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Full Endure Island update
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What changed
- Gameplay
- Maps
- Balance
- Performance
- UI and audio
Endure Island changes
Thank you for your patience!
We are excited to announce the release of Ver1.0! From Ver0.2, nearly all elements have been overhauled, and a major objective has been added. Please see the details below.
Virus Research
This deserted island is experiencing abnormal phenomena caused by a virus. The virus continues to replicate and mutate, gradually making the environment harsher. The player's objective is to investigate and eradicate this virus.
First, you'll explore various areas, collect items, and extract the virus from them to advance your research. Your role is to understand the virus's properties and relationships, then report the findings back to headquarters.
Research takes time, but you can speed up the process significantly by using multiple facilities at once or by investing large quantities of the virus into specific facilities.
While it's crucial to acquire the virus to begin with, the player won't just be waiting around. As the story progresses, you'll gain the ability to spread the virus using research equipment. By spreading a virus found in the "forest" into the "city," you can trigger changes not normally present in that location.
Promote viral growth to increase research efficiency.
Trigger mutations through viral interactions.
Use viral interference to prevent environmental deterioration.
Some viruses can't be found just by exploring, so you'll need to uncover their relationships and advance your research. However, be careful — if you recklessly spread the virus, the environment will quickly become inhospitable.
Main Story, Quests, and Memory
The protagonist has been changed from the mysterious figure in Ver0.2 to a team member dispatched to investigate the deserted island.
Quests have also been revamped. Knowledge gained from completing quests, repaired equipment, and unlocked doors are saved as "memory" and carried over to the next investigation. These memories may trigger new scenarios during your next exploration, so be sure to progress with the quests alongside your virus research.
Map Overhaul and Improved Graphics Quality
The density of the map has been increased, with more buildings and houses available to explore. Additionally, elevators have been added to certain locations, granting access to underground areas. New exploration objectives have been added as well, so be sure to visit different locations.
Escape
The player always has one crucial objective: to survive and escape the island. If you fail to escape, you will lose everything you gathered during the exploration.
Call for a helicopter using the radio attached to the virus research equipment and make your escape. However, since it takes time for the helicopter to arrive, make sure to act before your survival is threatened.
The island's virus repeatedly appears and disappears, so the environment will reset to its initial state during your next exploration. Additionally, items collected on the island may be contaminated with the virus, so you won't be able to take them back to headquarters. Your equipment will also be reset to its default state.
Virus Inoculation
Once virus research is complete, additional analysis at headquarters may reveal that the virus can be used to enhance physical abilities. Obtain the virus again and use it to enhance the player's physical abilities.
Don't worry — the virus's toxicity will be removed before inoculation.
Pollution
There are pollutants on the deserted island that degrade your health and eventually cause hallucinations if you get too close. Additionally, the virus can cause penalties such as HP and stamina loss, or further pollution of specific areas. It’s important to remove pollutants before starting your exploration.
In Ver0.2, it was impossible to avoid pollution, and HP would steadily decrease, making the removal of pollutants essential. However, in Ver1.0, pollution can now be avoided.
The visual effects of pollution have also been enhanced to create a more unsettling experience.
New Enemy Additions and AI Overhaul
New powerful enemies have been added. As the virus mutates, you will encounter them.
Additionally, all enemy AI has been improved, making their behavior more natural and realistic.
Enemy Mutations Caused by the Virus
The virus can alter enemy stats or grant them special abilities. If you remain on the island for too long without taking precautions, the situation will become hellish, so be careful.
Mutants
Mutants are spawned through viral mutations. They spread pollution around them, so avoid prolonged combat in close proximity. Mutants appear frequently depending on the virus situation, but stopping the mutation and stabilizing the area will prevent their emergence.
Weapon Mods
As you progress in virus analysis and memory unlocks, various weapon mods will be added. Mods are randomly attached to dropped guns, and a single gun can have multiple mods, allowing for diverse combinations.
New Weapons and Balance Adjustments
In Ver0.2, there were discrepancies in weapon performance, but Ver1.0 introduces the concept of weapon weight to adjust balance. Equipping the once-dominant light machine gun now results in a slight decrease in movement speed. While still a powerful weapon, this slight reduction in speed can sometimes be fatal, so use it carefully.
Additionally, you can now holster weapons. If you're in a hurry, holster your weapon or switch to a lighter weapon like a pistol or submachine gun.
New, more powerful weapons have also been added. Particularly, supply boxes unlocked as the story progresses may contain extremely powerful weapons, so be sure to try them out.
Grenades
Grenades have been added. Use them when you need to blow up groups of enemies at once.
(Thanks to UE5, I was amazed at how easy it was to implement the grenade's trajectory.)
Item Boxes
Previously, there were limited opportunities to obtain weapons, making it difficult to try out new ones. However, in Ver1.0, item boxes left by previous team members are scattered throughout the map.
There is also a skill that lets you detect the location of item boxes, so be sure to make use of it.
Bullet Time
The protagonist can now use bullet time. By sharpening your senses and slowing down your perception of time, you can act quickly and precisely. This ability is particularly useful for targeting the newly added flying insect-type enemies, which are difficult to hit.
Crafting
You can now craft various items. By reading books scattered throughout the map, you can learn new crafting skills, so make sure to pick them up during your exploration.
Skills
Various new skills have been added. All of them are highly valuable, so make sure to actively acquire them.
New Achievements
Steam achievements have been added. The achievement icons are hand-drawn by me. Creating the icons took far longer than implementing and debugging the achievements themselves, so please enjoy them knowing that more time was spent on the icons than the actual achievements.
UI Overhaul
Almost all UI elements have been revamped, creating a design that blends naturally with the game screen. Although designing the UI took time, the previously jarring UI from Ver0.2 has been greatly improved.
Additionally, various notifications now appear in the bottom left corner to make situations and controls clearer, and buttons for actions are displayed during tutorials.
New Options Added
New graphics settings have been added, and a benchmark feature has been implemented to automatically adjust settings for optimal performance. While this game doesn't require the latest graphics card, my PC's performance has started to lag behind as technology advances, so this feature became necessary.
In addition to the updates mentioned above, many other small improvements have been made, such as the ability to save during exploration and the addition of player dodging. Be sure to give it a try!
Source
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