Uberlaufer update for 9 January 2022

Early Access Launch Version 0.955

Thank you so much for supporting the Early Access version of the game. This is a solo developed title and I am very interested in feedback and ideas. Feel free to participate in the Discord or post something in the Steam discussion forums. When I started creating this game, it was really about creating a game I wanted to play in VR that did not exist. Thanks for all the encouragement and support! Please be patient as it takes a while to make changes and do adequate testing as a solo developer. My current list of priorities are listed at the end of this update below.

Enhancements / Revisions

• Wells may now appear in the dungeon. Wells can be used to dispose bodies but you can also throw coins in them for a chance to find something (with a twist). Each time you throw a coin in, you have a chance of getting a random item, nothing at all, or LOSING an item (a 5% chance.) You can keep throwing coins in till you win or lose, then it can no longer be used for luck. You can even get items that you do not have unlocked yet like uniforms as well as key objective items like dossiers or gold keys. If you are unlucky and lose an item however, the item will spawn in front of you and drop into the well to let you know what you lost. An achievement has also been added related to wells.
• Broken columns now appear in rooms which can be used for cover.
• There are a new set of tutorials that appear in 3D space in front of different key objects to help educate players. I added this after watching videos of players who did not understand certain things. They only display once. I will continue to add these as new features are implemented.
• The spoken narration on the start/help book only plays once per dungeon, not everytime you grab it.
• It should be easier to reload as the contact grabbing has been enhanced
• It should be easier for seated players to grab items as the distance grab has been extended.
• Hiding spots are now much darker inside
• Enemies wander more frequently
• Regular enemy stopping distance has been greatly reduced. This is how close the enemy gets to you if their view of you is obstructed. SS will still keep their distance.
• User presence is no longer used to auto-pause the game while you are actually in a dungeon. If you take your headset off, be sure to pause the game yourself. This fixes a problem that made taking SteamVR screenshots very difficult, and fixes some issues with overlays on the Quest causing various problems. I may re-enable this later, but I've noticed other OpenXR games doing the same thing for now.
• American equivalent of German rank now also displayed on start bio screen as this will be a little more relatable to most in the United States
• Some changes have been made to the Soldbuch that now display passive effects you might have gotten as this will be important for future updates. Passive effects displayed today are Uniform, Pilot's Salt, Welding Gloves, Trap protection, Silent Fingers and P08 damage boost. An upcoming version will have stolen artifacts/relics you can find in the dungeon that apply passive effects as well. I will need to figure out a new way to design the Soldbuch because there is simply not enough room to display everything for the future content I have planned.
• The standard P08 now has the tactical light unlocked at start and does not require an achievement. The suppressed P08 still must have its tactical light unlocked via an achievement. This is to help players who are having problems seeing, but be warned light can alert guards. Switch it on and off for best results.
• A thud sound is played when enemy bodies hit the bottom of the pit.

Bug Fixes

• Enemy obstacle radius increased to help eliminate bodies sticking
• Tight corridors have been widened to prevent AI having avoidance issues
• There was a bug that prevented players from throwing coins they had earned within a session as a distraction. This was most noticeable to new players who did not have a lot of coins.
• There was an annoying gap between floors which was very visible when climbing ladders
• It was rare, but possible for guards to appear to float high in the air or sink into the floor. This was a dynamic navmesh problem that has been fixed.
• Prevent torches from spawning on poster in the start area.
• Prevent hiding spots from spawning in the start area
• Fixed bug preventing uniform from spawning in secret stashes
• Adjusted tables so they are not culled (made not visible) too close to the player
• Fixed a bug that allowed the gun magazine to be grabbed while it was still in the gun with no hand holding it
• Glitch that would shift position of movie reels when attaching them has been fixed.
• It was possible for the game to not launch if the user's steam session auth ticket never arrived due to expiration or Steam being down. This will now timeout after 15 seconds and force start the game without leaderboard connection.
• Fixed bug that would allow you to eject a magazine when there wasn't one in the gun
• Dossiers have been reverted back to completely random instead of favoring the newer dossiers people were missing for the achievement. If you are trying to get this achievement, whatever you are missing will eventually turn up.
• When you ejected a magazine, it would not show bullets in it even if it was not empty. This was just a visual bug and was fixed. Ammo worked properly.

Priorities

• Bug fixes / General Game Enhancements
• Toggle Grab (It's coming...working through various issues so its not quite ready yet)
• Improve enemy behavior when eluding them.
• Improve ladder grabbing
• Rebalancing shop cost based on changes and play data
• Reinvestigate modifying play rig to not push back and allow leaning over objects without cheating
• New Room Types (infirmary and bathroom), Objects and New Drugs
• Breakable walls, secret corridors between rooms and discoverable relics / artifacts with special abilities that can be reused without buying them every time including clues where objective items can be found.
• Personality traits based on gameplay affecting outcomes
• Pet companion