This patch has several new features in it. First of all, deer! I've always wanted to add more animals, so deer are just the beginning - I intend to add more down the line. Their AI is quite similar to the rabbits, which is why I started with them. They're nervous and very fast, but you can creep up on them in bushes. Shoot them in the legs to slow them down a bit. If you can catch them, they'll provide a good food source in those early stages of the game before you've got farming up and running.



Next, leg armor! Ever since launch, many NPCs have been protected with body armor and helmets, but they've always been vulnerable to being knocked over by shooting them in the legs. But not anymore as some characters will have leg armor now, so you'll have to vary up your tactics.



I've also changed the way armor works, a little. Previously when armor was damaged a few times, it disappeared, and was instantly replaced by another piece of armor if you happened to have one in your pocket. I've changed it so the armor doesn't disappear now, and you can't change armor in the middle of combat. Instead, it stays on you and can be repaired afterwards at workbenches. (NPC communities now have workbenches as well.) Idle characters will automatically repair their armor at the nearest workbench.

Why do this? I want to cut down on the amount of busywork you need to do to manage a community, and picking up every piece of armor and helmet you see on corpses, in order to use them as spares, felt like busywork to me. Now, once you've kitted a character out once you can just leave them to it as they'll repair their own armor when it gets damaged. Admittedly it wasn't the biggest problem but I figured I might as well do it while I was adding the leg armor. (Probably the biggest source of busywork imo is collecting gold from corpses, I do aim to address that at some point too.)

The next new feature is these cool blood effects:



Because it's a zombie game.

The rest of the patch is some small tweaks to this and that, Here's the full change list:

• Deer
  
• Leg Armor
  
• Armor can be repaired at workbenches, but you can't change your current armor while in combat
  
• Fancier Blood Effects
  
• Recover faster from damaged animations
  
• Aiming penalty when target is moving sideways or away from you
  
• When highlighting a campfire, workbench, etc, show recipes in a separate section at the bottom of the action menu if you have no ingredients for them
  
• Need less vodka to make bandages
  
• Some tweaks to the action menu
  
• Some crash fixes

The above will be in publicbeta for a time, as usual. I've also moved v135 to the main branch! v135 contains the (optional) new hud layout and optimizations, nicer grass, and some improvements to the action menu.

v136 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".

Just doing a quick patch in publicbeta today because I wanted to fix some crashes, here's the changelist:

• Brazilian Portuguese Update
  
• Fix for lumberjacks filling everything with wood in defeated settlements which are later re-occupied
  
• Crash fixes

v135 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".

So it turned out the last experiment with the HUD was kind of controversial, about half the people who replied liked it and the other half didn't - particularly those who were used to the old UI. In this patch I'm making it an option in the Graphics menu so you can choose the old one or the new one if you prefer, and I've also added options to turn the grass and tree quality up and down. Grass and trees are big contributors to the frame time.

Previously these grass and tree options were available in the F8 debug menu (and they still are), but they weren't saved when you changed them - now they will be. You can also now turn the grass and trees up higher than you could before, so that the grass looks lush and thick like a proper post apocalypse.

Here's the default grass setting, with the old sidebar back:


Here it as at the highest grass setting, and with the new HUD:


Here it is with grass turned off, and the tree quality turned down:


I've made the PiP background and the sidebar layout independent settings. (The thing that's expensive is the PiP background. The sidebar layout is more a matter of taste)


I've also made some changes to the action menu - in general you won't have to equip things like the axe or wood in order to see options like "Chop Tree" or "Add Wood to Fire".




Here's the full change list:

• Options in Graphics Settings menu for Sidebar, PiP Background, Grass Density, and Tree Quality
  
• For options in action menu that require equipment, such as using an axe to chop a tree, show them whenever the equipment is in your inventory, even if it's not currently equipped
  
• Korean Update
  
• Fixed some crashes

EDIT - released a patch to fix a crash, v133. Here's the changelist for that:

• Added tooltips to Graphics Settings menu
  
• Fix for crash when holding a sealed container in snow

EDIT - another one, v134, to fix a crash and to fix the ordering of the grass and tree quality tooltips.

v134 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".

Two major changes this weekend. First, I've moved all the changes I've been putting in the publicbeta branch for the last few months onto the main branch! I won't try to list it all out again here but the summary is it was about trying to give you more long term goals in Sandbox mode, and I'm still working on that, but it has been in publicbeta long enough.

Next, I took a break from that to work on optimization for a bit recently, and came to a shocking conclusion.. ;) the window in the top right where you can see your character and others talking (which I call the PiP - Picture in Picture) is quite costly to the framerate and would be hard to optimize. Unity just isn't really designed to draw the whole scene twice like that.

As it happens, I've noticed that people often complain about the PiP, or ask why it's necessary. There's even a mod to remove the sidebar. To me, I think it's important because it shows everyone's faces, and hopefully helps establish a bond with the characters. But that doesn't mean it needs to be visible all the time.

So I decided on an experiment. I've re-arranged the HUD, shrinking the minimap and putting it on the bottom left, and only showing the PiP when people are talking, or when you're targeting a person. When I do show the PiP, I just draw the character in a stylized comic-book way, without trying to draw the rest of the world (which was the most expensive part).

So, er, tell me what you think. This experiment is currently in the publicbeta branch, v129. Here's the basic view:



When you highlight stuff now the name is shown at the top of the action menu, so the PiP isn't needed:



When you highlight characters or corpses they are shown in the PiP in stylized form:




Or when someone talks:



I also show it when you target enemies in combat. I'm less sure about this, I like seeing them when I'm at a distance or stealthing around, but when I'm deep in combat I guess some might feel it gets in the way:



Anyway here's the full changelist:

• Removed sidebar! Only show PiP when someone is talking or you're targeting someone. Don't try to draw the whole scene in the PiP, just use the stylised comic look. Moved the minimap to the bottom left.
  
• A bunch of minor optimizations
  
• Fix for radio sometimes not attracting zombies when you're hiding in a building
  
• Reduce number of chops needed to mine trees or rocks
  
• Made it possible to purchase mining rights from looter communities, they will stop shaking you down once you do this. Also changed the formula to make mineral deposits a bit more common.

EDIT - released some quick patches to fix bugs in the optimization work. Plus, the Japanese translation is all caught up now!:

v131

• Japanese Update
  
• Fix for crash when throwing something in multiplayer
  
• Fix for crash after pausing and unpausing for a long time
  
• Fix for characters sometimes getting stuck on camping chair props

v130

• Fix for crash after someone recovers from being unconscious, related to optimizations in previous patch

v129 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".

Patch time! I've been looking a bit into how I can optimize the game better, it's going to need more work but I found one thing that can shave a few milliseconds off how long it takes to draw the trees. Also the Brazilian Portuguese translation is now up to date! And there's some general bug fixing as usual - here's the changelist:

• Upgraded Unity to v2021.1.22f1
  
• Trees Optimization
  
• Updated Brazilian Portuguese translation
  
• Fixes for satellite phone refund bugs
  
• Fixes for unknown characters in feuds appearing in PiP
  
• Fix for character getting in a kind of stuck state if you go to scavenge a prop, then open your inventory before they reach it
  
• Fixes for some bugs when NPCs take over a dead community
  
• Crash fix

v128 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".

This is a pretty small patch to fix a few crashes and work on translations. It does however have a fix for that annoying issue where you go into a building and open your inventory and your character immediately leaves the building because they've got a task to perform. No more reflexively pressing pause immediately after entering a building!

Here's the full changelist:

• Stop characters from exiting a building immediately after you made them enter it (when they have a role)
  
• Added debug tool for translators to print out all the speeches and how they would appear using different combinations of speaker and listener names
  
• Updated Chinese and Korean translations
  
• Fix for exploit where you could tell what's in a building by clicking Enter on it in command mode
  
• Fix for crash when hovering over maps in character creation menu in mods
  
• Various crash fixes

v127 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".

One thing I've been feeling in my playthroughs is there isn't a lot of strategy to the mining system - you generally just plonk down a mine in your base and you've got everything you need. This patch aims to make it more interesting by making the mineral deposits much more scarce and having a lot of them owned by friendly NPC settlements. You have a dialog option to buy (or sometimes acquire by force) rights to use their mines.

There are still patches of mineral deposits in the world outside of NPCs bases, so look out for the rocks with ore in them. You can also use the geological maps to find them. However, the world map and geological map items always felt overpowered to me as well, so I've split them into 4 quadrants - you need to collect 4 maps with different quadrants to see the whole world. (This only applies to the Large map size though btw).

In case it's a bit too scarce now, there are sliders in the world creation screen to make ore more common. Also btw this system only applies to newly started games, old savegames will continue to use their old geological map.

Here's the full changelist:

• Made rich mineral deposits much more scarce and often owned by an NPC settlement - added mines to the settlements, and dialogue to negotiate mining rights
  
• Various crafting tweaks - get less wood from trees, less minerals from 'poor' mines, can make arrows from steel as well as flint, iron ore and steel weigh less
  
• Tweaks to the envy formula to make it slightly less likely NPCs will start fighting purely over gifts. Also when you give people gifts they will comment if others are getting jealous.
  
• When feuding, characters will say the things they're angry about
  
• Your community members will warn you as a group of raiders or zombies is approaching
  
• Split world maps and geological maps into 4 quadrants, so you have to collect all 4 to see the whole area (on the Large map size only)
  
• Fix for chef not fetching rabbits from traps if they're far away
  
• Fix for being able to pour stew out of other community's pots without them detecting that you are stealing from them
  
• Fix for characters sometimes getting into a loop of continually exchanging items with each other
  
• Fix for characters sometimes getting into a loop of continually jumping over a tree stump

v126 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".

This is primarily a quick patch to fix some bugs people have reported, but it also adds one sort-of new feature - the number of fences you can queue up while building has been increased to 32 (it used to be 8). It also makes them passable while under construction, i.e. you can walk through them, so you can't use it as an exploit, which was the original reason the limit was so low.

Ultimately the goal is to be able to queue up different types of buildings, so you could queue up some fencing and a gate and a shack or suchlike in one go and then leave them to it - this is just a stepping stone to that.

Here's the change list:

• Fix to make it possible for modders to add bows
  
• Increased maximum number of fences builders can queue up, made props under construction only become obstacles when resources start being used in them
  
• Fix for community buildings being deleted after a dead community is re-occupied, and then that community also dies
  
• Fix for rabbits and zombies saying 'hey!' when you throw a snowball at them
  
• Fix for crash after using a mod with a story that contain the same asset bundle
  
• Updated Chinese translation

EDIT - I've released another quick patch with a few more things, after someone reported a crash. So it's now v125:

• Fix for zombies jittering sometimes when a pack of them is attacking you in online multiplayer
  
• Updated Korean translation
  
• Crash fix

v125 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".

It's patch day! This patch is mainly all about jealousy. You can flirt with more than one person (and they'll get angry with each other), you can dump the person you started a relationship with. When you give gifts to some people, others will wonder why they didn't get any. When you give out green passes among your community members, they'll try and take them from each other. Hopefully it should all help create a bit more drama!



There's also the usual sort of bug fixes and such. I realized there was a pretty major one that stopped you from progressing to the next romance stage with certain personality types, which therefore would have locked off the new endgame stuff for a lot of people - that's fixed.

I've also made it easier to cook human meat - you can just do it over a fire now instead of needing to put it in stew with some vegetables. That should help in the earlier stages when you're often short of food... though of course, most of your community members won't be happy about it!

Here's the full change list:

• You can flirt with multiple people at once, and they won't appreciate it
  
• You can now dump people
  
• Giving gifts to a person will often cause resentment among others who haven't gotten any, particularly if they didn't much like that person
  
• Your community members will get angry with you if they haven't gotten a green pass yet, and may steal them from each other
  
• Fix for snowman quest (and others) not failing properly, also explained more how to scoop snow
  
• Drinking game quest ignores any drink policy you might have set
  
• Resume All Roles button on Community Page
  
• Disable bleeding from feuds to make them less deadly
  
• Made F8 debug menus translatable
  
• Made human meat cookable on a spit
  
• Fix for characters sometimes thinking they can't go to a nearby river to get a drink
  
• Fix for role icons not appearing on all icons on character switching bar
  
• Fix for relationships not being possible with some personality types
  
• Fix for out of sync error when trying to trade with someone, if you have a different language set from another co-op player

v123 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".

I've put another patch out in publicbeta, this one's mostly me updating translations and just catching up with some bug reports that people sent me over the last few months while I was deep in the sandbox progression work:

• Updated Korean and Chinese translations
  
• Fix for NPC getting stuck in a loop telling someone to leave their community
  
• Possible fix for gunpowder crafters filling up their inventory with containers of curry etc
  
• Changed default limit of wandering groups on Medium maps to 4 instead of 2
  
• Make it harder to kite looters away from their base and then assassinate them when they are shaking you down
  
• Better handling when a mod or story fails to load a dll
  
• Fix for crash if you kill some fake FEMA teams
  
• Fix for crash if mods have a dependency loop
  
• Rare crash fixes

v122 will be in the "publicbeta" branch for a while, before pushing it to the main game. If you want to try the latest features as they come out (and help test them!) it's a good idea to start using this branch. But keep in mind:

• Because it's the bleeding edge it could be less stable
  
• If you want to be able to play online co-op with someone you'll need to be on the same version as them
  
• If you go back from the "publicbeta" branch to the main branch you may not be able to load savegames created on "publicbeta".

To use publicbeta, just right-click on Survivalist: Invisible Strain in your Steam library and go to Properties, then Betas and in the drop-down select "publicbeta".