In Sound Mind Demo Update Addresses Players' Most Common Feedback

Hi, fellow Desmonds!

Let me start by thanking you not only for playing the In Sound Mind demo but also for providing amazing feedback on ways that we can make the experience even better. We’ve just pushed update 0.731, and you will see in the changelog below that your feedback had a direct impact on many of the changes we decided to make. Here is a high-level overview of some of the changes we've been cooking up:

• Many small bug/quality of life fixes: Over the past few weeks we’ve read your feedback forms, forum discussions, and Discord chats. So, we’ve increased the player height, improved jump momentum for better platforming, improved phrasing in notes & hints, balanced puzzles, and enemies to just name a few!
• Most common crashes resolved: If you’ve been crashing on the ISM demo, it’s very likely to be resolved in this new update. We’ve identified the most common crash issue some players were having and confirmed a fix in this new build. In case you’re still facing issues, please let us know.
• Better controller support: PS4, XB1, and Switch controllers are now supported out of the box and do not require you to enable the Steam Controller features anymore. We also fixed some controller selection issues in menus.

If you have yet to play the demo, there is no better time than now to try it out. You can find the free download on Steam here. Check out the full list of changes coming to update 0.731 below. Until next time, don’t forget to pet Tonia.

Ido / We Create Stuff

In Sound Mind Demo 0.731 changelog:

General:

• Added native controller support for PS4, XB1 and Switch controllers
• General engine stability and bug fixes, fewer noticeable hiccups
• Player is now slightly taller
• Improved player controls, should feel responsive and smooth
• Player HP is now properly saved
• Reduced white screen fade in tape transition areas
• Fixed culling issues popping objects in and out of existence close to the ceiling
• Due to changes in save format, older demo save files will reset
• When collecting the final pill in an area, objective will no longer show “1 pill left”
• Lowed enemy inkblots FOV to 90 to 75 to allow for better sneak opportunities
• Many level design improvements and fixes to The Hub and Chapter 1

Hub:

• Crouching out of the elevator shaft should be easier
• The broken elevator fuse box now sparks every few seconds until players takes out the broken fuse, encouraging players to look up
• Player physics in hub elevator is better, and jumping is possible
• It is now possible to see the pistol grip from behind the washing machine but not collect it
• Added additional washing machine to make the pistol washing machine appear in the middle
• Disabled respawning food in Hub during the demo
• The Watcher song no longer automatically plays when returning to the hub after Chapter 1. Instead, it can be activated from the shelf, and can be stopped and replayed.
• As long as The Watcher song is not playing, it is now easier to trigger Tonia's outro scene
• Pistol aiming down sight tutorial will now stay until the player zoom in with it, or leaves the basement
• Desmond’s Tape, Virginia's Tape:
• Changed the way tapes are segmented to make more sense
• Fixed player equipping his weapons back too early while the screen fades to white
• Fixed some areas where the player can get stuck on the terrain
• Removed save trigger to prevent issues

Chapter 1: Supermarket

• Added note hint about the zooming mechanic with the Mirror Shard
• Added note hint next to the safe hinting about seeing pills in the Mirror Shard
• The Mirror Shard zoom tutorial will now stay until the player zooms in with it, or reach the East Wing
• Dollhouse slots now show highlights even when the house itself blocks them
• After collecting the fuse, the small shelf hiding half the fuse box is gone, and the fusebox highlight radius is much larger
• Increased the size of the East Wing and West Wing keys (the keys collected from the big mirrors) as well as increased the highlight distance and made it appear through objects
• Lowered The Watcher’s FOV to 60 from 75, and look distance to 27 from 32
• After attacking The Watcher will leave you alone slightly faster now, roughly 9 seconds instead of 10
• Simplified the registers puzzle, there are now only 4 prices and the requirements have lowered. Also removed Desmond voice (“that was a dollar!”)
• Increased Mysterious Man’s sneak cool down range to 250-400 seconds (was 200-300), and peek cool down to 50-100 (was 20-40), he should appear much more rarely now.
• The Mysterious Man will now sneak behind the player once, and peek around corners 4 times in the east wing, and then again in the west wing (total 2 sneaks and 8 peeks)
• Added light above the cart with the brother doll, and a battery to grab the player's attention to go there first
• Added a small fence in the freezer next to the mom doll, so players will have to turn around and see Mysterious Man in the doorway
• Added a small fence inside the freezer fan so players won't try to crouch jump into it
• In the freezer, Inez will now start slightly closer to the fan, her "pointing at the key" pose will be skipped, and she will point at the lever better
• The door behind the dad doll is now open, letting in light from the other room shine in, showing the player how to get there
• Removed Desmond’s voice when adding dolls in the dollhouse and cubes in the toys puzzle (“I've placed the H block!”)