We are putting the final touches on the upcoming Map Update, scheduled to release next week on Friday, March 6th.
Instead of just telling you how much better the updated map looks, we’d rather show you below. But to answer your question right away: no, this is not a performance killer. We've actually been doing optimization under the hood. While the world has evolved and gained a much more cinematic look, the performance remained the same, and also will become better with further optimizations.
This update boosts the atmosphere and lighting, reworks the spawn area, and fixes previous visual glitches. But that's not all. It also lays the groundwork for upcoming new activities. As mentioned before, we will soon be moving away from primitive quests to bring you more engaging activities in the next updates, and this update introduces a hub area that will act as an interactive bridge for them.
Check out what’s coming:
We keep expanding on the Einherjar and Valhalla concepts.
This update brings a much more immersive, cinematic look to the game. Importantly, these visual improvements aren't just for players using Global Illumination - they look great on the lowest settings, too! We’ve added new cinematic post-processing effects, including a special depth-of-field/blur (don't worry, if it's not your cup of mead, you can toggle it off in the settings).
We heard your feedback that the previous closed valley map design felt a bit too claustrophobic, and we honestly felt it ourselves. We've addressed this in a balanced way, it's now more open and feels different.
Reworked the spawn area. It is no longer placed at such a high elevation where you could accidentally fall and get confused about where to go.
You will now find Einherjar preparation camps. They are friendly - these are your Einherjar brothers! This serves as a hub area that will become interactable in our upcoming updates.
Overhauled interior lighting. Objects inside buildings that previously lacked shadows will now cast them properly.
(Note: The taming system is still in the works and isn't included in this specific update, but you can already easily meet these future companions hanging around the hub!)
We haven't touched the vast majority of areas where you might have built your houses. Most likely, your existing buildings won't be affected by this update at all - but they will look a lot better under the new lighting.
We’ve brought an upgraded Arrow Cam feature, adding some highly satisfying visual effects.
And yes, Mjolnir now has this camera feature too! Just throw it and hold the Middle Mouse Button.
Fixed an issue with swapping to flame-ignited arrows.
Fixed a bug that allowed rapid-fire machine gun bow shooting.
Fixed arrows passing right through certain materials.
Fixed foundation stairs snapping and alignment issues.
Fixed the Restore Defaults control setting not working in some edge cases.
Changed the Hide UI default hotkey to F10 to eliminate accidental presses and confusion.
Reduced wolf aggro distance.
Thank you for the ongoing feedback, guys. We're glad to see the new in-game reporting tool getting put to good use, and we’ve logged everything you've sent our way. May your hearth stay warm. See you on March 6th!
Skål!
Blackrose Arts