Undead Blackout
Small update!
But this really is a tiny update, the game has had a few bugs squashed but the biggest is change is upgrading to Unreal Engine 5.2
This is laying the groundwork for a much larger update coming in the future.
Watch this space...
Or don't, we don't post updates here very frequently, to be honest. Go about your business and we will let you know.
Undead Blackout Patch Notes v3.1.0
Undead Blackout lives on! I think I left the last patch notes with a comment along the lines of 'maybe the last patch ever?'. Ha yeah no. That was clearly never gonna be the case, I will be updating this game until the day I die.
Update 3.1.0 is a relatively small one to be fair but it is going to be followed by 3.2 (shocker there) which should update the game to Unreal Engine 5 and add in a whole host of fixes and things. Not sure when that one will drop but stay tuned.
PATCH NOTES
Time playing the game seemed broken in the STATS screen. Not quite sure when that happened but the Time Played number got stuck at "0 HOURS 0 MINUTES" which is not ideal I guess
Increased rotation speed while the player is aiming from 50 to 100
Increased player walk speed from 100 to 200, also while the player is Aiming
Zombies have gotten faster! Their minimum move speed has gone up to 300 from 275
Removed references to keyboard controls but only temporarily. At the moment the game is primarily set up to be played with a control pad, as part of the next update I will be bringing back proper PC controls with mouse-based aiming etc.
New 4MB Logo is now added to the game! Have realised some of the splash images still have the old one on but that will have to wait for the next update
Shrunk the package size by over 1GB! Was previously 3.6GB on Steam, the game is now 2.5GB. Hopefully, this is just down to me removing a bunch of stuff rather than accidentally deleting four levels.
Upgraded to Unreal Engine 4.27.2which is the last major engine release before we hit 5.0.0
Undead Blackout Patch Notes
Pretty sure I have forgotten to write about some of the updates in the below notes but never mind, there have been loads of them. More importantly, the game has had a ridiculous amount of playtesting compared to recent releases which has helped me to balance it a little better as well as uncover all manner of broken things.
PATCH NOTES
All-New Survival Mode A brand new way to play through the levels! This essentially removes the Checkpoints from the normal mode, so as soon as you die you have to go right back to the start of the level and redo any Blackout Zones that you had previously completed. Much more of a challenge and adds some replayability to the whole thing. Naturally, on Steam this also means a bunch more Achievements for you to collect.
New Damage Effect Making it much easier to tell when you have been attacked by a zombie, the screen now flashes up a ‘Damage’ graphic just to make it super, super obvious.
Chambers Station Car Park Revamp It has ramps now! Like an actual multi-story car park. Breaks the space up more effectively and just looks slightly more realistic (when viewed from above obviously)
General Level Decorations All levels have received additional decoration, just a few extra objects or things to make them look better. I won’t go into each one or exactly which areas have had a revamp because I didn’t write them all down and cannot be bothered to go back through and figure it out. There is just more stuff. Trust me.
Extra Doorway in Redfield Manor Library It was a little too easy to get fully trapped in this section so an additional doorway has been added to allow you to try and get around any zombies that have bunched up in the hallway
More Explosive Barrels! They were actually not in every single Blackout Zone so that has been very much addressed. Go blow more things up.
Sprinting While Aiming No Longer Possible If you sprinted and aimed at the exact same time then you could sometimes end up with your Aimed Weapon mode on while Sprinting and then it would kinda get stuck on. No more! Have sorted that out.
Aim Mode Turn Speed Reduced This is part of some general tweaking to the difficulty of the game and so now while you are in Aimed Mode (laser targeting and one-shot kills) you rotate the player more slowly. I found it was a little overpowered the ability to just full one-hit kill the zombies. I like to make you work for it.
Aimed Walk Speed Reduced And alongside the above change I have also reduced the speed at which the player could walk. Again, making it slightly riskier to go into Aimed Mode.
New Checkpoints Added Before Blackout Zones If you die in a Blackout Zone the checkpoint was usually either at the start of the level or just outside the previous Blackout Zone, have now changed this so the most recent Checkpoint is right outside the Blackout Zone that you died in. Lets you get right back into the action.
Weapon Spawn Locations Tweaked There are now only two in each area and I have hidden them a bit more. Makes it slightly more challenging but also forces the player to explore each Blackout Zone a little more, there was a fair bit of dead space that could just be fully ignored if you focus just on refuelling and powering up the doors.
Weapon/Health Spawn Icons Makeover Just a slight jazzing up of the shape as well as changing the colours so the ammo and health are distinct from each other.
Removed Score Boosts Didn’t love these actually, they were dotted around the level but actually didn’t add much to the gameplay and so have been removed.
Ending Levels Somtime’s Gave Double Score Not even entirely sure how this happened? But I re-did the whole score calculation process and this seems to have stopped happening now.
Occasionally Couldn’t Finish Redfield Manor Due to the Trigger Volume not quite registering the player for some reason, you were sometimes unable to complete the third level. This has now been fixed!
Could Get Behind The Police Station This should not have been possible and could result in the player falling into the void of nothingness underneath the level. Has now been blocked off properly
Pavement Too High Outside Downtown Restaurant You could not walk onto it! Super annoying. Has been lowered.
You Were Unable To Shoot Through Open Blackout Doors on Valentine Forest Level This was due to trigger volumes being too high and the bullets reading them as having hit something, therefore they would disappear! Obviously not the case when the door is supposed to be open.
Reload Icon Now Disappears On Weapon Change It just stayed there before, even if you swapped to a gun that had loads of ammo in it. Now the icon will disappear but reappear should you then swap back to your low on ammo weapon.
More Zombie Models There was only one poor zombie before, now there are four variations which are randomly selected when a zombie spawns into the world
Zombies Damaged You Too Quickly Occasionally you could get from max health to dead far too quickly and all from just one zombie. This has been tweaked so the damage is in time with the zombie ‘attack’ animations.
Zombie Spawners Repositioned In almost every level and Blackout Zone these have been tweaked to allow for a more even spread of zombies and their routes to attack the player
Added Extra Spawner To Blackout Zones Five possible places the zombies can attack you from now within each Blackout Zone!
Zombies Spawning Outside The Prison In an area totally inaccessible to the player. Not very useful.
Zombie On A Wall In Redfield Manor a zombie would occasionally spawn up on a wall and not be able to get down nor could you shoot it.
Zombie On A Subway Train Very similar issue. Sometimes a few zombies would make their way onto the roof of the subway train within the Burton Line Subway level.
Blackout Door’s Have a Mesh Above The Main Door Just to make it look slightly less like you could probably jump over the door and not worry about having to power it up and stuff.
Helpful Yellow Cables Link All Blackout Doors & Power Consoles Makes it much easier to navigate from the consoles to the doors, they are not always right next to each other. Now you can just follow the yellow cable and you can find the exit.
Blackout Lights Mesh Improvement They now have a proper base to them! I mean, it is not a huge difference but it is better.
No More Skipping Music Tracks A few of the audio tracks stuttered as they started playing again and caused a notable hitch, this has now been removed and the music flows much more smoothly. Can barely tell it is the same thing on repeat mostly.
Generator, Blackout Door And Petrol Pump Now Makes Noise This was an oversight from previous versions, the generator actually makes some proper generator sounding noise now. The petrol pump is pumping petrol (shockingly) while the door makes some whirring ‘door opening’ noise. Makes it much easier to realise when these have stopped happening because the door is open or you ran out of fuel.
Zombies Groan That’s is pretty much it. They make weird noises. It is me. I am making the weird noises. I am so sorry.
Upgraded to Unreal Engine 4.26 which gives us some lovely improvements under the hood.
Patch Notes Version 2.3
Undead Blackout: Reanimated Edition is currently going through some huge changes in preparation for release on Xbox One. Less on the gameplay side and much more on the polish and optimisation side. This has been sorely lacking for a while now so it is about flippin' time.
The original plan was just to launch with version 3.0 on PC and Xbox at the same time, but while going through some early optimisations I realised the game runs TERRIBLY on less powerful machines and so felt the need to push out some optimisation gains early for the PC crowd. Frankly, these should have been done ages ago so very much my bad.
This will then be the last patch Undead Blackout: Reanimated Edition receives before the launch of 3.0. Currently, that is planned for very early Autumn.
Adding Culling Volumes to the levels which is weird as they definitely used to be there. Somewhere in the many updates, they disappeared which is a bit of a disaster. A Culling Volume basically removes objects from the game when we don't need them as the player is far away. The game can save on memory and performance by not rendering a bunch of floor tiles on the opposite side of the map to the player.
Removed Dynamic Shadowing from some foliage because it was causing some enormous hitches on the Xbox. Most notably on the trees, running near to them with your torch on causes the Frame Rate to absolutely die for a period. Changing the settings here has allowed them to be Culled without the Shadow disappearing from the world, which was a temporary issue I had to deal with. Overall, big performance improvement there.
Reduced the number of meshes in each level to save memory. And boy did we save some memory. On all levels, the number of Actors (things in the level) has been reduced by AT LEAST 50%. In some cases, it is well over 75%. This has been done through a combination of merging meshes where appropriate and creating new, larger meshes that are more fit for purpose. The result is less memory usage and far less strain on mid/low-level PCs.
Sewer Level is more claustrophobic now as a result of me making the tunnels a lot tighter. This gives a much better feel to this level and was something I realised while reducing the number of meshes in the level. This is much less to do with performance and much more to do with aesthetics.
Right that is it for now, back to work on the BIG improvements coming in version 3.0!
Patch Notes For Version 2.2 (and 2.1!)
It has been so long since I last wrote patch notes for Undead Blackout that I have accidentally released two patches and precisely no notes. And so here is the super-massive-combined patch notes for versions 2.1 and 2.2. They are a combination of absolutely boring things and some genuinely good updates for the game. Patch notes for 2.1 can be found at the bottom, but 2.2 is where the good stuff is. The core mechanic of the Blackout Zones has been redesigned and is loads more fun. Lots more quality of live improvements as well as some good old fashioned bug fixing.
The plan now is to move onto some serious polish and fleshing out of existing features or modes as I really accelerate the Xbox version plans. It is currently running really well on the console and so the next major update for Steam will coincide with the release on console, hopefully sometime toward the end of the summer.
Full patch details below!
Blackout Zones have been redesigned and the outcome of this is the game increases both the fun and action by approximately 87%. This is according to some in-depth data analysis I did. Honestly. Basically, the whole 'Power up the door by holding down a button' has been replaced with a somewhat similar but vastly superior mechanic. You now have to refuel a generator, switch it on which in turn switches on a bunch of lights, then turn on the door which will slowly open. Now once the fuel runs out, the lights switch off ( A BLACKOUT IF YOU WILL!) and you have to refuel again. The switching on of these things attracts the zombie horde, otherwise, you get a steady stream of them coming into the area.
This ramping up of excitement/zombies works really well. You have to balance the risk and reward of how quickly you try and power everything up. Go crazy fast and you might be overwhelmed. Go slow and your score will be decreased by the end of the level as you took so long. Plus you still might randomly die anyway.
Redesigned Levels with the intention of funneling you to the action much quicker. I have removed pretty much all of the more open spaces in between Blackout Zones as I found the player could end up getting lost or at least confused about which way to go. Funneling them directly to the Blackout Zones, which is really where all the fun happens, makes so much more sense.
You can walk slowly while aiming now as I think the Blackout Zone tweaks meant the player vs zombie dynamic needed a little balancing. Being stuck still while aiming leads to you dying way too much.
Animated the opening titles to make the game seem fancy.
Added a Subway Car to the Subway cos I mean...that makes sense right? You need an actual Subway car in a Subway level, right?
Tweaked audio for zombie footsteps as the 'Dirt' audio had no Sound Attenuation and so didn't sound right. It was far too loud.
Player start on Station level was in the wrong place and if this has been there for a while then it basically meant if you died on the third Blackout Zone and then restarted, you would be stuck in some level geometry. Good stuff.
Improved functionality of the tutorial text in that it will just disappear on its own after a while. Previously you had to get to a certain spot in the first level to switch each prompt off. Now it just times out and disappears.
A random UE4 man was in the Police Station and I cannot remember if I added him while testing this patch or if (as I suspect) he has just been hanging out there the entire time, minding his own business and providing me with something to measure height against. But he is now gone.
Raised the roof in the Prison but not in a fun, party way. In the very literal sense, the roof mesh was far too low and clipped into the camera.
Upgraded to Unreal Engine 4.25.1 mostly so I am all updated and ready to go with the Xbox version of the game which will be the next major patch just FYI!
All new logo! Yes, it is the big update everyone has been waiting for. The 4MB Interactive logo has been updated to the new 4MB Interactive logo, replacing the old 4MB Interactive logo.
Fixed bug where you could run while using Aimed Shot. Yeah, you should not have been able to do that. By mashing Fire and Aim at the same time you could trick the game and sprint around with the super-powerful aimed shot. Cheating. Pure cheating. Anyway, this is gone now.
Updated to Unreal Engine 4.23 which was good but in 2.2 we have updated to 4.25.1 so basically this is pointless.
Hotfix 2.0.1
A quick post that sorts out a few hilarious oversights from the initial upload of Undead Blackout: Reanimated Edition 2.0.0. Details below and be prepared for more of these as I find other ridiculous things that need fixing.
- Loading screen images and text were not appearing for some hilarious reason. Works perfectly fine in the normal version but as soon as it was packaged, dead. Nothing. A big old white screen filled with disappointment. I assumed this was a massive technical issue that would take up hours of my time. Actually it was just because I literally didn’t tell the Loading Screen to show any images. Fixed now.
- Tweaked the Story text on two levels after spotting a spelling mistake and thinking of something funnier.
- Mouse Control was half working despite me saying it is currently not working so that has been fully switched off for now. It is coming back though soon.
- Forgot to add images to the various achievements (well I did before but then deleted them to replace with new ones and then totally didn’t replace them). These have now been added back into Steam.
- Also amazingly forgot to add the ACTUAL ACHIEVEMENTS BACK IN. Well done, me. These should now be working correctly. Go collect those achievements.
Undead Blackout 2.0 Is Here (kind of)
The last update was about how Undead Blackout was getting rebooted and would return in a blaze of glory, at least a million times better than before. Well guess what? UNDEAD BLACKOUT 2.0 IS HERE!
Mostly. Not quite all of it. But most of it.
Given I wanted to get the game done in time for the Steam Summer Sale, some corners have been cut and a few features I wanted to include have been left out but they will be coming in future updates. There are a few areas of the game that look a little sparse, the options menu is a mess right now so I have basically just removed most of it and there is currently no keyboard and mouse support. However all of these things are 100% coming over the next few weeks.
Enough about what isn't coming, what has actually changed in this shiny new version of the game? Here are the key points, a really in-depth post will follow at a later date! Preferably not in 12 months from now.
- Completely Rebuilt From The Ground Up
Undead Blackout: Reanimated Edition might as well be a new game. While assets have obviously been reused in a lot of places, much has been built completely from scratch for this game. Every system has been redesigned.
In fact I have managed to shave off over 1GB in terms of package size and expect to be able to reduce this further in time. The whole game is better optimised and just a heck of a lot more fun to play. Is it perfect? Of course not. But it will keep getting better.
The game takes advantage of the latest version of Unreal Engine 4 which brings with it some incredible optimisations, allowing the game to run smoother and on more machines than ever before.
- All New Gameplay
The previous version involved the player running around trying to find keys which unlock doors, eventually making their way to the end. It was fine, but not the most fun thing in the world.
That is now all changed. The game centres around Blackout Zones. Areas of the level that the player is trapped in and must power up a door in order to escape. Obviously during this time there is an unending stream of the Undead heading right for you. It is frantic, it is fun and it is dimly lit.
The rest of the level essentially connects the Blackout Zones together. There is a bit of branching in the paths but mostly it is fairly linear and enemies, while random in number, will appear in much the same spots.
The further into the game you get, the more Blackout Zones will appear within each level.
Similarly there has been more of an emphasis placed on the arcade style of gameplay, the game is now all about highscores and increasing your multiplayer. There will be further developments in this area moving forward.
- 10 Newly Designed Levels
Given the change in gameplay it will come as no surprise that the levels have had a massive revamp. They are much larger, better designed and have removed a lot of the annoying elements that plagued the last version of the game. Namely getting lost completely, not being able to find the key and the zombies doing weird stuff around doors. Solved that one by just removing all the doors.
The Blackout Zones are the only areas in total darkness now, everywhere else benefits from some forms of light to make it so that you really shouldn't get caught out here (although it can still happen).
And you may have noticed that there are now 10 levels. 4 more than previously so you are just getting a lot more zombie bashing for your buck.
- The Zombies Are So Much Dumber
This might come as a shock to you but the AI in the earlier version was actually pretty decent. Zombies would wander around and react to you running past or investigate gunshots. The problem was that this was actually no fun. A lot of the time they just wandered straight past you while in the next room.
So I have ditched the AI. These zombies can smell you a mile off and know exactly where you are so you had best reload that gun of yours. Which brings me too...
- Melee Weapons Are Out. Infinite Ammo Handgun Is In
I loved the idea of having melee weapons, but again, it just wasn't that fun. You could spend ages looking for a gun and getting annoyed that you died so the decision was made to scrap the axe and give players a pistol by default. A pistol with infinite ammo.
There are still Assault Rifles and Shotguns dotted about but you will at least be able to fend off the Undead with your trust pistol should you feel the urge. It has made the game more fun, more fast paced and actually more skill based seeing as you can one-shot kill the zombies when using the Aiming mode.
Right that is honestly the main stuff. Might not seem like a lot but a million different things went into making all that happen. There will be more regular updates going into the game over the rest of summer, the missing things I have highlighted will all be added and the game will continue to be optimised as we push forward with the Xbox One release.
Thanks to those who have bought the game so far (I know it is not all that many!) and hopefully Undead Blackout: Reanimated Edition gives the game a new lease of life.
Tom Gilchrist
Found & Creative Director of 4MB Interactive Ltd.
Undead Blackout Is Not Dead Just Yet...
The game was then given a massive update which landed just before Christmas and while this improved and fixed so many elements, it still hasn't reached a level where I am happy enough to let it go. Crucially the game is slated to release on Xbox One through the ID@Xbox program but it just does not work on Xbox One. Not ideal really.
Part of me wants to just let it go and move on, another part of me wants to go back to the drawing board (for like the tenth time) and get it right. So guess which part has won this internal battle? That's right, Undead Blackout has gone back to the now battered drawing board for one final time.
Over the past month or so I have been putting together an all-new version of the game which is currently sitting in a pre-alpha stage, ready to move into alpha. That is to say, the mechanics are all present but there is only one crappy level and the whole things looks ugly as sin. Crucially it is working absolutely perfectly on the Xbox One dev kit.
Every element of the game is going to be improved upon but perhaps where the biggest change will be seen is in the design of the levels. The existing levels were quite open in many instances and this led to a lot of wandering around looking for keys and ammo and often completely failing to find either. Also given the zombies had their own AI powered wandering you could often fail to run into them altogether.
The new levels will be a lot more focussed. I am not completely ditching the open aspects in favour of some crappy top-down corridor shooter, instead the levels will adopt a more even flow, taking the player through some narrower sections before opening out into a larger area and so on. The current plan is for 10 new levels, many of which will be based on existing level themes while a couple will be all new areas.
The gameplay is heading in a much more arcadey direction, the slight "top-down Resident Evil" vibe is vey much gone and this is much more toward the Smash TV x Left4Dead end of the spectrum. Even in the exceptionally basic test arena I currently have working, the game is arguably already more fun due to the increase in action.
Many other parts of the game will be thoroughly polished and improved upon and I won't bother listing them here as that is just boring but shall detail them as we go through this rebuild process. I am hoping for weekly dev blogs and lots of updates on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
One final super important point (especially if you are thinking about buying the game), I fully expect that once the game has been massively improved and the amount of content has increased that I will push the price up from $3.99 to $4.99. Not a huge increase of course but still, if you want to save yourself a small amount of money then grab the game now.
Undead Blackout Updated to 1.5 - ACHIEVEMENTS ARE HERE!
Patch Notes
1. Finally Steam Achievements have made it into Undead Blackout, there are 20 of them for the time being but chances are I will add in some more at a later date. The full list can be found within Steam
2. The opening of Redfield Manor never quite felt right to me so this has been totally changed, the Bronze key is now found in a shed or nearby clearing down the side of the Manor, you can no longer actually get round to the back of the Manor before going into the building itself.
As well as the start of the level, changes have been made to the end of the level. Instead of going into that little shed thing, the entrance to the Sewers is now through a tunnel in the cliffs. This is an entirely new area of the level and obviously not accessible until you find the Gold key.
Naturally positions of weapons, ammo, health etc have all been updated as well to accommodate for the extra room. I think it flows a lot better now, hopefully you agree!
3. The Shoreside Hotel level now opens with a little stroll through the overrun city, similar to Redfield Manor this improves the overall flow of the level by spacing things out a little more. And of course more space means MORE ZOMBIES!
4. Zombies no longer get confused and simply stop walking when they encounter a locked door. The AI will now realise the door is locked and look for somewhere else to move to.
5. The walking and running speed of zombies has been slightly increased to raise the overall level of challenge a little. Things have been a bit too easy if you ask me.
6. The movement of the player when in AIMED mode is now much, much slower. Basically the instant kill AIMED mode will only be effective when the player has the time and space to get set and they are already vaguely aimed at the zombie. Spinning round relatively quickly and picking zombies off one by one is no longer doable. Sorry.
7. The Docks have been increased in size, the first two locations now contain an extra warehouse! Again, changes have also been made to where ammo and everything spawns to make better use of the space.
8. There is now a pathway through the Jarvis Prison courtyard area to allow players to quickly make their way to the nearest doors, plus I have fenced off the football pitch area in order to make the whole thing look better. Oh and it might be worth trying to score a goal if you haven't done so before...
9. Permanent Ammo and Health locations have been added to all levels. The respawn locations are all the same but this now means that there are spots in the level where one health pack or ammo crate will always spawn but only once per level. These are more hidden than the one's that respawn to seek them out.
10. The City Sewers have had a number of visual additions such as dripping water and cables but the main thing is that the final Gold Gate has been moved to the start of the tunnel so the player doesn't wander all the way up it only to find they need a key.
11. Changing weapons now triggers a nice little Audio cue.
12. Increased the brightness from gunflashes
13. When using a controller, Weapon Change has been reverted to Left and Right on the D-Pad as opposed to Up and Down.
14. The volume of player footsteps has been increased. Literally couldn't hear it before.
15. Fixed a bug where the player would no longer be able to switch weapons when playing with a controller once they pause and unpause the game.
16. Fixed a bug which occurred when a player completed a level and moved onto the next one, the game would think you already had all the keys so you could simply go and unlock any door you wanted. Not anymore though!
Hotfix 1.4.1
- Fixed bug where Player Two would also look at Player One’s mouse cursor location when using keyboard/mouse controls
- Fixed issue where Redfield Manor would not load correctly in two player co-op mode. Literally wouldn't work at all.