Hey everyone,
Regarding the upcoming playtest release: we had to create a new Steamworks account and are currently in the process of moving our game to it. This will allow us to solve the issue with the locked playtest release button. Given all the circumstances, we decided to move the Playtest release to Q4 2026. We apologize once again for making you wait. On the bright side, we continued adding more content and features into the game, which will make the experience much more fun for everyone when the Playtest finally launches. Now let's talk about some of those new features!
Horses
We implemented the new version of horses to replace the old ones. Your new companions will have much more realistic looks and animations, and the variety of sounds has been increased as well. We fixed many issues and improved movement by making it more responsive and realistic. It now supports the full variety of horse gaits (move patterns, such as walk, trot, canter, and gallop). The horse colors now include only believable variants from a genetics perspective.
Vehicles Crash Test
In addition, we started implementing the first version of vehicles into the game. It might sound surprising to some of you, but system-wise horses share a lot with vehicles, so it's no coincidence we work on both at the same time. The first version of vehicles supports driver/passenger seats, as well as realistic movement physics.
Enemy AI updates
We continue working on the in-game AI. Now the enemies have different levels of perception, which means if you're crouching, they have less chance to see or hear you. Enemy cover occupation and peeking have been improved as well.
In this GIF, you can see the player sneaking around the corner to kill the enemy guard while remaining unnoticed.
Missions
We expanded our in-game mission system to support a much wider variety of mission types and started filling it with new content. Some of the new missions are connected to developing your faction, while others can be started by talking to various characters in the game world.
We updated the mission log to support a bigger mission list, grouped by category. Clicking a mission in the log will now focus the map on it, and there is also a new button that snaps the view back to your character.
We also improved the map itself: tweaked the zoom levels, added objective tooltips, alongside other minor improvements and bug fixes. Also, you can now place waypoint marks on the map, which will be visible to other players in your session.
Level Design
We continued set-dressing the environments and improving interior lighting. The lighthouse and the large army tents now have proper global illumination, so they're no longer washed out by light bleeding through the walls. You can see before/after comparisons in the screenshots below.
Interactive curtains have been added to the windows of many barracks.
We're also working on adding new outposts and improving existing ones.
Engine Update and Lumen Lite
We updated our project to Unreal Engine 5.8, which might be the last version for the next couple of years. For us, it means we can focus on polishing the game for this version without worrying that another update will break something or require a rework of existing features.
With the new version, Lumen Lite was introduced. This lightweight Global Illumination mode offers good visual quality while being significantly less demanding to run. It can be enabled by switching your in-game GI setting to Medium. You can see the comparison in the screenshot below.
Character Creator
You can now select a penguin in the character creator. Yes, a penguin can lead a faction too! You can also choose your character's name now.
Partial Gamepad Support
We added partial gamepad support. Now you can control your character, fight, interact, build, or give commands using a gamepad. Some UI functionality for the inventory and main menu still needs tweaking to support gamepad controls.
Game controllers that have been tested and are supported:
Xbox Series X/S Controllers
Xbox One Controllers
Third-party Nintendo Switch Controllers (needs more testing but most seem to be working).