Dev Blog #56 - Preparing for our Release Date announcement (Patreon)

ATTENTION:
As of August 27, all images of this blog post are lost. I was correcting a typo using the Patreon App and it wiped all images completely. I'll return them ASAP. Sorry :(


Happy Monday, everyone!

We are in a very busy period right now. We are exactly 47 days away from finally announcing our release date with a trailer that reveals a lot of the stuff we’ve been working on over the years. On top of that, we are gearing up to launch the Extended Demo to all Patrons in a few weeks while also making preparations for our Plush campaign, getting the GOG store setup in time for the announcement and continue work on the full game because we don't have a second to lose.

I felt like I ran out of breath just writing that sentence. It's manageable, but it does require a lot of commitment from my end, and such things are frightening.

Release Date Trailer



3D Realms wanted to feature Selaco on their Realms Deep stream, and it’s hard not to say yes to that. It’s the perfect opportunity to showcase Selaco to our target audience alongside fellow developers who make games for a similar audience.

I’ve spent the last week working hard on a trailer, and it has been surprisingly difficult. Trailer editing is not a thing I’m particularly good at, yet I am very committed to showing something that’s both well edited and well paced.

This trailer will be our biggest gameplay blowout yet. Showcasing a wide range of different environments, demonstrating the vast majority of our weapons and proving to people that we have a larger enemy roster than just the basic grunts you’ve seen in the demo (which seems to be a thing the internet is rightfully very concerned about). We are excited for this one because we’ve been working on all of this content for the past 2 years. The trailer will have zero footage of the Demo or Extended Demo. Everything is new and unseen. Of course, if you are an epic backer, you may have seen snippets here and there throughout the years through blog posts.

Backers will see the trailer a few days in advance. However, the release date will be hidden in order to prevent the information from being leaked. I know none of you would do such a horrible thing, but I really can not afford the risk since it would severely botch our marketing.

The trailer will be aired publicly on September 30.


Extended Demo when?

Soon! I’m not sure if we will get it done in August because of the reasons mentioned earlier, but I think the first week of September is a very realistic date! So stay tuned. We’re getting there, we're close!


Throwing Objects



This has been requested many, many times ever since we launched our demo. People often wondered why they could pick things up but not use it to their advantage. And they are right. It’s just kind of there.

Like many things, it was simply unfinished, but just a couple of days ago, we finally got to improve that.

Dawn can now pick up objects and throw them with force! Simply hold the Throw button for a short duration of time to fill up a meter, then let go to toss it!

All objects have mass applied to them, so depending on how heavy the object is, the further you can throw it and the more impact it has on an enemy. Tossing a mug, for example, will very briefly stagger an enemy. But throwing a crate with enough force will knock them over completely.

We don't expect this feature to become a meta strategy by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s still a fun addition that adds a bit of extra freedom to the combat sandbox we are setting out to do.

The player will gain access to a Gravity Manipulator later on, which allows them to throw things faster and with far more force. But until then, Dawn’s physical strength will have to do!


Door Kicking?

Look, we’ve shared a lot over the years. Sometimes I look at things and wonder ‘’Wait, did we show this already?”. This is one such thing.

I asked in our Patreon-exclusive Discord channel, and it seems like we never showed this despite me being almost certain that we did! So, here is something we added a month or two ago: Kicking a weak door open! Even if this is a repost, at least this is from the most recent dev build. So that still makes it okay, right?




Safe Room Extensions

We’re going to give the Safe Rooms some extra love soon, but adding ‘Safe Room Extensions’. Basically, we are going to add an elevator to every Safe Room in the game, which takes you to a brand new level called the Safe Room Extension. This is the place where the player can partake in a number of activities. For now, that’s just the Shooting Range and a Transit System (to visit older maps), but in the future we are going to expand this further. Basically, the Safe Room Extension will serve as a hub to relax in, before heading back into fights.

We are also starting to get a good look down for the Safe Room. Given how these rooms are meant to be safe and untouched by the invasion, it gets a very clean look, unlike the majority of the other areas you visit. No destroyed property, no broken lights. Just a very pristine little area!

Here is a work in progress for the time being.




Invasion Tier Menu

The Invasion Tier menu now has a proper visual pass and can now be accessed at the Datapad. Contents will still have to be added, but I can assure you there will be a lot of them.

We're also experimenting with the idea of allowing the player to permanently eliminate a number of Invasion Tiers through a Planning Table that is located in later safe rooms. This compliments Dawn's role as a Captain since she can assign a Strike Force to cripple enemy equipment, while also adding a fun little tactical element to the game.

Whether the Planning Table




Voxels

Coffee Cups. Because you obviously can not have a Coffee House without coffee!



Printer. It was shown in the past, but now it’s fully destructible with individual pieces.



Donuts! Donut types are fully randomized, with a small chance of being a SUPER DONUT. Which heals for an additional whopping 3 points of HP and adds a whole bunch of additional calories to the Calorie Counter.



More were made, but as usual, those are kept behind closed doors.


Conclusion

Exciting times ahead. A Release Date announcement and an Extended Demo are both things we’ve been wanting to do for a long time, and it’s just around the corner. We are confident you will love the Extended Demo since we think it’s a much better representation of the game than the Hospital level was, but I’ll let all of you be the judge of that one!

It’s worth noting that Patreon has made things a little hard for us this month. We believe that a recent fuck-up has affected our budget. We went down from $2900 to $2600. Which is a bit painful since we were very tight to begin with and a cut of that goes to Patreon and merch. Hopefully, our Release Date trailer will introduce a fresh pair of new backers so things can be steady again

For those of you who are still among us, I’m still as grateful as ever. Thank you for sticking with us and believing in our game.

Wesley de Waart