• The on-screen keyboard now opens automatically when text fields are selected.

• Steam usernames are now used as player names as default.
• Steam friends are automatically added to the in-game friends list.

• Fix issue with focus in Popups.
• Add missing parallax effect in the main menu.
• Editor: Fix crash when deleting pressed with an uninitialized tile selected.

• Renamed "Syncing" with more meaningful Strings.
• Placeholder text now shown if an input icon is missing.
• Added an award list to the in game overlay.

• Added sound effect for the spaceship's tractor beam.

🥳 And what better way to celebrate a decade of Rusty Lake than with:

• A new free-to-play game: The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show - hat tricks, sleight of hand, and a few unexpected reveals you don’t want to miss;
  
• An early look at our upcoming premium Rusty Lake game
  
• And special Rusty Lake anniversary merch in collaboration with Lost in Cult - available to pre-order right now;
  
• A week-long platform-wide discounts of up to 66% OFF on all our premium games, including hosting our very own Rusty Lake Anniversary Steam Sale Page

Of course, the sale includes The White Door, which you can now download and play for 66% off! Can you bring colour back to Bob's life among the monotony of his daily routine?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145960/The_White_Door/

And don't forget to check out our new magical puzzle game: The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show. A free-to-play short but magical game filled with enough secrets and unexpected twists to put you in a celebratory mood!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3472550/The_Mr_Rabbit_Magic_Show/

Keep an eye out for secrets while playing The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show, and you might just find an early look at our next Rusty Lake adventure! Wishlist now to stay up to date!

As a special thank-you for your continued support over the past 10 years, we’re excited to further delight you with some special Rusty Lake anniversary merch in collaboration with Lost in Cult available to pre-order as of today, April 30th:

• 🎵 Rusty Lake: Sounds of the Lake 10th Anniversary Vinyl Collection - 20 of Rusty Lake’s Greatest Hits performed by Victor Butzelaar.
  
• 🃏 A mysterious deck of cards (perfect for your own magic tricks) - designed by Maarten Pelders, inspired by the series’ surreal symbols and characters.
  
• 📖 A re-launch of our fan-favourite Paradox Comic Book by Lau Kwong Shing

Whether you’ve been a part of our Rusty Lake universe since the first launch of a Cube Escape title back in 2015, or you’ve joined our journey during our later years, we’d like to share a heartfelt Thank you! from the whole Rusty Lake team!
Thanks to you and your incredible support, we’ve had an amazing 10 years, and we’re as excited as ever to continue exploring the mysteries of Rusty Lake with more video games, short films, tablet-top experiences and much more! We hope you’ll stick around for what’s to come!

The past is never dead.

A few items will be released over the next few days in May.

First the game will have a major discount (and all DLCs minor discounts) which will be ongoing for the next 13 days.

Next we will be releasing a patch with some minor bug fixes.

Lastly stay tuned for another exciting news release with some details of the endless Campaign Feature that is being added to base game for free along with news on the next Mythical Mayhem expansion.

Ever since we launched Still Wakes the Deep nearly one year ago, we have been blown away by the reception it received. From glowing reviews by the media and content creators experiencing the demise of the Beira D alongside their chat, all the way to every single review and comment made by our incredible players, including you reading this right now - it has truly been heartwarming.

What made us even happier were the awards that we were not only nominated for, but won! While there are still some award ceremonies to come in the following months, we wanted to take the time to celebrate the successes Still Wakes the Deep has had over the past year with you. After all, a game is nothing without its players.


BAFTA:

New Intellectual Property
Performer in a Leading Role (Alec Newman as Caz)
Performer in a Supporting Role (Karen Dunbar as Finlay)

NYX Awards:

Xbox Best Horror Game (Grand Winner)
Xbox Best Art Direction (Grand Winner)
Xbox Best Narrative (Grand Winner)
Xbox Best Audio Design (Gold Winner)
Creature Design (Grand Winner)

TIGA:

Heritage in Games
Audio Design

Horror Game Awards:

Best Indie Horror Game
Technical Achievement

NAVGTR: Use of Sound
Debug Indie Game Awards: Best Sound Design
Xbox Excellence Award
EDGE Magazine:Best Performance (Alec Newman as Caz)
New York Times: Best Games of 2024
Smash Jump: Best Horror Game


BAFTA:

Artistic Achievement
Audio Achievement
Narrative
British Game
Performer in a Supporting Role (Michael Abubakar as Brodie)

Golden Joysticks:

Best Audio Design
Best Supporting Performer (Neve McIntosh as Suze)

DICE:

Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design
Outstanding Achievement in Story

MCV/Develop:

Audio Innovation of the Year
Narrative Innovation of the Year
Campaign of the Year

TIGA:

Creativity in Games
Action and Adventure Games

UKIE:

Best UK PC Game
Best UK Console Game
Best UK Game of the Year

NAVGTR:

New IP (Adventure)
Lead Performer (Alec Newman as Caz)

Horror Game Awards:

Horror Game of the Year
Best Performance (Alec Newman as Caz)

Music and Sound Awards:

Best Sound Design in a Video Game
Best Vocal Performance in a Video Game (Alec Newman as Caz)

Debug Indie Game Awards: Best Voice Acting
DIGY (Dope Indie Games of the Year): Best Horror
G.A.N.G: Best Ensemble Cast Performance
IGN: Best Horror Game
Gameluster: Goldilocks Award for Excellence in AA Gaming

Thank you all so much for your continued support. We are truly honoured to receive these awards, and wouldn’t be able to achieve this without you.

- Slightly reduced Koldunak’s (Fire Wizard) health and life drain damage, as he was too strong for the difficulty levels where he first appears. We're considering an Uber version for higher difficulties to maintain challenge later on.

Welcome to devlog #4! This one is mainly focusing on audio! Alongside getting the game fully functional, we've been in the trenches getting the game's voice acting and audio ready for Arc 1's release. We'd like to preview some of the sounds you'll hear in the game!


But before we jump into covering the audio, holding down the front line—it's Harriet Colbourne!


Harriet is about as rigid as it gets. She's stoic, tough, and utterly devoted to Anyta's future. To her, protecting Anyta is a mission, one where failure would be worse than death. It's debatable whether or not Harriet is even capable of relaxing—no one has seen her laugh before. However, sometimes her words carry less bravado than usual. It appears that not even the most durable suit of armor can shield the heart.



On the battlefield, Harriet serves as the premier tank in the roster. With strong bulk, further enhanced by blades, Harriet can take a lot of punishment. Her job is to maintain the enemy's attention and keep herself alive. To that end, she uses the Death Threat Command, which guarantees that the enemy will attack Harriet. Do note that Death Threat actually raises the enemy's offenses unless a Positive Mark is burned—use it with caution.

She eventually learns some other skills to help control enemies and protect allies. The game has its fair share of units devoted to defense, but no one else is committed to the role as much as Harriet.


In preparation for future builds, we have went back in and revisited what the game sounds like. The Kickstarter demo utilized a lot of harsh, mechanical sounds for the game's UI, a remnant of earlier builds.

Certain sounds have been swapped out for more bouncy, energetic sounds, like record scratching, and in general we're approaching the audio experience of the game with a lot more intentionality this time.

A notable addition is that the game now has an announcer. Certain games use an announcer or narrator to enhance the feeling of playing it, and we're following suit with a booming, suave voice. He'll present characters, give encouragement, and commentate on other parts of the game as you play through it.

Here's a small preview of what the announcer sounds like! Just know there's a lot more examples that you'll hear in game!




Our composer, dante, has been hard at work developing new music tracks for the game! Here's a preview of one of the story tracks that the game will have — used for calmer moments in the narrative.



We're very proud of how the soundtrack's developing! There's much more to come in future builds and updates!


As of now, we're wrapping up voice acting sessions for Arc 1's release! In total, we estimate that we've recorded over 1500+ lines amongst the current cast. And there's more to come in the future!

We wanted to include a small preview of the results, showcasing a couple characters whose performances have yet to be shown off in their entirety so far!

Do note that the audio is not yet finalized. Aspects like volume, filters, etc. may vary from this preview and the final product.



The Arc 1 build is planned to have a significant portion of the voice acting finished. Playable characters and enemies will be voiced, with some minor exceptions that will be sorted out in future builds.


Voice acting was the last major addition to be included in the game before we start the alpha testing, so know that we're quickly approaching that milestone. In the meantime, we're getting some of the last features ready and making sure everything is where it needs to be.



We'll be announcing the date that we start alpha testing as well as giving directions to backers on how to access it at a later date. The next devlog will most likely focus on giving an overview of what alpha testing will be like. Tentatively, you can expect alpha testing to start in about 2 months.



As always, thanks for reading the devlog! Big things are coming, so I hope to see you again for the next update!

Thank you for your time,
-Smithy, Hybrid Fiction Games

- You can now view mission details by hovering over mission star icons on the map.
- Pressing the Tab key lets you switch between tabs inside panels for quicker navigation.
- Removed the sound effect that played when creating waypoints.
- Fixed few bugs related to Loadouts and the Cargo Hold.
- Fixed a bug that caused issues when loading a saved game from the main menu.
- Minor bug fixes and improvements.

Fixed Page Up and Page Down handling.

- Added Gamepad support (works great on Steam Deck!)*
- Added Casino-minigame for El Cobra
- Added Junkyards. (You need to start a new game for them to show up)
- You can now visit El Cobra without any prerequisites. (You need to start a new game for this location to show up, unless you already have access to it)
- Added the option to refuel jerrycans at gas-stations
- Added a bunch of new cosmetic items!
- More side-stops appear even on later playthroughs now.
- Added option for borderless full-screen
- Added campsite-side stops (You need to start a new game for them to show up)
- At campsites you can rest for free and fully restore energy

- Fixed bug where you could get the cold status when sleeping in the desert, even if you had a sleeping bag or slept in a hostel
- Fixed bug where items outside trunk would be invisible when the upgrade-tab was active
- Fixed bug where hitchhikers would be invisible after returning to a destination with tow-truck or by calling parents
- Fixed a bug where explore-locations in cities could be loaded as forest-explorations
- Fixed an issue where some illegal actions could be made while in the road event tutorial
- Fixed a very rare crash that could happen during quite specific circumstances (had to do with rust-buildup on car during rain)
- Increased energy cost of skill: "Cub Scout"
- the Suspension-upgrade now removes car-bumping
- Fixed bug where the Bride's pickup-banter would overwrite other Hitchhiker's banter
- Fixed some typos

* If you play on Steam deck, make sure to not lock your FPS for best possible performance.

We also want to thank all the 100 000+ people who bought the game! Thank you playing and writing messages to us and supporting the bands! It's our biggest game yet and we're so happy so many people are enjoying it. Here's a little trailer for the new content all recorded with gamepad:



Cheers,
Y/CJ/Y

🥳 And what better way to celebrate a decade of Rusty Lake than with:

• A new free-to-play game: The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show - hat tricks, sleight of hand, and a few unexpected reveals you don’t want to miss;
  
• An early look at our upcoming premium Rusty Lake game
  
• And special Rusty Lake anniversary merch in collaboration with Lost in Cult - available to pre-order right now;
  
• A week-long platform-wide discounts of up to 66% OFF on all our premium games, including hosting our very own Rusty Lake Anniversary Steam Sale Page

Of course, the sale includes Cube Escape Collection, which you can now download and play for 66% off! Enjoy our first 9 Cube Escape chapters bundled and preserved for your puzzle-solving pleasure!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1292940/Cube_Escape_Collection/

And don't forget to check out our new magical puzzle game: The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show. A free-to-play short but magical game filled with enough secrets and unexpected twists to put you in a celebratory mood!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3472550/The_Mr_Rabbit_Magic_Show/

Keep an eye out for secrets while playing The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show, and you might just find an early look at our next Rusty Lake adventure! Wishlist now to stay up to date!

As a special thank-you for your continued support over the past 10 years, we’re excited to further delight you with some special Rusty Lake anniversary merch in collaboration with Lost in Cult available to pre-order as of today, April 30th:

• 🎵 Rusty Lake: Sounds of the Lake 10th Anniversary Vinyl Collection - 20 of Rusty Lake’s Greatest Hits performed by Victor Butzelaar.
  
• 🃏 A mysterious deck of cards (perfect for your own magic tricks) - designed by Maarten Pelders, inspired by the series’ surreal symbols and characters.
  
• 📖 A re-launch of our fan-favourite Paradox Comic Book by Lau Kwong Shing

Whether you’ve been a part of our Rusty Lake universe since the first launch of a Cube Escape title back in 2015, or you’ve joined our journey during our later years, we’d like to share a heartfelt Thank you! from the whole Rusty Lake team!

Thanks to you and your incredible support, we’ve had an amazing 10 years, and we’re as excited as ever to continue exploring the mysteries of Rusty Lake with more video games, short films, tablet-top experiences and much more! We hope you’ll stick around for what’s to come!

The past is never dead.