Always on the forefront of the cutting-edge technology & practices of more than a decade ago, us humble folk at Running With Scissors are always looking to improve even our oldest games to make them more accessible and more enjoyable for gamers across the world. Today we are proud to release the version 5022 Windows Update for POSTAL 2 on Steam which, among other changes, takes us two important steps forward in this never-ending journey:
- Full localization (including spoken audio) in Chinese
- A system which transcribes all in-game spoken dialogue into English, Russian, Chinese or Polish subtitles.
That's right; if you, or anyone you know is a native Chinese speaker who has had trouble getting into POSTAL 2 because of the language barrier, then now's the time to jump right in! We have brought full Chinese localization to the game, translating both visual elements and spoken in-game audio. Paradise, AZ is breaking down all language barriers, and has never been more accessible, or multi-cultural than it is right now!
In addition to these full localizations, we are also introducing a subtitle system which transcribes the spoken in-game dialogue, during both gameplay and cutscenes, in a nice clean visual form (absolutely not lifted from any pre-existing games by other companies) so that you don't miss a single bit of the wacky humorous musings of the citizens of Paradise, AZ throughout your visit. So if you were someone who is hard of hearing, wants to play the game muted, or simply has trouble understanding the bizarre ancient dialect of these primitive southerners because of additional language barriers, then you may just find this new update a godsend. On the flip side, this definitely makes it more difficult to play the game with other people in the room, if you were hoping to hide the dialogue from them by wearing headphones. Though really, you probably shouldn't be playing the game with your grandma in the room anyway - you should be encouraging her to play it, instead. Subtitles are supported in English, Russian, Chinese and Polish languages.
We won't be stopping with this, either. We are already hard at work, creating new subtitle translations for the game, to make POSTAL 2 more and more accessible to folks around the world, because we want as many people to be able to go postal, from the safety and comfort of their desk chairs, as possible!
The full changelog for version 5022 is as follows:
- Chinese localization added! To play the game in a different language, select one through Steam from the Languages tab in the game’s Properties.
- Subtitle system added! At the in-game Audio settings menu, check the “Enable subtitles” option to turn them on. This menu is also where you select your subtitle language and configure the text size.
- Fix for misaligned icons on the HUD.
- Fix for missing book texture in that beloved bookcase.
- Fix for NPCs sometimes not putting away their weapon when done with it.
- Fixed a bug where certain objects would disappear while in plain sight.
- Strict Speedrun Timer option implemented. For expert speedrunners, this option makes it so that the in-game timer is always counting, except during loading screens. Even reloading your game counts against you!
- In-game timer position adjusted to not be blocked by the Steam overlay.
- In-game timer no longer displays in places it shouldn’t.
- (POSTAL 2) Fix for missing rooms in the night versions of Greenbelt and Industrial Area.
- (POSTAL 2) The end of day cutscenes (Monday through Friday) can now be skipped.
- (POSTAL 2) The beginning of day cutscenes (Tuesday through Friday) can now be skipped.
- (POSTAL 2) Lowered volume of Uncle Dave bedroom music.
- (POSTAL 2) Fixed an issue where Uncle Dave would get “stuck” and refuse to accept the player’s gift.
- (POSTAL 2) Fixed a small audio issue in the ending cutscene.
- (POSTAL 2/A Week In Paradise) Fixed a bug where finishing a POSTAL 2 game would softlock a new POSTAL 2 or A Week In Paradise game.
- (Apocalypse Weekend) The intro and pigeon mission movies can be skipped.
- (POSTAL 2/Apocalypse Weekend/A Week In Paradise/Paradise Lost) Ending cutscenes and credits can be skipped after viewing them at least once.
- (POSTed) Implemented a fix for selecting actors in Windows 10.
- (POSTed) Implemented an event line view for actors. “Show Event Lines” to enable (E on keyboard).
- (POSTed) ACTION_StopMusic can now be used to stop all music in the level with the bStopAllMusic flag.
- (POSTed) Added a new property to SceneManager, bLetPlayerSkipIfSeen, which allows the player to skip the scene only if they’ve seen it at least once already. (Make sure to set bLetPlayerSkip to False for this to work correctly.)
The update is now available for all owners of POSTAL 2 on Steam (Windows only, for now), so get in there and give it a spin! And don't forget - if you have friends, family or loved ones of another category who don't own the game, then you shouldn't be selfish and keep all this fun to yourself. Do the right thing, and buy them a gift that they will thank you for, for years to come!