After a short break to realign orbits Element v1.4.1 'Nebula' is available now.

This is a systems update for Steam, input and sound libraries, and Unity. We have also made some rendering optimisations using gpu instancing and updated shaders, optimised some of our model data, and reduced loading times with assorted memory trickery.

There are also some changes under the hood to address problems with deferred rendering on Linux using Unity's new graphics APIs. Windows and OSX platforms will continue to use the primary deferred renderer that enables lighting and post-processing effects as normal. We are experiencing a few problems compositing multiple deferred rendering passes on Linux, so on Linux platforms we instead use the alternate forward renderer with reduced effects.

The graphics detection can also be overridden for all platforms using a commandline option. Edit the Element launch options in Steam and use one of the following options;

-highgraphics
-mediumgraphics
-lowgraphics
-defaultgraphics

On all platforms, using '-highgraphics' will use the deferred renderer with all effects enabled. Using '-mediumgraphics' or '-lowgraphics' will fall back to using the forward renderer with reduced effects. Using '-defaultgraphics' will respect Unity's automatic graphics detection which will vary by platform and graphics card. Without using any launch options, Windows and OSX platforms will respect Unity's automatic graphics detection, and Linux platforms will use the '-lowgraphics' option. Check the Player log to confirm what rendering path and quality settings Element is using.

Please let us know what you think - leave reviews, start a thread or leave a comment in the discussion forums, or tweet @flightlessnz.

Enjoy.

cheers,

Greg & John
Flightless

Element v1.4.1 'Nebula' Changes

Performance

• Enabled gpu instancing for selected model components (eg. weapons, health).
  
• Added fallback water shader for D3D9 / shader model 3.
  
• Added graphics bootstrap to detect graphics hardware and change the default rendering path.
  (Windows and OSX will default to deferred rendering with effects enabled. Linux will default to forward rendering with reduced effects.)
  
• Updated mine models in main menu.
  
• Optimised more models to share mesh data.
  
• Updated skybox memory handling to reduce load times.
  
  

Plumbing

• Updated to Unity v5.5.1.
  
• Updated Steam libraries.
  
• Updated input libraries.
  
• Updated sound libraries.
  
• Updated build pipeline.
  
• Optimisation and bugfixes.
  

Element v1.4 'Nebula' Changes

Element v1.4 release notes.

Element v1.3 'Kuiper' Changes

Element v1.3 release notes.

Element v1.2 'Corona' Changes

Element v1.2 release notes.

Element v1.1 'Aurora' Changes

Element v1.1 release notes.