The Challenge Update

Hello Climbers!

Sit back, crack open a refreshing roach or two, we've got big news!

But before we get to it, We're on sale during this Summer Sale (right now!) The game's price will go up a bit with the release of The Abyss, so fair warning if you're thinking about picking up the game. This is the best deal it'll probably be for a good while!

White Knuckle Beta 0.44

The Challenge Update

Watch the update trailer here:

Test your mettle in the Challenge Mode, a new game type introduced with the update, consisting of singular hand-crafted experiences where you can compete for better times and earn medals. Race through the old tutorial's Advanced Course, collect roaches while fighting off the Mass, explore the extrapolated dimension, and more!

Each map is unlocked as you progress further in the Campaign. Over the course of early access we will be periodically releasing new Challenge maps alongside the development of the Campaign and other modes, we have lots of exciting ideas for what more we can do!

In addition, this update introduces The Training Sector, a new mode and region set in Substructure 5, where you can practice climbing without threat or danger. The Training Sector consists of three subregions: Basic Climbing, Item Training, and Sector Mastery.

But maybe.. maybe you want a little bit of danger in your climb. Maybe you want to practice against certain hazards that you may encounter during the Campaign, or maybe you only want to play a specific Training subregion.

Well, you CAN! At the start of the Training Sector is a console which lets you customize your play experience. Want practice barnacles to spawn throughout the sector? Or perhaps you want the sector to flood at high speed and be filled with drones, or maybe you want to zen out in only the Basic Climbing subregion.

Hell, you can even race through each room and try to get better and better times, maybe you'll even beat the dev times we provided!

Like with the Campaign and Challenge maps, this mode will continue to expand over the course of Early Access, with more rooms and settings. We hope you enjoy it whether you're just getting started in your climbs, or if you're a seasoned player that wants to race through areas as fast as possible.

But wait, there's more..

Habitation now has more content! After beating the current Campaign (Finishing Habitation) in your save, new rooms will be added to the region to make subsequent playthroughs even more interesting. In addition, new hazards, notes, and other lore tidbits have been added throughout.

But wait, there's even more…

Each run is now a little more fun, in completely new and different ways. Make a friend. Choke on fumes. Look away? Please don't believe them.

…Enjoy?

-Dark Machine Games

NEW FEATURES

• New Gamemodes

  • Challenge Mode

  • The Training Sector

• Habitation: Region Expansion

  • 7 New Levels

  • New Hazard

    • Electric Discharges

• New Denizens

  • Drones

  • A Friend

  • DATA UNAVAILABLE

• New "Stuff"

• New Settings

  • Effect Quality

    • Reduce or remove certain effects in the game, if you have a lower end system.

  • Cloud Quality

    • Reduce or remove most cloud/fog planes in the game, if you have a lower end system.

  • Unlocked Framerate

    • Turn your computer into a jet engine.

IMPROVEMENTS/BALANCE

• Further Optimizations

  • The game should now perform better in certain areas (Interlude 2, Waste Heap, Pipe Organ) on lower end systems. Specifically tuned for Steam Deck. Hopefully it helps!

  • When loading a new batch of levels, the level coordinates shift downwards to reduce floating point precision issues at high altitudes (50k+)

    • In addition, a bug which prevented levels from fully unloading in endless has been patched, so performance should be improved as well in these scenarios.

• The Tutorial

  • Now has a leaderboard!

• Rope

  • Ropes 'bounce' far less after dropping, making quick use of Rebar Ropes as a tool far easier.

• Balance

  • You can no longer stack Armored Plating and become effectively immortal to normal hazards and denizens.

  • Pulse Organ stacking should work as intended when getting 6+ stacks.

BUG FIXES

• Crusher fixes

  • Crushers no longer start out pointing in the wrong direction.

  • The backs of some crushers no longer kill you even when still.

• It is now harder to glich dropped items out of the world.

• Fixed the 'Employee Retention' perk being saved as 'Employee Motivation'

• Fixed floating blood decal in service shaft.

• Fixed a few handhold clipping spots in Silos.

• Fixed rope rebar not being able to hit the hanging containers in Haunted Pier.

• Fixed splash effect in a few water sources in the game.

• Fixed collision for the water fountain in Delta Labs 

• Fixed inversed normals in Haunted Pier breaking collision when climbing the crane.

• The player is now forced to let go of any surfaces upon using a computer.

• Fixed some bugged lighting in Forlorn Gateway.

• The game now properly deloads levels in Endless when reaching a loading sector.

• Playground upgrade computers no longer can save and softlock your game.

• You can no longer get stuck when trying to grab the secret stash in Deep Storage 16.

• Roaches in the Habitation safe area now load from further away.

• Fixed various floating handholds

Thanks again for playing, we hope everyone enjoys this update! We know you all are itching for The Abyss, and we are too, so hang on tight. ❤️