Purpose
So, CAT Interstellar: Recast was an effort to explore and learn all the new features in Unreal Engine 5 in the hope of using it for Episode II...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1572950/CAT_Interstellar_Episode_II
I don't want to say this effort was a mistake (it wasn't) but:
- It took a lot longer than expected due to bugs in the early access version of the engine
- Ultimately doesn't offer as solid of a build even with increased system specs
- Higher system specs exclude a large part of the community
What it does offer is some incredible leaps in visual fidelity using tech like nanite meshes and lumen global illumination.
Outcome
I am glad we did this little side project though because I was ~100% convinced this was the right approach to take with Episode II. What I should have known and what became obvious over the development cycle was increasing the minimum requirements to support nanite and lumen excludes a large portion of the supports of the first game.
I had a lot of pride in how optimized the first episode was but with this new tech there is less room for optimizations and a higher barrier of entry. Even without the current chip shortage I don't want to leave behind a portion of the fan base simply for flashier graphics.
Update
- The newest update has further optimizations to the Chaos system.
- More detail added to Cave and Glacier environment
- Additional story content
- Stability improvements
- Dialog
- Speech bubbles enabled by default
Future
One more positive thing this little deviation did was give me some serious practice at managing an indie project along with a full time job and a family. The remastered version took about 6 months to complete while working around my other obligations. I got a lot better at formulating a development plan and executing tasks given little pockets of time here and there.
Episode II is planned to release to Early Access this summer with the first 2 chapters relatively complete and access to the mechanics of the later game like rovers and... I don't want to give too much away but it's gonna be awesome!
As always, Thank You for your support and feedback. Now here's a clip of the next generation of game developers.
Reminder
All owners of this application can access CAT Interstellar: Recast FOR FREE by going into your Steam library >> Right clicking CAT Interstellar >> Select Properties >> BETAS >> Selecting UE_5 from the drop down.
