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SCUM - Update 1.1.0.0.99356

[h3]Hello, hello everyone, time to update! Encounter improvements, new stuff, and some long-awaited features. Check it out![/h3]





So let's start with the big one, the one mentioned the most. The dreaded Encounter manager. The bane in your eye. Well, there was a massive pass of improvements on how it works, and even some of the features on it were exposed for you guys to play with.



So what are the changes?

Starting with the spawn distance. In light terms, we have managed to adjust the system to allow better and further spawning distances, better spawns in smaller POIs, and overall a more immersive experience. So not only will you be able to spot them from further away, but the cases of them popping in out of thin air are now a much rarer occurrence. In smaller POIs such as villages, gas stations, etc., we reworked the spawning to be something between the new system and the old one. This means when approaching these POIs, you will have all of the threats spawn in at once, so you will know what danger awaits you on approach.

Not only have we changed distances, we have also changed the virtualization process of them as well. Without going into the technical details that are tedious to most, we have managed to implement better checks once the POI is cleared of dangers, or remembers enemy positions in the zone when unoccupied. What that means to you is that once the POI is clear, it will remain clear until the area is no longer occupied, or if not clear, enemies will remain where you left them. For a certain amount of time.

And now for the grand finale, we have also exposed all of this in server settings for all of your wonderful servers to customize and set it how you like it. Ofc disclaimer here is that you also can break it if going overboard with the settings, so keep track of what you are switching and where:

[World] In the game under "WORLD" subsection "NPC":
  • scum.PuppetCullDistanceOverride=-1.000000 - This setting is expressed in meters. It specifies the maximum distance at which puppets are rendered to all the connected clients.
In the game under "WORLD" subsection "ENCOUNTER":
  • scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnDistanceMinOverrideLTZ=-1.000000 - This setting is expressed in meters. It determines the minimal character spawn distance from players; this applies to all LTZ encounters.
  • scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnDistanceMaxOverrideLTZ=-1.000000 - This setting is expressed in meters. It determines maximum character spawn distance from players; this applies to all LTZ encounters.
  • scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnDistanceMinOverrideLargePOI=-1.000000 - This setting is expressed in meters. It determines the minimal character spawn distance from players; this applies to all large POI encounters.
  • scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnDistanceMaxOverrideLargePOI=-1.000000 - This setting is expressed in meters. It determines maximum character spawn distance from players; this applies to all large POI encounters.
  • scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnDistanceMinOverrideLTZ=-1.000000 - This setting is expressed in meters. It determines the minimal character respawn distance from players; this applies for all LTZ encounters.
  • scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnDistanceMaxOverrideLTZ=-1.000000 -This setting is expressed in meters. It determines the minimal character respawn distance from players; this applies to all LTZ encounters.
  • scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnDistanceMinOverrideLargePOI=-1.000000 - This setting is expressed in meters. It determines the minimal character respawn distance from players; this applies to all large POI encounters.
  • scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnDistanceMaxOverrideLargePOI=-1.000000 - This setting is expressed in meters. It determines maximum character respawn distance from players; this applies for all large POI encounters.
  • scum.EncounterLTZRadiusMultiplier=1.000000 - This multiplies the effective size of LTZ encounters; this means that by changing this, you can change the size of the area the encounter covers, giving you more area/distance to keep the characters owned by the encounter spawned.
  • scum.EncounterMTZRadiusMultiplier=1.000000 - This setting multiplies the effective size of MTZ encounters; this means that by changing this, you can change the size of the area the encounter covers, giving you more area/distance to keep the characters owned by the encounter spawned.
  • scum.EncounterVirtualizedTimeOverride=-1.000000 - This setting is set in minutes; it overrides the time and encounter spends in a virtualized state before being destroyed.
  • scum.EncounterZoneActivationDistanceMultiplier=1.000000 - This setting controls the distance from the edges of encounter zones (cities, POIs, ...) where encounters start being triggered.


And as mentioned before, this is only the first pass of the improvements we have for this system, as more is planned. Make sure to let us know how these new changes feel, and we can use that feedback for more and more improvements!




We have some new elements for you all as well, some of them long-awaited! First one being the heart of every home, the kitchen.



Here you can see new stuff added, such as new improvised oven, it has 2 cooking slots above and 1 baking slot below. Some nice new kitchen elements and counters, each one with its own storage space to keep your kitchen area nice and tidy. And yes, what you see on the wall there, a gas lamp. A new (and not the only) light source for your bases, finally giving you more options to give more light.



And here we have some more elements. Finally, something comfortable, there are 3 new sofas available for crafting, and some nice new rugs as well. So you can utilize those animal skins and make your base, your home. In the corner, there you can see a new storage shelf, well, there are actually 2 new storage shelves you can use to organize your chests. Speaking of which, they got a whole new revamped look!

(Not only chests but multiple BB elements as well, but instead of spamming notes with pics check them out yourselves.)
But back to the original picture, as we have one more element to go through. Electric lamps. That's right, you can craft and place lamps on your base and drain your generators even more!

We also have new camo net walls and roofs, so you can RP a militia in the woods or make sure no one spots you from the air.



And one more last detail. On weapon racks and mounts, we have expanded what can be placed there. So your wall mounts can now also take your 2H weapons, so you can show off that katana you were looking for, and racks can also now take spears as well, so you can remember where you came from when you started your first adventure on the SCUM island.

And if you want even more BB decorations, we have a new DLC for those options. This optional cosmetic pack will give you more variety in your base decor, so check it out!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4062860/SCUM_Base_Building_Decor_Pack/



Another big QoL change is the way we approach painting patterns on stuff. To start, you will need to craft a new item, the paint sprayer.



So when you have it, you will need to take it into your hands and attach the desired paint cans to it. Once you have done so, on the bottom right, you can open up the preview.



And from here, you can now easily choose which paint you wish to apply to which pattern. Giving you a nice preview of all patterns to ease painting.



After it is all set and done, just apply the pattern.



And voila, a process that was long and tedious to figure out is now made easy and simple.




You wanted more disease and metabolism dangers, you got it. Congratulations, you can now get a common cold, and if you are not careful enough, the flu. You might be thinking: "But Gamepires, what's the big deal? I had a common cold countless times and I'm fine". Yeah, easy to say from the comfort of a bed and modern medicine, bucko, this is a survival scenario we are talking about here.

So how can you get these mysterious silent killers? Just as you would in the dreaded real life. Outside temperature and wetness of the character are big factors in whether or not you will get a cold. Oh, and ofc keep away from the sniffling infected players as they can spread it to you as well.

So, how do you combat these? Well, the biggest warrior against the common cold is your immune system. Then you have your vitamin intake, and finally, good old rest.

So no more running naked in the snow without consequences. So you might be wondering, what are the symptoms, and why should I care? Well...

Coughing and sneezing

Every so often, your character will start coughing and sneezing. This will not only make noise and alert others to your presence, but also increase the probability of you transmitting the disease to others.

Irritated Throat

It slows down eating and drinking actions by 25%.

Stuffed Nose

15% rest penalty.

Headache

10% INT penalty

Fever

Your body temperature will rise as well, depending on the severity. The more your body temperature rises, the more calories your body will consume and need to maintain energy levels.

The flu works the same as the cold, except it is much harder to get, as the conditions need to be extreme, but it also has much more severe symptoms. It is also important to note that what you have is what you will spread, so if you have the flu, you will spread the flu.



We've created a new material that simulates how light passes through a window, with a strong focus on performance efficiency ("keeping it cheap").
Pre 1.1.0 visual Post 1.1.0 visual

This new material takes into account:
  • Time of Day
  • Direct Sunlight (resulting in stronger illumination)
  • Cloud Cover (resulting in weaker light on cloudy days)
  • Screen Space Specular Occlusion (which reduces specular reflections if the light source is blocked by an object).
    This calculation is performed in the vertex shader, making it very efficient.

Additionally, we've added support for Instanced Rendering of translucent materials, which significantly reduces the number of draw calls.

Compared to Unreal Engine's native Rect Light, our solution is more performant as it avoids additional checks and calculations that have a minimal visual impact.



Time for the game changer. Armor/penetration rework will change everything, especially in the PVP meta. Cover and concealment have never been more important, nor your positioning when facing dangers. Those of you who have been with us for a long time know we had bullet penetration, which was sadly disabled as it was broken. Now it's back with a vengeance.





Everything is being calculated, caliber of the bullet, material hit, thickness of the object, all of it influences penetration and energy lost when a round goes through or deflects at an angle (including BB elements!). But not only objects in the world, but also body parts and body armor. Depending on the level of body armor and the location of the hit.



Before the update, body armor worked in a way that simply reduced the damage taken when hit. Now, body armor is a material in itself and will work as it should. If hit with a smaller caliber, armor will reduce the energy and attempt to stop the round from penetrating while taking damage on itself. The effectiveness of this depends on armor durability and armor type. If the round is taken in an area other than the indicated rough area, it is not covered by armor and will take the full energy of the round.



The worst way to get hit is shown in this picture. As there is no armor coverage, the round would hit multiple body parts. Arm->body->other arm. This results in massive damage taken.

And last thing to mention here is the armor-piercing round. They are also now working as intended, so instead of just dealing more damage to body armor, they also have increased penetration capabilities, so they can be used to defeat body armor.



We have our first NPC upgrades. Giving you more ways to combat these terminators. Starting with limping. NPCs will no longer just keep coming at you until they die, as now they have the same damage threshold, where they can be made to limp, rendering them combat ineffective.



We also have them react to more grenades. Flashbangs and tear gas will now stun them, giving you those extra seconds needed to clear them out.





Introducing the new military Tomahawk. It was supposed to be introduced in the last update, but unfortunately, it was not ready in time, so here it is!





There is some news on the Quests as well. Making them a bit less tedious to complete. First up are the new boxes you can find at quest givers.



So you can specify which items you wish to give to complete the quests. But not only at the zones can you turn in. There are new mailboxes you can use to turn in items as well, all around the POIs. When near one, you will get a UI marker like this:



And it will take you to the mailbox, and all you have to do is load it with the items.


Locations of the new mailboxes, if one is mentioned multiple times, it means there are multiple of them in the same POI:
  • Z-0 - Vrsar
  • Z-2 - Novigrad
  • Z-4 - Prvo Selo
  • A-2 - Tisno
  • A-4 - Blato
  • B-1 - Prkno
  • B-2 - Spickovina
  • C-0 - Abandoned City
  • C-0 - Abandoned City
  • C-1 - Vinski Vrh
  • C-3 - Zagorje
  • C-4 - Rude
  • D-1 - Prigorje
  • D-1 - Gorica
  • D-3 - Gornji Humac
  • D-4 - Samobor
  • D-4 - Samobor


  • Fixed the bug where Black Hawk crossbow reload animation was offset.
  • Multiple level design fixes.
  • Fixed the issue where wind noises were present when they should not be, and vice versa.
  • Fixed the issue where nocking an arrow while crouched would offset the arrow.
  • Fixed the issue where text was displayed on scopes that should not have it.
  • Fixed the issue where some sights were offset on weapons.
  • Fixed the issue where vehicles would take too much damage on collisions.
  • Fixed the issue where animal bodies would despawn prematurely.
  • Fixed the issue where sentries would not trigger mines.
  • Fixed the issue where the weapon ghillie was not visible on some weapon variants.
  • Fixed the issue where it was possible to place BB elements where you shouldn't.
  • Fixed the issue where foliage sound was still heard even though it was cut down.
  • Fixed the issue where disabling the purchase of all non-service tradeables at the mechanic NPC would result in a broken buy UI panel.
  • Fixed the issue where holsters and quivers would despawn immediatly when dropped do 0% instead of becoming unrepairable items, thus making extracting items impossible.


  • Adjusted wind sound volume.
  • Improved wheelbarrow handling.
  • Tweaked multiple quests texts.
  • Adjusted quest fame and money gain.
  • Players can now lean out of vehicles without ADSing.
  • Removed the leave squad option from the circular menu.
  • Added an opt-in/out option for tutorials on character creation.
  • Added a new option for players to choose if they want to spawn in with biome-specific suits.
  • Big fish will now produce more meat.
  • Added 3 new Dances to Dance DLC and Deluxe DLC each.


  • Added new server settings:
    [General] scum.MaxPingCheckEnabled=1 - This setting determines if the server will check the players' ping while joining the server. Setting this to 0 (OFF) will result in players with high ping being able to join the server.

    [Respawn] scum.ShelterRespawnPriceOutsideFlagArea=1g - This setting determines the price for the respawn on the shelters outside the flag area.

    [Features]
    In the game under "FEATURES" subsection "MISC":
    scum.EnableDigitalDeluxeFreeGoldCard=1 - This setting determines if players with the Digital Deluxe DLC will receive a free gold card.

    In the game under "FEATURES" subsection "BASE BUILDING":
    scum.OvenMaxAmountPerFlagArea=-1 - This setting determines the maximum number of ovens per flag area.
    scum.OvenStartDecayingIfFlagAreaHasMoreThan=-1 - This setting determines the maximum number of ovens per flag area before they start decaying at an increased pace.

    In the game under "FEATURES" subsection "RESOURCES":
    scum.GasolineProximityReplenishAmountMultiplier=1.000000 - multiplier for the amount of gasoline that is refilled at certain intervals
    scum.GasolineProximityReplenishChanceMultiplier=1.000000 - multiplier for the chance that a gasoline source is refilled
    scum.GasolineProximityReplenishTimeoutMultiplier=1.000000 - multiplier for the time between individual checks whether a gasoline source is refilled


SCUM - Community showcase

[h3]What's up prisoners! The moment all of you (or at least some of you) are waiting for - enjoy the new community showcase!->[/h3]



Putting that clothes painting feature to good use!

It's getting hot in here!🎵

What nuclear winter aesthetic would look like☢️

Get ready for the most uneventful fight on the SCUM island!

Wouldn't mind raiding some tombs with her!🏹

When you want to enter your base after enjoying one too many drinks, but the door is in your way.

'Thanks' for inviting us to the party...

Taking a smoke after smoking out some woodland creatures.🦌

Hope he was wearing our Daredevil Twitch drop set!

How mornings for our grandparents looked like.🚜


There's a lot of misfortune that can occur on the SCUM island, but some of you really don't have luck. Enjoy John_Dominator's series of unfortunate events.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY0634_rF9w

Dr. Grant showing his artistic flair again with another cinematic entry into his long-running series!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezR6TrpYp4g

Last but not least, we have MrCod3r's lengthy stream featuring all sorts of death-defying challenges.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddNKJU3GGsA

___

Don't forget to follow us on our social media channels:

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-Fratman

SCUM - Development update #144

[h3] Hello everyone! Happy Monday, and time for another development update. Let's get ready for the update itself by checking out what the crew has been up to. -> [/h3]





Starting off with the programers. As you can guess most of the work going on is regarding the upcoming update this Thursday. So mostly bugfixing, optimizations and finishing up features.



Boys over at LD were qutie busy as well, not only with some of the features in the upcoming update but also cooking up something big for the future. Not something we are prepared to talk about right now, but quite exciting.



The hard surface are finalizing the new trench gun bayonet, the new paint gun item wink wink, and some other reworking and tweaking of items.

Soft surface is honestly just a copy paste from last week which comes to show how long some of these things take.

2D still working on new concept art and getting those new UI elements nice and ready.

The animation team also on bugfixing, helping out with some new content and some nice new animations for the new sickness coming up.



The sound team also deep into bugfixing, recording new sounds and everything else sound does.



And lastly we have the game designers. As they are also finishing up for this weeks update including bugfixing and last minute tweaks.


Yes we know its quite slim for a dev update this week but to be expected as most of the details we wanna save for the update itself coming out in just a couple of days. But worry not as we are just ramping things up in the future. Even after this update we have a couple of things cooking up with some of it directly involving you guys. More info soon enough.

There is also some news,for months now you know that we are getting even more and more independent in the way we operate. Well this also includes that we are now switching back to our own Player support system. Which you can find here

SCUM - Community showcase

[h3]Happy Tuesday! You already know it is time for another community showcase, check it out! ->[/h3]



All the predators fear the banana gun.

If not friend, why friend looking?

Yeah at this point, get new squad mates bro.

Oh wiseman of the toilet, tell me your secrets.

Gas guzzlers 3 anyone?

King in the castle, king in the castle, I have a chair.

Just run bro.

Damn campers.

Do a flip.

SCUM of anarchy?


On the video side of things, first up we have Mr. Feudal with his new video exploring the mines which is quite natural for this dwarf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvP_xVg79wY

And we have the Goodish Gamer, where they started buidling their first base. Let's see how it will work out for them!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0PA9ZKHiEw

SCUM - Development update #143

[h3] Attention inmates! Strap in and strap up as we're gearing for this week's dev update - coming this time with some news pertaining to the next update for the game! [/h3]





Let's start off with our code wizards, shall we? As we've reported last week, work on the much-anticipated inventory rework has been resumed and, make no mistake, this is going to be a mainstay in this section so make sure to get used to it. In other news, work on the new and exciting diseases & common cold feature has mainly been wrapped up and is currently being tested and the initial bugs are being squashed. We've also promised to improve the NPC and their reactions and we're doing just that with our continued efforts on making them react to tear gas grenades and flashbangs. We've also completed our work on the encounter manager improvements, but more on that later! A lot of work has also gone into some UI improvements, the aforementioned new BB elements, and of course the armor penetration rework. Along with the armor rework, we're also working on improvements to bullet penetration, which will now take into account the depth and type of the material the bullet is penetrating. Of course, let's not forget the bugfixing...



Apart from preparations for the launch of new base-building elements and adding details like destruction particles for them, the level designers have also started working on a rework for the industrial kitchen cupboards found in restaurants in the settlements on the map and on certain elements for the eventual introduction of Wild hunters.



The hard surface team is still at it with improving shaders on props such as glass bottles, the trench gun bayonet, and the water collector. However, they've started to work on a rework for the SVD mag.

Nothing new to add here from last week on the soft surface side. They are still at it with the improvements to female character clothing, and are working on all the assets for the head bandana item, as well as on the wild hunter NPCs coming in an update later this year.

Same as last week, the 2D guys have continued their work on the UI improvements for painting and on some level design concepts.

The animation team is still mostly engaged with bug fixing and have begun their work on supporting the NPC reactions to flashbangs with new animations.



The sound team is also deep into bug fixing and on recording and editing new footstep sounds, but have also begun work on the sound effect for the diseases.



This past week, the designers have continued their work and are doing their part with regards to the new base-building elements and on resolving some challenges with the armor rework, as well as some bugfixing and quest improvements.


Now for the meat and potatoes. We said there will be more info on things going on, and we are here to deliver. Today specifically, concerning the next update. So when is it? Q3 is coming to a close. Where is it?

Originally, the update was supposed to be delivered this week; however, during the testing phase, we realized we needed a bit more time to complete some features and test them properly. So the choice was, cut features out or miss the Q3 deadline by a couple of days. We decided to give it a few extra days, so the update release date is 2nd of October.

In other news, there have been questions about wipes. We are looking at our stats and changes in the update, and we can see on the officials that a wipe is needed. So we can confirm that in the coming update, the official servers will receive a soft wipe. However, here is the kicker. For SP saves and private servers, wipe will be recommended but optional , as we are not forcing it for all.

Now, some other big news for everyone, regarding our favorite thing in the game. Yes, the encounter manager.
We are introducing the first pass of changes to the encounter manager and exposing many more options to server settings for customization. This includes things as spawn distance, activation distance, and virtualization timer. Last one put in simple terms is the thing that controls how long it takes a POI to respawn puppets after it was cleared. Not only are we exposing them as settings, but we are also changing them ourselves on official and vanilla settings. According to all the feedback you provided, we can now act upon that.

All that and more coming on the 2nd of October.