Hello Climbers!

You asked for it, and we provided: You can now exit and save your campaign run mid-session, to return to it later!



Maybe you are forty minutes into a run and want to call it for the night after dying, or perhaps you just need to take a break for a while, you can now do so after you have uploaded save disks in each safe area.



You'll know when a zone is secured and it is safe to exit when you see the 'Zone Secured' text on the bottom of your screen. Once that's gone, you're in danger! If you already have a save disk stashed but aren't in a secure zone, you can 'unsafely' exit, effectively killing your character to be revived at the standard cost when you return to the game.

Once you're out of lives, there is no exiting to continue your run later. Better make the rest of your session count!

This is not meant as a system of permanent save states, and your save is deleted when you enter the game, so no save scumming! Currently this feature is only available in the Campaign, but we're open to bringing it to Endless down the line.

Massive Optimizations

But that's not all!

We've also been working on some major optimizations under the hood which will hopefully help lower-end systems perform as well as possible. In our internal testing, we're seeing framerate improvements of up to 30% on some of our systems, and we'll be continuing to tune the game's performance throughout early access.

The Roadmap

We have so much stuff planned, and we know you are all super excited for new content.

The first Major Update coming to White Knuckle is The Challenge Update, clambering into your computers sometime in June/July!

It's got some features we are super excited to show off, including Challenge Maps: a new gamemode where you can select handcrafted levels and compete for score-based medals, each level built to be as interesting or difficult as possible, each unlocked as you progress further in the Campaign. Once this gamemode is out, we'll be adding new Challenge maps over the course of Early Access!

In addition, the Challenge Update will come with a new mode: The Training Sector, and level expansions to the current regions in the game (With a focus on Habitation), so there's even more variety as you play through Campaign and Endless.

After the Challenge update is the Abyss, the fourth major region on your route to escape the Substructure. A familiar threat will return, though in a different, much more terrifying form, and the chase is back on.

After the Abyss, well, is the rest of Early Access. We'll be updating this roadmap to provide more details on what's ahead as we get closer, so keep your eyes peeled for further announcements!


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-Dark Machine Games

NEW FEATURES/CONTENT

• Saving and Continuing
  
  • You are now able to save and exit your run, so you can continue it later, so long as you have a disk stashed.
    
  • After saving at an upgrade console, the room you are in is marked 'secure', letting you leave your game and continue later so long as you save in the zone.
    
  • Outside of the secure zone, as long as you have a life stashed you can exit the game at the cost of one life, upon continuing reviving the player at the last safe area like a regular revive. (with associated loss of items.)
  
  
• New Music Track for Haunted Pier
  
• Y̵̦̿o̷͇̊͛ṳ̸̢́̇ ̶̱̽̉w̸̩̒͘ͅą̵̍̑ṋ̴̜̉̚ṯ̷̲͒̍ ̷̦͝t̸͍͆õ̸̬̇ ̶̥̂́c̶̛̳̒l̵͈̔i̶̡̖͒m̷̡͔̓͘b̷̰͂ ̴̢̬̀͝t̶͔͛h̸͉̭͊͑e̴͐̚͜ ̷̢͎̎l̴̘̻͗̀ả̵̼͚̎d̴̜͎̂d̴̼͂̚è̶̲ṙ̴̹͊
  

IMPROVEMENTS/BALANCE

• Massive Optimizations
  
  • Nearly every major shader has had an optimization pass to improve performance on lower end systems. Frametime tests indicate upwards of a 30% improvement (on some systems)
    
  • Custom lighting engine code has been streamlined.
    
  • Light partitioning system now manages distance a bit more efficiently, improving CPU performance in certain areas.
    
  
  
• Turrets
  
  • Are now easier to knock over with projectiles
    
  • Heavier projectiles (Rebar, Flares) will now insta-kill turrets even if they are in a bad position to be knocked over. Basically, Player ranged attacks are much more reliable!
    
  
  

BUG FIXES

• Fix: Vent thing should no longer leave the player floating if you manage to escape it's range while being held.
  
• Fix: Service Shaft 02 cabinet has proper collision
  
• Fix: Delta Labs entrance no longer has a hole in the geo
  
• Fix: A few spots in Haunted Pier no longer softlock the player if you fall into them
  
• Fix: M3_Habitation_Lab_02 secret room properly stops the mass when in the vents
  
• Fix: Fixed hiding your UI with F2 breaking certain items
  
• Fix: The Void Killbox in Haunted Pier should no longer be avoidable
  
• Fix: Climbing ropes in Haunted Pier no longer glitches the hands at low stamina
  
• Fix: Reloading a flare gun should now properly update encumbrance values.
  
• Fix: Save/Respawn effect should now properly disable after reviving/saving
  
• Fix: Ladder in Shattered 02 now has proper collision
  
• Fixed lighting on Interlude 2 Switch
  
• Fix: Various Z-fighting visual bugs across the game.
  
• Fix: The revive overlay effect should no longer rarely stay visible after reviving.
  
• Fix: You can no longer hold two notes up close and overlap their text.
  
• Fix: The Mass should no longer lose it's audio after the player revives after dying to it.
  
• Fix: You should no longer be able to get stuck in the grates in Drainage 04
  
• Fix: The softlock in the disk-loading popup within the Upgrade Computer.
  
• Fix: Injectors not spawning in Vendors.