Playtest 1 Feedback Notes

We held a closed playtest of DUST: Origins in mid-October, with roughly 200 players participating. Below is a list of what’s changed the past four weeks based on their feedback, with more changes planned.

Those participating in Playtest 2 will add even more valuable feedback for us to integrate!

Stealth feedback: Based on feedback, we added more support for stealth-like gameplay and fairer rules for enemy aggro. Some highlights:

  • Enemies will rely more on line of sight for detection

  • Crouching makes you harder to hear and you should be able to sneak up behind an enemy more reliably

  • Attacking an unaware enemy with the knife will deal a large amount of bonus damage

  • First Strike mod: Adds extra damage for ranged attacks on unaware enemies


Grenades: Many found grenades hard to use reliably due to aiming issues or lack of aim communication. Changes:

  • Grenades will now be thrown when releasing the button instead of on press. You can hold throw to get an arc previewing grenade trajectory, so it’s easier to judge where it will land

    • Dashing cancels the throw

  • Grenades will no longer collide with smaller enemies

  • Soft targeting will help guide grenades through smaller enemies, landing slightly behind them. This makes it feel better to throw a grenade with small creatures in your face.


General feel : While we got a lot of positive feedback for combat, we addressed a few common feedback points

  • To spice up combat feel a bit, we've added some time dilation to punctuate different events, like getting a critcal hit with a sniper rifle, sneak-attacking with the knife, finishing off the last enemy in a large encounter, and blowing up multiple enemies at once. Let us know if it feels too frequent.

  • Added more camera shake, rumble and other polish to knife combat

  • Beefed up the pistol and shotgun sounds

  • Balanced loot density, item drops, crafting costs across the game

  • More responsive kick ability when using knife

  • More responsive return to crouch when popping out of cover to aim/shoot

  • Now easier and more consistent to dodge certain scav attacks


Quality of Life

  • Skip cutscenes by holding X (gamepad) or Spacebar

  • Reworked some autosave locations at spots where people died often, should be more convenient

  • Removed stamina drain while sprinting out of combat

  • Updated location of some storage units, save stations, and Automated Delivery Systems

  • Quick-sort added for Storage

  • Added a hotkey for quickly moving objects between inventory and storage


Inventory Revamp

  • Full inventory, hotbar and radial equipment re-work

    • Can now place any item in any slot for both the hotbar (keyboard and mouse) or radial wheel, giving more freedom to use the hotkeys or controller buttons you prefer to grab weapons, consumables, turrets, and other items

    • Fully customizable radial quick select wheel with bigger, more easily selectable chunks

    • Using a shortcut for a weapon or grenade will equip it to your active slot. Using a shortcut for a consumable or gear item will use it.

    • Radial selection feel improved for Mouse and Keyboard and Controller

  • Quick Swap Rework

    • Removed hold Y/Triangle to swap to knife

      • Was confusing in combination with the quick tap of LB/Tab as to what you would be swapping back and forth between

    • Tap LB/Tab will always swap between melee and last ranged weapon

  • Able to change equipped weapon and use consumables like medkits directly from the inventory.

  • Items stay in your bag regardless of equip state, adding a more consistent inventory management game. Inventory pressure is now real - storage is important!


Many Bug Fixes. Some fixed items include:

  • Getting stuck in dialogue with mouse and keyboard

  • Many focus issues where the mouse/controller would lose focus on UI element it was supposed to be focused on

  • On mouse and keyboard, you will no longer shoot and waste bullets before fully facing the way you were intending to shoot

  • Performance improvements (still ongoing!)

  • Major rework on shooting and projectile behavior at lower framerates. Some things started to fall apart if framerate dipped or if there was a hitch.

  • Combat will correctly lock out some actions, like accessing terminals, and you shouldn't be able to be attacked while locked in the middle of a dialogue (some players got murdered while they were stuck talking to NPCs)


Map Update

  • Map wasn't fully functional in playtest 1, but is further along now

  • Better tracking of loot nearby

  • Should work in all areas (some chunks of the game were missing map data)

  • Fixed bugs where map data would disappear

  • State of doors and locked chests should be visible and more consistent

  • Should be information on what key item is required for locked doors and chests when hovering over one

  • Better feedback for rooms you've visited or not visited

  • Map Floors work now

  • Map opens centered on player

  • Button to re-center on player