Full notes
Full AREAZ update
Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.
What changed
- Gameplay
- Performance
- UI and audio
- Maps
New Update 0.57 is here!
This one moves the game over to Unreal Engine 5.6.
It’s a pretty important step for future development, because the next stop is the freshly released Unreal Engine 5.7. That version finally gives us access to the new Nanite Foliage and improved procedural tools — and we really hope these will boost performance in our foliage-heavy open world.
Gameplay Improvements
I’ve also been working on the core mechanics. To pave the way for possible (not confirmed!) gamepad support, I’m adding proper item dragging between your character inventory and external containers — something along the lines of SoT.
This also let me introduce a long-requested feature:
Storage Boxes!
You can now craft a simple, placeable Palm Leaf Storage Box. To pick it up, it needs to be completely empty. Steam post image
Look at the box to highlight it, and you’ll get a new tab in your inventory UI where you can drag items in and out. Steam post image
Heads up: highlighting a storage box currently affects crafting recipes — they may not show up correctly while the box is selected. Just take a few steps away to clear the highlight. I’ll update this so the system ignores it properly.
Map Update & New Map Work
As mentioned earlier, UE 5.7 finally might give us the toolset we needed to fix the foliage performance issues that were blocking map production. Versions 5.0–5.6 couldn’t handle our dense vegetation without performance drops.
You can see the new features in action in this video: View store page
I still need to test everything and learn the new workflow. If it proves to be a real improvement, we’ll adapt the existing map and resume work on upcoming ones. If not, we’ll stick to the current setup and continue as planned.
Thanks for your patience and support!
One more thing
Starting November 17th, we’re joining Czech & Slovak Games Week — celebrating alongside our fellow CZ/SK developers and their games.
Stay tuned! Steam post image To get more news on new map, provide reports and feedback please join our discord: https://discord.gg/XW3jaebbwH Thank you for your long lasting support. Juraj Bachar Game Creator
Source
Changelog.gg summarizes and formats this update. How we read updates.
