Hi there,

I am proud to announce that I've just released Under a Desert Sun Alpha 0.8. This update contains a lot of changes and improvements. You'll also notice that you get access to a few more areas to get a feel for what the final games style is going to be. Furthermore there are a lot of improvements and fixes. I will make sure that a trailer update will be made since this update really changes the feel of the entire game..for the better in my opinion and hopefully yours!

Goal
Goals for this update are.

Make Under a Desert Sun ready for:

• Singleplayer use
• Areas in sync with vibe/style of the game
• More user-friendly and entertaining starting area, no more huge portals instead I made a neat level picker system that makes sure we can add more and more levels without having to create huge portals. You can simply use level cube’s to play a level.
• Allow access to more of the singleplayer area’s. Keep in mind these are work in progress
• Test and verify Oculus headsets works. They work! So are now supported with Under a Desert Sun.

Oculus support

As mentioned above, the game will from now on support the Oculus headsets.

New areas to explore



The starting room and a Tutorial level are new! I’ve also added a work in progress map of the city at night. You can now enter levels by placing level cubes on the pedestal in the starting area. Can you find al the level cube’s to see what’s being worked on? I’ve hidden them in the level. More new areas are coming very soon including a new wave level. Most levels have also been updated go see what’s changed!

Gameplay changes
Reduces holsters from three to two.
I found the middle holster mostly annoying. I have reduced the holster number to just two. The hip-ammo holster and a holster on your other hip. This way you can carry a max of two weapons.

Changed way leaderboard updates
The leaderboard will always upload your score. Previously you had to fight until death to get a score upload.

Wave level changes

The wave levels can now be accessed using the level picker cubes. I've also added weapons stashes to each map. You no longer need to bring a weapon to the level, you'll be able to pick one at the start of the level. I've also hidden some “special” weapons throughout each wave map.

Fixes

Lots of lighting fixes in all maps
Tremendous improvement in collision detection using trackpad movement. No more jitters.
Fixed highlighting bugs on the bolt of several weapons
Fixed some small damage bugs on enemies, sometimes they would not get hit.

Discord
We have an active discord channel. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! The discord: https://discord.gg/g5fK7Df

Roadmap
Don’t forget the Under a Desert Sun roadmap. You can find it here: https://trello.com/b/CEDvwMAb/under-a-desert-sun