It’s been about two weeks since the last update, so I figured I’d give you all a bit of information about what’s going on. There’s some good news, and plenty of bad news.
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Let’s start off with the bad news and get it out of the way. Dropping the price of the game did next to nothing to boost the sales, and the game is back to selling two or three copies a day. Which isn’t really enough to fund further improvements on the game. Don’t fret however, because they’re still coming.
The game is completely starving for any attention, as we can’t get any of the larger review sites to help us out at all, and review the game (good or bad) – after sending multiple emails and free copies, sites like Rock Paper Shotgun, and PC Gamer continue to not even respond to our emails. Without any traffic coming our way, it’s virtually impossible to market the game.
All is not lost however:
I’m a dedicated jerk, and I enjoy (mostly) doing game development. In order to continue to work on Final Rush, I’ve had to begin working a second job. That comes with good news and bad news as well. The good news is, we can afford to continue paying some of our devs, and don’t have to shut down. The bad news is, it slows down MY work, specifically on Level Development.
That means that while the new map is definitely still coming, it’s taken a bit longer than I had hoped, due to my largely increased workload.
Final Rush will never be abandoned, even if it doesn’t sell – but we’ll need to get creative if we want to keep updates coming at the minimal budget we have right now.
If you have any recommendations for getting the game in front of some of these indie game reviewers, leave your thoughts in the comments or forums.
- Luke, Strike Games
Update Report - v2.05
Hello gamers!
The v2.05 update has been pushed to Steam with some cool new features and improvements. Including the return of the AVLaser experimental weapon, which has been much improved over the terrible v1.00 version.!
v2.05 Changelog:
NEW - AV Laser, the first ‘tertiary’ weapon added to the game. It has enough power to take down a heavy robot in one hit, or kill multiple robots in a row with a single shot. It does not replace your primary weapon or pistol.
NEW - 2 Achievements, one related to the new experimental weapon, and one for ‘Crowd Surfing’.
Improvements to the AI logic thinking to have better target selection in some very specific cases
Potentially fixed a bug that was preventing server advertising due to "Can't start an online game in state 3"
Shields now display a blue overlay when taking damage to make it clear the shield is absorbing damage
If a server is empty for more than 1 minute and is not currently in the lobby the server will restart the map
Added the Story Tab to the main menu, which gives you a brief message about the game, and a general recap of the backstory of the game.
Added the ability to disable your special supporter armor by going to the ‘Gameplay’ section of the options menu.
The game will now start at the max resolution possible, if there are no previous settings saved. This should fix new players being greeted with N64 resolution the first time they launch the game.
Added a very basic scoreboard during gameplay. You will need to bind the key for this in the controls menu.
Added the missing reload sounds for the corporate weapons.
Enjoy the update. A new level is in the works, which should hopefully be in the major next patch.
- Luke, Strike Games
Situation Report - 11
Hello gamers!
Two important bits of news for you: Another update is currently in the works, which we’re hoping will include the return of the experimental AVLaser weapon (likely) and a brand new level (less likely, but definitely coming in the next patch or two).
This update will also include some minor fixes and tweaks in response to the feedback we’ve received on the forums.
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In addition to that, the price of Final Rush has just dropped from $14.99 to $9.99 (USD)
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you that have purchased the game, especially those who bought the game within the first few weeks of release. The v2 update, and all subsequent updates would not have been possible without your support.
As a display of gratitude, anybody who purchased the game before the price drop has automatically received the special ‘Silver’ Supporter armor. (Ability to disable this coming in the next patch)
Thanks to all of you who have supported the game! We’ll continue to expand and improve the game as much as we possibly can!
- Luke, Strike Games
Update Report - v2.04
Hello gamers!
We just pushed a new update to Steam which has some new cool things, bug fixes, and balance tweaks, mostly all based on your feedback on the forums! Please keep the comments rolling in, as it helps us build a better game.
v2.04 Changelog:
NEW - A silver armor skin has been given to all the people who bought the game before the upcoming price drop.
Changed the chat font and made chat last longer.
Rewrote parts of the chat system to improve it.
The most recent 6 messages will now always be saved into the chat.
Chat will fade out over time and all messages will return if a new message is input, so previous messages can be read
Removed a log message that was spamming dedicated servers
Offset the store icon more.
Rebalanced the starter shotgun to be more powerful, and capable of 1-shotting basic robots at close range.
Achievements are now disabled when "Enablecheats" is used. (Sorry cheaters! You know who you are!)
Explosive AI should no longer be able to die in a way that keeps them in a psuedo living state the prevented waves from continuing and showed floating armor plates to clients
Players can now reload while sprinting
Meleeing while reloading will now interrupt the reload and melee
Added in a custom version checker to prevent outdated servers from attempting to be joined causing nothing appear to happen when pressing Join
Small optimizations to prevent spamming the Steam servers with game update information.
?FRPortUsed was added to the startup line for dedicated servers that allows hosts to host multiple servers with a single IP. Read http://steamcommunity.com/app/263480/discussions/0/45350245150607485/ for proper use on it
Enjoy the update. More to come in the near future.
- Luke, Strike Games
Update Report - v2.02
Hello gamers!
We just pushed a new update to Steam which has some new cool things, bug fixes, and balance tweaks, mostly all based on your feedback on the forums!
v2.02 Changelog:
NEW - Added in difficulty settings and also allowed it to be edited by the dedicated server startup line.
(Difficulty settings currently only change the amount of damage done and received and nothing else)
NEW - Added a new achievement for beating a level on the hardest difficulty.
Player counts should now properly add themselves to the servers name.
Current difficulty displays in the server name along with the player count
"Sprinting" backwards no longer consumes energy.
Fixed a bug with the Triad achievement not awarding properly.
Extended melee range by 20% and increased melee speed by 15%.
Fixed the bug that was causing server names to not properly update.
Server naming is now supported in the startup line.
Potentially fixed a bug that was causing players to be unable to join a server after failing to join one previously.
Fixed a dedicated server bug that allowed the dedicated server to spawn AI with a health amount of 0 when no clients were connected (but previously were) causing some AI to become stuck in a state where they couldn't be killed but still were counted towards needing to be killed to end the wave.
Waves will no longer continue beyond their current wave if there are no players connected
Crosshair is now hidden while ironsighting. (Except for scoped weapons)
Store icon now always shows up during downtime.
Store icon size doubled.
Scoping in now slows down mouse sensitivity.
Fixed a bug to prevent Robots from standing still when they shouldn't.
If there are no living players AI will path towards the spawner that spawned them to get them away from wherever they last killed a player and prevent spawn camping.
To find out how to change a dedicated server's name and ports, look in the forums on the stickied server post. Currently you cannot change the name on regular hosted games, only dedicated servers.
Enjoy the update. More to come in the near future.
- Luke, Strike Games
P.S. I told you that once the v2.00 update was out, we would be able to make updates mroe often. Do you believe me now?
Update Report - v2.00
Hello gamers!
It’s finally here! The v2.00 update has dropped. Completely rebuilding the code side of the game from the ground up, and sporting new features, achievements, and improved graphics.
For a more comprehensive look at what’s in (and NOT in) the update, look at Situation Report 9
http://steamcommunity.com/games/FinalRush/announcements/detail/1802878730307962110
So, what’s next: Next, we need to wait for about a week. Thankfully the week coincides with a major (American) holiday, which means most of our staff is going to be taking the time off.
This week of waiting is important. We need to see how well the update does, so we can identify any additional issues which people need to have resolved. We want you all to participate in the forums and let us know what kind of new content you’d like to see added to the game, so we know what to focus on first. If you don’t, we’ll likely focus on progression and rank first.
With the v2.00 update, we’re going to be able to make updates a lot faster, and get them out to you much more quickly. What this means is more frequent but smaller updates (Obviously we’re not rebuilding the game every time we update). While this is definitely not a promise, we should be able to get out the first micro update, in two weeks. (That’s 1 week of waiting, and holiday, and 1 week of patch making.)
If you find an actual bug, or just want to send us hatemail – drop us a line at Strike@Strikegames.net; you’ll probably get a direct response from none other than me.
- Luke, Strike Games
P.S. a lot of you didn’t believe that we were working on an update… and hardly believed my original first news posts. Do you believe me now?
Situation Report - 10
Hello gamers!
I lied! THIS is the last week of Final Rush development; and because of that it won’t be done in June. As it turns out, about %5 of the HUD ended up taking about %75 of the installation time. There were a few issues with getting a handful of small but important features working.
Namely, there was a problem with the server browser list when there wasn’t enough entries in it (If there was less than a full screen’s worth of entries in the server browser, it would glitch the interface.) And there was also a problem with the AMMO indicator, and the SHIELDS indicator on the HUD.
Luckily while we were waiting for the Interface guys to clean things up, the rest of the team (Namely our talented programmer) was busy fixing bugs that were discovered, optimizing code, and adding polish features, like icons that show you where the ammo and health stations are when you run low on health or ammo. In one case, an AI optimization resulted in literally doubling the FPS on later waves.
All signs are pointing to the Updating landing before this weekend.
Of course, we are an evil indie company that can’t be trusted… so really all of these news updates are just a dirty trick to try and milk more sales out of the game, before we disappear and laugh at all of you suckers valued customers.
- Luke, Strike Games
Situation Report - 9
Hello gamers!
If all goes well… this could possibly be the last week of development. We’ve been having some trouble getting the user interface fully integrated, but we have all the components, and the functionality is going in – bit by bit.
So let’s take a bit of time to explain what’s going to be in the update. What can you expect, and what can you NOT expect, and why:
Starting off with what you can expect:
Completely Refactored Codebase – This basically means the entire code of the game has been rebuilt from scratch. It’s now more efficient, more stable, and of course easier to update. This is the solid foundation from which we can add more content, faster and more easily.
MULTIPLAYER – That’s right! The whole reason we rebuilt the game. It now supports online multiplayer, with 1 – 4 players working cooperatively to kill the robot swarm. The game also supports LAN gameplay. (PROPERLY This time.)
Completely Redesigned Interface – This is a much nicer looking, more computer friendly interface, which has room to grow, and gives you better control over creating a game, and configuring your options.
Brand New Options – We now have a proper options menu, with functional controls for graphical settings like Anti-Aliasing, Anisotropic Filtering, Bloom, Depth of Field, Lens Flares, and so on. There is also an Audio menu and a Controls menu, which allows you to properly configure and bind your keys. (<- Yes, we fixed that too!)
New Gameplay Features – You asked for it, and we listened: Jumping, and Aim-Down-Sights. The game now supports both of those features. Jump to your heart’s content. RUSH gameplay has been altered to be time based and not enemy based with more dynamic enemy spawning. The more you kill the more you’re rewarded, but the more enemies the game will spawn!
New and Rebalanced Enemy Abilities – Basic Robots will now sprint towards you; they can now be stunned by melee attacks. The Heavy robots will now charge attack you. Rangers play a larger and more crucial role in the game (For all of you jumpers - that means shooting your face when you get out of reach of the other robots.)
Highly improved AI – The AI are now more efficient and MUCH better at getting to you. They’ll drop off ledges, and won’t get stuck as often. They also won’t stop and turn around randomly. (
generally it’s much better, but like any game there will always be exceptions. )
”Different” Graphics – More efficient, “better” looking. The game was rebuilt from scratch, which means that most of the graphics have been improved. The levels were reconstructed, which in the case of the Cargo map means quite a few substantial changes. Smaller objects now react dynamically to being shot.
Achievements – Final Rush now has 11 achievements. Each content update should add a few more to that list. The game is still pretty small, so more than 11 would’ve been pushing it. Have fun earning them!
Now, during this long and lengthy reconstruction process, a few items did NOT make the cut, and will not be in the v2 update. We still plan on including these items, likely in the first few updates to follow the v2 update. Likewise, just so there is no misunderstanding, I’m going to list a few important new things that you will also NOT see in the v2 update:
The Experimental Weapons – Good idea, bad implementation. They never worked as well as we would’ve liked, and so in order to give them all the love and care we want to give them, they’re going to need to wait for a future update.
Effect Ammunition and Grenade Powers – This systems were a little hinkey to begin with, never quite being added how we wanted them. These features have been removed and will be replaced with a better system in the future. HP Ammo is still in the game.
A few of the Upgrades – The Radar, and a few of the accuracy upgrades are not going to be in the v2 update. They will be re-added as we recomplete them.
NO NEW MAPS, ENEMIES, or WEAPONS… yet – This update was focused on fixing the pile of bugs that we had before. That means no new maps, no new enemies, and no new weapons. We will be adding plenty of these things as the future updates come. We already have 1 new weapon nearly complete, a new flying enemy with a variety of abilities, and plenty more awesome stuff like Character customization, and boss fights already partially completed. The concept artist is working on developing a new level THEME; which means enemies and locations that are different from what we have now.
With ALL of that being said. There is one big HUGE Asterisk. We spent every dime we had on this update. If the game does not sell more copies, we cannot afford to do anything. If the game sells well, we’ll add as much content as we can afford. But if it doesn’t sell, this may be all we can afford to do until we find an alternative method to funding additional content.
Thus is the nature of Indie game developments. The best thing you can do is spread the word about the game if you enjoy the coming update.
- Luke, Strike Games
Situation Report - 8
Hello gamers!
The update is nearly finished. Yesterday we received the files for the main part of the HUD, as well as some revised Main Menu files that fixed some issues we were having. There is one last interface related piece we’re waiting on, and that’s the store interface (where you buy the weapons) with any luck we’ll get that in a day or two as well.
As long as there aren’t any issues installing the HUD, we should be performing final testing of the Update at by the end of the week; with the actual update for all of you to enjoy not far behind.
During some downtime last week while waiting for the HUD files, we were able to implement some additional AI improvements. The AI should be even more intelligent now, and hopefully a slight bit friendlier on ping times in multiplayer. What this means is a much, MUCH less frequent occurrence of the AI picking weird paths to get to you, or stopping and turning around to follow an alternate route.
You can get out of reach of most AI enemies now by jumping on boxes, but we’ve made some gameplay modifications to bring out the “Ranger” security robots in a much earlier wave. These guys will shoot at you, and if you’re camping on a box, you’ll be turned into mincemeat. We’ve made rangers a lot more common, but also substantially weaker in v2, as compared to v1.
We're looking for suggestions on what you'd like to see us focus on (in addition to bug fixes and gameplay balancing) in the coming weeks. New enemies? New, more unique levels? Player Customization? We can't do everything immediately (unless the game sells really well *wink* *wink*), so we want you to tell us what you'd like to see the most!
- Luke, Strike Games
Situation Report - 7
Hello gamers!
The previous week was an eventful one. As mentioned in the previous situation report mentioned, we received the UI files. We had some compatibility issues which prevented us from installing them for a few days, but we used that downtime to polish the gameplay a bit more.
The good news is, the files are actually being installed, and the game now has a functional interface. You can now start the game via the main menu, or hit ESC at any time during gameplay to see it in all of its glory. And do you know what that means?
That means that I can show you the new interface: http://i.imgur.com/fCOLjM2.jpg
And yes, unlike V1, those key binds actually DO work. Pretty cool right? It looks much better in motion, but you’re going to need to wait to play the game to see that.
The only things remaining before the big update is finishing up the interface functionality, and the HUD (and related ingame menus, like the shop interface)
Unless we’re collectively eaten by kittens bees, the release should be sometime inside of this month. Once we get the HUD files, I’ll be able to make a more concrete estimate as to when exactly the update is coming.
