Having reviewed a lot of player footage and feedback, we found that some players were losing interest early on. This came down to a few factors, but most notably a lack of early challenge and variety. Our original intention was to ease players into Macabre with simpler objectives and less aggressive monster behaviour. However, this often meant players were not being challenged enough in those first sessions to stay fully engaged.
This patch aims to fix that. The goal is to let players spend more time immersed in the Rift and less time in the menus. We have increased the overall game time to allow for exploration, added higher tier loot including equipment like the Flash Frag, Sonic Plunger, and Proximity Sensor, expanded early objective variety through a revised Rift Map, and replaced the knockdown system with automatic revives at shrines so you spend less time spectating.
These adjustments, alongside several balance and pacing tweaks, make the experience more dynamic and rewarding right from the first run. We are also making steady progress on the character customisation system but more on that later!
If you’ve been enjoying Macabre or noticed the improvements over the last few patches, leaving a short Steam review genuinely helps us more than you might think. Reviews directly influence how the game is discovered and show new players that we’re worth checking out.
If you need help or have feedback, jump into our Discord or the Steam Discussion board. we’re active and always listening!
Fixed client side issues with progress tracking on the Reactor Core objective.
Fixed VO timing bugs in the Reactor Core objective
Resolved collision and pathing issues on Riftlink towers, improving AI navigation.
Tweaked and fixed hiding locations near the Rift Link objective to improve player cover.
Fixed subtitle alignment for English & Simplified Chinese localisation.
Fixed Disco Stick spawn issue.
Cairns are no longer traversable, you can't jump on them to avoid the crawler (you cheeky devils)
Fixed game timer starting before match start
Fix of snow footstep SFX playing when it should be dirt, and vice versa for characters and crawler
Fixed Post processing FX persisting after death
Fixed Crawler getting stuck on Disco Stick
Fixed issue causing Riftmap to not rendomise between players
Fixed Music Queue at start of game
Fixed broken nav mesh found on some bridges so crawler can no cross
Added correct icon for Dart Gun
Plus many other less interesting fixes
Audio
Added a microphone setup step during new player onboarding.
Players can now change microphone settings outside of the lobby.
Improve Microphone visualisation to accurately reflect input volume
Gameplay and Balance
Iterated on Crawler AI behaviour based on player feedback and stats.
Rift Rippers now block Flash and Fire FX (more Seeker Tool utility to come!)
Increased session length from 20 to 40 minutes, giving players more time to explore and complete objectives.
Added additional incremental extract spawns to spawn at 5 minute increments over extended match duration
Automatic Shrine revives now bring you back into the action, meaing less time spectating for teams and more chances for solo players. Keep in mind Lives are shared.
Solo Respawns: Easy = 3 / Medium = 2 / Normal = 1 / Hard = 1 / Macabre = 0
Co-Op Respawns: Easy = 8 / Medium = 6 / Normal = 4 / Hard = 2 / Macabre = 0
Removed knockdown states, as players now automatically respawn at a shrine.
Overhauled the Rift Map algorithm for greater variety and improved pacing of primary objectives.
Added more equipment back into the loot pool, including flash frag, sonic plunger & Proximity Sensor supporting longer play sessions and mid run gear upgrades.
increased loot spawn rates, improving pacing and reward flow.
Increased pickup collision size on darts to make them easier to collect.
Adjusted world shrine spawn points to appear closer to player start zones.
Adjusted exposure values for interior to give more purpose to torch
UX/UI
Updated Rift Map visuals and layout for clarity and exploration flow.
Rearranged lobby button layout for cleaner navigation.
Added Film Grain toggle in video settings.
Added Life counter toast and notification to keep track of remaining lives
Added jump and landing animations for smoother traversal.
Integrated the tutorial video directly in game, replacing the previous external link.
Added a new narrative intro trailer that now plays at game start.
Added cinematic Banjo introduction sequence at game start..
Added microphone setup to onboarding and in settings
We have made steady progress on character customisation and are now moving into the testing phase. The next step is to add iconography, polishing systems, and Steam integration so that we can generate and distribute Kickstarter backer keys for digital rewards. We’ll be rolling this out in a test branch via Alpha Rift on Discord to ensure everything is working before we set it live.
Once customisation is complete, it will also allow us to introduce in game cosmetic unlocks and progression systems for all players.
We have been reworking the mix across environments to improve spatial depth, reverb, and atmospheric layering. You’ll start hearing more defined audio zones, including the Crawler Nest, and smoother transitions between spaces as this rolls out in stages.
We’re developing multiple new equipment items to bring more variety and new ways to interact with the world of Macabre. These tools will expand player strategy and provide more options for surviving (or experimenting) inside the Rift.
Again, If you are enjoying Macabre, please take a moment to leave a Steam review. It helps us reach more players, improves our visibility, and gives us the momentum we need to keep building and expanding the Rift. Every review genuinely makes a huge difference 👍
Thanks for supporting us, much love!
— Weforge Studio
