ABOVE news & patch notes

✨New Features

• Discord community button added to the Main Menu, direct access to the official server and the "Shape the Story" community

• Auto-pause on controller disconnect — if your pad disconnects mid-game, the title now pauses automatically (no more accidental deaths on Steam Deck and handhelds)

🎮Steam Deck

• Dedicated graphics preset — on first launch on Deck, an optimized preset targeting

• Cleaned-up Settings menu — options that don't apply to the Deck are now hidden (Resolution, Window Mode, Icon Set, DLSS)

• Glyph selector hidden on Deck, with automatic device detection

• Groundwork laid for our Steam Deck Verified submission

🔧Improvements

• Full audio pass — level rebalancing, mix cleanup and revised volume keys in cutscenes for a more consistent result

• "Mouse Sensitivity" → "Camera Sensitivity" across all languages (EN/IT/FR): the new name is clearer, since the setting also controls thumbstick look on gamepad

🐛Bug Fixes

• "NO REST" achievement is now unlockable — the idle time threshold was far too aggressive and got invalidated just by opening the diary or checking the map

• "ABOVE" achievement is now unlockable — the trigger window was 1-2 frames wide, making it practically impossible to hit. It now unlocks correctly when looking up during the UFO beam

🌍Localization

• Updated EN/IT/FR string tables for the new Settings labels

Thanks to everyone sending in reports and feedback — keep the bugs and suggestions coming on our Discord server.

🖥️ Graphics & Performance

• DLSS support on RTX GPUs (auto-detected).

• TSR upscaling on AMD / Intel (auto-detected).

• Automatic hardware benchmark at first launch — sets sensible graphics preset for low-end machines.

• Full controller support.

• New Controller icon options in Settings (Xbox / PS5 / Steam Deck).

🏆 New Achievements

• Don't Look Up — Look at the ground for 60 seconds.

• Fully Aerobic Training — Drain your stamina 20 times in a single life.

• Third Time's the Charm — Win the game after dying at least three times.

• Perfect Run — Win with every diary fragment, no deaths, no node resets.

• The Vrad-Zuko Protocol — Hidden. Named after two players who survived the anomaly first.

🔧 Fixes

• Fixed Stargazer achievement triggering when looking down instead of up.

• Fixed UFO difficulty ignoring incremental scaling on the first flight.

• Fixed graphics settings.

Thanks for playing ABOVE. See you above the clouds.

ABOVE — Patch v2.2

🛠 Major Quality-of-Life Improvements

Round Progress Save — no more starting over after death

• Power nodes you activated stay activated when you respawn
• Diary pages you collected stay collected and visible in your inventory
• Node, diary and escape item positions remain consistent across respawns of the same run
• A fresh run from the Main Menu starts with a new seed, so the layout is different every time

Calmer Respawn — no more instant UFO catch

Cover Pass

Settings Notes

Misc

• Round progress is properly cleared when starting a New Game from the main menu
• Lots of internal stability improvements

Hi everyone, this update brings several fixes and improvements based on your feedback. Thank you for playing and reporting!

🐛 Fixes

• Fixed various bugs reported during play sessions

• Improved overall stability

🖱️ New Options

• Added mouse sensitivity adjustment in the settings menu

⚡ Performance

• Optimizations for better frame rate and smoother gameplay

Enjoy your trip through the desert. 🌵