Indie survival horror (by that I mean a horror game in which you literally have to scrabble for food and shelter in order to survive) The Forest has switched over to Unity 5 in its latest update. Basically that should mean a slightly nicer looking experience all round, though if you want more specifics developer Endnight Games has an in-depth post over on the game’s Steam forums.
So you’ve got: sub-surface scattering, re-written skin shaders, and new PBR materials and textures. That presumably means something to someone a bit more tech-savvy than me. I read it and see “we made the thing look nicer”.
“Some new graphics options should help those with slower computers get the game running faster,” Endnight writes, “including a new level of detail setting which will allow you to raise or lower the view distance of most elements from Ultra all the way down to Ultra low. Across the board everyone should see some performance improvements.”
Other neat additions include being dragged off by cannibals when you die (as opposed to just fading to back), smoother multiplayer gameplay, and… improved geese. Deers also no longer run into trees, so there’s that.
Lots of changes, then. I haven’t played The Forest in a while, but it seemed like a decent take on what’s becoming a fairly over-familiar genre at this point. Updates that help make the world feel more alive are very welcome.
The Forest is still in Early Access over on Steam.
