Estranged: The Departure News

An update is now live for Windows, macOS and Linux bringing a brand new supply system, two new achievements, and more content at the end of the game.

[h3]Supply Boxes[/h3]


Act II now has a new supply box system, similar to the supply crate mechanic in Half-Life 2. Previously, supplies would be spawned as needed by the player in specific locations in the game.

This lead to pickups being created and dumped at certain corners of levels, and sometimes lead to too many items being spawned (because the player needed them when they were spawned, but no longer needed them when they were close enough to pick them up).

To make that system a bit tidier, the game now uses supply crates throughout, which still spawn only supplies that the player needs, but when they are opened. They're also quite satisfying to break apart!

[h3]New Achievements[/h3]
There are two new achievements to unlock in Act II! One is for destroying all 20 Arque cameras from around the game, and the other is for completing the game.



In addition, the existing achievement icons have been re-worked to make them more consistent.

[h3]New Temporary Ending[/h3]
I have moved the ending further back - this time it's extremely close to the final planned ending for Act II. The ending content includes two new recordings from John, and a revamped credits sequence.


[h3]Full Change List[/h3]

• Adds new achievements menu in the "Extras" menu option
  
• Improves collision for wooden table
  
• Improves collision in the scaffolding/generator level to prevent player getting stuck
  
• Prevents player getting stuck behind the dumpster outside Arque offices
  
• Adds many more cameras to the game, brings the total to 20
  
• Updates translations
  
• Re-orders the controls menu to group by input type
  
• Adds new credits sequence - hit "Load Credits" on the "Extras" menu
  
• Re-records final recorder message with John
  
• Adds ledge helper to conference room in Arque offices to help with getting into the vent
  
• Adds "game saved" hint to HUD when autosaves happen
  
• Reduces the screen shake from pistol and rifle fire
  
• Increases rifle rate of fire
  
• Removes bullet impact delay
  
• The new resupply crate now always spawns an item
  
• Improves collision for hospital drawers in final scene, makes drawer openable
  
• Tweaks to the final sequence, adds credits (this is still a temporary ending, but very close to the final ending)
  
• Splits final audio tape into two parts
  
• Fixes the new supply crate spawning batteries when the player does not have the torch
  
• Makes recorder stop if the player gets more than 1500 units away
  
• Adds highlight to the radios dotted around the games
  
• Modifies the object highlight to use a shimmer
  
• Adds a few invisible walls to places where the player could escape the levels
  
• Prevents pickaxe from falling through wooden boards in sp03
  
• Fixes bug with cameras - the move sound no longer continues when they are destroyed
  
• Fixes tessellated water not working
  
• Fixes lighting on pier models
  
• Fixes Linux specific rendering issue with spline meshes and Nvidia driver version 440 and above
  

We're all in very uncertain times right now, but I hope Estranged will give you a bit of a distraction from the news.

Thank you for playing Act II, and supporting the project! The ever-growing Discord community is always around at https://discord.gg/estranged if you want to reach out to report bugs, feedback or just talk.

Stay safe,
Alan

[h3]Brand New Content[/h3]There is now more content after the "cold" scene, at the end of Act II with the return of an old friend.



To start from the "cold" scene, you can use the cheat map arctic#cinematic

[h3]Full Change List[/h3]

• Adds new story scene after the current "cold" scene
  
• Moves credits to after the new content
  
• Fixes floating camera in the range
  
• Fixes two doors sharing the same save ID in in chapter 3
  
• Adds captions and subtitles to new content
  
• Work on sound for the new scene, adds ambience and sound effects
  
• Tweaks layout of the in-game credits
  
• Fixes corpses registering for the "deadly fisherman" achievement
  
• Updates translations to latest
  

This update brings you very close to the planned end of Estranged: Act II. If there are elements of the game you'd like me to change, please do let me know via the feedback mechanisms below (before it gets too late!).

You can contact me in the comments here, using the in-game feedback, emailing alan [at] alanedwardes (dot) com or via Discord - https://discord.gg/estranged

Thank you for being part of the Estranged project!
Alan

I have been taking a break from development for a week to plan, shoot and edit a new trailer for Estranged: Act II!

Here's the finished product, available on YouTube (4k, 60FPS), and on the store page (in 1080p).

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Behind the Scenes[/h3]
Part 1 - Storyboard

The main structure of the trailer was something I planned out first, with the rough storyboard completed within an evening.



Part 2 - Script

The next part was the script, since in the trailer you can hear John's voice setting the scene from his perspective.

MUSIC, FADE FROM BLACK
John: The island seemed like the perfect place.
John: Tranquil
John: Picturesque
MUSIC FADE TO ECHO, CUT TO BLACK
John: Isolated
MUSIC
John: They didn't tell us what had happened
John: I don't think they even knew
John: But they tried to cover it up
John: How can one company sow so much destruction
John: I need to find a way home

Part 3 - First Draft

After that, the work on the video began! I completed the first couple of shots with the music and voice over in place. Here's the very first draft video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foJHTwJBkrs
Part 4 - Daily Drafts to Completion

I made in total 8 drafts, uploading around 1 a day until the trailer was complete. Working like this helped me keep the end in sight, and helped with giving myself a daily goal of uploading a draft showing more progress.

I was also able to circulate the drafts amongst my family and friends, which was extremely valuable to garner feedback. Below is the final trailer edit!



This trailer will likely be the release trailer for the game! Watch this space for the next updates, which will conclude the story of Estranged: Act II.

Thanks for playing Estranged!
Alan

An update is now live on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux, including new content, the flashlight in chapter 3, and some other tweaks.

[h3]New Ending Scene[/h3]


There's a new scene connecting the two ending sequences in Act II. This new sequence provides a bit more backstory about how the Fisherman ended up in the current credits location!

To jump directly to this content, you can use the cheat: map crash#cinematic

[h3]Flashlight in Chapter 3[/h3]


After many player requests, you can now pick up the flashlight in Chapter 3! The flashlight is available in the Arque offices. It was originally going to be re-introduced much earlier, however some performance problems prevented that (these have since been resolved).

[h3]Working Towards Release[/h3]
As I have been saying for a the past few updates, I am working towards releasing the game, which involves tying off the final bits of content and my release checklist.

The content of the updates will slow down during this part of development - but I am looking to focus on stability. If you notice anything that you'd like to see fixed, please let me know in the #bugs channel on the Estranged Discord server (below).

Thank you for helping with the project! Join discord.gg/estranged to report bugs, provide feedback and submit ideas!

Thanks,
Alan

A build is now live on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux with new ending content, and some improvements to weapon handling!

[h3]New Ending Content[/h3]


There's now some extra content at the end of the game, a couple of minutes of new content. I decided to push this into the game while I flesh out the section after it, which will land in the next update (and likely tie-off Act II's story).

To jump directly to the new content, use the cheat map crash#cinematic (this will take you to the end of the previous update).

[h3]Gunplay Tweaks[/h3]
There have been two big changes to the gunplay in Act II:

• Running and gunning now results in the correct animation
  
• Holstered weapons can no longer be shot (until unholstered)
  

The first item above was caused by the "running" animation for most weapons not being appropriate for firing at the same time. For example, with the rifle, the running animation previously held the weapon close to the player's chest, and attempting to shoot in this state led to it snapping back into the shooting animation and back again.

The second item around holstering was very similar, previously if a weapon was holstered, shooting it would immediately yank it out of the holster animation, and back into it again after the shot was fired.

[h3]Other Changes[/h3]

• Fixes a floating camera in the range level
  
• Fixes a place you could get stuck in the scaffolding in the generator level in the mine
  
• Switches from OpenGL to Vulkan on Linux
  
• Added an option to invert the controller Y-axis
  

With Act II's final scenes approaching, I would again like to thank everyone that has been following and contributing to the project.

If you have feedback or would like to report bugs, please reach out on discord.gg/estranged

Thank you for playing!
Alan