Builds 41–42 · Controls, HUD & atmosphere

Beta 42: Back in Control

Beta 42 promotional illustration: a controller, keyboard and mouse on an abandoned office desk, with corporate zombies approaching beneath amber lights. Back in Control.

Your hands can change. Your run keeps going.

Beta 42 is available for Windows, Linux and macOS. This is the full roundup since our Beta 40 news post, including the smaller Beta 41 update: more reliable controls, clearer interactions, a complete loadout display, new atmosphere effects and co-op fixes.

The cover is promotional artwork. The images below are controlled captures of the game running in-engine; click any screenshot to see it full size.

Controller, keyboard, mouse. Whenever you like.

Pick up a controller after using the mouse, or go straight back to the keyboard. Both stay available. Controllers connected before launch or reconnected during a run are recognised, and returning after Alt-Tab restores control without requiring a click to wake the game up.

Interact follows the last device you deliberately used: E on the keyboard, X on Xbox, or Square on PlayStation. Custom bindings appear in the prompt too. Either stick and the triggers count as controller input; stick drift and mouse recapture do not make the labels jump around.

Menus and an unfocused window suspend gameplay input, including the movement stick. Coming back resumes play; returning with a menu open leaves the menu in control.

First-person view repairing a compound breach, with an X button inside the new circular hold meter and three carried weapons listed on the HUD.
The Xbox interaction prompt and repair progress, captured in the running game.
The same breach repair displaying Square for a PlayStation controller.
The same interaction uses PlayStation lettering when that controller family is selected.

Know what a hold will do

Buying, repairing and dropping now use a dark, readable interaction panel with a circular hold meter around the bound key or button. It tells you when to hold, shows progress while you do, and clears the work when you release or move away. Longer binding names get a wider key box and filling underline.

Blocked actions explain themselves before you press anything: “Ammo full”, “Already fitted” or the exact amount you still need. Barricade repairs show all five boards, fill the next segment as you work, and finish with a green “Fully repaired” state.

Keyboard E repair prompt with a partially filled progress ring and five barricade board segments. The wallet and timed pickup icon are at the top right.
Keyboard prompts use your actual binding. The board segments show how much of the breach is repaired.

Your whole loadout stays in sight

Every carried weapon now remains visible while you cycle weapons or borrow the melee slot for a quick swing. With Ninja Certification, both guns and the third melee weapon stay accounted for; the active row follows what is in your hands and shows ammunition where it applies.

The dollar balance and timed pickup icons have moved to the top-right corner. The balance no longer needs a separate POINTS heading. Company credit and commission keep their expiry rings and increasingly urgent flashes.

The office has a different light

Lamps gain a soft bloom. When local power fails, a subtle pulsing vignette builds around the edge of the view and recedes when lighting returns. The centre of your view and HUD stay readable.

Two corporate zombies in a furnished office lit by ceiling panels with a soft glow around the fixtures.
Soft lamp bloom in the office, at the shipped medium atmosphere setting.
The same office during a power failure, with the new darkened edge effect around the player's view.
A matching camera during a local blackout shows the power-driven edge effect.

Spectating now looks like an old CCTV feed: a mostly desaturated picture, a faint green tint, scanlines, grain and slight screen curvature. A CAM / LIVE label identifies the watched seat. Menus and captions remain sharp. Atmosphere Off disables these screen effects, including the CCTV treatment.

A living teammate viewed through the desaturated CCTV spectator camera, with CAM 02 / LIVE and spectator controls.
The shipping spectator camera, with its CCTV treatment and live camera label.

Rare finds and a steadier co-op run

  • Beta 41 crate odds: IT Hard Reset now matches Synergy Beam at a base 1-in-60 chance each. HR Cold Shoulder remains 1 in 40 and the troll remains 1 in 20. These are the base odds before weapons you already hold are excluded, in solo and multiplayer.
  • A guest leaving no longer leaves zombies trying to target a freed survivor. The host's run continues, while a temporary connection drop still preserves the survivor for reconnection.
  • Return to Main Menu on the results screen now shuts down the run in the same orderly way as the pause menu.
  • Crash recovery on macOS and Linux checks earlier sessions without the spurious process-check startup error.

The startup story and pre-game comic remain disabled while they are being developed. The flashing-lights warning still appears before the menu.

Get Beta 42

Download from the website or itch.io. Both use the same beta access key. Windows builds and the crash reporter are signed by TSMW Development Ltd.