Osiris: New Dawn - Combat, Controls, Utilities, Drones, and more

It’s been a couple of weeks since our latest post and we’ve been making great strides on Osiris: New Dawn. After we added A Star Pathfinding and Flocking algorithms to the Creature and Droid movement we turned our attention to animations and gun play. First pass Joystick Input has been added (we’ve been testing on Xbox controllers) and we added much improved Key Binding and Graphics Options. We’ve also created new Vehicles, a new Zone, and more Power Utilities, all of which will be available once Beta Update #5 goes live!

Next up was tackling the Joystick input. This was a bit tricky since we have a lot of inventory and intricate UI screens that require lots of precise selections. Our current solution was to add a Joystick mouse cursor that automatically activates when you’re using a joystick and inside a menu that requires this input. Oh yeah, the game automatically figures out which control you’re using and adjusts to your input auto-magically. No need to set your input type in a menu or anything.

Graphic Options, Camera Options, and Key Binding are all implemented and working.

The first thing we did since the last post was add the Key Binding back in. The old key binding was always a bit rough and was only accessible from the Main Menu, which we thought was too limiting. We then fully integrated the Key Binding and cleaned up all the User Input in the process, which will give you control over all the keyboard inputs, joystick controls, mouse controls, and mouse speeds.

We’ve also been listening to those of you playing the Beta versions and added support to change the camera vertical and horizontal speeds independently.

With the input in, which took a solid week, it was time to focus back on the AI, and more specifically, the combat. We were never truly happy with the guns in previous version of Osiris, so we completely cleaned up the gun code. The guns and camera shake, recoil, sounds, bullets, and FX have all gone through lots of refinement to make gun play more satisfying and responsive.

With the guns improved we needed to try them out on a creature, so we turned to the very first creature ever made for Osiris, and our all time favorite, the Crab Monster. We’ve been shooting the Crab Monster all week, adding fluid blood FX, fluid puddles, and hit reaction animations to the Crab. It’s starting to feel much more gratifying to shoot the creature, making it feel like you’re really doing some damage to the thing.

New Rover Vehicle. We need a name for this guy! Send us an idea over on Facebook!

We have a new Rover! The model is done and still needs to go through integration and vehicular setup.

Lighter, faster, and cheaper than the large Rover, this vehicle is perfect for mining expeditions and long range travelling.

Scout Drone

Perfect for discovering new areas and alien reconnaissance, the Scout Drone will allow for player override control, allowing you to “see” through its lens.

Explorer Drone

These workhorses need very little power thanks to their on board solar panels, allowing them to continuously roam and report. They’re also great at mining, repairing, and some digging.

Gemini Site B

Newly formed area shows an active geological planet, plate tectonics, and a hot core. (These early screenshots are a work in progress.)

Power Grid

The Power Grid is vital equipment for power supplies that only harvest power when conditions are right, such as Solar Panels and Wind Turbines.

The Power Grid will feed your Power Distributor so that all your equipment is properly powered. You can even build extras in case one Power Grid goes out.

Nuclear Reactor

The Nuclear Reactor collects large amounts of power and does so at all times, regardless of planetary conditions. Requires lots of Plutonium to operate, this power source comes in handy if you have limited view of the sun.

We’re really excited about the new Power Utilities and the strategies that they’ll bring to Osiris: New Dawn.

Rover Redesign

More spacious interior, improved seating, and more cargo room makes this the best-in-class-full size Rover.

Whew! That was a busy two weeks! Next up will be lots of creature animations to round out the Combat, more Multiplayer testing, and finishing up the Power and Drone systems. See you next time!