Update 0.9.4B Changelog

Performance

Reduced the big hitches during meteor impacts, tripod rising, large battles and alien deployment.

Improved performance around crowds, explosions, collapsing buildings and multiplayer spawning.

Fixed a long freeze while a tentacle was bringing someone to the cage.

Improved memory cleanup during longer sessions, after deaths and when switching between humans, tripods, aliens and probes.

Low and Medium settings should run better on less powerful PCs. Also adjusted settings for graphics cards with less video memory.

Reduced pauses caused by microphone checks and background tasks.

More of the world now loads before the loading screen closes, reducing pauses when you get back into the game.

And more optimizations to shadows, smoke, terrain, destruction, AI and background tasks.

I've also been testing a separate copy of the game in Unity's Universal Render Pipeline (URP). I'm comparing how it looks and runs against HDRP before deciding whether to switch.

Visuals & audio

Added distant animated tripod silhouettes on the horizon at night, lit up by explosions and heatrays.

Hid the visible light sources behind the horizon lighting and explosion effects.

Added new distant machine gun fire and battle sounds.

Distant machine gun fire now plays 25% less often.

Nights are much darker now.

Dawn and dusk last longer, with smoother lighting changes.

Tripod spotlights are much brighter on the ground with less glare from the beam. Also fixed the Uberpod spotlight pulsing.

Fixed car headlights and brake lights not glowing properly.

Improved rain, splashes, mist and wet roads. Fixed giant raindrops when rain starts and drops looking too bright.

Fixed DLSS/FSR issues with the first person alien view, gas masks, night vision, thermal vision and other effects.

Fixed extreme zoom after drinking alcohol and the camcorder picture getting cropped after changing resolution.

Improved scope performance, fixed ACOG display issues and corrected sight alignment.

Fixed the burst of explosions and rumbling after unpausing, and heartbeats continuing after dying and loading a save.

Restored crowd screams. Distant screams now come from actual groups instead of dead crowds or empty streets.

Crowd screams fade in and out instead of cutting off when you briefly lose sight of the group.

Tripod rising music now stays near the rising machine instead of following you across the map.

Exterminator

Victory now requires all 9 districts and 600 human kills. The Day 5 deadline still applies outside Endless mode.

Winning now stops the tripods dying off and keeps red weed alive, including when you load a save after winning.

Added spectating after the tripods die off and a free camera after winning.

Brought back large civilian crowds in single player Exterminator. They can appear in Melrose, City, Village, Americana and Military Base. Crowds are larger on Day 1, smaller on Day 2, and no new crowd events start after that.

Player tripods can now shoot down supply helicopters, causing them to drop their crates.

You can now teleport in Exterminator mode. Press ] to open the trainer, then choose TELEPORT.

Brought back the blue command highlight circle. It rotates and turns green when you give a command.

Fixed sick player tripods deploying heatrays on their own and overlapping Steam Input trigger commands.

Fixed crouched tripods drifting sideways while moving forward. Also improved foot placement when turning.

Fixed searchlights getting stuck on old targets or looking all the way to one side.

Tripods can see exposed players through windows. Getting below the windowsill still works. Walls, blinds and curtains still block their view.

Tripods stop repeatedly firing at indestructible cover when building destruction is off. Unwanted automatic arrivals also stop after the Day 5 invasion ends.

Captures & needle draining

Added ground captures and needle draining, with clearer F/K controls and prompts.

You can hold an NPC down and drain them with the needle while standing and moving in Exterminator mode.

Moving closer no longer cancels a needle drain. Starting a harvest turns off cruise control so you don't drive away during it.

Needles follow the victim's body instead of floating above them or missing their chest.

Improved multiplayer cage drain controls and fixed occupied cages staying invisible.

Fixed grab tentacles disappearing at a distance while the person they were carrying stayed visible, including in multiplayer.

Reduced jitter during the indoor probe grab cutscene as it carries you to the cage.

AI heatrays no longer kill NPCs being held, caged or prepared for draining. Other AI captures also leave your reserved victim alone.

Fixed captives being consumed unexpectedly after taking over an AI tripod.

Capture prompts now explain when someone is indoors, the route is blocked or the tentacle is still getting ready.

And more fixes to captures, cages and interrupted actions.

New Exterminator mode cinematic camera

Added a cinematic camera to Exterminator mode. Press Z for cutscene style angles, including during cage tentacle captures and needle draining.

You can keep playing while the camera follows walking, rising, heatray attacks and captures.

Use Left/Right Arrow to choose an angle. It stays on that angle until you turn Z off and on again.

Aliens & probes

Improved alien movement on slopes and stairs, turning indoors and dragging people.

Tripods wait for their aliens to return before standing up. Your deployments also get priority over AI parties taking the available slots.

Improved alien cameras around walls and ceilings. Fixed stretched limbs after leaving a tripod.

Improved probe mouse turning, especially when the frame rate is uneven.

Fixed multiplayer probe cables disconnecting from the tripod or folding into themselves while retracting.

Tripods respond when their deployed aliens or probes are attacked.

Fixed tripod engine audio not returning after using a probe. Also fixed old probe camera messages pulling you into the wrong view.

NPC dialogue captions now show when playing as an alien or probe.

NPCs & survival

NPCs do more travelling, scavenging and shelter seeking, and move on after conversations.

Groups spread out between houses instead of all trying to use the same one. Fixed groups huddling in roads or circling houses.

Added more NPC conversations, memories and responses to what's happening around them.

Fixed item sharing and trading so NPCs hand over the supplies they're talking about.

Followers move out of your way more reliably. Improved recovery after knockdowns and reduced NPCs passing through walls and floors.

Reduced the same NPC appearances showing up again right beside their bodies or in cages.

Fixed rifles floating behind NPC backpacks.

Unarmed attacks now stomp nearby downed NPCs without having to crouch.

Panic affects your aim and breathing. Nearby aliens and probes can hear you breathing, walls reduce how far the sound carries, and alcohol helps calm you down.

You no longer cough or yawn while panicking near an alien or probe.

Barricaded doors now stop aliens, probes and NPCs getting through.

Body temperature changes more gradually. The display makes it clearer which temperature is yours and which is the air outside.

Restored missing loot containers and clothing loot, and added clothing to more bedside storage. New human NPC loot no longer includes Raw Meat. Animal harvesting hasn't changed.

World & vehicles

Made crater holes bigger so rising tripods have more room and clip through the ground less.

Fixed close meteor impacts doing no damage to players. Outside the small central impact area, the blast can injure and knock you down without killing you.

Buildings and tall hills reduce meteor blast damage and stop you being thrown. Exposed players still get knocked back hard when they're close.

Roads, markings and sidewalks now break away over open craters instead of floating above them.

Stopped new NPCs spawning inside meteor craters right after impact.

The dropped solenoid now has its own model instead of looking like a jerry can.

Fixed the police station exit opening into an unloaded area and the ground blocking the abandoned house basement.

Removed floating desks at the old prison and fixed the black rocks around the Mountain area.

Fixed military building destruction and rooftop generators staying in the air after buildings collapse.

Destroying a building no longer removes doors or furniture from other buildings. Also fixed rubble disappearing from the wrong place.

Red weed now grows on log walls, roofs, platforms, stairs and cabins you've built.

Improved the timing and variety of military encounters, including those approaching Exterminator players.

Fixed vehicle exits putting you on the wrong side of a wall. Parked Humvees and MaxxPros no longer slide around.

Fixed city bus wipers and destroyed vehicles sometimes turning their systems back on.

And more fixes to buildings, terrain, collisions and world loading.

Multiplayer, respawning & saves

You can now be revived after any multiplayer death except a heatray death.

Downed players have 60 seconds to be revived. Teammates can see the countdown above them, in the revive prompt and on their marker. The last 10 seconds turn red and pulse.

Added a multiplayer tripod waiting list. Keep playing as a human while you wait, then accept or pass when a machine becomes available.

Fixed deaths in some cars and helicopters leaving you stuck without the respawn screen.

Fixed players becoming immune to damage after dying or being revived, and getting stuck dead when rejoining.

Fixed multiplayer alien deployment stopping after the first alien. Timed deployments now recall aliens instead of making them disappear where they're standing.

Respawning uses the spot you picked instead of putting you back where you died.

Spawn selection now defaults to Random instead of the RV.

Improved loading into your saved position instead of being sent to the fountain or pushed into a wall.

Fixed doorway boards being saved as sleeping bags.

Fixed a disconnection that could happen when a player fired a gun.

Hosts loading a tripod save return to their saved machine instead of being forced into human form.

Fixed invisible player bodies blocking doorways after changing form or spectating.

Client tripods now get their heatray kill points, and harvest rewards appear for the right player.

Opposing teams no longer see each other on the map. Players you've grouped with still show up.

A failed switch between squad tripods no longer kicks you out of your current machine.

Server and lobby lists no longer jump back while scrolling. Also fixed issues with copied join codes, group names and joining messages.

And more fixes to multiplayer controls, reconnecting and saving.

Controls & settings

Added Invert Y and made mouse sensitivity easier to find.

Fixed key bindings not saving after a restart. Door, pickup and push to talk prompts now show your chosen keys.

Clicking the map no longer fires your heatray or throws the vehicle you're holding.

Added more controller inventory and weapon wheel shortcuts. RB quickly transfers loot and X takes everything.

Fixed the mouse cursor staying loose after leaving settings and inventory columns overlapping on narrower screens.

Improved Recommended Settings, Undo and Reset to Defaults. Frame Generation starts Off unless you turn it on.

Fixed some cases of the game starting at the wrong resolution or in the wrong window mode.

Blackhawk gun switching is now MMB while aiming, leaving Tab free for inventory.

Report a bug now puts your logs and system info into one ZIP you can attach to your report.

And more menu, prompt and control fixes.