The Drifter — patch notes and updates
Stored observation / content update:
Dated developer announcements recorded from Steam. Open the source for the complete update.
| Update | Date | Excerpt / source |
|---|---|---|
| Hotfix Update v1.1.5 | 2026-04-13 | Spanish text tweaks/fixes |
| Hotfix Update v1.1.4 | 2026-04-10 | A few more fixes... Fixed a line of Mick's dialogue having "//, 1047" at the end Fix for looping winch sound never ending in Chapter 5 Renamed "Accessibility" option "Advanced" (English only) Fix for VO dropping out when VO volume was turned down low A couple of other very minor sound tweaks |
| Hotfix Update v1.1.3 | 2026-03-27 | Another round of fixes and tweaks that have built up while I've been working on ports and other things! Tweaks/minor features-Added controller vibration for XBox controllers. (I did try to get it working on steam deck but the results weren't great, so XBox controllers only for now).Added a few more autosave points (eg. when entering room for first time).Added sfx when navigating left/right on save/restore menu. And a bunch of fixes-Fixed a small stall on title screen from an unnecessary save slot check.Hiding main menu on fadeout on restore game."Press Y" tutorial no longer reappears after restoring games.Controller gui no longer flickers on |
| Hotfix Update v1.1.2 | 2026-02-11 | Fix for stuffI broke in v1.1.1! Controller hotspot points back in their correct spots. Fixed flag for saving prop data. Fix for "Craft Items" tutorial appearing on restore game. NB: If you played in the 12 hours v1.1.1 was up - you may encounter weirdness in certain rooms after restoring that game. (bits of the art with the wrong visuals, etc). Should *mostly* be harmless, but if something's breaking the game for you load a previous save. Or if you don't have one, email me and I'll send you a fixed one (dave @ powerhoof . com). And I'll try not to break things again ːsteamfacepalmː! - Dave |
| Hotfix Update v1.1.1 | 2026-02-10 | Another round of pretty minor fixes... Grammar fixes - "grey" and "no one" are consistently spelled now. Fix to never fading in fully if saved/restored immediately after entering crypt. Fix to some animated lights not turning on/off character rim-lights in the Chapter 9 corridors. Fix for nonsensical responses when showing items to Hara in Interface lab, and Klein in Chapter 8. Fix for cursor vanishing when pressing ESC on the PC in Grace's office. Tweak to swim movement under water in Chapter 8 Updated to PowerQuest v0.20.3. |
| Update v1.1! Awards! More Languages! | 2026-01-12 | Just in time for Steam Detective Fest we have another update to The Drifter, and it's 20% off for the festival! Today's update adds official support for Italian, French and Spanish!By far the most requested feature for The Drifter has been localization into more languages. There's a lot out there though, and with over 50,000 words we couldn't do them all... officially at least...So The Drifter now supports fan translations too! Translators can copy this Google Sheet, add their translations, and share it with others. Instructions are included for installing a custom translation. (Basically just download as translation.csv into the game folder. |
| Hotfix Update v1.0.8 | 2025-08-29 | A few minor fixes and a QoL tweak or two this time- Up to 8 pages of save games now supported (hopefully enough for the save-early-save-often folks!). It only shows the first few pages until you fill them up to keep the UI clean. Notification option added to Accessibility menu, so you can disable the red number for Topic Notifications, or turn them off completely. Typo fix- Effected -> Affected. Text tweak to match VO when grinding coffee. Fixed rare soft lock in Ch4 when talking to detective about Nazari. Fix for partial photograph description updating early in Ch7. Some glitchy animation fixed at end of Ch 6 for Roth and Hara . Ch7 Interfac |
| Hotfix Update v1.0.7 | 2025-08-14 | Got caught up in a bunch of business admin tasks this week- the joys of being a small indie team :P But found time for a few quick fixes: VSync option now saves/restores correctly. Notification setting saves/restores correctly. Fixed Ä character font issue in German credits. Reporter description updates correctly when you see her in the vent shaft. If you have the soundtrack, I've added an optional lossless (FLAC) version of the tracks there too. And it's also on Bandcamp now if you tend to look for soundtracks there, or just want a listen! Cheers, Dave |
| Hotfix Update v1.0.6 | 2025-08-06 | Found some time to hack in a few extra options people have asked for. I'll add these to the options menu properly later, but thought I'd update with just keyboard shortcuts for now, since I had a couple of bug fixes to publish too. Added Vsync option in the Limit Framerate slider (drag it to the left). New installs default to vsync on rather than limited to 60fps. Shift+F now toggles CRT Filter. (Will be added as separate option in menu later) Shift+T now toggles Topic notification setting between On, Minimal and Off. (Will be added as separate option in menu later). So you can turn of the red number notifications if you want. Fix for potenti |
| Hotfix Update v1.0.5 | 2025-08-04 | Another batch of small fixes- Fixed player teleporting to destination after pausing game for 3 sec while walking somewhere. Fixed being able to walk through fence in desert. Fix for potential softlock after mine explosion if ambient audio wasn't playing. Fixed some mouth animation offsets for certain poses. Using items on left soldier when climbing on side of building now gives responses. Exiting cemetery on right side now plays same sfx as on left side in chapter 4. Fixed incorrect description after dying in crypt from collapsing roof on yourself. Added German translation for a missing line and fixed a rogue 's' in a line of German text. Spe |
| Hotfix Update v1.0.4 | 2025-07-30 | Another bunch of fixes. You keep findin' em, I'll keep patchin' em! Fixed walk-to point for cutlery drawer with gamepad. Fixed potential soft-lock in hospital after Hara knocked out. No longer have to leave and return to find something behind the generator. Changed "carotid" back to "cartoid" to match colloquial way Mick says it. Fixed Butcher sprite being flipped. Removed drop-shadow under Mick on winch. Fixed "0" topic notification. Fixed potential soft-lock walking back into the Vent at start of Ch8. Stopped you being able to walk with keyboard while dialogue GUI is active. Fixed mouth alignment for Detective and Annie in some poses. Typo |
| Hotfix Update v1.0.3 | 2025-07-24 | Working through a bunch more bugs, don't mind me... Some potential fixes for Mac display issues (Set to native retina display on first launch) to see if it helps with some reported issues there. Fixed text alignment under topics gui when using a controller. Fix for rare softlock at end of Ch8 When opening hatch in the pool. Also a sprite alignment fix in the same place. Fix for inventory not being hidden correctly in a Ch8 flashback. Fix for controller ring being placed incorrectly being visible in the same place. Mick's head flop in Ch8 now works with controller. Fixed some unclickable hotspots that showed up on hotspot highlighter. Fix for |
| Hotfix Update v1.0.2 | 2025-07-22 | A few more quick fixes- mainly for rare soft-locks some people hit. Fix for soft-lock in Chapter 7 Roth being in his room when he shouldn't be Fix for walking through cemetery gate in chapter 4. Combine items button prompt no longer persists when it shouldn't. Text position fix when attacked at the newspaper office. - Dave |
| Hotfix Update v1.0.1 | 2025-07-19 | It's been an awesome launch, thanks everyone for your support! I finally got some sleep and now I've fixed a few issues that some folks ran into- Fix for potential softlock where player could get stuck and couldn't move in Chapter 3 cemetery. Fix for potential softlock in Chapter 6, waiting for a timed event. Music/Sfx/Dialogue sliders now save/restore correctly. Fix for dialog option not working with Sarah in Chapter 4. Typo fix "bill" -> "Bill" Thanks for those reporting bugs in the forums, and especially for going out of their way to help with sending save games for diagnosing the trickier ones. - Dave |
| The Drifter is Out Now! | 2025-07-17 | The Drifter is out! Check out the launch trailer below, but why bother, the game's out- go play it! :DThanks to everyone who waited a long time for this, believe me I've been waiting longer :D We're really proud of the result, can't wait to hear what you all think!The bangin' Original Soundtrack is also available, you can get an extra discount if you get it as a bundle. We put a bunch of work into making it an experience of its own to listen through- the game's brooding dark-synth soundtrack intercut with radio-play style interludes.You can listen to the first track on the store page to get in the mood- It's been a long journey getting here, |
| The Drifter - Launch Date Reveal | 2025-05-30 | The Drifter’s finally jumping a box car to your home town, arriving July 17th! Check out our gnarly new trailer while you wait- If you haven't played the demo, or need a refresher, it's available again as part of the upcoming STEAM NEXT FEST. I've set it up so progress in the demo will carry across to the full game as well! I can't believe we're finally so close to launching! It's been a long road, but I'm really excited to get it in people's hands, I think we've cooked up something pretty special! -Dave |
| The Drifter LudoNarraCon Developer Stream | 2024-05-09 | Dev stream Join Powerhoof's Dave Lloyd (That's me!) as I show off The Drifter and chat about the inspiration and design ideas behind it! I'm going to show some never-before seen footage of the early version of the demo with some of my programmer art like this- And then we'll see if we can adding some of Matt and Barney's new background art over my version of this scene from later in the game! If you have any questions, I'll be answering them in the chat too! Demo On top of that, The Drifter demo's available all week to try out, so get stuck into it! - Dave |
| Investigate The Drifter Demo during the Steam Mystery Fest! | 2023-02-21 | Something's rotten in the city of Mawson. We've been working hard on The Drifter, and the Steam Mystery fest felt like a great time to show off some of what we've been doing! Updated Demo The updated demo is live, so if you've missed it so far, you have this week to check it out! If you've played before, it's the same section, but with some spit and polish and a trailer at the end teasing never before seen gameplay. New screenshots We've got a bunch of new screenshots we're sharing on the steam page too, so check it out if you haven't for a while. Steam deck support The game's also running great on Steam Deck, with it's unique dual-stick inte |
| The Drifter Dev Diaries! | 2022-07-21 | Hullo, Dave here! I've recently starting recording little developer diary videos for The Drifter during a dev stream, and sticking them up on youtube. In each I talk about or share some stuff we've been working on, and also talk a bit about a topic, either something about the Drifter, or related to adventure game development in general. Check out the whole playlist on youtube! Or watch the first ep right here- I'm just recording these during a twitch stream, and uploading without editing, so they're nice and raw and unpolished. But that also means it doesn't take time away from development, and I'll actually keep up with making them! So check |
| The Drifter Demo Dev Stream | 2021-09-30 | Dev stream Join Powerhoof's Dave Lloyd (That's me!) as I play through the demo of my game The Drifter, and blather on about its development. I'm gonna go into details about the idea behind the game, inspirations, the control scheme, and my approach to writing and puzzle design. If you have any questions, I'll be answering them in the chat too! Demo On top of that, The Drifter demo's available all week to try out, so get stuck into it! Sale On top of THAT, our past games Crawl, and Regular Human Basketball will be on sale for the duration of the event! Check out ours, and other Melbourne Games week games on sale here: https://store.steampowere |