[EXELIO] Update 6 — Performance Improvements and Steam Deck Optimization

Update 6 focuses on making the whole game run lighter and more stably.

There's no new content this time, but we've revisited the game's foundations, lightened the load in scenes prone to slowdown, and fixed bugs such as crashes. On Steam Deck in particular, we've aimed for 30 FPS, focusing on the scenes where slowdown was most likely.

1. Performance optimizations (mainly for Steam Deck)

We've made the game run lighter, focusing on scenes prone to slowdown. On Steam Deck, we've tuned performance with 30 FPS as the target.

• Reduced slowdown during night raids
• Reduced slowdown during storms
• Reduced slowdown in the ruins
• Fixed a brief freeze when using Scan in the forest
• Fixed a brief freeze when you catch fire after taking an attack
• Reduced slowdown in scenes where burning enemies are thrown in
• Fixed the game becoming sluggish after defeating the Sentinel (SG-03)

Measured examples on Steam Deck (internal measurements; reference values for specific scenes)

• Ruins: approx. 24 FPS → approx. 36 FPS
• Using Scan in the forest: previously dropped temporarily to approx. 13 FPS; now holds approx. 30 FPS
• Night raids: average 27 FPS → 33 FPS
• After defeating the Sentinel (SG-03): fixed the frame rate dropping to around 30 FPS and never recovering

Note: Some of these optimizations take effect when "Effects" in Graphics Settings is set to "Low" or "Medium." At these settings, some visual effects are simplified (amount of rain, debris blown by the wind, lightning shadows, enemy footprints and puddle ripples along with their sounds, light reflections, etc.).

2. Startup and loading improvements

• Fixed the screen appearing frozen while loading from launch to the title screen

3. Bug fixes

• Fixed a rare crash during combat
• Fixed the PC version sometimes crashing right after launch
• Fixed enemies sometimes moving off in another direction instead of heading for your base when placed walls are present
• Fixed Steam Deck running with a higher View Distance setting than intended
• Fixed some characters' eyes not displaying correctly
• Fixed some glass not displaying correctly when launching with DirectX 11

Please note

• Your save data carries over as is.
• The first launch after the update may take longer to load depending on your system.
• If you run into any issues after the update, you can roll back to the Update 5 version using Steam's beta feature. In your Library, right-click EXELIO → "Properties" → "Betas," then select "legacy." We'd also appreciate it if you let us know about the issue on the discussion boards.

Community

For bug reports, requests, and casual chat, we're waiting for you on the Steam Community discussion boards and in Steam reviews.

— The EXELIO Development Team