Welcome, investigators. It’s a calm night, and the voices in the dark seem to be quiet today. Let us tell you a story – we have, for once, time ahead before we resume our fight against the cosmic horrors.
Since the very day that Lovecraft’s Untold Stories was released, there is one thing you keep asking for: Mouse controls. We started working on it at once as soon as we saw how important it was for many of you. But it wasn’t an easy task: there were a lot of technical complications – there always are with new features, especially when they affect something as core to the gameplay experience as controls are.
We wanted it to be as versatile and comfortable as gamepad. To give you the possibility to shoot in 360º, and also to interact smoothly with the UI... And it seems that are going to make it!
For the next update we will add mouse controls to the game. You can see in the gifs that go with the text, that they will work as if they were thought out from the very beginning. And as a positive side effect, we were able to implement something else that you have been asking for since the beginning: better control over explosives, allowing you to throw them to wherever you want.
We want to thank you for all the feedback we are receiving. That is exactly why we released the game on Early Access: your opinions are making the game grow and achieve its true potential. We ask you to keep sending us your suggestions; as you can see, we take them very seriously. Actually, next week’s update will have much more than mouse controls… Stay tuned, we’ll tell you more soon!
The Devs
About character progression, balancing & control system
CHARACTER PROGRESSION
Welcome, investigators. Fighting cosmic horrors is hard enough for us to try to make it even more challenging. That is why Lovecraft’s Untold Stories uses a save and character progression system – a feature that makes the game stand out from an important part of the roguelike crowd.
When you beat a level, you can visit the Strange Place: a special room created by the powerful and technologically advanced Great Race of Yith. Thanks to their technology, you can keep the items you find in your adventures in this place between dimensions. After your character dies, you can visit the Strange Place to claim back your “treasure”; you can even share items between characters. For instance, if the Detective finds an item that only Dr. Clawstone can use, like mines, he can leave them in a chest for the professor.
We implemented another helpful feature. You can hit Restart after you die, and instead of going back to the very start of your adventure, you only have to start the same level – with the items that you had when you entered it for the first time.
BALANCING
We do know that Lovecraft’s Untold Stories is a difficult game that puts your skills to a test… but, well, no one said that fighting the Old Ones would be easy! Even so, we are paying close attention to your feedback, and we are working as hard as we can to find the right balance in difficulty and progression following your advice.
CONTROLS
This is another hot topic of discussion in the community: the control scheme. Right now, Lovecraft’s Untold Stories supports gamepad and customizable keyboard. Some of you have asked us to implement mouse + keyboard, and not feeling like this no more...
We are discussing and considering this request; at this point, we can only say that, for next July’s major update (oh, did you know that there will be a big update on July?) we will sit down to discuss it, invoke Nodens to ask for his advice, and see if (and how) we can make it happen. We’ll keep you posted.
That’s all for today, investigators. Thanks for coming, and mind your own shadows – we’ve heard disturbing reports… but that’s not something we can discuss here and now. See you soon!
The Devs
New patch available. (June 25th)
Dear investigators! There is a new version available of the game. These are the patch notes:
<*> We have fixed the known issue that showed the gameplay upside down in non Full HD resolutions. If you suffered this problem, please check it, and if you are still experiencing the problem, write us in the forum.
<*> We have fixed the known issue that auto-equipped items from the inventory to slots of the character, already under used with another item, just by moving the cursor over it.
<*> We have added key hints in the prologue of the Detective. You can see them on the lower right corner of the screen.
<*> We have updated the text in all languages to correct grammatical issues found.
<*> We have fixed the error in the Strange Place, that didnt let you select Yes/No on the selection window.
<*> We have added penguins in the Ice City level!!!
Thank you everyone for your support.
...AND WE ARE OUT! THE GREAT OLD ONES COULDN´T STOP US!
Dear all,
Greatest news! We have managed to complete every issue on time, and the game´s been released today, with just a few hours of delay!
Click that "Buy" button and show the Great Old Ones that we are not as helpless as they think!
Introducing Dr. Clawstone
Welcome, investigators. Please close the door behind you – strange things are howling in the wind tonight. Today we want to introduce you to Dr. Clawstone, another ally in our endless struggle against the twisted lurking monsters that threaten the very existence of our world. Dr. Clawstone used to do… let’s say, unorthodox research for the American army. After unearthing a mysterious artifact of unknown origins that he dubs “Tillinghast,” Dr. Clawstone discovered a new type of energy fields that could affect biological organisms.
The Tillinghast proved to be useful when strange bubbling creatures started to leak through the walls of Dr. Clawstone’s library. He could destroy those abnormalities using the artifact, now turned into a weapon. The veil that blinds humanity in blissful ignorance lifted that day for Clawstone. And when he heard of sightings of energy fields similar to the ones created with the Tillinghast, he decided that he could not stand idle anymore while the Earth is in such grave danger.
Dr. Clawstone’s Tillinghast is basically a means to contain a strange type of energy. It allows him to liberate this energy in quick bursts, equivalent to the shot of a weapon for all purposes. These bursts can hurt all the creatures of the Myths; we estimate that it might be a type of energy from their own dimensions, hence its ability to hurt them. Dr. Clawstone can also release this energy in a controlled manner to create a protective barrier around his body. This barrier protects him while causing damage to anything in direct contact with it – although by some unknown mechanisms it draws from Clawstone’s stamina.
Dr. Clawstone joins the Detective as the second character available in Lovecraft’s Untold Stories, the action RPG with roguelike elements that releases tomorrow (June 22) on Steam Early Access. We will be waiting here for your mission reports. Good luck out there, investigators – looks like you will going to need it.
New Creatures
Welcome, investigators. Today we want to share with you information that has come to our hands about some of the foul aberrations that we’re facing. Please be careful with it: we understand that knowledge is vital if we want a chance against these creatures, but it could drive to madness weaker minds than yours.
MI-GO, THE FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH
The Mi-Go were discovered to humanity by H.P. Lovecraft in his novella The Whisperer in Darkness. They are fungus-based lifeforms, apparently native from Yuggoth, a mysterious planet at the very edge of our Solar System that some scholars identify with Pluto. When you face the Mi-Go, take into account that they can fly – and they move really, really fast. Their weapons are unknown to us, alien technology so advanced that our scientific knowledge cannot even grasp its working. Their heinous appearance is too horrific to be put into words, and they are said to be impossible to film or photograph, because ordinary film cannot capture the otherworldly matter that forms their bodies. However, we have managed to film them nevertheless, so you know beforehand what you are facing.
STAR SPAWN, THE OFFSPRING OF MIGHTY CTHULHU
The Star Spawn are the offspring and servants of the Great Old One Cthulhu, who lies dreaming in the sunken city of R’Lyeh. They waged wars eons ago against the Elder Things, and perished or went into slumber along with their lord Cthulhu when R’Lyeh sunk. But some of them still roam the Earth or are brought back by the dark sorcery of mad cultists. They are strong, bulky creatures who favor close combat, but they can also wield powerful magic if need be. They are octopus-like creatures, just like Mighty Cthulhu, but of less stature and sheer power than their god-king.
We hope that these reports are useful to your research and your quest against the Creatures of the Myths. We know that the horrors we are uncovering can disturb even the strongest mind, but time is of the essence now: Lovecraft’s Untold Stories will be released on Steam Early Access on June 22. Be prepared, investigators. Good luck out there.
New Combat Mechanics
Welcome, investigators. Do not worry: we are safe from prying eyes here, from those who adore the abhorrent entities who seek to destroy our world. We can talk safely about how we will fight against these foul creatures in Lovecraft’s Untold Stories, the action RPG that will be released on Steam Early Access on June, 22!
With this post, we start a dev blog where we will introduce you to different features, enemies, items, etc. of the game, as well as explain what we are working in and our development roadmap for the future. We intend to keep updating this dev blog after the game is available on Early Access, so make sure to subscribe to these blogs to stay up to date! Today we want to share with you some changes we are implementing in the combat system that will be available on June 22: a major overhaul of the shooting mechanic and a brand new explosive weapon.
INTRODUCING A NEW SHOOTING MECHANIC
Up until now, and following the lead of other classic games in the genre, Lovecraft’s Untold Stories featured a 2 axis shooting mechanic. That meant that you could shoot up, down, left, and right, but not diagonally – as you can see in our free demo available here. After lots of testing and careful consideration, we have decided to implement a 4 axis shooting mechanic. Thus, you will be able to shoot diagonally too – facing the Old Ones and Outer Gods is difficult enough to not shooting them as they come!
INTRODUCING MOLOTOV COCKTAILS
The cosmic horrors and their Earthling cultists are tough, and sometimes a bullet (or, well, a lot of bullets) is not enough to stop them. Bringing a knife to a gunfight is never a good idea – but bringing explosives, on the other hand…
The Detective, one of the characters of Lovecraft’s Untold Stories, can use explosives in combat against the creatures of the Myths. Until now he could only throw them dynamite sticks; today we introduce Molotov cocktails. As you know, a Molotov cocktail is a half-improvised weapon: a bottle full of an inflammable liquid (usually some kind of alcohol) with a piece of cloth which acts as a fuse. When thrown they explode on impact, setting everyone in the area of effect on fire.
Weapons consisting of a recipient full of an explosive or inflammable liquid are older than that, but Molotov cocktails got their name in the Winter War, when the USSR invaded Finland in 1939. These improvised weapons, used mostly by partisans in guerrilla warfare or street resistance, were named sarcastically after Soviet politician Viacheslav Mólotov, who in his radio propaganda said that the USSR planes were dropping food and supplies, and not bombs, over the civilian population. With dry sarcasm, the Finnish started calling Soviet bombs “Mólotov’s baskets,” and their Army countered Mólotov’s propaganda announcing that “if Mólotov puts food in the table, we will take care of the cocktails.” The name stuck, and the rest is (quite bloody) history.
We are aware that they are a bit of an anachronism: Lovecraft’s stories are based years before the invention of Molotov cocktails. But, well, the Old Ones have strange effects over time itself. Who knows, what other oddities our heroes may face on their way?
NEW MONSTERS ARE COMING…
This is all for today, investigators – but don’t go too far, for we will share with you some details about some of the new fearsome monsters that you will face in Lovecraft’s Untold Stories. See you next week, and beware of the strange whispers in the night!
