Hi all, A small patch with [b]several bugfixes[/b] was published to the BETA branch (pre_release). We decided to postpone the main branch patch longer than I ever wanted cause of several reports that the UE5 build either crashes or performs worse than UE4. We spent a ton of effort trying to investigate those reports and tested the game on over 40 PCs with different configs, could not find any pattern and in fact couldn't find any proof that the new patches perform worse. In our crash investigations we found the following: -Players forget they had mods installed, deleting the all mod traces fixes it. -Players overclock their CPUs or GPUs (in cases of 13th and 14th gen Intel CPUs instability happens even with factory settings). Downclocking fixes it. -Players set FPS to unlimited and/or settings too high and overheat their GPUs. For instance players report that limiting framerate, changing AA to FXAA or putting the laptop into a lower peformance mode fixes the crashes for them. -Players using old GPU drivers. Installing newest drivers fixed it. -One crash according to the player was fixed by him simply restarting his PC -One crash according to the player was fixed by uninstalling the game, removing all leftover files and installing it again Some players suspected the Steam update process itself. We were unable to confirm it but a possible fix might include deleting all settings files in C:\Users\ \AppData\Local\ManorLords\Saved\Config\Windows and turning off steam cloud, letting them regenerate on boot. There are some unexplainable GPU crashes that we can't find pattern for, which look very much like GPU overheating and losing stability. It's starting to block the development of the game so it will no longer be the top priority, however, we will continue looking. [b]Saves:[/b] If you're new to the beta, to avoid any potential issues, it’s recommended that you back up your saved files before switching to a beta version. [b]Mods:[/b] Please remove any mods you have before beginning a new save to ensure you can play without interference from an outdated mod. [quote][h3]To find your saves on Steam for Manor Lords.[/h3] [list] [*] Press Win + E [*] Paste %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\ManorLords\Saved\SaveGames into the search bar. [/list][b]To try the BETA, please follow these steps:[/b] [list] [*] Open Steam [*] Right-click on Manor Lords in your library [*] Select Properties [*] Go to the BETAS tab [*] Enter the password: veryNiceBasket [*] Choose "pre_release" from the "Beta participation" drop-down list [*] Wait for the game to update the files (if nothing happens, restart the Steam client) [*] Launch the game [/list]All new strings might not be localized yet, and stability hasn't yet been thoroughly tested. Some balancing changes are still experimental.[/quote] [b]To discuss this, please join the official Discord server[/b] https://discord.gg/manorlords. You'll find a channel specifically for discussing the ongoing pre_release branch. [hr][/hr] [h1]Changelog Version 0.7.999 -> 0.8.002[/h1] Minor changes: -Changed the season tooltip to display the current year instead of years survived, as well as the day of the month -Changed the Animal Pen upgrade icon to reflect the new animal choices (Beta) -Traders will continue working when sick until they reach home region again Audio: -Added pig sound effects (Beta) Crashfixes: -Fixed a crash when deer were startled off-map (Beta) -Fixed a crash when the baron loots one of the bandit camps (beta) Bugfixes: -Fixed resources retrieved from the bandit camp being able to land in a pond, leading to the bandits possibly trying to loot them, not being able to get into the pond to get them and clog pathfinding, resulting in pathfinding for squads not working or being laggy -Fixed Tavernkeepers transporting Ale back to the Granary if it exceeds 85% of the Pantry limit -Fixed: It is possible to order an animal after demolishing the Animal Pen backyard extension (Beta) -Second fix attempt: Resources retrieved from the bandit camp being able to land in a pond -Fixed export price showing as "NA" in the trading post when doing local trade only (foreign trade checkbox disabled) -Fixed villagers not unequipping carts when going to fetch water (beta) -Fixed villagers clumping too much at the well (beta) (note: this might affect transportation limits of other buildings again, aka more workers waiting if too many people want to access the same building at the same time) -Fixed grass not properly culling over fields Cosmetics: -[Experimental] Light function atlas enabled to allow ponds to receive cloud shadows - cloud shadow material edits were required (Beta) Cosmetics: -Tweaked grass LODs & Grass Wind -Reworked the animal pen extension Thanks for playing! Greg Lead de