Radiation, gas masks, bags and a new PDA scanner: Beautiful Light's 2026 survival systems
Radiation zones and gas masks, helmet armor, bags you buy and upgrade with pouches, and a PDA scanner that sees everything except players.
Beautiful Light's raid is not only about guns and monsters. Through 2026, Deep Worlds has been layering in the systems that decide what you carry and how long you last: radiation, gas masks, armor, bags and a rebuilt PDA. The studio has shown each of them in its official Discord. Here is what they do, in the order they appeared.
Radiation and gas masks (March 2026)
On 9 March 2026, Aherys introduced radiation, which he called a long awaited feature, and listed how it works:
- Exposure is dangerous. Too much of it drains your stamina, then your health, and you can die fast.
- Gas mask filters are consumables, and they offer different levels of protection.
- Wearing the mask has a cost: it muffles ambient sound and increases stamina drain.
- Your PDA tracks radiation, and alerts you as you approach dangerous levels or when your filter is running out.
- Some of those alerts can be heard by nearby players, enemies included.
- Special medication flushes out accumulated radiation.
- Some radiation zones are fixed on the map, others are randomized.
Two days later he shared the gas mask in game, with dynamic breathing: the sound changes with your condition, heart rate, stamina and stress, and is different in first and third person. Visuals, animations, sounds and the mask's interface were all placeholders, but Aherys promised the gas mask HUD would be "something special".
Lockpicking (March 2026)
A short clip on 15 March showed a lock being picked in a close-up view, with placeholder sound. A node named Lockpick appears in the skill tree Deep Worlds shared in September.
Helmet armor (May 2026)
On 21 May, Deep Worlds said it had implemented a prototype of its helmet armor system, and showed a detail that came with it: helmets now drop off on headshots, as visual feedback. The studio has not yet described armor values or tiers.
Bags you buy and upgrade (August 2026)
On 8 August, Aherys detailed a new bag system:
- Bags are physical items that you have to buy.
- Higher tier bags take modules, which you also buy.
- A bag has zero, one or two module slots.
| Module | What it adds |
|---|---|
| Holster | An extra weapon slot, which cannot be bound to a shortcut |
| Medical Pouch | Slots for medical supplies |
| Ammo Pouch | Slots for magazines and ammunition |
| Extension | One additional slot in the bag |
In a game where death takes everything you brought in, a bag is a real decision: a bigger one lets you carry more out, and loses more if you do not make it.
The PDA overhaul and the scanner (August 2026)
The PDA is the wrist device operators use to find objectives on the map. On 17 August, Aherys said it had been overhauled, and introduced a new scanner. It can display almost everything, down to whether a light is on or off, and hides only players. It is designed so that a skilled operator can quickly tell whether a blip is a monster or an objective, and what kind, but reading it takes some game knowledge.
Since the scanner hides players, it tells you about the map and the monsters, but never where the other squads are.
What is still unknown
- Prices for bags, modules, filters and medication, and where you buy them
- Armor values and helmet tiers
- Where the radiation zones are on Ground Zero
- Whether an anomaly shows up on the scanner when it is controlled by a player
For the raid these systems plug into, see how the raid loop is changing, and check the system requirements before Early Access.
Sources
- Deep Worlds' official Discord (discord.gg/project-bl), #leaks-wip: posts by Aherys, CEO, on 3 March, 9 March, 11 March, 15 March, 8 August and 17 August 2026, and by Matavatar, Head Staff, on 21 May 2026
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