SITREP #008: Echoes Below Development Update

Hey Operators!

As Early Access is getting closer and closer, we’d like to introduce someone who will play a major role in shaping the atmosphere we’ve wanted Echoes Below to have from the very beginning. So please give a warm welcome to Oliwier aka “ Armazi ” as an official part of Echo Division.

He’ll be handling the soundtrack and overall audio direction, as he wants the music to become a strong identity element of the game itself. We’re genuinely proud to have such a talented and dedicated composer on board and are incredibly excited for everything we’ll continue creating together for you all. As a small first glimpse, we’ve prepared a snippet of the future main theme of Echoes Below. This track lays the foundation for many impressive pieces he has already been working on for the project.

MAP OVERHAUL & SCALE

We’ve also completely rebuilt and expanded the world. This gives us the space to properly support long-range traversal & engagements, scouting tools like the FPV drone, and more diverse POIs.

Previous map size: ~9 km²,

New map size: 64 km²,

The current playable area is limited to the main island and one of the smaller ones in the south for now, however we will expand the playable area with the "Map Expansion Update" after the early access launch. This helps us to keep the level of detail and quality consistent and expand the map and it's POIs in a meaningful way.

With this preview, we're also showcasing our new global illumination system, as we're now switching from World Space GI to Screen Space GI. This comes with a few downsides, as the visual quality of screen-space effects can vary and may produce less realistic results in certain situations. However, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

On the upside, this technique significantly improves performance, since we're no longer required to maintain a separate low-resolution representation of the surrounding world for GI calculations. Instead, the GI is now calculated directly from visible screen-space information. On a 64 km² open-world map, SSGI helps us maintain visual quality without blowing up your PC.

Another improvement is that foliage now gets proper GI interaction by not only receiving GI data, but also contributing to it. With instanced foliage objects, this approach helps us eliminate the need for time-consuming workarounds while still retaining the performance benefits, even in dense forest areas.

We've also further improved light interaction across all types of vegetation (with trees benefiting the most) by utilizing SDF-generated proxy meshes for branches and leaves, alongside baked bent-normal and shadow data. This creates a softer, more "volumetric" and natural light wrap around trees and other vegetation.

You can see a direct comparison in this screenshot:

We have started implementing Oliwier's music into the game, and it already feels significantly more atmospheric. It truly elevates Echoes Below closer to the game it was always meant to be.

To complement the already fantastic soundtrack, we have also created many more audible environmental interactions. For example, foliage now reacts not only visually when players move through or past it, but also through sound effects such as rustling leaves.

Audio Zones have also received significant improvements, featuring much more varied and randomized ambient sound effects. They can now also react dynamically to conditions such as weather, time of day, seasons, and much more.

Character Overhaul

Last but not least, we have essentially rebuilt all character models from the ground up (including the playable characters) and are currently replacing the old placeholder models.

This not only affects the characters themselves, but also all clothing, equipment, and gear.

We’re really excited to hear what you think and hope you all have a great week!