New Beneath the Surface dev diary for Sheltered

Post-apocalyptic is one of those settings that just resonates with me, and I've been personally keeping an eye on Sheltered for a while now. So far, things are looking good.

Here's the press announcement:

Just a quick mail to keep you updated with recent developments for post-apocalyptic survival game, Sheltered, which is co-developed with Unicube and is currently available in the Xbox One Game Preview and Steam Early Access.

There’s a new Danger update going live around midday GMT today. To support the update, we’ve released the next of our behind the scenes developer diary videos “Beneath the Surface”.

The YouTube link to the trailer is here: https://youtu.be/i5jBR6TE7vs

Full details of the update are:

NEW FEATURES

• Shelter Raids:
• Raiders attempt to break into your shelter to steal food and supplies
• The shelter door can now be upgraded to be made stronger and more resilient to attacks
• New craftable traps to keep them out are now available: Paint Can Trap, Spike Trap, Shotgun Trap
• New Radiation and Oxygen Functionality:
• Radiation is no longer present at all times
• Radiation clouds now accompany dust storms
• The oxygen filter is now used to provide oxygen for the shelter instead of clear radiation
• The oxygen filter must be upgraded to provide more oxygen as the number of people in the shelter increases
• Recruit Loyalty:
• Newly recruited members of the shelter begin in auto-mode. Player must gain their loyalty before they receive full control over them
• Recruits can now be dismissed from the shelter
• Recruits that become too stressed or unhealthy will leave the shelter
• When recruits leave, there is now a chance they may steal something or sabotage an object
• There is now a chance that a recruit is a psychopath and may sabotage the shelter or kill a family member if triggered
• Horse Pet:
• The player can now select a horse as the shelter pet
• Factions:
• Certain areas of the map are now controlled by dangerous factions
• Each faction have new and unique visuals and dialogue

GENERAL CHANGES

• Doors now open automatically for characters
• A saddle and stable are craftable if the player starts with the horse
• Damaged objects may now catch fire
• A fire extinguisher is now craftable to put out fires
• Expedition parties may now encounter wolves and bears
• A ‘Move All’ option when transferring items has been added

BUG FIXES ANDS CHANGES

• The dog no longer targets dead enemies
• The bucket toilet that requires washing now saves and loads correctly
• Player can now change the first character in an expedition set up if the second one is wearing the hazmat suit
• Paint no longer refreshes on a save data load
• Players can now scroll through an output list in the recycling plant
• The character no longer gets an incompletable clean task if another character grabs the mop first
• NPCs can no longer target the dog in combat
• Two pieces of trash are no longer created when the character cooks at the stove
• Players no longer lose items when trading a matching item with a full inventory
• Incinerator can now be moved in 'Rearrange Shelter' mode
• A UI for switching between characters in encounters has now added
• Children’s animation when filling the pet bowl now displays correctly
• Recall party is no longer cancelled if the player exits the game then loads save data
• It’s no longer possible to send out 2 separate parties and use the camper van on both expeditions
• Characters with guns will no longer shoot at enemies that have died in the same turn in combat
• The correct stat icon is now used at the encounter results screen
• Attention icon for the intercom no longer overlays the encounter screen
• Characters now correctly receive trauma if an NPC in an encounter is killed by bleeding
• SFX for the freezers is now correctly controlled by the SFX sound slider in Options
• Bandages now always appear white when used in combat
• Paint stripper no longer turns walls grey
• Camera can now correctly focus on newly constructed rooms built on the new floor of the left side of shelter
• Ladders can now be placed on the right side of shelter rooms
• Ladders no longer move position when crafted
• It’s no longer possible to craft items in illegal positions
• Hair styles that previously did not match the avatar now display correctly
• Player is now correctly unable to trade items with NPCs if there isn’t enough room in their inventory
• A player can no longer search a location after fleeing from an encounter there
• The excellent stove can no longer be used when the generator is out of fuel or at 0% integrity
• The character's foot no longer intersects the stump in the Lumber Yard during encounters
• The Metal Detector/Gas Mask/Binoculars no longer have a yellow border in the incinerator interface, it is now blue
• Selecting “promise” on The Other Shelter scenario will now allow the NPC to return to the shelter
• The hammering animation now plays when an adult female in the hazmat suit fixes a filter
• The character’s head now appears correctly when using all beds
• Players are now able to move a stack of items for incineration when using the incinerator
• The binoculars sight bonus remains active on expeditions after saving and loading
• The perception counter no longer resets after saving and loading if an expedition is on-going
• There is no longer a limit to the amount of expedition parties that can be deployed
• A list of quests and scenarios in the journal now displays correctly when the player has 4 or more active
• Characters no longer become stuck if a party member goes catatonic whilst returning from an expedition
• We have standardised the amount the player can zoom in on the map screen
• Corrected a spelling mistake in the conversation in 'The Rude Guy' quest
• Looting now behaves correctly after killing one enemy in combat but allowing another to flee
• The game no longer crashes if attempting to change family/pet name when the game is loading
• We have fixed an issue where an additional B press is needed to dismiss the pause menu
• Enemies in combat no longer attack party members killed by bleeding
• We fixed an issue where characters would not go catatonic if selected
• Changing the sound effects volume now correctly applies to the main menu
• A player can no longer craft items if their shelter storage is full
• We fixed an issue where small objects would become inaccessible if a character went catatonic in front of them
• Pantry sprites now update to appear full when they are filled from rations returned from an expedition
• Characters returning from an expedition now return from the right hand side of the screen instead of the left
• The menu music should start earlier
• The controls screen is updated to now include a new method of automating characters
• Automatic Hazmat suit return prior to leaving for expeditions
• The power cord on 'Small Freezer' no longer appears in front of other objects
• A player can no longer repair objects that are in use
• The Camper Van components are now recyclable
• The cursor is now visible when placing shelter rooms, paint and paint stripper
• Base trade value of leather has been changed from 8 to 4
• We have reduced the time required to fix the Good Shower
• We have reduced the amount of actions that create a message in the commentary panel
• Unique icons added to distinguish between objects being out of power, disabled or broken
• Quests and scenario names now appear when the location is hovered over on the map

Article by Nick