Keeper's Toll
Input Dead Zone + Small Balancing Update
- Added an input dead zone slider in the options menu
- Reduced miasma/poison powerup SFX volume
- Reduced the gold powerup spawn rate, as it was higher than the others
- Increased cooldown on cultist teleport in Linden Forest
- Increased the distance threshold between skeletons and the necromancer before they disengage from their current target and follow the Necromancer
- Skeletal shield masters no longer drop elite souls. was OP for farming XP
- Boosted Hammer Zombie HP in Usvit Depths
- Boosted Gator HP in Usvit Depths
- Slowed gator speed in Usvit Depths
Hot Fix - Invader
Early Access Begins!
Early Access begins tomorrow! Soul Survivors will launch on May 3, at 7AM Pacific Standard Time for the price of $3.99 USD.
In a sea of survivor-likes/bullet heaven games we set out to do something different, and those that have played Soul Survivors recognize this. It’s no secret our game is inspired by Fromsoft titles and 90s RPGs. We’re very open about this and we love those types of games. Just like Souls games, we take a slower, more skill-based approach to gameplay. We focus on character build styles, which includes both skill and meta progression, but ultimately skill is what is going to determine failure or success in Soul Survivors. Every boss has a strategy, and we focus on building intricate fights that require the player to learn how to optimize their builds and use their mechanics to best such enemies. We are blending elements of traditional roguelikes such as Binding of Isaac with the horde culling base of Vampire Survivors and building around unique mechanics and skill. Then we finish it all off with some of that classic SNES flair.
Progression of the game is based on Bosses. Once all bosses are defeated in a specific land, the player enters an endless mode which activates a curse upon the player or their world every minute. These curses stack, increasing the difficulty of the game until the player dies. This adds an additional test of survival for those that want to push further.
Soul Survivors will be launching in Early Access with 2 playable characters, 2 levels and 6 boss fights. We are also introducing some changes to the Bogatyr talents. Bulwark, for instance, is an effect that produces a huge AOE knockback against enemies whenever a Shield Attack goes off (Shield Bash or Stunning Blow). A huge boost for his Crowd Control, which is something we encourage players not to shy away from.
Soon in an upcoming update we will be adding a merchant to the game, named Likho. Likho sells various items to boost you during your runs. We’re going to have a lot of fun and unique stuff coming from him. Likho is taken from another game of ours in development, called Leshy. His concept art is below:
We have added Rerolls to skill selection on level up. This was always going to be a feature in the game, but it was going to be based around an item that Likho sells. However, since we are launching in Early Access without the merchant, we felt we could add a basic Reroll feature. Players will be able to Reroll a maximum of 3 rolls per run.
Each character we design for the game takes a lot of time to balance and provide unique mechanics as they all play wildly different from one another. Our next class we will be introducing will be the Ranger. She will have a fun mechanic of managing traps which can chain together and cause all sorts of fun reactions. She’s also filled with a myriad of intense ranged attacks. Here’s a quick GIF of one of her basic abilities: The Arrow Volley. We aim to get her in the game asap, so stay posted for more details on the Ranger.
Following the release tomorrow, we have a roadmap, and we will be adding updates to the game based on the community. For instance, we’re going to take community polls and let everyone decide what character they would like to see next after the Ranger is added. We’ll discuss basic attack styles, unique mechanics and what players can expect from each class and then whatever the majority votes on we will work to add in first. In fact, we’re also going to provide opportunities to help design some abilities and/or talents of each character, and while we cannot guarantee your design ideas will be added, we will listen to and consider everything presented.
We have a roadmap which will outline what players can expect as we progress through Early Access. As you can see, we are just getting started, but we have big plans for the game, and with your help and support we can turn this game into something amazing.
CURRENT RELEASE
Early Access - v0.4
- Completion of the Necromancer Class
- Completion of the Bogatyr Class - Rebalanced with new Skills and Abilities
- Enter the Usvit Depths - New Unlockable Area Available
- Skill rework and upgrades for existing classes
- 6 Unique Bosses and Mini Bosses
- Talents
- Altar Sacrifices
- Power-ups
- Achievements
- Secrets!
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COMING VERY SOON
Ranger Update - v0.5
- New Character Class: The Ranger
- Item Drop meta Progression
- Merchant/Shop System
- Adjustments based on EA feedback!
Feel free to reach out with any questions or feedback. We will respond as soon as possible, and we appreciate the support. Early Access starts tomorrow. See you there!
Early Access Begins May 3, 2023!
We began working on the game almost 1 year ago and we are pleased to announce Soul Survivors will be launching in Early Access on May 3, 2023! Let’s kick it off with our first official video trailer for the game:
https://youtu.be/l2vweROwMt4
We’ve also got some new promotional art, in full pixel art of course. We were going for an 80s/90s fantasy look and we are very happy with how this came out:
Are you a Streamer or do you know of any streamers who might like to play Soul Survivors before it launches on May 3? Starting this week, we will be providing access to a Preview Beta Build of the game exclusively to streamers so they can play and show off some gameplay before the big launch. This build does not include all content, but it does include access to 2 classes with all talents and 1 full environment with 3 bosses. The Early Access launch will have more content, including one more environment, additional bosses and a host of other features added in. Please share this info with your favorite streamer or reach out to us if you are one and we’ll see about getting you a key to try out the game! Save data will transfer from the beta to the Early Access build.
And we’re just getting started! We’ve got dozens upon dozens of new enemy sprites created, environment art started, and we’ve been working hard on the next character class we’ll be adding to the game: The Ranger.
If you are new to the game, let us catch you up to speed. Each class plays entirely different than one another. No class shares the same active abilities, stats, or playstyle. For instance, the Bogatyr is a close-range melee combat character, while the Necromancer relies more on summons and dark magic and has a unique mechanic where he can swing a flail around based on his movement. The Ranger, which will be the next class we introduce to the game, is a ranged character with a variety of bow shots and is a master of traps. We’ll be doing a full overview of the ranger soon after launch.
Thank you to everyone that has followed along and joined us for this ride. We’re excited to finally get the game into your hands, and we can’t wait to see the chaos you all endure.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or comments. We’re just getting started and we welcome any/all feedback and look forward to building the game with you all.
Team Stingbot
Progress Update + New Features!
Thank you all for your patience as we near closer to the Early Access release. Below is a sketch one of our artists created for the game. Soon, this will become our promotional banner, in full pixel glory.
We understand the game has taken a bit longer to finish than expected, but this is only because we want the end product to be awesome. We don’t want to release something that doesn’t live up to our expectations. We felt Soul Survivors needed more content and polish, and so we decided to spend a little extra time in some areas of the game, specifically AI and visual polish. We want to start Early Access on the right foot.
This brings us to a very important new feature we added to the game: Mini Bosses. Each boss now has a rank, as displayed by the number of skulls below their health bar. 2 skulls represents a main boss and 1 skull represents a mini boss.
We felt that 2 bosses per world just wasn’t enough, especially considering how important bosses are to the game. Bosses are one of the core features of Soul Survivors that are designed to challenge the player and really put their skills to the test. Bosses are not just meat shields. There is strategy involved, and each fight is very unique. Because of the intricacies of the fights, everything takes a lot of time to develop and test. The mechanics in Soul Survivors run deep, and thus the implementation can take some time.
Every single character, particle effect, attack, enemy, etc is all hand drawn pixel art.
We do not use any streamlined engine features such as particle systems and lighting. Each effect you will see in the game is drawn by hand, frame by frame.
We’ve also got loads of new enemies added to the game. Here’s a minotaur, found within the Catacombs. He's got a deadly charge!
We promise a release date is coming soon! We have a few surprises to come, and we are planning to announce the release date early next month. We are very excited to release the game in Early Access. Thank you for your continued support, and please feel free to reach out with any questions or feedback.
Team Stingbot
Early Access?
We have been hard at work since our early Demo back in October, and I'm pleased to say we will have an answer to that question very soon!
Soul Survivors has been an extremely fun project to work on, and we can't wait to get it into players' hands.
Below is an DevLog with a few talking points such as release dates, goals, achievements and some new features that have been added to the game. Be sure to watch it all as we tease a couple secrets as well :)
Thank you for following us as we continue to develop Soul Survivors. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or feedback. We’re always happy to chat.
Art & News Update
Hello, PixogenPixels(Lead Artist/Co Dev) here to update you all on what we have been working on.
Art Updates/Design
We have been hard at work getting the game ready for Early Access. Some of the most recent work has been creating new and interesting elite enemies and bosses, getting the majority of status effects in the game and working on Powerups. We are also really excited about the new bosses and while we would love to show them off, I think leaving some of the later game content as a surprise is important.
Here's a small sample of some of the new elite enemies. The forest troll in particular can really give you a hard time if you get smacked by his mud fling ability. It causes a slow status effect on the player and can really lead to you getting swarmed or taking a few hits in combat. The plague shroom is another one to watch out for, if you let him get close to you he will leave a lingering plague cloud on the battlefield. We have plenty of interesting mechanics already created and many more planned for creating dynamic and challenging runs.
New Enemies
Also runs now have a chance to include a rare spawning treasure snail!
Treasure Snail!
While enemies now have status effects, all characters also have abilities with status effects based around their class design, like stuns from The Bogatyr and fears from The Necromancer.
Along with the above additions, we have been adding new Powerups. We have general Powerups that can show up in any run, and then class-specific powerups that are more tailored to the different playstyles of the survivors.
Here is a small showcase:
Haste Buff
Poison Explosion Buff
Bandit Buff
That's all we have to show for now but keep checking the steam page and stop by the discord to chat!
Don't forget to Wishlist Soul Survivors on steam and thank you for all the support!
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*Roadmap*
CURRENT INTERNAL BUILD
Pre EA Update - v0.3.5
- Skill rework and upgrades for existing classes
- Completion of the Necromancer Class - New Unlockable Hero Available
- Completion of the Bogatyr Class - Rebalanced with new Skills and Abilities
- Talents
- Altar Sacrifices
- Power-ups
- Achievements and Stats
- Enter the Usvit Depths - New Unlockable Area Available
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COMING SOON
Early Access - v0.4
- 4 Unique Bosses
- Game Balancing
- Bug Fixes
- Internal Testing
- General Polish and more variety!
DevLog - Game Overview
A highlight of what you will see:
* Detailed class overviews
* New abilities
* Unique enemies
* Sacrifice Altars
* Powerups
* Talents System
* Bosses
Lots more to come! Enjoy!
Art Update & Boss Creation Timelapse + Community News
Art Updates, Boss Creation Timelapse and an Update for our Growing Community!
Hello, PixogenPixels(Lead Artist/Co Dev) here. I wanted to do a writeup on some of the new art for Soul Survivors and a bit about our workflow. I also recorded a Timelapse of the creation of a boss enemy and wanted to talk a little about our community updates!
Art Updates/Design
We have been hard at work getting Soul Survivors ready for Early Access. One of the more time consuming aspects of Soul Survivors is the artwork. Every sprite is drawn and created Solely for the game. This includes all enemies having unique animations, elite enemies having special attack animations and all of the spell effects are hand drawn. (No particle engine use here).
We think this handcrafted retro approach fits well with the overall design of Soul Survivors. This idea of a more retro aesthetic is also at the core of our gameplay design. In Soul Survivors we focus more on having unique enemies with mechanics that matter, abilities that feel unique in both look and design and each class playing so different that the core game always feels fresh. This all ties in to the overall idea that the game needs to be focused on having fun and choices that matter.
One big change coming is the introduction of The Necromancer hero. This class focuses on keeping his summons alive to thin the hordes, while utilizing his flail and short range spectral attacks!
Now for some flashy bits! This is a small showcase of some of the Necromancer's abilities and animations:
A big horde of some of our undead friends:
Skeletal Lord Boss Creation
I wanted to show off the creation of one of our sprites, The enemy below is an upcoming boss in the catacombs area. I don't want to spoil much but this fight will be a challenge in both movement and your ability to multitask. Also a Protip: he doesn't care much for jewelry.
The Community and the Soul Survivors Roadmap
First and foremost, we have created a Community Discord Server. This is the main place to go if you want to help shape the game with your ideas. We'd love to hear your feedback and any suggestions you have for enemies or abilities (or anything else). We will be posting early updates, game info and some giveaways leading up to the Early Access release of Soul Survivors.
Us devs are always active, come have a chat!
Along with the creation of the Community Discord Server, we have a plethora of other social media sites you can catch us and early game updates at!
List of links!
For the last bit, we will be keeping the bottom of our steam page updated to reflect our current roadmap progress. Don't forget to Wish List Soul Survivors on steam and thank you for all the support!
CURRENT RELEASE
Necromancer Update - v0.3
- Introduction of the Necromancer Class - New Hero
- WIP*
- Enter the Usvit Depths - New Area -
- WIP*
- Skill rework and upgrades for existing classes
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COMING SOON
Early Access - v0.4
- Completion of the Necromancer Class - New Unlockable Hero Available
- Completion of the Bogatyr Class - Rebalanced with new Skills and Abilities
- Enter the Usvit Depths - New Unlockable Area Available
- Skill rework and upgrades for existing classes
- 4 Unique Bosses
- Talents
- Altar Sacrifices
- Power-ups
- Achievements and Stats
Necromancer Reveal
The Necromancer is a summoner who controls and manages various creatures of death, and also commands a list of AOE spells and a unique melee mechanic.
If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. There's loads more to come! Thanks for following along.
Check out the video below for a full overview.