Thundershower has returned to the Bayou! Our latest in-game Event, Judgement of the Fool, sees the skies crack and the heavens open with this long-awaited storm. In today’s blog, we wanted to share a peak behind the curtain, chatting to the development team behind Thundershower to reveal the craft and the passion that went into creating this unique weather condition.
Meet the Storm Thundershower is a dynamic Time of Day condition that cycles between intense and lighter rain. This creates unique visual and gameplay variety on every map it appears. Like all special Time of Day conditions, the Thundershower introduces significant gameplay twists: rain masks footsteps, ravens are disturbed by the storm, and fog rolling in as the storm intensifies - reducing visibility. These effects are far more than cosmetic, they fundamentally alter how players approach Bounty Hunts.
The team has built a whole new audio system for Thundershower, which has now been enhanced for CRYENGINE 5.11 engine upgrade. Designed to create an ultra-realistic, dynamic soundscape, this system immerses players completely within the stormy environment. Now, let's dive deeper into the inner workings of the Thundershower.
The role of ambience in game design Hunt: Showdown 1896 is renowned for its tense atmosphere, and its audio design plays a pivotal role in crafting that experience. Every sound in the game is diegetic. If you can hear it, it exists in the world, and locating its source can mean the difference between survival and certain death. Animals, monsters, creaking windmills, crackling fires, rustling vegetation, howling wind - all contribute to the Bayou’s living soundscape. The only exception? Crickets in the bushes where you’re hiding - these exist purely as ambient audio.
While environmental sounds deepen immersion, they must never obscure critical audio cues, such as enemy Hunters. This balance becomes especially challenging when introducing new weather conditions. The Thundershower, for instance, naturally muffles players’ ability to pinpoint sounds yet it also demands a dynamic, engaging soundscape that avoids repetition and is enjoyable to listen to. Striking this balance is no easy feat.
How the Audio Design Team made it rain Creating convincing rain in a game is challenging and the complexity of its sound design can easily go unnoticed. A raw recording of real rain produces little more than fatiguing noise. Our brains perform psychoacoustic filtering, letting us tune out the constant background noise of rain while focusing on distinct details. Games and cinema, however, can’t replicate this natural adaptation. The effect is akin to standing in a reverberant room: you might not notice the echo until you hear a recording of it, where the unnatural persistence becomes jarring.
Another hurdle is environmental specificity. Real-world rain recordings are tied to their original surroundings, creating dissonance when players rapidly traverse different spaces. Dynamic positioning, shifts between indoor and outdoor areas, and varying acoustics in game all make pre-recorded rain feel artificial and disjointed.
That’s why procedurally generated rain is far more effective than static recordings. By reconstructing rainfall through layered systems simulating how droplets strike wood, metal, puddles, and foliage developers craft a dynamic soundscape that avoids monotony. Each surface contributes its own rhythm and tone of drips and splashes, building an immersive storm without overwhelming the player. The challenge lies in compensating for the absence of touch, smell, and taste, using sound alone to sell the physicality of rain all while ensuring it enhances gameplay rather than obscuring it.
Technical implementation The expansive maps in Hunt: Showdown 1896 presented a unique challenge for rain implementation: manually placing individual audio emitters would be impractical at this scale and would impact performance negatively. This limitation drove the development team to create an automated systemic solution using raycasting.
The system works by casting multiple rays from the sky downward around the player's position. When a ray intersects with a surface, the system dynamically generates an audio emitter at that location. Each emitter plays dripping sounds specifically tailored to the material it struck whether it’s wood, metal, stone, or foliage. This raycasting approach enables highly localized rain effects that accurately respond to the diverse materials throughout the environment in Hunt: Showdown 1896 maps.
The following chart shows the audio grid visualizing multiple layers around the player that come into play when simulating a rain in Hunt: Showdown 1896:
A hyper-realistic detailed rain soundscape is created by many overlapping dripping sounds. Players experience true spatial audio: hearing distinct raindrops pattering on a metal roof to their left while simultaneously detecting different impacts on a wooden plank to their right. This precise positional audio creates unparalleled immersion.
In summary: thundershowers audio ambience is built from the following layers:
Dynamically generated rain spot emitters
A subtle surround rain sound for additional width and to smooth transitions from the rain spot emitters
Rumbling surround Wind
Environmental sounds such as violent wind gusts, groaning trees, rustling underbrush, and distant thunderclaps to complete the living environment
On top of these layers, many more dynamic effects are added:
Footsteps transform into squelching boots, maintaining environmental authenticity while improving enemy Hunter detection
Compounds come alive with amplified rattling, creaking structures, and water dripping through cracks
Wind howls through doors and windows
Interior spaces gain richer ambience than in regular times of day, balancing the gameplay advantage of sheltered positions
The sounds change dynamically with the intensity of the storm, from a light shower to a full blown rainstorm.
We hope this has been an enjoyable deep dive into the making of the Thundershower. And remember, Hunters, if you can’t hear your enemy – they can’t hear you either.
Round 2 of the Community Contest has begun. From today until August 17, score kills with the following Hunters and lead your team to victory:
Team Fool: Bone Mason, Dorothy Alice: Nightmare, Oliver Whitman (all variants) Team Judge: The Prescient, Dorothy Alice: Dream, Jane Eddings (all variants)
The winning team will unlock new lore and advance the story, along with receiving BB weapon discounts: Silent Sting (Bornheim Silencer) for Team Fool, and Ignis Fatuus (New Army) for Team Judge.
Good luck!
***
The soil of the hunting grounds is soaked with the blood of those who fought in the name of The Fool. Does all that death avenge those lost to the grisly side effects of the Miracle Mouth All-Cure? No. The Pale Judge does not think so, not yet. He thinks that more blood should be shed. That it should go beyond soaking into the soil and should overflow from the mouths of graveyard statues and tint muddy puddles crimson all across the bayou and the gulch. The Pale Judge wants The Fool to understand that he doesn't stand a chance. That murderous chaos only exists to be extinguished by those chosen few with the power to pass the ultimate judgment.
But The Fool has thoughts of his own.
He thinks all that freshly shed blood is only a matter of perspective. Blood paves the road to Hell, and The Fool believes that road was carved out especially for The Pale Judge. That at the end of that bloody, bloody road, there is something waiting. A courtship with madness. A realization that whether The Fool lives or dies, The Pale Judge's dead daughter will stay dead, and the world will continue to rot like the bloated corpses of this Corruption. At least the corpses made by The Fool are smiling—well, some of them anyway. His warning: Let all those blinded by The Pale Judge's influence feel the wrath of madness in every unnoticed corner, every Hideout and grove and mine tunnel.
Hold your breath, Hunter. Pull the trigger. Choose a side and see for yourself what lies in store for the future of The Pale Judge and The Fool.
It’s that time of the year when Thundershower soaks the bayou and washes blood from bounties. Alongside the storm, Legends Return brings back beloved Hunters and equipment with updated visuals. New players gain their first chance to play with this iconic content, while veterans enjoy fresh takes on past favorites.
And it’s also time for a new Twitch Drops campaign to bring you the goods and rewards from the past, giving you another chance to earn a handful of rewards. With each week comes a different set of rewards!
The campaign begins at 3pm UTC on August 6th, 2025, and will end at 3pm UTC on August 27th, 2025.
Watch any participating Hunt: Showdown 1896 streamer to unlock the rewards.
Schedule
Week 1 (Aug 6th – 13th)
Watch for 30min – 1 Supply Crate
Watch for 60min – Gator Eye (Charm)
Watch for 90min – 1 Supply Crate
Watch for 150min – The Marquis (Knife)
Watch for 180min – 1 Supply Crate
Watch for 240min – Bingham Brash (Martini-Henry Riposte)
Week 2 (Aug 13th – 20th)
Watch for 30min – 1 Supply Crate
Watch for 60min – Moondial (Charm)
Watch for 90min – 1 Supply Crate
Watch for 150min – Alley Cat (Bornheim No. 3)
Watch for 180min – 1 Supply Crate
Watch for 240min – Old Tusk (Springfield 1866)
Week 3 (Aug 20th – 27th)
Watch for 30min – 1 Supply Crate
Watch for 60min – Hera’s Gift (Charm)
Watch for 90min – 1 Supply Crate
Watch for 150min – Seven Sights (Sparks Sniper)
Watch for 180min – 1 Supply Crate
Watch for 240min – Random Hunter
If you already own the items above, then you will unlock a similar reward from a select pool. For a full list of items and details on rewards, check out the FAQ on our website.
Random Hunter
Previous Twitch Drops Hunters will have priority.
If you already own all previous Twitch Drops Hunters, then you will unlock a random Hunter from the list of Blood Bond Hunters.
There is also a small chance to unlock Bad Hand, Union Suit: Red Drawers, or Union Suit: Sunday Best as individual Hunters.
If you already own all previous Twitch Drops and Blood Bond Hunters, then you will receive 10,000 Hunt Dollars.
Supply Crates
Like our previous Drops campaigns, we are bringing back the Supply Crates. These will grant you several in-game item instances, such as Weapons, Tools, Consumables, and a random amount of Hunt Dollars.
Watch any participating Hunt: Showdown 1896 streamer to gain up to 3 Supply Crates per week.
Each Supply Crate will contain these 8 item instances:
1 x Random Rifle
1 x Random Pistol
1 x Random Shotgun
1 x Random Special Weapon
3 x Random Tool or Consumable
1 x Random amount of Hunt Dollars
For more info on how to link your account and address other potential issues, visit our FAQ page on our website.
Get your rewards while watching and kick off the rainy season by getting new Skins into your hands. We’ll see you in the Bayou.
Today, we are excited to launch Thundershower and Legends Return! Read more about them below!
Thundershower Falls on Judgement of the Fool
Folklore whispers that warm August days foretell a long winter, while August rains bring blessings like honey and wine. But in the bayou, the Thundershower falls like lead, a deadly weight on Fools and Judges alike. Thundershower demands vigilance: it smothers the sounds of creeping danger, shrouds vision in thick fog, and clears the path of crows for those bold enough to press forward through the deluge.
Thundershower transforms the bayou and mountains with its hyper-realistic, dynamic storm. It brings even more variety to Hunt: Showdown’s 1896 tense Missions. Complex, layered soundscapes of dynamic rain, thunder, howling wind, and environmental effects (like squishy footsteps and rattling structures) force Hunters closer together, obscuring vision with fog and masking creeping dangers.
Duration and Availability
Thundershower will be initially available only in Stillwater Bayou and Mammon’s Gulch, with plans to expand it to the other maps in the near future.
The chances of having Thundershower are:
Stillwater Bayou 30% chance.
Mammon's Gulch 20% chance.
Legends Return: From the Jaws of Defeat
Today we’re introducing a brand-new initiative, Legends Return, which will reintroduce iconic, historic Hunters and Skins for our community. The collections will feature beloved items from times gone by, with a new or unique twist.
These battle-worn Hunters bring with them the scars of many years spent striving to survive and profit in the unforgiving world of Hunt. In the ‘From the Jaws of Defeat’ collection, you can rediscover:
The Scaled Warrior - Once the Reptilian's ward, he has proven himself the true heir by defeating his mentor to claim the first kill of Rotjaw. Strong yet wise, he carries his mentor's legacy.
The Skinner - Defined by pain and vengeance, he found a new path when faced with the Reptilian. Lured by riches over revenge, they now hunt together.
Ferryman’s Toll - For each kill, The Scaled Warrior embedded a coin into this rifle. When he finally took down Rotjaw, he sunk in one last coin, confident his toll to the ferryman would be paid in full.
Nola’s Tiller - This Bomb Lance, carved from the wreckage of The Skinner’s old boat, once drove him further and further into bloodshed. But it was also a means to guide him out towards calmer seas, back to the man he once was.
Howling Gale - The Scaled Warrior once hunted to get away from grief’s wild headwinds. But somewhere along the way, he found himself enjoying the finer things again. His heirloom handgun was imbued with that finery.
Golden Bruiser - The Reptilian once won this primal prize from Felis. The right to wield it passed onto The Scaled Warrior when the Reptilian deemed him worthy of taking up his mantle.
Judgement of the Fool continues through any weather. With Thundershower intensifying the challenge and legendary Hunters joining the fray, there's no better time to test your mettle in the storm-swept bayou.
The live servers are back online — Update 2.4.0.2 is now live!
You can find the list of fixes below.
Happy hunting!
Fixed an issue where all Charms from the Judgement of the Fool Event were correctly displayed in the Shooting Range but did not appear during normal Bounty Hunt Missions
Fixed an exploit where Compact Ammo could be replaced with Buckshot, allowing players to shoot Buckshot at long range while retaining the Compact Ammo count
The live servers are back online — Update 2.4.0.1 is now live!
You can find the list of fixes below.
Happy hunting!
Fixed an issue where all Charms from the Judgement of the Fool Event were correctly displayed in the Shooting Range but did not appear during normal Bounty Hunt Missions
Fixed an exploit where Compact Ammo could be replaced with Buckshot, allowing players to shoot Buckshot at long range while retaining the Compact Ammo count
The team’s all set, and our latest Developer Livestream has just kicked off! Come hang out with us while we have a deep conversation about Thundershower and Legends Return, plus get a sneak peek at what’s coming next.
Stick around for some live Q&A, and join the chat!
Team Judge has emerged victorious, claiming 367,428 kills over Team Fool’s 182,769.
Your reward? A piece of The Pale Judge’s story now lies unveiled…but the shadows whisper more.
For the next week, enjoy an 85% discount on Creeping Night (Centennial Shorty Silencer), which is available to the whole community!
Round 2 approaches. Stay sharp.
***
CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT OF MOBY WINNEFORD PARISH OF ORLEANS STATE OF LOUISIANA
STATE OF LOUISIANA VERSUS DOC REDMARTIN
APPEARANCES: REPRESENTING THE STATE OF LOUISIANA: Gregory Templeton, Esq. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY FOR JUDGE MOBY WINNEFORD
REPRESENTING THE DEFENDANT: Juniper Hawkins, Esq. ORLEANS PUBLIC DEFENDER
REPORTED BY: Devan Anne Jacobson, CCR, RPR OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER
LEIGH SWENSON, Citizen of DeSalle, after having been first duly sworn in, did testify as follows:
Templeton: Miss Swenson, how did your family die?
Swenson: It was Redmartin’s All-Cure. Mama didn't want us to take it. She said it made the neighbor sick as a dog.
Hawkins: Objection. Speculation and perjury. The coroner’s inquest records causes of death as smoke inhalation and respiratory damage.
Templeton: I think you will find the details of Miss Swenson’s story highly relevant to the question of Mr. Redmartin’s guilt.
Judge Winneford: The Court will permit it.
Templeton: Now. If your Mama believed Redmartin’s All-Cure made people sick, why still take it?
Swenson: On account of Daddy. He was angry at her for doubting. He said Redmartin’s reputation was pristine. She disagreed. But Daddy was sure it would keep us all safe. Started yelling and doubled down. Gave everyone three times as much as what it said on the back of the bottle.
Templeton: Can you describe exactly what happened?
Swenson: They took theirs first, then gave it to the little ones. But before she could prepare mine, Mama’s eyes went funny and she started sweating really bad, just like when she gave birth to Remy. She was smiling bigger than I ever seen. But then she dropped the bottle and it smashed and made a big mess. She got upset and started moaning, trying to clean up the glass with her hands. She cut herself pretty badly and Daddy started howling like an animal at the sight of the blood. It scared the little ones and made them cry, but they were smiling too, smiling big just like Mama. (Long pause)
Templeton: There’s a kerchief there. Take your time.
Swenson: Thank you. (Long pause) I’m sorry. Well. That’s when Daddy took the carving knife. He said it was time to take off our masks, but nobody was wearing a mask. He started on Polly and he cut up her face. I could see what he meant about the masks then. Then he did it to the others. They didn’t even try to fight him off. And then Mama rang the dinner bell and she... (Long pause)
Templeton: What did your Mama do, Miss Swenson?
Swenson: Mama walked over to Remy, and she knelt down and she... She...fed. I don’t know if they were dead or alive after that. When she looked up at me, she had blood all over her face. I think I started screaming then. I don’t know. All I remember thinking was that it had to stop. I had to stop them. Then I remember smashing the lantern and flames licking the floor. Then running while the house burned to the ground behind me.
