Development Update #136

Attention inmates! The gears keep turning and the hammers keep swinging and the team’s been busy stirring up plenty of new chaos. From mine-triggering mayhem to new symptoms, this week’s update is packed with progress. Let’s take a look->

Let's start with our code wizards, they continued work on cross-stream locking and onboarding UI improvements. A crash related to the dropship and foliage has been fixed, and there’s a new admin command related to hunts has been implemented. Another improvement this week includes contact shadow support for the character mesh manager, which should make prisoners look even better under dynamic lighting.

Development is also ongoing for a feature that’ll allow all consistent characters to trigger mines, so keep an eye (and a foot) out for that. Get your tea and mittens ready, there's good progress on new symptoms and conditions everything from the common cold and fevers to fevers and stuffed noses. This ties into the broader disease and condition system we teased before, and there’s still more to come. A logging system for NPC kills was added, and first-person aiming while using a bow is now functional. On top of that, a ton of bug fixing has been going on and some early research into an upcoming rework.



Our level designers continue to stay locked in on bug fixing, but they’re also implementing fake GI into building interiors to bring out more depth and atmosphere.



Lots of movement from the animation team this week. They’ve been focused on new item animations, particularly for the axe and shovel, and more updates to the flag pole animation set. They’re also laying the groundwork for upcoming features like bruises, burns, and bleeding effects. Work is ongoing on new interior lighting and as always, bug fixing continues in the background.

On the hard surface side of things, the team is keeping busy with a bunch of new gear. The military tomahawk is in progress, alongside a new improvised tomahawk, and an improvised wheel item is being worked on to help with faster repairs and most importantly mobilization.

The soft surface team is starting preparations for the next Twitch drop campaign, which is already shaping up to have some great loot.

The 2D team is handling a mix of things right now, from level design concept art to updates to the Journal and new UI features for pattern based painting.



The sound team has been making updates across the board. They’ve reworked camper door sounds, tweaked some UI audio elements, and continued recording barefoot footstep sounds.



The design team has been busy with ongoing content development. In addition to general bug fixing, they are also currently designing a new time-limited quest for an upcoming update.

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Onto the next segment, your impressions from last week:

• We’re aware of the boat-spawning issue and we do understand how it can cause frustrations when having to generally deal with an unstable connection and we are looking into possible solutions. One idea we’re exploring is adding items that would prevent drowning if you end up separated from your boat. While it’s not fixed yet, rest assured this is on our radar and we’ll keep you updated as we make progress.

• Stat mechanics are working as intended to keep the gameplay challenging, characters aren’t meant to max out easily. But we are looking into ways to make this process feel less punishing, without breaking the core balance, like offering players more ways to raise their stats. In regards to drying clothes and other existing issues, we do have our sights on we’re aiming to tackle them as soon as resources allow. It’s always a balance between fixing existing issues and building new content, but improving player experience remains a top priority.

• The upcoming NPC upgrades will significantly enhance their behavior and the players immersion in the world. Think smarter, more reactive enemies that add to the tension and atmosphere of the island. We’re still working out some the details and will share more concrete info as development progresses.

• We do recognize that RCON is a great feature for server admins, but it’s not on our immediate roadmap, unfortunately. We do have more pressing development tasks that require our attention first. But fret not, we’re keeping track of the demand and we will revisit this in the future.

• This magnifying glass zoom-in feature for the map would be a small touch, but it might could go a long way in terms of usability and immersion. It's one of those QoL additions that seems simple on the surface but adds real value to the experience. We’ll throw it into the idea pool and see how it fits into upcoming UI improvements, since we do also have plans of our own for the future.

That would be all for this week! See you in the next one and make sure to keep an eye on the following platforms:

Discord[discord.gg]
Facebook[www.facebook.com]
Twitter/X[x.com]
Instagram[www.instagram.com]
TikTok[www.tiktok.com]

- Perito