Greetings, operators. This next update is taking longer than expected, so I thought it'd be good to let you all know what's going on behind the scenes. Or rather, BEYOND THE SCENES. (That's a joke about Unity's scene graph system.)

So! The scenario editor's been missing from the game for a while now. You can still use it on the old-version beta branch, but it's clunky and missing features, and the workshop is disabled. Is it ever coming back? What's going on?

Since the world's gaming press has VERY rudely not yet approached me for an interview about my insane steel battalion revival project, I'm going to write this as if I was being asked questions by an openly hostile interviewer, similar to that one nightmare I keep having.

(If you're a games writer and would like to talk please get in touch on bluesky.)

It sure is! I'm actually surprised the game hasn't received more pushback on this. I guess expectations are low for Early Access games, and even lower for VR games. The lack of pushback has actually given me the mental space and time I needed to take a risk on this quite stupid task: building an entirely new campaign inside OVRLRD's own scenario editor.

Well, it's not really starting over. I was in the middle of migrating the campaign to the new terrain and graphics system, and designing entirely new maps in Unity's scene system was taking forever. It was also bothering me that all this effort was going into new one-off environments that would only be used for one mission, instead of into iterating the megamap, Zaliznyy, which players will be spending much more time on.

I thought it'd be better if the whole campaign took place on Zaliznyy, in the style of classic milsims, in a story that takes you from one end of the island to another, describing an evolving conflict in a setting you gradually get to know better and better. This was the original wish for the project back when I started, but I didn't know that it would eventually be possible.

I realised then that if there was just the one map, the missions would need far less data associated with them. Then I remembered that the scenario editor still needed rebuilding to work with the graphics and terrain update.

So the choice became: do I keep building the campaign like this, slowly and painfully, and then build the scenario editor as a separate system which works a different way? Or: do I build the best scenario editor I can, then start migrating the campaign into that, iterating and improving the editor as I go?

To an engineer that's an easy question. To get the best tool possible, you have to use it yourself and refine it as you go (grossly, this is called 'dogfooding'). That's how all my favourite game developers do it, so I figured it made sense for me, too. That way, once I'm done, the players get access to the same tools I had, and can make campaigns just as complex and interesting as the one I ship myself. (Probably more so.)

I understand being skeptical of this sort of thing - I've been disappointed by many projects for which the killing blow was somebody announcing "we're starting from scratch and it'll be better!" That announcement is usually the time to pack your bags and get outta there.

This actually would have been the case if I was wrong. Fortunately I kept my stupid mouth shut until I was sure, and now the editor is basically done. I've already designed some missions using it and if I was to estimate, the process is about 10-20 times faster.

No, really. This is largely because the old way was SO SLOW. Here's me putting together a simple mission with logic flows, NPC routines and scripted events in under three minutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0ef_0OtGs8&Under the old system even a simple mission like this would take 30-60 minutes.

I've also unfortunately got better at design in the last few years, which means the old campaign missions seem kind of bad in comparison, so this way of working will result in a better final product.

Not that you would know because, statistically, you never used it. The old editor was very unpopular even when it worked. Here's the breakdown of why I switched:

• The old maps were tiny and it was no big deal to hold them in memory in 3D. Megamaps are enormous (15x15km) and vastly more detailed, which reduces the amount of overhead you can afford for editor systems.

• When I were a nipper, I loved playing with the Operation Flashpoint mission editor. The flattening of the map into a 2D plane and abstraction of the units and logic into simple icons made it accessible. Approaching it as a 2D map just makes it vastly easier to comprehend spaces and design experiences within them.

• Reducing the cognitive load and the time it takes to get started makes it less mentally daunting to design scenarios, and will hopefully result in more people making and sharing them.

• It just kinda looks cool and I don't have a boss telling me to do it another way.

Actually that's not all! That would be boring as hell.

The scenario editor supports everything you need (and everything I need) to build narrative-driven operations like you'd play in classic milsims or mech games. You don't need to know any scripting languages or muck about with complicated graphs.

You can:

• Create objectives from a list of types, and have them activate at the start of a mission or when something specific happens.

• Place trigger areas that respond to units or the player entering them, or which detect special events like "a specific hostile was detected by the player", or "someone fired a weapon for the first time".

• Define scripted events which listen out for triggers and then set off 'effectors', which can activate new NPCs, pop up messages in the HUD, or give orders to friendly or hostile NPCs.

• Most crucially, you can easily and quickly record voiced dialogue inside the editor itself, assign it to ingame units and structure it as conversations between NPCs, with subtitles!

It took a long time to really make these systems work together, but the results are super fun. For example, you can have an objective that triggers different events on success or failure, which can then trigger different conversations based on whether you let that convoy get stomped or not.

As I continue iterating on the campaign, if I need to add a new objective type or a new trigger input, I can just write the code and add it to the list, so players will be able to use that same stuff in their own scenarios.

WRONG AGAIN. I'll be releasing it on a beta branch for testing as soon as I can. Interested users can check in on the discord for access, and together we'll refine the editor as much as possible before it drops publicly.

I really want OVRLRD to be a fun, expansive single-player experience for a long time. I don't like battle passes and live-service games, really, and I miss spending weekends downloading weird maps for my single-player games and playing them over and over.

If you have a strong map-making community and good tools to support them, you don't need to run an endless live-service nightmare to keep people playing your game. If people want to play more of it than exists, they can make more of it, and I just think that's nice.

Yes. It will keep happening until I am stopped by force.

Immediately once this is out. I'm tired and I miss adding explosions and lasers and stuff.

I don't know, but it's definitely a matter of weeks rather than months. Keep an eye on the Discord if you want more granular updates.

That's about all there is to discuss right now. Once I'm done with the mission editor I think it's time for the big AI and combat update we've been waiting for - I've been working on that quietly in the background, and I hope to include more weaponry, more ways of fighting, and more interesting squad-level NPC behaviours. More to come on that soon!

Right, I need to get back to work. Don't forget to head over to the discord to discuss the game or get any specific questions answered.

As always, thank you for your patience and support of what has turned out to be a real megaproject. Keep stompin'.

-nige

• Allow bow skills to target destructible entities such as barrels and crates.

You can now resize the UI up to 2x, and Arabic has been added.

Thanks to lanyu for the idea!

Every Friday a new song will be added for free to the base game!

Today, 8/15, the following song has been added to Free Play Mode:

• Tomorrow Night / REDALiCE （Crossover from CHRONO CIRCLE）

• UnClear / ron

"Soul Dossier" August 15th Update Announcement

Dear Agent,

The "Soul Dossier" server will undergo maintenance on August 15th at 10:30 (UTC+8). The maintenance is expected to last for 180 minutes. During this period, all agents will be unable to log in to the game. Please arrange your time accordingly to avoid any unnecessary losses. The server's reopening time may be earlier or later depending on the actual situation. We appreciate your understanding and support.

▶ Maintenance Compensation ◀

10,000 Spirit Coins, 500 Ancient Coins, 1 Good Luck Treasure Chest, 1 Forget Worry Wine, 3 Double Spirit Coin Cards

Please claim them via in-game mail, and remember to check within the claimed period~

【Balance Adjustment】

<Human>

• Xiang Nuannuan

- Slightly increased maximum stamina.

<Ghost>

• Bai Qiulian \[Revised]

- Some of Bai Qiulian's skills can generate pools of water on the ground (the duration and effect are the same as the 3rd skill, and both the effect and duration increase with the level of the 3rd skill).

- The water balls of Bai Qiulian can continuously generate a pool of water on the ground along their flight path.

- When Bai Qiulian releases her 1st skill, a pool of water can be generated at the position of the water bubble.

- When Bai Qiulian releases her 2nd skill, pools of water are generated along the path of the water bubble's movement.

- When Bai Qiulian releases her area-of-effect skill, if there are pools of water within the initial range of the area, all the pools within the range will be consumed, and each consumed pool can increase the size of the area.

- The duration of the pools generated by Bai Qiulian's 3rd skill has been reduced.

- The slow effect of the pools generated by Bai Qiulian's 3rd skill has been reduced.

- The maximum distance that Bai Qiulian's water balls can travel after being launched has been reduced.

Star Diamond Mall: Star Trail - Taurus

Star Trail - Taurus is available for a limited time!

1. The Star Diamond Treasure Box now features the Star Trail series Star Diamond Red Fashion!

2. Collect all to exchange for the exclusive item of Youyue - Star Trail - Taurus.

3. Wearing the full set will activate a brand-new skill effect and exclusive idle action.

"Lucky Gift"

The Lucky Treasure Box has been upgraded with a huge selection of over a thousand outfits for you to draw!

The new swimsuit series outfit "Xiang Nannan - Cherry Red Sea" is now available in Lucky Gift!

"Star Diamond Ranking / Good Luck Ranking"

Event Time: After version update - 23:59:59 on August 28th

The highest rank in the Star Diamond Ranking can win a Star Diamond Luminous Treasure Box! The highest rank in the Good Luck Ranking can win a Theme Rare Treasure Box!

1. Participate in the corresponding ranking by drawing the corresponding treasure box.

2. The more times you draw, the higher your ranking and the richer the rewards.

3. Draw treasure boxes to climb the ranking and win a high-quality fashion treasure box for sure!

"New Arrivals at the Trading Hall"

"Uqizhi - Fengli Zhuguang · Xiying & Lixiaotu - Fengli Zhuguang · Quanxiang" Series

"Direct Sale Page Reappearance: Beans Look Forward"

Who says these beans are old?

Event Time: 2025/8/15 - 2025/8/29

Available for direct purchase on the page, limited-time special offer of 28,800 spirit stones.

Direct Sale Page Returns: Happy Lantern Festival

The Year of the Snake Welcomes Spring, Celebrate the Lantern Festival

Event Time: 2025/8/15 - 2025/8/29

Available for direct purchase on the page, limited-time special offer of 5,800 spirit stones.

"Summer's End Gathering of Gifts"

Event Time: After the version update - 23:59:59 on August 28, 2025

Exclusive for the end of summer!!! The colorful wish pool is now open! Start with 300 spirit stones to customize your exclusive prize pool. No repeated draws, guaranteed surprises. Collect all the rare theme skin exchange coupons. Limited time until August 28. Don't miss out on these amazing rewards!

"End of Summer Accumulated Consumption Event"

"End of Summer Accumulated Spending, Surprises Keep Coming."

Event Time: After the version update - 23:59:59 on September 5, 2025

1. During the event period, accumulate the specified amount of spirit stones in consumption to unlock the corresponding tier rewards.

2. The more you spend, the more you enjoy. Rewards can be stacked and claimed, with the highest value return exceeding 100%.

"Summer 8-draw Treasure Box"

Super value limited-time discount! Up to 8 draws with no duplicates!

During the event period, consume spirit stones to participate in the event. The spirit stone consumption amounts are as follows: 1000, 2000, 3000, 6000, 8000, 12000, 16000, 18000.

All items will not be duplicated, and once drawn, they will not be returned. The amount of spirit stones required for each subsequent draw will increase, but the probability of obtaining rare items will also be higher!! (For probability details, please refer to the event page)

You can participate in the draw event up to 8 times to obtain skin rewards such as "Wei Qingyu - Red Bean Song · Cinnabar" and "Nie Xiaoqian - Bamboo Night Wind Sound". Good luck!!!!

1. Fixed the issue where Human Jiang Muwan's primary star skill could not pass the paper in most walls on the pyramid map.

2. Fixed the problem where Human Wu QiZhi's primary star skill would immediately enter cooldown when interrupted by switching items or jumping over obstacles before entering stealth mode during the pre-cast animation.

3. Fixed the issue where Human Su Qingli's primary star skill would immediately enter cooldown when interrupted during the animation.

4. Fixed the problem where Human Ao Feng and Human Na Lan Lian Wu would consume all 4 layers of the trap from Simulated Ghost Nine-Tailed Fox's 2nd skill at once when the primary star skill was reflected.

5. Fixed the issue where Human Luo Li could gain energy by pressing G to discard the pigeon and left-click to release it simultaneously.

6. Fixed the problem where Humans would be unable to interact for the entire game if knocked down by a Ghost during the period of opening the third eye.

7. Fixed the issue where Simulated Ghost Ba Chi Da Ren would keep accelerating until the next trigger of the chase when the Human wearing the hat left his vision while in stealth mode.

8. Fixed the problem where Human would have a hit animation when the damage from Simulated Ghost Huang Xian's 2nd skill was reflected by the substitute life red envelope.

9. Fixed the issue where Simulated Ghost Xiao Li's full-level domain skill placed within the array eye range would not slow down the Human.

10. Fixed the problem where the stun from the exclusive trick "Fierce Spirit Doll" of Simulated Ghost Yao Ou was lost when the 2nd skill was triggered.

11. Fixed the issue where Human could not pass through obstacles (Little Red Channel) during the remaining time of Simulated Ghost Xiao Pi's 2nd skill when using the 3rd skill.

Feedback Form for Lingjing: https://wj.qq.com/s2/21398468/d92b/ (We will distribute ancient coins as rewards based on high-quality feedback.)

Q11 Exchange Group: 854043103

Q12 Exchange Group: 904065208

Spiritual Realm Video Creation Group: 937928948

Spiritual Realm Live Streaming Group: 902157316

Step to it, Stoneheads! The Fangs in the Dark event is live from now until August 24. Complete runs in the Caves of Fear for 2x Loot Drops!

Collaborate with others on the community Discord server to efficiently tackle these goals and earn your loot!

Hey Survivors!

Today we have V2.3 experimental for you all.

We have a lot of changes that were talked about in the Town Hall Stream with more to come at a later date.

Disclaimer:
While we worked hard to make sure save games continue without issue, please make a back up of your current save before starting the game in V2.3
We've also added a runtime function that will automatically convert the old badges to the new survival gear.
Some challenges will remain completed, while others will be optional for those that choose to complete them.
If the badges were previously unlocked, the recipes for the new survival gear should also be unlocked.

Highlights:

• Biomes and their Challenges can be explored and completed in any order to unlock Survival Gear recipes

• Recover from biome hazard effects while sheltered allowing players to explore deeper into each biome

• Recover from biome hazard effects in any other biome

• Smoothies were updated with unique names and icons

• Biome Badges have been changed to Survival Gear with updated icons to look more thematic to the game's style

• Survival Gear will be dropped on death with those settings enabled

• Players are allowed to craft additional gear items in the case of death or even for other players

• Even without Survival Gear, storms no longer require players to escape the biome they are in while taking shelter

• Plague Spitters no longer cloak

• Lower chance of infection from Plague Spitter Insect Swarm

• Tree stump bees have been changed to a non-infecting version

• Tree stump harvest event has been updated to guarantee honey "IF" bees are spawned

• Several zombie types will now target animal or player corpses that were previously ignored

• Added a 2nd column of icons to use for custom map waypoints

• Several tweaks to zombie AI

• Dew Collectors have a lower activity heat value

Here is how you participate:

1. Right click on the game in steam

2. Click on properties

3. Click the “betas” tab

4. The drop down menu will have latest_experimental available <— you want THAT

5. Select that and wait for the game to download

Have fun!


Here's what changed since V2.2 stable:

Added

• Bee Swarm entity variant for tree stump game event

• Bee Swarm hand item with non critical debuffs

• Updated icons for Biome Survival Gear

• WornItemMods min effect requirement

• HonkEvent for vehicles to allow game events to fire based on honking the horn.

• AI wander and look are more active while alert

• AI randomly turns during look while alert

• Second column of icons to use for custom map waypoints

Changed

• Removed erroneous second set of tags from ammoCrossbowBoltExploding

• Disabled biome Wear, Loot, and Time challenges

• Biome Badges are now separate weather items per biome.

• Removed RepairItemsMeshDamage property from jail doors since they don't have a door frame stage

• Taking shelter without survival gear will recover biome hazard effects

• All biome hazards now have 3 minutes of survival time without gear

• Survival gear is now dropped on death with drop on death settings

• Updated icons for biome hazard reducers

• Removed food and water stats from Black Lung Serum and Fallout Flush

• Increased food, water, and health stat on Scorcher Stew to be inline with other stew stats

• Increased water stat on Sunstroke Tonic

• Updated the recipe for Scorcher Stew

• Tree stumps now roll once for honey, then again for bees. Bees always come with honey, but not all honey comes with bees.

• Reworked buff weights for a lower chance of infection from Plague Spitter Insect Swarm

• Reduced dew collector activity value

• Replaced plague spitter fade with a low rate of wandering

• Storm messages will no longer say to leave biome

• Biome Hazards recover in any other biome

• Improved AI wander position variety

• Increased AI alert time after investigation point reached

• Increased rate AI interest distance returns to the default value

• Updated shotgun shell icon to match other shotgun ammo icons

Fixed

• AI ranged projectile attacks would start when the target was dead

• Frostclaw, plague spitter, spider, cop, mutated and demolition zombies would not eat animal corpses

• Water is not visible through glass

• Distant water seam if near water is to the side

• Underwater distortion could be clipped at certain angles

• Trader Bob VO Trade 17 line cuts off

• Air drop marker still shows when setting has it off

• NRE when spawning insects after destroying tree stump using vehicle

• Icon background textures not cleared when switching between containers - second issue

• AI wander random range was 1m too short and only used 1m increments

• Biome spawned AI move speed increase from storms did not happen at night