The beta of Secret Neighbor is upon us. It will be the final playtest for the game as we gear up for a launch later this year.
Beta Trailer
We got a really cool animation studio on the project that did all of the new in-game animations, and they also did this amazing teaser trailer for the beta. Please watch it, leave a like, etc:
https://youtu.be/lNDc-b7OguE
The Beta Coming this Friday
The beta is coming this Friday and we have a separate Steam page up for it. You will be able to access it via that Steam page.
Would you kindly click those WISHLIST and FOLLOW button on the Steam page for Secret Neighbor. We want to concentrate all attention on that page, and this post is a cross-post between our tinybuild publisher page, Hello Neighbor, Secret Neighbor, and Secret Neighbor Beta.
Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/tinyBuild
Follow us on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/franchise/tinybuild
Subscribe on Youtube - https://youtube.com/tinyBuildGAMES
See you this Friday!
Book your calendar. I will post a full devlog leading up to launch.
Secret Neighbor Beta is coming
Greetings, Neighbors
I bring you good news. The Secret Neighbor Beta is coming. You've probably seen updates to the "Alpha" branch, which is the one we'll be using for the actual Beta. It will be renamed once it goes live.
When is the Beta coming?
We're doing final testing and Quality of Life improvements. We expect the Beta will launch early August.
What's coming to the Beta?
Character classes.
The team has been hard at work putting together more varied class systems for both the Neighbor and player characters. We've done extensive work in adding abilities and balancing them together. You can expect reworked character classes.
We went away from configuring your own characters, and instead went for classes -- this includes the Neighbor. Otherwise you ended up with the "perfect" config for your character and stuck with it, while we want to encourage player experimentation and trying out different playstyles.
My favorite Neighbor ability right now is throwing down a smoke bomb, like a ninja.
Animations
Character animations have been reworked. This was the biggest win we could do to make everything look and feel much better.
Quality of Life / User Flow
We found it incredibly frustrating when lobbies fill up and players don't press ready. The flow was a bit off - since you'd configure your character after you've joined a lobby. Instead, we enable players to configure their characters before they join Quick Game. An automatic countdown starts once a lobby hit minimum amounts of players.
Meanwhile, in Custom Games, players can mess around with game rules and take their time with configuring classes in-lobby. The idea is that when you're in a custom game, odds are you know people you're playing with. So you can spend some time chatting and experimenting.
So Quick Game will actually be for quick games. Press one button, and you're in.
Neighbor's Command Room & Sonar Nerf
In the Beta we decided to remove the "sonar" item from Neighbor's inventory and merge that with the Neighbor's Command Room. It's the room the Neighbor respawns in. Now you can enter it, and use it to teleport to multiple locations around the house. The sonar is now located there, allowing you to quickly scan the house and figure out where the players are.
Amongst other notable improvements, the Neighbor can now lock/open gates by activating a lever next to them. This used to be the sonar item's secondary ability and was a bit imbalanced.
Secret Neighbor will be launching this FALL. We are aiming for the Halloween timeframe and will confirm it after we run a SUMMER ALPHA. We also have a new E3 2019 Trailer for you. Here's your todo list
Sign-up for The Alpha
Alpha sign-ups are open at http://SecretNeighbor.com - be sure to sign-up to get into the final summer alpha happening soon.
We're actively working on the multiplayer spin-off of Hello Neighbor (called Secret Neighbor). In the game, you have 6 players trying to sneak into the Neighbor's basement. Only problem is one of the players is the Neighbor in disguise.
Hey everyone! If you're interested in some multiplayer Hello Neighbor action this holiday season, checkout the Christmas Alpha we just launched for Secret Neighbor:
Hello Neighbors! We've got a surprise for you. The newest update is a >1gb download that adds plenty of new features to the original Hello Neighbor game!
Changelog:
Upgraded to Unreal Engine version 4.20.3
Did extra optimization
The Neighbor gets a vacuum cleaner! He’s now able to catch you in previously unreachable places
Fixed an issue with cutscenes not working properly after using binoculars
Fixed the Neighbor’s dream in the chair
Added SFX of the Neighbor being hit when you throw objects at him
Improved the inventory system
Fixed door animations
Fixed artifacts appearing when you look through the keyhole
Fixed animation issues when grabbing large objects
Fixed a bug when the player dies when on the train
Fixed a teleportation bug on the train
Fixed the School cutscene
Changed the visual effect for the strong throw
The game now pauses itself when minimized
Changed the acceleration of the mouse
Fixed a few places where the Neighbor might get stuck
Now the Neighbor can knock a door out even if you’re looking through its keyhole
Now the Neighbor can catch you in the bathroom and on beds
Added materials for hot tea pots
Fixed an issue with player positioning when under the bed
Fixed several object collision issues
Modkit
Upgraded to version 4.20.3
You need to repackage your mods for it to work properly
Don't forget to follow & wishlist Secret Neighbor for the upcoming Christmas Alpha:
We're hard at work on Secret Neighbor, the Hello Neighbor Multiplayer Spin-off! Last night we had a really good first private alpha test, and I want to share some footage:
If you didn't hear, we're launching on iOS, Android, Switch, and PS4 this week! Here's a teaser:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOxzNW9qUI0
Patch 1.2 is live, modkit update live
Patch 1.2 Live
We spent a couple of days in beta testing the 1.2 patch. It's now live in the main branch. Enjoy!
The game’s been updated to Unreal Engine 4.19.1
The save system has been fully reworked
Manual saves are now an option.
Auto-saving has been improved
Fixed an error in the Neighbor’s animation when catching the player
Fixed an issue when the Neighbor wouldn’t properly chase you on train tracks
Lots of work put into game performance optimization
The AI navigation mesh has been optimized, so when you’re moving objects around the house, the CPU impact is significantly lower.
Assets have been reworked and optimized, which also leads to less CPU usage
Modkit update
Moved to version 4.19.1
Reworked and improved the user interface for uploading to Steam
FINALLY you can upload an icon to your Workshop mods
Fixed a few bugs when packaging the mods
Some of your previous textures may not work properly due to texture optimizations. We highly recommend you recompile all mods under the new modkit and test them.
Happy house looting!
PS Did you know Xbox One got updated too?
In anticipation of the Mobile/PS4/Switch Launch on July 27th, we've updated the Xbox One build. Huurray!
Hello Neighbors! We're continuing to update and improve the game. The latest version is available under "beta1point2" branch in Steam betas. Note that it will not work if you have mods installed. We'll roll it out to main branch as soon as it's properly tested.
Patch 1.2 Live
The game’s been updated to Unreal Engine 4.19.1
The save system has been fully reworked
Manual saves are now an option.
Auto-saving has been improved
Fixed an error in the Neighbor’s animation when catching the player
Fixed an issue when the Neighbor wouldn’t properly chase you on train tracks
Lots of work put into game performance optimization
The AI navigation mesh has been optimized, so when you’re moving objects around the house, the CPU impact is significantly lower.
Assets have been reworked and optimized, which also leads to less CPU usage
Modkit update - PENDING UPLOAD. Will be live later today
Moved to version 4.19.1
Reworked and improved the user interface for uploading to Steam
FINALLY you can upload an icon to your Workshop mods
Fixed a few bugs when packaging the mods
Important - you need to repackage your mods for them to work with the new client version.
Older mods will break the new game engine
Because of the game engine update, you will need to uninstall older mods. When mods are repackaged under the new engine, the game will work fine. Please uninstall all mods before launching the game.
PS if you missed the reveal of Secret Neighbor last week:
