Hello, PC & PCVR players, you haven’t been forgotten! The VR experience has gotten a complete graphics overhaul. The new version of VR mode on PC is now much more performant so if you’ve had any issues running it before, now is a good time to give it a new try.
On flatscreen mode we decided to roll back to using Unity’s own SSGI instead of the previously implemented GI solution. This leads to the lighting looking a bit different in some areas. The decision was made because of unsolved compatibility issues on some systems and to make the project easier to maintain.
If any of you prefer the look or feel of the earlier version of POOLS either in flatscreen or VR, we will leave it up to be downloaded from Steam (instructions at the end of this message). Personally we prefer the look and performance of the latest update though!
Along with this update we want to wish happy holidays and new year to all of you who celebrate! Thank you so much for supporting us!
Full changelog:
VR: Complete performance overhaul with URP rendering pipeline
Updated lighting to Unity’s SSGI instead of HTrace WSGI
Updated Unity engine version (Fixes CVE-2025-59489 Unity Runtime Vulnerability)
Added barefoot footstep sounds for all missing surface types
Fixed dods diver achievement activating in a wrong spot
Chapter 0: Fixed a bug where VR player up direction would sometimes have unintentional rotation applied on startup
Chapter 0: Fixed a bug where player could get stuck in a room with lots of chairs and a speaker
Chapter 0: Disabled auto save in few places in where you could get stuck by loading auto save
Chapter 0: Fixed level restart not working properly sometimes (fixes number of the beast achievement)
Chapter 2: Fixed several lighting artifacts on lowest lighting settings
Chapter 3: Added invisible colliders to help prevent moving through some railing objects
Chapter 3: Fixed pool glitching near start of ch3, if you go under the metal railing and walk the stairs down
Chapter 4: Updated materials to some objects
Chapter 4: Fixed invisible water at the start
Chapter 5: Fixed footstep sounds when walking over glass windows
Chapter 5: Fixed a bug where player would jerk upwards when stepping on the bottom part of a ladder in flatscreen mode
Chapter 6: Updated audio for the hallway event
Fixed audio volume setting not loaded correctly sometimes
Fixed water dripping sounds being dependant on frame rate and not working correctly with crouch
Fixed black lines in duck texture
VR: Fixed a bug where snap and smooth turn rotation pivot position was not perfectly centered to the head position
VR: Added more detailed colliders, and hand touch sounds for different materials
VR: Fixed a bug where an invisible teleport snap anchor would be created in the game world at position (0, 0, 0)
VR: Added water dripping effects on camera lens
VR: Added recovery logic for if a VR hand model gets stuck within the environment
VR: Fixed incorrect footstep sounds on glass floors (Ch2)
VR: Fixed footsteps sounds repeatedly playing when standing still on an escalator
VR: Fixed a bug where crouching activated water dripping sound even on dry land
VR: Fixes to waterslides, to prevent getting stuck
How to access the previous version
Right click the game in Steam and open the “Properties” window
Open Betas-tab
Choose "pools-old" from the dropdown menu
Steam will now download an update
You can switch between the versions from the “Beta participation” drop down menu whenever you like
