Hello inmates!
Patch 1.14 is headed to Steam on Tuesday, August 21. Expect maintenance to begin at 11 AM EDT / 3 PM UTC. Patch 1.14 is our largest in a while, so kudos to anyone who’s able to make it to the bottom of these patch notes!
Special thanks to all of you who participated in the Steam Technical Playtest and sent us your thoughts about the new Tile and Hook Tool! We’ve improved them with your help (the most notable improvements since the Playtest include making the Tool blockable and reducing the distance it can cover), but more feedback is always welcome!
See you in the arena!
New Tile: On-The-Rocks Shipping Co.
Our artists and level designers have worked very hard to bring you the first-ever new Tile! In On-The-Rocks Shipping Co., inmates will be able to explore an area filled with facilities and machinery dedicated to the mining and transport of pristine ice blocks.
Thanks to the Tile Mapping system, On-the-Rocks Shipping Co. will now become part of the bank of possible Tiles that are assembled in a various configurations to form a new map for each match. More information about this system in patch notes 1.13.
On-the-Rocks Shipping Co. contains new objects, more colour variation, and other details that will make traversing it very different from the original Tiles. There are fewer forest areas and more tall landmarks that will help inmates spot this area from afar.
Still itching for more variation in the Darwin Project map? Don’t worry, more Tiles are on their way!
New Tool: Hook
The Hook is a new projectile Tool that inmates can craft using 1 Leather.
Successfully landing the Hook on an opponent will cause them to be pulled toward the player.
Just like Arrows and Snowballs, the Hook can be deflected with a properly timed Axe swing.
Inmates who identify with the Goon Playstyle and who are adamant about taking each fight to its end will enjoy stopping enemies in their tracks when they attempt to run away. Even in fights against inmates equipped with fully upgraded Boots or a readily available Glider, there’s still a chance to prevent their escape!
To unlock the Hook and equip it in their Crafting Wheels, inmates will have to complete all tasks assigned by Lancaster the Darwin Orientation Drone.
Tutorial
With patch 1.14, inmates will be greeted by Lancaster DOD, the Darwin Orientation Drone! Lancaster DOD’s role is to ease new inmates into Darwin Project by assigning them a few simple tasks. These tasks serve as a tutorial to help players understand the main mechanics and allow them to discover the game in a more guided fashion.
Lancaster DOD will assign inmates a new task as soon as one is completed until inmates have completed all 6. Only after completing these tasks will inmates be admitted into the Daily Rehab Program.
Daily Rehab Program
As more and more cosmetics are becoming available in the Item Shop and demand for cooler, crazier styles continues to grow, inmates have been asking for a more reliable way to earn Ramen. Patch 1.14 introduces the Daily Rehab Program, which offers inmates the possibility of completing a challenge once a day for a Ramen reward.
Inmates can replace the challenge assigned to them in the Daily Rehab Program with a new one once a day.
In-game Daily Rehab Program progression notifications can be disabled in the Gameplay section of the Options.
Career and Leaderboard Improvements
With the introduction of Duo Mode Career stats and Leaderboards―some of the most requested features since we implemented Duo Mode―we’ve also taken the opportunity to make several improvements to the information in the stats and Leaderboards, as well as the way this information is displayed. Patch 1.14 makes the following changes to the Career and Leaderboards:
New Duo Mode and Show Director specific stats
A new tab at the top of the Career menu will allow players to switch between Solo, Duo, and Show Director stats.
For Duo Mode, stats tracked are the same as Solo stats with the exception of 3rd Places.
Note that Duo Mode and Show Director stats will be tracked starting August 21, so stats from matches played before patch 1.14 will not appear in the Career stats.
Known issue: We are aware of an issue with the way match rankings are tracked for the first player to be eliminated in a Duo team.
New Duo Mode Leaderboards
Stats that will appear in the Duo Leaderboards are the same as Solo stats with the exception of 3rd Places and Official Rating.
Note that Duo Mode stats will be tracked starting August 21, so stats from matches played before patch 1.14 will not appear in the Leaderboards.
New Leaderboard viewing options: All Time and Previous Season
A new drop-down menu on the left of the Career menu will allow player to switch between Current Season, Previous Season, and All Time.
Note that the Previous Season will be empty for the first season following this change.
Xbox One Controller Support
Controller support has arrived on Steam!
Cyber Survivor Cosmetics
Cyberspace Legend (male character) and Mind Obliterator (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 21 in the Weekly section of the Item Shop. All Cyberspace Legend and Mind Obliterator items, including the Cyber Axe (not pictured) and Cyber Bow, can also be found in Fan Gifts starting August 21.
Midnight Reaper (male character) and Mysterious Whisper (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 28 in the Weekly section of the Item Shop. All Midnight Reaper and Mysterious Whisper items, including the Digital Whisper Axe and Hush Now Bow (not pictured), can also be found in Fan Gifts starting August 21.
Emergency Hacker (male character) and Alert Alert Alert (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, September 4 in the Weekly section of the Item Shop. All Emergency Hacker and Alert Alert Alert items, including the Virus Axe and Malware Bow, can also be found in Fan Gifts starting August 21.
Gameplay
- Reworked the Arena Electronic Power - Reduced size of the Arena by 40% - Reduced duration of the Arena from 20 to 15 seconds - Made it possible for inmates to deactivate the Arena by pressing the same key again
Developer Comments: These changes create a smaller space to corner an opponent into a fight and will make it easier to use the Arena defensively.
- Bushes and trees will now slightly slow down players who run through them and deplete their cold meters twice as fast while inside
Developer Comments: These changes are meant to encourage players to focus on navigating efficiently during pursuit and to discourage them from hiding in bushes for extended amounts of time.
- Reworked the jump - Increased gravity by 10% - Increased air control by 30% - Inmates will now jump higher and farther when their stamina is not empty
Developer Comments: The changes to gravity and air control will make the movement more difficult to predict for opponents, with the overall goal being to make jumps more useful in combat and reward inmates who are able to correctly manage their stamina.
- Reworked movement speed - Movement speed while going sideways will now be the same as running forward - Movement speed while going backward will now be reduced by 30% instead of 20% - Movement speed while swinging the Axe will now be reduced by 20% instead of 30%
Developer Comments: The first change is designed to increase players’ ability to dodge projectiles, and the others to reward players who take the risk to attack first and execute well-timed Axe swings.
- The Spin attack will now damage players earlier in the jump to coincide with the jump changes above
- The first player to die in a Duo team will now be automatically turned into a spectator drone
Developer Comments: This improvement will encourage the eliminated player to stay in the match and increase the speed with which they can be useful to their ally.
- Improved the Tile Mapping system to prevent more than one of the same Tile to appear in any map configuration
- Increased Cage Trap deploy time from 1 to 2 seconds so it is consistent with all other Traps
- Reduced Cage Trap HP by 40%
Developer Comments: This change will allow inmates to break free considerably faster and use that time to promptly carry on the fight with their attacker or maneuver into a more favorable position.
Visuals
- Bow cosmetics will now also apply a matching appearance for Arrows
- Reworked the user interface in the end-of-game screen to clarify information and add Daily Rehab Program progression
- Reworked the Ice Bolt icon to better distinguish it from the Power Leap
- Updated the visual effect when the Arena disappears
- Updated the visual effect when the Bear Trap is destroyed Improved lighting in the Dressing Room
Audio
- Improved the sound effect when swinging an Axe at a player frozen by an Ice Bolt
- Added a sound effect on level up
- Added a sound effect when walking through bushes and trees
Leaderboards
- All Leaderboards will now reset according to the bi-weekly schedule (previously, only the Official Rating and Show Director Average Prestige would reset)
- Decreased the placement matches requirement to appear on any average and ratio Leaderboard from 50 to 20
Other
- Increased the odds of finding Legendary and Epic items in Fan Gifts
- Reduced the odds of finding a duplicate item in Fan Gifts
- Added definitions to the Code of Conduct violations on the report menu to help players make more accurate reports
- The Early Access disclaimer and summary of latest updates will now appear as a pop-up upon launching the game
- Optimized performance for footprints
- Eliminated floating leather armchairs
- Fixed an issue where it was possible to damage a player caught in a Cage Trap when standing on top of the Trap
- Fixed an issue where the Turret could damage players frozen by an Ice Bolt
- Fixed an issue where it was sometimes not possible to shoot an Arrow in between the bars of a Cage Trap when caught inside
- Fixed an issue where the Show Director would sometimes spawn under the map when the match starts
- Fixed a camera glitch when running through trees
- Fixed an issue where it was not possible to exit the confirmation with the Escape key after remapping a key to one that was already in use
- Fixed an issue where no error message was given when the leader of a party could not launch a match because some players were still loading the end of the previous match
- Fixed an issue where looking from side to side repeatedly would make enemy Traps more visible
- Fixed an issue where player names from the lobby would sometimes not disappear when a match begins
- Fixed an issue with Smoke Bombs causing tracking inconsistencies when Blood Moon is in effect
- Fixed an issue where damaging an armor-clad opponent with an Arrow would count damage done to the armor on the end-of-game screen and in the Average Damage Career stat
- Fixed a typo when equipping a set of cosmetics purchased from the Shop