Impaler Gold News

Hey Impaler fans!

First of all, thank you once again for all the feedback you've provided since launch. It has helped us shape the game and our plans going forward.

So far we've released two updates, while the third one is still in the oven, but more on that a tad later.

For this specific reason we've prepared a Roadmap for 2023. As you can see, we're getting ready to spike quite a bit of features in the near future.



That being said... We're be opening a public Beta Branch where you'll be able to test out upcoming updates and, hopefully, help us balance and test things out.

To access the Beta Branch, right click Impaler in your Steam Library, choose "Preferences", then "Betas", and choose beta_branch from the dropdown menu.



The Impaler team is looking for feedback on its first major content update - Update #3. This contains 9 new stages and substantial balance changes. We need your help to make sure the changes are making the game more fun, challenging, and replayable.

We're seeking feedback on:

• New stages
  
• Difficulty progression
  
• New upgrades
  
• General balance
  
• Quality of life and whatever else comes to mind
  

If you'd like to share feedback, head to the Beta Branch forum on Steam, or let us know on our official Discord Server!

We can't wait to hear your thoughts on the Roadmap and our future plans!

Until next time!

Apptivus and Retrovibe

Hey everyone!

Today we're releasing a new bundle for you to enjoy maximum dose of Retrovibe's first person shooters!

Get the best deal thanks to a triple week-long deal where you slay, burn, freeze and impale demons in fast, furious and relentless pixel carnage!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/30285/Triple_Threat/

Hey all!

Thank you all for supporting Impaler, and providing us with tons of feedback. As we mentioned last time, we’re constantly working on new content and features to expand our game. This update brings new obstacles, new difficulty levels, and much more!

Our goal going forward is to introduce changes that will expand on what Impaler delivered at launch. Over the next weeks we will offer a roadmap that will lay out what we have planned for Impaler in the coming months.

For now - please check out the full patch notes:

New Features / Content

• New obstacle “Monolith” - Extremely large indestructible obstacle that can offer cover from ranged projectiles and spawns in a porous configuration so movement is not overly restricted
  
• New obstacle “Retractor” - Indestructible metal obstacle that retracts when enemies are nearby. Blocks player movement but allows passage of monsters.
  
• Unlockable game difficulties + score bonuses
  
  
  
  
  • Hard
    
    • 1.25X score bonus
      
    • Reduced healing
      
  • Nightmare
    
    • 1.5X score bonus
      
    • Reduced healing, tougher monsters, start with low HP, easy spike overheats
      
• Two new achievements for completing the game on Hard and Nightmare
  
• Bullet time mechanics simplified
  
  • Bullet time fills by taking damage and killing monsters
    
  • Bullet time cooldown is removed and progress no longer decays with time
    
  • Triggers when the player presses attack
    
• New config.ini settings for enabling / disabling some visual settings
  
  • Weapon sway
    
  • Weapon bob
    
  • Screen shake
    

Balance / Gameplay

• Stomp damage reduced to 30 from 35
  
• Melee monsters about 5% faster
  
• Coin crate now drops 3 coins instead of 4
  
• Monsters that have ranged attacks more intelligently lob projectiles at you (over obstacles and at greater ranges)
  
• Boss shoots 6 fireballs in succession instead of 2 at once
  
• Platform / rocket monster changes:
  
  • The platform can be temporarily damaged causing the platform to lower making it more vulnerable (will see electricity / sparks)
    
  • Will lob rockets high into the air to attack players hiding behind obstacles / at a distance
• Stage 10 has a more challenging obstacle layout & additional jump pads
  
• Slime monster uses ranged attack more aggressively
  
• Crusher “skull” obstacles will reset after dropping so they can be reused as traps
  
• Minor reduction in health pickup attraction (was too forgiving)
  
• Increased bullet penetration against spikes (so you can shoot monsters behind them easier)
  
• Jump arrows now spawn coins above them after 30s (only spawns once but makes them more fun to use)
  
• Improved layout and bouncing behavior of the floating arrows (more satisfying now)
  
• Offerings will move themselves away from walls and corners (common point of frustration)
  
• Increased coin reward from 6 to 10 when completing a stage with full health
  
• Platform monsters hide for 4s instead of 6s
  
• Changed behavior of weapon cooldowns slightly + balance values updated. Slightly higher thresholds for overheats and slightly slower cooldowns. (was bug in math that needed to be fixed)
  
• ~10% reduction on weapon overheat cooldown
  
• Additional HUD indicator for when bullet time is available
  
• Large versions of monsters have ~30% more health
  
• Fixed placement of spikes when spike jumping (was previously offset in a frustrating way behind the players feet when looking straight down)
  
• Increased size of offerings
  

Audio / Visual

• Blood particle effects improved
  
• Improved particle effects for destruction of boss “spike” obstacles
  
• Fixed some flickering on the boss shield
  
• Obstacles have a shake animation when damaged
  
• Minor improvements to environment art
  
• Increase opacity of hit indicator and reduced its size
  
• Improved camera animations when jumping and stomping
  
• Increased visibility of shadows when objects are above the ground
  
• Generally improved map lighting and shadows (+ slightly increased brightness)
  
• Coins slightly bigger & more visible
  
• Reduce smoke from shotgun pellet impacts
  
• Upscaled art for the stage # pickup
  
• Improved visual presentation of coin and health power ups (faux lighting effect)
  
• Menu buttons are more gray than blue
  
• Added missing sounds to certain pickup spawns
  
• Changed visual appearance of plasma nades to be more distinct from the normal plasma projectiles
  
• Improved art assets for offerings
  
• Improved art assets for large stone obstacle
  
• Improved art assets for spikey boss obstacle
  
• Improved misc menu art / icons
  
• Added blue glow on weapon to show bullet time is ready
  
• Added unique sounds for shooting offerings
  
• Added ambient sound for offering destinations
  
• General audio mixing improvements
  

Bug Fixes / Technical

• Fixed bug causing occasional inconsistency with the strength of weapon recoil impulse on player (you can now use gun recoil to run backwards faster)
  
• Fixed an incorrect German localization
  
• Fixed gold farming exploit with “Demolition Man” - coins only spawn during the phase where monsters spawn. (you can no longer keep the last enemy alive to farm coins)
  
• Fixed offerings triggering jump pads
  
• Fixed death sounds playing multiple times on some monsters
  
• Fixed bug with stakes incorrectly rendering when stuck in a wall
  
• Fixed missing windows taskbar icon
  
• Reduced overall load times
  

Thank you all for getting through the patch notes, make sure to let us know what you think about the changes and new features on Steam forums, or our official Discord server.

While we are still pinpointing future update plans and the roadmap for this year, we can honestly say that 2023 is the year of Impaler!

As always, please share Impaler with your friends and leave a Steam review if you’re enjoying the game to help us reach even more players.

Also, be sure to check out our bundles with extra discounts for a number of great indie titles.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29360/Project_Warlock_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29427/PROJECT_WARLOCK_II_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29426/BLOOD_WEST_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29424/INCISION_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29425/POSTAL_Brain_Damaged_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29385/Pixelated_Milk_Bundle_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29361/Impaler_x_NecroBouncer/

And remember: exhale - IMPALE, exhale - IMPALE!

Apptivus and Retrovibe

Our launch discount will run out soon but we still have a number of awesome indie game bundles in place for the Steam Winter Sale! Check them out below and find the best gifts for your friends and family… or yourselves!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29360/Project_Warlock_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29427/PROJECT_WARLOCK_II_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29426/BLOOD_WEST_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29424/INCISION_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29425/POSTAL_Brain_Damaged_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29385/Pixelated_Milk_Bundle_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29361/Impaler_x_NecroBouncer/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29657/BIOTA_x_Impaler/

Please share Impaler with your friends and leave a Steam review to help us in reaching more players.

Have a wonderful holiday season! Stay safe and healthy. We wish you fruitful deal-hunting during the Winter Sale and a Retro New Year!

[h2]First of all, thank you for playing Impaler! [/h2]

It’s amazing to see you enjoying the game, reading your reviews (96% of them are positive!), and going through all the feedback and ideas. We’re already planning new content and features to improve and expand the game - more details about it soon.

For now, we want to share with you this first patch to version 1.0.339 with quality-of-life improvements, gameplay balance, and some minor fixes.

Check out the full changelog below and go impale some demons!

[h3]New Features[/h3]

• Ability to customize keyboard & mouse controls in settings
  
• Consolidated mouse & keyboard settings into a single menu
  
• Photosensitivity popups can be permanently dismissed
  
• Weapons glow red as they heat up to make heat mechanics more obvious

[h3]Audio / Visual[/h3]

• Improved blood particle artwork and shaders (should be less glowy and look better)
  
• Slight improvement to weapon switching anim
  
• Yellow offering drop zones are more visible
  
• The hit indicator is closer to the center of the crosshair and less distracting
  
• Increased frequency of ambient sounds for melee monsters (should better telegraph approaching monsters)
  
• Big versions of enemies have a more distinct purple glow
  
• The shotgun sound is a bit louder
  
• Shotgun muzzle flash is larger

[h3]Balance / Gameplay[/h3]

• Laser Sight upgrade also improves accuracy instead of being purely cosmetic
  
• Increased the mass of plasma gun projectiles (can push offerings better)
  
• Plasma gun buffed - overheats less easily
  
• Spike overheats more easily
  
• Spike shoot cooldown increased by 20% to limit spam
  
• Melee monsters on the boss stage don’t contribute to kills and stats anymore to avoid farming (all other monsters still contribute as expected)
  
• 10% increase in air control
  
• 3% increase in base movement speed
  
• Haste upgrade increases speed by 15% instead of 20%
  
• Cannon and rocket launcher have more recoil impulse and move players backward a bit
  
• Cannon projectiles have more mass and push objects around more
  
• Shotgun = 12 x 4.75 damage instead of 10 x 5.5 (slight buff and better spread)
  
• Boss stage difficulty increased:
  
  • Boss now shoots two fireballs and is more deadly and difficult to dodge
    
  • Melee monsters spawn continuously to put pressure on players
    
  • Additional grenade launcher monsters spawn when the boss takes damage
    
  • Spikey obstacles will now respawn
    
• Disabled coin spawns on the boss map due to the addition of continuous monster spawns
  
• Coins will spawn instead of health when you have a full bar of health at the end of the round
  
• Stomp damage decreased to 35 from 45
  
• Cannon damage decreased to 40 from 45. An explosive shot does slightly less damage
  
• Increased monster density on shrine intro and sawblade intro stages
  
• 2% - 10% health increases for all monsters except melee
  
• Rocket launcher explosions are smaller and do less damage
  
• Tower enemies shoot more frequently and aggressively
  
• Increased speed of weapon switching

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed occasional death sounds playing twice and being too loud
  
• Fixed the boss obstacle spawns not working in some cases

Please share Impaler with your friends and leave a Steam review to help us in reaching more players.

Also, be sure to check out our bundles with extra discounts for a number of great indie titles.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29360/Project_Warlock_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29427/PROJECT_WARLOCK_II_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29426/BLOOD_WEST_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29424/INCISION_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29425/POSTAL_Brain_Damaged_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29385/Pixelated_Milk_Bundle_x_Impaler/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/29361/Impaler_x_NecroBouncer/