Project Warlock II News

Hey everyone!

We’ve released a hotfix that updates the game to version 0.2.6.45 and includes:

• A possible fix where sometimes the explosion VFX would not appear
  
• Fixed a bug where monsters would aggro at the player too early
  
• Added autosave-based checkpoints to the Single Stage mode
  

Now you can continue to play your Single Stage run from the last checkpoint after you die on the map. It’s not possible to save, exit, and return to your run later on as they’re intended to serve as one-time only (erm, single) challenges that can be replayed on and on.

We also want to give you a quick development progress update. First, check out the updated 2022 roadmap. We’re slowly putting more and more check marks on this board!



We’re getting closer to a major overhaul of the levels’ structure. We want to divide them into more, but smaller levels. The total scale and scope of the game will not change, but the flow of every single stage should be more natural and true to Project Warlock's roots.

Weapons tuning is another major update that the team has been working on. The basic weapons and both their upgrades and the way the system works will be revamped. The idea behind this update is to remove the feeling of choosing a "downgrade" instead of an upgrade (if you buy a specific upgrade that changes the weapon and you feel like it's not as cool as the base version). Also, we will be splitting weapon upgrades into weapon-specific and universal ones. It’s still early in the works, so your feedback will help us shape it further!

You can also expect Jerry and Luke, the guys behind the first Project Warlock’s OST, to continue their work on making sure that Project Warlock II’s soundtrack is getting bigger and better. The division of the game's levels into smaller ones will result in additional tracks being added and will result in new tunes to accompany the pixelated slaughter.

We’re also working our way up the ladder to share the info on the second episode of Project Warlock II - and can't wait to hear your thoughts on that!

Thank you to everyone who has already played the Early Access of Project Warlock II and please keep the feedback coming! Be sure to leave a Steam review if you like the game and recommend us to your friends!

PS. We recently announced a special limited edition Big Box of the original Project Warlock made in cooperation with John Romero himself! Check it out below and head over here for more details.

Hey everyone!

This hotfix updates the game to version 0.2.6.38 where we address some of the issues that you reported after the latest content patch:

[h4]FIXES[/h4]

• Fixed Player Orientation when loading the game state
  
• Fixed textures at the start of E1M4
  
• Fixed pause menu tint on ultrawide screens
  
• Fixed some monster placement in E1M4
  
• Fixed incorrect total monster count in level summary
  
• Fixed falling animations of Cacobots and Protosatan
  
• Fixed an issue where Autoshotgun fire rate would bug out
  
• Fixed an issue where automap in e1m4 would always be uncovered
  

[h4]ADJUSTMENTS[/h4]
Adjusted gib amount depending on monster size:

• Smaller enemies drop fewer gibs
  
• Bigger enemies drop more gibs
  

Adjusted Necrogirls... again!

• Their projectile attacks are less frequent
  
• Their main focus is to revive dead monsters
  

We appreciate that you’re part of our Early Access and help us make Project Warlock II a better game with your constant feedback on Discord and in the comments.

Also, be sure to leave a review if you like the game. Steam gets our game in front of more people this way.

Hey all!

Welcome to the first major content patch for Project Warlock II Early Access!

As always, thanks for the constant feedback, comments, messages, Discord chats, and Steam reviews as they help us shape Project Warlock II into a better game. Please keep them coming!

As we have mentioned in the latest patch notes:

All game saves will become incompatible with new versions of Project Warlock II starting with this update

It’s a necessary downside of how the game’s structure is changing during the Early Access.

Moving onto the changelog, it is a big one, so buckle up.


[h2]Features[/h2]

[h3]Added Single Stage mode [/h3]

• It lets you replay any selected level which was completed at least once in campaign mode.
  
• You cannot save during single stage run
  
• There are no autosaves
  
• Death is equal with end of single stage run
  
• Tracks your level progress
  
  • Secrets
    
  • Cameos
    
  • Bestiaries found
    
  • Best time
    
  • High score

[h3]Added visual and audio cues to all enemy spawns[/h3]



[h3]New Main Menu Graphics[/h3]

• New Bestiary Font
  
• New UI Graphics
  
• New UI Sound Effects
  

[h3]New Pause Menu Graphics[/h3]

• New UI Graphics
  
• New UI Sound Effects
  

[h3]Additional changes[/h3]

• Added Language selection in-game
  
• Added new hit particles for Boneys and Skellies
  

[h2]Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed Laser Rifle Projectile hit detection
  
• Changed secret location in e1m1
  
• Added collisions to the gravestone decorations
  
• Fixed some monster spawns in geometry
  
• Fixed an issue where grenade from grenade launcher would explode on impact with dead bodies
  
• Fixed an issue in e1m2 where fire before the village near the tree would be invisible
  

[h2]Balance[/h2]

• Adjusted Protosatan's charge speed depending on difficulty level
  
• Halved the HP of Minibosses to make the fights less tedious
  

[h2]Optimization[/h2]

• Optimised billboarding of sprites to increase performance
  
• Added Monsters and Items to Object Pooling Quick explainer: There should be less drops on the floor, reducing the clutter
  • Load times should be decreased
    
  • Performance should be improved

[h2]Adjustments[/h2]

• Adjusted minimap height colors
  
  • Removed Red and Green height differences
    
  • Adjusted uncovered terrain to white
    
  • Adjusted covered terrain to dark gray
    
• Adjusted some blood effects
  
• Adjusted water textures
  
• Lowered global sprite framerate to 20fps
  
• Adjusted controller sensitivity multiplier to allow for faster look rotation
  

[h2]Overhauled Save/Load menu[/h2]
Simplified to increase usability

• 1 Quicksave slot
  
• 1 Autosave slot
  
• 6 Manual save slots
  

[h2]Level changes[/h2]

[h3]E1M1[/h3]

• Slightly reworked some areas to improve visuals and navigation
  

[h3]E1M2[/h3]

• Reworked some areas to improve visuals and navigation
  
• Added tree textures to forest areas in e1m2
  
• Added some monster spawners
  

[h3]E1M3[/h3]

• Reworked some areas to improve visuals and navigation
  

[h3]E1M5[/h3]

• Improved level navigation
  
• Improved overall level visibility
  
• Increased the size of the miniboss arena
  
• Adjusted particle effects
  
• Removed some of the purple goo from the floors
  
• Adjusted geometry for easier navigation
  
• Improved monster spawner locations and amount
  

[h3]E1M6[/h3]

• Added some new geometry
  
• Added monster spawners
  
• Replaced destructible goo with new prefabs
  

That's it for this patch. Once again thank you for all the feedback as it helped us get here and shape this patch. We'd also like to invite you to our Discord server as our community continues to grow.

Also, please make sure to leave a review if you like the game. Steam likes that and gets our game in front of more people this way.

Hey everyone!

New patch is playtested at this very moment, and will be available shortly. Below you’ll get a taste of what you can expect in that. Also - we pulled the most popular Project Warlock II questions from Steam and Discord and answered those here.

Since we launched the Early Access version of Project Warlock II we’ve received a ton of feedback from you, released a number of patches and fixes, as well as revealed our roadmap until the end of the year. And there’s still a lot more to come!

Some of the areas of the game we’re working on are:

Totally redesigned saves system for clearer designation of all saved games, and limiting the number of manual saves and quicksaves

Introducing Single Stage mode for revisiting previously completed levels

Adding more pronounced audio and visual cues to enemy demons spawning in

That and a whole variety of balances, fixes and adjustments across the board that will be fully outlined in the upcoming patch update.

Each and every suggestion or a bit of feedback provided by you makes its way to our internal database and is reviewed case-by-case. When we said we want to shape the game according to your feedback, we meant it.

It’s not always possible to respond to all messages or comments and some of them might tackle topics that we’re already aware of and work on, so we’ve prepared this handy list of responses and updates about some of the most frequent topics.



1: There’s a lot of clutter on the screen - specifically cooldown reduction orbs, ammo, health, and armor, but also some environment elements sometimes make it hard to see what’s happening on the screen. Are you planning to address that?

ANSWER: In one of the upcoming patches (coming: soon) we’re reducing the number of dropped items. We’re also repositioning some of the trees as they have been reported to obscure enemies, who (being vicious demons from hell) predictably used that to their advantage.

2: Enemies are sometimes getting stuck in walls, trees, pillars, and other elements of the environment. What gives?

ANSWER: These issues are two-fold. One - after one of the redesigns of the levels, some of the enemies seemed to be stuck in walls with their spawners. Two - some of the doors and breakable passageways cause enemies to behave strangely. The placement issue has been resolved in the latest hotfix patch as well as the enemies getting stuck.

3: Why are some enemies shooting through the walls?

ANSWER: This was an issue with misplaced spawners of some monsters. It has now been resolved in the latest hotfix.

4: Enemies are getting stuck in the floor - mostly in E1M5.

ANSWER: This issue has been addressed in the latest patch, we’ve modified the size of the space with problematic floor material.

5: Sometimes the player character gets stuck on the stairs, slopes, and walls.

ANSWER: That was an issue with the Player controller and has now been resolved in the latest hotfix. Special thanks to those who attached images or videos of problematic spots in their feedback posts. You know who you are, and we know not all of you wear capes!

6: The enemies spawning behind the player after picking up every key/weapon/spell are a problem.

ANSWER: The upcoming patch has more pronounced visual and audio cues to make the monsters spawning in more noticeable as per the screen on top of this post. That same upcoming patch will also result in a do-over regarding the monster spawn placements. The aim is to eradicate those instances that feel unfair to the player by not giving ample time to react.

7: The levels are bigger than in the original Project Warlock, which makes them difficult to navigate through and it’s very easy to get lost and wander in circles.

ANSWER: We’re looking at the scope of the levels and making sure they are more accessible. One thing that emerged from the playtest and subsequent feedback is that we will be going for a division of the levels into smaller and more approachable areas. This is coming in the future.

8: Some of the secrets are too hard to find.

ANSWER: Well… yes and no. We believe that most of the secrets aren’t that problematic and are well-indicated, whether by a red target mark, a button, or a destructible wall. But we’ve heard a lot of voices. In the previous point, we’ve mentioned redesigning the levels. We believe it will help this issue as the levels will be smaller and secrets should become easier to find.

Also, the Single Stage Mode (coming in the next content patch) will allow players to jump between levels to find secrets they’ve missed.

9: Are more game modes coming to PW2?

ANSWER: Yes. Single Stage mode is now being extensively tested and will be a part of the next content patch. Stars of one of the future updates - the Mutators will also have a significant impact on the way you play the game.

10: The music in Project Warlock II feels repetitive and just not that good, whereas it was one of the best things in the original Project Warlock.

ANSWER: Jerry and Luke - the guys behind the first Project Warlock’s OST are hard at work on making sure that Project Warlock II’s soundtrack is as memorable - or waaaay more - as that of the first game. The issue with the tracks right now is that the concept for dynamic music that was originally in place had to be reconsidered. It just didn’t work that well and was changed. Currently, some of the tracks might need that extra ooomph, but that's because most of them are devoid of their more dynamic, combat parts. There will be new tracks, as we’re working on the PW2 soundtrack to hit the bar we’ve set with the original game. Adding the tracks as well as dividing the levels into smaller parts should reduce the feeling of repetitiveness.

11: The loading times in Project Warlock II seem excessively long, what’s going on?

ANSWER: We’ve got a two-part fix planned for this. First, in one of the upcoming patches, we’re improving the overall optimization of the levels. Secondly, the loading times will be shorter once we divide the levels. There’s also a topic of the overabundance of saves that also has an impact on this. Upcoming patch addresses that by limiting the number of manual and quicksaves and also by redesigning the save menu.

One important thing to note here, though. The upcoming patch will render all the saves up until that point useless. So if you want to finish up that playthrough with your current save - now's the right time.

12: Some of the weapons and their upgrades feel lackluster.

ANSWER: Weapon tuning is one of the major updates that the team has been working on for the past couple of months. It will require quite a bit of testing so we have no timeframe to give, but this will be happening very soon. If you'd like to give it a go - please apply for a playtesting role on our Discord to participate.

In the Weapon update basic weapons and both their upgrades and the way the system works will be revamped. For example, instead of upgrading the Rifle into the Heavy Rifle, you’ll be able to add an additional barrel, sight and ammo capacity. This will result in a chance to expand the capacities of a particular weapon more significantly than just with a short upgrade tree. As we said, it’s early in the works, so your feedback will help us shape it further!

13: The automap is hard to read, any plans to address that?

ANSWER: In the upcoming patch, we’ll adjust the minimap’s height colors. More specifically by removing Red and Green height differences, making uncovered terrain white and covered terrain dark gray. This will help you navigate through the levels and find areas you haven’t explored yet. We’ll continue to closely monitor your feedback to make sure we get it right.

14: When can we expect more levels?

ANSWER: New levels are coming in the second episode. We don’t have a specific time frame yet, but you can check out our roadmap for 2022 below.



Thanks for being here with us and look out for the incoming patch!

Hey everyone!

Here’s a changelog for our latest hotfix that updates the game to version 0.2.5.43 where we address some often occurring inconveniences:

• Improved Player controller stepping - players should no longer get stuck on certain geometry objects
  
• Fixed spawn points of monsters resulting in them shooting through walls from inaccessible areas
  

We’re working hard on a big content and balancing patch next. It will address a lot of your requests and add new content, including the Single Stage mode, and more. These changes, however, will have consequences:

[h2]Starting with our next update, all game saves will become incompatible with new versions of Project Warlock II![/h2]

It’s a necessary downside of how the game’s structure is changing during the Early Access.

We recommend that you complete your current playthroughs before the next update. We’ll also give you an option to play the older version of the game on a separate game branch for some time.

Please have in mind that the game is still under development. We appreciate that you’re part of this process and help us make Project Warlock II a better game with your constant feedback. We also want to give a bit of a heads up - similar game saves incompatibilities might continue to occur during our Early Access but we’ll try to keep those to a minimum.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/26638/Project_Warlock_1_&_2/