Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Simulator, Strategy, Tactical, Hack and slash/Beat 'em up
We Who Are About to Die
[DEVLOG] How being a game dev changed my life
New VLOG!
To celebrate the 1 year Anniversary, I made a video detailing the launch and how it changed my life. Hope you enjoy! (Would also love your suggestion for other videos you'd like to see in the YT comment section) CLICK HERE to watch on Youtube!
UPDATE: Anniversary Update OUT NOW! + 25% discount
Fellow Aspirants!
One year ago today, I released We Who Are About To Die into Early Access.
I almost can't believe it. At the time, I was a complete mess - years of work and total uncertainty. One "release button" between me and the scenario I had been both fantasising about and dreading for so long. To say things went well, is an understatement. My life has completely changed. The last year has been incredible - I took a much needed break, went to GDC and Gamescom for the first time, met dozens of local and international game devs, learned an unbelievable amount of new stuff (fast), and most importantly: the team expanded - 3 core members and 10+ contractors have worked on the game in the last year! - We've released several updates including a major update
To celebrate the anniversary, v0.25, a continuation of the Combat Controls Update is out now! The game is also 25% off to celebrate, so its a great time to share it around.
Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart for your support and enthusiasm for this weird gladiator game.
Newsletter!
We are already full force planning & working on the next Major Update - there are many exciting things to come for both WWAATD and future projects for many years to come. We're starting a newsletter where we will inform you of any massive updates, game studio developments and new games we might be making. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe here: https://subscribe.jordylakiere.net/Newsletter
This update is a continuation of the Combat Controls Update. It focuses on combat responsiveness, stability, physics tweaking, UI and QoL improvements.
Changes and additions
MAJOR
New map variation: Lion's Roar
New Godly 1h Axe: Vultura
New Godly 1h Mace: Maladorn
New Godly Spear: Imperius
New Godly Shield: Lion’s Echo
New Godly Polearm: Thundaka
New Godly Armor: Exalted Helm
New Godly Armor: Exalted Armplates
New Godly Armor: Exalted Legplates
Added updated blocking system for melee weapons in Third Person Mode
Updated attack animations across the board
MINOR
Audience is more dynamic and rotates towards the action
Audience is more responsive to player’s cheers after winning a fight
Added new character graphics and code LOD system (performance boost)
Added audience framerate LODs (performance boost)
Made sideways character movement in the entrance sequence less sensitive
Combat changes
Attack animations and body mechanics have been tweaked to improve attack telegraphing and increase attack consistency. Attacks will now be directed slightly more towards the center of the screen
Changing attack direction mid-animation now requires a larger countermovement in Third Person Mode
Improved combat walking animation
Balance changes
Max stamina reduction caused by your health only starts to apply once your health drops below 60% (down from 100%)
Attack speed is lowered once your stamina drops below 80% (down from 100%)
Executor now has a higher max stamina
AI characters now attempt to move closer to the player to account for weapons with less range
Throwing attacks have a much higher chance to disarm shields
Melee attacks have a slightly higher chance to disarm shields
Slightly increased stun durations on shield bash and kick
Shield bash stun duration is now scaled by shield size and skill as well.
Slightly increased throwing timing window for spears
UI Changes
Added a weapon flash/glow when the attack is fully readied (quick flicks do less damage)
Added a lock icon and animation to indicate when the player's attack direction has been locked
The “damage cross” icon from Classic Mode is now also present in Third Person Mode
Added blocking cursor icon UI in Third Person Mode
The BattleMenu has been restructured and has Widescreen support now (in theory)
Heirloom auxiliary slot tag now shows up as "INVALID" when the item in it is too rare
Stamina bar now clearly shows the "low stamina" threshold
Stamina bar now displays the max stamina reduction caused by events and training
Combat tips are now also shown on loading screens
Added character name to victory screen
Game Options have been restructured to improve clarity
Rank progression bar has been made lighter
Bugfixes
Fixed the issue where the game didn't register the "any key" press at the start
Fixed some resolution issues on the Battle Menu
Fixed an exploit where you could infinitely trigger "investment" by going to the main menu and back
Fixed an issue where the Thrill Seeker Civilian fee would be applied every time you loaded your game, regardless of whether it was already paid
Fixed an issue where "Reset To Defaults" in Game Options would only reset certain options
Fixed an issue where kicks would not correctly cause knockbacks
Fixed light errors on Lion's Roar
Battle gold rewards now include gains from bets
Fixed an issue where Patron Favour display would not be updated after bribery
Invert y-axis setting now doesn't reset on load
Reduced the amount of situations where your spear would be flipped
"Cheer" now works on controller
Various minor audience fixes and tweaks
Gold and fame rewards are now saved when exiting the game mid-battle
The training gear to pay is now saved when exiting the game mid-battle
Fixed some issues where controller wouldn't navigate the UI correctly
Fixed an issue where you could reveal battle option info over and over on gamepad
Fixed an issue where you could select and activate locked battle option
Fixed an issue where the time statistics would be displayed incorrectly
Fixed many small UI bugs
Many many more.... as usual
As usual there is definitely tons we missed, go check it out for yourself! Thank you again, and let me know your thoughts in a comment.
As always - we who are about to die salute you, Jordy
EA v0.22 patch changelog
Hello Aspirants!
0.22 is here! This small patch includes some bugfixes, optimisations and minor changes/additions while we work towards a larger patch.
Changes & Additions
Various tweaks and improvements to third person mode - things like camera position/zoom, lower FOV, lower sensitivity and less camera lag. (hopefully a step towards reducing motion sickness as well)
Part 1 of a new "character/audience code LOD" system which optimises the game when it comes to processing characters and physics (=CPU focused)
Map and graphics optimisations (=GPU focused) - more to come!
Reworked character physics "skeleton"
More stable physics (hopefully!)
Slight reworks to Stadium Spike variation
Bugfixes
Fixed bug preventing the Exalted Cuirass from showing up (finally -- sorry again!)
Fixed bug where AI would have an unnecessary delay on start of combat
Fixed navigation issue on Stadium Spike variation
Fixed some rebinds not working properly
Fixed issue where death and battle victory can trigger together
Minor UI fixes
Minor wording issues when playing with gamepad
Fixed dead gladiators astronaut space-program, I think... (F in chat for the best bug ever)
As always, We who are about to die salute you! Jordy
EA v0.21 patch changelog
Hello Aspirants!
0.21 is here! We've been hotfixing some of this stuff in the past week but here is a quick summary of the fixes and changes so far including the update just now:
Additions/Changes
Added an invert Y camera option
Added the "old" owakhan boots back, now renamed Hanian boots
Replaced the owakhan backstory starter boots back to Hanian boots
Extended AI's perception radius so they don't idle in the middle of the arena as much
Bugfixes
Fixed new Godly Chestpiece missing from the shop (sorry, veterans!)
Fixed bug where Steam VR would start up with the game
Fixed bug where helms would take very excessive durability decay (RIP helmets!)
Fixed bug where Owakhan Round Shield would fall through the floor
Fixed fame gain rounding error in the match victory panel
Fixed some voice sound effects not being affected by volume option
Fixed bug where Mazza's Statue effect was triggerable even if you didn't have enough gold
Fixed bug where the Fame Guage would continue even when game is paused
Fixed bug where shieldbashes didnt work on characters bodies
(attempted) fix/improvement on Villa 2 to prevent stuck AI
Small visual fixes to some particle effects
Fixed Extra Ordinary scollo upgrade to work with new shop system
Fixed rounding issue with patron favor and patron favor victory check
Fixed a small skinning issue on Myrodon leg armor
Fixed UI collission issues with the difficulty select widget
Fixed lost controller focus on completing a backstory (run victory panel)
Fixed bug where mouse cursor would highlight a button on the pause menu when playing controller
added failsafe for missing Rank Up rewards ending a run in specific circumstances
Fixed bug where new Owakhan Chestpiece had no colission
Fixed bug where the mouse cursor would snap around during career menu navigation
Fixed bug where a default/test event was being shown
Probably forgetting a load of stuff, as usual!
As always, We who are about to die salute you! Jordy
MAJOR UPDATE: Combat Controls Update OUT NOW! + 30% discount
Fellow Aspirants!
The Combat Controls Update is here! You can find the full changelog at the bottom of this post.
After years of solo dev, we have grown into a small team in the past few months and I'm thrilled to release our first Major Update! The Combat Controls Update aims to improve and expand some very fundamental parts of the game to set us up for the rest of Early Access. ⚔️
Check out this overview video I made: Third Person Mode - This is a brand new, game changing camera / controls setup. The original version is now "Classic Mode" and you can toggle dynamically between the two. We've added details to all arena's too so you can explore them from this new perspective.
TPM is more immersive, you don't have to manage the camera, and far easier to learn when starting out.
Controller Support We've added controller support! The combat is already very smooth, but note that non-combat controller support is still experimental. We will refine this in upcoming patches! Found a bug? Report them to us on Discord!
Didn't find a bug? join our community on discord anyway!. Follow progress updates, vote on polls, steer the design direction and/or just hang out with us!
Early Access v0.2 - Combat Controls Update
Full Changelog
MAJOR new features & content
New Third Person Mode
New Controller Support
New Throwing Overhaul
New Lionslayer difficulty (Hard Mode)
Visual upgrade to character proportions and poses (inside combat and out)
20+ new and reworked items for fleshed out Owakhan and Lophosi cultures
Smart Shop: shop overhaul that considers your needs more
New Dynamic volumetric fog on most maps
New weapons & shields pick-up system
A combat Item overlay to quickly scan for interesting items
Combat changes
Brand new updated bottom right 1h attack animation
Damage calculation has been heavily rebalanced as to be more reliable
Improved General combat feeling and Attack Direction responsiveness
Improved AI flanking and surrounding logic
Added Attack Lock, directional attacks are locked after a certain mouse pull distance
Movement speed is increased when unarmed
Added a simple parry system
Stuns are now slower or faster depending on player’s stamina
Improved upper body movement on polearms and spears
Left side pole-arm 'stun' hits are now 1 animation, not 3
New Content
Reworked all Lophosi and Owakhan unit types
Added Lophosi Vanguard unit type
Added Owakhan Sentinel, Owakhan Maniac unit type
Added full new Lophosi Armor set (Lophosi leatherplate: chest, legs, arms, helm)
Added Lophosi Barbed Spear
Revamped existing 3 helms/hats to Lophosi style
Renamed / culture shifted several items to Lophosi
Added full new Owakhan Armor set (Owakhan Sentinel set, chest, legs, arms, helm)
Added new sword: Owakhan Bone Sword
Added new spear: Owakhan Bone Spear
Added new shield: Owakhan Woven Shield
Added new shield: Owakhan Round Woven Shield
Revamped the entire existing Owakhan Armor set
Revamped Owakhan Dome Helm
Revamped the Low and Mid tier Owakhan hats
Added Godly Ornate Cuirass
Added destructible Lute
Added destructible Stools
Added a new tattoo'd character skin
Balance changes & tweaks
Added more noticeable gear durability decay
Rework of all blood effects with new directional FX, UI FX and Sound FX
Added deadzone under player character for cursor registration
Added various combat sound effects (pan-clunks!)
Added new destructibles (Stones, stools, ...)
Changed rarity of some map variations
Small improvements to the item spawners and item pools
Countless balancing tweaks to equipment. (and some name changes)
UI & Career changes
Addition of map images in career menu match options
Added colour customisation on backstory selection
Added two new music tracks
Updated the character platform in career menu
Camera angle, map, shop layout and stamina regeneration adjustments for career menu
Sped up animations on victory fame and favor panels
General UI/UX changes in career menu for better user experience (for Controller especially)
Revision of the Tutorial. Updated and revised dialogs and videos for controller and third person mode
Updated and expanded keybinds menu
Added camera sensitivity sliders to game options
Added game options to auto-show nearby items overlay when unarmed
Updated the credits!
Graphics changes
Map updates to suit Third Person Mode
New pit day-time variation
Small upgrades to the spectators
Added some stools for spectators to sit on in various maps
Bugfixes & other
Added basic anonymous telemetry to the game (opt out in Game Options any time)
Fixed bug where AI would run right into you when trying to flank
Fixed bug where throwing weapons would sometimes lose collission
Fixed bug where pick up decals were warped
Fixed bug where characters could get stuck in Stadium spikes variation map
Fixed a bug where shop fame unlocks were not permanent
Added the Bronze Gathaldaka correctly to the shop
Various minor Tutorial map, UI and audio fixes
Lowered the volume on spike traps in the Pit map
Corrected the fame cost for unlocking additional fights
Fixed a bug where gear took too much damage on each uninsured match
Fixed a bug where you got stuck in Terantia City Center map
Fixed (hopefully) issue where enemy got stuck outside bounds and was not teleporting
Cleaned up the buggy amount of items in Linolian Theatre and Stadium maps
Fixed various UI bugs on main menu options
Battlemenu skulls can now go up to 4 or more (Lionslayer)
Fixed the bug where the AutoCam setting was not correctly saved and loaded
Many many many more!
And probably some more stuff, its hard to keep track! If you made it this far, congrats! Let me know your thoughts in a comment.
And as always -we who are about to die salute you, Jordy
[DEVLOG] Combat Controls Update video preview / overview!
NEWS: Attention, Champions! Combat Controls Update preview #2 is here!
⚔️Aspirants! Combat Controls Update preview #2 is here -- last time we talked about visual aspects of the update, you can check that out here. Today we'll talk about all the major gameplay changes, which is really the bulk of the update.
Third Person Mode
Wait, isn't the game already third person mode?
⚔️Kind of -- but not really! Originally We Who Are About To Die was an exploration of directional mouse based combat disconnected from the camera. To make that work, I added an overhead perspective, targeting and things like AutoCam. Once you're used to it, it works quite well, but its very different to most games. Its love it or hate it - many people asked for a true Third Person Mode in the style of say Mount&Blade, Breath of the Wild, God of War... and I heard you!
TL;DR in this new Third Person Mode, your camera is tied to aiming input -- no more need to fight the camera. Look at these comparisons! It is more immersive and easier to get into when new to the game, with some sacrifices of clarity and overview.
You can look and aim up & down much easier. The original mode is now called Classic Mode, and best of all -- you can switch dynamically between the two depending on your need. Just hit R in combat! Do you think you'll be playing TPM or Classic more? Let me know in the comments!
Controller Support
⚔️Combat Controller Support is introduced in the Combat Controls Update. (Career controller support will be coming later.) After lots of iteration on the control scheme I'm happy to say it feels really good.
To attack, you hit the Right Trigger and aim in a direction with the right analog stick as if you would with a mouse. There are subtle differences in how combat works with controller to make it flow better.
You can also play with controller in both Third Person Mode and Classic mode. Lastly, thanks to our developer Lino, the tutorial and (almost) every UI element has been updated already too, as well as the rebinds menu so you can customize the layout.
Throwing System Overhaul
⚔️The entire throwing system has been reworked from the ground up. Originally, it was purely physics based and based on timing - drop your weapon ('let go') during any attack or movement and it 1:1 keeps going - a throw! Innovative and interesting, but unwieldy. Even for grizzled veterans, throwing is more of a gimmick than a true strategic component of combat.
So I decided to rework it fully and make it more useable.
Same foundation, but more automated aiming. Every mode (TPM/Classic, controller or keyboard/mouse) has a custom solution, but the gist is the weapon will be thrown to where you are aiming as long as you released your weapon during a certain (generous) window. Certain attack types like overhead have more power and accuracy, and throwing is dependent on your character's Throwing Skill for overall force and accuracy.
At lower throwing skill (= lower strength) you will also throw more upward dynamically to reach far away targets. You have no idea what a pain this was to implement!
High character skill throws are more direct in a straight line and more likely to hit whatever is in front of you.
Smart Shop
⚔️Yosha, our programmer, has completely reworked the underlying logic fueling the 'random' shop and its items. The system now works with 'recipes' that we can easily plug in. The default shop recipe makes sure there are items that are very appropriate to your current level, that there's a great balance of different types (fewer situations with 4 weapons etc!) and that you get no duplicates (except in niche situations)
The great thing is this is fully data driven, so adding specific shop recipes is a piece of cake. We could create new events in the future that make it so the shop only sells tier 2-3 helmets and axes, or pretty much whatever we can think of.
I can personally attest from testing, the shop is significantly more engaging - there's always appropriate options to purchase and it feels so much better.
Auto-Pickup & Item Overlay
With Controller Support added, we needed a solution to pick up items. Fortunately it also translates back to Keyboard&Mouse. You can now pick up the nearest item by pressing Q or E respectively without having to click on the item -- super easy and quick.
There's a small item tooltip associated with this, and at the same time, we added an overlay that shows all tooltips on screen so you can quickly scan for interesting items.
Combat Changes
Attack Lock
⚔️The way attack (directions) lock in now has been changed. For directional attacks (sideways) you have to pull a certain distance, then it locks in. Previously it would lock your attack after a specific amount of time instead.
Damage rebalance
⚔️Damage calculation has been heavily rebalanced as to be more reliable. In short, the point of your weapon that hits the enemy is weighed less, and the overall speed of your weapon more.
Example: before, a sword would deal significantly more damage if you hit with the tip versus the middle. Makes some sense, but it made damage more unpredictable and unstable. Now turning into your attack manually is more impactful. More stable, and feels better.
Animation Fixes
⚔️Some animations have been fixed and adjusted. For example, 1 handed right uppercut attacks have been redone completely to be more clean. Polearms now have 1 single left-side stun/backhand attack animation, which is less confusing.
New FX and Scaled damage effects
⚔️All blood effects have been reworked and several new layers of FX, UI FX and sound FX have been added that scale according to your damage. In short, you can better tell how strong your hit was by the gamefeel.
Hard Mode
⚔️For the advanced players: after you've completed at least 1 legacy/backstory, hard difficulty unlocks (called Lionslayer). AI deals more damage, you earn less gold and fame and so on, but more importantly, the AI is more competent in combat from level 1 to avoid a slow & unchallenging early game. The default for this mode should be losing, even if you are very good - so I hope to get all your feedback on this mode! Remember, dying is fun!
Ready to Ascend?
⚔️There's even more to the Combat Controls Update, believe it or not - the UI has gotten polish, there's new sound effects, items (Including revamped Owakhan hats, a new spear, 2 hander and shield!), destructibles, map updates, colour customisation and more!
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think, what you're most excited about, and to help us out, share a link to this post or the game where-ever you can - word of mouth made all of this possible!
We who are about to die salute you, Jordy
NEWS: Attention, Champions! Ascension Update preview #2 is here!
⚔️Aspirants! Ascension Mode preview #2 is here -- last time we talked about visual aspects of the update, you can check that out here. Today we'll talk about all the major gameplay changes, which is really the bulk of the update.
Third Person Mode
Wait, isn't the game already third person mode?
⚔️Kind of -- but not really! Originally We Who Are About To Die was an exploration of directional mouse based combat disconnected from the camera. To make that work, I added an overhead perspective, targeting and things like AutoCam. Once you're used to it, it works quite well, but its very different to most games. Its love it or hate it - many people asked for a true Third Person Mode in the style of say Mount&Blade, Breath of the Wild, God of War... and I heard you!
TL;DR in this new Third Person Mode, your camera is tied to aiming input -- no more need to fight the camera. Look at these comparisons! It is more immersive and easier to get into when new to the game, with some sacrifices of clarity and overview.
You can look and aim up & down much easier. The original mode is now called Classic Mode, and best of all -- you can switch dynamically between the two depending on your need. Just hit R in combat! Do you think you'll be playing TPM or Classic more? Let me know in the comments!
Controller Support
⚔️Combat Controller Support is introduced in the Ascension Update. (Career controller support will be coming later.) After lots of iteration on the control scheme I'm happy to say it feels really good.
To attack, you hit the Right Trigger and aim in a direction with the right analog stick as if you would with a mouse. There are subtle differences in how combat works with controller to make it flow better.
You can also play with controller in both Third Person Mode and Classic mode. Lastly, thanks to our developer Lino, the tutorial and (almost) every UI element has been updated already too, as well as the rebinds menu so you can customize the layout.
Throwing System Overhaul
⚔️The entire throwing system has been reworked from the ground up. Originally, it was purely physics based and based on timing - drop your weapon ('let go') during any attack or movement and it 1:1 keeps going - a throw! Innovative and interesting, but unwieldy. Even for grizzled veterans, throwing is more of a gimmick than a true strategic component of combat.
So I decided to rework it fully and make it more useable.
Same foundation, but more automated aiming. Every mode (TPM/Classic, controller or keyboard/mouse) has a custom solution, but the gist is the weapon will be thrown to where you are aiming as long as you released your weapon during a certain (generous) window. Certain attack types like overhead have more power and accuracy, and throwing is dependent on your character's Throwing Skill for overall force and accuracy.
At lower throwing skill (= lower strength) you will also throw more upward dynamically to reach far away targets. You have no idea what a pain this was to implement!
High character skill throws are more direct in a straight line and more likely to hit whatever is in front of you.
Smart Shop
⚔️Yosha, our programmer, has completely reworked the underlying logic fueling the 'random' shop and its items. The system now works with 'recipes' that we can easily plug in. The default shop recipe makes sure there are items that are very appropriate to your current level, that there's a great balance of different types (fewer situations with 4 weapons etc!) and that you get no duplicates (except in niche situations)
The great thing is this is fully data driven, so adding specific shop recipes is a piece of cake. We could create new events in the future that make it so the shop only sells tier 2-3 helmets and axes, or pretty much whatever we can think of.
I can personally attest from testing, the shop is significantly more engaging - there's always appropriate options to purchase and it feels so much better.
Auto-Pickup & Item Overlay
With Controller Support added, we needed a solution to pick up items. Fortunately it also translates back to Keyboard&Mouse. You can now pick up the nearest item by pressing Q or E respectively without having to click on the item -- super easy and quick.
There's a small item tooltip associated with this, and at the same time, we added an overlay that shows all tooltips on screen so you can quickly scan for interesting items.
Combat Changes
Attack Lock
⚔️The way attack (directions) lock in now has been changed. For directional attacks (sideways) you have to pull a certain distance, then it locks in. Previously it would lock your attack after a specific amount of time instead.
Damage rebalance
⚔️Damage calculation has been heavily rebalanced as to be more reliable. In short, the point of your weapon that hits the enemy is weighed less, and the overall speed of your weapon more.
Example: before, a sword would deal significantly more damage if you hit with the tip versus the middle. Makes some sense, but it made damage more unpredictable and unstable. Now turning into your attack manually is more impactful. More stable, and feels better.
Animation Fixes
⚔️Some animations have been fixed and adjusted. For example, 1 handed right uppercut attacks have been redone completely to be more clean. Polearms now have 1 single left-side stun/backhand attack animation, which is less confusing.
New FX and Scaled damage effects
⚔️All blood effects have been reworked and several new layers of FX, UI FX and sound FX have been added that scale according to your damage. In short, you can better tell how strong your hit was by the gamefeel.
Hard Mode
⚔️For the advanced players: after you've completed at least 1 legacy/backstory, hard difficulty unlocks (called Lionslayer). AI deals more damage, you earn less gold and fame and so on, but more importantly, the AI is more competent in combat from level 1 to avoid a slow & unchallenging early game. The default for this mode should be losing, even if you are very good - so I hope to get all your feedback on this mode! Remember, dying is fun!
Ready to Ascend?
⚔️There's even more to the Ascension Update, believe it or not - the UI has gotten polish, there's new sound effects, items (Including revamped Owakhan hats, a new spear, 2 hander and shield!), destructibles, map updates, colour customisation and more - but you'll have to find that out yourself in early August!
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think, what you're most excited about, and to help us out, share a link to this post or the game where-ever you can - word of mouth made all of this possible!
We who are about to die salute you, Jordy
NEWS: Champions! Studio updates, Combat Controls Update preview and more!
⚔️Ave fierce Aspirants! Time for a general update - we'll unveil some details about the studio, general goings-on and the upcoming Ascension Update.
Studio Status, Growth & Plan
⚔️Our studio is a growing force - The team is now me, 2 freelance developers Lino & Yosha (sporadic schedules for now), 5 freelancers taking care of peripheral stuff (social media, testing etc) and we are bolstering our ranks with another developer in July!
⚔️The current plan: (may change!) In September all active freelance devs will also finally move full time alongside me and we'll do a formal unveiling of the actual game studio name and plan. From that point on, development should speed up massively.
Discord Contest & Grand Champion Role
⚔️There is a community contest going on right now on the Official Discord! Enter your coolest clip of the game that you can before the end of the month and win a free game. The dev team will judge the clips and announce a winner in July who will get to pick a game out of a list of awesome games (many of which solo indie games!)
The Discord has a brand new role - ⚔️Grand Champion!⚔️ You can give yourself this role in the #welcome│start-here channel! As Grand Champions you'll get notified more often about
progress reports
polls (input on key game features and studio decisions)
major updates, sales
giveaways
Overall it means you want to stay in touch with us as a studio and hear about the game's development a bit closer. On this post I added a poll I'd love your input on!Why did you initially like the game? (Feel free to comment your answer here if you dont want to vote on Discord!)
Summer Sale Discount
A quickie: WWAATD will of course be part of the Summer Sale that is coming very soon, and as usual with a good discount! Already own the game? Great time to link it to some friends if you want to go the extra mile. ⚔️ (You can also link this post so people can already wishlist the game!)
Combat Controls Update Preview - Visual Edition!
⚔️On to a few previews of the many changes and additions in the upcoming Combat Controls Update. (in no particular order!) In this one I will show off some of the visual stuff.
New Proportions
⚔️The Combat Controls Update features new posing and proportions. 7 years ago WWAATD had very cartoony proportions which gradually got more realistic over time, but they were still fairly stylised (you may have noticed!) This is a major step towards realism again and my only regret is I didn't do it sooner. No real impact on gameplay but massive impact on the entire game's visual feeling.
All The Gear!
⚔️There are tons of new items! We gave the Lophosi and Owakhan cultures a much needed design direction behind the scenes, some of the next few sets will be just for them (first set added is for the Lophosi), and we're also adjusting some existing gear to fit their new distinct styles. Can you tell what real world cultures inspired them? Let me know in the comments!
Check out some concept art of a new set and the set in-game here: Oh, and there's also this: and.... this!
Dynamic Volumetric Fog
⚔️We added brand new dynamic volumetric fog to many maps / map variations. This is dynamic in the sense that it even moves based on you or other Aspirants walking and fighting in the thick of it. Honestly, the preview here doesn't do it justice, it looks amazing - but here:
Battle Option Map Images
⚔️A bit of an impulse add, but much needed and I'm very glad I did it. The battle options now contain map images at the top so you can tell at a glance which arena you are going to be fighting in! Relatively a small change but I seriously love it.
⚔️Keep an eye out for the next news update where I'll go a bit more in-depth about the new gameplay features: (To get notified, join the Discord and Grand Champion role - link above!)
Third Person Mode & Controller support (Combat)
Total Throwing System Overhaul
Smart Shop
AutoPickup & Item Overlay
Combat Changes (Attack Lock, Damage rebalance, Animation Fixes, New FX (blood, etc), Scaled damage effects, UI updates)
Tik Tok!
⚔️We have someone posting quality tik toks on our official tik tok account - this is an experiment and a fresh account so if you're on there, give it a boost - follow, share with your friends! https://www.tiktok.com/@wewhoareabouttodie
Combat Controls Update release timeframe?
⚔️Many of you are wondering when the Combat Controls Update is coming out! Its a big one so it has taken some time. Glad to say the update is currently in the internal testing phase. Next is public testing (Sacrificial game branch) Worth noting, the Combat Controls Update is really an entire wave of updates. This major update version will be 0.2 and everything between 0.2 and 0.3 is part of the Combat Controls Update (0.21, 0.22...) 0.3 will be the next major update.
⚔️The first version of the Combat Controls Update is set to come out very soon, alongside a discount. We want to have some time to fix bugs and add a few more things. 0.20 will be followed up quite soon by 0.21, relatively speaking, and will continue to expand the new stuff in the Combat Controls Update.
Thanks for reading, let me know if this kind of news write-up is valuable to you - would love some feedback!
And as always - to those who are about to die, I salute you! ⚔️ Jordy
NEWS: Attention, Champions! Studio updates, Ascension Update preview and more!
⚔️Ave fierce Aspirants! Time for a general update - we'll unveil some details about the studio, general goings-on and the upcoming Ascension Update.
Studio Status, Growth & Plan
⚔️Our studio is a growing force - The team is now me, 2 freelance developers Lino & Yosha (sporadic schedules for now), 5 freelancers taking care of peripheral stuff (social media, testing etc) and we are bolstering our ranks with another developer in July!
⚔️The current plan: (may change!) In September all active freelance devs will also finally move full time alongside me and we'll do a formal unveiling of the actual game studio name and plan. From that point on, development should speed up massively.
Discord Contest & Grand Champion Role
⚔️There is a community contest going on right now on the Official Discord! Enter your coolest clip of the game that you can before the end of the month and win a free game. The dev team will judge the clips and announce a winner in July who will get to pick a game out of a list of awesome games (many of which solo indie games!)
The Discord has a brand new role - ⚔️Grand Champion!⚔️ You can give yourself this role in the #welcome│start-here channel! As Grand Champions you'll get notified more often about
progress reports
polls (input on key game features and studio decisions)
major updates, sales
giveaways
Overall it means you want to stay in touch with us as a studio and hear about the game's development a bit closer. On this post I added a poll I'd love your input on!Why did you initially like the game? (Feel free to comment your answer here if you dont want to vote on Discord!)
Summer Sale Discount
A quickie: WWAATD will of course be part of the Summer Sale that is coming very soon, and as usual with a good discount! Already own the game? Great time to link it to some friends if you want to go the extra mile. ⚔️ (You can also link this post so people can already wishlist the game!)
Ascension Update Preview - Visual Edition!
⚔️On to a few previews of the many changes and additions in the upcoming Ascension Update. (in no particular order!) In this one I will show off some of the visual stuff.
New Proportions
⚔️The Ascension Update features new posing and proportions. 7 years ago WWAATD had very cartoony proportions which gradually got more realistic over time, but they were still fairly stylised (you may have noticed!) This is a major step towards realism again and my only regret is I didn't do it sooner. No real impact on gameplay but massive impact on the entire game's visual feeling.
All The Gear!
⚔️There are tons of new items! We gave the Lophosi and Owakhan cultures a much needed design direction behind the scenes, some of the next few sets will be just for them (first set added is for the Lophosi), and we're also adjusting some existing gear to fit their new distinct styles. Can you tell what real world cultures inspired them? Let me know in the comments!
Check out some concept art of a new set and the set in-game here: Oh, and there's also this: and.... this!
Dynamic Volumetric Fog
⚔️We added brand new dynamic volumetric fog to many maps / map variations. This is dynamic in the sense that it even moves based on you or other Aspirants walking and fighting in the thick of it. Honestly, the preview here doesn't do it justice, it looks amazing - but here:
Battle Option Map Images
⚔️A bit of an impulse add, but much needed and I'm very glad I did it. The battle options now contain map images at the top so you can tell at a glance which arena you are going to be fighting in! Relatively a small change but I seriously love it.
⚔️Keep an eye out for the next news update where I'll go a bit more in-depth about the new gameplay features: (To get notified, join the Discord and Grand Champion role - link above!)
Third Person Mode & Controller support (Combat)
Total Throwing System Overhaul
Smart Shop
AutoPickup & Item Overlay
Combat Changes (Attack Lock, Damage rebalance, Animation Fixes, New FX (blood, etc), Scaled damage effects, UI updates)
Tik Tok!
⚔️We have someone posting quality tik toks on our official tik tok account - this is an experiment and a fresh account so if you're on there, give it a boost - follow, share with your friends! https://www.tiktok.com/@wewhoareabouttodie
Ascension Update release timeframe?
⚔️Many of you are wondering when the Ascension Update is coming out! Its a big one so it has taken some time. Glad to say the update is currently in the internal testing phase. Next is public testing (Sacrificial game branch) Worth noting, the Ascension Update is really an entire wave of updates. This major update version will be 0.2 and everything between 0.2 and 0.3 is part of the Ascension Update (0.21, 0.22...) 0.3 will be the next major update.
⚔️The first version of the Ascension Update is set to come out very early august, alongside a discount. Full disclosure - no promises, but its looking pretty good at the moment. We want to have some time to fix bugs and add a few more things. 0.20 will be followed up quite soon by 0.21, relatively speaking, and will continue to expand the new stuff in the Ascension Update.
Thanks for reading, let me know if this kind of news write-up is valuable to you - would love some feedback!
And as always - to those who are about to die, I salute you! ⚔️ Jordy
