August 13th update

Happy Friday Survivors!

We have a lot to unpack for this week’s update. The smoke has cleared (hopefully for good) in the Calgary area so everyone is starting to feel more chipper! We’ve also got a few exciting followups from our Level Design and 3D Art teams.

shooting range

One of our newest team members Patryk has taken on the task of revamping the shooting range in preparation for 0.7.0 and we couldn’t be more happy with its new look! Patryk applied to the studio with an impressive portfolio of unreal engine projects he undertook on his own and we would have had to be insane not to bring him on board! For those that don’t know, the shooting range will not only be an area to test weapons, attachments, and modifications. We will also be expanding the role that the shooting range plays to act as a tutorial level that welcomes new Survivors to Alberta by showing them the basics of movement, crafting, combat, lockpicking, entering passwords on keypads, etc.

seebe drone shot followup

As promised in last weeks update, we have some side by side comparisons of Mike’s IRL drone photos vs the level design teams work. We feel that the results speak for themselves. This was accomplished using RVT decals and we expect to double down on our use of this method as we continue world production for 0.7.0.

All of the following screenshots are from a project that is currently in active development and everything is subject to change.

G-WAGON followup

The G-wagons went into the body shop to see the painter (texturing artist) and will be driveable once they’ve been rigged! Check out these shots that demonstrate the awesome work that Victor did bringing these vehicles to life.

lock o clock

Since Victor has wrapped us his work on the G-Wagon he decided to take a quick break and make some lock meshes that were requested by another member on our team. Not only will you interact with these in the game world (Half Life 2 anyone?) but you will also be able to use these to protect your gear or to lock off certain doors.

*Three unique style of locks. (Breakable Padlock, Keypad Padlock, Unbreakable Padlock)*

retro reflective eyes

Julian has added a retro-reflective shading model specifically for eyes. This effect gives eyes a creepy effect when you shine a light on them especially at night. This is a similar effect used on our road signs but for a much more unique and immersive purpose. Overall, this accomplishes 2 things. Makes the infected slightly more visible at night and makes them absolutely spine-chilling!

water

Julian has implemented a water system that allows our artists to easily create bodies of water instead of having to resort to clever material hacks and flat planes with a lake shader on them. This water system didn’t take a lot of time to implement but it’s an effective stopgap. We will eventually be replaced with the official Unreal Engine 4 water system which is currently broken in any map using World Composition.

0.7.0 and beyond

We are currently working hard to get 0.7.0 shipped to our backers as soon as possible however that being said we still would like to release a Vlog that demonstrates the changes coming with 0.7.0 as well as providing some raw gameplay of us playing 0.7.0. We are aiming to get the ball rolling on Vlogs again in the near future but iterating on 0.7.0 until it’s in the place where it needs to be is currently our top-priority.

It goes without saying that 0.7.0 is a massive undertaking with a lot of risk and waiting involved but we felt that it was ultimately necessary as this will be the last opportunity our team gets to make any large-scale permanent changes to the game-world. We are also making these changes with years of experience working on Dead Matter under our belt as well as a Level Design team that is currently larger than the initial team working on the entire project. We feel the changes to not only Dead Matter itself but also our internal pipeline have been a massive change for the better.

We hope that in time the results from 0.7.0 will speak for itself and lend greater understanding as to why we undertook a massive overhaul update. Everything from the look and feel of the world down as well as interaction and combat are now much more strongly aligned with the vision we originally shared for Dead Matter.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to once again thank our backers from the bottoms of our hearts. Dead Matter is without any doubt, an extremely complex undertaking. There were many hard lessons that the team has learned throughout development. Regardless of the issues that we’ve faced or the lessons we’ve had to learn, we as a team are still committed to standing by our backers and seeing this game through to not only until Early Access but a full 1.0 release and beyond.

wrapping up

As always, feel free to drop a line in the Discord if you have any feedback, need any help, or if you’d simply like to come by and say hi. We’re always available for our fans that want to get in contact with us and we consider it a pleasure to speak with you guys one-on-one.

Stay safe out there Survivors!