Hello inmates!
Patch 1.13 is headed to Steam on Tuesday, July 24. Expect maintenance to begin at 11 AM EDT / 3 PM UTC!
Thanks again to all of you who participated in the technical playtest and sent us your thoughts about the Tile Mapping system and Ice Bolt! We’ve improved them with your help, but don’t hesitate to continue sending in feedback!
See you in the arena!
Tile Mapping System
The Tile Mapping system will build a fresh map for each match by pulling tiles (the hexagon-shaped areas) from a bank and seamlessly assembling them in various configurations. The seven areas that long-time players are used to will still be present, but they will often be rotated and appear in different zones, making it very unlikely that players will ever play on the same map configuration twice.
We’ve introduced the Tile Mapping system for two main reasons:
We wanted to make each match more distinct both visually and in terms of players’ first few actions. Before patch 1.13, players often fell into a pattern of starting off a match in the same way when spawning in a known area. With this update, players will have to stay on their toes and quickly adapt to the map as they discover it. Winners will be able to pride themselves on having the superior survival and adaptation skills and rather than having memorized the map layout.
More excitingly, the Tile Mapping system will make it easier for our team to introduce brand new tiles in future updates, populating the bank of possible tiles as Darwin Project continues to grow. So yes, we can confirm that we have new tiles in the works! Our long-term goal is to introduce tiles that are thematic departures from the snowy, mountainous areas that currently make up the entirety of the map―effectively combining distinct pieces of land to form an arena where one minute, players are fighting in the Canadian Rockies, and the next, they could find themselves in a [REDACTED].
While it may sound farfetched to haul massive chunks of land from across the world and drop them into the arena, Darwin Project landscapers are currently attempting just that. They’ve actually gone home early most days and left the work to a quasi-sentient crane that seems like it knows what it’s doing. It will take more time to work out the many deadly kinks of the research, so it won’t be possible for these pieces of land from far away to be imported immediately. But the technology is advancing nicely and the Darwin Project landscapers seem weirdly confident that a new tile from nearby the facility could be added in the coming weeks.
Ice Bolt Electronic Power
The Ice Bolt is a new Electronic Power that inmates can craft and use after looting an Electronic.
Unleashing an Ice Bolt on an opponent will cause them to become frozen for 4 to 6 seconds and lose 60% of their remaining cold meter. Inmates will be invulnerable while they are frozen by the Ice Bolt.
Note: The 4-6 second freeze range allows a counterplay opportunity for the frozen inmate by decreasing the chances that an opponent can predict the moment they will thaw out and launch an unavoidable Arrow.
Like other Powers, the Ice Bolt needs to be equipped prior to the match, and costs 1 Electronic resource to craft.
While most of the other Electronic Powers available to inmates are movement-focused, the Ice Bolt provides a more aggressive option that we hope will reinvigorate combat as inmates create new strategies around it. With its stun effect and impact on the cold meter, the Ice Bolt grants players some time to plan out their next move― whether that’s crafting some Snowballs, setting some Traps in the area, or using a Tool to make a quick escape.
Gladiator-Themed Cosmetics
Note: The descriptions below have been updated on 7/23 to reflect the fact that these items will be available in Fan Gifts once patch 1.13 is live.
Beastly Bestiarii (male character) and Boastful Bestiarii (female character)
You can purchase these items individually or as 5-piece sets that include the Helmet, Shirt, Armor, Pants, and Boots. The 5-piece sets will be featured during the week of Tuesday, July 24 in the Weekly section of the Item Shop. All Bestiarii items, including the Bestiarii Bow and Bestiarii Morning Star weapons, can also be found in Fan Gifts starting July 24.
Onary Onyx (male character) and Ominous Onyx (female character)
You can purchase these items individually or as 5-piece sets that include the Helmet, Shirt, Armor, Pants, and Boots. The 5-piece sets will be featured during the week of Tuesday, July 31 in the Weekly section of the Item Shop. All Onyx items, including the Onyx Bow (not pictured) and Onyx Morning Star weapons, can also be found in Fan Gifts starting July 24.
Vicious Venator (male character) and Vengeful Venator (female character)
You can purchase these items individually or as 5-piece sets that include the Helmet, Shirt, Armor, Pants, and Boots. The 5-piece sets will be featured during the week of Tuesday, August 7 in the Weekly section of the Item Shop. All Venator items, including the Venator Bow (not pictured) and Venator Morning Star weapons, can also be found in Fan Gifts starting July 24.
Gameplay
- Rigged Chests will no longer damage allies in Duo Mode Looting an ally’s Rigged Chest will yield a Rigged Chest (if equipped in the Crafting Wheel) or the material cost of the Rigged Chest (if not equipped in the Crafting Wheel)
- It will no longer be possible to shoot an Arrow through a wall if the player is behind cover (“right side peek”)
- Swinging the Axe while looking up will now damage opponents above the player, and swinging while looking down will damage opponents below
- Looting a defeated player will now allow players to find Tools, provided they correspond to Tools they have equipped in their Crafting Wheel
- Increased Bear Trap deploy time from 1 second to 2 seconds
Visuals
- Added a rebindable option to disable the HUD on F10
- Improved the visual consistency of buttons in the options menu
Audio
- Updated sound effects when Warm Coffee, Health Pack, and Speed Drink are used to better distinguish between the three
- Improved 3D sound placement of Loot Chests so they are more easily located
Shop
- Updated the weekly item rotation in the Item Shop from Thursdays to Tuesdays
- The Item Shop will now automatically adjust the Ramen cost of items in a set of cosmetics if some pieces are already owned
Other
- Reporting a player for abusive chat will now cause them to be muted by default if encountered again by the reporting player in future matches
- Disabled country flags on player icons now that the World Cup is over
- Added the possibility to enter a value instead of using the slider to change various settings in the options
- Fixed a bug where players would sometimes find themselves in a forbidden zone for a second when a match starts
- Fixed an issue where resetting a specific set of options to default would affect all options
- Fixed an issue where cancelling a video setting change in the options would revert any changes to the Gamma Correction
- Fixed an issue where the Show Director Toggle Light and Activate Megaphone would sometimes default to the same key (the Megaphone will now always default to G)
- Fixed an issue where various options would not correctly reset to default
- Fixed an issue where Harvest a Clue as a spectator input could be mapped to a key that is already in use
- Fixed an issue where exiting the confirmation of a setting change would bring the player back in-game instead of to the main options menu if the options were accessed during a match or while in the lobby