Estranged: The Departure News

A build is now live for Windows and Linux, including new content, a tweak to how weapon ammo is consumed, voice work and improved collision meshes for some objects.



I have been working on more story and level content, leading up to the final scenes of the game. I'm not releasing the final content just yet, but I have included some of the new content to give you a preview of what is to come.



As I have said in previous posts, content updates might slow down during this time while I focus time on this ending section, but I'll do my best to continue to push builds with other improvements to gameplay and the earlier content in the meantime.



One thing I have been saying for a long time is that if you download the game while in Early Access, you will get to keep it forever, for free. Some of you may have noticed that Act II is now appearing back in your Steam library as a result of this - it is now "sticky", meaning it won't disappear as other free titles do.

See the following thread for discussion: https://steamcommunity.com/app/582890/discussions/0/3454730619115546231/

• Weapon Ammo - Picking up a weapon with the same ammo type as your weapon now consumes the ammo, instead of replacing your weapon
  
• Toilet Collision - The rubber ducks can now be placed into the toilet in the Prelude (this was a highly requested feature)
  
• New Voice Clips - The voice clips in the mine have been replaced by a native Scottish speaker (previously it was me putting on an accent)
  

Thanks for playing Estranged: Act II! As I said above I'm working towards completing Act II in the next few months, so all feedback is welcome to feed into this process. I will still be able to release updates once the game is finished, but making changes to some parts becomes more tricky due to saved games.

https://discord.gg/estranged

Alan

A build is now live for Windows and Linux including new infected, content and various improvements and tweaks to gameplay.





There's a new infected type in town! To explore the newer content which introduces the new enemy and provides the story background around how they got there, head over to Chapter 3 (or use the cheat map TheBase#sp07 to jump directly there).



There's also little more content to accompany the current ending, welcoming back a familiar story element. Keep watching for more content in the next few updates!



The cheat entry box on the Extras menu now auto-completes, allowing you to see a list of cheats up-front. Start typing "map" or "spawn" to show a full list of cheats.

• Jumping up on surfaces is now animated - previously it looked as if the player was teleported
  
• It's no longer possible to bypass picking up the pickaxe in the mind
  
• The pickaxe now breaks in the sewer level to make the chase scene feel more dangerous, and the pickaxe can now deal damage to infected characters later in the game
  
• Water footstep sounds - walking in water now has more ambient noise
  
• In the warehouse horde, the infected corpses are now cleaned up
  
• The rubber ducks in the prelude level now float upright!

The always growing Discord community is around at https://discord.gg/estranged if you'd like to chat with other Estranged players or feed back directly to me!

Thanks for playing Estranged!
Alan

A new build is live on Steam for Windows! The third update of 2019 brings brand new story content.



The fisherman's adventure continues! The new story content includes brand new scenes, more recordings from new characters and more.

To jump directly to the new content, use the cheat "map thebase#sp07" (though I'd recommend starting from Chapter 3 on the New Game menu if you haven't played in a while).



Uncover more of the story of Act II, and origins of the modern day infection on the island!



Most areas in Estranged have now received a pass with more detailed textures, leveraging a technique known as "detail textures". This allows existing surfaces to mix lower resolution textures with higher resolution patterns when the player is closer to them, providing more detail up close.



That's it for this build - my focus from this point on is content, working towards the ending of Estranged: Act II.

As ever, thank you so much for playing - join me on Discord if you'd like to chat, report bugs directly, and get updates about Estranged! https://discord.gg/estranged

Alan

A build is now live on Steam for Windows and Linux! The second update of 2019 brings brand new story and level content, polish and more.





After receiving feedback about the radio scenes with John, and thinking about what and how story should be discovered by the player, I have re-recorded all of the radio scenes with John.

Since finding a radio and talking to him directly is a little too convenient to be believable, you can now listen to John as he broadcasts out in an effort to escape the Arque signal jammer. There are 7 radio messages to listen to in all, with a few more planned for future content.



The human enemies now play animations just before death. This is an effective way of making the death look more realistic, and prevents the "flop" into physics simulation, which looks very unnatural.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcg_3D7L13E




There have been a few visual tweaks to the Prelude level, including the addition of high tech rubber ducks! There may be an achievement around these eventually, however for now they're just fun to play with. This is my personal favourite part of this update!



The forest infected ambush has been tweaked slightly, and the Fisherman no longer encounters the lone Sokol guard at the train tracks. Instead the guards are introduced later on.

In addition to the changes above, there's now a small lab section in Arque East's lower level.



Previously the health and battery displays would hide a section of the health and battery, so between 85-100% and 0-15% health was not visible. This has been fixed, along with some changes to reduce fall damage.

Subtitles have also been revamped, now scaling with the screen resolution as the other HUD elements do, and now have some sleeker animations. The subtitles also hold for an extra second after dialogue finishes, to provide an opportunity to continue reading it.



CEO bear can now be spawned using the cheat "spawn bear"! This will never be part of the game itself, but this Easter egg allows you to spawn in a strange looking furry friend, who will run around in areas that include AI.



As ever, thank you for playing Estranged, and thank you to those who are involved with the project - whether it is providing feedback, translating or just playing through. Join the Discord! https://discord.gg/estranged

Alan

Happy 2019! A build is now live on Steam for Windows and Linux! The first update of 2019 brings visual updates and new wildlife to areas of the game.





There's now a plethora of wildlife in Estranged - crabs, moths, birds, rabbits, snails, ants, fish, rats and eels throughout the game. See if you can find them all!



Estranged: Act II now supports ambient occlusion, enabled by default.



This can be disabled in the Advanced Graphics menu (Options > Graphics > Advanced).

Motion blur is now disabled by default to make the game feel a lot snappier.

There is now subtle eye-adaptation in the game, meaning that darker areas get brighter, and brighter areas get darker depending on the current brightness levels.



I published three development blog videos since the last update, covering some of the animal AI and foliage culling!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XImbCvbX_U4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwRaZBPhpDA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjIatHHLZck


I have a lot more content planned for 2019, so stay tuned to continue the adventures of the fisherman!

If you'd like to provide feedback, you can do so in the comments below, using the in-game feedback, or join https://discord.gg/estranged to chat in person!

Thanks for playing Estranged!
Alan