Hello everyone, Nexxtic here.
I hope you’ve all been doing well! As the year draws to a close, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the state of the game and the progress of our Early Access.
I’ll summarize the major changes and improvements we’ve made so far, and give you a glimpse of what’s coming next. Chapter 2 has been in full production since July, but in the meantime, I’ve been dedicating time to maintaining the current Steam version with occasional help from other people in the team.
Let's get started!
If you’re just here for the highlights of what we've done so far, or just want to see the future plans, feel free to skip ahead.
The decision to launch Selaco in Early Access was made about three years ago, shortly after we posted our
Realms Deep 2021 gameplay video. With the story already written we quickly realized that, given its scale, starting 'small' was the only realistic path forward. This wasn’t an easy decision, and we had long discussions about the best approach. The concept of Early Access isn't loved by everyone, and since we often play these type of games ourselves, we completely understand why some feel that way.
From the start, we aimed to make Early Access a meaningful part of development. Instead of releasing a small portion of the game and making players wait for new content (something that can take over a year), we launched with a 10-hour-long chapter to see how it landed among players. Then, as feedback rolled in, we apply course corrections where needed while simultaneously working on the second chapter. This approach helps us understand our own game better.
We looked at how Early Access was handled in its earlier days. Games like 'The Forest' and 'Don’t Starve' stood out to me, as they were actively building the game alongside their community.
I think we've done a good job communicating with players across multiple platforms so far, and have no intent to change this. There isn’t a single post on the Steam forums or Reddit that we haven’t read or acknowledged. The extensive list of changes below is a direct result of these dialogues.
We truly hope it shows!
Since our launch in May 2024, we’ve rolled out over 10 updates to improve the core game, fix bugs, and occasionally add new bits and pieces.
If you’ve reviewed the game in the past, please consider updating your review if your biggest issues have been addressed. As a small studio, reviews are crucial and help immensely.
Below is what we've worked on so far. Keep in mind that this is not everything we've done since then, only the most noteworthy changes.
[h3]Content / Major Changes[/h3]
- Added Special Campaign - a new take on New Game Plus and Randomizer Modes
- Introduced Unlocking System, allowing players to gain new modes or features by completing certain tasks
- Enabled Public Beta feature for early access to experimental features
- Added additional Weapon Upgrades and Weapon Kits
- Major reworks to difficulty, weapon balance and combat
- Added 'Selaco Must Fall' difficulty, an intentionally unbeatable difficulty mode
- Added Workshop Support
- Added an option to roll back to previous versions
- Added GeForce NOW and Steam Cloud Gaming support
- Option to play the original demo build from nearly 3 years ago
- Full Steam Deck support, including Valve's verification
- (Upcoming) Story content and character dialog updates
[h3]Quality of Life / Core Improvements[/h3]
- Added Steam Trading Cards and Point Shop
- Weapon Kits now persist across playthroughs
- Introduced Smart Ammo Pickup system
- Save Protection system to avoid unfair deaths due to unpredictable AI actions
- Option to change campaign difficulty mid-playthrough
- Increased number of checkpoints
- Smart Tutorial System to ensure tutorials are not repeated on replays
- Reworked player dodging to be more useful and provide better visual feedback
- Improved headshot feedback for better readability and impact
- Added Backpack Reloading
- Improved grenade-throwing responsiveness
- Additional accessibility options
- Added ‘Resume Game’ button to the Main Menu
- Implemented Cloud Saving
- Improved visual readability for frozen enemies
- Engine rework to maintain save compatibility with every update
- Expanded map screen with more icons and better controls
- Rebalanced difficulty settings
- Improved keycard visibility
- Added 'Smoke Density' setting for additional visibility
- Enhanced weapon upgrade station UI
- Added Audio Device settings to switch playback device in real-time
- Added option to skip intro screens
- Improved enemy footstep audio localization
- Reworked Ice Damage for greater utility
- Added melee kicking when fists are equipped
- Implemented a proper framerate limiter
- Reworked certain game sections to improve combat flow and signposting
- Vastly improved stability, resolving nearly every crash report received (Not all, but many!)
- Improved menu descriptions and UI clarity
- Added a custom ammo system for the shotgun
- Default values are now displayed in the options menu
- Fixed at least 1,000 bugs (rough estimate as we didn't keep count lol)
[h3]Immersion[/h3]
- Numerous improvements to immersion, including refined audio, effects, and interactables
- Introduced 'Extended Bullet Casings' graphical setting
- Reworked rain visuals, including puddles and splatter effects
- Added Healing Stations
- Added numerous ambient sound systems to help make the world feel more alive
- Most objects now feature unique sound effects upon collision with the player
- Enhanced muzzle flashes for greater impact
- Implemented 'Object Bumping' system
- Greatly improved gore visuals and audio
- Added new statistics to the Data Pad
- Included additional Data Pads for world-building
- Improved interactions for falling objects
- Multiple iterations on particle effect improvements
- Drastically improved explosion effects, including surface-specific effects (e.g., wood splinters on wooden floors), force and more
- Upgraded weapon sound effects for added punch
- Added maggots
- Players can now pet VAC-Bots as often as they want
[h3]Enemies[/h3]
- Reworked enemy stagger system
- Enemies now react to the player’s flashlight
- Added dialog for sound-based alerts
- Enemies now throw grenades at the player’s last known position
- Enemies now throw grenades at allies (Combat VAC-Bots, Sentry Guns)
- Patrolling behavior added for enemies that lose sight of the player
- Added AI reactions for being shot in the leg
- Improved enemy tactics, such as being more defensive when losing squadmates
- Introduced new enemy callouts
[h3]Mutators[/h3]
- Introduced a system to unlock new Mutators
- Added customization options for Mutators
- New Mutators
- "Hard-Boiled!" - Adds new layers of difficulty
- "Armor Up" - Increases armor durability
- "Extra Ammo" - Ammo pickups have an increase in quantity
- "Defensive Enemies" - Makes enemies take on a more defensive combat style
- "Half-Like" - Removes or reduces gamified elements like secrets and intermission screens
- "Burger Flipper Start" - Begin the game with the true GOTY of 2024: Burger Flipper
- "Legacy Item Pickups" - Removes Smart Ammo Pickups
Two things I want to get out of the way first:
- The goal of the roadmap is to provide a rough idea of what we're doing, not give deadlines.
- We will provide deadlines when we're confident with them, otherwise we'll be giving rough estimates!
Roadmaps, at least for us, often negatively impact development quality and leave little room to experiment with new ideas. Experimentation takes time, while roadmaps are schedule-focused and push us to chase deadlines without giving enough space to look back and improve upon older systems. I want to give the team (and by extension, myself) time to cook and try different things.
When something is in progress or priorities need to shift, we’ll let you know through blog posts like these almost right away!
Below is what we are currently working on, or are in the planning stages with.
- Chapter 2
This is where most of our resources are currently being spent. As we've said since the start, both Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 will be quite a bit shorter than Chapter 1, but in exchange, they're a lot punchier on a minute-to-minute basis.
It introduces new weapons, new tools, new enemies, allied NPCs, hundreds of new voxel decorations, overhauls the 'weaker' gameplay systems, gives Chapter 1 a good facelift, and more. We'll need a good amount of time to cook this one up and will share an ETA when we have a release date.
- Story Elements
Currently being worked on. Originally aimed to launch in November, but we shifted focus toward the Special Campaign instead to amp up the replay value early on. We’re aiming to launch this in Q1 2025.
- New Special Campaign features
Enemy Traits, Battle Chests, and other randomization features are planned for the second half of 2025.
- Engine Upgrade
We’re actively working on upgrading to a new engine version that brings better performance, improved rendering features, improved compatibility with specific hardware combinations and more. While we initially aimed to release a test build in December, we couldn’t quite meet that deadline. We want to avoid giving an ETA for the time being, but we’ll keep you updated! It should not be much longer!
- Making Safe Rooms More Interesting
The Big Chapter 2 Update will upgrade every Safe Room in the game by adding new facilities.
- Wave Survival Mode
This mode is called 'Incursions,' and we started prototyping this 5 years ago. We will eventually pick this back up and finish it. It will be a while, however, as it also requires us to get a new dedicated level designer onboard to create deathmatch-style layouts. We'll plan this out after we've launched Chapter 2.
- Swapping Weapon Kits During Gameplay
Currently, you can only switch Weapon Kits in Safe Rooms. We plan to change this by allowing players to select two Weapon Kits in Safe Rooms and swap between them during gameplay, at the expense of a slight delay while switching. For example, you’ll be able to use both Nail Gun Turrets and the Shotgun Module without being limited to just one, but switching in combat will take a second or two.
- Enemy AI
A ton of stuff is planned over the course of Early Access, including a cover system for enemies, a reliable Last Known Position system, the ability for them to prone, a buddy system where individual squad mates can group up and stay close together, and more.
- Reducing FOMO Elements
One common piece of feedback is the frustration of missing out on Weapon Kits, which can feel like missing part of the intended experience given their significance. To address this, we’re introducing a system where missed Weapon Kits can be purchased in Safe Rooms using credits. While exploration is still the better approach since it doesn’t cost you any credits, this will give players an alternative method.
- Some upgrades aren't worth the Weapon parts
We are aware. Consider a few of the upgrades placeholders for the time being. With the game being unfinished, there are only a limited number of parameters to work with, but we aim to redo a few of these closer to v1.0.
As ever, while we are confident with all of this, plans and dates may be subject to change.
And... that’s it for the last blog post of 2024! If you have suggestions or concerns, feel free to share them in the comments, and I’ll respond as soon as I can.
It has been an exciting (and somewhat strange) year for us. Launching Selaco has been a dream come true and not something we ever considered possible 5 years ago. Seeing the game grow over time and slowly shape into what we have today is a very surreal experience, yet something I’d gladly do all over again.
On behalf of the team at Altered Orbit Studios, we wish you a very Happy New Year! Take care, and we’ll see you in 2025!
- Nexxtic
