Alan Wake2 The first update of the year added a brand new feature to the game, along with a host of quality of life improvements.
Patch 1.15 went live today (January 31) on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series to play. from the menu.
“This will also make life a little easier (and we know we’ve made it a little complicated by requiring some collectibles to be picked up all at once) for trophy and achievement hunters to get the missing items or collectibles,” says Remedy Entertainment said in the patch notes.
It is also noted that using Chapter Select loads a pre-made save game “regardless of your own progress” and that item progress and inventory are “predetermined depending on the mission.”
If you’ve played the horror game, you know that throughout the story, terrifying images appear on the screen that scare the hell out of you. As requested, an option has also been added to choose between the visual and audio intensity of the horror flash low and normal, for those who prefer not to get so scared.
In addition to these two new features, players can expect a number of story mission bugs to be fixed – including an issue in The Final Chapter (in New Game Plus) where, if the player already had Saga’s crossbow in their inventory, the cannot complete a certain quest.
In addition to general visual refinement, the PC has now improved the stability of DLSS Frame Generation when the player’s Alt-Tabs and the Field of View (FOV) in the UI can now be adjusted. You can read the full patch notes below.
Alan Wake2 version 1.15 patch notes:
New function: Select chapter
- You can now choose to play any mission in the game that you have previously unlocked.
- Using this feature will load a pre-made save game regardless of your own progress.
- This means that item and inventory progress is predetermined depending on the mission.
- You keep your previous manual save.
REMARK: Don’t forget to save at least one manual save to your previous progress if you want to keep it.
New functions
- Added chapter selection menu.
- Added option to choose between low and normal horror flash visual and audio intensity.
Gameplay and missions
- Fixed an issue in The Final Chapter (New Game Plus) where, if the player already had Saga’s Crossbow in their inventory, the player would not be able to complete/open all required Cult Stashes and thus not obtain the Lighthouse Key from the final Cult Stash could get.
- Fixed an issue where the player could get stuck when opening the notification that he had finished watching the latest Koskela brothers ad:
- If you go to the Oh Deer Diner during RE09 Deerfest, the latest Koskela commercial will be shown and you will be notified that you can view it in Mind Place, but if you press the touchpad as directed to view it in Mind Place, nothing happens and your controls are frozen. The problem persists until you reload the last save.
- Fixed an issue where the player could not collect all the clues around Nightingale’s body.
- The items required for the Overlap Ritual in RE03 Local Girl can now only be picked up after the player has found the respective clues.
- The 10th Echo scene after meeting Casey in the alley now unlocks correctly.
- Players will now receive the Coffee World Mug Charm in The Final Chapter (New Game Plus) instead of a double Hammer Charm.
- Fixed the camera perspective on open Cult Stashes so that the note on the lid is now readable.
- Additional fix for Cynthia profiling not being available if the player leaves the nursing home diorama too quickly.
- Fixed an issue in RE05 Old Gods that allowed players to retrieve the fuse in the basement from a locked container without solving the included combination lock puzzle.
- Propane tanks no longer appear after reloading the game in Watery. Less explosions, less fun, but smoother gameplay.
- Gave Saga a chance to collect more resources during the RE10 Come Home mission in the subway station.
- Added missing descriptions for some files in the Case Cabinet in Saga’s Mind Place.
- Fixed a lot of issues with Meta Case prompts.
- Added descriptions for ongoing cases to the Case Cabinet files.
- Lighting a torch while hiding in the Safe Haven is now considered an enemy player action and will collapse the Safe Haven if enemies are nearby.
- Fixed an issue where the player’s camera would occasionally exhibit micro-jittering when rotating the camera in Prologue.
- Taking away the fun. It’s the beginning of the year. Explosions no longer cause damage through doors.
- Prevent players from accidentally boosting the flashlight and wasting batteries when picking it up.
- The FBI service pistol and revolver now do enough damage to send cult members’ masks flying off with one carefully aimed shot.
- Curtain call. Not the best record. Fixed the problem that curtains in the Theater Hall were closed incorrectly in some cases.
- Fixed an issue where the Double Barrel Upgraded Crossbow would not be properly holstered.
- Saga’s phone calls can no longer be interrupted by turning the flashlight on and off.
- The item pickup indicator has been retuned so the indicator should now be more visible.
- The player can no longer run off the edge behind the monitoring station in Cauldron Lake.
- Fixed an issue where fadeouts in the Poet’s Cinema Theater were in the air or in the theater seats. That was too creepy.
- Fixed an issue where a rogue boot was moving through the Cynthia boss battle arena.
- Fixed an issue in IN05 room 665 where items from a Tim Breaker’s stash could be picked up through the wall in room 101.
- Fixed an issue where wolves were immediately killed when approaching the cliff near the Radio Tower in Watery.
- Fixed an issue where the player could become stuck in Norman’s room at Bright Falls Nursing Home.
- Fixed an issue where the Bright Falls Wellness Center doors kept opening at the wrong time. It’s not scary season yet.
user interface
- (PC) Added sample images for most customizable settings in the graphics menu.
- Add chapter counts for found manuscripts in the Mind Place.
- Fixed UI layout issues with localized content in the case board, computers, and inspectable items.
- Fixed month names so they display correctly in the saved game UI.
- Fixed the Options menu scroll position not being reset when exiting the Options menu using the home button on the controller.
Audio and haptics
- Retuned the haptics of the ‘key events’, such as firing and reloading weapons, using the Light Shift mechanic, burning source points and using the flashlight.
- Added audio to the old computers at the Bright Falls Sheriff Station.
- Added audio for impact when the Espresso Express hits the player. Please don’t try it. Coffee World has enough problems as it is.
- Added cassette eject sound to Mr. Drippy.
- Added static TV audio to the Nursing Home TV Safe Haven location.
- Fixed an issue where selecting TV tapes in the Writers Room would not cause sound effects.
- Fixed an issue in RE08 Summoning where a tank enemy weapon would play the wrong weapon sound.
- Multiple solutions for the audio of Children’s Songs.
- Improved audio quality for crouching footsteps.
- Improved audio performance during the RE08 Summoning mission on all platforms.
Visual
- General visual gloss.
- Fixed an issue where an enemy would become partially invisible if critically injured.
- Fixed an issue where vegetation did not always respond to explosions in a cool manner.
- The wind has increased in Coffee World.
- Made the basement of Valhalla Nursing Home more attractive, with a lot of added dust.
- Safe Haven indicator disabled during the Scratch fight in the parking lot.
- Improved waterproofing of the Elderwood Lodge. It is no longer allowed to rain inside.
- Fixed the hunting knife becoming larger when Alan picked it up.
- Fixed missing lighting on some narrative items.
- Improved the quality of shadows in various off-the-beaten-path locations in the forest.
- Fixed lighting pop-in in some locations.
- Fixed some abrupt color correction changes in Aqueous.
- Less glitter around windows at Suomi Hall in Watery.
- Reduced sparkle at the Elderwood Lodge in Bright Falls.
- Lighting improvements in areas off the beaten track in Watery.
- Fixed an issue where Alan’s wild shirt would glitch in some cinematic scenes where Alan is sitting.
- Improved animations for Saga’s jump reactions while running.
- Fixed an issue where some animations would restart when switching the flashlight.
- Fixed the player character so that they use their arms as expected when running right after picking up items.
General
- The SDR brightness setting now affects UI and 2D videos correctly.
- Fixed the maximum screen luminance being outdated in the Brightness Calibration menu.
- (PC) You can now adjust the field of view (FOV) in the user interface.
- (PC) Improved stability of DLSS Frame Generation for Alt-Tab.
- (PC) The resolution is correctly set to the maximum supported resolution.
- (PC) The warning message that there is not enough physical memory, which still allows the game to start, has become a lot more serious.
- (PC) Mouse button icons now correctly reflect Windows’ primary button setting in the user interface (PC).
- (Xbox series) Fixed a threading issue that could lead to rare crashes.
- Subtitling solutions.
Performance (aka the Northlight flex section)
- (PlayStation 5) Fixed random stuttering during perfect evasive slow-motion movements.
- (PC) Changing the graphics settings is now… smoother.
- (PC) Optimized display of shadow maps, saving up to 0.3 ms in dark places.
- (Xbox series) Optimized point and spotlight removal, shaving off 0.3ms in locations where there is sufficient light.
- (PlayStation 5) Optimized UI display when there are many UI elements on the screen, such as when inventory is visible, resulting in smoother performance.
- Optimized character controller code for improved CPU performance, saving up to 1ms – 2ms in dense geometry locations.
- Lighting optimizations within the overlap in RE01 Invitation save 1ms – 1.2ms for smoother performance.
- Lighting optimizations around the Valhalla nursing home during RE05 Old Gods save 0.3 ms – 0.4 ms.
- The good kind of lighting and fog optimizations around Watery that didn’t result in a downgrade of the visuals.
- Slightly optimized texture memory usage. Slightly.
Alan Wake 2 is one of the best horror games of all time, but if you’re looking for something a little less scary to play, here’s our list of the best story games.