SITREP #002 - Echoes Below Community Briefing

ROADMAP 2025

Survival Expansion Update

• Introducing Modular Building System (Foundations, Floors, Walls, Ceilings/Roofs, Pillars, and more)

• Various building materials for the modular pieces, like logs/stone for the bivouac stage, metal/plywood for the FOB stage, and concrete/steel for the TOC stage

• New buildable structures for the bivouac stage

• Fishing!

• New tool item: fishing rod

• Introducing new status effects like sickness when exposed to cold temperatures without proper clothing or by eating raw food

• New deployable item: portable heater

• New cooking recipes

• New deployable traps (can be used for hunting or defense)

• New clothing items

• New decorative items/structures for the bivouac stage

• Introducing camouflage system: clothing items will have camouflage stats which can decrease the chances of being spotted

• Introducing Weapon Paint Jobs: enables players to spray various paint jobs on their weapons (e.g. woodland, desert, mountain, urban, etc.); paint jobs automatically apply to equipped attachments as well

• Weapon paint jobs can increase camo stats

• And much more, but we don't want to spoil too much!

Vehicle Warfare Update

• Introducing enemy vehicles

• Introducing enemy motorized patrols (both land & sea)

• New driveable vehicles (air, land, and sea); some will also feature combat capabilities

• Vehicle Paint Jobs can be applied via the Vehicle Workshop building, unlockable in FOB and TOC building stages

• AddedVehicle customizationnew mountable weapon systems, headlights, storage upgrades, etc.

• Introducing MLRS, which can be used in combination with the UAV drone target system

• New UAV drone abilities, like MLRS shelling, air strikes, and special mortar rounds

• Unlockable supply airdrop (will be unlocked during mission/story progression)

• New squadmate class: combat engineer (can place or defuse mines, repair vehicles)

• And much more!

Animation Overhaul / Improvements Update

• Introducing various new motion-captured animations, linked to both existing and new interactions

• Improvements to existing animations and/or full replacements with newly mocapped data

• Various new animations for NPCs

• Refinements to existing facial mocaps as well as introducing new facial animations for NPCs

• Major friendly & enemy AI improvements, tweaks, and general overhaul (this will also be based on player feedback)

• New clothing variations for both enemy and friendly NPCs

• Introducing Ballistic Shield item (can only be used in combination with sidearms like pistols or compact SMGs such as the P320 or MP5K); semi-auto or burst fire is highly recommended — unless you really want to use a "to whom it may concern" approach with compact SMGs in full-auto fire modes

• New defensive structures for the TOC building stage

• And much more, but you know the drill — we don't like to spoil too much!

Additional POIs (Points of Interest)

• We keep those entirely secret — sorry folks!

Map Expansion Update

• It... well, expands the map! But as mentioned above, no spoilers here! Let's just say you might want to grab some water-tight combat boots from your inventory for this one!

Base and Home Decorations

• Introducing a TON of new decorative items/structures for ALL building stages

• Features both interactable/functional decorations as well as decorative-only ones

• There's more planned besides decorations, but again... no spoilers, sorry!

Coop Multiplayer

• Yeah, you've waited for this one, huh? Introducing Coop Multiplayer (play with your friends!)

• Friendly fire can be turned off in the settings

• Introducing per-player squads, so each player can lead a fireteam (this is still experimental and we need to balance things properly — but we'll keep you guys updated on this)

• Still in development, so we can't tell you too much about it other than what the title already suggests — but let's just say that coop mode is not just a way to play with friends... it WILL have an impact on the storyline as well.

Some features are still TBD and experimental, others might even make it earlier into the game. We'll keep you updated!