Hello,

Thank you so much for all your feedback since the release yesterday. We are really hard at work addressing some recurring and urgent technical issues.

Today we invite you to try out the beta version of our next hotfix, including keybind and some potential performance fixes.

• Fixed an issue with Inventory keybind input
  
• Potential stuttering fix
  
• FLR Crash fix : file checker tool

For now, we advise you to try the following settings when you play The Surge 2:

• V-Sync = off
  
• FPS limit = 90
  
• Anti-Aliasing = TAA or off

We hope this could fix your performance issues. Please give us your feedback on this.

Please keep us updated in the replies on the current performance state for you with this beta branch.

Use the Windows file checker to repair corrupted files: file checker tool

• Go to your Steam Library.
  
• Right click on The Surge 2 then choose “Properties”.
  
• Go into the “Beta” tab and select “liveops_beta” in the drop down menu.
  
• Download the new version and launch the game.

Before launching the beta branch, please make sure to back up your saves: D:\Steam\userdata\XXX\644830\remote

If you still have performance issues, please send an email to support@focus-home.com with a brief introduction of the issue, alongside your DxDiag and log file. This will help us identify the issue and find a fix.

• Go to C:\Users\XXX\Documents\The Surge 2\logs and zip the folder
  
• Send the files and the link to your Steam thread to support@focus-home.com

If you are still encountering the error message “0XC0000005”, please update your GPU drivers.

AMD owners: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

• Please install the Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.9.2 or higher

NVIDIA owners: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

• Please install the 436.30 Game Ready Drivers or higher

If you encounter other technical issues, we advise you to read our technical FAQ. If the issue you’re experiencing still persists, please make a thread in technical support with as much detail as possible.

Thanks!

The Surge 2 Team

Hi everyone,

The Surge 2 has released this morning and we've spent the day reading reviews, watching streams and videos, and compiling your feedback on forums and social networks.

Thank you so much for playing the game and posting your feedback! As this sequel is strongly influenced by community reports from The Surge 1, we're delighted to hear that many of you are loving The Surge 2!



We're aware that some of you encounter technical issues and a first patch is on its way to fix the most urgent problems. Please find below a quick overview of the fixes we're working on right now.

• Stutters and performance issues

While we we work on improving the performances, we advise you to activate adaptative v-sync and nvidia triple buffering. It should improve your framerate.

• Investigate and fix various crashes at launch

Namely the crashes at launch with the messages "FLR" and "VK_ERROR_DEVICE_LOST".

We're going through logs from players as we speak to investigate the issue. If you encounter these specific errors, please do as follow:

• Please download the settings.ini here
  
• Put it here C:\Users\XXX\Documents\The Surge 2
  
• Launch the game
  
• Should crash
  
• Go here: C:\Users\XXX\Documents\The Surge 2\logs
  
• Send the files to support@focus-home.com. It will be help us a lot!

The crash at launch "0XC0000005" is caused by the lack of drivers update. If you get this error, please update your GPU drivers.

We also strongly advise to check our technical FAQ if you're having any issue.

We hope to be able to share a first update in a Beta branch really soon to get your feedback about it.

Thanks for reading and talk to you soon,
The Surge 2 Team

Hi everyone,

The Surge 2 is now available!

We'd like to extend a huge thank you to all of you playing the game already and slicing their way through Jericho City. We're now reading feedback carefully and working on updates based on your reports.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xezCII893aY
We’re sorry to read that some of you are experiencing technical issues and crashes. We're already working hard on fixes and improvements. In the meantime, we've compiled a list of useful technical fixes and workarounds that you can find HERE.

Please let us know if you have any feedback about the game, wether technical or gameplay suggestion. This sequel is largely based on your feedback from the first game and we can't wait to read your thoughts about The Surge 2.

Best,
The Surge 2 Team

The Surge 2 comes out in just four days! Play the hardcore Action-RPG featuring brutal exo-skeleton combat on a dying earth on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on September 24th!

This is the final blog in our series. We hope you have enjoyed the insights and stories on The Surge 2, including this final one. Check out other DevBlogs here:

1. Level Design
2. Sound Design
3. Combat System (Pt. 1)
4. Combat System (Pt. 2)
5. In-House Engine
6. Animation - You are here.

Please welcome Alex Sennert, Animator on The Surge 2, to talk about - that’s right - the animation of The Surge 2!

Hello! Could you please introduce yourself and your job on The Surge 2?

Hey there, my name is Alex Sennert and I’m one of three animators here at Deck13.
My job reaches from designing animations for specific characters like the hero, bosses, enemies and environments, to building rigs and realizing the designs with motion capture data and keyframe animation.

Did you look at any particular movies or games to inspire the animations in The Surge 2?

I really like coming up with my own ideas for attacks and finishers. It is a very fun phase when we animators stick our heads together and are designing moves that we think are awesome.

I also love to get inspired by pop culture like video games and movies. Edge of Tomorrow and 300 went big on giving me lots of new ideas.

The finishers in The Surge 2 are real… juicy. What is the biggest challenge in creating these animations and how traumatized are you after animating countless dismembered limbs?

The biggest challenge is integrating animations into combat, so if you trigger the finisher mid-combo, it needs to flow into the sequence which is really tricky to achieve. The staging also has to be cinematically interesting without disorienting the player.

How traumatized...? Hmm... dude to be honest I can't get enough of creating finishers, I think you need to enjoy creating certain scenes or else the animation will not end in a nice result, dunno what that tells you about me. ;)

How much of the animation is done with motion capture? Are certain types of animations better suited toward it?

Mocap is a great way to create a lot of data that functions as a base to work with. But the vision of the result has to be very clear. We used it almost exclusively for humanoid characters, basically you get a very realistic moving base to work with. On top of the mocap animations, there are further steps, such as pushing poses, combining mocap-tracks, animating fingers and faces and then editing the whole movement.

For some animation styles, like heavy stylized ones, mocap data can even slow down your progress because of the micro movements you need to get rid of. Because of that, robotic and non humanoid characters are completely keyframe work here at Deck13.



Games in this genre are known for requiring a lot of precision in combat. What was the biggest challenge in accomplishing this?

In case of an enemy it would be making the attack readable without making it too easy. Making clear that an attack starts and indicating the direction it’s coming from sounds simple, but if you take into consideration the camera perspective let alone the sheer amount of animations with the different weapon styles, that all have to be distinct from each other, the task becomes a real challenge.

The Surge 2 will include some very strange and dangerous creatures. How do you approach animating something so alien?

We first defined the "nano" movement theme, a lot of which was already defined in The Surge 1, but we pushed the design even further for The Surge 2. Some monsters are based on insects, to include a kind of twitching movement and push that creepiness that comes with them.

In combat they are also sneaky and deceptive. For example, some creatures have misleading windups in their attacks, so the player needs to be very careful not to be tricked when fighting them.

Is there an NPC or creature whose animations you are most fond of?

I really like the deceptive nano mantis because its character really shows in the animation. Also the first enemies the player encounters are very well designed, due to the slow and obvious windups that help the player learn to dodge and block without feeling overwhelmed. For me, that was a very important aspect.

Were there any motion capture accidents? Any accidental dismemberments?

Some torn off arms, some poked out eyes, a broken spine here and there, but nothing too severe... ;)

Thank you for reading our DevBlog Series on The Surge 2! You can also check out the Behind The Scenes series "Deck13 Inside" on Youtube. The Surge 2 slices its way onto PS4, Xbox One, and PC on September 24th. Pre-Order now and get bonuses: http://thesurge-game.com/shop

Hi everyone,

The Surge 2’s blend of limb-chopping combat and post-apocalyptic exploration releases September 24 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

We are delighted to deliver a sequel enjoyable by all - either for its standalone story and gameplay, or how it builds and improves upon The Surge in every way based on player feedback from the first game. Check out today’s launch trailer for just a taste of the fast-paced action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xezCII893aY
The Surge 2 presents a harsh, sci-fi, dystopian world to explore and survive. Create your own character and decide how to approach the hardcore melee combat, putting your reactions and RPG character-building skills to the test.

Deep character progression and customization lets you decide how to equip yourself and handle enemies - with many additions over the original game, including challenging but rewarding directional parries and companion drones with dozens of uses. Limb-targeting and executions return new and improved, so get ready to target, loot, and equip everything you see on your enemies.



Pre-orders are now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and come with the URBN Gear Pack, which includes a new armor set, two new weapons, and other cosmetics and equipment. The Surge 2 releases September 24. http://thesurge-game.com/shop

Hello everyone,

The Surge 2 releases next week! Prepare yourself to dismantle and take apart your foes on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC when we release on September 24.

The Surge 2 utilizes its signature limb-targeting system, allowing you to rip and tear equipment from your foes using brutal executions. Witness the weapons, enemies, and executions backed by Sharon Van Etten’s cover of ‘The End of the World’ in our Symphony of Violence Trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Iw7IfleMEg
The Surge 2 brings back The Surge’s acclaimed combat system, allowing you to target and weaken enemy armor points so you can take the equipment for yourself, or aim for a weak spot and finish the fights quickly. Each fight becomes a desperate risk-versus-reward decision, and you must utilize all the tools in your arsenal to survive, including a customizable combat drone, game-changing implants, a new directional parrying system and many more…



Discover the mysteries of Jericho City and the sources of the nanomachine plague alongside Athena, a young girl linked to your past, and escape the gripping chaos of Jericho City.

Pre-orders are now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and come with the URBN Gear Pack, which includes a new armor set, two new weapons, and other cosmetics and equipment. The Surge 2 releases September 24. http://thesurge-game.com/shop

Greetings,

On September 24 life on earth as we know it is coming to an end. The Surge 2 begins after the DeFrag nanovirus strikes following the launch of a Utopia rocket.

In Jericho City, one lone warrior - you - must fight through hell, high water, and amnesia to discover the truth about the virus, the city, and much more. Experience the start of this story in the new trailer, released today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEOGibCjGQ4
Here, we meet our hero, and many of the inhabitants of Jericho City. Nano-cultists run rampant through the streets, harvesting everything they can from the environment for their mysterious ends. The government forces of A.I.D attempt to maintain a stranglehold on the city with violent means. All the while, Athena, a girl with whom you have a special connection, leads you through the streets to a destination unknown.



This mystery accompanies gameplay that refines and enhances the Surge formula, bringing new weapons, new gadgets, enhanced ranged combat, additional implants, and much more. Dismemberment and limb-targeting still form the backbone of how you fight, loot, and choose your loadout, but with more options than ever before.

Pre-orders are now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and come with the URBN Gear Pack, which includes a new armor set, two new weapons, and other cosmetics and equipment. The Surge 2 releases September 24.
http://thesurge-game.com/shop

https://store.steampowered.com/app/644830/The_Surge_2/

The Surge 2, our hardcore Action-RPG featuring brutal exo-skeleton combat on a dying earth, comes to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on September 24th!

As we draw close to the release, we’re sharing a series of devblogs that we hope will give you some insight into the creative process of The Surge 2.

Check out other DevBlogs here:

1. Level Design
2. Sound Design
3. Combat System (Pt. 1)
4. Combat System (Pt. 2)
5. In-House Engine - You are here.
6. Animation

Today, we’re happy to talk to Thorsten, head of the Tech Department on The Surge 2, talking about the in-house engine of the game!

Hello! Could you please introduce yourself and your role on The Surge 2?

Hi, I am Thorsten. I have been with Deck13 for more than 15 years and I am heading the tech department. This entails planning and overseeing the general development of our in-house technology, while still trying to contribute as much as possible myself along the way. In addition to that, I am also very much into core gameplay and the associated systems.



Engines often have interesting names, and yours is no exception. What’s the story behind the FLEDGE engine name? Did you (excuse the pun) land on FLEDGE immediately or were there other iterations?


Strangely enough, FLEDGE is actually not an acronym, probably because we didn’t come up with anything clever. We started creating FLEDGE back in 2009 after finishing Venetica, our first multiplatform title. I thought, with all the experience gathered over the years, we should finally be able to build up a multiplatform engine from scratch ourselves. A toolset that can come of age, can stand on its own out there and can be developed into a fully fledged toolset for creating our games.

As game engines are never "done", the name also seemed fitting since the whole thing just never stops to... you know... fledge. Something along these lines. Thinking about it, I guess BLOOM would have been a nice name as well - will keep that in mind... Our previous set of tools was called PINA - this one actually was an acronym:

rogrammable nterface for [N] [A]dventure games. It relied more heavily on 3rd party libraries with the biggest one being OGRE3D used for rendering (the part that is actually responsible for producing the image on the screen), so I would not have called PINA "our own in-house engine". It felt more like creating some high level systems and tools on top of a lot of low level 3rd party libraries.

What made Deck 13 decide to build its own proprietary game engine?

Venetica back in 2009 was our last game based on the PINA toolset and the first one to release on consoles with PS3 and Xbox360 at the time. The console versions were outsourced to an external partner, but the result showed that most of the components were not lending themselves well to achieving good performance and efficiency on consoles.

As a result, we decided to start over, a) to be in full control of all platforms we want to support, and b) to apply all the things we learned from the development of Venetica and the games prior to that. I always wanted us to create our own tech, and my fellow techies on the team shared this desire.

What were your main goals when upgrading the FLEDGE engine from The Surge to The Surge 2?

Supporting the bigger, more varied game world and addressing issues we faced during the production of The Surge 1. Rewriting the renderer was key to that. Prior to the rewrite, we had a DX11 renderer on PC that was conceptually still largely based on the DX9 renderer that we started with in 2009.

It served us very well over the years, but with low level graphics APIs now available everywhere (with Vulkan being our interface of choice on PC), and many of the underlying concepts not 100% fitting to modern hardware, we decided to ditch that component and go for a full rewrite.

We did not want to piggyback a Vulkan implementation on top of the existing rendering solution since this would have prevented us from taking full advantage of the API and the low level access to the hardware that comes with it. Additionally, starting over allowed us to bring all supported platforms much closer together and to get rid of quite a lot of platform specific rendering code that we have written for The Surge 1.

What are the benefits to using your own engine and how can we see this come through in The Surge 2?

Being in full control and being flexible. Since we support a 60fps mode on PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, you can imagine that there is quite some optimization that we have to apply, especially on the CPU side of things. These can sometimes be very title and content specific.
And I am pretty sure that we would not be able to dig that deep and make changes on such a low level if we used a 3rd party engine given the resources we have. I also tend to live under the illusion that The Surge 2 feels unique compared to a lot of other games out there, just because it's using different technology. Unique in a good way, I hope.



What’s your favorite thing about using the FLEDGE engine?

I still remember very well the first lines of code I wrote back in 2008, just playing around with ideas regarding some low level systems, trying out different approaches to some common problems. The fact that we were able to grow these humble beginnings to what we have today, grow the tech team alongside it with awesome people that I enjoy working with, shipping quite a few games along the way: These are the things I am proud of and probably my favorite things about the engine on a more abstract level. When it comes to actual technical features, I really like how the new rendering subsystem turned out and how it made this part of the engine ready for the next generation of hardware that is on the horizon, even if it was a heavy lift for The Surge 2.

Have you ever gotten any crazy requests from your game designers or otherwise about what to add or do with the engine?

Yes. I remember that once we were asked to have a "proper" tornado simulation in one of our games - for some environmental atmospheric visual effect. But in general, it just happens from time to time that requests are made that sound strange and have to be discussed further to find out what the actual problem is people trying to solve, and what the best solution to that problem would be.

Stay tuned for more insight into the development of The Surge 2 in our next articles! You can also check out the Behind The Scenes series "Deck13 Inside" on Youtube. The Surge 2 slices its way onto PS4, Xbox One, and PC on September 24th. Pre-Order now and get bonuses: http://thesurge-game.com/shop

The Surge 2, our hardcore Action-RPG featuring brutal exo-skeleton combat on a dying earth, comes to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on September 24th!

As we draw close to the release, we’re sharing a series of devblogs that we hope will give you some insight into the creative process of The Surge 2.

Check out our previous DevBlogs here:
1. Level Design
2. Sound Design
3. Combat System (Pt. 1)
4. Combat System (Pt. 2) - You are here.
5. In-House Engine
6. Animation

Today, we’re happy to welcome back Sven Hammer, Lead Game Designer on The Surge 2, talking about the Combat System of the game!

Welcome back Sven! Let’s continue with a very important question - What’s your go-to weapon type?

That’s hard to answer to be honest because I was working on all of them and I kind of like them all. But deep in my heart I have always been a player that prefers heavy and slow hitting weapons. There is something about feeling the weight of a weapon like this and seeing the impact when it lands. And even though you might think that the Punching Gloves (one of our new weapon types) are not like this at all, because obviously they are faster than something like a Heavy Duty weapon, they still have that certain weight to them that make their punches feel impactful.

Upgrading your gear through the Exo-suit is a very important aspect of The Surge 2. How is this linked to the combat?

On the one hand you can use your gathered Tech Scrap that you get by killing enemies to increase the Core Power of your Exo-Rig, which allows you to wear better and heavier gear and equip more implants. This will also let you upgrade your base stats like health, stamina, and battery efficiency with the Module Points that you receive with each increase of your Core Power.

On the other hand combat and especially the limb targeting system is what will allow you to not only gain new weapons but also schematics of the gear that your enemies are wearing when cutting off their limbs. Cutting those limbs over and over again will also give you the needed crafting and upgrade materials that you can use to craft new or upgrade existing equipment. Gear will not only increase your defenses and make you able to withstand more hits but also influence other combat stats like your attack speed or your impact.



How do Implants work and how do they affect combat?

Implants are modifications to your Exo-Rig and can be divided into two categories: Boosters and Injectables. Boosters give you a variety of passive abilities that range from UI enhancements like displaying enemy health bars to something like restoring health when performing a finishing sequence. Injectables on the other hand give you new active abilities that are mostly centered around healing and buffing your stats for a short duration. Similar to your gear and weapons, injectables can now also be upgraded using a special material.
All implants cost a certain amount of core power and need a free implant slot in your Exo-Rig. Implant slots are limited and Core Power is a shared resource also used by your other gear, so you need to choose which Boosters and Injectables you want to equip alongside your gear.

Games like this can be intimidating for newcomers. What does The Surge 2 do to ease people into the swing of things?

First of all we laid out a broad spectrum of tutorials that should help players learn all the different mechanics that they need to know to survive in the world of The Surge 2. The whole starting area and a big part of the second area is designed to ease players into the fun that the combat system and the game itself has to offer once the basics are learned. We tried to give the players enough time and room to get used to the mechanics before facing the really tough opponents.

What would you say sets combat in The Surge 2 apart from other games in the genre?

The most iconic thing that sets combat in The Surge 2 apart from other games is the limb targeting system and all combat and gameplay features that are tied to it. There is no more luck involved when you try to get a certain weapon or a gear part. You only have to target the part or weapon you want and then damage the specific body part of your opponent enough to cut it off and this will always reward you with the wanted item. Furthermore the whole crafting and upgrading system is centered around the limb targeting and cutting.



Are you the best Surge 2 player in the office? You can tell us the truth.

So I could now tell you: Of course I am, the only way to earn and keep your position as a Lead Game Designer is to beat everyone in a unique tournament playing The Surge 2. That would be very interesting. But to be honest if it would be that way I would have never earned that spot. I’m definitely not the best Surge 2 player in the office. I think I’m actually too slow for that. I definitely overcome the challenges that the game throws at me but it takes me a while to succeed. But I will always be ready for the next challenge.

Stay tuned for more insight into the development of The Surge 2 in our next articles! You can also check out the Behind The Scenes series "Deck13 Inside" on Youtube. The Surge 2 slices its way onto PS4, Xbox One, and PC on September 24th. Pre-Order now and get bonuses: http://thesurge-game.com/shop