Big beta patch v 1.2

Big patch up on beta right now that I've been working on for a long time. I was hoping to have it cleaned up for the start of the Steam Summer Sale, but I need 1 more day with it. Mostly just testing, optimization, and a little wiring. I wanted to get a blurb up though to make sure everyone knows it's coming!

Please note that the current beta upload is for single player Windows only. If all goes according to plan tomorrow I will upload the Linux and server builds as well.

Major changes

• NEW TERRAIN ENGINE — The world now runs on a custom mesh-based terrain

system (replacing Unity's built-in terrain). Faster streaming, seamless

LOD, and the groundwork for a much larger visible world, better post-

processing, and improved performance.

• GPU-DRIVEN VEGETATION — Trees, plants, rocks, and grass are now placed and

rendered on the GPU. Far more vegetation on screen with far fewer hitches.

• REWRITTEN WORLD MAP — The map is now drawn in a single GPU pass instead of

hundreds of CPU tiles. Smoother panning, no more black tiles, correct

coordinate labels.

• STEAM NETWORKING OVERHAUL — Player-hosted multiplayer now uses Steam's

Datagram Relay for better connectivity, and Steam Workshop support is

undergoing a revamp.

World generation & terrain

IMPROVEMENTS

• Mesh-based terrain engine integrated and live, with quadtree LOD and

runtime streaming

• Reworking height composition with domain warping for more varied terrain

• New ocean shader

• Ocean water plane now auto-scales to the terrain draw distance at runtime.

Vegetation

IMPROVEMENTS

• Trees and all static flora (rocks, herbs, decorations) now placed and

rendered through the GPU pipeline

• Grass is GPU-instanced billboard rendering with proper frustum/distance

culling

• Vegetation now streams past the collider radius using far-LOD billboards,

so distant hillsides are no longer bare (further improvements WIP)

• Big landmark rocks now read as horizon features, keep a clear footprint so

nothing spawns inside them, and gain their collider before you reach them

(no more walking into a rock) — they're also rarer now (imposters WIP)

• Upgraded grass exclusion volumes to a custom solution

Resources & procedural spawning

IMPROVEMENTS

• Rewritten procedural area spawning system for smoother, throttled object

streaming

• Moved silver to caves, moved copper to the swamps

Multiplayer & Steam

IMPROVEMENTS

• Player-hosted games now use FizzySteamworks (Steam Datagram Relay) for

quick and easy connecting

• Steam Workshop support rebuilt on Steamworks.NET

BUG FIXES

• Harvesting and resource removal now sync correctly to all players on the

new mesh terrain

• GPU-rendered vegetation now disappears for all clients when harvested

• World-encounter clears now properly credit the player who cleared them

• Shrines now properly bless the interacting player

Combat, skill & entities

IMPROVEMENTS

• Familiars now despawn when their owner dies or when the server stops

• Familiar leashing and target validation improved

BUG FIXES

• Equipped weapons and tools now display correctly through character

rebuilds and during networked attack swings

• Monster debuffs are now identified reliably, fixing cases

where the wrong debuff was tracked

• Entity debuffs now clear correctly when leaving an area-of-effect

• Skill-effect comparisons now guarded against errors

Farming

BUG FIXES

• Fixed watering, crop maturing, and harvesting bugs in both tilled ground

and planters

Inventory

BUG FIXES

• Fixed an item duplication exploit

User Interface

IMPROVEMENTS

• World map fully rewritten — single GPU texture render

• Map coordinate ruler labels re-enabled and fixed

• AddedSettingsadded Field of View and Render Scale options

• Settings: camera and grass options now driven by in-game settings

• Settings: more to come

• Removed dead/non-functional video setting dials

• Character creation warm-up is now asynchronous for a smoother startup

Join us in [url=https://discord.gg/solacecrafting]Discord!\

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To opt into Beta you only need to go to your Steam Library, right-click on Solace Crafting, select Properties, click on the Beta tab, and opt-in to the beta.