Development Diary #7, posted on the official Dead Matter Forums, January 21st, 2018.
Some very exciting new additions this time. A new underground structure, new environment props, new weapons and a new railway system and some changes to the inventory system.
Author Note: This post was made early in the Dead Matter development and some of the information provided may be outdated at the time of reading.
Underground Structure
Shirk has been working on a new underground structure. It is a set of modules that can be snapped together and rearranged in a variety of different ways across the map. Anyone else getting Fallout vibes?
Since the start of this year I've been working on a secret underground location. The set of structures I am making are modular, and can be used all across the map in various ways. They can be used for a variety of purposes like storage, securing, exploring, and even as a way to get to another location in secrecy. I've always loved when games have large underground areas such as bunkers, subways, and sewers. I find it really adds depth to the world and is extremely rewarding when you are exploring and stumble upon something so large, yet so hidden. There isn't much to say about the bunkers right now without spoiling anything, but I think everyone will really enjoy them and their uses.
Currently I've blocked out the majority of the tunnels, rooms and hallways to make sure everything snaps together and works well. Next step is to finalize their modularity and then get working on producing the art for them.
Shirk / Dead Matter Forums
Transmission Towers & Water Gathering
Nomad has been working on some very interesting new objects that will have an impact on gameplay, such as these large transmission towers, which not only add some realism and look good but will serve as landmarks when trying to navigate.
The windmill is one of the ways to get water out of the ground, it will then travel to a nearby reservoir. The mill's efficiency is based on how fast the rotor spins.
The simplest way to get the precious ground water is the basic pump. However you get it, ground water will always need purifying before drinking.
Inventory & World Streaming
Lead programmer jooni made some improvements to the inventory, the icons for items are now being rendered dynamically from the object mesh, so icons don't have to be created by hand anymore for every item. Also the inventory now looks a lot more polished and a context menu has been added to interact with items.
Besides that, he has been working on how world streaming works, a very important part in any open world game. The big change, in simple terms, the engine will now hide objects that are not visible and therefore unneeded. For more details on that I suggest you read the original post by jooni.
New Weapons Galore
3D Artist Dusty has been very busy, presenting us with a whole bunch of new weapons. Glock 19, AKS-74U, RPK-74M, AKM and variants, Remington Model 870 Tac-14, Mossberg 500 and variants, ...........
Train Tracks
Chaoss has been working on train tracks and they are not just for show. The plan is to have actual functional trains. He mentions that there will be more train tracks than you might expect, realistically, to make riding a train a viable option to traverse the map.
Tunnel & Commercial Building
Besides the train tracks, Chaoss has created a new commercial type building as well as a tunnel, both important assets for world building.
Utility Poles Updated
Yadda has updated the utility poles from the last development diary. Not much to say other than the new wood textures are very good looking...
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The simplest way to get the precious ground water is the basic pump. However you get it, ground water will always need purifying before drinking.
Besides that, he has been working on how world streaming works, a very important part in any open world game. The big change, in simple terms, the engine will now hide objects that are not visible and therefore unneeded. For more details on that I suggest you read the original post by jooni.
