Today’s update focuses on diving and the EVA Suit — a set of new underwater mechanics and improvements. Dive in and check out what’s new!
Oxygen consumption now scales with dive depth — the deeper you go, the faster you use oxygen, with an additional multiplier based on the selected difficulty level.
The safe depth limit is 30 meters. Below this threshold, the EVA Suit begins to take pressure damage depending on depth and difficulty. The suit’s condition is monitored continuously, with status checks every ~3 seconds.
Destroying the EVA Suit (Integrity 0) now cuts off your ability to breathe — oxygen flow is blocked even with a full tank. Even a minor repair restores breathing.
Added a cracked‑visor effect when the EVA Suit is damaged. For now, the effect disappears after a standard repair using Duct Tape.
Added a dedicated dive light — especially useful now that deeper areas are significantly darker.
Temporarily increased swimming speed from 300 → 600 cm/s. This makes underwater exploration easier; the original speed will return once swimming “boosters” are added.
Depth Warning Indicator: A red warning light now appears around the depth icon when you go beyond the safe limit.
You will soon be able to exceed the 30‑meter dive limit. Upcoming additions include EVA Suit upgrades improving durability and underwater sealing, a stronger EVA Suit variant, a mini‑submersible, and fins to increase underwater movement speed.
Some visual changes have been added, but the system will continue to evolve. Creating a dynamic underwater environment is complex — available tutorials don’t cover depth‑based lighting changes, dynamic time‑of‑day, or shifting conditions. In HIRAETH, everything is dynamic, so the underwater system must be unique. This takes time, and I don’t want to delay other gameplay features you’ll benefit from sooner.
Current improvements:
visual response to actual dive depth — darker the deeper you go,
time‑of‑day and light intensity now affect underwater visibility.
A new diving‑related achievement. You earn it by reaching the bottom of the underwater Xibal’Teh caldera, located far off the port’s coastline. Diving there is a challenge — maybe worth attempting?
This is the first achievement I can test under Steam’s updated activation rules. If anything behaves incorrectly, a small fix will follow quickly.
Today’s update is just a small step forward for diving and overall survival — but from what many of you have told me, it’s a direction that feels right. More challenge, more depth, more systems to master. For lighter, more casual players it might feel a bit “too simulation‑heavy”, so I’m very curious to hear your thoughts.