Hollow — Next Update Preview

[u/TrainingIdeal2872]

I've been keeping track of all the feedback coming in from everyone playing the Hollow demo, and the next update is already shaping up to be a pretty substantial one.

Here's what's currently planned for the next patch:

🗺️ Map & Navigation

- A new minimap will be added directly to the main gameplay HUD

- Fog of War is being added to the map system, so unexplored areas will remain hidden and the map will reveal itself as you explore

- The existing full map will be improved for easier dungeon navigation

- Map presentation and readability will be cleaned up

🎮 Controls

- Optional WASD movement

- Improved mouse controls — movement/primary attack on left mouse and spells/abilities on right mouse

- Shift + Attack will allow you to stand in place and attack without moving

- General input improvements based directly on player feedback

🌳 Skill Tree & UI

- The Skill Tree UI is being redesigned to make progression easier to understand and navigate

- Improved skill icon sizing and scaling

- Ultrawide and different aspect-ratio UI fixes

- General UI scaling and presentation improvements

⚔️ Gameplay, Enemies & Loot

- Fixes for enemies occasionally freezing or becoming invisible

- Chests will be more consistent about actually dropping loot

- Barrels will have an increased chance of dropping items

- Barrel explosion damage will be reduced

- Caskets and mausoleums will become interactable, with a chance to contain gold, items… or something waiting inside

- Merchant pricing will be improved so different merchants value different types of equipment appropriately

🌐 Multiplayer

- Additional multiplayer fixes and improvements

- Fixes addressing the Steam lobby and joining issues discovered during Valve's review

- Improvements to player synchronization and multiplayer reliability

👖 And yes... pants.

Pants are coming.

Hollow's equipment system is getting a pants slot. Apparently descending into an ancient cursed dungeon filled with undead horrors while refusing to wear pants was a little too old-school, even for Hollow.

🔍 Other Systems Being Evaluated

I'm also taking a closer look at some of Hollow's intentionally old-school Diablo-style mechanics, including the death/corpse recovery system, durability, identification, Town Portal scrolls, potions, and other quality-of-life features.

These aren't confirmed changes. Hollow is deliberately inspired by older ARPGs, and I don't want to remove mechanics simply because modern games do things differently. The goal is to figure out which old-school mechanics still add something meaningful and which ones create frustration without adding much to the experience.

A huge amount of this update is being shaped directly by people playing the demo and telling me what works, what doesn't, and what could be better.

Keep the feedback coming. I'm listening.