NIMRODS News

Greetings, NIMRODS community!

Our small indie team has been working non-stop to get NIMRODS ready for Early Access. We've been stress testing, experimenting with different gun combinations, squashing bugs left and right, and even showcasing the game at some expos!

We can't wait for you to experience the full potential of our game – every gun augment, every build, every enemy, every genetic mutation, every drone upgrade, and so much more.

But... we could use a little help.

There are so many combinations of gun parts and scenarios (trillions, in fact). For a small team like ours, it's tough to test absolutely everything. We want to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.

So, after many conversations, we’ve decided to push the Early Access release date to October 28th.

This is where you come in, NIMROD! We're calling on our community to help us test the game. We already have a small group of dedicated testers in our Discord, but we need a few more. As we work to finalize the Early Access build, we'll be selecting additional testers to join us on this journey.

Our goal is to release weekly (or even daily) builds until we’re absolutely sure the game is rock-solid.

We don’t want to deliver an unfinished or buggy experience. We’re working very hard to make sure your first impression is... "Wow, this is awesome!"

We know this isn't the news you were hoping for. As gamers ourselves, we know how much it sucks when a game you're looking forward to gets delayed. But we also know how often games get released too soon, and we want to avoid that.

Please join our official Discord server for instructions on how to be part of the selective testing group and for more news and updates!

https://discord.com/invite/mdbCsgnsS7

Thank you for your continued support! 💖


On the marketing side, we’ve got exciting news! We recently attended QuakeCon and San Japan to spread the word about NIMRODS. The feedback was fantastic, and we met a lot of amazing people who gave us great insights.

We will be showcasing NIMRODS at MAGWest ‘24 in San Jose at the end of this month and also at Dreamhack ATL ‘24 at the beginning of October.

Come out to play the latest internal build with us if you are nearby!

https://discord.com/invite/mdbCsgnsS7


Come join our official NIMRODS Discord server for the latest news and announcements, or to hang around while waiting for the release of the game 😎

We're also hosting giveaways such as Steam Gift Cards and in the future copies of NIMRODS: GunCraft Survivor!

There's currently a giveaway running, so make sure to enter if you're interested 🧡

We hope to see you there!
Team Fiveamp

Get ready to dive back into the chaotic universe of NIMRODS: GunCraft Survivor! After the wild success of NIMRODS during Steam Next Fest, where it was among the most played demos, we’re beyond excited to reveal what’s next.

Mark your calendars! NIMRODS launches into Early Access this
[h2]September 2024[/h2]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


With the launch of Early Access, there are some new exciting things to expect. Here’s a taste of what’s in store on launch:

[h3]4 New Devastating Guns[/h3]
Railgun, Flamethrower, Optical Carbine, Plasma Spiral—each designed to deliver mayhem and a unique playstyle.



[h3]70+ New Parts and Tunings[/h3]
Dive into endless customization options to create your ultimate weapon.
Check out our Devlog for a showcase of a few of the new augments you can expect!





[h3]New Character - Bzz[/h3]
Unleash new abilities and bring a fresh edge to your gameplay.



[h3]Map Expansion[/h3]
Explore expansive new biomes, starting locations, threats, activities, and rewards.



[h3]3 New Home Ship Expansions[/h3]
For more in-depth details about these systems, check out their devlogs!

• Genetic Laboratory: Customize your starting stats and abilities
  
• Drone Bay: Equip your Drone Companion with unique traits
  
• Drop Pod Bay: Tailor your Air Drops for battlefield supremacy
  

[h3]Quality of Life and Much More[/h3]

• Double the Bosses and Mini-Bosses: Face new enemies and epic challenges.
  
• 200+ New Missions: Rack up kills, track down resources, & complete wild quests that keep the action fresh.
  
• Steam Achievements: Master the chaos with new Challenges and Accolades.
  
• Performance: A complete rewrite of the game to provide a buttery smooth experience.
  
• New Gun Inspection System for detailed gun analysis.
  
• Enhanced Controller Support.
  
• Updated Status Effect Display.
  
• Improved Map Details, Fog of War, and a highly requested feature, Minimap on the HUD.
  

Get ready to craft extraordinary weapons and annihilate aliens like never before! Join us this September for the exhilarating experience of NIMRODS: GunCraft Survivor.

Wishlist and follow us on Steam for the latest updates.



Come and join us and Invite your friends!
https://discord.com/invite/mdbCsgnsS7

Greetings, NIMRODS!

Bugs: I've got them, you need them!

Yes, we mean the insects, not the game-breaking bugs 😅 Though we will showcase the funniest bugs in a future Devlog—stay tuned!

We've been hard at work preparing for our Early Access release, focusing on the new enemy types in the upcoming biomes. This Devlog will spotlight some of the new enemies you'll encounter on your missions to Arius 18B.

We’re always seeking feedback on these designs - so if you have any thoughts, feel free to leave a comment in the discussion forums 😁

Keep in mind, a lot of this info is subject to change



Arachnia is a massive and eerily cute spider that will relentlessly pursue you! He occasionally fires spider web projectile which will burst into a large web if it hits you, or if it reaches it’s maximum range. These webs deal damage on impact and will slow you for a short duration, reapplying the slowing effect as long as you stand in them. We highly recommend not standing in the webs.



When Arachnia's health drops below a certain threshold, he’ll encase himself in a web cocoon, regenerating a portion of his maximum health. This cocoon has its own health bar and must be destroyed to stop the regeneration process.





Grubzilla is a large and slimy grub that inches along the ground looking for NIMRODS to devour! When he’s damaged, he leaves acid puddles on the ground, which will damage anything that steps in them. Additionally, Grubzilla loves to snack on beehives, so whenever he gets near them he’ll devour them, making himself larger and stronger and angering the bees in the process!

Periodically, he’ll curl up into a ball and will roll after you for a short duration, gaining momentum as he goes. As he gains speed, he’ll lose his maneuverability, so you’ll need to avoid his charging attacks. If he does manage collide with you while rolling, he’ll deal damage which scales with his speed current health. In the worst case scenarios you can expect these attacks to be devastating!



This is just a small preview of what's to come. Enemies are a significant role in the core gameplay loop, but they're not the only new additions we’ve been working on. Stay tuned for the next devlog, where we'll discuss some of the new map improvements. #RoadToEA

And with that note - I won’t spoil who this beetle is, but leave your thoughts on what you think of these new enemy designs and which of the following numbers you think looks the best!



Thank you for becoming a NIMROD! 🫡

Greetings, NIMRODS!

We haven't shared a performance Devlog yet, so we wanted to share some details about our recent work.

We’re excited to share some major improvements we’ve made to our game’s performance since the Demo. Previously, certain gun builds in the Demo struggled to reach past 5 frames per second. We’ve drastically improved this by utilizing Unity’s DOTS (Data-Oriented Technology Stack), unlocking the game’s potential to perform smoothly on various devices like minimum spec devices, Steam Deck, and more.


All of our gun augments in the game work with a modular approach where everything function as a 'modifier'. This not only enables our game designers to quickly configure these augments in the editor, but also allows all gun upgrades to combine seamlessly, resulting in trillions of possible combinations.

We believe this system significantly enhances the game's fun and replayability. Here are some examples of the projectile modifiers found in the game, along with their corresponding gun augments:

• Homing Projectile Modifier - Causes your bullets to home in on the nearest target. Used in the Homing Sight augment.
  
• Wave Projectile Modifier - Causes your bullets to path in a sine pattern. Used in Helix Barrel augment.
  
• Splitter Projectile Modifier - Causes your bullets to split into two smaller bullets when you impact a target. Used in Splitter Bullets augments.
  

And then if you add these up together you get a homing, wavy projectile that splits into smaller sub-bullets that also home and are wavy.


Before using Unity DOTS, having 10,000 projectiles on screen with the wave projectile modifier took about 3ms to finish computing (for reference, reaching 60 FPS requires each frame to take less than 16.7ms to render). After these performance improvements, this time was reduced to just 0.03ms per frame - a 100x improvement! Pog

Here is a taste of what the game can now handle, in terms of sheer amount of projectiles / enemies on screen:



GIF slightly impacts FPS due to limitations

These changes help us ensure the game will be lag-free, even in the end-game with thousands of projectiles, explosions, status effects, enemies, and much more. We can't wait to share more about what we’re cooking up for the Early Access release. Expect an announcement of an Early Access release date coming soon!

Thanks for becoming a NIMROD :)

-Kmess