Changes: We’ve heard you and we’ve nerfed enemy detection ranges across the board to get them more in line with old values. No more enemy spotting you across two compounds. Or that pesky Spirit noticing player from across the map. We will continue to monitor your response and adjust this in the future if needed.
Bug fix: Fixed few more issues with 21:9 aspect ratio
Dead Man's Promise FAQ
Welcome undead gunslingers and spirit talkers alike. Welcome to the Dead Man's Promise FAQ.
You've got questions? Well, we've got answers.
But first... here's a message from The Shadow Man himself, the voice of The Shaman in Dead Man's Promise, the one and only... Redd Pepper:
And now, onto your most Frequently Asked Questions...
General Questions
Q: Is Dead Man’s Promise a standalone expansion or is it now part in the main campaign story?
A: DMP is a standalone expansion, played separately from the main campaign. But it is launched from the main menu of Blood West. It does not have its own .exe or app on Steam.
Q. Do I need to own Blood West in order to play Dead Man's Promise?
A. YES.
Q: Is it required to finish the main campaign before playing DMP?
A: No! But it is encouraged to at least finish Chapter 2 to get some good background on who you'll be playing as in Dead Man's Promise and why. Plus you'll be more prepared!
Q: Can I play Dead Man's Promise with my character from the base game?
A: No. Dead Man’s Promise features a NEW character together with a NEW set of weapons and skills to use.
Q: Is Dead Man's Promise a prequel or sequel to the main game?
A: It’s kind of in the middle. The Shaman's story takes place around when the player in the main campaign leaves to go to Chapter 3. Think of it as a side story from Chapter 2.
Q: How long will it take to beat Dead Man's Promise?
A: Hard to say, but about the same as the other chapters of Blood West. Your mileage may vary!
Q. How much will it cost?!
A. $14.99 but existing owners of Blood West will be able to get it for $9.99 at launch :)
Q: Will there be new content for the main campaign, too?
A: Together with Dead Man's Promise we will be releasing a patch with some Quality of Life Improvements and are already planning to do more in the future (along with more DLC)
Q: Will this expansion release in Early Access?
A: No, it will be fully released as a proper expansion!
Q: What translations/languages will be available?
A: The same as the base game, so: English, German, Polish, Hungarian and Russian
Q: When will Dead Man's Promise release?!
A: SOON™ (Sooner than you think)
The Map
Q: What does the map look like? Is it the same map as the swamps from Chapter 2?
A: No! It's a brand new map - although it is also a bog, so it may look a bit similar at first glance...
Q: How big is the map?
A: Think of it as the size of Chapter 1 but packed packed with much more content!
Gameplay
Q: Will there be new traits?
A: Yes! 12 new traits await you in total to build your own version of The Shaman.
Q: How many new weapons and artifacts are there in Dead Man's Promise?
A: Over 40! Including new weapon types.
Q: How about monsters, how many new dangers lurk in the swamps of Dead Man's Promise?
A: 11 new enemies await, plus some old favorites.
Q: What else is new in Dead Man's Promise?
A: New status effects, the ability to summon allies to your aid, traps and more!
Q: How about lore?!
A: Of course there will be quite a few new things to lay your weary eyes upon and maybe even some revelations on how the world of Blood West works!
Other Assorted Questions
Q. Is Dead Man's Promise harder than Blood West?
A. Of course! Expansion packs are always harder than the base game? MUHAHAHAHAHA
Q: Will there ever be a map editor or anything like that?
A: No
Q: Official mod or Steam Workshop support?
A: Nope
Q: Multiplayer? Co-op?
A: Sorry!
Q: Steam Deck Verification?!
A: Working on it!
Q: Roguelite Randomizer Mooncrash Style DLC?!
A: Not a bad idea...
Q. When should I wishlist Blood Man Dead Man's Promise?!?!?!
Fixed the sorting items bug that could cause items to disappear under specific conditions - this time for good!
HUD will display properly when using 21:9 aspect ratio.
Fixed missing sliders in the Journal and inventory screens.
Fixed an issue where the sensitivity option was not changed when the player changed the input device.
Fixed an issue where the “unstuck ammo” function sometimes produces a wrong SFX.
Fixed an issue where two Boo Hags could appear after saving & loading the game when her quest was completed.
Fixed an issue where using a Raven Skull inside a backpack could cause the ESC key to not work on the first try.
Fixed a bug where Wraith would not chase the player.
Fixed a case where the Birdman and Prodigal Daughter could shoot the player without aiming.
Fixed a bug where the Chaos Die could be “consumed” when using a controller or keyboard shortcut.
Fireweed in Chapter 2 will always be picked up without checking for space in the player’s inventory.
Lady Anabelle won’t respawn in Chapter 3 if she has already been killed.
Broken Scream won’t produce the wrong SFX when using its cloak ability.
Hellish Clot will now properly lose aggro.
Projectiles will no longer snap to Drowner’s jaw, giving wrong impressions about missed headshots.
New Blood Interactive splash screen properly displays on the widescreen.
Additionally, in the previous patch (3.2.0) we fixed an issue where enemies would not see the player properly from a distance. This results in enemies being slightly more aware of the player.
(This will be adjusted in the future)
Improvements:
The ammunition’s name will be visible when changing the ammo type.
Information about ineffective shots will not be displayed when shooting corpses.
Chapter 3 boss’ body will no longer land on an invisible collider.
Improved the Leech AI to be less prone to getting stuck near walls and other obstacles.
Chapter 1 boss will remain “opened” for a bit longer after forcing it open.
When using the item wheel with a mouse, the camera will remain locked.
It’s now possible to use Black Raven Skulls inside safe zones.
But wait… did you read that right? New Blood?! Oh HELL yes you did.
The New Blood West
Seeing your engagement along initiatives such as the Creep Contest, Feedback Survey and Expansion Teaser, proved to us that there is just not enough Blood West for you yet, and we feel exactly the same.
While looking at the possible future of the Blood West franchise, as the video game world has been shaken to its foundations, we’ve decided to significantly expand the game with new content and partner up with the one publisher we’ve always looked up to, New Blood Interactive - in order to see Blood West reach its full potential.
Hyperstrange is now closely working with New Blood together on Blood West. Meaning you can expect another layer of quality to come to barren lands, new content, fully fledged expansions like Dead Man’s Promise.
But that’s not all….
A Fistful of Polish
This partnership starts RIGHT NOW. The base game of Blood West has just received a patch to begin the overall vision of improving the whole game. Enjoy, gunslingers.
Changes and features:
Improved game introduction and tutorials
Improved projectile throw indicator
Added a "faster way" back to the boss fight in Chapter 1
Weapon/Item Wheel is now available when using keyboard & mouse
Option to automatically hide HUD
FOV range extended up to 100
Bug fixes and improvements:
Fixed an issue where “sorting items” function could result in items being lost
Fixed fire doing damage even on pause screen
Fixed an issue where shotguns would shoot from both barrels instead of one after switching weapons
Less enemies in the alternative path leading to boss fight in Chapter 1
Fixed an issue where Chapter 2 boss could “roar” even when boss was not active
Fixed an issue where Defiler SFX was being looped on idle
Fixed an issue where Pawn would not increase damage of crossbows
Fixed a potential issue where performing quest for Totem of Souls would remove Curse, but not Soul Flaws (if any were present)
Fixed an issue where player could enter Chapter 3 boss’ neck and avoid damage in doing so
Fixed a bug where Pawn would lose its value after teleportation
Fixed an issue where projectile weapons would not receive buffs
Fixed a bug in which player didn’t need more than one Ace card to get an additional buff
Fixed a potential issue where the “hiding in bushes” modifier could be stacked
Fixed a visual bug where key icons would not be displayed properly in in-game UI
Fixed Emerald Eyes bonus not being active when the weapon was holstered
Fixed a bug that could result in Tomahawks and other projectiles multiplying when hitting a Hellbat
Fixed an issue where certain quest would not update properly when playing through Chapter 1
Fixed Rose Bonbon potion regenerating HP while it was intended
Fixed cinematics being corrupted when displaying on Steam Deck
Fixed missing VO for one of Anabelle’s dialogues
Fixed Whetstone buff remaining on the player
Fixed an issue where it was impossible to reload a weapon after a quick weapon swap
Fixed an issue where fade to black would not happen smoothly upon death
Fixed wrong shader being applied to certain wooden elements in Chapter 3
Fixed a potential issue where enemies would stop patrolling on specific circumstances
Hitting non-vital spot (like Prodigal Daughter mask) will never trigger insta-kill effect
Blocked a potential exploit where buying price could be lowered more than selling price (due some clever usage of perks and artifacts)
Player will no longer be slowed down when jumping over bodies of water
Removed a few possible stuck spots
Improved Raven Skull - after teleport is done, any potential bleeding will stop to make sure player doesn’t die in a safe zone
Improvements to certain VFX (most notably: dynamite)
Dynamite’s fuse will now visually burn down when ignited until the explosion
Improvement: Stamina will now regenerate during dialogues
Improved aiming animation for certain enemies
General improvements to controllers
Improvements to how the Rattler’s headshots are tracked
Bunch of typos and other text improvements
Clarified description of Strong Lungs perk
Binding a key for toggle next or previous items is now correctly recognized by the game
This is just the beginning of this UNHOLY ALLIANCE between Hyperstrange and New Blood so please continue to leave feedback and stay tuned for more updates.
Oh yeah, the game is also 50% OFF for the first time. Happy Hunting o7
As we promised last week, today we have prepared a small taste of what is to come. Just a heads up, today's meal is meant to leave you a bit pecking - but don’t you worry as we are cooking more than an appetizer for you and soon it will leave the oven.
Ok, enough kitchen lingo, kick back and enjoy some moving pictures
Before you delve into wild speculation about what might be inside that pitch black rift or who is that woman, there are some things we can share with you already! As you have noticed, you will be able to equip magical staffs and other similar objects. These esoteric armaments will allow you not only to melt your enemies’ faces, but to summon minions to aid you in battle. Heck, they can also be used to curse your foes with negative status effects. You will need these and more to deal with new Eldritch Predators such as the lovely Abyss walker.
That is all we have for today folks, but feel more than welcome to drop onto our Discord and have a chat with us! We will be dropping new screenshots there to keep ya’all entertained till the next video reveal!
Today we would like to share with you the hot takes of the survey that we have posted in some time ago. But before that, we would like to thank y'all for being such mighty fine folk! Your turnout has surpassed our wildest expectations - tip of the hat to you! For people like you, give us the positive energy to keep making more!
With that out of the way, let's take a look together at these fancy numbers!
Favorite NPC
Anabelle won by a landslide and we ain’t surprised! We fell in love with the gal while she was still a concept art during the development of the second chapter of Blood West and we wanted her to be the poster-girl of the second chapter. That wouldn’t be possible of course without Ivy Wilde. She did done a fantastic job of bringing the character to life and on that note each and every voice actor did a phenomenal job. In case you were wondering who is the voice behind your favorite NPC, here is a neat little homage we made for them.
Best Chapter
An almost equal split between chapters sends us a clear message of what tickles your fancy when it comes to level design. Open levels with a strong theme, lots of small pockets of interest to explore and a fair, yet demanding difficulty curve. We could pat ourselves on the back here and call it a day, but there is the topic of Chapter 3. A disclaimer before we dig in, as almost 40% of participants stated that they have not finished Blood West yet - and with the difficulty spike we ain’t surprised. Nevertheless, this bit of information paints Chapter 3 in a much different color. However, we wouldn’t be ourselves, if we hadn't looked at everything thoroughly. There could be several factors that contributed to his result, the aforementioned difficulty spike, gaming fatigue, elevations interrupting the flow of exploration and a few others. We will be looking at each and one of them to make sure nothing is overlooked - just in case. Overall, we are happy with all of the chapters as they have done their very distinctive jobs very well - otherwise your reviews wouldn’t be so positive. So we take this task with an attitude of how to make a good thing even better.
Favorite Gameplay Style
Almost equal split between gunsling and sneaking! I reckon with these results we can hazard a statement that we have done good on the Stealth FPS part. Yet there is no rest for the undead and game developers as it looks like archery and melee is lagging be-hind in your estimations. While there are more than several perks and trinkets that amplify these gamestyles there seems not to be enough of them. The same thing goes for weapon variety - there weren't simply as many bows and melee weapons as guns. Luckily, the solution for this here challenge is quite simple - make more of em’! We have not only already planned a greater number of these types of weapons for upcoming content, but we have also been working on making their passive and active effects as engaging and fun as we can. Hell, you might even see a whole new kind of weapon - but you did not hear it from me.
On a bit of an off-topic, how do you feel about our archetype videos?Would you like to see more of them? Let us know in the comments!
Most Wanted Improvements
While there are some interactive environments in Blood West, shoutout to those cowboys who found the destructible lanterns, there certainly could be more of them. However, this is the part where we have to cool your horses folks. Adding physics to many objects is something that can’t be done in how we have built Blood West - performance will kick the dirt simply. So while a substantial expansion of the scope of interactive environments is a topic for a far, faaar future, we can definitely deliver the second most wanted thing - more mechanics! You can bet your last penny that we will keep experimenting with making monsters in Blood West even more complex and creepy, but you can also expect us to keep expanding gameplay archetypes. For what are new enemies without new weapons to unalive them.
Most Wanted Future Content
They say the customer is always right, so who are we to argue? Round up your crew and mosey on over to this here steam page on the 19th of August. Keep your pretty peepers focused around 19.00 CEST and you might just find what you were asking for.
See you soon partners!
We are bringing on the HEAT with the Summer Sale
Stop, it's Summer Sale time.
Summer, a time of joyful exuberance. A time to kick-back, relax and what is a better form of relaxation than indulging in some reckless shopping during the Summers Sale!
We have prepared a discount’s galore for you to browse and peruse, so what are you looking for?
You want boom shoots? - We got them.
You want stylish boom shoots? - We got them too.
You want something more cerebral? - We got your back.
You want to run around with sharp objects? - We got you covered.
You want something strange? - Say no more.
You want something cute, wholesome and heartwarming? - Actually, no.. we don’t have these.
So what are you waiting for? Grab your friends, loved ones and that weird neighbor that you see only once a week at the bus stop - It's time for a Hyper Summer Sale!
Supplice, the most stylish boomer-shooter there is, has just got a whole new Episode! New weapons, new enemies and a new frozen wasteland to explore. If you have missed the fun-train, then you can get Supplice with a 20% discount during the Summer Sale!
Hordes of Hunger
Ever wondered how a 3D action survivorslike would look like? Then wonder no more as our feverish imagination has done that for you! Wishlist Hordes of Hunger to stay in the loop on our development progress.
Have fun and don't spend your moolah in one place!
- 30% on Blood West and other Hyperstrange games
Hey Gunslingers,
We are starting this fiesta with a spicy 30% discount on Blood West, but this ain't the only dish we are serving on this here party. We have got FPS games galore waiting to invade your taste buds. Not hungry? Well then younglings, you better make grandma Hyperstrange proud and eat up!
Gamers don't die, they RESPAWN in this Retro Arena FPS.
Rack the shotgun and let's go!
Blood West Monster Art Contest: Unveiling the Champions!
Howdy Gunslingers
The day we’ve all been waiting for is finally here! We're bursting with excitement to crown the victors of our biggest and most thrilling contest ever!
Remember when we challenged you, our incredible community, to unleash your inner monster-maker? To conjure up the most intriguing, spine-tingling creature to stalk the barren lands of Blood West? Well, the wait is over!
As a reminder, the winner’s design will be immortalized within the game and their name will take the rightful place in the Blood West credits! Talk about legendary!
And for the three runner-up masterminds, their phenomenal creations haven't gone unnoticed. Each of them will receive a double dose of gaming glory: two game keys from our selection, a well-deserved reward for your fantastic work.
Drumroll, please...
The moment you've all been craving: the winning entries!
MAIN PRIZE WINNER
Wraith Wolf by Emmanuel Falaras
These woods used to echo with the sounds of the Wolf Packs around here. But as Ranchers and Frontiersmen settled in, they were wiped out, hunted to oblivion. Now though, since the dead have been rising again, the Wolves have come back... And they seem intent on returning the favor.
There are two variants of the Wraith Wolf, the Alpha, and its Summons.
The Alpha is a Skeletal Wolf with a ghostly body, and glowing eyes and heart. And the Summon is the Skeleton with only the glowing eyes. The Wraith Wolf Alpha starts patrolling its territory alone. But when it engages with a target, the Alpha howls, summoning additional skeletal wolves around itself that attack the target directly. While the Summons attack the target, the Alpha circles from the outside, quickly darting back and forth, occasionally stopping to summon additional skeletons at different angles around its target. The Skeletal Summons pull themselves from the ground when spawned, and are brittle, falling relatively easily with no damage resistances. The Alpha is heavily resistant to all damage types outside of Silver, with the glowing heart acting as a greater weak point as opposed to the head. When the Alpha is defeated, any active Summons also fall with it. When defeated, the Alpha's ghostly body evaporates while the bones fall to the ground, and the Skeletal Summons simply fall to the ground.
The Wraith Wolf may drop its Jaw on death as an equipable item. When worn, it will summon two skeletal wolves to aid the player in combat once every 5 minutes. The skeletal wolves, and the item cooldown are both triggered when an enemy targets the player. The goal of the Wraith Wolf is first, to have more Spectral enemies to encourage greater use of Silver Ammo. Second; to be an enemy encounter that offers many targets to fight at once, giving more value to high-capacity weapons like the Lever Rifle and the Chain Pistol. And thirdly; to have an enemy that offers a more intense, faster paced combat if the player seeks it, or to be a dangerous enemy rewarding a stealthy play style.
And here’s what the team said about giving this concept a key to being animated in Blood West:
“The Wraith Wolf's concept as a whole captivates us; the synergy between its design, mechanics, and lore creates an exceptional entity. While each element on its own is strong, it's their cohesive integration that truly stands out. Among many impressive submissions, it stood out and clinched the team's vote. It's a perfect fit for Blood West's varied biomes, enhancing the game's "wild" areas seamlessly. The creator aimed to introduce a spiritual foe encouraging more use of silver ammo, a touch we find brilliant. Essentially, the Wraith Wolf triumphed by melding a striking visual idea with game mechanics as if tailor-made for Blood West.”
RUNNER-UPS
Here are the three masterpieces that earned the second prize!
Tombstone Scorp by Pavel Pavlenko
Gilded Huntress by 30mil user
Tormentor by Cormac Bate
We want to give a monstrous shout-out to every single contestant who stepped into the arena! Your unleashed creativity and sheer passion were the fuel that kept this contest burning bright. Stay tuned, as we will be sharing with you the process of how Wraith Wolf becomes a monstrosity that will hunt you in the next expansion!
