NeuroSquad - Slay the Horde News

Hi, all!

I'm excited to share that the NeuroSquad demo just got an important update that changes some fundamentals about the game. Here's the gist of it:

[h2]More control over when you shoot, what you shoot[/h2]

After a lot of experimenting and player feedback, I decided to change the auto-firing mechanic on the player character. Holo-soldiers auto-attack the same way as before (and there's a new type of soldier, more on that below). 2 new inputs were added: Fire and Reload.

Manual firing allows for a bigger control of your guns and I believe it improves the game feel significantly. No more "waiting for the bullet to start flying".

[h2]Holo-soldiers are now invincible[/h2]

Your soldiers can no longer take damage and die. Enemies will simply run through them (if they can stay alive long enough in your bullet-storm), which makes more sense thematically too, since they've always been holographic only.

But don't worry if you've been using them as moving shields; There's a new Implant that might come in handy for that. Keep in mind, new upgrades are always subject to change - I'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions!

Join the NeuroSquad Discord to chat about future plans and discuss changes:



[h2]Full changelog[/h2]

• 🤜🤛 [Based on feedback]: Holo-soldiers can no longer get hurt so they aren't able to die anymore.
  
• 🤜🤛 [Based on feedback]: Now the game uses manual shooting (twin-stick shooter style, think 20 Minutes Till Dawn). This comes with a new reloading mechanic.
  
• New Unit type: Sierra Division Holo-soldiers. This is a new type of soldier that has auto-aim, so always shoots at the nearest enemy.
  
• 🤜🤛 [Based on feedback]: Soldiers are now color-coded, making it easier to see what type they are. Also, soldiers now have more distinguishable profile pictures on the HUD.
  
• Since soldiers no longer have health, the curse that reduses their max health changed to do the same to the player character.
  
• 🤜🤛 [Based on feedback]: Removed 3 of the simple implants that increased the chance of certain upgrades to show up during a run. Added new implants: Hyperfocus, Neo-cortex (with new functionality), and Exo-guards.
  
• 🤜🤛 [Based on feedback]: Changed the Pre-loading implant to not spawn soldiers without weapons, instead the implant adds 2 armed soldiers by default and can now be leveled up.
  
• Changed the Heat Dispenser weapon mod to account for the new manual shooting method: if it's put on the player character's weapon, it reduces the reload time.
  
• Reworked how the Radiation Generator works, now it deals more damage. (The amount depends on the bullet that leaves the particle trail.)
  
• Regen Overdrive now makes the HP crystals respawn more frequently too.
  
• Changed the Hacked status effect since it was mostly underpowered and confusing. Hacking works as marking for kill with extra explosions from now on.
  
• Rebalanced the Karma Scope, removed the constraint of minimum enemy numbers. Now it works with every shot, no matter what.
  
• Reworded and changed some upgrades so that they make sense with the new health system and shooting / reloading system. Removed some others, to be replaced later on.
  
• Swapped the two levels of Hollow Pulse, now drones first apply the Hacked status effect, and the confusion with level 2.
  
• Updated the HUD to make the player character's health more visible: longer HP bar, more contrasted numbers. Added a backdrop for the character.
  
• Added a changelog button to the main menu.
  
• Added feedback / bug report form directly in the game.
  
• Added a floating text to indicate that bosses are immune to freezing.
  
• Rebalanced the progression in order to better fit for the new features and changes detailed above. Adjusted XP gain, weapon fire rates, HP gain, coin gain, enemy density and enemy types within waves.
  

An update is a good way to celebrate that NeuroSquad is officially part of Next Fest, starting now! So check it out and tell me what you think!

Happy slaying!

-Matt

[h2]And please wishlist the game if you haven't already:[/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2017040/NeuroSquad__Slay_the_Horde

Hello, squad!

After a couple of quieter months, I'm happy to be back with some news and a small update.
Due to personal reasons, I had to reschedule content drops for the demo, as well as for the full release, but this was only the calm before the storm. I decided to break up a bigger update into multiple ones, so you can access the new stuff quicker, as they get implemented. (The features and changes that are already tested.)

So jump into the game and bring the storm of bullets with these updates today:

• Dash invincibility is now the default.
  
• Performance boost: Changed how enemies handle their animations, now having many enemies on screen at once shouldn't be as heavy on the fps.
  
• [Based on feedback]: The drones of the final boss now follow their paths more smoothly, so if the boss gets knocked around by the player, its drones don't accelerate immidiately and are less likely to bump into the player.
  
• Increased health and damage numbers to reduce floating point number rounding when displaying the amount of damage dealt and taken.
  
• Changed the Pre-loading implant to include drones in the possible random starting units for the full squad.
  
• Reduced the amount of XP needed for the first level up.
  
• Separated pause button from menu back button, now players can configure these key bindings separately.
  
• [Based on feedback]: Made small texts more readable in the menus.
  
• Fixed a bug with the "Resume game when window gains focus" option: it was possible for the game to continue when a submenu was still open.
  
• [Based on feedback]: Made visual changes to the implants tab to make it more clear which implants are unavailable / available for unlock / unlocked / in use.
  
• Added an option to adjust the size of the applied status effect names above enemies.
  
• Added an explanation for the Braincharge Cell and made it unlock after the first run.
  
• Pressing the back / exit button in the main menu now brings up the exit options.
  
• Placed the start button on the setup screen to a place more easily reachable when using a controller.
  
• Added notification about unlocking a new objective on the end screen after a successful run.
  
• Rebalanced the starting health (and speed) of characters, and the starting health of holo-soldiers.
  
• Disabled XP collection after killing the final boss, which could lead to unpredictable behavior.
  
• Added a notification under the timer for when the final boss has spawned.
  
• [Based on feedback]: Made the number of maximum weapon mod slots text more visible.
  

More changes and quality of life features are in the works, some of which are requested by the community. So stay tuned!



I'm excited to inform that the aforementioned change in the plans also includes skipping Early Access for the game. Instead, the free demo will get content that was originally planned for the Early Access version, and there will be a closed beta as well, nearing launch.
The full release of NeuroSquad will come at some point this year.

I will send out invitations to the private beta (when the full game is done) to people on the game's Discord server.

I understand why many people are cautious with Early Access titles and would rather buy fleshed out games at 1.0 release. I'm also more comfortable with releasing a game that fully represents the initial vision, with all the content that I have in mind. This way more people can play the game (in demo form) without having to pay anything, generating more feedback, so I can make the game hopefully as good as it can be.

If you'd like to help with that, consider joining the official Discord, and drop your suggestions there:





Also excited to share that NeuroSquad is part of this year's Indie Live Expo event, which starts today (May 20) at 3:00 AM PDT / 6:00 AM EDT / 12:00 PM CEST.
If you're always on the lookout for indie games, you might want to check out the live stream here:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Happy slaying!

Alongside the free demo, the soundtrack for NeuroSquad is also available on Steam. You can buy it (now 20% off), following the link below.
If you'd like to support the game's development, it's a great way to do so.

[h3]20% off for a week.[/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2126900/NeuroSquad__Slay_the_Horde_Soundtrack/

It's... uhmm... How would I define this? "A fusion of cyber metal and trance-like electronic elements"? If you have a better description for it, go for it. Inventing weird music genres is my new hobby.

The soundtrack comes in the form of 320 kbps MP3 files by default, but you can select lossless FLAC versions as well for the highest possible quality.



I'm working on a large update for the demo that will include a ton of small and some bigger improvements and QOL features. These are just some examples of the upcoming changes:

- You will be able to check your loadout at any time, plus there will be more information about your current setup (for example the level of implants in use will be shown during a run if you hover the cursor over them, and you'll be able to see which type of unit is aiming in which direction when you decide to attach an upgrade to that slot).
- I'm reworking the spawn system to provide a more constant flow of enemies. With this change it's even more satisfying to upgrade and shoot hundreds of bullets constantly, stopping the ever-growing horde without breaking a sweat. (Currently I'm working on balancing this system.)
- Weapon mods will be replaceable.
- I'm experimenting with a new health system where holo-soldiers cannot take damage. This way the squad's hitbox can stay the same throughout the run, and your firepower doesn't ever decrease, because soldiers can't die. This is a big change and needs some refinements to balance properly, but I think it will improve the experience a lot.

Again, these are only some of the bigger changes coming. As always, if you have thoughts or suggestions, leave a comment here, or join the Discord server:



Happy slaying!

Based on player feedback, aiming with the mouse cursor (twin-stick shooter style if you're playing with a gamepad) has been added to the NeuroSquad demo.

If you're prone to motion sickness, or just prefer a fixed camera, you can now use the new control method (and switch between this and the old system with the press of a button). The new system is the default for new players.

Full changelog for Demo version 0.2:

• [Based on feedback]: Added mouse aiming / twin-stick style controls. This is now the new default mode. The alternative method, where the camera turns with the player character stays as a toggle-able option accessible by a button press.
  
• [Based on feedback]: Status effects caused by auras now last for longer, they don't end as soon as the enemy steps out of the aura (except for the Distant Presence upgrade).
  
• Added an option to customize the color of the cursor to make it more visible while using the new aiming system.
  
• Added an optional laser that helps with aiming, enabled by default.
  
• [Based on feedback]: Added an option to make enemies more visible using outlines. Customizable in the settings menu.
  
• Alana's starting health has been increased to 110.
  
• Made it easier to see which squad member is getting healed or damaged: added color changes and animations to their pictures on the HUD.
  
• Fixed a bug that sometimes used to cause the level background music to stop after a song has finished playing, instead of playing the next.
  
• [Based on feedback]: Now players have to click on tabs in the run setup menu and the settings menu instead of hovering with the mouse. Prior to this, it was easy to accidentally switch tabs.
  
• [Based on feedback]: Changed the button style in the main menu and the pause menu, now it's easier to tell which option is selected.
  
• Added new idle animations to shooter enemies for when the player dies.
  
• [Based on feedback]: Changed the color palette of the shooting enemies. Also made them slightly bigger.
  
• [Based on feedback]: For time-based objectives: added a countdown timer to the objective header on the HUD when the player is close to completing it. For kill-based objectives: a skull icon appears; This icon was also added to the HP bars of bosses to make them stand out more.
  
• Slightly increased enemy density in the beginning of the run (between the 160th and the 300th seconds).
  
• Changed the way zooming works, now the mouse wheel only controls the distance of the camera, and the top-down view can be turned on from the settings menu. Also, based on feedback, increased the maximum zoom-in amount.
  
• Increased the default range of the Rainwielder weapon by 20%.