There's only one week left to vote for CONSCRIPT in the Best Indie Game category of this year's Golden Joystick Awards!
The Golden Joystick Awards are the world's longest-running video game awards, and being nominated for the 2024 Best Indie Game is already a huge achievement! But CONSCRIPT is up against some tough competition this year and every vote matters!
Get your votes in before 4pm PT / 7PM ET / 11pm GMT on November 1st: VOTE HERE
CONSCRIPT wins Game of the Year at the Australian Game Developers Awards!
Hi soldiers!
Last week, the Australian games industry hosted its annual Australian Game Developer Awards and I'm very proud to say that...
CONSCRIPT won Game of the Year!
After such a long journey it means the world to me that CONSCRIPT has received this recognition from my peers in the Australian games industry, and I'm very thankful to the AGDAs for honoring me with this award.
And on top of that amazing news, CONSCRIPT also won:
Excellence in Art Excellence in Emerging Games
Given that I’m a solo developer with no prior game development experience, it’s very humbling to see how much CONSCRIPT has resonated with those who have played it! It’s times like this where the imposter syndrome really kicks in. Thanks for all your support over the past few months. It has been hard to respond to every comment and email individually but know that I do read them and I’m grateful for all the kind words.
If you’ve played CONSCRIPT and have enjoyed your time with it, it’d be really appreciated if you could take the time to leave a Steam review with your thoughts. Steam reviews tremendously help the games discoverability.
CONSCRIPT nominated at the Golden Joystick Awards!
The game is also nominated for Best Indie Game at this year's Golden Joysticks, so please vote here! CONSCRIPT is up against some absolutely amazing indie games this year, so every vote counts!
Soldiers! CONSCRIPT is on sale for the first time on Steam! Purchase the game now for 20% OFF until September 16th!
During the First World War, a lone French soldier must navigate twisted trenches, scavenge for limited supplies and solve complex puzzles - all whilst fighting for survival in the midst of mankind’s most brutal and horrifying conflict. CONSCRIPT is a new take on classic survival horror.
PLUS: The Golden Gun Pack is available for FREE for all CONSCRIPT owners until September 30th!
Fixed oversight where Fort Souville had an extra floor on the map (1F).
Fixed bug where game would crash when entering Blockhouse Eugene.
Fixed bug where one of the Twin Knight boss enemies would momentarily come back to life and attack player.
Alright, now I'm on holiday for real!
CONSCRIPT Minor Update (v1.0.1.1)
MINOR UPDATE v1.0.1.1
English typo fixes.
Old minefield map inspection in the Road has been made visually clearer with red markings instead of green.
Fixed bug where stairs to crate storage in Fort Souville was incorrectly labeled on the map.
West side of Fort Souville basement is now accessible after chapter 3 and no longer blocked off.
Fixed bug where shooting a rat with a turret would crash the game.
Fixed bug where pressing the reload button would trigger a sound effect even if you're not reloading.
Fixed bug where PS4 and PS5 controller mappings were incorrect.
CONSCRIPT Balance Update (v1.0.1.0)
SOLDIERS!
The first major patch has arrived…
Thank you for your patience.
When it comes to balance, there were 2 major points I wanted to address with the v1.0.1.0 update:
1) Fix the OP unbalanced rats.
The discourse around the rats genuinely took me by surprise as it was never a point that ever was noticed during playtesting, usability reports or the mock reviews we did months ago. It’s very clear to me now though that this mechanic definitely needed some more testing.
So, they had to be nerfed. They're still annoying enough to contribute to the decision making process when going between rooms but they should feel not as cheap now.
New rat holes have also been added to some late-game rooms so you have more options to deal with them.
2) Mitigate some totally unnecessary backtracking in the mid-late game.
There’s points in the game where backtracking doesn’t serve the core survival horror decision making and so I’ve made a few slight tweaks to help alleviate this.
Namely, there have been numerous itemboxes added in areas to help the flow of the game.
Chapter 3 has also been streamlined a little bit and made less painful overall with fast travel now being available much earlier. The map now resembles more of a loop instead of a simple straight line which I think works better anyway.
Admittedly these are areas that just seemed to be total blind spots for me during development, which is kind of embarrassing. There was a lot for me to balance during the development cycle however, so I hope you understand. When the game launched last week, watching Twitch streams was the first time I had been able to see the game played from start to finish with my own eyes. This was tremendously helpful, and also illuminated some things that need work.
Also, the ending requirements have been slightly tweaked. There have been quite a few people getting the Coward ending that plainly just shouldn't have. So I've made some adjustments there too.
There are also a whole host of bug fixes here too. Apologies if there were any bugs ruining your experience at launch!
If you left a negative review concerning these issues and you feel like this patch has helped, it would be greatly appreciated if you could flip the review to positive! If you still find yourself annoyed and don't like the game overall though, that's fair too.
What's next?
I'm away from development for the next month to go on my first real holiday in many years, which is much needed after the stress of launching this game (it has been a long 7 years). When I get back, I'll be able to assess whether or not I can keep working on the game with updates and DLC (this all depends on sales).
If you're enjoying the game and haven't left a review yet, it would be really appreciated if you could take the time to do so! Steam reviews help the game's visibility and if the game does well it opens the door for DLC, which I'd love to do. We are almost at 500 reviews with a high rating of 95% which means CONSCRIPT will get the Overwhelmingly Positive tag!
I also don't want to have to stop working on CONSCRIPT and have to get a real job, so there's that too...
Full patch notes below.
Enjoy!
v1.0.1.0 Patch Notes
BUG FIXES
Bug where semi automatic guns would jam and cause a glitched crosshair on lower end hardware SHOULD be fixed.
Fixed bug where non-combinable items were not appearing as red when in combine mode (for example a chem fluid + chem fluid).
Fixed softlock where the slate in the town weaver basement became unobtainable when re-entering the room.
In the final sequence, added rubble to block players going back up to the Outer Perimeter once a certain event happens.
Various English typo fixes.
Fixed bug where combinable treasure items and their gemstone counterparts displayed text in their description that indicated they are safe to sell. Increased reliability of igniting oil slicks with bullets.
Fixed bug where chapter 2 trench raiders weren’t despawning properly upon the return to the trench in chapter 4.
Fixed bug where “Discard” would still be highlighted after trying to discard a key item and then changing inventory slots.
Minecart position in the Mining room in the Road area saves properly.
Fixed bug where multiple enemy corpses couldn’t be burnt with one fuel slick.
Fixed bug where enemy would still cry out when in DBNO state after being burnt.
Reduced the time it takes for an enemy corpse to enter a burnt state, to avoid situations where a player lights fuel and then quickly leaves a room which then wastes the fuel.
Fixed issue where directional keys and enter key could not be rebinded.
Fixed bug where game would crash if refusing to take the gas mask in chapter 2 if you had a full inventory.
Fixed bug where rats would spawn on enemies that die in deep mud.
Fixed bug where rats were spawning on the wrong bodies.
Fixed bug where rats would spawn on an exploded body.
Fixed bug where rats that are hardcoded into certain rooms would respawn after being killed.
Fixed bug where the map icon for the gun storage ladder wasn’t appearing on map in the Town area.
Fixed bug where destroying a rat hole with two separate grenades in your inventory would cause a bugged grenade item.
Fixed a bug where you couldn’t access combine mode on certain items like the surgical kit.
Fixed bug where trench wire openings would stay closed on NG+.
Fixed bug where selling the LMG could result in having half a cigarette.
Fixed bug where selling the LMG could result in an infinite money glitch.
Fixed bug where Elite Trench Raiders could be stealth killed.
Fixed bug where merchant, save point and itembox map icons aren't appearing on the Front Lines map.
Fixed visual bug where the inventory slot arrow depth was too low on the puzzle inspection screen.
Fixed visual bug where the handcannon depth was wrong when reloading while facing up.
Fixed bug where “abandon your post?” text would appear after chapter 4 in No Man’s Land.
Fixed bug where inventory would crash when spamming the mouse while in a puzzle screen.
Fixed bug where enemies would still spawn in the East Support Trench despite patching up the wire.
Fixed visual bug where steam coming out of the flame trooper backpack was pointing in the wrong direction.
Fixed bug where you could escape the church basement in chapter 5 without proceeding to chapter 6.
Fixed bug where the reflecting pool would not work after giving the prisoner his photo in chapter 3.
Fixed bug where the merchant would disappear from the reflecting pool after giving the prisoner his photo in chapter 3.
Fixed bug where the player would fly out of the map when trying to climb up a wall in the Road area.
Fixed oversight where player could collect multiple knives on NG+.
Fixed bug where a barracks door in Fort Vaux was displaying the wrong door type on the map.
POSSIBLE fix to the ending crash that has been reported a few times across all platforms.
RAT BALANCE CHANGES
One fewer rats spawn on Elite Trench Raider, Snipers and Knights.
Cooldown on rats being able to damage players is now global and increased to 1 second per PLAYER HIT instead of each individual rat having an individual cooldown.
Fuel now stacks to 10 instead of 4 to help reduce itembox trips when burning bodies.
Can hit one rat at a time with a fast melee strike.
Can hit two rats with one overhand strong melee strike now.
The time it takes rats to start checking for player location is increased to a random value between 3 & 4 seconds when entering a new room. This is to avoid tricky situations where rats are camped in front of a door. So now the player has a bit more time to evade them.
Instead of a rat respawning on room entrance, it will respawn a set amount of time after it is killed which is dependent on the difficulty setting (training = 15 minutes, recruit = 10 minutes, soldier = 5 minutes, veteran = instant).
Rats return to their original corpse when they move too far away from it (distance depends on difficulty).
The chance of successfully shooting a rat is now dependent on the critical hit chance of the gun you’re using with a difficulty modifier on top of that (training = 5x, recruit = 4x, soldier = 3x, veteran = 2x). Shotguns get an added bonus here due to their spread, making them a reliable way to deal with rats.
Rat agro distance depends on difficulty.
Rat poison chance reduced to 5% on Training, 10% on Recruit, 15% on Soldier and 30% on Veteran.
Added rat hole to Cave Shelter room in Fort Souville.
Added rat hole to Thoroughfare room in the Town area.
Added rat hole to Streets room in the Town area.
Added rat hole to Subventilation Shaft room in Fort Vaux.
If a rat hole is closed, corpses in that room no longer spawn flies to indicate there’s no need to burn them.
Brief extra note added in the Back Entrance room in the Support Trench.
BACKTRACKING BALANCE CHANGES
Added an item box to the Lodge room in the Road area to mitigate some unnecessary backtracking in chapter 3.
Added an item box to the Blockhouse Désiré room in the Support Trench to mitigate some unnecessary backtracking in chapter 4.
Added an item box to the Medical Tent Berthe room to mitigate some unnecessary backtracking in chapter 4.
Added an item box to the Gun Shop Storage room to mitigate some unnecessary backtracking in chapter 5.
Merchant now offers fast travel in the Road area upon acquiring the Trench Tool to avoid unnecessary backtracking, instead of at the start of chapter 4.
GENERAL BALANCE CHANGES & ADDITIONS
Added V-Sync option for PC.
Fuel added to Medical Tent Berthe and Gunshop Storage rooms.
Can now cancel out of any reload regardless of weapon type (ESC key or B button).
Locked doors that need the Souville Key are marked as “Locker Door (Souville)”.
Small subtle lights and dirt paths added to visually signpost certain key things throughout the game.
Added some small rocks to the center of the Wasteland room in the road area to add visual clarity to where you can’t go.
Can now change assigned weapons while sprinting.
Lowered requirements for all ranks below A.
Hidden value that dictates ending 2 has been lowered significantly.
Adjusted LMG sell price.
Elite Trench Raiders cannot be killed with stealth anymore (sorry, this was a bug).
Added some subtle markings to the map for various rooms to indicate where you can’t go.
Added blockage map icons for the underground Cave Shelter room in Fort Souville during chapter 4.
Added blockage map icon to Front Line Trench battlefield during chapter 2, in front of the combination lock door in the intro.
Debris that falls in the final sequence when coming back from the outer perimeter stairs triggers slightly earlier to stop people sprinting straight into it.
“Spill” prompt added to Fuel item instead of “Use”.
Added extra text to the Rat Note detailing how an “overhead swing” is effective on them.
Added extra text to First Aid Kit description detailing that it can be used to clear infections.
Lowered controller stick sensitivity slightly when selecting items from the merchant menu.
Checkpoints added after you recruit soldiers in chapter 4.
Being kicked by an enemy soldier does not drain body armor durability.
+ Smaller bug fixes and polish.
And as a bonus, here's CONSCRIPT's shiny new accolades trailer with some of the amazing press reviews we've had so far:
Post Launch Devlog #1: THANK YOU!
Post Launch Devlog #1
THANK YOU!
Hey soldiers!
I just wanted to make an announcement thanking everyone for playing CONSCRIPT on launch week.
Launching a game has been the hardest and most stressful thing I’ve ever done, but seeing the positive reviews from players has really made me feel like the past 7 years was worth it, regardless of if the game sells well or not. When the review embargo lifted there were 2 or 3 more negative critic reviews that really had me worried and stressed - but seeing the user score so high has removed any and all stress I had about how the game was going to be recieved.
It has been hard to respond to all the messages but I really do appreciate all the kind things said to me both privately and publicly. If I take a while to respond, please forgive me - I do try to make myself available to everyone but launch week has been very overwhelming.
Post Launch Patch #1
So, I’ve been monitoring the forums and watching heaps of Twitch streams and reviews to gather a list of bugs to fix and feedback to implement.
It should come at no surprise that by far the most urgent thing to address has been…
THE RATS.
You’ll all be happy to hear that these guys are getting a nerf. Overall they will be less punishing and less frustrating. Don’t get me wrong, they’ll still be somewhat annoying because they were designed to be - but you can say goodbye to getting totally one-shotted in half a second and the poisoning chance will be reduced. Along with that, I’m going to add some more rat burrows to rooms in the game so you have more options when it comes to dealing with them.
There have been a fair few smaller bugs I’ve fixed and some crashes I’ve also fixed. I’m sorry to anyone who had some sort of bug or crash that ruined their experience!
I’m aiming to have the patch out next week hopefully. I can’t give a precise day or time as it has to go through QA first. Full patch notes will be available then.
Steam Reviews
I'm super happy to say that as of writing this we are sitting at 94% positive rating on Steam and an 80% on Metacritic! I'm so happy with these numbers.
If you enjoy your time with the game please leave a Steam review! If CONSCRIPT performs well, it opens the door for extra content in the future.
(I’m already being asked about DLC, sequels, etc which I do really appreciate as it shows there’s demand for more, but it just totally depends on the game’s performance!)
That's all for now. If you're playing for the first time over the weekend, I hope you enjoy it!
And remember, burn those bodies...
Jordan
CONSCRIPT is OUT NOW on Steam!
WW1 SURVIVAL HORROR CONSCRIPT is OUT NOW on Steam!
Navigate the terrors of war in this top-down survival-horror game, set during one of the fiercest battles of World War One!
Watch the launch trailer now:
CONSCRIPT takes you deep into the trenches of World War 1, offering a survival-horror experience inspired by the classics of the genre. Set in the Battle of Verdun in 1916, you'll take on the role of a lone French soldier searching for his missing brother, scavenging for supplies, surviving intense combat with enemy soldiers, and solving complex puzzles.
Features:
Play: Experience classic survival horror gameplay set during the Battle of Verdun with high replayability, various difficulty settings, multiple endings, unlockable costumes, and bonus weapons.
Survive: Survive against enemy soldiers using WW1 melee weapons and firearms in an intense, harrowing atmosphere enhanced by pixel art aesthetics and oppressive sound design.
Explore: Navigate intricate, interconnected WW1-themed areas while solving environmental puzzles and managing resources effectively.
Environmental storytelling has become a cornerstone of immersive game design. This technique is especially impactful in the survival horror genre, where the atmosphere can heighten tension and evoke an emotional response from players.
In CONSCRIPT, developer Jordan Mochi transports players to the bleak battlefields of Verdun where he masterfully blends historical accuracy with psychological terror. We caught up with Jordan to learn more about the creative process that went into developing CONSCRIPT’s atmospheric and historically rich environments.
How did you use environmental elements to build atmosphere and immerse players in the trenches of WWI?
JM: I had to utilise environmental storytelling a lot throughout the development of CONSCRIPT. Being a one man team meant that I didn’t have the budget or time to do fancy cutscenes that detail every facet of the story. So, I had to often utilise a “show don’t tell approach” to things. This played to my advantage, because this style of storytelling works better for survival horror anyway - as it naturally builds more intrigue and mystery. When the player isn’t shown everything, their mind fills in the blanks. And what the mind creates is often more terrifying than what’s explicitly visible.
Survival horror often relies on creating a strong emotional impact. How does the environmental storytelling in CONSCRIPT evoke the psychological and emotional challenges faced by soldiers during WWI?
JM: My goal with creating the environments for CONSCRIPT, was to demonstrate the absolute bleakness of the time period. Walking through the different levels, you’ll see the corpses of both enemy and allied soldiers killed in action, deceased horses and other animals, mountains of old artillery shells, destroyed buildings that once housed civilians, trenches left abandoned, etc. Letters, photos, and items all were left behind by the destruction, and so I wanted to create that feeling of a lived in world, where certain events have happened without your input. Battles were fought without you there, and the remains of those battles stay left behind while the war rages on.
The remnants of war. This is what soldiers in the trenches had to live with.
“They really were a menace the flies were. I suppose it was due to the fact that, lying between the trenches, you’ve never seen such an array of corpses and bodies and all stages of death and so on and colour and blowing up. And the flies were having a harvest of a time among these.”- Joseph Napier
Balancing historical authenticity with engaging gameplay can be challenging. How did you navigate this balance in your environmental storytelling to create a game that is both true to its WWI roots and compelling as a survival horror experience?
JM: Once I had fully embraced the WW1 setting, balancing the historical authenticity became one of the most enjoyable parts of development. I studied a lot of WW1 era paintings and photography in order to get inspiration for environmental set pieces. The work of artists such as Hans Baluscheck, Otto Dix and John Singer Sargent stood out in particular for me
Many of these paintings in themselves were quite horrific. Artists who had gone to war pulled no punches in their interpretations of what they saw. Compare this to war paintings of previous eras that often visualised war as a romanticised affair. These paintings also gave a fascinating insight into the artists that created them, and how the brutality of the Great War had affected their perceptions.
Shock Troops Advance Under Gas, Otto Dix, 1924
So it turns out, the historical sources that I used as references didn’t really have to be filtered or changed to mesh well with the survival horror theme. Whether it be a painting, poem or letter - all these sources all reflected the horror of the Great War as it was. So, thankfully I didn’t have to take many creative liberties here.
“For days I have seen nothing but the most awful scenes that the human mind can imagine..” - Franz Marc, 1916
Although in cases where I had to put my own spin on history, I made sure it was done with care. For example, custom made propaganda posters littered throughout the opening help tutorialize certain gameplay mechanics in a non-intrusive way, while still remaining cohesive with the historical theme.
For example, the classic survival horror bottomless item box is a staple of the genre - but may feel a little more out of place in a historical setting. Having the mechanic expressed through a propaganda poster helps make it feel right at home and less “game-y”.
You can check out the entire set of custom posters below, or play the CONSCRIPT demo to find them yourself.
These were created by the amazing Athan Shields. It’s an honour to have his work in my game.
CONSCRIPT draws inspiration from classic survival horror games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. How did these inspirations influence your approach to environmental storytelling?
JM: Classic survival horror games all utilise similar mechanics in their approach to environmental storytelling. One of the most universally shared mechanics between survival horror games is the use of files and notes that you find around the environment and can stash for later use. This translated well into CONSCRIPT, because many soldiers did actually spend their time writing letters and diary entries. And when communication systems were down, using runners or messenger pigeons to deliver important hand-written info was common.
Classic survival horror games are also known for their intricate puzzles, which CONSCRIPT also has. It was quite difficult designing puzzles that remained grounded in the WW1 theme. I wasn’t really able to access that level of campy ridiculousness that many of the old horror games that serve as inspiration have. CONSCRIPT takes place in 1916, so I wasn’t able to fall back on the use of computer terminals or anything high tech - it all had to be kept rather archaic. That being said, I’m happy with some of the solutions I came up with to tackle this problem. I won’t spoil anything, and just let the game speak for itself when it launches.
Another mechanic borrowed from others in the genre is the ability to examine many environmental objects up close. Given the low resolution of the game, this helps immerse players into the WW1 theme and breathes some life into the environment.
Overall, many different classic survival horror games served as inspiration for both the environmental storytelling and the game as a whole.
In what ways do you hope the environmental storytelling in CONSCRIPT will engage players differently compared to other survival horror games?
JM: First and foremost, because this is a story that is grounded in real history - I hope that CONSCRIPT inspires curiosity in history and motivates others to learn about history, whether it be specifically the Battle of Verdun or something else. I think the overwhelming bleakness of the environments is one of the main contributors to the overall atmosphere of CONSCRIPT. Whereas a lot of survival horror games often default to hospitals or mansions, the WW1 themed environments help offer a fresh take on the old school survival horror gameplay formula.
I think the unique setting of CONSCRIPT that is bolstered by its environment design will help it stand out to other games in the genre.
CONSCRIPT comes to Steam on 23rd July! Wishlist it now and check out the demo!