Foreword
It’s been quite a few months since the last update — and for good reason. We rebuilt the character AI system from scratch and had to rework several supporting systems alongside it. The game was practically torn apart in the process and rendered unplayable. But now, with a solid foundation in place, we’re ready to deliver updates more regularly. We don’t expect any more long breaks like this.
Before diving into the details, I want to take a moment to thank our loyal community and testers. Your feedback, suggestions, and support helped us stay on course. It wasn’t easy. It was hard. But we made it through, and we’re pushing forward. The game is still far from finished — there’s much work ahead — but we’ll continue to count on your feedback and support. Thank you, friends!
So, what’s new:
Completely New AI System
We went through several iterations, prototypes, and a series of experiments before landing on something that actually works. The result is a modular system that’s easy to expand with behavior clusters as needed. The AI is (roughly) split into three core subsystems: routine, search, and combat. Naturally, we started with combat — because this is an action RPG and we’re not just here to watch characters peacefully roam around picking berries. Although... that will come later too.
One of the key features of the new combat system is a dynamic cover system. Enemies now seek out safe positions based on sight, hearing, and overall situation awareness. They assess threats, move between cover points, avoid open areas, and try to maintain line of fire. In short, they do everything they can to make sure you no longer feel like an unstoppable death machine. These aren’t helpless infected anymore — armed enemies will now flank, suppress, and (with luck) send you back to the loading screen.
Reworked Damage and Protection
Even if it’s not immediately visible, the new damage system brings a much more predictable and controllable feel to combat. Firearms are now consistently deadly and effective — assuming you respect each weapon’s unique traits. Melee damage also received a facelift, with improvements to punching, kicking, and cold weapon strikes.
Naturally, we’ve added a corresponding protection system. Most gear now offers varying degrees of protection against different damage types. All equipment and clothing items have resources and can be destroyed. So yes — you’ll want to carry extra vests, helmets... and maybe spare pants. Sure, you can run around in your underwear, but pockets are useful, and dignity still counts for something.
Updated Healing Mechanics
Where there’s damage, there are injuries and bleeding. You’ll want to treat those promptly unless you enjoy the taste of auto-saves. The new healing mechanics are more logical and grounded. Using bandages and meds no longer feels like preparing for medical school exams — it's smoother, more intuitive, and still deadly if neglected.
Environment & Visuals
It’s not just logic and mechanics that got overhauled — the visuals received a hefty upgrade too. Say what you will about Unreal Engine 5, but it offers some truly incredible tools for visual fidelity. Our art team took full advantage of that.
We’ve refreshed the foliage and many environmental assets. The process is still ongoing, and every day the world becomes richer in detail. But even now, the results speak for themselves — check them out!
Warning!
Visual improvements are still in progress, and we haven’t done proper optimization yet. Dynamic shadows and Lumen global illumination are currently putting a serious strain on performance. If you experience FPS drops, try lowering shadow quality and disabling Lumen in the settings. We’ll be working on optimizing these features moving forward.
In Summary
With this update, Pathogenesis: Overcome comes closer to our original vision — especially in terms of gameplay: a hardcore, tactical action game where the real danger isn’t the infected... it’s the heavily armed humans.
What’s Next
I’ll cover our future plans in the next dev blog — no need to cram everything into one post.
For now, jump in, play, send us your feedback, suggestions, and critique — the more detailed, the better.
