Gameplay
- Energy tanks follow the 1989 rule for everyone. A character's energy tank is now sized the original way, so nobody is stuck at zero (Constable Luke Jackson never could get above it). Existing saves are corrected on load. The ENERGY word on PLAYER INFO uses the 1989 bands. Thanks to Cpl. Burden R 3294 for the report and Kuhminator K-2000 for confirming it.
- Trees: only the canopy counts. The crash zone around a tree was the whole tree's outline, up to about 13 times the trunk. It is now the canopy, so you can ski or drive much closer, as in 1989. Thanks to Cpl. Burden R 3294.
- A buggy belongs to the village once you arrive. Drive into a village and go into a building, and the buggy is parked there: anyone in the village can take it, and REFUEL fills parked buggies too. A buggy never rides along with a skier. Thanks to the player who reported it by email.
- A group cannot ski. If the leader skis out of a village, the companions stay behind in the nearest building. A party travels together only in a vehicle.
- An unconscious character (red head) cannot drive the snowbuggy, the same as skiing, walking and gliding. Thanks to Kuhminator K-2000.
- Resting in buildings. Leftover time in a building at the situation report counts as sleep, sleep restores in proportion to the time actually slept, and injuries heal at the original per-building rates (a house heals slower than a magazine). Thanks to Kuhminator K-2000.
- Enemy missiles after you kill the launcher, by difficulty: EASY the missile breaks up at once; NORMAL it keeps homing for about 5 seconds; HARD it flies on until it runs out. No second missile is fired while one is in the air.
- Snowbuggy roll safe speeds are Kuhminator K-2000's table: 15° 100 mph, 20° 60, 25° 40, 30° 20, 35° 15, 38° 5. An average driver keeps top speed on flat ground; mountain passes stay passable at reduced speed. Thanks to Kuhminator K-2000.
- Enemy vehicles never appear inside a building or on a spot that is not clear ground.
Controls
- S on skis, as in 1989: stop, press S to snipe, press S again to go back to skis (keyboard). Thanks to Pieman.
- INVERT LOOK (GAME OPTIONS): mouse up looks down in the sniper scope and the cable car (also the right stick on the Steam Deck). Thanks to Pieman.
- Steam Deck, cable car: right stick up now looks up (it was reversed).
Screens / UI
- Screen size: VIDEO OPTIONS shows a list of sizes, APPLY applies the one you pick, and KEEP THESE SETTINGS? puts the old size back after 15 seconds unless you confirm (Windows). Thanks to Pieman.
- Wide screens: the picture keeps its 16:10 shape with black bars at the sides instead of stretching (world, sniper scope, HUD and screens). Thanks to Pieman.
- Watch digits are drawn in a pixel font at the watch's own resolution and sit inside the painted window on every watch. Thanks to Pieman.
- New look for the remake's own screens: Frostopedia, the ESC menu, the guide and tip cards, lesson cards and the title screen share one frame; titles use the Midwinter lettering. The FROSTOPEDIA title now matches ARCTIC SURVIVAL SCHOOL; the Frostopedia shelf labels keep the clear font. Thanks to Pieman.
- Tutorials are shorter: tighter cards, same steps, same keys. Thanks to Pieman.
- On the prison tile of a police station, a prisoner is drawn red if not recruited and white if recruited (no more grey figure).
- Escape (Steam Deck: VIEW) on VIDEO OPTIONS during a game goes back to GAME OPTIONS instead of opening the pause menu on top. Thanks to Pieman.
Scenarios / saves
- LOAD GAME replaces the whole game: the team, positions and vehicles come only from the save; nothing from the game you were playing survives the load.
- Cheat mode, TEST screen: a scenario now loads like a saved game, with a TEAM of exactly the characters the scenario names. SAVE AS on the tuning knobs always writes a named copy and says what it did. OPEN FOLDER opens the folder your saved tunings are in (Windows), so you can send them to us.
- When a build changes a tuning default, an old saved value from an earlier build no longer overrides it (values you set yourself in this build still apply).
Audio
- New intro music, and it carries on under the main menu and the pre-game menus (OPTIONS, FROSTOPEDIA, LOAD GAME) until you enter the game or a lesson. Thanks to Pieman for asking for the menu music.
Fixes
- Sleeping indoors at the situation report never restores less than resting would.
Coming in v31, the next update: key remapping, hang glider balance, enemy attacks that work the 1989 way. Later, as DLC: bombers and mortars.