Hey all, we have another update! The star of the show this time is the new fully featured third person mode. A much requested feature that I finally worked out a way to implement without breaking the traditional camera system.

The game will now offer the player two options regarding camera style when starting the game 'Classic' and 'Modern' these represent the original fixed camera mode and the new third person camera, this option can of course be switched at any time during gameplay from the Options menu.

Along with this new camera system I have put a lot of time into optimising aspects of the game that I felt were lacking alongside some improvements and balancing to combat and enemies. I have also made some significant changes to how the game handles loading of data, fixing issues with black screens during loading of save files and new areas.

Hopefully the game should feel a lot smoother now thanks to many small updates across the board. As always I'd love to hear your thoughts or any issues you may run into over in the Steam discussion forums.

Please note: Whilst I have tried my best to avoid breaking any previous save data when updating to Patch 9, due to the nature of the improvements in this update some issues may arise from loading old save files. I recommend starting a New Game save file where possible.

I hope you enjoy this new perspective on the world of Hollowbody! Here's the full patch notes:


Patch notes:

• Added Third Person Camera
  
• Added controller rumble support
  
• Added unique camera transitions for Third Person Mode
  
• Added camera zoom via aim button for Third Person Mode
  
• Improved camera transitions for First Person Mode
  
• Improved lock-on targeting in First Person Mode
  
• Improved enemy AI and player detection for all enemy types
  
• Increased Lurker movement speed and detection radius
  
• Improved navigation and attack logic for Hound enemy type
  
• Reduced core revolver ammo pickup from 6 bullets to 4
  
• Replaced second melee animation when using Makeshift Axe
  
• Reduced enemy collision size when colliding with player, mitigating instances of enemies blocking player in tight corridors
  
• Character Controller rotation moved to fixed update in tank controls and camera relative controls, mitigating stutter when turning
  
• Improved character movement and turning when using Classic (camera relative) controls
  
• Removed targeting reticule when playing in first or third person mode
  
• Removed delay and animation before restoring player control when using Repair Spray
  
• Fixed persistent issue with run toggle unreliability
  
• Adjusted trigger for nightmare sequence in Sewers
  
• Fixed issue with cursor appearing when using keyboard or controller in menus
  
• Locked mouse pointer to screen centre when game window is focussed
  
• Various visual fixes and modifications to accommodate Third and First Person modes
  
• Fixed issue with black image for autosave graphic in Sewers
  
• Removed red overlay for save game thumbnail screenshots
  
• Removed motion blur post-process effect and Quality Settings toggle due to Unity's implementation causing performance issues for some users
  
• Split Park/Residential Street into two scenes, significantly improving load times and increasing performance on lower-end devices
  
• Improved loading screen transitions, mitigating full black screens when loading a new scene or save file
  
• Increased Sasha run speed for beach prologue
  
• Increased Mica run speed slightly for exterior and interior locations

Thanks so much for your ongoing support of Hollowbody and Headware Games, It's been amazing to read all of your feedback and love for the game. With this update I'm hoping to finally take a bit of a break and think about whatever comes next for Headware Games 👀

Cheers :)