EARLY ACCESS UPDATE #2 – THE COLD GOES DEEPER – COMING SOON

We teased this in Dev Update #3, and now we're ready to get into the details. This is the biggest change to the core survival experience since launch, and we're genuinely excited for you to feel the difference.

Here's everything that's coming and how it all works.

The weather system has been completely rebuilt.

The old system tracked a single temperature value. The new one layers temperature, wind, wetness, and body heat into something that actually behaves like winter.

Where you are matters. What you're wearing matters. Whether you're wet matters. Whether you're moving matters. It's a proper survival system now, not just a warmth bar ticking down.

The chain looks like this:

Feels-Like Temp → Effective Exposure → Body Heat → Warmth → Condition

The temperature shown is the feels-like temperature, which already accounts for wind chill. Standing on the frozen lake in a gale feels significantly colder than standing in the woods at the same ambient temperature. From there, Effective Exposure reflects what the body is actually feeling, taking into account clothing, fire, activity, and wetness.

The UI reflects all of this at a glance. Hover over any element for a full breakdown and advice on what to do next.

Warming up is no longer instant.

Before this update, getting near a fire would restore Warmth fairly quickly. Now, Body Heat has to recover first. If the cold has been setting in for a while, there's a real deficit to work through, even next to a strong fire.

Recovery happens in stages. Warmth first stabilises, stopping the damage. Then Body Heat slowly climbs. Only once it's high enough does Warmth actually start recovering.

By the time things are serious, getting back to normal takes far longer than expected. The cold rewards planning and punishes waiting.

Wetness is now a full mechanic.

This is entirely new, and it changes how almost every decision outdoors gets made.

Getting wet makes heat drain faster and recover slower. The worse the wetness state, the more dramatic the effect. At Soaked, heat recovery is cut in half, which is a serious problem when already cold.

Two things are now tracked: Body Wetness and Outfit Wetness. They combine into Effective Wetness, which determines the actual penalty.

How wetness builds up:

Snow and blizzards gradually soak outer clothing. Fishing, digging ice holes, and falling through ice add wetness more directly. Physical activity generates sweat, which adds to Body Wetness first before slowly transferring into clothing over time.

How layers work:

Weather wetness hits outer clothing first. If outer layers are already saturated, excess wetness starts reaching the body directly. Inner layers are protected as long as outer layers have room to absorb. Sweat works in reverse, starting as Body Wetness and transferring outward into clothing from the inside.

Waterproof clothing slows how quickly weather wetness soaks in, but won't stop sweat from building up underneath.

Drying off:

The fastest way to dry is near a campfire. Clothing dries faster when removed and placed near the fire rather than worn. Shelter dries slowly without a fire. Outside in snow or a blizzard, there's no drying at all.

Wetness states: Dry, Slightly Damp, Damp, Wet, and Soaked, each progressively reducing heat recovery and increasing heat loss.

Managing wetness is now a real part of survival. Wet gear before a long trip, a blizzard with no shelter, soaked clothing with no fire nearby, these things add up fast.

Weather events will now shake up your runs.

The world is going to feel unpredictable in ways it never has before.

As you explore, risk builds up at certain locations based on the weather. These events don't happen suddenly. Warnings appear before anything triggers, giving enough time to react, prepare, or move on. Paying attention to those warnings is worth it.

Snow Slide

Triggered on hills during snow or blizzards. The warnings come gradually, the ground feels loose, then there's a faint shift above, then the slope feels unstable. If it triggers, time, warmth, and condition all take a hit, and there's a chance the path becomes completely blocked. Clearing the snow is the only way through. Hills during storms carry more risk than they appear to.

Ice Crack

Triggered on the frozen lake during snow or blizzards. If the ice gives way, the result is a fully Soaked body and a sharp drop in body heat. Carrying less weight improves the odds of making it across safely. A sled helps too, spreading the load.

Whiteout

Can trigger during blizzards anywhere outdoors. Travel slows significantly and there's a real chance of getting lost, sending everything back to the start after burning through all that travel time.

Extreme Blizzard

A rare escalation that can happen during any blizzard. Wind penalty spikes, travel takes twice as long.

Every event builds gradually with visible warnings at each stage. Players who use those warnings to their advantage will find themselves in a very different position from those who don't.

Loot left outdoors now disappears gradually.

Outdoor loot piles no longer vanish the moment you leave the location. Instead, they deteriorate over time.

In the first hour, nothing happens. After that, food starts disappearing, taken by animals. Light materials start blowing away. The longer things sit unattended, the worse it gets, until eventually even heavy items are buried or completely gone.

Bad weather accelerates everything. Snow bumps the loss rate up. A blizzard pushes it much further.

Indoor items remain completely safe no matter how long the absence.

How quickly items disappear depends on weight:

• Light items (under 1kg) go first, food and small materials

• Medium items (1 to 3kg) follow

• Heavy items (3kg and above) last the longest but will eventually be buried

Tools, weapons, and equipment are always treated as at least medium weight regardless of actual weight.

Food left outside will be gone. Everything else, a storm is a good reason to go back for it.

A new pouch slot is being added.

The pouch is a separate slot from the main backpack. Move All won't touch it, so whatever's in there stays ready for the next outing.

We hope you never find yourself freezing in the dark because the torch is back at camp again.

Minor rebalancing.

A number of small balance adjustments are also included based on community feedback from the previous update. Nothing dramatic, just tuning to make the overall experience feel more consistent.

Community Playtest is coming soon.

Before this goes live for everyone, we'll be opening it up for community playtesting. A separate post will go up when it's ready with full instructions on how to access the build.

If you want to be among the first to try it and help shape the final version, keep an eye on the announcements.

Thanks for following along. We can't wait for you to feel the difference.

— Jerry & Yune