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Icarus Week 253 Update | Radiation Effects

ICARUS · Community Announcements · October 08, 2026

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Welcome to Week 253.

This week, we’re updating the radiation effects found in radioactive zones on Elysium, as well as those caused by radioactive items placed in chests or dropped on the ground, to provide a clearer and more consistent experience. These places will now look as fearsome as they actually are.

We’ll also take a look at what’s coming next week, including updates to the Fishing Capture UI and a new way to increase your comfort level by capturing and displaying higher-quality fish.

Notable Improvements:



This Week: Updated Radiation Effects



This week, we’ve revisited the visual effects that support the various radiation mechanics in Icarus. We weren’t overly happy with the “dome” effect we were using to represent radioactive areas in the world, so we’ve taken a completely new approach.

We’ve moved to a more spatial, volumetric cloud approach, using some tricky combinations of Niagara effects and code to ensure we can maintain good performance when multiple radioactive areas overlap. These new effects will represent radiation in-world, both in the large radioactive areas and from the smaller, localized radiation effects generated by items in the world.



Alongside the world effects, we’ve also done a pass on the UI effects that represent the level of radiation affecting the player. Since these effects can linger for some time, we wanted to make sure they don’t obscure the player’s vision too much, while still clearly communicating that their health is in danger and that the radiation needs to be dealt with quickly.

To achieve this, we’ve opted for a scaling vignette effect around the corners of the screen. It’s a fairly tried-and-true approach for communicating this kind of danger, while allowing the player to maintain a clear view of the world around them.



Next Week: Fish QoL



Next week, we’ll be providing a much-needed update to the Fishing Capture UI, along with new comfort bonuses for aquariums and fishing mounts based on the characteristics of the fish placed inside them.

We’re also introducing new ways to use fish beyond cooking recipes, opening up another avenue for creating important items.

Full details to follow next week.


Your support makes these updates possible.



https://store.steampowered.com/app/1648533/Icarus_Dangerous_Horizons_Expansion/
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/35727/Icarus_Complete_the_Set

Changelog v3.0.31.158478-rel-DangerousHorizons



New Content





Fixed





Future Content



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