Survivalist: Invisible Strain News

Hello, it's another quick publicbeta patch because someone found a crash in the last one. This adds one new feature though: the ability to target someone's head or legs in unarmed combat. NPCs will change their stance so you can tell if they are going to be targeting your head or legs. If you're in the lower stance you can't block against high attacks, and if you're in the high stance you can't block against low attacks. (You can always dodge, but that uses stamina, while blocking doesn't).



That is, of course, how melee combat with weapons has always worked but unarmed combat was more limited, which I felt was a shame since you tend to need to use fisticuffs quite a lot in the game to raise people's respect for you, as well as earning money. Hopefully this makes it more interesting. It's possible I've made it too easy, not sure, the AI may need tweaking a little to react to your stance more. Let me know how you find it.

Here's the full change list:

• Added ability to aim punches at head or legs in unarmed mode (and you can't block if you aim the opposite way), to make fisticuffs more interesting
  
• Slightly changed how 'presence' is calculated to give less priority to tall structures
  
• Fix for pathfinding bug when fleeing in enemy bases
  
• Fix for player being able to isolate people from extortion squad and assassinate them as they return to their base
  
• Fix for infected melee weapons being combinable (and therefore losing their 'doses remaining' bar)
  
• Dialog fixes for when taking over crop patches
  
• Possible fix for some situations where NPCs blamed the player for attacking them when they were actually helping defend against raiders
  
• Stop NPC community leaders from being lumberjacks as it makes them easy to kill
  
• Fix for walls with health set to 0 in mods not being invincible
  
• Crash fix
  
• Updated Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Latin American Spanish and Simplified Chinese translations
  

[h3]What's this publicbeta thing?[/h3]
v222 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".

I've released a quick patch into publicbeta as I wanted to fix a problem with the previous patch where you would get giant boards on the window of a Shack you took over.

This patch introduces the Indonesian translation! It's not finished yet, but it's a pretty long way along and it looks like you can play most of Sandbox mode with it. Many thanks to translators Electro Javaboy and Felbie!

Here's the full list:

• Fix for Shack having giant boarded up window
  
• Fix for icons not showing for under construction buildings
  
• Fix for someone saying both 'your leadership sucks!' and 'I'm sorry but I've had enough' when leaving your community
  
• Make your community members less likely to automatically start a war if a looter tries to shake them down while you're not controlling them
  
• Reverted previous fix that paused the game when the application lost focus, not everyone wants that
  
• Updated Japanese, Korean, Hungarian, Latin American Spanish and Simplified Chinese translations, and added Bahasa Indonesia!
  

[h3]What's this publicbeta thing?[/h3]
v221 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".

Hello, I've got a new patch in the publicbeta branch with visuals for buildings under construction. So whereas previously you would just have seen an empty patch of ground with ropes around it, now you'll see the building taking shape piece by piece. It's not exactly Manor Lords as there's no animation, but it's much cuter than it was. Looks particularly nice on the wood cabins!



Also when you take over a building, you'll see wooden boards going up across the windows (if it has windows), to give you a little visual indication that you're doing something.

(Note to mod makers who make buildings - it should be possible get both these effects to show on your buildings if you want, but it would need a bit of setting up. I'll add some details to the guide soon).

The rest of the patch is bug fixes and small quality of life things, e.g. I tweaked some of my previous changes to the map screen, you can now press M as a shortcut for placing markers, whereas before you could hold the right mouse button down. Here's the full list:

• Building construction effect
  
• Show boarded up windows on buildings you take over
  
• Hold shift to transfer all items in a stack when scavenging
  
• Hold shift to add to selection when dragging selection box on map screen (previously only worked in Command Mode), also press M as a shortcut to place markers
  
• Make sorting of inventory items of the same category more consistent when sorting by type
  
• Deprioritize unconscious enemies when aiming
  
• Crippled zombies are less likely go into the frustration animation when their route to you is blocked by others, and more likely to keep trying to pathfind to you
  
• Fix for game not pausing when the application loses focus
  
• Fix for X button not working for Reload/Skip Conversation etc on Steam Deck or gamepads
  
• Fix for chef occasionally getting stuck in a loop when their fire needs more wood and they are also hungry
  
• Fix for gang leader in Loyalty quest starting a feud with you after you successfully bluffed that you had snipers nearby
  
• Fix for Weathermen quest not completing if you convince Jeremy by having high approval/respect
  
• Fix for NPCs sheltering in buildings for ages for warmth because they have no fire lighting equipment even if there is plenty nearby
  
• Fix for not getting the achievement for stealing a chicken
  
• Fix for characters sometimes walking a long distance to find sealed containers
  
• Fix for NPCs who were attacking you sometims getting teleported a long distance if they knock you out and you get rescued by another community
  
• Stopped screen resolution drop-down from displaying multiple different refresh rates for each size, because you can't change them anyway because we're not using exclusive full-screen mode
  
• Some Story Mode map fixes
  
• Some support for modders to increase map size to 2x2km (not officially supported though)
  
• Crash fixes
  
• Updated French, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Latin American Spanish, Lithuanian, Russian and Simplified Chinese translations
  

[h3]What's this publicbeta thing?[/h3]
v220 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".

Hey it's patch day! This one is mainly focused on adding some features to Command Mode and the Map Screen, which haven't had much love for a while. In particular, you can drag a box to select characters and set up zones via the map screen. This makes it a lot more convenient to set zones.



You've also got some new commands like Group Follow Me, which tells everyone you've selected to follow you (or stop following you). So you don't have to individually click on everyone you want to follow you anymore. These sorts of things I always felt were missing.



I've changed some of the controls slightly. In order to make the map screen and Command mode a bit more consistent with each other, I've made the drag-select button the right-click on the mouse (or X on Steam Deck/XBox gamepad) by default. Left-clicking and dragging now moves the camera on both Command Mode and on the map.

I've also added the ability to set 5 different colored map markers, whereas previously you could only set one. Because of all the new functions I've overloaded the map marker button, previously right-click, to open a context menu from which you can set markers but also set zones and other stuff.

That's the main stuff, here's the full list:

• Added options in action menu in command mode, and the map screen, for: Select Followers, Select Everyone, Group Follow Me, Group Stop Following Me, Copy Zone to Group
  
• Right clicking on the map screen now opens a menu from which you can set markers also set/pause/resume zones, along with the above actions
  
• Allow you to set multiple map markers, with different colors, on the map screen
  
• Allow you to right-click and drag a selection box on the map screen, also made Command Mode consistent with map screen by using left-click drag to move the camera, right-click drag to draw a selection box
  
• Allow you to drag-select allies as well as your own community members (so allies can be more easily ordered to follow/stop following you)
  
• Current character path and zones now shown on map screen
  
• Added Control option to action menu when in Command Mode hovering over a vehicle with someone driving it
  
• Made it possible to hover over invaders sidebar on map screen with gamepad controls
  
• Made it possible to take over crop zones from defeated enemy bases
  
• Made it possible to abandon vehicles, and buildings that previously could only be destroyed
  
• Tweaks to feuding to try and make chain reactions of brawls with the same person a bit less likely
  
• Gray targeting reticule when enemy is dead
  
• Show 'Pick Up (Stealing)' on action menu if picking up a body is likely to result in their community members attacking you
  
• Added support for props and equipment having different genders in different languages (e.g. French vs Portuguese)
  
• Added support for modders to add gloves as a clothing type
  
• Fix for people in large communities continuing feuds immediately after being restrained
  
• Fix for unconscious passengers in your vehicle being gibbed by traps if you drive over them
  
• Fix for compass and wind direction being wrong when Minimap Rotation Enabled is off
  
• Fix for Right Stick Click button prompt showing as a question mark on Steam Deck
  
• Fix for some buildings not belonging to the right community in Story Mode
  
• Fix for Emma not being recruitable after you took her green pass allocation
  
• Fix for Kelly continuing to sit down and reminisce in Wishkey Crossing after you talked to her
  
• Fix for fetch quest books such as Advanced Archery being stackable which meant the whole stack got handed over when completing the quest
  
• Fixes for Sharp Objects quest not progressing in some situations
  
• Fix for Highway Patrol base being occupied by raiders or refugees if you don't tell Carter about it for a while
  
• Fix for missing version mismatch error message
  
• Fixes for some mod-related crashes
  
• Updated French, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Russian and Simplified Chinese translations
  

And v217 is now in the main branch! That's got stuff like supersampling, the ability to text search for mods, new rifle animations and lot of tweaks and bug fixes.



EDIT - released a quick follow-up patch in publicbeta, v219, to fix a crash.

[h3]What's this publicbeta thing?[/h3]
v219 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".

Hello, this is just a bug-fixing patch as I'm still trying to get the build in a satisfactory state so I can push the latest changes from publicbeta to the main branch. Some small fixes, some bigger ones. Here's the changelist:

• Added a timeout and a distance from corpse check for NPCs blaming the player for leading zombies to a team-mate who was killed by zombies
  
• Store empty containers that have a liquid contents policy set in the place you would store them if they were full
  
• When looking for a container to store some liquid in, prefer those with a contents policy for that liquid even if they are in further away buildings
  
• You can still get the Sole Survivor achievement if you have chickens
  
• Tweaked looter camp probability on a new map when you hit the road
  
• Stop community members from talking about camp hygiene and such if you don't have a camp, or if they are new
  
• If someone is feuding with you they can chase you outside of their own gates, but not if you are in fisticuffs
  
• Fix for Charlie Gant starting outside his prison
  
• Fix for Kelly feuding with Carter just before he blows up the gate and stopping the Vanished quest from progressing
  
• Fix for refugees sometimes joining you if their group is widely separated
  
• Fix for fog of war remaining around an ally if they are buried soon after they die
  
• Fixes for stuck character rescue code
  
• Fix for being able to remotely Eat/Drink/Use items in buildings we aren't in by opening the building inventory in Command Mode
  
• Possible fix for terrain cache issues
  
• Crash fixes
  
• Include list of active mods at bottom of crash reports
  
• Added Age to speech param types and added uniqueID as a parameter to EvaluateSpeechParams for modders
  
• Updated French, Hungarian, Japanese, Latin American Spanish, Russian and Simplified Chinese translations
  

[h3]What's this publicbeta thing?[/h3]
v217 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".