After 5 years... a major update saunters in through the batwing doors
After several years, a major patch has been released for Boot Hill Heroes that improves the game in several ways. This patch mostly carries over enhancements in the sequel, Boot Hill Bounties, but there are some interesting updates as well:
Updated Menus and Interface: The cleaner, slicker interface from Boot Hill Bounties is here with more readable text and colors.
Several sprites have been remade: Including the Weezler, Razor Paw, and most of the Saints-Little Gang.
Food is able to be found or purchased as in Boot Hill Bounties: You can buy food from restaurants and eat it there or store it in your inventory for later. Food gives characters a variety of perks that will come in handy.
Medical Kits can also be purchased: You can purchase Medical Kits from doctors in towns to heal wounds while on adventures.
Updated Script: Some sections of the script have been rewritten, mostly dialogue of the Chepakwik to better connect to Boot Hill Bounties
Postgame Content Changes: The riddles to opening the doors in the Cinnabar Mines now pertain to things in Kickstart Creek (as opposed to all over Bronco County). Also, a new final boss has been added.
Corral Countdown 1: Boot Hill Bounties Now On Steam!
It's finally here! The long awaited sequel to Boot Hill Heroes is now available on Steam. Boot Hill Bounties takes everything that was great about Boot Hill Heroes and multiplies it by 10!
Bronco County is on the brink of war. A conspiracy to provoke a conflict between the western settlers and the Chepakwik threatens to destroy both sides. Only Kid, Doc, Moon and Rosy know the truth. But to save their homes, they’ll have to hunt down five legendary outlaws whose very names strike fear into the hearts of men.
Boot Hill Bounties continues the saga of Kid and his companions as they journey deeper into the darkest corners of the Wild West and come face to face with the evil Creed Little, Stampede Sally, Tuco Delgado, Scorpion Saint and Burning Crow.
Boot Hill Bounties continues the story of Boot Hill Heroes, but Boot Hill Bounties was designed for new players to comfortably jump in without having played the first game. Six years in development, Boot Hill Bounties is a 2D retro RPG set in the Wild West that supports single player or UP TO FOUR PLAYER LOCAL CO-OP.
Corral Countdown 1: Boot Hill Bounties Now On Steam!
It's finally here! The long awaited sequel to Boot Hill Heroes is now available on Steam. Boot Hill Bounties takes everything that was great about Boot Hill Heroes and multiplies it by 10!
Bronco County is on the brink of war. A conspiracy to provoke a conflict between the western settlers and the Chepakwik threatens to destroy both sides. Only Kid, Doc, Moon and Rosy know the truth. But to save their homes, they’ll have to hunt down five legendary outlaws whose very names strike fear into the hearts of men.
Boot Hill Bounties continues the saga of Kid and his companions as they journey deeper into the darkest corners of the Wild West and come face to face with the evil Creed Little, Stampede Sally, Tuco Delgado, Scorpion Saint and Burning Crow.
Boot Hill Bounties continues the story of Boot Hill Heroes, but Boot Hill Bounties was designed for new players to comfortably jump in without having played the first game. Six years in development, Boot Hill Bounties is a 2D retro RPG set in the Wild West that supports single player or UP TO FOUR PLAYER LOCAL CO-OP.
With only one day left before release, it wasn’t easy to decide on what else to write about for the penultimate Corral Countdown. But there’s one element that has played a major role both in the development of Boot Hill Bounties as well as in the game itself.
Boot Hill Heroes began as a Kickstarter project way back in May of 2012. If you can imagine, Kickstarter was still a relatively new phenomenon at the time and the campaign was very successful. The project garnered nearly 500 backers and about 100 of them pledged enough to have their own sprite in the game.
Kickstarter Backers can be found all over Bronco County. They typically blend in with other non-player character residents, but occasionally stand out.
Backer characters can interact with the player in a variety of ways:
<*>Give some relevant opinion about the plot that adds more context to the game
<*>Tell a joke or say something bizarre or interesting to provide some relief from the main story
<*>Give Kid a perk just from speaking to them
<*>Give a treasure for free or in exchange for completing a small side quest
<*>Teach a recipe, imbue property or treatment
Kickstarter backers have contributed a lot to this project, from both the initial funding of the project to adding more color and personality to Bronco County itself.
Tomorrow Boot Hill Bounties will finally be released along with the final Corral Countdown. There’s still one more thing I want to tell people about the game.
Corral Countdown 3: 100% Completion
Welcome back to the Corral Countdown after our brief hiatus. Things are back in order and Boot Hill Bounties is set to go public on Steam this Friday, December 15. Steam keys have already been sent out to Kickstarter backers and a select group of journalists.
But there are still a few things left I want people to know about the game, so the Corral Countdown continues. We’ve talked about so many things like learning recipes, upgrading your farm, gaining levels in hats, completing side quests. But, can you do all of these things? Can you get 100% completion?
When you complete Boot Hill Bounties, your completion rate will be evaluated and you’ll be given a grade based on how much of the game you completed. It takes about 25 hours to complete the main storyline, but how long will it takes to get to 100% completion?
And then, what happens when you do get 100% completion? Do you get a thumbs up? Maybe a special medal? No sir, no you do not. You then get a key. A very special key that unlocks a very deep secret and one final riddle and side quest that players can solve.
Believe me when I tell you that this 100% riddle is so fiendishly deceptive that this post 100% completion side quest may never be solved. It may remain as one of gaming’s biggest mysteries. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you more. Only you can 100% complete Boot Hill Bounties, get this mysterious key, and tackle this final riddle yourself.
Good luck!
Corral Countdown 4: Trailer Premiere #1 - The Saints-Little Gang
First things first, despite insisting on a December 1 release date, Boot Hill Bounties will have to be pushed back to December 15. The game is currently stuck in the approval process on Steam. Usually this takes a few days, but Steam is experiencing a high volume of submissions. This is my fault for taking too long getting the storefront assets together and submitting the game so late.
This might be a good thing since it gives me more time to submit the game to review sites and build more hype for the game - things I haven’t spent as much time on as I would have liked. For those who were expecting the game December 1, I apologize for not delivering.
Now the good news. We finally have a trailer for Boot Hill Bounties!
The focus of the trailer is, of course, on the Saints-Little Gang, the titular “bounties” of Boot Hill Bounties. This is a game that focuses heavily on the villains and I often refer to them as the five “robot masters” (you may pick up on the Mega Man vibe in the trailer).
https://www.youtube.com/embed/WbjiwJV_x4E
Let me know what you think. I may also make a more traditional trailer later on, but I actually had the idea for this trailer since Boot Hill Heroes over five years ago. Great to see it finally realized.
Corral Countdown 5: One More Hat for Doc
Here we are at the final Hat Tuesday in the Corral Countdown. And following the order we’ve been revealing these hats, we end with one last hat to show off for Doc. But as always, I leave the mystery of this hat behind suspicious spoiler tags. Click on if you feel so bold…
So that’s all the hats I plan to reveal in Boot Hill Bounties. There are still many that are in the game I didn’t even get to bring up here. You’ll have to play the game to find out what’s missing.
Corral Countdown 6: Steam Achievements
Steam Achievements are special rewards for completing various game objectives, and Boot Hill Bounties has got 52 of them. Why 52? Because that’s how many cards are in a standard deck of playing cards (minus jokers).
Playing cards are the motif for achievements in Boot Hill Bounties with a each suit representing a type of achievement.
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Spades – Spades achievements are awarded when defeating especially tough bosses.
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Diamonds – Diamond achievements are earned when you reach certain milestones in the story.
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Hearts – Hearts achievements are gained when complete various side quests found in the newspaper.
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Clubs – Club achievements are found when you accomplish difficult challenges, like completing every Rusty Challenge or collecting every treasure in the game.
Simply finishing the main quest should earn a player half the achievements, while most players will probably get a few more. But only the most tenacious players will get all 52 achievements. Good luck!
Later this week, we’ll talk about another kind of achievement checklist. And this one is much harder, but with a much bigger reward…
Corral Countdown 7: Mystery Eggs
One of my favorite things about video games are the mysteries left unsolved sometimes. Before Game Theory was making a dozen videos theorizing about the hidden lore of Five Nights of Freddy’s I was theorizing about the hidden meanings in Silent Hill 2.
So I wanted to make sure there were a lot of interesting mysteries teased in Boot Hill Bounties as well. Sometimes you can say more with a mystery than by explicitly explaining something.
And while the main story is pretty straight forward, there are tons of hidden mysteries that the most observant player may pick up on.
I also love Easter Eggs in games. One thing I am most proud of in Boot Hill Bounties is how every detail in the game is packed with world-building lore that adds that much more personality to Bronco County. Easter Eggs are more subtle and often hidden details that most players will miss.
Sometimes the Easter Eggs and Mysteries blend together, and so I call them “Mystery Eggs.” Unfortunately, I can’t talk about any Mystery Eggs here, lest they unbecome mysterious and easter egg-y.
But I do want players to know that if you like stumbling across such things in games, then you will be delighted with what you find in Boot Hill Bounties. I hope some of the Mystery Eggs in the game will spark at least a few spicy speculations on online forums.