Above Snakes News

We are currently in Alpha with more than 800 players that acquired access to the game via Kickstarter and Backerkit. We plan to transition into beta soon, but before doing that we want to run a closed test first. For that closed test we are looking for testers who will play the beta before everyone else and tell us what they think, report bugs and help us to improve the game. To get picked all you need to do is follow this link and enroll with your email address so we can contact you.

http://linktr.ee/abovesnakes

We explain a little more in this short video:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

You want to be one of the first to play the beta and help us improve the game?
https://squareglade.games/

Watch our latest devlog to see the beauty of our new desert biome, new skeleton enemies, a new tutorial area, the new quest log, and the addition of Steam cloud saves!

[h2]Video Devlog[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Pssst..for more updates, don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

[h2]Desert Biome[/h2]


After you complete the farmland quest line, your journey leads you into the desert where you will find a lone gunman called Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones has been heavily injured by something, but he blacked out before he could determine what it was. It turns out that green meteors and a spreading plague are not the only supernatural things happening in this world...

[h2]New Enemies [/h2]


We have created a handful of new enemies with the focus on making them interesting to play against. We spotted issues with the existing enemies, such as that dodging bullets and predicting attacks was very hard to do. We have tackled that issue with better animations, predictable attack patterns, and red lines that indicate where an attack will damage.
With these machete skeletons, gunmen, and dynamite throwers, we have a cool arsenal of skeleton enemy types that are more exciting to face - especially when you have to fight multiple at once! To see some gameplay, check out the video version of the devlog.

[h2]New Tutorial Area: Hunter's Rest[/h2]


In our earlier tutorial, you started on a fairly empty world piece. We had designed tutorial quests in a way where you - the player - essentially took them upon yourself. For example, “I should get some lumber to build my shelter” or “I am hungry so I should collect berries.” While this approach works for many survival games, in Above Snakes we want to handle things a little differently.
We want you to be able to experience the world of Above Snakes - and its happenings - firsthand. With that said, we designed a special area for that initial occasion: a lumberjack settlement called Hunter’s Rest. Hunter's Rest has been afflicted and damaged by the meteors and plague on the very night of its occurrence. You will now wake up in a near-destroyed town and help the survivors rebuild the settlement.

[h2]Quest Log[/h2]


We always show your current quests on the left side of the UI, but sometimes that can get a little messy when you have too many quests at once. So, we have added a new UI called the Quest Log in which you can decide what quest to track (or not). You can also re-read the quest texts in case you missed them.

[h2]Steam Cloud Saves[/h2]


Additionally, we have enabled Steam cloud saves and will use that once the Beta is rolled out. We are currently working on making the save files compatible with the Steam Deck too, so you can seamlessly play on the same save file across all of your devices. Stay tuned and don’t miss when we announce the transition into Beta in the near future!

We hope that you enjoyed this devlog as much as we enjoyed implementing all of this content. We can't wait to hear your feedback. In the video, we asked what you think would make for a fun enemy. Let us know in the comments below!

Cheers,
Tobi

Is there anything better than tending to your own garden on a relaxing summer evening? Well, good news for you! You will be able to do exactly that in Above Snakes! Watch our latest devlog to see our farming system in action, the beauty of our new farmland biome, and our first ever interactive cutscene!
[h2]Watch the Devlog[/h2]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Are you already subscribed to our Youtube Channel?

[h2]Farmland Biome[/h2]


One of the latest biomes that we have designed is the farmlands. These are one of the warmer biomes that can be connected to prairies. Some of the farmland biomes are owned by a new character called Basil Biggs. Basil has his own cattle ranch that, unfortunately, has been invaded by lost souls. You can choose to help him fight back against these enemies, repair the ranch, and also get his beloved cows (Patsy and Betsy) back after they had escaped.

[h2]Crop Farming[/h2]


You can have your own crop farm at home! If you found a crop on your journeys, you can sow it on a garden plot and allow it to grow. After planting, make sure to water and fertilize any crops regularly to increase growth speed. You can check the status of the garden at any time. Crops grow in four stages: from seeds to saplings to plants to plants ready for harvest.

[h2]Nighttime and Torches[/h2]


We have vastly improved the night mechanic. When nighttime originally descended, it was very dark but you were still able to see the whole screen; this version of night went against our whole idea. Therefore, we added a light radius around Aiyana and made the rest of the screen completely dark. You can enhance your light radius by crafting torches. Torches can be placed to illuminate an area or carried if you plan to explore at nighttime.

[h2]Monocular [/h2]


We have also added a new item which we think will come in handy: the monocular. Remember how, when you want to explore a new biome, you need to go back to your cartography table and research world pieces? Well, we think that you should also be able to do that mid-journey too. The new monocular item will grant you access to your cartography table from anywhere in the world for the cost of a couple pieces of glass and scrap parts.

[h2]Interactive Cutscenes[/h2]
Parts of the story of Above Snakes will be told in interactive cutscenes that take place in a dream-like space. After finishing the cold biomes, the tribe elder will invite you to smoke a pipe with them that transfers your mind into some kind of trance or dream state. This is the first of the cutscenes where you will get some vague information about the source of the spreading plague. Watch our devlog if you want to see a sneak peek of our first interactive cutscene!

[h2]What's Next?[/h2]
As you have probably noticed, we are pushing out content for Above Snakes non-stop. We are continuing our work on the game and remain focused on the end goal. In the past couple of months, we have consistently updated the Alpha (and before that, the Pre-Alpha). We have come to realize that updating the Alpha takes time away from our development of Above Snakes with usually 1-2 weeks of polishing and bug fixing. We think that it is in everyone's best interest if we put our focus more so on completing the game before everything else and, therefore, invest these weeks in new content instead of preparing a build.

With that said, we have decided to cease updates to the Alpha and, instead, are working on finishing the Beta. This decision will also see the addition of more content per devlog. We are currently on schedule with our progress and are aiming to enter the Beta phase this winter; we will see plenty of new people joining the fun who had backed with Beta access. We sincerely hope that everybody who backed the Alpha understands why we are now moving forward. The current version of the Alpha, of course, stays online and can be played until we launch the Beta.

We hope that you enjoyed our farming devlog and we can't wait to hear your feedback. In the video, we showed all of the different crops that are already in-game. What crop do you want to sow and harvest most? Let us know in the comments below!
Cheers,
Tobi

Who else needs a little cool down? Well, we have some frosty news to share with you and tons of new content! An updated Alpha version of Above Snakes has been published to Steam and is ready to play!

[h2]Watch the Devlog on YouTube[/h2]
Don't want to read the devlog or would like to see more in-game footage? Take a shortcut and watch the devlog on YouTube!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

If you haven't already, subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel! We plan on creating devlog videos with some extra content to accompany the written version. We'll also be uploading other exciting things there in between regular updates!



[h2]New Biomes, New Quests, and New Content![/h2]
We have added two more biomes: Snow Forest and Ice Lake along with a couple of story tiles on which you can meet new people who tell the story of Above Snakes. All in all, we have added a total of 10+ new quests and 10+ new tiles with tons of resources.



[h2]New Character Model and Visible Equipment[/h2]



Even though our old character model looked really nice, it was necessary to switch to a new one for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we needed a modular character model to display equipped items on the body. The old one was not created in a modular way. Secondly, we really liked the low-poly look of the new model as it fits the art style of the game very well.

[h2]Bow and Arrow Combat[/h2]



We have implemented ranged combat and hunting! Our good old friend Stark, the lumberjack, will have a new quest for you. Once you inspect his hunting gear and talk to him about it, he will offer to teach you how to hunt.
We have bound melee weapons to the left mouse button and ranged weapons to the right mouse button. In combat, you can switch seamlessly between the two. Controllers are, of course, also supported.

[h2]We've Started Localizing the Game![/h2]



As promised with the Kickstarter, Above Snakes will be available in many languages. When you start up the game, you can now select your language preference. You will be able to see the extent to which that language has already been translated (the percentages will vary and will increase over time). We display any texts that are not yet translated in English.

Disclaimer: Please don't expect too much at this point regarding the translations as we have only just begun translating the game. Additionally, we are working on a way to have more languages translated during the Alpha and Beta phases. Our plan is to get everything re-written and re-translated by professionals before release. Until then, we will probably rely on our network and any help from the community.

That concludes another update! As always, we are happy to hear your feedback about any and all changes we make to the game. Please feel free to leave a comment down below or hop into the discussions on our Discord server!
Cheers,
Tobi

Giving Aiyana an animal companion was the most anticipated stretch goal of our Kickstarter campaign earlier this year. We are happy to share our thoughts regarding this feature!

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