Selaco - News - UpdateMonitor

Selaco Development Update

Good day everyone,

Nexxtic here. With Selaco having launched two months ago, it felt like a good time to talk about the state of Selaco’s development. I want to briefly talk about what to expect from the upcoming update, and what to expect from us for the rest of the year.

But first…

[h3]Selaco has been Steam Deck Verified![/h3]

Happy to announce that, as of yesterday, Selaco has been verified on the Steam Deck! Getting the Steam Deck to behave according to Valve's quality expectations on GZDoom took a good amount of hard work, but we managed to get it done in the end. Major props to Cockatrice for being able to implement the required features so quickly.

Please let us know how the Deck experience has been for you and report any problems you may find!

What will be in the next update?

One thing I want to get out of the way early: we will be very vague with our deadlines. Selaco is already jam packed with content and that's just for the Early Access release. For that reason, we hope you trust us to deliver something great and are willing to give us the time to achieve this.

These Development Updates will be straight to the point and will inform you on how development is coming along. However, as you may have noticed, we will not be releasing an official roadmap. Roadmaps tend to have a negative effect on development/work. Experimentation with new ideas takes time, while roadmaps are schedule-focused and don't allow for such things. When something is in the works, we will let you know through these posts!

Lets cover a few of the highlights in the upcoming update. We expect to launch this update in a couple of weeks.

[h3]- Backpack Reloading[/h3]
This was a frequently requested feature. This is a system where, after not equipping a weapon for a while, the weapon will be automatically reloaded with a full magazine (provided there is enough ammo for it). This ensures that players will always swap to a loaded weapon in the middle of combat. This system is optional and can be disabled.

[h3]- Improved Immersion & Interactivity[/h3]
The next update adds brand new visual and audio effects, improves rain to look more atmospheric, adds new interactables and more. If you like a world that feels believable and reactive, you will love some of these changes.

[h3]- Weapon Rebalancing[/h3]
Another round of weapon balancing! This also includes making automatic weapons more consistent with their damage output. The current version on Steam has an oversight where there is a solid chance to roll low damage numbers consecutively, making some automatic weapons feel weaker than they are meant to be.

[h3]- Stagger improvements[/h3]
Currently, enemies are less likely to stagger the higher your difficulty is. This ended up being a bad idea because it makes certain weapons lose their usefulness. The next update will address this and compensate with something more reasonable.

[h3]- Another round of performance improvements[/h3]
A large amount of code is being optimized to reduce the amount of strain on your hardware, resulting in smoother frames and less hiccups.

[h3]- A slew of other Quality of Life Improvements[/h3]
Vastly improved Grenade Throwing, new Map Icons, a DMR that respects your Hold/Toggle setting and more.

What else are we working on?

These are not likely to be included in the next update but are currently in development.

[h3]- Story Content[/h3]
This is the big one. Selaco will get a major voice-over pass to flesh out Dawn as a character, the world of Selaco and the general plot. We unfortunately ran out of time to do this at launch, which made certain parts of the game feel more empty than we'd like.

This is planned to arrive around the end of the year.

[h3]- Randomizer Mode[/h3]

Another big feature is the Randomizer Mode. This aims to add tons of replayability to the game. It randomizes enemy spawns, introduces a Rarity System where some weapons and enemies are more powerful than usual, repositions ammo pickups and offers tons of customization to tweak the game to your liking.

This mode is planned to launch alongside the Story Content update.

[h3]- Improved enemy tacticsI[/h3]
Better Patrol modes, a goal system, cover system and more are planned for our AI. These will take a while, though, and may not appear until Chapter 2. Please bear with us as we give them an additional boost in intelligence!

[h3]- Adjustable difficulty during the campaign[/h3]
We are looking into a system that allows players to drop the difficulty at any time during a campaign playthrough. We wanted to add this earlier, but it was quite a complicated problem to tackle and will need a bit more time.

[h3]- Customizable Mutators[/h3]
We are working on a system that allows players to customize individual mutators before starting a new campaign. For example, tweak Hard-Boiled Mode to disable the additional projectile speed for the enemy, or play Hardcore Mode but with standard Weapon Reload behavior.

Mutators that have been customized will show an apostrophe symbol at the Chapter Completion Screen

[h3]- Improved Safe Rooms[/h3]
We are working on additional features to make Safe Rooms more interesting and useful. This includes a free one-time use Health Cache where players can refill their health, and an Armor Station where players can purchase armor. However, the latter might not appear until Chapter 2.

[h3]- Chapter 2 is coming along nicely[/h3]
Chapter 2 introduces a large amount of new systems which we will talk about in a blog post closer to its launch.

Conclusion

Of course, these types of blog posts only cover a fraction of the things that are currently in motion. As newer features and mechanics are nearing completion, we will introduce them here. I’ll ensure to post one of them every couple of months moving forward.

I also want to give a quick shout-out to all the players who are actively giving us their feedback on the game. The Discord channel and Steam Forums/Reviews have been a fantastic source of information and we cannot thank you enough for these. Do keep them coming!

And remember, do give us a Steam Review if you can (or update it if your problems have been fixed!) They are very helpful for the game.

If you like these types of blog posts, please consider joining our Patreon Page. Here, we beta test new features and showcase what is currently being worked on; including early concept art, prototypes, openly discuss development obstacles and more.

https://www.patreon.com/PlaySelaco/

Thank you for taking the time to read this! If you have any questions, feel free to comment below and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Have a great week!

- Nexxtic

Selaco v0.84 Patch Notes - The MEGA Update!

Happy (almost) 1-month anniversary for Selaco!

The reception for the Early Access build has been amazing! Truly, seeing all the excitement and positivity surrounding the game has been extremely inspirational. We know things aren't quite perfect yet, and given the size of the game, we've missed a couple of rough edges that should not have been there.

The goal of this patch
This patch adds a bit more content to the game, improves navigation and signposting in some levels, balance changes, and adds a number of quality of life/convenience features to make the game more fun to play. The main goal here is to just make the game feel a lot better, and I think you will notice that right away.

To the people in our Discord, our Steam Forums, Twitter, and more: thank you for giving us valuable input. We always aim to make the game better, and you've been a great help!

Let's dive into the patch notes and talk about what has been changed!

Version 0.84 - The MEGA patch

(IMPORTANT: There is a bit of overlap in patch notes between 0.83e and 0.84, sorry about that!)

The official soundtrack is now available on Steam!
Added Steam Trading Cards and Points Shop
Added "Resume Game" button in the main menu
Added level versioning system
Added "Hard-Boiled!" mutator
Added "Armor Up" mutator
Added "Extended Bullet Casings" graphical setting
New weapon upgrades
Weapon kit reworks
Improved navigation in the earlier levels
Improved general feel of the game
Improved map screen
Improved movement options
Blood is now 0.2% more purple.
VAC-Bot petting
And more!

It's finally here! We decided to go nuts with this one and include a whole bunch of bonus stuff to make it even more worthwhile. Here is what's currently included:

Full Chapter 1 Soundtrack
Unused Tracks that did not make it into the game
Bonus tracks like an alternate Menu Track, a remixed Intermission and more
Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 tracks will be included for free once released
Includes the option to download an uncompressed version of the soundtrack (FLAC)

As a token of appreciation towards Lawrence Steele's work on the Soundtrack, every single purchase will go towards him directly. We will not be taking any of it.

There are two options.

If you want to support the composer, get it through Bandcamp since it grants him the biggest cut (he worked really hard, he deserves it!):
https://satsumaaudio.bandcamp.com/album/selaco-ost

Or get it from Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3047790/Selaco_Official_Soundtrack/

Map Screen

Added map icon for weapon kits. They will appear once you have been in their line of sight.
Added map icon for secrets that have been discovered.
Added map icon for friendly sentry guns.
Added option to add textures to the map screen.

Steam Point Shop
Not really a change to the game itself, but still worth mentioning!

Added Steam Trading Cards. One card will be given every 30 minutes of play
Added Selaco themed backgrounds, stickers and emoji to the Steam Point Shop

Save System

Quicksaves and autosaves have been reworked to function properly with Steam Cloud saving. Previously, when using two different machines, some autosaves/quicksaves could be overwritten in the wrong order, which was very confusing.
Save files will be migrated to a single folder. The first time you launch Selaco, all saves will be backed up and migrated into the program folder so they can properly be synchronized between platforms.
Steam Deck/Linux and Windows should now be able to synchronize saves correctly.

Reworked Weapon Station Elements

Some portions of the Weapon Station UI have been touched

Time Saving

Added "Skip Splash Screens" options to go straight to the menu after loading the game

Level Versioning System

This system allows us to update the game, including levels, while retaining full savegame compatibility.
There are some limitations. Any level you have visited in your saved game will still be identical to the version from before the update. Level versioning is only applied to new levels that have not been loaded in your saved game before.
While we have thoroughly tested this with our playtesters, errors may occur when traveling to previously loaded levels. If this happens, please let us know!

DEV NOTE: This new system will make the patching process a lot easier. The reason we haven't been able to patch for a while is entirely due to GZDoom not being able to handle level adjustments without breaking saves.

This should no longer be an issue, provided no major issues are found.

Credits and Weapon Part UI Elements

Credits and Weapon Parts are no longer shown on the HUD at all times.
Picking up Credits or Weapon Parts will now briefly show your total amount on the HUD.
Hovering over purchasable items (Gwyn Machines, Purchase Panels) will briefly show the amount of credits.
You can now see your currency at all times on the Datapad screen.

Updated Mutator Menu

We've reworked the difficulty screen to now have a dedicated Mutator button.
Added support for unlockable Mutators. This will be utilized more in the future

New Mutator: Hard-Boiled
Unlocked by beating Chapter 1.

All enemies are stronger with slightly more health, pain resistance, ability chances, and mobility options (strafe and flank chances).
Dawn spawns with the highest possible Tech Module, making all upgrades purchasable right away.
Killed enemies drop credits and/or Weapon Parts.
Pathfinder Memorial's Saferoom is unlocked right from the start.
Enemies will have other surprises that we will not spoil.

DEV NOTE:
Players frequently asked us why the game doesn't have a New Game+. The reason is simple, we only just shipped Chapter 1! 

End Game content is not a thing we want to worry about right now, we have to finish the chapters first! For now, Hard-boiled is a very fun stand-in.

New Mutator: Armor Up

Booster Mutator that increases armor durability by 25%.

Hardcore Mode

Save price decreased from 400 to 300.
Removed Hardcore Mode Mag Dumping. Rather than throw away all the ammo, it will now use the same approach as Traditional Mode. We understand that some people liked this approach, so we are considering adding it back as a separate mutator!

All Weapons

Added ability to zoom in and out while firing.

S-8 Marksman Rifle

Added distance-based headshot damage. Using the DMR at long range will now eliminate soldiers with a single headshot.
Slightly increased reloading speed

ESG-24 Shotgun

Added 'Quick Swap' upgrade for faster weapon switching to the shotgun.
Added 'Improved Pump Grip' upgrade for faster shotgun pumping.
Added 'backpack pumping'. Unequipping the Shotgun before pumping will now automatically load a shell after a few seconds of not being used. [This is disabled for Hardcore Mode]
Double Barrel Mode tweak: The first shot has reduced recoil to make it easier to connect both shots.

UC-36 Assault Rifle

Reduced maximum spread (5.2 -> 4.8) for improved sustained fire.
WEAPON KITS:
- Added 'Burst Fire (Hip)'. Replaces primary fire with a burst fire. This deals +1 damage per shot.
- Added 'Burst Fire (Zoom)'. Replaces zoom fire with a zoomed burst fire. This has 25% increased accuracy.
- Removed traditional 'Burst Fire'.
- 'Scarab Mode' no longer carries over across new campaigns. This upgrade was never meant to be found without cheats.
Added 'UC-36B Framework' upgrade. This is a free upgrade once you hit Tech Module 3.
Auxiliary launcher now deals 25% additional grenade damage.
Improved firing sound to be a bit more punchy.
Reduced 'Increased Caliber' costs (500 -> 350).

Fists

Added kicks! Hit the melee button when you have your fists out.

DEV NOTE:
We fully understand people want a dedicated kick button for all weapons. We will be looking at our options soon.

Plasma Rifle

Increased base damage (43 -> 48)
Increased stagger chance per shot (50 -> 70)
Added sound and lighting effects when killing soldiers with the Plasma Rifle

SMG

Added 'Mule Stock' upgrade. This will decrease spread but add a little bit of recoil that requires control.
Added 'Magnetic Rounds'. This increases damage against small robotic enemies, making the SMG even more suitable for clearing Crawler Mines and Saw Drones.
'Extended Barrel' now reduces spread by 45 instead of 85. Combined with Mule Stock, you will be able to reduce spread further than before.
DUAL WIELD: Slightly increased spread per shot

Penetrator

Added an extra sound effect while reloading

Grenade Launcher

Increased self-damage by 25%. It was never meant to deal this little damage to the player.

Dawn

Added 'Invincibility Frames' while dashing. The first couple of frames while dashing will now make Dawn immune to bullets. Any other hazards (like Area of Effect damage or fire) will still hurt Dawn. This effect is brief, but if you can time this with incoming attacks, a lot of damage can be mitigated.
With dashes being a bit more useful than usual, its cooldown has been increased by 20%.
Reduced full slide cooldown (3.0s -> 2.5s) to allow for a bit more sliding

Armor

Increased armor durability on Captain, Admiral, and Selaco Must Fall. With the significant increase in damage, they began to lose their worth.

Armor Shards

Increased pick-up radius to be less clunky.

Selver Coins

Added sound effect when credits spawn into the level (e.g from crates or Hard-Boiled kills)

Soldier AI

Made enemies a lot more reactive. They move around more and do a better job at wandering around the backline of combat

Riflemen

Riflemen are now a bit more mobile, mostly in terms of strafing ability
Their 'martyrdom' grenades that can drop when killed, now explode sooner. They were far too slow and barely serve a threat.
Added visible grenade pin when a 'Martyrdom' grenade is triggered

Cloning Plant Enemies

Melee Types have their health reduced (150 -> 120)
Ranged Types have their damage reduced (8 -> 6)
Ranged Types have their health reduced (130 -> 110)
Dawn can now slide through Plant Enemies. This will allow players to evade when cornered.

Engineers

Increased Turret Deployment Chance (4% -> 6%).

Air Drones

They no longer look away before firing a rocket at you

Siegers
Far too tanky with the amount of mobility and damage they could deal.

Health Reduced (110 -> 90)
Siegers are a bit more mobile than before.
Improved visual spectacle when a Sieger explodes.
Fixed an error where his explosion would not deal damage.
Fixed an error where they would spawn more gibs than intended (4 arms or 4 legs)

Plasma Troopers

Reduced Plasma Projectile Speed (30-> 26)
Reduced Armor Penetration (-15% -> -25%) (Meaning Plasma Attacks deal an additional 25% less damage when using armor)

Juggernauts

Increased Leap Explosion Damage (90 -> 110)
Decreased Leap Explosion Area of Effect (380 -> 280)

Selaco Must Fall
Too many players managed to beat it, which is not something we tolerate in this mode.

(SMF) Sieger Projectile Speed has been increased by 2.5x
(SMF) Siegers now gently move to different directions while firing.
(SMF) Enemy Mines now spawn 3 crawler mines when destroyed
(SMF) Crawler Mines may now fire an occasional Plasma Bolt
(SMF) Added 10% chance for Engineers to fire a rocket instead of a regular shotgun attack
(SMF) Enemy Landmines have a much smaller light on them and no longer have Self Lighting
(SMF) Saw Drones no longer feel any pain
(SMF) (Rare) Some enemies now spawn with 50% extra health (Juggernauts excluded)

DEV NOTE:
Next patch will make it harder once more.

Admiral Difficulty

Increased Global Damage by 5%

Levels have been improved in many ways, not all of them are mentioned in this list.

Pathfinder Memorial Hospital

Streamlined the Lockdown Sequence before fighting Juggernaut. It should now be way easier to navigate through.
Fixed some very unfortunate softlocks
Tweaked objective labels to be clearer
Removed an outdated shotgunner that spawned behind the player in Level 1-3
Corrected Cabinet Card position. Both cards were always meant to be close to the two Storage Cabinets.
Slightly raised the doorway before the first Crawler Mine Encounter to make it more obvious the player needs to slide under it

Water Treatment Plant

Fixed an error where decorations could be brought into the Safe Room Elevator.
Removed Glass Pane that required destroying in order to progress.
Damaged Koalas are now valid for the Nailbomb Secret.
Added a unique mechanical sound effect when the bridge lowers/raises

Parking Garage

The Pluto Burger gauntlet has been enhanced and now lasts a little longer.
(SMF) Fixed a gunner getting stuck in geometry.
Fixed some fences not blocking the player.

Liancria Office Complex

Minor encounter reworks to make combat more dynamic.

Sal's Lair

Texture change for the Keypad that opens the door towards HQ.
Fixed a broken midtexture.
Fixed an error where 2 objectives were in the incorrect order.
The Junction Box is now a little easier to spot

Plant Cloning Facility

Added a brand new music track during the final gauntlet.
Fixed a softlock on Floor B2.
Added obstruction warning when closing the Plant Stamper machine with the barrel on the door.
Fixed an error where Aos would repeat a structural integrity message when opening/closing a junction box.

Bonus Level: Starlight

Starlight Green: Fixed an error where the blue keycard icon would persist.
Starlight Green: Fixed an error where a shutter texture did not block the player.

Shooting Range

Grenades are now infinite during a Shooting Range session.

Burger Flipper

Fixed a typo.

Statistics
The following stats have been added to the Statistics Tab on your Wrist Codex:

Added per-weapon 'Shots Fired' stats.
Added per-weapon Kill stats.
Added 'Upgrades bought' stat.
Added 'Squad Leaders Killed' stat.
Added 'Signs Removed' stat. You can finally know how many signs you have pulled from the wall

Milestones
We made an oversight; 2 enemy types were not added to the Milestone system:

Added 'Gunners Killed' milestone.
Added 'Squad Leaders Killed' milestone.

Gore System

Applied more speed variations between different chunks of gore.
Explosive Kills now apply more force to spawned gibs.
Added more splatter and fog effects for moving parts. This is increased per Blood Quality level.
Added 'Dense Purple Fog' clouds for Sieger Deaths.
Made 'Armor Fog' darker. It was probably still using our old spritework where everything was brighter.
Added more disgusting noises when gibbing enemies.
Added sound effects when gibbing corpses
Applied a bit more friction to enemy corpses to make them appear heavier

Minor Additions

You can now press USE on a VAC-Bot to pet them, this can be done an infinite amount of times
Added visible muzzle flash for Dawn's third-person sprite (visible in mirrors).
Air Drones now have a water splash effect when colliding with a water surface.
Delete Key can now be bound in the Controls menu.
Added visible Grenade Pin when throwing Ice Grenades.
Added 'Extended Bullet Casings' graphical setting.
Added Custom, 35, and 45 FPS Settings (NOTE: Due to how GZDoom works, we cannot go below 35FPS).
Shocked and Frozen Enemies now take 1.25x more damage.

Minor but noteworthy Corrections

Added 'Smoke Density' setting
Performance optimization for bullet casings.
Fixed far, far too many typos.
Your current Security Level is now visible on the Wrist Computer screen
Fixed Shotgun Shell ejections looking weird
Added ambient sound for Junction Boxes.
Renamed 'Rifle Start' to 'Rifle Reset'.
Gave Koalas a major health buff.
Static Crosshair option now shows Throw meter.
Revised artwork involving the house of a sponge.
Ice Grenade HUD indicator now has a proper icon that no longer resembles a Flare.
Fixed a bug where soldiers refused to move when they had lost sight of the player. This often resulted in enemies not appearing as dynamic as intended. Whoops!
Tweaked Locked Door parameters to be far more likely to appear on the Automap once close.

UltimateSelacoBuilder (Level Editor)

All enemies are now properly shown in the editor
Added 'HOWTOUSE_SELACOBUILDER.TXT' to explain how to set things up. This is a temporary solution until we get something better going!
Added 8 different types of Cardboard Boxes
Added Kickable Door actors

Bug Fixes

Fixed an error where 'Reset Defaults' in the Keybind menu did not have a proper description
Fixed numerous instances where hitscan attacks were blocked by level geometry.
Lab Equipment no longer 'slides' when shot.
Fixed an error where 'Reduced Impact shake' resulted in more impact shake.
Reduced Water Cooler step height to prevent it from climbing onto desks.
Gravity Manipulator can no longer pick up Junction Boxes.
Juggernauts no longer burn permanently. (Sorry Gianni!)
Fixed an error where Vending Machine purchases were not tracked on the stats page.
Fixed a bug where destructible Metal Bars would move without being destroyed.
Fixed an error where dead ACE Security Guards could be picked up with the Gravity Manipulator.
Fixed a mismatch where the Plasma Rifle's Projectile Velocity description was showing an incorrect value.
Returning to Level 1 after Level 2 no longer prevents Milestones from displaying or accumulating.
Fixed a number of instances where effects could accumulate in areas the player has left, causing the game to gradually slow down.
Fixed severed heads not bouncing correctly.
Fixed a freeze that could happen when a projectile targets itself (!?).
Fixed Dawn getting stuck when transitioning from Level 1 to Level 2 and standing on the edge of the Planter.
Bandoliers now count as a secret when picked up while having a full grenade supply.
Fixed tutorial sizing when loading a savegame on a machine with a different screen resolution than when saved.
Small props are now correctly destroyed under doors.
Fixed a VM abort when punting the throwing knife.
Punted knives now properly kill enemies.
Fixed an infinite loop that could occur when crushing a broken trash bin under a door/ceiling.
Fixed Rifle Start/Rifle Reset not removing weapons at incorrect times.
Stat categories added in updates will now apply to old save files.
Fixed a potential crash when pressing TAB in the train menu.
Fixed an error where Completed Map markers would appear far too tiny on the map.
Fixed added Recoil stats showing as green instead of red in the Workshop.
Fixed some Workshop mods not appearing in the Mod list under Options.
Fixed an oversight where the screenshake settings ignored the fist attacks
Starting a new game will no longer create two autosaves.

Other updates

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

Go to your Steam Library
Right Click on 'Selaco'
Click on 'Properties'
On the right side of the screen, press 'beta'
Click on the Dropdown Menu
Select 'v0.83e'
Wait for the download the finish

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

Unfortunately, this will have to wait a little bit longer. We tried to get proper Modding/Mapping documentation out 2 weeks ago, but given how badly we needed to patch out some issues, all of our efforts went into the Mega Patch.

We did include a quick ReadMe file in the UltimateSelacoBuilder folder that you can use to get up to speed! Mapping is largely the same as for Doom, so a lot of that knowledge carries over!

Rest assured, proper documentation is still coming! We just need a few more weeks.

Next on the list is getting to work on the Randomizer Mode and the Story elements, as well as begin production for Chapter 2.

However, we are going to take a short vacation first. I know we said that in the previous blog post, but we really wanted to iron out a whole bunch of the inconveniences that creeped their way into release so we decided to work for an additional 2 weeks before finally taking off.

Which is now!

Once more, thank you for being passionate about the game and giving us your thoughts. We hope the Mega Patch made the game even better for you.

Have a great weekend!

Selaco News

Glorious retro FPS 'Selaco' is now Steam Deck Verified and plans many huge gameplay upgrades

Noisy shooter Selaco is Steam Deck verified with new story stuff, AI improvements and "Randomizer" modes in the works

Selaco Development Update

Magnificent chunky shooter Selaco gets a 'MEGA' update

Selaco v0.84 Patch Notes - The MEGA Update!