EXPERIMENTAL UPDATE #1

Our focus is entirely on the Story Missions and 1.0. These experimental updates contain bits and pieces of Story Mission features and general 1.0 polish.

We'll be releasing experimental updates like this one so you can give us feedback.

We're also planning on releasing story missions first via the experimental branch.

Warning: Possibly Unstable!

These experimental builds MAY be more unstable because we're still primarily focused on developing the story missions.

Leave feedback in-game via the ESC menu -> Help -> Report An Issue!

How to Participate

1. Right-click Saleblazers in your Steam library.
2. Select properties.
3. Select game versions and betas.
4. Select "experimental".
5. After a short update, you will now launch the experimental branch of Saleblazers.

Save Files

The experimental branch uses its own save folder, so your normal saves stay untouched. You can copy saves between the experimental and default save folders in either direction, but we recommend backing them up first in case something goes wrong.

We strongly recommend against transferring files from the experimental to the default until we release this update on the default branch. You'll be able to once it releases.

To open the save folder, click the Save Transfer button on the experimental branch’s title screen.

Pickpocketing, Birds, and More Controller Support!

This experimental update is a mix of several things:

• Story Mission features: dynamic bodies, pickpocketing, birds...
• General 1.0 polish: main menu, research board, world map, NPC shops...
• In-depth controller support: inventory QoL, display stocking, target lock, aim assist...

If you play on controller, this update is definitely for you! It's extremely fun to play on controller!

Dynamic Bodies

We've added some more ways for characters to look different from each other for our upcoming story missions.

For now, we’ve applied it to many NPCs, including Kazai Villagers, Kazai Village Police, Samurai, Cultists, Fashionistas, College Students, and Mages.

The plan is for the player to be able to customize how they look later on once we've finalized how this works.

New Pickpocketing Feature

Pickpocket your way through the Thievery skill! We've added pickpocketing to allow for more ways to beat Story Missions.

Pickpocket Everyone!

You can now pickpocket NPCs by crouching behind them (C or B/Circle) and interacting with them.

You'll gain Thievery XP just for looking at items in someone's inventory.

Reverse Pickpocketing

You can add items to people while pickpocketing.

If you add food, they'll eat it. If you add explosives... something else may happen.

People Have More Items Now

Shopkeepers will have some of their goods and people will generally have more food.

New Pickpocketing Thievery Bonuses

There are new Thievery bonuses that will help you with pickpocketing.

Birds

Different birds will fly around the island. Birds will be very important for the story...!

New World Map

The world map now uses the real 3D world. This will allow us to more effectively show the upcoming story mission world changes and fog!

It features extensive controller support.

Game Zone Names

You can finally see game zone names on the world map now!

If it's too high level for you, it'll say that it's dangerous.

Map Filter

You can filter for certain icons to quickly find what you need.

Set Icons as Markers

You can now click on any icon to set it as your current target destination.

Better First Person Mode

First person mode is a lot better this update to the point where we're comfortable making it a keybind.

• Guns now shoot from your camera instead of the gun, making first person shooting much more responsive like standard FPS games
• Better animations
• Improved held item
• Can see better when holding large items
• Cleaned up weird FX like sweat or charged attack glint
• Fixed up some weird interactions like when sleeping, talking to NPCs, or getting ragdolled
• All of this should work with the new controller auto-aim and interactable UI updates so it should be quite enjoyable even on controller!

You can try it out by pressing V, or F1 if you’ve played before (your old keybind carries over). You can rebind it in the gameplay settings.

For controllers, you can toggle 1P/3P by clicking both the L3 and R3 sticks together.

There’s also a new “Default View” option in the gameplay settings, so the game always starts in the view you prefer.

Controller and Interaction QoL

We added a ton of new features to make it super comfortable to play on controller to prepare for our 1.0 launch.

Auto-Lock on Enemies

You can now hold L2 to target lock with melee weapons and spells on controller.

You can also toggle target lock by R3 on controller, or Alt on keyboard.

Controller Soft Aim Assist

When using a controller, you will now have soft aim assist when aiming over enemies.

Controller Gun Aim Assist

Holding L2 will initiate hard aim assist when aiming down sights with a gun, and auto-lock when aiming with a spellbook.

Updated Item Interaction UI

We've updated the item interaction UI so that it's a lot clearer and more compact. You'll also be able to understand at a glance if it's something that is illegal to grab.

Nearby Item Interaction

You can now interact with items just by going near them for easier item interaction.

For example: you are able to interact with this Apple by simply walking up to it even though my camera is pointed high above:

Controller Vibrations

Many actions now have vibrations:

• Attacking enemies
• Getting hit
• Picking up items
• Cooking
• And more!

You can adjust the intensity in the settings.

Controller Input Update

To account for our new auto-lock feature, we have changed a few controls.

• Block (Hold): R1
• Dodge: L1
• Crouch: Circle/B
• Throw: L2 + Circle/B
• Target Lock (Toggle): R3
• Target Lock (Hold): L2
• Sprint (Toggle): L3
• Take All: Triangle/Y
• Menu Navigation: D-pad
• First/Third Person (Toggle): L3 + R3

These controls may change further as we get to 1.0.

New Controller-supported Settings Menu

We've completely reworked our settings menu for 1.0 and it includes full controller navigation support.

You can view your controller keybinds in the new settings menu.

New Controller-supported UI

In addition to the settings menu, we've converted a few screens like:

• The main menu
• Lobby
• Character creator
• You'll also be able to see what you're hovering with a cool new hover effect.
• And much more!

Controller Inventory Slot QoL

We've made inventories much easier to use with controllers.

• On controllers, selecting items now quick moves if a container is open or opens up the context menu
• On controllers, equipping items via the context menu now allow you to place your item in a specific slot
• Quick moved items now show a visualization of their movement
• Newly picked up items wobble a few times

Pause Menu Actually Pauses the Game (in Singleplayer)

When you press ESC or Start to go into the full screen menu, it will now pause the game if you are in singleplayer.

If you're in multiplayer, the host can use P to pause the game.

New Stocking Mode for Shop Displays

Shop displays now have a hold interaction to go into "Stocking Mode".

This allows you to stock items by clicking on items in your inventory or in the display.

It plays great on controller!

Improved NPC Shops

Shopping has never looked better! We have an new beautiful UI that shows a 3D rendition of the item as well as controller navigation support.

Improved Research Board

The research board has received a little more love to bring it to 1.0 quality.

You'll be able to see 3D renditions of each item, as well as a streamlined experience and extensive controller support.

(Research board sounds like it's underwater but that's not intentional and will be updated.)

New Movement Options

We've added a few more movement options that may be useful in the upcoming story missions.

Wall Jumping

You can now slide against a wall and perform a jump.

Sliding

You can now slide by crouching while moving fast enough downhill.

Foot IK

Your feet will now collide with terrain.

Shadow Rendering Update

This update brings a completely new shadow rendering technique.

Better Looking, Optimized Shadows

We've changed how shadows render for better, softer visuals. This more importantly also includes complex shadow rendering optimizations.

Far Shadow Rendering

Before / After

We now cache shadowmaps which will improve performance at the cost of GPU memory and allow us to have very far shadows. We need this so that our far horizon views look better!

You can toggle this in the graphics settings.

Enemy Levels

We've always had enemy levels in the game, but it was too obfuscated. We've added some extra QoL for enemy levels for our 1.0 release and story missions.

Visible NPC Levels

When you target an NPC or look at them, you'll be able to see what level they are now.

If they're too high level for you, you'll see a skull instead of their level.

Better Enemy Loot Scaling

NPC levels have always affected their loot rarities, but we've added some extra loot scaling for NPCs for rarity attributes and non-stackable drop counts.

Better Enemy Level Scaling

We've rebalanced many zones in the game. In particular, Snowville is much harder. Let us know how it feels!

Enemy Movement Scaling

Higher level enemies will move faster.

Optimized and Better Water Rendering

Since one of our planned story missions may be in the ocean we've spent some time on our water!

• Splashes cause ripples
• Ocean has waves that actually move you up and down
• A much more optimized water mesh rendering solution

Improved Ocean Fish Spawning

Fish will spawn more often throughout all depths of the ocean waters.

Watch out for the Bellcursed Shark!

We've added the Bellcursed Shark to spawn in more waters... be careful! You won't be able to just swim anywhere you want.

What's Next?

We're planning to release experimental updates and, once we have enough feedback, release final updates to the main branch for everyone.

Story missions will first be playable via the experimental branch before we release it to everyone, for example.

Thanks for reading!

Full Changelist

Changes

• Added pickpocketing. Crouch behind an NPC and interact to take items from their pockets or plant items on them
• Improved NPC reaction time and fight/flee behaviors
• NPCs now carry pocket loot that suits them
• Added new Thievery bonuses to support pickpocketing, including one that rewards focusing on an item
• Birds now fly around the island
• The world map now uses the real 3D world, and you can zoom out further
• On the world map, you can now track quests, pin quest locations and your own markers, and click any icon to set it as your destination
• Filter the world map by My Shops, Other Shops, and runes, and jump to a quest on the map straight from the journal
• Zone names now appear as you enter them, with a warning when a zone is too dangerous for your level
• Entering your own shop plot now shows your shop's name
• NPC levels are now visible when you target or look at them, with a skull if they are too high level for you
• Added extra loot scaling by NPC level for rarity attributes and non-stackable drop counts
• Rebalanced enemy levels in many zones. Snowville in particular is much harder
• Added body morphs that give NPCs a wide range of heights and builds, including Kazai Villagers, Kazai Village Police, Cultists, Fashionistas, College Students, and Mages
• An NPC's build now slightly changes how they move and ragdoll
• Added wall jumping and sliding downhill while crouched
• Your feet now plant on the terrain
• Added a new stocking mode for shop displays. Hold interact on a display, then click items in your inventory or the display to stock or take them
• Display employee filter settings are now inside the stocking view
• Selling items to customers now has a chance to start a fad, with customers around the world wearing and carrying that item
• During haggling, you can now see what percentage of the base price you are offering
• When selling to NPC merchants, you can now choose how many items from a stack to sell
• The ESC menu now pauses the game in singleplayer
• Redesigned the main menu with a new paper look
• Added Singleplayer and Multiplayer to the main menu, and Continue now shows a preview of the save it will load
• Saves and characters created in this update or later now track playtime
• Redesigned the settings menu with full controller support. Changes now preview live, with 15 seconds to keep or revert them
• Redesigned the inventory, backpack, containers, and NPC merchants with a new paper look and better controller support
• Redesigned the anvil, crafting, dye workbench, and mannequin screens with better controller support, including a Take All button for crafting output
• Updated the end-of-day summary, lobby, character creator, save menu, and Report an Issue screens with better controller support
• Added a Help tab to the phone with a link to our Discord. The Report an Issue button is now there too
• Added auto-lock on enemies. Press R3 or Alt to toggle it, or hold L2 to auto-lock with melee weapons and spells
• Sprinting while locked on now faces where you are moving
• Added soft aim assist on controller, hard aim assist when aiming a gun with L2, and throw assist that targets nearby enemies
• Updated the controller layout. L2 now holds auto-lock instead of blocking, so block is only on R1, and R3 toggles auto-lock
• On controller, Circle/B now crouches, throwing is L2 + Circle/B, L3 sprints, Y takes all, and the D-pad navigates menus
• Added controller vibration, with an intensity setting
• Added a controller hover effect
• Inventories are much easier to use on controller. Selecting an item quick moves it when a container is open, and equipping from the context menu lets you pick the slot
• You can now interact with items just by walking up to them
• The interaction range is now the same on controller and keyboard
• The item interaction UI is clearer and shows when something is illegal to take
• Added a clearer indicator for hold interactions
• Hovering a character now shows their name and health from further away, including damaged characters and ragdolls
• Quick moved items now animate to where they went, and newly picked up items wobble to draw your attention
• Door and register prompts now say what they will do, and beds now say Sleep instead of Sit
• The backpack now shows eight slots per row, and your main inventory only shows the rows you have unlocked
• Scrap All is now called Scrap Non-Stackable
• Containers you find in the world now use the same loot screen as death boxes
• Item details are cleaner, with compact stat requirements and highlighted damage-type bonuses
• Item details now appear right next to your mouse pointer in the inventory
• Popups now dissolve in and out, and always appear above item details
• You can now move while charging melee attacks
• Melee combat is more responsive, and your swings now steer toward your target
• Enemies now turn hostile as soon as they are hit and move more naturally in a fight
• Cultists now chase you down and attack instead of circling and watching
• Thrown items now always throw at full strength, even at zero stamina
• Spell homing now only locks onto targets in a narrower cone in front of you
• Bullets now deal different armor damage depending on their ammo type
• Guns can now roll a wider range of attributes
• Added Run and Gun, a footwear attribute that helps you move while aiming down sights
• Rebalanced origin clothing attributes
• The Chef origin no longer starts with a Campfire, because there is already one in the starting shop
• Employee training now takes at least one in-game hour
• Sharks are now invulnerable ocean hazards that can grab you and stop you from swimming past the edge of the map
• Fish now swim at depths that suit them and follow you when you dive
• The research bench is now a 3D board you can navigate like the map
• Legacy food now replaces your previous meal's effects and grants a curated set of food attributes
• New shadow rendering for softer, better-looking, and better-optimized shadows
• More lights now cast shadows, such as torches. You can turn this off in the graphics settings
• Far shadows are now cached for much longer shadow distances on the horizon. You can turn this off in the graphics settings
• Far shadows are on by default in the High graphics preset
• Colors are less washed out, and fog now tints the lighting
• Lighting and post-processing have been updated throughout the day
• Bloom and foliage sway are softer
• Rain is easier to see at every intensity, with splashes landing on the ground and water instead of floating in the air
• Water now ripples and foams from splashes, footsteps, swimming, jumps, gunfire and fishing
• Ocean waves move you up and down, and swimming keeps its momentum across waves
• The ocean now extends past the edge of the world
• The health bar is now an animated liquid
• Status effect badges on the HUD are easier to read
• The camera is much more stable at different distances
• Your left hand now stays animated while holding large items
• Held and holstered items no longer cast shadows
• Grass is now less shiny
• Removed the empty Shepherd pods in front of the shop and moved the rune to the peak Shepherd pod
• First person mode (V) is much better. Guns now shoot from the camera, animations and held items are improved, and large items block less of your view
• You can now make first person your default view in the gameplay settings
• Voice chat now defaults to B
• Added new loading screen hints for stats, fishing, cooking, combat, and thievery

Fixes

• Co-op clients now level up properly, and shared XP, melee mastery, and register mastery are awarded correctly
• Save slots now load from the autosave or backup when the main world save is missing
• Improved save loading reliability while areas are streaming in and out
• Players in multiplayer no longer get let into an area before it has finished loading
• Mounted boar gunners now shoot properly for other players in multiplayer
• Hotbar item icons no longer turn transparent in multiplayer
• Police warnings now play properly for every player
• NPCs who see a crime react to it again
• Jail quests are no longer missing after loading a save
• The Apex no longer fails to attack you when you stand slightly above it
• Employees now revive properly after loading a save, keep their appearance, and no longer drop loot when they die
• NPC bodies no longer disappear when they die, and keep their clothing
• Weapons NPCs were holding now show up in their death box for easy looting
• NPC bodies no longer contort when they die, including Pop Pop's
• Bellcoat no longer slides around while sitting
• Fast-moving NPCs no longer snag on their own bodies
• AI now respects doors and blocked-off areas when pathing, and no longer walks blindly toward a destination it cannot reach
• Customers and police no longer get stuck when they wander far from home
• Road NPCs no longer despawn right in front of you
• Several NPCs now use the right names and conversations
• Copper nodes near the meteorite now spawn properly, and spawners no longer use ground data from far away
• Different variants of the same item can be displayed side by side again
• You now get a message when your inventory is full while taking items from containers
• Clothing on your hotbar now offers Wear instead of Unequip
• Holding to deposit into a container no longer breaks if the container disappears
• Getting out of bed now puts you back where you were standing
• The Icy Hog Saloon shop is back in the right place
• The Outlaw Bruiser Hat now sells for its proper price instead of 2 cents
• NPC merchants now pay the proper price for cooked meals
• Trading with NPC merchants no longer says your inventory is full when the trade would free up space
• Mark Schmitt's shop no longer closes right after you open it from dialogue
• Backpack names are now correctly translated
• Ammo item details no longer show misleading damage stats
• Cooking water now stays aligned with moving vessels
• Lights on held items now turn on and off with the day and night cycle
• The damage and melee charge glow no longer gets stuck on characters
• Character eyes, facial expressions, and blinking now display correctly
• Character shadows no longer jitter
• Footstep marks are now placed under the foot instead of the toes
• The minimap no longer bounces when the camera turns
• Map icons now show their proper names
• Water no longer darkens incorrectly in shadow, and holes in distant and shoreline water have been filled
• Fixed missing large bushes, cave pool water, a river connection, and a terrain seam
• Snowy pine trees no longer show black specks, and distant coconut palms no longer have floating leaves
• Grass no longer rustles when Foliage Details is turned off
• Fixed water flashing and missing sky reflections on Mac
• Greatly reduced memory usage
• Improved performance across the open world, including trees, characters, shadows, water, AI, and the inventory UI

These patch notes are also available on Saleblazers.com