Iron Meat News

Barging into the Base!

Following his triumph over the menacing Carrionvoy train monster, Vadim arrives beneath a military research base infested with Meat. Unaware of its current operations, Vadim enters the base--desperate to find any human survivors of the ongoing attack.

With Meat tendrils and spores overgrowing along the corridors and within ventilation shafts, Vadim faces off against new Meat monster forms: Grub Eggs on the ceiling that drop their newly hatched critters to the ground, Meat Worms hanging on chains and crawling out of floor crevices, equipment boxes morphed into mouthy monsters that spawn either smaller Grub eggs or Blats, and more.

Vadim also witnesses the active degradation of the research base, as malfunctioning security turrets are deployed and fire at everything, along with fiery elevators crawling with infected humans.

As he pushes further into the base, Vadim encounters another new Meat monster, this time in the form of a skeleton-like creature that burrowed into one of the base's server room! Upon noticing Vadim, the creature utilizes the security system to mount a cascading offensive of laser attacks against the supersoldier! But with persistence, Vadim kills the monster in the wall and continues on...

After shooting his way through a whole horde of monsters and passing through even more obstacles, Vadim finally stumbles upon a handful of surviving soldiers and scientists--the latter of whom have begun hasty work on an antidote to make humanity immune to the Meat.

But soon after meeting the scientists, Vadim is immediately dropped to the lower levels of the base to take down a HUGE monster lurking below--the Big Rig Carnarach!

But with his superior skills, Vadim is able to dispatch the monster and pacify the base. Taking an airbike from the Carnarach's corpse, Vadim flies off to follow a distress signal of an airship nearby...

Check back here for even more updates!

Be sure to follow Retroware's developer page to stay up-to-date on all our games, news, and more!

https://store.steampowered.com/developer/Retroware

Achievements Drop #3

Today, we'll be taking a look at three achievements you can earn only on Tower: Unsanitary Conditions, Keeping It Polished, and the And Stay Out! achievement!

[h3]1. Unsanitary Conditions[/h3]
For this one, we're focusing on our responsibility as good soldiers to clean up all the Meat monsters clogging up the vents on the broadcast Tower! Destroy a full set of these Meat Chains (about 10 of those links) stretching from one side and you'll earn the achievement! And yes, you could just keep shooting at a vent...I mean, if you want...

[h3]2. Keeping it Polished[/h3]
Next up, we've got the second Tower achievement where you have to survive against the three Meat Bulbs halfway through the level. As long as you don't lose a single life from colliding with any of the yellow light pillars, you'll get the achievement!

[h3]3. And Stay Out![/h3]
Lastly, you'll want to destroy every door with a Headthrower standing in front of them. You'll find these to the left and right of the Tower. There should be four doors in total, so be on the lookout for them!

That's all for now! Check back here for even more updates!

Iron Meat is available now! Be sure to follow Retroware's developer page to stay up-to-date on all our games, news, and more!

https://store.steampowered.com/developer/Retroware

Interview: Understanding Iron Meat's Art and Atmosphere with our Art Director!

This week, we're chatting with Xander Arnot, Art Director at Retroware! Check out his insights into how the visuals of Iron Meat convey its unspoken story...

[h3]Please introduce yourself and describe your involvement in Iron Meat's development.[/h3]
Xander: Hey, I’m Xander Arnot! I work as an art director at Retroware. At the start of my involvement with Iron Meat several years ago, I was tasked with creating storefront assets, early trailers, and promotional materials for the game. As time passed and the game’s characters and story began to evolve, I couldn’t help but jump in, and draw what I thought Ivan’s in-game sprites would look like beyond their pixel form. That’s where my involvement with the game’s art really began!

In hindsight, I got to do a lot for the game, including: storyboarding for in-game cutscenes, concept art for a majority of the game’s unlockable skins and UI, and designs for characters like Sasha! But I give the most credit to Ivan, and the pixel artists for their excellent final implementation of these concepts.

[h3]What do you think sets Iron Meat's aesthetics apart from other titles in its genre? How do you think taking inspiration from Contra and other classic titles helps the game establish a unique art style of its own?[/h3]
Xander: Gameplay aside, a large part of Iron Meat’s genius is how quickly you understand exactly what you’re getting into before you even pick up the controller. Even players unfamiliar with games like Contra, can immediately recognize the great amount of influence from other sci-fi properties and how well they’re re-contextualized here. The visuals (in tandem with the great soundtrack) feel familiar but new at the same time. The cool tones of the metal, and the bloody masses of meat monsters really pop! And come on, who doesn’t want to fight against a never-ending horde of meat monsters in the dystopian future?

[h3]From its early days in development to now, what were your thoughts as you saw Iron Meat's art style evolving over time to what it is now?[/h3]
Xander: Every time we’d get a new build from Ivan, it was a blast to see just how “meaty” everything became over time. You probably could have played a game trying to predict which metal death machine would be even more infected the next time you played.

At some point, the flesh and teeth became a crucial design language that beyond just looking cool communicates a very simple, easy-to-understand message to the player: If it’s covered in Meat, shoot it! There were undoubtedly a few times we sent a note or two to “meat-ify” something!

[h3]Do you have a favorite level based on its art style alone? How about a favorite boss design?[/h3]
Xander: Each level of the game has something cool going on in context, but the Forest really jumps out as my favorite level design. It’s Iron Meat firing on all cylinders, throwing you right into the action. It’s like level 1-1 in Super Mario to me at this point. I know every jump, upgrade, and enemy placement. Every strategy! To the point that I kinda feel like a badass! (Well, on normal mode at least…lol)

[h3]We understand you did concept art work behind a bunch of the in-game skins. Which skin(s) do you like the most?[/h3]
Xander: I’m proud of a lot of these designs! And interesting challenge to decide when and how to break the rules of the Iron Meat design language. On aesthetic alone, I think the Cthulhu and Flaming Skull Head Guy might be my favorites! But, the buff shark in jorts that runs on its tailfins, might sweep the list! I’d love to design more skins in the future.

[h3]Lastly, as an artist, what are your thoughts on Iron Meat's use of visual storytelling to convey the dire in-game invasion situation to players without needing any spoken character dialogue?[/h3]
Xander: I think it’s appropriate for a game like this to keep a level of narrative detail to a minimum. The final version of the game does that very well. It keeps its focus on the gameplay you came for, and makes you want to stay with the events that unfold around you as you progress. It’s nice we’ve been able to “flesh out” the narrative in greater detail on the Retroware YouTube channel.

That's all we got for this round of updates! Check back here for even more!

Be sure to follow Retroware's developer page to stay up-to-date on all our games, news, and more!

https://store.steampowered.com/developer/retroware

Meet the Meat!

Today, we're taking a look at the all-consuming, interdimensional collective that is the MEAT! Let's take a look at where this entity came from and how it unleashed itself upon humanity...

[h3]Its Origin[/h3]
Established as a hyper-intelligent, universe-sized entity of pure flesh existing in a dimension separate from our own, the Meat desires nothing more than to consume the energy of other universes, as well as sentient life, to prolong its own, collective existence.

It is this desire--this hunger--that causes the Meat to release one cell, just one of its spores, to infiltrate our dimension through an accidental breakthrough from one of Yuri Markov's portal experiments. The Meat spore allowed itself to be collected by Markov, being brought to his lab and feigning rudimentary sentience.

[h3]Study and Breakout[/h3]
Intrigued, Markov studied how the Meat could be used to not only enhance his research with new ways to generate portals, but the Meat could also hold the secret to an infinite supply of raw energy! But as Markov corresponded more with the Meat spore he collected, he began to learn of the entity's true nature--its ability to consume anything from Iron-rich metals, to lab rats, and even human cadavers.

The larger the Meat grew, the smarter it became, until the spore began to crave brain tissue. And the perfect meal was already in front of it: Markov himself. Seizing on the right opportunity, the Meat breaks out of its containment and assimilates Markov.

[h3]Rise of the Monster Hordes[/h3]
As the Meat-controlled Markov flew off to infect more humans, Sasha, a veteran soldier stationed on the lunar base, attempted to warn Earth of the impending invasion, only to be driven away by a horde of Meatified humans!

With its assimilation capabilities, the Meat quickly adapted to human technologies and flesh, rapidly evolving into new, grotesque forms more terrifying than the last!

[h3]The Iron Meat[/h3]
As hordes upon hordes of Meat monsters spread across a region of Earth, the original Meat spore pulls in parts and components of the surrounding lunar research facility to construct a colossal body for itself. Though visibly incomplete, the spore becomes nothing more than a figurehead for the true Meat hivemind in its own dimension--limited in ours with its giant, grotesque form.

As the Iron Meat colossus focused its influence on the Moon and Earth, it would be Vadim, a supersoldier part of the hastily formed Earth Counter Invasion Force, that would be the one to confront this boss monster--hoping to end the Meat's invasion once and for all...

Check back here for even more updates! Iron Meat is available now!

Be sure to follow Retroware's developer page to stay up-to-date on all our games, news, and more!

https://store.steampowered.com/developer/retroware/

Interview: Sitting Down with Our Senior QA Tester!

This week, we chat with Christian Czmar, our Senior QA Tester, as we delve into what it was like in the earlier builds of Iron Meat and what's it like post-launch!

[h3]Please introduce yourself and describe your involvement in Iron Meat's development.[/h3]
Christian: Hi! I'm Christian "Siz" Czmar, I'm the Senior Game Tester at Retroware. My involvement with Iron Meat for the last 2 years has been trying to break it and then try to figure out how to make sure that I can't break it the same way again.

[h3]How does it feel to see a game you tested from its earlier builds to now where it's available to the world?[/h3]
Christian: It's incredible, especially with the reception it's gotten. I was also on the Prison City team and that felt great, too, but to have people be so passionate this time around has been a nice cherry on top.

[h3]What were some notable bugs you found during the early builds you tested? How about a bug or two that you noticed later on in the near-final builds of the game?[/h3]
Christian: By the time Iron Meat had gotten into my hands it was already way ahead in terms of polish, Ivan had been working on it already for years so a lot of the basic stuff I'm used to finding had been worked out. I think the most notable early bug was player 2 and player 1 having different hit boxes. I'm not sure what caused this to happen but some attacks were impossible to dodge as player 2 in those first builds I got. For example the laser attack on the first boss--even ducking, player 2 would die there no matter what. Between then and now, it was mostly just layering bugs--the player appearing in front of foreground assets and such. The last major bug (hopefully) was one a few people certainly noticed with Sasha not showing up at the end of the game. Apparently, she didn't like it when players took lives from their friends after the final boss fight. The worst part of the job is there's always something you didn't run into that eventually will be found in the thousands of other playthroughs that happen after release.

[h3]As a Senior QA Tester, how would you describe the experience of testing the game across multiple platforms?[/h3]
Christian: I mean, it's not fun haha. We tried to get this out on as many platforms and distributors as we could, and each and every one of those has different requirements and expectations that they absolutely need or they won't let you release. Whenever some backend change is made to some version of the game to meet a requirement, that means there's a new build and that means I need to do another test to see if that change broke something somewhere else. I swear there was like 20 builds for PlayStation in a row where there was no visible change on my end but were all essential to being approved.

[h3]After going through the game countless times, which level do you think you've run through the most? Any favorite or least favorite bosses? And your preferred weapons?[/h3]
Christian: I think it would be Tower. That had a few achievement hang ups that left us confused on what the issue was. That happened a few times, I think every achievement in Tower, besides the one for beating it, were bugged at one point or the other, haha. My favorite boss is probably the Carrionvoy; it just has such a great presence. My least favorite is probably Big Rig; that's probably just 'cause it's given me the most Game Over's besides The Iron Meat itself. My go-to weapon is for sure is the Spread Shotgun (S). Get that baby fully upgraded and you've got such a wide burst at long distance and can deal crazy damage up close. You can't go wrong with it. Thank me later.

[h3]Lastly, if you could add a new feature to Iron Meat, what do you think would be a great addition?[/h3]
Christian: If I could add a feature it would probably be something like an Iron Man mode where your lives stay at a consistent count between levels. I'm glad they reset each level by default because we want as many people as possible to play and enjoy, but I can see the sickos out there who want to challenge themselves, yes you I see YOU! If it's in the cards to happen, I think it would make some people happy.