Weekly Recap: February W3 (Patreon)

Apologies for missing the February W2 recap, but everything we had done at that point was mostly back-end things, nothing we were able to show off.Last week however, I started work on visuals for the Hydra's system and engine damage.As you know, in the Hydra Shard you were required to cause damage to your hull for hull breaches to appear in order to repair damage to the systems or engine.Now, there will be separate ways to restore each health pool. In the attached images, you can see some of the damaged systems that will appear in the pilot cabin of the Hydra. These function like interior hull breaches, just use your repair tool to fix them!I've also attached w.i.p. images of different stages of damage to the engine!You'll be able to repair the engine using your repair tool, and if the engine is below 25% it'll start showing signs of deformation, too!Our modders have been testing our island implementation and we're making steady progress. However, this subject is super technical and I can't wrap my head around it myself, so I won't be able to provide many details.Fe have figured out how to make use of the in-game sand and stone textures for floating islands, but will also create custom textures where they are needed.Our sound designers have started work on more epic tracks for intense gameplay situations, but I don't want to spoil too much about what they'll be used for yet!We did finish the re-design of the Lurker leviathan, and I'll show off that concept in the near future, when we begin the modeling process.Personally, I'm struggling with Subnautica's way of implementing textures yet again. I thought we had figured out how the game uses Specular Maps (as fake subsurface scattering - aka light diffusing inside organic materials), but when using it like that our custom models still end up looking dull.Creating a jello-like material is also proving incredibly difficult, but I'll keep at it!Thank you all SO much for your support, and I'll SEA you next week! <3