Congo
Price change and available in more countries!
If you haven't seen already, we've reduced our price from $9.99 to $4.99 for the single copy, and for the 4-pack the price has been reduced to $11.99.
Which means it's now much better value to buy the 4-pack and play with friends!
We have also made Congo available in more countries!
See you in the jungle!
Congo v2.0 Update! - LOCAL COOP NOW AVAILABLE
It’s been a while since we have posted anything or released an update for Congo. There has been many, many factors behind this both financially and personally, but we’re happy to say that we have finally managed to get together a new update for Congo with a number of very important new features and changes!
- LOCAL / COUCH COOP FOR UP TO 4 PLAYERS
The biggest new feature is that we have now officially added Local / Couch co-op option for up to 4 players and enjoy Congo split-screen.
- CHANGED THE DEFAULT CAMERA ANGLE
We have altered the camera angle quite considerably. We think this works better, but please let us know your thoughts!
- ADJUSTED LIGHTING AND POST-PROCESSING
We have drastically increased the visibility for all levels. Combined with the new camera angle should mean exploring the jungle is a bit more enjoyable.
- FOCUS ON COOPERATIVE PLAY
You may notice that some of the menu items have been changed around and single player option is now missing. Congo is built entirely around cooperative play and playing with a few friends and we felt that the experience you get playing single player doesn’t live up to the coop experience. Because of this, we have focused everything on cooperative play, but if you want to, you can still play single player by starting an online or local coop match and starting the game without any other players.
- ADDED MORE SUPPLY BOXES AND INCREASED BIG GUNS
We have added more supply boxes to all levels, so you should have access to more equipment. We have also reduced the rarity of the AK-47, SPAS-12 and M16 so you hopefully get to use these more often!
- ADDED AND IMPROVED SOUNDS AND MUSIC
- GIVEN PLAYERS GPS AND 10 REVIVE NEEDLES AS DEFAULT
- ADJUSTED COLLISION ON ALL PROPS TO BE MORE ACCURATE
- TWEAKED GUI ELEMENTS
- TWEAKED DEFAULT CONTROLLER SETTINGS SO SHOULD BE EASIER TO PLAY WITH A CONTROLLER
You can still change the sensitivity settings in the Options menu.
- STOPPED MONSTERS BEING ABLE TO KILL YOU WHILE YOU’RE WATCHING A CINEMATIC
- TWEAKS TO MONSTER AI
- BUG FIXES
Some of you may also have noticed that the developer of Congo has changed from The Innocent Devils to Big Red Eight. Big Red Eight is still formed from the same developers (Jack, Tom and Jason!) but now we have cut free from the previous shareholders and investors and formed a new, different company structure that should hopefully allow us to work on our products and provide the support that Congo and the players deserve! For us, Congo is still a project we have to fit around our day-jobs and our adult(ish) lives, but now we are free from some company-orientated constraints, thinks should be a little better!
Please let us know your thoughts on the new features on the discussion boards. ːsteamhappyː
..And if you enjoy the new update, please let us know by leaving a review. It makes a lot of difference! ːsteamhappyː
v1.0b Update!
We have just released our brand new update - v1.0b which is available now. We have made drastic changes to the balancing in Defence mode. Demons now spawn at a more controlled and reliable pace, item drops and weapon crates are much more common.
We have also fixed a number of bugs regarding monster spawning in defence mode and objective mode.
We are also on sale this week for 66% discount. Enjoy yourselves! :)
v1.0a Update
Also, we have 50% off this week! Perfect time to grab some mates, some drinks and get lost in the jungle!
Congo Full Release Out Now!
It’s finally here! The full release of Congo! It’s been a long time in Early Access and we’ve transitioned out of it with a load of new content and fixes. Grab a copy today (with 25% off!), grab some friends and give v1.0 a go!
Congo v1.0 Full Release on 21st March!
Jungle Survivors!
Congo v1.0 (Full Release) will be available on Monday 21st March 2016 at 5pm GMT and the v1.0 release will come with a ton of new features, fixes and content.
We will also be releasing with a 25% discount, so for those of you waiting for the right moment to give Congo a go, next week is a great time!
Some of the new features to check out in the full release are:
New Levels - Objective and Defense
Rumble in the Jungle...
It's been a quiet few months on the announcement pages, but that doesn't mean we haven't been working hard behind the scenes. We're creeping up on the final release build and its full of cool new features and some totally re-worked systems.
Firstly, the jungle has been completely re-made. We have added a number of new foliage and tree types that have made the whole jungle more atmospheric. Now that the jungle is higher and more dynamic we have recreated the bush rustling system in both sound and movement. You will be able to see the bushes rustle as you walk through them and when the demons are running through or lurking in them and the sound should more accurately identify where a demon is.
Since the build where we introduced the foliage system and tree canopy hiding, we suffered from an issue where the screen and jungle would seem to flash when the player went under the tree canopy and threw up some weird graphical glitches where you could see rivers through the trees. This was caused because we changed tree materials to transparent when a player is under the tree canopy but had difficulty separating out a single tree. This whole system has been re-designed and have put the tree hiding inside the tree's shader, therefore removing the need to change any materials and the result is fantastic.
This has also allowed us to be able to use Atmospheric Fog on higher altitude levels without horrible graphical errors... the result? A way more atmospheric environment.
Those are just a few of the big features we've been working on as well as:
- Dynamic weather system
- Level based XP system
- 3 New objective levels
- 8 New defense levels
- Hundreds of bug fixes!
Closer to release, we will post out more detail on these separate features and all the work we've been doing over the last few months.
..........And a release date!
Thanks for staying strong and we look forward to seeing you in the jungle!
Congo v0.5!
Greeting explorers!
Today I tell you that Congo v0.5 has been released! Yayyy! What's new in v0.5? Below is a list of the changes and new features now available in v0.5:
New Menus
We have totally re-designed all the menus for Congo including the lobby, in-game pause menu, options menus and the rest!
So first things first - the new lobby:
The functionality of the lobby has completely changed. Now you don't have to select a level BEFORE you enter the lobby, you can change levels directly from the lobby which means if you have a change of mind, you wouldnt have to restart the lobby and re-invite everybody. Scroll through the options at the top to select the different maps and game modes.
This leads onto another part of the Lobby. When you have completed a map (or died trying!) you can now simply restart and you will be able to try the map again or you can press 'Return to Lobby', which will bring yourself and all the players in-game back to the lobby to try a new level. A great improvement on the old system! :)
In the top left is also the Lobby Chat system. You can send each other messages in the lobby which comes in handy if you're playing with players who you aren't having a mic session with.
The Permissions scroller allows you to change between a public or private game.
The options menu has also changed a lot and we've updated the Controls list to be a little more detailed. It's definitely worth scanning over this to see if there's some actions you may be missing out on. It's quite common that people aren't aware of the Extract Ammo action, which allows you to take out the loaded ammunition from a weapon and store it in your stash. That means if you open up a crate and get a revolver and you currently want to keep using your other pistol, then you can pick it up, extract the ammo and the go back to your favourite choice.
We've also added two new settings (mostly focused for the controller players). Camera Speed and Invert camera, as I know a number of players prefer inverted controls!
We have also re-made the in-game pause menu and it provides you with a lot more useful information! On the top left is the Player List, so you can see who is still in the game and who is dead or alive.
On the right is your current objective. We noticed from a lot of the play-throughs and comments that people aren't always sure what to do. Especially if they missed the intro sequences or weren't paying much attention. Now all you have to do is press ESC or Start on the controller to access this menu and revise the objective.
We have also updated the Win and Lose screens. These screens now provide you with information on who survived and who didn't. In the future, when we add in the persistent player progress and XP / Level elements, you will find information on XP you gained on those screens - at the moment these features aren't in-game but will be soon!
All in all the menus are now a lot smoother and hopefully you'll all agree :)
New Inventory
Something we've been working on changing for a long time was the Inventory. We found that the previous versions of the menu were very limited, unclear and were difficult to use especially with Controllers.
This has now changed with the new inventory system. Now you don't have to scroll horizontally across two levels of menu - you can just scroll up or down. You also used to have to select an item and then navigate down to the Use or Drop buttons to complete your action. This is no longer necessary and you can Use or Drop with a single button press (Left Click / E / Button A to use, F / Button X to Drop).
This is SO handy when you're in the middle of the action and need to react fast.
There also used to be some confusing logic where some items reacted different. For example in previous versions, some items such as the Receiver and Flare require a player to access the menu and press Use in order for them to be deployed. Other items like GPS and Compass are passive and are on as long as you have them in your inventory and finally items like Chain Cutters needed to be Used in-game by holding E next to an object.
We've cleared up this logic now by allowing items such as Chain Cutters or Revive Needles to be used from the Inventory e.g. When you have Chain Cutters in your inventory, press Use on them when you're next to the object and you will start using that item. You can also Hold E against the object outside of the inventory if you wish.
Passive items such as the Compass and GPS no longer have the option to be Used, and the description explains their purpose. Items like Flares and Receivers are still deployed from the inventory but now from just a single button press as explained before.
Revive Animation
We've also added a revive animation. No longer does your character end up doing a wiggly hand movement when reviving a character (he actually bends down! :P). To revive people you can either Hold R next to their body, or press Use from the Inventory.
Walk Speed for Keyboard/Mouse players
Controller players could walk by only pushing the stick half way, but now Keyboard/Mouse players can do the same by holding Shift while moving in a direction.
Balancing and Bug Fixes
As always we've been working on balancing the difficulty, including the difficulty in Solo play, and we've been fixing lots of bugs!
Hope you all enjoy the new update and get the most out of the menus and new systems! Please let us know your thoughts and feedback! Please remember too that if you like Congo and want to see more of what we can bring out then please leave us a positive review :) It genuinely really helps us and can get us that step closer to full release!
Congo v0.4a Released
So v0.4a is out today! It's a big one today with 2 extra maps and some massive improvements to the AI and the AI performance! We're getting closer and closer to final release each day that goes past. Check out some of the new additions to this version :)
New Map: Training level
We have released a new training level. You can access this from the main menu.. Its currently a singleplayer map that will explain some of the features of Congo and allows you to mess around inside the military camp.
New Map: Abandoned Caves
For once it's day time... Safe and sound in the light of day but as you and your team make your way through the jungle the jeep runs out of fuel.. Venture into the caves in search for fuel and survive long enough to make it out.
New Defense Map: Caves
Protect the objective against swarms of cave demons. Look for fuel to help fuel the generator and search the caverns for equipment.
New Achievements
To go with the new objective level, we have some more achievements for you to gather!
Defense levels - more crates!
We've added more crates to defense levels. We felt that there weren't enough crates in the defense levels and left teams without enough equipment to do the job. This spawn rate is still under review so let us know what you think of this version!
Defense levels - GPS
All defense levels now include a GPS at spawn... Choose wisely on who on the team needs in most.
Progress Rings
A small change but progress rings are now three times the size. Should be a little clearer now ;)
Performance Increase on AI Swarm
We've made a number of changes to the demon's AI which in turn has made the system more efficient. The changes are most obvious during swarms and especially final swarms when theres a lot of demons spawned.
Adjusted Accuracy and Targeting
We've tweaked the aiming and targeting system some more to make it smoother and more reliable.
Tonnes of Bug fixes and Tweaks!
We've been working feverish and have ironed out countless bugs and issues (including the mysterious "ghost" demon that could take down a player without being seen...).
As always, let us know what you think! Be sure to check back soon for some good deals on Congo :)
Congo v0.4 Released Today!
Congo v0.4 is out today! We're happy to announce that after an unexpectedly long wait, we have managed to get this update out and it comes with a lot of taste-y ingredients.
First of all, we have fixed the voice chat bug! A very frustrating bug that blocked Steam chat and the in-game voice chat would fail after a few minutes. A very simple fix on our end but came about right in the migration to Unreal Engine 4.8... which came with weeks of configuring everything to the new version and integrating all the great improvements that came with a more recent version of Unreal Engine.
So captains, below is the patch notes! :
Congo v0.4 Patch Notes
Re-Designed Aiming System
We've totally re-worked the aiming system from the ground up. The current players among you will see that the aiming point no longer shows unless targeted on an enemy. The targeting system is now more fluid and intuitive than before and each weapon influences the targeting system in different ways.
Fixed Steam Voice Chat Bug
We have fixed the voice chat bug!
Player Names on by Default
Player names now show by default. Press Tab to hide.
Update to 4.8
This is a huge element to this release and has come with huge benefits to Congo. We have managed to take advantage of countless performance optimizations and fixed tonnes of bugs!
Dynamic Navigation
The navigation system for the demons is now fully dynamic thanks to upgrades in the Unreal Engine navigation system. The navigation can now be built at run-time with amazing efficiency. There were some areas of the maps where demons couldn't access because they were initially blocked. They can now access anywhere that's plausible.. You're not as safe as you used to be..
Enhanced AI
Enhancements to the demon AI.
This Congo v0.4 release is easily one of the most stable builds yet thanks to weeks and weeks of re-development and we're really excited to be able to use this as a main foundation for new content-heavy releases. v0.5 will be seeing more levels added (a training level and a day time level), new weapons, new items, new achievements, updated menus and much more!
We'll be combining it with a number of marketing options available to us and hopefully we'll see an increase in the player base for you all to take advantage of and have other players to roam around the jungle with!
Please let us know your thoughts on v0.4 and we'll keep you all updated on the progress of the new content!