Proximity Chat & Radio are now live: distance matters, walls matter.

Today, we are releasing update 0.19. Proximity Chat is now live, bringing more tension, sometimes chaos, and unforgettable moments to your co-op sessions. This update is an intermediate patch like the ones we plan to publish between major roadmap milestones throughout Early Access.

This update is based on feedback shared by players. It also includes new features, adjustments, accessibility improvements, and bug fixes. Thank you to all players who reported these needs on the studio’s Discord server[discord.gg] or on the Steam Hub.

• New modifier: No Map. The ship's map in the command deck is unavailable, you'll have to rely on other means to locate your objective.

• Added Proximity Chat and Radio:

  • Added proximity effects on voice chat: Voices muffled by distance/obstacles, room reverb.

  • Added a radio for distant communication: hold the Radio button (check Settings > Controls to rebind which key to use) to talk to your teammates regardless of the distance

  Hearing your teammate’s voice fade in the distance, whispering through walls, or shouting over the radio can completely change how you experience every mission.

  • A teammate cannot speak while respawning

  • A teammate in Game Over can no longer speak on the proximity voice chat (but can still use the radio)

  • Added a tutorial prompt to use the radio in first multiplayer contract

  • Added a “Radio Only” option in the “Voice Chat Mode” audio setting. This will mute your own microphone on the proximity voice chat, but you will still hear others and your radio will still work, so use this setting if you want Push-To-Talk.

We designed this feature with emergent moments in mind: distance, team work, miscommunication, with a strong sense of immersion. If you’re a content creator, this update is a great time to jump back in with your community. This is perfect for unpredictable and memorable live moments and we can’t wait to see how it plays out during your streams.

The Proximity Chat feature required a full rework of our voice system, which took more time than expected for our small team to deliver properly. Thank you for your patience, we’re really happy to finally share it with you.

We also took advantage of this major technical update to introduce features you’ve been asking for, namely improved volume control and better handling of in-game voice communication.

• Added microphone on/off icons next to each player in the public session list → OFF if voice chat is disabled or no microphone connected

• Added preferred languages of communication next to each player in the public session list. Each player can set their preferred languages in the "Social" settings. These languages are also displayed in the "Crew Members" tab once in game.

• Added “Audio Input Gain” audio setting to adjust your own microphone sensitivity

• Added “Voice Chat Volume” audio setting to adjust the overall volume of voices

• Added per-player “Voice Chat Volume” setting in the "Crew Members" tab (when in a multiplayer session) to adjust the volume of each individual player

• Improved UI displaying objectives and contract modifiers (now also displays contract type)

• Improved settings UI: replaced some sliders with arrows, checkboxes, or dropdown lists

• Changed some default gamepad buttons to include radio on Y:

  • B to display objectives

  • X to switch wheels (weapons/communications 1/2)

  • crouch is now only on joystick click

• Display of an error message if the game fails to connect at launch and stays Offline (with details of the EOS error and a link to the Known Issues documentation to help)

• Removed the temporary egg hunt

• For new players, the Radio key is “V”. But if you’ve already played the game, you will have to rebind which key to use for the radio in Settings > Controls, because your existing save will corrupt the default key (might be Invalid or “Left-Ctrl”).

Thank you for all your contributions, here and on the Discord server. Your feedback is always extremely valuable for evaluating our choices, our work, and for keeping the discussion going. That’s what a living Early Access is all about. The previous post generated a lot of engagement, which is great to see. Feel free to do the same under this one.

We mainly introduced a new mission modifier (low power system) and the communication wheel.

The vast majority of players shared how much they enjoyed rediscovering the HSS Hawking with this new mission and atmosphere modifier. That’s really great to read.

You were more mixed about the communication wheel, with some players feeling it wasn’t the top priority right now. This feature was requested quite early on. It addresses a real accessibility need, especially for players who cannot use voice communication for various reasons, or who want to communicate with players speaking a different language. In a game like Species: Unknown, communication between players is essential.

how does proximity chat change your experience? More tension? More chaos? More fun? Or something unexpected?

Your feedback on Discord[discord.gg] is incredibly valuable. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to write to us, report issues, share screenshots, or suggest improvements. Even if we cannot respond to everything, we do read everything, and we move forward as quickly as possible with the team we have. Here is some photos taken of the team during the dev of v0.19 update.

Guilhem (UX/UI & Game Designer) while experimenting

Guilhem (UX/UI & Game Designer) and Barth (QA & Level Designer)

Guilhem (UX/UI & Game Designer) and Nola (Production Director) during the "Sprint Review meeting" (the meeting dedicated to defining priorities for the next versions)

Lohan (Game Dev) and Jérémy (Lead Dev)

If you enjoy this update, leaving a Steam review is one of the best ways to support the game and help it reach more players. By leaving a review, you help the game gain visibility among players who haven’t discovered our work yet.

You can leave your review directly on the game’s Steam page below.

https://psteamproxy.yuanyoumao.com/app/2747330/Species_Unknown/

Thank you again for your support, your patience, and your trust. We will keep moving forward. See you in-game.

Au revoir,

The Species: Unknown team at WanadevStudio.