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Development Blog - Addressing Review Feedback with Chapter 2

[p][/p][p]Captains,[/p][p]Now that Selaco is 15 months old, we've had plenty of time to talk, discuss, and better understand our own game. It's been a refreshing feedback loop that has always felt both fun and productive. There's something quite special about talking with players who seem equally as enthusiastic about the game as we are, especially with those among you who understand the importance of interactable light switches in a videogame. [/p][p]With a clearer understanding of where we want the game to go, we’d like to take a moment to summarize the critical points raised in Steam Reviews and on our Discord server, and to share how we plan to address them.[/p][p][/p]
[p]At this time of writing, Selaco has been reviewed as Very Positive by 93% of our 4500 reviews. This is truly fantastic, and something we take pride in. But, as good as this is, it doesn't mean we can just stop what we're doing and not explore what the people are saying. No, no, if the game can be made any better, we want to take the opportunity because we are annoyingly obsessive when it involves the game’s quality. Just look at those ridiculously long changelogs we’ve posted in the past![/p][p]There are plenty of reviews both positive and negative that bring up some very solid points. Below is a summary of them, along with our plans to solve them.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Problem[/p][p]The most dominant critique in reviews is that players often get lost in Selaco’s levels. Whether it’s navigating its many corridors or returning after a long break from the game, the way forward isn’t always clear depending on the player’s current location. We want exploration to feel rewarding, but not confusing to the point of stalling progress for too long.[/p][p]The way we see it: Being lost for a minute is fine, being lost for 5 minutes is a problem.[/p][p][/p][p]The Solution[/p][p]We want to provide more meaningful information regarding navigation while still keeping the exploration element of the game intact. We have a lot of players who enjoy Selaco's hands-off approach in terms of navigation, and a good amount who prefer a bit more assistance. In order to strike a good middle ground, the following changes will be made in Chapter 2:[/p]
  • [p]The Map Screen will now display an icon marking the destination of your next goal, providing players with an anchor point to reference when navigating the world, without explicitly showing how to reach that destination. This still encourages players to explore the levels as they normally would, while making navigational mistakes much easier to recover from. Players can choose to disable this feature.[/p]
  • [p]The game will now tell the player what level they are supposed to be in in order to progress the Campaign, making it much easier to return to the game after a break, or to safely explore previous levels without losing track of where you should be later on.[/p]
  • [p]We’ve also improved green light cues further. There are now more instances where, once a task is completed (like flipping a switch to open a door), the related Green Lights turn off so they won’t mislead you, instead placing focus on your next goal.[/p]
[p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Problem[/p][p]Weapon Kits are among the most popular unlocks, but missing them can feel like missing a core part of the game. This often pressures players to 100% each level right off the bat, slowing down the pace of the game when they really want to move on to the next level.[/p][p][/p][p]The Solution[/p][p]Missed Weapon Kits from previous levels now appear in the Weapon Upgrade Station, where they can be reviewed and bought with Selver Credits if interested. Exploring still pays off as it means getting the Weapon Kit for free, and saves credits that can be spent elsewhere. Players who want to keep moving can do so without fear of missing out.[/p][p]Note: Super Secret Weapon Kits won’t show up here, but they also don’t count toward 100% completion as they're often gags and not something that is meant to be used.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2][/h2][p]The Problem[/p][p]Some reviews note that combat feels too sparse with long stretches of gameplay not having any shooting.[/p][p][/p][p]The Solution[/p][p]We believe this comes mostly from players getting lost, which creates long stretches of searching instead of fighting. We anticipate that the improved level navigation will significantly improve upon this, as it will keep the pace a little faster than before.[/p][p]However, closer to our Full Release, Selaco will receive the Incursion Mode. This is a mode completely separate from the campaign and takes place in Deathmatch-style levels, with heavy inspiration from Rainbow Six’ Terrorist Hunt, Gears of War’s Horde Mode, and Unreal Tournament.[/p][p]Additionally, the Special Campaign that has been added a couple of months ago grants players access to a Randomizer where they control how many extra enemies spawn throughout the campaign. The Special Campaign is a really fun alternative when doing a second playthrough and we highly recommend it.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Problem[/p][p]Players praised enemy behavior overall, but also noticed flaws: jittery movement, poor use of cover, and instant spotting without a grace period. [/p][p][/p][p]The Solution[/p][p]Chapter 2 makes major AI improvements: better pathfinding, 'safe space' awareness allowing them to take cover while attacking, improved decision making regarding when to be defensive or aggressive, and a “Last Known Position” system that lets players break line of sight and reposition. Enemies also take longer to fully detect you, allowing players more time to make the first move.[/p][p]There is plenty in the works here![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Problem [/p][p]Mutators let players customize the game in fun and meaningful ways, but right now they can only be chosen at the start of a campaign. This often leads to frustration if players regret enabling (or disabling) a specific Mutator.[/p][p][/p][p]The Solution [/p][p]We’re adding the ability to swap Mutators in and out at Safe Rooms. For example, if you realize mid-campaign that you’d rather play with the Half-Like Mutator (or without it) to disable the Secret Counter, you’ll have the flexibility to change your setup without restarting the entire campaign.[/p][p]However, if Mutators have been added, changed or removed during a Campaign, it will be reflected on the Game Completion Screen. This only applies to Gameplay Mutators (Extra Ammo, Hard-Boiled, Hardcore Mode) and not mutators that have no bearing on the gameplay directly (Half-Life, Burger Flipper Start)[/p][p][/p][h2][/h2][p]The Problem[/p][p]A common critique is that Selaco can be very challenging. A number of players struggle in combat, largely due to enemies dealing heavy damage while navigating the battlefield in unpredictable ways, as well as the game’s combat style being somewhat unconventional for an FPS.[/p][p][/p][p]The Solution[/p][p]Difficulty is a topic worth addressing, but we also believe it’s one of Selaco’s core strengths and doesn't need any aggressive changing. Learning how to approach combat and mastering the game’s systems is a big part of the experience and, once it clicks, the game feels much more manageable. But getting there can take a moment for some.[/p][p]That said, there are improvements we can make to help players better read and respond to threats. Enemies should telegraph their actions more clearly as their sprite-based nature can make this difficult to parse (on top of the visual spectacle), and a number of ambushes come so quickly that they can end up feeling cheap. We want players to feel defeated because of their own mistakes, not because the game didn’t give them enough time to react. We are actively looking for these specific moments and will address them.[/p][p]For players finding Selaco particularly tough, we recommend experimenting with difficulty settings (which can now be changed during a campaign) or Mutators. For example:[/p]
  • [p]Armor Up allows your armor to absorb more damage before breaking.[/p]
  • [p]Defensive Enemies gives you more breathing room to plan your next move.[/p]
  • [p]Extra Ammo ensures you can rely on your favorite weapons more often. [/p]
[p][/p]
[p]On top of that, we're also further improving numerous aspects of the game that were already in a good place. Performance, hit feedback, audio design and general immersion will always be getting incremental improvements, it's the type of thing we really enjoy doing. We are also updating every single Chapter 1 level to utilize newer assets and look better than ever with a newly improved Lighting System.[/p][p]There's a lot happening behind the curtains, and we're confident that Chapter 2 will improve upon Selaco's frustrating elements while still staying true to its intentions.[/p][p]Chapter 2 still takes a good amount of time to come out, but we hope this blog post helps assure you that it's going to be more than worth the wait.[/p][p]If you have a question, sound off below.[/p][p]Oh. and yes, there's an update coming very soon that's also pretty sweet![/p][p]Talk to you all soon.[/p][p][/p]

Great shooter Selaco gets fixed up for Steam Deck and many more bug fixes

Selaco is by far my favourite upcoming shooter in Early Access. After the recent big update, they've put out some essential fixes.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/06/great-shooter-selaco-gets-fixed-up-for-steam-deck-and-many-more-bug-fixes/

Selaco v0.90a Update - Stability, Speed, Squashed Bugs

[p][/p][p]Captains,[/p][p]We’ve just deployed a patch that addresses numerous issues reported by the community, along with several we caught during internal testing, with Steam Deck and stability issues being the primary focus.[/p][p]The patch from two weeks ago went mostly smoothly, but as always with a major patch, they come with a few unexpected bugs and stability hiccups. We do not take kindly to those![/p][p][/p][p][/p]
[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]
  • [p]Fixed Steam Deck stuttering issues[/p]
  • [p]Numerous additional performance improvements[/p]
  • [p]Particle effects are now loaded on a separate CPU thread[/p]
  • [p]Added option to select Render Device in the Video menu. If you experience lower-than-expected FPS, ensure the correct GPU is selected[/p]
  • [p]Render Screen option now displays monitor information[/p]
  • [p]Enemies are less likely to fire through kickable doors (mostly occurred during the Special Campaign)[/p]
  • [p]Default FPS is now set to 200 instead of Unlimited[/p]
  • [p]Fixed numerous crashes caused by older saved games[/p]
  • [p]Removed numerous unintended debug errors from the console[/p]
  • [p]Sentry guns no longer fire at walls after their target has died[/p]
  • [p]Bullet casings no longer push objects around[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an error where destroying a jukebox would spawn a second jukebox[/p]
  • [p]Sentry turret pieces are no longer pushable[/p]
  • [p]Fixed 'Botomless Mags' typo. Now correctly spelled as 'Bottomless Mags'[/p]
  • [p]Fixed crash caused by blood decals referencing non-existent actors[/p]
  • [p]'Wall Shrapnel' effect is now dependent on the Smoke Quality setting[/p]
  • [p]Updated numerous outdated Death Tips[/p]
  • [p]Fixed error where throwing a VAC-Bot with Gravity Manipulation would not despawn some of their bodyparts.... You monsters![/p]
  • [p]Fixed an error where kicking a door with the grenade launcher would endlessly play kicking sounds[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an error where the grenade launcher dealt less damage than intended[/p][p][/p]
[h2]Special Campaign[/h2]
  • [p]Level 6-3 no longer crashes when players have Zombies disabled[/p]
  • [p]Fixed crash caused by Ammo Bearers when the Randomizer is unable to find Ammo in the level[/p]
  • [p]Combat Chests no longer add to the "Supply Chest" level stat[/p]
  • [p]Health Injectors dropped by enemy soldiers no longer count as Upgrades[/p]
[p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Finally, a short change log. See, we can do it![/p][p]We’ll continue monitoring the bug report sections on our forum for any other issues that need immediate attention. The previous update (v0.90) reworked a bunch of systems, some of which didn’t make it into the gigantic changelog because they seemed too minor to mention, which led to a few unfortunate oversights.[/p][p]Thank you for pointing them out, we appreciate it! [/p][p]Have fun and see you in the next blog post![/p][p][/p][p][/p]

Ace shooter Selaco gets improved performance and a spiced-up randomizer mode

Selaco continues being one of the best upcoming shooters, with the latest Early Access update making it smoother than ever.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/06/ace-shooter-selaco-gets-improved-performance-and-a-spiced-up-randomizer-mode/

Selaco v0.90 Update + State of Early Access



Greetings captains,

Happy 1-year Anniversary to Selaco's Early Access release!

Valve has blessed us with a Steam Daily Deal for this special day, so we've dropped Selaco to its biggest-ever discount (yes, we broke our discount record again!). If you bought the game at full price about a week ago, you should be able to contact Steam Support for a refund of the difference. Just link them to this blog post as confirmation that we're on board with that.

This will likely be our biggest discount for the foreseeable future, so if you’ve been waiting to try Selaco, now’s the perfect time!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1592280/Selaco/
Here’s what we’ll be covering in this blog post:

Patch Notes
Announcements
State of Early Access (Including Chapter 2 stuff!)

Let's address the elephant in the room; This blog post is huge. Just look at the scrollbar to the right of your browser window and you'll probably see what we mean. Sit back, relax, and let's not waste any more time!




One of the key goals of this update is to enhance performance without sacrificing visual fidelity. This is always challenging for a game like Selaco, because we aim for a world that's highly interactive and responsive to player actions. We've made significant improvements toward our performance targets ahead of leaving Early Access. Here’s a quick overview of what’s been improved.

  • Brand new Particle System
    We've completely rebuilt our particle system from the ground up! Instead of relying on clunky old methods, the new system is much faster and smarter -- using pooled particles and hardware rendering to significantly reduce performance overhead.

    This means smoother gameplay across the board, especially during combat!

  • Complete do-over for all particle effects
    To take full advantage of the new system, every single particle effect has been rewritten from scratch. Not only do they look better than ever because we're more experienced, but they also run more efficiently.

  • Improved rendering performance for Floor Decals
    Ever noticed how having thousands of blood splatters on the floor reduced your FPS to a significant amount? We've optimized how floor decals are rendered, which should result in much better performance. Most noticeable in gauntlet encounters, and for players who have Permanent Blood enabled.

  • Improved smoke culling
    We've improved how smoke is handled, reducing the performance hit when lots of smoke is on-screen by preventing too many smoke clouds from stacking.

  • Improved floor decal spawning
    Floor decals like blood, bullet holes, and scorch marks now spawn more intelligently. They won’t stack on top of each other anymore (which helps avoid unnecessary slowdown), and we've made changes that reduce micro-stutters when a bunch spawn at once.

  • Blood effect overhaul
    Blood never utilized any type of particle system before, making them more demanding than they should have been. With this new system in place, it only made sense to port our blood effects over. This took quite some doing, but we pulled it off! Expect more performant blood and some new effects sprinkled in-between.

  • Improved Enemy AI logic
    This has been an ongoing effort with every single update, and we’ve taken more steps forward here. Their behavior feels the same, but the way they make decisions is now more efficient.


Other performance improvements
  • Updated glass effects to be more performant
  • Improved fire hydrant performance by culling water sprays for faraway players
  • Paint buckets now utilize an actual particle system instead of actors
  • UI elements are now precached and can be properly unloaded to save VRAM
  • Added a "Texture Quality" setting. This will slightly reduce sprite resolutions but drastically decrease VRAM usage. Use this if you have a GPU with low VRAM!
  • Numerous smaller improvements to reduce VRAM usage
  • Overhauled bullet puff code to be more performant and easier to maintain
  • Red blood decals are no longer flat meshes and now use the new decal rendering
  • A lot of "simple" effects are now considered Particles to make them cheaper to spawn.



The second goal was to spice up the Special Campaign / Randomizer even further! Feedback on this moment has been great and we expect things to be even better with this update.

Brand New Options Menu
A common bit of feedback was that some options were too vague, and that there were simply too many - which understandably, not everyone wants to tweak every time they do a new run. We've tackled both problems!

  • Added Presets
    Rather than having to select everything manually, we’ve added a number of presets that configure everything for you. The following presets are available:

    Minimal Preset
    • Keeps all possible randomization elements but makes them subtle. Use this if you want to utilize all the Special Campaign features while keeping randomization to a minimum.

    Default Preset
    • Uses all available randomization while keeping gameplay balance in mind. Use this if you want a random, yet balanced experience.

    Vanilla Preset
    • No new content and minimal randomization. An optimized preset for players who want to replay the Standard Campaign with a few surprises, including extra enemy spawns and shuffled item pickups.

    Vanilla Plus Preset
    • Very similar to Vanilla but adds Special Campaign-exclusive enemy types. An optimized preset for players who want something close to the Standard Campaign with slight alterations and a few new features.

    Controlled Chaos Preset
    • High randomization with all the bells and whistles. Designed to be chaotic but fair.

    Overkill Preset
    • All randomization cranked up to 11! This run will be chaotic, unpredictable, and probably very difficult.

    All presets can be manually tweaked after being selected.

  • Added Description Pane and Option Descriptions
    Highlighting an option in the Randomizer Menu will now explain what the setting does. No more asking on reddit required!


Added Ammo Bearers
Some enemies can now be an Ammo Bearer. Ammo Bearers have an Ammo Icon above them and drop a bunch of ammo for random weapons when killed. These type of enemies are rare.

Added Armor Bearers
Same as above, but for armor instead! Look for an armor icon.

Added 'High-Tier Enemy Frequency'
This new setting allows you to spice things up (or spice things down). Increasing this setting will result in more stronger enemies. For instance, less Riflemen and more Plasma Troopers, while lowering this setting results in less stronger enemies.

Added Item Trails
The randomizer can now spawn Health and Armor shards in hallways. On by default, but can be disabled.

Added Extra Cover and Extra Clutter settings
The setting that was formally known as Extra Clutter has now been renamed to Extra Cover. We've added a brand new system that focuses on adding small-scale clutter (like extra mugs, cardboard boxes and more) that can now be controlled with the Extra Clutter setting.

Added Immersive Mode
Selaco has always been about immersion. Special Campaign is a very gamified experience which caused it to not click with everyone as a result. As such, we've added an Immersive Mode that keeps most of the gameplay in tact, but with some tweaks to retain immersion. For instance, floating weapons will now instead be stationary on the floor, and "joke traits" like the Brick Launcher or Paintsplosion are no longer present.

Added Heavy Gunners
They're like Gunners, but a lot meaner! They are bigger, have a stronger shield and a much louder minigun. Better save some shotgun shells for these bastards.

Random Encounter Rework
Random Encounters will no longer spawn when players are actively fighting, and will instead be queued (with an additional delay) until their fight is over. This results in less snowballing and eliminates time pressure when fighting enemies.

Other Special Campaign improvements
  • Added full localization support
  • Added 2 new Weapon Traits
  • Fixed an error where Random Encounter enemies could spawn in inaccessible areas
  • Random Encounters will no longer spawn when the player is in a Safe Room
  • Fixed an error where Engineer Grenade Shells used the wrong model
  • Added proper ammo UI for weapons with the Bottomless Mags trait
  • Earthquakes no longer push Detonators, preventing potential softlocks
  • Fixed Triple Damage trait not applying its intended damage correctly
  • Combat Chests now have a distinct color and slight illumination, making them easier to spot
  • Fixed an error where Encounter Chests spawned enemies too close to the player
  • Fixed an error where Crawler Queens became invisible
  • Dawn's suit no longer references "+ Roaring Cricket" when Weapon Randomization Style is not set to "Vanilla"
  • Reduced healing sound volume for Life Leech and Life Siphon
  • Fixed an issue where Item Flares did not despawn properly. Most noticeable with red flares on Medkits
  • Ammo pickup counts are now biased toward slightly higher amounts, addressing scarcity issues
  • Disabled Soldier and Robotic spawns in Level 6-3




Fully Reworked Swimming
  • More natural swimming movement: the player now darts forward while swimming instead of moving at a constant velocity, better simulating the feel of real swimming
  • Added underwater swimming sounds
  • Crouching no longer slows swimming speed
  • Players are now forced into crouch mode while swimming
  • Removed view and weapon bobbing while swimming
  • Added a warning sound when the player is about to run out of oxygen
  • Added a warning sound when the player has run out of oxygen
  • New and improved exertion sounds when resurfacing after a long swim
  • Added dripping sound and visual effects when leaving the water
  • Most weapons can no longer be fired underwater. Since Selaco doesn't feature underwater combat, we focused on immersion here. If underwater combat is added in the future, we’ll revisit this
  • Vertical swimming movement speed is now equal to horizontal speed
  • Improved underwater bubble visuals
Armor
  • Armor is now slightly less durable on higher difficulties. Recent buffs made it stronger than intended
  • Plasma Projectiles deal significantly less damage against Armored players, but deals more severe damage to the armor itself
  • Reworked sound effects when taking damage with armor on
UC-11 Exon SMG
  • Increased weapon damage (21 -> 23)
Roaring Cricket
  • Slightly louder firing sounds
S-8 Marksman Rifle
This is a little embarrassing, but...
  • Headshot damage now increases with distance, as originally intended. This feature broke during a previous systems rework. Thanks to Discord user "Lush" for spotting it!
Slide Proning
Sliding under a tight area now puts Dawn into a prone position, allowing movement where you'd otherwise get stuck.

Other Stuff
  • Dawn can no longer uncrouch when the ceiling is too low
  • Pain sounds now trigger more consistently when taking damage
  • Further improved sign posting and navigation in numerous levels
  • Weapon Bar icons are now greyed out when the weapon has no ammo
  • Added "Mark all as read" button to the Wrist Codex
  • Added "Invert Y-Axis" setting to the Gamepad menu. This was always there, but it was buried deep into an Advanced Settings Menu where players could not find it.
  • Yellow Barrels now appear on the minimap. Now you can all stop losing them!
  • Machine Gun Ammo dropped by Enemy Soldiers now use a different voxel model to be more distinct from regular Machine Gun Ammo pickups, resulting in less misleading +10 ammo pickups.




More reactive Explosions
In our endless pursuit of making Selaco's combat the most dynamic as possible, numerous projectiles now respond to explosions. For instance, an explosion can apply knockback to a grenade, causing it to go another direction. Quite similar to the Halo series. This can result in some beautiful chaos, or a very embarrassing death. We have plans to spice this up even further in the future.

Added Interactive Bullet Casings
This is not nearly special enough to warrant its own headline, yet here we are, we think it's cool! All bullet casings now interact to both player and enemy movement; kicking them aside based on the direction of the footstep.

In-game references has been spread out a little better
Selaco is full of in-game gags that reference other media - it's something we love doing! However, we realized that in some areas we may have gone a bit overboard with the amount of it, affecting the believability of the game world. While we haven't removed anything, we've spaced things out a lot better to keep the experience immersive and avoid distractions.

Visual Effects
  • Added Railgun Beam effect
  • Improved visual effect for Railgun shot impacts
  • Improved visual effects for animated spark effects, looking a little less cartoony.
  • Added more gravity and bouncing variations for Spark particles
  • Added Red Spark effect when hitting Energy Shields
  • Improved Plasma Puff effects to be more visually pleasing and powerful
  • Added new Purple Blood wall decals
  • Adjusted illumination color for all blood effects to better match the purple blood color
  • Decal spray directions when hitting have been adjusted to be more believable and will no longer spray unreasonably far away
  • Yellow Barrels now have an impact effect when shot
  • Improved bone gibs by being more performant and having better bouncing sounds
  • Applied a bit more texture to Gore Mist sprites
  • Improved (almost) every pick-up sound to be more snappy and satisfying to listen to
  • Improved gibbing sound effects to be slightly louder and slimey
  • Added a whole bunch of new bullet impact effects for Wood, Metal, Concrete and more. A shooter can never have enough bullet impacts!
  • Added a wooden thud effect when enemy corpses hit a wooden floor
  • Lamp/Light Textures now spawn glass effects when shot
  • Fully reworked Wire Texture to appear less out of place. It was an old asset that should have been updated sooner
  • Added 'Burger Junkie' flyers
  • Explosion effects now always face the player, even from above or below
  • Added a new destruction model for Computer Monitors, giving a bit more variety


Sound & Audio
  • Added sound effect when crouching
  • Added stepping sounds for walking over static paper decals
  • Added pushing effort sounds when pushing heavy objects like Heavy Barrels.
  • Improved Health Regeneration sound effects
  • Added sound effects for leaking waterpipes
  • Pain Sounds are now more reliable and always play as intended.
  • Pain Sounds no longer cancel eachother out
  • Brand new recordings for Pain, Death and Danger States sounds
  • Added new spark sound effects
  • Added unique pickup sound for Small Machine Gun Ammo
  • Improved Bullet Whiz sound effect for bullets that pass the player
  • New Sound Effects for picking up Plasma Rifle ammo
  • Reduced audio volume of Rooftop Wind sound effects
  • Fully reworked the 'Warzone' soundscape ambient effect that plays in the background of some earlier levels


Immersion & Interactions
  • Disabled Weapon Bobbing when not on the floor
  • Plants on Plant Pots now properly rotate along with the pot when picked up by the player
  • Enemy Flashlights now cause a shadow based on the player's Shadow Quality
  • Spark Missile effects can no longer spawn underwater
  • Updated a whole lot of outdated posters in Pathfinder Memorial Hospital. They were showing their age!
  • Added Civilian Corpses. No longer is everybody being turned into a pile of red giblets; there are actual civilians now!
  • Added Corpse Shadows for both enemies and civilians
  • Added a whole bunch of new Doodle Decorations, created by our patrons!
  • Jukeboxes stop playing music when destroyed
  • Added sound effect that plays on all connected Jukebox speakers when the jukebox is destroyed
  • Vending Machines now spit Soda Cans when destroyed
  • Vending Machines now have increased Soda Can quantity. This was needed to make the previous change cooler, which is sometimes all that matters.


Watermelons
Never did we anticipate that watermelons would become the strongest health source in the game, yet here we are.
  • Added 3 new voxels for destroyed watermelons
  • Improved randomization for watermelon chunk angles to add more visual variance
  • Nerfed watermelon health gain (2hp -> 1hp). However, large chunks still give 2hp
  • Watermelon effects are now juicier


New Mutator: Save Scumming
The Save Scumming mutator lets you save anytime with zero downsides, whether you're in the middle of a firefight or standing next to a primed explosive barrel. This one is for the Gamer Dad, Gamer Mom, or anyone who just loves cheese.
(Unavailable on Admiral Difficulty and Hardcore Mode)

Hardcore Mode
Disabled the Mercy System in Hardcore Mode. Getting hit while at low health can now kill you outright and will no longer grant you a grace period at 1hp
All Enemies
  • Improved AI logic to reduce hesitation during pathfinding
Soldiers
  • Soldiers now reload when low on ammo and not in direct line of sight with the player, avoiding awkward moments where they rush in with empty weapons
  • Slightly increased hitbox height
Air Drones
  • Rendering tweaks to improve visibility from below
  • Reduced rocket projectile speed (25 -> 20)
Siegers
  • Rendering tweaks to improve visibility from below
Plasma Troopers
  • Reduced projectile size by 25%
  • Added flare effect to Plasma Trooper projectiles




  • Added option to disable View Bobbing. This removes vertical up/down movement while walking and can help reduce motion sickness. This keeps Weapon Bobbing, but this can also be disabled.
  • Improved camera tilting on gamepad. Previously, slightly angled input could cause an unintended wobble, this has been fixed
For the future
We’re still looking into adding a Contrast Mode for visually impaired players, which will apply a strong colored overlay to enemies and interactive elements.



  • Updated Plasma Rifle weapon bar icon
  • Improved camera tilting on Gamepad
  • Corrected broken audio mixing on kill notifications
  • Removed numerous Juggernaut brightmaps to save space
  • Fixed an error where the Weapon Wheel could be opened from the Main Menu
  • Fixed overlapping Mutator UI elements on lower resolutions
  • Fixed an error where Windows would stop capturing mouse input after closing the game
  • Tweaked DMR scope timings to better match the zoom effect
  • Keycards are now set to "Always Pickup" to reduce softlocks from sequence breaking
  • Destroyed Sentry Guns no longer block doorways, a common cause for soft locks
  • Weapon swapping with Bottomless Mags (Mutator or Weapon Trait) no longer forces a Weapon Reload
  • Fixed an error where Children Doodles briefly turned into an "X" when shredded
  • Fixed a crash caused by Stretchbeds if their hitbox was missing
  • Fixed an exploit allowing players to boost rate of fire by timing the 'Throw Equipment' button
  • Gravity Manipulator no longer picks up explosive plants, preventing potential softlocks
  • Fixed an error where Shooting Range menu info didn’t match actual settings, often causes by load games
  • Menus and intermission screens now close the automap
  • Fixed a crash caused by snipers targeting a non-existent entity
  • Fixed an error where Weapon Kits played a healing sound on pickup
  • Fixed overlapping pickup sounds
  • Fixed an error where throwing a grenade with the Grenade Launcher could lock weapon state, rendering all of your weapons unusable
  • Removed duplicate smoke sprite effect, reducing file size by a massive 650 bytes
  • DMR: Fixed an issue rapidly zooming in-and-out could result in a zoom with no scope overlay
  • Fixed an error where Stretchbeds spawned blood decals when shot
  • Playstation icons are now properly saturated
  • "Sitting Corpses" no longer spin when shot
  • Fixed crash when Weapon Mods had no ammo type assigned
  • Fixed error where purple blood splatters looped back to the first frame
  • Fixed rare crash caused by switching equipment when Dawn didn’t exist (???)
  • Fixed error where Crawler Mine corpses dealt incorrect damage type on impact
  • Fixed numerous typos in upgrade descriptions
  • Fixed error where rain splatters showed a white block texture
  • Removed the “Enemy Grenade (Unusable)” prompt
  • Fixed a bug where Yellow Paint was Purple Paint and vice versa, ruining our best joke for a second time
  • Fixed an error where Bottomless Mags reduced ammo in the Shooting Range
  • Fixed crash from Sentry Guns acquiring targets after becoming friendly turrets
  • Transitioning from in-game to Titlemap no longer briefly shows hexacons
  • Tweaked item flare offset for Large Plasma Ammo to prevent model clipping
  • Siegers are now easier to see from below thanks to forced XY billboarding
  • Added 'Drink' interaction label when looking at beer bottles
  • Fixed an error where UltimateSelacoBuilder was missing from the Steam download
  • Fixed a Level 1-3 bug where a one-way door could be closed from the wrong side
  • Fixed potential crashes caused by Pathnodes
  • Automap can no longer be opened when dead
  • Fixed graphical issue with the first frame of the Invasion Tier menu
  • Fixed "Pimp My Vacbot" neon sign appearing massive from behind
  • Added extra snipers when returning from the South Wing with a key in the Mall level
  • Cleaned up Level 5 map screen to hide unintended areas
  • Attempted fix for Mall level keycard not spawning correctly
  • Fixed numerous script oversights across the entire game
  • Fixed Plastic Shards despawning with Permanent Destruction enabled
  • Improved transition of Item Flares and Icons for smoother appearance
  • "Give All" now includes a Flashlight
  • Fixed Workshop Screen showing Xbox controls while using Playstation icons
  • Holding Jump in tight spaces no longer causes repeated jump sounds



If you ran into any issues or simply prefer the old version, you can go back to an older version by rolling back using the Steam Beta features

  1. Go to your Steam Library
  2. Right Click on 'Selaco'
  3. Click on 'Properties'
  4. On the right side of the screen, press 'beta'
  5. Click on the Dropdown Menu
  6. Select 'v0.89-BF'
  7. Wait for the download the finish

You are now back to the old version of the game!


Stoked for this one!

We've been thrilled by the number of mods Selaco has received since the Early Access launch a year ago -- especially considering we haven’t launched any documentation yet!

Shortly after Chapter 2's launch, we’ll launch a full Modding SDK as free DLC for Selaco. This SDK will include the 3D models we used to create sprites (both Weapons and Enemies), our first-person arm rig, development tools, and more.

This allows modders to create anything they want with almost no limits! New guns that use Dawn's arm model? New animations for existing enemies? All possible!




Selaco Level Editor Source Code Is Now Available

Our Level Editor is based on UltimateDoomBuilder, a staple tool for DOOM and GZDoom mappers. Selaco, on the other hand, needed its own custom editor optimized for our systems like path nodes, spawning configurations, and more.

If you’re not a developer and just want to create maps using the tool, you can download the newest version of UltimateSelacoBuilder here:

Selaco Level Editor Download (Windows Only)

If you want to see the source code for development reasons or curiosity, here it is:
Source Code Link




Our Store Page has been reworked!

We made our Steam page roughly 5 years ago when the basics of the game were still shaping up, and it was starting to show its age. A lot of the information was outdated, and the game wasn't presented in a way it deserved.

Oh, and better GIFs! Feel free to look a look.





Let’s talk about how development is going!

I’m happy to report that development is going well, especially when it comes to Chapter 2, which we’ll dive into in just a moment. Overall, the current state of development mirrors what we shared in our last update: there are no major roadblocks, and things continue to move forward at a steady, healthy pace.

However...


This one hurts to write.

Our original plan was to launch in Q4 2024. Then we aimed for Q1 2025. Neither worked out. Then we aimed for this patch to have it, which also didn't work out. We know that's a bummer -- and trust us, it bums us out just the same.

We want to be upfront here: We’ve been underestimating just how much work it takes to make this game. This is our first real project, and it landed a bigger audience than we had anticipated. We're still learning how to deal with expectations and not get carried away with our excitement.

The good news? It's shaping up really well. We're actively working with Melissa Medina (Dawn's voice actress) as we speak to get a lot of work done, as well as working with a number of new actors who have been brought on board recently. And, because our players like them so much, a whole bunch of new enemy chatter and new callout types!

Given the past delays, we’ll only announce the new release date when we’re confident it’s close. This is what we've been doing with Chapter 2, and something we should be doing here, too. Thanks for sticking with us, and we’re sorry for the wait.




2 months ago we launched the so-called "Nightly Builds". It's always been our goal to be fully transparent during our Early Access phase, which is why we invite everyone to play our development builds on a (almost) daily basis. Complete with all the bugs that come with!

This has been a lot of fun, and something we'll continue doing! The update rate might slow down a little as we work on two other major Selaco projects (Chapter 2, Story), but we'll keep 'em coming at a good rate!

For details on how to enter, visit this page




Shaping up really well, but still far from complete!

Chapter 2 is more than just a content update, it’s a full-blown expansion by this point. We’re not just making a few new maps and calling it a day with this. It has new guns, new tools, updated mechanics, and even a Chapter 1 makeover that takes full advantage of a brand new lighting system we're making for Chapter 2. A lot of content is already fully functional, and you might be surprised to learn just how much of it is already completed.

But hey, it’s our 1-year anniversary! So we figured it’s about time we start showing some stuff. Consider this a little treat.

For now, enjoy these random, completely out-of-context images from Chapter 2. No explanations yet, just a taste of what’s to come. When the time comes, we'll do an actual trailer and introduce the new toys properly. Everything below is Work in Progress!

Enjoy!






What a journey it's been so far and what a behemoth of a blog post this turned into!

It's hard to believe it's already been a year since Selaco launched into Early Access. Month after month, the game continues to perform well, and we’re constantly humbled by the love and support you’ve shown. Seeing players recommend Selaco in many corners of the internet never fails to make our day. We may sound like a broken record by now, but we truly are grateful for all of this, and we will not disappoint with the final version of this project.

If we can ask for one more favor: please consider giving the game a review on Steam to give us your input. We're a very small studio who work really hard on Selaco, and these things help tremendously!

Thank you all very much, and until next time! 💙