The Night Shift News

Hey everyone!

I come bearing a handful of bug fixes and a support for Steam Recording!

[h3]Steam Recording Support[/h3]

If you haven't seen the announcement, Valve have released a new Steam Recording feature that is currently in beta. Once you have opted in to the Steam beta client, you will have access to a new feature that records gameplay. With this, the support I have implemented, puts markers at specific spots of gameplay.



On top of the markers, I have added a location description for each area of the store so you can easily know where you were when an event happens!



Now here are the full patch notes for the latest update.

[h3]Changes[/h3]
Added Steam Recording Support.

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]
Fixed alignment of some task names when showing.
Fixed sometimes garbage bags not registering for tasks.
Fixed restarting a shift not carrying inventory over.

Report any bugs or issues on the Discord or the Steam Discussion board.
Follow The Night Shift on X/Twitter and TikTok.

Chat soon!
Marty

Hey all!

Happy Summer Sale! To celebrate The Night Shift is 20% off until July 12th! and... AND?! That's right, AND! I have put together an update to release alongside it. This update has a few couple small things, that I believe have a major impact on the game.

A quick rundown of the biggest changes:

• Probably the biggest game changer, and just a basic feature that was missing (until now). The ability to retry the shift when you die. No longer will you have to repeat from the start again (but now that I think about it, let me know if a single life playthrough is something you would be interested in)
  
• After reviewing some players feedback, it was noted that it is taking to long to get into gameplay. I have now updated the dialogue on night 1 and 2. Making it quicker to get into the action whilst delivering what is needed. This will continue to evolve over time, but for now, short and sweet looks best.
  
• This is a fix, but I found some of the navigation for certain mannequins were just not there. I have made a pass over every shift and made sure mannequins can get everywhere you can🙂
  

Now here are the full patch notes for the latest update.

[h3]Changes[/h3]
Added more spooks.
Added a retry shift button when you die.
Added a note that pushes players to the area of the blue keycard.
Updated where the notes that start Beer Baron and No Smoking are.
Updated the story on night 1 and 2, removing a lot of unnecessary dialogue.
Updated appearance of some areas.
Updated the health icon to beat faster and turn red when on lower health.
Task list on night 2 is no longer added to inventory.
Decreased time task notification stays on screen from 6s to 4s.
Decreased the size of the task notification slightly.
Removed main menu background events... for the time being.

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]
Fixed navigation for mannequins in all shifts.
Fixed phone interaction on night 1 and 2.
Fixed ambient audio properly playing in all shifts.
Fixed garbage chute not opening.
Fixed some spelling errors in descriptions.
Fixed inspecting various items now correctly inspect them.
Fixed audio sometimes not playing on the main menu.
Fixed task list on night 2 starting clock off task instead of clock on.

The Night Shift is 20% off until July 12th!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2468610/The_Night_Shift/

Report any bugs or issues on the Discord or the Steam Discussion board.
Follow The Night Shift on X/Twitter and TikTok.

Chat soon!
Marty

Hey Everyone!

I hope you have enjoyed the latest Major Update (read about that here) that dropped last week. If you haven't had the chance, because you are playing the latest Elden Ring DLC... I understand, and good luck!
Outside of the performance fixes a couple of days ago, I have been working a few things throughout the game. Only small things, but hopefully enough to improve the experience.

A couple of things in this update will add more immersion and just QoL improvements. Here are the top things from this update.

• A throbber has been added to the loading screens, just throbbing away, so you know the game isn't frozen and is still chugging away.
  
• There are more interactable items littered through the world, expect more immersion by being able to inspect a plate or a mug! Where did the plate come from? Who made the mug? These are the things everyone is wanting to know.
  
• Keycards were taking up way too many inventory slots. So now they initially take up a slot, but after first use will vanish. Don't worry, you will still be able to use it - it just won't be taking up a slot.
  
• I made mannequins a little bit quicker. Why? I want to keep you on your toes. It's not Lightning McQueen speed, but it's a little faster than before.
  
• There are a couple more scary moments littered through the new shifts released last week. So have fun with those.
  

Now here are the patch notes for the latest update.

[h3]Changes[/h3]
Added more spooks.
Added more interactable items.
Added a throbber to loading screens.
Updated garage layout slightly.
Keycards are now permanent, they no longer take up room in the inventory after first use.
Increased Mannequin speed from 225 => 250.
Lowered difficulty during the end sequence of night 2.
Updated chairs at the kitchen table.

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]
Fixed the same garbage chute dialogue playing on two separate shifts.
Fixed being able to get stuck in a corner on night 2.
Fixed being unable to inspect the safe code post it notes.
Fixed the white key having the placeholder key inventory icon.
Fixed flickering lights flickering ridiculously fast.
Fixed movies in inventory having low quality textures.
Fixed Clock Off task showing as the first task on a specific level on night 3 or 4.
Fixed some spelling errors in movie descriptions.
Fixed some items staying in the same place when inspecting them.
Fixed mannequin unable to navigate past a specific shopping cart.

Ran into a bug? Report it on the Discord or the Steam Discussion board.
Follow The Night Shift on X/Twitter and TikTok.

Until next time!
Marty

Hey everyone!

This a quick hotfix for the reported performance issues, I have made a few improvements to the performance which seems to have increased fps by up to 40% (depending on machine).

If you experience any issues, please report it on the Steam Discussions or Discord.

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]
- Dialogue now kicks you out of inventory or journal when having to choose a dialogue path.
- Fixed being able to get stuck in the inventory and journal while dialogue is going.
- Fixed keycards having lower texture quality in the inventory.
- Fixed keycards having the wrong roughness texture.

Follow The Night Shift on X/Twitter and TikTok.

Cheers,
Marty

Hey everyone!

Martyn here! These past few months have been full on, but now the time is here. The new update is has dropped and I really hope you enjoy it! Read all about it down below.



[h2]Shifts[/h2]
There are five shifts in total, four of these are new, however in a single playthrough you will only play through four of them. Whys that? I hear you ask. Well, the goal of The Night Shift is to have a unique experience each time you play. This is just the first implementation of randomized shifts, but I will be expanding on this in the future - which I am super excited for.
Each of these five shifts will take you to existing and new areas of the department store. These areas have unique tasks and thrilling moments that can only be experienced in those areas. These areas also contain some randomization with horror elements but given these are the 'earlier' levels of the game, expect an increase in horror in future levels.
These new areas take you across the store from one side to the other. You will navigate your way through the store's electronics, furniture, women's clothing, and men's clothing sections as well as the back hallways, bathrooms, and parking area.

[h2]Saving[/h2]
Now as I have previously mentioned, a proper Save and Load isn't implemented in this update. In saying that, there is a little bit of save and load going on - nothing that would carry across sessions I'm afraid.
Now your inventory carries across shifts, so all those batteries you have collected are no longer lost to a void, forcing you to start your battery collection over again. Alongside your inventory, any unfinished tasks will now follow you across to the next shift.

[h2]Achievements[/h2]
For those achievement enthusiasts, I have reviewed all of the existing achievements and updated a handful of requirements and icons, as well as fixing a couple of existing achievements from being unobtainable.
On top of this, I have added five new achievements to unlock!

[h2]Misc[/h2]
Just a couple smaller things to note, you can now disable motion blur from the gameplay settings page. On top of this, I have made minor performance and optimization improvements and fixed various issues and performance issues that were brought to my attention, this is really helpful - so if you do run into any issues, please raise them on the Discord or Steam Discussions.



[h3]Full Change List[/h3]
- Added new shifts.
- Added new tasks.
- Added certain shifts that are loaded randomly.
- Added a new task screen to check in on current tasks.
- Added minimalistic tutorial (still a WIP).
- Added 5 new Steam achievements.
- Added the option to enable and disable motion blur.
- Added painkillers in case you get hurt.
- Inventory is now kept across shifts.
- Unfinished tasks now carry across shifts.
- Adjusted the narrative and tasks for Night 1.
- Various items in the world can now be inspected.
- Decreased number of mannequins in the final section of Night 1.
- Updated existing areas with extra detail.
- Updated lockers in the hallway to now have interactable doors.
- Updated lockers in office to be the same type as the hallway lockers.
- Updated various models.
- Updated some mannequins can spawn randomly now.
- Updated the sound mannequins made.
- Updated some Steam achievement requirements and descriptions.
- Updated how many batteries are accessible each shift.

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]
- Fixed shadow artefacts on office chairs.
- Disabled physics of the office chairs - these were causing some weird issues.
- Fixed when placing shoeboxes, inventory does not show immediately.
- Fixed when placing a shoebox, the correct one is placed.
- Fixed the picking up keys sound playing when picking up certain items.
- Fixed ceiling in store front not casting shadow correctly.
- Fixed being able to open and close the main menu with the same button.
- Fixed being able to see through a line in the mesh of the hallway doors.
- Fixed not being able to get the No Smoking achievement.
- Fixed various collisions of objects not working.
- Fixed scaling of decals in the office.
- Fixed opening the menu during gameplay now pauses the game
- Fixed being unable to clearly see when zooming in at a fence.
- Fixed being unable to clearly see when zooming through windows.
- Fixed 'show fps' checkbox icon showing a square when toggling.
- Fixed some UI being cut off in specific resolutions.
- Fixed inventory items sometimes not having the correct icon.
- Performance and optimization improvements.

Join the community on Discord.
Follow The Night Shift on X/Twitter and TikTok.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2468610/The_Night_Shift/

As always, if you have any questions, issues, or suggestions please let me know!

Cheers,
Marty