Patch Notes 1.18 - Changes for December 18

Hello inmates!

We’re targeting Tuesday, December 18 to release patch 1.18 on Steam. Read on to see what the latest update contains!

Again, thanks to all the Steam players who previewed these changes in our Technical Playtest and sent in feedback! Don’t hesitate to keep sharing your thoughts about any of the improvements below on our official channels.

Scavengers Studio will be out for the holidays from December 22 to January 1, so please expect delayed replies.

See you in the arena, and happy holidays!

New Tile: Mt. Borlo Deer Workshop

Volcanic, rocky, and scorched all over, Mt. Borlo is the perfect fiery backdrop for fierce showdowns. Its glowing lava falls and towering peaks are inviting, but make no mistake: Mt. Borlo Deer Workshop is one of the most treacherous Tiles yet. Lots of uneven terrain and pools of lava mean that inmates will have to pay more attention to their surroundings and carefully evaluate the trajectories of Power Leaps and BoomShroom bounces.

On one of the tallest cliffs stands the Deer Workshop. A large building that inmates can fight in, the Deer Workshop produces what many consider a key resource of the Darwin Project arena. The goods are transported using metal wagons on elevated rails, with a number of industrial lights and pipelines supporting the mysteriously self-sustained production.

Some of you might recognize one of the islands in Mt. Borlo Deer Workshop from the pre-Tile Mapping System map!

New Show Director Power: Give Leather

Some of you may have seen this coming, but… The leather makes it better!

When activated, the player targeted by this Power will receive two Leathers. Give Leather costs one Action Point to use and Show Directors can have a maximum of three copies of it in their Decks.

Just like other Powers that require a target, the Show Director can let any stream viewers vote for the player who will receive the Leather.

To unlock up to three copies of Give Leather for your Show Director Deck, continue leveling up as the Show Director.

New Show Director Power: Open Zone

Open Zone allows Show Directors to reopen a zone that was previously closed. It costs five Action Points to activate and Show Directors can only have one copy in their Decks.

Just like other Powers that require a target, the Show Director can let any stream viewers vote for the zone that will be reopened.

Note that Open Zone can be used on a zone that is becoming forbidden (as soon as the countdown begins), but not on a zone in which sudden death is active.

To unlock Open Zone for your Show Director Deck, continue leveling up as the Show Director.

60+ New Cosmetic Items

Whether you’re facing the cold head-on or looking to cozy up in festive wear this holiday season, patch 1.18 has some outfits for you. Over 60 new items will be obtainable from Fan Gifts and will also be purchasable with Ramen from the Shop. Here’s the overview:

Note: The Santa Hat will not be obtainable through Fan Gifts or purchasable in the Shop, but will instead be given as a free reward to all players who log in between December 21, 2018 at midnight UTC and December 31, 2018 at midnight UTC. The cosmetics list has been updated to reflect this.

Hike up Mt. Borlo in style with these mountain climber outfits:

Spectator Interaction Improvements

New Feature: Events

Since we’ve introduced Betting to spectator interactions on Twitch, viewers have been able to watch a variety of streams to build up a wealth of Darwin Dollars (still a work-in-progress currency) and use them to wreak havoc in Private Matches that have Spectator Powers enabled. The new Event feature allows the streamer to place all viewers on a level playing field and see which one manages to make the best use all available spectator interactions and finish with the thickest wallet at the end of a stream.

To create an Event, streamers on Twitch with the official Darwin Project Spectator Experience Extension enabled will need to click the new button called Create Event directly on their stream, then create a Private Match.

When the streamer has an active event, stream viewers will receive a second wallet containing 1000 Darwin Dollars, and any Bets and Power Bids made during the event will use this dedicated wallet. All stream viewers of the match, even if watching a different streamer than the one who created the event, will have the dedicated wallet made available.

Streamers can end an event at any time by going to their stream again and clicking Finish.

If the streamer does not end the event, it will end automatically after 24 hours. Note that streamers cannot begin or end an event while already in a match or in a lobby.

At the end of the event, three leaderboards will appear with the top 10 spectators in each: Current amount of Darwin Dollars, total gain, and largest gain in one shot. The leaderboards can also be viewed at any time by clicking the crown icon next to the event wallet.

Viewers will still earn Darwin Dollars for their regular wallet on top of the dedicated wallet when watching a stream in which there is an active event.

Betting Update

First off: we’ll be resetting all spectator wallets and leaderboards. Don’t be alarmed!

As a first step to balance Darwin Dollars, we’ve set a maximum amount that spectators can bet at once: 5,000 Darwin Dollars in Private Matches and 100,000 Darwin Dollars in Public Matches. We’ve also updated the formula that determines the payout multiplier.

Voting Update

The Electronic Show Director Power has been added to the list of Powers that can be voted on by the audience. When the Show Director chooses to let the audience vote, spectators will be able to click on the zone where they want to see an Electronic resource be activated.

Gameplay

• Added three new Private Match options (the following can now be toggled on or off by the Private Match host): - Player Minimap Hidden (off by default): Removes the minimap in the bottom left corner of the screen and replaces it with a compass at the top of the screen
  Developer comment: Finding cabins with Holomaps becomes much more important when this option is turned on, especially when zones begin closing!- Auto Zones/Electronics (on by default): Zones will close and Electronics will activate without the Show Director’s help- Names on Holomaps (off by default): Names will appear on Holomaps (maps present inside some cabins)
• The Axe swing will now be more closely tied to the player’s latency
  Developer comment: We adjusted the Axe’s lag compensation such that it works similarly to Arrows, making it no longer possible for players to take a hit from an enemy with high latency without seeing it coming. This also results in a tighter synchronization of swing animation and hitbox.
• Slightly lowered the Axe hitbox for the spin attack and strafe jump attack
  Developer comment: We noticed that players would often swing their Axe in mid-air expecting to connect with the enemy’s head, only to miss by a few inches.
• Increased Armor crafting time from 3 seconds to 5 seconds
  Developer comment: This balance change is intended to add a higher level of risk to crafting Armor in the middle of a fight.
• The Hook will no longer grapple players frozen by Ice Bolt
  Developer comment: This improvement will make the Ice Bolt behavior consistent with other Tools in the game, while also preventing situations where a frozen player could be Hooked toward hazardous ground with no opportunity to react.

Optimization

• Slightly optimized fog effects
• Slightly optimized smoke effects
• Slightly optimized cloud effects

Visuals

• Added Christmas lights to trees in all Tiles
• Updated lava texture and behavior so that it can flow in a specific direction

Animation

• Replaced the death animation by four all-new animations
• Added a front hit reaction
• Updated the Arrow nocking animation

Other

• Reworked the menu flow upon defeat
  - When defeated, players will automatically be turned into spectator drones (not to be confused with support drones in the case where your ally is still alive in Duo Mode). Pressing Esc with mouse and keyboard or Menu with a controller will bring up the match stats and allow players to go back to the main menu or play again.
  Developer comment: This change will allow players to more easily view the different ways other people play and potentially pick up a few tips!- Removed the Play Again button while in a party to prevent the party leader from interrupting their ally when reviewing match stats- When viewing stats at the end of a match, players will automatically be queued for matchmaking in the same game mode after 40 seconds
• Reworked the pause menu
  - Daily Rehab Program progression and some Career stats will now be visible in the pause menu
  - Players will now be able to give the Show Director Prestige during a match through the pause menu
• Added an option for players to set a distance between the edge of their TV or monitor and the game UI in Video Options
• The cursor will now always appear at the center of the screen when Show Director opens the Power Bar
• Added a second input for the roll, bound to the middle mouse button by default
  Developer comments: Don’t forget to rebind any inputs you currently have on the middle mouse button if you’d like to use the roll there instead!
• When defeated, players’ match stats will now be compared to their average instead of their all-time best for that game mode

UI

• When clicking to see the details of a set in the Shop, players will now get a 3D preview as opposed to seeing only a 2D image, giving a much better idea of how the items will look when worn in the arena or in the Dressing Room. Note that this feature will be updated to include individual items in the future.
• Added a loading icon on a player’s avatar when they are in the process of loading into the lobby
• Moved Scavenger Mode into Private Match options
• Made small visual adjustments to:
  - The icons above stray Arrows
  - The tips that appear when approaching a lootable item
  - In-game news
  - The Connect to Twitch or Mixer button location
  - The Connect to Twitch or Mixer menu
  - The Daily Rehab Program
  - The ally information in Duo Mode
  - The latest news pop-up
  - The victory screen
  - Names above player heads
  - The Dressing Room

• Fixed an issue related to the new character skeleton introduced in patch 1.17 where some Axe swing animations were slightly out of sync with damage windows
• Fixed an issue where the roll attack would sometimes not play the Axe swing animation
• Fixed an issue where the Tripwire was not destroyed like other Traps if placed underneath a player frozen by Ice Bolt
• Fixed an issue where players would sometimes not have their movement speed reduced when walking backwards or aiming
• Fixed an issue where players would sometimes not have their movement speed increased when sprinting
• Fixed an issue where swinging the Axe right before touching the ground would interrupt the attack
• Fixed an issue where player microphones would be turned on before fully loading into a lobby
• Fixed an issue where inmates would not be able to craft if they hadn’t fully loaded in the lobby when the match began
• Fixed an issue where inmates would see other players’ names above their heads if they hadn’t fully loaded in the lobby when the match began
• Fixed an issue where activating Hide HUD (F10 by default) would only hide some parts of it
• Fixed an issue where Teleporting on land would sometimes make the player skip the hard landing animation the next time they jump from high ground
• Fixed an issue where drawing the Bow after rolling would sometimes play the Bow drawing sound twice
• Fixed an issue where trying to roll while performing another action would sometimes still consume stamina
• Fixed an issue where the deer would disappear when killed in the Playground
• Fixed an issue where deer in the Playground could not be Hooked
• Fixed an issue where players would burn when deflecting a Fire Arrow
• Fixed an issue where Electronic resources would be harvestable in the Playground before they were activated
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to report dummy inmates in the Playground
• Fixed an issue where dummy inmates caught by Tripwire in the Playground would be temporarily released from the rope tying them to the post
• Fixed an issue where the latency information displayed when choosing a region would no longer be color-coded
• Fixed an issue where players who died with their HUD hidden would cause some inconsistencies the next time Hide HUD was used
• Fixed an issue where the Cloak would fly wildly when hitting a BoomShroom with the male character
• Fixed an issue where the Axe attack sound was missing when playing as the female character
• Fixed an issue where pressing B to close the pause menu would activate an Electronic Power bound to B when using a controller
• Fixed an issue where the male character’s Cloak would not be animated while crafting
• Fixed an issue where joining a Private Match would display the region selection menu (reserved for the host) upon first starting the game
• Fixed an issue where stamina would not be refilled when receiving a hit in the lobby
• Fixed an issue where Beach Party swimsuit textures would sometimes not load correctly
• Fixed an issue where the Show Director could still use Manhunt when only two players remained by using the spectator vote feature
• Fixed an issue where the Show Director could still use Nuke when one zone remained by using the spectator vote feature
• Fixed an issue in Duo Mode where a Manhunt being activated while players were viewing the animation to become a support drone would not let those players control their support drone for the duration of the match
• Fixed an issue where the Almost Champion Boots would have the incorrect picture when viewing the Dressing Room with the female character selected
• Fixed an issue where the Radar visual effect would stay frozen while switching perspectives as the Show Director or as a spectator drone
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to destroy an ally’s unactivated Cage Trap by shooting an Arrow into it in Duo Mode
• Fixed an issue where it was possible for players to use two Smoke Bombs within a single Smoke Bomb animation
• Fixed an issue where the default key bindings to move up and down as the Show Director were reversed
• Fixed an issue where the Gravity Storm image would appear in the spectator Betting interface
• Fixed ghost vertices (white lines) that would appear around some items in the Dressing Room
• Fixed an issue where walking diagonally backward would cause the character to not look or face the correct direction when attacking
• Fixed an issue where the Show Director’s mic icon that indicates when they are speaking would not work correctly
• Fixed an issue where players landing an Axe hit on an enemy who uses the female character would hear both a male and female character scream reaction
• Fixed an issue where playing Show Director in a Private Match would set the Public Match game mode to Show Director