Alpha Stable Build v0.2.5
This is the new update to the game that addresses many of the bugs we encountered during the cold launch of our demo. We are thankful for everyone who played the first build of the demo (v0.2) and for everyone who contributed to the Steam Discussions page of the project.
Gameplay Changes
The Navigation & Map Problem
The navigation issue that players had is now solved with a completely new system: players now enter the Backrooms with a Digital Navigation Watch that has several helpful features. Here's an overview of the watch's functions:
—Navigation: You can now click known locations on the map to navigate to them. The watch features an arrow that points toward your destination (while the watch is in your hand). This helps a lot, since all locations provided by NPCs or other sources are now automatically added to your map.
—Objectives Tab: A small vague helper to help you understand your task
—Threat Detection: The watch can give you a low accuracy threat score for your current location, based on the number of perceived entities.
Tweaks to AI and Entities
Combat is now more forgiving entities move slightly slower and are less tanky, especially against melee weapons. Status effects like Radiation now have a much smaller range and no longer affect such a large area. The instakill Red entity has been removed from a section at the start of Poolrooms.
Economy
We are trying to incentivize players to craft more, and to also trade with NPCs. With gameplay being more forgiving, players will be able to experiment and craft more freely.
Quality of Life
New Main Menu The menu now better fits the game’s theme, featuring a scene directly from the game.
Fixes
Fixed various general game bugs, including double Trader issues
Fixed save / non-runtime issues where blockades or objects failed to despawn
Fixed multiple entities behaving unfairly for new players
Fixed Outdoors map clipping outside of bounds
Fixed invisible HUD when dead
Fixed oxygen tank + pliers drop glitch
Fixed bullet and backpack models not loading correctly
Infinite ammo glitch resolved
Entity 15 v2 rebalanced
Added teleportation sound effects
Trader NPC arm clipping through vest fixed
Inventory and Hotbar item image fixed item stretching on certain items
Fixed dialogue options softlocking the game
Trader dialogue cleanup (Trader 1-1 broken line fixed)
General gameplay polish
Additional world stability fixes
What's Next?
Currently we have only a few levels in the game, so we will focus on adding more content and marketing while continuing to polish the aspects that may be lacking.
Technical errors (crashes early on) that players may experience are likely due to VRAM. The game forces all textures into a 4096 MB streaming pool which can cause crashes on GPUs with 4 GB or less of memory. So, we will continue to address technical issues as the project progresses.
Thank you for supporting the project.