CoaguCo Fall Update 2022 - Haulin' Oats, The Dope Game, And More
Hey there! So last year around this time we did a Fall Update to give news on every project we are working on and where everything currently is. This year we're gonna do the same. Instead, however, we will talk about each project in alphabetical order.
TL:DR; Been doing real-life stuff and other non-game projects, but things are still moving along! Just slower. Wanting to provide higher-quality updates.
The Dope Game
So the game has five different content updates (still) coming. Most of them have missed their original assumed deadlines but so it goes in the world of game development. Since most of these updates require a lot of art, that takes a bit more time than programming sometimes.
The first update, which adds more customization to characters, is being overhauled. While you will be able to modify colors and such for the outfits, they will be put together in sets to reduce the complication of the mix-and-match; which is really where things get hung up.
We are also going to mix update 1 and 2 together by putting out the DLC updates in with the customization patch. Just to speed things up a bit.
Haulin' Oats
Release dates have been speculated on a lot and right now we are targeting Q1 2023 with a nice buffer after Steam Winter Sale and a buffer before Steam Spring Sale. Other than the grueling grind that is multiplayer, the game has been getting a graphical overhaul.
Various fonts, lines, and images are being redesigned and cleaned up. As you can see from the images above and below. Card faces are being reworked too; most of this for clarity and to match the physical assets for the (hopeful) physical version. Some higher resolutions are also being used for larger displays. Also doing a round of checking for any missing assets like missing card graphics.
A few other things:
More animations are being done, like game pieces, icons on the board, etc.
A new radio is being added to change tracks in-game if you want to skip some.
More music is being added too.
Actual hands and arms of in-game "players" being tested.
UI overhaul to fit information better.
Hopefully our first multiplayer build will be out this XMas for you guys to test out.
Into Oblivion
The game is currently awaiting its Midnight update. Most of the time has been spent combating how the interface is laid out with so many other players. In the end, the maximum number of players for Midnight is being reduced to 6 from 8.
Almost all of it is done. The intro animations are ready to go and most of the assets are in place. At this point it is finalizing the UI and finishing up the code.
There will also be a small update to some of the rules of the main game. Status effects will be added as cards to the deck as well as created by drink combinations. This will be included as a new game mode in the Midnight update. Also some new skins coming but I think that was in the last roadmap update.
One Way To Die
When will multiplayer toggle be here? Soon. It is about the only question asked of our first (joke) game. The game itself is also getting slightly rebuilt with a new mode which is different from the last teased one. Frankly the visual novel aspect wasn't greatly received so it will be getting dumped in favor of this:
A match-style game has been implemented with some new mechanics and there will also be more UI changes. There will be some new death animations and shorter death text, with the option to read longer text if you want. It will also make multiplayer more interesting with the new changes.
Raise Your Own Clone
Speaking of games no one really liked, the last and least is the one that sucked internally to make and didn't fare very well despite the weird surge in sales lately.
Yes, the game is being completely rebuilt, much like One Way To Die, as the visual novel thing just sucked. Also the writing is not great, but no one said it would be. Sadly there are no images currently of the new style the game is moving towards. As it is lowest on the totem and at this point it is just graphic assets construction.
What we can tell you is that it will end up being a muliti-chapter 2D, top-down, RPG-style remake.
That's it for this fall update. Unlike previous times, there are no hard dates for anything so there is no disappoint on our end or yours. Have a happy fall season and hope to get some new content out to you all soon!
CoaguCo Fall Update - Haulin' Oats, The Dope Game, And More
Hey there, happy fall! And with the change of the seasons we are back from a lengthy vacation to update you on where and when various games will see the light of day. For fun, this will be in chronological order.
Into Oblivion
So the Brewmaster expansion won't be around until, probably, Q3 2022; however, the game will be getting a large update very soon for the upcoming Steam Tabletop Fest. Yeah, this month... in about two weeks. That soon.
What's in it? The game's version of Godot will be updated to 3.3.4; maybe 3.4 if that comes out before the update. Tons of code has been updated under the hood in preparation for Brewmaster, including the networking which has all be ported over to Steam instead of Godot's internal networking. This will make all the multiplayer stuff much more smooth.
In addition to these, there are a few graphical upgrades and animation changes. Menu layouts have been altered too. The old "embiggen" mode was pulled temporarily to be replaced with better accessibility modes in the Brewmaster update. The native resolution is now 1440p, up from 1080p. And, naturally, a bunch more tiny tweaks that will be outlined in the change log when it launches.
Haulin' Oats
Our next big release will be out in Q1 2022. Haulin' Oats is currently undergoing networking re-writes and various graphical upgrades for the last beta version. Trust me, all those graphical assets take a long time to draw and implement.
Along with these updates for the beta will be the Haulin' Oats rule book which will be available for download so you can read about each square during, prior, or post game-play. The rule book is also part of the possible physical version of the game that you can play at home with friends... if you have them. More on the possibility of this physical version will be talked about after the official Steam launch.
The Dope Game: Remaster
Probably the most asked about, The Dope Game missed its original remaster release window of May 2021. Too many asset changes, code changes, and covid dragged the process out. However, considering we are closer to the end now, the release day can pretty reliably be set at May 30th, 2022.
There have been a bunch of weird, new features added to the game since the last update and the next beta update should be pretty juicy. It may or may not show up as an Xmas present for you all.
One Way To Die: Final Cut
The oldest of our games and one that started as a joke a long time ago, is getting one final update which will add a graphical version. This was teased earlier in the year and, well, let's tease it again.
While there is no hard date, the One Way To Die: Final Cut version should be out in Summer 2022. It hasn't been decided yet if the fully text version will be removed or not. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.
Raise Your Own Clone
Last and very much least, a game I personally hated working on, is Raise Your Own Clone. Between design and release, much was lost and development felt like a drag. To fix all that, the game is getting a re-imagining and new life in Q4 2022.
None of the actual story content will change; however, the presentation will change greatly. If you remember your way through each story, it'll make playing the new version that much easier. And, finally, we will have a version of the game that we can feel good about.
That's it for now. More updates will follow as each of these game's updates come out or get closer. Stay tuned!
Haulin' Oats, The Dope Game Remaster, One Way To Die - Summer Status Update
Hey long-haul trucks, dope fiends, and death seekers! There has been some silence as things are being worked on so here is a post to address all three games and their update statuses for the summer; including vague release windows. As it is the year of delays in games, films, and what-not, these three are no different. We will start at the top of the list and work our way down.
Haulin' Oats
If you've visited the Haulin' Oats Steam store page lately you'd notice the release date has been changed to "Ready When Ready" from the tentative June 2021 date. That being said, in the last update I believe it was mentioned the game as going to be released sometime in the summer and that June was a just a holding date.
Since real-life takes importance over development-life and there is a lot more polish I'd like to put on the game before releasing it, summer might still be a valid target but the game may not see the light of day until fall. The next beta update will be the multiplayer test update and there will be posts about it right before it happens.
Nonetheless, various things have been upgraded since the last test update: art, code, shader effects, etc. Things are shaping up and calmly walking towards a final build but not just yet.
The Dope Game Remaster
Second on our list is The Dope Game Remaster, which was due out on May 30th, 2021; the five-year anniversary. However, it won't be making that date but that is because of all the love this remaster is getting.
Seriously. All of the art has been redone, multiplayer has been added (which goes into test soon), every system and interface has been upgrade and expanded, a new area to deal in, new NPC, armor, organ harvesting, stuff to spend your money on, etc. Most of the new stuff is borrowed from The Dope Game 2 as a test so I know what to work on and what to avoid before that starts full development.
While we will miss the May 30th release, the remaster will be out sometime after that and before summer ends. To avoid another delay post, there will not be a hard date set. However, there will be posts when the multiplayer test is ready and the final release should be shortly after that... with the appropriate post shortly beforehand.
One Way To Die
Lastly and least-ly, One Way To Die is getting it's final (yes, final) update. The original final update contained some code changes, minor polish, an opt-out for multiplayer, and an engine upgrade. However, since this game is over 12 years old now, I figured I'd give the old girl a better send-off.
The game that started out a joke and has had a lot of revisions and updates over those years will finally make one last pivot into a graphical version. Yes, all you folks who hate reading can finally play it as a graphical adventure. It is something that has been mulled over for a while now and is finally happening.
This will also significantly overhaul how the multiplayer / sabotage mode works. Choose and Random modes will finally be retired with Story mode being revamped as the solo text-only mode. There is release date set for this but probably fall, if I had to guess.
There is a bunch of other stuff happening in the shadows with Into Oblivion and Raise Your Own Clone as well as some unnamed projects but we won't get into that until 2022. And while it is quiet right now, there will be a lot of updates and releases coming soon. Talk to you then!
