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Crime Scene Cleaner News

Devblog #14 - Secrets of Your Pockets

Hello Cleaners!
Your pockets have just got better! We overhauled the inventory system and made it much more intuitive and faster. All this is thanks to new categorisation and toolwheel. We have also prepared a slight visual upgrade, which will make everything much clearer.



The inventory was a bit of a mess before all items were stored together and had to fit into a small space. Now every item has a separate category, so it is easy to find where everything is, especially when using the toolwheel. If you know that the stain remover you want to use is carefully stored in the detergent group on your toolwheel, you can quickly find it. This way, you don’t have to open your inventory and dig through it. Simply open the toolwheel, enter a category and choose the item you need!



Do you want to focus on penetrating stains? Would you like to carry more buckets? Or maybe one sponge is not enough? As you progress through the game will be able to use the experience you garner for packing more things into your inventory. It’s up to you which slots you upgrade, this way you can create your own cleaning style.



This change makes the gameplay much smoother, as you can choose all your tools on the fly. You don’t have to worry about constantly rummaging through your pockets to find that one sponge you previously might have buried at the bottom of the inventory.

We’re still working on some elements of this system and would like to know what quality-of-life changes you think we should implement!
Let us know on our social media or discord!

Devblog #13 - The Night of the Dead

Hello Cleaners!
The dead are scattered all over the place! In your cleaning endeavors, you will encounter many different situations and cases, and many of them will include at least one victim. Your job obviously is to get rid of the body and leave no evidence behind, so how exactly will you go about it?

Collect and dispose of.
The main objective is to clean up everything to the point where the police can find nothing. You will have to locate all bodies and carry them to your truck for later disposal. This may seem easy at first, but there are a few challenges that come with carrying limp bodies through tight corridors, locked doors, and maze-like gardens. There is a silver lining in all these tough, we took care of the most grueling part of the task. The bodies will automatically package themselves into bags once you put them in the back of your truck.



Bodies are heavy.
While you carry them around, your hands are full. This unfortunately means that moving around may be difficult. You movements will be slower and some interactions limited. Even simple doors may turn out to be too difficult to open. So strategize on where you are planning to go and how you will reach your car. We recommend you choose the fastest and easiest routes since you can only carry one body at a time, but we are well aware there is a challenge in taking a long way around.

Bodies are messy.
When you think you are ready, you have to factor one more element into your planned routes. Bodies will still drop blood after you pick them up. They will leave drops where you walk, so remember to go back and clean those specks of blood once more. These may be the thin line between a job well done and getting busted. Luckily blood dries relatively fast, so moments after you pick up the body, they will not leave marks behind. Unless you decide to throw them around, then you will definitely have more mess to clean.



Learn their stories.
During your time on the scene, you will have plenty of opportunities to learn about the victims. We want them to be more than just props scattered around the job site. Every victim has a story. The place of their death, their position, and even their wounds will help you understand the crime better and help with looking for evidence to clean. Finding a smashed family picture or seeing the last text message they sent to their loved one will also help you understand your own life as a cleaner. So look for clues and find small puzzle pieces which will help you see the bigger picture.

Despite this dark thought of cleaning after violent crimes, there is some comedy to the macabre of walking around with a dead body over your shoulder. After all, we want you to have fun while cleaning. There are some comical deaths coming along the way, so we’d like to know what you expect and want to see from our victims. Let us know here or through our social media. There is also a discord where we try to answer your questions.
See you here or there! Until next time!

Devblog #12 - Let There Be Light!

Hello, cleaners!

As you probably know, game development is a constant heroic battle to balance game mechanics with aesthetic aspects. We have introduced you to many tools and mechanics, so it’s time to discuss our approach to environments and lighting. We’ll try to explain our philosophy without spoiling the looks of the map and avoiding story details.



We pay a lot of attention to the world we are creating. Every location has its backstory and unique elements. We want to make sure that the crime scenes we stage tell their own stories, not only through props and bodies but also through atmospheric lighting. The process of finding the correct angle and colour of the light has been a challenge. For the majority of the game, you will spend in darkness searching for evidence, the environment has to lead you through the level. From time to time, you will be forced to rely only on your cleaning intuition and scarce light from your flashlight.



While working on the levels, we want to marry the idea of lights and shadows not only as an aesthetic choice but also as a conscious gameplay element. This is why you will be equipped with many tools emitting light. Darkness will challenge you and allow you to show off your skill in using every tool in the inventory. We expect you to make use of lamps and your flashlight in many spots on maps. After searching through the map and finding evidence scattered around you can use a larger lamp to mark out where the bodies are. But we are aware that our plans and expectations will be walked all over by creative cleaners who will clean in complete darkness.



In the process of choosing which areas have to be darker, we seek to find a balance between a grave atmosphere and the immersive feeling of staying invisible. This is especially challenging since the environment has to look good when veiled in darkness and when lit up by multiple light sources.

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While you closely examine provided screenshots and the video, remember that we took some liberty to stage certain elements to more explicitly show our process. We’re looking for general feedback on our principles and philosophy. So don’t leave us in the dark when it comes to your opinions on the matter. You can always shed some light on your expectations in our Discord or on our social media!








Devblog #11 - One Man's Trash is Another Man's Evidence.

Hello, Cleaners!

Every professional knows that cleaning up blood and dragging out bodies is not the be-all and end-all of cover-ups. You will be faced with many items which could lead the investigators to you or the people you are paid to protect. Every square inch of each room has to be void of any evidence and even the smallest items have to be collected and safely disposed of.



No one is surprised that violent crimes leave tons of evidence behind. There is SO MUCH to pick up! This is why you carry a trash can on you. Once you take it out of your inventory, you can see the evidence which you have to get rid of. A system of highlighting items will be helpful in finding things in places you might have not looked before. Anything from empty bottles of a party gone wrong to bullet shells and murder weapons has to be cleared out before the police arrive. This includes any items you might have brought to the crime scene yourself.



When your trash can fills up, it will automatically place all collected items into trash bags which can be easily transported to your truck. Those bags can be put into boxes and crates or carried in your hands. While the trash can has a limited amount of space in it, your car definitely has enough space to transport everything you want to take with you. It’s almost like it has unlimited space on its cargo bed or you have epic packing skills… Like every good father does.



Just like the majority of your equipment, the trash can will be subject to upgrades over time. You will be able to collect larger amounts of items and stuff more of them into trash bags. So even if at the beginning you will fill one trashbag after another, the good news is that you won’t have to worry about running out. Since there will be a lot of things to pick up, we don’t want you to clutter your entire inventory with tons of empty trash bags. You must have space for so many cool tools, detergents and devices.

So with every tool available to you, we are looking into making it efficient and fun to use. What do you think? What functionalities would you like to see attached to this specific mechanic? Let us know as we continue to implement and improve more and more mechanics. We’re always open to suggestions on our Discord and social media.

See you there!

Devblog #10 - The Beast in Your Arsenal

Welcome Cleaners!

Meet more of your tools! In preparation for your missions, you will have a great time choosing between many pieces of cleaning equipment. A true beast hides among buckets, cloths, and mops. This powerful machine will be crucial in cleaning outdoor spaces, as it's far too strong to safely use when cleaning indoors. Smaller objects may not survive meeting with the powerful water stream coming out of its nozzle. Meet one of the most powerful tools you can find in your arsenal: the power washer.



Once you reach the crime scene you can unload the power washer and begin working. This portable machine has a variety of uses when cleaning large spaces and more annoying bloodstains. With ease, it will clean floors, walls and small crevices hidden away from your eyesight. To stop it from being overpowered, we were forced to implement some limitations. After you place the power washer on the location, there is a limit to how far away you can walk away with the nozzle. The hose can only extend so far. You will be alerted about it before the nozzle jumps out of your hands. This means that you will have to carry the power washer around wherever you go.



When compared to a classic mop, a power washer allows you to clean without worrying about dirty water and the need to change it all the time. The machine also doesn’t require detergents cluttering your inventory to do wonders on the scene. Unfortunately, the water in your power washer is not endless. From time to time, you will have to find a source to refill the supply. There aren’t many places where you can get water, but the tank on the power washer is bigger than the majority of buckets allowing you to work longer without breaks and accidentally spreading blood around.

The basic power washer may seem a bit underwhelming despite its utility. There are a few elements we have planned to mitigate this. At the moment, we are considering a set of upgrades available to make using the power wash more pleasant and effective over time. Among larger tanks and longer hoses, we are looking into more versatile nozzles. Let us know what features you’d like to see implemented to this beast of a tool! We’re waiting for your ideas on our social media and Discord server!