Hello explorers,
It’s been a while since our last proper update—a long while, in fact! We’ve been laser focused on our work behind the scenes, and today we’d like to share what we’ve been up to!
🧭 The Road So Far
We kicked off the year by reviewing all the feedback from our Winter Holiday playtest. Your insights helped shape our design direction, and we’ve been iterating on both your feedback and our internal vision for the game.
The first few months were about laying a new foundation. We expanded the team with new members and interns, which allowed us to form focused strike teams: Combat, Build/Craft, UI, and Level Design. This new structure is helping us move faster and more intentionally.
But scaling up wasn’t just about adding people—it was about cleaning up. We removed all placeholders, transitioning away from using any store-bought prototyping assets, and doubled down on reinforcing our art direction. Every asset now reflects our style and should run efficiently on a wide range of machines.
⚙️ Under the Hood: Unreal Engine 5.5 & System Refactors
We also dove into code refactors and upgraded to Unreal Engine 5.5 the very day it dropped. Among the biggest technical changes was integrating the Gameplay Ability System, which will make our combat and action systems far easier to iterate on. To do this, we had to go in and modify ALL of our existing features, so it was a lot of work! It will be worth it, though.
🚗 Vehicles Are Back—and Better Than Ever
After the engine upgrade, we moved our focus to vehicles. If you remember our May 2024 playtest, you might recall the early version of our Custom Vehicle system. We ended up pulling it from the last two tests—not because we abandoned it, but because we wanted to integrate your feedback into the customization feature. Our customization flow had too many steps, and needed to be streamlined.
We were looking into different technological approaches for our design, and with UE5.5’s release, the moment finally arrived.
Here’s what’s new:
Chaos Modular Vehicle Plugin: We moved from Chaos Vehicles to Chaos Modular Vehicles—an experimental but promising solution that has the added benefit of drastically improving physics stability. No more flipping out (literally).
Garage Overhaul: We’ve shifted vehicle customization from the Workshop to a dedicated Garage, complete with a streamlined building flow. Parts now snap together more cleanly, creating more intuitive and rewarding vehicle crafting.
Improved Terrain Handling: Our new suspension system hugs terrain more precisely than ever, making driving across rugged alien landscapes feel smooth and responsive.
🚀 Why Vehicles Matter in The Signal
Vehicles aren’t just a side feature—they’re central to your journey. You build them as part of your crafting loop, then use them during extraction runs to haul back valuable resources. They need to feel powerful, reliable, and worth the effort—and we’re committed to making sure they do.
🛠️ What’s Next?
We’re excited to let players try out the new vehicle system soon. But before that, we’re polishing up a few final pieces. Expect more concrete news in the weeks ahead.
In the meantime, we’d love to hear from you:
🗨️ What kind of vehicle customization would you like to see in The Signal? Let us know in the comments!
Thanks for being part of the journey. Don’t forget to wishlist us on Steam if you haven’t already—every wishlist helps us more than you know. And also, don't forget to follow us on our socials!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1830110/THE_SIGNAL/
Stay tuned,
The Signal Dev Team