A lot has happened in the world of Near Death since its launch, and we wanted to put all of the updates and improvements in one place to make it easy to see everything that’s changed. Here’s a list of everything that’s changed since the game came out:
The game has been translated into French, German, Hungarian, Spanish, and Russian.
Trading cards were added for your collecting enjoyment.
A number of visual effects were added to the game to give it an all new feel. You can find out more about those here.
Added two new difficulty levels, along with achievements for them. Try the game on Hard or Condition 1 if you want a true challenge.
Added an FOV slider to help those who suffer from motion sickness.
Patched in a huge number of bug fixes and performance improvements.
Many thanks to everyone who’s played the game, loved it, and spread the word. See you in Sutro Station!
Near Death 1.07: ¡Ya disponible en español!
Near Death is now available in Spanish! Version 1.07 also brings a few bug fixes and enhancements:
Near Death is now available in Spanish!
Updated physics settings on the long range antenna to help prevent it tunneling and getting into bad states.
Keypad buttons are now detected for equippable items, which allows players with AZERTY keyboards to equip the flashlight, portable heater, and other tools.
Thanks, as always, to everyone who has played or told a friend!
Near Death 1.06: Effects, Effects, Effects! (Plus Bug Fixes!)
We just uploaded patch 1.06 of Near Death, which features a number of fun new visual modes for the game. Why? For no other reason than we had some free time and it looks cool!
The new effects really lend a whole different feel to the game; it's really fun to move through the base as if Sutro Station is a painting or a retro Nintendo game. Here's a quick rundown of the effects. Still images don't really do them justice, so fire up the game to check them out in motion or take a peek at the gifs we're posting over on the Near Death Twitter page.
To begin, here's a still image for reference:
The first effect is subtle, but effective: a 2.35:1 letterbox mode that matches the aspect ratio John Carpenter used in his late 70s/early 80s classics (the most relevant to Near Death being The Thing, of course). This effect can be used on its own or in combination with the effects below.
Next, we have a painting effect that almost makes the game seem peaceful. Quite a contrast to the brutal conditions at Sutro Station.
And here's the first of three retro-inspired effects, a simple pixelation overlay.
Then there's a pixelated retro effect with a unique condensed color palate. The game feels really, really cool with this mode enabled.
And there's another retro color effect that's really ... effective ... as well.
And finally, to capture the feel of an Antarctic base in the early 80s that's using technology from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, we have a black and white TV effect.
Fire up the game and give the new modes a shot; they’re a lot of fun to tinker with, and seeing the familiar sights in a different light is super cool. And last, but not least, the new build also includes a handful of bug fixes and polish bits. Here are the full patch notes:
Added some fun new visual effects for playing the game with a different look: Painting, Retro 1 & 2, Pixelated, and TV. To enable them, just click the Effects button on the Video options page.
Added an optional letterbox setting; play the game in a classic, Carpenter-esque 2.35:1 screen ratio!
The game now fades down to black when exiting.
Slightly increased the drain rate of the blowtorch.
Fixed a bug where the screen would sometimes not fade fully to white upon death, making it hard to read the menu.
Fixed a roll of duct tape that couldn’t be picked up in the Water building.
Fixed an issue where UI buttons would sometimes not have the proper highlighted state
Thanks to everyone who's bought the game, sent us feedback about it, and spread the word. We hope you dig these fun new visual modes!
Announcing The Orthogonal Games Bundle!
Hey, everyone, we're very excited to announce The Orthogonal Games Bundle! It packages Near Death with The Novelist for a $5 discount, and if you already own one of the games you still get a discount on the other one.
So spread the world and tell your friends.
Thanks!
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1.05: French, German, Russian, and More!
We just released Near Death 1.05, which adds support for the French, German, and Russian languages! It also includes a number of other fixes and improvements. To celebrate, the game is 25% off for the Halloween sale!
Here's the full list of changes:
Near Death is now available in French, German, and Russian!
Training messages now stay on the screen for different durations according to their length (so that players have time to fully read longer messages).
The player is now locked into place when the gondola is moving, so they don't fall out accidentally.
Linux graphics APIs are now manually specified to see if it helps resolve errors with the game launching & requiring a manual override for which OpenGL version is being used.
The blowtorch gas gauge is not visible when it should not be visible.
Minor text updates.
Fixed a bug where the Map and Menu buttons would show as blank images on the controller screen when using an Xbox 360 controller.
Additional polish to new-game menu flow.
Minor geometry polish and fix-ups around the base.
Players can now reply to teletype messages with numpad keys.
If the first objective in the player’s list is optional, it will be sorted to the bottom of the list so that save game descriptions on the load game screen will reflect the player’s main objective.
Fixed a bug where weather sounds would sometimes stop abruptly instead of fading out during changes in weather conditions.
The Verge: Near Death is a tense, fantastic game about surviving Antarctica
Near Death, a first-person survival game released this summer, is easiest to describe in terms of the things it’s not. Taking place in an abandoned Antarctic research base in the 1980s, Near Death shares a setting with John Carpenter’s The Thing — but it’s not a sci-fi or horror game. Its main mechanic is avoiding death by crafting and scavenging, but it’s not a survival simulator. It’s made by Orthogonal Games, creator of character-driven indie project The Novelist — but it’s not a game about exploring other people’s lives. It’s a tense, lean, and tightly paced exercise in endurance, and one of my favorite games of the year.
Together Alone: 'Pure Untainted Survival' in Near Death
Gamasutra recently posted a great analysis of Near Death, discussing the impact of isolation in indie games. Here are a few of our favorite quotes:
Games like this exemplify Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s famous aphorism “perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
The mechanics are spot-on, and the game ramps up its difficulty in a ladder that scales with the growing intensity of the snowstorm outside, slowly allowing you to accumulate various skills, upgrades, and tactics in the process. The only thing you’re fighting is hypothermia; you’re constantly at risk of freezing to death and have to leap from one warm spot to another, often of your own hasty making. The storm, then, is not just a backdrop: it’s the setting, it’s your experience, it’s a character who charts the entire path of the game.
Near Death succeeds at creating a taut and fulfilling experience, and the solitude actually helps with that.
