Blood West News

This is the Season of the Dead... and Undead! Something sinister is brewing once again in the Barren Lands. Some of you may already have freed the deserted mining town of the demonic presence brought about by unspeakable deeds. But there is no rest for the wicked! You'll be summoned again, to face an even greater evil in a place even more twisted and creepy. Blood West: Chapter 2 update arrives on October 31!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

So, if you haven't played Blood West yet, this Steam Scream Fest is a great excuse to pick it up 25% OFF...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1587130/Blood_West/

...and get into the game just before it gets BIGGER. "How much BIGGER is Blood West gettin, Hyperstrange?". Glad you've asked!

[h2]What to expect from Chapter[/h2]

A bit of background, first. When Blood West launched into Early Access in February, we knew we had something special, but we were still blown away by the exceptional reception of our wild west / horror stealth shooter. You folks loved it. It was the first ever Hyperstrange title to enjoy the Overwhelmingly Positive review score - and for quite a long time, for that matter.

But for all the love Blood West received here, it was conceived as a side project. A smaller-scale game, that could've been developed by a smaller team alongside our smash-hit, POSTAL: Brain Damaged. We've announced an Early Access roadmap that would have us releasing the second chapter in the summer, and wrapping up the project around November. A small-scale game, by a small-scale team. Seeing the audience's reaction we knew, this wouldn't be the best way to go anymore.



The team working on Blood West was expanded, and the gears shifted towards making the project a bit more ambitious. A single-player, cozy experience nonetheless, but with a bit more of... everything, than originally planned. So - back on topic - what you can expect of Chapter 2?

• A new map that's not only larger, but more tightly packed with events and points of interest.
  
• New weapons and items, including artifacts and unique guns.
  
• More NPCs with more elaborate quest lines and at least four times as much dialog lines.
  
• Brand-new monsters swarming the - much more detailed - new environment: the swamp.
  
• Brand new mysteries to piece together while learning more about the Barren Lands and the nature of Evil.
  

All this and more to provide a proper challenge to the buffed-up, armed-to-the-teeth desperados who already completed chapter one. All of it coming your way in just a few days!

[h3]Good fortune, Gunslingers![/h3]

It is that time of the year again. Boomercon is upon us! Or Realms Deep 2022, if you will. We've had six announcements this year, so let's jump into it without further ado. This serves just as a summary - more detailed posts will be popping up on appropriate game pages within a day or two. Let's go!

[h2]INCISION - Early Acces launch + Special Offers![/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1734680/INCISION/
Check out our nevest, explosive release! INCISION is a rare gem - a very retro-looking, unforgiving throwback shooter, that's so full of wonderfully-executed ideas, that it feels fresh and juicy. That is if you like your juice in the taste of rust, rot, and horror. The game launched on the day of Realms Deep main event - 16 September, and is already gaining a lot of praise from the players on Steam. If you like games such as DUSK, you can't afford to miss INCISION. And speaking of DUSK - DUSK owners get extra 15% off the price that's been already lowered by 15% in the release week. Similar discount applies for owners of Nightmare Reaper and Hedon, with even more bundles on the way! Get your tetanus shot, and plunge into the horror now!

[h2]POSTAL: Brain Damaged - Horde Mode announcement[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1359980/POSTAL_Brain_Damaged/
POSTAL: Brain Damaged has already gotten a small balancing update. Now, on September 19 it's getting another one. Much more substantial - it should help a lot with the balance between exploration and combat, thanks to the new ammo mechanics. Wait, that's not what you just saw in the video above? That's very perceptive! November 10 will mark the release of the Horde Mode in POSTAL: Brain Damaged, so you can spend even more time with the Brain Damaged Dude!

[h2]Blood West - Chapter 2 announcement[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1587130/Blood_West
Your favorite eerie wild west stealth-shooter with a bit of a immersive sim aftertaste has exceeded our initial expectations as to the reception and popularity. In wake of such success the Blood West team has been expanded, and the project was granted an extended development schedule, to deliver more content than it was originally intended. The second out of 3 chapters in the story of the Revenant Gunslinger will hit Steam on Halloween, and you'll be getting a map that's 1.5 larger and tighter packed with events and NPCs then the first one.

[h2]Supplice - release date announcement[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1693280/Supplice/
According to some sources, Supplice is the best-looking game in the entire Hyperstrange catalog. Well, beauty takes time! We've hold off making the announcement of the release date, to make sure Mekworx team has enough time to work their magic. Now, we're happy to announce the date you've been dying to know: 30 march 2023!

[h2]77p Egg: Eggwife - new game announcement[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1317020/77p_egg_Eggwife/
We fell in love with Eggwife after first seeing it in the Realms Deep 2021 showcase. Now, after we've released POSTAL: Brain Damaged it's perfectly clear, that the audience wants us to take things a step further. Or a lot of steps further. To go so far, that we'll end up in UK. Eggwife is what would happen if the Brits came up with POSTAL, but... it's so much more. An immersive sim? A dating sim? A shopping cart driver sim? You name it! Maybe just go wishlist it, and get the Demo for you to plau

[h2]GHOSTWARE: Arena of the Dead - new game announcement[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1893370/GHOSTWARE_Arena_of_the_Dead/
We strive to bring overlooked, original titles to a broader audience. Sometimes originality isn't apparent at face value. What seems like an arena shooter with retro stylings happens to become a whole sprawling world full of adventure and danger. You can find out for yourself just what makes Ghostware so unique that it found its way to our hearts. We'e not sure of the release date yet with this one, but we do highly encourage you to wishlist it and take the available demo for a spin.

And that's that. We'll be happy to hear your thoughts on our Hyperstrange Discord, steam forums, and clay tablets. Thank you for being a part of the Hyperstrange crowd, and Stay Metal!

[h2]Your's truly,[/h2]

Hyperstrange-developed POSTAL: Brain Damaged, the action-packed DOOM Eternal-like spin-off of the POSTAL series is finally here, and if you own any of the eligible RWS or Hyperstrange titles, or some other staple throwback-shooters like DUSK, Hedon, or Nightmare Reaper, you can get PBD with an additional discount added on top of -20% release discount via one of the special bundle deals.

Plus, we're happy to report it really SLAPS! With more than 1100 reviews it currently enjoys an 'Overwhelmingly Positive' rating, with more than 95% players recommending the game.



Yes, Hyperstrange really pulled this one off. The game is good and the release has been relatively bug-free despite the 2-week delay made explicitly to implement some bugs and stay on-brand. But it wouldn't be a POSTAL release if something haven't gone wrong. Many of you were waiting for the release of the POSTAL: Brain Damaged Official Soundtrack. The wait is finally over! The OST has arrived, and you can get it separately or bundled with the official Art Book in the POSTAL: Brain Damaged - Connoisseur Edition.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



The Hyperstrange Dev team is very grateful for the amazing reception of PBD. This gives them even more motivation to improve and expand the game post-release. Here's what to expect soon:

• Post-release fix - an update taking care of the known issues reported by the players, that slipped into the full release (ETA: One week)
  
• Balancing update - some players, as well as some internet micro-celebrities, have brought to our attention that the game offers way to much ammo if you explore the levels 'Quake-style', and far too little if you prefer to push on 'Doom Eternal-style'. The update will take care of that issue, allowing everyone to enjoy the game in their preferred playstyle. The update will also reconfigure some of the enemy positioning, spawns, and behavior. (ETA: One month)
  
• New playmodes - With that taken care of, the dev team will proceed to expanding the game itself, introducing an oft-requested horde mode, as well as another playmode offering a new, and replayable PBD experience. (ETA: This summer)
  
• More to be announced!

Hyperstrange and RWS are both extremely pleased with the reception of POSTAL: Brain Damaged. We're as excited as you are, to see what the future will bring to this explosive and twisted spin-off.

Your true friends and family,
[h2]Hyperstrange & RWS[/h2]

[h2]Gunslingers![/h2]

A few minor issues were noticed after yesterday's update went live that were calling for a quick fix, and a minor accessibility feature was requested. We were able to patch it all up quick, so we've got a hotfix for you, today. Here's what it brings:

[h2]Hotfix 1.1.1 changelog[/h2]

• New feature You can now set weapon zoom mode (aim down sights) to function either as a key press or toggle
  
• The Mule perk does no longer extend space in sacks making them act wonky. If you had more items placed in a sack than it should be able to carry, the additional items have been moved to Player Stash
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the NPCs to de-spawn if game was saved exactly at the moment of Player respawning / waking from sleep
  
• Fixed a bug that caused coins to be ignored by the Totem when inside a sack after reload or player death
  
• Fixed sections of the underground temple floor so they generate footsteps and display bullet hole decals
  
• Fixed parts of the tree roots so they generate footsteps and display bullet hole decals
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed for the ammo to be cloned under some rare circumstances
  

That's it for today, Gunslingers.
[h3]Good hunting![/h3]

[h2]Gunslingers![/h2]

You've been fighting relentlessly to take back the frontier from the bloody claws of otherworldly abominations for two full months. And there's thousands of you! We've been blown away by your enthusiastic reception of Blood West and humbled by the overwhelmingly positive reviews. You've been recommending our game to your friends and other Steam players, and it means the world to us. We know we love old-school, immersive gameplay full of stealth, tactics, and exploration - it's nice to know you do, too!

The Skin Collector - enemy concept in the upcoming scenario

Some of you say our western stealth shooter arrived in Early Access in better form than some high-profile games left it. That's a bar set really high, for sure, and we're doing and will continue to do our best to meet your expectations. We don't yet have a set release date for the upcoming content update that will bring about the second playable scenario. Seeing how much you appreciate the fine details of our creation we want to put as much - or more - effort into crafting the next rich and varied part of the world of Blood West.

The Wraith - enemy concept in the upcoming scenario

While we work on the new content we also improve on some aspects of the existing game, because there's always room for improvement, and we're no strangers to early access. Today marks the release of our first regular Early Access update (full changelog below!). It'll be accompanied by a week-long promo matching the release discount of 20%, so all of you who were on the fence with Blood West in the release week and held out until there's more reviews - here's your chance!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1587130/Blood_West/

[h2]Full 1.1 changelog:[/h2]

Following your generous feedback and going through the many gameplay videos and streams, we've decided our priorities for the first post-release patch. Here's how we're improving on the game's mechanics and introducing some quality-of-life improvements:

[h3]New features:[/h3]

• A new, alternate bossfight path
  
• Leaning from behind cover (make sure to bind the keys!)
  
• New vendor items - sacks that improve inventory management
  
• By popular demand items in the inventory can now be rotated to improve stackability (have fun!)
  
• You can now bind the key to unload ammo
  
• FOV slider added
  
• V-Sync toggle added
  
• Brightness / gamma setting (does not affect the UI)
  
• ESC key closes inventory/map screen
  
• Trying to bind a key that's already in use will prompt an option to swap them
  
• Keybind menu cannot be closed if not all keys have been set, missing bindings will be highlighted

[h3]Changes:[/h3]

• Improved enemy A.I. - they will react to gunshots in their hearing range, notice if another mob in their line of sight is killed, become alarmed in vicinity of other aggravated mobs
  
• Jim's lucky coin quest is now failable if the player chooses to keep the coin for themselves
  
• Reworked the acid-spitting Humanpede behavior - it should now be more challenging to fight, although it still prefers to avoid up-close combat
  
• Nerfed the Collector perk - it generates less loot
  
• Nerfed the Gotcha! perk - it now provides just longer, not infinite effective headshot distance
  
• Totem blessings no longer stack - you can only have one active at a time
  
• Putting a bow on the ground while it was drawn will return the arrow to the inventory
  
• Removed the Shadow Heart item
  
• Reduced healing items and ammo amount player can find in the game world
  
• Some spelling and grammar corrections (not final)

[h3]Bugfixes:[/h3]

• Loading your game no longer causes FPS to drop
  
• Quitting the game by Alt+F4 combo no longer risks corrupting your save file
  
• The UI prompts display the correct bindings right away, not after game restart as it used to
  
• Ctrl and Shift keys are now bindable
  
• Reloading the boss fight no longer causes wendigo not to spawn properly
  
• Fixed the rare bug that allowed losing or multiplying bandages (and other stackable items)
  
• Fixed the breaking platform in the boss fight which was breaking to quick on subsequent tries
  
• Sliding or running downwards on slopes no longer generates damage to the player
  
• Multiple fixes to the save game functionality
  
• More clear option selection ("Accept" closes the form and saves the changes, "Back" was renamed to "Cancel", acts accordingly)
  
• Molotov burning sound no longer loops on mob impact
  
• Mobs no longer vocalize post-death (which occurred when killed with shotgun or other multi-projectile weapon)
  
• Ghosts no longer leave blood splatter on walls

Sacks - a useful new addition to the player's inventory

Please note that after the patch loading an existing save game will result in the player being re-located to a safe zone, and all the monsters will be re-spawned.

This concludes today's summary. If you have any more suggestions or happen to run into some issues, please make sure to let us know either here, in the game's Steam hub, or in the Blood West channel of Hyperstrange Discord.

[h3]Good hunting, Gunslingers![/h3]

[h2]Next from HYPERSTRANGE[/h2]

If you enjoy Blood West not just for it's stealth but also its action and visuals, you might be interested in our teams upcoming FPS - POSTAL: Brain Damaged. That's right - The notorious POSTAL series returns in a twisted spin-off that it into a whole new direction. Developed by Hyperstrange under the watchful eye of Running with Scissors, POSTAL: Brain Damaged gives you retro-FPS looks and fast-paced modern gameplay. Please consider adding it to your wishlist:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1359980/POSTAL_Brain_Damaged

[h2]Yours truly,[/h2]