A new build is live on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux including a brand new short level!
There is a new short level available in Estranged, called Waterfront. It's a short, story-driven adventure, and is a free and permanent update for the game.
The Waterfront short was made for this Halloween but isn't directly related to it, if you were feeling a bit overloaded with pumpkins! It's an homage to the very first level that started the first Estranged game, "Splooshe" (available to download for Estranged: Act I).
There are now a total of two shorts, both available in a new Extras -> Shorts menu!
Thank you for playing Estranged! Alan
Early October Update: Level Improvements and General Fixes
An update is now live on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux containing level improvements, and general fixes.
Level Improvements
The jumping puzzle in the Arque car park now doesn't require you to run and jump across at the same time, to make it easier to make it across with a gamepad.
Levels which used tesellated water now instead use a high poly mesh, since this is more performant on low end machines. You can find out more about the technique in the development blog video below:
[previewyoutube="XOuzfK_vQwQ;full"]
General Changes
This build also includes a bunch of other fixes to improve the overal gameplay experience:
Removes use of tessellation in the map Dock and map Ocean levels
Removes the jumping puzzle from the Arque basement car park
Playing with a gamepad now results in more damage dealt to enemies
Improves non-volumetric fog in map Crash for low end devices
Updates translations for all targets with latest tweaks and fixes
Improves stream-loading for slower devices: audio is no longer muted
Adds dedicated "licenses" menu in Extras menu section
Fixes back controller/keyboard button not working on the Arcade menu
Fixes the keyboard/controller being able to select disabled menu items
Changes the translation for "Use Steam Language" to "Use System Language"
Thank you for playing Estranged! The Discord community is around at https://discord.gg/estranged if you want to join!
Alan
September Update: New Game Title
An update is now live for Windows, macOS and Linux featuring a new title for the game!
New Game Title
[previewyoutube="J7UFEdpQyf4;full"] I'm excited to announce that Estranged: Act II is now Estranged: The Departure! This change is primarily to let players new to the Estranged series at a glance that it's not necessary to play Act I first.
There's no change to the content of the game other than a new startup screen. There are no plans to change the title of Estranged: Act I at this time.
Other changes in this build:
Adds support for gamepad rumble, with option to turn it off
Fixes scrolling longer menus with gamepad/keyboard
I'd like to give a special thank you to those that have been following the game since development began. If you'd like to join the Discord conversation: discord.gg/estranged
Note: There are quite a few things to update which can take some time to propagate. If you still see the old name after this post is an hour old (and after restarting your Steam client), please let me know.
Thanks, Alan
Early July Update: Fixes and Improvements
An update is now live on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux! This update includes some stability improvements and new cheats.
Prelude Improvements
You can now get out of the ocean more easily in the Prelude if you jump in from the dock!
New Cheats
There are new cheats available:
dropweapon - useful for dropping your current weapon if you want to take a screenshot, and can't take advantage of Nvidia Ansel
loadall - allows you to stream in all levels in the current world at once to see what they're like together (interesting when used with noclip). This cheat works in TheFall and TheBase.
Development Screenshots
I have been posting development screenshots to the #dev-screenshots channel on discord.gg/estranged - here's a rollup:
As ever - thank you for playing Estranged! If you run into any bugs or want to keep up with development, head over to https://discord.gg/estranged
Alan
Early June Update: Crash Fix
An update is now live for Windows, macOS and Linux containing a crash fix!
This update overhauls the load game logic in Estranged: Act II to increase its reliability. This is in response to crash reports submitted by players, where in some circumstances a certain type of saved game could cause a crash when it is loaded.
If you are able to reliably reproduce any crashes in the game, please contact me directly at alan [at] alanedwardes (dot) com or via https://discord.gg/estranged.
As ever, thank you for playing Estranged! Alan
End of May Update: Localization Updates, Fixes, New Short Level
An update is now live on Steam for Windows, Linux and macOS, including a new short level, localisation updates and other bug fixes.
NEW SHORT LEVEL
There's a new short concept level available to play using the cheat map Short01 on the Extras menu.
This is something I have been working on in the past week - it takes place in the Estranged universe, but isn't directly related to the plot of Act II. It is a bit of an art test, and uses all dynamic lighting.
Please note that it is not intended to hit the same performance target as the singleplayer campaign, so you may notice it running at a lower frame-rate.
LOCALIZATION UPDATES
The following localisations received updates in this build: Portuguese (Portugal), German, Vietnamese, Slovak, Latvian.
FIXES
The following bugs have been fixed in this build:
Allows audio volume sliders to be set to 0%, instead of 10% minimum
Pressing the Interact button (default E) when looking at the lifeboat now moves the player into the driver's position (previously you had to look at the motor)
I'm always looking to fix bugs and improve the game, so if you see anything you'd like fixing let me know on the forums, or at https://discord.gg/estranged.
Thank you for playing! Alan
Released from Early Access
Estranged: Act II is now released from Early Access for Windows, macOS and Linux! As with my last post, I would like to thank everyone that has been a part of this project. I hope that you have had as much fun playing as I have had developing it over the past 6 years.
I mentioned in the post linked above about the future of Estranged, and will share more in the weeks to come after the dust settles.
Join me and the other 800+ people on the Estranged Discord server if you'd like to hang out, and I'll be around in the forums to answer any support requests that might arise.
I'm still looking to update the game with fixes and localisation changes, so you're interested in translating Estranged: Act II to your language or improving an existing translation, please drop by the Discord server!
As I've promised throughout, anyone that downloaded the game during Early Access will get to keep it for free, so if you know someone that might enjoy it, let them know they can grab it for free up until the 22nd of May.
On the release date, as described in the Early Access description the game will become a paid for title, for around 6 USD (and a launch discount). Since a few people have asked - if you played the free version of Act II and really want to give something back, a cool thing to do would be to gift a copy to a friend!
I was digging through the build archives, and wanted to share this build for Windows from the 30th of November 2014 - build-30-11-14-with-prereqs.zip (314 MB). This is the earliest playable build of Act II, and you can see how the first section of the game evolved into the first few levels of the game.
I'll have more to say about the future of Estranged post-release: it depends on how the game is received, and whether there is an appetite for more. I would absolutely love to develop more, and there is a lot more of the Estranged story to tell.
I say this every post - but I want to give a sincere thank you to everyone involved in the project. From those that tested it and submitted feedback to those that translated the game - thank you for making Estranged: Act II possible!
Alan
Mid May Update: New Achievements, Easter Eggs, Fire Safety, Final Ending
An update is now live for Windows, macOS and Linux bringing the final ending to the game, two new achievements, some additional Arque easter eggs, and some fire safety devices.
Final Ending
As I said in the last news post, the previous ending was temporary but very nearly final - the game now has a final ending. Use the cheat map bunker#cinematic to jump there directly.
New Achievements
A few players have requested more achievements for the game - so there are now two more! The first is for listening to recorders, and the second is for aligning the satellite the same as its real world counterpart in the final section of the game. I would like to thank everyone that contributed achievement ideas!
Since I also get complaints about adding achievements in Early Access, I have created a guide for getting collectables for those that want to 100% the game, but don't want to play it. I would like to be clear that any Early Access game (due to it being in development) is not suitable for those continually looking to 100% a game (e.g. achievement hunters).
Easter Eggs
It might be the staying-at-home thing getting to me, but I reprised my role as Liam Jones for some live action easter eggs embedded in the game - a total of 4. Keep a look out in the Arque office areas!
Fire Safety
Arque's fire safety standards weren't quite up to standard, so work has been done to remedy that in their facilities throughout the game.
Release
I would like to thank everyone that helped test this update, and everyone that has been following the project so far. It has been a pleasure to work on Act II for such a great community, and Estranged wouldn't be where it is today without you!
This will likely be one of the last content updates for Act II. I am going to start organising the full release, and (as mentioning in the Early Access blurb on the Steam store page) transitioning the game from Early Access to a paid-for title on Steam. As I have said in the past, if you downloaded the game during Early Access, you will get to keep it forever, for free.
I will communicate further when a release date has been decided.
If you'd like to join the community to give feedback, report bugs, or just hang out, you can do so here: https://discord.gg/estranged
Keep safe, Alan
Mid April Update: New Achievements, Supply Boxes, New Ending
An update is now live for Windows, macOS and Linux bringing a brand new supply system, two new achievements, and more content at the end of the game.
Supply Boxes
Act II now has a new supply box system, similar to the supply crate mechanic in Half-Life 2. Previously, supplies would be spawned as needed by the player in specific locations in the game.
This lead to pickups being created and dumped at certain corners of levels, and sometimes lead to too many items being spawned (because the player needed them when they were spawned, but no longer needed them when they were close enough to pick them up).
To make that system a bit tidier, the game now uses supply crates throughout, which still spawn only supplies that the player needs, but when they are opened. They're also quite satisfying to break apart!
New Achievements
There are two new achievements to unlock in Act II! One is for destroying all 20 Arque cameras from around the game, and the other is for completing the game.
In addition, the existing achievement icons have been re-worked to make them more consistent.
New Temporary Ending
I have moved the ending further back - this time it's extremely close to the final planned ending for Act II. The ending content includes two new recordings from John, and a revamped credits sequence.
Full Change List
Adds new achievements menu in the "Extras" menu option
Improves collision for wooden table
Improves collision in the scaffolding/generator level to prevent player getting stuck
Prevents player getting stuck behind the dumpster outside Arque offices
Adds many more cameras to the game, brings the total to 20
Updates translations
Re-orders the controls menu to group by input type
Adds new credits sequence - hit "Load Credits" on the "Extras" menu
Re-records final recorder message with John
Adds ledge helper to conference room in Arque offices to help with getting into the vent
Adds "game saved" hint to HUD when autosaves happen
Reduces the screen shake from pistol and rifle fire
Increases rifle rate of fire
Removes bullet impact delay
The new resupply crate now always spawns an item
Improves collision for hospital drawers in final scene, makes drawer openable
Tweaks to the final sequence, adds credits (this is still a temporary ending, but very close to the final ending)
Splits final audio tape into two parts
Fixes the new supply crate spawning batteries when the player does not have the torch
Makes recorder stop if the player gets more than 1500 units away
Adds highlight to the radios dotted around the games
Modifies the object highlight to use a shimmer
Adds a few invisible walls to places where the player could escape the levels
Prevents pickaxe from falling through wooden boards in sp03
Fixes bug with cameras - the move sound no longer continues when they are destroyed
Fixes tessellated water not working
Fixes lighting on pier models
Fixes Linux specific rendering issue with spline meshes and Nvidia driver version 440 and above
We're all in very uncertain times right now, but I hope Estranged will give you a bit of a distraction from the news.
Thank you for playing Act II, and supporting the project! The ever-growing Discord community is always around at https://discord.gg/estranged if you want to reach out to report bugs, feedback or just talk.
