Dev Log #3 – Demo is Live!

Dev Log #3 – Demo is Live!

The big news: The Demo is now public and free to download! If you’ve been following development, now’s your chance to jump in, explore the facility, and share your feedback. Every bit of playtesting helps tighten up the game’s pacing, polish the atmosphere, and find the last bugs and glitches (the unintended ones!).

This update wasn’t just about pressing “publish” – it came with a big pass on clarity, polish, and atmosphere. From subtle changes like darker corridors and background creaks, to bigger improvements like new PA announcements that better guide the player, the game should now feel more directed, unsettling, and immersive.

We’ve also tackled plenty of bugs, tuned the flow of the first tutorial segment, and introduced quality-of-life improvements like a field of view slider, better flashlight reach, and gamepad fixes.

There are also new environmental details

fallen walls in the desert, 'fun' posters in the office floors, visual storytelling of abandoned facility, and ambient sound design to keep you on your toes!

Note

All doors can now be jiggled, as highly requested by beta testers!

The demo is meant to feel liminal, unstable, and fragmenting – so you’ll also notice narrative world design shifting run-to-run. The further you get, the stranger it becomes.

Patch Notes

UI

• Added mouse sensitivity slider.

• Added FOV slider (110 default; was 90).

• Discoveries now shown in UI (*, lore opens from discoveries list, incl. gamepad).

• Escape button now clickable on lore pages.

• Fixed FTUE option offset.

• Containment desk screen reflections reduced (UI clearer).

• Updated ending PC UI to better show anomaly breaches x/y.

• Added codex to PC UI and Esc Menu for lore.

• Fixed spiral mouse input → replaced with delta-based handling.

UX

• Tutorial room hand-picked for better onboarding.

• Improved PA clarity for containment/isolation.

• Re-suggests anomaly closing every 3–4 minutes via PA.

• Added subtitles to PA announcements.

• PA events now duck music.

• PA events pause during reading or “welcome back” room.

• Improved flashlight range.

• Added fisheye strength options (disabled by default).

• Improved music transitions (longer fades, fixed double cues).

• Added achievements (complete set).

• Escape resets game state properly.

Levels & Atmosphere

• Added darker corridors & creepy areas (return of older screenshots).

• Fallen walls added in desert fragmenting level.

• Paper debris added to desert levels.

• Desert tech jargon simplified.

• Fixed desert floor z-fighting & floating lights.

• Clipping fixes (ceiling, cabinets, doors, floors).

• Added ambient sound design: footsteps, coughs, muffled voices, traffic, etc.

• Improved décor in welcome back room, banners clearer.

• Extra posters in office (dev jokes).

• AdjustedFishing anomalyadded creaks, fixed floating fish, adjusted hut lore.

• Pools lore expanded with stronger hints.

• Anomaly containment rooms now load properly.

• Adjusted alarm/blackout lighting loops.

• Fragment desert icon redesigned (no longer resembles swastika).

• Water rendering issues fixed (including missing water after build).

Gameplay

• Fixed inability to select anomalies on gamepad.

• Fixed main menu “begin” not focused on gamepad.

• Fire escape counter corrected.

• Red keycard made clearer + texture added.

• Fixed red keycard elevator interact prompt.

• Containment job clarified with PA/text.

• Doors jiggle when interacted.

• Interact no longer works behind player.

• Chair interact fixed in first room (PC instead).

• Break room no longer spawns as corridor.

• Containment UI slowed for clarity.

• Entity alarms only trigger in entity rooms.

• Deny PA dark event if another PA is already playing.

• Improved anomalies uncontained VO logic.

• Effigy lore no longer clips into table.

• Improved fire alarm logic and lighting.

• Fixed “fall through world” bug.

• Fixed stair escape off-screen issue.

• Adjusted anomaly end room camera back to 90°.

• Improved FPS in water room (planar reflection tweak).

• Added “no-clip escape” fallback.

• Added discoveries (*) to clarify what’s found.

Misc.

• Added Build ID to track demo version.

• Added music chance to not play (liminal silence).

• Grain reduced (was too strong).

• Added sound gag: vending machine fines one productivity credit.

• Fixed SM_Exit open back polys.

• Fixed incorrect red panels during alarms.

• Fixed character reflections (hidden/improved).

• Adjusted fire door locked sound.

• Fixed lobby Steam Deck lighting issue.

• Finished anomaly observation shutters on alarms.

• Fixed overlapping entity VO.

• Adjusted containment “bleep” pitch.