11 Bit’s war survival game This War of Mine has just gotten a whole lot better thanks to a new patch that updates it with a scenario editor and new locations.
In earlier iterations of the game, players of This War of Mine would begin playthroughs with randomly assigned characters and conditions. Later patches allowed players to select from specific groups of survivors.
This latest patch, 1.3, adds a scenario editor, which, prior to starting a new game, allows players to select each one of the survivors they begin with, the number of days the conflict will last, and the intensity of the conflict. Higher levels of intensity will bring forth higher trading prices, larger numbers of bandits and more civilians salvaging supplies for themselves. Players will also get to specify when the winter season arrives, its length, and how harsh it will be. “You can create a challenge or ease the surviving limit. It’s up to you, you are the writer of the story,” producer Marcin Jefimow said in the patch’s release video.
Additionally, players can now customize each of the survivors to their fancy, if they choose to. You can change their portraits by selecting from the existing ones or uploading your own, change their skills and gender, and write new biographies for them.
Two new locations have been added to the city: the gas station, and the old town, which “used to be one of the most cheerful places around, but now is just another mute witness of the tragedy that has befallen the people.”
Finally, a couple of new tunes have been added to the game, including a new track that plays when scavenging.
This War of Mine has proven itself to be one of the finest games of 2014, so its all the more heartening to see that its creators are still adding new content for free, and not releasing it as DLC.