EDIT: Pushed a small hotfix to correct a text label issue in the Save screen
Hello everyone!
It's been a hot minute since CULTIC has received any PC updates, and for that I'd like to apologize. When the console ports of CULTIC got started, I was trying to maintain the PC project alongside the console project, and this resulted in the PC version of the project being stuck in a state of limbo for the entire console development period (which was longer than expected) where it was still too incomplete to push a patch, but too far along to want to revert the changes. I suppose this is what source control branches are for!
However, now that the PS5/XBX versions of the game are out, I was able to begin porting all of the improvements, changes, etc. over to the PC version of the game! I don't have a fully comprehensive list of every little change, but I'll outline the most important stuff below!
Localization
This update brings localization to CULTIC, with interface/subtitle support for English, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, and Spanish. Players updating to this build should be met with a prompt to select a language, and otherwise, this can be changed from the Options menu!
I haven't ruled out additional localizations in the future, so if there are any particularly popular requests for new languages, I may be able to expand the selection in the future.
CULTIC wasn't originally built with localization in mind, so this process basically involved manually going and converting every piece of text in the game to support localization, so there's a fair chance I may have missed a few - if you something missing string data or defaulting to English when it shouldn't be, please let me know in the dedicated thread for these reports!
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1684930/discussions/1/592938395265876942/
Optimizations
A big part of preparing CULTIC for consoles was buckling down and really seeing what opportunities there were for optimization. There have definitely been folks who had issues with performance with some older setups, and Steam Deck struggled to maintain 60fps in some areas as well, so across the board there should be some pretty significant improvements! You may notice some changes in the visuals in some maps, but for the most part the visual impact of the optimizations should be pretty minor - it was mostly just trimming waste and improving culling luckily.
Changes
When picking up a key, any locked doors that the key opens will automatically be highlighted on the Automap, and will pulse to signify that the player has a key for them. This will hopefully help players get a bearing on where they still need to explore on the larger maps.
E2M4 Slaughterhouse now has an additional path connecting the Shipping and Admin areas to the rooftop, to help players find their way after getting the Facility Key.
The item pickup "pulse" effect has been changed to one that has half the rendering cost, which is especially helpful on some of the heavier voxel props.
Significant amount of mesh optimizations to reduce the render cost of heavier meshes, such as voxel props
Significant changes to the density and size of some light sources that were causing tons of redundant draw calls
Significant changes to occlusion culling to prevent wasteful rendering of meshes that the player can't see
Improved the Aim Magnetism aim assist feature so it should only slow the player's aim when their aim direction is approaching a target, and be unaffected if moving away from a target. This should significantly reduce the "stickiness" of aiming with the feature enabled.
Added subtitles for the final boss' combat voice lines, which were previously missing.
Fixes
Fixed an issue where players that saved the game while their lighter was out, after acquiring the flashlight, resulted in the lighter being considered "manually drawn" when they'd load, requiring the Lighter key be held to stow it
The temp weapon flare gun should no longer drain player's ammo from their primary weapon when being fired
Fixed an edge-case where players may be unable to dive/submerge in water that is shallow, but still deep enough to get underneath the surface by crouching
Fixed some various significant culling issues
Various minor fixes from forum bug reports
Fixed the Gamepad Acceleration calculation, so it should now properly "ramp" the joystick camera speed up to target over time, allowing for easier micro-adjustments with quick stick flicks.