FOUND — Update 0.4.54

(everything since 0.4.53)

This round is about ground and grass: the island's ground was rebuilt from scratch, and the grass is now made of individual blades that sway in the wind and flatten when you walk through them.

New grass

Real grass blades. Grass is now thousands of thin blades generated on the graphics card. They grow in clumps, with different heights, some of them dried out. The wind rolls over the grass in waves.

Trampled trails. When you, zombies, animals or the bike move through grass, a flattened trail stays behind, and the grass slowly stands back up. Logs you drag, or logs lying on the ground, press down the grass under them too.

Natural placement. Paths stay clear and the grass thins out towards them. There is less grass around villages, camps, ruins and campfires. Grass lies flat around fruit, sticks and stones. The edge of a grassy area wanders; it no longer looks drawn with a ruler.

Tall, short and bare spots in the forest. The forest is no longer one even carpet: there are tall grass patches, short grass patches and open patches of soil. There is no hard line between grass and bare ground; the grass thins out and gets shorter towards the edge.

Sparse clumps in the snow. In the snowy region grass only shows up in small, scattered clumps, so the ground really looks snowed over.

Grass in the distance. Far hills are covered by sparse but wider blades, so the grass doesn't suddenly end.

New ground

Textured ground. The old green pattern is gone. The ground now has moss and pine needles, dry leaves under trees, soil on paths and around buildings, and gravel around rocks. They all blend into each other with ragged edges.

Relief. Pebbles, leaves and sand ripples catch the sunlight and cast shade; the ground looks three-dimensional, not like flat paint.

Sand. The desert has new fine sand and the beach has its own. The strip next to the water is always sand now, never moss. The sea floor is desert sand too.

Snow keeps its old look.

Settings

• Settings > GRASS tab: grass height, width, colour, wind, shadows, the tall / short / bare shares in the forest and the grass share in the snow; every change applies instantly.
• The Realistic and Stylized presets fill in everything with one click.
• Grass type: Pixel (old) or New. Grass amount works for both.
• Ground: Old / New choice, texture tint, relief and light contrast.
• Grass shadows: off / near only / all (for weaker computers).
• You can give the grass a pixel look if you like (pixel size, grain, number of tones).

Other

• World codes can be words now. Type a word in New Game: the same word always gives the same island. The line below shows live what will be generated.
• Dropkick: after a hit there is no crouching or sliding until you get up.
• The save before loading window has clearer text and buttons.
• The UI draws less while the hotbar is hidden (a little performance).