Dead Containment News

It's here! The Dead Containment level 4 update has reached the early access players with the game getting a public release as a Steam Early Access title on October 21st.

This update isn't just about level 4 or the Steam release though. There are a virtual ton of changes and additions that have been made to Dead Containment over the past months which should give a everyone a better player experience while also raising the overall quality of the game to a higher standard.

So let's jump into it!




The new update will be going live for Kickstarter early access players shortly after this article goes out. Once the update has reached these players, the public release will follow on October 21st.


The graphics of Dead Containment have had a major overhaul for this update, with everything from models and lighting to the post processing and particles in the game being looked at over. Dead Containment was also updated to Unreal Engine 4.26 to take advantage of the new GPU Lightmass tools. The product of all this is a vastly improved looking game when compared to before. Below are screenshots of the starting area of level 3 before and after the update.


How the starting area of level 3 used to look.


How the starting area of level 3 looks now.


Online leaderboards are now fully implemented and can be viewed from the main menu. The leaderboard will save the highest score and rank a player has achieved on a level along with their highest overall score from a playthrough, which can either be from completing the game or when the player dies. Because of the major changes to the game since the initial leaderboards went in, all scores have been reset with everyone starting from scratch.

Local high scores and ranks are now kept and can be viewed from the singleplayer screen when selecting a level.


Dead Containment has been made from the start with both KBM and light gun players in mind, from how the game plays to how the UI looks. Playing with a light gun before felt difficult with the 'weak' guns and fast paced gameplay. To help with this there is now an option to keep your crosshairs on while using a light gun. Originally it was set to off and couldn't be changed. More settings are being looked at to help light gun users.

Another indirect improvement for light gun users is how the new damage model works, which can be read below.


Both the way enemies take damage and how the guns deal damage have been completely reworked from scratch, which included writing up a massive spreadsheet to automatically calculate how many bullets and the time it would take to kill each enemy in the game. This spreadsheet helped balance each gun to feel powerful but balanced along with help make each enemy feel as tough or as weak as they should be.

All humanoid enemies have multipliers depending on where they are shot; in the head, torso or limbs. This also applies to non-humanoid enemies and bosses, depending on if they have equivalent body parts.

Enemies also have a co-op health multiplier, which increases their base health when playing in co-op play. This was done to reduce how incredibly easy the game became when playing in co-op mode.


Steam Cloud support has been added to keep game settings, scores and future unlocks safe. This was mainly done now to keep your progress safe for when any collectibles are added and the upcoming armoury system which will allow players to unlock new power weapons.


You can follow the progress of Dead Containment by visiting the Trello page here. The page is updated regularly with what I'm working on, what's planned in the next update and the state of reported bugs.


No one wants bugs in their game and I try to my best to squish any I see. However, if you do find any bugs that I missed then please post a report on the official bug report thread here.

• Added level 4.
  
• Added enemy type - Alligator.
  
• Added enemy type - Bat.
  
• Added enemy type - Falling.
  
• Added enemy type - Raccoon.
  
• Added enemy type - Welder.
  
• Added anti-aliasing options; None, TAA, FXAA.
  
• Added bullet decals depending on the material that was shot.
  
• Added camera shake to level 3's boss footsteps.
  
• Added civilian event to level 2.
  
• Added civilian status text above civilians' heads.
  
• Added enemy attack type - Single ranged attack before changing into melee.
  
• Added enemy material generator, giving more variety in enemy skins
  
• Added 'How to Play' screen in the menu.
  
• Added level intro title cards and animation.
  
• Added local high score saving which are displayed in the single player menu.
  
• Added new high score notification at the end of levels.
  
• Added online leader boards.
  
• Added overall stats screen when completing a full playthrough or dying.
  
• Added particles to boss ranged projectiles.
  
• Added physics objects to levels which move or are destroyed when shot.
  
• Added option to skip cutscenes that aren't used to load the level.
  
• Added Steam Cloud save support for scores and settings.
  
• Added stun animations for enemies.
  
• Added time limited attack events where players have a limited time to kill enemies before moving.
  
• Added player invincibility after taking damage, lasting 1 second.
  
  
• Changed AI attack patterns so closer enemies will attack first instead of waiting.
  
• Changed AI pathfinding to stop enemies walking in a straight line behind another.
  
• Changed axe wielding enemy animations.
  
• Changed civilians to be invulnerable to player damage after being saved.
  
• Changed crawlers to have random parts of legs missing.
  
• Changed the loading screen images to better match the current look of the game.
  
• Changed player name colours in co-op lobbies to the colour of their character.
  
• Changed projectiles materials to glow from yellow to red the more they are damaged.
  
• Changed the amount of spare ammo power weapons carry to 1 less magazine.
  
• Changed the weapon damage values of all guns.
  
• Changed the weapon spread values of all power weapons.
  
  
• Improved audio for all levels, including more ambience and sound attenuation.
  
• Improved bullet decals to glow on impact before fading away.
  
• Improved enemy attack timings to better sync the damage with the animation.
  
• Improved enemy hit boxes.
  
• Improved level 1's graphics and lighting.
  
• Improved level 2's graphics and lighting.
  
• Improved level 3's graphics and lighting.
  
• Improved level 3's boss footstep audio.
  
• Improved level decals with newer materials and more variety,
  
• Improved level file size optimization for smaller level sizes.
  
• Improved level light baking method to ray-traced light baking, improving the baked lighting.
  
• Improved player footstep audio.
  
• Improved weapon FX.
  
  
• Removed server browser and drop-in-out co-op play due to it being unstable.
  
  
• Reworked enemy health to include multiplier on co-op play.
  
• Reworked enemy health multipliers for headshots, limb shots and torso shots.
  
• Reworked player weapon damage values.
  
  
• Fixed biker enemy type showing wrong damage indicator.
  
• Fixed bullet decals being too big.
  
• Fixed bullet decals facing the wrong way.
  
• Fixed bullet impact sound not always playing when hitting a metallic material.
  
• Fixed buttons in UI not lining up correctly.
  
• Fixed camera speed being slower on event start.
  
• Fixed characters having flickering shadows.
  
• Fixed cinematic black bars in cutscenes not hiding gameplay UI.
  
• Fixed civilian hit boxes being desynced from civilian model.
  
• Fixed clients being able to see 'Change gamemode' lobbies.
  
• Fixed emissive materials causing frame drops when close to the camera.
  
• Fixed empty gun audio playing at the wrong times.
  
• Fixed end of level scoreboards playing twice for clients.
  
• Fixed enemies not correctly facing the player when getting into attack position.
  
• Fixed enemies taking the same path to the player, causing a straight line of enemies.
  
• Fixed enemy projectiles not firing in the correct direction.
  
• Fixed incorrect collisions on some meshes.
  
• Fixed incorrect roughness levels on some materials.
  
• Fixed infinite loading screen.
  
• Fixed level 2's boss showing red blood when shot on green blood mode.
  
• Fixed level 3's boss animation not syncing correctly when playing with low fps.
  
• Fixed menu camera not transitioning correctly from title to menu view.
  
• Fixed missing LOD's on some meshes.
  
• Fixed multiplayer lobby camera not setting correctly.
  
• Fixed online leaderboards causing crash when Steam is offline.
  
• Fixed pause menu breaking in co-op play.
  
• Fixed player ammo counters being on the wrong side of the screen.
  
• Fixed player footstep audio missing attenuation.
  
• Fixed projectiles using the same texture.
  
• Fixed screen resolution not saving/loading correctly.
  
• Fixed Steam name not saving on first time load up.
  
• Fixed video settings not saving/loading correctly.
  
• Fixed water materials flickering.
  

This update aims to add some skill based play to the game by making some big changes to gameplay, including a rework of all the guns, limited ammo, dynamic weapon spread, partner rescue events and enemy rebalancing.

The demo has also been updated to include all the latest additions and changes. All the changes can be seen below in the update notes section.


All weapons now have a bigger kick to them, with the shotgun and SMG getting some extra changes to make them feel more like power weapons. The trade-off for this is the power weapons now have limited ammo, making them useful for certain situations rather than constant use.

The pistol retains its unlimited ammo and has the smallest max spread of any gun along with a damage buff. The SMG had it's fire rate boosted but can reach its max spread quickly over rapid fire. The shotgun had a big damage buff along with an extra pellet being fired with every shot, firing a total of 4 pellets over a wide area, making it very useful for close up crowd control.


Ammo for the power weapon can be filled up by shooting ammo pickups (floating bullets) around each level. Currently each stage only has 1 ammo pickup so use the power weapons wisely.


Dynamic weapon spread was added to the game to make the guns feel rewarding if used right along with bringing some fairness to the guns by removing the random spread patterns and instead using dynamic spread. The old spread system meant a bullet will randomly hit a spot in an area around the crosshair depending on the fixed spread value of the gun. The new dynamic spread means firing a gun longer or quicker will increase the spread of the gun over time, making the bullets less likely to hit at a longer range. Spread is reduced and gradually resets to its base value when the gun is not being fired.

The pistol starts of with 0 spread, meaning the first shot will always hit the centre of your crosshair. Rapid fire will increase the spread but to a very small value.

The SMG start of with 0 spread but will quickly rise to a large area of spread the longer the trigger is held down. Burst firing at longer ranges will help a lot with spread control.

The shotgun has a fixed spread, meaning no matter how fast or slow you shoot, the spread is always the same.


Partner rescue events require the player to save the other player before they are attacked by enemies. Saving the other player will result in bonus score.

In multiplayer, one player will be knocked down and temporally lose control as they are attacked, during which the other player must save them. In solo play, the player will rescue a character representative of the 2nd player.


The green blood setting makes the blood...well...green. This applies to blood on the enemies, blood impacts and bullet holes on flesh. Blood in the environment, such as stains and drips, remain red. This is still an experimental feature so expect more work to be done on it in the future.


Leaderboards are still in beta phase and will be ready for the 0.4.0 update. Although the leaderboards aren't viewable in this update, scores are being collected for each level with the addition of a Overall leaderboard score if you complete every level in one sitting.


You can follow the progress of Dead Containment by visiting the Trello page here. The page is updated regularly with what I'm working on, what's planned in the next update and the state of reported bugs.


No one wants bugs in their game and I try to my best to squish any I see. However, if you do find any bugs that I missed then please post a report on the official bug report thread here.

• Added partner rescue events.
  
• Added a green blood option.
  
• Added ammo pick ups in each level.
  
• Added partner rescue event in level 1.
  
• Added partner rescue event in level 3.
  
• Added dynamic weapon spread.
  
• Added detailing to level 1.
  
• Added detailing to level 2.
  
• Added detailing to level 3.
  
• Added a faded overlay over the HUD of dead players.
  
• Added a sound cue when trying to fire a gun with no ammo.
  
• Added a reset keybinds button to the settings menu.
  
  
• Changed the score counter to show unused digits in a shaded colour.
  
• Changed the loading screen images.
  
• Changed SMG and Shotgun to use limited ammo.
  
• Changed weapon balance for all guns.
  
• Changed level 1's lighting in the basement area.
  
• Changed lobby level's background.
  
• Changed car shaders for more accurate reflectivity and roughness.
  
• Changed water splash particles for bullet impacts.
  
• Changed water sounds for bullet impacts.
  
• Changed water shaders.
  
• Changed the speed of birds to 2/3 of original speed.
  
• Changed the health of birds to 1/2 of original health.
  
• Changed the FX of pickups once collected.
  
• Changed interactive objects to give points when shot.
  
• Changed how particle effects render to increase performance.
  
• Changed explosion FX.
  
• Changed the camera to ignore enemies that are dead instead of waiting for them to dissolve.
  
• Changed reload mechanics so guns can't be reloaded when the magazine is full.
  
• Changed the settings menu buttons and sizing for better accessibility.
  
• Changed the enemy spawns along level 2's bathroom route.
  
• Changed the SMG sound to include a tail and extra bass.
  
  
• Fixed cinematic black bars in cutscenes not hiding gameplay UI.
  
• Fixed bullet holes not showing on background enemies when shot.
  
• Fixed low shadows setting removes all world shadows.
  
• Fixed game doesn't end when boss kills both players.
  
• Fixed dead players guns are visible after changing path.
  
• Fixed Level 2 - Enemies stop out of camera when attacking on the truck depot steps.
  
• Fixed Level 2 - Enemies stop out of camera when attacking in the tunnel.
  
• Fixed Level 2 - Sunset cycle not triggering.
  
• Fixed Level 3 - Backdrop invisible outside the boss elevator window.
  
• Fixed headshots on birds not counting.
  

This update is a small one in preparation for the full update 0.3.5. release, including bug fixes, new visuals and optimizations. The main addition to this update is the leaderboard support. While leaderboards aren't viewable in this update, scores will be collected and uploaded to test this feature for a future release.


You can follow the progress of Dead Containment by visiting the Trello page here. The page is updated regularly with what I'm working on, what's planned in the next update and the state of reported bugs.


No one wants bugs in their game and I try to my best to squish any I see. However, if you do find any bugs that I missed then please post a report on the official bug report thread here.

• Added details to level 1.
  
• Added details to level 2.
  
• Added details to level 3.
  
• Added online leaderboards support. These aren't viewable in the update but scores will be uploaded.
  
  
• Changed the multiplayer lobby.
  
• Changed explosions with new lighting and particles.
  
• Changed camera to ignore dying enemies.
  
• Changed particles to improve performance.
  
  
• Fixed low shadows setting removes all world shadows.
  
• Fixed game doesn't end when boss kills both players.
  
• Fixed dead players guns are visible after changing path.
  
• Fixed Level 2 - Enemies stop out of camera when attacking on the truck depot steps.
  
• Fixed Level 2 - Enemies stop out of camera when attacking in the tunnel.
  
• Fixed Level 2 - Sunset cycle not triggering.
  
• Fixed Level 3 - Backdrop invisible outside the boss elevator window.
  

The Kickstarter Early Access release is due next week, bringing a new level and gamemode to Dead Containment along with a ton of changes, additions and bug fixes.

The demo has also been updated to include all the latest additions apart from the new level and gamemode.

All the changes can be seen below in the update notes section.


This update adds Dead Containment's third level, the police station. Players must navigate the maze of tight corridors, dimly lit cells and dust filled rafters in order to recover the informant's case which contains the answers to the outbreak.

The new level adds multiple new enemy types, hidden path selections and a new boss fight.


Arcade mode is a new gamemode coming in the Kickstarter early access release. In this mode, players have a set number of credits which act as respawn tokens. Every time a player dies, the game will pause and prompt the player to spend a credit to continue to play (just like at an arcade). Credits are shared between players in co-op so be sure not to let your team mate down. Arcade mode also allows player to set their starting lives and credits.


You can follow the progress of Dead Containment by visiting the Trello page here. The page is updated regularly with what I'm working on, what's planned in the next update and the state of reported bugs.


No one wants bugs in their game and I try to my best to squish any I see. However, if you do find any bugs that I missed then please post a report on the official bug report thread here.

• Added level 3 - Police station.
  
• Added new gamemode - Arcade mode.
  
• Added boss (Chief) enemy type.
  
• Added riot cop w/ shield enemy type.
  
• Added a new area to level 1.
  
• Added new detailing to level 2.
  
• Added new world audio to level 1.
  
• Added new world audio to level 2.
  
• Added new enemy audio.
  
• Added multiple aspect ratio support.
  
• Added enemy physics items (hats).
  
• Added new destructible objects.
  
• Added hidden pickups inside destructible objects.
  
• Added hidden path selection objects which change the path when shot.
  
• Added unique damage indicators depending on enemy attack type.
  
• Added dynamic crosshair which changes when reloading.
  
• Added outlines to cinematic text.
  
• Added dynamic lighting system to world lights.
  
• Added bullet holes to enemies when shot.
  
• Added new FX when an enemy losses a limb.
  
• Added new muzzle flash.
  
• Added in-game menu crosshair.
  
• Added light gun crosshair option.
  
• Added named subtitles for story purposes.
  
• Added animated objects for enemy spawns.
  
• Added IES light textures.
  
• Added background hordes.
  
• Added automatic weapon fire after reload if trigger held down.
  
• Added new camera tracking method.
  
• Added new level streaming method which should reduce stutter in new areas.
  
  
• Changed boss health to be double on co-op play.
  
• Changed the UI to a new layout and colour scheme.
  
• Changed the shotgun model.
  
• Changed the FX of gun fire.
  
• Changed the FX of fire and smoke.
  
• Changed the SMG audio.
  
• Changed the pistol audio.
  
• Changed the shotgun audio.
  
• Changed the chainsaw enemy animations.
  
• Changed the delay time before enemies can attack to almost instant.
  
• Changed the crosshair to an update crosshair with outlines and easier to see colours.
  
• Changed the 3D ammo counter models.
  
• Changed the ammo counter to hide when reloading.
  
• Changed the lighting in level 1.
  
• Changed the lighting in level 2.
  
• Changed the UI weapon icons.
  
  
• Fixed broken ambient audio sound mix.
  
• Fixed car crash audio in level 2.
  
• Fixed gun impact sound mix.
  
• Fixed zombie type in level 2 not giving any score when killed by a headshot.
  
• Fixed AI getting stuck turning to player when running at low frames.
  
• Fixed dynamic objects receiving wrong hit location from player weapons.
  
• Fixed enemies not attacking after looking at player.
  
• Fixed match start stuck on infinite loading screen.
  
• Fixed shotgun impact particles spawning too small.
  
• Fixed weapon being fired in cutscenes.
  
• Fixed weapon reloading on level start.
  
• Fixed animation blending causing error logs.
  
• Fixed broken SSAO.
  
• Fixed broken wall pieces not spawning in level 2 during chainsaw attack.
  
• Fixed glass not smashing when shot.
  
• Fixed ranged bin throwing enemy having large animations during spawn animation.
  
• Fixed missing lights in level 2.
  
• Fixed missing LOD's in level 2.
  
• Fixed the UI weapon icons being pixelated.
  
• Fixed scoreboard animations getting stuck on low fps.
  
• Fixed game crash when reloading weapons.
  

A small patch containing bug fixes.

• Added weak point markers to the boss.
  
• Added weak points to level 2's boss which slow down the bosses movement when shot.
  
  
• Increased level 2's boss health by 800hp.
  
• Increased bird enemy movement speed.
  
• Changed subtitle size to compensate for light gun users with large borders.
  
  
• Fixed UI sounds not playing when viewing the in-game friends list.
  
• Fixed key binds not saving.
  
• Fixed boss music resetting for player 2 during online gameplay.
  
• Fixed gunshot markers not appearing when shooting the sky.
  

Please report any bugs you find by posting in the official bug report thread here.