Welcome back, everyone! This is Mothership from Daev Team.
With around 99% of the Episode 3 content completed and currently under playtesting, I am pleased to say that I managed deliver all the content we worked on in the past months ahead of the deadline I imposed to myself!
Episode 3 will conclude the story, and retroactively add flashback levels (that my co-developer has worked on) in between certain points of the main story, helping entroducing the Newcat/Katz character that has been mentioned in passing throughout Episode 2. Some of these are supposed to play between the events of Episode 1 and 2, so we've figured out a way to letting players who've been with use through development without forcing them to start the game from scratch.
So, when is the game launching?
I don't know - yet.
The release window is something that we and the publisher are discussing, and I'm currently waiting for more details so that we can announce a release date for Ghostware's 1.0 launch, and possibly new Steam events that we will join. In related news I can also say that GWare's spinoff TEXNOPLAZM will participate to Steam's FPS Fest (April 15-22) with a new a nd revamped demo that will add all the basic gameplay elements that were left to implement, so keep an eye on that one too.
This is all for now, just brief reassurance that the project is still on track!
Now, have a few new screenshots as a treat!
not sure the last one will be included in this update, but we'll see...
-ML
Ghostware's spinoff Texnoplazm has a Steam demo
Greetings everyone!
I am happy to announce that Ghostware's spinoff TEXNOPLAZM Alpha Demo is now available on Steam as well! The current version is the same as the latest one uploaded on my Itch.io page, which adds coyote time to easen movement and platforming, and fixes bugs that I caught while testing previously released versions.
I hope that the you'll find the Alpha demo fun, or at the very least, won't make you delete TXP from your wishlists (lol)
Welcome back, everyone! This is Mothership from Daev Team.
I've been silent since the release of Episode 2 both because we were busy gathering feedback on that, and because me and the others needed some time to rest after delivering the second act of Ghostware's story.
But the silence doesn't mean I've been slacking:
I am fairly confident in saying that we'll be on track with our promise of delivering the Third and final episode by the first half of this year: EP3 entroduces way less novelties in terms of gameplay or code, so, unforeseen consequences notwithstanding, the development will proceed as straightforward as it has been so far.
At the time of this post, I have completed 85% of the first level, 75% of the second, and done the blockout + started the first pass of the third and fourth main levels.
Also, my co-developer has worked on a few flashback levels that are supposed to happen in between certain points of the main story, helping entroducing the Newcat/Katz character that has been mentioned in passing throughout Episode 2. Some of these are supposed to play between the events of Episode 1 and 2, so we've figured out a way to letting players who've been with use through development without forcing them to start the game from scratch.
This is all for now, just brief reassurance that the project is still on track!
Now, have a few new screenshots as a treat!
P.S. If you're keen on other GHOSTWARE-related stuff, I have released the alpha demo of its spinoff TEXNOPLAZM on itch.io, and I'm currently waiting for approval to release the alpha demo on Steam as well. Be sure to wishlist and follow my other game's Steam page if you want to be updated on when the demo will arrive on the platform!
-ML
GHOSTWARE: Arena of the Dead launches Episode 2 TODAY!
You’ve died. You’ve come back. And now, you’ve escaped to the real world. Continue your adventure with Molly, as EPISODE 2 launches today!
Explore 12 brand new maps (and secrets, for you all completionists out there ;) ), as you unravel the mysteries of the Island during the second arc of the Ghostware’s story. Experience its sceneries in daytime or darkness of the night, depending on when you hold your gameplay session in the real world.
As you roam the area, you’ll encounter new enemies, which you’ll be able to defeat with the help of 5 brand new weapons we’ve teased before. Not only does your arsenal grow, but so does your skill set – a diagonal jump is available now to toggle on in the options, so you can experience a more traditional style of strafe-jumping. There’re some new abilities ready for you to unlock throughout Episode 2 story, which’ll grant access to the never seen before areas for you to discover. The addition of a semi-permanent inventory system allows you to keep your current weapons of the real world safe and sound once you get back to the arena - this way you won’t be left empty-handed as you re-enter the reality again.
If you’re here not only for GHOSTWARE’s arena shenanigans, but also its immersive plot, be ready for some new twists to the story. Episode 2 adds on to the cast of the characters, each of them ready to expand the world’s lore for you.
We hope you’re as excited as we are to jump back into the arena and its fusillade. Take your time drinking in all the novelties and tell us how your return to the world of GHOSTWARE is going!
DAEV TEAM X HYPERSTRANGE
Road to Episode 2 - New maps and exploration
Welcome back, everyone! This is Mothership from Daev Team.
Exciting news: Episode 2's final build is greenlit and set for release on October 26th! In anticipation of its release I will talk some more about exploration, and the adventure that awaits outside of the arena.
NEW MAPS TO EXPLORE
Episode 2 will entroduce 12 new levels: The storyline mirrors the structure of the first episode, with key plot points unfolding linearly. However, towards the the latter half of EP2, players will discover a new sense of freedom. Thanks to the seamlessly interconnected world, they'll be able to roam between areas at their own pace, unraveling the game's secrets and exploring everything it has to offer.
SECRET SIDE AREAS
For those who played Episode 1, you may recall certain pathways intentionally sealed by Skull Sigils. In Episode 2, as new abilities can be unlocked, one of them will allow to unseal these paths. This newfound ability will guide players to uncharted territories, unveiling entirely new areas to explore.
Among the 12 new levels, some of them can only be accessed from other secret areas, rewarding the completionists; these secret locales hold rewards in the form of upgrades, new weapons, and snippets of lore.
DYNAMIC LIGHTING
Considering the player's ability to explore at their own pace, I've envisioned an additional feature: maps in Episode 2 set in Real Space, not bound by a fixed linear story progression, will dynamically change their lighting to daytime or nighttime depending the time of day when you play the game. For those who prefer consistency, an "Always Daytime" option will be introduced in the miscellaneous settings of the game, allowing you to toggle and maintain the default lighting for these maps.
REALS PACE AND VIRTUAL SPACE ARSENAL
Player's freedom of exploration means that you can travel between the Virtual and Real space, and this lead to the implementation of a semi-permanent inventory system. Guns and ammo gathered in Realspace will stay with you instead of resetting when entering a new level; however, any realspace gun in the arsenal will temporarily disappear when the player goes into a game world's area. The real-world guns and ammo will become available again as soon as the player returns to the real world. Upgrades such as armor and abilities will persist both in Virtual and Real spaces.
This allows for players to have an experience closer to the one of linear shooters from the late 90s. In layman terms, more Unreal-like than Unreal Tournament-like.
I hope you found this entry interesting, and I hope to see all of you here again on October 26th once Episode two arrives!
Road to Episode 2 - New weapons
Welcome back, everyone! This is Mothership from Daev Team.
In anticipation of Episode 2's release on October 26th, let's delve into some of the exciting novelties. First up, let's talk about guns:
In yet another meta moment of the game, the weapons found in the real world are more varied and versatile than the ones available in the dreamscape of the Arena (except for the Bubblegun, my greatest creation). During the development of Episode 2, I revisited ideas from pre-launch prototypes, incorporating valuable insights gathered from player feedback during Early Access.
My aim for EP2 was to introduce a comprehensive arsenal that adds distinctiveness and utility to each gun, filling specific roles in combat. Addressing feedback from EP1, where secondary fire modes were criticized for their limited usefulness (except for the incendiary grenade, which you should really utilize more often), I meticulously ensured that both primary and alternative fire for the new arsenal are equally viable.
Now, let's take a brief look at each new entry.
Laser Pistol
Molly's new starter gun in Episode 2. The primary fire unleashes a hitscan laser, offering moderate damage and a slightly lower rate-of-fire than the nailgun. This balances the increased damage output and precision associated with hitscan weapons.
For the secondary fire, holding down the button charges up a more potent shot, consuming ammo during the process. The pistol automatically fires when the charge is complete or if ammo reaches zero. What sets this weapon apart is its rechargeable ammo feature—it starts with 50 rounds, slowly recharging if the pistol remains unused for a set time. The recharge continues in the background even when switching to and using a different weapon.
Sonic Shotgun
A powerhouse in the new arsenal. Its primary fire launches a single hitscan projectile, delivering heightened damage within a specific range to promote close-quarters combat.
Engage the secondary fire to release an automatically charged, more potent shot requiring 5 ammo. This shot has enhanced effectiveness against R-Frames and RB-Frames, temporarily stunning those caught in the blast radius. Enemies endure increased damage from any weapon during this brief stun period.
Ice Cannon
Enter the Cool™ Gun, where the primary fire shoots a block of ice that fragments into smaller shards. The solid block inflicts fixed damage, while each connecting shard deals damage over time. The more shards hitting an enemy, the greater the cumulative damage.
Switch to secondary fire for an ice grenade with a freezing blast radius. Any enemies caught in it are completely immobilized, unable to attack for a few precious seconds. This makes the Ice Cannon the perfect choice for crowd control in intense fights.
Enegy Rifle
Experimental Weapon, and the in-lore evolution of the Bubblegun. Its primary fire is a hitscan beam dealing fixed damage. Meanwhile, the secondary fire launches a slow-moving energy orb that bounces off walls, causing splash damage upon direct contact with an enemy. The traveling orb also has an area of effect, inflicting damage over time on nearby enemies until it moves far enough away.
For an explosive twist, combine primary and secondary fire by shooting the orb mid-air with the hitscan beam. This triggers a massive explosion, adding a strategic layer to the weapon.
Flamethrower
It hurls fireballs that briefly ignite the ground upon impact, causing both the floor and enemies to catch fire. This continuous burning effect accumulates substantial damage over time. Engage the secondary fire to release a horizontal wave of fire capable of striking multiple enemies simultaneously, passing through them for maximum impact.
SMG
Meet the other workhorse of the arsenal—the high-speed, rapid-firing SMG. It boasts the highest rate-of-fire, swiftly taking down enemies with efficiency. However, precision takes a hit as bullets spread considerably past close-to-medium range.
Use the alt fire to charge a shot for increased damage. Here's the kicker: landing a fully charged shot on R-Frames triggers a self-destruct.
Threepeater
Triple-Barreled Energy Weapon: its primary fire launches fast-moving projectiles in bursts of three, each packing high damage and a small blast radius. If shooting in bursts isn't your style, switch to alternate fire. The secondary mode enables continuous fire but risks overheating the weapon. Once overheated, a brief cooldown prevents firing or switching to another weapon until the meter resets. Switching is still possible if the overheat meter hasn't hit 100%.
I hope you found this entry interesting, and I hope to see all of you here again on October 26th once Episode two arrives!
-Daev Team
Ghostware EPISODE 2 announcement
Welcome back everyone, Daev Team here!
Start packing your bags, because next month we'll return to the Island: that's right, we're here today to announce that Episode 2 of Ghostware will arrive on October 26th!
Episode 2 will continue Molly's adventure through the real world, as we left her stranded alone at the end of the first one. This update will entroduce the entire second arc of Ghostware's story, which means there is a lot coming your way by the end of the spooky month.
Let's break it down:
MAPS & EXPLORATION Episode 2 will entroduce 12 new levels! Thanks to the interconnected nature of the world, you'll be able to freely roam between areas to explore everything at your own pace.
Not just that: new abilities that can be unlocked through of Episode 2 will open paths to new areas for you to explore (hint: pay a visit to the skull sigils sometime...)
CHARACTERS & STORY Just like the new season for a series, Episode 2 will entroduce a whole cast of new characters between enemy types, bosses, and story-related ones.
Molly's journey will continue through the main storyline, and new areas to explore also mean there will be more pieces of backstory to piece together, in order to get the full picture of what's not being explicitly told about the story.
WEAPONS & LOADOUTS Episode 2 will add the remainder of Real world's weapon roster, in addition of the Sonic Shotgun and SMG as seen in the last level of Episode 1.
Player's freedom of exploration means that you can travel between the virtual ad real space, and this lead to the implementation of a semi-permanent inventory system. Guns and ammo gathered in realspace will stay with you instead of resetting when entering a new level; however, any realspace gun in the arsenal will temporarily disappear when the player goes into a game world's area, but the guns and ammo will become available again as soon as the player re-enters realspace.
QOL IMPROVEMENTS, VISUAL UPDATES, BUGFIXES With this update we will bring much needed tweaks to various aspects of the base game, starting with gunplay and AI behavior.
Episode 2 gives previously existing weapons improved VFX and SFX feedback to make them feel as powerful as they should, as well as improved texture work for some of them.
Base AI behavior has been tweaked to make enemies move in a human-like way without being too oppressive or too good for their own sake, and to make them challenging but in a fair way.
As the environments for Episode 2 made a substantial leap in quality, we went back and gave some touch ups to all areas of the first episode as well, in order to raise their looks to the standards set by the new maps.
New arcade content will most likely be added with the release of this update, but we won't spoil any potential surprise about it...
This should comprise most if not everything that will come your way next month, so stay tuned and be sure to follow us on X/Twitter for more news!
-Daev Team
New & Upcoming Games
Hyperstrangers!
Dreamhack Beyond is right around the corner, Dudes, and you guessed it - we are in it! However, this bit of news isn’t just about that. While you are keeping up with all news related to GHOSTWARE: Arena of the Dead, we would like to showcase other things we have been cooking for your gaming pleasure!
But, but, but... before these beauties will be ready to be injected into your veins, you gotta follow and wishlist. It makes the algorithm gods happy and jolts our developers’ hearts with joyful exuberance - whatever that means.
CosmoPirates
Space, the final frontier, a place devoid of the tight-ass bureaucracy. A place where a man can cruise in their Fiat 126p, lick batteries, and be a self-made cosmonaut! Unless you get raided by pirates, poisoned by a hot-dog from an unlicensed food-shuttle or scammed by Kovalsky at the spaceship dealer.
CosmoPirates takes card battling, deck building to the final frontier of cartoonish comedy. Pimp-out your ride, gather your crew, and take out the cringeworthy overlord. Be wary tho, for there always must be a Cringe lord - and on your journey you might just become one.
There are some things that simply go great together although you wouldn’t think so: potatoes and pizza, mayo and ketchup or Zombies and Golf! That’s right! There is nothing more riveting than trying to land a perfect birdie with a horde of the ravenous undead breathing down your neck.
In NecroGolf, an arcade golf simulator with RPG elements and zombies, you can put your precision golfing to the test. NecroGolf releases in less than a month, on September 15th, so make sure to wishlist it, grab your clubs and get in your golf cart, for in this zombie apocalypse, there is only golf.
If you are in for even more Hyperstrangeness, then embark in 77p egg: Eggwife on a quest whose crude, gory, toilet-humor can only be rivaled by games such as Postal 2, Duke 3D, or Goat Simulator.Master your bodily functions to perform such feats as poop-jumping and employ a wide range of "UK-Legal'' weapons such as the Applicator, Crossbowner and Stigmatic 77,000!
Does this masterpiece have a story? Yes, and a relatable one at that. Building a stable relationship isn’t that easy and our protagonist will need your help on his quest to find a new wife!
Let’s step down from the joyful sensory overload of the above mentioned games to something a little bit different. Something less strange and definitely more hyper.
In Empty Shell, a top-down roguelite survival horror, you will get thrown into a secret facility on a Japanese island. Having signed a contract which stated only one condition “recover the designated target”, you will soon learn why it is so important to read the fine print.
During each run, you will try to get the “volunteer” through the facility while dealing with limited visibility, dwindling supplies and whatever is out there, stalking and hunting you throughout the randomized maze of tight-corridors.
If you are peckish and looking for something more crunchy to stimulate your strategic mind, then look no further than Spirit of Liberty, a hardcore, turn-based, historically accurate strategy game set in WWII.
Master the intricacies of the game’s systems to keep your units supplied and armed with the best equipment and dismantle enemy forces through combined-arms tactics and help from your cabinet of generals.
As tradition commands, we have saved the best for the dessert! Hope you're still hungry for here comes our most ambitious in-house project so far.
Hordes of Hunger is a fast-paced action arena slasher with roguelite elements set in the dark fantasy setting of Ismer. A land engulfed by the living hunger, the cosmic horror known only as the Beast. You are the unlucky one still living inside the nightmare and the only way out is through it.
"Why?" you might ask. Simple. You can buy more awesome games for less $$. Of course, we at HYPERSTRANGE run a business. But we also love you to play our games, and enjoy them.
And if you can have fun with what we bring you and save some cash - that's a DOUBLE WIN
So here are the reasons why Steam Summer Sale is awesome:
Recently, we added a new game to our HYPERSTRANGE portfolio. If you want to take some breath from all this violence, shooting, gore, and ultra-fast-acion-hyper-tension... we present you the Trans Neuronica. A game that will put your other traits to the test.
Don't keep this info to yourself. Sharing is caring - let your buddies know.
Early Access Update v 0.1.1.27
EA v0.1.1.27 CHANGELOG:
REBALANCING & QOL --- 1) Difficulty levels rebalanced: all damage received by player is passed through a multiplier which scales with difficulty. Easy: damage*0.75 Medium: damage*1.0 Hard: damage*1.5 Nightmare: damage*2.0
2) Added a third control point in "Dominance Zone" and adjusted the match accordingly. -Team AI for King of The Hill rebalanced -Rumbletron plays with Molly and Flak Jack from the start during the match in Dominance Zone
3) QOL changes -added glass panel in the tutorial route to teach new players about breakable glasses -added brief description upon picking a new weapon in the real world -"spread" section of the HUD now correctly hidden when player is in the real world -HUD is hidden when the player is in a lobby or a hub level -R-Frames don't do tactical rolls like humans anymore
4) Weapons from Episode One have been rebalanced to make them more effective and reliable during combat. -BUFF: Shotgun number of pellets increased 8 to 12, each pellet got its hitbox increased and its dmg has decreased from 10 to 9 -BUFF/NERF: Shocking Truth primary dmg increased from 8 to 12, secondary dmg decreased 25 to 12 so it's the same value -BUFF: Ricocheter primary dmg increased 6 to 9, hitbox increased. Secondary dmg increased 9 to 11 -NERF: Bubblegun projectile size decreased from 1.5 to 1.35, rate of fire increased from 0.375 to 0.425 -BUFF: SMG primary dmg increased from 6 to 12
NEW CONTENT --- 1)First crossover event in the Arcade: -Incision Guy is available as a playable character -Incision-themed map "DM_Meat" is available in Deathmatch
2)Other characters from the campaign are available in the Arcade: -the Wizard -R-Frame -Islander -etc.
BUGFIXING --- -WASD movement keys remapping fixed -Dash "super jump" mechanic fixed/removed -Audio of the Wizard commenting your victory against Major Commando now plays properly -bullet cases sfx fixed -default duration of pop up tutorials extended -fixed slomo upon death of certain enemies -fixed weapon textures loading incorrectly -minor bugfix reguarding the music in CTF3 -various typos -fixed various places where the player could clip through -various minor fixes and softlocks
