ROTEN — World Alive Update

Hello, survivors.

After a long period of polishing, fixing bugs, improving the atmosphere, and working on the new-player experience, a new ROTEN update is here.

This update introduces a completely new Tutorial, a Safe Zone with a Trader and NPCs, gameplay and survival improvements, new audio features, environmental additions, quality-of-life changes, and many fixes throughout the game.

A major goal of this update was simple: make the beginning of ROTEN easier to understand without removing the freedom and exploration that are at the core of the game.

NEW SCREENSHOTS

Added a new set of screenshots to better represent the current state of ROTEN. These images give a more accurate look at how the game feels today.

NEW TUTORIAL

A completely separate Tutorial Level has been added for new players.

The Tutorial takes place on its own small map and introduces the main mechanics gradually instead of throwing everything at the player at once.

Added a dedicated Tutorial Level

Added a Tutorial option to the Main Menu [ ] Added a new small Tutorial map

Added a dedicated in-game map for the Tutorial

A dded an introductory Controls screen

Added the Wounded Man NPC The Wounded Man now introduces and starts the Tutorial mission

Added progressive Tutorial objectives

The Tutorial covers:

• Food and water
• Clothing and backpacks
• Basic movement
• Weapon pickup and use
• Zombie combat
• Fishing
• Basic crafting

The Tutorial is currently designed as a Single Player experience.

NEW SAFE ZONE

A new Safe Zone has been added to the Forest biome.

This location gives players a place to prepare before heading back into more dangerous parts of the world.

• Added a new Safe Zone
• Added a Trader
• Added multiple NPCs
• Added dialogue lines for the Safe Zone NPCs
• Zombies and bandits do not spawn inside the Safe Zone
• Food, ammunition, weapons and other supplies can be found in the area

The NPCs currently focus on dialogue and atmosphere. Missions for individual NPCs are planned for future updates.

PLAYER & SURVIVAL IMPROVEMENTS

• Increased player stamina
• Increased player strength
• Increased player oxygen capacity
• Weapons picked up directly from the world are now automatically equipped
• Added G to quickly drop the item or weapon currently held in your hands

DROWNING CHANGES

Running out of oxygen no longer causes instant death.

Once the player's oxygen reaches zero, health now begins to decrease progressively, giving the player a chance to react and reach safety.

TRUE SINGLE PLAYER PAUSE

Opening the Pause Menu now properly pauses the game in Single Player.

Multiplayer sessions continue running normally when an individual player opens the Pause Menu.

AUDIO SETTINGS

The long-awaited Sound Settings have started to arrive.

• Added Master Volume control
• Improved ambient sound playback
• Added additional environmental sounds
• Added in-game ambient music
• Added fire ambience
• Added radio and signal interruption effects
• Improved delayed ambient sound playback so certain sounds do not repeat constantly
• Fixed several environmental sounds that were not playing correctly

This is currently the first version of the audio settings system, with Master Volume available.

ZOMBIE AUDIO IMPROVEMENTS

Zombie audio has also received additional work.

• Improved zombie movement and footstep sounds
• Nearby infected should now be easier to notice through audio
• Reduced several overly loud zombie pain sounds
• Significantly reduced the louder female zombie pain reactions
• Improved the overall audio balance during zombie encounters

ENVIRONMENT & ATMOSPHERE

Several additions have been made to make the world feel less static and more alive.

• Added Heat Haze effects
• Added additional atmospheric sounds
• Added more environmental audio layers
• Added in-game ambient music
• Added wild boar piglets
• General atmosphere and environmental polish

WORLD & COLLISION FIXES

A lot of time was spent cleaning up problems throughout the existing world.

• Fixed several buildings that could not be entered correctly
• Fixed problematic building and structure collisions
• Fixed several world collision issues
• Improved access to affected interiors

ITEM INTERACTION FIXES

Several situations where loot could be seen but not properly collected have been fixed.

• Fixed items inside cabinets that could not be picked up
• Fixed items located under beds that could not be picked up
• Fixed items on tables and other surfaces that could not be interacted with correctly
• Improved world-item interaction detection
• Improved collision handling around interactable items
• Improved Spawn Zone collision behaviour with World Dynamic objects

CAMERA IMPROVEMENTS

• Improved overall camera responsiveness
• Reduced excessive Camera Lag
• Reworked Rotation Lag for smoother turning
• Improved camera behaviour during fast turns and 180-degree movement
• Improved mouse responsiveness
• General First Person and Third Person camera polish

MAP & NAVIGATION

• Updated the in-game map layout
• Recalibrated map data to better match the world dimensions
• Improved map scaling and positioning
• Improved navigation accuracy
• Added a dedicated map for the Tutorial area in a 3:4 vertical format

UI, MISSIONS & STABILITY

• Added dedicated Tutorial Controls UI
• Improved Tutorial objective presentation
• Improved Tutorial widget sequencing and cleanup
• Improved Tutorial startup behaviour
• Improved integration between the Tutorial and Mission system
• Added dedicated Tutorial mission data
• Improved mission initialization
• Fixed Mission Component reference issues
• Fixed several Blueprint runtime errors
• Improved level-specific Tutorial initialization
• Improved packaged-build stability
• General Blueprint cleanup and gameplay polish

ROTEN QUICK SURVIVAL GUIDE

An official ROTEN Quick Survival Guide is now available through Steam.

The guide covers the basics of survival, exploration, equipment, combat, zombies, bandits, crafting, building, navigation, fishing, multiplayer and more.

COMMUNITY FEEDBACK

A large part of this update was shaped by player feedback, especially regarding the first hours of the game.

Special thanks to Xirothnir X for the detailed Steam review highlighting the beginner experience, drowning behaviour, proper Single Player pausing, zombie awareness sounds, zombie pain audio, and audio settings.

Many of those suggestions are now part of ROTEN.

Player feedback continues to be an important part of the game's development.

THANK YOU

Thank you to everyone who has played ROTEN, reported bugs, shared feedback, left a review, watched the videos, or simply followed the development.

There is still a lot more ahead.

Survive.

We Are All Roten.

-Solar blue