Hello everyone. Today I'm reporting in with some news on development of update 1.2 for Neon Blight. The last update mainly featured bug fixes and system revamps. Back then I said I would be following up with more content updates, but for the past 2 years I've been dealing with chronic pain and mobility issues which has made these updates a low priority. but after slow and steady work I can finally show you what I've been slow cooking...
Opening Hours Update
1.2 is a content and QOL update, introducing a brand new ui, new mechanics, revisited store and much more. Currently I am still working on some loose ends with the new store systems, and doing rounds of playtest.
The store
The store gameplay has been revamped. Neon Blight had very bare-bones store gameplay. Most of your time was spent waiting around with no real goal. Now when you open your store you will have 3 minutes to sell your items! As customers come in you'll have to make sure to clean the dirty footprints they leave behind to avoid a bad rating.
New Rating System
The store rating has been changed to be a bit more tangible. You will now be receiving points from customers depending on the cleanliness, aesthetic of your store and quality of your items.
With this new rating system, some decoration items will now be unlockable as you improve your rating.
New Buildmode & Decorations
With this new update comes a new and improved buildmode, with 14 (and growing) new items to decorate with, you can make sure your store looks spiffy!
New Upgrades
Upgrades have been reworked and a couple new ones have been added. This is mainly to improve the store progression, making the progression feel more rewarding.
Contracts
A new way of making money is coming! Customers can give you a contract to find specific items. These contracts have a higher payout and can sometimes be under a time limit for an additional challenge.
Brand new mechanics
This update introduces a couple changes to some items and how some weapons work. Some relics (items with effects) are now consumables with timed effects. For instance the Adrenaline shot is now a consumable. More of these items will be added in the future. Some weapons have a new reloading mechanic that allows inserting a bullet at a time. This is currently applied on the Bulldog shotgun and the new Gov'ner revolver.
Fresh UI
The UI has gone through a massive refresh, with better gamepad navigation and a more stylistic HUD it feels snappy! This UI system uses a version of my PXLUI Framework which is available on my github! With this new UI comes a hand drawn map of the Outer Border to represent the levels more correctly.
QOL & bug fixes
Initially I pitched the game to be released in EA, unfortunately that was turned down which resulted in a very bad 1.0 release. Update 1.1 fixed a lot of the issues present but it is always an ongoing battle, 1.2 introduces a bunch of QOL updates and bug/crash fixes. As a solo dev, keeping up with it all is extremely challenging, but I appreciate the patience.
Closing Note
Update 1.2 is purely a labor of love. Hundreds of hours have been poured into this update and I can't be more proud with what the game is becoming! With your support, I'd love to breath more life into this game.
Neon Blight was dealt a poor hand at launch, but it doesn't mean I'm folding.
Before I go I'd like to announce that I've been working on my second game for the past year. I'll leave you with this:
Neon Blight is part of Freedom Games Publisher Sale!
Hi everyone - if you were thinking about getting the game, now is a great time to do so.
The game will be 80% off from April 15th through the 22nd!
Make sure to check out Freedom Games Publisher Sale page to pick up some awesome indie games at great prices. Whether you like to play alone or with friends, there are some great deals you won't want to miss out on!
Hi everyone! If you were thinking about getting the game, now is a great time to do so as we are part of the Steam Winter Sale through our publisher Freedom Games!
From December 21st until January 8th, the game will be on sale for 75% off!
Make sure to check out Freedom Games' Winter Sale 2023 page to pick up some great games to play over the holiday season. Whether you like to play alone or with friends, there are some great deals you won't want to miss out on!
You can currently snatch the game for 75% off until the 20th! If you've been thinking about trying Neon Blight (or sharing it with a friend), now is the perfect time.
While I don't have a full update to share during this event, I've got some exciting developments to show you what's coming!
New UI
Like I mentioned in the previous devlog, I’ve been busy revamping the UI system. This includes a complete overhaul of the main menu, pause menu, and even the death screen. These changes introduce a fresh style and a much smoother experience, particularly for those using controllers. Say goodbye to that pesky controller cursor!
Detailed Map
I am currently rendering the map by hand, and it’s taking longer than expected. However, I'm making significant progress. You may have already noticed that some areas, particularly the research lab area, now have a different layout.
(This is my current progress, almost there!!)
Revamped Research Lab
The research lab was in need of some TLC, so I’m pouring some love in, with more to come! I'm starting with new tilesets and layouts. Next up, I'll introduce entirely new assets and unique enemies for this area. Stay tuned for future updates on this exciting development.
Shop Management & New Props
Since launch, I've been eager to rework the shop management based on player feedback I've gathered online. Improving the experience will take some time, but that overhaul is coming in the future!
I’ll also be working on adding additional props that you’ll be able to place and use. As a sneak peek, I'd like to show you one of the new storage props! If you’ve got any suggestions for props you’d like to see, please do let me know!
More to come…
I have other things planned that I’m not fully ready to showcase yet, such as customer contracts and supply drops. This is still in pre-production, and will be coming in future updates.
Conclusion
That’s it for now! Thank you for reading, and thank you for your continued support of the game. I’m aware updates have been coming out slowly, but I'm chipping away at them when I can. Hopefully that can change in the future!
Enjoy the fest, and I'll be in the back, working on the game and checking out demos!
Patch Notes v1.1.0.1
-fixed skull merc causing a crash when it's target no longer exists. -fixed ghillie sniper causing a crash when it's target no longer exists. -fixed peen jr's causing a crash when it's target no longer exists. -fixed crash on quest completion with no rewards. -fixed crash when trying to pick something up while inventory was full.
Reforged Update!
This is Neon Blight's first major update. It focuses on improving and optimizing existing systems, this is not a content update, that will be coming soon. Now to the patch notes!
Additions
Added new fire effect! Damages player and enemies.
Added poison effect! Damages player and enemies.
Added weapon: Minigun.
Added weapon: mac-12.
Added new reload sound: Goldtooth-53
Added new reload sound: Alpha-AF
Added new reload and shot sound: White Devil
Added new shot sound: Bulldog-12
Added current quest to the HUD.
Added keyboard/gamepad menu navigation
Internal reworks
Changed save structure supporting the future of the game and the change of data types mentioned above. This change unfortunately means previous saves will not work, we will leave a legacy branch.
Changed all data types internally. Data has been converted from GMS2’s ds_list, ds_maps to array and structs.
Reworked quest system, every quest has been refactored.
Reworked enemy AI system, supporting the future of the game. Enemies are now a bit more aware of their surroundings and other enemies. Some of them also behave quite differently.
Reworked all bosses.
Reworked Build mode, decorations are now bought through the build mode, Neon Stop’s shop ui has been deprecated for now, will come back later with new stuff.
Reworked Inventory system, supporting the change of data types mentioned above.
Reworked Weapons code, supporting the future of the game and the change of data types mentioned above.
Deleted redundant and unused assets.
Added an external json for neon blight’s items.
UI Changes
Changed boss defeat ui.
Changed death screen, still needs some work.
Changed inventory screen, added item modifier stats to the ui.
Changed the quest banner prompts.
REFORGED Update 1.1 Coming Soon!
Hey everyone, Enrique here.
Believe it or not Neon Blight is not dead, I’ve been silently cooking up update 1.1 since the last update. 2,179 changed files with 42,373 additions and 58,908 deletions since the last update. It’s a big one trust me!
While 1.1 has been taking a bit longer than initially thought, development of the update is going along smoothly and I believe it to be a significant stepping stone for the future of Neon Blight. Almost all of the game’s systems have been reworked in one way or another. How about we start talking about it huh?
Weapons and cooler weapons!
Weapons are a crucial part of Neon Blight, without them, well it’s not Neon Blight! In update 1.1 you’ll notice that some of the weapons have seen a few upgrades! Melee weapons have been juiced up, new sounds have been added to weapons, some visual tweaks and a new “throwable” bullet type. A few new weapons have also made they’re way in.
Fire and poison are new mechanics introduced to update 1.1. These are meant to create more combat diversity and of course look good! So be on the lookout for these new dangers!
UI Changes
Ask any game developer, and they will tell you making UI is hard. Neon Blight’s engine “GameMaker 2” does not provide (as of yet) any real solution to UI. Things like buttons, sliders, etc must be built from the ground up. I’ve recently been making my own UI solution for future projects and some of those have slipped they’re way into Neon Blight, oops! More of these changes may happen in the future!
We Going Build Mode
The build mode has changed. The build mode no longer uses an inventory system and you no longer go to Neon Stop to get decorations. You can now buy and sell your decorations directly from the build mode, this simplifies the gameplay loop a bit and makes decorating a whole lot easier.
Quests 2.0
The quest system has received a massive backend facelift. What this means for you, well mostly nothing yet… But for future Neon Blight quest design, it’s looking bright! Previously each quest was hardcoded; this worked for what the game was, but is very inefficient for large amounts of quests. Now they are datasets. I’ve built alongside it a few functions in the backend to automatically detect quest starting conditions, stage switching, quest completion etc. This allows me to create quests without worrying about coding its behaviour like I previously did, I can focus on the quest design, and let the system do all necessary detection in the backend for me.
New Enemy Ai
Every single enemy including the bosses has been rewrote with a brand new state machine. This change is one the most significant of this update. With this update you will notice that enemies will now interact with each other and fight each other. The world around you no longer revolves around your involvement, and a whole battle can break out without you lifting a finger! A few of the enemies and bosses have received behaviour changes and tweaks, but I’ll leave that for you to discover in the update.
JSON Supremacy
The way data is stored has been changed completely for 1.1. Previously data for things such as weapons, items and decoration were datasets stored in-engine, this worked but really closed the door on a few things. Now these things are stored in a json file. With json I can use external tools to make my life much easier and may enable me to possibly add modding in the future! It’s a big undertaking, but I’d love to add that support if I can.
Save Rework
The save files have been restructured and cleaned up, this unfortunately means that the previous version of the game will be incompatible after 1.1. But this has been done for numerous reasons; optimization, compatibility with new data types, possibility of multi-saves later on, etc. We will be looking into adding a legacy branch so you can keep playing with your current saves.
Same Inventory, but Different
Yet again another code refactor, the inventory system! This system has been rebuilt to support the previously mentioned databases, to be robust and less prone to instability. Visually there has also been a couple tweaks, but functionality remains practically the same.
Optimized Level Generation
The level generation for the outer border has been rewrote completely. This system performs much faster and uses less memory than before, transitioning between areas should feel faster and memory consumption has gone down. Not only is this system more performant, it has a bit more modularity, which will allow for more interesting world gen in the future, so be on the lookout for that!
Conclusion
This update is not a content update. This is a refactor and optimization update, I have many plans for the future of this game, and truly nothing is off the table. Updates this year should be coming at a more regular pace and will be focused on gameplay. I am currently testing a new weather system and will also be toying around with a new lootdrop mechanic! More on that later ;) That’s it for now! See you soon.
Patch Notes v.1.0.3.3
Hey everyone! We're back again with another patch to help take care of those pesky bugs, as well as add in some quality of life things you all have mentioned in your feedback. Please keep the feedback coming! You can talk directly with the dev team in our Discord, or feel free to comment on this post! Thank you all for you continued support as we work on getting the game to a much better place.
QOL:
Key 1-5 on keyboard now selects the corresponded hotbar slot.
If you lose the probator for the "Let's get sampling!" quest, you can now go see the doctor to get a new one.
Changing the selected weapon manually in the backpack now takes effect immediately.
Fixes:
Fixed a major memory leak caused by grouping collision meshes.
Fixed standing shelf not being saved in the player's store.
Fixed Franko's glasses being placeholder name and description.
Fixed the ultimate weapon crashing the game.
Patch Notes v1.0.3.0
Hey everyone! We have a HUGE patch for you all today! We believe that we have all of the crashes fixed finally! If you are still encountering crashes, please comment on this or join our Discord and use the ticketing system to give me as many details as possible. Thank you all for your patience as we worked to get to this point. If you haven't already, please remember to leave us a review. We love getting to hear your feedback, plus it really helps us out.
Additions and Updates
Added ammo drops!
Added the ability to stop thieves.
Added soundtrack to the goop boss.
Added soundtrack to the old guard.
Added new item analyse ui, replaces ui for pickups and display units, which includes a compare feature.
Added popup for when you cannot open store.
Health pickups spawn-rate are a little rarer.
Store rating is now functional.
You can no longer place decoration in problematic areas (in front of bed and where customers go to register.
Neon Stop now opens at 7 am.
Nerfed damage of bonk machine from 430 to 250.
You can now exit menus using the pause button. (default: escape)
All menus now open faster.
Opening the inventory will now close all other menus automatically.
Items that we're grabbed in the inventory screen while exiting said screen will now drop on the ground.
Floppy disk now works as intended.
Devil's Finger now works as intended.
You can longer trigger a reload when weapon is fully loaded.
Title of menus are now displayed on the right.
Keybindings is now saved when changed.
Bug Fixes
Fixed not being able to reload when ammo is lower than magazine size.
Fixed gas stop items being unreachable.
Fixed choosing teleport location triggering weapon to fire.
Fixed description text being cut off.
Fixed not being able to remove display units in buildmode
Fixed melee weapons hitting multiple times in one hit.
Fixed a crash when hitting enemies with melee
Fixed a crash when getting hit with flamethrower from Old Guard boss.
Fixed a crash when spamming the console and key up.
Fixed the probator displaying placeholder description.
Fixed treasure hunting quest showing a wrong number in description.
Fixed room connection between room 17 and 31 in abandoned forest.
Fixed apostrophe showing up as "?" in various languages.
Removed
Removed invisible colliders in teleporter room in old bunker.
Removed the ability to spawn weapons using key up.
Patch Notes v1.0.2.15
Hey everyone! We have another patch for you all today! We're still working to identify some of the issues that are causing crashes that a lot of you have been encountering. We sincerely apologize that none of that was caught in our testing pre-launch and we are working to get it fixed.
If you've encountered crashing while trying to load up your saves, we believe that it may be due to something being corrupt in your save file. Please go here: AppData\Local\neon_blight\gamesave1.nbsav and delete the save. Once you boot the game back up, we believe that this should fix your issue. This does mean that you would be losing your save file progress, which we know is not ideal, but it should at least allow you to continue playing the game.
If you're still experiencing crashing outside of this, please either comment below any extra info you may be able to provide about the crashing or join our Discord and send that info in a ticket message to our dev/mod team. Thank you all for your patience.
Fixes
Neon Stop now restocks everyday.
Item price history added to display unit ui.
Journal tab removed from store computer. (replaced with above)
