An update is now live including changes to the gunplay in Estranged, and some tweaks to the current final level of the game.
Level Updates
I have been working on pacing of the current final level, as I received some feedback that the introduction of the turret and Sokol guards isn’t very smooth.
Combat Improvements
This has been a difficult thing to pin down - there are a few changes to the combat in this update, including a new crosshair for weapons, new pistol firing and handling sounds, a more prominent muzzle flash and changes to weapon accuracy.
Smaller Download
This will impact newer players more than those who follow the updates, but this update shaves around 1.5GB from the on-disk size of Estranged.
Linux Known Issue
There is a known issue on Linux in this update with foliage rendering in the forest level. This is why Linux did not receive last weeks' update, though I decided I'd like to get the combat changes into the hands of Linux players too - I will work on finding the cause of the bug over the next week.
Swedish Translations
Act II now has Swedish translations thanks to community volunteer Felix!
Your feedback very important at this stage of development. If you have any thoughts, issues, bugs etc please email me at alan [at] alanedwardes (dot) com, leave a post on the forums, or drop a Steam review.
Thanks for playing Estranged!
Alan
Late March Update: Ocean Intro, Warehouse Outro
This update includes two short pieces of new content, showcasing a little more of the story in Estranged: Act II. It's now live for Windows, with Linux on the way very shortly.
Ocean Intro
Right after the prelude and before the main game, there is now a sequence connecting up the Act I intro sequence to Act II. Learn a little about the work behind the scenes to hook up the sequence in this development blog video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5nlaWiAJuA
Warehouse Outro
There’s now a new ending sequence in Act II. This was originally planned together with another sequence right after this, but I decided to deliver this section first to allow more time to complete the second sequence in a future update.
Updated Engine
The engine has received a minor update. One of the main features means that using low screen percentage values (on the Screen options menu) will allow faster rendering, without much loss of visual fidelity (please note this requires temporal anti-aliasing to be enabled, it does not work with MSAA).
As ever, any feedback is welcome. Thanks for your continued support with the Estranged project!
Alan
Mid-March Hot Fix Patch
Hi all,
A hot fix is now live for Windows 32 bit, Windows 64 bit and Linux including the following changes:
Fixes difficult-to-climb rock in the second level after the elevator
Fixes crash when restoring saved games relating to collision
Fixes save/restore in the clearing level, with the radio sequence
Updates all localisations - previously no updates since Feb due to a build issue
I tried to preserve compatibility with save files between this build and Saturday's release, however because there were level changes involved I ultimately had to invalidate old saves. Sorry about that!
Like I said in the last post, there may not be another update for a week or two as I'm working on a content update, so this update aims to make sure the game is stable during that period.
Any issues, please let me know below or on the forums.
Cheers,
Alan
Mid-March Update: Stability Updates, Movement Tweaks
This update includes changes to make the game more stable, and tweaks to the character movement.
Work on Save System
The save system is now more stable, and if you are interested in how it works under the hood there are two development blog videos explaining how it works!
I have been working with Estranged: Act I and Estranged: Act II side-by-side to make the movement more closely match that of Act I. The character should feel less floaty, and I am working on making jumping feel more akin to Act I.
Here’s a development blog video around that too, for those interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh9T39qSYqc
There may not be an update for a couple of weeks, but I’m aiming to make the next update a content update. Any feedback on this build, let me know on the forums, or at alan [at] alanedwardes (dot) com.
Early March Update: Event Better Saving, Lab Entrance Sequence
This update includes even better saving (introduces custom saves, quickload and quicksave), and a new sequence in the lab area opening.
Lab Entrance Sequence
There’s a new sequence in the lab entrance area - this is something I’ve been wanting to add for a while, showing you the security present this side of Arque’s facility.
Even Better Saving
You can now save anywhere you want in Estranged. This required a lot of engineering work behind the scenes - something I have been putting off for quite a while because it’s a lot more complicated than the checkpoint save system.
There are still some bugs to iron out in certain levels, but quick save, quick load can now be used anywhere in Estranged. I would like to prioritise fixing any save/load bugs for the next update, so please let me know about areas that you have problems with.
Everything Else
In total there are 51 changes in this release! Here’s my todo list for this update (I missed my deadline!):
Work on Ending
While I’m nowhere near ready to connect it up yet, I have started planning out the final level of Estranged. This will be my focus over the next few weeks, so that I can get this part finished (but not released) ready to connect up to the content I’m planning to add on to the end of the current levels.
Any feedback (particularly in the save/restore area - please let me know at alan [at] alanedwardes (dot) com. I created a dedicated thread on the forums for this too: https://steamcommunity.com/app/582890/discussions/0/1694914736009507644/
Thanks for playing Estranged: Act II!
Alan
Mid February Update: Better Saving, More Content
This update includes better saving (checkpoints are now more frequent and save things like your health, flashlight battery and ammunition), and more work on content.
More Content
I have started to flesh out the final level a little more, with an extra section introducing a new type of enemy. As you venture further into the island, you can see more of Sokol Glockner’s presence and their ruthlessness to protect Arque’s secret.
I have also been tweaking how some levels look, and particularly the outdoors and night time areas have received graphical updates. I would recommend playing from the start of the game to see the changes, though pay special attention to the first water slide area, the exterior of the offices and the forest areas (and of course the last level!).
Checkpoints
Estranged hasn’t really had real “saves”, it has had a checkpoint system. The checkpoint system remembered the level number you were on in a session, and if you died would let you start again there.
The new checkpoints system means that saves are made more frequently, and are persisted between launches of the game. They also save things like your current weapon and ammo, health, battery and stamina.
Please note that existing saves won’t work when Estranged is updated. You can make manual saves using the cheat “save”, though this will stay a cheat until the system works better because only the player is saved, not anything in the world.
Controller Improvements
Sprint and crouch now toggle when you’re using a controller with Estranged.
As ever, if you have any other feedback please feel free to leave it here, the forums or email me at alan [at] alanedwardes (dot) com.
Thanks for playing Estranged!
Alan
Early February Update: In-World Computers, Door Technology
This update includes in-world computer screens, meaning that using a computer doesn’t take over the screen and instead is done from in game, in the world. The update is live for Windows, with Linux to follow in the next few days.
In-World Computers
The computers have moved in-world! This makes it a little easier to support controllers, but also makes it a more immersive experience. The newspapers are now available as email attachments on the computers.
Advances in Door Technology
See video: https://twitter.com/AlanEdwardes/status/957400020902469632
To date, Estranged: Act II only had one door, which was used everywhere. While this is fine for a small game, it was getting a little bit ridiculous to have the same door throughout the game in vastly different environments.
This update introduces a few different door variants and more for future use, and door handles now jiggle as they did in Act I.
Buoyancy
See video: https://twitter.com/AlanEdwardes/status/959181916980305921
Something Unreal doesn’t have out of the box that Source did have was buoyancy. I spent a bit of time this week adding a component to add this to anything which needs to float - you’ll notice this in the sewer level, as the barrels now rise and fall with the water.
Streaming Tweaks
I did focus on streaming a few updates ago, however for some players will slower hard drives it was still possible to see levels “pop in” as you got to them. In this update, I have traded memory for fewer loading points - so more is loaded at one time, and not just the next level, but the level after is loaded before you get there. This should further minimise frame rate drops due to streaming, and make it so no-one will ever see a level pop in.
The side effect of this was that I had to tweak how sound works in Estranged, so all areas have seen an overhaul to their ambient sound. Please let me know if there are areas which need work on that front.
As an experiment, I created an HTML5 version of Estranged, including the prelude level, and the shooting range level.
As ever, let me know in the in-game feedback, forums, Steam reviews or directly at alan [at] alanedwardes (dot) com if you have any thoughts on this update, or the game in general!
Thank you for playing Estranged,
Alan
Late January Update: Prelude and Cheats
This update includes a brand new prelude level set before Act I, and a new cheats system. The builds for Windows are now live, Linux is in progress and will go live in a few hours.
Prelude
I have been thinking about including more of the wider story of the Estranged world in Act II for some time, and exploring the fisherman’s character in more detail.
The prelude level is my first foray into this, and is something I was planning over the Christmas break. I really enjoyed putting this level together over the past week, so hope I can expand on it and work on similar content for future updates.
Cheats
There are now cheats in Estranged! If you head on over to the extras menu, here are a few:
God
Pistol
Ammo
Gofast
Jumphigh
As ever, please let me know your thoughts - if you don’t play the entire update, the prelude is definitely worth checking out. The cheats are also really fun to play with!
Thank you for playing Estranged,
Alan
Mid January Update: Detailing and Stability
This update improves the stability of the game, and adds detailing to some areas. It is now live!
Underwater Fog
I have been working on the underwater effects, adding some fog to make being underwater look a little more, well, like you’re underwater! Here’s a video to show the exaggerated effect.
Detailing
I have added detailing to certain areas of the game, with added debris on the floor. This can be scaled using the foliage graphics setting on the graphics settings menu.
Other Changes
This release fixes a few issues from the last update, some caught by the new dump reporter:
Fixes crash on exit
Fixes crash when applying gameplay settings
Fixes strange bullet impact particle effects floating in the air for all enemies (restores blood)
Fixes some foliage popping issues, though more to do in this area
Removed menu transitions
That last point came out of my testing, I realised I wasn’t using the exit button to exit the game whilst playtesting because it was faster to kill the process, which lead to the “crash on exit” bug above going missed for several months. Removing the transitions makes the menus faster to use, and people less like to try to circumvent them.
Concept Screenshot
Some concept level design work for Act II from this week.
If you missed it, I also made a video showing how the Rabbit AI works in Act II.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRVKR0h4Q4k
As ever, please leave your thoughts below, in-game feedback or email me at alan [at] alanedwardes (dot) com.
Thanks for playing!
Alan
Early January Update: New Infected, Level Changes and Performance Improvements
The first update of 2018 is now live for Linux and Windows bringing a new infected model, level changes and performance improvements.
New Infected
The infected character in Estranged has been something I’ve been wanting to change for a long time. The model in use was too different from Act I, and didn’t properly suit the story.
In today’s update, there is a completely new infected model. I have also revamped the introductory sequence in the sewer level - I would recommend playing from that level if you’d like to experience the revamped character.
There are still things that need improving, but visually this infected is much closer to my vision for Act II.
Forest Overhaul, Sewer Changes
As I highlighted above, the sewer level has been revamped for the infected character changes, and the forest level has had a large visual overhaul (above). There are also changes to the outside of the lab (keycard area).
Performance Improvements
This update uses a different type of renderer inside unreal called the forward renderer, which Epic created to deliver a higher framerate and sharper visuals for VR titles. Since Estranged doesn’t leverage anything that specifically requires the deferred renderer, I have switched to the forward renderer on all platforms.
On my development machine and lower-end laptop I see improvements of up to 33% in terms of frame rate, however this depends entirely on the hardware and the settings such as resolution. I’m confident that everyone will see some kind of frame rate improvement with this update.
Advanced Graphics Settings
There is now a screen which you can access to change the anti-aliasing technique, disable motion blur, screen fringe, depth of field and vignette.
These are for more advanced users that aren’t fond of these effects. The menu can be accessed via Options > Graphics > Advanced.
Integrated Crash Dump Uploader
If Estranged crashes, the next time you start it on Windows it will ask if you’d like to upload the crash dump for analysis. It has previously been a difficult manual process to get hold of these for debugging, and they’re crucial for fixing fatal bugs in Estranged.
As ever, please let us know what you think. The in-game feedback feature gives you the ability to attach a screenshot to your message, but the forums are a good place too. You can also reach out directly to alan [at] alanedwardes (dot) com.
