Prologue Hotfix
A hotfix is now up that solves a show-stopping issue where opening the quest log during the prologue, then opening the player inventory, would cause a soft lock and make it impossible to progress further.
The Zone: Stalker Stories News
Post-SGF Update
Though the Festival has ended, our tireless work continues in the code-mines of Antares III, hewing new features from the living rock.
What mystical ores have we harvested so far? Well...
- Major performance gains in overworld segments
- Major performance gains in card battles
- Quality of life improvements in inventory
- Tweaked item drop rates
- Fixed stun on enemies
- Several rare new artifacts and cards
- Misc fixes
And if you missed the last update during the festival, the wonky save/load system has been completely replaced by something a bit more reliable.
Now we must hoist our torches and pickaxes once again and return to the Depths, so we may drive off the dreaded Krak-Worm of Saloth Sarr and delve deeper than ever before...
Take care.
Why Is Z:SS Special?
In the briefest possible terms, The Zone: Stalker Stories is one part top-down RPG, one part deck builder/card battler, and one part rich visual novel.
But IG, you might ask, in this crowded market of things constantly competing for our attention, why is Zone worthy of my time and support?
Well, we like to think we're offering something that you can't find anywhere else.
There's features which we felt have been missing in other deck-builders, like the lush overworld maps to explore and seek out adventure, in a perspective that's never been explored in games inspired by STALKER and Roadside Picnic.
We've got a singular visual style, bursting with beautiful hand-drawn art, as well as a sound that's all our own.
Our inventory system is unique in that it lets you change your deck composition and various passive bonuses almost at will, however you like.
And perhaps our biggest strength, something which our past games have always been praised for, is story. Zone will have a full proper plot and dialogue written by industry veterans. Though our demo doesn't currently have voice acting, it's a likely future addition.
This demo is what we've put together with a bare handful of people -- 3 artists, 1 composer, and me doing everything else -- all in our spare time with virtually no budget. Imagine what it could become with your support!
Last but not least, you can count on us to spend time every day replying to posts on our Steam discussion forum. They don't even need to be relevant to Zone specifically; you're more than welcome to just stop by, chill and chat with us!
But IG, you might ask, in this crowded market of things constantly competing for our attention, why is Zone worthy of my time and support?
Well, we like to think we're offering something that you can't find anywhere else.
There's features which we felt have been missing in other deck-builders, like the lush overworld maps to explore and seek out adventure, in a perspective that's never been explored in games inspired by STALKER and Roadside Picnic.
We've got a singular visual style, bursting with beautiful hand-drawn art, as well as a sound that's all our own.
Our inventory system is unique in that it lets you change your deck composition and various passive bonuses almost at will, however you like.
And perhaps our biggest strength, something which our past games have always been praised for, is story. Zone will have a full proper plot and dialogue written by industry veterans. Though our demo doesn't currently have voice acting, it's a likely future addition.
This demo is what we've put together with a bare handful of people -- 3 artists, 1 composer, and me doing everything else -- all in our spare time with virtually no budget. Imagine what it could become with your support!
Last but not least, you can count on us to spend time every day replying to posts on our Steam discussion forum. They don't even need to be relevant to Zone specifically; you're more than welcome to just stop by, chill and chat with us!
The Zone: Ask Me Anything
The SGF is Zone's official debut, and this is our first event in support of it, answering any questions that weren't covered by our detailed and finely-crafted writeups and generally getting personal, to let people know who's behind the curtain.
Our goal: To help you get a feel for why you should be as excited about the game as we are. Also to give some reasons to follow, wishlist, back our upcoming Kickstarter, or all of the above.
This event will take place in the IAmA subreddit. We will be posting a topic and linking to it roughly 30 minutes before starting the event.
Primary contact will be our creative director Ryan Span, username Winterslice, although other members of our team may drop in depending on availability!
EDIT -- Due to technical difficulties, AMA thread has been moved to our Steam discussion forum: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1299540/discussions/0/2523653167123719579/
And a different AMA group: https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/hcq93w/we_are_an_indie_studio_making_a_unique_new/
Our goal: To help you get a feel for why you should be as excited about the game as we are. Also to give some reasons to follow, wishlist, back our upcoming Kickstarter, or all of the above.
This event will take place in the IAmA subreddit. We will be posting a topic and linking to it roughly 30 minutes before starting the event.
Primary contact will be our creative director Ryan Span, username Winterslice, although other members of our team may drop in depending on availability!
EDIT -- Due to technical difficulties, AMA thread has been moved to our Steam discussion forum: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1299540/discussions/0/2523653167123719579/
And a different AMA group: https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/hcq93w/we_are_an_indie_studio_making_a_unique_new/