Major Update 1 of 2 – A More Lively World and Many New Details!

Hello Community,

Today, the time has finally come again: A major update for KeepUp Survival is ready!

Look forward to new gameplay features, a more lively game world, improved animal animations, numerous new sound effects, technical optimizations, and many bug fixes!

Unfortunately, the update was delayed a little, but today it's finally here!

Two major updates are on the way!

The planned new features are being split into two major updates. The first update is available today, while the second is expected to arrive in 1–2 weeks.

During this time, I'd like to collect your feedback on the first update so that I can make further improvements and bug fixes if necessary.

The second update will include, among other things:

• The new fishing system
• The trader many of you have requested
• An improved leveling system
• Reworked automatically operated boats
• More places to discover and explore
• Further optimizations and improvements
• Visual improvements, such as the appearance of trees
• Additional bug fixes

What can you expect from this update?

A lot has changed with this update. Alongside new gameplay mechanics, such as picking the locks of doors, vehicles, and containers, my main focus was on making the entire game world feel more natural, lively, and atmospheric.

Whether it's rustling bushes, flocks of birds flying overhead, improved vehicle interactions, or new sounds while exploring, many big and small changes are intended to make the island feel even more alive.

A lot of work has also been done behind the scenes to further develop KeepUp Survival technically and improve the gameplay experience.

Performance was particularly important to me!

As many of you know, KeepUp Survival has struggled with performance issues for quite some time. That's why I put a large part of my work into optimization and was able to achieve significant improvements. You can read more about this further down in the update details.

Update Notice - Known Issues

Even after this major update, some minor issues may still occur. As far as I know, none of these are serious problems, but I'd still like to let you know about a few known issues.

• Occasional FPS drops: Short FPS drops may still occur in certain situations.
• Tree appearance: Some trees are scaled down too aggressively even at relatively close distances, making them look less appealing.
• Issues with player-controlled boats: Passengers sometimes still have trouble getting out of the boat. It is also possible for a boat to be pushed away unintentionally.

I've already taken these known issues into account for Update 2 of 2 and intend to improve or fix them in the upcoming update.

If you notice any other bugs or unusual things while playing, feel free to mention them in the comments!

My goal for KeepUp Survival

My goal is to develop KeepUp Survival a little further with every update, create new possibilities, and offer you an increasingly better gameplay experience.

Of course, I'm aware that finding the right player community isn't always easy, especially for a game like KeepUp Survival. After all, every player has different ideas about what makes a good survival game.

Nevertheless, I want to continue following my own path and develop KeepUp Survival into a game that particularly appeals to those who are looking for exactly this kind of survival experience.

I really hope you enjoy the many changes and new features and discover a surprise or two while exploring the island!

I look forward to hearing about your experiences and receiving your feedback on the new update!

Important Notice About Saving Vehicles

With this update, the vehicle saving system has been reworked. Unfortunately, this change was necessary for technical reasons and could not be avoided.

What does this mean for you?

You simply need to find your existing vehicles in the game world again and save them once more so that the revised saving system can register them correctly.

I ask for your understanding regarding this one-time change. It was necessary to improve the vehicle saving system in the long term and prepare it for future expansions.

Optimization

This was one of the most important parts of this major update for me. It had been bothering me for quite some time that KeepUp Survival's performance had declined over time, making the game less enjoyable to play for some people.

Through extensive optimizations, I was able to significantly improve performance. In my tests, I gained around 40 FPS, and I now once again achieve over 100 FPS on the large Lost Island in my tests. Note: FPS may still fluctuate significantly under certain circumstances, which can occasionally lead to noticeable performance drops.

Even more performance would have been possible, but I didn't want the visual quality of the game world to suffer as a result.

The overall feel of the game has also been improved, so movement and gameplay should feel smoother and more fluid.

Multiplayer: Optimizations have also been made here to make playing together smoother and more enjoyable. However, I particularly rely on your experiences and feedback here, as everyone has different hardware and network conditions.

The following game worlds have been optimized:

• Lost Island
• Red Desert
• Tropical Island
• Mountain

Of course, actual FPS may vary depending on your hardware and graphics settings.

A More Lively and Interactive Game World

The environment in KeepUp Survival has received several major improvements.

New and improved environmental interactions:

• Grass, bushes, and larger grassy areas now react to players moving through them.
• Appropriate rustling sounds are now heard when moving through bushes and dense vegetation.
• Animals and vehicles can also trigger these environmental sounds.
• Various surfaces and areas of the game world have been visually reworked.
• Numerous ambient sounds have been renewed and improved.

These changes are intended to make nature feel less static and more responsive to what happens in the world.

Note: Since Lost Island was prioritized for this update, the DLC maps will receive further adjustments and improvements to environmental interactions in the next update.

Animals and Better Animations

The wildlife has also received numerous improvements with this update.

Improved animal movement:

• The running and movement animations of all animals have been reworked.
• Animals now adapt their movements more naturally to slopes and inclines.
• Turning movements have been improved, making animals move more smoothly and believably.
• Hit reactions have been reworked and now play more reliably when animals are attacked.
• Various animal sounds have been improved.

Animals audibly interact with their surroundings:

When animals move through bushes or dense vegetation, you can now hear appropriate rustling sounds.

This makes the wildlife feel more alive, not only visually but also acoustically.

Pets – Improved Movement and New Calling Sounds

Your animal companions haven't been forgotten either!

Whether it's the Beagle, Wolfhound, or Leopard, your pets have also received several improvements.

• Running and movement animations have been reworked.
• Movement on slopes and while turning now looks more natural.
• A bug that caused pets to occasionally teleport due to incorrect overlapping (clipping) has been fixed.
• When you call your pet as usual using the X key, you will now hear a whistle.

The new whistling sound is intended to make calling your animal companion feel more natural.

Character – New Sounds for Stamina, Health, and Movement

Your character has also received several audio improvements with this update, designed to make the gameplay experience feel more natural.

Stamina and Breathing

When your stamina starts running low while sprinting, you will now hear your character breathing increasingly heavily.

The less stamina you have left, the more noticeable and louder the breathing becomes.

This makes it easier to tell when your character is reaching their limit without constantly having to watch the stamina bar.

Health and Heartbeat

As soon as your health drops below 25%, an audible heartbeat begins.

The lower your health falls, the more intense the sound becomes.

This gives you an additional warning signal when your character urgently needs healing.

Reworked Footstep Sounds

The existing footstep sounds have also been reworked.

Different footstep sounds will continue to play depending on the surface you're walking on, such as grass, dirt, stone, or wood.

These sounds have now been improved and balanced to sound more natural and blend more harmoniously with the ambient audio.

Especially during longer exploration trips, the reworked sounds should provide a more pleasant and cohesive audio experience.

HUD – Improved Readability and an Additional Compass

The HUD (user interface) has also been reworked and expanded with a new feature in this update.

• Improved readability: As requested, the HUD text has been reworked and given a subtle shadow. This helps the text stand out from the background and remain easier to read under different lighting conditions.
• Improved HUD animations: Various interface elements have received additional animations, while existing animations have been reworked. This makes the HUD displays feel more lively and fluid.
• Additional compass: There is now a compass at the top of the screen that shows your current viewing direction at all times. This makes it easier to navigate the game world without constantly having to take out your Multi Deck.

These improvements are intended to make the user interface clearer and help you navigate while exploring the island.

Further adjustments and improvements to the HUD are also planned for the future, as the interface will continue to be developed and optimized step by step.

Damage Indicator – New Design and Directional Indicator

The damage indicator has been completely reworked and improved.

• Reworked damage indicator: The previous display has been replaced by a new system that, as before, visually alerts you when your character takes damage.
• New directional damage indicator: In addition, a new directional indicator shows you where the damage is coming from. This allows you to identify the direction of an attack more quickly and react accordingly.

These improvements are intended to provide better awareness, especially in dangerous situations, and help you respond to attacks more quickly.

Lockpicking – Locked Doors, Vehicles, and Containers

Until now, you could open almost every door and vehicle in KeepUp Survival without any trouble. That's over now!

From now on, while exploring the game world, you will also encounter locked doors, vehicles, and containers that can no longer be opened so easily.

You have three different options:

• Open normally: Not all doors or containers are locked. You can still open these as usual without any additional tools.
• Use a lockpick: Locked doors, vehicles, and containers can be picked using a lockpick. Not every lock is equally difficult to open: depending on the lock, picking it may be easier or harder. Be especially careful with more difficult locks, as lockpicks can break quickly! You can craft new lockpicks from simple materials found, for example, while searching through trash.
• Force it open: Alternatively, you can try to force a lock open with a bit of skill and rapid button presses. Your reaction speed and finger speed will be put to the test! Of course, care has been taken to keep this enjoyable to play without leaving your fingers aching afterward.

This new system is intended to make exploring houses, vehicles, and other locations a little more exciting. Not everything can simply be opened anymore; sometimes you need the right tool or have to show a little skill yourself.

Crafting – New Craftable Item

The crafting system has also been expanded with a new item.

• Craft a lockpick: You can now craft a lockpick from simple materials found, for example, while searching through trash.
• Pick locked locks: With your homemade lockpick, you can attempt to open locked doors, vehicles, and containers.
• Be careful when lockpicking: Lockpicks aren't particularly durable and can break quickly when you try to open a lock.

More Life in the Seas and Skies

The game world is also receiving new animals and atmospheric details for you to discover during your explorations.

New Flocks of Birds

There's more going on in the sky now, too!

Alongside the familiar birds that fly close to the ground and can be hunted, there are now additional flocks of birds flying at higher altitudes.

These mainly serve to enhance the atmosphere and make the sky feel less empty.

Airplanes in the Sky

Occasionally, you can now spot airplanes flying high above the island.

Another small detail that you don't see in every game, intended to make the world feel more believable and alive.

Marine Animals – Preview of Update 2 of 2

With the second part of the update, you'll occasionally be able to observe more marine animals out at sea.

So keep your eyes open while exploring the coastlines and traveling by boat!

New Environmental Details and Landmarks

There's also plenty to discover beyond the major changes.

Flies and New Details Around Trash Areas

In certain locations, such as near trash cans and piles of garbage, you can now see and hear small swarms of flies.

The ground surfaces in some of these areas have also been reworked to make the surroundings feel more believable.

*Further changes and new additions are included in Update 2 of 2

Two New Lighthouses

Two lighthouses have also been placed in the game world.

Once it gets dark, their signal lights activate, adding another atmospheric detail, especially at night.

Vehicles – New Particle Effects and Environmental Sounds

Vehicles have also received several improvements with this update.

• Additional wheel particles: Additional particle effects now appear around the wheels while driving.
• Different surfaces produce different particle effects. Depending on whether you're driving on asphalt, dirt, sand, or grass, for example, appropriate particles will be kicked up.
• Driving through tall grass and bushes now triggers appropriate rustling sounds.
• The interaction between vehicles and the environment has been improved overall.

These changes make driving over different surfaces feel more natural and allow vehicles to interact more with their surroundings.

Various vehicle-related bugs have also been fixed to make entering and exiting more reliable and fluid.

• Entering and exiting fixed: A bug has been fixed where the character could fall through the game world under certain circumstances when entering or exiting a vehicle.
• Improved seating position: When entering and exiting quickly, the character could unintentionally twist around on the vehicle seat or end up in an incorrect seating position. This bug has also been fixed. (Currently still being monitored)
• New head movements: The character now moves their head according to the camera direction. When you look around while driving, the head follows your viewing direction, making the movements feel more alive.
• Corrected arm movements: The driver's arms now move correctly while driving, making the animations and character posture look more natural.

These fixes are intended to make entering and exiting vehicles more stable and ensure that the character maintains the correct position and orientation even during quick actions.

New prompt for righting overturned vehicles: If a vehicle tips over or ends up on its roof, a prompt now appears showing which key you need to press to turn it upright again. This makes the feature easier to find, so you no longer have to figure out on your own how to get your vehicle back onto its wheels.

Drive Your Own Boats!

A request from the community is finally being fulfilled with this update!

For the first time, you can now steer a boat yourself and explore the waters around the island!

You won't simply glide across the water; you'll also feel the movement and waves of the sea. This means you're no longer limited to the automatically operated boats.

Note: Some issues may still occur when using the new boat. These are already known and are intended to be fixed with Update 2 of 2.

Horse – More Natural Movement and an Improved Riding Experience

The rideable horse has also been extensively reworked with this update to make riding feel more natural and realistic.

Movement and riding behavior in particular have been improved so that the horse moves more believably and smoothly while exploring the game world.

Improved Character Riding Animations

Not only the horse itself, but also the character's posture and movements have been reworked.

• More natural arm movements: The character now holds on correctly while riding. The arms move along with the horse's movements.
• Improved leg position: The character's legs have been better adjusted to the seating position on the horse, making the riding posture look more natural.
• New head movements: The character now moves their head according to the camera direction. When you look around while riding, the head follows your viewing direction, making the movements feel more alive.
• Improved riding experience: The reworked movements of the horse and rider are intended to make exploring the island on horseback feel smoother and more authentic overall.
• Different particle effects: Depending on whether you're riding over asphalt, dirt, sand, or grass, for example, appropriate particles will be kicked up.
• New environmental sounds: Moving through tall grass and bushes now triggers appropriate rustling sounds.
• Improved environmental interactions: The interaction between the horse and its surroundings has been improved overall.

Note: The rework of the horse system is not yet fully complete. Further improvements to movement behavior and riding animations are also planned for future updates.

Helicopter – Now Usable in Multiplayer Too!

For some time, the small helicopter was only fully usable in single-player mode. With this update, the necessary adjustments have been made so that you can now use it in multiplayer too!

• Multiplayer support: The helicopter has been reworked for multiplayer and can now be independently controlled and flown by joining players (clients). Its use is no longer limited to the host.
• Single-seater: Please note that this is a small helicopter with only one seat. Therefore, only one player can enter and control it at a time.

This gives you another way to discover the island from a completely different perspective in multiplayer!

Automatic Boats – New Appearance and Additional Sounds (Moved to Update 2 of 2)

Important: The following changes will not be released until Update 2 of 2.

The automatically operated boats will also receive further reworks and improvements.

• New appearance: The previous simple wooden boats will be replaced with older, rustic fishing cutters that fit better into the atmosphere of the game world.
• New arrival signal: As soon as a boat docks at a pier, a bell signal sounds to alert you to its arrival.
• Audible departure signal: A corresponding bell signal also sounds before departure, announcing that the boat is about to leave.
• More realistic water movement: The boats will react to the waves and movements of the sea. This makes them move more naturally on the water and provides a more authentic boating experience.

These improvements are intended not only to make boat trips more atmospheric, but also to help you notice the arrival and departure of boats in good time.

Note: These changes are no longer part of Update 1 and will be released with Update 2 of 2.

Transportation – More Vehicles in the Game World

The number of discoverable means of transportation, including vehicles, boats, and helicopters, has also been increased with this update.

From now on, you can discover various means of transportation at additional locations in the game world to help you explore the island.

This gives you more opportunities to find a suitable means of transportation and explore the vast game world.

Weapons and Tools – Improved Impact Sounds

Various sounds for weapons and tools have also been reworked and improved.

• New sounds when mining stone: When you strike rocks with your tools, you'll now hear reworked impact sounds that better match the material.
• Improved hit sounds on animals: Sounds when hitting animals with an axe or other melee weapons have also been adjusted to make the impacts sound more believable.
• New sound when switching fire modes: When switching between a weapon's available firing modes, such as single fire and automatic fire, an appropriate switching sound now plays. This gives you additional audio feedback when changing fire modes.
• Reworked crossbow sounds: The crossbow's sound effects have also been adjusted and improved to make firing sound more natural and realistic.
• New swing sounds for melee weapons: When swinging clubs, appropriate swing sounds now play to accompany the movement and make using these weapons feel more natural.
• New sounds when chopping down trees: Tree felling has also been reworked acoustically. New and improved sounds make chopping down trees sound more natural and realistic.
• Reworked default sounds: The so-called default sounds have also been reworked and improved. These serve as replacement sounds if a particular action or interaction does not have its own dedicated sound. In such cases, a suitable default sound plays automatically so that the action is not completely silent and still provides audio feedback.

These improvements are intended to make using weapons and tools feel more natural and help different actions stand out through appropriate sounds.

Technical Improvements and Bug Fixes

Alongside the visible new features, several important changes have also been made behind the scenes.

Engine Upgrade

I've always tried to keep KeepUp Survival as up to date as possible with Unreal Engine. However, changes like these don't always bring only advantages.

The switch from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5 in particular caused numerous problems that took me a great deal of time to fix. To be honest, I still regret that switch to this day.

Nevertheless, I've continued to keep up with newer engine versions ever since. Generally speaking, constantly upgrading to the latest version isn't necessarily recommended, but every developer has their own approach.

KeepUp Survival has now reached Unreal Engine 5.8. This is also intended to be the version I stick with as I continue developing KeepUp Survival in the long term.

FSR Updated

The AMD FSR technology used in the game has been updated to a newer version.

Improved View Distances

Various distance settings have been adjusted so that certain objects in the game world no longer disappear too early. You'll surely notice the differences yourself while exploring the island.

Rock Rendering Bug Fixed

A bug affecting large rocks has been fixed. At certain distances, rocks could briefly disappear and then become visible again.

Further Bug Fixes

• Improved rendering of various environmental objects.
• Fixed incorrect overlapping issues with pets.
• Various smaller adjustments to animations and movement sequences.

Beyond that, countless smaller bugs have been fixed and adjustments made. There were so many little things that, at some point, I had to stop writing down every single change, otherwise the list would have become much longer.

A Few Words in Closing

KeepUp Survival is not an AAA or AA game, but with this update I wanted to achieve one thing above all: The world of KeepUp Survival should feel more lively, natural, and varied.

At the same time, I naturally hope these improvements will also have a positive effect on the gameplay experience and, in the long term, on the reviews.

As a solo developer, this is particularly important to me. A lot of time, work, and passion have gone into KeepUp Survival. Your feedback and reviews play a crucial role. They show me what you already like, where improvements are still needed, and in which direction the game should continue to develop.

It's not always just the big new features that make a game better. Often, it's the small details that make a game world feel more believable and alive.

An animal moving through a bush. The rustling of grass while exploring. A flock of birds flying over the island.

All these little moments are intended to make the world feel less static and ensure that there's always something new to discover while exploring.

Of course, the development of KeepUp Survival is far from finished. There are still many things I want to improve, rework, and expand. My goal remains to develop the game step by step while taking your wishes and feedback into account.

As a solo developer, that isn't always easy, but I want to keep showing that KeepUp Survival is constantly evolving.

A big thank you to everyone who continues to support and play KeepUp Survival, shares constructive criticism, and takes the time to leave a review!

I hope you enjoy the changes, and I wish you lots of fun exploring the reworked game world!

Join Discord: https://discord.gg/8zyKXj9SDr

Thank you very much for your support!

Witte Studio

Developer: Ares-X