- a variety of optimisations and bugfixes
- hatches can be opened from further away (to reduce accidental falls)
- RB/LB page toggles on printer menus
- improved bounding boxes for door culling
- fix for rendering of AOE effects
- improvements to pathing when using the Alpha Key:
- a new ladder to return to metal walkways above Old Tower
- ascent path shortened in the Foundation area
- a new ladder to return to metal walkways above Old Tower
Dead Ink
Patch Notes for 1.1.1
v1.1 Combat Patch
I am pleased to present a major update to the combat system in Dead Ink. Based on a careful reading of all feedback, this update provides better tools and more options to avoid taking damage. This includes significant improvements in responsiveness and fluidity, a reworked parry system, as well as boss rebalancing. Check out the trailer:
A faster starting weapon
The Sword is faster and more responsive, with a three-move combo as the primary attack. The faster timings make for a precision tool, letting you better exploit windows of vulnerability and expose yourself less. To balance this the damage per hit is lower. Some of the other weapons have been tweaked too.
Quicker rolling and repairs
The new roll has almost no warm-up time, allowing you to just get out of the way when needed. Repairs are also significantly faster to perform allowing for mid-fight heals.
Poise and stunning
When you deal an enemy more than half its health bar in damage, you will stun it. When performing a heavy attack from behind, the enemy will no longer be able to spin around quickly and retaliate.
Reworked parry & riposte system
Greater emphasis is placed on the parry and riposte system in this version. Telegraphing of incoming attacks is now clearer and more consistent, and parry windows are bigger. To balance this, not all attacks are parryable, and those that are not are highlighted in red (thrusts, overhead attacks). Parried enemies vulnerable to riposte are also highlighted.
A fixed camera mode
Enabling this mode prevents the camera from auto-rotating when locked on, but you can still spin the camera manually. This is intended for those who had issues with motion sickness or vertigo due to the camera motion. In another quality of life improvement, there is also now a "last chance" warning system, which warns when you are in danger of running out of ink, allowing you to plan to avoid permadeath.
Armed with the new set of combat tools described above, increased starting ink, and a rebalancing of bosses, I hope many of you will be able to experience all that the tower has to offer. Thank you to everyone who gave feedback and I hope you enjoy the new combat in Dead Ink.
Cheers,
Ben
v1.1 Full patchnotes
reworked primary weapon:
- faster attacks
- primary attack consists of a 3 move combo
- minimal wind up animation
- lower damage per swing
parry overhaul:
- new parry animation and timings
- larger parry windows on all enemies
- clearer and universally consistent telegraphs
- can parry without shield
- some attacks are unparryable, highlighted in red
poise and stagger:
- new poise and stagger system
- poise set to 50% of max HP for both enemies and player (zeroing poise causes stagger)
other combat adjustments:
- quicker roll
- quicker repairs, so it can now be used during a fight
- shielded enemies don't hide for so long
- recovering lost ink restores full health
- Cloudgazer boss rebalancing
- Keeper of Keys boss rebalancing
- Foundation Steward boss rebalancing
quality of life:
- added a "last chance" warning system for running out of ink and reaching a gameover state
- added the option to disable camera autorotate when locked on, to help those experiencing motion sickness / vertigo
- reduction of post-death cooldown timer
tower changes:
- new floor in the tutorial area for parrying
- more early game enemies
- more starting ink
item changes:
- Fighting Chance is now a consumable item, granting buffed damage on the next 10 hits
- Small Key value reduction, Chamber Key, Cloud Key value increase
- Recovery Warrant ink value reduced from 1000 to 250
- Halberd damage output reduced by 15%
cosmetic changes:
- riposte-able enemies become highlighted following a parry
- added more haptic/rumble events: landings, wall hits, weapon swings
- more ink splatter particles
- improved camera impacts: hits, damage, and landings
- more CRT menu effects/sounds
- new camera dynamics when falling, printing out
- improved menu navigation between print job and printer select on controller (use RB / LB to quickly toggle)
- renamed "light attack" and "heavy attack" to: "attack" and "alt. attack"
bugfixes:
- removed a spurious extra floor between the antennae
- increased controller right stick dead zone
- missing music cue in Foundation area
Seeking combat testers!
Would you like to help test Dead Ink's upcoming Combat Patch?
This patch will make major changes, focussed on creating a more fluid and responsive combat system. Currently playable changes include:
- A faster starting weapon
- Enemy stun/staggers and poise
- Overhaul of parry/riposte
- Snappy rolling and repair animations
Plus, the option to play in a non-rotating camera mode
Anyone with the game can test the current build, simply go to the Discord here and send me a message. I look forward to getting your feedback and iterating towards rolling this out.
Cheers,
Ben
NEXT STEPS
Thanks to everybody who has bought and played Dead Ink!
Over the last week or so I have been absorbing all the reviews, the feedback and chatting with people in the Discord. It's great to see the love some people have for the game, and to hear about some surprising achievements like someone who beat the game without using the shield. I think Dead Ink offers something unique, and with updates I plan to bring out its full potential for as many people as possible.
At the present time I have two big updates in mind, in order of appearance below (nothing is finalised & everything is subject to change!).
But first - I'm keen to hear your feedback, both for what you don't like (so I can fix it) and for what you do like (so I don't remove it). Please let me know here, in the Steam forums, or join the Discord. Your views at this stage are important for these next steps.
1. The combat patch
Dead Ink is a game with punishing combat, and there is no plan to deviate from that. However, there are several comments that suggest that the current system could be improved. Over the coming few months I will be looking into the possibility of a combat overhaul including: attack timings, damage output, ease of parrying, staggers + poise, roll and heal timings, enemy telegraphs, as well as some cosmetic aspects like rumble, camera impacts, splatter, and so forth. Most likely this will involve a slicker, faster starting weapon, with the option to play with the current heavier-styled sword by finding the blueprint in early game. When something is in the right shape I will be running tests in another Steam branch that everyone is welcome to join and give feedback.
2. Content: Under the Foundation
There is some space beneath the Tower's Foundation area which is currently unused. You should expect to find a small hatch on the Tower's current lowest level and be able to decend further into the depths.
Follow on Steam, or join the Discord to get updates. I'll post in both when the combat testing branch is ready.
Cheers,
Ben
1.0.3 (232ad927) Hotfixes
- fix for non-functioning haptic/rumble on Xbox controller
- fixed a rendering issue that caused ink splatter to be squashed in one direction.
Dead Ink is OUT NOW!
Dead Ink is available with a 10% launch discount for the first week.
Thank you everybody for the support!
Patch notes for 1.0.2
- added localisation for Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Russian
- fixed a rare bug causing the player to die when landing a plunge attack
- any remaining AOEs are cancelled if the enemy which fired it dies
- minor rebalancing of bosses, health tweaks and missing telegraphs
Revised launch date: 19 May 2023
Patch notes for 1.0.1
- sitting and lying enemies are now vulnerable to AOE attacks
- climbing enemies are now vulnerable for part of their climb animation
- adjusted dialogue and pathing hints around the Valve printer
- added some pre-printed courtesy keys for Foundation, Old Tower.
- more lighting in key room after first boss
Dead Ink Launches May 1
More on our website
Join our Discord
Developer stream @NextFest
Join the developer as they play through the opening area of the game.