Divers! The time has finally arrived - Darkwater is launching into 1.0 with the Nations Update!
WHAT'S NEW
It's been a long road since we entered Early Access back in April of last year, and since then we have added 4 major content updates adding a variety of customization, weaponry, enemies, submarine layouts and types, new districts and outposts to explore, and more. This final major update, titled NATIONS, continues to add a variety of content:
New Districts to explore - The Japanese District & Government Restricted Mining District.
New Weapons - The Officer's Sword, a Kanobo, & Fool Shotgun!
New Submarines - Type 3, Type 5 and a Secret Submarine are all available to unlock!
New Achievements - Challenges for you and your friends to undertake while traversing the depths of Enceladus.
Multiplayer Changes - The helmets of your crew will now light up when members are speaking, helping you to keep track of who is who! Places to hang out with your fellow mice when in mouse mode and more!
And that is just scratching the surface. The full patch notes can be found at the bottom of this post.
PRICE INCREASE?
Nope! Darkwater enters into 1.0 we are pleased to announce that there will be no increase in price! But if you love the game and want to support Targon Studios, we have a shiny new paid Supporter's Pack available to purchase. This adds a couple of extra goodies for the most dedicated fans.
Be Good as Gold with the Golden Diving Suit and Golden Wrench. They provide no gameplay advantages but you will look great repairing those leaks! These golden effects apply to all three diving suits in the game, including the default suit and the two alternative diving suits you can find during your exploration.
Experience the soundscape of Darkwater with the complete 25 song soundtrack, including ambient tunes and that addictive Store OST to listen to at your leisure!
Grab the DLC here!
FULL PATCH NOTES
General
Player helmets now glow when speaking
Pneumatic Launchers now generate an explosion effect and sound when breaching into submarines
3 new achievements added
Pneumatic Launcher system renamed to Manned Torpedo
Districts
New district: Japanese Controlled
New district: Government Restricted Mining (spawns only on district 20 of endless mode)
Anarchy no longer increases in Government restricted district
New event: Government Dumping
Player Submarines
New unlockable submarine: Type 3
New unlockable submarine: Type 5
New secret unlockable submarine
K-100 submarine modified, unlock requirements changed
Mouse hangout added to every piloting room
Enemies
Outpost enemy divers can now wield knives and sledgehammers
New infected model
New infected animations: idle, attack, run
Infected damage reduced: 15 -> 12
Infected no longer spawn holding wrenches
Infected hitpoints increased: 60 -> 65
Enemy Submarines
New enemy submarine spawning group: Soviet
New enemy submarine spawning group: Japanese
New enemy submarine spawning group: League of Nations
50+ new enemy submarine variations added
Enemy submarines/divers can now use Pneumatic Launchers
Outposts
New outpost type: Imperial Compound
Fool's Shotgun now always spawns in Quest_Fool'sWorkshop(2x2)
New room: OutpostEntrence_Compound(5x4)
New room: GEA_Armoury(2x3)
New room: GEA_Canteen(5x4)
New room: GEA_Storage_00(2x3)
New room: GEA_Storage_01(2x3)
New room: GEA_SleepingCommons(5x4)
New room: GEA_SleepingHall_00(2x2)
New room: GEA_SleepingHall_01(2x2)
Bedroom_01(2x2) item spawn changed to: Suit
Bedroom_02(2x2) item spawn changed to: Suit
Machinery(4x6) item spawn changed to: Suit
New item spawn pool added: Suit
New Room: Quest_PumpingRoom(2x2)
Quest_PumpingRoom(2x2) now spawn in flooded outposts (outposts can now be drained of water)
Quest_Workshop(2x2) implemented
Quest_Workshop(2x2) can now spawn in Factory, Mine, Refinery, Residential, Soviet_Residential, and Mansion outposts
Quest_Fool'sWorkshop(2x2) implemented
Quest_Fool'sWorkshop(2x2) now spawn in Residential, and Mansion outposts
Items
Fool's Shotgun implemented
Officer's Sword implemented
Kanabo (melee weapon) implemented
Diving Suit implemented (Doubles oxygen time, water movement speed increased by 30%)
Working Suit implemented (Repair speed increased by 25%, item weight carrying penalty reduced by 50%)
Agility Suit implemented (Movement speed increased by 25%, stamina drain reduced by 30%)
New secret music disc
Balance
Water flow rate between blocks without doors greatly increased
Player oxygen loss rate doubled
Players now respawn with wrenches on easy mode
Gramophone spawn chance in Schematics_Industrial doubled: 15 -> 30
Updated outpost item spawning code so that items with a spawn weight >1 are now guaranteed to spawn
Diver fleeing chance when struck with low hitpoints reduced
Music
New ambient music: Japanese Controlled
New combat theme: Pneumatic Launcher
Enemy divers now wield knives on submarines equipped with arsenal rooms
New ambient soundtrack for Government Restricted district
UI
Main menu updated
Credits page in main menu updated
Inventory UI now disabled in lobby
Defeating a leviathan now displays a leviathan icon in the notification instead of a submarine
Bug Fixes
Attacking and blocking responsiveness for clients massively improved
Fixed issue where clients could lose items switching districts
Fixed several issues with clients selecting next district to travel to
Fixed issue where sonar map would sometimes fail to generate
Fixed issue where client activating SOS signal would cause infinite waiting screen
Clients should now see correct max district value in challenges
Can no longer block drowning damage
Pneumatic Torpedo broken floor concrete colour updated
Fixed enemy submarines that fired incorrect weapons
Enemies can no longer stun players with critical blocks, preventing players from attacking
Issue where Jumbo Crab could sometimes not hear clients should be fixed
Lights Out achievement now unlocks for all players when one player unlocks it
Bomb quest rooms can no longer spawn in flooded outposts
Fixed stretching thumb issue in certain first person animations
Fixed issue where client sound effects were more muffled than they should have been
All outpost searchable containers now play a sound effect
Adjusted airlock floor texture to better match nearby floor textures
Fixed airlock seam in Piloting(2x1)
Storage containers no longer stay open upon dying
Enemy divers and infected no longer slightly float above floors
Stunning crouching enemies no longer causes them to briefly float
Blocking sparks now only appear for local player
Automaton can no longer walk through Manned Torpedo wall
Leaks no longer rotate with bristle worms, lesser bristle worms, and kraken tentacles
Fixed issue where bristle worm collider could remain after being killed
Correct interaction display now appears on enemy torpedo and mine storage
Infected enemies optimized and should no longer cause lag
Hit marker no longer displays for clients when attacking dead enemies
Expiration of a tesla harpoon will no longer cancel another tesla harpoon that is still active on the same system
Fixed issue where anarchy going too high in Government Restricted would softlock game
Fixed bug where outpost loot spawn bonus didn't apply to dropped items
Fixed issue with Bristle Worm leaks rotating in outposts
Can no longer interact with Bristle leaks in outposts after killing them
Automatons now properly get stunned for a full 5 seconds when disabled with a fire extinguisher
Fixed unlock issue with Lights Out achievement
Fixed AI navigation issues with some of the outpost rooms
Can no longer start a run after selecting a locked submarine in lobby
Fixed tentacle/bristle worm leaks sometimes clipping with floor
Can no longer interact with items/objects when scene is restarting/refreshing
Fixed camera sometimes glitching when restarting/refreshing scene
Fixed issue where damage effect would not scale properly on some resolutions
Fixed resolution scaling issues with main menu
Fixed UI scaling issue with certain languages in submarine selection screen
Equipping derringer now shows correct model to other players
Fixed resolution scaling issues with main menu
Water flow rate change should fix floating water columns that can sometimes appear under large leaks
Fixed issue where pillars weren't generating in submarines
Fixed issue with dead infected sometimes spinning on ground for clients
Fixed storage item duplication exploit
Fixed storage item overwriting bug (if two items were placed in a storage at the exact same time, one would vanish)
Retreating from a battle now properly updates for all players
Successful piloting evasion no longer generates a sonar pulse for other players
Client players can now evade mines in piloting minigame
Fixed certain unlocalized names for some languages when changing keybindings
Locked rooms should now be guaranteed to spawn with loot
LockedRoom_01(3x4) is now guaranteed to spawn with a submarine schematic
Fixed issue where some players would see containers as empty, and some would see them unlooted
Quickly blocking and unblocking will no longer result in combat controller incorrectly believing you are still blocking
Fixed issue where weapons that could not be assigned targets (mines, shrimpshot, etc.) would sometimes break and not fire
Fixed overlapping version number in settings in certain languages
Fixed partially translated Chinese Simplified button in languages dropdown
Fixed issue where notification showing that a player joined would not be able to some characters from other languages properly
Fixed issue where email title could sometimes overlap with date in some languages
Fixed broken characters in microphone dropdown that could appear in some languages
Fixed overflow in weapon target text that could happen in certain languages
Fixed issue settings menu where "Auto" in the resolutions dropdown wasn't being translated to other languages
Fixed overflow issue in region dropdown in main menu for certain languages
Mouse side buttons can no longer be bound to keybinds
Fixed issue where fires could burn underwater after detonating an explosion
Water flow improved
Fixed issue where closing door on a flooded room would sometimes not disable pouring water effect
Fixed many cases of water stretching effect
Fixed AI navigation issue in StorageElevator (5x5) room
SOCIALS & OTHER STUFF
Looking for other people to play with? Have a bug to report? Want to say hi to the dev (and maybe learn about the next project?) Join our Discord or hit us up on socials!
THE FUTURE...
Is this the end of content updates for Darkwater? Maybe.
We'll still be addressing bugs and issues that arise following 1.0, and may be adding some highly requested features - but so much has been added that Darkwater now officially feels content complete. We've delivered upon everything in our 1 year roadmap across four major updates (and several smaller updates), added all the planned features, and wrapped up the narrative.
Thank you so much for all your support in Early Access & beyond!
- Targon Studios & Playstack Team