Emergency Lüdenscheid 2026.1.0 | Changelog

Before we get to the changelog, we'd first like to say thank you. Over the last 4 weeks we gained more than 1,200 new followers on Instagram and doubled our follower count there. In total, our posts were viewed over 260,000 times.
This weekend, the modification was updated over 3,800 times and (cleaned up for reinstalls) freshly installed 800 times.
In the first hour after release, 600 players were playing the modification, and over the weekend this number only dropped during the night. On Sunday we recorded an all-time high of over 2,800 players in total.
A small thank you goes to the 6 donors of the weekend and a special thank you to the 3 donors with a larger sum — we had actually rather expected something like a median salary as a donation, but you know: <3. Without you, just as little would work here as without the team.
Fitting to that: We are still looking for support in the areas of mapping and 3D models. If interested, feel free to contact DarkSilent.

Features

Water Management

The entire calculation of the flow rate has been rebuilt. Previously, the available amount of water was simply divided among all consumers; now the actual capacity is determined for every link in the water supply chain, and the bottleneck decides. In addition, a vehicle can no longer draw more water than its pump can process.

• Water Reservoir (Cistern) – Underground water supply, can be used for water supply. Cisterns are shown on the hydrant map in the game.
• Water Intake from Bodies of Water – TLF, GTLF, LF KatS, and AB-Wasser can draw water from open bodies of water via suction hose or rear pump.
• New Suction Point Component with completely reworked logic.
• A-Hoses – TLFs can use A-hoses to draw water from bodies of water and water tanks.
• Collecting Piece Coupling – New logic: Multiple hoses can be merged at a collecting piece. Occupied couplings are correctly blocked, and A- and B-connections are handled separately.
• Hose Sections Shortened – The length of a hose section was reduced from 150 m to 15 m. This allows hose lines to be laid much more precisely.
• Drop-Sleeve Hydrant – Animation when coupling and uncoupling.
• Tank GUI Reworked – Better overview of fill levels.
• Turntable Ladder / Roof Monitor – Output switchable between 50% and 100% (SHIFT+right-click).
• Hose Material – Displayed differently per vehicle type (WFs use red hoses).
• Distributor – Can now also be operated behind Fox and folding tank.
• Distributor Connection Order – Fixed: Connections are now used in a realistic order (Left → Right → Center).
• Overload Indicator – Icon appears as soon as a vehicle's pump is overloaded.
• Overload Calculation – Fixed: In case of overload, water is distributed proportionally among the connected vehicles.
• Fill Level Indicator on water tanks is visible again.
• Water Calculation Performance – Actively uses caching, saving about 2/3 of all queries and logic operations.
• Balancing – All fire service vehicles were rebalanced with regard to pump performance and tank size.

Water Delivery (adjusted)

Water Consumption (adjusted)

TLF Shuttle Traffic

• Tanker Shuttle – TLFs can automatically drive shuttle runs between the water intake point and the incident site via a command. Source and destination are freely selectable.
• Abort Conditions – Among other things, the shuttle traffic aborts if the hydrant is defective.

Hydraulic System

Technical rescue operations received a complete hose-based equipment system.
Cutters and spreaders are used via hydraulic power units with a hose connection.

• Multiple Power Unit Sizes – Several power unit sizes: On HLFs with a small unit a 20 m radius and with a large unit a 30 m radius; a 40 m radius on RWs.
• Battery Devices – HLFs from Dortmund still carry battery-powered devices.
• "Board Vehicle" Command Suppressed – With an active hose or hydraulic equipment, the board-vehicle command is no longer offered, to prevent nonsensical actions.
• Automatic Cleanup when returning to station.

Light Masts

• Light Mast Sync Reworked – Race conditions removed, general sync optimized.
• Light Mast Teardown – Is only dismantled after the personnel have boarded.
• New Light Masts – GW-ATS (LNZ), AB-ATS, AB-MANV.

Additional Fire Service

• Machinist Removes Hose Reels – Before starting the pump, the machinist removes the hose reels on the vehicle — a visual feature for more realism.
• Door Cutting – Cutting open crashed vehicles no longer runs through a single point: Vehicles can have multiple doors that are processed one after another. The squad leader command for cutting now uses the same logic as the normal rescue operation. This feature will be rolled out more and more with this and the coming updates.
• SCBA Off During Cleanup – The breathing apparatus is automatically taken off when the vehicle returns to the station for cleanup.
• CSA Mechanic for Vehicles Without CSA – Squad leaders can equip their personnel with CSA (chemical protective) and decon suits via a command, even for vehicles that do not carry any suits.

Emergency Medical Service

• Patient Treatment in the Ambulance – Patients can be treated in the ambulance (RTW) from 40% health status.
• Deterioration Logic – Patients can deteriorate in the ambulance if they are being treated, are more than 500 meters from the hospital, and are within the map.
• Resuscitation by Doctors – Emergency doctors can resuscitate patients.
• After Resuscitation the doctor continues treatment – he briefly stands up and starts the treatment.
• LNA Can Lift Critical Status – If a patient is too unstable for transport, the LNA can lift this condition so that the ambulance can drive to the hospital even before the patient is fully healed.
• NEFs & LNA – Command to equip with the emergency backpack.
• Emergency Backpack Prioritization – Always the emergency doctor first, then the paramedic.
• RTW → NEF button changed to KTW button.

Police & Miscellaneous

• Police and ASF can now tow all vehicles, regardless of their condition.

Incidents & Events

Modular Events (expanded)

• New Scenarios:
  1. Drunk person
  2. Scan vehicle license plate
  3. Secure vehicle contents
  4. Suspect
  5. Suspicious package
• Event Layer Variations – Each map event can now have random additional situations:
  1. Any number of variants can be created per event (e.g. "Drunk person", "Suspect", "Witness").
  2. Variants with the same name are mutually exclusive.
  3. When the event starts, variants are activated at random.
  4. Result: A single event location can contain completely different additional situations depending on the playout.
• Color Variation – TintableMeshes are shuffled in modular events.
• Hazmat Warning Placards added for events.
• CloseDoorEvent can now also contain deceased persons – in 40% of cases, an already-deceased person is found behind the door.
• RW Crew can work on the electrical switch cabinets (E-boxes) in modular events.
• New Industrial Buildings and civil vehicles integrated.

New Incidents

• Person Trapped in Garbage Truck – New technical rescue (TH) incident.
• Body Found.
• Product Leak from a Pipeline.
• Concert Event (LDS) – The first custom WorldEvent of the mod, a new incident category alongside the modular incidents. WorldEvents are large, designed cinematically, and run for 30 to 60 minutes.
  Sequence of the concert:
  1. The event appears roughly every five days (configurable). First, forces must be dispatched for
     security: HLF, RTW, and FUSTW.
  2. Once the vehicles are on site, the concert starts with an opening song, followed by three randomly selected songs without repetition, and ends with a closing song.
  3. During the concert, MiniEvents occur continuously: fires, injured visitors, thefts, and suspicious objects.
  4. After the last song, a one-minute closing timer runs, then the event ends.

Incident Generation

• Time-of-Day-Dependent Alarm Priority – More fires at night, more emergency medical service incidents during the day.
• Heat Wave Events – Heat wave events reactivated.
• LST Freeplay Control – Incident stop can be activated and deactivated from the dispatch center.
• Event Platoon Leader POI – The dispatch center receives position information for the platoon leader on alarms, as a replacement for sub-incidents.

Incident Activity

• Burned Building / Object Indicator – Buildings can burn down completely and are replaced by destroyed buildings. Burned-out vehicles do not burn a second time, and the fire behavior of small objects was adjusted.
• Mutual Aid – Hop-on logic: Alarmed vehicles no longer steal personnel.
• Multiple BMA Events possible at the same time.
• Oil Leak – As long as the leak is not sealed, new oil puddles are created dynamically (maximum 6 additional ones).
• Incident Sectors – Incident sites can be divided into named sectors. A sector is named via an input window, can be assigned to vehicles, and removed again. This function is only usable in dispatch center mode.
• All Fire Service Vehicles now have a command category.
• New Command for Decon Suits on all TLFs and GFs.
• Undertaker + Evidence Tag – The undertaker can no longer pick up bodies that have evidence on them; these must first be secured by the police.

Alarming & Controls

• Pre-Alert – Vehicles can be pre-alerted to Status 1 and then wait in front of the station in Status 1.
• Select Station by Click – In the alarm menu, click on the station name to select all vehicles of the station.
• Alarm Menu Redesign – Visual redesign with color-coded display by vehicle category.
• Player Selection Presets – The selection in multiplayer mode can be saved and reloaded.
• Player Selection – Now allows selecting vehicles in addition to stations, via a two-page map view with color-coded status feedback per station.
• Player Selection Redesign – New design for the station selection with changed color highlighting.
• Quick Selection – Now also finds vehicles configured as reserve, e.g. the GTLF alongside the TLF.
• New Hotkey Mode – The F key opens the fire service tab, the group tab, or the most recently used tab, configurable in the settings.

Quality of Life

Animations

• Disconnect Battery – Performed with an arrest animation.
• Door Opening – With a backpack door-opening animation.
• Remove Graffiti – New animation.
• Distribute Binding Agent – New animation.
• Broom / Shovel – New animation.
• Crane Animation – The crane is now animated as it is set up and dismantled, including multiplayer synchronization.
• Turntable Ladder Setup – Can now be sped up by holding the SHIFT key.
• Hospital – Vehicles turn off their blue lights when reaching the parking lot.

Other Improvements

• More Loading Screen Tips – Expanded from 30 to 40.
• Missing Language Variables added.
• Link in the Main Menu updated.
• Settings for Submods prepared (Oslo).
• Logging reworked.
• Discord Embed reworked.

Maps

Lüdenscheid (LDS)

Stations

• New Combined Station for BF 2 & FF 14 in the south of Lüdenscheid.
• Station 2 demolished at its old position and rebuilt into a construction site for the enlargement of the industrial grounds; the station received a new building model.
• RD 2 Split Off into RD 5 – Station 2 keeps 2 vehicles, Station 5 has 4 vehicles.
• RD 6 at a new position.
• Station 5 (RD South) completely rebuilt.
• Station 6 completely rebuilt.
• Building of Station 12 replaced (rebuild).
• Construction Site at Station 1 added.
• Station Signs – New station signs for all stations on LDS.
• Hospital Beds – Number of hospital beds in Lüdenscheid reduced.

Map & Navigation

• Extensive rework of the map events – positions, categories, and new events.
• Road Connection Errors fixed in several areas.
• Navigation optimized and recalculated in many places, including the driving routes of the stations.
• Route of the LNZ 11 HLF20/1 repaired – the vehicle previously took an extreme detour.
• New Country Roads added.
• Construction Site North completed.
• New Construction Site South – Modernization of the main road near the new fire station.
• Alarm Times of External Units increased (mainly LNZ).

Objects & Environment

• Bus Stops placed on the map.
• Billboards placed on the map.
• Fences now have passages for people.
• Water Tanks and Water Reservoirs strategically distributed across the map.
• Hydrant on the Highway added.
• Recycling Yard – New location on LDS.
• Kitbash Factory – New industrial building on LDS.
• Chempark Westwind – New lights.
• Fire Behavior of the Trams fixed.
• Pond Sound removed.

Linzing (LNZ)

• Extensive rework of the map events.
• Navigation fixed and recalculated.
• Billboards placed on the map.
• Fences now have passages for people.
• Various fixes and adjustments.

Vehicles

New & Changed Vehicles

• LNZ: Dortmund GTLF (Scania Cab) added.
• LDS & LNZ: Dortmund ELW added.
• LNZ: FF 11 RW added.
• LNZ: LDS AB Wasser added.
• LNZ: GRTW added – was previously missing from the alarm menu.
• LNZ: RD 11 design adjustment, KTW removed.
• LDS: WF 3 GTLF 8000 replaced with GTLF 10000 (Mercedes Cab).
• LDS: RD 6 NEF added.
• LDS: RD 5 MTF added (essentially a support combo vehicle).
• LDS: AB MANV, ATS, and WLF2 moved from Station 1 to Station 2.
• LDS 1 TLF 3000: Made more realistic – rapid attack removed, tank reduced by 300 liters (3800 l → 3500 l).
• LDS 1 TLF 3000 with 3 crew – Can now also respond with 3 crew, remains alarmable with 2.
• AB MANV receives functional operational lighting.
• RW for Switch Boxes – The RW can now also be used for switch-box incidents, no longer just for gas and hydrants.
• GW-Mess – Completely reworked: wheel arch cover, interior, sliding door.
• BMW RT1200 Civil – New civil vehicles: standard and damaged variant, flammable.
• DO: Personnel skins of the Dortmund fire department adjusted.
• New skins for the tow trucks.
• LDS & LNZ: Two PTZ each added per map.

Other Changes

Performance & Technical

• Lazy Vehicle Spawning – Vehicles outside the map are no longer created at game start, but only when needed (alarm). As a result, about 30% of all vehicles are never initially spawned – this noticeably reduces the ground bug (material transparency error). In the alarm menu, such vehicles appear normally as "E-ready station"; the subsequent alarm chain (responding, special signal, station siren) runs unchanged. Roll-off carrier vehicles and containers are exempt from the delayed spawn, since their alarm sequence needs the vehicle immediately. For this, the alarm and status logic was largely rewritten.
• F7 / Material Health Check – Completely reworked.
• GuidePerson Logic rebuilt and optimized for the client.
• MP Sync – Various improvements: initial status for lazy vehicles, pointer stability, crash prevention.
• General Performance Optimizations – Widespread optimizations across all plugins, in three systematic passes. Major parts of the plugins completely reworked.
• Water Management Rebuilt Internally – The cyclical update logic was completely reworked. As a result, the water supply reacts faster to changes in the chain.

Audio & Menu

• Main Menu Soundtrack updated.
• Follow Unit – Audio added.
• Loading Screens – LDS South and LDS Westwind updated.
• Main Menu Graphic – Main menu image and credits updated.

Configuration

• Fire Spread Linzing – Parameters adjusted, was too hot.
• Fire Spread LDS – Fences reduced to minimize uncontrolled spreading.

Bugfixes

• Camera Bug – In certain situations, the camera was positioned incorrectly.
• Incident Text Forest Fire – Missing incident text added for forest fire incidents.
• Vehicle Placement – No longer aborts when sub-items of an event are completed.
• Vehicle Alarm Crash – Critical crash during vehicle alarming fixed.
• Special Signal System Hospital – Logic reworked, signals now work correctly.
• BMA Reconnaissance with LST – Now also works in dispatch center mode.
• BMA Hospital – With a BMA (fire alarm system) at the hospital, no search icon appeared and firefighters could not be sent into the building.
• BMA Detection – Race condition on triggering eliminated.
• Vehicles Getting Stuck – Vehicles no longer stop without reason when there is no incident nearby.
• Command Menu Shifted – The vehicles' command menu no longer shifts after a longer play session.
• Electrical Accident – The patient no longer disappears in electrical accident incidents.
• Door Opening LDS – Door opening on certain buildings in Lüdenscheid now works.
• Door Opening Events – Buggy door opening in certain events fixed.
• Fenced Pastures – People can leave fenced pastures again.
• Graphics Error LDS – Various graphics errors in Lüdenscheid fixed.
• Graphics Error Roads – Road connections with graphics errors on LDS repaired.
• HEROS WPT 44/25 – Vehicle now steers correctly with the front wheel instead of the rear wheel.
• Plainclothes Police Officers' Safety Vests – Can now put on and take off safety vests.
• Burger King – Building can now be entered.
• Remove Operating Materials – Task now appears correctly for relevant incidents.
• Traffic Jam – Artificial traffic jam fixed.
• Dispatch Center Crash – Critical crash when closing the dispatch center fixed.
• Memory Leak Dispatch Center – Memory leak when disconnecting the dispatch center connection fixed.
• Ghost Vehicles – For ghost vehicles, a replacement status was sent even when an external dispatch center was active; this caused the dispatch center to overwrite valid statuses.
• Folding Tank Crash – Rare crash with the folding tank fixed.
• Tutorial MP Crash – Crash in the tutorial in multiplayer mode fixed.
• Container Crash – Crash when picking up a container from the roll-off carrier vehicle fixed.
• Container in Order Menu – Were incorrectly shown as unavailable when their roll-off carrier vehicle was already coupled.
• Pump Error – The pump no longer hangs when returning to station.
• NissenLP LED Sync – LED pattern of NissenLP light masts synchronized.
• Highway Guidance System – Incorrect display symbol ("Caution, bump") fixed.
• RTW After Hospital Visit – RTWs remained permanently blocked and were no longer reachable via the speed dial.
• Emergency Doctor and Police Request – Was incorrectly skipped near the hospital.
• Parking at the Hospital – Faulty sequences fixed.
• Reservation After CPR – Was lost after a successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
• Duplicate Reservations of responders are prevented.
• Squad Leader When Cutting – Selected a different firefighter for each additional victim, instead of letting the same one continue working.
• Police Officers boarded a vehicle twice under certain circumstances.
• Markers caused an error when destroyed.
• Progress Bars displayed an incorrect duration.
• Incident Cap and Freeplay were not reset after changing the LDS settings.
• Rider Management produced faulty assignments when called multiple times; the initial spawning of riders was also fixed.
• Audio of the Incident Commander continued to play after the incident ended.
• ITW Doors were excluded from the audio reset.
• Request Tow Truck – The command did not work reliably.
• Cancel Mutual Aid – Vehicles did not return to the station, the completion sound was played multiple times.
• Oil Trails – Height correction added when creating the puddles, and a collision check added.
• Several multiplayer synchronization and stability issues fixed.
• Patient Transport – Patients are fully healed.

Control Center

The dispatch center was completely rebuilt technically, with the interface thoroughly reworked throughout.
Note: Some changes were already released on April 1/2.

Features

Status Monitor

Previously, the status monitor only allowed station panels, freely assembled platoon panels, and empty boxes to be created. On top of that, there are now four additional element types, freely selectable colors, and a completely
reworked edit dialog that is divided into two areas (Appearance and Content) and shows in a live preview what the tile will look like later.

• Keyword Panels – A list of the AAO keywords for quick assignment. If desired, not only the keyword is set, but the AAO vehicles are additionally suggested.
• Vehicle Type Panels – Vehicle types like the quick buttons of the incident view.
• Single Elements without a frame for a single vehicle, a vehicle type, or a keyword – with an optional custom label.
• Icon Panels – A panel without a header with up to five icons or short texts (max. 4 characters) side by side, left-aligned, right-aligned, or centered, each with its own tooltip. Ideal for a narrow quick-access bar.
• Colors per Tile – Frame, header background, and header text are freely selectable, can be copied, and individually reset to the default.
• Platoon Actions – Two optional icons in the tile header of station and platoon panels: one selects all response-ready vehicles (Status 1/2) with a click, the other pre-alerts all vehicles standing at the station. For station panels, the platoon is derived from the vehicle data; for platoon panels, from the selected vehicle list.
• Reorder Tabs via Drag & Drop and delete them individually.
• Export and Import Layouts – in addition to the previous saving and loading. Old layouts from 2025.3.1 can still be opened.

Incident Sectors

Sub-incidents are gone. Previously, you created them in the dispatch center itself and got an empty shell called "Sub-incident #1" under the main incident. Now incident sectors are created where they belong: in the game. When a sector is formed in the game, it appears with its correct name in the incident list under its main incident, with its own vehicle list and
its own position. The incident view shows in the header which incident the sector belongs to.

• Vehicles can be moved back and forth between the incident and sectors – via the context menu or via drag & drop.
• Via the context menu of the incident list, a sector can be closed. The game then dissolves the sector, and the vehicles fall back to the main incident.

AAO Requirements – Alarming by Equipment

There is a new area for requirements in the AAO editor: Minimum values can be stored for each keyword, which apply in addition to the vehicle list. After setting the AAO, it is checked whether the selected vehicles jointly meet these values – if something is missing, the dispatch center automatically adds the appropriate vehicles.

• Minimum values for extinguishing water, pump performance, and breathing apparatus.
• Water cannon/monitor and breathing apparatus supply (required or with monitoring by an ELW) as a requirement.
• Tools with a minimum count: axe, chainsaw, rescue set, door-opening kit, tool box (electrical), light mast, folding tank, Rosenbauer Fox, sewer sealing cushion, and oil binding agent.

Pre-Alert

Vehicles can be pre-alerted from the dispatch center – they move in front of the station and wait there in Status 1 until the actual alarm comes. In the dispatch center they are on Status C during this time.

• Via the vehicle context menu for individual vehicles.
• Via an icon in the tile header for the entire platoon of a station.

Notepad

A new widget for notes during the shift.

• Notes can be visible to everyone in the session or only to me, and can be switched at any time.
• Optional reminder after 1, 5, or 10 minutes, recurring if desired.
• When due, a dedicated notification sound plays, which can be turned off under Settings → Audio.

Assign Vehicles via Drag & Drop

Vehicles can now be assigned directly with the mouse – from the status monitor as well as from the incident view.

• Dropping onto a hospital row assigns the vehicle to that hospital.
• Dropping onto an incident or incident sector in the incident list reassigns the vehicle there.

Smaller New Features

• Hospital Assignment on the Vehicle – The assigned hospital is saved on the vehicle and highlighted in the status monitor and incident view (can be turned off in the settings); upon reaching Status 1 or 2, the assignment expires.
• Freely Adjustable Vehicle Markers – Vehicles can be displayed on the map as an image, as a dot, or with their name; the marker size is adjustable between 50% and 200%.
• Map Follows the Incident – When the selected incident changes, the map view automatically jumps to the corresponding map (can be turned off).
• Export and Import Dashboard – The complete dashboard can be shared as a code string and reimported on another computer.
• Appearance – New settings area with light/dark mode and the styles Standard, Graphite, and April Fools.
• Speech Requests per Map – The speech-request widget has its own tabs per map in multi-session, plus an overall tab.
• Highway Guidance System with Real Traffic Signs – The guidance-system dialog was rebuilt. Instead of three selection fields with text names, it shows the three panels of the installation and an image selection with the actual traffic signs.

Other Changes

• Vehicle Context Menus Unified – Status monitor, incident view, and map now offer the same scope; in the incident view, "Start patrol" was previously missing, for example. Newly added are "Pre-alert" and "Assign vehicle", with which a vehicle can be reassigned directly to another incident or an incident sector.
• Vehicles Leave the Map in Multi-Session – A vehicle leaves its home map as soon as it is alarmed on another map and returns after the incident ends.
• Faster Cleanup of Inactive Sessions – Sessions without activity are detected and ended earlier.
• BMA and EMA as Tables – The button lists were replaced by tables with their own name column.
• Build Timestamp in the Beta – The beta version shows in the menu when it was built.
• Foundation Renewed – Angular 15 → 21, PrimeNG 21 with Tailwind, new translation management, and a containerized deployment for server and connector.

Bugfixes

• With a differing time zone, alarm and status times were saved and displayed incorrectly.
• A vehicle's travel-time offset was not updated after a data import and did not apply per map, causing travel times in multi-session to be calculated incorrectly.
• If the game crashed or the network connection dropped, the session hung because the half-open connection was not detected; it is now ended within seconds.
• After a server restart, orphaned sessions remained.
• After a connection drop, the session had to be re-entered manually – the dispatch center now automatically rejoins.
• The alarm time of an incident was overwritten with every follow-up alarm.
• Vehicles that exist on multiple maps sometimes showed incorrect statuses and positions in multi-session.
• In the default AAO, "SoSi" (special signals) was always enabled, regardless of the setting.
• The theme could be set to an empty value.

Launcher

The Lüdenscheid Launcher was developed from the ground up. It completely replaces the previous launcher (version 1.2.2) — not as an update, but as a completely new program.

Downloads & Installation

• Faster Downloads. Mods come as a heavily compressed package instead of a large ZIP file, and this package is split into many small chunks that are loaded in parallel. This saves transfer time and disk space.
• Aborted Downloads Are Resumed. Incomplete files are kept and continue downloading from the last loaded position — even if you closed the launcher in the meantime. Package chunks that have already been fully loaded are recognized by their checksum and not downloaded again.
• Automatic Server Switching. If a download server fails, the launcher switches to another one on its own and continues where it left off. The failed server is avoided for a few minutes so that the next phase does not end up there again.
• Suitable Server Instead of Fixed Address. Which server serves you is decided by the backend based on the current load. During high demand — for example on a release day — additional download servers are automatically spun up and taken down again afterward.
• No More Hanging. If no data arrives for 60 seconds, the download aborts with a clear message instead of hanging indefinitely.
• Honest Disk Space Check. The launcher calculates the actually required space before each installation and subtracts already-existing files — instead of demanding a flat 25 GB. The check runs on all supported systems and cleanly aborts the installation instead of letting it fail silently.
• Understandable Progress. You see the overall progress, the current sub-step (download packages → assemble → unpack), the download rate, the remaining time, and the number of finished files.
• Progress in the Taskbar. On Windows, the launcher icon in the taskbar shows the installation progress — so you can minimize the window.
• Plain Text Instead of Error Codes. Network errors, a full disk, a failed integrity check, server errors, an interrupted download, and "no download server reachable" are each shown as their own understandable message.
• Abortable at Any Time. Installations, updates, and checks can be cleanly aborted without leaving any leftovers behind.
• Cache Under Control. In the settings you can see how much space the launcher's cache occupies, and clear it with one click.

Mod Updates

• Delta Updates. For an update, the launcher downloads a prebuilt package that contains only the differences between your installed and the new version. Instead of a chain of individual patches that had to be processed one after another, this is a single step.
• Automatic Fallback Paths. If there is no delta package, the launcher specifically downloads the changed individual files. If that also fails, it falls back to a complete reinstallation.
• Batch Check. One click checks all mods at once and reports either "Everything is up to date" or the number of available updates.

Managing Mods

• Submods Know Their Main Mod. If a submod needs a specific main mod, the launcher doesn't just say so — it offers to install it right along with it. If the installed main mod is outdated, its update is proposed first. On game start, main mod and submod are activated together.
• Changelog in the Launcher. For each version, you can read directly in the launcher what has changed. (if it is kept up to date)
• News About the Mod. Current announcements about the selected mod appear on the home page.
• Images Are Cached. Mod graphics are stored locally, so the interface is ready on the second start without reloading.
• Detection of Already-Installed Mods. After the initial setup or a change of the game path, the launcher searches for existing installations by itself.

Game Start

• Start as Administrator. In addition to the normal start, there is a dedicated button to start the game with elevated privileges (Windows).
• Check Whether the Game Is Still Running. Before starting, repairing, or uninstalling, the launcher checks whether EMERGENCY is still active and offers to close it — instead of failing on locked files.
• Check of the Game Files. If the program file is missing in the configured game path, the launcher says so directly and points to the settings.

Error Checking & Repair

• Dedicated View with Three Steps: Check → Repair → Result. You can see at any time where the check currently stands.
• File by File, Traceable. Each checked file gets a status: OK, missing, or deviating.
• Automatic Repair. Faulty and missing files are reloaded directly — with their own progress display.
• Foreign Files Are Removed. Files that do not belong to the installed version are detected and cleaned up.
• Final Report. At the end, you see a summary and a scrollable list of all flagged files with what happened to them.
• Abortable, without damaging the installation.

Screenshots

• Quick Overview. The gallery shows thumbnails in a grid that scrolls smoothly even with several hundred screenshots.
• Full-Size View with forward and backward navigation directly in the launcher.
• Context Menu per Image: copy to clipboard, open externally, or delete (with confirmation).
• TIFF and BMP Screenshots from the game are displayed directly.
• Open Screenshot Folder and Refresh with one click.

Logs

• Log Preview in the Launcher, with search across the file list.
• Header Data Is Read Automatically and shown as markers: game version, player name, Windows build, graphics card, active mod or map, and loaded mods. This makes it clear at a glance which configuration a log comes from.
• Copy Log to Clipboard — handy for passing it on in support.
• Open Folder for the game logs and for the logs of the launcher itself.

Account & Login

• Login Persists. The launcher automatically renews your session before it expires, and also on start if it expired in the meantime. The credentials come from the launcher backend itself — so how long you stay logged in no longer depends on the session duration of a third-party login service.
• Login in the Browser. The login runs in your normal browser against the Emergency Lüdenscheid login; the launcher waits until you are done.
• Network Disruptions No Longer Log You Out. Only a genuine rejection by the server ends the session — a connection drop does not.
• Public Mods Without Login. You only need to log in for mods and branches that are subject to approval. (Betas)
• Greeting to Match the Time of Day — from "Good morning" to "Night shift".

Installing & Updating the Launcher

• The Old Launcher Is Removed Automatically. On first start, the new launcher uninstalls the old Electron version, takes over your previous settings, and cleans up leftover files — if necessary on the next Windows restart.
• Understandable Installation Errors. If a virus scanner blocks the file, Windows folder protection denies access, the disk is full, or the launcher is still running
  — each case has its own message along with a hint on what to do. The technical details can be copied for support with one click.
• "Launcher Already Running" Is No Longer a Dead End. If the launcher detects an already-running instance during installation, you can close it directly from the error message and try again.
• Dedicated Update Window. When a launcher update is due, you see the old and new version numbers, the changelog, and the progress — and you can skip the update instead of having to perform it right away.
• Notice on a Blocked Connection. If a firewall or virus scanner prevents the update check, you are told exactly that — including the host that needs to be allowed and the path to the log file.

Linux Support (Still in Testing)

• The Launcher Runs Natively on Linux — previously there was only a Windows version.
• Clean Directories Following the XDG Standard: settings under ~/.config, data under ~/.local/share, logs under ~/.local/state, cache under ~/.cache.
• Desktop Integration: The installation creates a launcher entry along with an icon, so the launcher appears in the application menu.
• Game Start via Steam. Since EMERGENCY runs via Proton on Linux, the launcher starts the game via Steam. The game data is found in the Proton directory; if the game has never been started there, the launcher tells you so with a concrete hint.
  What does not work on Linux: "Skip Emergency Launcher" and "Start as Administrator". Both switches are hidden there instead of present but ineffective.

Interface & Operation

• Completely Rebuilt Interface in a dark design, with a frameless window.
• Home Page with Image Carousel, current news, and access to the changelog.
• Tidy Layout: mod bar on the left, information on the right, actions at the bottom — matching the respective view.
• Settings in Tabs (General / Game); changes are saved immediately, a separate save step is unnecessary.
• Hints as Overlays with an expiry indicator that pauses on hover.
• No Accidental Clicking Away. While an installation is running, navigation is locked.
• Confirmations Before Sensitive Actions — uninstalling, deleting a screenshot, closing a running game.
• German and English, switchable in the settings.

Further Changes

• Technical Foundation Replaced. The old launcher was an Electron application (Vue 2), the new one is a Go program that uses the browser core already present in Windows. Result: around 10 MB instead of around 150 MB program size, noticeably less memory usage, and a faster start. A dedicated browser is no longer bundled.
• New Backend. The server side was rewritten as well. This becomes visible to you mainly in the server selection, the automatic scaling of the download servers, and the delta packages.
• Login System Switched. The login no longer runs via the previous Keycloak access, but directly via the launcher backend. Therefore, a one-time re-login is necessary when switching over.
• Mod File Format Switched. Mods are no longer delivered as a ZIP, but as a compressed archive that is split into individually verifiable pieces. The former "QuickJump" patch chains no longer exist — they are replaced by delta packages.
• New Storage Locations. Settings, logs, and cache are located under %APPDATA%\LuedenscheidLauncher on Windows, and in the XDG directories on Linux. The directories of the old launcher are cleaned up on first start. Launcher logs are created per session; the last 30 are kept.
• Ongoing Downloads Are Reported to the Backend. During a download, the launcher regularly sends a heartbeat with the server being used. Only in this way can the server load be distributed and additional capacity be provided if needed.