We are pleased to announce the availability of Early Access drop #9, build 117 on Steam! This is our last planned drop before the release of the complete game. We have a new campaign level, partial localization, and combo scoring in challenge mode! Be warned, leaderboards are reset for this drop. Let us know what you think in discussions or email us at feedback@revivalprod.com.
Thanks for the support!
Additions
Level 7 (Titan Workshop). This is the last SP level that will be released in Early Access.
Partial support for German, Spanish, French, and Russian. This is very new so it’s probably a little rough. Robot and weapon descriptions and a few other screens have not been translated. If you’re a native speaker of one of these languages, let us know if you see any problems.
Challenge Mode leaderboards contain additional data: score, favorite weapon and game time. Leaderboards reset and rank is now by score, not kill count.
Combo score bonus in Challenge Mode for rapid kills.
Steam Cloud Sync (for pilots, saved games, & local high scores).
Enhanced the Training Mission.
Hologuide can now lead the player to enemies & to energy centers.
Command-line Switch “-VRDisplayOnly” makes it so the game will render
only* in a headset, and not on the monitor.
New difficulty level: Insane+
Updated enemy silhouettes on score screens
PlayStation and Xbox controllers icon support.
New ‘Restart Level’ option on pause and death menus.
Removals:
Removed Matcens from the automap
Removed pairing for axis mapping. (That is, if you map up on the joystick to forward, back won’t automatically be mapped to down.)
Removed control to ‘Invert Y.’ Instead there’s a quick option inside the Tutorial Mission, and the menu option is still available.
Removed 3 Achievements.
Tweaks:
Changed Music tracks for a number of locations.
Spiced up explosions a bit
Updated version of Rewired (controller library)
Updated some robot animations
Tuned camera shake
Added Crunch texture compression (shrinks the game size down a bit and shold help low-RAM systems a bit)
Made Hologuide & Automap more consistent by only referring to them using those names
Hologuide now default maps to ‘z’ on keyboard when remapping
Changed the audio for a couple of pickups so that they’re distinct from each other.
Updated some sign names
Decreased light from secret items a bit (so they are more secret)
Tutorial messages will only show up once per pilot now
Faster fade-off for damage flash
No more live-forever debris
Changed Missile Pod pickup model
Renamed Checkpoint Saves to Autosaves. They are now created only between levels.
Sticky flares now limited to 10 at once
Markers & Hologuide now match the HUD color
Game Balancing
Changed some costs of upgrades in missions
Cyclone & Reflex use a bit more energy/shot
Tweaks to Variant Triton & Variant Harpy
Ammo pickups now scale by difficulty (like Armor & Energy).
Slightly increased the health of fabricators (robot generators) on higher difficulties.
Robots spawn a bit slower on CM Infinite.
Armor/energy powerups give slightly less (20 on Trainee, 10 on Insane).
Enemies do a bit more damage on Ace & Insane.
Firing distance of enemies is now affected by difficulty level in CM
Some CM maps can have more enemies at once (mainly for the more open levels).
Some anti-kiting changes in CM – enemies that have been around too long may change their AI behavior.
Changed the enemy loadout in Pipeline.
Tweaked Armor gain from smash attack enemies.
Changed center tunnel in Centrifuge a bit.
Redesigned Centrifuge and Pipeline a bit.
Insane for CM now unlocked based on score instead of kills.
Fixes:
Sliders/Throttles will now default with 0 as the middle (so they won’t need to be calibrated to use them to control forward/back movement).
Corrected a few errors in backers’ names in the credits.
Fixed an issue with switching controllers.
Fixed an issue with ‘Apply to All’ in the Controller Axis Settings menu.
Fixed some glitchy animations and added awaken animations for all robots
Known Problems:
Drop 8.5 saves will not work, giving an error when attempted to load.
There are some text overlap issues in languages other than English.
There are a handful of lines of untranslated text.
We are looking for incorrect translations/mistranslations, and would appreciate help from multilingual backers.
NOTE: This release (Version 0.9 Build 117) does not support pilot files older than one version back; it will only load pilot files from from 0.8. If you have older pilot files, you can load them using Version 0.8 Build 94.
Release Schedule and Multiplayer Trailer
We’ve got two big things for you today: the first Overload multiplayer trailer, and the official announcement of our release plans.
We’ve been working on multiplayer for a while now thanks to a new addition to the team, and we’re excited to show you some PvP action. Check out the alpha trailer footage. We’ve still got a ways to go, but the core functionality is in and it’s a blast to play.
We have decided on a concurrent release of the single-player and multiplayer versions across all platforms. This will mean a slight delay for the SP version, but we believe it’s the best thing to do for Overload. We came to this decision because it's extremely difficult to create awareness for multiple launches. By releasing single and multiplayer at the same time, we should appeal to a larger audience and attract more players.
Our plan:
One more Early Access release (Version 0.9) sometime in February. This will include one more single-player level, localization, and nearly-final game balancing, bug fixes, and optimization.
A closed beta version of multiplayer will be released on PC (Windows, Linux, Mac) before the final release. Details to be announced closer to launch.
Final release in May/June for PC (Windows, Linux, Mac), PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Unexpected delays are always possible, but we feel pretty good about this schedule and think it will help the game. We’re excited to finish Overload and get it out to you.
Thanks to everyone who has supported the project and provided feedback during development.
We are pleased to announce the release of Overload Drop 8.5 (Version 0.8 Build 104) on Steam.
This release doesn't include any major pieces of content (such as new levels or robots) so we didn’t update the major number. But there are numerous enhancements, many of which came as suggestions from the players.
Changes in this version include:
Additions
New speaker mode options for sound (mono, stereo, quad, 5.1, 7.1, Pro Logic II). Requires multi-channel speaker systems.
CM Weapon Upgrades can now be chosen. Primary/Secondary upgrades will try the equipped weapon first, then others. If that weapon is maxed out, other weapons will be tried. If you don’t like the upgrade randomly given, press the Holo-Guide button within 10 seconds of receiving the upgrade to switch to the other upgrade for that weapon.
Sticky Flares. Hold the flare button to shoot. These last for 15 minutes and are useful as “breadcrumbs” to mark where you’ve been.
“Offline” indicator for when new Leaderboard scores won’t be saved.
Primary energy weapon shots bounce off of Forcefields. This indicates that the forcefields are invulnerable.
Loading screen with progress bar.
Mouse axes can now be set to turn (default), slide, or roll.
If the player uses the slide modifier, they can now invert pitch without inverting slide (for KB & joystick/gamepad).
Removals
Log entries no longer display on the Automap. They shouldn’t have been there in the first place 😉
Lots of explosion/debris effects changes (both for optimizations & aesthetics).
Holo-Guide now automatically moves to next Objective.
Changed where saved games live (no longer their own folder).
Added difficulty to in-game Save descriptions.
Missile Pod Pickup model updated.
Changed a setting for playing on the Oculus – now if it’s plugged in, it will
not* use it by default if you just run the executable. Now there’s an ‘Oculus’ bat file instead of a ‘no VR’ bat file. On Steam, use the Oculus option.
The Reactor now has a short ‘meltdown’ phase after being destroyed before the countdown starts.
Updated normal player death, death from Reactor, and Exit Sequences.
Updated various menu screens for alignment, etc. To view leaderboards in the new Challenge Level selection screen, press Space (keyboard) or the top face button (gamepad).
Game Balancing
Cyclone – Ramps up in fire speed; faster; more stun; kickback; and narrower spread.
Crusher – Less Spread/Damage/Ammo, no Falloff.
Tweaks to Thunderbolt, Driller, Flak.
Limited how many melee robots can be spawned at a time in CM (Shredder/Scorpion/Golem)
Reduced Ace/Insane robot ‘bonuses’ a bit (projectile speed, burst size, player damage, robot leading).
Fixes
Fixed some occluder issues (also helps with framerate).
Fixed some audio effects not playing.
Fixed an issue with Holo-Guide not playing nice with lockdowns.
Fixed an issue with Holo-Guide being stunned by Time Bomb.
Fixed an issue with some controllers not being kept as primary between sessions.
Fixed an issue with too many audio events causing performance hitches.
Fixed an issue with invisible lava.
Improved explosion distortion effects.
Added some missing backers to the credits.
Major Update: Version 0.8 (Build 94)
We are pleased to announce a great update to version 0.8!
Changes in this version include:
Leaderboards
Leaderboards have been reset. We have made many balance changes (with a few more to come), so now seems like the right time for a reset. Sorry about your lost scores and good luck with getting new ones!
New Content
New challenge mode level: Backfire
Phantom robot (cloaked!)
New Features
Credits. Credits can be sped up/slowed down/paused (PgUp/PgDwn/Delete; Left Bumper/Right Bumper/Y)
We now have "combined" Challenge Mode leaderboard support. Shows sum of scores across all levels within a difficulty level and variant (Infinite or Countdown). Updates every time you complete a level with at least one kill.
*Combined** appears in CM level list just like a regular level. Your old scores will be included once you update.
Secret Levels. These aren't available in Early Access, but you can find their entrances
Log Entry pickups. You can pick these up in Early Access, but the messages aren't available.
Ability to delete saves from Save & Load menus
Names for Cryotube occupants, and a new stats page for them. The full release will add pictures
New robot variants (new weapons for existing robots). Note that each robot will be either normal or a variant; you won't see both in a single match.
Ambient Volume control
Save/Load versioning. It is now not possible to load saves from a previous EA version.
Default challenge mode loadout. If you change your CM loadout, that loadout will be the default for the rest of the session unless you randomize it or change play types.
“Randomize Loadout” button for Challenge Mode (see previous item).
Challenge Mode stats export. Ctrl+C in a menu will copy CM robot stats to the clipboard. Ctrl+A will copy CM powerup drops per robot to the clipboard. Overwrites what was previously there. Format is tab-delimited, so easily pasted into a spreadsheet.
Content Removed
Outpost. The Outpost demo level is no longer built into the game. However, it’s still available as an add-on level — to to http://media.revivalprod.com/Outpost.zip to download. This is an early test of our support for addon levels.
Features removed
The View Readme button on main menu.
Tweaks
Updated the cockpit interior.
A checkpoint is now created between levels (that is, after completing a level).
Titan renamed to Triton
When setting/deleting one half of an axis to movement, automatically set/delete the other one.
Regardless of in-game settings, VR can be re-centered in the menus with F5 or the seventh button on a controller (generally the left face button on a gamepad).
Changed ‘Loading’ message to vary based on game type and level.
Added more ambient audio (levels 2 & 4).
Game Balancing
Adjusted spawning in Challenge Mode so the ‘small pools’ are larger (that is, it is much less likely to have 8 of the first 10 robots be all the same type).
Adjusted spawning in CM so it is much less likely to spawn the same enemy twice in a row, further increasing enemy type spread.
Adjusted robot weapons; in general, slightly slowed down projectiles & lowered damage.
Further tweaked (weakened) Ogre
Lowered movement speed for some robots in a couple of cases where they were moving too fast (such as fleeing snipers).
Lowered Scorpion zig-zagging by a bit
Rebalanced mass/drag of some bots to make them feel more appropriate
Changed Harpy & Super Harpy a bit; they hit a bit harder, but a little less often.
Slowed down Hydra max speeds a bit.
Lowered stun/pushback of some enemy projectiles on player.
Made other small changes to robots.
Several changes to robot drop rates and CM balance. Notably, Reaver will now drop something (bug prevented this before) and Super Goblin was weakened a bit.
Fixes
Fixed a jittery HUD issue when turning with the cockpit up.
Fixed an issue with the cockpit still showing up during rearview.
Fixed an issue of secret pickups being miscounted.
Fixed an issue with pressing (BACK) after selecting ‘Play Again’ in Challenge Mode.
Fixed some issues with adding/removing multiple controllers
Fixed an issue with Security Level not displaying when a new key is picked up.
Fixed issue where the game could lose mouse focus.
NOTE:
This release (version 0.8) is the last version that will support pilot files older than one version back. Version 0.9 will *only* load pilot files from 0.8 or 0.9.
Major Update: Version 0.7 (Build 83)
We've just released Version 0.7 (Build 83) with lots of good stuff, including a new single-player level, the player ship model, and a ton of smaller changes.
New content
Level 4 (Phoebe Peleus)
New features
New Player Ship Exterior - will still be teaked a bit, but now mostly final
Rear View (not mapped by default, on 'Additional Controls' page of mapping)
Quicksave (Default is F8, saves in last slot. Previously had been combined
with Checkpoint Save - now these things are separate)
3rd reticle option
Ambient sounds in story missions
Ability to select which controller is "Primary." The primary controller is
the one that controls the menus.
Function Keys can be remapped (Quicksave/Toggle Cockpit F8/F9, etc)
Selection wheel controls can be remapped (Additional Contols Page)
New fastest speed option for the Joystick/Keyboard turn speed
New 'Low' option for Joystick Sensitivity
Joystick/KB Roll Speed (Turn Speed already controls Yaw & Pitch)
Can enter Challenge Mode with less than full loadout (For 2nd+ Primary/
Secondary slot, choose "-none-")
Automap now indicates Energy Centers
Can delete Pilots with a controller
Can quit directly to the Challenge Mode menu to save time when replaying
Can go to the Load Game menu from the SP death screen
Feature changes
Holo-Guide will no longer lead to secret powerups until the player finds them
Holo-Guide no longer in Challenge Mode
Removed "heatmaps" from the automap
Removed the option to change FoV in VR (not needed, and didn't do anything
anyway)
Removed Super variants of Guardian, Kraken, & Scourge so their new 'Upgrades'
will be a surprise in the final game :)
Tweaks
Optimizations
Weapon & Missile are now called Primary & Secondary
Super Secondary Weapon (Missile) Pickups now give
full
ammo (allowing player
to have more than max ammo)
Changed AI in CM so robots engage the player a little faster at the start of
the game (to decrease starting lull)
Changed aim on 'first shots' by AI, so the player will get more warning shots
and be a little less surprised
Lowered Robot accuracy on Wind Tunnel Exit (was too precise/unfair)
Page Up/Down now wrap for Challenge Mode levels
Added First/Last Page controls to menus that support Page Up/Down.
Added 'Jump to My Score' to in-game leaderbaord.
Made [Cancel] not back out of Automap (caused conflicts, mainly with joysticks
and zoom)
Improved robot AI when the player is cloaked
Increased movement in automap by 50%
Tweaked SFX for supers to differentiate them from their regular versions
Fixes
Better fix to the issue with close-spawning in Challenge Mode
Fixed issue with robots getting stuck at exit of wind tunnel
Fixed an issue with the cursor re-centering on changing pages (pgup/pgdn)
Fixed issue where Holo-Guide was listed as the killer in Countdown
Fixed an issue with Reflex & Missile Pods quantum tunneling out of the world
Snipers will no longer 'fall asleep' in Challenge Mode
Cleaned up some timing-related issues with player death
Cryopod Numbers now correspond to normal counting, not computer counting
(1, 2, 3,... instead of 0, 1, 2,...)
Fixed an issue with loading old profiles
Fixed an issue preventing the game from starting in Fullscreen
Fixed an issue in which the Saved Game Menu wouldn't render
Fixed an issue with Tarvos that would cause certain parts to disappear/not render
Fixed a font issue with dashes
Corrected the Automap Legend
Thanks for your support!
Revival Productions
Update: Release "6.5" (Build 77)
This isn't a regular full update, but we've made a bunch of additions and improvements that we wanted you to be able to check out.
Changes in Build 77
Added real level names for single-player levels.
Made several significant optimizations, including changing how objects are destroyed and a fix for "Reactor Rumble Slowdown."
Changed Super Harpy behavior and weapon.
Fixed Centrifuge error - only five robot types spawned in.
Fixed an issue where only two Super Robot types were spawning in at a time in CM.
Fixed super-close CM spawning bug.
Fixed an issue with Mission Upgrades not working in some conditions.
Cleaned up some menu navigation code.
Fixed an issue with X & Y deadzones being linked on a joystick.
Renamed "Joystick" Sensitivity/Deadzone Renamed to 'Axis' for clarity.
Checkpoint saves now correctly show preview image.
Fixed issue with some Robots not being able to drop power-ups in missions.
Improved melee/Reaver robot behavior when player cloaked. More work to do here.
Adjusted robot sounds (notably Golem) so they would be more prominent.
Reduced robot leading, which was made too powerful when a bug was fixed in build 72.
Made arrow clickable on CM pages.
Fixed issue with wrong default weapon selected in CM when using only ammo weapons.
Major Update: Version 0.6 (Build 67)
We are pleased to announce the release of Overload’s version 0.6 on Steam. We have a new CM level, robot and missile along with numerous features, fixes and tweaks.
New content:
Challenge Mode level: Blizzard
Robot: Reaver
Missile: Time Bomb
Level feature: Accelerator Tunnels (only available in Blizzard)
Player ability: Cloak
New features:
Player can now choose weapon/missile loadout in CM
Muzzle flash
TrackIR support
Fixes & improvements:
Player ship breaks into pieces in death roll. (Player ship still in development)
Can now choose which controller will vibrate
Updated upgrade screens’ coloring to be a little more obvious
Player will now have top weapon/missile as default in CM
Re-added Upsell screen to tell users more about the status of the game
Decreased HUD jitter when turning the ship while a selection wheel is up
Fixed issue with Golem damage to player not accurately tracked (did not change amount of damage, just stat tracking)
Improved Power Core & Reactor explosion effects
Tweaked Robots’ aiming and awareness of the player
Slow Motion Audio effects
Fixed an issue on some Joystick hats of diagonals not working properly
Joysticks can now navigate in menus. (have to set them to ‘joystick default’ in the controller remapping screen & then manually fix any controls if you already had them set up)
Added Reactor overload ‘rumble’
Added debug/temp version of increasing FoV to 90 in graphics options
Thanks for your support!
Revival Productions
Major Update: Version 0.5 (Build 55)
We're proud to announce the release of Overload's version 0.5 on Steam. This is a major drop with some big new features and content in it. Plus, Overload is part of the Steam Summer Sale and 25% off for a limited time!
* Initial player death sequence
* Initial level exit sequence
* Axis settings/calibration menus
* Menus for save game/load game
* Five new achievements
* Automap Heatmaps -- see note below
Fixes & Improvements
* Now see your primary weapon when the cockpit is enabled (note that firing positions have changed slightly)
* Slightly larger Pickup radius
* Slightly larger font size for armor value on the reticle
* Tweaked missile damage to player
* Tweaked how robots are chosen to appear in Challenge Mode (should not affect overall difficulty, but should have more variety and more consistent difficulty)
* Better feedback when invulnerable (sound + less push/shake)
* Fixed descriptions/functionality for some upgrades and added asummary page
* Fixed Thunderbolt exploits
* Fixed a few controller issues
* Fixed foreign language Linux bug
* Fixed an issue with map-spawned armor/energy pickups despawning in Challenge Mode
Additional Notes
* The heatmap feature is new and is not in its final state. Heatmaps can be turned on in the regular automap by pressing the "Switch Missile" control.
* Heatmaps can also be viewedfrom the Level Complete and Player Died menus. Red dots are robotdeaths; magenta dots are super-robot deaths; and blue dots are player damage.
* When viewing a heatmap, pressing the "Roll Left 90" control will show a time-lapse view of activity.
* VR support may be a bit buggy/unfinished with the death/exit sequences.
* The player ship model is still low poly and untextured, but does represent the overall direction.
Known Bugs
* Exit sequence does not function properly in VR
* Player ship does not break into pieces while exploding.
We would appreciate it if you would take a brief survey about your experience with Overload: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSduqRflU0191LNeZvfjPdhw-sl66TNGQ5nbRKQeo1AjeZDeag/viewform
Major Update: Version 0.4 (Build 44)
This is release #4 in Early Access. Major changes in this version include:
* New single-player level: Outer Moons 2
* New challenge mode level: Foundry
* Added the Holo-Guide (like the Descent Guide-Bot). The first time you run
Version 0.4 the B key and Dpad-Right will be assigned to invoke the
Holo-Guide. (If those controls are already used you'll need to add the
mapping yourself.) Tap the control to invoke and search for the next goal,
(security key, reactor or exit) or hold the control down to bring up the
selection wheel.
* Added preliminary save/load system. NOTE: This system is NOT COMPLETE and
there are many things that won't work or won't work correctly. To save,
press F8 while playing a game. To restore, press F9 from either the main
menu or the pause menu. Save/load is not available in challenge mode.
* You can now apply upgrades between single-player levels. On the briefing
screen, select the upgrade menu to spend your upgrade points.
NOTE: The upgrade system is still a work in progress. In particular, it's
too easy to skip the upgrade menu, there needs to be an upgrade summary
screen, and we'll likely be rewarding you with some upgrade points
automatically (for finishing a level or rescuing the cryotubes, for
example).
Super Upgrade points will appear in later levels.
* Added destroyable monitors to SP levels.
* Added door switches & locked doors.
* Collision optimization. Especially benefits area with small pipes.
* Robot changes:
- Titan and Guardian move about 50% faster when trying to reach the player.
- Fixed super-fast robot movement bug.
- Robots won't instantly fire at you when they see you for the first time
or after not seeing you recently.
- Golem makes a more obvious attack sound.
* Other fixes & tweaks:
- Fixed boost upgrade not working as expected.
- Tweaked choosing of spawn location in challenge mode.
- Some doors now have different sounds.
- Stopped exploding objects (reactor, etc.) from knocking the player back
due to extreme velocities.
- Added a small firing delay after using weapon wheel to prevent exploiting.
- Powerups are not created when robot generators die due to the reactor
being destroyed.
- The Clean Machine achievement is now possible.
Check out the following sources for more information on Overload.
We've just put up our third Early Access release. Highlights include a new Challenge Mode level, a new robot, and Steam achievements. And there are also a pile of smaller features and fixes. Steam should download the update automatically; you can speed it up by exiting the Steam client and restarting.
Pipeline, a new Challenge Mode level
Pipeline features four moderately-sized hallways running parallel to each other, with multiple connections between them and a new style of natural area (ice caves). Pipeline's action mixes long-range shooting in a semi-limited locale, so long-range weapons are valuable, but staying on the move with short-range weapons can also make it easier to dictate the pace of the combat.
Golem, a new robot
Golem is an aggressive kamikaze robot that wants to destroy you by destroying itself. When it charges in to attack, it moves in an unpredictable swoop that can easily catch you off guard.
Achievements
We've started adding Steam Achievements. There are 11 that you can get, plus a couple more that won't work until we have a longer single-player campaign. And we'll be adding plenty more.
Challenge Mode Upgrades
Challenge Mode Upgrades turn your XP into tangible rewards, with permanent unlocks that give you a few small advantages to take your game to the next level.
Other changes
Here's an incomplete list of the smaller changes:
Option to display large banner messages as regular HUD messages
When fail to get Steam leaderboard data, tell player to try again
Tweaks to AI in challenge mode
Tell player a personal best in challenge mode was earned on stats page
Can no longer pickup powerups through grates
New stats page events and icons
Updated weapon/missile icons
Outline on Cryotubes, bigger pickup radius, and no shooting them.
Larger devastator explosion radius for robot damage (and more base damage too)
Increase min distance for ambush/close bot spawning
Toned down robot generator speeds a bit (and affected by difficulty level a little too)
Toned down impulse brightness a bit
If robot would drop ammo in SP, checks if you have an ammo-firing weapons and drops energy instead
Reduce boost heat when picking up energy, and unlimited in energy center
Increase despawn timer on dropped Energy/Armor in SP to 5 minutes
Flak firing distance increased a bit
Reduced angle for smash attack targeting
Fixed bug with running out of ammo-only weapons
Made it so you can never start with just ammo weapons in Countdown mode
Flak distance shown through reticle highlight
Fixed some automap errors with newer objects
Legend for automap doors
Updated security key model and effects
Made page up/down clickableon multi-page menus
Never get the same special event 2x in a row in CM
Made CM special event spawning more consistent
Fixed robot generators in OM3 being destroyable without triggering them
Changed how semi-auto weapons work with Overdrive (Thunderbolt charges even faster, Crusher auto-fires)
Revised CM levels to be in reverse chronological order
Updated driller sound effects
Titan can no longer be a runaway robot, and he moves a little slower
Added a backup timer for lockdown ending after it first starts
Changed door trigger shapes (should eliminate false activations)
Reduceexplosion particles a bit when lots of robots have died recently
Fixed CM Countdown-Ace not unlocking Insane
Don't overlap robot spawning with a robot death on the same frame (at least not on purpose)
As always, let us know what you think or if you have any problems.
