In Sound Mind update 1.05 - New 8 bit tracks from The Living Tombstone and more! Hello fellow Desmonds,
We're excited to ship In Sound Mind patch 1.05 across all platforms today. This update brings further performance optimizations to the game, user experience improvements, bug fixes AND a few new secrets. In addition, we're launching Steam Trading Cards for In Sound Mind! There's a lot to go over, so let's get started.
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and leave a review to support the game! Further Optimization Improvements We hear your feedback, and we took the time to further optimize the game. After further inspection, we've identified that for most players, the game is experiencing CPU bottlenecks even on high end rigs with great CPUs. The biggest offender were the real time shadow calculations, which, before rendering, were taking a big toll on the CPU every frame. From this, we’ve refactored our real time shadows system over the course of the last few months. In addition, we've optimized certain boss AIs, inkblots, effects, and level logic to further bring down the CPU load.
Among our tests, we used an Nvidia 1070 GTX / Intel I5 7600k / 16GB rig on high settings to test the new update (1.05) vs the previous update (1.04) and could see improvement from 10-30% in average FPS, depending on the area, hovering 60 FPS. Areas with a lot of light and details were showing an improvement, whereas other areas saw a smaller improvement (but generally were lighter to begin with). Keep in mind, while this is a positive enhancement and should affect all game systems and rigs, it might affect each system differently so it's hard to guarantee exact numbers.
Changelog In Sound Mind 1.05.0511 General -
There are now 6 hidden portable game systems scattered around the game, playing each features a brand new 8-bit version of a song by The Living Tombstone from the OST. Go hunt for them! -
Added a new in-game animated video by Mashed, featuring the theme song by The Living Tombstone and accessible after finishing the game - Weapon switching is now significantly faster, improving combat experience during the late stages of the game when scrolling through an arsenal of 8 weapons. It's no longer required to confirm with an extra click when switching weapons
- Equipment UI now shows ammo count and renders the weapon red when it runs out of ammo
- Performance improvements, including optimizations to the real time shadow rendering system
- Additional optimizations to much of the puzzle and level logic across the game
- Refactored the enemy inkblots music system, addressing some edge cases causing their music to remain past combat.
- Mirror debris on the floor, indicating there's a Mirror Shard puzzle nearby, will only glow once and stay for longer
- Mirror Shard attack range increased
- When finishing a level, the final door now glows in the mirror from a distance
- The Radio Device features new lights indicating the device status
- Decreased the speed granted when consuming a Lure Pill, but increased its effect duration and improved on screen effect
- It's now easier to collect items under temporary barrel and boxes debris
- Added new enemy inkblot music when fighting the brute type
- Fixed a few animation issues causing enemy inkblots to stutter
- The enemy brute inkblot shields less often
- Enemy inkblot weakpoints now glow in red instead of green
- Crows now have red eyes and will properly react to noise
- Added a failsafe system in case pills were collected and an achievement was not triggered correctly (previously could happen during old save migrations)
- Fixed a highlight issue when replaying a tape, causing specifically sequenced collectible pills (the pill in C1 photobooth, rolling pill in C2 cliffs, dropped pill in on the electricity pole in C3 near power station) to highlight incorrectly.
- Increased player controls while in mid-air, giving players more agency when platforming and especially in the finale tape
- Locked doors will now automatically open when unlocked with their corresponding key
- Many level bug fixes, balancing and tweaks across the entire game - more on this below
- Video settings added: Fog Quality and Texture Streaming
- Spotty volumetric fog, usually seen near windows, was improved and can be set via Fog Quality
- Fixed a bug causing saves not to write to disk properly when using a non-Gregorian calendar settings - more on this
here - Various localization improvements
- Fixed a bug causing the Audio volume settings to not save correctly when closing the game
- Fixed a bug causing electricity wires to appear red in the Mirror Shared reflection even when they are correctly active after reloading a save
- Pressing ESC when viewing a note will first dismiss it rather than pause the game
- Fixed an issue causing the trees to not move in the wind
- Fixed a bug causing the contaminated water to appear low-quality
- Fixed a bug causing the game objectives text to wrap unexpectedly
- Fixed the locked basement door issue when starting a new game from the 2nd starting point
- Fixed wrong UI scales in the Load Game screen in some resolutions
- Various UI improvements and optimizations
The Building (Hub) - General performance improvements, lighting improvements and bug fixes in the hub level.
- Added a new portable game system in the hub! Go hunt for it.
- Added a telescope at the rooftop chill area.
- After completing a tape, a new postcard will now appear in Desmond's office wall showcasing the places he visited.
- Added a hint to the Flare Gun puzzle room as well as new Agent Rainbow graffiti.
- Moved the collectible pill from next to the Pistol parts quest note to the gas room nearby.
- We unhinged the Maintenance Room's door and threw it on the ground.
- There's now a red blinking light near ringing phones in the hub hallways, making it easier to spot which phone is ringing.
- Added an Unnatural Darkness puzzle in the Mail Room with a small reward.
- The building basement now floods after the third tape. Find a way to drain it to get new rewards!
- Vinyl records in apartments now glow in the Mirror Shard's reflection.
- At the introduction phase, when at the top floor, Your Office and Desmond's Apartment are revealed in two separate steps to make it less overwhelming.
- Switched between early Vitalyx and Enduramin collectible pills to make it easier to get at least one of each upgrade before the first tape.
Homa Mart (Supermarket) - General performance improvements, lighting improvements and bug fixes in the hub level.
- Originally, only the supermarket had a portable game system. It is updated to align with the new tracks.
- Further optimized the reflection in the large mirrors in the center of the supermarket.
- Fixed an issue causing The Watcher to sometimes scream randomly. It's ok, you can rest now.
- If you finish the tape and still have pills to collect, a new note appears encouraging to use the Mirror Shard to find them.
- In the power room puzzle (right before Dave's moment), we changed the letters to numbers to create better consistency across different languages. Tweaked the note hint a bit.
- The supermarket map now shows the maintenance doors in red.
- The collectible 4 dolls are now highlighted using the Mirror Shard.
- Moved the Pen and Sticky Notes item to the office, close to the window.