Survive the Backrooms!
We Now Have A Discord Server!
For now I bring you a Discord Server, it has only just been made public so do not expect a lot of people or tons of conversation but it will be there for quick updates and to see early access stuff. If you would like to join then you are all welcome!
https://discord.gg/eAeQ9W6pu4
Devlog #2
I have decided to update you all a lot more often from now on via these Devlogs, I am also working on a Discord Server for people who want to join the community around the game.
I do not have an ETA for the server as I want it to be perfect for you all, alot like the game itself.
I do have some more information for you all on how the game will work however, so keep reading!
How will the game work?
Well about 2 days ago it worked completely different from how it does now. Before you were able to host Peer 2 Peer servers, this meant you could host and invite your friends, you would then wait in a lobby and then proceed to the game. this was fun and it worked well in testing however it had far too many problems to make the game feel fun for everyone as a whole. for starters, if the host left the game, you all had to. it is very hard to implement "Host Migration", it is something that is far beyond this project so I have changed the multiplayer system completely...
We now use a "Dedicated Server" system, this is good for many reasons. For starters these servers run 24/7 and can be joined by anyone at any time. no more having to keep your pc on for your friends to play when you aren't there yourself. This also allows players who wish to start their own community a server to start from.
If you choose to create your own server, you WILL have to rent it as doing it from your own computer is very very dangerous. renting it also allows for quick and automatic verification of servers meaning they will appear on the games "Server List". You may be thinking, why cant all servers appear there? why do I have to verify. this is because it allows us all to abide by EULA, verification of course is free.
This means, for obvious reasons, servers will not get verified if they feature Racism, Homophobia or pretty much anything else that is toxic or not nice. this doesn't mean you cant swear however and in fact doesn't actually dictate how you run your server. just its name and description.
If you do not want your server to be verified for whatever reason this is also okay, you will have the option to switch between the two at any time. instead players will have to know your servers IP address, again if this is hosted then you will automatically get one you can use. if you rent from home you would have to mess with port forwarding and open yourself up to DDOS attacks. again why I will not support home hosting.
As for the hosting itself, I do offer hosting from anywhere between $5 - $20 a month depending on what your needs are, most people can get away with $5 package and I feel this is more than fair.
You of course do not need to host servers as there will be both official and community run servers on the list that you can join and play on.
Now all the big talk and boring stuff is out of the way, I will explain how the multiplayer works after you have actually gotten into a server...
As stated above, previously you had to wait and progress through the backrooms together, spectating until everyone had either died or escaped, this is no more. now you can progress at your own pace and make your way through the backrooms alone or meeting people along the way. there will of course be multiple rooms but they will all be in the same level, instead of loading a new one once you escape you will now just be instantly teleported to a new backroom. there will still be only 3-5 backrooms on launch but as stated in previous news updates and announcements, I will be adding tons of backrooms through launch week and the following months.
Steam invites will work and you will be able to join your friends so have no fear about having to all queue at the same time or battle with group lobbies.
Another thing I do not think I have mentioned is the fact that the Backrooms are dynamically generated, you may have already known that or expected it but for those who don't know what it is or didn't expect it. dynamic means the rooms are randomly generated every time, you will never find the same generation again. coupling this with multiple servers that are all generating different maps, you will never be able to figure out a "tactic" or "path" to escaping quickly. the best way I could recommend would be learning to memorize code patterns for the escape doors.
I know I have probably bored you all senseless and I would like to thank you if you have read this far. I like to give my entire through process to games and I feel I have done that here.
Thanks for reading, have a good day!
- Heck
Devlog #1
I know you have been left in the dark quite a bit about this game and there are many questions. I am here to answer a few and also to post an update on how the game is going.
First off, Release Date.
There is no release date as of now but I am hoping sometime in May, do not get me wrong. the game is finished. but multiplayer is something that takes a lot of time to perfect. you are paying for a game that should be good and not boring or repetitive. although the game currently works. it isn't perfect in my opinion. I want it to be something people play for hours with friends and somewhere people can find lots of secrets and something people will talk about even when not playing.
Price, yes there is one!
The game will be around $5
As for the update on the game,
Right now you can play single player and multiplayer across 3 different backrooms, these are level 0, level 1, and level 2.
Each backroom has their own set entities but the main ones are:
- Smiler
- Faceling
- Skin Stealer
There are also TV's which are environmental entities.
There are items like the flashlight, camera and chalk. each with their own unique abilities.
You can escape, you do so by finding hidden digits to a passcode which you then have to put into the escape door to leave the nightmare!
All of the above is subject to change as this game grows or we get a bigger community, I am open to all ideas so please make them known in the Steam discussions.
In short,
Thanks for keeping up on the game, sorry that it wont be out as soon as some have hoped but the game is really quite new and has only been in development for a total of 2 months to this date by only me (solo developer)