Season 4 will be going live on Tuesday 21st of June, one week after the June Update. It will include new tracks of unlockable rewards for each character type.
Gameplay Updates
UPGRADED USER INTERFACE IN MATCHES
Our UI team have carried out a thorough pass on the HUD during matches and will be continuing this work in upcoming updates:
Mission Widget
Mission Pop Up
Player Status
Prisoner Status
Timer
XP background
Adrenaline Buff icon
Flashlight icon
Spectate UI
Subtitles UI
LOCKER CONFRONTATION POLISH
After several updates worth of work the Prisoner / Monster confrontations around the lockers is now in a final state:
If a Prisoner is killed in a locker, both Monster and Prisoner will view a kill animation in 3rd person
Each Monster has their own unique locker kill animation
Monster searching locker animations have been altered and had their camera movements steadied
Depending on locker positioning in the environment, the animation will be shown at an angle that should always be visible.
Abilities and movement are disabled for the Prisoner and Monster during the animation
Added sound effects for locker confrontations, with bespoke audio passes for each monster, and whether or not the prisoner escapes or is killed
SPATIAL AUDIO SYSTEM
Audiokinetic Wwise’s Spatial Audio system will introduce more accurate sound propagation, virtual acoustics, and spatial audio rendering into Monstrum 2. This means among other things:
Fewer instances of sounds being heard through walls
More accurate diffraction of sounds from around corners or while behind obstructive game objects (crates, lockers, servers, etc.)
More accurate spatialisation of sounds throughout the game (we have improved the ability to position a sound in 3D space)
MEMORISE KEYCODE ACCESSIBILITY OPTION
A new optional feature has been added to improve gameplay around the keycode interactions for Prisoner players with controllers:
Player can hold down the Interact button when standing next to a clue to memorise that four digit number
Once a code is memorised the Prisoner player can then approach the corresponding keypad and hold down Interact again to automatically enter the code without having to precision aim at each button on the keypad
CHANGES TO ITEM SPAWNING
Following feedback from the June Update we wanted to disrupt a pattern that formed where Prisoners would load up on easily found Health Kits in order to survive repeated Monster strikes in the earlier stages of the game:
Health Sprays and Adrenaline items can now be found inside wall mounted boxes that require the Boltcutters to open
There are still some loose instances of both Health Sprays and Adrenaline scattered around the sea Fort but those amounts have been heavily reduced by about 60% of previous totals
Item spawns close to related puzzles have been moved further away or have been removed completely to prevent puzzle items spawning next to the related puzzles
Backpacks are in harder to reach spots:
In Stage 1 most Backpack items will be found beside switches that take some effort for the Prisoner players to reach
In Stages 1 and 2 some Backpacks can be also be found hidden behind various destructible objects that need to be destroyed
In Stage 3 Escape Routes the Backpacks can still be found in open areas
Backpacks can also appear in Equipment Chests
PRISONER CHANGES
The Prisoners have not been a major focus of this update but have had a few changes to support other features in the update as well as general balancing improvements:
Prisoner walking speed increased from 2.96 to 3
Prisoner sprinting speed increased from 4.144 to 4.5
Fall damage is now more severe for Prisoners with damage starting after falling more than 5 metres. If a Prisoner falls more than 12 metres they will be incapacitated even if they are at full health. The previous value for this was 15 metres
Vaulting over objects is more restrictive with the vaulting range reduced from 3.5m to 2m. This means prisoners are no longer able to vault directly over the centre of large objects such as the large metal crates. They will still be able to trigger a vault over their corners however
First Person Item Use Animation polish for the Fuel Can
BRUTE CHANGES
As with the Prisoners the Brute was not the focus of this update but still has had some changes:
Brute walking speed increased from 3.04 to 3.33
Brute sprinting speed increased from 4.408 to 5
Charge ability is smoother with the Brute able to deflect off surfaces at shallow angles more easily and will come to a stop more reliably when hitting a surface from a wide angle
Attack cooldown reduced from 3.5s to 2.5s
BHAGRA CHANGES
Various balancing changes for the Bhagra to make him less oppressive in chase but still able to deliver a strong blow in ambush:
Updates to the Scent Trail Ability
Bhagra scent trail particles will dissipate once a Prisoner enters a locker, the trail will resume if the Prisoner exits the locker before the Bhagra has finished using the ability
Updates to the Ceiling Climb Ability We have added a cooldown on the Ceiling Climb ability to prevent the ability being used as a quick movement tool. We wanted to make sure that the Bhagra releasing itself from the ceilings was an intentional action so we have made changes that should prevent unintentional falls from the ceiling.
Improved stability of ceiling climb ability to prevent the Bhagra falling off of the tiles unintentionally
More of the Bhagra tiles inside buildings connect up between the different rooms
After leaving a ceiling tile for any reason, the Ceiling Climb ability will go on cooldown After leaving a ceiling tile for any reason, the Attack Ability will go on cooldown
Can no longer just pop off a ceiling and attack with Bhagra players now needing to lunge to do damage, instead of being able to instantly do so when dismounting from a ceiling tile then rinse and repeat
Updates to the Lunge Ability The Bhagra lunge ability was altered to allow the Bhagra to have quicker lunge times to keep lunge useful as an ambush attack but have a longer cooldown between lunges to prevent it from being used as often.
Bhagra lunge charge time has been decreased:
Vs 1 Prisoner - 2.25s (Was 3s)
Vs 2 Prisoners - 1.75s (Was 2.5s)
Vs 3 Prisoners - 1.5s (Was 2.25s)
Vs 4 Prisoners - 1.25s (Was 2s)
Bhagra lunge cooldown has been increased by 50%
Vs 1 Prisoner - 15s (Was 10s)
Vs 2 Prisoners - 14.25s (Was 9.5s)
Vs 3 Prisoners - 13.5s (Was 9s)
Vs 4 Prisoners - 12.75s (Was 8.5s)
General Bhagra Balancing
Bhagra ground movement speed increased from 4.133 to 4.65 (Bhagra ceiling tile movement speed is 6, which is unchanged from the last update)
Damage caused from a ceiling lunge during Stage 1 increased from 60 to 70 hit points
Bhagra slowed down more when crawling through slide holes and climbing through windows
MALACOSM CHANGES
The Malacosm has been a major point of focus for the development team in this update and has had a significant rework including the addition of a new Float ability. Our goal was to make the Malacosm more dangerous in chase an allow the Malacosm to be able to use routes that were not possible to do before:
New Float Ability
Holding the jump key after falling or reaching the apex of a jump will make the Malacosm float at 10% the usual falling speed.
The Malacosm is able to change direction during this ability
If the float was held for longer than 2 seconds the Malacosm will not receive any movement penalties when landing
The Malacosm will not float upwards
Updates to the Clairvoyance Ability
When using the Clairvoyance ability as the Malacosm the character will turn their head and body to always face the Prisoner they are Clairvoyancing
When the Clairyvoyance abilities active duration ends the Malacosm player will already be facing the direction they need to move in allow the Malacosm to start the chase immediately
If the Prisoner the Malacosm is Clairvoyancing enters a locker the Malacosm will instead face downwards after exiting clairvoyance
Updates to the Teleport Ability
Malacosm gains a 25% speed boost after exiting a teleport for 2 seconds
Updates to the Phase Through Passive
There is a new shimmer overlay added over any objects in the Sea Fort that the Malacosm is able to phase through
Audio Updates to Malacosm Abilities
New sound effect for phasing that more resembles the other movement sounds
New sound effects for Sentinels:
Sentinel deploy
Sentinel idle
Sentinel pop up
Sentinel call - this is an audio effect to alert the Malacosm when a prisoner is near
General Malacosm Balancing
Malacosm walking speed increased from 2.7 to 3.2
Malacosm sprinting speed increased from 4.185 to 4.8
Malacosm acceleration increased from 5 to 5.1
Attack cooldown reduced from 3.5s to 2.5s
Malacosm now does more damage at various stages of the Monster Rage mode
Stage 1 damaged increased from 40 to 50
Stage 2 damage increased from 60 to 65
Stage 3 damage is still 80
Stage 4 damage is still 100
CHANGES AFFECTING ALL MONSTERS
Further balancing work and improvements on the Monsters:
All Monsters can now use Elevator buttons
Monsters will be slowed down after falling, which will now reach maximum effect after a 12 metre fall where the original fall height was 15 metres
New XP reward added for attacking or killing Prisoner while the Prisoner is using Adrenaline
New XP reward added for attacking or killing Prisoner while the Monster is blinded by the Flash Bulb Camera
New XP reward added for attacking or killing Prisoner while the Monster is slowed down by the Fire Extinguisher powder
NEW OPTIONS MENU SETTINGS AVAILABLE
We have added more options to help with user performance and accessibility:
Gamepad thumbstick dead zones. For each thumbstick, there are 3 values:
Inner Dead Zone - The % you need to move the thumbstick before input will register (useful for combating thumbstick drift). Default Value: 10%
Outer Threshold - The % at which the input will output 100% e.g. if set to 50%, then the player only has to push the thumbstick half way to look/move at full speed. Default Value: 100%
Minimum Value - The output value of the thumbstick when the input is exactly at the Inner Dead Zone value. You could use this e.g. to eliminate slow movement speeds when the thumbstick is pushed lightly, whilst still allowing the ability to control the movement speed more precisely when the thumbstick is pushed further. (Thumbstick input values beyond the Inner Dead Zone will scale the output value between Minimum Value and 100%). Default Value: 0%
Additional graphics options
Removal of the generic high/medium/low options as they were very limited
Added High/medium/low options for textures
Added High/medium/low options for fog quality
Added High/medium/low options for anti-aliasing quality
Added High/medium/low options for bloom quality
Added Close/medium/far options for light fade distance
Added Anisotropic textures toggle
Added SSAO toggle
Added Bloom toggle
Added Dithering toggle
Added Chromatic Aberration toggle
Added Film grain toggle
VISUAL FEEDBACK CHANGES
We have added more visual feedback to help with representation of mechanics:
Whenever the Prisoner takes damage from a monster a blood effect will appear on the screen for a few seconds
Whenever a Monster deals damage to a Prisoner a blood effect in the shape of a claw will appear on the screen for a few seconds to confirm that damage was done
Changes to Map Content
MOON POOL CHANGES
The Moon Pool has had a few changes to fix exploits and make the final part of the match more fair for Prisoners and Monsters:
The path down into the Moon Pool has been shortened. The ocean is closer to the underside of the Sea Fort which has removed a flight of stairs leading down into the Moon Pool airlock
The tunnels leading from the bottom of the airlock pillar to the Moon Pool chamber are shorter, more direct and have various storage rooms added to vary these pathways more
The two rooms that contain Nav Data Consoles for the ‘Upload the Nav Data to the Submersible’ Mission have been moved to now be in the same two rooms used to ‘Open the Moon Pool Doors’, however they still have unique obstacles in their way
The vertical shaft the Submersible is lowered into to reach the water level is now significantly deeper making a leap from the top straight at the Escape Triggers a far more dangerous tactic
POWER PLANT CHANGES
We have done a pass on the Power Plant to help make it as clear as possible to players where the objectives are as well as audio improvements and bug fixing:
Generators readability Pass:
The line of five crank wheels have been removed from the side of the three generators that do not contain the complete the sequence puzzle
The generator that does have the complete the sequence puzzle now has a bright light positioned above the sign with the order sequence
All the piston heads on the top of the generators have had their paint changed from yellow to grey apart from the three that are buckled and require the Welder to fix
The crank handles on the three pressure dials at the bottom of the generator have been removed on the three generators that do not have the Hammer the Pipes / turn the handles puzzle
All the large gear wheels on the sides of the Generators have had their paint changed from yellow to grey apart from the one that is tied up with cords that require the Boltcutters to cut
Control Room changes
The G1, G2, G3, G4 lights will now change state when the Generator is ready to active
Some piping has been added around the ceilings on top of the Control Rooms to stop characters from easily getting on top of the Bhagra tile tracks
Improved audio effects for Power Plant objectives
STAGE ONE POWER SWITCH CHANGES
Ongoing pass to make all Stage 1 switches take a similar amount of effort to complete as some can still be done in a few seconds with the right items available:
Residential: Tape puzzle in has had its difficulty increased and now requires 3 frayed wire fixes instead of just 1
Residential: Grate puzzle in now requires Prisoners to open all 3 grates to complete the Switch instead of just opening 1
Residential: Rooftop, the red dossier holding the keycode has been removed and the code is now just sitting on the desk
Examination: The big room on the lower floor has had a new setup created for the Power Switch in there involving a keycode and a draggable palette loader
Infirmary: Lower floor reception area has the lever position to open the medical supplies room is randomised and the Switch in there now requires a fuse
Infirmary: In the lower floor ward the red dossier that held a keycode has been replaced by two codes that both need to be found instead
Laboratory: On the upper floor, papers needed to be shuffled to find a code are gone and the codes are now just hidden among the clutter in the room
Exterior: The balcony switch that requires 7 buttons to be pressed now has one of those buttons always appear right next to the lights display to make it more apparent what needs to be done
Exterior: The balcony with caged off areas where a code needs to be found has had the shuffle papers removed and more clutter assets added to help obscure the code
PLAYER SPAWN SYSTEM CHANGES
We have been seeing Prisoners respawning too close to the Monster so have adjusted the spawning system to attempt to reduce this:
Number of possible spawn locations has been doubled across all buildings and exterior areas in the Sea Fort
INTERACTABLES CHANGES
Changes to gameplay systems in the Sea Fort:
Stage 1 Power Switches now take longer for Prisoners to activate
3.0 seconds for 1 Prisoner
3.5 seconds for 2 Prisoners
4.0 seconds for 3 Prisoners
4.5 seconds for 4 Prisoners
Audio changes to Security Camera alarm system with the cameras themselves being the source point of the alarm and getting fainter over distance
Wooden Crates should no longer be able to be moved around by pushing against them
Bugs fixed
CHARACTERS:
Prisoners can no longer vault straight through the Monsters body while the Monster is clambering through windows
Prisoners should now find that the red Equipment Chests now always contain an item when they are first opened
As the Brute can now more easily kill downed or incapped Prisoners. It was previously very difficult to line up these attacks properly while the Prisoners were on the ground
Bhagra should no longer unexpectedly fall off ceiling tiles
Fixed bug where characters would fall at an incredibly fast rate after walking off of an edge.
Fixed issue where occasionally the Malacosm would not respawn correctly after falling in the ocean
ENVIRONMENT:
Fixed issue with real time parameter control of external audio
Various audio bug fixes and polish
Removed a pillar that could make a Monster get stuck in a gap in the Laboratory superblock
Missing railings added to the top of the stairs in the Laboratory
Fixed misaligned geometry in the Moon Pool tunnels
Added blockers under the angled area behind stairs to prevent characters from crouching into them, which led to clipping and physics problems
OBJECTIVES / INTERACTABLES:
Removed extraneous hand prompt on Generator puzzle content
Moved a Vine in Aquatics that was causing monsters to get stuck at the top
Raised height of various desks so Prisoners could crawl under them correctly
Characters jumping audio no longer plays while they are standing in a moving elevator
On the Examination rooftop there is no longer orange light bled visible from the Equipment Chest that randomly contains the Keycard Dispenser
MENU SYSTEMS / BACK END:
Fixed issue where players can spam the ready button
Known Issues
CHARACTERS:
Malacosm locker kills that would eliminate a Prisoner from the game will cause a spectate glitch where the camera does not recentre. Swapping to another camera fixes this issue.
Some Prisoner skins will still clip into the Prisoners bodies.
At times the Brute’s head will turn on during the Brute tutorial - it does go away after you have climbed the 1st vine
Monsters heads can be missing during the monster intro cutscenes
During a locker confrontation, the Prisoner may seem to disappear briefly. The Prisoner however should be visible after the interaction is completed.
Prisoner’s arm can sometimes stick out of locker when holding an item
ENVIRONMENT:
Sometimes sounds might emit from different positions than what is expected.
Bhagra can occasionally still snag the top of certain stairs slowing them down momentarily
Some yellow Palette Loaders remain in the game that are non-interactable, these are planned to be removed to help keep visual communication clear for players
OBJECTIVES / INTERACTABLES:
Can be difficult for Monsters to latch onto the bottom of a Vine. Usually jumping at it is more reliable
Severe character jittering when inside a moving elevator or attempting to kill inside them
Occasionally Prisoner items that have yet to be collected can be seen jittering in place
USER INTERFACE:
When a Prisoner loses their first life the Status Panel in the top right of the screen will briefly show they have lost both lives, this will correct itself once the Prisoner respawns
MENU SYSTEMS / BACK END:
After a game has ended, the MC does not update in the store (It does update after restarting the game though)
VSync occasionally does not apply in the main menus (it should be fine in-game and please remember to click save and exit to make sure it saves your choice)
Quick Join blocked after leaving a friends lobby (after leaving Escape With Friends)
Final Word
Thank you so much for taking the time to read through this Update's patch notes, we hope you have as much fun playing as we did making it!
As usual, if you have any feedback, need help, or just want to say hi, come join our Discord: https://discord.gg/SB299Key
June Update: Balance Changes Part 2
Hello!
It's time for the second and final blog for this update. This time around we’ll be taking a quick look at some adjustments we’ve made to the Brute, and detailing a few changes that’ll hopefully make the Malacosm feel a little more… spooky.
Now let’s talk some Brute:
Brute
We’re actually quite happy with how the Brute plays at the moment, but we recognise that there are always improvements that could be made! Here are a couple we’ve decided to implement in the June update:
One thing that we’ve been noticing more recently is that the Brute’s Charge ability can be a little hard to predict when interacting with walls, so we’ve smoothed it out a bit, with the Brute now being able to deflect off of surfaces at shallow angles more easily, and will come to a stop more reliably when hitting a surface from a wide angle
We’ve also made it much easier for the Brute to horribly murder downed or incapacitated Prisoners. Previously it was pretty difficult to line up that killer blow while your hapless victim was literally just lying there, now they’re fully doomed. You’re welcome Monsters.
Malacosm
The Malacosm is definitely the Monster that we (and a lot of you!) felt needed the most work so we’ve made a few significant changes to try and bring it back to being a terrifying stalker.
The first thing we’ve done is added a brand-new ability where the Malacosm can now float gently downwards when the player holds the spacebar while falling. Now you’ll be able to glide a much further distance in the air, allowing for a greater sense of control while you descend. Plus it looks cool as heck.
We’ve also increased the damage output for the Malacosm for the first two stages of Monster Rage, allowing it to take down any Prisoner unlucky enough to get in its way with two mighty blows at earlier stages, where previously it could take up to three hits. Get a look at the exact changes here:
Stage 1 damage increased from 40 to 50
Stage 2 damage increased from 60 to 65
Stage 3 damage is still 80
Stage 4 damage is still 100
When Teleporting, the Malacosm will now gain a short speed boost when exiting the Teleport. This gives it a bit of an edge over any nearby Prisoners, allowing it to more easily pursue, and subsequently ruin the day of any potential escapees.
We found that it can be tricky to see exactly what objects you can Phase through when playing as the Malacosm, so now we’ve added a special shimmer visual effect over any object in the Sea Fort that you’re able to Phase through. No more bonking your head up against every other object on the map!
When using Clairvoyance, the Malacosm will now turn its head and body towards the Prisoner that they are spectating so that when the ability ends, you’ll always be facing the direction you need to start moving in. Combined with the visual information you get from seeing through a Prisoner’s eyes, this should give you a nice leg (or tentacle) up when it comes to stalking your prey. Just bear in mind that if the poor wretch you’re viewing enters a locker, you’ll find yourself facing down instead of towards them, can’t make it too easy for you!
Not long left now!
And that concludes our final blog for this update! Hopefully you’re looking forward to testing out all the brand new changes when the update releases tomorrow. In the meantime, head over to our Discord to chat about what you’ve just read: https://discord.gg/SB299Key
June Update: Balance Changes
Hello!
As you might know by now, we’re gearing up to release a brand new update to Monstrum 2 in just a few days! This time around we’ve decided to focus pretty heavily on the game’s balancing as we know it could use a bit of tender loving care, and this round of update blogs will be going over that very same topic. In this blog we’ll be covering the Prisoners and the Bhagra.
So let's start with how we’ve changed the prisoners shall we?
Prisoners
We felt that life was maybe a little too easy for Prisoners, so we’ve made a few changes to give the Monsters a fighting chance at making a 1-4 course meal out of them.
First up, we’ve drastically reduced the number of Health Sprays and Adrenaline items found scattered loose around the map. Now you energetic escapees will have to use the Bolt Cutters to open wall mounted boxes to be in with a chance of healing your hideous wounds.
You can also no longer find your Backpack items out in the open. They will now only spawn beside hard to reach switches or behind fences and wooden objects that need to be broken to reach them. No more easy items for you, now you have to work for your freedom! We’re not monsters though, Backpack items can still be found in the open when you’re in the Escape Route area.
Prisoners can also no longer vault straight through a Monster’s body when it is clambering through a window, better spin yourself around and get the heck outta there!
As well as the above, we’ve made the Stage One Power Switches take longer to activate, the new timings are as follows:
3.0 seconds for 1 Prisoner
3.5 seconds for 2 Prisoners
4.0 seconds for 3 Prisoners
4.5 seconds for 4 Prisoners
Bhagra
We’re more than aware that right now, the Bhagra is currently the toughest of the tough as far as balancing goes, with its insane speed bringing death to more humans than we can count. So we’ve taken some steps to slow it down a little in some areas, and limit its Scent Trail ability so it’s easier for prisoners to escape.
While the Bhagra is on the prowl, tracking its prey via Scent, the Prisoners now have a useful tool at their disposal. If they simply hide in a nearby locker the scent trail will dissipate, leaving the Bhagra directionless and in need of a new target… If the Prisoner leaves their safe space before the ability is over however, the trail will resume as usual, leading the beast straight towards its meal.
Alongside the changes to tracking, we’ve also slowed the Bhagra down while crawling through slide holes and climbing through windows, so those unlucky prisoners will have more time to put some distance between them and certain death.
It’s not all nerfs though! We’ve also slightly increased the Bhagra’s base walking speed, and increased damage from ceiling lunges during the first stage from 60 to 70 hitpoints.
See you Monday!
And that’s your lot for today, we’ll be back after the weekend with news on everyone’s favourite tentacled creep, the Malacosm. We’ll also be taking a brief look into the changes to the big bad Brute.
Have some thoughts on the changes we’re making? Head over to our discord and let us know: https://discord.gg/SB299Key
05/04/2022 - April Update
Ahoy there!
We hope you're all ready, because the April update is now live! The whole team has been hard at work putting together one of the biggest updates to Monstrum 2 yet. There are tons major changes in this one, so make sure to get cracking and let us know what you think...
Now let's take a look at the patch notes:
New Map Content
POWERPLANT REFACTOR
Fully replaced Power Plant with a new building
The new layout has the four generators much more separated out from one another, with each in their own room. This is designed to make the area more survivable for Prisoners as the old Power Plant could easily become a death trap
A smaller elevator has been installed to the side along with more ladders and vines making movement between the floors easier
The doors on the outside of the Power Plant have had lights added that will correspond with the number of Power Switches completed in the first stage of the game, these doors are now visually tied in with the network of Power Cables that travel out from the first building
Lights have also been added above the doors leading into the Escape Routes, these will only turn green when the Power Plant Mission is completed
POWERPLANT CONTROL ROOMS
The biggest change to the Power Plant has been the addition of two control rooms on the upper floor. We were seeing Prisoners potentially completing the Power Plant stage of the game in seconds so entering these control rooms will now be a requirement to finishing the repair on each generator.
Generators will only be classed as complete and start up when the Generator has been fixed and then the corresponding switch in the Control Room has been interacted with
Control Room Switches will not be interact-able until the Generator has been fixed.
To avoid camping situations the Control Rooms are identical, contain all generator switches and only one of the Control Room switches needs to be interacted with to complete a generator
The switch required in each control room will be shown to the Prisoners as a HUD Marker once the generator is fixed
GENERATOR BALANCING
We've changed the number of Generators required depending on the number of Prisoners still alive when the Power Plant mission starts, the revised numbers are as follows:
1 generator required for 1 Prisoner vs the Monster
2 generators required for 2 Prisoners vs the Monster
2 generators required for 3 Prisoners vs the Monster
3 generators required for 4 Prisoners vs the Monster
FUTURE PLANS
Apart from improving Power Plant layout and lengthening its mission a major aspect of this rework has been to make the second stage of the Sea Fort interchangeable so different buildings can be slotted into the middle stage of the game.
TUTORIALS REFACTOR
All four Tutorials have had a major rework in this update, the main goals were to make them shorter and more focused.
Certain elements in the Tutorials that do not reappear in the main game such as the Pressure Plate Switches for Monsters have been removed
The Tutorial levels have all had an art upgrade and better visual cues around all the tasking
All moving Mannequins have been attached to tracks on the floor
All the crucial instructional content now also appears on the players mission tracker on screen
We have balanced many of the interactions throughout the Tutorials such as the number of hits to destroy mannequins and barricades to improve the pacing
Audio pass has been done on tutorials
The tutorials now have a distinct loading screen
ADDITIONAL STAGE 1 CONTENT
Aquatics, Laboratory and Residential have had rooftop content added with a new Switch puzzle on each. These were the last Stage 1 buildings in the game to receive this treatment so now all Stage 1 games will have a total of 10 possible switches available
Two new possible side balcony switches added to the exterior around the Stage 1 building
SPAWN AREA CHANGES
The spawning buildings have gone through a rework. Purpose of these changes is to get the Monster and Prisoners access to the start of the game at the same time as we saw that the Prisoners were able to get a head start on the Monster, especially among experienced players.
Double door Monster Spawn building removed
Single door and sliding gap Prisoner Spawn building removed
Prisoners will now spawn in a holding vault
Prisoner holding vault will open at the same time as the Monster’s intro cutscene finishes
Monsters will spawn out on a pier off the side of the fort with no building containing them.
Gameplay & Balancing Changes
MONSTER RAGE MODE
To increase the intensity of the game as the Prisoners get closer to escaping, we have implemented a new mechanic named Monster Rage. The intention of this new mechanic is to find a balance of allowing newer players the chance to experience the first stages of the game but also make escaping harder to achieve for the more experienced players.
As each stage of the game is completed, the damage that each Monster does with their Basic Attack increases
Breakdown of stages:
Stage 1 is the building where the Prisoners need to find the Power Switches
Stage 2 is the Power Plant building
Stage 3 is the Moon Pool or Helipad where the vehicle needs to be readied
Stage 4 is the final dash to board the vehicle before it departs
Brute Rage Mode Primary Attack Values:
Stage 1: 50% Damage
Stage 2: 75% Damage
Stage 3: 100% Damage
Stage 4: 100% Damage
Bhagra Rage Mode Primary Attack Values:
Stage 1: 35% Damage
Stage 2: 50% Damage
Stage 3: 65% Damage
Stage 4: 100% Damage
Bhagra Rage Mode Lunge Attack Values (On Ground):
Stage 1: 40% Damage
Stage 2: 60% Damage
Stage 3: 80% Damage
Stage 4: 100% Damage
Bhagra Rage Mode Lunge Attack Values (On Ceiling):
Stage 1: 60% Damage
Stage 2: 80% Damage
Stage 3: 100% Damage
Stage 4: 100% Damage
Malacosm Rage Mode Primary Attack Values:
Stage 1: 40% Damage
Stage 2: 60% Damage
Stage 3: 80% Damage
Stage 4: 100% Damage
A progress bar for the Monster Rage mode can be seen above the on-screen abilities cooldowns for each of the three monsters. Prisoners will see the state of the Monsters rage mode on screen at the bottom of the screen
All players will be notified of the rage increase via a pop up as each stage is completed
New Loading Screen hints added for characters referring to the Monster Rage Mode
Malacosm’s Sentinel and Teleport Abilities have been reworked. Previously the traps could be used to completely block areas and caused a lot of problematic camping situations. Teleporting was also too slow to be a reliable strategy in chase. Our intentions with these changes is to make camping less viable of a strategy and also provide the Malacosm with a smoother information gathering playstyle!
The Malacosm can now only spawn a single Sentinel. Placing a new Sentinel will recycle the one previously placed
The Malacosm player can now teleport automatically by using the Right Mouse Button (default keybinding) and no longer requires selecting the Sentinel on-screen
Teleporting is near instantaneous and the Malacosm will maintain their movement speed after teleporting
When the Malacosm arrives at the Sentinel location the Malacosm will automatically be facing the nearest Prisoner
All Prisoners within 20m of theSentinel will be outlined in real time for the Malacosm for 5 seconds
A Loading Screen hint mentioning the Malacosms ability to place 3 Sentinels down has been amended to now only refer to a single Sentinel
A new Idle animation has been added to the Sentinel
Sentinels will now react to Mannequins in the Malacosm Tutorial
MONSTER CHANGES: MALACOSM GENERAL
The Malacosms Clairvoyance ability has had its Cooldown Time reduced from 30 seconds down to 20 seconds
MONSTER CHANGES: BHAGRA GENERAL
The Main Focus of the Bhagra balance changes was to reduce the Bhagra’s chase effectiveness when directly chasing a Prisoner through Sliding and Vault gaps. The Bhagra is very difficult to lose in a chase but these changes should help Prisoners create more distance when using the environment around them.
The Bhagra is reduced to 50% speed whilst crawling through gaps in the wall
The Bhagra is reduced to 50% speed for 1 second after jumping or lunging through a window
After lunging off a ceiling the cooldown before being allowed to latch back onto ceilings has been reduced from 10 seconds down to 8 seconds
In addition to these balancing changes for the Bhagra we have now also made changes that should prevent the Bhagra from getting stuck at the top of stairways and other obstacles as often. This will allow the Bhagra to chase over the ground more consistently
MONSTER CHANGES: BRUTE GENERAL
The main focus of the Brute’s balance changes was to eliminate the Charge and Attack Combo that could guarantee a quick kill for the Brute.
After Charging, The Brute will not be able to use any of its abilities for 3 seconds in addition to the slowdown already in place
An animation has been added to the Brute that will play when the Brute is in this cooldown period
Resolved issues that were causing the Brute’s Charge to deal 0 damage.
MONSTER CHANGES: ALL MONSTERS
Attack Slowdowns have been moved to after the attack has been completed instead of being as soon as the Attack was initiated. This change is to improve the reliability of the attack hitting your chosen target
All Monsters will destroy boarded up walls in one hit with their Basic Primary Attack
Primary Attack cooldowns during the tutorials have all been reduced to 2 seconds
PRISONER CHANGES:
After being charged down by the Brute, Prisoners will get back up after 1.5s (Previously 2.5s)
Fixed issue where Prisoners would get stuck on certain staircases if they were crouching
Modified respawn logic to prioritise other floors from the Monster
USABLE ITEMS
The Health Spray now only heals Prisoners 50 health points instead of 100, this also applies to healing allies with it. This was to improve fairness for Monsters in the early game with the new Monster Rage Mode changes
Luminous green liquid added to the top of the Health Spray Item to make it better stand out from the Fire Extinguisher or Welder at a distance
Prisoners can now only carry 1 camera and 1 fire extinguisher at a time
Sledgehammers will destroy boarded up walls in a single hit
INTERACTABLES
Sounds added to all draggable palette loaders in the game, some movement speeds have also been refined for these to better represent the weight of the item being dragged
Improved ladder mounting/dismounting for Prisoners
Improved camera movement whilst climbing ladders and vines
Monsters can now interact with the top of a vine to start climbing down
GENERAL PUZZLE IMPROVEMENTS
Added a small platform on top of the draggable stack of boxes on the Vault Rooftop to make that jump easier
The Pool Table in Residential has been rotated 180 degrees so when pulling it aside it no longer clips through the nearby power cable
Codes in the lower floor of Genetics all moved to be closer to the locked door and keypad they are required for
On the Barracks Rooftop the two sets of pipes Prisoners need to cross have have been widened at the start, this is to solve an issue where the games vaulting system had a tendency to overshoot any Prisoner who attempted to jump up onto the pipe causing them to fall into the courtyard below
ESCAPE ROUTES
Added props around the Helicopter pad to break up the final escape dash
Upload the Nav Data to the Submersible Mission in the Moon Pool is now far faster to carry out
HIDING SPOTS
New Prisoner animation with audio when a Monster finds them in a locker
New Brute searching a locker animation with audio after a Prisoner is found
New Malacosm searching a locker animation after a Prisoner is found
Bhagra jump onto the locker has been altered to reduce camera movements
Hiding Mini Games will only resolve once the timer reaches 0
Mini Games will no longer choose a random option if no choice was pressed
If you do not make a choice and your opponent does, your opponent will always win
If no one makes a choice, the Monster will always win.
More substantial changes to Hiding Spot Mini Games are still ongoing!
AUDIO CHANGES
Multiple security cameras alarms will no longer stack together, instead play through a single source that can be heard throughout the fort.
Various new environmental audio sounds were added throughout the Seafort including but not limited to Helipad, Sub Escape, and Power Plant.
Bugs Fixed
Sparks used throughout several gameplay interaction points no longer have excessive brightness
Malacosm should now be able to fit under tents in helicopter escape area
Malacosm attack range fixed - there was an issue due to the Malacosm being taller which made its attack less likely to hit a prisoner
Yellow stairways in the game now have proper thickness on the steps
Removed a hand prompt symbol that would appear on the Power Plant Generator Pipes after they were hit with the sledgehammer
Fixed shadow artefacts on characters in the Store, Customization and Progress Tracker screens
Adjusted two Monster Vines in Aquatics that could not be dismounted at the top due to assets above them being too close
Fixed inconsistencies with the Bhagra being able to fit under certain desks
Security Camera alarm audio no longer lingers after the Camera has returned to a passive state
Fixed some chairs in Residential that had no collision
Removed debris in Residential that could block Prisoner players from interacting with a Fuse Dispenser on the wall
Numerous issues where Power Cables weren’t quite reaching the connectors at the end of the cable
Fixed bug where your dead character would have a missing head when you spectate through another player
Fixed bug where the Prisoner head would be invisible after dying and before entering Spectate Mode
Fixed a bug where you could see your character through the wall during the intro cutscene
Fixed loading hints showing an incorrect hint when loading into the tutorials, will now see Superblock lore hints
Corrected the Keybinding path for the Highlight other prisoners loading screen hint
Fixed an animation bug where the Brutes arm could be seen coming out of the back of the locker when he punched it
Incorrect world marker icon used on Power Plant Generators
Prisoners starting cell had missing door hinges
Removed invisible collision over a ramp in Residential
Tutorials Mission Tracker input binding icons were not changing correctly between PC controls and the gamepad
Some yellow floor pads around Power Plant objectives were misaligned
Fixed issue where the Bhagra would slide up a vine when lunging onto them
Security Cameras will no longer have their lights on when spectating through them
Fixed clipping issues in the Submarine Escape Route
Fixed Graphical issue on the HUD Arrow of the Malacosms Sentinels
Fixed an issue where an error would constantly be thrown when the Malacosm is climbing a vine
Fixed an issue where effects that happen when an ability has ended would happen twice
KNOWN ISSUES
Inconsistent localization coverage, including the new Tutorial Mission Objectives. We plan to undertake a thorough localization pass across the entire game to resolve these issues before the end of Early Access
When spectating a player and they die your camera can end up getting stuck watching the dead body
At times the player’s body can render through their skinned clothes
Monster’s heads can still sometimes not appear during the monster cutscene
The updated Bhagra locker search animation in 1st person is still in progress and the current version can be a bit intense
Random disconnects - if this does happen please report them to us on our discord channel #m2-bug-and-support so we can track them down!
UI Bug for when a monster dies during a game the player list can sometimes display their name in red - which is wrong! The Monster always respawns
Some lights in the distance can create a weird graphical effect with the fog
Sometimes Prisoners will not be visible during Locker Mini Games
Toggling Vsync requires restarting the game (or transitioning from main menu to in-game/vice versa) to visually reflect your chosen setting
If you open one of the pause-screen options menus (e.g. "Graphics") and you click "Back", then re-enter the options menu, you can't click on/change any settings. To fix this, just click on an options menu button (e.g. "Graphics" button), and you should be able to click the various settings again
In the tutorials monster heads can sometimes be enabled but will turn off after climbing the 1st vine
Malacosm Changes and Monster Rage
Ahoy!
With the April update dropping tomorrow, we’ve saved the best blog until last. This time around we’re talking about changes to some of the Malacosm’s abilities, as well as a new system to give the Monsters a helping tentacle..
So let’s talk about Monster Rage.
Rage against the Monster
Monster Rage is a brand new system that steadily increases the Monster’s power throughout each match, so that there’s a higher chance for the Prisoners to make it towards the later stages, but a lower chance of surviving when they get there…
As part of this effort to help the Prisoners reach later stages of the game, we’ve weakened all of the Monster’s attacks during the first stage in an attempt to cut down on too many early game victories for the Monster. A predator has the right to toy with its food after all!
By the time the Prisoners are prepping their escape vehicle, things get a little more serious as the Monster transitions from playing with its meal to full on dinner time hangriness. At this point they will receive a substantial buff to damage, taking out most of a Prisoner’s HP with one strike.
And finally when it comes to that last minute dash to freedom, the Monster is absolutely done playing games and can kill a Prisoner with a single, well placed hit, meaning Prisoners can no longer sprint straight past the Monster, hoping to take a quick bit of damage and still make it.
Now, we know these are some pretty large changes to the game as it should make the early game significantly easier, while the late game becomes much harder. It’ll make for a more rounded experience overall, but we’re always on the lookout for feedback so let us know what you think over on discord.
Malacosm Madness
Another major change coming tomorrow is a big ol’ balance pass on the Malacosm’s Trap and Teleport. Instead of being able to spawn three Traps, you can now only spawn one to stop all you Malacosm mains fully blockading all the instances of a mission objective!
It’s not all bad news though! In order to offset this a bit, you can now teleport automatically with a swift right click instead of having to go through and find the trap before teleporting to it, and when you do teleport, all nearby Prisoners will be highlighted for a few seconds, meaning you don’t have to sift through any garnish to get to the main course. As well as that, the two second teleport time is gone and you will now teleport almost instantly.
Yet another positive change for you is that when you do decide to get the jump on a poor helpless prisoner and teleport to them, you’ll now automatically be facing them so no more frantically looking around for your prey!
Setting sail for now!
And that’s it for the last of our April update blogs! We can’t tell you how excited we are for you all to get your hands on it. See you tomorrow!
Tutorial Changes
Ahoy!
We’re back with another blog detailing the hotly anticipated April update’s major changes! This time we’re going over an important one for any new players out there (or just those of you who, like myself, are just bad).
Let’s take a look at the changes to the Tutorials!
Fast, Focused, Fun!
We’ve gone through each of the four tutorials countless times, and found each of them to be slower, and less useful than we’d like, so we’ve made some changes to help address this.
The first thing we did was remove anything that wasn’t in the main game to make sure that we aren’t muddying the waters with unnecessary mechanics that might confuse people when they jump into the proper experience. The chief culprit here was the pressure plates when playing the Monster tutorials, these have now been completely removed which should help smooth out the rough edges.
Next up was to balance some of the more frequent interactions to try and speed things up a little. We’ve reduced the number of hits needed to “kill” the mannequins, as well as made the barricades scattered about the place easier to destroy. You should be able to blitz straight through these now.
We’ve also added any information crucial to the current task to your mission tracker, so no more running around trying to figure out what you need to do if your attention span is as short as mine!
Aesthetics and audio
Something we thought was important for what is most people’s introduction to Monstrum 2 is the visuals for the tutorials. We’ve done a lovely sweep of all four tutorials, spit shining them until we could see our faces in the beautifully dilapidated environments. Not only that, but we’ve also added some wonderfully atmospheric music to them to really sell the fact that you’re trapped in Sparrowlock with a horrific Monster that wants nothing more than to end your life =).
Time to disembark
Thanks very much for reading! Join us next week for a look at some changes to the Malacosm, as well as a brand new system that goes by the very calming name, MONSTER RAGE.
Power Plant Rework
Ahoy!
With the April update fast approaching (6 days away!), we thought we’d put together a few blogs detailing some of the more exciting changes our team has been sailing through over the past month or so.
So let’s talk about the complete rebuild of the Power Plant shall we?
Killing the killbox
First up, we noticed that the Power Plant could be a little too easy for Monsters to corner, and decisively end the lives of Prisoners, so we’ve gone ahead and spread out the four generators a bit. Now each one has its own room to give the prisoners some space without some dreadful beastie breathing down their necks all the time.
We’ve also made sure that there are plenty of opportunities for Prisoners to stay one step away from the Monster, with many more ladders and a smaller elevator to make sure they can stay mobile for longer.
It’s not all good news for Prisoners though! We’ve also added two brand-new control rooms on the upper floor that will need to be entered in order to complete repairs on the generators. We felt that even with the larger area, Prisoners would be able to complete repairs too quickly. This way the Monster has a biting chance of a nice warm meal.
Fewer Prisoners = less power
In addition to the fully reworked layout, we’ve also decided to adjust the number of generators required depending on how many Prisoners are lucky enough to have survived long enough to reach the Power Plant. Here’s how many you’ll need:
Another large part of this rework has been to make the second stage of the game interchangeable. Sometime in the near future (not this update!) we’ll be adding in an entirely new building that will alternate with the Power Plant, meaning that the second stage will be randomised with each match, but you didn’t hear that from me…
Sea you tomorrow
And that’s your lot for today, Come back tomorrow for a little look at the new and improved tutorials!
Season 3 is now LIVE!
Ahoy there!
Season 3 is now live, and you know what that means… More skins, costumes, and nameplates so you can look fancy while you hunt down those pesky Prisoners (or while you’re being brutally murdered of course).
In addition to the brand new Season 3 goodies, we’ll be moving all of the Season 2 cosmetics over to the store so don’t worry, you can still bag them if you work hard enough!
That’s all we’ve got for you today, but keep an eye out for more soon.
01/02/2022 - February Update
Ahoy there!
We hope everyone had a lovely holiday and New Year! Today we are releasing our 1st update for 2022, which includes some of the features we were unfortunately unable to release in December plus a lot more. The team have been hard at work adding new content, improving current gameplay, and squishing as many bugs as we can!
Have a read below to see what the Monstrum 2 February update has in store for you all:
New Content
Three new Exterior Balcony puzzles (Diving Bell, Laser and Code Cage)
Four new Rooftops with additional puzzles (Genetics, Suite, Operations and Archives)
New porta-cabins added to rooftops and the Helipad
Yellow call out marker assets added around all puzzle content
Health Kit changed to a Health Spray
Discord button added to Main Menu
Connection Menu is now fully animated
Revamped loading screen with an updated HUD, additional hints and improved formatting
Balancing
Switches We have become increasingly aware that power switches can be completed very quickly by experienced players. We have introduced a system which will slow down the rate that power switches can be done and allow the monster to attempt to defend the power switches in a more meaningful way.
Power Switches take 3 seconds to activate - it is no longer an instant activation
The interaction key must be held down for this entire time period in order to complete the switch
Time spent interacting on a switch is reset if the interaction was not fully completed
Speed Changes
Bhagras movement speed on the ground has been reduced to 4.133m/s (Previously: 4.144m/s)
After any Monster successfully strikes a Prisoner with a non-lethal hit the Prisoners speed will increase to 140% for 2.5 seconds (Previously: 135% for 2 seconds)
After any Monster uses their main attack ability the Monsters speed will reduce to 65% for 2 seconds (Previously: 70% for 1 second)
Defensive Items Fire Extinguishers became the new Meta item to have to survive as a Prisoner and became a frustration point for Monsters. We have decided to reduce the effects that the Fire Extinguisher applies to the Monster whilst still providing them some use to the Prisoners.
Fire extinguisher now only reduces a Monsters movement speed down to 60% for 2 seconds (Previously: 50% for 2 seconds)
Monsters can now attack through fire extinguisher smoke again
Hiding Spots Numerous Lockers throughout the Sea Fort have been repositioned and in some cases removed. This is to lay the groundwork for further improvements to the locker search confrontations in future updates Several desks and other furniture props have been moved further away from window openings to ensure unobstructed vaulting for all the characters
Animations The animations being worked on were focused on Item and Locker interactions. Some of these animations are a work in progress towards a larger change to their system. Further updates and improvements to these animations and more will continue to happen in future updates.
Brute
Brute will stand closer to a locker when searching
Altered Brute searching an empty locker animation
Altered Brute animation whilst starting a locker Mini Game
Brutes camera positioning when performing locker searches and kills has been repositioned to line up better with the gameplay camera
Bhagra
Bhagra jumping on top of a locker animation altered, jumping onto it from further away.
Bhagra searching an empty locker animation sequence has been altered to include a look around.
Bhagra jumping back off of a locker animation altered
Bhagra no longer stares at an empty locker after searching
Malacosm
Malacosm losing a Locker Mini Game will play a stunned animation
Prisoner
Left arm of the prisoner will not be locked to the body when carrying items
Left hand pose now consistent when holding items
Improved item holding animations and hand pose loops
Prisoners will play an animation to use the adrenaline
Prisoners will now hold out their right hand when dragging objects
Prisoners will no longer have their item in their hand whilst dragging objects
Health Spray animations added
Sledgehammer damage synced with animation
Fuel pouring animation fixed
Art
New breakable floor asset
Updated Tutorial walls in all tutorials
Rooftop assets for Archives
Rooftop assets for Genetics
Rooftop assets for Operations
Rooftop assets for Suite
Improvements to Level Thematics and Set Dressing
Lighting Optimisations
Audio
Health Spray audio
Footstep audio for metal walkways
Footstep Surface material added for Brute footsteps
Improved audio occlusion for items being dropped
Background audio added on Connection Screen
Red Crates opening audio
Attenuation optimisations
Audio CPU usage optimisations
Prisoner dialogue optimisations
Monster and Prisoner Footstep optimisations
Motion Detector alarms will no longer play its alarm twice for a single activation.
UI
Loading Screen Changes
Loading screen has now been updated to show the stage progression of the game and provide hints to help guide players through the game.
The loading screen hints will be tailored to your character chosen
Locker Mini Game
Locker Mini game UI has been changed to match the visual style of the rest of the UI
The Locker Mini Game will remain on the screen for a few seconds after the mini game has concluded
The UI will now signify if you won or lost the Mini Game by turning green for a win and red for a loss.
Misc UI
Updated World Marker and Ping UI
Add friends UI has been updated and improved
UI Chat Widget visual changes
Improved World Marker ranges
Miscellaneous
Updates to moveable trolleys, new prompts and adjusted movement rates
Removed physics on barrel assets, they are now just static props
Extra ladders added to Vault and Infirmary Rooftops
Removed the puzzle in Genetics involving jumping over to a secret hatch on the exterior, a replacement puzzle is now on the rooftop
Fixed an issue with a camera blip when vaulting
Fixed an issue with the Malacosm getting stuck in spectate when using clairvoyance on a downed player
Fixed bug where Prisoners were not able to heal themselves in some locations
Bhagra scent trails now render past the fog
If in a party the camera now moves to the lobby scene vs staying in the menu
Fixed bug where Buff UI would continuously stack when spectating another prisoner
Fixed visual bug where “Buff Title” would appear when spectating another player
Server buttons - a change to how we fetch the server list to display the server buttons in the connection screen should fix the buttons not appearing
You will no longer say “Thank You” after healing yourself with a Medical Spray
Fixed issue where buttons on the Main Menu would not highlight properly when using a gamepad
Monster Selection screen should work better with controllers
Tutorial hints should localise to controller inputs instead of always being Mouse and Keyboard
HUD should localise to Gamepad controls more consistently
Fixed various unreachable item spawns
Fixed several Power cables in the Suite Building that were flowing in the wrong direction
Fixed an issue where the Monsters camera would be off centre during Kill animations
At times the player’s body can render through their skinned clothes
Monster’s heads can still sometimes not appear during the monster cutscene
Monsters cannot vault through the windows of the new porta-cabins on the Helipad and rooftops.
Random disconnects - if this does happen please report them to us on our discord channel #m2-bug-and-support so we can track them down!
Footstep audio will sometimes be inconsistent with the floor type
Diving Bell puzzle has little indication when the diving bell has fully hoisted and ready
External Audio can be heard in the Submarine Escape Area
Loading screen hints when loading into Tutorials are defaults for the main game and do not change to Tutorial content
In Suite, the yellow tape markers will appear on the walls for all spawn locations for Fuseboxes, and not only for the Fuseboxes that spawned in.
The updated Bhagra locker search animation in 1st person is still in progress and the current version can be a bit intense
Season 3 will be launched on February 22nd
The Progress Tracker and reward content for season 2 will continue to be available in the game until Tuesday, February 22nd 2022. The season 3 content will be released once Season 2 concludes. New Store Cosmetics will be released with this Season update.
We are, as always, very thankful for all your feedback and to our discord community. Monstrum 2 is continuously evolving throughout it's early access period and we wouldn't be where we are now without all of your input. If you would like to join the discussions on our discord server, you can do so by clicking here: discord.gg/junkfish
We hope you enjoy the 1st update of 2022!
Team Junkfish
02/12/2021 - December Update
Ahoy there!
'Tis the season to be hunting. We invite you to join us on the Sparrow Lock for the final update of 2021. We have had a truly incredible year with an immense amount of support from our wonderful community.
Due to technical issues (the bhagra got into the wires), we aren't able to deliver everything that we promised this December. However, we have had a focus on bug fixes and gameplay changes that will benefit the general state of the game.
As we move into 2022, our goal is to continue to release content through our Early Access run. While we do not have a planned release date yet, we are working toward leaving Early Access at some point in 2022. Your trust and patience have given us great motivation to keep working and striving towards a great game. Thank you!
Now, onto the changes!
We really dug into our game with fly swatters this month! Squashing as many bugs as we can. Here is a list of all the confirmed fixes.
Monster darkness bug - Monsters should now see better in the dark
Blocked off area where players could get stuck behind the chain fence puzzle on the rooftop of Morgue
Added failsafes to ensure Power Switches always work for players
Fixed an issue that caused the Add Friend button not to work as intended
Fixed an issue that caused fire extinguisher smoke to disappear instantly
Fixed an issue with health kits not healing you properly
Fixed an issue that caused Aquatics to break to menus
You should no longer be able to spam the camera and other items to spam xp
Removed a puzzle variation that was impossible to complete in the Prison
As well as fixing bugs, we've been balancing and changing the gameplay. Our goal is to make the game fair for all of our players.
Bhagra scent trail will now render on top of geometry if the player is detected by the ability.
Bhagra Scent Trail duration time updated:
Against 1 Prisoner: Reduced to 7s (Was 20s)
Against 2 Prisoners: Reduced to 8s (Was 18s)
Against 3 Prisoners: Reduced to 9s (Was 16s)
Against 4 Prisoners: Reduced to 10s (Was 14s)
Bhagra Scent Trail cooldown time updated:
Against 1 Prisoner: Increased to 26s (Was 20s)
Against 2 Prisoners: Increased to 29s (Was 22s)
Against 3 Prisoners: Increased to 32s (Was 24s)
Against 4 Prisoners: Increased to 35s (Was 26s)
Rooms containing the “Upload the Plans” computers in the Submarine escape route redesign:
Vent connecting to the room from the main area has been removed. Replaced by a one way door.
The door connecting the rooms together has been removed to separate the rooms completely.
Vaulting changes and improvements:
Players can look around whilst vaulting
When vaulting whilst walking, the player can’t vault as far compared to sprinting. This mostly limits vaulting whilst walking to thin obstacles like fences and windows. This allows a player to more easily control what they want to jump on top of, rather than vaulting over.
Checks added to prevent accidental vaults resulting in the prisoner vaulting into the sea.
Slightly reduced vault cooldown.
When vaulting almost parallel to (but slightly towards) a wall, it would sometimes not do the vault if it thought it would clip you into the wall. The system now allows slightly angled vault directions to better tolerate this scenario and better match player expectations when trying to vault.
Flashlight should be enabled by default.
Fire extinguisher particles should now emit from the nozzle.
Improved ‘sway’ on all characters to make movement feel more smooth.
New platforms where both sets of players start at opposite sides of the initial shell structure.
Player’s flashlight turns off automatically when entering a crouch hiding spot.
Updated interaction on movable objects. Interaction key must now be held to move the object, releasing the key immediately lets go of the object.
Even with a focus on bug fixing, there will always be some issues, thus is the way of Early Access. If you discover any major issues that are not listed below, please report them using this link: https://teamjunkfish.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/requests/new
Descriptions for skins are incorrect in customization
Issues with "Test Voice" audio in customization
Skin clipping issues whilst wearing suits
Fuel can animation issues
Med kit animation issues
The moon is sometimes visible in reflections
Carrying a Fuse causes the players to have a strange looking thumb
Blinding light on the med kit when using it with a female model
This has been a truly unbelievable year of Monstrum 2. The trials and tribulations of Early Access has truly taught us so much. Expect incredible things next year! A special shoutout to our discord community this month, they have been hosting events and helping us with bug reports. If you're like to join our discord server head to this link: discord.gg/junkfish
Have a wonderful holiday season, and Happy Hunting! ☃️
