ZONE L.O.S.T. Demo - Hotfix #2 (v0.1.2)

ZONE L.O.S.T. Demo - Hotfix #2 (v0.1.2)

Hey everyone,

Thank you for playing the demo, for streaming it and for every bug report. This round is about performance, Level 1 and the monsters: you told us the game could run smoother and that the monsters had swung too far the other way after Hotfix #1. We also fixed a number of things you found in co-op. Details below.

Performance

- New graphics presets in Options > Graphics: Low / Medium / High / Custom. The default is picked by your video memory.

- Low renders at 70% resolution scale with shadows off, Medium at 85% with soft shadows reduced, High at 100%. On our test PC the lobby runs about twice as fast on Low.

- Maps are now built from static objects: wall decorations and posters are plain props without physics, the partitions between desks are gone, tables are static, and lamps flicker the same for everyone without extra network traffic.

- Less frame stutter and less memory churn during play.

- The game no longer forces its own FPS limit or V-Sync. Only your settings in Options are used.

Level 1

- New furniture layout in all rooms. Many tables are open underneath, so you can crawl under them and hide.

- Reworked loot: items on tables, on the floor and next to walls, with mousetraps in rooms and corridors. Medical items are limited to 1 per type and interactive items to 2 per type on a level.

- Clearer task chain: find the evacuation door, press the red button, put 4 fuses into the fuse box, escape the zone. The task texts were rewritten and now wrap to fit the screen in all 12 languages.

Characters

- Running now drains stamina 25% slower for every character (10 -> 7.5 per second).

- Invalid: the body collider is smaller (0.75 m -> 0.67 m) and sits exactly on the floor, so Invalid now fits under tables. The crouch button no longer does anything for Invalid, who is always low anyway. Hiding under an object over the head now works while walking and running.

- Fat now squeezes through doorways a little faster (0.25 -> 0.3 m/s).

- The player flashlight is dimmer (intensity 1 -> 0.6).

Monsters

After Hotfix #1 they were too easy to shake off, so we brought some of the threat back, but without the "they always know where you are" feeling.

Patrol

- Walking speed 0.6 -> 1, chase speed 2.7 -> 3.2.

- Vision 6 m -> 12 m.

- Detection now resets after 4 seconds out of sight (before: 3).

- After losing sight of you, it runs to the last place it saw you for 3 seconds (before: 2), then searches for 3 seconds (before: 1.5).

Engineer

- Chase speed 2.5 -> 3.

- Vision 6 m -> 12 m.

- Same lost-sight timings as Patrol: 4 seconds to reset, 3 seconds running to the last seen place, 3 seconds searching.

General

- New hiding rule: if you break line of sight and duck under cover (a table or similar), the monster loses you at once and searches around the last place it actually saw you instead of walking straight to your table.

- Animation speeds were refitted to the new movement speeds, so feet still match the ground.

- Rats no longer freeze or flood the log when they end up off the navigation mesh.

Multiplayer and Voice Chat

- Hits on other players with a held item are reported more reliably, and mousetraps now trigger on players.

- Skeleton limbs now stay put instead of flying around the room.

- Movement of other players is smoother (a larger interpolation buffer and faster animation sync).

- The voice volume slider now goes up to 200% (before: 100%), so you can make your friends louder.

Sound

- The lobby alarm sounds ("Attention" and panic) are much quieter: Attention 6.2 dB -> -3 dB, panic 20 dB -> -6 dB.

- The evacuation gate sounds ("Gate closing" and "Gate closed") are 9 dB quieter.

- Evacuation door sounds and the menu cursor sound now follow the SFX volume slider (before they ignored it).

Bug fixes

- Fixed an error that could break fuse insertion when several fuses were placed.

- Removed a flood of navigation errors from the rat monsters.

- Fixed a stray duplicate network component on chairs.

Known issues

- On some PCs the Low graphics preset can show a blue screen. If it happens, switch to Medium or High and send us a report from the in-game form. We are working on it.

Steam Next Fest is coming on October 19 - 26. If you enjoy the demo, wishlist ZONE L.O.S.T. and tell your friends.

The ZONE L.O.S.T. team