- Weapon tracer lines are a lot more subtle and include a taper-off effect
- Mission 12 - The elevator after defeating Walker has been replaced with a jump pad, the elevator was annoying and could bug out fairly easily
- Mission 7 - you may have spotted flying grey shapes . these are now hidden and were meant to be developer-mode assets only
- Mission 2 - fixed sections of toxic sludge not hurting the player
Anomalous
V1.1 Minor Patch
Cloud saving enabled!
Anomalous V1.0 Release
Anomalous is finally out of Early Access! V.1.00 features overhauled maps for missions 5 -10, new end-game boss , AI and character updates as well as an awesome batch of new music created by BOD music. Additionally the amazing artwork by Dakota Lee is now finally unveiled to the public. It has been a long journey on this retro shooter. What started as a small project inspired by Dusk and Half Life morphed into a full fledged (but short!) game of its own. Development started in March 2020 and has lasted approximately 1659 calendar days / 4 years, 6 months, 2 weeks and 5 days
Future plans
I have a few visual enhancements for characters planned that will improve look and make sense in terms of the lore. Lore itself may be getting some enhancements, currently the player only finds lore through lore prompts ( the floating blue circles). Kosololo Prison (Level 8) has a rework that is not included in this release but I may revisit it.
ChangeList:
Map updates
The last set of map updates is live. The levels have received updates to everything from layout, design, enemy placement and item placement. Initially, the plan was to create more levels and introduce episodic content but over time I have ended up rather just improving existing levels. There are also more destructible objects in general.
-Enemy encounters in Kosolov Outback improved.
-Start location adjusted in Kosolov Outback
Kosolov Nightfall (Level 6) Overhaul with adjustments to layout and visualsOverhaul with adjustments to layout and visuals
-Meat (Level 7) Overhaul with adjustments to layout and visuals
-Prison (Level 8) Overhaul with adjustments to layout and visuals
-Ghost (Level 9) Overhaul with adjustments to layout and visuals
Transition (Level 10) Overhaul with adjustments to layout and visuals
-Kosolov Edgeland (Level 15) features an overhaul and a new endgame boss
AI Updates
-Enemy jumping has been reworked entirely.Let’s jus call it Jetpacking instead. Characters now are smarter when jetpacking and will jump at more consistent speeds from locations which results in a more interesting gunfight
-Stalkers will now perform dodges during combat
Gameplay Updates
-Shotgun is 50% more powerful damage per projectile is now 15
-Super Shotgun is 60% more power and damage per projectils is 24
-Standard and super shotgun spread patterns adjusted
-Lots of new destruction particle effects added
-New enemy sounds
-Fixed an AI bug where enemies would stop moving if you run out of their filed of vision
-Barrel explosion damage reduced by 80% for player
Misc Updates
-New music tracks added to varioius levels. A collection of music written by BOD has been added to the game. These are top tier Doom inspired ‘argent metal’ style tracks which really spice up the gameplay. I'm really happy with how these turned out. You can listen to more music BOD on Spotify
Adjusted sound concurrency settings to avoid distorted sounds when dealing with large groups of enemies
-Adjusted volume levels of various sound effects
-Updated lore entries when looking at lore interaction points in the world.
-Particle trails have been adjusted with less strict occlusion rules so they don't suddenly seem to disappear anymore especially when the point of origin is just outside player view
Progress Report
The last few months has seen quite a bit of progress on Anomalous however its been slow! A balance of IRL and game dev as usual
I'm currently rounding off the last set of levels to be worked on. It will be E1M6 to E1M10 . In fact, I have decided to drop the 'E1' as there are no chapter divisions in the game its just 15 missions , you might have seen some info regarding this in other updates. It's been many months of cutting, modifying and adding repeatedly.
END GAME UPDATE
I'm currently working on a boss character for endgame , you might notice the current end game is a bit meh without anything particularly significant happening
WORLD CONSISTENCY
Its been a tough challenge to try make the maps varied but still interconnected. Most of the maps released with Early access are basically throwing stuff against a wall and seeing what sticks. Too many different ideas. however over time I have been able to refine it down to just the good stuff
LESS GRAPPLE
After reviewing a couple of player feedback items where players really did not like the grappling I have decided to make it less featured overall.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to those of you who have stuck around for so long I appreciate the support!
Kosolov Nightfall - cleaning up the overly busy streets with less visual clutter
MEAT - the slaughterhouse level becoming less silent hill nightmare and more industrial meat factory
Kosolov Prison - A whole redesign of this map so it makes more sense and also a bit of a grey/grim facelift
GHOST - The coastal map has also had a lot of refinement and cleanup to make it a less visually cluttered.
TRANSITION - This scifi facility map has gone less Mirror's Edge and more Control/Half-life inspired
Experimenting with making alternate grunt characters.
Update 0.9
You will encounter save problems if you load saved games from the first 5 maps. Rather start a new game. The levels are vastly overhauled so are enough to warrant a fresh playthrough. This only applies to the first five maps.
Character updates
Stub characters have textures updated and improved model
Flyer enemies replaced with a new type of character. The sentry robot.
Map updates
The first set of map updates is live. The levels have received updates to everything from layout, design, enemy placement and item placement. Initially, the plan was to create more levels and introduce episodic content but over time I have ended up rather just improving existing levels. There are also more destructible objects in general.
- Refinery (Level 1) overhauled. Layout and design vastly improved.
- Forest (Level 2) overhauled. Layout and design vastly improved.
- Rocket Fuel (Level 3) overhauled. Layout and design vastly improved.
- Kosolov (Level 4) overhauled. Layout and design vastly improved.
- Prison(Level 8) minor updates and visual improvements
- Collider (Level10) minor improvements and end elevator replaced with jump pad.
- Hangar (Level 11) grapple nodes removed.
- Central (Level 12) grapple nodes removed entirely. No more annoying environment challenges.
Gameplay updates
The scale of the game has been adjusted slightly to make it feel more impactful and less “floaty”. Enemy size has been adjusted due to them feeling smaller than the environment. Also player speed has been decreased (crazy for a retro-FPS game right?!?!). There is some air resistance applied to the player when jumping , player feedback was that it was hard to control direction when in the air.
- Air control decreased by 25% (from 1.0 to 0.75) This will allow for a more natural air resistance instead of ‘slippery’ feel when jumping
- Player run speed decreased from 1500 to 1300
- Weapon sway decreased by 75%
- Dying screen has been improved. Instead of an instant kill screen which players might accidentally press restart it has a slight delay.
- Weapon bobbing animation improved
- Enemy character size revised. Some enemies are 10-20% bigger to balance the overall scale of the game
- Spawning enemies now have a sound effect
- Size of breakable objects revised.
- Max rockets increased to 45
Minor updates
- Many particle effects have been revised such as destruction particle effects and enemy spawning FX
- More sound fx added to breaking objects
- More breakable objects added
- Player weapons are affected by SFX volume settings now
- Developer menu setting shown in game options. This will allow a dev menu accessible from the root menu.
Price updates
Price has increased from $6.99 to $7.99 (+15%)
Update v0.8
- Main menu revamp showing new player model
- All weapon animations use the new player character model’s arms in them.
- Some animations adjusted slightly
- HIDE HANDS option added to game options if you prefer a hands-less experience like in a couple other of the retro FPS games
- Some minor visual adjustments in Kosolov Nightfall (map 6)
Update 0.7.6
Overview
Milestone 2 of 3 is here for Anomalous! The main feature of this update is the addition of 5 new levels which will total 15 levels for the campaign. This is the full intended length of the game. This update features a host of changes and some new additions like the kick ability and various new enemy types.
New Features
- GRAPPLE: A grappling game mechanic has been added, grapple points placed in the world can be ued to propel yourself around a map. At the moment they are only available in the last 5 levels of the campaign
- KICK: Player now has the ability to kick
- Kicking can be used to push enemies and break various objects
- DUAL WIELD: Player now has the ability to dual wield certain weapons. Dual wielded weapons are the pistol, shotgun and machine gun
- Lore points: in every level you will find interactive prompts to find out lore about the world
- Campaign has been revised to 15 maps in total.
- The episodic form has been changed and at the end of the 15th mission the player will see an end game screen
- Mission selection screen has episodes removed and will display 15 levels
- Codex is now available in an extras section of the main menu. Use it to view the different monster types
- Codex unlocks are placed in the world and count as ‘secrets’
- New enemy: Walker. A large tank character with a ranged beam attack
- New enemy: Brute. A large tank character which is primarily a melee attacker
- New enemy: QuadPod. Constant dual cannon homing projectile attacker
- New enemy: Flyer Alternate. A visually alternate version of the flyer
- New enemy: Displacer. A ranged enemy with the ability to instantly teleport strategically around the player
- SECRETS: There was a massive lack of secrets in game , all levels have secrets now.
- New campaign levels added: Uldre Hangar, Internal, Modular, Dark Factory & Kosolov Edgelands. This
- completes the campaign story with a total of 15 maps.
- Level selector changed from episodic format to a single screen with 15 levels
Bug fixes
- E1m10 The elevator after RED key door has been fixed so that it won't deactivate after the player has
- loaded or quickloaded the game
- Zoom lock has been fixed for sniper rifle
- The info widget which appears during gameplay by pressing TAB has been re-enabled
- User interface sounds correctly apply to UI audio slider
- Auto-fire attacks wont continue when an enemy dies
- Projectiles are relocated to be more accurately spawned from an enemies weapon, they were previously off axis
Enhancements
- Enemy characters use a fulbright material for easier visibility during gameplay
- E1M3 Rocket Fuel - Visual enhancements
- E1M2 Forest Visual - enhancements
- Various prop enhancements. Boxes, barrels, crates, objects
- The Campaign ending screen has changed place to appear after the Kosolov Edgelands and will finalise the story rather than the end of episode 1
- Players projectiles are more blue in general while enemies are red
- Light trails from projectiles can be turned off if they are annoying
In the fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuture
The last early access milestone includes a revamp of the first 10 maps so they match the general quality of the new maps added to the game. This will include adding extra sections into maps to encourage exploration. The initial planned level count of 30 has been reduced to 15 but sections that won't make it as new levels can be repurposed and added to existing maps.
- New enemy AI including Dodge and other maneuvers
- Physics interactions and the ability to throw objects
- Revamping level 1-10 with more than just visual updates
- Steam achievements!
- Quality of life changes
- Localisation support
Some In progress shots of revamping Map 6 'Kosolov Nightfall'!
Almost there! 2-3 months left
I am busy hard at work on the update for Anomalous! A large Update Should be available in the next 2 - 3 months
I have a writer on board now as well! @drunkunclealec is helping out with crafting a story behind the chaos as well as a host of elements like in-game worldbuilding text, monster lore, and a few others.
One important thing to note: I have effectively reduced the number of planned levels from 30 to 15. I think that it will do good to cap the campaign at that length. Otherwise, the development of the game will go on for eternity. If there is significant demand for a longer campaign then I will consider it once the release is out.
The update will feature new enemies and gameplay abilities. The player will now have a dedicated kick and you will find bright nodes scattered around the world that you can use a grapple hook to fly around from.
Once the new update is released I will be updating the first 10 maps of the game to generally have better gameplay and improved visuals that suit the look of the game I was going for originally. You will probably find a generally darker look, if you are familiar with the Beta look of Halflife 2 it will be greatly inspired by that. These maps will mostly be the same layout but I have a collection of extra areas that can extend some of the shorter ones. From day 1 Anomalous was always meant to be a short game though!
Here's a look at some of the newer maps. The last five levels of Anomalous take place in the Uldre Complex. a sprawling industrial complex deep inside the city of Kosolov. They have a more sci-fi look.
update 0.5.4.4 - Controller support and speed increase
- Controller support is partially supported! More testing to be done with DS PS4 Controller but Xbox seems pretty stable. menus can be navigated with humbstick moving mouse
- I have increased the player's run speed. It lacked the speed of the retro fps :D
- some revision in menu UIs
Anomalous 0.5.4.2 mini patch
- E1m10 - The elevator after RED key door has been fixed so that it won't deactivate after the player has loaded or quickloaded the game
- Zoom lock has been fixed for sniper rifle
- The info widget which appears during gameplay by pressing TAB has been re-enabled