it has been a while since our last update so we want to share some of our development progress. Firstly, be assured that we are working on steadily improving Deadly Days. Here is an overview of the major changes.
Random map generation
Probably the most noticeable thing is the upcoming random map generation. The current static map makes the game feel repetitive and lacks a bit of visual fidelity. A while ago we experimented with a random map generator which builds a different layout for each round. Your survivors will travel to these unique maps by truck. There will occasionally be special buildings with special events tied to them. The survivors' base is in a seperate area. We think this will significantly lower the repetitiveness of the visuals and gameplay and create a more fun experience. In the end there will be exactly 2,147,483,647 possible maps ːsteamhappyː
New art style
In the process of working out the random map generator we found out that the perspective mixing of front facing characters and top-down buildings isn't super aesthetic. So we overhauled the graphics to a front-facing style (see the picture at the top).
We know that this is a really a big change but we are confident that this will be for the best of the game!
Changing the flow
One of our biggest goals is to give the game some much needed structure. In the future we want to redirect the game flow. We already have some aspects that resemble a rogue-lite and we want to push even more in this direction. A complete game will be much shorter, and include end conditions and the possibility to upgrade between every mission. You will also not be automatically safe after sunset. As the night looms, stronger zombies will appear. Be fast to reach the truck or dare to gather more loot. Winning once will not be the end of the game; unlocks and unlockable content will be waiting for you.
The first feature affected by this change in the near future is night mode.
Currently, every night you have the possibility to choose from three different token types (Airstrike, Healing and Weapons) which you can then use for different abilities in the following days. We initially thought this would give a strategic meaning to the game which turns out to not be the case. So we will get rid of the token system and directly tie abilities' cost to scrap. This will change the functionality of the night screen quite a bit but we believe it to be a step in the right direction. Eventually in a later update we want to completely merge the night and upgrade screen to give a more seamless experience.
Overhauling character AI
We see that players often struggle with the survivor AI since it does its own thing. In the last patch we tried helping the players by presenting target lines so they can forecast what the survivors will do.
But this still seems to not be perfect. So our goal is to make the survivors smarter, especially with evading and fighting zombies. We also consider giving more control to the player but we are still discussing this.
Changing the weapon system
One thing we observed when others played the core game was weapon spamming at the beginning of each day. We don't think it's very fun and we want to give more meaning to the weapons. We are currently evaluating several approaches.
Much more...
All the above mentioned topics bring up related topics and systems and it is quite a big chain of changes. We try to split it as much as possible to incrementally implement and bring you these changes, but some major features have to be released together. We'll tell you more about the exact plans in the near future. Further topics that we'll handle in the future are special abilities, end conditions of a game (or run) and side missions.
We hope you liked the insight and the direction we are going. Feel free to leave us feedback!
- Your Deadly Days Team
Day 7: Follow me! (Update 0.9.11)
Hi survivors,
today we release our next patch with some new features and several bug fixes.
Leader tactic
Many players requested a permanent grouping functionality. Now it is possible to let your survivors stick together in very dangerous situations.
The tactic tab now contains a “assign leader” ability. You can mark one of your survivors as a leader and others will try to stay near him. They still fight and loot but will make sure to always catch up to the leader. But be aware that they’ll collect less resources since they don’t spread out to scavenge.
Target indicators
We often received feedback that the behavior of the survivors is confusing and hard to follow. To help with this problem we added target indicators which will always show their next target. Furthermore the indicator will be colored red if they intend to fight an enemy. With this you can predict movement and actions much better and hopefully keep your survivors alive for a longer time. If you do not like the target indicators you can turn them off in the settings.
Furthermore we made the following changes:
Added: Sounds when scavenging cars and bins
Added: Experimental support for 21:9 ultrawide screens
Improved: Character movement should be a bit more direct now
Improved: You can now zoom out more (thus seeing more from the whole map)
Improved: Dropping weapons check if loot is beneath (so no more weapon drops on scrap / parts).
Improved: We increased the range of the sounds so you can hear them even with high zoom out.
Improved: Improved accuracy of prioritize enemy and back to base ability (now the entity nearest to your click gets the effect, instead of a random one).
Balance: Kills caused by the level up blast no longer give experience to the character.
Fixed: The camera can’t be moved via keyboard anymore when locked to base
Fixed: Several sprite overlays were now correctly aligned to the map (Map freeze, flash and nuke)
Fixed: The truck konvoi event was not time scaled thus being too slow when fast forwarding.
Fixed: The unlock cost of fitness area and fire are no longer 0.
Fixed: Time scale is now reset when game is over.
Fixed: In some cases the tactic bar could break which is now fixed.
Fixed: Leaderboard display in game over screen should be working again.
Removed: Daily bonus
Thanks to everyone who gave feedback. We really appreciate any comment and STEAM review you leave us! Also tell us what you think about the new features. Feel free to join us at Discord: https://discord.gg/4KCf5zt
- Your Deadly Days Team
Day 6: Into the shadows (Update 0.9.10)
Survivors,
we just released the next major patch.
Special tasks
Sometimes you wish you could do more with your survivors? Now you can. During the night you have the opportunity to send them to special tasks. This could be raiding a shopping mall or go scout out a hospital. Sending one or more survivors means surviving without them for the duration of the mission but they come back with plenty of loot. But be careful some missions are dangerous and your survivors could even die. So prepare and send strong survivors to maximize your chances.
Please note that the slot machine got removed. At the same position you can find the special tasks now. We are re-evaluating the slot machine for future use.
Shadows
Some of you (and we too) felt that there was a need to adjust the style of the game a tiny bit. It needed more contrast and depth. Therefore we added shadows to most of the ingame sprites plus a movement of them according to the progress of the day.
Fast forward
We have also included a much requested feature to accelerate the time during the days. Now if you find yourself in a day that is far too easy for you, you can speed right trough it. You'll find respective options in the bottom right corner of the screen now.
Other changes
Added: In-game option to switch to windowed mode
Improved: When playing in windowed mode the game will not pause when you leave focus. So playing while doing something else works perfectly now.
Improved: Buttons to buy tokens are "holdable" now so you can quickly buy a ton of tokens.
Improved: The reward screen directly skips to the summary if there is just one reward in the reward bundle.
Removed: Slot machine.
Fixed: Camera scrolling speed by mouse behaves correctly now
We really like to thank everyone who gave feedback and still appreciate any comment and steam review you leave us! Tell us what you think about the new additions. If you like join us at Discord: https://discord.gg/4KCf5zt
- Your Deadly Days Team
Mac Hotfix for 0.9.9.3
Hi survivors,
unfortunately we had a little issue with our Mac build that could lead to a crash on start. We fixed it and the update is available now.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
- Your Deadly Days Team
Day 5: Wait ... what is the status of our base? (Update 0.9.9.3)
Hi survivors,
today we release another minor patch with some improvements for input and an important bug fix.
Changes
Added: Base upgrade screen shows overall and per-category progress.
Added: You can now browse through the different upgrade levels for each category.
Improved: We added hotkeys for the ability tabs [F1-F5].
Improved: The ability toggles and the ability category tabs are now highlighted when selected.
Improved: The keybinding is now displayed next to the abilities.
Fixed: The pause menu in base upgrade / night screen shouldn't break the game in fullscreen anymore.
Displaying commit number in main menu (so we can track down problems to specific snapshots of the project)
Upgraded to Unity Engine 2017.3 (from 2017.1)
As always: Thanks to everyone who provided feedback! We'd like to hear even more.
Stay tuned we have also big changes on the road map (but it needs some more time). If you like join us at Discord: https://discord.gg/4KCf5zt
- Your Deadly Days Team
Day 4: Fixing holes in the fence (Update 0.9.9.2)
Hi survivors,
today we just release a minor patch, but be assured that we have big changes on our roadmap but we still need some planning for that.
Changes
Added: Information about abilities are now also displayed when you hover over the respective toggles.
Re-balanced: Medikit Drop now costs the same as single survivor healing but is a bit weaker. Use it to cover areas where you don't constantly have an eye on.
Re-balanced: We reduced the cost for RPG. It costs the same as sniper now. Especially useful against bosses.
Re-balanced: Double the drop rate of crowbars.
Re-balanced: The truck from the convoy event got a small heal boost at the beginning so you have time to defend it.
Fixed: Sometimes the points feedback (when killing zombies) had the wrong icon.
Thanks to everyone who gave feedback! BUT we are eagerly waiting for even more feedback :)
Start joining the conversation on Discord: https://discord.gg/4KCf5zt
- Your Deadly Days Team
Day 3: We Leveled UP (Update 0.9.9)
Hi survivors,
Over the holidays we were not idle and prepared a special update for you. Check it out!
Reworked Survivor Information
We redesigned the healthbar and ammo indicators of the survivors. It looks like this now.
You might be wondering what these new stars mean. And with this we come to our next new feature.
Survivor Level Up System
Your survivors now earn xp when they kill zombies. With enough xp they level up.
This grants them more max hp and increases their stats overall. They also heal to full health, this can also make the difference in heated combat situations.
When they reach the maximum level of 10 they gain one of (currently) five different talents. They greatly boost their capabilities and you should make sure to keep them alive.
Damage Talent This skill doubles the damage a survivor deals in melee and ranged combat. With this even the toughes zombies are no problem.
Healer Talent This gives your survivor the ability to heal himself and the others around him by a small amount. This could make the difference between life and death.
Looter Talent A Survivor with this skill collects double the scrap and parts he normally would. This will give your resources a huge boost.
Ammo Talent With this your survivor keeps giving out ammunition to himself and others.
Mine Talent This skill lets your survivor places mines randomly. They will explode when a zombie steps on it or after a short amount of time.
We also added 2 new special abilities that help with leveling your characters. Find them by opening crates.
Difficulty System
But this is not all. We have also implemented a new difficulty system. You start the game only with "Easy" unlocked. You will unlock higher difficulties by increasing your player level while playing.
These difficulties influence the strength and spawnrate of zombies. But they will also increase the loot you find. So playing on these higher difficulties is much more rewarding.
But keep in mind you probably need to upgrade your base first before tackling these new difficulties.
Improved combat animations
The survivor now will face where they are going. In addition they will now actually aim their weapons in the direction of the enemy and guns have also recoils.
Improved looting
A few patches ago we added searchable containers (like cars) for the player to loot. Now your survivors will help you loot them.
And depending on your difficulty settings more containers will contain loot.
Changed camera controls
Important for everyone who already played the game. The camera mouse control is now by right click (instead of left click). We did this to avoid using usables by accident when moving the camera.
Many small fixes and changes
Some of them are:
Improved randomization logic. We now make sure rare loot spawns and events will reguraly show up.
Crate screen only shows up if you can open a crate (thanks to VeTaL)
Display ability cost in red when you do not have enough tokens to use them.
Fixed survivors blocking each other from picking up the same loot.
Added more types of truck convois.
Rebalanced upgrade costs.
Fixed tactic menu not displaying correctly sometimes.
We hope you all enjoy the new patch. If so, we'd appreciate any review!
In any case, we are very interested in your feedback to help us make the game better. We are looking forward to it!
Also feel free to join our newly set up Discord here: https://discord.gg/4KCf5zt
- Your Deadly Days Team
Day 2: Women picking up weapons against Santa (Update 0.9.8)
Hi survivors,
today we present you the new version 0.9.8!
Christmas special
We have prepared some small adjustments over the Christmas holidays. These are active between 22nd and 27th December. Be sure to look out in the main menu, there is a little surprise hidden. Good luck searching! (It's relatively obvious, hopefully)
Female survivors
In the discussion forum there was a request for female characters. We as a bunch of male developers didn't really have that on the radar. Sorry for that! Now we have added 6 female skins. We hope you like them! In the future we will add more skins bit by bit.
New weapon graphics
All our weapons have been redrawn in pixel style and got a real visual upgrade progression. Do you like the new look? Have any ideas for more weapons?
Weapon pickup behaviour
In the last update we had already adjusted the AI a little bit, but there were still some problems, especially when picking up the weapon. The survivors should now pick up the weapons much more eagerly in order to use them in battle.
The update is now available. Have fun!
We'd be happy if you drop by the discussion forum. In particular, we posted our current ideas for future development there. We need your feedback and ideas! Thank you!
- Your Deadly Days Team
(Rainy) Day 1: Many, many zombies encountered (Update 0.9.7e)
Hello survivors,
a week has passed and we have not been idle. The new version 0.9.7e is now available. We've made major changes to the game, triggered by feedback and Lets Plays.
The primary complaint was that the survivors were not fighting actively and cleverly enough. But we also noticed that the start of our game was not engaging enough. We have now taken the first steps to resolve these problems.
Survivor now fight against only one target
Previously, the Survivor melee attacks were carried out against all in enemies in a range. That looked strange and didn't feel right. With the new changes, survivors face zombies 1on1 and fight their way through hordes one after another. The zombies got the same change to maintain the balance.
Furthermore, the ranged combat behavior was optimized, so that the survivors are much more willing to fight (especially against groups of zombies).
Zombies, we need more zombies.
In the previous version, the map always felt a little empty. In later days there was a bit more going on, but especially the early game was a bit boring.
Now we have drastically increased the number of active zombies. In addition, we have rebalanced the game so that most of the zombies are very weak and can be killed very easily. Now fighting the masses feels great! But be careful: they are still deadly in large groups. As the days continue to advance, opponents with new special abilites and stronger then ever appear, beware!
New special abilities
We added two new useful special abilites.
Time Stop Take the stress out of a day, get an overview and optimize the current state of the game (e. g. give all weapons and heal them).
All this by stopping the time for a few moments.
Loot Scan Lots of lootable parts are not always clearly visible in the hustle and bustle.
In this case, you can activate the Loot Scan to quickly highlight and collect all the loot around.
Weather system
We plan to visually polish the game a bit over the next few weeks.
A first step for atmosphere is a weather system, which (currently) randomly activates a weather.
Currently we have implemented two weather types, see for yourself.
Rain storm
Snow
Lootable environment
Until now, scrap and parts could only be collected openly from the street.
But now some of them are also hiding in cars and garbage cans. Keep your eyes open!
We think the game has improved a lot and is now much more enjoyable. We hope you like it too, let us know your opinion. We need your feedback!
Now have fun with the new version!
Your Deadly Days Team
Welcome to Day 0 of Deadly Days!
Hello survivors,
Today we are happy to announce "Deadly Days" in Early Access.
We are looking forward to your first feedback and are waiting in the discussions for your suggestions on how we should improve the game.
We hope for a good Early Access phase together with you to fully realize the potential of the game.
Now we don't want to keep you any longer. Good luck in the apocalypse!
