Hello, Screamers!
Major Update #3 is now live! As promised in our development roadmap, we're continuing to overhaul the environments. This update includes new locations, structures, and let's just say... some strange things! Once we're satisfied with the environmental additions, we'll focus on enhancing the finer details. Our goal is to make the forest and everything in it look realistic, weathered, and deteriorated. We want players to wonder, "Wait, what happened here?" and to keep you constantly on edge, always questioning your surroundings.
Before diving into the changelog, I want to address the current quality of scares. We know they aren’t where we want them to be just yet. Please remember, we're a small team of indie developers, and DON’T SCREAM is still in early access. By purchasing our game, you're not just buying into something early; you’re actively helping us refine it before the full release. Rest assured, all aspects of our scares—including models, animations, effects, and sounds—will be significantly enhanced or reworked. We’re taking a methodical approach to our updates, with upcoming ones set to focus more on improving these scares.
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Here’s a recap of what’s planned in our development roadmap:
DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP
- Continue improving performance for smoother gameplay, especially optimizing for medium and high graphic settings.
- Significantly enhance scares, focusing on models, animations, effects, and sounds, and improving the tension and buildup of each scare.
- Introduce new objectives and more incentives to encourage exploration.
- Add new enemies that pose a real threat to the player—soon, your own scream won’t be the only thing to fear!
- Refine the user interface to make it more intuitive and immersive.
- Completely redesign the sound for a more immersive auditory experience.
- Further improve microphone calibration and implementation.
- Enhance environmental storytelling.
- Introduce environmental dangers.
With all that said, we hope you appreciate the direction we’re taking DON’T SCREAM. What started as a UE5 horror experiment is evolving into a richer game experience, thanks to your support. Now, without further ado, here are the patch notes!
PATCH NOTESMAJOR CHANGES
- Added Church environment and leading pathways
- Added Sanatorium with extended road to Old Farm House
- Added Cornfield behind Old Farm House
- Added Junkyard with pathways from the Main Road and Abandoned Shack
- Added details to Powerplant
- Added Strange Doors in the forest that now have a purpose
- Added many new details to the enviroments and key locations
- Added fog and more improved lighting to many areas
- Modified lighting and fog in Minimart
- Modified lighting and fog in Cemetery
- Modified Oil Freighter Wreckage scenery
- Modified water and fog in Swamp
- Modified Lighting in Old Farm House
- Added retro-reflective trail markers to help players find their way to key locations
- Added on-screen compass and location to help in finding specific locations
- Added new battery system to force players to keep moving and exploring areas, batteries found at many key locations in the forest
- Added new audio system to allow better control and optimisation of sounds in the world
- Added a few new scares and improved audio on many pre-existing ones
- Improved overall game performance, especially at higher screen resolutions
- Improved collisions of many world props and environment areas to prevent player getting stuck
To prevent players from cheating by simply running in circles until the timer runs out, we've introduced batteries to the game. Now, you must find them before your battery completely depletes. We're eager to hear what you think about this!
Why is the Junkyard full of so much trash? What made this specific area a dumping ground?
The Oil Freighter has turned into a complete wreckage. Something terrible happened here. Was it human error, or something far more sinister?
Why is there a Sanatorium hidden deep in this forest?
Yes, we've added a cornfield—because what’s scarier than a cornfield? And who knows, maybe you’ll find a scarecrow lurking somewhere?
We’ve also introduced a church to the environment. Considering the number of people who have vanished or died in this forest, this old church raises some haunting questions.
Those spooky free-standing doors? They now mysteriously teleport the player to different areas of the forest.
These are just a few of the major additions in our latest update. We've also made numerous smaller tweaks, changes, and fixes. For instance, take a look at any of the updated gifs, and you’ll notice we’ve added an on-screen compass and location markers to help players navigate to specific spots. Additionally, we’ve significantly enhanced the audio quality. Ulrich Gollick, our audio engineer and game designer, explains more about these improvements:
"For this update, we've also focussed on establishing the framework for a richer, more immersive soundscape system. This entails ensuring that the audio levels accurately match what is depicted on screen and that players feel deeply immersed in the game world. For example, when entering a house, the soundscape seamlessly transitions from the outdoor ambience to the sounds of wind and outdoor noises filtering in through windows and doors. Additionally, we've incorporated appropriate reverb effects based on the size of each room. If players choose to close the doors, the sound is appropriately muffled or attenuated, enhancing the realism of the experience. In each area of the game, unique sound elements, which we call 'nuggets,' are implemented. These nuggets are intricately designed to convey a narrative, offering insights into past events or leaving room for further speculation"
Keep an eye out for future announcements, and thanks for your ongoing support!
Have a wonderful start to your week! - Joe
- Digital Cybercherries