Fractal Space News

Please reset your save with the Reset Save button in the Main Menu, as this update has many significant changes that will require a fresh new save for Lore tablets to be counted properly, some new statistics and Achievements to work, etc.

In addition, you can now reset Achievements (recommended too for this update, as many were removed / changed / implemented)

Join us on the official Discord server to talk about the game and the bugs you find!


Below is a short video with a few elements from latest 0.607 and 0.604-0.606 update cycles!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

A few visual improvements for Safe Landing upgrade.
[h3][color]Safe Landing – Level 1[/color][/h3]

• Now much smaller vertically than before. It used to be the same size as Level 2, even though it doesn’t display a preview monitor.
  

[h3][color]Safe Landing – Level 2[/color][/h3]

• The preview monitor is now less saturated (may become fully black & white or more saturated later, depending on feedback), uses a black background (was previously transparent, which was confusing), and now features scan lines to make it feel more like a monitor and less distracting than previous versions.
  
• The triangle arrow/icon is hidden to obstruct less of the preview.
  
• The distance moved display has been moved to the upper right of the Safe Lander to avoid blocking the preview.
  
• Also slightly smaller vertically:

It is now intended that display conditions are NOT consistent between Level 1 and Level 2—this is not a bug. Each level serves different goals.

Originally posted by #FFA500

[color]WARNING:[/color] In the future, you’ll be able to disable Safe Landing.
Speedrunners will prefer it OFF—as they don’t need it.
However, it exists mostly to help more casual players, especially on consoles (or PC with gamepad).
When testing and providing feedback, please try to put yourself in the shoes of a new player, and use a gamepad if possible (as fast mouse movement to check below is not possible).

[h2][color]SAFE LANDING | LEVEL 1[/color][/h2]

• Helps you know if it’s safe to land again directly below.
  
• Only appears when a hazard was detected at least once below the player while airborne, or when the player has been flying over empty space and is now above safe ground again.
  
• Shown rarely, since it does not include a preview camera.
  
• May show some (not all) lower limits (Relocations / Imminent Deaths) slightly in advance.
  

[h2][color]SAFE LANDING | LEVEL 2[/color][/h2]

• Same as Level 1, but with added functionality: Helps adjust landing more precisely on safe ground.
  
• Will not display immediately when jetpacking or jumping over already-safe ground, to avoid constant blinking in interiors or safe areas.
  
• Only appears when the player is in mid-air AND flew over void (unsafe) OR hazard.
  
• Remains displayed until the player lands again, since the preview monitor helps you adjust your landing without needing to look down.
  
• Now detects Healthpacks and Energy Packs separately from general Hazard / Ground.
  
• Example: Lets you land on a Healthpack while still looking upward to aim and shoot at a button—no need to look down with a slow joystick while using a gamepad.
  

• [color]Dodge & Windows[/color] - Improved Dodging through Fragile Windows to break them even more easily, and ensure that vertical Dodging (upwards and downwards) into a Fragile Window works smoothly again as it did in 0.603. 😉 It should now feel even better than before.
  
  
• [color]Brightness Calibration[/color] - New page in Graphics Options to calibrate your screen with separate controls for Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, and Bloom Intensity:
  
  
  
  • Default values match 0.603 for optimal experience on most TVs and monitors.
    
  • Disabled when Performance Mode is ON (intended).
    
  • Switching between Medium and Maximum Tonemapping requires readjustment—identical values cannot produce the same results (SDR vs HDR).
    
  • Instead of showing an image (which is usually inaccurate), the game now previews the current in-game view (while paused) or the Main Menu background to provide more accurate adjustments:
    
  
• [color]Tonemapping:[/color] Now a required feature and always ON, with Medium or Maximum as selectable options:
  
  
  • Brightness Calibration requires at least Medium Tonemapping, and all lighting is designed around it.
    
  • To fully disable Tonemapping, you must enable Performance Mode (F2).
    
  • For the darkest visual experience, use Maximum Tonemapping.
    
• [color]Extreme[/color] - Quick Save / Quick Load is now disabled in Extreme difficulty unless Debug Mode is enabled (for bug reproduction/testing). 😉
  
  
• [color]Chapter 0 → 1 Transition[/color] - Background loading has been significantly optimized:
  
  
  
  • The massive 10s stutter when dropping the Box on the Pressure Plate should no longer happen on 90% of PCs.
    
  • Low-end CPUs may still experience stutters, but they should now be acceptable compared to versions 0.604–0.606.
    
• [color]Loading[/color] - In general, loading times across Chapters should now be slightly faster.
  
• [color]Room Control[/color] - Clicking interface buttons very quickly could cause misclicks. This has now been fixed and is more reactive—no misclicks should occur even when speedrunning. 😉
  
  
• [color]Chapter 1 Relocations:[/color] Chapter 1 no longer uses death by falling into void or Imminent Terminations. All such situations are now handled with Relocations:
  
  
  
  • Void falls: Now uses a short 1s Relocation instead of waiting 3s for death.
    
  • Bypassing horizontal limits: Uses a longer 3s Relocation to allow backtracking.
    
  • Sky limits: Mostly removed, but if encountered, use a 5s Relocation (non-dangerous exits).
    
  • Relocations now support different delays and different behaviors for each direction (lower, upper, side), including whether to play “limit” dialogs or not.
    
• [color]Healing Animation[/color] - The left-hand animation is now much faster in Speedrun Mode, to better match instant healing behavior in that mode.
  
• [color]Achievements Reset[/color] - With many changes to Achievements, you can now reset all Achievements and Steam Stats via a new checkbox. Just tick Reset Achievements in the Reset Save confirmation popup to test the new system.
  
• [color]Achievements[/color] - Me First! Achievement is now implemented (in theory).
  
• [color]Achievements[/color] - New Pablo Achievement! It must remain easy, so it's only about destroying Pablo 🙂 – either with a Smasher, or by falling into the void.
  
• [color]Dynamic Soundtrack[/color] - Further optimizations were made, which may delay the start of the Chapter 1 soundtrack when transitioning from Chapter 0 or starting Chapter 1. This delay shouldn’t cause sync issues, and is designed to reduce load on low-end CPUs. It is unnoticeable on mid/high-end systems.
  
• [color]Dialogs[/color] - Similar optimization made for audio dialogs.
  Please report if you notice significant stutters or delays when dialogs play.
  
• [color]Fragile Windows[/color] - Significantly increased texture quality, now look more realistic:
  
• [color]F11[/color] - Now toggles between Borderless and Windowed display types without needing to access options. It will not toggle Fullscreen (use Options for that). Screenshot Mode has been moved to F7 by default, and now requires a 1s hold.
  
• [color]Tablets[/color] - Regular and Lore Tablets now respawn if they fall into the void or get crushed. This may cause new bugs—please test! Helps prevent losing them by accident before reading.
  
• [color]Speedrun Mode[/color] - Retractable Walls now move faster while in Speedrun Mode. Please report any cases where this breaks gameplay!
  
• [color]Always-On Timers[/color] - New option in ACCESSIBILITY tab:
  If enabled, Speedrun Timers will remain visible at all times during gameplay—except during Room Control and minigames, to avoid UI obstruction:
  
• [color]Auto-Pause[/color] - New option in ACCESSIBILITY tab:
  If disabled, auto-pausing when the game loses focus is turned OFF. [color]WARNING:[/color] Speedrun Timers will still run—so keep this option enabled to ensure ALT+TAB doesn’t affect runs (default: ON).
  
• [color]Chapter 0[/color] - It’s now raining in Chapter 0!
  Includes physically-based rain drops, on-screen droplets, and different rain sounds when near the Box, Pressure Plate, or water areas:
  
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - The new NG+ slopes that appear the first time you reach the outside now only appear after an NG+ button interaction, to prevent them from floating into view prematurely.
  
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - Check out Pablo in NG+ or in NG with Speedrun Mode ON 😉 He will now be destroyed if squashed by a Smasher and is easier to move around by shooting him—for added fun!
  
• [color]Chapter 3[/color] - Approaching the Cube now triggers a dialog (currently silent) noticing that the sun is moving.
  
• [color]Chapter 4[/color] - The many flames area near the Processing Center was updated: Now longer flame exposure and more intense damage over time makes it clear that you must disable the flames to survive (intended).

• [color]Chapter 0[/color] - In efforts to make the Pandora drop on Pressure Plate safer, it will now only activate the Pressure Plate if the Box is moving slowly:
  • If it “passes by too fast”, it will not activate it (intended).
    
  • In addition, when it does activate the Pressure Plate, the Box will be force-stopped.
    
  • Not realistic, but fine for safety and avoids bug 1717590139. To be tested—it may create new bugs.
• [color]Chapter 0[/color] - It now also requires the Box to be more centered inside the Pressure Plate for it to be pressed down.
  
• [color]Speed-o-meter[/color] - Now moved higher on screen to avoid interfering with Safe Landing display.
  
  
• [color]Upgrades[/color] - Upgrades count in PAUSE menu was not updated by Debug Mode changes:
  • Now it is—whether adding or removing upgrades in Debug Mode.
    
  • It still won’t unlock Achievements via Debug.
    
  • This avoids players reporting invalid bugs about upgrades counter.
    
• [color]Healthbar in Speedrun Mode[/color] - Progressive Healthbar animations are now removed in Speedrun Mode:
  • Previously, animations created a 0.2s delay between real health and shown health.
    
  • Speedrunners now get accurate instant display of health.
    
  • Additionally, Healthbar appears faster when taking damage/healing.
    
  • A 0.1s delay remains only if Healthbar was hidden and needs to appear with updated value.
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - Platforms before Taser Room (and the third one to return) are now twice as fast in Speedrun Mode.
  
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - Taser Room: The softlock prevention system for Cubes only activates if Dodge is not unlocked, since Dodge allows recovery.
  
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - Cannot bring all 4 Cubes from the Cubic Cauldron Bonus Room into the rest of the level anymore.
  
• [color]Chapter 3[/color] - After the Leaf Bridge, the “bigger on the inside” corridor now has the mini-generator placed in front of the button. This helps Speedrunners interact faster while still preventing door pre-opening before entering.
  
  
• [color]Chapter 3[/color] - If player uses a previous Power Core to open the Cube’s Crypto-Locator Door:
  • Will instantly show the next objective
  • Skip the Cutscene since it’s already accomplished
    
  • Objective won’t re-show when entering the center
    
• [color]FPS Counter[/color] - Now updates every second instead of every frame, for more accurate average FPS tracking.
  
  
• [color]Screenshot Mode[/color] - Due to many players not understanding the activation notification, Screenshot Mode now requires the key to be held for 1 second to activate:
  
  • Activation delay reduced from 4s to 2s.
    
  • Now set to F7 by default as F11 is used to toggle display modes (Fullscreen/Borderless/Windowed).
    
• [color]Manual Switches[/color] - The new manual switches interaction cutscene now has updated behavior:
  
  • Cubes or Tablets blocking the animation will be force-respawned to prevent bugs.
    
  • Audio will now pause correctly when the game is paused.
    
  • Sound is now accelerated in Speedrun Mode.
    
• [color]Saws[/color] - The “small size to full size” animation when activating Saws is disabled on PC (still present on Pocket Edition):
  
  • Report any “pop-in” saws seen on PC.
    
  • A better PC-exclusive animation is planned for a future update.
    
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - First outside area:
  
  • Slopes now only appear upon NG+ interaction.
    
  • Falling in the void now triggers Relocation instead of Imminent Death or invisible death zones.
    
  • No relocation dialog plays (intended) as this is typically a passive fall prevention.
    
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - Cubic Cauldron Bonus Room – Mines Room updates:
  
  • All mines will now explode if any mine is triggered (no more edge cases).
    
  • Exit vent and Upgrade Terminal lock when a mine is triggered.
    
  • Entrance door locks as well to ensure no escape.
    
  • One new mine added requiring a mandatory jump 😉
    
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - After lockdown in the exploding walls room:
  
  • The “Deploy Bridge” button no longer reopens the door if you go outside again.
    
  • You’ll need to re-enter through the Fragile Window (intended).
    
• [color]Chapter 2[/color] - The new skip through Fragile Wall above the Dual Moving Platforms will now be blocked by a full Laser Field once the room is completed. It is intended that this one cannot be seen through.
  
  
• [color]Chapter 3[/color] - In the Cube area with the Encryption Key and Crypto-Locator:
  
  • If the Encryption Key is respawned, it will re-activate the “Get Encryption Key” objective and show its marker.
    
  • A second relocation point is now available (after reaching the Cube center once) closer to the center.
    
• [color]Chapter 3[/color] - The first Hyper-Speed Lasers are now criss-cross lasers, even when Hyper-Speed is enabled 😉
  
• [color]Chapter 4[/color] - First room lasers are now also criss-cross lasers.
  You’ll need to solve the puzzle properly 😉
  
• [color]Retractable Walls[/color] - Being crushed is now more accurate, and results in an instant black screen (intended).
  
• [color]Quick Save[/color] - Now enforces a minimum 2s delay between Quick Save / Quick Load. Quick Saving while Dodging is no longer allowed.
  

• [color]Zero-Gravity[/color] - Fixed a major bug that could cause (not 100%) Zero-Gravity movement and swimming in CH0 to have incorrect controls:
  
  • When affected, movement directions were incorrect (e.g. forward/left inputs moved you wrongly).
    
  • “True” camera rotation would be visible when pausing the game.
    
  • Caused by Unity internal physics bug — workaround implemented without upgrading to Unity 6 to avoid new risks.
    
• [color]Camera Shaking[/color] - Fixed bug causing extreme shaking of the Camera when Camera Smoothing was enabled. Mostly affected underwater in Chapter 0 and Zero-G sequences.
  
  
• [color]Chapter 0[/color] - Since 0.604–0.606, dropping Pandora on the Pressure Plate caused massive 5–10s slowdowns/freezes during the cutscene:
  
  • Now significantly improved, closer to performance of 0.603.
    
  • Might still have minor slowdown, but much better than 0.604–0.606.
    
• [color]Relocations[/color] - Fixed a bug that could allow players to skip Relocation triggers in specific Chapter 1 area.
  
• [color]Cube Phasing[/color] - It should now be much harder or impossible to phase Cubes through walls or objects. Might still happen, but hopefully rare enough to consider this fixed.
  
• [color]Cameras[/color] - Fixed bug that caused Disabled Cameras (via Room Control or room progression) to be re-enabled on Quick Load under specific conditions. May introduce new bugs — testing recommended.
  
• [color]Cameras[/color] - Fixed minor inconsistencies with Quick Save/Load and Cameras. All Cameras were modified — please test their activation/states thoroughly 😉
  
• [color]ESC[/color] - Pressing ESC during menu navigation would hide the cursor until mouse moved — now fixed 😉
  
• [color]Remapping[/color] - Pressing ESC to cancel key remapping while navigating by keyboard would not correctly re-select the previous remap item. Now fixed — no more needing to exit and reopen the page 😉
  
• [color]Performance Mode[/color] - Fixed unintended explosions when toggling Performance Mode ON/OFF affecting: Destroyed Cameras, Destroyed Generators
• [color]Statistics Page[/color] - Fixed various stat bugs, such as already-inserted Power Cores being incorrectly counted.
  
• [color]Power Cores[/color] - Fixed inserted Power Cores showing as Green at Chapter start instead of Cyan until reloaded.
  
• [color]Exploit[/color] - Fixed hard-to-find exploit that allowed cheating time records. Now patched — not revealing how it worked 😉
• [color]Statistics Page[/color] - In the future, Stats page will be fully cumulative, and even Upgrades / Upgrade Terminals / Curiosities etc. might accumulate even after using New Game instead of New Game+. For now, this is true for all stats, except those tied to progression. Currently, New Game will reset Upgrades / Terminals / Lore items counts in the Statistics page.
  
• [color]Chapter 0[/color] - Fixed a bug that allowed moving faster if BACKWARDS key was held down with Cutscenes disabled.
  
• [color]Chapter 0[/color] - Fixed a rendering bug that caused Water to appear very bright/white when LOW Water setting was selected before starting Chapter 0. Will now render as expected at low quality.
  
• [color]Chapter 0[/color] - Restarting Chapter 0 after enabling Speedrun Mode while already inside Chapter 0 will no longer load Chapter 1, and will correctly restart Chapter 0. Also, the Speedrun Mode velocity meter is now hidden in Chapter 0 (intended).
  
• [color]Instant Restart[/color] - Shortcut for instant restart of current Chapter has been made safer, especially if pressing it again while already restarting. Please report any remaining cases where it hangs or doesn’t work as expected.
  
• [color]Safe Landing[/color] - Fixed various bugs causing it to temporarily hide when Hover was engaged or disengaged.
  
• [color]Pablo[/color] - Will now properly ride on moving platforms and lifts (used to fall through or be unmoved).
  
• [color]Audio[/color] - Fixed electrified water sounds being muted after pausing/unpausing the game.
  
• [color]Localization[/color] - Fixed various Localization issues.
  
• [color]Bug Reporting[/color] - Requesting to fully EXIT the game while a Bug Report is uploading will now wait for upload to complete before exiting.
  
• [color]Ukrainian[/color] - Many mistakes in UI and Menus for both PC and PE were fixed: Use of capital letters where they shouldn't appear, missing commas, and overly long words were replaced with shorter ones.
  

Below are all the player-reported bug reports and suggestions now solved:

This is a second hotfix update to fix more issues from the latest Major Update 0.604 —a follow-up to Hotfix 0.605, which already fixed a few major issues.

• [color]Scanner[/color] - Added a Level 3 Scanner upgrade icon.
  
• [color]Chapter 2[/color] - Added Jetpackless Achievement (unlocks when the secondary Jetpack is picked up).
  
• [color]Achievements[/color] - Veteran Medic should now unlock properly.
  
• [color]Achievements[/color] - Ultimate Taser should now unlock properly.
  
• [color]Achievements[/color] - Latest Firmware should now unlock properly.
  

• [color]Chapter 2[/color] - During a Jetpackless run, you will no longer be able to use Zero-G Boost until you pick up the Jetpack at the end of Chapter 2. This is intended as Zero-G Boost requires the Jetpack. The Jetpack Fuel gauge will also no longer be displayed in Zero-G in this case. The associated Zero-G Boost tutorial will not display if you haven’t picked up the Jetpack yet. 😉
  

• [color]Audio[/color] - Fixed a bug where Chapter 1’s new background dynamic music would play simultaneously with other Chapters’ soundtracks.
  
• [color]Chapter Statistics[/color] - Fixed bugs with Chapter completion statistics and Upgrade Terminals / Bonus Rooms statistics. Some issues may still remain—please check with ESC in NG+ to verify completion stats and report any bugs!
  
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - The first light after exiting the water area was no longer turning ON—now fixed.
  
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - Fixed a Laser Field with larger-than-intended collision for players and Taser shots.
  
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - Activating the final lift button will now stop the Speedrun Timer instantly, as in previous versions.
  
• [color]Chapter 2[/color] - Fixed some localization bugs where $PLAYER_NAME$ was incorrectly displayed on some Lore Tablets.
  
• [color]Chapter 2[/color] - Fixed cases where Dodge tutorials and Zero-G tutorials could overlap.
  
• [color]Chapter 4[/color] - Exiting the Sun Control room while actively controlling the Sun would cause the player to continue controlling it (regression from 0.603).
  
• [color]Chapter 4[/color] - Fixed an invisible wall that was physically present but not rendered.
  
• [color]Curiosities[/color] - Clicking New Game would still prevent previously picked-up Curiosities from respawning in a New Game run—now fixed.
  
• [color]Localization[/color] - Fixed various localization issues.
  

First hotfix patch released a few hours after Major Update 0.604, to fix a first set of new bugs introduced by the latest update!

Some major issues still remain and will be addressed in 0.606 as soon as possible, but these fixes were important enough to release now:

• [color]Flashlight[/color] - A new bug caused the Flashlight to stop working if coming from Chapter 0 (but worked fine when starting from the Chapters page). The Flashlight would only restore after returning to the Main Menu and clicking Resume. This is now fixed!
  
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - Could incorrectly reload Chapter 1 instead of loading Chapter 2 upon completion if Speedrun Mode was ON.
  
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - Fixed a Chest containing a Lore item that could appear floating in mid-air if viewed too early in the Chapter.
  
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - Fixed a bug where the auto-closing Door in the Lockdown area (where the two walls and pipes explode) would prevent re-entry when using Hyper-Speed.
  - Now, this skip is possible again.
  
• [color]Chapter 2[/color] - The secondary Jetpack (for Jetpackless runs) was incorrectly present at the end lift of Chapter 2, even if the player had already picked up the Jetpack earlier. This is now fixed.
  
• [color]Upgrades[/color] - Fixed a localization bug for Scanner Level 3.
  
• [color]Achievements[/color] - The Find all Curiosities Achievement and similar new Achievements should no longer be unlocked prematurely upon collecting them all in Chapter 1.- They will now remain unobtainable until all required conditions are met.
  

Please reset your save with the Reset Save button in the Main Menu, as this update has many significant changes that will require a fresh new save for Lore tablets to be counted properly, some new statistics and Achievements to work, etc.

Join us on the official Discord server to talk about the game and the bugs you find!

Hotfix 0.605 was released shortly after this update, to address a few newly introduced bugs by this update

[h2][color]CHAPTER 1 | NEW SOUNDTRACK + DYNAMIC MUSIC[/color][/h2]
This is a significant change, and long-time players might have a hard time adjusting to it - but we hope you'll like it!

• The goal is to get Chapter 1's music more consistent with the style of Chapter 0, which better matches the direction of the PC version.
  
• Depending on the area, room intensity, and outside / inside, the soundtrack will now change dynamically.
  
• This should offer more consistency and variety across Chapter 1.
  
• It's not "simply" a switch between 2 music files, and uses dynamic layers. Since it's a complex system, it's prone to have bugs and issues in this first version. If you encounter any bugs, please be patient and report them :)
  
• A lot of optimization was done to this system already - but as this is more resource-intensive, it's possible that on low-end CPUs, you may experience audio de-syncs or other bugs. Please report them too, they'll need to be fixed.
  
• Currently, the "chase" music while detected by Cameras is still the same old music. It will be replaced too in the near future.
  

[color]NOTE:[/color] Currently, only Chapter 1 has this new dynamic music system. All other Chapters will have a new soundtrack later on, and use this new system too.

[h2][color]DIFFICULTY LEVELS[/color][/h2]
First prototype versions of Difficulty settings have been added! :)

HARD:

• Most traps deal more damage.
  
• Ammo Packs and Health Packs never respawn.
  
• Health Backpack does not auto-consume from inventory for death prevention (manual request required, but still auto-consumes when requesting to use Hyper-Speed without enough Health, but Healthpack available, or when reaching “Health Too Low” point while it is active).
  

EXTREME:

• Same as HARD, but all traps are instant-kill, with the exception of small damage events like Generator explosions (newly added in 0.604) which deal the same increased x2 damage compared to Normal (same as in Hard).
  

[color]WARNING:[/color] From HARD difficulty and above: Softlocks are possible if you are not careful with Health for Hyper-Speed and Taser Energy. These are intended in these difficulty settings, please don't report as a bug, but maybe as a suggestion if you think an area should be modified to prevent them. For that reason, only Normal difficulty will be available on the first New Game run upon release, and higher difficulties will be unlocked when completing the game.

[h2][color]OTHER NEW ADDITIONS[/color][/h2]

• [color]Manual Interaction[/color] - A new in-game interaction cutscene system has been added, allowing some buttons to be only interacted with manually while disallowing Taser shots. Some buttons already behaved this way (Taser shots had no effect), but it was unclear, leading to potential ammo waste. This should now be clearer. In Speedrun Mode, the animation is played 2x faster to prevent slowdown.
  
• [color]Textures Quality Settings[/color] - Setting Textures to LOW no longer reduces static lighting and shadow quality. Previously, this caused visible “dark lines” between walls. Now, LOW textures can be used without affecting static shadows. However, this change slightly increases RAM & VRAM usage, so if crashes occur, consider lowering the new Shadowmaps setting.
  
• [color]New Option: Shadowmaps[/color] - A new Shadowmaps option now controls static lighting and shadows separately from Textures. Lowering this setting may cause black lines between walls, which are not bugs but expected behavior for low settings. Reduce only if experiencing performance issues or crashes:
  
• [color]New Lore System[/color] - Many new lore items have been added in Chapter 1 with a new interface to read them. More will be introduced in future chapters.
  
• [color]Statistics[/color] - A new UI page now tracks various player statistics:
  
• [color]Fragile Walls[/color] - Debris from Fragile Walls will no longer prevent interactions. You can now interact with Buttons, Cubes, and Power Cores directly through debris. This is unrealistic but improves Quality of Life and reduces frustration :)
  https://youtu.be/AsReaX5KwC4
  
• [color]Fragile Walls[/color] - Now easier to walk through after being destroyed by a Hyper-Shot. While they are now less obstructive, bricks will still take time to clear (intended). Dodging remains the fastest method for Speedrunning:
  https://youtu.be/xHwD2s5vMCg
  
• [color]Fragile Walls[/color] - In Zero-G, after being Hyper-Shot at least once, they can now be moved through. Previously, most debris would block movement entirely, even when using Dodge. Now, Dodge will work without needing extra Taser shots.
  
• [color]Lasers[/color] - New Tutorials added to make it clear that diagonally-placed (cross-shaped) Lasers will always kill you. Similar tutorials have been added for Laser Fields. These tutorials will appear only once, but can appear at different diagonal lasers or Laser Fields in Chapter 1, depending on which one is approached first. Not all of them trigger it, as it depends on whether it makes sense at that moment. This is a rule in the game that must be clear and consistent across all Chapters. If you find any instant-kill lasers that don’t have diagonal lasers, please report as gameplay bugs or suggestions. If needed, upcoming updates may add reminder tutorials in later Chapters, if players still do not understand or forget about it.
  
• [color]Lasers Consistency[/color] - Related to the Tutorials above, many instances of regular lasers being instant-kill have been removed or replaced with either diagonally-crossed lasers or Laser Fields, depending on the situation. Some lasers are also simply no longer instant-kill, so you might now be able to pass through lasers that previously killed instantly if they are not using the crisscross pattern. Please report any inconsistencies with this new setup:
  https://youtu.be/i-gIkLR_mo0
  
• [color]Explosive Pipes[/color] - A new explosive pipes system has been added, similar to the exploding walls & pipes of Chapter 1 upon returning with the Taser. In this Chapter 1 room, they explode automatically due to design reasons and because the player has no Taser ammo. However, these new explosive pipes (which will be used in various areas, including the future new ending of Chapter 1) require a shot from the Taser to explode. Currently, only one has been added in Chapter 3, but more will come later :)
  
• [color]Physics Objects[/color] - New physics objects / debris were added in preparation for the future new Chapter 1 ending. They are used in one or two places in Chapter 1.
  
• [color]Steam[/color] - Steam is now required to be running before starting the game in order to report bugs. However, you can still play without it. This requirement ensures security and prevents certain players’ bug reports from being posted on Discord. (I’ll still receive them, and they will be posted in a private channel for moderators). Additionally, some players' Leaderboard Scores are now blocked from being uploaded.
  
• [color]Steam Cloud[/color] - Fixed Steam Cloud sync issues that could cause saved game data to not properly sync between Windows, Mac & Linux versions. All saved data should now sync correctly across all platforms, allowing you to resume progress on any of the three platforms :)
  
• [color]Achievements[/color] - Clicking the Achievements button will now display the Steam Overlay on the Achievements page! This will show many Achievements that are not yet completeable. Please ignore them and do not report them as bugs, as they are not yet implemented :)
  
• [color]Achievements[/color] - More Achievements were added for the new Lore System. Some might not be unlockable yet, as there are not enough lore entries available yet. This is intentional and not a bug. Additionally, some Achievements were removed and replaced with incremental Achievements due to the maximum number of Achievements Steam allows.
  
• [color]Achievements[/color] - The following Achievements should now be implemented: Killed by Camera, Killed by Flames, First Room Control.
• [color]Leaderboards[/color] - Every newly uploaded score from 0.604 will now also show the date when the score was achieved. This is timezone-adjusted to always be accurate for the player viewing the Leaderboard.
  
• [color]Scanner[/color] - Can now be upgraded to Level 3 to help find not-yet-found new lore items added in this update (only in Chapter 1 for now). In addition, sound effects have been added when the scanner detects or loses something nearby.
  
• [color]Tablets[/color] - Tablets collectibles are now split into two distinct categories, with different progression counters on the Chapters Page and Pause Menu (NG+ only). This change is intended to improve clarity. Additionally, regular "Information" Tablets are now the only ones with the "Information" title header, and they do not count toward progression at all :)
  
• [color]Generators[/color] - Now turn orange after the first shot to indicate that a second shot may be required to break them and that the first shot was successful. They also now have a small screen displaying the generator's status.
  
• [color]Safe Landing[/color] - Safe Landing Level 2 Upgrade will now show a preview of what is below the player’s feet. This can be useful, once you get used to it, to avoid needing to look down while jetpacking or jumping, as the preview helps ensure a safe landing.
  
• [color]Chapter 1 | Escapism Room[/color] - The button to open Cage 1 (where the button is located) can no longer be shot from a distance and now requires manual interaction.
  
• [color]Chapter 3[/color] - The door button after the Leaf Bridge has been modified to be protected, ensuring the player understands why it cannot be shot from a distance. However, once the protection is removed, it can now be shot by the Taser. This change should not cause bugs.
  
• [color]Chapter 3[/color] - The initializeRoom.cpp button now has a (silent for now) dialog to help players understand that it’s not a bug that this button has strange text (intended).
  
• [color]Chapter 3 | Bonus Room 7[/color] - The broken pipes through which the player must shoot the switch now have flames as you enter and will require a player action to explode. This is to provide a hint on where to look, as many players did not notice the crack through the pipes (suggested by Chris).
  
• [color]Cameras[/color] - Cameras will now look fully “turned off” while stunned. This should make it more visible when a successful shot stuns the Camera. The camera will appear dark while stunned, but that should be acceptable.
  
• [color]Cameras[/color] - Destroyed Cameras are now in a red color state. We’ll see if this is better than keeping them in the default blue state :)
  
• [color]Cameras[/color] - Shooting Camera projectiles will now create sparks & particles when shots hit objects, surfaces, or the player.
  
• [color]Audio[/color] - Cardboard boxes will now have an associated sound effect when burning due to colliding with Lasers or Laser Fields.
  
• [color]Exit System[/color] - Returning to the Main Menu and Exiting the game now requires a confirmation popup. You can now Exit the game from the Pause Menu using the red EXIT button. ALWAYS USE THE EXIT BUTTON to avoid saved data corruption. Never exit the game with ALT+F4 or other methods, as it may corrupt your saved data if you do so while the game is saving (like in any other game).
  [color]WARNING:[/color] If not careful, 100% of pre-alpha players will now exit the game by mistake instead of returning to the menu! 😂
  
• [color]Ultrawide Support[/color] - Many visual bug fixes & improvements in the user interface for Ultrawide and Super-Ultrawide display aspect ratios.
  
• [color]Safe Area[/color] - Now supports Ultrawide & Super-Ultrawide monitor aspect ratios, allowing the main UI to be centered like on a regular 16:9 monitor. Holding the keys down now modifies the safe area faster. It now affects more UI elements, including the menu's bottom navigation bar, Main Menu buttons/windows placements, etc., to ensure everything looks OK on Ultrawide / Super-Ultrawide displays.
  
• [color]Instant Restart[/color] - The HOME key (by default) will now instantly restart the current Chapter from the beginning when Speedrun Mode is ENABLED, without any confirmation required. This shortcut can be customized:
  https://youtu.be/wqIbC9FQ6OA
  
• [color]Tablets[/color] - Information Tablets that change from a New Game to New Game+ will now allow you to toggle between the original New Game text and the New Game+ version by pressing TAB (or D-Pad Down) while zooming in with Right Click (or Right Stick Button).
  
• [color]Tablets[/color] - Tablet and Encryption Key screens now jitter and appear buggy while underwater. They also react to Taser shots with a temporary buggy screen effect.
  
• [color]Achievement[/color] - A new Achievement has been added for getting past the very first blinking Hyper-Speed Lasers in Chapter 3 without using Hyper-Speed (only possible after acquiring Hyper-Speed, though - intended).
  
• [color]Bug Reporting[/color] - Reworked the Bug Reporting system to be much faster when displaying reports on Discord. Now, after everything is uploaded, the bug report will appear on Discord nearly instantly instead of having a 5-10 minute delay. Additionally, if no errors are shown, the system should now have a 100% success rate when publishing to Discord (previously, some rare reports could be lost in the void, though they would still reach me).
  
• [color]Bug Reporting[/color] - Please have the Discord app running in the background and signed in with your main Discord account before launching the game. This ensures that bug reports are linked to your Discord account. If you do not wish to have the Discord app installed or running in the background, please contact me on fractal-space-chat or via DM. A new method is now available to link your Discord account manually without requiring the Discord app to be running.
  
• [color]Background Loading[/color] - By default, the Chapter 0 to Chapter 1 transition lasts only 2-5 seconds on most PCs, thanks to a background loading system (only used for the CH0 to CH1 transition). However, in rare cases on older PCs, this may cause a crash or infinite loading after drowning. If you experience this crash, please disable Background Loading in Options | Accessibility:
  [color]NOTE:[/color] If you are not experiencing these issues, it is not recommended to disable background loading, as it will only increase the loading time for the CH0 to CH1 transition.
  

• [color]Reset Save[/color] - Now has a confirmation popup.
  
• [color]Hover[/color] - Now requires Taser Ammo to be engaged. If Ammo is depleted while using Hover, it will automatically disengage. Hover will not engage when aiming if Ammo is at zero.
  
• [color]Framerate Counter[/color] - Changed from SHIFT+F to ALT+SHIFT+F to prevent accidental activation (can cause a temporary mini-freeze when toggled).
  
• [color]Save System[/color] - Whenever an important level change happens during a Checkpoint Save or Quick Save, the game now performs a re-save as a safety measure. Previously, this re-save process could not be interrupted, making saving take much longer when triggered frequently. Now, if a re-save is required, it will interrupt the current ongoing save, making most Checkpoint saves faster than before with less risk of requiring an extra re-save.
  - Generally, auto-save should now be safer, with less risk of incorrect saved states.
  - Checkpoint saving is now slightly faster overall.
  - Please report if you experience a strong hiccup or freeze while checkpoint saving (this could affect older CPUs).
  
• [color]New Game[/color] - Selecting New Game will now reset all picked-up Recordings and Color Packs as well.
  
• [color]Screenshot Mode[/color] - Pressing F11 to Enable Screenshot Mode will now display a Notification for 3 seconds, showing the shortcut to disable it before engaging. This should help players who mistakenly thought it was a bug when their UI disappeared.
  
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - The final room’s first Camera patrol angles have been adjusted slightly to be more forgiving when standing next to the Door from which the player enters the room.
  
• [color]Bonus Rooms[/color] - Completion state of Bonus Room screen panels (incomplete vs. complete) has been migrated to a completion percentage system. When a Bonus Room only has an Upgrade Terminal, it will be 100% completed after acquiring the Upgrade. If there are Tablets, Recordings, or Color Packs to find, the completion percentage will adjust until reaching 100%. This change needs testing, as many things can go wrong :)
  
• [color]Doors[/color] - Many regular Doors in the game were not being slowed down by Hyper-Speed. Only Hyper-Doors should be immune to Hyper-Speed’s time dilation, except for some specific cases where regular Doors must close faster (but not open faster) with Hyper-Speed ON to prevent softlocks or for practicality. This is now more consistent across all Chapters. However, this change may have introduced new softlocks that will need to be fixed—testing required.
  
• [color]Flames[/color] - Damage over time from Flames and other objects did not show red screen edges while taking damage. Now, the red screen effect will be displayed while being burned, and hurting sounds will now play every 1.5s while burning (intended).
  
• [color]Flames[/color] - An additional flesh-burning sound has been added while being burned by flames.
  
• [color]Chapter 1[/color] - The dialog “clumsy running around with Cubes” now only triggers if you actually have a Cube in your hands.
  
• [color]Chapter 1 | Speedrunner[/color] - Threshold reduced to 1:28! 🎉
  
• [color]Chapter 1 | Whoopsie Area[/color] - Falling into the void now displays an “Imminent Death” warning. If you attempt to skip past the walls, you will now experience the intended Relocation instead, depending on how far down you fell.
  
• [color]Chapter 2[/color] - In the first Zero-G scene with 2 Cubes and the second Zero-G scene with a Power Core, rare cases could cause both Cubes and/or the Power Core to “go back downwards” after enabling Zero-G. Adjustments ensure these important objects are now stabilized and remain motionless after Zero-G activation.
  
• [color]Taser[/color] - When reloading, ejected batteries are now thrown at a slower speed, making them more noticeable, especially in Zero-G.
  
• [color]Low Fuel[/color] - Now only shows the LOW FUEL notification once per session within a Chapter to prevent spam. The “low fuel” sound still plays every time—this is intended and not a bug.
  
• [color]Depth of Field[/color] - Depth of field is now disabled when aiming at transparent Windows and Fragile Windows. This ensures that you can always see the window properly, as well as the contents behind the window. Previously, this sometimes caused blurry windows or blurry content behind them.
  
• [color]Chapter 3 | Entrance to Vertical Room[/color] - Lasers are no longer force-enabled behind you as you approach the entrance of the Vertical Room (where you reach the large vertical moving platform).
  - You can still go back outside by dropping between the lasers below.
  - Now, only the “entrance lasers” controlled by the Timer are instant-kill diagonal lasers.
  - More freedom: Upon approaching the large vertical moving platform inside the Vertical Room, it no longer locks the door behind you. This allows you to backtrack more easily if you haven’t explored the Bonus Room at the top yet (outside) and are curious to explore outside more. No bugs should be present.
  
• [color]Chapter 3[/color] - The first two lore tablets, located right after exiting the first room and entering the secret area, now have small traps in the room. Difficulty may be increased in the future.
  
• [color]Cameras[/color] - Live preview screens for Cameras in Chapter 1 are now higher quality, and the “censored” effect on the player is now more visible. Feel free to suggest other Camera feeds that should have improved preview quality (only where relevant).
  
• [color]Imminent Termination[/color] - No longer triggers any dialogs—only Relocations do.
  
• [color]Chapter 4[/color] - Fixed various softlocks.
  
• [color]Fragile Walls[/color] - Fragile wall rubble pieces will now be more easily movable by shooting at them. Previously, rubble on the ground would often refuse to move when shot. While this may still happen occasionally, it has been significantly minimized—most shots should now push rubble objects out of the way:
  - The most effective method is firing a Hyper-Shot, as it will move more pieces away in a single shot and push them farther
  - The same change was applied to broken glass
  https://youtu.be/zHqHj1Xd9fc
  
• [color]Tablets[/color] - Can now be pushed by walking toward them.
  
• [color]Audio[/color] - The slow heartbeat sound (low health) and fast heartbeat sound (low health while Hyper-Speed is ON) are now significantly louder. Previously, they were barely audible. Let us know if they are now too loud.
  
• [color]Mines[/color] - The center part of mines, which looks like a Laser, will now rotate with the mine casing (intended).
  
• [color]Screens[/color] - The “buggy screen” animation when shot at has been slightly improved.
  
• [color]Chapter 2[/color] - You can now take the Cube from the Roof of the Big Room toward the dual-moving-platforms-with-pressure-plates area :). If lost or dropped, it will respawn correctly in the dual pressure plate room.
  - Players should no longer be able to softlock themselves below in the Roof area using Hyper-Speed.
  
• [color]Chapter 2 | New Achievement[/color] - Added a new Achievement for completing Chapter 2 without using the Jetpack :)
  
• [color]Chapter 2 | Jetpackless Run[/color] - Major reworks were made to allow a Jetpackless Chapter 2 in an officially supported way!
  - This is only possible in New Game+, requiring at least Dodge / Hover.
  - Most areas now feature new small platforms or objects to stand on to make it more achievable.
  - Two new optional Skips were added in Chapter 2 to allow faster completion and to make the Jetpackless Achievement slightly easier.
  
• [color]Chapter 2 | New Skip Path 1[/color] - Players can now skip directly inside the dual-pressure-plates section in the vertical-moving-platforms area, bypassing the Big Room.
  - Only available in New Game+.
  - This Skip is designed to help with Jetpackless runs, as it allows players to climb to the top area above the Big Room using new pipes.
  - When reaching this room through the Skip, both Cubes...
  
• [color]Chapter 2 | New Skip Path 2[/color] - After passing the first Shooting Cameras, players can now skip directly outside of the very first electrical water area.
  - This is recommended for Jetpackless Chapter 2 runs and Speedrunners!
  - The outside vent is now a locked vent, based on the locked status of the vent that is partially underwater.
  - It will remain locked unless opened via the Room Control terminal.
  - This is intended to prevent softlocks when attempting a Jetpackless Chapter 2 run.
  
• [color]Chapter 2[/color] - You will be forced to pick up a secondary Jetpack at the end of Chapter 2 if you complete Jetpackless Chapter 2, as it will be mandatory to continue.
  
• [color]Chapter 3[/color] - The first Hyper-Speed lasers: The objective “Use Hyper-Speed to get past lasers” will now only be marked as complete if the player actually used Hyper-Speed. Otherwise, the objective will be red and canceled instead.
  
• [color]Chapter 4[/color] - The very first pillar towards Solar Station now has a short cutscene to show it appearing, as some players didn’t notice it.
  
• [color]Chapter 4[/color] - The Sequence Room with colors: Poppy has been changed to Tomato, as too many players were unaware of what a poppy is 😢. Additionally, these hints are now correctly localized.
  
• [color]Chapter 4[/color] - Added a new Checkpoint just after starting the Train Ride. This should reduce the chances of a respawn making you fall into the void if the Train Ride had already started while the previous Checkpoint was still saving (edge case due to save system limitations).
  
• [color]Options[/color] - Resolution now displays a suffix of the aspect ratio.
  

[color]NOTE:[/color] Only a few fixed bugs are mentioned here, as I can't write a description for every single reported bug that was fixed. The bot summary will contain more details about fixed bugs. 😉

• [color]Relocation[/color] - Player Relocation could be interrupted by pausing the game, causing major bugs… 😆
  

Join us on the official Discord server to talk about the game and the bugs you find!



Hello, dear Fractal Space players!
New PC Pre-Alpha update 0.603 is available on Windows, Mac & Linux!

[h5]IMPORTANT: RESTART CURRENT CHAPTER[/h5]
If you were playing before this update and do not wish to start a new game / reset your save, please restart current Chapter from the beginning to avoid bugs, prevent invalid softlocks, and ensure the new bugfixes are correctly applied.

If you encounter a major blocking bug that prevents you from finishing the game, please report in-game as MAJOR Bug with ALT+B.

Thank you for testing and reporting bugs!

• Chapter 0: Objectives accomplished / new objectives were silent in CH0 intentionally, to not be too disturbing to the atmosphere. An additional change is now to only have 1 objective: “Investigate the Red Platform”, instead of first “Reach” then “Investigate”. This is to avoid disturbance too. Please let me know if you think it should be reverted or if it’s better like this ;)
  
  
• Chapter 1: When coming from Chapter 0 to Chapter 1, some objects, like moving platforms, some doors, vents, and other objects, could be significantly darker than expected. A restart of Chapter 1 was required to fix it. It should now be fixed and be correct, even when coming from Chapter 0 to Chapter 1.
  
  
• Chapter 1: Cannot use cables to skip the dual laser cages with 2 cubes anymore
  
  
• Chapter 1: Added “Reinitialize Cube” button in the dual laser cages/cubes area, in order to prevent a potential softlock. This may be making this part too easy, so maybe it will be removed, if enough players suggest its removal. But maybe it will remain if we see it does indeed prevent the softlock, and doesn’t add any confusion. I prefer this rather than an auto-respawn in this case, as the auto-respawn might respawn the cube by mistake / when not necessarily desired.
  
  
• Chapter 2: First room: Vertical moving platform above the space gap will now crush you if you stand in between the void and the ground. It will still not crush you if you have no ground below your feet (intended), but will do if you get squashed between the platform edge and the ground. There is still some tolerance, if you are far away enough from the gap’s edge, you will still be pushed back instead of crushed (intended)
  
  
• Chapter 2: Fixed visual rendering bug with windows that caused a window to be rendered on top of another window.
  
  
• Chapter 2: Fixed a bug that caused Power Core to indefinitely respawn in a loop showing Power Core Respawned, after reaching the first Zero-Gravity room.
  
  
• Chapter 3: Fixed a bug that could cause infinite relocation just after the first Hyper-Speed blinking lasers.
  
  
• Chapter 3: Fixed a visual bug at the very end, that could cause some “white lines” due to the blinking lights in the corridor, when looked at from outside / above.
  
  
• Chapter 4: Fixed a rare bug that could cause the Secret Passage to be in an inverted state, blocking the player.
  
  
• Chapter 4: Fixed Hyper-Speed Suppressor sometimes not showing the “red cross” above Healthbar, meant to show that Hyper-Speed is currently unavailable.
  

• Taser: Fixed an exploit that allowed you to control the direction of a pushed Cube by rotating the camera very fast just after a Hyper-Shot.
  
  
• Cameras: Destroying them right as they detect you, will ensure the shield is disabled (to avoid camera football)
  
  
• Moving Saws: Fixed a rare case in which Saws would rotate incorrectly sideways when not needed.
  
  
• Moving Saws: Moving saws, which need to rotate sideways, could sometimes not be perfectly aligned with their moving direction. They should now always be aligned in a straight line with their moving direction.
  
  
• Moving Lasers: Fixed remaining edge cases with Moving Lasers, which could become de-synced from their intended pattern. There should not be any remaining cases of Laser movement de-syncs anymore. To be tested, though, as this fix might have broken other specific cases of Moving Lasers.
  
  
• Flashlight: When triggering a cutscene with Flashlight currently ON, the flashlight will no longer move along with the cutscene camera during the transition (it will remain where it is, as intended). In addition, some cutscenes will now force Flashlight state OFF during the cutscene, and restore it after the cutscene (intended). Please report as a visual bug, if you see cutscenes in which the flashlight should be forced-off to avoid various visual bugs or strange-looking situations.
  
  
• Bug Reporting: Should no longer be possible to interact with objects or other actions while the Bug Reporting page is displayed.
  
  
• Bug Reporting: Video URL field could sometimes be resized to be taller than intended. Shouldn’t happen anymore.
  
  
• Jetpack Notifications: Low Fuel sound and text notification system have changed. It now is as follows:
  
• - Low Fuel Sound: Played when going from "normal fuel" to "low fuel" state, with a minimum allowed interval of 3s. This prevents it being spammed when you are letting it recharge slightly, then using Jetpack again (avoids spamming the low fuel beep sound)
  
• - Low Fuel Text Notification: "Low Fuel" text notification when going from "normal fuel" to "low fuel" state, is now shown only once per game session. This allows new players to see it the first time they use the Jetpack and reach Low Fuel. Then, only the sound plays. Every time you restart the game, you'll see it once, just as a reminder of associating the notification to the sound. Then, only the sound is played. This change is to avoid having "Low Fuel" notification appearing too often on the screen.
  
  
• Encryption Keys: Approaching a Formatting Terminal, with a Power Core or Cube, would play the dialog and show Incompatible Device Notification, whereas this was meant to only happen when approaching them with an information Tablet. Also, it used to only appear once. It will now always appear if the player approaches a Formatting Terminal with an information Tablet instead of an Encryption Key.
  
  
• Custom Resolution: The -allowCustomResolution argument to allow custom resolution, to use with -screen-width and -screen-height was working correctly for most PC configurations. However, it should now also work for more specific setups and Windows versions. If you still experience resolution resets, please try also by adding the new -noForcedRefreshRate (but only as last resort, as it should not be needed, in theory)
  
  
• Leaderboards: Potential fix for Cycle leaderboard, which would always incorrectly round legitimate scores milliseconds to 0. It should now send the correct entire game duration value, with correct milliseconds. To be tested if properly fixed, though. To test this, make sure you never enable Debug Mode in your run.
  

[h2]ADDITIONAL HOTFIX 0.603[/h2]

• Game install size on disk increased, because of a test using a different type of compression
  
• The change should significantly speed up loading times on older PCs
  
• The change should not change anything for modern/powerful PCs - it should feel the same
  
• Performance in general should be better on older PCs, same on modern PCs
  
• Chances of crashes during loading times should be reduced on older PCs
  
• This is a test, if too many players are affected negatively regarding level loading times / performance, let us know, it might be reverted
  
• Screenshot Mode: Default shortcut changed from F3 to F11 to reduce chances of mistakenly activating it