Survivalist: Invisible Strain · published · build 19555291
Hey everyone it's patch day! This patch is mainly about trying to address the biggest problem I've heard about since the game launched - that it doesn't teach you enough about how to play, especially in Story Mode. Since launch I've watched a number of playthrough videos and read comments and I made a little list of things that went wrong or caused confusion, and this patch I've been going through the list and fixing all the things, and adding a bit more explanation of stuff people didn't know how to do. I was doing some of that in the previous patches too but this patch I've taken it a bit further and broken my rule about not adding new text to the game, and have added a number of new lines. (Normally I try to avoid that now because of the need for them to be translated, but I decided to make an exception).
The other thing I've done in this patch is taken the opportunity to try to better handle some situations I've seen where people make more rare, unexpected choices in Story Mode, like attacking or killing Carter Moreno, or not telling him about the infected meat in the cabin. I haven't added a huge amount here, but whereas previously the story just used to kind of trail off in those situations it will now react in some small ways, sometimes after a long period of time.
I think I'm about done with Story Mode and tutorials after this patch though, so don't expect any more changes of this kind (I reached the end of my list). It's always possible I'll see something in another Let's Play video and think "Oh that really needs fixing" but hopefully not. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm not intending to keep adding more features to this game now it's out of early access, I want to move to another project which may be a sequel or may be something else. More info is in the FAQ here.
Here's the full change list:
When first teaching the player to equip a weapon, aim and fire, show big button prompts for these so it's more visible
After selecting a quest on the Quests page you can click again to view it on the map (if it has a map marker)
Added hint messages to open the map screen, stay downwind when hunting, and that setting roles to Urgent worsens morale
Added some more tutorial quests to Story Mode explaining how to assign roles and build your base a bit more
Added an optional mini tutorial quest to Story Mode to surrender to FEMA if you chose to fight Carter at the beginning
Some more small tweaks to the start of Story Mode
A little extra dialog for some off-the-main-path choices Story Mode, such as if you kill Carter
Hired mercs stop fighting you if you surrender to the community that hired them
Made it possible to specify that you don't want particular types of liquid containers to be shared with other communities, e.g. don't give away large catering buckets
Added the ability for modders to specify multiple extra equipment outputs for recipes, since the mod that did that, SIS Extended: Crafting Framework is incompatible with latest code and can't be fixed without breaking other mods
When editing mods that don't have BaseStory as a dependency, just show the treeline in the menu backgrounds instead of semi-naked characters in weird poses
If people press the dodge button while speaking to someone, don't dodge (fix for people pressing A on gamepad to try to skip conversation and cancelling it instead)
Fix for not getting a dodge button prompt when armed with a ranged weapon or fists and facing an attacker
Fix for message saying you need to remove cooked food when you try to grill meat on a fire with an empty pot on it
Fix for script editor screen moving when you press up or down or + or - when editing speech text
Fix for corpses sometimes flying a long way when exiting buildings
Fix for a number sometimes shown on a new recipe notification in place of the recipe name
Fix for action menu sometimes showing on wrong side of screen when using gamepad and inventory is open
Fix for people interrupting each other during feuds, to start their own feuds
Fix for situation where it becomes impossible to talk to Kelly just after passing the Highway Patrol camp that has been overrun
Fix for terrain generation sometimes creating sharp bends where roads or rivers join, which tends to cause glitches
Fix for reload sounds continuing to play when you get grabbed by a zombie in the middle of reloading
Fix for character full body icon sometimes showing incorrect clothes if you change them fast while other icons are generating too
Fix for building name sometimes not displaying correctly on Storage Policy dialog
Fix for Lost Item quest not failing if you eat the item
Fix for crops sometimes being rendered lying on their sides
Fix for SIS Fuel Overhaul often crashing when starting a new game
Fixed some drinking game jank
Fix for situation where Kelly had a positive opinion of Carter for threatening you, even though Carter was really threatening her too, due to her having a low opinion of the player
Stop Kelly from leaving your community generally even if she has a low opinion of you, as it's often confusing for new players and doesn't fit with the story (she can still be kicked out though)
Removed decimal points from Fahrenheit display on thermometer
Possible fix for double outlines appearing around rabbits and deer
Updated Brazilian Portuguese, Indonesian and Japanese translations
EDIT - Uploaded a hotfix to fix a crash when using the Policy dialog for liquids that aren't edible or drinkable, v258.
The previous patch, v256, has gone to the main branch and XBox.
v258 will be in the "publicbeta" branch on Steam for a while, before pushing it to the main game and to XBox. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:
Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".
To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".