Gameplay Update – Version 1.1.0

Hello, Extra-Dimensional Explorers!

Every journey through Erath helps us shape the future of EXD. We read your comments, watch your videos and follow your adventures: many of the improvements in this Gameplay Update were inspired by what you shared with us.

This update gives you new ways to tailor the experience to your preferences. We've added difficulty settings, sprinting and many other features that matter to you.

You can now disable weapon weight for more immediate combat, or choose an alternative grip mode if you prefer not to hold the Grip button continuously. But there's much more: we've improved visual quality and performance across a wider range of PC configurations, added new checkpoints, introduced additional options and delivered countless fixes to make every journey through EXD smoother, more comfortable and more fun.

Here's the full list of everything that's new. See you in the other dimension!

Highlights

• A new Gameplay menu brings Difficulty, Toggle Grip and Disable Weapon Weight together in one place.

• A new temporary sprint gives Max a short burst of speed, with its own controls, timing and audio.

• New checkpoints and more reliable saving make long sessions safer.

• Graphics presets now make a real difference: lower settings run faster, Epic looks as good as ever.

• The optional OpenXR mode is more stable and now displays correctly in VR.

Gameplay and comfort

• Added Easy, Normal and Hard difficulty settings. Enemies deal and take damage based on your choice, while story-scripted deadly moments stay as intended.

• Added Toggle Grip for physical objects. Telekinesis still works as hold-to-use, so your power controls are unchanged.

• Added Disable Weapon Weight for supported weapons, making them easier to handle without changing their damage.

• The head-collision warning color can now be set to Orange or Dark Red.

• Updated the controller guide to show the new sprint command.

Sprint

• Press the left stick to activate a short sprint.

• Press it again to stop immediately.

• Improved sprint duration, cooldown and panting audio timing.

• The normal sprint is now separate from the automatic run during the Mother escape.

• Sprint now works correctly with story moments that slow Max down, and movement returns to normal afterwards.

Checkpoints, saving and interaction

• Added the new Silver and Gold checkpoint in the Lava area.

• Added and stabilized The Trap checkpoint in From Mother. Its lever, doors, portal and enemies are all restored correctly when you load it.

• Objects you were holding are restored more reliably when loading a checkpoint or changing level, and they return to the correct hand.

• The first Grab press after loading now releases the object correctly.

• Fixed a case where attaching a battery to your belt could make you drop it too early.

Graphics, performance and VR

• Reworked the graphics settings: lower presets now give a real performance boost, while Epic keeps the same high-quality look.

• Texture Quality and Shadow Quality now have a clearer, more consistent effect on what you see.

• Volumetric fog now follows the Effects Quality setting and is only turned off on Low.

• Removed the outdated Shading and Foliage options from the graphics menu.

• Ruin runs smoother thanks to lighter crystal torches, less fog, more efficient water-drop effects and faster loading.

• Fixed a display distortion on Meta Link that could appear when changing DLSS while using the Spectator Camera.

• The game still starts in SteamVR by default. An optional OpenXR beta launcher is included in the Utility folder.

• OpenXR mode now renders at the right resolution, looks correct in both eyes and keeps the menus properly aligned.

• Removed an unstable blur effect and rebuilt the on-hit screen flash to stop crashes in OpenXR mode.

Levels and world fixes

• Improved the From Mother double stone door so sprinting can no longer make its panels close too far.

• Fixed an enemy encounter in From Mother that could fail to end properly.

• Fixed an opening in Ice Part 01 that let players leave the playable area.

• Restored missing shadows on several objects in the Ice area.

• Improved the Megazon entrance lighting and fixed a table that could get in the way of your hands.

• Fixed collision around the secret alcove button and loose bricks in Dungeon Crawler. You can still touch and move the bricks, but they no longer block your way.

• Improved collision on the large Lava logo door.

Weapons and content

• Rebalanced damage for breakable weapons and their remaining broken parts.

• Improved Whisper's stab damage and head-hit effectiveness.

• Corrected the Whisper name and added or updated weapon scrolls for Whisper, Guardian, Smasher, Slayer and Hourbreaker.

• Fixed a duplicate achievement trigger on Whisper.

Additional fixes

• Comfort-menu color changes now apply immediately in both the main menu and the in-game menu.

• Fixed a crash related to character animation.

• Updated Gameplay and Comfort menu translations across all nine supported languages.

• Corrected a French translation error.

• Improved several lighting builds and small environmental details.

Thank you for continuing to explore, test and help us improve EXD.
— The Lords of Illusion team