SCUM developer Gamepires published Development Update #140, detailing ongoing work on visuals, systems and UI. The update lists progress on disease mechanics, an armor rework, cuts and bruises visuals, and UI work that will shape upcoming PC updates and features.
Programmers spent the week on bug fixes and started implementing cuts and bruises visual effects for prisoners. The UI is being reworked for custom zone settings and the limited-time quest interface received attention from the UI team. Major systems work continued on the disease feature, with the common cold and its symptoms currently in development. The armor system also saw a significant rework in progress.
Level designers focused on optimizations and visual alignment of base-building elements, which consumed much of their time. The hard surface team finished the Military tomahawk and polished textures for the Tommy gun and Trench gun, plus small weapon tweaks. Soft surface work included new clothing items, icons intended for Twitch drops, and routine fixes. The 2D team produced level concept art and UI designs for the custom zone menu and limited-time quests, while animators concentrated on bug fixes. Sound designers edited wind and forest ambience and recorded new barefoot footsteps to match movement changes.
Q&A
- Developers acknowledged requests about bathroom animations and said the feature is desired but low priority because it would demand a lot of artist time.
- An inventory rework is planned and is expected to arrive by the end of the year.
- Console release remains on the wishlist; work continues on the PC build first and the team will evaluate console options later, since previous attempts did not pan out.
- Silencers reduce gunshot loudness but do not make firearms silent; melee is flagged for a rework in future updates but not this year.
- Work on the encounter manager continues, with some spawn fixes already included in the recent update and further improvements planned.
Read the full developer update on the official Steam dev update.
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