General

- Fixed smooth turn and speed bugging out.
- Adjusted the haptics for Leaping.
- Moved Wanderer collectable to a new location in the Overpass.

Sound

- Added some new wind in certain chapters.
- New mix on sound in most chapters.
- Adjudicator sound is heavier.
- Removed some of the bass from the Pendulum.

Performance

- Better performance during The Bottom by adjusting worker LOD's.
- Better performance during The Cathedral by adjusting column LOD's.
- Better performance during The Boulder by adjusting landscape LOD's.

Small update (apologies for download size, new engine build)! Preparing for release on another platform. Keep it foolish!

Exhibition

- Shuffled the rooms around.
- Changed the music in The Pit.
- Moved the radio in the Moonbox room.
- Made the Protoform room smaller.
- Improved level streaming.
- You can pick up the poo.

The Utility Room

- Added Chinese
- Improved performance in The Boulder.
- Mixed the sound for Resonance Audio instead of Oculus Audio.
- Fixed the hint during the Cathedral telling you to use teleport on the slide.
- Added a longer fade when entering a chapter.
- Fixed temporarily seeing the level as it loaded in.


Bug Fixes

Potentially fixed Fatal Issue bug for some using SteamVR. I believe this was caused by an incompatibility with the recent SteamVR update - I've removed the plugin responsible.
Fixed the collectable remaining in The Mouth after its obtained.
Fixed performance during The Ravine caused by SaveGame loop.

Please email me asap if you run into an issue and I'll fix it asap!

lionelmarsden@kinglumps.com

Hope you are all well!

We have discovered a Virtual Reality exhibition.

Encoded in a non-physical plane, this exhibition was found by myself and a research team called Rockband 1. We have been working to recover its corridors and exhibits from void-space. We believe it is part of a Compendium of all known things and events. Check it out!

You can access it via the Main Menu of The Utility Room.

^ Photoscanned bag of dog poo stolen from reality in London on the 14/06/2024.


People who may or may not be really dead.

Poo.

Backwards lumps.

Three K-hole simulations.

A pit.

Some boxes.


Contributers/Band Members
Patrick Bradley[www.instagram.com], Allia Georges[www.instagram.com], Sam Riley[www.instagram.com], Lionel Marsden[www.instagram.com]


There are also quite a few minor updates made to The Utility Room which I think are great quality of life improvements and fixes but I didn't write them down so I've forgotten what they were. What I can remember:

Added a Height Offset in the settings if you want to play seated.

Community art added to The Sculpture Park.

3 New Languages: Spanish, French and Japanese.

Overhauled the lighting on The Cathedral and The Overpass (again) + Improved lighting on The View, Graveyard and Bowl.

Touching a worker during The Bottom zaps you badly.

Removed controller reflections from the mirror.

Many bug fixes.

Working on getting The Utility Room on another platform this month and then hope to continue on the next game in the works later this year after a long well earned break. Hope you are all doing well and looking after yourselves! x

a few minor updates and fixes + sculpture park content.

If you want your artwork, 3D models or photography featured in The Utility Room Sculpture Park send it to lionelmarsden@kinglumps.com or post it in the Discord/Reddit/Steam Community tab. No Ai nonsense, 18+ or IRL photos.

The Utility Room accepts short films and video art if the file size is kept below 30mb.


- Added 5 short films to the Sculpture Park Screening Room. They are:

• My Favourite Tree (03:23) by Patrick Bradley
  
• Annulus (03:15) by Myself and Nicky Vella
  
• 2000later (03:52) by Pine Road
  
• 2000later to: Electric Chunk (05:30) by Pine Road
  
• 3000later (07:20) by Pine Road

- Added artwork

Please send stuff in! Keep file sizes low! I will reverse image search and if anything is Ai generated I'll publicly shame you/set you on fire.


- Leap can now be initiated by holding both triggers. This works far better on Index as grips are unreliable. The tutorial upon arriving at the door now favours this control scheme.
- Fixed the select beam appearing in the right hand during the Intro.
- Added some more geometric rocks to The Computer.
- Fixed matrix/cube/blobs glitch in the right eye on some playthroughs.
- Fixed the teleport trace appearing in your left hand as you transition into a new chapter.
- Reduced the capsule width for the player so teleport should be way more reliable and less likely to fail.
- Reduced Bin Man polycount during the Chase.

been up all night finding a workaround to this loser problem. Fixed now though! Still don't know what was causing it. Recent SteamVR updates???

Use Oculus OpenXR if you can it seems much more stable, reliable and performative at the moment.

Howdy folks! Apologies on lateness. Went home for Christmas. Hope yous all had a decent one.

This update is called Anxiety Nothingness and the Logic Machine. You know.., that feeling you get when you stand up too quickly. In my mind, the Maze chapter is Anxiety Nothingness and The Computer is the Logic Machine. Make of that what you will. They've seen the biggest upgrades this update alongside parts of The Reprimand - in particular the Chase sequence.

I felt The Utility Room lagged a bit in the caves at the start (where'd I get that idea from?). Not intentionally, the foundation is there and its conceptually intact - but the implementation meant that they weren't fully realised. I like to think The Computer is a very strange place in minds-eye but you wouldn't know it playing through it. I'm hoping more of it is there now (literally) and that you guys and gals will be able to connect with it a bit more.

Bin Man is much bigger - as he should be. I had to reduce his intended size when you first meet him originally because I thought his eyeball couldn't be too big. Well, it can be a bit bigger and in this update he's twice as big, eyeballs and all. I think it makes him much more intimidating and is better suited to the power he beholds. It also prevents him looking as goofy which was an unintended consequence of his downsizing. Not something you want for the caretaker of the known Universe. Or is it?

Here are the major changes:


- Updated to Unreal Engine 5.3

- The Computer has been re-designed.

- The first cave has been re-designed.

- The Maze has had an upgrade.

- Major performance boost across the game (Fixed Foveated Rendering)

- The Cathedral has had a minor redesign

- Some Changes to the Reprimand (Ending)

- Overhauled the Chase sequence.

- Bin Man is twice as big in The Meeting and The Reprimand.

- Added a First Person Mode (Experimental).

Hope you like the changes and additions!

Screenshots from the Update: https://twitter.com/MarsdenLionel/status/1745934499077116396



Check out the soundtrack if you haven't already!

https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/app/2172990/The_Utility_Room_Soundtrack/

Whats this?

https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/app/2707810/The_Time_Machine/

Thanks for all the support! What a crazy year 2023 was

Socials:

Twitter/X
Youtube
Instagram[www.instagram.com]


Continue reading below for this update's changes chapter by chapter...


- Made the leap's initial power equal to a standard jump so you don't get little hops anymore.
- New hands
- You can no longer hold onto collectables. They insta-collect.
- Fixed the post-processing fade when charging a leap.
- Added fixed foveated rendering.


The Door

Angled the tourism boards down so they're visible whilst sitting.
Adjusted teleport speeds after you destroy the Keepers.

The Cave

Rebuilt the entire Cave.

The Ravine

No Changes

The Cathedral

The Cathedral's slides are now flat and more tone appropriate.
Minor changes to the platforming.
More detail on the ceiling.

The Computer

The Computer maintains the same layout but has been completely Re-designed and is much vaster.

The Maze

The Maze now has an endless vista that goes that shows the final layers of the Utility Room before void.

The Graveyard

Added fog and light shafts.

The Run

Music cues a bit later.

The Field

Added shadows to the smaller spheres.

The Boulder

Adjudsted the fog.

The Causeway (Normal and Extended)

Fixed fog transitions
Fixed Crashes on The Causeway (Extended)
Changed the texture on the poles.

The Overpass

Added a collectable (Worker) for Theatrical players.

The Adjudicator

The Adjudicator turns much quicker.
Added mysterious floating rocks.

The Forest

No Changes.

The Canyon

Fixed sound on The Predator's Cameo.

The Mouth

Added specular to Bin Man so his shape is clearer on the Horizon.

The Pendulum

No Changes.

The Bottom

Added a minor punishment if you touch the Workers.

The Meeting
Made Bin Man bigger.
Made the mountains bigger.
Added more terrain in the distance.

The Reprimand

Made Bin Man bigger.
Longer delay on the Adjudicator's turning.
Added a rocky decal to The Predator Tunnel sequence.
Added a sharper cut/transition to the Tall Binman plains sequence.
Added a new animation for Bin Man in the Monkey sequence.
Binman moves faster through the Subway.
Changed Bin Man's peeking animation in the toilet. He's also bigger.
Overhauled the chase sequence.
Made Bin Man way bigger as you fly up through the Room
Changed the door texture when you leave.


Fixes

Too many to count and not worth remembering.

Beta has been updated. Expecting to drop this week.

Index cable is broken and delivery got botched. Is everyone on Index problem free? Ping me a message if anything comes up or just to assure me.

Hope everyones New Year went well!

Good things to come!

I've been working on update 1.5 this month which includes a rework of some of the early caves, some changes to the ending (The Reprimand) and a few various changes throughout the journey. Its not quite ready to roll out before Christmas. It should be out the first week of January. However...

If you are interested in playtesting it, navigate to The Utility Room in your Library -> Properties -> Betas -> development - Update 1.5 Playtest Branch

WARNING: PLAY THEATRICAL/CASUAL. THE GAME CRASHES DURING THE CAUSEWAY ON EXTENDED
If you encounter any bugs and glitches or changes you despise then fill out a quick bug report via the link on the main menu or comment on this post.

If you haven't yet played through The Utility Room I'd highly advise against making the development branch your first experience of it. Whilst I'd love for everyone to experience The Utility Room's most recent iterations it would suck for an experience to be ruined should you encounter something gamebreaking. Warning aside have fun and tell me what you think!

Happy holidays and see you in the New Year!

P.S. The Development Branch has an experimental first person mode. Check it out! ;)

Composer Nicky Vella has ventured into The Utility Room after You did with just a Tascam and some climbing gear to re-record some of the music. He climbed some V7's and V8 to narrowly miss being squashed several times.

Since then he's mastered the recordings and I'm happy to say the store page is now live!

https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/app/2172990/The_Utility_Room_Soundtrack/



CREDITS
ARTIST: Nicky Vella
COMPOSER: Nicky Vella

P.S. Hoping to get Update 1.5 out before the 22nd. Please email me or message me somewhere if you want to help playtest it. Cheers.

Email: lionelpantonmarsden@gmail.com