Hey folks!
Update 1.3 is here with a bunch of new cool stuff for you to play around with, so let's get right into the changes!
New gameplay mutators
Remember that sole "Auto-grab ammo" checkbox? That's what I call a "gameplay mutator".
Despite having a system for them in place, I didn't have the time nor the ideas for more of these - polishing and preparing for release took priority.
Now that the game's out, this means I could finally go back to these and add more of them.
You'll find the update brings 14 new gameplay mutators.
Among these is a magazine system for all you realism lovers; a currency system for the loadouts intended to make the start of the game harder, since you have access to far less gear with it enabled, and some silly inclusions like exploding enemies, sawn-off shotguns for everyone, and more.
Don't worry, as these mutators are optional, your existing playthrough savefiles will remain as they were.
Rain
One feature I wanted to have on release, but once again didn't have the time for, is rain... update 1.3 takes care of that!
It is enabled on five levels in the base game campaign. If you wish to find out which those are - check the changelog available further down in this announcement.
Rain in Intravenous isn't just a visual thing - it increases the ambient noise level when present, allowing you to get away with more noise when moving around, or taking enemies out.
Rain not only changes the way the levels are played, but also changes the feel of the levels themselves.
Don't want/like rain? Have no fear - you can turn it off using one of the newly-added gameplay mutators. :)
Want rain on every level? No problem, there is a newly-added gameplay mutator for that, too!
New tonemap option
You'd be surprised at how much of a difference something as simple as a tonemapper can make for a game's visuals.
Update 1.3 brings a new 'filmic' tonemapper - it amps up the contrast on the image, making bright areas pop, while the darker areas remain close to how they were before.
If you've played Intravenous before, then when you first launch version 1.3, it will use the new tonemapper.
As with a lot of things in Intravenous - this is an optional setting, so if you find that you prefer the old one, simply switch to it in the options menu!
The full changelog
Version 1.3.0:
- added rain:
- it increases the ambient noise level, both inside and outside of buildings (more outside than inside), allowing the player to sneak around with less effort
- it is present on the following levels in the base campaign: Druggie Ghetto, Druggie Slums, Abandoned Warehouse, Abandoned Complex, and Epilogue
- can select whether falling rain droplets should be affected by lighting in the options menu - no impact on performance, this is purely a preferential choice
- added new gameplay mutators:
- Magazine system - when enabled, players will need to manually load magazines with ammo. Reloads will no longer replenish ammo instantaneously.
- Bankrupt Accomplice - when enabled, the equipment present in the loadout menu will be very limited. You'll need to find and exfiltrate with weapons in your possession if you wish to use them for the next missions. This setting completely ignores the weapons you've unlocked on your previous playthroughs.
- Currency system - requires Bankrupt Accomplice to be enabled; when enabled - even more weapons become unavailable. In addition to exfiltrating with weapons in your possession, you will be able to spend money, which you earn by completing the campaign missions, to unlock weapons. Those looking for more "graded" progression equipment-wise should like this one.
- Sawn-off shotguns for everyone - what it says on the tin. Are you a bad enough dude to go against an army of sawn-off shotgun wielding goons?
- Desert Eagles for everyone - same as the sawn-off mutator. Combines well with the "Very Unfair" weapon randomization difficulty option.
- Ricochet party - bullets always ricochet off surfaces. try not to kill yourself with your own bullets, eh?
- Exploding enemies - when enemies die, they explode. Doesn't apply to non-lethal neutralizations. A practical way of enforcing a non-lethal playthrough... I think.
- Blinding enemies - same as exploding enemies, except they blind everyone around them.
- Always rainy - rain is present on all levels where it is possible for it to be present. Makes stealth easier, as the sound of rain masks the player's noise.
- Never rainy - does the opposite of "always rainy". This one seemed necessary, since there is rain in the base game campaign now :)
- Coin-flip rain - 50/50 chance on whether rain will be present.
- Dynamic rain - rain might start as you're playing through a level... or it might not
- Enemies always alert - enemies start out in their alert state.
- Waking enemies - unconscious enemies will not remain knocked out forever.
- added a new tonemap option to the options menu - players can switch between the default and the new, filmic, tonemap
- added a gunfire noise slider to custom difficulties
- russian localization tweaks
- german localization improvements
- savefile previews now list mutators used on the savefile (requires you to save at least once on old savefiles for them to show!)
- minor CPU optimizations
- fixed the player character swearing on the last level when dead
- fixed one of the broken windows in 'Druggie Ghetto' being unclimbable
- fixed the aim line disappearing when there is an object the player can interact with
- fixed aim object outline disappearing at times
- fixed environment sounds that fade in/out always starting out with volume at 100%, resulting in an audible "on" sound for a single frame when it starts playing
- fixed player-unbound actions being reset back to their default keys when starting the game
- fixed actors going to the "aim" animation instead of "idle breathe" animation after finishing a reload with a variable-reload weapon (ie. VP9, Remington 870)
- fixed being able to interact with doors/objects while climbing over things
- fixed the ambient sound volume slider not functioning properly (not affecting the actual sound levels)
- shell casings should no longer remain active forever (emitting a lot of sounds while they're at it) in some certain cases
- doors are no longer "aimable" (being able to aim at them was a debug feature, that I forgot to disable, to test the object outline system)
That about wraps it up! I hope these new features will make for a more fun experience.
The custom difficulties brought with update 1.2 were added specifically to allow players to have a finer degree of control over Intravenous.
Update 1.3 focuses primarily on new gameplay mutators in order to give you even more gameplay variety without compromising on the core gameplay design of the game.
Thanks for reading, and thank you so much for the continued support.
I truly hope you guys are still enjoying the game!
Changed files in this update