SPECIAL DARK WEB MESSAGE: CREATURE LAB KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN IS ALIVE!
SPECIAL DARK WEB MESSAGE INCOMING…
KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN FOR CONSOLE AND ENHANCED EDITION
Discovery is priceless, but to arrive at a scientific breakthrough you need resources… and lots of them. As much as I can achieve with my talent, my servants, and other methods, sometimes that will not be enough. But I believe in like-minded individuals who believe in my experiments and aren’t bound by the “rules” and “ethics”. So I’m asking you, my dear Dark Web followers, to help with my research – are you in?
WE WANT TO DELIVER CREATURE LAB TO CONSOLES!
Today we have launched a special Kickstarter campaign that will last till 10th January 2023. Our main goal is to finance console versions of Creature Lab for all the popular platforms. Madness knows no boundaries and we’re sure that many players outside the PC crowd would gladly show off their evil genius as well. We want to make our game available to any twisted mind to enjoy and hope that you could help us with that mission.
For the console port, we need to reach the goal of 10,000 CAD.
This is of course independent from the PC launch on January 19th, 2023, and has no influence over the date.
BUT THERE IS MORE!
As you may guess, since we are developing such an insane title, we at Image Power also have pretty twisted minds. And such minds never run out of ideas. So for further stretch goals, we have devised some pretty evil plans, such as:
• Crazy soundtrack for the game • Igor – an AI-controlled servant, who will provide mad professors (so you!) with help and company. We have three ideas for this lovely fella and we will turn to you to choose the final one! • 9 new limbs for your customization pleasure • 4 new base mutant types • A Dark Web companion app for mobile • A simplified, turn-based combat system to let you terrorize the city better!
We of course intend to add any features we will be able to finance both to PC and console versions of the game. So this Kickstarter campaign might directly influence the Steam version of the game!
WHAT’S IN FOR YOU?
Of course, we know you Dark Web folks are living for the profits and we think we have prepared some truly satisfying rewards for your support. They include such priceless gadgets as special Creature Lab wallpapers, artbook, copies of the PC version, a game bundle of horrors (Agony, Succubus, and Dieselpunk Wars), and one-of-the-kind avatars for socials based on your photos.
But as fellow idea people, we also want you to place your own ideas in our game! Our backers will have a chance to choose their own name for substances, but for higher, limited reward tiers we have prepared the possibility of creating a painting/drawing to grace the laboratory walls, new limb, and new mutant – also based on your own ideas!
To learn more about the proposed new features, stretch goals, and rewards, please visit the campaign page – it’s all there in the form of very scientific and appropriately evil infographics ;)
HOPE WE CAN MAKE A DEAL TO SPREAD A NEW SCALE OF PANIC AND HAVE FUN TOGETHER!
Remember that you can reach out with feedback and questions via our Discord:
Even a genius scientist sometimes has to accept the fact that making a brilliant discovery takes a long time. True science cannot be rushed. When it comes to an achievement of a lifetime, sometimes you must take it slow to ensure the best result. For that reason, I decided that...
Creature Lab will open on the 19th of January 2023
This is less of a scientist log and more of an announcement. Our team decided that postponing Creature Lab's launch until the 19th of January is in the game's best interest. As you can recall, our goal was to release Creature Lab somewhere around Halloween, which turned into the 17th of November. With that in mind, we worked hard and diligently to finish a polished game that will give our players many hours of joy and let them live out their fantasies of being mad scientists.
However, reality sets in, and while we have a beta version with all key features implemented, the game is just a bit too rough around the edges for us to consider releasing it in its current state. Our key concern was the UI which needs a bit more tweaking, as well as player feedback. We want the players to be well informed in regards to what's happening and what options they have.
After rewatching our recent livestream (link below), we realized how complex Creature Lab turned out to be - in a good way. However, we also realized that all of this information needs to be highlighted for the player so that newcomers aren't stuck in the dark, trying to figure out how everything works.
We're going to focus on that over the next two months. Creature Lab is a work of passion. It's a project that we poured countless hours into since its first concept art was created back in the winter of 2019. We want the players to feel the joy of creating abominable creatures and playing out the role of the famous Frankenstein.
It's our dream to give you a polished, enjoyable, and memorable game like this. So we ask you for a little bit more patience while we smooth out the rough edges and finish the work on this incredible game for you.
We have more activities planned for this year! We're going to share a preview version with some gaming media so you can expect more gameplay videos in the coming weeks. We also want to engage our players more. We're currently discussing running another series of playtests and we're working on a digital artbook that will be available to all of our players. Below is a sneak peek at our oldest artwork for this game, from before it was even called 'Creature Lab':
If you have any questions or want to know more about this game, feel free to contact us on our official Discord server!
This time we don't have a typical Scientist Log. Instead, two of our developers will host a joint livestream and showcase the game and its features!
Tune in to hear stories from the development or learn about the latest features implemented in the last few months. And, of course, see some real gameplay showcased LIVE on screen. Here's what to expect:
A developer walkthrough of the first several tutorial & story missions
A showcase of our brand new Dark Web sidemission mechanic
Interesting trivia and information from behind the scenes
Just to let you know, we will be part of the upcoming 🎃Scream Fest on Steam (Oct 25 - Nov 1)🎃!
We plan to stream the game and show many new things during the festival. So, if you played the demo released back in February, you will definitely see new stuff during the streams. We will try to explain recently added features and shed some light both when it comes to the game's current gameplay mechanics and publishing roadmap!
The planned stream will be shared by Piotr, the evil mastermind behind the game;), and Lukasz, Image Power's CEO and Polish gaming industry vet (seriously, he is sooo old that he even worked with the first installment of The Witcher series!👴👴👴).
So, should you have any questions and ideas you may easily shoot them. They are the guilty parties when it comes to Creature Lab, it's their duty to answer!!! 😈😈😈
So, see you there - we will post the exact stream timing soon!
Image Power team
Scientist log - 008
Every great mind likes fun toys. Especially if they are used for science. I am no exception to this rule and there is a handful of objects that I collected to make my life as a genius a bit easier and more convenient. Of course, I talk about the...
New Lab Equipment
Let's start with my Automated Speedy Mutagen Mixing Multiplifaction Station (side note - need to work on shorter invention names). In its most basic form, it simply allows me to combine 4 different ingredients at the same time, making it more convenient compared to my old alembic. Brewing mutagens has never been this fast!
But this is just a fraction of Automated Speedy Mutagen Mixing Multiplifaction Station's true potential! If I install a few upgrades I can even multiply anything I create with this equipment! I just need to use some obsolete substance, something I don't need, and pour it into the side containers. My machine will use them to make more copies of the 4 ingredients in my primary chambers. Without this invention, I would need at least 12 ingredients to make 3 mutagens. If I install it, I will only need 6! 4 of them will form the mutagen while 2 extras will be destroyed to create two more copies of my mutagen. Now that's efficiency!
In my work, I sometimes get a little... overzealous with my experiments. And I can't afford to have my laboratory flooded with useless failed experiments. To deal with the garbage problem, I locked my old pet in a metal safe. It doesn't quite fit but that's even better - it means that I don't have to open it up to feed the pet. I can just throw it some unnecessary experiments and it will happily dispose of the waste!
Speaking of disposal... While my creations are brilliant, I sometimes can't afford the luxury of keeping them all. My creatures get tired with every mission and they get injured if the military discovers them. I need to feed them more mutagen to cure their wounds. But if I am starved for resources, I can pick a creature to sacrifice and recover some of the ingredients I used while making it. The process is quite irreversible but can be used as a last resort.
The above is our eighth "Scientist Log". As you can see, we added a faster way of making mutagens. This feature was implemented as a result of yet another feedback that we got from YOU - the community. Thank you for your brilliant suggestions and we encourage you to post more!
There is no limit to greatness. Nothing stops me from bending the laws of physics and making a creature so powerful that even a modern tank is no match for it. As long as I have enough resources to spare, I can even consider...
Creature Enhancement
The idea is straightforward. If a single mutagen can animate a corpse and make it outperform a regular human in practically every field that matters, then can I increase the dosage or add a new mutagen altogether?
Early experiments clearly demonstrated that giving a creature a radically different mutagen from the one they were made with results in a complete waste of time and requires thorough cleaning. But a genius like me doesn't get discouraged by small setbacks! Instead, I tried administering small doses of compatible elixirs and mutagens into select organs of my specimens. And the result was incredible!
This enhancement method is very effective but, unfortunately, temporary. The subject loses its potency roughly a day after administering any additional elixirs or mutagens. Nevertheless, a genius only needs a day to change the world!
It's fascinating how even every component of the injection has an effect on my creatures. And the effect changes depending on the place of injection! Fascinating! I already mapped out some of the interactions and I can't wait to figure out the rest of them.
Of course, like with any experiment on an active creature, I must be very careful when handling my beauties. For they do not like when I mess with them too much. And they can get... quite angry.
The above is our seventh 'Scientist Log'. A deep dive into the enhancement mechanic plus a small spoiler of what you can do with enhancements. We decided to tease out a few select combinations so that you know what to expect from the system. But we kept most of the combinations secret so you have to play the game to fill out the blanks!
Even the best computer can run out of space. Thus, it is unsurprising that the best human can also run out of space - the brain space, where I keep all my formulas and accomplishments. Truth is, if you are responsible for thousands of incredible creations like I am, you will need a place to store information about them.
Which is why I have my handy...
Monster & Substance Encyclopedias
They are largely automated and while there are some differences between the two of them, the concept is the same. Every time I make a discovery, it gets added to my encyclopedia. There, I can browse all of my discoveries, filter them, sort them, and search them, much like I do when I order mortuary fridges online.
Of course, there are some limitations. Even I can't always predict the effectiveness of my wonderful creatures. So when I first create a new strain of helper, their stats are unknown. But once I send them on a mission, my incredible encyclopedia will make miraculous analyses of the creature's performance and note its effectiveness! Clever, isn't it?
Things are no different for my mutagen encyclopedia. I don't always know what composition a new mutagen has. So the encyclopedia just lists all possible elements and it's up to me to conduct further experiments and figure out what exactly I created. Once I have a theory in place, I can mark my assumed elements on the mixture's encyclopedia page.
Overall, these tools really improve my workflow and ensure that I can focus on my genius creations without having to worry about cataloging them all.
The above is our sixth "Scientist Log". A way to track created potions was our #1 request from the playtest we launched earlier this year. We hope that the encyclopedias will cover that need! They are fully implemented now and we just need to do a bit of visual touch-up ;)
Patch 1.1.20 is now live! Check out the changelog below:
Elixirs will no longer always be green
Limb incubation tutorial has been changed to streamline the entire process
Updated tutorial messages for greater clarity
Improved lighting
Greatly reduced loading time after the last cutscene (before the "thank you for playing" screen)
Small changes to the laboratory to make moving around and storing items more convenient
Another optimization pass
Bugfixing
This patch brings the demo to a state we're mostly satisfied with. So we probably won't update it further until just before the full game comes out, barring an occasional bugfix. We want to focus on making the full version of Creature Lab so that we can share it with you as soon as possible!
If you have any comments or suggestions, please do share them with us either on our Steam forums or on our official Discord server. We're listening and taking notes, even if we don't always have the time to answer every question. We really appreciate your involvement and we will post more updates on this game's development soon ːlovingskullDPWː
It’s "professor" here, a secret broadcast... delete it after you receive it!
So, these Image Power folks let me know that they attended this Pax East trade show in Boston with Creature Lab. Well, they even told me that people were excited about my work. Not sure what to be excited about since you will be all doomed for not listening to me earlier. For ignoring my research for years… Anyway, glad that you liked my creatures! You’re going to meet them soon…
Again, your excitement is a sign for me that my work is not as hopeless as I might have thought and that there are people out there who understand the value of my heritage!
Anyway, I need o to be careful since there are strange people interested in my work. I was told this guy visited the Creature Lab booth at PAX. I have a suspicion he might be a camouflaged cop...
— IMAGE POWER —
Dear All,
We indeed showcased Creature Lab on Pax East in Boston. We are overwhelmed by your positive feedback. During 4 days of the show, a few hundred people tried the game and most of them shared unequivocally good opinions about Creature Lab which is just amazing!
Some of our visitors also turned out to be great beta testers helping us find bugs, glitches, and, sometimes, design inconsistencies. Thank you for that, we really appreciate it! Hope you guys liked promo lanyards!
At the very same time, we run Creature Lab playtest on Steam - for one week, we have let you guys wander around our laboratory and search for any imperfections and received tons of useful feedback (mostly shared via in-game questionary). And, oh boy, you delivered! Tomorrow we will be officially closing playtests and we plan to organize and analyze your answers and the thoughts you shared.
So, what’s next?
After we analyze your questionaries, we plan to publish the demo once again on the Steam page. It will contain at least some of your notes and feedback.
Q1 2022 was a very intense time for us - we first published the demo during Steam Next Fest in February, later followed by playtests recently. We now need to focus on the game itself and use all your opinions to improve Creature Lab and make it a great game!
We will let you know about the next steps, stay tuned!
If you want to reach us directly, we’re here for you on our official Discord server!
Image Power Team
Playtest patch 1.1.16 is now live!
The playtests have started and we're very excited to hear your feedback. It's great so see so many players interested in our game!
Just for you, we prepared a quick patch for day 2 of the playtests, based on the initial feedback. It includes:
Increased UI readability
Enhanced controller support
Tutorial clarifications
Language improvements
Bugfixes
The fix to unlock more resolution options is not ready yet and will unfortunately have to wait until PAX East is over. Speaking of which, if you are in Boston, come shake hands with us at booth #15019!
Thank you for your support and stay brilliant, scientists!
