Reddit AMA and Devstream coming up on August 21 at 11 AM EDT!
Hello inmates!
We'll be live for a devstream on Tuesday, August 21 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM EDT to talk about the upcoming Patch 1.14 and answer your questions about it.
You may post your questions here until 5:00 PM EDT on Friday, August 17, and we'll choose some to answer during the stream!
We're Holding Another Technical Playtest on August 14
Hello inmates,
Following the great feedback we received from you about our last Technical Playtest, we're once again opening up a work-in-progress version of the upcoming patch for you to try out! As you know if you've checked out our content update schedule, the August patch will contain a quest system, new map Tile, new Tool, and more.
Don't forget that the features you'll see in the Playtest are still in development, so you may experience small issues.
What exactly am I testing?
We're looking for your feedback about the new Tile and new Tool in particular, but you'll be able to share your thoughts about everything in this version in the post-playtest survey. What are the new Tile and Tool, you ask? Stay tuned to our social media channels for some details in the next few days, or go in blind for a surprise in Tuesday's Playtest!
When is the Technical Playtest?
The Technical Playtest will take place Tuesday, August 14 from 4 PM EDT / 8 PM UTC to 6 PM EDT / 10 PM UTC.
How can I participate in the Playtest?
1. Go to your Steam library
2. Right-click on Darwin Project and select Properties
3. Go to the Beta tab and enter the playtest code: playtest73423482
4. Click Check Code, then select Playtest from the drop-down menu
5. Restart Steam and launch Darwin Project
Important: Don't forget to opt out of the Playtest branch once it is over! You can do this by going back to the Beta tab in the game's Properties and selecting None from the drop-down menu.
Can I stream the Technical Playtest?
Yes! Don't forget to opt out of the Playtest when you are done playing before continuing to stream Darwin Project.
How can I send you my thoughts about this preview?
We'd love to hear your feedback about the August patch content! You can tell us what you thought by completing our post-playtest survey. It should only take about 5 minutes of your time!
When will the content in this Playtest be officially added to the game?
Darwin Project content updates land on the third Tuesday of each month, so you can expect the features you previewed to arrive on August 21.
Behind the Scenes 3 with Simon Darveau: The Road to Release
Hello inmates,
Our team here at the studio has a big update on what to expect from Darwin Project in the coming months.
In the last Behind the Scenes video, Creative Director Simon Darveau described the areas we would be focusing on to improve Darwin Project this summer. With summer well underway, we felt it was time for another video. This time, we broke down the upcoming content into a schedule that should give you a better idea of the amount of content coming in each new patch.
Watch Behind the Scenes 3 with Simon Darveau: The Road to Release by clicking the image below:
One of the biggest changes you’ll notice is that, in order to make deeper and more substantial updates, we are switching to a monthly patch schedule. For July, we tried focusing on a single content update, and the result was one of the highest quality patches we’ve delivered (it’s available on PC and Xbox One right now, by the way; you might want to download the new version while you watch the Behind the Scenes video).
More time to iterate, test, and apply your feedback made a big difference while we built the July patch. (The Tile Mapping system would not have been possible in a weekly patch). To maintain this level of quality moving forward, we’ll now drop major content updates on the third Tuesday of each month.
Note: The Show Director Power and new tile release schedule will begin in August, as some of you have correctly pointed out that the July patch did not contain a Show Director Power. The August content update will include both the Duo leaderboards and quest system.
As you can see, each monthly content update will contain at least the following:
1 new Crafting Wheel item
1 new Show Director Power or map tile
New cosmetics
Fixes, balance, and polish
Something else that we learned from our July patch is that early feedback from you on these larger changes is essential. As we continue adding more Tools and Powers that will keep gameplay fresh, we’ll be checking in with you regularly, offering you chances to playtest new features before they are officially added, and making sure to look at all your feedback so that the features we introduce are the best they can be.
If you haven’t heard much from us in the last few weeks, it’s because we’ve been taking a step back to get a better sense of where Darwin Project is at, where we want it to be at launch, and how we can best get there. We’ve said that we would launch Darwin Project out of Early Access when its systems meet our quality targets for fun factor, balancing, and polish. With that in mind, it’s time to talk about the estimated release window we shared last year.
It’s clear to us right now that there is a lot of new content that we still want to add before launching out of Early Access. Simon mentions a lot of it in the video above. But more generally, we think that a lot of what players do in Darwin Project can feel better. Our team has lots of great ideas to enhance the overall Darwin Project experience, both by improving existing features and adding new ones, and it’s important for us to make those improvements before we’re comfortable removing the Early Access tag. So we won’t be launching Darwin Project out of Early Access this summer as we originally estimated. While we don’t have a new release window to share immediately, we’re confident that our new content schedule will allow us to make regular, substantial updates that will take Darwin Project to full launch before long.
As always, we’re building this game with you, the Darwin Project inmates, and we want to hear all your feedback during our road to release and beyond.
See you all in the arena!
Patch Notes 1.13 - Changes for July 24
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
Technical Playtest on July 13 - How to Participate
Hello inmates,
You might've heard that we're allowing Darwin Project players to check out an upcoming feature early as part of a technical playtest. Originally scheduled a couple weeks ago, the Tile Mapping system playtest was postponed due to a technical issue. After some more tweaking, we're ready to give you a first look at the Tile Mapping system and a brand new Electronic Power: the Ice Bolt!
Don't forget that these systems are works-in-progress, so you may experience small issues during the Playtest.
What is the Tile Mapping system?
The Tile Mapping system will keep the Darwin Project arena fresh by pulling tiles (or zones) from a bank and assembling them in various configurations to create a map that will be different in each match. Without the possibility of relying on a map whose layout they've memorized, inmates will have to stay on their toes as they discover and adapt to the arena they're fighting in.
What is the Ice Bolt?
The Ice Bolt is a new Electronic Power that contestants can craft and use after looting an Electronic. Unleash the Ice Bolt at an opponent to temporarily freeze them in place and cause their cold meter to deplete, gaining you some time to think about your next move. The Ice Bolt must be slotted into your Crafting Wheel like other Electronic Powers, so don't forget to make a spot for it by going to your Crafting Wheel from the main menu or the lobby to use it in this Playtest!
Here’s a sneak peek! Keep in mind that it’ll look even cooler when it’s finished:
When is the Technical Playtest?
The Technical Playtest will take place Friday, July 13 from 4 PM EDT / 8 PM UTC to 6 PM EDT / 10 PM UTC.
How can I participate in the Playtest?
1. Go to your Steam library
2. Right-click on Darwin Project and select Properties
3. Go to the Beta tab and enter the playtest code: playtest73423482
4. Select Playtest from the drop-down menu
5. Restart Steam and launch Darwin Project
Important: Don't forget to opt out of the playtest branch once it is over! You can do this by going back to the Beta tab in the game's Properties and selecting None from the drop-down menu.
Can I stream the Technical Playtest?
Yes! Don't forget to opt out of the Playtest when you are done playing before continuing to stream Darwin Project.
How can I send you my thoughts about the Tile Mapping system and Ice Bolt?
We'd love to hear your feedback about the Tile Mapping system and Ice Bolt Power! Please fill out the survey below to tell us what you thought. It should only take about 8 minutes of your time!
Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NXSD3HV (cannot be completed before July 13 at 4 PM EDT)
When will these features be officially added to the game?
The Tile Mapping system and the Ice Bolt will be added in the next patch, along with more content! We'll review your feedback and announce when that next patch is as soon as we can.
Top 100 Showdown on Saturday, June 23 - Qualifying Players
Here are the top ranking Steam inmates this week! If you see your username here, sign up to join the Darwin Project Top 100 Showdown this Saturday, June 23, at 2PM EDT!
EDIT: The event is now over. Thanks to everyone who participated, and congratulations to those of you who earned a Silver or Gold Champion set!
Patch 1.12 - Changes for June 14
Hello Inmates!
We hope you are enjoying E3 and all the new games coming. On our side, for this week's update, we are going international! Localization is coming, along with World Cup skins for all players enjoying the soccer spirit within the next month. We also found lately that there have been fewer Show Directors in the arena. The rating system felt too harsh for newcomers and didn't fulfill its true purpose, so we completely reworked it into a Prestige System.
As planned in the summer roadmap , these days we are having a blast working hard on the
Tile Mapping System . You’ll be able to have a first look at the technical system we designed, mixing up the tiles each match, and give us a feedback for this week’s Playtest on Friday, June 15th, from 4 to 6 PM EDT.
Show Director Prestige
Being a Show Director has always been a key part of the innovation of Darwin Project. The feature is designed to be fun, playful, and add flavour to the show. Following your feedback, we observed that the Star Rating System was too punitive.
At first, we introduced the Show Director with no control measures. The idea was to see how players would behave with all those powers. It created really impressive moments and a great show. On the other hand, it also resulted in players becoming abusive.
Then we added the Star Rating System, the main purpose of which was to block Show Directors with bad behaviour. The problem was that this system was not only used as a restriction mechanic but also as a rating mechanic with many Show Directors competing in the leaderboard based on this. This resulted in the opposite behaviour compared to the first version. Since Show Director ratings were entirely dependent on the inmates, they were less free to play as they wished. The fear of getting a bad rating was too strong. This, combined with the fact that some players would compulsively rate Show Directors 1-star as a relief for their recent loss, became a problem we needed to address.
To fix this, we decided to split up the 2 components included in the Star Rating. The restriction mechanic is now linked with the Player Report system, so if a Show Director is reported too much they will lose their access.
In this new version of the rating aspect of the Show Director, we replaced the quantitative system with a qualitative one. Instead of rating the Show Director from 1 to 5 stars, players can reward them with Prestige at the end of each match by choosing one of the archetypes from the Prestige system. The goal of these archetypes is to reward Show Directors and give them inspiration as they develop their own style. Our aim is for our beloved masters of ceremonies to have the freedom to create more flavourful and meaningful interactions with the inmates.
Each Prestige received will grant the Show Director a fan bonus.
So far, we have 4 Prestige categories:
The Storyteller – An immersive roleplaying style, added a layer of pathology and story. Who’s the villain? Who’s the hero? Who’s the underdog? Storytelling style could take the player’s personalities and build excitement out of it.
The Wild Card – Shook things up with absurd challenges and humour. A Wild Card style will keep players on their toes with unexpected commands.
The Sportscaster – Insightful play by play made you feel like a star on a live broadcast. Sportscasting style may heighten the action by serving as the vocal conductor.
The Puppet Master – Pitted players against one another in games of intrigue. This is the true All Seeing Eye of the arena. But are they on your side?
Each of these categories has its own leaderboard and the there is also a one for total Prestige received. All will be reset every 2 weeks like the official rating so Show Directors have to consistently deliver a good show if they want to stay at the top. The top 3 Show Directors of the total Prestige leaderboard will be invited to show direct our Top 100 Showdown events.
We also added a leaderboard for the total number of games directed.
Last but not least, we reduced the level requirement to unlock access to Show Director mode from level 10 to 5. The objective is to increase the general fun factor by having more matches be played with Show Directors.
Non-American Football World Cup skins!
As you may know, we have many international developers at Scavengers and all non-Americans LOVE soccer! Our guys are psyched to announce that for a limited time, Darwin Project inmates can obtain World Cup soccer-themed sportswear by opening Fan Gifts or purchasing them with Ramen in the Item Shop. Show your support for your favourite team or mix and match the new items with your go-to pieces for fresh, workout-ready styles. The items will only be available during the FIFA WORLD CUP month from June 14 to July 12 on Steam. Each day, the shop will be supplied with the country that is playing.
As you may know, we have many international developers at Scavengers and all non-Americans LOVE soccer! Our guys are psyched to announce that for a limited time, Darwin Project inmates can obtain World Cup soccer-themed sportswear by opening Fan Gifts or purchasing them with Ramen in the Item Shop. Show your support for your favourite team or mix and match the new items with your go-to pieces for fresh, workout-ready styles. The items will only be available during the NON-AMERICAN WORLD CUP month from June 14 to July 12 on Steam. Each day, the shop will be supplied with the country that is playing.
The skin sets that would be available are the following. These were chosen based on the teams competing in the event, the Darwin Project playerbase, and our available localization languages.
Mother Russia
Saudade Portugal
Vive La France
Canaray Brazil
Romantic Germany
Tally-ho England
Also for the duration of the event we added the flag of your country in the show director UI so the public can support their fellow compatriots.
Work-in-Progress Localization
Starting Thursday on Steam, you’ll be able to play Darwin Project in 8 new languages! Keep in mind that this is the very beginning of our localization efforts, and you may find some English text within the new available languages. You’ll be able to change the language in the Options menu. The languages that will be available are:
Français
Deutsch
Español
Italiano
Polski
Pусский
日本語
한국어
Coming soon
Português brasileiro
ไทย
Türkçe
Gameplay Tweak
Traps (bear trap, tripwire, cage) only give a clue to the player who set them.
Arcade damage text is now only visible for the one that deals the damage.
Developer Comments: These changes will reduce the amount of information players receive about fights which they are not involved in.
Power Leap cooldown increased from 45 to 60 seconds.
In Duo Mode, Drones can no longer activate cabin Holomaps.
Players can now rebind the key to harvest Clue as a drone in Duo Mode.
Visual
Updated Player status Icons. We used to have a circular player status icon. The player status icon is your player Steam Icon. By changing the Steam Icon into a square shape, we keep all the information from the Steam Icon. A square icon allows more visibility of your image, name, and information on the player. It also allows us to include the stamina information of each player.
Added an indicator for the Show Director to know if it is a Solo or Duo lobby in the top right corner of the screen
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the Show Director power deck to not be saved.
Fixed a bug that caused players to get credit for killing their ally in Duo mode.
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the announcer voice to be affected by a weird filter.
Patch Notes 1.11.2 - Changes for June 7
Hello inmates,
We’ve got another patch focused on gameplay tweaks and bug fixes coming up Thursday, June 7. Expect maintenance from 11 AM EDT to 12 PM EDT. And if you’re hungry for fresh content, don’t worry―meatier updates are coming soon!
See you in the arena!
King Cold Shoulder and Icebreaker Prime Sets Coming to the Item Shop
You can purchase these items as a 5-piece weekly set that includes the Helmet, Shirt, Armor, Pants, and Boots starting Thursday, June 7 at 12:00 PM EDT. You want the King Cold Shoulder set if you play as the male character, and the Icebreaker Prime set if you play as the female character.
Keep an eye out for the Frozen Skull Bow (not pictured) and Frozen Trap Axe weapons in the daily section of the Shop throughout the week and beyond.
Gameplay
Decreased Tripwire stun duration from 3 seconds to 2 seconds
Made enemy Traps more difficult to spot when sprinting, and barely visible when running - Note: This does not undo the change made in patch 1.11.1 causing enemy Trap visibility to be determined by player movement state (standing, running, or sprinting). This tweak slightly reduces Trap opacity following community feedback reporting Traps having become too easy to see in most situations and thus less viable in combat.
After one minute spent in a forbidden zone, the cold meter will decrease at a faster rate
Taking damage from a Turret will now cancel any Trap the player is caught in
Reduced cost of Telepathy and Electro-mania Show Director Powers from 5 to 3 Action Points
The very end of the Axe swing animation will no longer block incoming Axe hits
Added a toggle for blood in the Options
Audio
Added sound effects for equipping and unequipping Show Director Powers
Updated sound effect for opening a Fan Gift
Updated sound effect for purchasing Ramen
Updated sound effect for exchanging Ramen for an item
Updated sound effect for purchasing an item pack
Added missing detail to the Samoan Smasher Armor
Fixed an issue that would remove the highlight from players under Blood Moon if they were hit by a Hunter Arrow, got caught in a Trap, or tracked as a result of an opponent’s Revenge Cloak
Fixed an issue with the Show Director level progress bar not correctly computing Fans received and Fans needed for the next level
Fixed an issue where new Show Director Powers would only become available after playing another game
Fixed an issue that would prevent the center zone Electronic from activating in Duo Mode, even when Electro-mania was used
Fixed an issue that would cancel the Arrow nocking animation when landing from an Axe jump attack
Fixed an issue where the Manhunt would be interrupted if the number of players fell below 4 after it was used
Patch Notes 1.11.1 - Changes for May 29
Hello inmates,
This latest patch is a bit smaller and focuses on polish and bug fixing. A special thank you to our tight-knit community of highly experienced players for sharing their concerns about the mechanics that we decided to tweak in this update. Patch 1.11.1 is coming to Steam Tuesday, May 29, and you can expect maintenance to begin at our usual time: 11:00 AM EDT / 3:00 PM UTC. UPDATE: We're now aiming to begin the maintenance at 1:00 PM EDT / 5:00 PM UTC on May 29.
See you in the arena!
Hunter-Themed Cosmetic Sets Added to the Shop
Dead Survivalist (male character) and Cheerful Forest Murderer (female character)
You can purchase these items as 5-piece sets that include the Helmet, Shirt, Armor, Pants, and Boots. These sets will both be available in the Weekly section of the Shop starting Thursday, May 31.
Keep an eye out for the Ancestral Skull Bow and Swingable Bear Trap weapons in the Daily section throughout the week and beyond.
Love these designs as much as we do? Check out these sweet wallpapers!
Cheerful Forest Murderer wallpaper: https://imgur.com/a/pHzdVgn
Dead Survivalist wallpaper: https://imgur.com/a/5meTGnZ
King Cold Shoulder (male character) and Icebreaker Prime (female character)
You can purchase these items as 5-piece sets that include the Helmet, Shirt, Armor, Pants, and Boots. These sets will both be available in the Weekly section of the Shop starting Thursday, June 7.
Keep an eye out for the Frozen Skull Bow (not pictured) and Frozen Trap Axe weapons in the Daily section throughout the week and beyond.
Islander Slayer (male character) and Samoan Smasher (female character)
All the items above, including the Dark Antlers and Steer of the Sea Helmets as well as the Pacific Skull Bow (not pictured) and Islander Trap Axe weapons, will begin as Daily items purchasable individually in the Shop.
Gameplay
Axe hits will now be blockable earlier in the swing animation
The Axe swing will now have the same reach on both the left and right sides
Further improved server Axe hit detection (to minimize instances where it feels like an enemy can hit you from too far away)
Adjusted the Axe jump attack hitbox to make it more consistent with the normal Axe attack
The Cage Trap will now appear in front of the player instead of under when it is used
All enemy Traps will now have three different visibility levels depending on whether you are standing still, running, or sprinting (previously, visibility was determined by your Boots upgrade level and Traps became difficult to spot at high movement speeds)
Trap visibility level will update more quickly when switching between standing, running, and sprinting, meaning that it will no longer be necessary to come to a stop to search for enemy Traps
The Lumberjack Axe will no longer speed up Trap deployment, Armor crafting, and First Aid Kit use
Snowballs will now activate the BoomShroom and Electronic repel effect
Damage received (except cold damage) will now refill player stamina
Other
Increased the number of daily items in the Item Shop from 3 to 6
NEW: Items in the Item Shop will now rotate at 12:00 PM EDT (previously 11 AM EDT)
Replaced “Archetype” with “Playstyle” in the Options menu
Fixed an issue where the center zone would always close first in Duo Mode
Fixed an issue where the Rookie label would not be displayed to the Show Director
Fixed an issue that prevented the use of the Glider right after taking damage
Fixed an issue where a normal Axe attack would sometimes register as a jump attack
Patch Notes 1.11 - Changes for May 17
Hello inmates,
Here are the changes coming to Steam Thursday, May 17 (expect maintenance from 11 AM EDT/3 PM UTC to about 12 PM EDT/4 PM UTC). Look forward to the ability to choose from a variety of Crafting Wheel Playstyles, an update on Show Director progression, new cosmetics, and more!
See you in the arena!
Crafting Wheel Playstyles
We’ve added different Crafting Wheel Playstyles you can choose from to familiarize yourself with different equipment and experiment with various strategies in the arena. Each of the Playstyles below will equip you with a pre-set combination of Perks, Basics, Tools, and Powers:
The Hunter: The Hunter is a tracking specialist who prefers to gather clues and information about their opponents before confronting them.
The Goon: The Goon throws caution to the wind and engages enemies using brute force. If there’s an enemy nearby, the Goon won’t pass up the chance to fight.
The Shadow: A master of stealth, the Shadow moves through the arena with ease, often favoring a well-placed arrow or trap to take care of pursuers.
Don’t exactly fit into any of these 3 Playstyles? Save your own Crafting Wheel by selecting Custom option. This way, even if you try out different equipment, you can easily come to back to your saved style.
Show Director Progression Update
We heard your feedback about the way new Show Director Powers are obtained. A lot of you felt that having a chance to unlock new Powers after each match left too much up to luck and was somewhat unclear, so we’ve decided to make the process more straight-forward.
With patch 1.11, Show Directors will have their own Level and Fan experience bar. A higher Rating will translate into more Fans after a given match. After the update, all Show Directors will be Level 1, and each new Level will be rewarded with a Show Director Power. Don’t worry: None of your existing Powers will be removed.
For now, only Contestants will receive Fan Gifts upon leveling up, but this may change once we’ve got more Show Director rewards ready!
Ramen and New Cosmetics Added to the Shop
First off: thanks to all the inmates who purchased the Supporter Pack from our in-game shop! The shop is about to expand its stock with more cosmetics, this time offered individually in exchange for Ramen. Visit the Ramen shop to purchase Ramen, then see what’s available in the Item shop and step into the arena more fashionable than ever.
Starting Thursday on Steam, inmates will be able to equip a set of all-new Axes (they might not look like Axes very much, but we promise they’re just as effective) and gas mask Hats. The cosmetics in the Item shop will rotate―some on a daily basis, and some on a weekly basis. So if the items you’re interested in aren’t available right away, check back a bit later! All of the items featured below will be available at some point over the course of the week.
As a reminder, cosmetics will never come with in-game advantages.
Gameplay
Players will be able to join as the Show Director in Private Matches even if they do not meet the Level 10 prerequisite
The Power Deck Show Directors select in Private Matches will stay saved for future Private Matches
Show Directors will be able to see whether there are any Contestants in the match who have played fewer than 5 matches (a rookie icon will appear next to those players)―make them feel welcome, Show Directors!
Decreased the Show Director Rating requirement for Telepathy from 4 stars to 3 stars
Contestants will now only be able to rate the Show Director once they reach level 10
Visuals
Players' Show Director Level will now be displayed beside the Contestant Level in the main menu
Reworked the Dressing Room interface
Leaderboards
Increased the weight of kills in the Official Rating computation
Level Design
The roof of the central treetop village in the North East area has collapsed due to structural stress from the many inmates hiding there during Sudden Death
Other
Adjusted the value of Ramen (the amount of Ramen converted from duplicate cosmetics will increase tenfold, also applied retroactively)
Added a loading screen tip explaining the reward for drawing first blood in match
Added a loading screen tip explaining the reward for your first match and first win each day
Fixed an issue where the names of the Blue Shirt and Orange Shirt were inverted for the female character (yes, this was supposed to be fixed in the last patch, but massive technical issues like these take time)
