Survivalist: Invisible Strain News

I've updated the publicbeta branch again, this one's mainly just a bunch of crash fixes. Some common ones from the last update, and some more rare ones involving online co-op that got reported recently. Here's the full changelist:

• Korean Update
  
• Some fixes for things like joining an online co-op game which uses multiple mods that you haven't downloaded
  
• Many crash fixes
  

[h3]What's this publicbeta thing?[/h3]
v110 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".

The latest patch in publicbeta is all about better mod support. The most obvious change is when you start a new game you can now browse and select any Story from the Workshop (including those you haven't downloaded yet). You can download them in-game, and also Like them if you want. You can sort by Highest Rated, Trending, or Newest:



The second big change is I've split them into two types: Stories and Mods. You can only select one Story, but you can have multiple Mods applied to it. The idea is Mods would be things like "a new gun" or maybe "a new bit of What's Up dialog" which could be applied to any Story. Stories would be custom maps with their own narrative and quests, or variations on Sandbox mode:



Once you're playing a game you can also add more Mods if you want:



Perhaps more importantly, I've added support for new weapon and clothing models, which I'm demonstrating with a couple of small Mods, the Magnum and the Trilby Hat mod:



I'll write a couple of guides for mod-makes who want to do that soon! Lastly I've also changed the structure a bit so either mods or stories can be dependent on each other, meaning if you download one it can force another to be downloaded as well if it's dependent on it. I'll update the guides in the coming days.

I think having done this I've gotten more or less to the end of the Workshop/Editor work that I wanted to do for the time being. There might be a few bug fixes and tweaks to the mod stuff here and there, but I'll be aiming to get back to working on the game itself. I'll be interested to see what new things people are capable of making with the tools now! I see there are a few adaptations of Sandbox mode that have become quite popular already, such as The New Z World.

Here's the full changelist:

• Added support for new weapon and clothing mods
  
• View all workshop items, and download them, from the story selection menu
  
• Split workshop items into two types, Stories and Mods. You can only select one story, but multiple mods.
  
• Stories or mods can be dependent on each other, so you don't have to make a copy of Sandbox to make one small change to it, you can just make it a dependency
  

Meanwhile, I've moved v108 from publicbeta to the main game.

[h3]What's this publicbeta thing?[/h3]
v109 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".

Some people reported a couple of crashes to me so I'm pushing the next patch into publicbeta. Here's what's in it:

• Stop towns from overlapping so much in Sandbox
  
• Some fixes for pit trap terrain glitches
  
• Allow crops to be planted on areas where buildings have been demolished
  
• Added ability for Workshop mods to load their own dlls
  
• Added option in recipe editor to not pass on infection to product
  
• Crash fixes
  

This is mainly just a bug fixing patch but includes support for mods to include their own bits of code! I haven't really finished working on it yet but, very briefly, if you're a mod author you can create a DLLs directory in your Story folder and put a dll in there. You can create a c# project linking against the game's libraries and use something called HarmonyLib to patch some of your own code into the game (though there are limitations), I'll write a guide explaining how a bit later when it's more complete :-P

[h3]What's this publicbeta thing?[/h3]
v108 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".

Well, I've finally taken the plunge and moved all the updates I've been working on over the last couple of months out of publicbeta and into the main branch, so they'll be available to everyone now ːsteamhappyː

There's a lot in this, but the highlights are:

• Made it possible for workshop mod authors to add new props/buildings
  
• Added a bunch of new props and buildings myself, such as trailer homes and crashed aircraft
  
• Added path editor and road markings
  
• Added ability to assign NPCs to number keys (from 4 onwards, by default) for quick selection
  
• Added shortcuts to select best melee ranged and thrown weapons (on 1,2,3 keys by default)
  
• When you switch selection between NPCs, a bar appears at the bottom of the screen showing their faces
  
• Increased the size of the NPC buttons on the Community screen so their names are all visible without hovering, and you can preview their best skills and equipment
  
• Difficulty/World Generation Sliders and default loadouts
  
• Some new music tracks
  
• A lot of stealth fixes
  
• Some "out of sync" fixes
  

Fingers crossed, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, let's hope 2021 doesn't suck!

I've released a new patch in the public beta branch. This one is just fixing a bunch of bugs in online co-op, in particular some longstanding causes of "out of sync" errors while in combat. Here's the changelist:

• Fixes for some sound bugs in online co-op
  
• Fix for hang if you press escape on the character creation screen when joining a co-op game
  
• Fix for arrows sometimes being invisible in online co-op
  
• Fix for dead or zombie characters appearing in character selector bar
  
• Out of Sync fixes
  

I'll let this sit for a few days then hopefully I'll be able to push all the new stuff to the main branch, finally.

[h3]What's this publicbeta thing?[/h3]
v101 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".