Murkoff's experimental program is waiting for you! Reagents will be pushed to their limits in new environments, new Trials, several Challenges including variators to enhance the experience and difficulty, as well as the elusive seasonal Program X. You will be able to customize your character and cell and experience full character progression with a narrative introduction and a surprising conclusion for each Reagent released, and more to come gradually throughout Early Access. The Outlast Trials is a complex experience, Early Access means we will be able to reiterate the game with your feedback to help us refine and balance the game. More about the Trials...
SLEEP ROOM & DENIZENS
The Denizens populating the Sleep Room are now active. They live in Murkoff’s Sinyala facility and are there to help you with your therapy. You will meet:
- Noakes, the Engineer, will assist you with Experimental Special Operations Platforms, also known as Rigs.
- Barlow, the Pharmacist will help you enhance your physical and mental abilities with Prescriptions.
- Dorris, the Shadowy Dame, will provide you with Amps to strengthen you for the Trials.
There are other surprises in the Sleep Room for you to discover…
PROGRAMS
One of the biggest changes we introduced in Early Access is the concept of Murkoff Programs. Your rebirth is a journey, separated into clusters of Trials called Programs.
- A Program is a list of Trials and Mk-Challenges that you must complete to earn rewards and make progress in order to unlock the following Programs.
- You will receive “First Completion Rewards” for completing each Trial of a given Program, which can only be earned once.
- Replaying completed Trials will still provide experience and Murkoff Dollars based on your performance.
- You will get a special bonus for completing a Trial with an A+ grade.
- Access the Programs screen via the Terminal in the Sleep Room.
- Program 1 takes place in the Police Station.
- Coyle is the Prime Asset of Program 1.
- The Trial “Kill the Snitch” has been revisited an improved since Closed Beta.
- Program 2 takes place in the Fun Park.
- Gooseberry is the Prime Asset of Program 2.
- Program 3 takes place in the Orphanage.
- Gooseberry is the Prime Asset of Program 3.
PROGRAM X
Once you finish all Programs, you will be able to access Program X.
- Program X is a seasonal stack of Trials and MK-Challenges. Our team will renew it occasionally.
- Complete Program X to attempt and earn your freedom.
REAGENT RELEASE: JOIN THE REBORN
Murkoff has prepared one final Trial for you to complete once you have completed all Programs.
- Complete it to earn your freedom… But be advised, once a Reagent has earned their freedom, somebody new must take their place.
TRIALS & MK-CHALLENGES
- Trials are immersive story-driven therapies that take a certain time to complete.
- Mk-Challenges are shorter therapies occurring in modified or redesigned sections of existing maps.
TRIAL VARIATORS
- Trial Variators alter aspects of a Trial when you revisit them as part of a Program. Variators are also meant to enhance the difficulty of your Trial and is an alternative to the traditional difficulties we’ve seen in previous Outlast games (Easy, Normal, Nightmare, Insane).
- The list of Variators will show when selecting a Trial in a Program.
- You can also see the list of Variators when opening the Menu (ESC) while in a Trial.
ENEMIES, AI & DIFFICULTY
Improvements were made to enemy AI since Closed Beta.
- They are now more brutal, deadly, and relentless so make sure to use your stealth, items in the map, and your rig to evade them.
- Difficulty selection has been removed from the game and instead, the challenge increases as you make progress through the Programs, and Trial Variators increase test your limits.
RECORD & THERAPY LEVELS
- Look through your Records to view your Reagent Therapy Level
- Therapy Levels are our progression system where you must complete Trials to acquire experience and increase your Reagent level.
- The maximum level for Early Access is 40.
- Therapy Levels will provide rewards:
- Vouchers - a currency used to purchase Rigs, Upgrades, Prescriptions, and Amps
- Murkoff Dollars - a currency used to purchase character cosmetics and cell decorations.
- Cosmetics - a random cosmetic will unlock and be available for purchase with Murkoff Dollars for each level-up.
As you progress in your therapy you will earn currency to unlock Rigs, Prescriptions, and Amps to enhance your Reagent.
- Use the Loadout to organize and activate your ideal Regimen.
- You can also see the list of purchased Rig Upgrades, Amps, and Prescriptions from the Loadout screen.
- Try to synergize your loadout with your teammates, or equip the best loadout for each Trial.
- Setup your Loadout from the Terminal in the Sleep Room or by opening your menu (TAB)
RIGS
Rigs are experimental, reusable tools designed to help with your therapy.
- See Noakes in the Sleep Room to acquire new Rigs and upgrade them.
- Rigs have been reworked and rebalanced since Closed Beta.
- They can now be upgraded with improvements and new features.
- Rig upgrades must be purchased consecutively.
Prescriptions (Rx) enhance your physical and mental abilities.
- Purchase Rx from Barlow in the Sleep Room’s Pharmacy.
- Murkoff chemical therapy is terminal, meaning once purchased, an Rx is active forever.
- There are 2 tiers of Prescriptions.
- Prescriptions can be purchased in any order, but Tier 2 only becomes available once all the Tier 1 Prescriptions have been purchased.
AMPS
Amps are powerful contraband that can have a big impact on your therapy.
- Purchase Amps from Dorris in the cafeteria, when she thinks you are ready.
- Amps become available later in the game.
CHARACTER COSMETICS
You are unique. Change your appearance to reflect who you really are.
- Visit the mirror in your private cell to access the appearance customization menu.
- Cosmetics will be unlocked randomly and available for purchase as you progress through the game.
PRIVATE CELL DECORATIONS
Make your place cozy. Change the look of your personal cell.
- Visit the bed in your private cell to access the customization menu.
- More decorations will be unlocked randomly and available to purchase as you progress through the game.
GRADE SYSTEM
The Post-Trial Grade calculation has been revamped.
- All your actions now influence your Grade.
- Murkoff’s report with your grade will be visible after each Trial.
- Grades influence the performance payout you get at the end of each Trial.
BADGES
Badges have been revamped since the Closed Beta.
- Badges are now long-term accomplishments that provide a reward once completed.
- A badge milestone can be redone multiple times (although the reward only occurs once).
EVIDENCE
There are illicit Murkoff documents scattered inside the Trials.
- Find them to uncover the secret history of the Sinyala Facility. Many new documents have been added.
INTERFACE/HUD
The Interface/HUD has been reworked to be simpler and more immersive.
- Interface elements now appear when needed, then auto-hide.
- We have added many interface/accessibility options to adjust the interface to your preference.
- Health Display
- Sanity Display
- Noise Indicator Display
- Darkness Indicator Display
- Inventory Display
- Assignment Display
- Aim Dot Display
- Group Display
- Player Names
- We have also added a new PRESET feature, allowing players to quickly change their interface settings.
- [STANDARD] Standard and immersive way to play.
- [ACCESSIBLE] All accessibility options are active.
- [IMMERSIVE] Most immersive and challenging way to play.
- [CLASSIC COOP] Focus on teammates with permanent group display.
- Many menus have been introduced/revamped since the Closed Beta.
- Terminal and all sub-menus
- Denizens' screens (Noakes, Barlow, Dorris)
- Results screen (end of a Trial)
- Options screen
- Pause Menu
GROUP FINDER & GROUP
We have introduced a new Group Finder feature.
- Use this feature to find players before starting a Trial.
- Select the party size (Duo, Trio, Quad).
- Access Group Settings from your Menu
- Change “Group Privacy”: Friends Only, Private, Open To All
- Toggle “Group Members Can Invite”
- Toggle “Group Invitation Requests”
AUDIO
Experience the new music and audio effects, and voiceovers for all characters.
LANGUAGES SUPPORT
The Outlast Trials is now playable in 13 different languages.
- Voice overs only available in English and French
- New subtitles options.
KNOWN ISSUES
- When reviving a player who is located on the Police Station snitch cart rails, the player who is helping their downed teammate will be moved sideways
- This is only a visual bug and should not affect reviving a downed teammate
- In certain seeds of Police Station one of the posters in the basement cannot be grabbed, as well as some posters in the seeds of the Feed the Children Trials
- There are always more posters available than required, we are investigating this issue
- Some subtitles might be cut off if they are too long
- Some French voice lines may not match their subtitles
- Some UI and its interactions may be offset on some ultrawide resolutions
- On rare occasions the Pusher is unable to grab the player in the Mansion Tutorial level therefore stalling the player's progress in that level
- Players must restart the Tutorial, we are investigating the issue
FIXED ISSUES
- Fixed NPCs who idle in front of hidespots instead of taking you out.
To report bugs please join our Discord https://discord.gg/outlastofficial and follow the instructions on creating a ModMail ticket to chat with a support agent. Note it is an 18+ server considering our game’s mature content.
If you wish to share your feedback about The Outlast Trials Early Access, you can do so by completing our survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OutlastTrialsEarlyAccess
The Red Barrels Dev Team