to blocks, players, creatures and more. Essential for exciting sandbox behaviours to come.
Other cool things - New weather effects like thunder and lightning, Creatures now collide as physics objects, updated spawning logic for creatures, attack melee using tools, and lots more
Bugs - We’ve tried to fix at least as many bugs as we’ve introduced in this release
I know, I know: “But when is it coming out though, Ben?”. We’ll be providing more information on that soon, but the fact we’re talking about it should be a clue that it’s not too far off.
This update introduces a large amount of art assets and animations as well as a lot of important behind-the-scenes changes to the base fundamentals. So many changes to systems has made this one a * bleep * to get out the door, but we’re really excited to finally let you all get your hands on it.
While we’re talking about features, here’s a vague idea of what to expect next:
Coming soonish: Chests, Beacons, more creatures, full input remapping, tools, weapons and content.
Coming laterish: more races, progression and other meta-level systems, fully native C++ build
Coming neverish: bacon flavour blocks, physics based creature snot simulation, the return of Lester
As always, throw your questions in the comments and shovel some coal into the hype train on Twitter/Facebook/Bebo/MySpace/AOL Messenger/tin-can-and-string
…
RIP
Update: Added reference to full input remapping to coming soon.