This update marks the release of the promised character reworks along with new items, new guns, new NPCs and more general balancing changes. Eight of the fourteen characters received some level of changes/reworks. Eight new guns and two new weapons have added more variety to gameplay. Four new items have been added. New "Enforcer" class NPCs have been added relating to stores. General balancing changes have been made to many different things across the game, most notably the player damage system has been reworked. As always more details below.
Character changes/reworks: Veteran Can now carry a second gun/weapon in place of an item. Warrior Now has an "undying" ability. When charged and reduced below one health, instead of dying will enter a "bleeding out state". This state only lasts a short time and then results in death, however if you use any medical items you will be healed and taken out of the "bleeding out state." The ability starts charged and will be recharged when you heal to full. Ranger Power shots spawn more often. Survivor Gets slightly more ammo from pickups. Slayer Bullets readjust to follow the crosshair. Soldier Care packages now spawn at the beginning of most levels. They contain a good amount of stuff, but aren't equivalent to airdrops. No longer starts with an airdrop signal, instead has the new airstrike beacon item. Businessman All bullets are hollowpoints. Monster All bullets are incendiary. New "Enforcer" class NPCs automatically spawn.
New guns/weapons: M9 A highly accurate pistol with a high rate of fire. Spawns in Rare crates. AR-MOD An AR style rifle with occasional shotgun blasts. Spawns in Survivor crates. Lever Action Shotgun A shotgun that increases rate of fire as you fire it. Spawns in Survivor crates. Scatter Machine Gun Similar to the Scatter Rifle/Pistol, but in a more automatic form. Spawns in Ultra crates. M249 A belt fed machine gun with a large magazine. Spawns in Military crates. Phantom A short barrel rifle that creates a cloud of smoke on reload. Spawns in Military crates. Prototype Fury A long rifle that has a burst of 22cal bullets on reload. Spawns in Bandit crates. Prototype Phoenix A sub machine gun that occasionally creates a burst of flames. Spawns in Bandit crates. Blowtorch Low tier flamethrower. Spawns in Common crates. Crossbow Shoots new arrow projectiles. Spawns in Uncommon crates.
-The Blowtorch and Crossbow assets have existed since before launch. We finally found a way for them to fit into the weapon line up. A Crossbow or Bow and Arrow has been suggested by players for a long time.
New items: Disruptor Level 1 Creates a wave that causes zombies to retreat and destroys spawn shots. Disruptor Level 2 Creates several waves that causes zombies to retreat and destroys spawn shots. Military Medkit Heals you for six hit points and "overheals" you for the difference plus three. Airstrike Beacon Creates many targets in the area around where it is placed. A barrages of explosions come down on every target.
-The Disruptors were requested to give players some way to deal with projectiles. The Military Medkit was added to give players a higher tier healing item that's worth carrying in the late game. Airstrikes were added to be the ultimate destructive item, making the split grenade look like nothing.
Damage system overhaul: There used to be several ways to be one hit in the game. This was never intentional and can really discourage players. After taking damage, you are now unable to take more damage for the next second to health or armor. Granted the amount of damage depends on the source. Don't go try and hug bosses, they will still one hit you.
New "Enforcer" class NPCs: Stores have become easier to rob now that the store keepers have to shoot several times to kill you. The "Enforcer" class NPCs will spawn after boss fights if you've killed the previous store keeper. Only one will spawn per level generally, but you can always run away from them. If you run they will meet you again in the next boss level. It is possible to have three Enforcers in a level if you keep running.
Changes and additions: New "overheal" system in place. If you are "overhealed" and below six health it'll heal you one hit point every second until you are at full or the reserve is depleted. New arrow projectiles have a chance to not break and be picked up. Player night vision increased Spawn shots now glow in the dark Ghost shots now glow in the dark Vampire shots now glow in the dark Alphas now glow in the dark Acid crawlers now glow in the dark Bosses now glow in the dark Bosses drop loot when they die Power shots for sale in certain stores Military Medkits for sale in certain stores World map tile added to mansion Npcs now are more accurate Riot Zombies now either drop level 1 armor or a medium ammo pack Sniper bullets no longer pierce NPCs Rifle bullets can no longer pierce NPCs
Bug fixes: No new reported bugs and the list is currently empty.
Other news: Z-Stop is currently on sale for 25% for the duration of the Spring Sale until 3/21/2024
Balancing, Reworks and Bug Fixes
This update we decided to step back and look at Balancing issues and much needed reworks along with general bug fixes. There have always been little balancing changes/reworks with every update, but they have been sidelined over new content. Most content has improved the feel of the game, such as NPC stores, characters and of course more weapons. The balancing/reworks this time around mostly focus on low tier guns. Most players tend to not make it past level 3, if they even get there. The game play experience gets significantly better level 4 on. The level design does play part, the levels were designed in order and we simply got better at designing Z-Stop levels as the process went on. However the major difference is that the higher tier guns are just balanced better. You are suppose to pickup better guns as the game progresses, but no gun(except the basic starter pistol) should be "bad." The said details of the balancing changes will be below. A lot of players jumped back into the game because of the recently released "Modes Update." The positive feedback has be great, but along with it comes quite a number of bug reports. Some had to do with the new content, honestly it wasn't play tested enough. Some have been in the game for a while and hadn't been reported before. Boss Rush Mode has a new tile design seen above, players found the old design with mostly grates to be a bit hard to look at. In addition players will now get 700 ammo on stage 6.
Gun changes: AK-47/AKM Bullet speed increased Glock-18c Now becomes inaccurate over time, plus bullet speed increase Mirco-Uzi Now becomes inaccurate over time, plus bullet speed increase Subsonic-Uzi Now becomes inaccurate over time, plus bullet speed increase UMP Faster bullet speed, more time between bursts Scatter Rifle Fire rate slowed Scatter Pistol Fire rate increased Revolver reworked: Reload time halved,bullet speed increased and now very accurate Lemat buff: reload Speed faster, bullet speed increased Magnum nerf: Bullet speed decreased/less accurate Sawed Off Reload speed slowed, more pellets, more accurate Double Barrel Reload speed slowed, faster pellets, more accurate Lever Action Rifle Now has a 15 round mag up from 8, rate of fire increases with every shot+lever sound added Pump Sawed Off More pellets, more accurate Subsonic-Rifle Longer time in between bursts
Other changes and additions: Explosions now destroys doors Fire now destroys doors Airdrops now shoot out flares when they land at night Mini explosions do less damage to walls Both mini and big explosions now do little damage to metal walls Spawn shots max range shorter Banshees counterattack nerf Airdrop signaling flares no longer spawn in Cursed Mode
Bug fixes: Main mode character powers effecting side modes bug fixed Text object crash during character unlocks in side modes bug fixed Pause after death crash bug fixed Scar-H gladiator mode boss drop bug fixed Airdrop landing placement issue rounded/fixed Beta crawler Cursed Mode hit point bug fixed Banshee accidental immortality bug fixed Boat victory crash bug fixed
Things to come: While this update puts the game in a good place, there is more to come in terms of improving game play. Right now we are looking at characters and how we can improve their intended unique play style. Certain characters don't actually have any abilities and are just better starting kits. The Warrior and the Veteran are the worse offenders in terms of "kit characters." They will be getting abilities in a future update, along with possible changes/balances to other characters. Some new secondary items are being experimented with to see if they actually improve the game. Finally as always some new guns are also on their way. Until next time!
Modes Update
This update has been in the works for a very long time. It consists of two new game modes, new guns, new characters and a Katana. The monsters of Halloween mode have returned in the new "Cursed" mode; You are trapped on an island where night is eternal, fight different waves of monsters as the moon changes and defeat three new bosses to escape. Hone your skills in boss fights in the new "Boss Rush" mode; Enter a battle arena where the walls are always shifting and you must make difficult choices which lead to unique fast paced combat. The new XM-SPEAR offers a new high tier weapon that has bullets that travel at a faster rate, but a smaller magazine; In addition a "new" automatic AK-47 has been added, with the existing burst fire AK-47 being renamed to AKM. Beating the side modes give you fun achievements to show off, but we wanted there to be more of a reward; There are now four new characters, each can be unlocked by beating/reaching a certain point in the four side game modes. There's also now a Katana, its powerful and hidden somewhere, find it.
New characters: The Champion Unlocked by reaching wave 30 in Gladiator mode. Increases the rate of fire of most guns. The Sentinel Unlocked by surviving 120 seconds in Eclipse mode. Increases your max armor cap by 6. The Monger Unlocked by beating Cursed mode. Spirits rise from the dead to assist you. The Conqueror Unlocked by beating Boss Rush mode. All bullets are explosive and explosions don't damage you.
Changes and additions: AK-47 renamed to AKM Automatic AK-47 added XM-SPEAR added Katana added Champion character added Sentinel character added Monger character added Conqueror character added Extra armor bar added for use with Sentinel character Fire grenades now just create fire and no explosion
Bug fixes Store guards now aggro against the Monster ESC key press crash bug fixed
Other notes: There is a new trailer for the game now on the store page which shows some of the new content in action.
Until Next Year........
Halloween mode has be disabled, to return next year. Gone are the Monsters of the night.................. Or are they?? The time is ever coming near. The howls and screams are what you'll hear. Creatures crawl familiar and new. You'll find allies far and few. Journey into this cursed land, And face the beast's hand. Voices of many prove warning, to what they call the Mourning. A beautiful smile, can prove quite vile. Halloween may be gone, but trust me it won't be long.
Halloween Mode Update
Halloween was yesterday and with it came a new limited time mode. Unfortunately due to some miscommunication we were unable to make a post about it until now. Halloween mode will be active until November 14th. Halloween mode is a modification of Survival where the majority of enemies have been replaced. These enemies consist of Werewolves, Vampires and Ghosts.
Werewolves:
Packwolf A standard movement enemy with a bit of health Direwolf Stays it's distance then will occasionally run in to attack Brute It's big, it's strong, and it's fast. Run.
Vampires:
Bat Simple flying unit.
Vampire Throwing knives and turning into bats.
Gargoyle Big flying unit that shoots particles and spawns bats.
Ghosts:
Spirit Slow moving unit that goes through walls Spector Keeps it's distance, but fires particles. Also goes through walls.
Banshee Strong, fast and dangerous.
Additional enemies:
Undead Rotting moving corpses, similar to regular infected, but with more health.
Pumpkin Demon If you're lucky you won't find it.
Changes and additions: Along with the new enemies pumpkins and jack o lantern have been added. When in Halloween mode it is always dusk. Otherwise there have been no real changes made to the game.
Bug fixes: Soldier character playable when locked bug has been fixed
Things to come: We've been working on content for Halloween for a while. We really wanted to use the holiday to add content that normally wouldn't fit with the theme of our game. That being said there is a bunch of content that wasn't ready in time. While Halloween mode will be disabled on the 14th(to return next year). A permanent new game mode containing the new enemies added with this update and along with other content is in the works. That's all for now.
Characters Update
This update has been in the works for a very long time. Additional characters have been added. These characters can be unlocked by reaching levels, beating bosses, and by other means. These characters bring new play styles and a variety of starting kits to the game. In addition certain characters have bonuses such as faster speed, npc store discount, chance of healing from melee kills and many more. Characters will provide goals for players to reach which will often give them advantages in the early game.
Changes and additions: Npc store item prices will now appear when you are within range of said item. Player dark vision has been increased. Gladiator and Eclipse mode now have unique base characters(these are just skins, they have no bonuses and are not playable in the Survival.) Levers have had an art overhaul.
Bug fixes: At the moment there are few to no known bugs
Things to come: This update involved a lot of overhauling systems and art work. It took us about a month to complete. While there likely won't be any big core changing updates similar in scale to characters or npc stores any time soon. We're going to see how people react to this update and look to continue to improve gameplay and player experience. However there are still things to come. As always no spoilers, yet we dare say you can expect something spooky coming your way.
Store Update
Players will now encounter npc run stores after level 1,4, and 7. Each store has a supply of items and weapons that will help you along you way that you can purchase for a cost of ammo. However if you're low on ammo or looking to go down a more criminal path, you can always attempt to rob stores. Fair warning store keepers are armed to the teeth and won't hesitate to shoot you dead. Actions have consequences and word travels fast. If you go on a killing spree, you may find that other store keepers will start to incorporate armed guards for extra security. Changes and additions: Zombies will now occasionally drop little bits of armor, health and ammo. A new faction has been officially added: "The Syndicate" New golden dragon symbols are placed near Syndicate controlled areas.
Bug fixes: Chainsaws now damage Gladiator bosses Tiling bug fixes
Things to come: That's all for this first update. While we we're keeping things under wraps for now, we have began to work on the next update. Lets just say you'll be seeing lots of new faces real soon.
