We continued optimizing our animations in this round, focusing on making them smoother and faster. When an animation is played, it goes through three key stages:
Blend In: Transition from idle to action animation.
Action Animation: The actual animation (e.g., healing, reloading).
Blend Out: The active animation concludes, and the character resumes an idle state.
Some animations require the character to transition to a different idle state at the end (e.g., from standing to crouching). This means the idle animation must be set up correctly before the blend-out phase begins.
In the old system, the blend-out was executed after the action animation last frame ended, adding unneeded delays. With the new system, the blend-out is preloaded during the action animation, allowing the character to transition seamlessly into the proper state when the active animation finishes.
BONUS: This also resolves instances where the idle animation remained unchanged, causing the character to "wait" unnecessarily between sequences.
Here’s more improved animation sets:
Reload Animation: Smoother blending and faster transitions.
Healing Animation: Faster and adapted for different stances.
Peeking from Cover Animation: Completely redone and now much quicker.
INVENTORY/WEAPONS
Added recipes to break melee weapons into shelter materials (you can simply right-click and break them, if you can't check recipe for required tool)
Added rifle silencer for the .22LR Plinker rifle, which becomes the first multi-attachment weapon (can also take a 1x scope)
Changed the inventory picture for 1x and 8x scopes and gun & rifle silencers
REPORTED BUGS FIXED
Loot Backpacks: Fixed an issue where backpacks spawned under stairs. They now appear correctly on top.
Courhouse Map: Removed the locked door from the old location of lost tourists, room is now freely accessible.
Courthouse Map: Judge podium is now accessible and lootable
Melee Overwatch: Can now be properly set in tight spaces, covering all potential attack angles for better protection.
Zoom Levels: Fixed automatic zoom in areas with tall buildings (e.g., graveyard mausoleums). Roofs now blend properly.
Door Breaking Sounds: The sound effect now propagates correctly on both sides of the door.
Shooting Position Alignment: Fixed cases where characters not aligned to cover would shoot at walls from a crouch instead of adjusting to a proper firing position.
FEATURES COMING NEXT
Shelter Crafting: Workbench upgrades for more efficient crafting.
Optimized Item Stacks: Reduced memory usage for inventory management.
Additional Keybinds/Shortcuts: Including middle mouse button rotation.
Inventory Accessibility Upgrades: Streamlined navigation and faster item management.
Donate Tabs: Quicker switching between resource managers.
MAPS COMING NEXT
Federal Map: Includes FBI agents, strange new zombies, and a shady group called The Firm. Bonus: a new city encounter map.
Scrapyard Map: Features a new biker faction, a traveling cage fighting tournament, and other surprises.
Patch Notes - December 23rd, 2024
Although we just released our first major content patch, we decided we couldn't enjoy the holidays fully if we didn't leave our players with a much requested QoL improvement - a button to mass move items to and from your inventories/containers. Thank you again to you all who decided to join our community and contribute with your suggestions and feedback! See you in 2025!
NEW FEATURES/UPDATES
New GIVE ALL button: You can now mass move items from backpack to other containers (the button also responds to filters). GIVE ALL should appear to all player owned containers (backpack, car, stash)
Improved DONATE: Using the GIVE ALL button in a resource donation will now automatically select and move the correct items to the trade window.
Modified RECYCLING: The Recycling manager will no longer accept assembled weapons, after several of his workers tried to dismantle the firing mechanism with a hammer, nearly killing each other. In order to use weapons for donation you will need to dismantle them first (actually it's just a safety to avoid an accidental automatic donate of all your weapons using the new GIVE ALL button).
Modified SHELTER OVERVIEW: We renamed the GAS column in Notebook/Shelter to Power/Gas (and changed its icon) so the relation between gasoline for the generator and power used by the buildings is crystal clear.
FIXED BUGS/HANGS
Fixed a bug in Courthouse where the Bounty Bros encounter would activate when you already killed the cultists when talking to Judge Jenny
Fixed a rare Zombie Arena bug that would make the game hang (during the aspirant trials)
MORE TO COME!
Holidays Update & Patch Notes - December 21st
We’ve spent most of the last week monitoring your feedback and working on fixes for reported issues. Initially, we planned to separate urgent fixes (for the stable build) from content updates (in a beta build). However, in the spirit of the holidays, we decided to let everyone enjoy the bonus sandbox map directly! We still plan to separate the two update streams in the future, but for now enjoy them at will, together with a much smoother experience!
SANDBOX
New Maps: Added two new sandbox maps—Pious Graveyard and Grave Robber's Hideout. These are minimally tied to the RPG elements and won’t affect the overall campaign. The maps are accessible as soon as you finish the prologue story, but they're really meant for those who already finished the current EA content and thus have some experience with the game mechanics. Do not expect the enemies to cut you any slack if you're a newbie.
Warning (again): Both maps are technically Act 2 areas, so expect tough enemies armed with 9mm and 5.56 weapons. If played strategically, you can gather valuable resources, but be prepared for a challenge. The balance may be heavily skewed against you—proceed with caution!
Pious Graveyard: Features a mausoleum that grave robbers have repeatedly tried—and failed—to reach. Discover why they are so determined to succeed, despite heavy sacrifices.
The Pio Clan: Currently in disarray and not very communicative. They’ll explain why they’re hiding in the church and will trade resources with you. The church also serves as a safe spot to rest and recover.
Brother Nino: The trader has a special restock every game day for your convenience. He'll happily accept any loot you've persuaded those pesky grave robbers to part with.
INVENTORY
Sort Button: Located at the top-right of every backpack, box, or stash. It now stacks similar items in addition to grouping them as requested by many players.
LOGIC/FLOW
Fixed a bug where delivering the quest to Judge Jenny didn’t trigger successful completion of Secure Supermarket.
Fixed a bug where John Saint didn’t offer a blueprint reward after bringing him the ring from Secure Courthouse.
Completing the boss quest for John Saint now triggers a vote in the Notebook/Relations for an alliance with the cult.
Completing the boss quest for Judge Jenny now triggers a vote in the Notebook/Relations for an alliance with the army.
Fixed a bug where Snitch (Gas Station boss) retained the objective marker above his head after completing the quest (cosmetic fix requires a new save to take effect).
After fully exploring all Act 1 maps, a special radio cutscene will now play when you return home, signaling that the horde is near.
CODE
Improved save file backwards compatibility.
Fixed a bug where the game exited with a fatal error when an NPC under the mouse cursor despawned (e.g., during the Hungry Cultist quest at the Gas Station).
STORY/TEXT
First batch of text revisions by our new guest editor, Scott Hamm, covering:
Tutorial scenario
Pop-up help
Hero’s dream dialogue
Wake-up dialogue
First meeting dialogue
Sheriff's Office dialogue
Renamed Good Moonshiners in Little Italy to Moonshine Workers to avoid confusion with Drunk Moonshiners.
Renamed Bandit Slaves in Adams Villa to Cassey Bandits to clarify their hostile intentions.
ANIMATIONS
Introduced the first batch of faster animations (more improvements are planned):
Melee attacks and dodges
Shooting from cover
Characters now return to their starting positions after initiating an attack in stealth (crouch).
ENJOY THE BONUS CHALLENGE, YOU'VE EARNED IT!
ALSO, COMING SOON:
Additional Act 1 maps
Quest streamlining
More proofreading
Voiceover quality improvements
More keybind options
Move All button mirrored for quicker item transfers
Smart Donate Resources functionality for shelters
Tabs for quickly selecting managers during trade
Dev Blog: Early Access - Week One
The current public build of the game is showing strong signs of stability. While there are still a few patches to be applied, the problems seem proportionally limited. This allows us to keep the default branch as a stable release and end the code freeze to resume development. Meanwhile, everyone who bought the game is welcome to join the BETA BRANCH starting next week—provided you understand that it is a laboratory where things are experimental (and will sometimes go wrong).
So, what can you expect to see (and play) in the beta branch?
SANDBOX MAPS
Many of you have expressed a desire for more maps and the option to play them in a sandbox format. While Urban Strife was never advertised as a sandbox game, we’ve heard your feedback and thought of a solution that should make everyone happy!
We have many maps waiting in the campaign queue to be integrated into the game. A lot of effort has gone into their level design. Why not let everyone enjoy them while the main story is still being developed?
So… in the beta build, you will see all the maps that will eventually make up the game, complete with their real locations and details. The maps will be accessible for sandbox play as soon as they have a basic setup that supports combat (a local faction, basic traders for restocking, loot, etc.). Cutscenes and intrigue will be added later, as the maps exit “sandbox mode” and are fully integrated into the campaign.
Next week, you can expect a trip to a very gruesome graveyard, where Father Pio Di’Angello’s camp is under attack by a gang of ruthless slavers.
FASTER ANIMATIONS
Another common issue that many of you highlighted was the speed of the animations. While we initially planned to address this optimization later in Early Access, the feedback was clear, so we decided to start working on it now.
The animations will be updated in batches, with improvements released regularly. The first batch you’ll see focuses on faster melee attack animations.
This beta branch approach allows us to experiment and iterate, with your feedback as a critical part of the process. Thank you all for supporting the game in EA and hope you all have a lot of fun!
Patch Notes - December 11th, 2024
An issue where the hero's customization was randomly reset during the save/load process was fixed (again)
An issue that prevented players from redefining controls in Game Options has been fixed
(then another issue that prevented them using ESC key was found so we went down the rabbit hole and found out an entire history of how UE doesn't like people changing default controls; long story short, we found a way to fix it, you should be able to redefine controls now at will)
Patch Notes - December 10th, 2024 (rolled back)
An issue where the hero's customization was randomly reset during the save/load process was fixed
An issue that prevented players from redefining controls in Game Options has been fixed
The issue with the keys was INI related and required a more extensive fix. We'll rollback this patch and prepare a fresh one tomorrow.
An amazing journey ends… and another starts!
An incredible journey of over eight years reaches its harbor today. What began as a project that, on paper, seemed impossible has now become reality: Urban Strife.
This game was brought to life by a dedicated team of three devs, alongside a roster of amazing friends who generously contributed their expertise. It’s still a rough gem, waiting to be cut and polished—that’s why we chose the Early Access path. We believe this is the best way to finish our journey: together with you, the players. Those players who – same as us three - wanted more and always got less from their games, because “it is what our focus groups say is trending”.
Making this moment even more special, we’re launching Urban Strife with the support of MicroProse—a name that has been synonymous with gaming excellence for generations.
In the past two weeks, we shared an Early Access preview build with over 100 content creators. Thanks to their efforts, we identified and fixed a dozen critical bugs, resolved hundreds of minor issues, and introduced vital balancing and quality-of-life updates. Their generosity in donating their time and expertise has been invaluable, and we are deeply grateful to them.
To those who’ve said, “I like the game, but I’d rather play it when it’s out of Early Access,” we hear you, too. We invite you to stay with us on this journey—share your ideas and critiques, and help shape Urban Strife into the game you want it to be when it officially launches as version 1.0.
So… welcome to Urban Strife. If you’re curious about what lies ahead, we’ve prepared a detailed Early Access roadmap for you. If you’re ready to dive in, check out the introductory playthrough running on a loop on our store page, or explore the quick tips we’ve provided under the “Quick Reference” section of our Steam page.
Good luck out there, and thank you for your incredible support!
Autumn 2024 Dev Blog: It's been a long time coming...
Yes, it's been a long journey. But we came far and it was worth it. For those wandering how long this game was in development and how it looked back then, we've prepared a few before/after shots, a short comparison between our first ever public demo (2017) and the current game.
We are aware some of you expected a full release, considering how long it took us to reach this point. But we felt we had to own up to the “TBS Survival RPG” tag we have chosen to define our game. So when we had the turn-based strategy part dialed in, we looked at our RPG and felt it needed more. We added dialogue skill checks, character development and perks and we rewrote the story to give the player as much agency as possible. As soon as we had a good Strategy RPG, the survival part was crying for attention.
We came up with a modular base map, a barter economy with factional preferences and even a complex health system that goes from self-healing scratches to crippling injuries! Wounds can vary in their impact to your crew, with some requiring hospitalization or booster drugs that can even leave you with a bad hangover! Even more additions have been brought to the game, from backpacks, industrial crafting and much much more.
Each layer, taken separately, would’ve made a good game, but our ambition was to weave a unique combo of all three. And we believe we’re onto something really, really good. But it’s up to you, the players, to judge this. Yes, it’s Early Access. Yes, there are still nuts and bolts to tighten. But those wanting more from their games, those feeling the good old times of game development are gone - this game is for you. We dare you to join us for the final part of this exciting journey and put the finishing touches on a game we hope will become a classic.
Here’s a short glimpse of what is coming in Urban Strife Early Access:
An American town in the deep south that is full of intrigue and territorial in-fighting amongst survivor groups, with the looming danger of an incoming zombie wave that destroyed Atlanta
AI controlled enemies that dynamically adjust their tactics and weapon of choice based on your visible movements and group positioning.
AI enemies capable of advanced and varied roles: snipers, flankers, grenadiers, medics, even zombie controlling herders.
Special zombie AI that moves the horde in one turn, while preserving the individual sensors for each zombie (so you can split large groups if needed)
Firearms ballistics simulation, from weapon characteristics to bullet specifics determining the chance to hit.
Real material cover with five levels of penetration and three levels of body armor to go with it.
A unique adaptation of classic tile-based, isometric and action points systems in Unreal Engine, combining the very best of both worlds.
Full 24hr time passage with beautiful and immersive night/day progression that alters the schedules of the NPCs populating the world.
Your own zombie survival vehicles, starting with a beat-up sheriff cruiser or, depending on your choice of allies and friends, an iconic RV, a zombie-proof 4x4 truck or a military Humvee.
A base that you need to keep supplied with food, health and morale items in order to get a survival industry going and prepare for the incoming zombie siege.
A barter system, so you can trade your surplus supplies with other survivor groups and procure whatever you need.
Workshop and backpack crafting recipes, so you can fabricate items from scrap and looted resources, be those weapons, armor, medicine or even artisanal grenades
Secret FBI files with hidden backstories of the faction warlords that will unlock different endings to the game.
Slightly deranged recruits that you need to try and keep in harmony in your group by balancing their beliefs and friendship/adversities.
And finally, a personal story you carve through the hordes of undead, in order to discover your own special place in the world of Urban.
For those willing to get involved with the game development even more, we’ll have a beta branch ready on Steam with the features that are in the pipeline. If you’re curious what’s coming next, this branch enables you to find out for yourself.
Here's another sneak peek of our upcoming title, Urban Strife. This time we're showing a short night fight, to fit the theme of Steam Scream Fest we are attending. Please take this combat with a grain of salt - we've intentionally used a lot of noise makers to draw out the zombies. Do not try this at home, we are professional zombie killers (we also tend to die a lot in our playtesting but we edited out that part).
On a serious note, we've completely overhauled our hover information system and we've added a couple of the new voice-overs. You can also see the new plate carrier body armor at work in game.
You can check out the pre-recorded dev test on our Steam Store page or on our YouTube channel:
Urban Strife Sneak Peek
During the Turn Based Festival we will stream a dev playthrough of our latest game build.
The location shown is a gas station controlled by a group of bikers, about to go to war against a gang of zombie worshiping cultists. This is only a small part of the scenario, basically the initial contact with faction, where seek to gain their favour and gain access to their traders, before going to war against their adversary.
We stopped short of spoiling too much of the content, but hopefully you can get an idea of what is coming.
