Greetings esteemed colleagues! We are so excited for you to play Abiotic Factor!
This guide contains everything you need to know about the playtest. Grab your coffee and dive in!
Below you will find some helpful information, such as:
- Playtest dates and times
- How to access the playtest
- What's in the playtest
- How to report a bug or crash
- Where to submit feedback
- Where to find our FAQ
- A few new player tips
How Long is the Playtest?
The playtest is open from the 9th of November to the 15th of November PST.
Here is a time zone breakdown:
- PST: Thursday, 9 November at 12:00 PM through Wednesday, 15th November at 8:00 PM
- MST: Thursday, 9 November at 1:00 PM through Wednesday, 15th November at 9:00 PM
- CST: Thursday, 9 November at 2:00 PM through Wednesday, 15th November at 10:00 PM
- EST: Thursday, 9 November at 3:00 PM through Wednesday, 15th November at 11:00 PM
- GMT: Thursday, 9 November at 8:00 PM through Thursday, 16th November at 4:00 AM
- NZDT: Friday, 10 November at 9:00 AM through Thursday, 16th November at 5:00 PM
How to Launch the Playtest
To begin your work in the GATE Cascade Research Facility, you’ll need to request access by clicking the ‘Request Access’ button on the Abiotic Factor store page.
Once access is granted you’ll see Abiotic Factor in your Steam library. Select 'Abiotic Factor Playtest', download it, and you’re good to go!
What's Included in the Playtest
This playtest starts you off in the Introduction, which acts as a sort of tutorial. We recommend you play it all the way through, it's not too long! After that, you can join or host a server, which features a section of the early gameplay and exploration in the GATE Cascade Research Facility. We've given you just a taste of the depths that you will be able to explore upon release!
There is a hard cutoff on the playtest in terms of content, but you can keep playing, making discoveries and unlocking more recipes and skills even after you complete the last available objective for this playtest. Please enjoy the "sandbox" we've created (in solo or co-op!) for as long as the playtest is live!
How to Report Bugs, Crashes and Make Suggestions
We want to hear from you! Listed below are different guides and master threads dedicated to anything you’d like to ask or share with us.
As a scientist arriving at the GATE Cascade Research Facility just as a mysterious catastrophe unfolds, you’re trapped far underground with no hope of rescue. Find ways to survive, explore, unlock and - eventually - escape your increasingly lethal workplace with your team.
A Few Tips
Accessibility Options!
We have many accessibility options available in the game, ranging from FOV sliders to screen shake amount to Hold vs. Toggle, and so on. We do not yet have subtitles as we're still in the process of finalizing large portions of the script throughout the game, but that is on the horizon.
Keybindings & Controller Bindings!
Keyboard, Mouse and Controller can all be rebound in the settings menu at any time. Let us know how this goes for you and if you want to see any additional rebinding features.
Jobs and Traits!
You can pick your primary job and additional positive and negative traits at the beginning of the game (after the introduction concludes.) Once locked in, they can't be changed on that server, and remember that character skills, stats, and inventory are on a per-server basis. So give it a think!
Pager!
Your pager can be accessed in the emote radial wheel (B key by default, D-PAD Up on controller.) The pager is a nifty device your dad probably once used which lets you briefly ping your location to your fellow scientists in the event you become lost among the cubicles.
Medical Radial Wheel!
Bring up all your healing items on a radial wheel for easy access by holding down the X key. Quicky clicking the X key will bring up your overall health screen.
Holster Your Items!
You can holster your weapon and shield by pressing the H key. This can be useful if you have a shield equipped and want to cycle your weapon state, or just want your hands free so you aren't standing around threatening your fellow scientists.
Share Recipes!
Once you've researched a recipe, you can share it with your party! On the crafting screen, click the 'Share Recipe' button, located to the left of the recipe you want to share.
Join Our Discord!
To chat with fellow playtesters, find servers full of new friends, make jokes, share videos or screenshots, and just about everything else - join our Discord by following the link below.
