Hi everyone,
The February Dev Report is here. It may have been a shorter month, but a lot of progress was made on the upcoming update. Overall, this month was heavily focused on cutscenes, though several other important systems were improved as well — more on that below.
Lore Notes
Seven new lore notes were written and added to the game, appearing on tablets and terminals in the form of emails.
I know many players tend to skip optional lore, but as a player myself, I almost always read everything when I’m invested in a game world. That’s why I put a lot of care into expanding the background of the world through these smaller stories and side events.
Those who take the time to read the new notes will definitely get an extra emotional layer to the experience.
New Cutscenes
This update will include seven new cutscenes, and five of them are already fully completed.
Right now, I’m working on the two longest and most complex ones. They involve a large number of dialogue lines and require proper emotional delivery, so I’m taking my time to make sure everything feels natural and impactful. These scenes demand a lot of attention, but they’re also some of the most important narrative moments in the update.
New Enemy – “Sporewell” (Possible Spoilers)
Explorer-tier supporters have already read about it in Mark’s report, but I’ll briefly describe it here as well.
Sporewell isn’t exactly an enemy in the traditional sense. It doesn’t move or actively chase the player. Instead, this mutated organism is more puzzle-oriented — something I personally love in games.
To overcome it, players will need to carefully evaluate their surroundings and think logically. Rushing in blindly will likely end badly. This design allows for more varied gameplay and reinforces the feeling of tension without relying purely on combat.
Additional Graphics Settings
Optimization remains a high priority for me. This month, I expanded the graphics options available in the game.
New settings for Reflections and Resolution Scale are now available, which should significantly improve performance flexibility — especially for players with weaker GPUs.
Cold Damage System
There were quite a few questions from players about freezer rooms that could be encountered but not accessed. This is another puzzle-oriented gameplay element.
The new cold damage system will make these areas meaningful and integrated into the gameplay loop. It also strengthens immersion, since this mechanic is closely tied to the narrative chain of the upcoming update.
Cold damage will be accompanied by screen-space visual effects and appropriate sound design to enhance the atmosphere.
New Implant – BioCatalyst Core
Some players struggled with limited healing resources during progression. Because of that, I decided to introduce a new implant earlier than originally planned.
BioCatalyst Core enhances the effectiveness of ReGen and D-TOXn capsules, providing more flexibility in difficult situations.
Maps for the New Sectors
Work on the new sector maps has been fully completed. This includes both the in-world map stations and the map accessible via the [M] key.
I originally planned to expand the map marker system further, but that would require more structural rework than expected, so that improvement is postponed for a future update.
New Burgeon Animation Variants
Two additional NSFW animations were added for the Burgeon to reduce repetition and preserve immersion.
New 3D Assets
As tradition goes, several new environmental assets were created for the update. I’d prefer not to show them here to avoid spoilers — you’ll encounter them directly in the game.
Next month will be focused on completing the final two cutscenes and preparing the update for release.
Hopefully everything goes smoothly — and without critical bugs.
— Kodman