You’re probably wondering why the game updates have slowed down in recent weeks! It's because we are working our asses off towards POSTAL 4’s biggest single update to date: The addition of Tuesday!
This update will almost double the size of the playable area and give you 4 new errands, all of which are VERY different than the ones found on Monday. Those of you that feel the Errands on Monday were not outrageous enough for a POSTAL game just might cream your jeans at what's coming!
Due to the amazing Early Access response, we have been able to invest significantly more into development and grow the team - we’re now almost 30 members strong having taken on 8 new members in the last month alone, some coming directly from working with AAA studios! Most of their work is tied up in the Tuesday update so it has yet to filter through to you guys - but it’s CUMMING!
Finally, we just want to reassure everyone that once Tuesday hits, major updates (Wednesday) will not take nearly as long and we will NOT be in Early Access forever. When we launched POSTAL 4 in Early Access we had a much smaller team and had a lot of work to do to implement many fundamental features that were missing at launch. We have a STRICT ‘no crunch’ policy at RWS and this means things will take longer than they would if we were uninterested in the welfare of our staff, so we thank you for your understanding and patience.
As always, thanks for the support and for being an excellent community for us to work for. Stay safe out there, and USE A BIDET! Remember - A Clean Ass is a Happy Ass!
The Running With Scissors Team
P.S Allow us to pimp our warez while we have your attention! Check out https://p0st.al/shop and pick up some swag to help further support our efforts in making P4 the best ‘Worst Game Ever™’!
We are bustin' our asses getting the ‘Tuesday’ update ready so you guys can get sucked into a bunch of new errands, but in the meantime we thought you’d appreciate a small update that blows - presenting: explodable cars!
Explodable cars!
‘View / Weapon Bob’ toggles(‘Gameplay’ settings)
Toggle for enabling/disabling black outlines(‘Video’ settings)
Reduced the loading time between the main menu and the intro movie
Jukebox sound not playing in Blue’s Waffle House
Certain sounds not respecting audio sliders
Some broken InitialState animations
Various mapping bugs that were reported on our Janky and Steam Forums
Broken Kevlar pickup that was causing the game to crash
“Busted” loading screen not appearing after getting arrested
Sent-to-jail audio not playing correctly
Random crash that would sometimes occur around the Animal Catcher area
This time around, we figured it was probably time we started to get a hold on the various common and uncommon crashes that you guys have been getting, as a few have popped up over the last few updates. The game should now be much more stable for most of you!
We also finally included the gamepad menu so you lunatics can invert your analog stick axis. The terrain has been given a fresh lick of paint, and work has been done on ambient sounds within buildings.
In the update we hope to bring you some more performance improvements - especially when there are a lot of NPCs on screen.
Corpses and gibs lifetime menu option(‘Performance’ settings)
Powerlines in Riverside tile
WIP PetShop / MethLab in Riverside tile
Zap-zone signs
Foliage density option(‘Performance’ settings)
New interior ambience sounds to businesses / major buildings
Gamepad Options Menu, including features such as being able to invert axis
An intro fly in sequence before you take control of The Dude
Timed Auto-save setting(It’s enabled by default, game will auto save every 10 minutes)
Added a particle to to the Gas Can’s spout to hide the trail particle gap
Some of the cinematics have had another pass to better follow rules of cinematography and to hide the HUD
Enabled root motion on trip animation; NPCs will no longer snap back to starting location after playing the animation
Optimized the Penitentiary building
Made some changes to landscape in Riverside tile
Implemented new, better looking terrain materials across the whole game
Improved collision on main road section
Left hand Revolver will now contribute execution points to the main right hand Revolver
Increased the Pigeon health so they don’t instantly die from Bystanders on fire
Enabled wind effects on foliage
At least 8 common crashes
Various mapping bugs that were reported on our Janky forums
Double telephone poles from Riverside transition
Phone interface when riding the Scooter
Removed “Sample text” message from Mini-map transparency option
So a question that’s being asked A LOT is ‘When the hell are the other days coming?’
As those of you who bought the game (last October in order to support us) will remember, that it was released in a very barebones state. Basic normal fundamentals such as key rebinding and a save system were missing, and the performance was SHIT. The AI was undercooked and behind that of even POSTAL 2’s, and we didn’t even have a basic police system in place. The art style was incoherent and many buildings and models were placeholders or needed texture work. We had a lot of friggin work to do.
Until we fixed and implemented a bunch of that shit, it didn’t make any sense to expand the game (REMEMBER, we’re a small team). NOT ANYMORE BABY!!! Work on expanding the map and implementing Tuesday’s errands is in full swing. This does not mean we’re done with improving performance, AI, art and adding things to improve the errands on Monday itself, it just means we are mostly prioritizing getting you guys more content to experience and a bigger world to explore. That said, there is another performance update coming in the not too distant future!
Tuesday will start to see the game getting more outrageous and we hope you’ll enjoy some of the more interesting gameplay mechanics we have planned.
We’d give you an ETA, but then we’ll probably miss that date and look stupider than we already do - but the plan is to release everything related to Tuesday at the same time. The introduction, the new areas, the errands/side errands and the end of day cinematics.
Thank you all for your support in helping us get this far, the Early Access experience has been a pleasure for our team and we’re truly excited to get you new content.
In this update we introduce the natural evolution of the cat silencer - The Cat grenade! Combine a cat with a grenade, target and NPC, and watch as kitty bolts it towards them, to then explode on impact.
Another nice improvement in this update is the NPC AI. In some areas (such as the main street at the start) NPC’s now go about their lives with more purpose rather than milling about aimlessly. For example, one might wander into the Laundromat, check on their washing, then sit down and check their phone while they wait, or maybe go and pass the time at the arcade. This system is in the early stages of implementation so not all areas have had this treatment yet, but we will improve upon it with each passing update as well as adding expanded actions and animations.
And finally, we have totally redone the roads around town to look better and have better collision with NPCS.
No major performance updates have been made in this update (other than inside the prison). A renewed push for that is coming soon, focusing on NPCs and dismemberment that will reduce the drawcalls by 70%.
The cat Grenade! Combine a cat with a grenade, target and NPC, and watch as kitty bolts it towards them to then explode on impact
A tickbox that should fix the muddy texture issue some users are having. It’s recommended you only tick this option if you are having the muddy textures issue. This removes the need to enter console commands
A slider to adjust the amount of motion blur. We’re leaving motion blur off by default because motion blur sucks :)
Added Road signs around town in an ongoing effort to make Edensin feel more like a real town
Uniforms for Arcade and Hotel workers
First pass of AI improvements and NPC routines
Improved roads
Population slider is now set to ‘Normal’ by default (The recommended setting)
Optimized the Penitentiary building
Updated Spurt’n’Squirt9000 textures to reflect ammo type with new art
Tweaked TP rifle animations
Improved lighting in Art Gallery
Implemented new Armor mesh; fits better on Dude’s body
Dismemberment on Civvie not working
Blood decals not showing on NPCs
Levels not being loaded in correctly when finishing the prison level and then loading an auto save
Shadow distance setting not saving
A bug where the Grenade pin pull animation wasn’t animating properly
Removed redundant capsule shadow setting
Toilet flush emitters not using correct rotation
Various mapping bugs that were reported on our forums
Shop Counter ‘Wiping’ animation loop
Third person stuttering when rotating the camera in third person
The highly requested mini-map has now been implemented!
Note: You can adjust the mini-map transparency in 'Gameplay' settings!
Improved Art style
In an ongoing effort to improve the look of the game, we’ve given many of the assets an overhaul (notably, the terrain and rocks), and implemented subtle lines around world objects. We’ve also given the map screen a new coat of paint:
As you can see, we've also added various switches under 'Map Tools'. You'll be able to enable/disable the mini-map, errand and side-quest icons as well as the POI icons. Once we implement waypoint markers, you'll be able to switch them on and off too.
Rabbits! It’s Easter, after all. More wildlife will come in future updates
Toggle for silencing the game during focus loss (ALT+TAB)
New MikeJ’s Bidet store
Due to the current Pigeona virus crisis, Local Edensin Officials have supplied civilians with an unlimited supply of face mask
NPC Coughing animations
Third-person Kick animations
‘Shadow distance’ setting in Performance menu
A Vitamin X vender to the Circle J and a Pizza Vender to Pistolas e Tacos
Level design improvements to Skylift and Prison areas
Tweaked Walk up/down animations on NPCs so they look better walking up hills
Reduced the recoil when dual wielding weapons, mostly for the AK
Tightened the way the player’s speed is applied to a fluid trail to minimize the particle gap
We here at Running With Scissors have been listening closely to the community input and suggestions during our ongoing development of POSTAL 4: No Regerts. In response to your requests, we have recently made the great decision to replace the sexy and dulcet tones of famed veteran voice actor Jon St. John with a new performer and true fan favorite in the role of the POSTAL Dude!
Coming soon, the POSTAL Dude in POSTAL 4 will now be voiced by Joe Exotic, star of the hit new Netflix sensation Tiger King, who has graciously offered his talent to be recorded live from federal prison! This voice change will also be retroactively applied to all previous POSTAL titles henceforth, including The-One-Which-Shall-Not-Be-Named!
We hope you all will enjoy this groundbreaking new change to the POSTAL series on this fine day of April!
You wanted performance improvements? You have them! As promised, we put pretty much the entire team onto the task of optimization for a few weeks. This process is still ongoing, and future updates will improve things further, but for now, you should have a much more enjoyable experience with this update in the way of higher framerates and far less hitching.
Many new features and improvements, too!
Note: Older saves will not work with this new update. They will be marked as red and should be deleted. Future updates should not break older saves - this is a one off thing.
Bystander Deathcrawling: There are currently two ways they can get to it: by being lit on fire and left to burn out or by begging for their life and still being attacked
Deathcrawl-after-ragdoll: if a pawn is 20% health or less, or they were kicked with Vitamin X, they'll go into deathcrawl when they recover from being ragdolled
Stumble animation, when a pawn runs for a certain distance they will stumble and stop to catch their breath
Machete charging sound
New faces on more Male pawns
Third-person animations for GasCan, Urethra, Pigeon Mine, Grenade and Beggar Sign (also TP fixes - see fixed section for more details)
Proper controller support: Map screen navigation with gamepad analog, navigation for inventory tab of phone, tab switching on map screen and more!
New loading screen transition after Dude gets arrested
Load zones! Due to absolutely no demand, a feature form POSTAL 2 has made a return! They are far quicker with fewer of them compared to P2 though, so they probably need a rebranding… lets call them ‘ZAP ZONES’*
*ZAP ZONES are hopefully only a temporary solution to the level hitching issues in POSTAL 4 and we aim to reintroduce full level steaming in the future when we’re doing our final optimizations. We’re pretty sure you’ll agree the trade off is worth the results in the here and now.
Optimization improvements. We still have some way to go but you should see some notable improvements to the frame rate in some of the worst areas, and the hitching/stuttering that randomly happened has been mostly eliminated
Scooter’s hill climbing capabilities and handling
Improved sidewalk transition near the Job Agency
Audio quality of radio songs
Increased the top speed of the Scooter slightly
Made improvements to the IK system - NPCs will now walk up stairs/hills/steep sidewalks more naturally
Gap between neck spout particle and NPC’s neck
Replaced more placeholder textures
Text/Event messages for things like pickups will now be combined, not duplicated, when multiple items are collected at once
Weapon wheel can now switch weapons and ammo types simultaneously
Replaced certain foliage meshes with better looking/optimized versions
Reduced the self hit pitch for all of our fluid weapons, meaning it’s never been easier to piss yourself out when on fire!
Adjusted window opacity settings
Broken 'Controls Binding' menu
Broken 'Post Process' and 'AA' method scrollboxes
Broken motion blur setting
Cat petting state transition not factoring the slowdown from Catnip
Weapon flicker when changing weapons while under Catnip
NPCs not reacting correctly to Dude carrying dismembered body parts
Certain sound effects not respecting Audio slider settings
Various assets that didn’t have a texture assigned
Not being able to explode Civvie’s noggin or dismember him
Flamethrower sound effect not looping correctly
Third-person camera going through walls
Third-person melee animations playing on the whole body as opposed to just the upper body
Erroneous “Save Exists” prompt when saving
Issue with the Save Menu where you couldn’t save over old slots
Customers not looking at the cashier
Generic paintings appearing behind Shady Art Dealer paintings
Couple terrain dips for better NPC navigation
Word wrapping/formatting issues with Firefighter side-errand