Aloha Thrivers!
Alpha Keys for Wave 2 backers of our Kickstarter campaign will be sent out Monday and we couldn’t be more excited! We know this wave took a little longer than expected but we’re overjoyed to finally open the game up to the next round of players. We’ll be hosting play sessions next week to get their initial impressions, gather feedback, and answer any questions they might have. Keep an eye on our Discord for specific times and dates.
Wave 1 backers were a great help testing the game and we can’t wait to show off the latest updates to Wave 2. This is one more giant leap toward getting all of our backers in the game including wave 4 (hopefully by the end of the summer). This will be the biggest wave yet and with their help, we plan on having the servers ready for even more players struggling to survive and exploring our version of Maui soon.
The persistence bugs may have delayed Wave 2 a bit but our testers were a huge help in finding all the issues slowing things down. We stayed busy adding new features and content for the newest group to enjoy as well. Here’s a look at the new stuff we’ve added and the biggest list of player-reported bug fixes we’ve ever had.
New Construction Pieces
We added some new roofs and rounded construction pieces in the last update but we’ve added even more recently, including all the materials that you can upgrade your base with.
For everyone who likes a more traditional look to their base, upgrading to wood might be right for you.
If you are more concerned about security or just want a more castle-like look try upgrading your base to stone.
Finally, if you got the time and resources nothing keeps the mutants out like upgrading your base to metal.
No matter what materials you decide to build your base out of, the new rounded pieces and roofs will open up a lot of creative designs options for everyone.
Underwater Improvements
In addition to the lighting and DOF improvements, we added recently, lots of you told us that we needed some sort of air indicator while you were swimming underwater. So we added this O2 meter to show exactly how close you are to passing out and drowning sounds to help reinforce the message when it’s time for you to come up for air.
New Harvesting Equipment
We added some great new tools to help survivors gather the resources they need to build bases and craft weapons and gear.
The scrap pick may look a little unwieldy but it makes banging on rocks a pleasure.
Next, we added a rusty hatchet.
The gear head ax is great for bigger trees and just looks cool.
Lastly, we’re showing off the felling ax, a great tool for clearing land and adding to the woodpile in a hurry.
Backend Updates
We’ve updated the persistence backend. The recent engine upgrade offered us a lot of new systems and features to make FRV better but it also opened up a lot of persistence issues. After a lot of hard work from the team, we finally have a brand new persistence and backend service layer that is reliable, making sure your hard-earned loot and gear stay yours. This is our second major step toward having multi-server travel in the game.
