Project Winter News

[h2]Greetings once again, survivors.[/h2]

We decided it was time for some additions to the survivors’ arsenal. Our latest update comes with a “new bag of tricks” to play with. This brand new set of items can be found like others, and offer a variety of tactics to survivors and traitors alike. Experiment with them and expand your playstyle!

As usual, we’ve taken your feedback into consideration and made a few notable balance changes that we hope will make each game feel a bit better.

In other news, we’ve integrated Discord with our lobby system! Players can now post invites to their game lobbies as a Discord message through the app or overlay. Likewise, the engineering team has been hard at work fixing up issues, some of which were found and reported by you. We thank you for your continued support as we iron out the wrinkles.

[h3]FEATURES AND CHANGES[/h3]

• New item: Explosive Crossbow. Can be found exclusively in the armory and from the loot drop event crate. Fires bolts that explode on impact, damaging and ragdolling players within range.
  
• New item: Flare. Can be crafted or found in bunker crates. When thrown will ignite and display a location marker for all players at its position for two minutes.
  
• New item: Quick Disarm Kit. Can be crafted (3 per recipe) or found in bunker crates. If a player is holding one in their inventory when stepping in a bear trap, it will be consumed and significantly reduce the duration of the trap.
  
• New item: Stimulants. Can be found in bunker crates. When consumed, temporarily increases your movement speed and physical damage by 15% for 30 seconds before decreasing them by 20% for 15 seconds after the primary effect wears off.
  
• New item: Tripwire. Can be crafted (2 per recipe) or found in bunker crates. When deployed, will sound an alarm and display a location indicator for 10 seconds to players in the vicinity. Can also be used to trap interactable objects to trigger the same effect the next time they’re interacted with.
  
• Added support for sending game invites through Discord. Host or join a lobby, and switch back to Discord/Open Discord overlay. You should now see a green play icon next to the (+) button on the left side of your Discord chat bar.
  
• Added a new tutorial prompt on the results screen to explain the social ranking system
  
• Fuel can now be used to restore warmth for campfires (with an explosive side-effect!)
  
• Main menu progression tab now uses your character to display the progression items instead of fixed body types
  
• Community guidelines on main menu are now localized for all supported languages
  
• Added Turkish and Greek language support
  

[h3]BALANCE[/h3]

• “Overload a cooperative console X times” bonus objective requirements reduced to 1-2 from 2-3, and reward increased by 50%
  
• Shotgun damage will now be reduced by up to 50% based on the distance a target is from the shooter
  
• Bear traps now have a three-second timer when placed before they will be able to trap the player who placed them
  
• Reduced frequency of gun parts in non-armory bunker crates
  
• Reduced frequency of guns in traitor airdrops and increased frequency of gun parts
  
• Removed potential for animal wave console to spawn on rivers tiles (due to issues with animal pathfinding)
  

[h3]BUG FIXES[/h3]

• Fixed cases where airdrops could appear on top of existing crates and players could be teleported to the same locations during the solar flare event
  
• Fixed case where top left dig site photo could appear black instead of as the correct image
  
• Fixed case where dig site photos board could appear floating in the air and be inaccessible
  
• Fixed submarine being improperly rotated for ghost players after being called a second time
  
• Fixed not being able to use an item looted from a disconnected player if it was the item they had equipped when they disconnected
  
• Fixed scoring issues from killing cloned players (a survivor cloned as a traitor or vice-versa will now correctly count as both a survivor and traitor kill)
  
• Fixed case where player outfits and progression trees could appear to be reset after launching the game
  
• Fixed input devices for voice chat in settings being listed as output devices
  
• Fixed range of voice chat input/output volume to prevent distortion
  
• Fixed several areas they may have been contributing to voice chat stability issues
  
• Fixed tracking for players killed by falling off a sabotage bridge: kill cards will now appear on the timeline, and the kills will be correctly attributed to the traitor who sabotaged the bridge
  
• Fixed “ensure the other traitor does not die” bonus objective failing when you die
  
• Fixed possible issues with item targeting where the pickup action could be canceled partway through if the item is near other geometry
  
• Fixed button visuals on game over screen when swapping between mouse/keyboard and controller
  
• Fixed escape vehicles not correctly limiting the number of survivors that can board to match the icons displayed on the UI (max is now 6)
  
• Fixed health bar tooltip sometimes showing 0 health while player is still alive (will now always round up instead of to the closest value)
  
• Fixed camera shake and explosion audio not playing when a wolf bunker is opened
  
• Fixed explosion originating from the wrong location if the trap disarm kit is used to disarm a booby trapped corpse that had been dragged from its original position
  
• Fixed landmine explosion damage inconsistencies between host and client players
  
• Fixed colouring for red radio text channel
  
• Fixed fireplace re-igniting after leaving and re-entering the cabin during the mega blizzard
  
• Fixed “other” language setting missing from host game popup language options
  
• Fixed region text not being localized on lobby header bar
  
• Fixed ghost players being able to briefly interact with batteries when they are dropped
  
• Fixed players carrying batteries being able to drag corpses at the same time
  
• Fixed certain cases where players would be unable to interact with batteries after they are dropped
  
• Fixed case where error could appear when switching regions and then closing the host game popup in quick succession
  
• Fixed inventory slot keybind labels not updating if slots are bound to different keys
  
• Fixed not being able to disembark from the escape vehicle when playing with a controller
  
• Fixed locations in several bunkers where players could get stuck behind crates
  
• Fixed several areas where players could get stuck after being attacked by an animal or hitting a landmine and being ragdolled
  
• Fixed not being able to correctly dismiss the show stats screen as a ghost when using a controller
  
• Fixed survivor airdrop indicator icon having a traitor logo on it
  
• Fixed several missing characters for Korean language
  
• Fixed text wrapping on several tutorial prompts
  
• Fixed various clipping issues for cosmetic items
  
• [Blackout] Fixed armory bunker sometimes not spawning for Blackout matches
  
• [Blackout] Fixed poisoned effect visuals so they match the intensity of the base game
  

[h3]Finally, your regularly scheduled round of new cosmetics![/h3]

Greetings, survivors!

We are very pleased to announce our first anniversary celebration! Today marks one whole year of Project Winter, and as a thank you to our players, everyone will be receiving a free 20,000 Survivor Points in-game! If you log in between now and midnight, Tuesday, May 26, you can receive your reward through the in-game announcement. Be sure to log in before Tuesday at midnight! The award will only be available until then.

In addition to this award, we are going to be holding a very special event.



All players are eligible to enter into our Best of the Year contest! Each player will be allowed to submit one clip that is no longer than 30 seconds in length to our official Discord in the #winter-events channel.

Once submitted, any and all players may vote for their favorite clips using Discord react feature. At the end of the event (Midnight, Tuesday, May 26), voting will end and be tallied by members of our community management team. The 3 clips with the highest number of votes will each receive an additional 500 artifacts in-game to spend however they like!

There are no criteria for submitted videos. They can be funny, action-packed, clever, or all-around supportive of the Project Winter spirit! Choose your clip wisely, as your peers will be choosing by their own accord!

An additional three prizes will be given out as a developers' choice award! Our team will choose another 3 submitted clips as our favorites, and award those players with their own 500 artifacts. Winning clips are still eligible for the developers' choice award! If you submit something really special, you could walk away with a total 1000 artifacts!

Have fun, and get clipping!

————————————————————————————————————————————————————
UPDATE: June 1, 2020

The anniversary comes to a close! As chosen by you, here is your #1 Community Choice, winning by only one more vote than the runner-up!

https://streamable.com/jvxj2d

All winning submissions have been rewarded in-game!

Check out the other submissions at Discord.gg/projectwinter

May 13th, 2020 The “We’ve heard you...” Update (Build v.1.1.13829)



Greetings, Survivors! We come to you today with our latest housekeeping update! The development team has been really busy listening to your feedback and balancing existing features according to your comments. We’ve also made some general changes and squashed a lot of bugs in the process.

We hope you enjoy the changes! We are looking forward to resuming feature implementation during the month of June.

Have fun, everyone! See you out there.

NEW FEATURES & GENERAL CHANGES:

• New colors! We’ve added around 200 color variations for existing crate items.
  
• Added new sorting options for lobby browser. These can be toggled by clicking the lobby name, status, etc. headers to sort lobbies in ascending or descending order based on the chosen header.
  
• Added new notification that will display when a player disconnects during a match prior to dying or escaping
  
• Custom game time setting can now be set in intervals of 5 minutes, from 30 to 180
  
• Role descriptions can now be accessed from a button in the lobby (custom game settings button has been moved beside the ready button to make room)
  
• Maximum role counts per game have been added to the role descriptions
  
• Updated game guide with all primary and secondary objectives
  
• Added basic game loop instructions to the loading screen
  
• Added new indicators when starting a match to direct players to the cabin map and first repair task (markers expire in 60 seconds if not approached)
  

BALANCE CHANGES:

• Removed VRN for cipher station objective and reduced the total number of bunkers containing codes. Bunkers with code consoles will now also tend to be found nearer to the cabin, rather than chosen at random.
  
• Added ability for traitors to sabotage code consoles to display a different digit for 3 traitor credits
  
• Added photos HUD for dig site objective that can be accessed at any time after viewing the photos board by pressing the new button in the top left of the screen.
  
• Removed per-player cooldown for digging up parts at a dig site, and increased count to 3 parts that can be dug up before a 60 second global cooldown will begin.
  
• Added sound near dig sites that scales in volume the closer a player is to the center of the dig site (will not play if no part can currently be dug up from the site)
  
• Dig site ring indicators will now be visible locally after digging up a part
  
• Increased player movement speed when carrying batteries for the collectible objective from 46% of player’s normal speed to 70%
  
• Increased the aiming speed and accuracy of assault rifles, shotguns and bolt-action rifles. Reduced damage of the assault rifles slightly, increased the damage of shotguns.
  
• Reduced frequency of gun drops in containers, and increased frequency of gun parts
  
• Reduced max number of Innocents per round to 2
  
• Removed Spreading Madness and Seed of Insanity events temporarily (to be redesigned and re-added in a future update)
  
• [Blackout] Removed Identity Thief from the pool of available roles
  

BUG FIXES:

• Fixed issue for some players where accessing the crafting station or stove could cause the game to freeze
  
• Fixed shovels not being usable at certain dig sites
  
• Fixed some cases where power station gate wouldn't lower for certain players after global exile finishes
  
• Fixed in-game cursor disappearing for certain players with controllers plugged in when launching the game
  
• Fixed rotation of containers in various bunkers to make them easier to open
  
• Fixed issue where swapping from a melee weapon to a deployable item while charging an attack could cause you to get stuck in the deployable animation
  
• Fixed camera getting stuck when teleporting out of cave area as a ghost or from the solar flare event, or when leaving power station
  
• Fixed "I" character not rendering correctly if system language is set to Turkish
  
• Fixed broken text strings for repair objectives in tutorial cutscene
  
• Fixed prospector helmet cosmetics not being visible on the MVP screen
  
• Fixed elapsed time in lobby browser sometimes displaying the wrong colour
  
• Fixed some inconsistencies with language text in the settings and lobby screens (names of languages will now always appear in their native form)
  
• Fixed cigar and pipe cosmetics not showing with the balaclava equipped
  
• Fixed issue where battery objects and exile box in cabin could sometimes be difficult to interact with
  
• Fixed several areas where players could get trapped after being ragdolled by a landmine
  
• Fixed issue players crossing repaired bridges could sometimes get stuck
  
• Fixed some issues with handling game resolution on non-16:9 monitors
  
• [Blackout] Fixed Yeti being able to escape on DSRV without completing their objective
  
• [Blackout] Fixed temple fire not being able to be fueled
  
• [Blackout] Fixed traitor being able to board and leave on escape if survivor was converted in the process of boarding
  

KNOWN ISSUES:

• Some users may see an asset flicker issue on the lobby creation screen if the cursor is placed over the Main Menu Options at the top. We’re aware of this issue and are actively working on fixing it. Thank you for your patience!
  

Hello survivors,

With the latest instances of onset madness spreading through the Winter landscape, it seems the development team has also been affected.

We decided that Project Winter is going to be opening its gates to any and all victims players for a free weekend starting today! From April 23 to April 26, Project Winter will be free to download and play!

But this crazy event doesn’t stop there. During the free weekend, Project Winter and Blackout DLC will be 65% off! Now is a great time to send the gift of Winter to your friends.

Hop in, meet some new people, and stab each other in the back! You’ve got all weekend to download, jump in, and take advantage of the sale.

Stay warm, stay safe, and we’ll see you in the wilderness.

A special thanks to Kaif, Byze, and BryceGames on Youtube for their excellent sponsored previews of Project Winter!

Hey everyone! We've got another update for you today.

Known as the "Can You Dig It?" update, this release includes a new objective and some more global events to keep things fresh.

NEW OBJECTIVE: Scavenge newly added dig-sites for special components to repair the power station. Use some photographed intelligence provided at the power station to identify and locate these components to progress through the first objective.

NEW GLOBAL EVENTS: Three new events have been added for some fresh experiences and even more winter pandemonium.

Solar Flares: Freakish weather culminates and intensifies before suddenly transporting players to random areas scattered around the map. Not only that, but the flare will scramble your navigation, breaking your minimap until you can find your way back to the cabin to repair it.

Spreading Madness: Bouts of madness infiltrate a random player's mind. As the player slips deeper into insanity, they will find themselves becoming gradually more affected by their madness. Distance yourself from others; if you spend too much time with an affected player, their paranoid rambling will cause you to lose your sanity as well.

Seed of Insanity: Similar to the Spreading Madness event, one player is randomly chosen. This time, however, the player will show no adverse effects, but will still slowly begin to drive other players mad. Only this player will have an affect on others, so be sure to identify them as soon as possible and isolate them before your whole team loses their minds!

GENERAL CHANGES:

• Ghosts are no longer restricted while teleporting. They can now teleport from anywhere and land directly next to the target player, instead of being placed outside if the target is in a building.
  
• Crossbow projectiles no longer stick to target (or appear to stick in the air). Flight physics for projectiles will also be more accurate.
  

NEW COSMETICS



BALANCE CHANGES:

• Increased charge time for throwing an item to 1.5 seconds. Damage and range of the throw now scale linearly with the charge percentage, with full charge having the same range and damage as each item had previously.
  
• Low hunger will now reduce the effectiveness of physical attacks (melee, throwing) by up to 30%. This penalty scales linearly from the point the hunger bar turns red up to when it’s fully empty.
  
• Pot Pies now provide a permanent boost to warmth and hunger when eaten (5% and 10%, respectively) in addition to the stats they restore, stacking up to 5 times.
  
• Reduced the probability of a survivor being revived as a traitor in the cloning machine. The cloning machine can now also be sabotaged to guarantee a traitor will always be revived as a traitor.
  
• Armory containers will now contain 1-2 energy drinks (lowest tier) in addition to their existing loot, and have a slightly higher chance of containing a trap disarm kit.
  
• Trap disarm kit area is now positioned in front of the player rather than centered on them, and radius has been reduced by 20%
  
• Landmine explosions now have a reduced area for ragdolling players. Players further away from the blast radius will take the same damage they would previously, but be slowed briefly instead of ragdolled.
  
• Reduced delay between the bear’s area of effect attack and when they begin attacking again.
  
• Damage can now be dealt to resource nodes if a landmine explodes near them.
  
• Armory icon will no longer display on the map for traitors when playing with roles disabled.
  

BUG FIXES:

• Fixed issue where ghosts could communicate over radio channels if the push-to-talk key was held while swapping channels.
  
• Fixed crossbow bolts sometimes causing the player hit to pop into the air.
  
• Fixed armory bunker requiring a traitor to operate the special console when roles are disabled (can now be operated by any player).
  
• Fixed text wrapping for certain UI elements when controls are bound to different keys.
  
• Fixed shotgun effectiveness against downed players being lower than it should have been (can once again take a maximum of 10 seconds off the revive timer with a full hit).
  
• Fixed cases where item tooltips could remain visible or be hidden when they shouldn’t be.
  
• Fixed case where player could become unable to move if the esc menu is opened immediately after being ragdolled and left open until the player stands back up.
  
• Fixed some cases where “NOT FOUND” would display on timeline kill cards.
  
• Fixed cloning machine not reviving players if their ghost was inside a structure.
  
• Fixed cases where animals would ignore non-host players when they entered a yellow flag area.
  
• Fixed open bunkers ability on survivor airdrop being usable multiple times.
  
• [Blackout] Fixed cabin becoming accessible during the blackout event if a global exile that had been triggered prior to it starting ends.
  
• [Blackout] Fixed placed traps being hidden when a converted survivor is promoted to Whisperer.
  
• [Blackout] Fixed Whisperer not being able to convert cloned players until they had entered and exited the cabin at least once.
  
• [Blackout] Fixed case where conversion bars could occasionally appear on dead bodies.
  
• [Blackout] Fixed portal and DSRV escapes showing the wrong icon on escape departed banner notification.
  
• [Blackout] Fixed location where truth serum console could spawn inside ice wall.
  
• [Blackout] Fixed collision on several parts of the ice walls.
  

Get out there, survivors and spread some cheer madness!