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Have a Nice Death News

A Note From Simon #2



Hello Everyone,

It's Simon again, Lead Game Designer on Have a Nice Death.
Are you ready for summer? Any vacations scheduled? (Death will be jealous)

Firstly, thank you everyone for your understanding with the delay of our last content update. It was a tough choice on our side but we ultimatetly decided we prefered for you to have a good experience without too many bugs than deliver on time but not optimal. We are commited so it doesn't have to happen again.

Also, more thanks for enthusiams and feedback about this upate. More and more of you are giving us interesting and important feedback. Thanks to our CM Marleine and our devoted moderators on Discord, our team has listened to what you felt could be improved. Althought a lot of it was already in the works.

What we noticed from you on this update:
  • You love LEON CLEAN
  • CAMILLE FLAGE is finally here (but maybe too easy for some of you)
  • You like ANIMAs now (but they might be too many)
  • JOCELYN is way too nice with you
  • You enjoy the new dialogs
  • YOU WANT EVEN MORE ATTACKS FOR SEVERAL THANAGERS

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE, as the next update will tackle a lot of this. Again, i won't go into too many details but here's our plan for the next update:


REBALANCING

We are very aware of the INFUSE Mana build and the fact that a lot of spell combos are ABSURD, or that Sacrifix / Vladislaw are way too powerful. We also feel that many cloak weapons are not as strong as some spell, but mainly because of multi hit or cooldown. Then, we know that now there are a lot more HEALING options and it makes the game way easier. We knew the introduction of the anima fountain and the GREEDY ANIMA system would make it easy to always have some healing but we figured since we were maybe a bit too harsh on release, we wanted to be nice to you... AT LEAST FOR ONE PATCH.


SORROWS / THANAGERS

The last subject about balancing are the Sorrows / Thanagers. You have pointed out that Camille felt too easy for a W5 miniboss and it is not wrong but there is a underlying issue. It is not that Camille is weak, it is that the PLAYER is way too strong. I promise you if you fight Camille with no weapons and curses, she will kick you butt. But you are right, the later fights are less challenging to the nature of roguelike progression so we will look into this.


NEW CONTENT

As you probably guessed on our last roadmap, the next update is about food! We are really happy about the feeling and the enemies of this new department. We hope you won't get any acid reflux. The next bit of info about this new content is that we will polish a lot of elements to give you a better general feeling.

We can't wait to release the next content update, but meanwhile there's still some work (and meetings!!) to do.

From all the team, thank you again for your support, feedback, fan art, and encouraging words.

See you soon,
Simon

Early Access Hotfix - 2022/05/19



Thank you for playing our Infrastructure Development update for Have a Nice Death! Here’s a list of bug fixes and improvements from the hotfix today:


Improvements
  • Added better feedback (VFX, animation, and sound) when using the Anima Fountain (water cooler), Distribig® 462 (vending machine), and Sinistro® Koffee Machine (espresso machine in Relaxation Area)
  • Adjusted the colors in Jocelyn’s Contracts menu
  • Rebalanced floor choices for consistency
  • Misc improvements on VFX


Bug Fixes
  • Fix for sound and VFX on several spells that were missing
  • Fix for getting stuck in some walls
  • Fix for getting stuck in World 3 arenas when an Ulcermonner summoned an enemy out of the arena
  • Fix for Bosses not dropping their rewards
  • Fix for Leon Clean sliding at the beginning of the fight (the floor was very wet)
  • Fix for no progression for weapons/spells in Joe's menu
  • Fix for VFX displayed in a bad position when entering the elevator menu
  • Fix for inconsistency in currency display format
  • Fix for dialogs bubble timing (much longer)
  • Fix for Soul Razor (spell) not doing damage
  • Fix for Shockwave (spell) not working in the air under certain conditions
  • Fix for the Shop item Concealed Carry replacing the weapon in the second slot without giving the player a choice and preventing getting the previous weapon back
  • Fix for some of Jocelyn’s Contracts being unfinishable finished
  • Fix for taking a Jocelyn’s Contract then canceling it rerolled the Contracts proposed after the first one, for free

Infrastructure Development - Update Notes

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Hello recruits, 

The first major content update for Have a Nice Death is finally here!
This includes an exciting new rewards system that unlocks bonuses for the most skilled players, full access to Modern War Department (World 5), added spells, Thanagers (mini-bosses) to destroy, plus a host of improvements fixing issues that our players have reported in the first month of development.

Have a Nice Death is in Early Access which means we’ve got our team working our fingers to the bone on our plans and your feedback. We expect to keep adding new content for the game, which we will be releasing in regular updates throughout the next months. 
Here is our latest update notes!

IMPORTANT

Here’s the list of important info/bugs you need to know for this update:

Known Issues
  • Some contracts don't fully work. For example: Contract "Now 1 Prismium - Defeat 1st boss in under 5min - Lose 50 soularies" does not make the player lose Soulary. This will be resolved in the next hotfix.
  • Most of the issues about arenas are fixed, however there is one arena where the player can be locked in (something about an enemy summoned out of the arena by an Ulcermonner). We've added a security measure to allow progress to continue (after 15sec, doors open + reward is spawned).
  • Some spells have minor issues (Bulimia Burst does not apply the passive at rank 2 and 3). These will be resolved in the next hotfix.
  • The koffee asset does not appear in the VIP room, nor does the VFX/SFX when taking the koffee (but the effect is applied). VFX/SFX issue will be resolved in the next hotfix.
  • Vita/Mana and Anima do not spawn after killing a Sorrow/Thanager. This will be resolved in the next hotfix.

Localization:
  • We keep adding new texts (gameplay, UI, Dialogs), but it could take some time to translate everything in all 10 languages of the game. Localization will be regularly updated in hotfixes.

Crashes:
  • We are aware that crashes occurred on specific integrated graphics cards and our devs are working to find a proper fix.
  • The problem seems to be an issue with Intel's GPU drivers and DirectX11. Please, before playing, check if your drivers are up to date. And if you still have the issue, we added compatibility with DirectX12 which seems to fix the problem on some GPUs. This option can be activated by adding the following command in the "Game Launch Options" of the game on Steam: -force-d3dx12

User report interface:
  • You can now directly share your bugs to our team in-game.
SPECIAL THANKS
  • We want to give a special shout-out to the dedicated and incredible members of our community that help our team by reporting bugs, giving feedback, and providing interesting ideas.
  • Note: ːsteamthumbsupː indicates a change inspired by community feedback.

NEW CONTENT

World 1
  • New environment:
    • Explore the Death, Inc. garden
  • New Thanager:
    • Léon Clean - Janitorial Thanager: Léon is the custodial engineer responsible for keeping the Hall of Eternity spotless. Watch out for his deadly vacuum which projects deadly trash. 

World 2
  • 2 new Thanagers: 
    • X4-H - Uncontrollable Production Management Mutagen: X4-H is a dangerous mutagen with uncontrollable saliva who has taken over the Industrial Pollution Department.
    • Richard J. Barron - Actuary Thanager, Climate-Skepticism Tycoon: In a former life, Richard was a crooked oil tycoon who profited from fossil fuel. 

World 5
  • Full Access to Department of Modern Warfare:
    • Extended level design and floors: Discover The Modern Warfare Department, a veritable battlefield of Death Inc. intramuros. It is a cut-throat world that brings together all mortals deployed from the First World War to present day, in terms of tactics and military technology. In other words, it goes BOOM and BANG in all directions, as terror rains down for Major Warren Pliskhan, the scourge responsible for this chaos. 
  • 3 new enemies:
    • Roaster: Keep your distance from this fire-breathing pyro, otherwise he will release his fists of fury or engulf you in a wall of flames.
    • Bombaron: Look up to the sky. It’s not a bird, but it is a plane - ready to blow you up.  Watch out for aerial attacks from Bombaron, who can bombard you with explosives from her nimble warplane.
    • Caderact: Beware this wandering cadet. He may seem a bit short-sighted, but he’s armed with homing missiles that are locked onto Death.
      • ːsteamthumbsupː ”Caderact” was a name proposed by the Discord community! Thank you!
  • New Thanager:
    • Camille Flage - A living weapon: She may appear somewhat slow, but she is a fury unleashed and will ambush you with her cat-like vertical attacks. This starved siren also provides the Major and his troops with camouflage, giving them the advantage over their enemies.

Spells
  • 5 new spells:
    • Firescreamer
    • Soul Razor
    • Focus
    • Bulimia Burst
    • X4-Cyst

NEW FEATURES

Jocelyn’s Contracts - A lobby challenge:
  • Meet Jocelyn, Death Incorporated’s elevator, who offers a series of exciting challenges in between runs. Each challenge unlocks an instant bonus, such as a new weapon or spell. However, some challenges have a set requirement -- failure to complete this task will lead to a major consequence, like less health, less mana and much more. 

Breakroom Upgrades:
  • Two new gameplay elements
    • ːsteamthumbsupː Visit the new water cooler in the breakroom, where you can trade Soulary in for Anima to restore health.
    • There's also a new vending machine where you can randomly score a new item or take damage if the machine is broken.

New Floor:
  • The Relaxation Area
    • If you need a break, you can visit the new lounge area where you can pick up a healing cup of Koffee for free and rest up.

Thanager & Sorrow generosity:
  • When defeating a Thanager, player will now gain an anima and when they defeat a Sorrow, they will gain an upgrade.

Some Thanagers received additional training and have learned new attacks.
  • Will Hung has 3 new attacks: two on the side of the screen with different patterns; and one in the center that takes up the full screen.
  • Slyma has 1 new attack: projectiles can now be placed at the bottom of the arena.
  • Candice has 2 new attacks: one where she teleports to the middle and attacks left or right; and one where she teleports on the player, pretends to hit them, and then teleports above.

Anima Mix:
  • ːsteamthumbsupː If the player has 3 regular anima and obtains another one, the next anima obtained will be fused and gives the player an upgraded Yellow anima.

Added +150 lines of dialog (NPC and Boss fight)

QUALITY OF DEATH IMPROVEMENTS

Weapons:
  • ːsteamthumbsupː Sickles have been buffed, they are now way faster. 

ːsteamthumbsupː Dialog bubbles last longer and players can skip them.

ːsteamthumbsupː New worker guide entries for pick-up items .

New worker guide entries for new enemies, spells, NPC, and mini bosses.

Add User report interface
  • Can report bug or improvement directly from the game interface (main menu & pause menu).

BUG FIXES
  • Status effect system improvements : should fix a lot of bugs related to status effects (burn, bleed, poison, critical hit, …)
  • [FIXED] Sometimes the player is stuck in the curses selection menu.
  • [FIXED] The anima indicator displays wrong information about the current anima available.
  • [FIXED] NPC can appears two times in the same restroom 
  • [FIXED] Various issues with arena colliders in mini boss arena.
  • [FIXED] Misc UI issues in specific languages.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

As you can add your feedback/bugs on the Steam forum of the game, you can also join the official Have a Nice Death Discord server. You will meet a bunch of nice people who can help you with the game and who are more than ready to discuss ideas and critiques about Have a Nice Death with you.

We were amazed by the quantity AND the quality of your chef-d’oeuvre. Less than 2 months after the Early Access launch, we count about +450 fanart from our community (Discord, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit etc.). That’s insane! Of course, we can’t share all of them, but here’s a glimpse of talent:

@eyemohini

@mcjamie

@ninten_draw

@Lars_lattery

@Nerosaboteir

@atichiipixels

@MINZI_jfm

@babo_tt

@BigBossMaker

@Bacon2202

@inthegrayruin

@emyu

@mothh

Infrastructure Development Update Delayed



Hello recruits,

We’ve been working our fingers to the bone on our Infrastructure Development update and had planned to release it today for all of you to play. As the build was being finalized, we ran into some game breaking bugs at the last moment that block progression by preventing arenas from being completed. Some workarounds had been implemented in the event that you get stuck in an arena, but we feel that it doesn’t fit with our purpose of creating a high quality experience in Have a Nice Death. For this reason, we’ve made the difficult decision to delay the Infrastructure Development update to May 10th.

This is our first major update so we want to get it right. Being open with you is important for us at Magic Design Studios and Gearbox Publishing, so we deeply appreciate that you understand the reason we’ve chosen to push the update back a couple weeks. This being our first update and the amount of new content added has us so excited to see you play, but getting stuck in an arena takes away from the fun. As we get the build polished up and working, we’ll continue to share updates of the content to come. Thank you for your patience and we look forward to having a killer gameplay experience for you when the Infrastructure Development update releases on May 10th.

-Magic Design Studios

Perfect World Entertainment are now part of Gearbox Publishing, still making nerdy MMOs


Perfect World Entertainment have announced that they’re now known as Gearbox Publishing. Or Gearbox Publishing have announced that they’re no longer Perfect World Entertainment. Same difference. Gearbox Publishing say the change shouldn’t affect anything to do with the ageing live service games they steward, like Star Trek Online and Neverwinter. They’re all part of the Embracer Group, y’see.


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