Dead Estate
Patch 1.4.6 change log
- Lowered the chance for duplicated enemies to appear on burning floors
- Portal particles should no longer be visible after leaving a Hellmart/Heavenmart portal room
- Cybil will now spawn on the balcony if you load a run from the balcony with the VIP Pass item
- Shadows now appear over water in flooded floors.
- Drowned zombie enemies in the Sunken Ship now create bubble particles while they're underwater
- Fixed a bug where characters would say nothing upon entering the Second Story bedroom on loops
- Fixed Curse of the Bowels not working properly
- Fixed Curse of the Long-Distance Relationship not working properly
- Fixed Curse of the Mysterious not working properly
- Toilet shopkeeper is no longer affected by Witch-B-Gone
- Stunned enemies will no longer fire projectiles
- Stunned enemies can no longer hurt you on contact
- Spider enemies in the Laboratory now explode instantly if killed while stunned
- Enemies with unusual movement styles (such as the mask and mannequin enemies) will not be able to move when stunned
- Stun effects will now work how you would expect them to for all enemies
- The student I.D card used for Jules on the character select screen is now consistent across all of her costumes
- Sleep frames are now capped to four-tenths of a second
- "Hope She Notices You" can now *only* be unlocked from Cordelia's shop
- Updated the character select image for BOSS's C costume
- Flooded floors now slow enemies down less
- Resized many images in the gallery to be smaller (a lot of them were unnecessarily huge before)
- Fixed a bug where you could see the balcony and move around while the level generates after looping
- Fixed a bug where the Sudden Death effect would very rarely trigger even if the player does not have Sudden Death
- Fixed a bug where the elevator transition cutscene would be skipped partway into the cutscene
- Fixed a bug where cult bishops and necromancers would spawn enemies while the game is paused
- Fixed a bug allowing players to unlock the "Mama's Girl" medal while playing as any character
- Fixed a bug that would cause BOSS's sticky bombs to instantly detonate while holding up or down on gamepads
- Fixed a bug where the Kevlar Backpack item would stick around on-screen after exiting a run
- Fixed a bug where Chunks could respawn after visiting Hellmart or Heavenmart
- Fixed a bug with reflections on passageways in flooded rooms
- Fixed a crash that would occur after the credits as Fuji
- Fixed a soft lock where the next level wouldn't load following the elevator transition
- Fixed a bug that prevented Imps from spawning
- Fixed some grammar/spelling errors with some item descriptions
- Chunks can no longer moonjump...sorry!
Recent patch summary (1.4.1 - 1.4.5b)
In previous versions of the game, there have been some reports of the game freezing during level transitions. These reports only became more frequent with some of the recent content updates that added new room types to each floor. Truth be told, the game's level generation has barely changed or been improved going from its original Newgrounds release in October 2020 until now.
A few weeks ago, in order to address the freeze/crash reports, I completely rewrote how levels are built and it should be a lot faster and freeze-free now. Being a brand-new system, it still has some flaws I've gotta buff out, but that's what I've been doing with the last few patches: making slight adjustments and tweaks to get the new level gen system as close to perfect as it could possibly be.
For example, starting from version 1.4.4 there were some reports of "impossible" floors spawning with no way to access the boss or key rooms. Just yesterday, I addressed this with version 1.4.5. There'll likely be some more small patches like this to further improve level generation, but it's unlikely that I'll post patch notes for each individual one since a lot of the changes I'm making are basically imperceptible.
Besides that, we've started working on the next major content update and will reveal it pretty soon :)
Optimized level generation (v1.4.5) Public Beta
LEVELS OPTIMIZATION
The recent series of updates dropping after v1.4 have been massively important for the game's long term performance as it continues to be expanded upon. However, it felt like every time one hole was plugged up, another sprung a leak.
Most recently, level generation became the most common point when player's games would freeze, Jack decided to fully rebuild how maps were generated (v1.4.4)!! This has greatly improved performance. BUT several level-layout "rules" became broken through this rebuild. These errors in level generation were leading to impossible layouts, wonky room patterns, and several other bugs.
v1.4.5 BETA
After this update, you should be experiencing fast load times, fewer freezes (hopefully 0 freezes, but please report here if you do), and no more broken map layouts! But we're going to need your help testing it.
You have our deepest apologies for a rocky window of development. We cannot thank you all enough for your patience with us, and for reporting bugs with such diligence and accuracy! That assistance has taken us this far - and we'll be sure to repay that generosity in kind!!
ACCESSING THE BETA
Accessing the public beta branch is simple as can be and only takes a few steps:
- Find the game in your Steam library, right-click it, and select "Properties..."
- From the menu on the left of the new window, select "BETAS."
- Click the dropdown menu underneath where it says "Select the beta you would like to opt into", select "public_beta - Public beta."
- Wait for the game to complete updating.
- Launch the game!
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MORE COOL GAMES?
Love achieving insanely overpowered builds in Dead Estate? Do you carry a deep nostalgia for Flash games? Do you enjoy expansive and free demos that you can easily put dozens of hours into?
Then you'd better check out Paper Planet from Doodlegames!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1504250/Paper_Planet/
Testing improved performance and stability (v1.4.3)
OPTIMIZATION
Following a few crash ports on v1.3, and many more after v1.4, Jack has been hard at work looking for solutions to further optimize the game and improve overall stability.
We believe a very meaningful step forward has now been taken with v1.4.3! A new means of compiling the game means it should now perform MUCH better!! This is a fairly substantial change, so we want to test it thoroughly before pushing it out to the main branch.
ACCESSING THE BETA
Accessing the public beta branch is simple as can be and only takes a few steps:
- Find the game in your Steam library, right-click it, and select "Properties..."
- From the menu on the left of the new window, select "BETAS."
- Click the dropdown menu underneath where it says "Select the beta you would like to opt into", select "public_beta - Public beta."
- Wait for the game to complete updating.
- Launch the game!
BUG REPORTING
While this is potentially a massive overall improvement to the game, it is likely to expose all new bugs in the code that have otherwise worked through the previous exporting methods.
I have created a new thread that is specific to bug reporting for v1.4.3.
Please share any problems you encounter there - and we'll be racing towards a new and improved Dead Estate, that should run better than ever before!
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MORE COOL GAMES?
While I have you here, please consider checking out Project Malice! A action roguelike shooter from our friend AploveStudio. Fans of Dead Estate are bound to love this one too!
An isometric roguelike third-person shooter about a ruined Earth and the unending chaos engulfing it. Fight hordes of the infected, gather loot, make allies, traverse spacetime, and venture into the depths of what we could've prevented.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2157060/Project_Malice/
HEAVEN & HELL UPDATE!: Version 1.4 is available NOW!
DISCOUNT
To celebrate the release of the 3rd Major Update to Dead Estate, the game will be 40% off for one week! So the game is now bigger than ever, with a discount that matches the game's historic lowest. How can you afford to NOT buy Dead Estate now?!
Fantastic art by Shanni! (@soggyworms!)
Fantastic art by Flowuh! (@flowuhpowuh!)
HEAVEN & HELL!
Fun fact: this was actually the very first update I had planned. Chunks Medallions were something I programmed way back in December 2021, but life ended up getting ahead of my plans and I only now ended up being able to implement them fully and everything surrounding them.
That being said, if it weren't for the giant gap between the game's initial release in October 2021 and the release of the first major update in October 2022, I wouldn't have had the time to actually think of all these updates and our plans beyond these updates. In a way, everything worked out better than I had hoped.
I have some huge ideas that'll come after these updates and I really can't wait to start working on them and eventually share them with everyone. Being halfway through this batch of six updates is getting me really excited for what's to come -- but enough about that. I don't wanna accidentally spoil anything.
NEW STUFF
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Chunks Medallions!
- A new cross-run currency obtained by completing runs! Completing runs on harder difficulties will net you more medallions per run. Use them to purchase the main new features of this update: Curses and Blessings.
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Curses!
- Curses offer a brand new way to shake up your runs. They function as items that you can equip from the character select screen and can be enabled or disabled at any point once unlocked. Every character can unlock 3 Curses that are completely unique to them, meaning that there's 27 curses total! Be warned, though. As their name would imply, Curses are not strictly upgrades. While there's a benefit to every Curse, there's also a downside. Think of Curses less as permanent progression-based upgrades and more as ways of remixing characters to offer new playstyles.
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Blessings!
- Blessings are the sole method of removing the negative effects of a Curse. However, Blessings come at a fairly steep price -- and even then, they are only temporary, lasting 15 minutes at most. You can't rely on them forever, but they sure are useful.
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2 new shops!
- Hellmart: operated by the demonness Filia, Hellmart sells Curses in exchange for Chunks Medallions. You'll need quite a few Medallions to purchase every Curse. This shop can only be found on loops after obtaining the true ending.
- Heavenmart: a store owned by the angel Faith which sells Blessings for Chunks Medallions. It also sells some high-quality items as well! This shop can only be found after purchasing at least one Curse.
- Hellmart: operated by the demonness Filia, Hellmart sells Curses in exchange for Chunks Medallions. You'll need quite a few Medallions to purchase every Curse. This shop can only be found on loops after obtaining the true ending.
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C-costumes!
- Self-explanatory! A brand new batch of costumes is available for every single character in the game! Have fun obtaining them all!
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10 new items!
- Fuzzy Dice
- Robot Head
- Gully
- Curveball
- Get Dizzy
- Kevlar Backpack
- Purple Baby
- Trigger Finger
- Sudden Death
- Calendar
- Fuzzy Dice
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5 new weapons!
- Chunks' Arm
- Dead Man's Gun
- Blue Candle
- Diamond Handgun
- Diamond Shotgun
- Chunks' Arm
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2 new enemies!
- Cherub
- Imp
- Cherub
A LITTLE EXTRA
We've been keeping track of a lot of frequent bug reports, requests, criticisms, etc,. Starting with this update, I've begun trying to tackle all of them. We've got a pretty thorough and lengthy catalog of all of these and, needless to say, some of these fixes will take priority over others.
This update includes one pretty significant and often-requested fix in particular: the inability for many items to stack properly. With this update, nearly all items in the game will now work how you expect them to when stacked. If you've got two of the same damage-boosting items, you'll receive two damage boosts. If you've got five of the same health-boosting items, you'll receive five health boosts. With a few exceptions, almost every single item in the game should behave this way now.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Our next update is number four on the docket: the Axe to Grind Update. Expect this upcoming update to be a little smaller than the last three. We're now halfway through this series of updates and need a bit of a breather, but don't be worried -- we're not losing traction. We've got some truly exciting stuff planned for these final three updates (and beyond) and we fully intend on going out with the biggest bang possible and then some.
I wrote on the roadmap that Axe to Grind will likely be out in winter 2023 (referring to January-March 2023, not December 2023! Sorry for any confusion about that). As of right now I haven't decided on an exact release date for Axe to Grind, but I think it may end up being in April. I know that's not winter, but the dates on that roadmap were pretty much always tentative.
Thank you for all of your support with these updates and Dead Estate's future! It's been well over a year since release and the fact that people have stuck around to play all these updates makes me smile real big. milkbarlads4ever :]
PICAYUNE DREAMS - Demo OUT NOW
PICAYUNE DREAMS
A new surrealist action roguelike, published by 2 Left Thumbs, has it's first public demo! Similar to Dead Estate, this game is made by some of the top talent on Newgrounds. You can also play a web build over there to celebrate Pixel Day! And consider entering the Picayune Dreams ART CONTEST to win cash prizes!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2088840/Picayune_Dreams/
INFLUENCES:
- Bullet heaven gameplay (Vampire Survivors)
- Bullet hell bosses (Touhou)
- Gear + power scaling (Diablo)
- Surrealist interdimensional aesthetics (Yume Nikki)
- Hard-hitting breakcore soundtrack (Milkypossum is incomparable. This is ALL her!)
- secrets...
Please give the Demo a try. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Be sure to add it to your Steam Wishlist if you enjoyed it!
NEW Official WIKI & Update #3 Announced
NEW WIKI
We've essentially never been happy with the previous Wiki. It was messy, unintuitive, and cluttered with ads to the point of being nearly unusable. You can find the new Dead Estate Wiki on wiki.gg.
Wiki.gg is owned and operated by Freedom Games. It is built to have minimal ads, which at most will only ever direct you to other Wikis that they host. It's so much less obtrusive than any other Wiki site I've used, AND contributes to a microcosm of supporting indie games. So I'm absolutely thrilled with this change!
FAN ART CONTEST
This is a VERY basic art contest. I've also been working behind the scenes to revamp the Dead Estate subreddit. It should be more clearly organized than ever before, with helpful links and directories posted in the sidebar. We've already added ~100 new users in the last few weeks!
If you've ever made Dead Estate fan art, you simply have to post it in the subreddit before the end of the day January 11th, and Tag it as "Fan art" (no outright nudity please!) Whoever has the most upvoted piece will receive 3 Steam Keys to Dead Estate to do with as they please.
UPDATE #3
A release date has been set for the THIRD of SIX major updates planned for Dead Estate. This will be released on February 14th, 2023!
This update will introduce a brand new progression system, that gives you something to work towards between runs! But don't worry, it won't allow you to grind out maxed out stats, rogueLITE style. Dead Estate is still designed to be skill based! Heaven & Hell will however introduce alternate ways of playing to deepen the game. PLUS new C-Costumes, items, weapons, enemies and more!
BOMBS AWAY UPDATE!: Version 1.3 is out NOW!
Fantastic art by @FrosstyArt!
OH MY GOD THE NEW CHARACTER IS FINALLY HERE
I'm pretty exhausted so I'll keep this one short. Thank you all for your patience with this update, hope you have a lot of fun with the game's first new character since launch, have a great day, amen. This update actually turned out waaaay bigger than what was originally planned, so there's a LOT of new content to find!
NEW STUFF
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New character: BOSS!
- A highly-combustible criminal who uses sticky bombs as her main method of attack! Starts the “Second Chance” item, another random bomb-related item, and explodes upon taking a hit. Also comes with her own B-costume!
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5 new bonus “subfloors”!
- The Kitchen: a shop where you can acquire heavily discounted food-related items plus a few items for free!
- The Bathroom: a shop that uses toilet paper as a special kind of currency in exchange for extremely rare and immensely powerful items.
- The Bank: allows you to deposit money that you can withdraw on a later run.
- The Basement: shortcut floor that allows you to immediately travel to any of the eight main or alternate floors.
- The Arena: a boss rush that gives you a bunch of items if you complete it in time!
- The Kitchen: a shop where you can acquire heavily discounted food-related items plus a few items for free!
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3 new level variants!
- Flooded floors: water appears all over the floor. It makes enemies move slower, but your own movement becomes more slippery. Fish will also spawn around the floor.
- Burning floors: sets the floor ablaze, making some enemies spawn on fire. Pots become combustible and burning enemies will periodically fall from the ceiling.
- Dark floors: makes the floor pitch black. Some enemies will spawn translucent. Glowing particles flutter down from the ceiling to light your way.
- Flooded floors: water appears all over the floor. It makes enemies move slower, but your own movement becomes more slippery. Fish will also spawn around the floor.
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16 new items!
- Victory Remains
- Lead
- Smiley Pot
- The Needle
- Leech Pact
- Toilet Paper
- The Diaper
- Wet Wipes
- Elevator Button
- The Vault
- Rotten Nanner
- Broken Syringe
- Gold Kernel
- Dead Rat
- Flies
- Smashed Glass
- Victory Remains
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6 new weapons!
- Grenades
- Potato Masher
- Triple Bazooka
- Assault Bazooka
- Bomb Gauntlets
- Sticky Bombs
- Grenades
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4 new enemies!
- Icky Sticky
- Infester Dog
- Cult Bishop
- Cult Necromancer
- Icky Sticky
WHAT'S NEXT?
Next up is the Heaven & Hell Update! On the roadmap for these updates, I originally wrote that I'd like for this update to release in January 2023. Unfortunately, it might end up being a little later -- but not much. At the very latest, update 3 will be out by mid-February, so only a couple weeks later than originally planned. It won't include any new characters like Bombs Away did, but it will include some interesting new expansions to the characters that are already in the game (and maybe a new wardrobe). Look forward to it!
Winter Sale + v1.3.0 Public Beta
Dead Estate is 40% off for the the Steam Winter Sale
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1484720/Dead_Estate/
Update #2 will be OUT of beta on December 29th!
(Instructions on how to access the Beta Branch are at the bottom of this post)
This Beta includes ALL features and additions that will be rolled out in 1 weeks time. This public Beta allows us to test the update in a more controlled environment while we squash bugs, and test and polish everything we can.
The BIGGEST change in 1.3.0 is addition of a new character: BOSS
A highly-combustible criminal who uses sticky bombs as her main method of attack! Starts a run with the “Second Chance” item, another random bomb-related item, and explodes upon taking a hit. Also comes with her own B-costume!
Boss must be unlocked first. But we are certain that even you 100%ers will have fun working towards that, as it encourages you to test and explore the other new content in the game!
We will explain the new features in greater detail when leaving Beta in 1 week.
But for now we can share update #2 also offers:
- 5 new "subfloors"
- 3 new level variants (Flooded, Burning, and Dark)
- 16 new items
- 6 new weapons
- 4 new enemies
Test it out for yourself, see if you can win a run with Boss, and seek out the other new additions that lay in wait for you to discover. If you find any bugs, please do report them in the Steam discussions.
Please consider joining the Milkbar Lads Discord to convene with other members of the fandom. Maybe you'll get some sneak peaks at what the devs have cooking! Or join the official Dead Estate subreddit to share screenshots, video clips, memes or anything else you care to share with other fans of the game.
ACCESSING THE BETA
Accessing the public beta branch is simple as can be and only takes a few steps:
- Find the game in your Steam library, right-click it, and select "Properties..."
- From the menu on the left of the new window, select "BETAS."
- Click the dropdown menu underneath where it says "Select the beta you would like to opt into", select "public_beta - Public beta."
- Wait for the game to complete updating.
- Launch the game!
The update will be officially released on DECEMBER 29TH! We will explain every new addition in much greater detail, including our first teases of Update #3!
Thanks for all of your support :)
-Graeme
PS>
Consider picking up the 2 Left Roguelikes bundle, which includes additional discounts on both Dead Estate and WizardChess (a tactical, chess-based, deckbuilding roguelike)
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29214/2_Left_Roguelikes/
Autumn Sale & Major Update #2 Announced
Autumn Sale
First things first, Dead Estate is currently on sale for 35% off! This matches the previous bar set for most-substantial discount on the game. You have 1 week to grab a copy at this price!
Chunks Plushie
There is a little over 24 hours left to order your very own Chunks plushie!
Makeship operates on an all-or-nothing crowdfunding model.
You will only be charged, and the plushie will only be produced, if we hit a minimum of 200 plushies sold!
BOMBS AWAY
A release date has been set for the SECOND in a planned roadmap of SIX major updates for Dead Estate.
Bombs Away will feature the game's first new playable character since launch: "BOSS", along with a variety of other new features!
The Home Theater update paved path forward for Dead Estate, while each subsequent update will make the game deeper, while vastly increasing it's replay value! You 100%'ers are going to have to stay on your toes!
A new Roguelike?
Dead Estate's publisher, 2 Left Thumbs, launched a new game TODAY!
Or more accurately, RE-launched. WizardChess is a deckbuilding, chess-based roguelike. It's much more strategy based than Dead Estate.
You can pick that game up now for 20% off! But owners of Dead Estate, and roguelike enthusiasts are encouraged to check out the 2 Left Roguelike bundle. By doing so, you'll receive an additional discount (10%) on whichever of the 2 games you don't already own.