Soul Stalker News

Hi everyone!

I'm so excited to announce that Soul Stalker is OUT NOW!!! We've added a 10% launch discount for the first week so make sure to get it while it lasts! Also, make sure to review the game, it helps so much!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1714240/Soul_Stalker/

You'll also see that the Steam page has bundles with Spellbook Demonslayers and Star Survivor so you can get Soul Stalker together with one of those on a discount! What's even cooler is that if you already own one of them you get the discount on Soul Stalker anyways!

While this is a big milestone for the game, it's only the beginning. We're going to be making radical additions to Soul Stalker throughout Early Access, and take the community's suggestions wherever we can! We want to wait until we get initial feedback in the first couple of days of release until we make any announcements so that we can develop in the direction the community desires, but we have some pretty cool stuff planned already ;)

If you want to be a part of the quick iterations, make sure to join our Discord server as I'll be posting constant updates!

See you soon, and I hope you all enjoy the game! A review if you like it would also help a ton :)

- Conrad, Lead Developer

Hi everyone!

We just announced Soul Stalker's Early Access Release date, it's August 4th!!! I'm so excited to let you all play what we've been working so hard on, and to continue doing so with the support of the community throughout Early Access!

The game will cost $4.99 USD (and regional pricing applied), and I'll leave the trailer below, but that's it for the update! Make sure to wishlist the game, and see you soon!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1714240/Soul_Stalker/

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

- Conrad, Lead Developer

Hi everyone! Soul Stalker is so close to launching, and we're going to be announcing the Steam Early Access release date THIS SATURDAY, on the 15th of July! Keep an eye out on our Twitter and YouTube account for the release date trailer!

That's it for this update, but I hope you all have a good time with the game we've been putting so much effort into, and I'm excited to have you all experience the Early Access release!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1714240/Soul_Stalker/

- Conrad, Lead Developer

Hi everyone!

Usually I save these Kickstater update writeups for 1.x patches, but Alpha 1.9.4 is so substantial that I thought I'd write one anyways! Many people have found the game due to the Steam demo (which is still up!) and thanks to that we've gotten tons of feedback! Primarily regarding visual clarity! On top of that, there are also some extra visual improvements (as options) targeted to those that want even more visual fidelity, rather than less!

The new settings in-game. The settings screen now has 2 pages!

Visual clarity in Soul Stalker has always been hard to balance as a big part of it is being a bullet heaven with the ultimate "Nintendo-y" packaging, so we've never wanted to skimp out on graphical flair. The Alpha 1.9.4 update addresses this through adding a bunch of settings that make the game stand out less in the graphical department, and make the action clearer. However, since these are just options, the base game still has the same visual flair as before (and more with one of the added settings)!

To start off, I'm going to show how the game looks like with none of the "visual clarity" settings on, and then go through each of the settings to show how they affect the game. So below you will find a clip of the game in its base form! For all of the examples, I've decided to use Shrapnel with 4 Bombsplosive weapons and it showcases the difference very well.

Base gameplay

If you turn on the new "Hide Explosions" setting, then the game will look like the clip below - it looks basically the same but explosions no longer show! This is for those that want to be able to focus more on dodging the enemies, and don't care much for knowing if your stuff is blowing up, or if you know that already.

Gameplay with "Hide Explosions"

If you turn off the new "Surface Decor" setting (which is off by default), then the game will look like the clip below. You'll notice that the palm shrubs have now disappeared! These shrubs, and more decorative elements, were added in this update to spruce up the visuals for people who wanted to take it up to 11, but the new "Surface Decor" setting allows you to turn it off. Also, since it's off by default, it won't appear if you don't explicitly choose to activate it!

Gameplay with "Hide Explosions", and "Surface Decor" off

The next setting is one of the 2 huge ones that were added in Alpha 1.9.4 - "Enemy Outlines". This one allows you to outline all enemies with a red border, making them easier to spot!

Gameplay with "Hide Explosions", "Surface Decor" off, and "Enemy Outlines"

This next setting was already in the game prior to 1.9.4, but I thought I'd show it here to give you an idea of how far the settings can take the game! It's the "Top Down" setting, and it brings the game's visual style more in line with other Bullet Heavens/roguelikes.

Gameplay with "Hide Explosions", "Surface Decor" off, "Enemy Outlines", and "Top Down Camera"

The final setting is the second of the two big ones, and it's "Stripped Back Levels". Since the game has a lot of visual variety, some of the settings may not apply super well in some levels, but this setting ensures that everything is always the same when on! This combined with the "Enemy Outlines" settings makes the game incredibly easy to read, so if you're trying to be optimal or have a great deal of trouble seeing what's going on, these two are must-haves!

Gameplay with "Hide Explosions", "Surface Decor" off, "Enemy Outlines", "Top Down Camera", and "Stripped Back Levels"

Personally, I quite like having just the outlines and stripped back levels, it gives the game quite a cool look apart from the bonuses to visual clarity!

"Enemy Outlines" and "Stripped Back Levels"

Anyways, that's it for 1.9.4! While it's not a 1.x update, it's a really huge one despite that. Leading up to the Early Access release, we're going to be making tons of quality of life changes, bug fixes, streamlining, and more, so if you have any suggestions feel free to put them in the comments and Steam Discussion forum!

I look forward to making Soul Stalker ever better in the next update :)

(Also, don't forget to wishlist Soul Stalker!)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1714240/Soul_Stalker/

- Conrad, Lead Developer

Hi everyone!

Earlier this week we released Alpha 1.9.0 and after a bunch of tuning and feedback, we just released Alpha 1.9.2 (1.9.1 was an internal build that we decided to build on top of to make 1.9.2 instead of releasing 1.9.1 with less stuff)!

Below are the patch notes:

• Fixed bug that made enemies' hitboxes be based on their hurtboxes instead. This change makes it easier to hit enemies, and harder to be hit by them.
  
• Made it such that enemies with dashes and projectiles have a group controller such that they are unable to attack all at once in high numbers.
  
• Fixed bug that caused some enemies to deal damage to you again 0.5s after hitting you the first time, despite not being in contact with you.
  
• Added a dash tutorial on your first run.
  
• Made the Pestinox elite in act 2 be immune to knockback.
  
• Made Regret have a base aim cone of 90° instead of 360°.
  
• Fixed bug that made the invulnerability time after being hit 0.1s instead of 1.5s.
  
• Fixed bug that made enemies' dash duration be dependent on your pushback stat.
  
• Reduced the dash length of all enemies with dashes.
  
• Adjusted Ascension 1-4 enemy health to account for the new damage system.
  
• Adjusted Ascension 1-4 enemy damage to account for the new damage system.
  
• Made Explosive coins a Physical attack instead of a Spawn attack, and it now has 10% more range.
  
• Made it such that the left bumpers/triggers also trigger the dash and menu clicks to better accommodate for 1-handed play.
  
• Fixed bug that made the big miner enemy stutter in its movement sometimes.
  

That's it for Alpha 1.9.3 but we've got tons of new stuff coming soon! We would love to get your feedback in the comments below or in the Steam Discussions as we're doing a huge polish/playability pass in these next few weeks and would love to get all the feedback we can get!

Until next time :)

- Conrad, Lead Developer