Try To Fall Asleep News

Hey players,

Today we're kicking 2020 off with a cool post on the upcoming 1.3.1 update! We'll be going through the details about the improved Island, as well as the new checkpoint system and many other fine improvements.


We're bringing a long awaited feature to our game - a simple checkpoint system. Let us break it down and tell you how it works:

• It works in the background.
  
• It's only made for the dream sequences, meaning, that in the falling asleep sequences you'll still have to complete it in one successful run in order to transition to the dream sequence.
  
• For the first and second dream sequences, it is only used to skip the intro cutscenes/monologues at the beginning of the level, if the player has already seen them. If you collect a certain amount of fuses/notes and die before the dream ends, your progress will be reset.
  
• For the 3rd dream sequence it'll be used to skip the intro sequence if the player has already seen it. If the player has successfully completed the hiding phase, when he messes up in the escape phase and dies, it won't be required to redo the hiding phase.
  

After releasing the update, we'll be closely listening to the community and seeing how everyone likes the system and if needed, make a patch for it.


Now, this is the biggest feature that's coming in the next update. It did took us a bit more work than anticipated, but we think the result was totally worth it. This graphical update is bringing many new details to the island and a new fresh feel to it.


We replaced many standard models with brand new ones.


There is also a brand new way how the grass gets rendered. It allowed us to have a much better grass without using too much performance.


Also, thanks to some custom shaders, the new trees and bushes have a transparency effect applied to the leaves.


Just for fun and to have a better look of the improved island, here we have a few screenshots with a golden hour lighting. Please keep in mind that this lighing will NOT be in the game.

To top it off, here's a little before and after comparisons.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


While doing all the fine adjustments to the whole game, we wanted to work on the 2nd dream sequence as well. We made the note mechanic a bit more challenging and made the whole level more consistent. A few new details have also been added, such as an info-poster about how the Pinetree Island was formed. There's also a new secret entity that will pop up in the most unexpected moments...

Apart from all the cool stuff above, it was also really important to work on bug fixes. Most of the camera issues in the 3rd dream sequence have been resolved. We also went through other camera setups to make sure everything worked consistently and was stable. There are also some minor improvements in the footstep sound switching system.


At the moment, early test builds are working great. If all goes well and there won't be any complications, the 1.3.1 update might drop sometime next week. There will be another post about the update right before it gets released, so stay tuned for that!
This will most likely be one of the last updates we do before releasing Night 4. After we're done with this update, we'll be dedicating 100% of ourselves to the next night. When the time is right, we'll start to share more info about Night 4 and what is has to offer. ;))


Thanks for reading this!
Martin

Hello,

This is just a small notice that the 1.3 update has just been released to the game! You can read more details about the update in this post.



Enjoy the update!

Martin

Hello players,

The wait is almost over! We're incredibly excited to announce that the long awaited 1.3 update is arriving to the game this week, right before Halloween!

Although this has proven to be one of the most challenging and difficult updates yet, we're proud of the work that our tiny team has achieved and we can't wait for you all to try it out.

For this post, we’d like to summarize the whole update. From adding the 3rd night to the game, to adding awesome new features, such as a voiceover system for all the dream levels, and quality of life improvements to the whole game, like an improved pause menu and customisable graphics settings, the 1.3 update sure is one big of an update.

Now, let's dive deeper into the details!




Falling asleep phase

As mentioned in our Sneak Peak of the 3rd night, we try to do something different in each night, both in the falling asleep and dreaming phases.
For the 3rd night, we’ve introduced a whole new mechanic - sleeping pills. These can help the player to drain stress and raise sleep levels faster at the cost of hearing and vision capabilities.
After successfully raising the sleep level to the top, the screen fades dark and starts loading the next level, indicating that the player has successfully fallen asleep…


Dreaming phase

So far, the 3rd dreaming phase is one of the most unique levels in the whole game. When John wakes up in the middle of the night in his cottage, he'll have to be stealthy and put his mind to some puzzle solving scenarios. We think players will enjoy this whole new level as it adds a lot more variety to the whole game.




Hearing actual voices speak and interact with each other brings a whole new level of immersion to the game. This has been a really important feature that has been missing in the game and we’ve wanted to add it ever since we launched the early access. And now, we have it! None of this wouldn't have been possible without talented cast though, and we were incredibly honored to work with such an amazing cast! Seeing it all come together is truly satisfying! Read all about it here!




Apart from adding new content like the 3rd night to the game, we did go back to the previous 2 levels to refine a bit them as well. Also, there are a lot of cool QoL improvements.

1st dreaming phase

The main lab building has received some texture improvements as well as some refinements to some of the rooms in the facility.

Another thing we wanted to further improve in the 1st dreaming phase is the “Reach the end” mini game. There used to be a segment where the player would have to maneuver on logs to advance in the level. It always seemed to be a bit too hard and frustrating, so we added metal walkways with fences which should make the level more interesting and easier to complete.


2nd dreaming phase

Apart from improving the overall visuals of the level, we haven’t changed much in terms of the gameplay. The moon shade is more noticable and the post-processing effects have been fine tuned. Also, there is a whole new area added to the level for you to discover! We did make the enemies a bit faster and reduced the chasing time lengths. Although the level currently works out fine, we would like to revisit this level again at some point in the future to improve the chasing sequences.



The work on the 4th night has already begun and it's also shaping up to be a very special one. We've got some cool ideas that will be interesting to work on. Till then, like we said, we'd like to revisit the 2nd night and polish the dream level a bit more. An update for it should hopefully launch before the end of this year. Also, we didn't have enough time to implement a fully working checkpoint system for the 3rd dream level, so that will be another thing we'll try to include in the 1.3.1 update.

With all that said, thank you for reading this and we hope you'll all have a great time experiencing the 3rd night! :))

Martin

Hello there,

Today we'd like to share a small preview of a new game mechanic that's coming with the 3rd night - sleeping pills. It's a mechanic that gets introduced in the 3rd night and will carry on till the very last night.


To better cope with the high stress and stay calm, Dr. Norberg has prescribed some sleeping pills that will be useful for the night as the hallucinations, for yet unknown reasons, are getting more and more stronger.



There are 3 pills that you can take during the night at any time, with a 30 second cooldown in between them.

Pros for taking the pills:

• Sleep level goes up faster when the eyes are closed.
  
• Stress level goes down faster when eyes are opened.
  

Cons for taking the pills:

• Vision gets limited by noise, greyscale and dark contrast.
  
• Hearing gets less sensitive and more muffled.
  

While these pills can come handy in certain cases, you have to be careful. Some hallucinations might still come up while it's hard to hear or see them...

Hey players,

In preparation for the new Steam library update, as well as many other things, we decided that it would be cool to make a NEW POSTER! So there it is... Pretty neat, isn't it? :))



Goodnight!