Update Pre-Alpha 2.8.0

Introduction

Since Northern Regime releases into Early Access in just 30 days we have been working as hard as we can! I'm still a little sick so I haven't been able to make a development vlog, but I hope to make one soon. This will most likely be the biggest update yet. We have been working and adding plenty of mechanics, systems, new items, new crafting recipes, and much more. We'll go over as many as we can remember in this update. However, this update will be the last of which we go into detail about items and new mechanics as we want some what of a mystery for when you first play Northern Regime.

New Additions

• Food

• New foods that can be found at camps and throughout hidden areas; Chocolate bars, beans, and beef jerky.

  Terrain Details

• Added new trees and bushes.

• Added large mountainscapes in the distance.

• Added a lot of small terrain details; rocks, sticks, tree branches, leafs. All of these detail additions really help make the world feel dense and mysterious. It's a small addition but makes the biggest difference.

  Textures & Models

• Added higher quality textures for the terrain and the character model.

• Added a much more realistic snowfall that actually appears on the grand near you for a particular duration.

• Added a super high-quality backpack model for the character. We decided to spend the money on contracting a very expensive artist for this, because the back of the character is something you will be seeing a lot of. It's important to have something visually stunning to look at.

  Sound & Audio

• We have been working on our custom sound effects. We have commissioned a small studio to create these. It's been going well, we are happy to have our own unique sounds.

• Our sound composer has been working super hard producing plenty of music for our soundtrack. We currently only have 3 songs in the soundtrack but we hope for around 12 or so by lunch. The music is really great and works well to set the in-game atmosphere.

  Crafting & Inventory

• We have spent an immense time on the crafting and inventory ui/mechanics. We have re-worked the ui for the inventory and the crafting menu. The crafting menu now has better icon images down by a professional. The inventory now has photo-realistic icons that make gathering items feel more satisfying. We haven't just been working on the visuals, we have also been working quite hard on adding awesome new items and crafting recipes. The most notable item we added was a rabbit snare. You'll be able to place as many as you want and they'll naturally trap animals you'll be able to cook then eat.

  Site & Steam

• If you haven't noticed, we launched a new trailer on our Steam page, also adding new screenshots. We'll most likely continue adding new images and videos as we get closer to launch because the game is changing so much in visual and just getting better generally. Our website has also been re-worked completely. We suggest you check it out pretty soon here we'll have a tutorial page for new players.

  Inventory & Weapons

• We want Northern Regime to be a pretty tough game. We have decided to add item health to tools, weapons, and traps. Previously you could use your gun or pickaxe for as long as you wanted to. Now they actually have health and durability. When a weapon loses all health it automatically is destroyed. In the future, we would like to make the particular tool you are using become less useful as loses durability. We also need to add toolkits. We have added a pickaxe and a hatchet; the pickaxe helps you mine faster, and the hatchet increases your yield.

  Combat

• Comabt is definitely getting better and more fun. We have added a weapon level system into Northern Regime. When you start out it is going to take you a while to kill an enemy(3-4 shots total) This is going to force the player to level up before taking on larger camps. There are 3 levels max, the 3rd level being a one shot kill. To level up you will need to craft rifle upgrades.

  Visuals

• Visuals are important to us(obviously not more important than gameplay). So we have been working a lot on different effects for the camera. The most recent is a radial blur. It's again a pretty small addition but it really does affect immersion. When scoped out it's pretty minor just around the edges, but when you zoom in it spreads quite far into the center making it feel like your character is actually focusing in on what you are aiming at. It makes combat really awesome and interesting.

Launch Plan

So the early access launch date is final.(Hopefully lol). We will be releasing Northern Regime's alpha on February 17th at 1:00 pm Pacific Time. Most places in America that will be around 4:00 pm. So a question most of you are probably wondering is "When will updates/patches come out?" The answer is Every second Saturday So basically every 2 weeks. We would like to do it every week, which we originally planned for, but I think it would be best for everybody if we waited two weeks instead. We will be able to add more items, mechanics, systems, etc and also be able to focus more on bugs and errors you may experience. We hope that everybody loves the game and it is everything you anticipated. I'll talk to you all soon!