FW Blog

March Update - Extinction Roller- Blog #35

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 08:27:12 GMT

SCAVS!

This update to The Forever Winter has a metric ton of improvements, bug fixes, and adjustments.
It is focused on some much needed quality of life improvements as well as addressing a ton of pacing issues.

We won’t bury the lead: the economy has received a major overhaul from every measurable aspect. The value of items, the location of items (both in terms of which level and what kinds of containers), the frequency of drop-rates, what vendors sell, WHERE vendors are, etc. All of it measured at least twice and adjusted to focus on the core: looting and survival.

We also have added the ability to allow Scavs to build a garage with an apc that will convert fast travel costs to cash instead of water and transport drones. Bunco as a quest giver can get Scav’s started.

Here is a high level list of the update’s contents:
Overhaul of Economy (which will continue to be iterated on in the future)
Iteration on item drop-rates (which will continue to be iterated on as well)
Alternate credit-based fast travel costs to earn via an Innards customization: the garage (much cheaper and no drones required)
Addition of in-world vendors
Numerous bug fixes and improvements to quests, AI, and Encounter / loot spawning
Improvements to Hunter Killer (HK) spawn criteria and messaging
And much more!

The team really appreciates the support you all have given us, and we can't wait to continue making the world of The Forever Winter better and better. When you play, make sure to read the hints in the PSA from Bunco for what's to come, and we can't wait to share the next push.

-Fundog Out!

February Update - Fast Travel Blues- Blog #34

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 08:25:05 GMT

Happy holidays!

It's the end of a long year, and we hope everyone is doing exactly what they want to be doing as we await the coming of 2026!

Our latest update adds the Transmission Tower, which allows you to communicate with all sorts of denizens of the wastes, IF you can build the tower and acquire the correct frequencies. This update comes with several frequencies to find and tune into, and we intend to keep adding more as we go. This allows us to meet characters in the tunnels and if you're lucky they will join you in the innards! We’ll add more quests through here as we go, but for today we hope you dig getting to talk with some of the poor bastards on the frontlines, and maybe get a little help for a red robotic friend. He sorely needs it.

We have also continued the major quest line to help Lordoss in your innards. It will require both the Bar and the Transmission Tower, so be ready to roll up your sleeves and get dirty. He will walk again.

On top of all that, we also have an assortment of fixes and QOL improvements for all Scavs. We adjusted some fast travel costs to make them more affordable, and we will be adding a new fast travel option soon! Can't wait to share more on that soon.

Last but not even close to least, thank you again for jumping on discord and voting for your favorite characters to get skins next! I’m really glad you guys dig Shaman, Gunhead, and ofc Scav girl! It was rad to see how close the vote was for 2nd place, and originally we were going to go heavy with 2 skins for the favorite and 1 for 2nd place, but it was so close we went with the top 3. We’ll hold these votes again for sure so if you have a favorite character that’s the place to let us know!

Stay warm, stay sane, and stay safe! It's cold out there, and we hope everyone is staying warm!

The team really appreciates the support you guys have given us this past year, and we can't wait to share something special early in the next!

-Fundog Out

December Update - Holiday Hangover - Blog #33

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 08:21:22 GMT

Happy Day after Pie day guys!

Hopefully everyone stateside had some turkey and got to spend some time with the fam. And folks in other countries, we hope you guys had a good day too!

Our latest update adds the bar which is a nice way to get to know the citizens on both sides of the frontlines. Eurasia is absent because their faction can track them so they'd be listed as awol and blown up to be re-processed. But don't worry there will be another way in the future to catch up with them.

Lost Angels also received a Nightshift, with tons of Eurasia kill teams roaming the dead tributaries of the city. Be careful, Toothy and Mother Courage Units have been spotted in the AO, so listen closely for the screams.

We also added a new weapon blueprint and it has some pro's and con's and we can't wait to see what strategies you guys come up with. It's a "Front-Liner" weapon, so that means the latest and greatest from Europa, and it's built to slow-down heavy infantry. Ammo must be crafted so use it wisely.

Stay safe out there scavs! Don't die for nothing!

-Fundog Out

November Update - Midnight Ghosts - Blog #32

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 08:17:53 GMT

Greetings Scavs! Happy Anniversary! We all can’t believe it's been a year already. To celebrate, we have a massive update for you.

First off, to thank everyone for scavenging the world for a year we are giving everyone a free skin for Mask Man called “Red Dog”! Once you enter the Innards from the main menu, you will be granted this skin.

But lets not forget the giant changes this update also brings:

The Innards is now connected to the regions via a Tunnel system, allowing Scavs to travel the maze-like underground to their locations or (once they have visited a location at least once) fast-travel directly there.

Scav’s Innards have two new Extensions to manufacture and upgrade: the shooting range and the personal quarters! This is just the beginning for Innards Extensions. We plan to add more as development continues, so stay tuned!

Small disclaimer, that Blind MC unit is still in development and will be joining us shortly, there are also a few weapons that are still in test that you might see in here. They will be in the game soon!

Stay frosty out there guys!

-Fundog out

September Update - Rats in the Walls - Blog #31

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 08:12:23 GMT

August Update - Fleshwraps - Blog #30

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 14:30:25 GMT

Greetings Scavs! We are proud to deploy another update. The main focus of this update are a new stamina system, consumable-use animations, and night mode for Babel!

In addition, a new skin-pack is now available for those who want Old Man, Gunhead, and Mask Man to rock the newest and hottest aesthetics.

Those major improvements are also closely followed by a slew of bug fixes and adjustments across the board!

Stamina!
All characters except for Gunhead now consume stamina for strenuous activities including (but not limited to) sprinting, jumping, climbing / mantling / vaulting, dodging, etc.

Characters have different interactions with stamina. For example, Scav Girl can sprint for longer but is much more impacted by heavy loads: try to carry too much weight and she will exhaust herself quickly. By contract, Bag Man can’t sustain a sprint for as long but is much less impacted by heavy loads.

There are Adrenaline Stims available to purchase in the Innards and / or find by looting in regions. Each of these will restore your stamina and prevent its use for a time, giving you that burst of needed stamina when you want it most. Existing Scavs will receive a handful of free Adrenaline Stims when they launch the game after the update.

To top it all off, there is new rig equipment to manufacture. Having this equipment in your rig will reduce both stamina costs and the delay before stamina recharges after stamina use.
Strategic Healing via. Consumables + Animations
All health-based consumables will now result in animations.

The Scav you select will now inject, eat, drink, smoke, or use the syringe, food, liquid, etc. that you use.

This means that timing the use of these consumables is more important to think about. While you will be able to move while using them, you can no longer use them in rapid succession or perform specific activities while using them (it's pretty difficult to aim a rifle and eat ENuggets at the same time).
Babel’s Night Mode
Babel now has a night mode!

Combine the heights of this ruined region with the gloom and uncertainty of night mode for a true cliffhanger experience and a twist to the elevated nightmare..
New Skins
"The Forever Winter Fleshwraps Skin Pack"
The Forever Winter Fleshwraps Skin Pack includes:
T he Teddystuffa for Gunhead -
“Making him cute doesn’t make him any less deadly.”

The Filtermund Skin for Maskman -
“No matter how much I try, I can’t ever seem to avoid the SMELL of the surface…”

The Smoghide Skin for Old Man -
“The chill just cuts right through me.”

New skins will be applied the first time you use the character after acquiring them. After that, skins are selected at random after every death or can be manually selected in your Innards. If you want the true FW experience, treat that scav as dead and let the revolver decide.

Please see the below list of improvements, bug fixes, and newly added features.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
PLAYER SYSTEMS, WEAPONRY, & EQUIPMENT

Player weaponry now reacts more violently / climbs during sustained fire, requiring the player to counter-act the climb
Adjusted the Radial impulse / force from explosions (grenades, missiles, etc.)
Pneumatic jump received animation improvements for Scav legs
Player weaponry SFX have been improved for distinguishing between single-shot, burst-shot, and sustained fire
Mantle and vault animation speeds have been adjusted (and are still influenced by button mashing)
AI Infantry now move in a more realistic way when investigating a potential threat pre-combat
Medium mechs will now sometimes sync kill eachother
The stilt walker now has leg IK
Soldier enemies now have fall states
SFX for the Orga have been improved
The Kotleta melee punches have improved SFX
SFX hooks for HK spawning have been improved
Medium mechs can now be killed with LARGE amounts of firepower (aka sustained attacks from other medium mechs, tanks, or a LOT of player aggression)

REGIONS

Downtown received a lighting pass and additional scaffolding art
Updated the HLODs for numerous regions
INNARDS
Players can now buy-all and sell-all of a specific item in vendor interfaces
Players can now buy or sell multiple items at once in vendor interfaces
ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS / BUG FIXES
PLAYER SYSTEMS, WEAPONRY, & EQUIPMENT
Pump action shotguns have had their SFX adjusted for reload to match the animation speeds
Fix for tombstones sometimes spawning at the world origin instead of at a reachable spot
Projectiles no longer block loot attempts
Shaman animations fixed to no longer cause unintended twisting for pistol movements
Fixed issue where the HUD sometimes shows a negative value for weight

AI taking shots at undetected players should now be fixed
Fixed issue where a patrol order might be issued before an AI was completely initialized, causing them to just stand there vs. move.
Fix for enemy AI that spawn far away from any player occasionally falling thru the terrain
Mech weaponry will no longer collide with other mechs
Cyborgs now play the correct hit VFX when damaged
Fixed potential crash when an AI tries to perform a melee attack
Fixed issue where brawlers would attempt to melee attack if not in range
Fixed issue where melee attacks could happen if their target was on the other side of a thin wall
Addressed issues with larger mech patrol paths
Opal terrain navigation improvements
Drones no longer spam their SFX calls in specific situations
Exo death and hit reacts now play correctly
Cyborgs will hit react more often when under focus fire from player(s)
Soldier dropped loot containers should be spread out more / not on top of each other as often, making choosing which container to loot a bit easier

REGIONS

Elephant Mausoleum’s navigation mesh has been rebuilt to mitigate / eliminate Medium Mechs getting stuck in the trenches
Various invisible collision / incorrect collision has been fixed in Frozen Swamp, Scorched Enclave, the Innards, and Elephant Mausoleum
Fixed several areas in Downtown where players could get out of the environment
Scrapyard Nexus VFX fixes for ambient sparks
Quest volumes for Theater of War / Radar quests improved in multiple levels

INNARDS
Fixes for recruits and rigs in vendor menus occasionally not initializing properly when entering the menus
Fixed clients seeing join / dismiss text that should only be displayed for the host
Quests now properly validate when re-entering the Innards

July Update - Lost Angels - Blog #29

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 14:04:37 GMT

Good to see you all again, Scavs! The team is excited to give you another update influenced by your requests!

The community voted to reinforce the Europan Faction and we heard you loud and clear. Introducing the first implementation of the StiltWalker! This terrifying multi-legged beast is armed to the hilt and will be a terrifying foe for Eurasia, Euruska, and (if provoked) will be none too kind to the Scavs either. We are excited to introduce this boss and will continue to iterate on it with even more features as updates continue!

We also added a new region to search for loot: Lost Angels. The first pass of this region is a journey through ruined urban nightmares where threats can appear around any corner.

On top of all of that there are more performance improvements and feature improvements to make the Scav experience both smoother and more responsive to control.

We are and continue to be incredibly grateful to be here and for your continued support. If you dig what we’re making please leave us a like and if you're feeling extra helpful maybe even a sub. That helps the algorithm gods show more of these apocalyptic nightmares to the world!

June Update - Babel - Blog #28

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 14:04:33 GMT

Summer update just dropped—Infantry AI and Performance both got serious upgrades. We’re not done yet, but it’s a solid step toward the chaos you’ve been asking for. Also, FW is $20 for a limited time as part of Steam’s Summer Sale—a good chance to bring a friend into the fight.

Tom ripped the guts of the game up and we should have improved performance as well! We understand everyone's rig is different, and some hardware plays better than others. But whatever! We will continue to do what we can so folks aren't left behind.

Lastly, Europa will have to wait a bit longer for reinforcements, they have a new unit in the works that might be our biggest yet, and we want to bake it up so it does what it was designed to do properly. Don't worry we have not forgotten.

We will update the demo shortly as well, so everyone can test their hardware and see if the game is right for them. And if it is, join us in the discord, our community is fucking rad.
Lastly, all things considered we are incredibly grateful to be here and bring the rain. If you dig what we’re making please leave us a like and if you're feeling extra helpful maybe even a sub. That helps the algorithm gods show more of these apocalyptic nightmares to the world!

Jason Willey’s latest track featured in this trailer "The Five Suns".

May Update - In Honor of V-Day... - Blog #27

Thu, 29 May 2025 21:25:02 GMT

Check out the Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgkZVDzsoF4

Greetings Scavs. This update focuses on the grand scope and the minute-to-minute: the dynamics of the war at large are brought to focus while additional tools to eek out survival are made available.

Theater of War (Beta / 1.0)

This update allows Scavs to pull back the curtain and earn the right to see the current status of the war in each region.

Regions now have three radar walkers each. These radar walkers can be decrypted by the Scavs to reveal the current faction control percentages for that region. Decryption needs to be done in sequential order, and the order changes every time Scavs enter the region. Once completed, the status of the war will be available on the Region Map for a set amount of time (which resets on daily intervals), allowing Scavs to see who is winning and who isn’t.

Take care when approaching a radar walker, if a Scav is underneath it when it decides to crouch they may be crushed!

There are also specific actions that can be taken in many of the regions that can tip the balance of the war in a specific faction’s favor. Actions in one region can impact that region AND neighboring regions depending on what is done. These actions are difficult to pull off and will certainly be noticed if accomplished, so beware and be prepared if you choose to engage. Decrypted radars will reveal what actions have occurred and their impact.

Thrown Grenades

Scavs can now add thrown grenades to their arsenal. For this update there are three grenade types available:

Frag grenades do a concentrated amount of damage at their point of explosion but have a dramatic damage falloff at a distance.

Custer grenades do less damage but over a wider area

Signal Scrambler grenades (otherwise known as “Faction Grenades”) have a special purpose: Once they detonate they block ALL transmissions in the level, allowing Scavs to attempt to loot or dispatch foes without their actions being reported (and thus preventing any impact to their faction rating). Beware and be quick: any agro’d foes that are still alive once the scrambler ceases to function will be able to report what it saw, thus nullifying any benefit.

Each Scav will receive a limited amount of each grenade type in their stash when they go into the Innards for this update. After those are used, grenades must be found on corpses and / or manufactured in the Innards.

By default, “G” on the keyboard throws the currently selected grenade and “H” swaps grenade types.

Weapon Repair

Broken / disabled weaponry collected in the field can now be repaired if a Scav has properly upgraded their Innards. Each repair requires broken weaponry and a specific faction / level of an IFF card. IFF cards can be collected from the corpses of fallen combatants and are available for Eurasian, Europan, and Euruskan factions.

Level 1 IFF cards are fairly common and can be used to repair common weaponry

Level 2 IFF cards are more rare and are used for mid-level weaponry repair

Level 3 IFF cards are EXTREMELY rare and are used for high-end weaponry repair

Improved Character Control

This update adds two key control enhancements to Scavs

Scavs can now shoulder swap the camera to be over either shoulder.

Scavs can now also do a quick 180 turn

By default, “X” on the keyboard performs the shoulder swap (or use one of the side buttons on the gaming mouse if one is in use).

By default, S (back) + Shift performs the 180 turn (if not already running).

Update Summary

Please see the below list of improvements, bug fixes, and newly added features.

FEATURES

Theatre of War 1.0 (beta) + Region Modifiers (c4-reaction)

Radar Walkers + Radar decrypting minigame

Boss Camera (beta) for large enemy entrances

New Enemy Types: Euruska Field Commander and Opal

Global Reinforcement Systems

Grenades- fragmentation / signal scramblers / cluster

Weapon Repair Station & IFF repair tags

Mini Rig - stealth at the cost of carry capacity

Mech Trench- Horror Lighting / Scenario

Shoulder Swap Camera Functionality

Quick 180 turn Functionality

IMPROVEMENTS

Shaman: Tactical Scanner Expertise / Longer Scan Range

Ai Buddy 2.0 hand signals added (beta)

Map polish for Ashen Mesa & Mech Trench (additional vignettes)

Updated reload animations for Gunhead and Shaman

Updated sync kills / Animations for the Brawler

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The Forever Winter - April Update: Nosebleed - Blog #26

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 09:29:58 GMT

For this update , we have plenty of new quests and a new cooperative weapon system which is in the early stages, so hit us up with feedback on Discord. We also added night mode to explore in the Stairway Region . This update is the first step forward for the expanded meta and for cooperative goal setting and gameplay! Hold onto the drops from those bosses, that shits gonna be useful later.

Additional Quest Giver, a Railgun, and Teamwork
You can now earn the right to unlock Bunco as a quest giver if you get his attention. Once a Scav is on good terms with Bunco, he will provide quests to acquire components that allow for the manufacture of a 3-part placable Railgun weapon system. If you have acquired the Weapon-Parts crafting terminal in your innards, you can use these components to manufacture Railgun parts and bring them into the field. Manufacturing is accomplished in real-time (even if you shut down The Forever Winter) so plan accordingly.

Each individual Railgun part must be carried by an individual Scav. That means you need three Scavs to assemble the weapon. A single Scav won’t be able to do it solo. Once assembled, the Railgun cannot be disassembled, so make sure you are tactical about where to place it and what direction it's placed in. Once built, this heavy weapon system will be left in the raid. Scavs will need to re-craft the parts again to bring another Railgun into play. Recovery operations may be possible in the future.

Did we mention that this system is Scav manned? That's right: once the weapon system is assembled in the field a Scav needs to man the system and aim / fire its devastating attacks. It can take out a tank in a single hit and (if you concentrate your fire) it might just stun some of the heaviest, largest enemies and reveal a unique piece of loot to acquire. It might be worth bringing a drill or two into a region when you have a Railgun agenda…

Skins
This update also allows you to optionally support the team with these new, awesome skins for your Scav Girl, Shaman, and Bag Man characters. These skins represent veteran Scavs that have evolved on the battlefield in their own ways.They were out so long that they streamlined their kit, their bodies, and their personal protection: each one expressing their personal Scav preference!

Once owned the skins will be added to the current random-skin selection each time your Scav dies.

Or, if you prefer, you can use the new skin selection interface (located in the ready room) to manually select one of your purchased or earned skins.

Also, every time you enter the Innards after a death or with a new skin, you will see a brief cinematic showing off your new scav.

We hope you enjoy round 1 and if you guys dig these, we will continue to make more!

- we appreciate the support!

Stairway… to HELL
The Stairway region now has a night mode variant. Should you find yourself in this dark, wet, and horrific environment, be careful about how brazen you are as you and your allies climb the steps. Mother courage is waiting for you.

Please see the below list of improvements , bug fixes , and newly added features :

-New-skin cinema in the Innards
-Stairway Night Mode (selected when entering region in the same RNG system as other night mode region variants)
-Heavy weapons 1st (Beta) pass (Usable Railgun weapon system)
-Bunco as an unlockable quest giver (see if you can discover what he is looking for you to do!)
-Bunco quests to earn components to build Railgun parts (once he is unlocked as a quest giver)
-Weapon-part crafting terminal (in the Innards)
-3-player cooperative Railgun weapon assembly
-Boss stunning / Boss Codex Loot
-Improved animations for Bagman and Maskman
-Map Collision Cleanup (fixing numerous issues where collision and / or geo can prevent smooth movement)
-Recruit AI improvements Mk. 1 (improved response to orders, mule recruit no longer obeys attack order as it cannot attack)
-Improved Mother Courage AI (better response to its target’s behavior)
-Fixes to Medium Mech patrol logic
-Improved 3rd person camera alignment
-Enhanced music system improvements (more awareness / stealth / tension layers)
-Specific kill-quest enemies improvements (better chance to survive against AI foes so players can find them)
-Drone and Chopper improvements (can spawn from below and rise into the combat space in height-based regions)
-Better logic for faction score increases when AI notice you damaging / killing their foes
-Loot containers now have a larger range of potential items (type and count) to drop
-Various hand-positioning and animation improvements to player character weapon poses
-Fixed sync-kill distance bug that would sometimes allow enemies such as the Grabber to sync kill foes from too far awayour new post

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The Forever Winter - Water 3.0 - Blog #25

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 13:45:23 GMT

Hey Scavs! For this update, one of our biggest challenges was modifying the water system to address player feedback and keep the system integrated into the lore. We adamantly wanted to address this challenge while staying true to the grim reality of the world.

Therefore as of this update the player's water will no longer drain in real time. It is now used as a currency to enter regions. This change means there is no turning back. So, we made sure to get full buy-in from our design team and also consulted with key members of the community for their input. Our community is awesome, so the back and forth was a pleasure. This is one of the things we love about early access – the chance to build that dark future together!

https://youtu.be/rX5r6lxkOTo

Thank you for being here. Fun Dog out!

Hot Fix 0.3.01 Release Notes 3/10/25 - Blog #24

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 13:42:51 GMT

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March Content Update - Blog #23

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 02:40:00 GMT

Hey there Scavs! The March update has just been released ! There are a TON of QOL and fundamental improvements to check out. The team worked REALLY hard to overhaul a bunch of core systems. AI spawning and awareness are sharper, gunplay is smoother, looting is smarter, and there are some pretty rad network & performance fixes ! Oh, and did we mention Water 3.0 ? The in game timer is no more and is replaced with a brand new system that you should check out for yourselves…Plus a brand new map, Staircase . Make sure to watch your step. This update is ALL about refining the core experience..make sure to join us in the innards to feel the difference!

We're going to put out a water 3.0 video shortly as well, that will go into some more of the in world details so keep an eye out for that ! The new water system was a really cool idea from the community that actually fits the vibe of the game, while rewarding skill. We are also looking at adding a surprise gift at a later time for anyone who stockpiled like crazy, and will lose some of their stored water that is outside their water tank. Make sure to check out our Discord/Steam announcements for more information !

It has been a boots on the ground start to the year and the team is THRILLED to showcase what they have been working on. The feedback from the community was immensely helpful in order to shape this update and we cannot thank you enough for being such a supportive and helpful group of Scavs! The team is looking forward to continue improving the game and adding in new content for the future and can’t wait for your thoughts. Make sure to continue letting us know your feedback in our Discord channel 'feedback-and-testing' so we can get The Forever Winter in the best shape possible!

P.S. Make sure to check out WarHamma Gaming and Killpo1’s channels below. They make REALLY amazing FW content and we can’t thank them enough for all their help.

Stay frosty Scavs, Fun Dog out>

March Update - Blog #22

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 02:03:10 GMT

Hi Scavs! March Update is here! There are a TON of QOL and fundamental improvements to check out. The team worked REALLY hard to overhaul a bunch of core systems. AI spawning and awareness are sharper, gunplay is smoother, looting is smarter, and there are some pretty rad network & performance fixes! Oh, and did we mention Water 3.0? The in game timer is no more and is replaced with a brand new system that you should check out for yourselves…Plus a brand new map, Staircase. Make sure to watch your step. This update is ALL about refining the core experience..join us in the innards to feel the difference!

We're going to put out a water 3.0 video shortly as well, that will go into some more of the in world details so keep an eye out for that! The new water system was a really cool idea from the community that actually fits the vibe of the game, while rewarding skill. We are also looking at adding a surprise gift at a later time for anyone who stockpiled like crazy, and will lose some of their stored water that is outside their water tank.

Please see the below list of improvements, bug fixes, and newly added features.

Water 3.0:

-Water is no longer a resource that drains real-time. It is now a currency that is used to access region entry points.

-Region entry points have specific water costs that are in an RNG range. The RNG range changes daily.

-The current water cost per region is on the region map and in the ready room

-The host of the current game pays the water cost to enter the regions. BUT the other players can give water to the host (and other players in the game) to help with the cost.

-To account for water 3.0, a rebalance of water drops in regions and rewards for quests was done.

-Water barrels are now only stored in the Innard’s water supply. Any additional water brought back from regions is converted to currency.

-When you update to water 3.0, only water that is in your innards water supply will remain. Your save game will also be marked with a special tag so we can reward you for your real-time water participation at a later time (don’t delete your save if you want this TBD reward in the future!)

-NOTE! You can still be invaded by water thieves if:

-You leave the game with 0 water in your innards.

-Your water bots are followed back (if you have hired them).

-Other in-battle reasons can also incur the ire of the Water Thieves, so be careful

-More Base invasion triggers will occur in the future as we introduce additional enemies and objectives in the battlefield. The reward and risk will be high.

Water Trading:

-Players can now trade water with each other on the ready room screen.

-Players receive notifications if a friend has given them water

-Players cannot give water if the recipient is already full (the transaction will be aborted). Increase your innards water supply!

Gunplay 2.0:

-The core gunplay system for player used weaponry has been overhauled.

-Recoil, dispersion, kick, swing (based on size / weight) and weapon handling are completely renovated and retuned

-Weapon upgrades / mods have been adjusted for the new system.

-The gun’s position in ADS has been adjusted for better sight picture

-When in ADS, there is depth of field on the periphery to help focusing on the target

-Reload Animations: The reload animations have been improved for the following weapons. The Old Man character has been used as the first to receive the new goodness. We will continue to expand this to all weapons and all characters as we release more updates.

-The Grenade Launcher

-The M60

-The R8 Pistol

-The M79 Sawed-off pistol

-The P90

-The TKB-0146

-The S12 Shotgun (not to be confused with the SURPLUS shotgun)

-Shotgun weaponry has been retuned for cone size, # of impact decals, etc.

-This results in less damage when target is far away and more damage at danger close ranges

Enemy Detection Improvements:

-Enemy detection icons show up more reliably with the correct information on % of awareness / detection and state (??? for investigating, !!! for aware but not targeting YOU, and eyeball-icon for aware and targeting YOU)

-Enemy detection icons now show up to 4 arrows showing which players they are detecting so you can more easily see if they are tracking you or an ally

-This info only appears for the 3 closest in-view enemies to avoid a super noisy HUD

-Enemy detection icons will not appear if the view of the enemy is blocked (if they are behind a wall or pillar, etc.). It will re-appear if they are in view.

-Enemy sensors (hearing, vision, communication / “transference”, etc.) have been adjusted to improve chances of slipping by undetected if they are occupied with combat (unless the AI is specifically tasks to hunt players aka the Hunter-Killers)

Game Performance Improvements:

-Various low to mid-level gamethread and rendering improvements have been made to increase FPS.

-Additional crash detection has been added to help prevent item loss if a crash occurs..

-Help us help you, if you had a rough time, scope out the discord and leave a message with your hardware specs, we will do what we can!

Network Stability Improvements:

-Finding and joining games via session browser and friend invites should be much more stable now.

-Searching for games and quick matching should be faster.

-Additional tracking has been added for unexpected disconnections to allow us to improve networking in future updates.

AI spawning Improvements:

-All scenarios and encounters on all regions have been audited and adjusted to mitigate and hopefully completely remove:

-Seeing enemies spawn right in front of you out of thin air

-Having enemies spawn right on top of you or out of view

New Region: Stairway to Heaven:

-A new region has been added to explore and complete quests in

Night Mode for Frozen Swamp Region:

-The Frozen Swamp now has a night / horror mode that you may find yourself thrown into when you visit if the conditions are right

Looting Improvements:

-There are now HUD elements on screen indicating what object you will interact with / open / pick up and if you are close enough to do so.

-It is now much easier to aim at and select the specific item you wish to pick up or open on the ground when there is a clutter of items in a pile or nearby.

-There are options in the option menu to adjust this HUD feedback for more or less info depending on your tastes.

AI Melee Improvements:

-The system for how AI performs melee has been overhauled and made much more data driven.

-The Orga has been improved using this system as well as Mother courage. Both these units will have additional surprises.

Additional Quests:

-Added quests that can be accomplished in both the new and existing regions

Faction Status Adjustments:

-Player damage to different factions will have a more deleterious effect on the faction relationship (i.e. it will go down quicker)

-Quest faction influence has been adjusted per quest (completing quests will adjust the faction scores more or less depending on the quest)

-Vendor faction thresholds have been adjusted so its more challenging and rewarding to gain and maintain maximum faction rating (i.e. “its more challenging to get the vendors to sell you the good stuff”)

And more!:

-Countless other bug fixes, tuning adjustments, and improvements

-Maybe a surprise or three ;)

Feedback Request - Blog #21

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 22:18:29 GMT

Hey there scavs! We are looking for your feedback to help the dev team improve some QOL features in the game! See the below graphic that goes into detail on what items we are working on and can use your input! Thanks for being here!

Hot Fix 0.2.03 Release Notes 01/10/25 - Blog #20

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 01:33:29 GMT

Hi Scavs - Happy New Year! Hotfix 0.2.03 is now live. Please see below for details. ��

Network Improvements / Bug Fixes

-Party invites should now work even if party privacy settings are changed to public or friends only after being set to private.

-Friend list status and party privacy status should now update properly

-Fix for potential crashes on session creation for multiplayer parties

Enemy Detection / Awareness Improvements / Bug Fixes

-Fix for Gunhead character being heard via the AI awareness system when crouched

-Fix for AI being able to sometimes become aware of players instantly at certain distances or heights

Economy Bug Fixes

-Vendors will no longer mistakenly charge the player XP instead of credits for item purchase

-Fix for some quests awarding the wrong item(s) on completion

-Addressed an issue where all items and faction rating values could occasionally be lost if a player dies in a normal mission (when an Innards invasion due to water bots is detected).

General Bug Fixes

-Improvement for save-game updates when updating to a newer version of Forever Winter

-Fix for potential save game issue(s) if the file path has atypical characters in any of the folder or file names

-Addressed a potential UI pop-up window crash

-Recruit and dismiss buttons no longer have cut-off text

-Loot boxes no longer occasionally show incorrect button prompts for interaction

-The HUD now displays the correct messaging on player death

-Character skill pages no longer lose focus after acquiring a skill or performing prestige actions

-Swapping characters in the Innards now properly shows all players the correct model for the in-use character

-Gunhead’s head will no longer occasionally disappear in the Innards

Happy Holidays Scavs - Blog #19

Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:38:09 GMT

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM FUN DOG

With the year coming to an end, we at Fun Dog wanted to send out holidays wishes to all of you and your families. It has been an amazing year and an even greater final quarter and we cannot thank you enough. With hundreds of thousands of Scavs and millions of deaths later, The Forever Winter is growing by the day. It's only up from here .

We are excited to go into 2025 with tons of new ideas and ways to expand The Forever Winter. Having done 2 major updates, 8 hot fixes, and a demo this year, the team is ready to hit the ground running .

We are thankful that you are along for the ride. We hope to see you in the Innards. Cheers to a new year!

Water System Update - Blog #18

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 01:32:06 GMT

Hey scavs, the FDS team has released Water 2.0, maintaining the challenge but shifting focus to rewarding strategic planning. Players now have multiple opportunities to prevent loss of everything. Now available:

-Thief-Proof Vault: Store items and credits in a water pirate proof vault, thus preventing a water death from taking your hardest earned gear and credits. You will NEVER lose anything stored in this vault. The vault is automatically available to all players.

-Water Bots: Hire Water Bots to collect water for you when you are offline

-Base Defense: Increase base defenses with turrets in your innards

We will continue to evolve the system so it stays as in-world as possible. As such, we're adding these optional tools to support players as they navigate the horrors of the world. The team is constantly working on adding to as well as reinventing current game mechanics and are thankful for your constant feedback and support!

We know we have work to do and we are not backing down from the challenge. In 2025 the war continues> Happy holidays scavs!

Stay warm.

Hot Fix 0.2.02 Release Notes 12/20/24 - Blog #17

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 01:26:28 GMT

Hi scavs - Hotfix 0.2.02 is now live. Please see below for details.

-Fix for custom rig container being lost after extraction. (If your save existed before this hot fix, you should see a one-time gift of a large supply of rig customization containers the next time you enter the Innards from the main menu, after downloading the fix. This gift is only given if you have a pre hot fix save and will only be given once. Jeff Gregg couldn't..CONTAIN the rage that the rig customization bug must have cause. His sincerest apologies.)

-Fix for soft lock that can occur if player presses the "move to stash" button or "open boxes" button after returning from battle

-Fix for enemy dropped weaponry still showing their location marker after a player picks them up

-Fix for entry points in Frozen Swamp not unlocking based on faction score

-Fix for deep water in Frozen Swam continuing to do damage after player has left said water

Hot Fix 0.2.01 Release Notes 12/20/24 - Blog #16

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 01:24:54 GMT

Hey Scavs, hotfix 0.2.01 has just been released. Please see below for details.

-Fixes some quests that were not visible in the quest givers

-Fixes some users crashing on launch

December Content Update - Blog #15

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 00:32:27 GMT

Hi scavs, Update 0.2 is now live . Gunhead, our newest character, is now online. You can fortify your base using the invasion defense turrets and the storage locker to make sure you keep what you deem valuable safe. Whether you're traversing Frozen Swamp, the latest map addition, or speaking with Lordoss, the new lore quest giver, there are tons of new things to check out. Don’t forget Water 2.0…and of course, yes, you can now pet the dog..

Make sure to check out our YouTube for the December update trailer linked below and keep an eye on our Discord/Steam for any new announcements on the game/hot fixes!

It has been a crazy three months since launching FW and we can not thank you enough for all the support and feedback. 2025 is going to get even crazier and we can’t wait to take you on the ride! Make sure to stay warm out there scavs, and have a Happy Holidays.

December Update - Blog #14

richard@fundogstudios.com (Richard Dumont) — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 23:36:49 GMT

Hi scavs..December Update is here. Please see the below list of improvements, bug fixes, and newly added features. There are a ton of new things to check out. Including Water 2.0 and yes…you can now pet the dog. We are also participating in the Steam Winter sale as we want to have as many scavs try out the game/play with friends as possible. It is going to be a larger download related to optimization of older files just to give you all a heads up. Stay warm out there and have a Happy Holidays.

New Features:

-Water-Bot real-time water delivery

-Water thieves base Invasion difficulty revamp

-One-time base defense reward

-Innards base defense turrets

-Invasion-proof storage vault

-New Character: Gunhead

-Gunhead head weaponry unlocked via skills

-New Region: Frozen Swamp.

-Mech trenches SFX improvement

-Base invasion lighting improvement

-In-Game VOIP

-Additional Quests

-Narrative quest giver, Lordoss

-Drill Device consumable

-Prestige cap increase

-Updated localization; Ukrainian, Russian, Japanese

Bug Fixes / Misc Improvements:

-CPU, GPU, and network improvements

-Enemy sync kill range adjustments

-Enemy accuracy and damage output adjustments

-New SVD weapon SFX

-Improved suppressed weapon SFX

-EXO sync kill SFX improvements

-Quest item SFX emitters

-Rig foley SFX improvements

-UI interaction with control pad improvements

Hot Fix 0.01.02 Release Notes 11/05/24 - Blog #12

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 01:20:02 GMT

Hey scavs, new hotfix is out! Please see the below for list of bug fixes/improvements for hotfix 0.1.02 ��

BUG FIXES

-Keypads should no longer soft-lock / trap the player in the interface upon their completion or expiration. -Keypads should no longer crash when used / completed.

-Sync kills from specific foes (such as the Grabber) should no longer occur thru walls or from extreme ranges.

-Using a consumable while sprinting will no longer cause your character to slow down.

-Enemies that are being tracked and are on the compass will now disappear correctly when they are defeated.

-Debug prints that could occur on specific button press combinations have been removed.

IMPROVEMENTS:

-Drone ambient audio and keypad use audio lowered in volume.

-Escape locations for civilians updated in some maps.

Hot Fix 0.01.01 Release Notes 11/01/24 - Blog #11

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 01:18:07 GMT

Hey Scavs - we released hotfix 0.1.01 on 11/1 following our update 0.1 that was released on 10/30. Please see below for the list of bug fixes/improvements! Hope you all had a very happy Halloween! ��

BUG FIXES:

-Fixed a potential crash that occurs on some PCs on game initialization.

-A bug that could cause the player to lose control of their character if they took damage while reloading has been addressed.

-In some occasions, large squads would not patrol correctly. This has been fixed.

-Some gaps in the geometry of Mech Trenches have been sealed to prevent the player from falling to their death or getting into invalid areas.

-A bug that could cause players to be sent back to training from the region map has been fixed.

-Right clicking an object in the rig interface properly drops the item again.

-A bug that could cause some loot to spawn inside geometry in Underground has been addressed.

-A bug that could cause some enemy AI to be stuck in place when they spawn has been addressed.

-Some doors were not properly altering the navigation mesh when opening or closing, causing AI to not use open doors correctly. This has been fixed.

IMPROVEMENTS:

-The Grabber in Underground will now properly show its name when a player marks it or is defeated by it -The audio for pneumatic jump rig equipment has been improved

-Ukrainian and Russian localized text translations have been improved

October Content Update - Blog #10

Wed, 30 Oct 2024 21:46:55 GMT

OCTOBER CONTENT DROP

Hey scavs, update 0.1 has now been released ! The Fun Dog team has cooked up a crazy amount of improvements, bug fixes, and newly added features for you to get in and play around with. This includes a new map, a new boss, and tons more fun. Make sure to check out our YouTube for the October content drop video to get a sneak peak!

More information on water system 1.2 and other details to come next week so make sure to keep an eye on our Discord/Steam announcements!

It has been a crazy October with celebrating one month of the game releasing into early access, releasing the demo, and now releasing update 0.1. We are happy to have you along on this crazy ride and hope you stick around to see what is next.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from all of us at Fun Dog !

October Update - Blog #9

Wed, 30 Oct 2024 01:16:19 GMT

Hey scavs! October content drop is here! We have released update 0.1 that contains the below list of improvements, bug fixes, and newly added features. More details on water system 1.2 to come next week. We hope you are able to get in and check out this crazy update that the team cooked up. Stay frosty and have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! ��☠️

Improvements:

-Performance improvements

-Additional quests

-Drone improvements

-Innards prayer responses

-Mech trenches improvements

-Weapon hand placement improvements

-ADS/aim down sights improvements

-Recruit AI order improvements

-Player movement improvements

-Revive UI improvements

-AI pathing and combat improvements

-Camera collision improvements

-AI proximity audio additions and improvements

-Audio improvements

Bug Fixes:

-Scope fixes

-AI mantling / vaulting

-Buddy AI control

-Weight feedback

-UI fixes

-Quest dialogue

-All localization

-Quest bugs

-Collision improvements

-Gate bugs

-AI spawning improvements

-Vendor UI fixes

-Quests and faction affiliation fixes

-Looting fixes

-Weapon customization fixes

New Features:

-Water death 1.2 / Water thieves

-Underground Cemetery map (work in progress)

-Rat King mech

-DLSS options

Tuning:

-Per-caliber headshot damage

-Vendor buy and sell rates

-Quest rewards

-Loot drop %5 / item scarcity edits

Demo Announcement - Blog #8

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 21:38:21 GMT

THE FOREVER WINTER DEMO

The demo for The Forever Winter is now live ! The Fun Dog team has been working to make sure that the scavs who want to test out the game are able to get a piece of the innards. Visit Steam and the Epic Games Store to try it out now !!

This demo does not have a time limit and is available to be played at any point . This demo version will not contain all of the content for The Forever Winter and will not be cross compatible with the full version game. We have a VERY exciting update announcement coming October 30th so stay tuned for that!!

Lots going on behind the scenes at Fun Dog currently and we are glad you’re along for the ride.

P.S HAPPY STEAM SCREAM !!!

Hot Fix 4.0 Release Notes 10/10/24 - Blog #7

Thu, 10 Oct 2024 01:10:44 GMT

Hi scavs!

Hotfix 4.0 has been rolled out.

We saw that some of you are experiencing a crash upon launch, so we dug through and hopefully this will help with that on certain cards. Full speed ahead on the demo and make sure to look out for a spooky drop later this month!

Cheers and thank you for being here as always!

First Week Post Launch & Thank You - Blog #6

Sat, 05 Oct 2024 20:59:03 GMT

THE FOREVER WINTER 10.5.24

Hey scavs! What a crazy week and a half it has been. Since releasing The Forever Winter into early access on 9.24.24 we have received a massive response of support and feedback that we could not be more grateful for . Whether it be in the Discord, via social media, or through email we hear all of you and cannot thank you enough for helping make the game the best it can be.

The team has been working to apply numerous hotfixes to the critical issues that have been brought up. At this time we have released hotfix 1, 2, and 3 . This is just the start for what is going to be updated within The Forever Winter so bear with us! With hundreds of thousands of scavs having played to date it is of upmost importance to us to make sure we continue to push updates and fixes to make the experience the best possible.

For all the scavs that wanted to wait for the demo to test out the game, do not fear as we have something very special coming later this month . Join our Discord or follow our socials for more information coming soon!

The Fun Dog crew have BIG plans for the future of The Forever Winter and we are glad that you are all here to experience where we go next. None of this could be done without your unwavering support and consistent feedback .

Talk soon, Fun Dog out.

Hot Fix 3.0 Release Notes 10/01/24 - Blog #5

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 01:08:32 GMT

Hey scavs, please see the below for what was rolled out for Hotfix 3.0.

STABILITY AND CRASH FIXES

-Multiple crash fixes addressed

-Fixed issue where entering HUB Customization caused the mouse cursor to become unresponsive and prevents the menu from closing.

BUG FIXES

-Clients can now complete lock puzzles (the door will open, etc. when the client completes the puzzle)

-Performance improvement for when Mechs, Scav Mules, Exos, Toothy, and / or Mother Courage are in play / active

-Several fail conditions when accepting Steam Invites have been addressed

-Several quick-match failure conditions have been addressed

TUNING IMPROVEMENTS/ Quality of Life IMPROVEMENTS

-The time it takes to receive squad ping results has been reduced / improved

-The PPSH-41's rate of fire has been increased to match the real weapon's ROF

Thank you for all of your support!

Talk soon, Fun Dog.

Hot Fix 2.0 Release Notes 09/26/24 - Blog #4

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 01:05:43 GMT

Hey scavs, thank you for hanging in there. Fireteams of engineers are on the case! Hotfix 2.0 is now out, please see the below that details the changes made.

STABILITY AND CRASH FIXES

- Multiple misc. networking stability fixes implemented

- A networking crash has been identified and fixed

- Custom rigs / custom weapons will no longer crash the game when deleting presets

- A crash that could occur during sync kills has been fixed

- An infinite loop crash has been fixed (that was caused by containers that didn't have consumables)

- A possible crash where launching the game with no remaining water in the Innards has been fixed

BUG FIXES

- Fixed client XP not rewarding in some circumstances

- Timed extractions now no longer attract every single AI in the map: attraction is more localized to the extraction area

- A collision error in Scrapyard Nexus was addressed to prevent players from falling thru a hole in the floor to their death

- Collision was addressed in the Innards to help prevent players from getting stuck in some areas

- Players and AI should no longer get stuck in body piles in Mech Trenches

- Players will no longer get stuck with the keypad / lock puzzle interface or prompt remaining on screen

- The AK and RPK will now properly award weapon experience and earn unlocks

- Setting the FPS to unlimited will no longer result in FPS being capped at 60

- Issue where focus can get stuck if the player presses TAB while in the Squad UI is fixed

- "Thief in the night" quest now rewards the correct weapon on completion

- "Harvest Tech" quest now rewards the correct weapon on completion

- "Memento Pt 2" quest now rewards the correct weapon on completion

- The resolution scale slider now shows the number and also shows the detected settings on first launch

TUNING IMPROVEMENTS/ Quality of Life IMPROVEMENTS

- The criteria for HK spawning changed. Also, when they DO spawn, they will spawn further away & should do a better job not spawning in plain sight

- The quest menu will always default to opening to the list of quest givers vs. opening to the specific quest giver last interacted with

- The Gacha loot tables were adjusted to (usually) be more generous. It is still possible to get very low yield rewards however. Good luck!

- The ping query that is used to populate the available squad list has been sped up. The 30 sec wait should be gone

- All maps received a visual improvement pass via sharpening

- LMGs now have proper audio when using a suppressor muzzle device

- Freed civilians in Scrapyard and Ashen Mesa will now flee vs. standing there

- Dynamic resolution is now on by default

-The mule recruit will stop moving when you open its inventory interface

Talk to you soon. Fun Dog out.

Hot Fix Release Notes 09/24/24 - Blog #3

Wed, 25 Sep 2024 01:02:38 GMT

Hey scavs,

We just wanted to let you all know that we are BEYOND thankful for everyone that picked up the game. We have seen all of your feedback and are already working hard to incorporate fixes.

This is just the beginning for The Forever Winter and we will be posting constant updates on what improvements we are making to create a better user experience.

In parallel with addressing technical issues and bugs we are seeing and you are reporting, we are also watching critical feedback and engagement with the water system. Please stand by as we evolve this system. We are looking at more applications for water usage, and are also incorporating some of the ideas from the discord. Your voices are crucial to shaping the future of all things Forever Winter.

Please see the below for hot-fixes that are in progress or have been addressed.

NETWORK:

Multiple fixes to address network connection failures blocking use of "quick match" and preventing successfully joining a game via friend invite

CRASHES AND SOFT-LOCK FIXES:

Addressed a random crash when entering Elephant Mausoleum

Clicking on quests in the HUD / on the options screen should no longer crash the game

Addressed some locations in Scrapyard where the player could get stuck if they vaulted in some specific areas

RELATED TO GAMMA OPTION NOT WORKING:

Scalability settings properly use / apply hardware benchmark function calls

Gamma setting should now work

AI TUNING / ADJUSTMENTS:

Adjustment to how often AI can change targets based on timing or incoming damage / damage they receive

Please feel free to join our discord (find link below) where we have created a feedback channel specifically for this, we also see all feedback on steam and other platforms. Thank you for bearing with us. It means the world. Talk to you soon, and thank you again!

Early Access Release - Blog #2

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 20:59:02 GMT

Are you ready scavs? The Forever Winter has been released into early access as of 9/24/24 at 12PM PDT (3PM EDT, 7PM UTC) ! Please see both Steam and the Epic Games Store for you to pick up a copy!

We at Fun Dog are eternally grateful to the community for your support and feedback as this would not have been possible without either. It has been a long ride and it’s not over yet but we are hoping we can make this game the best it can be, together .

Please make sure to join our Discord as we will be holding polls on what to incorporate next in the game as well as adding channels for feedback. See you in the innards scavs . Fun Dog out.

Declaration of War - Blog #1

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 20:58:47 GMT

SEPTEMBER 24, 2024

In the unforgiving wasteland of The Forever Winter survival is never guaranteed. Brace yourself for a heart-pounding thrill ride through a desolate world filled with danger at every turn .

Prepare to face brutal enemies, harsh environments, and the constant threat of annihilation as you fight to stay alive in this post-apocalyptic nightmare .

Mark your calendars, as the release date for The Forever Winter has been set for September 24, 2024 , and it’s going to be a battle for survival like you’ve never experienced before. Are you ready to face The Forever Winter?

The game will be priced at $29.99 , or $27 if you’re early enough. At release there will be four thrilling maps and one work in progress map. With a wide selections of guns to choose from, players can customize their arsenal, which will be necessary as every day alive is a gift.

Chose from five broken down characters, each with their own baggage and play styles. Don’t mind gun head, he’s currently a work in progress, but he’ll get there soon.

In the frozen depths of The Forever Winter, the community has been a beacon of warmth and support in the face of relentless adversity. We are eternally grateful for the unwavering dedication and passion you have shown for our game.

As we gear up for release we want to extend a thank you to all those that stood by us through thick and thin. Join us in The Forever Winter against the constant battle for existence in a cold and ravaged world .

The only way to weather the storm is to sail directly into it.

Fun Dog out.