Darwin Project News

Hello inmates!

As promised in our blog post earlier this year, we’ve focused on addressing key areas that our community have felt strongly about for some time now. Although it required a longer development time, we’re excited to release patch 1.19 and all its updates on Tuesday, February 19th!

Thanks again to everyone who played an early version of this update during our technical playtests and submitted feedback!

The patch notes are also available in our official website here.





We said we’d mercilessly tackle the axe and just as promised, we put a lot more focus on improving the axes and the melee combat experience for this patch update. After months of discussions, development, and playtesting, we think that the changes and improvements we did this time addresses many concerns about this mechanic.

Reworked Timing
To make the axes feel more dynamic and responsive, we reduced the duration of its wind up animation, resulting in a melee combat that is more about reacting to your opponent’s actions rather than having to anticipate them. Moreover, the timing required to land a hit, parry an attack, or to deflect an arrow should now feel more intuitive and consistent.

Directional Swings
Instead of swinging horizontally all the time, your character will now attack with the axe towards the direction of your reticle. This adds a new layer of skill and enables players to fight more effectively along steep slopes or against jumping opponents.

Reworked Visual Cues
An issue we identified with the melee combat was the lack of visual cues that players can refer to when engaging in combat, making the experience seem more inconsistent than how it is supposed to be. To address this, we first tweaked the camera’s position so inmates can see what they hit more easily and thus estimate their distance from the target better.

Next, we made slight adjustments to the axe animations to better suit the changes in timing and the implementation of directional swings.

Lastly, we also reworked the visual effects for the axe trails so players can better see the trajectory of the axe swings, improving feedback and visibility for both players engaged in combat. These new visual effects will also aid players in identifying which melee Perk and to which level their opponent’s axe is crafted to. This would be useful information to have, more particularly if your opponent crafted an Axe Sharpener. You can read more details about this on the Visuals sub-section below General Improvements.

BEFORE

AFTER



Lava Floor is a new Show Director Power that fills a Tile with scorching molten rock, forcing inmates to flee or move to high ground immediately. Similar to the Nuke, Show Directors can drop the Lava Floor on any Zone of their choice, or call for a vote to let Spectators decide. Once activated, it fills the floor of an entire Zone with rising lava and creates a deadly wall around the edges of the Zone, which cause immediate death to players in contact with the lava.

However if you manage to find higher ground in a Zone with an activated Lava Floor Power, you will start warming up. This lava stays for 10 seconds after it reaches its maximum height, after which it will start falling back to the abyss.

Show Directors can only have one Lava Floor Power in their deck and costs five Action Points to activate. To unlock it, you simply need to level up as Show Director!





Practice vs A.I. is a new game mode that players can enter to practice their survival skills before joining other inmates in the Arena. While Lancaster D.O.D. and the Training Yard (formerly called Playground) were designed to help new players learn about the basic game mechanics and equipment available, the first set of Artificial Inmates will help inmates practice combat playstyles and tactics to help them be better prepared for the real challenges out in the Arena.

This game mode uses a static map and places a player in a match against 9 Artificial Inmates, which are designed to gather resources, craft Tools, and engage in combat just like a real inmate would. It is currently only available on Easy Mode, but we plan to bring more advanced AIs in the future with higher difficulty settings so even players who are more familiar with the game mechanics will find them helpful.





Joining and Creating Custom Matches

We’ve completely revamped the Private Matches feature to allow players to find and join those matches more easily through the Custom Match server list. Creating your matches also just got better as you can now customize specific settings to truly make these matches your own.

Each custom match generates a four-letter password, which hosts can send to other players they would like to invite. If the host chooses to make their match visible to everyone, the match will be shown in the Custom Match server list where other players can find it and join by clicking on the match of their choice. Otherwise, other players will only be able to join a match that is set to private through the password.



We prepared some pre-set matches for you to start with which you will see when you create a custom match, but you’re more than free to set up one on your own by pressing My Custom Match. We’re working on bringing more customizable settings in the future, so you can look forward to making these matches even more interesting!

Join a Custom Duos Match with your Friend

Players can now join custom Duos match with another inmate of their choice! Simply invite them to join your party by clicking the Invite a Friend button, then join or create a custom Duos match.

Only the Party Leader will be able to choose a role, and they must select an Inmate role so they can be paired with their friend once the match starts.



Taking on new challenges such as the new Lava Floor Show Director Power demands new outfits. Over 25 new items will be obtainable from Fan Gifts and will also be purchasable with Ramen from the Shop.

• Updated the stamina system
  → Reduced sprint stamina cost from 18/s to 6/s
  → Reduced jump stamina cost from 33 to 25
  → Reduced roll stamina cost from 40 to 30
  → Axe attack nows cost 10 stamina
  → Aiming with the bow now costs 6 stamina per second
  

Developer comment: Because stamina management outside of combat seemed unnecessary, we put more focus on combat to reward better stamina management.

• Increased the speed of roll attacks
  
• Removed the brief stop that would occur after roll attacks

Developer comment: These changes allow the roll attack to match the new timing of the axe swings. On top of that, allowing players to continue moving after a roll attack not only makes the transition between combat movements smoother, but also decreases the chances of getting punished (especially by arrows) if the roll attack was missed.

• Resized the female character’s height to be the same size as the male’s

Developer comment: Although the female character has always had the same hitbox as the male, this character’s height was initially shorter. This often lead to confusion regarding hitboxes. This change aims to make the combat more consistent regardless of gender.

• Improved character hitbox to better suit the player’s movements

• Servers tickrate has been increased from 32 to 59 updates per seconds

Developer comment: This allows for smoother and more accurate interactions between players, more particularly in terms of movement and combat.

• Multiple improvements due to engine updates
  
• Optimized character model and animations
  
• Optimized visual effects
  
• Optimized day and night cycle
  
• Optimized level of detail in the Mt. Borlo Deer Workshop Tile
  
• Optimized physics computation of players that are not in sight
  

Developer comment: We know optimization is highly important for the community, and we’ve been hard at work to strive towards the smoothest experience possible. With this patch, all players should notice an improvement in framerate, particularly Xbox players as we continue on our road to reach a stable 60 frames-per-second. While we do still anticipate some small dips here and there, we believe this patch is a step in the right direction for achieving this goal for our Xbox community.

• Added colored trails to Axe swings to indicate the type of melee Perk that is being used. The visual effects for these trails will increase as the Perk levels up:
  → White when no Perk has been crafted
  → Red for Axe Sharpener
  → Green for Lumberjack
  → Yellow for Scavenger Axe

• Added colored trails when players load Arrows to indicate the type of Arrow that is being used:
  → Red for Berserk Arrow
  → Blue for Basic Arrow
  → Green for Hunter Arrow
  → Orange for Fire Arrow

• Added a flashing light to indicate when an arrow is ready to be fired
  
• Updated the visual effects for the Fire Arrow, including the lingering burning damage fire
  
• Updated the visual effects of Blood Moon and Beach Party
  
• Removed the Christmas lights from trees in all Tiles

• Updated the Play menu and the flow to start a match

• Added a clearer “On Air” notification while being followed by the Show Director
  
• Updated the bottom left part of the interface while playing a Custom Match with a disabled Player Minimap setting as an inmate
  
• Polished in-game notifications text

• Renamed Playground to Training Yard
  
• Renamed Daily Rehab Program to Daily Challenges
  
• Reduced the volume of the sounds found in the Show Director Soundboard
  
• Increased the volume of inmates' footsteps
  
• Increased the duration of Invincibility and Speed Up to 30 seconds (For Spectator Powers only)

• Fixed an issue that would cause the axe to scale up during rolling attack and could cause hitbox inconsistencies
  
• Fixed a crash that would sometimes happen when joining a lobby [Xbox only]
  
• Fixed an issue in which players could get stuck in burnt tree trunks in the Mt. Borlo Deer Workshop Tile
  
• Fixed an issue which caused some lava lighting to not work properly in the Mt. Borlo Deer Workshop Tile
  
• Fixed an issue where player would get stuck over lava around the middle island of the Mt. Borlo Workshop Tile
  
• Fixed an issue where a few bows had incorrect materials
  
• Fixed an issue where some trees would have an incorrect trunk texture applied to them
  
• Fixed an issue where various snowman Hats would have no visible neck when used with the male character
  
• Fixed an issue where players who equipped the Ponytail Hair would have incorrect eyebrow colors
  
• Fixed an issue where some Helmet sizes were incorrect
  
• Fixed an issue in the Gould City Tile where some tree leaves would intersect through house roofs
  
• Fixed an issue where the Kiwi Climber Hat would have an incorrect icon
  
• Fixed an issue which could prevent some lava splashes from appearing
  
• Fixed an issue where the Armor crafting sound duration would not match its actual crafting time
  
• Fixed an issue where trees would keep moving if a player died in it
  
• Fixed an issue where the headshot hitbox would remain the same size when using the Shrink Electronic Power
  
• Fixed an issue wherein changing the graphics quality during Beach Party while playing as female character could cause two skins to overlap
  
• Fixed an issue where joining a Twitch tournament with a controller could sometimes prevent any further menu navigation

Hello inmates,

We know you’ve been waiting for an update this year! A brand new Show Director Power, axe improvements and more updates are coming your way this month. You’re invited to preview and help us improve them in a Technical Playtest on Monday, February 4!

Don’t forget that the features you’ll see in the Playtest are still in development, so you may experience some issues.



We’re looking for your feedback about the new Show Director Power, axe changes, and the new Practice vs. AI training mode, in particular. We’d also like to know what you think and how your experiences are with creating Custom Matches.

Show Directors, we know you’re all curious about the new Show Director Power, so stay tuned to our social media channels for some details in the next few days, or go in blind for a surprise on Monday!

The Technical Playtest will take place on Monday, February 4 from 4 PM EST (9 PM UTC) to 6 PM EST (11 PM UTC) on Steam.

• Go to your Steam Library
  
• Right-click on Darwin Project and select Properties
  
• Go to the Beta tab and enter the playtest code: playtest124357689
• Click Check Code, then select Playtest from the drop-down menu
  
• Restart Steam and launch Darwin Project
  

Important: Don’t forget to opt out of the Playtest branch once it is over! You can do this by going back to the Beta tab in the game’s Properties and selecting None from the drop-down menu.


Yes! We also encourage those who are not able to participate to tune into the streams if they’d like. Don’t forget to opt out of the Playtest when you are done playing before continuing to stream Darwin Project.

We’d love to hear your feedback about the the upcoming patch! We will be posting the link to the post-playtest survey in the playtesting build as well as our social channels. Please take the time to fill it out and help us make this update the best it can be!

The next patch will be available on February 19, with patch notes published a few days earlier as usual.



We hope you’ll join us, and see you in the arena!

Scavengers Team

Hello inmates,

We hope you had a wonderful holiday season! We’re back at the studio in full force and intend on making 2019 a huge year for Darwin Project! We’re kicking it off by putting together an enormous patch that will require a bit more time to release, but that will take a lot of the feedback you’ve been sending us and channel it into improvements for our biggest Technical Playtest yet.

We’ve said that we won’t launch Darwin Project out of Early Access until all its systems meet our quality standards for fun factor, balancing, and polish. And when we talked about the road to release, we identified several improvements we want to make before going into full launch. While we’ve had to tweak that roadmap from July 2018, lots of the important additions we highlighted did make it into the game: The Tile Mapping System, three brand new Tiles, Duo Mode stats and leaderboards, the Playground (“Training Room”), Daily Rehab Program (“Quest System”), and tons of cosmetics and optimization.

Beyond what was planned in the roadmap, we’ve also surprised players with our first-ever Battle Pass: The Death and Life of Roger D. Glanton, groundbreaking spectator interaction features on Twitch, controller support on Steam, bears, the Show Director Soundboard, new Private Match options, and more.

As we sat down to nail down what else is coming to Darwin Project in the short-term, we found ourselves wanting to address key areas that we and the Darwin Project community feel strongly about, but that would require more work than what our current monthly development cycles allow for. Chief among those is getting melee combat to a spot where it’s as clear and comfortable as it can be. We’re currently experimenting with various timing tweaks, developing clear and dedicated animations to reintroduce the upward and downward Axe swings, prototyping new visual effects on the trajectory to better help players identify exactly where Axe swings are going, and more.

We’ll be tackling the Axe, as well as other improvements that require a longer development time, mercilessly throughout January and most of February. This means that Darwin Project will not receive a content update this month. It also means that the next patch is going to be absolutely massive, and that your feedback on the work-in-progress version will be more important than ever! Please stay tuned for the exact dates of the Technical Playtest(s) on Steam. If you’ve been answering our surveys saying you’re dissatisfied with the Axe, we’d love for you to let us know whether it feels better for you in a Technical Playtest!

We’ll still be holding a devstream on Tuesday, January 15 from 11 AM EST to 12 PM EST. Tune in on our official Twitch channel as usual as we look back at the greatest moments in 2018, answer your questions, and do a bit of Darwin trivia with some members of the team!

We know you’re excited to find out what else is coming for Darwin Project and when. We’ll have more details to share as soon as we get a preliminary feel for some of the ideas we’re considering. These ideas wouldn’t have been possible without your help, so do keep sending in your feedback!

- The Scavengers Team

Hello inmates!

We’re targeting Tuesday, December 18 to release patch 1.18 on Steam. Read on to see what the latest update contains!

Again, thanks to all the Steam players who previewed these changes in our Technical Playtest and sent in feedback! Don’t hesitate to keep sharing your thoughts about any of the improvements below on our official channels.

Scavengers Studio will be out for the holidays from December 22 to January 1, so please expect delayed replies.

See you in the arena, and happy holidays!





Volcanic, rocky, and scorched all over, Mt. Borlo is the perfect fiery backdrop for fierce showdowns. Its glowing lava falls and towering peaks are inviting, but make no mistake: Mt. Borlo Deer Workshop is one of the most treacherous Tiles yet. Lots of uneven terrain and pools of lava mean that inmates will have to pay more attention to their surroundings and carefully evaluate the trajectories of Power Leaps and BoomShroom bounces.

On one of the tallest cliffs stands the Deer Workshop. A large building that inmates can fight in, the Deer Workshop produces what many consider a key resource of the Darwin Project arena. The goods are transported using metal wagons on elevated rails, with a number of industrial lights and pipelines supporting the mysteriously self-sustained production.

Some of you might recognize one of the islands in Mt. Borlo Deer Workshop from the pre-Tile Mapping System map!









Some of you may have seen this coming, but… The leather makes it better!

When activated, the player targeted by this Power will receive two Leathers. Give Leather costs one Action Point to use and Show Directors can have a maximum of three copies of it in their Decks.

Just like other Powers that require a target, the Show Director can let any stream viewers vote for the player who will receive the Leather.

To unlock up to three copies of Give Leather for your Show Director Deck, continue leveling up as the Show Director.



Open Zone allows Show Directors to reopen a zone that was previously closed. It costs five Action Points to activate and Show Directors can only have one copy in their Decks.

Just like other Powers that require a target, the Show Director can let any stream viewers vote for the zone that will be reopened.

Note that Open Zone can be used on a zone that is becoming forbidden (as soon as the countdown begins), but not on a zone in which sudden death is active.

To unlock Open Zone for your Show Director Deck, continue leveling up as the Show Director.



Whether you’re facing the cold head-on or looking to cozy up in festive wear this holiday season, patch 1.18 has some outfits for you. Over 60 new items will be obtainable from Fan Gifts and will also be purchasable with Ramen from the Shop. Here’s the overview:



Note: The Santa Hat will not be obtainable through Fan Gifts or purchasable in the Shop, but will instead be given as a free reward to all players who log in between December 21, 2018 at midnight UTC and December 31, 2018 at midnight UTC. The cosmetics list has been updated to reflect this.

Hike up Mt. Borlo in style with these mountain climber outfits:









New Feature: Events

Since we’ve introduced Betting to spectator interactions on Twitch, viewers have been able to watch a variety of streams to build up a wealth of Darwin Dollars (still a work-in-progress currency) and use them to wreak havoc in Private Matches that have Spectator Powers enabled. The new Event feature allows the streamer to place all viewers on a level playing field and see which one manages to make the best use all available spectator interactions and finish with the thickest wallet at the end of a stream.

To create an Event, streamers on Twitch with the official Darwin Project Spectator Experience Extension enabled will need to click the new button called Create Event directly on their stream, then create a Private Match.

When the streamer has an active event, stream viewers will receive a second wallet containing 1000 Darwin Dollars, and any Bets and Power Bids made during the event will use this dedicated wallet. All stream viewers of the match, even if watching a different streamer than the one who created the event, will have the dedicated wallet made available.

Streamers can end an event at any time by going to their stream again and clicking Finish.

If the streamer does not end the event, it will end automatically after 24 hours. Note that streamers cannot begin or end an event while already in a match or in a lobby.

At the end of the event, three leaderboards will appear with the top 10 spectators in each: Current amount of Darwin Dollars, total gain, and largest gain in one shot. The leaderboards can also be viewed at any time by clicking the crown icon next to the event wallet.

Viewers will still earn Darwin Dollars for their regular wallet on top of the dedicated wallet when watching a stream in which there is an active event.

Betting Update

First off: we’ll be resetting all spectator wallets and leaderboards. Don’t be alarmed!

As a first step to balance Darwin Dollars, we’ve set a maximum amount that spectators can bet at once: 5,000 Darwin Dollars in Private Matches and 100,000 Darwin Dollars in Public Matches. We’ve also updated the formula that determines the payout multiplier.

Voting Update

The Electronic Show Director Power has been added to the list of Powers that can be voted on by the audience. When the Show Director chooses to let the audience vote, spectators will be able to click on the zone where they want to see an Electronic resource be activated.

• Added three new Private Match options (the following can now be toggled on or off by the Private Match host):
  
  - Player Minimap Hidden (off by default): Removes the minimap in the bottom left corner of the screen and replaces it with a compass at the top of the screen
  Developer comment: Finding cabins with Holomaps becomes much more important when this option is turned on, especially when zones begin closing!
  
  - Auto Zones/Electronics (on by default): Zones will close and Electronics will activate without the Show Director’s help
  
  - Names on Holomaps (off by default): Names will appear on Holomaps (maps present inside some cabins)
  
  
• The Axe swing will now be more closely tied to the player’s latency
  Developer comment: We adjusted the Axe’s lag compensation such that it works similarly to Arrows, making it no longer possible for players to take a hit from an enemy with high latency without seeing it coming. This also results in a tighter synchronization of swing animation and hitbox.
  
  
• Slightly lowered the Axe hitbox for the spin attack and strafe jump attack
  Developer comment: We noticed that players would often swing their Axe in mid-air expecting to connect with the enemy’s head, only to miss by a few inches.
  
  
• Increased Armor crafting time from 3 seconds to 5 seconds
  Developer comment: This balance change is intended to add a higher level of risk to crafting Armor in the middle of a fight.
  
  
• The Hook will no longer grapple players frozen by Ice Bolt
  Developer comment: This improvement will make the Ice Bolt behavior consistent with other Tools in the game, while also preventing situations where a frozen player could be Hooked toward hazardous ground with no opportunity to react.

• Slightly optimized fog effects
  
• Slightly optimized smoke effects
  
• Slightly optimized cloud effects
  

• Added Christmas lights to trees in all Tiles [for a limited time only]
  
  
  
  
• Updated lava texture and behavior so that it can flow in a specific direction
  
  

• Replaced the death animation by four all-new animations
  
  
  
  
• Added a front hit reaction
  
• Updated the Arrow nocking animation
  

• Reworked the menu flow upon defeat
  - When defeated, players will automatically be turned into spectator drones (not to be confused with support drones in the case where your ally is still alive in Duo Mode). Pressing Esc with mouse and keyboard or Menu with a controller will bring up the match stats and allow players to go back to the main menu or play again.
  Developer comment: This change will allow players to more easily view the different ways other people play and potentially pick up a few tips!
  
  - Removed the Play Again button while in a party to prevent the party leader from interrupting their ally when reviewing match stats
  
  - When viewing stats at the end of a match, players will automatically be queued for matchmaking in the same game mode after 40 seconds
  
  
• Reworked the pause menu
  - Daily Rehab Program progression and some Career stats will now be visible in the pause menu
  - Players will now be able to give the Show Director Prestige during a match through the pause menu
  
  
• Added an option for players to set a distance between the edge of their TV or monitor and the game UI in Video Options
  
  
• The cursor will now always appear at the center of the screen when Show Director opens the Power Bar
  
  
• Added a second input for the roll, bound to the middle mouse button by default
  Developer comments: Don’t forget to rebind any inputs you currently have on the middle mouse button if you’d like to use the roll there instead!
  
  
• When defeated, players’ match stats will now be compared to their average instead of their all-time best for that game mode
  

• When clicking to see the details of a set in the Shop, players will now get a 3D preview as opposed to seeing only a 2D image, giving a much better idea of how the items will look when worn in the arena or in the Dressing Room. Note that this feature will be updated to include individual items in the future.
  
• Added a loading icon on a player’s avatar when they are in the process of loading into the lobby
  
• Moved Scavenger Mode into Private Match options
  
• Made small visual adjustments to:
  - The icons above stray Arrows
  - The tips that appear when approaching a lootable item
  - In-game news
  - The Connect to Twitch or Mixer button location
  - The Connect to Twitch or Mixer menu
  - The Daily Rehab Program
  - The ally information in Duo Mode
  - The latest news pop-up
  - The victory screen
  - Names above player heads
  - The Dressing Room
  

Get ready for another Darwin or Die this December! If you think you have the charms and wit to survive the crazy matches in this event, register here now! You will also find the full details on the same page.

Registration period is until Friday, December 14, at 10 AM ET.