- Devlog 57: Advanced wave physics - 1 September 2026
I've made some improvements to the beaches with the waves now applying buoyancy and wetness effects.Waves actually apply forces on objects, so in addition to floating and rolling around, they will eventually wash up on the beach. Wind affects the wave size and turbulence too.Objects hit by waves will get wet. Shorelines now have a visible waterline which rise and fall with the waves. In addition, waves will swell up when it hits a steep surface like cliffs. They also collide and wash over rocks near the shoreline.
- Devlog 56: Realistic beach waves - 31 July 2026
I've made some improvements to the water shader for more realistic looking waves. Simulated turbidity from crashing waves and muddy river banks. Foam collision with beach rocks and more minor tweaks. Take a cool dip to escape from the summer heatwave! There are 16km of beaches with 1300+ hand-placed waves. This is a survival game, but stop surviving for a while and just walk around for a very relaxing experience. Put on your headphones!Beach sounds are real-world sounds recorded on location in Desaru, Malaysia, Zandvoort and Den Helder in Netherlands.
- Devlog 55: Underwater exploration - 3 July 2026
I've started adding underwater structures and ruins to my game. There will be places to explore and gather resources underwater, but most of the gameplay will take place on land.You can build your base underwater, but currently the mechanics are admittedly very simplistic with no base integrity or flooding. Just open the door and walk in. I'll revisit this later with base oxygen and power requirements.
- Devlog 54: Pretty lit mountainside base powered by solar batteries - 7 April 2026
Added batteries to store solar power. We can now power our base at night. They come in small, medium and large capacities at 2, 10 and 50 kWh respectively. More than sufficient to light up the base for the whole night.Also added 3000K spotlights for that cosy warm white ambience. They are individually adjustable which allows for pretty directional lighting highlights.You can now adjust the cable slack with mouse wheel for neater cable management. Especially useful for short routing otherwise it will just be hanging everywhere in a big mess.Most of the work done over the past few months has been in the save/load system. So visually there is not much to show except that it has allowed more complex base builds without having to start from scratch each time. This mountainside base took hours to build with all the cabling and lights. In the actual game, you can probably get by with a smaller…
- Devlog 53: Solar power and cable management - 31 December 2025
Added a functional electrical system with freely connectable cables. Power will still work in whatever topology, you can daisy chain, create loops or even create a big spaghetti mess.Solar panels generate power depending on the sun angle and also shadowing. At higher latitudes you need to angle them for best performance. Also ensure they are not obstructed by any objects or vegetation. Batteries will be implemented next so that you can store all that free solar energy for night use.Cables are physically simulated to a certain extent, with custom gravity and tension forces. They do not have physics collisions otherwise they will be very unstable especially when entangled. This allows for beautiful buttery smooth cables that are stable and do not jitter or kink up.
- Devlog 52: Smelting Ingots - 7 September 2025
After mining ores, now we need to smelt them into usable ingots. To do this, create charcoal by burning wood. Dump the charcoal and ores into the furnace and it auto ignites. Currently the ratio is 2 ores : 1 charcoal but may be changed in the future.After waiting a short while, your glowing red hot ingot comes out! Cool it down in water or just leave it there to cool. Definitely don't pick it up with your hands.Finally sit back and admire your shiny ingot collection!
- Devlog 51: Pickaxe & Mining - 19 July 2025
Mining with my trusty pickaxe! Ore deposits with dynamic rock shattering physics.You can find ore deposits all around and mine them to get ores. Shatter physics makes mining more satisfying! Right now there is only a pickaxe, but more mining tools will be added in the future.
- Devlog 50: Assault Rifle - 10 June 2025
More firepower for shooting stuff up! Fully automatic rifle with 30 round magazine. Increased power, accuracy and stability compared to the handgun.Firing it really requires both hands. You can use it one-handed, but the recoil is crazy and causes inaccurate shots.
- Devlog 49: Handgun and bullet holes - 16 March 2025
I finally added guns after so many years! Being a survival game, shooting stuff isn't really the focus but it sure adds lots of fun to it. Resources are scarce and you will need to spend a lot of effort crafting it, so you can't just go around shooting everything. Also had to implement two-handed grab modes for this. Some heavy items require both hands to grab, but it's optional for things like guns. However using both hands increases stability and accuracy.
- Devlog 48: Solar still - 23 December 2024
A solar still distills water using sunlight, desalinating and purifying it in the process. This is an actual real-world survival gear and commonly equipped on life rafts. The process is slow, often taking an entire day just for a bottle of water.
- Devlog 47: Bottle of water - 23 November 2024
Realistic wobbles and sloshes for maximum hydration! The water is a lie. There is actually no water in the bottle. It's all drawn in the shader using the bottle mesh only. The splashes and all are also fake. Mass and center of gravity are dynamically calculated based on the amount of water contained. A partially filled 1 L, 100 g bottle is most stable when filled to exactly 231.662 ml.
- Devlog 46: Ancient Ruins - 9 November 2024
Destroyed buildings that you can explore. These are the last remnants of human civilization when it was destroyed 1000 years ago. Scavenge for resources like metals, plastics, oil, tools and weapons. To ensure humanity's survival, YOU need to survive! These buildings are crafted individually by hand and not procedurally generated. Things like large holes, floor collapses, and piles of rubble and debris show the absolutely devastating aftermath of destruction. Concrete also naturally decays when exposed to the elements. Water infiltration causes the rebar within to rust and cause cracks, eventually leading to the building collapsing. Stone, glass, bones, metals and plastics are all that remain.
- Determinant Trailer 2024 - 12 October 2024
I've updated the trailer to reflect all the latest content and features. This Youtube video supports HDR, best experienced on a HDR TV, monitor or your iPhone. The previous trailer was made in 2022, and since then the game has grown by leaps and bounds in terms of graphics, content and features. Currently in the 4th year of development, there is still a long way to go with many more things to be added.
- Devlog 45: Snow - 26 August 2024
The temperate biome turns into a winter wonderland at higher altitudes! I added snow features into my vegetation shader. It's just a simple layering of a snow texture on top. Trees, rocks and some objects all get a nice and soft fluffy topping. The amount of snow is adjustable so the transition is gradual as you ascend the mountain, from light patches of snow to fully covered. But be careful while having fun in the snow... the cold will get to you and then you die. Cold weather mechanics coming next.
- Devlog 44: Temperate Vegetation - 15 July 2024
New temperate biome has been added for higher altitude areas. The weather's getting chillier! This biome contains coniferous trees, mountain grass, clovers and shrubs. The vegetation is also less dense, a stark contrast to the lush tropical rainforest at lower altitudes. There will be more biomes added later. Snow, desert, lava and etc. It's a really lively world full of variety!
- Devlog 43: Occlusion Culling - 28 June 2024
Implemented occlusion culling for vegetation. This is behind the scenes stuff that the player will never see, which is the entire purpose of it. A lot of the vegetation was being rendered even though they may be obscured by terrain. By precalculating the occlusion, all these rendering can be skipped, saving on performance. This is all based on a heavily modified Perfect Culling asset from the store. Vegetation is divided into cells and each cell is assigned a unique colour. This serves to identify the cell in renders. The entire world is then divided into culling cells and for each cell, six cameras are rendered, each corresponding to the cell faces. The colour info is the read back through a compute shader and the vegetation cells that are visible can then be determined. This is a very slow process, but it only needs to be done once and the subsequent runtime lookup is extremely fast,…
- Devlog 42: Containers and Crafting - 26 May 2024
Now you can craft cloth sacks out of plant fiber you harvest from chopping down plants. You now have a crafting bench you can spawn anytime to craft small items. Even comes with nifty drawers to keep stuff in. Sacks and other containers help you keep things organised. You can directly drop items in or drag them in while in inventory mode. Arrow keys and right-shift let you orient the item horizontally or vertically and rotate it. Other new improvements include new more detailed tree and plant models. Cross fading has been added so that things don't suddenly pop in. Performance has been optimised a bit more.
- Devlog 41: Cats - 30 March 2024
I added in cats. They are very naughty and will run and jump everywhere. The jumping detection logic took some time to code. Cats can both jump up and down a reasonable height. However they still may screw up and lose balance or get stuck. Just like real cats! Cats can be picked up and stored in inventory. Great for bringing your cat companion wherever you go. Make sure they don't fall off a cliff though. Also, cats are not edible. You can't butcher meat from them.
- Devlog 40: Wolf - 28 January 2024
I've added in predator AI logic along with a wolf. Wolf will attack the player as well as deer. And they are good climbers too, so don't expect to climb up a slope to escape. Animals have active ragdoll physics and can lose balance on steep slopes. Sometimes you can push them over too. Lots of fun sliding down slopes! Vegetation reacts and bends realistically when animals walk through them. Beware if you see leaves bending and hear rustling sounds. Animals are really hard to spot in the thick jungle undergrowth.
- Devlog 39: A Fishy Situation - 2 December 2023
Added in a lot of new fishes, both freshwater and saltwater. There are 16 different species so far, Nemo and Dory included! Other coral fish include angelfish, saddlefish, yellow and sailfin tangs, all commonly kept as aquarium fishes. Freshwater fishes can be found in rivers and lakes. Trout, carp, bass, salmon and others. These are bigger and juicier and provide more nutrition in the game when cooked properly. All fish are interactive, you can grab them and drop them back into water or into a different body of water and they will react accordingly. Fish out of water will struggle and flail about and will eventually die. Kill them in water and they will float to the surface. Fishing has not been implemented yet, so for now you just catch them by hand.
