Darkwater News

Attention Divers,

We've deployed a hotfix addressing some reported issues.

General

• Offline mode implemented
  
• Number of enemies on hostile submarine now increase over the duration of the run
  
• Final Boss submarine enemy crew count increased
  

Settings/UI

• Slightly increased visibility of mute icon
  
• Clicking "Main Menu" button now asks player if they want to quit, informing them that saving occurs after every new district is entered
  

Systems

• Storage slots inside of piloting lockers increased from: 5 -> 8
  
• Storage slots inside of small storage room (1x1) has been increased from: 6 -> 8
  
• Storage rooms now spawn more frequently in shops
  

Bug Fixes

• Only including unlisted/notable ones:
  
• Vending machine infinite selling bug fixed (hopefully)
  
• Bug where microphone could not be selected fixed
  

We'll continue to monitor any issues that come up and address any feedback from the community.

Thanks for supporting us on our Early Access journey!

- Targon Studios

Darkwater is available now as part of Steam Early Access!

Go it alone or with up to 4 players and grab it for 10% off during the week of launch to celebrate.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/619540/Darkwater/

We'd love to hear about you experience playing, so join the Discord to chat with the developer and other fellow divers, and thanks for playing our game!

- Targon Studios & Playstack Team

Assemble your crew - Darkwater is launching into Steam Early Access April 22! To celebrate, we have rolled out a rebrand of the store page and dropped a fresh new trailer.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[color]Darkwater will launch at an introductory price of $9.99 or local equivalent and will feature a 10% launch discount for the first seven days as a treat for our first wave of divers.
[/color]
But our Early Access launch is just the tip of the iceberg. We have regular major content expansions planned throughout all of 2025, including new outposts, sectors, enemies, system mechanics, sub designs, and more. Of course, all of these will be available at no additional cost.

Here is a sneak peak at what to expect during Early Access.



Best of luck surviving the depths of Enceladus - you'll need it.

- Targon Studios & PlayStack Team

Thank you to everyone who checked out the demo for Darkwater and made it one of the most played demos of the event!

https://store.steampowered.com/sale/nextfestmostplayed_feb_2025


The demo, bug report, and feedback forms will still be available to fill out until March 17 @ 10AM PST. So if you haven’t already, fill it out and let us know how we can improve or what your favorite canned food item was. I like tube worms.

• Bug Report Form
• Feedback Survey
• Darkwater Discord

We’ll see you again soon when Darkwater launches into Early Access this year - so wishlist and follow so you don’t miss out.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/619540/Darkwater/

Divers,

A number of changes have been made based on player feedback since the last closed playtest. Highlights include the new District Anarchy System, sweeping difficulty adjustments, and a new district that includes several new outposts to explore.

[h2]Features[/h2]
[h3]New District Anarchy System[/h3]
A new system has been added that slowly plunges districts into chaos, making them very dangerous, and encouraging players to exit districts. This is to address players spending large amounts of time farming resources.

• A new visual indicator will be displayed in the upper right corner of the screen denoting the current anarchy level
  
• Anarchy increases more quickly on harder difficulties
  
• 15 anarchy events added
  

[h3]General[/h3]

• K-100 submarine has been unlocked for players to use in the Demo
  
• New Soviet District with unique outposts added; Soviet Residential, Soviet Penal, Soviet Hospital
  
• Outposts optimized, should see improved framerate
  
• New music track added: Soviet District,
  
• Districts grow more difficult as players progress
  
• Difficulty levels have been heavily adjusted
  
• Main menu theme updated
  
• Enemy ships on higher difficulties are now harder to sink
  
• Gramophone room has been added as a rare item spawn in drydock
  
• Record item (Anthem for Mice) has been added as a rare item spawn
  
• Updated main menu: New intro message, new bug report URL
  
• Inventory full notification now displays when players try and pick up an item
  

[h3]Map[/h3]

• District system implemented
  
• Residential district implemented
  
• Soviet district implemented
  
• Sonar map generation size decreased by about 80% (With the introduction of districts, sonar map size has been restored to its original size)
  
• Lots of new node events added, specifically for Soviet Controlled District
  
• Nodes now always contain an event
  
• Sonar map generation overhaul, maps will now be generated in a more linear way
  
• Transit Station no longer spawns near the starting node
  
• Visited Stores and Outposts are renamed to "Visited" after docking for clarity
  

[h3]Shop[/h3]

• Players can no longer interact with shop when players are inside submarine
  
• Players can no longer enter submarine while a player is interacting with the shop
  
• Terminal now displays an error when there is more than 1 of the same weapon system (for example, 2 torpedo bays)
  
• Many system room displays updated
  
• Outdated room displays in shop updated
  

[h3]Systems[/h3]

• Pneumatic Launcher has been added
  
• Workshop submarine system has been added
  
• Small storage room implemented
  

[h3]Outposts[/h3]

• Outpost lamps now have a chance of being broken
  
• Lanterns can now be extinguished
  
• Outposts have a chance to spawn with flickering lights, can be repaired
  
• Enemies can no longer spawn in outpost starting room
  
• Broadcasting SOS when connected to an outpost now destroys the outpost and shuts the airlock
  

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Addressed a large number of bugs identified in the playtest
  
• Items no longer vanish when dropped in store
  
• Crashes as a result of attempting to load into a match should be drastically reduced
  
• Doors no longer shove players out of bounds
  
• Item duplication fixed
  
• Fixed leaks appearing in spots that can’t be reached
  
• Fixed various visual mismatches between host and guest players
  

Experiencing any issues in the demo? Let us know at https://forms.gle/Gt1a6LFnLo5Ra17g8

Enjoy the demo and share your feedback at https://forms.gle/qHXhsYjWtVKRMagE9 and chat with us on Discord at https://discord.gg/ZMC8uXcx4g

A huge thanks to players who offered feedback during the playtest!

-Darkwater Team