Exophobia News

Hey there!
As promised and part of FPS Fest, the demo has been sligthly improved to better reflect the quality of the final game. Testing has been crucial to find these small quirks and how to adjust them. You may not notice any differences, so let me present you the changes in this new version:

• Some language errors fixed.
  
• Disk image in the corner to indicate a loading time.
  
• "Sci-fi" font option is now a more readable font in the terminal.
  
• Map no longer starts to fade right away. Only when it reaches the last point in the battery.
  
• Clickable buttons and levers now blink to indicate you can use an action on them.
  
• You can now dash forward even if not holding a direction. Also, more i-frames!
  
• Difficulty curve in the first part of the game has been adjusted. Less enemies before you get the first upgrade (for me where the fun of the game comes).
  
• The boss now stays locked in the same vulnerable move until you hit. I made it that way so you can more easily guess what you have to do and so you don't have to wait until he cycles through all moves again to hit him.
  

Can't even tell how long I have been revising this first part of the game, but I know it's the most important part to get right, so I hope these changes please all of you and incentivize you to keep playing!
Let me know what you think.
More news coming soon!
Zarc

During next week, Steam will have a Steam sale and event celebrating all the first person shooter games!
Check out Steam's official video for FPS Fest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd4ffQlZnnc

And of course, Exophobia couldn't miss be part of it, representing the boomer type of first person shooters... well, yeah.
So expect a demo update and an announcement to spice up this week!
More news soon, and happy shooting!!!
Zarc

Hey everyone!
Last week was a busy one! I know I should have warned beforehand, but got so busy with finishing the preparations for these events that I totally forgot to update the Steam news. (also bad internet at the hotel didn't help)
So, last week, Exophobia was at the Game Developers Conference Expo AND PAX East!

I couldn't be present at both expos, so I had my first experience at GDC (flew all the way from Portugal) while my publisher, PM Studios, managed their booth that included an Exophobia stand.
In these booths you could play Infinite Mode and Boss Rush mode, both unlockable at the end of the game (depending on the ending... wait, I never told there were two endings! That's right!)

GDC was really fun, it's a nice way to meet other devs and industry people and refresh your perspective. It was a needed boost in motivation to keep making games at this end stage of Exophobia development, specially in these times were things are rough for everyone, specially small indie devs.

One of my favorite parts was roasting marshmallows with other devs the day after the convention ended. It was my first time roasting marshmallows so it was a really cool experience!
Another favorite thing was meeting in person with Moski, a cool artist friend that gifted me a very cool Exophobia fan art. Check it out:
https://twitter.com/jcccastanheira/status/1772981189436997965/photo/1

Isn't it cool? Check out Moski's art and wishlist their game filled with his beautiful art, Townseek!

If you were at GDC or PAX, please wishlist the game, it helps a lot!
I'll be back with more news soon,
Zarc

From March 4th to 11th, Exophobia is joining more than 170 other games in a Steam event all about metroidvanias, hosted by Ravenage Games.

Here you will find discounts in the most iconic games of the genre, or play demos of upcoming gems!

Why is Exophobia considered a metroidvania?
Most metroidvania fans will argue that a metroidvania (metroid + castlevania for those who don't know) needs to be a sidescroller.
My idea with Exophobia was to mix metroidvania progression with a first person shooter and I think it fits pretty well! Let's see, for example, where a Metroid game and Wolfenstein 3d can meet in the middle:

• Labyrinthic non-linear levels with gates that can only be opened with upgrades? check
• Secrets around every corner or hidden wall that reward the player with powerups or easter eggs? check
• Different biomes with different enemies and boss fights? check

Exophobia features all of this and more elements from both genres, like metroidvania checkpoints and fast paced shooter combat from first person shooters.

Let me know what you think! Meanwhile, play the demo and enjoy all the other available games in the event :)
Happy exploration!
Zarc

Hey, Zarc here!
We are approaching the end of the year, with this time filled with many events and award cerimonies to celebrate this year in gaming!

This next week (15-21 Dec) Exophobia will be part of DreamHack Beyond Game Awards, which showcases upcoming and released indie games and awards them in different categories. No nomination for Exophobia though (the only category it could be nominated for was Most Antecipated Game), but it's an honor to be selected and among so many cool games!

To celebrate this and give you an early holiday gift I've updated the Steam page with shiny new graphics from the cover art and the demo with the latest code in the game! You'll find it has less bugs, is a little more forgiving than the past demo and even has a couple of new features like the map you can open anywhere!

So please, play the updated demo and wishlist Exophobia if you haven't! DreamHack is giving prizes for wishlisting! #DHBGameAwards

Also, for all your fans waiting for the game, let me give you some good and bad news.
Bad news is, you might have noticed that the release date has changed to 2024. I'm working hard with the publisher to release as early as possible in the next year as this year has been hard on all of us to work on a release.
Good news is that the game is finished! And I'm very proud of the result. The game is fun and filled with cool stuff that will keep you playing for hours! The soundtrack is also finished and I can't wait for you all to listen to it. It's 1 and half hours of pumping jams! So right now, there's only background work to get ready for release. Thanks for sticking with me all this time on my first big game release!

Don't know if I'll have any more updates until the end of the year, so...
Have a great holiday season!
Zarc