Project Warlock II News

May 28th marks the day Project Warlock II leaves Early Access and will be ready for everyone to jump in and experience the journey of Palmer, Urd and Kirsten - disciples of the original Warlock - who each have their own reasons to venture out searching for their master.

Project Warlock II continues a story of the first game, but was always meant to be more than just a remix of the old locales, weapons and enemies within a given template. It was ambitious, it was bigger, longer, meatier and offered not one, but three protagonists.



In hindsight, perhaps that second step sequel-wise should have been a smaller one, as this resulted in the game being pushed from the originally conceived date of 2023 to 2025, but i feel this is the best version of Project Warlock II both the team Buckshot and i could come up with.

Project Warlock II took elements from the first game and reshaped some, cut out others, and stitched on yet others to create something recognisable when it comes to the relentless nature of gameplay, a vast and cool looking arsenal that offers some of the most satisfying guns in Project Warlock's short (just two games), but meaty (92 guns over those two games) history and gameplay that varies from character to character. And when we add the ability to mix and match the characters and setting thanks to the Realmshift Mode - you get way more than those 10 hours of the average gameplay time that will take to get from Palmer's first burst of rifle in Ch1E1 to Kirsten's final Void Streamer spray in Ch3E12.

This journey was long, but wouldn't be possible without the support of the many kickstarter backers, numerous playtesters sharing their opinions on our Discord and Steam and players that bought, played and reviewed the game on Steam and elsewhere.

Each of your voices helped in shaping Project Warlock II to become what is it now, and some of the course corrections ended up being more time, energy and stress consuming than others. But i feel all contributed to making this a true Project Warlock sequel. A different game, but one that shares a lot of the character that made the first Project Warlock into what it is.

Lastly i would like to thank all of the Buckshot team - both past and present - we wouldn't be able to be here without your dedication and grit.

Damn.

Feels like i am forgetting something here...

Oh, yes. Right.

Thank YOU! For reading this. For dedicating your time to find out what's so important to end up in the Game Launch release notes. Thank you for joining us here, and for either sticking up for all those years, or curiously just entering the world of Warlocks. Either way - it's a pretty good day to be here today.

Over the next week we will be focusing on monitoring forums, Discord and social media for your very welcome feedback, and a little less so - inevitable bugs that punched through our tightly knit QA defenses and then we will be coming back with a plan of what's next for Project Warlock II.

But for now - once again - thanks guys! And enjoy your time indulging in some pixelated violence.

This year will mark Project Warlock's seventh birthday meaning it can now write, do simple chores and can legally get to play Minecraft, Rayman Legends and Sackboy: The Big Adventure, but sadly not Stardew Valley, Hogwarts Legacy and Stray. Not to mention, Project Warlock cannot in good conscience be allowed to play Wolfenstein 3D (PEGI 12), Hexen (PEGI 12) and let's not even start on the 1993 Doom (17+). Guess those three will have to wait.

We're still due for a proper nostalgia trip further down the line, as December launch anniversary comes closer, but for now - a couple of important updates.

[h3]1. Project Warlock II - Leaving Early Access May 28th[/h3]



After a long and tumultous development that went places we never intended it to go, Project Warlock II is leaving Early Access in two weeks - that's May 28th. So if you were withholding on playing the game while it was being constructed midflight you might want to stretch those arms, crack fingers and dust off that mousepad as this is when the game officially drops. We plan to keep expanding the game and deliver some more or less surprising features after the launch.



[h3]2. Project Warlock: 90% Off Biggest Discount Yet + Upcoming Patch Info[/h3]

Project Warlock will soon receive an update to some of the most annoying issues brought over by the community. Most of these are either being implemented, furiously playtested or in the process of finalising the change, but you can expect a patch soon, and one that will touch upon the below outlined issues.

And this is coming hot on the trail of Project Warlock's biggest discount yet - you will be able to grab Project Warlock with a staggering 90% discount starting today and running for the next two weeks, This is to commemorate the launch of a new incarnate of the game that started it all - Doom: Dark Ages. Anyway - here's the list of issues that the patch will address.

Unity Engine Upgrade
Updating the game from version 5.6 to 2018.1.9f2 for overall better performance

Gameplay Improvements
Adding Weapon Wheel as an alternate weapon of weapon switching for both the mouse + keyboard and controller setups
Mouse Scroll Weapon Switching polished and improved



Difficulty Adjustment
Final Boss Balancing and adjusting the balance of the final fight



Bug Fixes
Resolving the hardest difficulty achievement unlock issue
Fixing an issue where dynamite would travel unpredictably when strafing around
Fixing Sonic Rocket Launcher projectile rendering issues
Fixing the elevator staggering and making sure you cannot falll through

[h3]3. Project Warlock: Lost Chapters Development Update[/h3]

We've been keeping that one close to the chest, as Project Warlock II went on to occupy roughly 25 hours per day in the last few months, but we're now ready to show some of the designs you can expect to take your blunderbuss and parrot to. Pa... WHAT?


The game is in active development, with extra team members working on the art and level design making sure Lost Chapters strikes back in the heart of the nostalgia that the original Warlock did. We're planning to have the game out sooner rather than later, but more on that in the coming months. Stay tuned and in the meantime - wishlist and follow Project Warlock: Lost Chapters here.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1043850/Project_Warlock_Lost_Chapters/

Hey Warlocks!

We’re back with another update that continues improvements on visual cohesion, animation polish, and some quality-of-life and bug fixes. This time its Palmer who's getting an arsenal glow-up, with several weapons reworked for more consistency and impact across the board. Here’s everything that’s new in this patch:

[h2]Palmer's Arsenal Refresh[/h2]
We’ve gone back to the workshop and tinkered with several of Palmer’s weapons to better fit his unique style and to improve overall visual consistency across all 3 chapters.

• Burst Rifle - A new set of animations
  
• Harvester - Fully redone animations
  
  
• Heavy Rifle - New shoot animation + reworked akimbo reload animation
  
• Cartier - Reworked animations
  
• Rocket Launcher - Reworked animations
  
  
• Mortar - Reworked animations
  
• Autoreload Shotgun - New visuals and updated animations
  
  

[h2]Gameplay Changes[/h2]
[h3]Screen sway during melee weapons attack animations temporarily disabled[/h3]
To address motion sickness concerns (thanks to :hauntedlove: for bringing this up on the Steam Forum), screen sway during melee weapons attack animations has been disabled for now. We're working on a longer-term solution.
[h3]Mortar Altfire Adjusted[/h3]
The altfire’s multishot count has been reduced from 5 to 4.
[h3]HUD Update[/h3]
You’ll now see an Akimbo Duration Bar added to the HUD to give you better awareness during dual-wielding mayhem.
[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed disappearing Hay Piles in E1M4 (thanks, Kam)
  
• Resolved screen tilt issues during melee attacks (Kam strikes again)
  
• Addressed an FPS drop related to achievements (Kam once more)
  
• Fixed broken akimbo drop particles for several of Palmer’s weapons
  
• Crosshair Scale settings now save correctly
  
• "Disable Important Notifications" toggle now correctly saves between sessions
  
• Fixed issues with Project Rambo not working as intended

Until next time!

Hey Warlocks!

Since we first announced that each Warlock Disciple would have their own dedicated chapter in Project Warlock II, the idea was always to allow characters to visit the other worlds. Making it happen though was a bit of a different story. After months of behind the scenes work we're ready to deliver the Realmshift mode for you guys to enjoy!



Realmshift lets you break the boundaries of the story campaign and play Project Warlock II in an entirely new way. Want to blast through Chapter 1 as Kirsten or tackle Chapter 3 with Palmer's arsenal? Now you can! But Realmshift is more than just a character swap - it allows you to play through all Project Warlock II Chapters with fully unlocked arsenals, expanded weapon capacity, and Hard Mode enabled from the start.



Without further ado, let's jump into the Patch Notes

[h2]NEW GAME MODE: REALMSHIFT[/h2]
Realmshift allows you to play any chapter with any character. Simple as that. This mode is unlocked after completing Story Mode (previously "New Game").



The unlock system works retroactively, so anyone who has completed Chapter 3 before this update will have an option to start Realmshift from the get-go, as the completion tag is not included in individual save files. So if you've already completed Chapter 3, you'll have immediate access to Realmshift without needing to replay anything!

Note for players who haven't completed the entire game: Each Chapter unlocks after beating the previous one. To unlock Chapter 2, you need to complete Chapter 1 (defeat the boss and finish the final level). Similarly, to unlock Chapter 3, you need to beat Chapter 2 (defeat its boss and complete its final level). After successfully completing Chapter 3, Realmshift becomes available.
[h3]Realmshift Features:[/h3]

• Start with fully unlocked arsenal and abilities
  
• Purchase both weapon upgrades and carry 12 weapons instead of the standard 6
  
  
• Weapon and ability pickups are replaced with additional weapon upgrade tokens
  
• Access new weapon variants after purchasing both upgrades and alt-fire upgrades
  
• New weapons appear in a dedicated category in the upgrade shop
  
• All Realmshift playthroughs include Hard Mode enabled from the start
  
• Universal ammo pickups that provide ammunition for all weapon types

[h2]VISUAL & AUDIO IMPROVEMENTS[/h2]

• As you might have noticed, all Chapter 3 weapons have received a complete visual overhaul to better reflect Kirsten's character
  
  
  
• New weapon cooloff sounds for Kirsten's arsenal
  
• Improved audio mixing and music volume balance

[h2]LEVEL DESIGN[/h2]

• Added new decorations to Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 to increase overall aesthetics
  
• Improved some geometry elements in various Chapter 3 levels

[h2]GAMEPLAY & BALANCE UPDATES[/h2]

• Reworked Laser Minigun primary fire - Now spools up before shooting for improved weapon feedback
  
• Reworked Laser Minigun alt-fire - Now creates a static field that damages enemies over time
  
• Re-worked Laser Rifle projectile visuals and mechanics - Now hitscan with projectile color reflecting weapon heat
  
• Sped up door opening speed in Chapter 3 and disabled automatic closing
  
• Improved Chapter 3 door visibility with new textures
  
• Added weapon buff when hitting the correct cooloff timing window
  
• Added new firerate speedup mechanic for the Sceptres in Chapter 3
  
• Added Magnum Pistol variant without the scope for Urd before buying the scope upgrade
  
• Overall weapon balance adjustments
  
• Reworked fire damage calculation to prevent overpowered interactions
  
• Knight and Turbo Knight melee resistances are now consistent
  
• Updated rune quests objectives to make them more challenging
  
• Increased Robosatan's Health from 2000HP to 5000HP

[h2]USER INTERFACE[/h2]

• Existing tutorial screens were temporarily removed, as they will be replaced in time for the 1.0 release
  
• Further improved button selection visibility in all menus

[h2]BUG FIXES[/h2]

• Fixed Beam Staff projectile origin issues with Akimbo in Palmer's Arsenal
  
• Corrected long-standing texture warping and misalignment problems (Start of E1M6, church windows in E1M4)
  
• Mouse cursor is now properly constrained within the game window in fullscreen and windowed mode
  
• Fixed premature boss music triggering in E1M5 before the Turbo Knight encounter
  
• Resolved melee weapon interaction with destructible secrets in E1M1 and E1M4
  
• Addressed various FPS drop issues
  
• Fixed distorted Frost Audio looping
  
• SFX no longer audible when volume is set to 0
  
• Corrected Heavy Rifle alternate fire functionality
  
• Improved projectile hit effect positioning in geometry and decorations

Realmshift has been one of our most requested features since Project Warlock II entered Early Access, so feel free to give it a try and let us know what you think on the Steam forums or our Discord server. We can't wait to hear about your favorite character-chapter combinations.

Until next time!

Hey Warlocks,

The "Realmshift" build of the game - allowing you to play any Warlock any chapter - is in the works and should be with you shortly, but we have couple more refurbished weapon models for you to check out. The response to the initial batch from last week was very positive, so let's not stop there.

For all of the weapons the main art direction was: "cool, but can we please make this a bit more demonic" and Konrad has delivered.

So without further ado - please welcome the new and shiny Claws, the gurgling Goo Streamer and the rapid-firing Striker.







These are just three of the weapons out of 18 that we're overhauling. Stay tuned to put your clawed demon paws on the full arsenal soon :)