Macabre News

[h3][/h3][p][/p][p]The Macabre demo is now offline, but not before over 100k games were played![/p][p]Thanks to everyone who played, streamed, or sent in feedback. You helped us make a massive leap in performance and stability. Early on, we uncovered several crash and performance issues across different setups.[/p][p]Because Macabre is built in Unreal Engine 5, we’re using some of the latest tools in game development. That’s exciting, but it also means we need broad testing to catch issues that only show up on certain hardware. Your support helped us track those down much faster than we could have alone.[/p][p]Thanks to your reports and logs, we patched key issues and reduced crash rate by 67%![/p][p]We’re now back in development, applying everything we’ve learned and preparing for the next big update.[/p][p][/p][p]Want to be part of Future tests? [/p]

• [p]Wishlist Macabre on Steam[/p]
• [p]Sign up for playtests
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[p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Thanks again for all the support. We’ll see you back in the Rift soon![/p]

[h2]New Build Live: 3e9c91a[/h2][p][/p][p]G'day Macabros [/p][p]This update brings our biggest round of improvements yet—focused on smoother performance, tighter controls, and better overall stability. While there’s still work ahead, this patch marks a major step forward in refining the Macabre experience. If you run into any issues, please let us know by filling out the feedback form—we're listening, and your input helps shape what comes next.[/p][p][/p][h3]🔧 Performance Boosts[/h3][p]We’ve made major improvements under the hood—players should now experience smoother performance across a wider range of hardware. We've also expanded video settings so you can better control visual fidelity and framerate.[/p][p][/p][p]Please make sure you delete: GameUserSettings.ini[/p][p]Located in: C:\\Users\\{Your user name}\\AppData\\Local\\Macabre\\Saved\\Config\\Windows[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]🛠 Crash & Stability Fixes[/h3][p]Thanks to your crash reports and logs, we’ve tracked down several hardware- and driver-specific issues and patched the most common culprits. On'ce you've tested the latest build Fill out the feedback form to help guide future improvements.[/p][p][/p][h3]🎮 Player movment Overhaul[/h3][p]Movement has been completely overhauled—controls now feel much snappier and more responsive. Major issues like clipping through beds and objects have been resolved, and we’ve added a Head Bob slider in the settings for those sensitive to motion sickness.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]🆘 New "Unstuck" Button[/h3][p]We’ve added a dedicated Unstuck button in the ESC menu to help get you back into the action if you clip into geometry or get stuck somewhere strange. Even better—each time you use it, it logs your location on our end. That means you're not just saving yourself, you're helping us identify and fix trouble spots across the procedural map.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]🛠 Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Resolved decal clipping on the Fairdinkum character.[/p]
• [p]Updated collision on large logs to reduce chance of getting stuck.[/p]
• [p]Updated collision on beds to prevent player from clipping through.[/p]
• [p]Reworked character movement to reduce general clipping.[/p]
• [p]Fixed performance drop when spawning into foggy maps.[/p]
• [p]Patched crash issues tied to specific hardware and driver conflicts.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]🔧 Changes[/h3]

• [p]Smoothed crouch and lean animation transitions for more natural movement.[/p]
• [p]Improved lean input (CTRL → ALT) to prevent accidental triggers.[/p]
• [p]Revised Sonic Plunger audio/visual effects.[/p]
• [p]Disabled weather transitions at match end to reduce stutter and improve stability.[/p]
• [p]Added Head Bob toggle and sensitivity slider in settings.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]🚀 Features[/h3]

• [p]New Unstuck button with backend tracking.[/p]
• [p]Expanded localisation system and menu options.[/p]
• [p]Updated Simplified Chinese (zh_CN) language support.[/p]

[p][/p][p]It’s been just 24 hours since Next Fest ended, and it's only now starting to sink in what a massive milestone this has been for our tiny indie team.[/p][p]Against all odds, Macabre placed in the top 50 most-played demos of the entire Steam Next Fest, standing shoulder to shoulder with industry giants and massive teams. We even made it into Trending on the main store page.[/p][p]That’s an achievement we’re incredibly proud of, especially considering the scale and resources of many of the other games featured.[/p][p] [/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]The Rift Was Busy[/h2][p]Here’s what happened during the week:[/p]

• [p]73,572 matches played[/p]
• [p]55,237 deaths[/p]
• [p]58,319 fragments collected[/p]
• [p]44,066 items purchased from Banjo[/p]
• [p]33,106 objectives completed[/p]

[p]Seeing so many people jump into the Rift has been surreal and humbling. But as with all good horror stories… there were a few bumps along the way.[/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]Firstly, thank you. Every bit of feedback and every review, good or bad, has helped shape what comes next. Here's what we’re focusing on:[/p][p][/p][p] [/p][h3]🎚️ Difficulty Scaling[/h3][p]Right now, we throw players straight into the deep end. Dying before you get a chance to understand the basics is understandably frustrating. We’re adjusting the curve to ease players into the action with more breathing room at the start.[/p][p][/p][h3]📋 Onboarding[/h3][p]While we do have tooltips and a task list from Banjo designed to teach the basics, it’s tough to learn the ropes when you’re being stalked by a relentless little freak. We’re working on clearer onboarding and more obvious signposting of core mechanics to improve the first-time experience. [/p][p][/p][h3]⚙️ Performance and Stability[/h3][p]This was the first time the floodgates were fully open, and yes, it showed. Early on we uncovered some major performance drops and hardware-specific crashes. Thankfully, these are the easiest fixes now that we have crash logs and data. We’ve already pushed two patches that have significantly improved stability. [/p][p][/p][h3]🎙️ VOIP Improvements[/h3][p]We’ve seen a lot of players run into issues with microphone connectivity during matches, and we hear you... loud and unclear. For many, just getting VOIP to work smoothly was a struggle.[/p][p]We’re working on making the voice system far more accessible. Upcoming improvements include microphone input selection and individual volume controls for each player.[/p][p]Our goal is to make voice chat feel effortless and reliable, especially in a game where communication can be the difference between escape and a very messy death.[/p][p][/p][h3]🐛 Bugs[/h3][p]Macabre is still in Alpha, so bugs are to be expected. That said, we’ve been blown away by how many of you took the time to report issues. Your feedback has been incredibly helpful, allowing us to quickly identify and prioritise the most common problems.[/p][p]We’ve already begun addressing several of these. We’re also adding a new “Unstuck” button to the in-game menu. This will help players get back into the action quickly and assist us in tracking down persistent issues within the procedural map.[/p][p][/p][h3]🌍 Localisation[/h3][p]Many of the most critical reviews came from non-English-speaking players, which makes sense. We’ve only localised the game into Simplified Chinese so far. Without localisation, all the above issues become more confusing. We're working to expand localisation as soon as possible.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]The Good News[/h2][p]All of the above issues are relatively easy to fix. More importantly, we’ve seen that the core game loop and mechanics are resonating with players. As we’ve continued to patch and improve the game, our review score has already started to rise.[/p][p]
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[/p][p]Right now, Macabre's sensing abilities are a bit too sharp. This often leads to players getting caught off guard without a clear sense of how much danger they're actually in. It can feel like you're doing everything right, only to be hunted down without warning.[/p][p]As it stands, the monster does not know your exact location at all times. Instead, it detects disturbances within the Rift. While it can track you down, it ultimately relies on sight and sound to find you.[/p][p]It’s also important to note that sight is not binary. Standing still does not make you invisible, especially if you are only partially hidden. These systems are designed to create tension, but we know it can currently feel unfair. We’re continuing to adjust the values and will be introducing more cues to help players understand when they are safe and when it’s time to move.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We’re going to keep fine-tuning the underlying values and start exploring better feedback systems. This includes adding clearer visual, audio, or environmental cues to help you understand when you're truly hidden and when it might be time to move.[/p][p]The goal is to maintain tension without making things feel unfair, giving you just enough information to outsmart the monster. As you can imagine, there’s a fine line between making the monster feel clever or clueless.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We were originally planning to take the demo down. But after making it into the top 50, and being encouraged by Steam and the community, we’ve decided to keep it up for now. This will allow more players to check out the demo and we’ll continue improving the experience based on your feedback.[/p][p]📣 If you're enjoying Macabre, please keep sending your crash reports and feedback and leave a review if you haven’t already. It really does help us make the game better.[/p][p] [/p][p][/p][p]Yes, we do have a release window in mind. But based on everything we’ve learned, it’s clear there is still more work to do.[/p][p]We’re a small but deeply committed team that genuinely cares about what we’re making. We want Macabre to become your new favourite horror game. Something with endless possibilities, unexpected depth, and moments you will never forget.[/p][p]But first, we need to get the basics right. That means heading back into the kitchen to cook up something even better.[/p][p]There will be more playtests in the near future. Once we feel the game is in a strong place, we’ll move into Early Access with even more content, polish, and surprises.[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you again to every single one of you.
We’ll see you soon![/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p] [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[h2][/h2][h2]New Build Live: 1d6dc6d[/h2][p]
We’ve just rolled out a major performance-focused patch!
Over the past few days we’ve been combing through your crash reports and parsing server logs to pinpoint the biggest bottlenecks. Thanks to your feedback, we’ve tracked down and fixed several crash-causing issues—so you should *Hopfully notice significant performance improvements across the board. Remeber you can also turn on FSR Frame Generaton in the Video Settings[/p][p]If the game is crashing on launch, try deleting your GameUserSettings.ini file located at: C:Users\[YourUsername]/AppData/Local/Macabre/Saved/Config/Windows [/p][p]Please continue submitting crash reports and feedback via Discord or the in-game form so we can keep improving! [/p][p][/p][h2]🛠 Performance & Stability Fixes[/h2]

• [p] Addressed multiple crash scenarios uncovered by your reports[/p]
• [p] Optimised lighting, weather and procedural spawn systems for smoother framerates[/p]
• [p] Fine-tuned collision and cull distances to reduce unnecessary CPU/GPU load[/p]
• [p] Improved asset streaming and load-time behaviour for faster level entry[/p]
• [p] Added detailed framerate reporting to logs so we can continue correlating performance data
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[h2]How You Can Help[/h2]

• [p] Launch this build and play through a variety of weather and map setups.[/p]
• [p] If you experience any stutters or crashes, submit a report via Discord or the in-game form.[/p]
• [p] Include your GPU model, driver version and any error messages—every data point helps!
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[h2]Enjoying the demo? If you’re having fun, please consider leaving us a positive review on Steam #RoadToPositive! 🚀 [/h2][p][/p][p]Thank you!

[h2]Thank you to everyone who played the Demo Playtest—your support has been incredible. In just three days:[/h2]

• [p]39,900 matches played[/p]
• [p]29,310 deaths[/p]
• [p]32,296 fragments collected[/p]
• [p]22,071 items purchased from Banjo (he’s thrilled!)[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Performance & Crash Update[/h2][p]We’re excited to see so many positive reviews and are hard at work addressing your feedback.[/p][p]One key issue has emerged: crashes and performance drops on certain GPU models and driver versions. We optimise constantly, but this playtest exposed a wider range of hardware than ever before.[/p][p]To tackle it, we’ve created scripts to parse server logs and pinpoint the problematic hardware/driver combos. Rolling back or updating your GPU drivers has helped some players—please try that as a temporary fix, then test this patch and let us know if performance improves.[/p][p]Your crash and bug reports via Discord or the in-game form provide vital data points to help us resolve these issues.[/p][p] [/p][h2]🎙️ VOIP Setup Tutorial[/h2][p]We’ve also made a tutorial on how to set up VOIP. You can find it here: VOIP Tutorial[/p][p]Please continue submitting crash and bug reports via Discord or the in-game report form so we can track and address issues promptly.[/p][p][/p][h2]Community Shout-Out[/h2][p]Some fantastic content creators have been streaming/recording their playthroughs, and one video in particular from DrDevvi was packed with hilarious moments, Excited to see more![/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][h2]🛠 Fixes[/h2]

• [p]Small fixes to spectator camera[/p]
• [p]Fixed collision causing player to get stuck on corners under furniture[/p]
• [p]Corrected Crawler kill distance for certain animations[/p]
• [p]Improved error handling when joining a mismatched game version[/p]
• [p]Video settings menu now scrolls fully when performance options are open[/p]
• [p]Fixed session-list localisation display issues[/p]
• [p]Loading screen UI corrections[/p]
• [p]Auto-detect graphics scalability disabled to reduce crashes[/p]
• [p]Regenerated procedural content in missing POIs[/p]
• [p]Updated end-of-game weather effects to improve visibility[/p]
• [p]Main menu music restored correctly in front end[/p]
• [p]Tutorial links added to audio settings[/p]
• [p]Sound mix and VOIP audio mixing overhauled and now working[/p]
• [p]Fixed crawler kill concurrency and duplicate kill sounds[/p]
• [p]Fixed floating feet when crouched[/p]
• [p]Footstep SFX aligned to crouch animations[/p]
• [p]Additional weather fix at match start to improve performance[/p]
• [p]Localisation string tables updated for consistency[/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]🔧 Changes[/h2]

• [p]Bridges are now visible immediately upon map entry to assist navigation[/p]
• [p]Refined shrine-revive prompts[/p]
• [p]Revive Shrine is now visible on the map from the start[/p]
• [p]Added a collapsible input settings panel for cleaner controls[/p]
• [p]Match summary and demo content copy updated[/p]
• [p]Improved match start flow to make the start of match cleaner[/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]🚀 Features[/h2]

• [p]New ambush-pounce and crouch-prone attack animations (WIP)[/p]
• [p]Shader-compilation splash screen introduced at startup[/p]
• [p]Bug-report button added to the start-game screen[/p]
• [p]New in-game video tutorial to assist new players (English & Chinese)[/p]
• [p]Animation improvements: retargeted stealth anims with IK, added foot-sync markers, and updated crouch/prone rigs[/p]
• [p]New scripts to analyse server logs to identify problematic system hardware and drivers[/p]
• [p]New VOIP setup tutorial available: VOIP Tutorial[/p]

[p]
[/p][p]If you’re having fun, please consider leaving us a positive review to help others discover the Rift.[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]If you encounter any issues, submit crash reports and feedback via Discord or the in-game Bug Report form so we can keep improving.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Thank you for your support![/p][p]Team Weforge