New Features Found in Source Code - Alpha v0.0.1

Whilst we all wait for the Save Hotfix I thought I'd have a go at cracking open the source code for The Forest and see what's hidden inside. I found a few interesting things including new models, some of the save code and a bit of the history behind the game.

As some of you will know this is a Unity game, written using the Unity engine. Given my programming background I can tell you that alot of this game has come from plugins written by the Unity community. That's not a surprise though considering it's a 4 man team, and there's no shame in pulling together features which other developers have created.

Additionally, the majority of the code is wrapped up into an exe making it a little tricky to read. There are the usual clues though and no software is uncrackable. It's early days and I'm still checking the code for more clues but the stuff below is a start, especially regarding the honesty of the devs and the long term future of the game

I can safely say that I don't think the devs have tricked anyone. There's enough clues to prove their intentions for the game and this will help put some readers minds at rest. At the end of the day, this game is still in Alpha and it's not a commercial game where features get unlocked via DLC. Therefore, you can't expect to find tonnes of hidden features because they haven't been started yet.

Spider and Recluse Spiderling

The spider code looks similar to the other animals and insects in the game, with the exception that its probably dangerous rather than edible. Pieces of the code reveal that players can burn the spider web thus killing it.

Files found:

Spider
SpiderWeb
SpiderWebBurn
Insect Recluse Spiderling

Sharks

Dead sharks were already included in v1, but the code reveals that swimming sharks are definitely coming soon. There are functions for determining the shark area, presumably where they can swim in the sea. There's also code for a shark bite which implies that swimming is going to become dangerous as well. Sharks can be killed too.

We know there are other islands besides the one you crash land on (from the Q&A) and this just adds further proof that the sea will be explorable using rafts and possibly by diving.

Files found:

Shark_Diffuse
Shark_Normal
Sharkarea
Shark_Dead_newNormals

Cassette player and batteries

These two could be just decorative items found in the map, but I suspect that the batteries might become a crafting item that's used for something bigger, possibly a radio.

Survival Book - Missing Pages

Interestingly, all of the other survival pages are blank. This could mean one of two things; either the devs have hidden them or the dev's haven't started on the pages yet. I think it's more likely that the devs haven't started work on the additional pages yet.

Sticky Bomb

Only found the code for this one, not the model. But it seems that in addition to the timed explosive there is a sticky bomb as well. I think I remember seeing this weapon from one of the early trailers, which would explain why its in the code but not craftable yet.

Save feature was included from the beginning

Everyone was talking about the save feature so I wanted to clear this one up. Inside the game files I found several files referencing the save feature which the devs said was included but broke at the last minute. A quick screenshot of these files is shown below:

Further into the code there's more code for saving including:

TestLoading
TestSerialization

So hopefully it puts that conspiracy to bed. You'll also notice that there's code for saving to the server as well, thus proving the dev's intention to make a multiplayer version at some point..

Other interesting finds

mutantCutsceneManager - possibly more cutscenes for the mutants as the story evolves.
mutantFamilyFunctions - mutants live in families.
NetworkConnect - proof of P2P or online functions
PlayerMissions - players may need to complete missions to progress the story
ProximityMine - a weapon possibly
SlowMoButton - special ability or maybe cutscene
StickyBomb - a sticky version of the existing explosive. Probably not timed either.
TriggerBats - not sure if these were already in the cave, can't remember
txBrickChunk.tex - maybe a building material
txConcreteChunk.tex - another building material
aloe vera - a healing medicine
climbing - references to being able to climb, possibly mountains or trees
bucket - storage for water
clean water - code that determines if water is clean, players need to boil it first
deer musk - medicine possibly, no reference to the deer animal though
fireweed - food or medicine
hairspray - part of the flamethrower weapon which can be crafted
horse tail - an item, but no reference to horses found yet
flies - fly graphics have been started, these will relate to dead/contaminated meat at some stage
NewHUD_Poison - HUD display that determines if player is poisoned
ornamental glass - decorative item