Hello explorers,
Today we released Version 1.2, the first big update for Nova Antarctica.
In our previous community post, we mentioned that we were carefully reviewing your feedback and working on improvements to the overall experience. This update is the first step in that process. Thanks to the feedback shared through reviews, social media, and gameplay streams, we were able to identify several areas that needed attention.
While we are preparing a broader roadmap that we will share with you soon, we wanted to deliver these improvements as quickly as possible. Version 1.2 introduces a number of important fixes and adjustments — including difficulty balancing, control improvements, and a brand-new checkpoint save system designed to make retrying challenging sections much smoother.
We’ll share more details about upcoming updates soon. Thank you again for exploring Nova Antarctica with us and for continuing to share your thoughts and experiences.
See you on the ice!
— RexLabo / PARCO GAMES Team
Version 1.2 Update Contents
This update includes the following improvements and adjustments:
Adjustments to Game Tempo and Difficulty Balance
We have rebalanced resource management and threat levels, particularly in the early to mid stages of the game.
▼ Adjustments
Relaxed the climate conditions and reduced the frequency of blizzards in the early stages.
Changed the reward so that players now receive 2 bonus cards upon clearing the game.
Added additional supplies to certain stages.
Developer Comment: We noticed that the early parts of the game were more punishing than intended. These changes aim to make the progression feel more natural while still preserving the tension and immersion of surviving in Antarctica.
Improvements to Controls
Action and interaction responsiveness has been refined to provide a more intuitive and smoother control experience.
▼ Adjustments
Removed the need for button input when climbing climbable builder items.
Adjusted the wind direction indicator to make blizzard conditions easier to understand.
Improved visibility for navigation elements, icons, and other UI components.
New “Flag Checkpoint” Save Feature
A new checkpoint-based save/retry system has been added. Once activated, players can restart from specific checkpoint locations instead of replaying an entire stage.
Developer Comment: Survival games can be challenging, and we want Nova Antarctica to maintain that sense of difficulty. However, restarting from the beginning of a stage after every death proved more tedious than intended. The new checkpoint system allows players to retry difficult sections much more quickly.
Bug Fixes and Performance Optimizations
Various minor issues have been fixed and overall game stability has been improved.
In addition, we are planning to introduce new features in future updates.
You may notice that a mode selection screen has already been added at the start of the game.
We will provide further details about this feature in a separate announcement.
For more details on the update, please refer to the patch notes.
■ Version 1.2 Update Details
● Adjustments / Improvements
Added save point functionality.
Modified game-over behavior so that players restart from the most recent save point.
Added a stage reset button to the pause menu.
Improved input detection when picking up items.
Further adjusted collision detection for flying debris during blizzards.
Changed abnormal-weather damage to scale with the player’s maximum backpack fuel capacity.
Adjusted wind direction for certain weather conditions.
Reduced harsh climate and abnormal weather frequency in early stages (Stage 2).
Strengthened the effect of low temperature as a balancing adjustment to the above changes.
Added navigation guidance when obtaining enhancement-type items.
Updated icon for stamina recovery items.
Added consumable item display to the hologram activation UI.
Doubled the amount of soil gained.
Modified item crates so they no longer play an animation when interacted with.
Removed the need for button input when climbing builder items.
Weather effects are now disabled inside certain buildings.
Tutorial and Archive dialogs in the inventory screen can now be closed with multiple buttons.
Optimized game-over processing.
Updated some tutorial text related to game-over behavior.
Players now receive two bonus cards when clearing the game.
As a workaround for a specific issue, stamina now recovers extremely slowly at all times.
Added a UI that displays required materials when constructing bases in each stage (excluding bonus constructions).
Auto-save now triggers after the opening cutscene of each stage.
Added a mode selection screen (details to be announced later; the modes are not yet selectable).
Added an additional line of text to the message displayed after the company logo on game startup.
A confirmation dialog is now displayed when returning to the title screen from the pause menu.
Adjusted the player character’s facing direction so it no longer follows the camera unnecessarily.
Added a tutorial for save points in Stage 1.
Removed hit detection for branches and leaves in Stage 2 and Stage 10.
Adjusted the position of certain objects used for base construction in Stage 2 (Canyon).
Adjusted climate settings in Stage 4.
Added additional supplies to Stage 6.
Adjusted the map image for Stage 7.
Changed required materials for a heating object in Stage 8.
Added additional supplies to Stage 8.
Added materials for event crafting in Stage 9.
Added visual effects when the player is under the influence of certain threats in Stage 9.
Adjusted terrain in Stage 10.
Added visual elements before the goal in Stage 11.
● Bug Fixes
Fixed incorrect success/failure judgment in certain animal rescue situations.
Fixed an issue where baby penguins could no longer be picked up if they teleported after being released.
Fixed a bug where UI elements would remain displayed after moving away under specific conditions.
Fixed inability to scroll on the tutorial review screen when using keyboard & mouse.
Fixed an issue where incorrect numbers appeared when lighting a campfire.
Fixed an animation issue with the “4” key when using keyboard & mouse.
Fixed a bug where the radial view appeared on the pause screen when using a gamepad.
Fixed an issue where temperature dropped extremely low after staying long in a stage and moving on.
(If this reoccurs, please reset the stage.)
Fixed an issue where various inputs were incorrectly processed behind certain screens.
Fixed an issue where activating a gamepad after launching the game caused input loss.
Fixed cases where the wrong game-over reason was displayed.
Fixed invisible threats appearing in certain stages.
Fixed a bug where starting a New Game after the ending carried over parts of old save data.
Fixed an issue where card effects could disappear after a game-over on a New Game after clearing.
Fixed an issue where items in certain inventory positions could not be discarded.
Fixed a problem where transitioning stages under certain conditions prevented backpack recovery, causing infinite game-over loops.
Fixed a bug where pressing ESC on certain title screen pop-ups caused temporary input lock.
Fixed inability to scroll on the controls screen in Options when using a mouse.
Fixed an issue where holding a button on a disappearing object caused progression to freeze (e.g., lighting a campfire that is destroyed by a blizzard).
Fixed an issue where baby penguins disappeared when loading Stage 2 after saving post-rescue.
※ With old-version save data, the penguin may remain missing—however, they will rejoin in the next stage after clearing.
Fixed unnecessary objects appearing in certain cutscenes during Stage 2’s stage branching.
Improved an issue where baby penguins sometimes failed to respond to calls.
Reduced the time it takes for animals to become active after being called.
Fixed an issue preventing wolf riding during blizzards.
Fixed a bug where the pause or inventory screens were operable during cutscenes.
Fixed an issue where stamina did not recover at the Stage 2 base.
Fixed an issue where Stage 4’s “DAY” indicator appeared in Stage 3.
Fixed progress of a specific event in Stage 3 being reset upon loading.
Fixed time-limit issues in Stage 8.
Fixed certain animals in Stage 8 reverting to initial states after load.
Fixed rubble in Stage 8 reappearing after load.
Fixed duplicated baby penguins appearing under certain circumstances in Stage 9.
Fixed corrupted ceiling rendering in parts of Stage 9.
Fixed unnatural no-entry areas in Stage 10.
Adjusted the goal detection area in Stage 10.
Removed unnatural no-entry blocking in Stage 11.
Various minor bug fixes.