Hey there, I've been trying to find time whenever I can to get the next update out to you guys. Players have been asking me about making some changes and tweaks so I've been doing my best to hammer some of that stuff out and simultaneously work on the Custom Controls feature, it's almost there.
Sorry it's taking so long, programming custom controls is kind of a tedious process.
Unfortunately this following update might not be too exciting for veteran players of the game, as it will consist of a lot of fixes and features to make the game more approachable to new players. The Update should be ready and out of the way by next week, and it will include the following additions/changes:
The Main Menu will be updated and newly arranged to accompany all the recent features, including the Custom Controls and the Slots minigame.. So you will be able to gamble from the first screen and not just when you die.
The Lemat Revolver's alternate fire feature will work a little differently. Multiple people have complained about the confusing nature of using this gun and the user Drugon had a good suggestion on a way to remedy that. I'll explain how it works in the actual update.
The Death Screen will do a better job of explaining what the Slot rewards are when you win them. And it will also attempt to tell the player that these rewards are temporary, as there has been some confusion there.
There will be a 6 minute "Dry run" feature at the cost of a token. This will allow newer players to explore and investigate the level without the threat of zombies.
Throwing the rock from the second story will kill a cultist if it lands on their head.
Custom Controls, obviously being the biggest change in this update. This will make the keys customizable to whatever the player prefers.
A pause button on the keyboard.
Just a heads up! I'm still working on the Inquisitor as well. Here's [Work in progress] his walking animation in all it's pixelated glory.
Have a great weekend guys, I'll see you soon!
July 5th Hotfixes, Compendium glimpse.
Hey there, just stopping in for a sec. I uploaded a newer version of the game with the following fixes/changes:
The Player will now actually recieve the Skeleton Keys they win in the Slots game. ( Sorry about that )ːsteamfacepalmː
The Priest Cultist will now appear later on in the game in 18 minute mode. ( he won't just run away early on and never return. )
The Chainsaw and the Ogre which both have idling sound effects do not make said sound effects after the character has dropped the gun or been bitten (etc)
A glimpse of what's coming up!
Here's a quick spellcast anim I've been working on for The Inquisitor, he's just about there! Still gotta program him once he's animated, I don't expect many hiccups though as a template has been established already.
Here's also a glimpse of the Weapon Compendium I'm working on. Which will be an in-game list of all the weapons and how they work. The player will be able to purchase the compendium with tokens they earn from winning. (it'll cost 3 )
---------
A bonus Let's play!
If anyone is still on the ropes or curious what gameplay and progressing through STLD 02 actually looks like, look no further. This video by youtuber Hadriex shows what it's like starting out in the game , dying , getting better, and then finally kicking some serious ass. Stop by and check it out!
https://youtu.be/Kamfbi_VYW4?t=4623
I'll be working on the next update, custom controls are still coming too. Thank you all for the nice emails and message board interactions. Take care and have a great weekend!
Night Mist Part 1 !!! Slots system, new content explanation in depth!
Hey there, so I didn't really go over yesterdays big update I just made for Steams Summer sale. Here's most of the big additions in a little more detail.
The death screen has been changed a bit. You'll notice there's now a selection that says "Gamble" and one near the bottom that's greyed out that says "Weapon Compendium". I'll go over the compendium a little later. For now we're talking about gambling some tokens!
somebody just won Double Ammo next round.
Gambling costs the player one token. Tokens are earned from playing the game, the better you play, the more you earn. Even if you die, you still earn tokens.
When you gamble you typically win one temporary item or buff. This means it lasts ONLY for your next playthrough. These rewards won't stack either, so you basically get a burn card for next round.
Now you're probably asking ... "what can I win? Why are you so excited about this dumb update? " Well my friends, there's all kinds of neat stuff. For starters 8 new weapons have been added! Let's check them out and what they do.
My new favorite, and a long time coming.. Who am I to deny the immortal romance between chainsaws and zombies? The Chainsaw has been overhauled completely since the first game I made all those years ago. This new weapon has a 3 hit combination attack with 45% chance on contact for critical damage.
Every critical hit generates Amber a PWR orb, and with 3 PWR orbs you can perform the devastating Cleave attack. You're going to wish you had more enemies to keep the combos and cleaves rolling.
This is a new shotgun with an extremely fast rate of fire. Shotgun blasts from close range have a chance to completely and critically destroy a zombies upper body. Yuck.
This was another heavy weapon from the original game that has been overhauled and re-polished. Great for clearing spaces or just about anything death related. The Ogre can be charged up automatically (which takes about 2 seconds) or pre-charged manually by holding down the SPRINT key first. This doesn't actually conflict with sprinting as Amber cannot run with the Ogre in her hands.
This is an extremely fast pistol with high damage and the bonus ability to take Precision Shots.
Much like the Sailfish Repeater, Holding down the "Sprint" button while Amber is not moving will cause her to focus fire the Vyper Twenty Forty. The aiming is relaxed on the Vyper making it easier to score critical hits in quick succession. Failing a precision shot does not cost Amber anything, so practice precision shots when you can !
This guns name comes from one of the most wonderful fans a creator could ever ask for, always stopping in and bringing the positivity levels to maximum. Thanks so much for being a player and part of STLD Vyper2040! It's always a pleasure.
A newly revived and re-designed rocket launcher. Nothing in the game hits harder than this weapon. It holds 4 shots so if you win this gun make them all count!
Noticing a theme yet? All of these weapons are either extremely fast, or strong, or both. The Dragon Fang is no different. This gun has high a damage output even at maximum range, and rapid fire speed to boot.
There is one caveat to the Dragon Fang, each shot costs Amber %15 of her Stamina. Stamina is important to have with this gun because the higher your Stamina is the higher chance she has of scoring critical hits.
So in a nutshell. Firing fast and wildly will not always be the best approach with the Dragon Fang.
Previously only available in within the tutorial, the Goblin makes its triumphant return to the real battleground... This time with a few tweaks.
The Goblin is fully automatic with an extremely high rate of fire. It's weapon damage is dictated by how close you are to the enemy. Trying to pull down a group of zombies from across the stage may be more costly on ammo rather than letting them get close for focus fire. The goblins light weight makes it easy on Stamina usage and ideal for running and gunning.
The Arctic Hawk is a fun little magnum pistol that can be extremely devastating if used correctly. The gun alone has a 25% chance of scoring a critical hit, each critical hit scored with the Arctic Hawk grants Amber a PWR orb. .. Now the cool part is if you hold down the SPRINT key and fire the weapon you can force critical hits at the cost of 1 PWR orb. If you're smart you can utilize those PWR orbs for some serious and consistent damage.
There's even more fun stuff you can win in the slots system! I'm not going to visually go over it all, but let's just say there's things like Blazing Speed, Explosive grapple breaks, all kinds of random and fun shit.
Here's a quick slots key that puts a name to each icon.
If you're still reading this than kudos to you. Maybe now it makes a bit more sense why I was so excited about this update. And hopefully it will make you excited to know I'm still working on one more big content update that will hopefully be available very soon! The final boss is about 80% animated. And I really can't wait to get him into the game, I think its gonna be a really fun fight for experienced players.
I still plan to add custom controls, and make slots available on the main menu so you don't have to die to access them so expect that soon.
Lastly the Weapon compendium will basically go over every weapon in the game and act as a guide or key for the players to consult when they have questions or want to know how to best utilize their guns/knives/chainsaws for zombie killing.
That's all I've got for you now. Please if you can tell a friend or anyone you'd think might enjoy this game, or just give it a shout out that would be amazing. The game is on sale right now at 75% ( less than $1.25 ) so I'm really just trying to get it into more players hands. Thank you so much for reading and playing.
cheers,
Massive Summer Sale Update.
Hey there.. literally cutting this one down to the minute. I finally added in a big update adding 8 new weapons and a bunch of new features throughout the SLOTS system. I'll mention also this is the first of about 3 (I think ) very big updates. I was actually trying to have it all ready by this date but couldn't quite squeeze it in.
I'm gonna keep this one brief for now and come back later with more information. A LOT has been added and changed. Here's a quick screen grab I did of all the slot results. The weapons are shown there. I put a lot of effort into making these new weapons fun to use and unique. The zombies have new death animations to accompany them. Please enjoy.
The Slots Menu appears after you die, as it's main intention is to encourage players to jump back in. Possibly with exploding fists this time around, or blazing speed.. maybe a chainsaw or a rocket launcher, it all depends on your luck and tokens. I'm going to add the slots feature to the main menu as well soon, so you won't have to die just to access it. I apologize I just did not have as much time as I had hoped when getting this all ready.
More news incoming very soon.
Very much love.
[ UPDATE V20 ] Achievements!! and more!
Hey there! I hope everybody out there is doing well. It's finally time for another update... This time our main focus is.. you guessed it!
51 Achievements have been added!
I spent a large portion of this week personally play testing and making sure all these achievements pop off when necessary, which isn't as easy or fun as it might sound. But then again this actually was fun, and it was really great to be able to dive back into work on STLD again. These were such a long time coming and I hope you guys enjoy !
That's right, the game now looks a heck of a lot smoother. Thanks to some great guidance and advice from Matt Lucas at Esperware interactive, the game now performs at a better rate, the camera scrolling code has been improved and redesigned and all in game weapons are slightly faster! woot.
The Magic Charm is now a permanent item!
I had always planned to do this but only as of late designed a way to make it work in game. The Magic Charm now becomes an Artifact, which basically means that once you dig it up and discover it will always be in Amber's inventory!
In future rounds if the player goes back to dig at that same spot where the Charm used to be you will discover a brand new item I've just added in this update called the Power Bar . Well 2 of them actually..
Power Bars are consumables that instantly give Amber 3 PWR orbs (the things she uses to break zombie attacks and perform special attacks of her own with the melee weapons)
As a little side not these bars don't count against the play as "Aids used" when they are graded at the end of the round. Just a heads up!
Inventory not as cluttering as before.
Because keys discovered aren't actually usable items, they have been removed from the inventory cycle, so now there is less the player needs to look through when messing around down in the corner of the screen. Rest assured she still has the Keys and they work the same when interacting with the environment. And, I'm going to re-add the keys in a different spot on the interface in a later update.
Enemies now flash to indicate they've been damaged and show critical hit text.
I'm often trying to see what works or what can be tweaked to improve the visual gameplay, I really like the way the damage flash effect looks in some games ( SOTN had something similar ) but there are many others. Anyway there's been a few changes made to STLD in that regard.
I think that's about it for now guys, I'll likely be tackling the SLOTS feature next and maybe some more inquisitor animations to get that guy ready for action.
Have a great weekend.
-Pyro
[ News ] Planning for a physical update soon.
Hey guys, it's been so busy lately but what else is new. I'm going to use following week ( Nov 27th ) to knock out an update, since it's been so long since anything's been implemented to the players.
So with a little luck there will be the following changes added by Sat Dec 2nd
New higher frame rate implemented ( 60 FPS )
Achievements will be unlockable!
Inventory system tweaks
Sorry it's all taking so long, I'll be thrilled if I can have those 3 things ready and out to you guys by the following next Saturday.
Thanks for always being so patient.
Here's an update on some trophy art.
Cheers,
-Pyro
Animation Sneak peek [ Nov 4th 2017 ]
Hey there, I had some time to work on animation this week. Here's a clip of Inquisitors first attack ( sword ). I'll be back with more stuff next week.
Have a good weekend everybody.
STLD Night Mist ( Ep 02 V1.2 ) FINAL PATCH Official Announcement.
Night Mist
Holy smokes it's been a while. This is the unveiling of the final arc for this crazy thing, Episode 02 was the act of destroying a rotten foundation to rebuild something stronger, something that could stand alone. But could also act as a Template for any and all future episodes of STLD. This is the last stage of that template and the outline of my dreams for STLD.
Outside work has been so crazy these days, I've been adding content and attempting to make modifications that users have suggested, my last big post mentioned that things were going to slow down around here because of financial issues, but I didn't want this place to become a ghost town. I wanted to have something interesting for people every time I came out with an announcement, even if I couldn't show it off right way. Sometimes development on an indie-game just doesn't work like that though. I think in the future I'm going to use announcements to keep the players in the loop on what's new, weekly if I can manage it. And then just Sticky the major outlines for the project goals in the Discussions section. Does that make sense? Probably not. I'll shut up.
Here's the complete list of progress and some visuals of what's going into the final Version of Episode 02, and the final monster patch I'm titling : "STLD Night Mist".
Achievements Tier 1. As far as progression goes, these are all done. However I have not had any time to test them, which means as much as I'd love to, I can't just go smashing that update button and assuming they all work the way I'd imagined. Unfortunately they rarely do. Rest assured they are coming .
Plans are as follows: When the player dies in STLD they either just collect their Tokens and try again, go to the Reward menu, or use their Tokens on the Slots feature and gamble for a temporary gift. Since it's randomized you'll never know what you're getting. The items can range from special buffs, to devastating weapons like the mini gun. Maybe you want to get that 18 minute mode completion achievement, so you play the slots to get a better edge. Maybe you just really want to kill that Red Cultist who keeps launching spells at you.. play the slots to get a weapon to take into the next round to do the job! I'm also really hoping this feature acts as an incentive to keep new players interested even after they die the first time.
Scroll to the very bottom for a glimpse at the Dev list for the Slots Feature. I've made it a spoiler, it pretty much shows everything planned.
This is the Inquisitor. As featured in the cover art for Night Mist, he is pretty much the last boss for Episode 02. He's a strong sword wielding Cultist, that has his own specific move set. He will only appear under certain circumstances, but will drop a special Sword Weapon reward if defeated. I'll explain more on him later on, and update you guys with his new animations as they progress.
I'm still working to update the visual aspects of the game as well, the trophy caliber is determined by how high your Score and Ranking are when you finish the level. So instead of just getting a letter grade ( like "A" or "B" ) you'll get a unique and shiny trophy. yay. Here's some more progress art..
On top of all that other stuff, I've been tweaking and making a ton of changes to help the game run smoother and feel like a quality experience.
Frame Rate Upgrade:
Thanks to some helpful information from Esperwareinteractive, I'm raising the frame rate to around 60 fps. The weapons feel and handle a bit faster, some new gameplay graphics have been lovingly added to accompany this smooth addition.
Interface Improvements:
The Main Menu interface is a bit bare as of now. If anyone recalls STLD episode 01, there were more controls over just about everything and over all it felt more accessible. I'm striving to bring that back in a series of changes and additions made to menus.
Weapon Compendium
I've been thinking it over and will more than likely have an in game guide to unlock that will explain all the little quirks for each weapon Amber finds. As I develop more and more content for STLD I realize that this is a HUGE aspect of the game and really part of the thing that makes it so fun. You'll be able to unlock this guide with Tokens just like the rewards from the reward menu. And check it whenever you need to, to best utilize and kill with each unique weapon in the game.
Custom Controls:
This is taking a bit of time, but is also a very serious thing I want in the final version of the game. I know new controls can be a pain in the ass to learn. And some keyboards outside of America just aren't built the same way and therefore are awkward or unusable. I will address this.
Alright I think that's it, that's all I got. Putting this update thing together alone took a lot of time, and production takes even longer. If you care about the project please consider Gifting a friend a copy or donating here: Here
If you ever need any freelance artwork I am available for commission work here: Pyroklasticgames@gmail.com
Thank you guys for stopping by and staying interested in the project.
-Pyro
<3
Bonus
[B] ALL SLOTS REWARDS[/B]
1.Power bars x5 ( restores 1 bar of health) 3 orbs and full stamina
2.Kills cure infection.
3.Explosive grapple break.
4.Fire at the foot of a kill. ( Chance )
5.Antivenom Capsule.
6.Blazing Speed.
7.Slowed infection.
8.Infinite Bear Trap.
9.Time Taken off the clock. 4 minutes off 10. 6 minutes off 18.
10.Double Ammo
11.Ammo increase
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[B]Goblin[/B] (Mp5) good damage close, decent fire rate, decent damage med range, low damage fire with chance to miss ( aka the bullet has a lifespan that destroys sometimes ) X ( Phase 1 )
[B]Vyper Twenty-Fourty[/B], ( very special pistol ) X (Phase 1 )
Dragon Fang, a fast Sniper Rifle. shots cost stamina, fast fire rate, lower stamina lower odds for headshots, highest stamina means crit . (Phase 1 )
Heart Breaker. ( Auto Shotgun ) causes gory upper torso explosions. quick fire rate X ( Phase 1)
Arctic Rose. ( Headshots cost PWR ) X
Rocket Launcher. you get 4 rockets ( Not OSLR ) X
The Ogre ( Minigun ) ( Remastered with wind up rate ) X
Hold shift while stopped to pre charge up the minigun without firing it.
Razor Bow ( Composite ) ( pierces and causes bleed ) X
Chainsaw Remastered X
(close range detector is overlapping enemy: go for thorough slow chainsaw dip ) otherwise do a single chainsaw slow slice. with a running charge (costly on ammo). tapping shift 3 times sacrifices a little gas for a chainsaw taunt that rewards a power orb. PWR attack is a high damaging chainsaw slice combo. ( no ammo cost )
---------------------------
Minor Slots rewards:
4 Coins
3 Coins
2 Coins
1 Coin
No gain
Skeleton key
All Coins Taken
Steam Sale! Trophy Art glimpse, Anathema Shout-out!
Hey there everybody, I'm excited to announce the game is now 50% off for a limited time!
As mentioned in the last update production is currently a bit staggered due to financial issues. I work when I can find the time.
Things are still moving along though. I'm currently working on all aspects of the Achievements due to popular demand. But as I can't really showcase a glimpse of those, I did have time to polish the first trophy you'll be able to earn for your "Finish Rank". It's the C rank, which is a bronze, here's a sneak peek at that since it's just about done.
These will all have unique designs, the letters D to A, and even the S. I have sketches ready for the rest it's just development time I need to set aside now.
Some time back I did a bit of promotional artwork for a very cool game called Anathema,
The people behind the game ( Esperware Interactive ) are some of the nicest , and talented folks I've had the chance to work with. Aside from always answering all my random questions about programming and run-time efficiency they are also responsible for the kickass soundtrack of STLD EP 02!
It's a pretty exciting time for those guys, they just went live with their first free Demo for Anathema , check it out and show them a bit of love! The demo itself is packed full of retro platformer/horror/action vibes.
I'll be popping in with news here and there, I still have lots of plans for STLD so please stop by or tell a friend about the game when you can. As previously mentioned achievements will likely be what appears in the next physical update.
Cheers guys, take care and check out that free demo. You won't regret it.
--
[ UPDATE V19 ] Tutorial, Various changes, Hiatus News. (EDITED July 20th)
This Update was all over the place. It began as about 1 week of intended work but quickly grew into a multi-faceted snowballing living turd from hell.
It happens sometimes.
Tutorial
The tutorial covers controls and should give the player a basic understanding of what things are going to be like. I notice when people first start playing STLD they are trying to take their time to understand a bit and investigate.. too soon do they realize the zombies are already there. The tutorial is different in that it moves at your pace for the most part.
You may feel it's a little short, but then again maybe not. I don't think I've ever heard someone actually say aloud " that tutorial wasn't long enough!" It can be replayed multiple times, and I actually recommend that if you'd like to train a bit. I saw someone do that to learn how to use flash-items. (the down button).
The controls are the same as always, but I've added a little bonus for players who like to play with the "WASD" setup. If you're used to playing games like CSGO or any other fps(s) on your pc then you're used to one hand resting on the Mouse . Well now you can shoot, pick up weapons and drop weapons using just the mouse.
Also, the controls menu on the main screen has been updated so you have a bit more of a visual queue to work with before heading straight in.
Weapon Interaction
There's been many complaints on the controls, mainly weapons and how you find them. I think just about every "lets play" I've seen on STLD touches on this subject. "Touches" might be a nice way of putting it.
Believe it or not I am listening. Amber no longer ever uses the Investigate Button to equip a weapon. Instead every weapon is notably identified with colorful flashing discovery text and a unique sound effect. On top of not equipping newly discovered weapons, it also never disarms them. e.g maybe you want to keep the Revolver in your hands and run around discovering the rest of the weapons without ever dropping it. You can do that now.
This should also completely eliminate that damned bug that occurs for players with a low frame rate. I mean the bug where you pick up certain items like the land mine or bear trap and the character never receives them.
I have a feeling this weapon change might be a bit off putting to vet players. (NEW). You can now toggle the old way back on in the options menu, if you experience issues with weapons disappearing please leave "WEAPON OVERIDE" unchecked in the options menu.
If you get through the tutorial you'll notice the new weapon. Well more of a revival really, but with cleaned and updated animations and sprites. (and a bigger punch too). "The Goblin" (MP5 basically) will be available as a slots reward in the final patch for Episode 02. Meaning you will be able to bring it into the real game for further devastation.
Changes and Bug Repair
Amber will no longer stay downed for long periods of time after getting struck by a Magic Missile spell or by tripping on a trap.
This was never intended, she should pop back up after tapping sprint multiple times. ( 5-8 )
That damned rock bug. A lot of bugs seem to occur for players with a lower frame rate. This bastard would occur when Amber has a rock equipped. It was funny at first, then I believe it tried to ruin my life. If you don't know what I'm talking about you can see it first hand here, thanks for all your helpful information rooting this out Gladiator. It should be gone now, I don't know. Fuck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05b5TJ2FbVc&t=25s
Just gonna quickly bullet point the last few.
Amber remarks less vocally when she gets multiple kills. Her sound files we're playing just a little too often.
You could skip the game too quickly on the death screen. Players who spammed the button didn't get to see their kills add up before the screen faded in. That should be all better.
Getting stunned by the Priest cultists stun spell wouldn't remove the aiming cursor for the Sailfish if the player was Aiming at the time of spell impact. That should be better now.
There might be new bugs with the recent changes, if you experience any, please report them to me. You will have my gratitude!
News/Hiatus
STLD is a strange beast in itself. Years ago, when I first created Episode 01, and it was known only as "Survivor: the Living Dead " I was young, depressed, and didn't really care. I didn't know what I was doing, I didn't know why I was doing it, and I still don't know how or what drove me to finishing that game. But I did.
I finally released that game on a website my dad had helped me host called RadicalEndeavors(.)com. I was going to make video games and help him sell his comic book collection all in one place. It never really happened that way though. As I said, I was depressed and unfocused but on top of that I began having severe anxiety which eventually manifested as partial blindness in my right eye. I didn't know what I was doing, I was confused , afraid , I certainly didn't believe in myself or the game.
Not long after the website went up it began crashing from an overwhelming amount of traffic. STLD was a hit. People loved it. It was hard and buggy, but intense and rewarding. The Story was brief and grim, but left the player satisfied with Amber's vengeful body count, while also yearning for more. More content, more back story, more characters... But I didn't care.
This was not a happy time for me, I had decided before going live with the game that it would be free, and that it would always remain that way. I didn't know how the game would perform on other peoples PCs', what if they didn't like it? What if it was a waste? What if people thought I'd just completely ripped the story right off of Night of the Living Dead?
My family did not agree with this "free" aspect. And it became an awkward conversation point with anyone I knew. " Why would he do that? " I couldn't answer then. But I know now making it free gave me the confidence to actually finish it. I wasn't hurting anyone, whether it was good or not I wasn't ripping anybody off. It wasn't much of a reason but in the end that's what I ran with...
And now I'm here. People wanted more years ago, and I was too much of a mess to deliver. I didn't know how or where to take it from there, and I certainly didn't have the passion....
Years later, the passion and confidence came back. After becoming dangerously dependent on the drugs I took for my anxiety, ( and eye) I eventually kicked them. And during my long months of recovery I clung to art and exercise like they were oxygen.
..The place I stand these days is somewhere between poetry and irony.
For these last two years I've worked on re-building and redesigning every aspect of the game, while trying my best to stay true to it's core nature and listen to a fluctuating audience. This is easily the hardest I've ever worked on anything. Thousands upon thousands of hours of my life have been put into STLD, and I've honestly never felt more passionate about it than I do now. I've written a 10 episode story Arc with over 20 characters designed, some intended to be playable characters once developed.
Unfortunately this passion doesn't pay the bills. And even with Summer here, this games LIFETIME sales do not add up to enough to pay for 1 months rent of living in California. I don't know what you guys want, I don't know if I'm delivering on my promises or if times have changed and I just waited too long. Regardless I have to tackle real life bills and issues, because as of now STLD is not paying them. I hope it can stand on it's own as of now, and it's worth the 5 dollars to you.
I do love this game, and I love you, the followers and community. But things might be slow around here for a while. I still would like to do a kick-starter for more episodes down the road, but as of now I don't think the following would even be strong enough to support it.
I'm not giving up, I will be adding updates when I can, STLDs been a part of my life for a long time. I don't know where the future goes from here but I do hope we can embark on it together.
P.S.
Thanks for the endless nightmares of inspiration George. Where would I be without you?
