In this update we've added the first version of the new Western Saloon scenario level. It features a variety of new weapons, props and character textures which will make there way into the Level Editor shortly. As with all the scenarios this is still a work in progress and will continue to change and improve before final release.
We've also cleaned up and fixed some of the new Level Editor content added previously and now added some of the Beneath character textures to the Level Editor. Once they're all working correctly in Multiplayer, we'll add the ability to let you set what character class the player can be in your levels as well as adding the enemies from Beneath.
We've also been continuing to make a lot of changes to core back-end elements of the game to continue reducing memory usage and improving performance. We'll be making more significant changes in this direction over the coming weeks.
Loading into some Beneath levels should be faster now and we're rewriting elements of that process to have more of the loading process be asynchronous with less stalls on the main game thread. Reducing the memory usage should reduce crashes and performance issues on machines with a low amount of ram particularly in areas like the Beneath Ruins that use higher than average amount of memory.
Upcoming
Our priority now is the Beneath multiplayer and that will be the next major update, but as we make progress on that we'll try to incrementally update the game with Beneath enemies added to the Level Editor as they become multiplayer ready.
Changelist
Version 0.10.0
Added Western Saloon scenario
Added some Beneath character textures to Level Editor
Significant memory optimisations
Added some Saloon textures for Paint materials in the Level Editor
Changed some Ruins rooms slightly
Fixed issues with animated weapons in the Level Editor
Fixed Beneath weapons category not showing for characters in Level Editor
Fixed bug in decal job system causing missing decals
Fixed a bug causing some graphics settings to not be applied on new level load
Fixes and optimisations to blood decal system
Fixed some issues with level fade in timing on Beneath
Version 0.9.16 - Beneath Level Editor Content
Update Info
In this update we've added over 200 new props to the Level Editor from Beneath as well as 47 weapons. This nearly triples the number of props available in the Level Editor and should open up a new range of possibilities for these props to be used and combined in unconventional ways.
Work continues on preparing the Beneath enemies for the Level Editor and multiplayer and we'll be making those available and some more Beneath props over the next month.
Upcoming
We're currently finishing work on the next scenario and that will be the next significant update.
A lot of work is also being put into the multiplayer synchronisation of Beneath enemies both for the cooperative multiplayer mode for Beneath and to allow them to be added to the Level Editor. Next month following the release of the new scenario most of the Beneath enemies will be added to the Level Editor in batches over a few updates. Following that we will be releasing the Beneath multiplayer as soon as it's ready.
Changelist
Version 0.9.16
Added most Beneath props (over 200) and weapons (47) to the Level Editor
Reduced damage variation in a number of weapons
Fixed Tentacle Mutant impact response animation
Fixed Charger impact response animation
Fixed Crystal Entity having red blood when exploding
Fixed a bug with look direction of other players in multiplayer
Fixed issue with Beneath prop door
Fixed a bug with some fast shooting weapons when running out of ammo
Version 0.9.15
Fixed some bugs causing incorrect level loads
Fixed some bugs on player death and level ends
Fixed some sync bugs in multiplayer
Fixed a bug loading some Workshop levels with errors in waypoint paths
Fixed various miscellaneous reported exceptions bugs
Version 0.9.14 - Beneath Updates
Update Info
With version 0.9.14 we've made more changes to keep improving and refining Beneath.
Pursuer Changes
Based on feedback we've made some changes to the Pursuer. Now the Pursuer will only appear on a smaller percentage of levels and you'll be told at the start of the level if there will be one.
You can also summon a Pursuer on any level and have it arrive early from a Pursuer Summoning Station in the shop. Why would you want to do this? Well the Pursuer can now benefit you in a couple of ways. If you are close to it when it destroys enemies you will get a small amount of health. This adds a free, but risky way of gaining health if you're desperate. The other thing that will happen when you're close to the Pursuer is it will generate a Guiding Light.
We'll continue to make changes as necessary to elements of Beneath based on feedback while making sure not to negatively impact the desired difficulty.
Guiding Light
The Guiding Light is a mystic orb that will zoom away from you and towards the level exit. Besides appearing when close the Pursuer, you can purchase a Guiding Light from any shop if you need help finding your way out.
Balance Updates
There is still further work to go on getting the difficulty balance right, but we've made a few changes in this update. An issue with weapon spawn rates is now fixed so that unlocked weapons spawn with the correct chance. Ranged weapons have also had their damage variability reduced. The Islands and the Aberration boss fight will be a bit more difficult now with more frequent and damaging ranged attacks in the boss fight and now falling off the Islands will kill you as was originally intended. You can also no longer jump in or out of the boss room.
Player movement on weapons
One aspect of player movement that has been poor since launch is when walking into and on top of weapons with complex geometry like chairs and stools. In this update the player collision with weapon has been changed so that you no longer walk on top of them, but you will still knock them around when walking into them. Weapons that are stuck into walls can still be stood on. This change could have some unforeseen consequences, particularly on some Workshop levels so we'll monitor that and make changes as necessary.
Upcoming
There are still a number of Beneath bugs we'll continue to fix as well as other improvements and additions. Besides this single player Beneath work we're continuing development of the next scenario and on the co-op for Beneath.
Getting the enemies and assets working in co-op is also a prerequisite for many of them being able to be added to the Level Editor. We'll begin adding Beneath props into the Level Editor shortly as well as all enemies that can work in Workshop levels once they're multiplayer ready.
Throughout the last several minor updates we've also been working on reducing system and GPU memory usage in a number of ways and there is still more work being done on that front. This is to allow the game to run better on lower spec machines.
Changelist
Below is the changes for 0.9.14 as well as changes since the previously posted about version 0.9.0. The changelist for each update are also posted on the Steam forum and the community Discord when they are released.
Version 0.9.14
Fixed/Improved weapon spawn rates for better balancing
Changed the Pursuer to only appear on a lower percentage of levels
Enemies killed by the Pursuer will slightly heal the player if close
Added the ability to purchase a Guiding Light in the Shop to guide you to the exit
When you are near a Pursuer a Guiding Light to the exit will appear
Added a Pursuer Summoning Station to the Shop
Completely changed the way the player collides with weapons to reduce erratic movement
Modified the damage of some weapons to improve balance
Enemies will not attack player until a few seconds have passed at the start of Beneath levels
Enemies will now not necessarily crowd the shop door
Falling from the Islands will now kill you
Falling in the abyss in the Construct will now hurt and can kill you
You can no longer jump into the boss room on the Islands
All other islands and paths go away during Islands boss fight so you can't jump out
Added some additional death method messages
Fixed the projectiles from the Aberration tentacles not properly damaging player
Fixed collision on punching bag in Biker Bar basement
Fixed timing and damage of attacks from ranged tentacles
Fixed animation bug on The Deceiver
Version 0.9.13
Fixed a Level Editor bug causing enemy triggers to not fully trigger if connected enemies were deleted
Fixed a Level Editor bug related to enemies spawning with ranged weapons
Fixed a Level Editor bug with traps deactivating that don't play sounds
Fixed some bugs related to Hydra voxel elements regenerating when a level ends
Fixed a bug with some Whiskey Bottles causing incorrect enemy hand positioning
Fixed a bug causing double up of footstep sounds in some cases
Sound effects tweaks
Version 0.9.12
Fixed a Steam Cloud issue preventing some users from uploading new Workshop content
Fixed bug causing Crystal Entity to not hit player
Fixed bug allowing Plant Bomb to be triggered multiple times on an enemy
Fixed possible freeze from Plant Bomb explosion
Fixed bug causing break in sequence involving turret in the facility
Fixed potential overrun in decal job system
Fixed excessive memory usage from FFT spectrum read for Disco lights
Fixed error when clearing pathfinding path during navmesh regeneration
Additional sound effects
Ambient audio volume reduced in Scenarios and nearby combat sounds increased
Version 0.9.11
Improved performance hitches with blood collisions in some Beneath areas
Fixed Level Editor UI on low resolutions and narrow aspect ratios
Fixed body chunk blood decals forming on some invisible collision
Version 0.9.10
Fixed music volume not affecting custom music in Workshop levels
Minor memory optimisations
Stopped the 'shortcut created' message appearing multiple times
Fixed the incorrect Beneath upgrade total in the menu
Version 0.9.9
Fixed level exit not showing for clients in multiplayer
Fixed bug causing enemy position bugs for client in multiplayer
Fixed using Chaos causing the level exit to trigger from a distance
Fixed Level Editor UI on ultrawide monitors
Fixed missing collision on turret prop in Beneath
Version 0.9.8
Fixed not being able to take level preview screenshot in Level Editor
Some improvements to Ruins loading time
New sound effects added
Version 0.9.7
Prevented the Acolyte from being counted towards Pirate Cove completion
Version 0.9.6
Fixed Pursuer moving too fast after it arrives. Speed now builds up over 5 minutes
Fixed incorrect ambient sound on Workshop levels
Version 0.9.5
Fixed incorrect character materials in the Level Editor and Workshop levels
Fixed Workshop level characters making idle grunts
Fixed transition area after using the Ruins shortcut being incorrect
Version 0.9.4
Fixed a bug causing freezing on some Beneath level loads
Version 0.9.3
Reduced memory usage
Fixed incorrect transition area after using Ruins shortcut portal
Prevented moving into some out of bounds areas in the Facility
Prevented falling off bridges in Ruins room
Version 0.9.2
Added info text when performing a sequence in Beneath
Fixed missing effect in Beneath facility
Added additional text in the facility to make a sequence more clear
Fixed incorrect image for one of the Beneath death methods
Reduced damage from Minion staff beam
Version 0.9.1
Fixed overuse of memory in Beneath
Added more sounds to Beneath
Tweaked Pursuer timings
Fixed positioning of some facility whiteboard text
Fixed playback of built in music in the Level Editor and Workshop levels
Version 0.9.0 - Beneath
The build has been updated to include the single player portion of the rogue-lite mode: Beneath.
The changes between the last build and this one are too extensive to list. Besides the addition of Beneath there are changes to existing areas of the game including many new sound effects. Much of this is still a work in progress and will continue to evolve over the coming weeks.
Because there has been such a massive amount of changes in this update it is very likely there will be new bugs where there weren't before. Similarly there will no doubt be issues encountered in Beneath that haven't been picked up on prior small scale testing, but we'll try to resolve all identified significant issues over the coming days.
This version of Beneath contains all intended content in terms of gameplay and features, but there will be further additions and improvements to come throughout Early Access. These include additional sound effects and music and improvements to the UI as well as further graphical and mechanical improvements over time.
We'll be focused on fixing bugs and ensuring Beneath is stable and playable from beginning to end over the next couple of weeks and then will transition to preparing to roll out the next Scenario and Arena Challenges as well as fixing outstanding issues with the Level Editor.
Over the coming months as we get the last of the planned content into Paint the Town Red you'll see big improvements to performance and the overall polish applied to all areas of the game.
Thanks for you patience and support as we worked hard behind the scenes to get Beneath to this stage.
Beneath Release Date
The earliest commits of Beneath work in our source control software spans all the way back to July 2016. It became our primary development focus about 2.5 years ago and due to that we've not had many significant updates to the early access experience of Paint the Town Red in that time. It has taken longer than we expected, but we are now (almost) done. On November 26th (27th here in Australia) we will release the first Beneath update.
Paint the Town Red is still in Early Access and this Beneath update will be no different, but it will be more complete than any other aspect of the game has been. We'll continue to polish and improve it over the remainder of the Early Access development period, but this update will contain the whole mode playable from start to finish. For now it will only be single player, but we will be adding 2-4 player co-op multiplayer for Beneath early next year. We'll also be continuing to add to and improve music, sound effects and more following this initial release.
We've had test builds of an early WIP slice of Beneath available for a few months and have now removed that. We were very happy with the response to those builds and the feedback was invaluable so thanks to everyone that helped us out by playing those builds.
What is Beneath?
Beneath is a rogue-lite mode that is for all intents and purposes the 'story mode' of Paint the Town Red. It features procedurally generated levels that take you deeper underground as you fight hordes of monstrous new enemy types, gain new abilities and powers, and attempt to destroy the ancient gods that control the world below and have decimated the world above.
You can play as and upgrade 5 different classes that have different powers and attributes and unlock permanent upgrades that will make it easier to get further in Beneath every time you play. You'll need to explore and use your wits to uncover the secrets of how to advance to new areas as well as discover the clues behind the nature of the Paint the Town Red scenarios themselves.
Future Updates
Beneath development completely destroyed our ability to keep any regular cadence to the release of updates, but we will be targeting weekly updates following the Beneath update through to version 1.0. We've also been pretty radio silent for the most part which is not what we wanted, but it's because we've just been working to get this done and without knowing when it would be there was no definitive information we could give.
Beneath isn't all we've been working on though, we have the majority of the next Scenario level already completed which will be the next major update after Beneath. We will also be rolling out new Arena Challenges regularly as well as adding more Level Editor features and props and characters including most of the Beneath content.
Version 0.8.6.2 Changes
Patch Info
Build 0.8.6.2 is out now and is the first version utilising FMOD Studio for music. We'll eventually transition all audio to using this system. This has allowed us to add support for more file formats like MP3 and Flac in Custom Music packs and should improve loading times for levels using custom music.
We're also testing the sound occlusion system we've been developing for Beneath in this version by making the music in the Biker Bar and Disco scenarios be 3D positional audio that will occlude based on where you are. This system will be used for more sounds in the future, but for now you should notice the music becoming muffled when it has more of the level to traverse to reach you even if your direct distance to it is short. You might notice this in the Disco boss room or Biker Bar basement.
We've also fixed a number of physics issues with weapons and ragdolled enemies from the last few builds that caused some collisions to be missed and ragdolls to have false positive collisions on other enemies and the environment with high velocities.
If you notice any new bugs in this version please let us know on the community Discord server and we'll try and get them fixed as soon as possible.
Version 0.8.6.2
Changed all music to new fmod audio system
Custom Music packs now also support MP3 and FLAC files
Created a sound occlusion system to occlude sounds. Currently testing on music in Biker Bar and Disco Scenarios
Improved loading time of levels using Custom Music packs
Level Editor: Fixed Logic connection nodes not showing correctly after deselecting props
Added smoothing collision to stairs in Biker Bar
Fixed weapons going through walls and floor sometimes
Fixed enemies getting hit by fast moving ragdoll enemies that don't actually hit them
Fixed some modifiers still working in Workshop levels and when testing Level Editor levels
Fixed bugs related to body parts exploding on colliding with environment at low velocities
Fixed Boxer attack range
Fixed weapons not using interpolation when knocked around
Fixed blood from steak not applying to dynamic objects properly
Version 0.8.6.1
Fixed lots of enemies targeting a single enemy on Pirate Cove in 0.8.6
Version 0.8.6 Changes
Patch Info
Build 0.8.6 is out now and includes a variety of fixes as well as performance improvements, the ability to play the Pirate Cove at day or night in Standard or Challenge modes and multiplayer and other minor improvements detailed below.
With this build we've updated the engine version which allows for some of the improvements, but also could have some unforeseen issues. If you notice any new bugs in this version please let us know on the community Discord server and we'll try and get them fixed as soon as possible. It's also a great place to post suggestions and discuss the game with other players.
We'll likely have one or more small updates over the next couple of weeks to implement and test changes being implemented for Beneath so we can ensure they are all already working well for when Beneath is added.
Version 0.8.6
Significantly improved weapon collision detection on enemies
Added some more colour variation in the waves on the ocean water
Added separate Scenario options for Day/Night Pirate Cove
Pirate Cove Night playable in Multiplayer
Decreased time before first frame draws when you open the game
Made Splash screen skippable quicker
Reduced chance that weapons pass through voxels to damage inner voxels
Added decals for more liquid water particles
Weapons will now stay in 'Thrown' state longer allowing them to damage enemies after rising and falling
Reduced size of bathroom combat trigger in Disco
Level Editor: Logic Zones can now be duplicated
Level Editor: Fixed bug with decimal numbers not working in some input fields
Fixed bug with weapon hold positions during animations on some weapons
Fixed friend icons not showing in Arena
Fixed some bottles swinging very fast after breaking
Fixed bug constraining the mouse cursor to wrong area after resolution change
Fixed thrown weapons going through ground and walls sometimes
Fixed cigarette lighting not being based on smoking animation
Fixed modifiers working on user created levels
Fixed one handed enemies trying to pickup shields
Fixed enemies not jumping between platforms
Fixed Smite location for knocked out enemies
Fixed Leaderboard displaying in menu when Sandbox selected
Fixed a bug where severed body parts would disappear or appear at wrong position
Fixed a bug where severed limbs could kill an enemy if falling through world
Fixed a bug where some severed body parts would duplicate
Version 0.8.5.1
Level Editor: Added additional float sanitize step to try and prevent integer rounding on property fields
Fixed bug with friends not working in Level Editor/Workshop levels
Fixed players weapon attack animations snapping position after attacking
Fixed enemies attacking during reacting to arm cut, face clutching or shield stagger
Fixed enemies breaking out of arm cut reaction if it triggers their combat state
Fixed decimal numbers not working in Level Editor for some regions with workaround to engine bug
Version 0.8.5 Changes
Patch Info
Build 0.8.5 is now available. This build was focused on rewriting much of the multiplayer code to greatly reduce bandwidth and packet counts to improve reliability, and on reworking enemy movement synchronisation to greatly improve the gameplay experience for client players.
If you have previously tried the multiplayer and had issues, please try again now and see if there is an improvement for you. The quality of the experience will still depend on your ping to the host and the quality of the hosts internet connection and PC, but the requirements are much lower than before.
In addition to these multiplayer fixes and improvements there are a number of improvements and fixes. Some cosmetic improvements like how weapons break and impact enemies and how the camera snaps when you're hit improve the feeling of combat. Other changes improve loading times like there being less time to load into the main menu or the caching of pathfinding data for Workshop levels after their first load. There are also some subtle gameplay improvements like how enemies won't change targets and turn to hit you if you attack one while they're mid-swing.
These list below doesn't cover all the changes in this build as there have been many minor things changed during development of Beneath that have not been captured.
Version 0.8.5
Multiplayer: Improved overall networking performance, bandwidth usage and feel for clients
Multiplayer: Static weapons now have collision for clients in Workshop levels
Multiplayer: Added a death pose for players
Multiplayer: Removed forced start timer in lobby
Multiplayer: Fixed LOD not updating for enemies correctly for clients
Multiplayer: Fixed packet order issue with initial player relation for enemies
Multiplayer: Fixed issue with added Bouncers in Disco
Multiplayer: Fixed enemies looking at player on clients when in pre-combat animations where they shouldn't
Multiplayer: Fixed Logic Zones not triggering props and lights on client
Multiplayer: Fixed Arena errors when ending a wave with a player dead
Level Editor: Fixed default values not working on some props (e.g. Logic Timers)
Workshop levels will now cache pathfinding data after the first load so subsequent reloads of the level will be faster
Enemies no longer change direction to hit you mid-swing if you attack them while they're attacking someone else
Increased distance enemies will stand from targets when attacking
Level loading process changed to be faster
Post processing effects now work in a layered system allowing for effects to better blend
Reduced texture and audio memory usage
Increased player camera snap on hits (we'll provide an intensity option in a later build)
Menu loads in background now during splash screen
Changed shader on Arena cloth to add subsurface scattering
Made Arena Challenge 3 selectable from in-game level select menu
Made 'Hard Hitter' modifier always KO enemies
Added a Speedrun.dll to allow programs like LiveSplit to easily read relevant data from a DLL memory offset (we'll provide more explicit details on variables and memory offset addresses soon)
Fixed Workshop levels capturing characters in reflection cubemaps
Fixed enemies standing up when killed if they were in an animation like the fetal position
Fixed enemies snapping to standing pose from pre-combat animation on knockdown
Fixed animation bug with dancing characters in Workshop levels
Fixed bug with initial player not getting set to correct position for Arena waves
Fixed bug with enemies on Arena waves from 2 on not playing walking animation on entrance
Fixed bug where some menu button actions could run multiple times
Fixed rare bug preventing Arena wave transition
Fixed stairs on Disco being difficult to walk up
Fixed a bug locking UI options after backing out of selecting a player created level in the Multiplayer menu
Fixed Esc key not closing player created level list in Multiplayer menu properly
Fixed faucets and taps going crazy after getting knocked off
Fixed bug causing some Modifiers to not be selectable
Fixed bug preventing all weapons from being removed with No Weapons modifier
Fixed katana and dagger being held backwards by enemies
Fixed some clipping issues in Pirate Cove building
Fixed Sandbox UI having the go to exit message
If you encounter any significant new issues please let us know on the community Discord server and we'll try and get them fixed as soon as possible.
December Update & Composer Info
We're currently working on an update that will be released in mid December that is focused on significantly improving the multiplayer performance and client experience, fixing major bugs and many other quality of life improvements. We'll detail some of the changes to expect below.
Composer
In very exciting news we have brought on a fantastic addition to the team: Jeff van Dyck. Jeff is a two-time BAFTA award winning Composer and Audio Director that we had the pleasure of working with around 10 years ago at Creative Assembly and will now be working with on the creation of music for Paint the Town Red. Jeff has been creating music and sounds for games since the original Need for Speed and FIFA titles and is well known for the audio direction and award winning soundtracks of the Total War game series.
At a minimum we were planning on having original music for Beneath, but now we'll be working with Jeff to create a complete soundtrack for Paint the Town Red including replacing much or all of the existing Scenario and Arena music with new original tracks. All existing music will still be available in the game for use in Workshop levels however.
We've been big fans of Jeff for a very long time and have no doubt his music will elevate not only Beneath, but Paint the Town Red as a whole. In addition to composing original music for the game, Jeff will also be assisting on sound effects going forward.
Beneath
After some recent design improvements we have made based on our play-testing and with not having brought on a composer earlier in the process, we have a few factors affecting the release of Beneath.
We're currently adding new environmental weapons to bring the flow of combat more in line with the Scenarios and we're adjusting level length and enemy variety to get the urgency and difficulty of the game feeling right.
It will all be wrapped up early in 2019, but we might make the first areas of Beneath, including the first Boss, available earlier in a separate beta build for testing and feedback sooner. Keep an eye on the Paint the Town Red Discord server over the coming weeks for any information on that.
December Update Features
For this update we've brought forward some of the improvements and polish work we planned on doing early next year. We'll have a full changelist when the build is released, but below are some of the main changes we've already completed or are working on currently.
Multiplayer Packet and Backwidth Reduction
Depending on the hardware and bandwidth limitations of the host and client players, currently there can be issues with the number of packets being sent and received causing increasingly large de-syncs between players. We've reduced the number of packets being sent on average by a factor of 10. This should eliminate this as an issue.
The up and down steam bandwidth was already quite low, but due to the reduction in packets there are fewer bytes wasted on packet headers which reduces the bandwidth being transferred by around 5x.
This change will improve the consistency and reliability of the online multiplayer experience.
Improvements to Client Multiplayer Feel
The primary issue currently when playing the coop multiplayer as a client (i.e. a player that joins a Host's multiplayer game) is that the overall game experience does not feel close enough to playing singleplayer or as the game host. There are a number of causes for this and it usually relates to a delay in feedback on your interactions with enemies. We're shifting more authoritative control over elements of the game to the client when it makes sense to and will favour game feel over exact synchronisation of non-gameplay critical elements like effects and ragdolls.
This is also an important prerequisite step for the Beneath multiplayer.
Caching of Pathfinding Data for Workshop Levels
There are some truly massive levels that have been created using the Level Editor and with great size comes great load times.
By far the biggest contributor to load times on large levels is the generation of the navmesh for pathfinding. In this update when you load a Workshop level for the first time it will generate a navmesh cache file. This will then be used on subsequent loads instead of calculating the navmesh again.
On some of the largest levels the navmesh generation could take over 30 seconds and when loading these with the cache file, the navmesh generation should now take under 1/10th of a second.
We're also exploring the viability of creating and including the cache file when Workshop levels are uploaded so when you download a new level the first load will be just as fast as the following ones.
Speedrunning Support
We've put some time into developing the best way to support the Speedrunning community going forward. There is already a small speedrunning community for the game as it is now, but we believe with the release of Beneath and updates to the Challenge mode of the Scenarios, there will be a lot more opportunities for great speedruns.
To best support this community we now write out a ton of data useful for speedrunning into a separate DLL. This gives the data a consistent memory location as offsets from the DLL's loaded address. With tools like LiveSplit you will now easily be able to have an Auto Splitter that can do things like pause the timer during loads, immediately split on various conditions, etc. With how we're writing the data, the memory addresses should not need to be changed when Paint the Town Red updates.
We'll provide an example LiveSplit Auto Splitter file and information on the variables and memory addresses with this release and as we add to it in the future.
There are many more changes coming in this build and similar quality of life improvements will come to subsequent builds as we work to improve all unfinished elements of the game for release.
October Beneath Progress Update
As we approach the completion of the Beneath mode it's getting harder to find things we want to show and talk about. Maintaining mystery so you can discover how to progress through the game while playing it is very important. Unfortunately since the time spent developing it has been very (very) long, it has meant we haven't been providing a lot of updates on progress and information about it. In this post we'll cover some of the elements of Beneath you'll encounter quite often, give some information on the back story and setting of Beneath and talk about our plans for release.
Challenge Rooms
As you make your way through earlier areas of Beneath, you'll sometimes come across gated rooms that will seal you in once you enter them. They will not release you until you either succeed or fail the task they set out. If you complete a room you'll gain a significant amount of Gold, Energy and a selection of some of the more powerful weapons, but you'll risk taking damage or dying.
There are a few different types of Challenge Rooms, such as the one that requires you to kill all the enemies in the room without taking any damage.
Shard Lords
For the most part the story of Beneath and of Paint the Town Red overall will be told implicitly through environmental details. When you start playing Beneath it is many years since the conflict you're in began. Your goal is to defeat the Elder Gods that rule the dimensions beneath the surface. A lesser one of these gods that came to the surface has already been killed before you begin. The heart an Elder God shatters into powerful shards when they are killed.
The humans use a shard to mutate the soldiers that get sent Beneath to give them powers. These are the characters you will play as and each 'run' you will be able to choose from a a selection of classes each with different powers. There are also many monsters that found shards and used them to become powerful beings known as Shard Lords. Defeating these elite enemies will allow you to amass these Shards of a Fallen God to spend on permanent upgrades that will increase your ability to progress through Beneath. These upgrades are separate from the other permanent upgrades you'll acquire using the Energy gained by defeating regular enemies.
Shops
As we've talked about previously, with the exception of some later areas there will be a shop in each level. These shops will sell weapons in exchange for Gold. Sometimes they might also contain a special item. Some shops will also contain a creature selling permanent upgrades in exchange for Energy. These permanent upgrade shops will also be available in the transition zones between areas.
Shops are shielded so that monsters cannot enter, giving you a temporary reprieve. Don't spend too long browsing though, as that will give you less time to avoid the Pursuer.
Pursuer
Pursuers are immortal entities created to cleanse the world beneath of invaders from above. After the surface war humans sent large forces underground, a front-line that slowly progressed towards the nearest Elder God. The creation of the Pursuers stopped this effort as they sucked the life from all human forces. In the earlier levels of Beneath you'll see the remains of this assault. Now only a single human (or up to 4 in co-op) can remain undetected beneath for a short length of time.
If you spend too long in one level you'll be warned the Pursuer has arrived. They are not corporeal, will move through walls and cannot be killed. If one arrives it is time to find an exit, especially if you're one of the slower classes.
Road to Release
We have all features in and working for Beneath, just some have placeholder art and sound effects. All levels of the mode are complete, as well as all weapons, enemies, upgrades and powers. 2 of the 4 bosses in the game still need to be finished as well as various UI elements, sound effects and music. We're also working on tweaking balance and progression. Recognizing we're in Early Access, some of this doesn't need to be 100% complete for an initial release of the mode. Once Beneath is fully completable with no major missing elements we'll release it. Within a month after that update we should have added the co-op multiplayer and finished anything that was incomplete.
There are obviously many improvements still to make to other areas of the game, especially bug fixes and multiplayer and performance improvements, and these will be coming after Beneath is released. There will be more Arena challenges featuring enemies and weapons from Beneath and another main Scenario. That will take us to 1.0 at which point the game will leave Early Access. We will continue to add more to the game after 1.0 with more Scenarios and content for the Level Editor planned.
Thank you all very much for your patience in waiting for Beneath. We haven't been able to reduce the scope at all as that would have diminished the mode to where all the time and effort we've put into it would have been wasted, so it has taken a long time to get done. We'll post an update once we've finished enough of what's left to be able to give a firm release date for the update.
