DIRECTOR'S CUT UPDATE DEVLOG
Soldiers, it has been a while! I hope you’ve all been well.
I’ve spent a lot of time since release closely monitoring feedback from reviews and have been working on a massive QOL & Accessibility expansion update for CONSCRIPT over the past year.
I originally wanted to get another patch out closer to launch, but it just kept getting bigger and bigger so I decided to just roll it all into one huge update. There were a lot of other roadblocks that were totally out of my control that also pushed the release timeline back. But we're here now.
Full patch notes can be found here, so the purpose of this post is to give a broad overview. The main goal with this update was to iron out as many of the common criticisms in a way that I felt didn’t mess with the original flow or spirit of the game.
Reading through a lot of the negative reviews, it seems there were a lot of smaller issues with the base game that compounded over the 12 hour runtime, leading to frustration for many players. Hopefully all these small changes and time-saves add up to reduce down-time and increase the overall pace of progress.
In the spirit of classic survival horror, I’ve titled this update the “Director’s Cut” update. I’d consider this to be the version of the game I’d have released if I had a bit more time to playtest the game thoroughly myself before launch with no pressure and stress.
Please note: this update is compatible with older save files, but for an optimal bug-free experience it’s recommended you start a fresh playthrough. It is also not advised that you use a new v2.0 save file on a v1.0 un-updated version of the game.
Part 1: New harder difficulty options
This update includes some brand new difficulty options to enjoy (or suffer through).
New Shellshock difficulty has been added to the game, which provides an even harder difficulty than Veteran mode. Enemy soldiers are faster and hit harder, and their health regenerates in-between room changes. Only for the most battle hardened of soldiers.
You can now choose to play the game on Hardcore mode (permadeath) before starting a new save file. If you enable this, your save file will be erased upon death.
You can earn a new S++ rank on Hardcore mode.
Tread carefully! You can enable Hardcore mode with any standard difficulty setting.
Part 2: New items & unlockables
Included in this update are some new items available in both the regular game and also in NewGame+ as rewards for completing the game. Some of these were beta items that didn’t make the cut for v1.0, others are totally new.
Craftsmans Kit item added to Merchant shop in chapter 3. Increases the amount of ammo received from crafting when held in inventory.
Combat Guide item added to the Merchant shop in chapter 4. Increases melee charging speed, increases melee critical hit chance and halves the amount of durability damage inflicted on weapons when held in inventory.
Dog Collar item added to the Merchant shop in chapter 5 for an expensive price. This item stops rats from spawning when held in inventory.
Torch Upgrade Kits are available throughout the game, allowing you to upgrade the battery life of your Trench Torch!
Knife Sharpeners available throughout the game, allowing you to upgrade the damage of the Knife.
Gunpowder (G) item added to the Merchant shop in NewGame+. Allows you to craft Grenade Launcher ammo.
New Boots item added to Merchant shop in NG+ for an expensive price. This item gives the player unlimited stamina when held in inventory.
Infinite Launcher weapon added after completing the game on Hardcore Shellshock difficulty. Acts like the regular Grenade Launcher but you never have to reload it.
Gold Armor added after completing the game on Shellshock difficulty with S+ rank. Acts like regular armor but with infinite durability.
Part 3: Addressing common criticisms
Criticism: “Too much backtracking & inventory management, even by classic survival horror standards”
New shortcuts were added throughout the game to help progress flow at a smoother pace. Thanks to these shortcuts, there is much less down time.
These new shortcuts are most noticeable in chapters 3 & 5, where they were needed most.
A few more item storage boxes have also been placed throughout the game, meaning less pointless backtracking.
New option that gives player unlimited sprint when not in combat to reduce the amount of time you spend managing stamina while running around. You can get around the map way faster when not having to worry about stamina! This really helps increase the pace of backtracking when you do need to do it. There are also a bunch of other new options you can check out in the full patch notes.
Four new special items added to the Merchant’s shop that give the player four extra inventory slots specifically for the Gas Mask, Torch, Knife and Lighter - freeing up some inventory space for other items you want to pick up. These items were chosen as they are all fairly essential for a playthrough and are needed at random intervals.
There are now more options to use or consume items that are on the ground without having to have enough space to pick them up. For example, you can insert batteries into the torch without needing space.
You can also combine items on the ground with items in your inventory without needing a free slot. This eliminates the issue where you'd have to run back to an item storage box just to combine an item.
If backtracking and inventory management is seriously something you despise in games, you can now start the game with the “Complete Bag” setting which starts you with all 16 inventory slots + 4 new special slots. An "A" rank will be the highest rank you can achieve if you do this. With this enabled, inventory management basically becomes a non-issue.
New save rooms have been added throughout the game, including one in Fort Souville, reducing the need to travel across the fort to access an item storage box.
Can now sell items in the item storage box directly to the Merchant without having to go back and forth between the shop and item storage box.
Criticism: “Combat lacks depth and often feels like ‘Benny Hill’ with too much running around”
Can now move slowly while aiming and shooting - giving the player more manoeuvrability in tight spaces. This makes combat feel a bit more dynamic and less “sprint away -> shoot -> sprint away -> reload”.
Shotguns now easily stagger groups of enemies backwards when the player is surrounded by enemies
Fully charged melee strikes now cause more knockback on enemies.
Criticism: “Secret ending is too obtuse and missable”
Flashback replay feature has been added after chapter 4. Simply sleep in the bed in Fort St. Michel where chapter 3 ends to replay any flashbacks you’ve completed. This can be done at any time after chapter 3.
Criticism: “Too many cigarettes in the late game with nothing to spend on”
New bonus items have been added to the Merchants shop to give players more to buy.
A larger stock of standard items have been added to the Merchant shop, with some items like Gun Parts becoming infinitely purchasable at the end of the game.
Criticism: “Too hard to keep track of what items you’ve left in a room”
You can now place map markers after purchasing the Pin Set item from the Merchant, which allows you to mark the map with pins. Doing this can help you remember what you left in different rooms, or if there are any points of interest you need to return to later.
Criticism: “Chapter 3…”
New shortcuts have been added to chapter 3 in various rooms to help with the flow of the level design.
A new hidden save room has been added to the Road area, which means less running around and less progress lost if you die.
Visually, certain rooms in the Road area have been made clearer. Hopefully this means less time trying to navigate through parts of the map that are visually confusing.
The Road map has added details where you can now clearly see the shape and form of each room–further aiding navigation.
In NewGame+, truck fast travel is available from the start of chapter 3, meaning you don't have to make the long trek down to Fort Saint Michel every playthrough.
Criticism: “Records screen is barebones and doesn't provide enough info on previous playthroughs...”
The records screen has gotten a substantial upgrade, and now shows your best rank, saves, heals, time and deaths.
I’ve only touched on a small portion of the changes made. Read the full patch notes below for a more in depth breakdown of the changes:
Other miscellaneous improvements & additions:
Assigned items now have a visual indicator that appears next to the player when swapping.
When examining weapons in the inventory, more stats are given.
Major NPCs now all have a unique character portrait that is displayed when you talk to them, helping give life to their character.
New "Diary" file automatically added to the Files collection. André automatically writes new entries as the story progresses. This helps you remember previous narrative events if you take some time off the game and return.
You can now examine save files to get more info about them.
Atmosphere and style of the main menu changes depending on your progress in the last played save.
New bag styles to unlock, including "Classic" style (guess the reference).
You can now save the game at the end of a chapter before the flashback sequence.
There's a bunch of new accessibility and QOL options available to play around with. For example, you can now change the colour of the health bar and also assign colours to the player, enemies and NPCs to help differentiate them.
Part 4: New achievements
8 new achievements have been added to the game for you to complete!
In My Restless Dreams - Complete a flashback replay.
Remember the Basics - Kill 15 enemies with a melee weapon with the Combat Guide in your inventory.
Assembling Parts - Craft ammunition 5 times with the Crafting Kit in your inventory.
Trench Foot - Run 1,000m with the New Boots equipped.
Blood and Iron - Complete the main story on any difficulty with the Hardcore setting enabled.
Dead Sentry - Complete the main story on Shellshock difficulty.
Making a New World - Achieve an S+ rank on Shellshock difficulty (no ending 1A or 1B).
Void of War - Complete the main story on Shellshock difficulty with the Hardcore setting enabled.
FULL PATCH NOTES AVAILABLE HERE!
Legacy Steam Branch
For those who want to go back and play the original Steam release, or continue their current playthroughs uninterrupted—I’ve implemented a Steam beta branch for you to revert your game version.
To access this branch, right-click on CONSCRIPT in your Steam library and then click on “Properties.”
Then, from the “Properties” menu, click on the “Betas” tab.
From there, you can select the Legacy version from the drop-down menu to install the original 1.0 version of CONSCRIPT.
Note: v2.0 save files will be incompatible with v1.0 of CONSCRIPT.
However, v1.0 save files are backwards compatible with v2.0—although it is still recommended you start a fresh save file for an optimal bug-free & balanced experience.
Thank You!
This will be the last major update for CONSCRIPT. Despite my best efforts, I was not able to secure the funding to develop a DLC expansion. For me to create fully-fledged new content, it’d have to be quite reduced in scope, which is something I’m not willing to do. CONSCRIPT is a very personal project for me, and so I don’t really want to add to the universe if I can’t give it everything it deserves.
However, I am really happy with this Director’s Cut update, and I think it’s a really good final form to leave the game in. At this point, I’m not really sure if I’ll ever return to the world of CONSCRIPT—time will tell. But thank you to everyone who took the time to play the game, it means a lot.
Steam Reviews
If you played the game and had hangups with any of these issues and left a negative Steam review for the game, it’d be greatly appreciated (if you have the time) if you could check out the new update and reconsider your review! If you play the update and still don’t like the game, that’s fair too, of course.
For those who had issues with the pacing of the game, I'm positive you'll find many improvements here.
Getting the total Steam review score back to Overwhelmingly Positive would be a dream come true for me and would greatly help my future projects.
And for those who took the time to leave a positive review, thank you!
What's Next?
I've started pre-production on my next title, but I won't be ready to show any actual gameplay for a while.
In the spirit of PROJECT ABEL (true fans will remember...) I've given it the temporary title of PROJECT CAIN.
It is not CONSCRIPT II unfortunately, but I think fans of CONSCRIPT will find a lot to appreciate in it.
You can follow me on X/Twitter here for future development updates.
Or you can signup for future updates via email on my newsletter signup on my website here.
And be sure to follow the Catchweight Studio developer page on Steam too!
That's all for now.
Thank you for your valiant effort during this war to end all wars.
Until next time, soldiers.
Jordan
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