New radio mission, real neural data, and a first look at Liminal OS
Originally published on itch.io — read the post and comments ↗
Since the last devlog, the connection between Beyond Dawn and Wasteland has gained a voice. There’s a new radio expedition, a place to revisit the story you’ve recovered, and a substantial change inside Sample 09.
All of these additions are now live, including Liminal OS, a computer you can sit down and use in the shelter.
Answer the Line — a conversation across time
After completing Keep the Channel, you can take a new optional Wasteland assignment: Answer the Line.
The job takes you beneath the viaduct to a maintenance receiver. Restore its power, work out the tuning from its backplate, and use the physical controls to make contact. On the other end is the operator from Beyond Dawn.
It’s a short exchange between people describing the same places under very different conditions. Bring the return frequency home alive to save the transcript and open a corresponding conversation in Beyond Dawn. Ordinary supply trips remain available if you want to leave the receiver for later.
A home for the story you’ve found
The observation station now has a recovered archive monitor. Approach it to read story milestones, recovered records and received messages, with filters for the lab and both timelines.
It collects discoveries saved in your browser, so you can compare what you’ve learned without trying to remember every transmission. The archive grows as you recover more of the story.
The new archive brings saved discoveries from the lab and both timelines together.
Sample 09 now runs on real neural wiring
The lab’s specimen now responds through a simulation built from MaleCNS v1.0, a published wiring map of a male fruit fly’s nervous system.
The game uses a central-brain subset containing 50,684 neurons and 2,426,615 connections. The scanner, harmonic coupler and field feed inputs into the model while you work. Open Neural record with 3 to watch activity and named neural channels responding.
This is a simplified simulation using real anatomical data. It has not been shown to behave like a fly. The lab’s “What Sample 09 really is” panel explains what is included, what is left out, and the modelling choices.
Sample 09’s neural readout, captured in the game.
The MaleCNS dataset comes from HHMI Janelia FlyEM, the University of Cambridge, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Google Research, and is used under CC BY 4.0.
Clearer Lattice controls and guidance
Lattice now separates routes, traces and records more clearly as you change depth. Deep views clear the route clutter, and decoding gives more useful distance and aiming instructions.
- V toggles Lattice; the mouse wheel changes depth. Bracket keys also work.
- To decode, move within 8 metres, tune to 78 or deeper, and centre the question mark for 1.2 seconds.
- P pins the decoded route so you can follow it in normal sight. Wasteland’s 1 / 2 keys select weapons separately from vision.
The update also adds raised route arrows and clearer practice lessons, along with doors scaled more closely to the player.
Raised route guides in the Wasteland shelter.
Sit down at Liminal OS
Both shelters now have a usable workstation. Sit at the desk to search recovered records, keep notes and bookmarks, compare evidence, read messages and select investigation work.
An investigation can carry you from a recovered disk to research at the desk and back out on an expedition. The Legacy Systems section also runs C64, DOS/FreeDOS and Freedoom, with saved computer state and writable media.
Liminal OS at the shelter desk.
Why Doom? Even survivors need a night off
Even in a future wasteland, you need a way to unwind. Sometimes that means coming home, sitting down at a battered terminal and playing a little Freedoom. A shelter should feel like somewhere you can spend time, with small comforts worth returning to.
Freedoom running inside Liminal OS’s Legacy Systems, with the workstation controls in view.
Coming soon: the off-duty cave
We’re working on an off-duty cave upgrade that expands Beyond Dawn’s cozy side, giving you more ways to slow down, relax and enjoy your space between expeditions. It’s still in development, and we’ll share more in a future devlog.
Smaller fixes
Returning to the observation station and entering the shelter have received loading and transition fixes. Lab completion reports are saved for retry, and the station refreshes its totals after completed activities. In Wasteland, you can reuse your saved weapon pair at the ladder and run through the shelter to get ready faster.
The full update is live. Play Beyond Dawn free in your browser to try the new radio mission, Liminal OS and the latest Lattice improvements.
I’d especially like to hear how the radio mission and Lattice instructions feel, and whether the new workstation helps you make sense of the records you bring home.