SCUM - Development update #141

Attention inmates! Feast your eyes on this fresh new dev update! It's always an interesting read as we're nearing the launch of a new update, so make sure that you don't miss out!

Work has progressed on the cuts and bruises visual upgrades and on UI improvements mentioned in the previous update, as well as on the common cold disease and its corresponding symptoms, and on the armor rework. Basically, we're getting ready for the upcoming update that will release this quarter! Greater focus has also been put on the encounter system and subsequent improvements that still need to be made. Last but not least—bugfixing. Lots of it.

Some people pointed out that we did not address the wanting state of the last update. But we kept our heads down and swiftly delivered necessary fixes. Our heads and focus are now turned exclusively towards the next update!



The level designers are working on a plethora of new terrain elements, as well as new base-building elements! Won’t go into specifics regarding the base-building elements—we don’t want to spoil the reveal, but I’ll just say that there are some you guys have been clamoring for quite some time.



The hard surface team has mostly continued their work from last week—texturing the military tomahawk and Tommy gun. However, they are also reworking the art for a multitude of props that you can find within the game.

On the soft surface side, improvements were made to female character clothing, and work has continued on the keyhole shirt. Sculpting for the head bandana item has also commenced.

The 2D guys have continued their work on the UI improvements for painting and have made some new level design concepts.

The animation team is still at it with bugfixing but has also started work on the animations for the upcoming trench gun.



The sound team is deep into bugfixing and making improvements to the overall sound of the game.



The designers are shaping the new common cold mechanic, making improvements to some in-game texts, and doing their part with regards to the new base-building elements.

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And now onto the Q&A segment of the dev update:

• That is actually quite a cool idea that is, in fact, in line with the overall theme of the game! It is definitely worth considering in the long run.

• There will be some way of displaying that your prisoner has the cold that will be more than just a status bar in the health section. We'll see to what extent that goes, but it will definitely have AT LEAST a sound effect.

• Sorry to see that you feel that way about the game. We definitely keep our ear to the ground when it comes to things that frustrate our community and, with hope, we'll make sure to react much more quickly to the requests that arise. I can tell you all kinds of things now—best to let our actions speak for us. As for the features that you've mentioned—they are still arriving. Q3 encompasses the month of September, and we're barely 1/3 into the month, so there's still time to deliver on our promises.

• Sorry that we didn't fully answer your request! We've seen a lot of feedback regarding their movement. All that was done to puppet mobility was to increase the overall challenge and difficulty of the game. We've implemented the option to turn off their ability to open doors and vault through windows per the request of players, and it is entirely possible that we will be looking to do something similar for their speed and jumping ability. Can't promise anything, as you can see that there are a lot of other things that need tending, but we'll see what can be done.

• The encounter manager is, in itself, a marked improvement over the old system, but its design still needs a lot of work to benefit players and their overall enjoyment. It also did wonders for the optimization of the entire game. We just need to fix the most egregious issues with the spawning, potentially provide some additional server settings, and the whole discourse on the encounter system will become a thing of the past. We will continue our work on it, and we’ll make sure to bring it to the best possible shape it can be.