Last Will
The final stretch
We sadly have to add some extra time to the clock for Episode 4. The rooms are going okay, but we want to make the story part of the game more solid, and therefor have to rework some things, reshoot some voices and so on.
With extra time, we should have it ready at the 20th of October, and since the coming week is a national holyday week here in denmark, I will be able to pour all my time into it :)
As a pleaser on the delays, we will be putting on some sales for the Steam Halloween Sales (dates are confidential, but it's gonna be good), where you can grab a copy of the game for a slasher of a price.
We will post some updates once we get closer to the finish, since the new story hook will cause some changes in all previous episodes.
I am really looking forward to showing you all the final chapter, and I fully appreciate your patience.
:octodad:
Grinding Gears patch
# New room : The workshop
- While we are hard at work at episode 4, we thought it would only be fair to add a bit more meat to Episode 3, and we have therefor launched the Workshop.
- Not much randomizors yet, but we have some cooking for later additions (just needs some time and some playtesting)
- Spoken riddles and puzzle elements are now added to the pool.
- Improved scripting surrounding drop-and-place items.
# Multiplayer
- Fixed some bugs that could cause shardsplitting and prevent players from teaming up.
# The Office
- New custom tarot cards.
# Conservatory
- Fixed bug where instruments would phase into the furniture.
- Expanded range of instrument placement.
- Fixed some flickering and phasing furniture props.
- New instrument to the pool : Harp
# Episode 3 entrance
- Fixed some broken corridor meshes.
# Drawers
- Fixed odd audio issue that would cause some weird wooden sound issues for some players.
# Drop item placement
- Tuned up the scripting a bit surrounding drop-place plots.
- Tweaked the shader of item slots.
# Misc
- Added some 4- and 5-letter riddles to the pool.
- Fixed some texture coloring issues across all episodes.
- Fixed a bunch of typos.
- Fixed a bug where a floating box of unknown origin could appear in the middle of a doorframe.
- Improved lighting when inspecting items.
- Added real-world reflections to inspection view.
- Windows leading outside now have a faint starlight shader, letting in a little bit of light.
- Optimized raytracing for both light and interactions, which should help improve the framerate a bit.
Bits and Bolts patch
I understand everyone is hungry for new rooms and puzzles, but I had a couple of core client things that needed to be fixed.
It doesn't matter how many rooms there may be, if a player is unable to access any of them due to weird crashes :)
# Network code
- Updated the multiplayer network code to the latest versions on all three platforms.
# Memory allocation
- Fixed crash that would hit certain players right at game start. (Giving an understandably bad experience)
- Fixed older graphics cards issue, where some materials would appear as bright pink.
# Controls
- Fixed a bug that would prevent the player from making their own ASDW control scheme.
- Fixed some controller issues.
# Settings
- Fixed resolution menu where it would sometimes just say "Option 1".
- Fixed fullscreen checkbox that sometimes would be toggled even if the game was not in fullscreen mode.
# Lantern
- Fixed a bug that could cause the lantern to do some weird skewing and collisions.
- Lantern visibility can now be toggled in settings (for those that dislike it being in the way).
# Inventory system
- Fixed an issue where inventory icons would fail to load properly.
- Optimized inventory load time.
# Meshes
- Optimized mesh data and fixed some broken mesh compressions.
# Client
- Fixed hardware statistics bug.
- Cleaned up loadweight on first install.
- Cleaned out around 100 mb of old graphical assets.
Episode 3 : The man the world forgot - Rolling out
After adventuring through the ground floor and the basement, it is now time to tackle the second floor of the mansion.
I have rolled out the first five rooms, with the remaining ones still needs a bit of bolts turned and tweaked, but this will happend over the weekend.
We will see how people average and which hurdles are too easy/hard, and tweak the rooms accordingly.
# New room : Pantry
Sharpen your mathematical skills and toss around with apples.
# New room : Master bedroom
- A new puzzlebase using playing cards. Will enhance the room in a later update, to add more variety.
# New room : Conservatory
- Keep the tempo and play a fine tune, while never skipping a beat.
# New room : Greenhouse
- Explore the many plants and brush off your fine latin skills.
# New room : Isolated study
- A new take on the classic riddle room.
# Settings tweak
- Field of View can now be set in graphical settings.
# Room generator
- Optimized room generation flow.
- Added a bit more randomization into the shuffle.
# Misc
- Fixed some typos and casing on Interactor highlights.
- Tweaked the flow of the soundtracks on all three episodes.
- Rephrased some riddles and added a few to the riddle bank.
In the midst of it all Patch
# Text files
- Players have been commenting on that the text reading page is very bright, while the game itself is very dark.
- We have turned up the light in the game, while experimenting with a darker text displayer view.
# Riddle bank
- A couple of new riddles added to the bank.
# Client
- New Icon.
- Some missing achievement icons for Episode 2 fixed.
- Created achievements for Episode 3.
# Soundscape
- Tweaked the episode-specific soundscapes a bit.
# Archives
- Fixed unclickable clue paper.
# Game room
- Fixed some issues that would make the safe non-responsive.
# Corridors
- Fixed bug that would cause doors to simply disappear.
- Fixed bug where open doors could claim to be locked.
- Fixed chance of a floating painting without frame could appear in episode 1 corridors.
- Adjusted corridor lighting.
# Interactables
- Added tooltip to highlight many interactables.
# Multiplayer
- Improved refresh rate on movable furniture across multiplayer.
# Main menu
- Menu elements no longer register when player has alt-tabbed out of the client.
- Tweaked the introduction animation loop.
# Misc
- Sprint key can now also enable reverse spinning interactors (like letter spinners and such)
# Ratings
- Last Will has recieved its international age ratings.
- Australian Classification Board (ACB) rated the game as : Mature
- Classificação Indicativa Brazil rated the game as : 12+
- Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rated the game as : T for Teen
- Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) rated the game as : PEGI 12
- Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) Germany rated the game as : Ages 12+
Delays and dismays
As you propably have noticed, we completely missed our launchmark this sunday. I was supposed to have the third episode ready, and it is not.
We have a saying that problems never travel alone, and we have been hit with a barrage of problems this weekend, from technical issues to health, money issues to simply bad planning on my part.
BUT, we have rescheduled the episodes, and have restructured our plans, and can now say the following :
Episode 1 : Released.
Episode 2 : Out, but will face future tweaks and a couple of more rooms.
Episode 3 : Will unlock Friday the 30th of September with 7 playable rooms as a minimum.
Episode 4 : Will unlock Fiday the 14th of October with 7 playable rooms as a minimum.
Ofcourse, we will also work on the client itself, since there is still some pesky bugs that persists.
While the waiting is going on, below are some screenshots of the upcoming episode, to show that we are not just sitting on our hands.
Again, I am terribly sorry for the delay, and rest assured I have learned a lot about game planning from this for future projects. Thanks for sticking with us :octodad:
Episode 3 pushed till sunday
During development of Episode 2 we met and fixed a lot of bugs, but still have quite a few on our plate, so that is what is dragging us down.
On the upside, we have developed lots of tools to speed up the development process, and also some tools that would benefit greatly once our game enables Steam Workshop (with user created content).
We will put up a few of the ready'est rooms for Episode 3 on the playtesting branch, just remember that things will still be tweaked and twisted untill Episode 3 is actually out.
I hope you guys and gals will bare with us during this delay, but I can say that people have really been supportive so far, and we are getting closer and closer to our final release of a finished product, which really makes me happy.
:octodad:
There will be a patch later today consisting mostly of bug and network fixes, and with the episode launch date altered.
The War that Changed patch (v.0.76)
# The Reconstructed Bunker
Another room added to the roster, this one with slightly higher difficulty than the previous ones. We plan to return and redo some of the other Episode 2 rooms to make their difficulty match Episode 1 more.
But for now, enjoy the newly added room, the reconstructed bunker.
We are admittedly a bit behind on our schedule regarding Episode 3, but we are putting all effort today and tomorrow into getting it ready for you all.
- New sequencer system.
- Tweaked lighting and light combination system.
# Office
- Fixed bug regarding drawer state in multiplayer.
- Cleaned key hint, since it is no longer in use.
# Darkroom
- Added missing clock.
- Fixed some item descriptions to improve the flow.
# The Chapel
- Fixed some meshes to prevent holes in the world. Worldholes are bad holes.
- Moved some obstacles around, to better enabled walking paths.
- Fixed rendering glictes that could cause the back wall to fade out.
# Archives
- Moved lamps closer to the keyhole.
- Added some hints.
- Strengthened the game vocabulary with over 2000 words.
# Passageway
- Fixed vent orientation for on/off states.
- Pipe placement now checks for correct combinations.
- Fixed some multiplayer connectivity issues.
- Adjusted bounding boxes for movement and collission.
# Mansion generation
- Adjusted script generating the mansion to combat repeatable rooms.
# Riddle mechanics
- Rewritten some riddle mechanics to allow larger variety.
- Striking down on double riddle chances.
# Entrance hall
- Reworked placement areas to help puzzle hints place themselves better.
# Guest wing
- Reworked positioning rules for some items, making them easier to find.
# Item inspection
- Reworked item inspector to better focus on the center of the item.
# Corridors
- Fixed some wall positions to prevent glitching walls.
# Physics
- Fixed some broken collider system, that had a chance to snap and cause weird missing collissions.
# Client
- Optimized loading process.
- Cleaned up some leaks that could lead to memory crashes.
Footsteps in the Dark patch
Development for episode 3 is well underway, as well as the late rooms from episode 2. They are undergoing some game balancing, and unlocked when we feel they have an acceptable balance of intuitive and difficulty.
We hope to get the last episode 2 rooms out this weekend, and also to do some polishing on the client as a whole, and to shine up some episode 1 mechanics.
# New room : Wine cellar
- A new room with new puzzles.
- Altered some rendering mechanics to enable new, reality-altering mechanics.
- The madness of the old professor is slowly creeping into the physical realm.
# Affiliate campaign
- Improved tracking for affiliate campaign, and enabled direct-to-steam linking.
# Mansion generator
- Fixed bug that could cause some cornercase crashes.
# Game room
- Fixed glitching carpets.
# Storage Cellar
- Added some more props and statements to the mix.
- Clues fixed.
# Office
- Fixed bug that could cause glitchery surrounding keyholes.
# Dining room
- Added security measures for item drops during multiplayer.
# Darkroom
- Fixed multiplayer issue if lit lantern disconnected.
- Fixed some tooltips.
- Fixed crazy hinges on cupboards.
# Multiplayer
- Fixed chat margins.
- Added some chat messages on object interactions.
# Cross clients
- Brought Mac and Linux up to speed.
- Improved some mac support capabilities.
# Achievements
- Fixed some broken polarids.
- Added some extra stats, enabling some future progression achievements.
# Analytics
- Improved heatmap analytics system, to better understand how our players experience the mansion.
# Open beta
- The playtesting branch is now publicly available.
- Shared keys with 200 youtubers.
Episode 2 : "The road to ruin" opens
It is time to crawl down to the basement, and discover the hidden secrets of the underground areas of the Mansion.
The second episode of Last Will is now opened, with its first seven rooms:
- Cellar Entrance (phase shift from episode 1)
- Darkroom
- The Chapel
- The Archives
- The Old Tower
- The Storage Cellars
- Stairway (transition to episode 3)
We are doing a very soft launch with these 5 active rooms, and if all goes well, we will unlock the following additional rooms over the weekend:
- The Wine Cellars
- The Boiler Room
- The Bunker Room
(plus two unnamed rooms still being sketched)
And just like with episode 2, we will expand and mold these rooms as we see players transverse them.
Also, a "Madness and Chaos" mode is coming as well, where you play a defined number of rooms, mixed and match completely randomly from all unlocked chapters, throwing architecture and common sense out the window.
We hope you will find your way through the mansion, and give these new rooms a try. As always, this episode is free, and so will all future episodes be.