Vault Protocol Update: Stability, Audio and Gameplay Improvements

We have released a new update for Vault Protocol. The main goal of this update was to make the co-op experience more stable, clean up issues that disrupted the gameplay flow, and provide players with a clearer, smoother and more consistent experience.

We especially focused on multiplayer synchronization, map transitions, creature behavior, the audio system, chat, pod interactions, UI, lighting and early-game balance.

Highlights

Multiplayer Stability

• Improved issues that could occur when multiple players joined the lobby at the same time.

• Fixed problems caused by multiple players accessing the computer simultaneously.

• Fixed a critical synchronization issue that could cause players to load into different maps.

• Improved cases where waist, neck and character rotations appeared incorrectly for other players.

• Adjusted several multiplayer edge cases related to sitting, standing up, dying and getting stuck inside the pod.

Map Transitions and Audio

• Added new improvements to prevent sounds from the previous scene from being heard during map transitions.

• Players are now briefly deafened during transitions to prevent audio bursts.

• Improved default microphone device detection.

• Added microphone gain threshold settings to the options menu.

• Rebalanced text chat, Fuel Rod / Geiger, horn, pod and various interaction sounds.

Creatures

• Fixed cases where creatures such as Screamer, Observer and Angler Fish did not work correctly in certain situations.

• Fixed mixed-up references in the creature database.

• Improved Operator Maw issues related to eating players, dealing damage, spawning corpses and displaying customization.

• Adjusted Puke Guy’s audio and death behavior.

• Fixed hit detection issues for attached creatures such as Mute Slug and Huggy.

• Fixed dead creatures leaving behind incorrect colliders.

• Improved cases where creatures behaved incorrectly around doors, walls, the pod and bunker areas.

Pod, Items and Selling System

• Fixed items getting stuck inside pod seats and becoming impossible to retrieve.

• Improved cases where corpses were not counted by the pod or could fall out of it.

• Fixed issues caused by excessive interaction with the selling machine lever.

• Fixed several display issues related to the market cart, item indicator and client canvas.

• Improved loot readability with shader adjustments.

Chat System

• Reworked the chat interface.

• Reduced chat size and font size while preserving readability.

• Added a lighter, less intrusive chat appearance when the chat is closed.

• Adjusted player names to appear in more readable colors.

• Added a character limit for chat messages.

• Added visual and audio feedback when the character limit is reached.

• Added a subtle typewriter sound while typing and a notification sound for new messages.

• Fixed cases where some gameplay inputs were triggered while chat was open.

UI and Settings

• Improved cases where buttons in the Esc panel were difficult to click.

• Fixed the “Reset to Defaults” option setting the resolution incorrectly.

• Added an FPS limit option.

• Pings now show the name of the player who placed them.

• Added a system that displays short visual feedback above the hotbar when receiving an upgrade.

• Fixed missing and overflowing text issues in English and Turkish localization.

Lighting Improvements

• Improved lighting in several map areas.

• Adjusted light balance to make dark areas more readable.

• Strengthened the atmosphere while helping players understand their surroundings more clearly.

• Improved scene clarity without losing the horror mood.

Anomalies and Map Selection

• Fixed “The Sus” anomaly incorrectly stacking buffs after deaths.

• Fixed missing Turkish characters in the “Giant / Tiny” anomaly text.

• Adjusted map selection to reduce the same theme appearing too frequently in a row.

• Worked on a dynamic weighting system to reduce the chance of the same anomaly appearing repeatedly.

Gameplay Balance

• Reviewed player data and found that many players were struggling on Day 3 or earlier.

• Made the early-game experience more forgiving.

• Reviewed creature pressure, environmental threats and quota pacing.

• Adjusted the overall flow to provide a more balanced early-game difficulty curve.

Additional Content and Details

• Prepared groundwork for push-to-talk.

• Improved Emote Wheel sizing and interaction behavior.

• Adjusted Spray VFX brightness.

• Fixed sprays not disappearing correctly after being depleted.

• Continued work on the Tutorial and Achievement systems.

Thanks to your feedback, we will keep making Vault Protocol more stable, more readable and more fun.

Thank you, IGNUS NEX ENTERTAINMENT Steam post image