The Zone: Stalker Stories News

This is our first load of post-launch fixes, with more to come.

• Fixed mutant prawn boss erroneously triggering story advancement
  
• Fixed crash when repeatedly clicking End Turn
  
• Fixed problems when transferring from story mode to gameplay
  
• Fixed some mystery instability (hopefully including crashes during boss encounters -- starting a new game may be required)
  
• Fixed issue with certain backgrounds not showing
  
• Fixed combats occurring in protected areas
  
• Balance tweaks: Lowered HP on certain enemies
  
• Increased default text speed
  
• Controller clicks are now recognised during name entry
  

At long last, the day is here!

ZONE is now available on Early Access, with 3 explorable biomes and lots more story than the demo had to offer.

There is much left to do, of course... But if we haven't given up after all this time, you know we won't until the game is done.

And before we go, another list of improvements over the demo:

• Added controller support
  
• Added unlock requirement for Stalker mode
  
• Changed loot system
  
• Reworked exploration
  
• Fixed bug that allowed drawing above maximum hand size
  
• Fixed broken battle background in the train yard
  
• Fixed bug with Fire Axe disappearing
  
• Fixed crash on mouseovering card tooltips
  
• Shop card previews no longer persist after buying an item
  
• Fixed issue with story segments freezing at certain points
  
• Fixed Leather Jerkin not giving correct buffs
  

Our Early Access release is coming... A date has been set. 15 June 2023. Less than one month away.

Exciting times!

Appropriately, the store page has been updated with a brand spanking new trailer showcasing much more of the gameplay and many of the features you can expect in the full version, as well as a slew of updated screenshots.

And for those of you who can't bear to go all the way to the store page...

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Welcome... to the Cards & Fixes update.

This update focusses on changing combat in a major way. No longer will you find randomly-generated groups of baddies, thrown together without care for challenge or preparedness. Each group is now carefully hand-crafted to create a better (proper) progression all the way through Chapter 1.

Bosses have also gotten a rebalance, and importantly, we're introducing Unique cards... A special choice on character creation which (in the future) will grow with you throughout your adventure.

Of course all this is experimental and subject to change in future updates.

Lastly, we'l be maintaining more detailed changelogs from now on, so you have a better idea which features have been added and which bugs have been fixed.

Happy hunting out there... in the Zone.

Changelog:

• Changed combat from randomly-spawned enemies to pre-designed groups
  
• Rebalanced enemies
  
• Added intro battle
  
• Added unique starting cards
  
• Enemies now show ranged and melee intent on mouse hover
  
• Cards gained from Research should no longer disappear on load
  
• Equipped items should no longer disappear on load
  
• Fixed some jank with card targeting
  
• Can no longer lose Energy when trying to draw from an empty Action pool
  
• Despair card no longer reduces Energy when drawn
  
• Fixed problem with certain cards not recognising their true cost
  
• Fixed some cards going blank when drawn
  
• Fixed crash on train yard boss death
  
• Fixed research tooltips breaking in some circumstances
  
• Fixed normal maps not working on some battle backgrounds
  
• Fixed sound conflicts on equipping items
  
• Fixed issue with dialogue skipping hiding text boxes
  
• Story side quests are now properly removed from the list when accepted
  
• Replaced more temp art
  

So comes the biggest update of the year so far! Further stability improvements are accompanied by dozens of new art pieces, replacing 90% of our nasty temp assets with much, much nicer stuff.

The demo now offers new backgrounds, new battle arenas, and new cut-ins, all helping to make the story and environments come alive more than ever.

Other highlights include:

• Fixed fleeing from train yard boss
  
• Fixed slugroach crash
  
• Numerous other fixes and improvements
  

As always, if you run into any problems, please report it on the discussion board and we will do our very best to fix the issue.