Happy New Year! 😍
We've got one more reason to celebrate because we're rolling out part two of The Rebirth update! This update puts the finishing touches on all the stuff that needed a little extra shine in Act I and sets the stage for the awesome things coming our way. 🎉
Dive into our Prologue and share your thoughts with us!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1682330/The_Dead_Await_Prologue/
[h2]Different Tier Equipment & Inventory Changes[/h2]
We've laid the groundwork for item tier system before, but with this update we're now introducing it properly - that means less boring loot and more legendary stuff! All existing equipment can now be found from common variants to uncommon, rare, epic or even legendary. With higher randomized stats the higher the tier is and more sockets for weapon mods.
With the proper introduction of the tier system, we also needed a better way to show and distinguish the tiers, so we ended up with changing the border glow with colors to indicate it.
More inventory improvements include the new quick-compare function that auto pops up in case you're trying to compare different equipment to already equipped ones. And finally, you can now hold CTRL to move whole stacks at once, whether you're selling, buying, or looting.
[h2]New Enemies & Combat Improvements[/h2]
Encountering the same type of enemies hundreds of times is without a doubt boring and while we're planning to really increase that numbers with Act II, we decided to add more for Act I as well. We've added 3 new bandit enemies: Meat, Zan, Bandito and 2 new zombie enemies: Spitter and Crawler.
After a few playthroughs it was also noticable that players could easily take advantage of high-attack deck builds that allowed for quick finishing all the existing enemy types in round 1, before enemies even having a chance to perform their moves. To counter this, we've introduced a function for enemies to start combat with buffs, e.g. some enemies might now have a guard effect applied which would mean that player'd have to take damage if they were to attack that specific enemy. Besides that, we've also increased the starting block amount for different enemies and overall, we think these changes should make combat encounters much more interesting.
We also recreated all the enemy intention icons to be more intuitive, fitting and decided for mixed intention to also show the according values for both attack and defense.
[h2]New Weapon Mods & Caravan Parts[/h2]
There's a rumor going on that traders brought in a whole lot of new caravan parts and weapon modifications to settlements! That's right, you'll now have an option to choose between different part manufacturers, with each promising their own positives and negatives. There's a total of 48 new different parts to choose from in Act I, so the time has come to upgrade your caravan for real this time.
As for weapon modifications, there are now 13 new items that can further improve your deadly weapons to slay through the hordes with ease. From blade tips and handles to rifle barrels and sights!
[h2]Rebalanced Cards, Shops, Workshops, Training Grounds & More[/h2]
After some major changes, it was time to rebalance things once again and we've gone through it all. Combat cards were tweaked to make them more fitting for being starter cards as opposed to more powerful ones that you may find later in the game.
Shops, workshops, market stalls were changed to spread the available items in a better way. Training grounds were also changed to provide more variations in cards between different settlements.
We've also adjusted enemy levels in different areas, tweaked XP that's gained and improved the level up formula. You can also except some other minor changes in balance throughout the game, which hopefully will all result in a more enjoyable experience.
[h2]Dismantling Rework[/h2]
Dismantling was originally intended to be much more useful and we've reworked the whole thing to make sure it's indeed useful this time. First of all, it will now require passing of time to proceed with dismantling. This was a change that was absolutely necessary for us to introduce a new type of items - a bunch of junk, that holds no value by itself but if taken time to dismantle it, you can end up with a lot of useful random materials.
We've also gone through all the existing items to make sure as many of them can now be dismantled into something useful at least!
[h2]Crafting Rework[/h2]
Next up, we've reworked crafting to make it more useful as well. You'll now find plenty of unique recipes for special equipment such as Apocalypse Denim Jacket and Monster Pipe that can only be acquired by crafting.
To make things a lot more interesting, we've also decided to add special type of extra crafting materials that can't be bought anywhere, but instead can be dropped as loot during combat encounters.
More useful recipes will now available right from the beginning of the game including being able to craft bandages and ammo. Libraries also stocked up on available recipes, so make sure to check them out.
In total, we've added 17 new crafting recipes!
[h2]Cooking Rework[/h2]
As for our final polish regarding cooking - we've rebalanced all the recipes that are available in libraries, you'll now find plenty of them. Though not all recipes can be bought, so exploring every room and corner can now get you some special recipes as well.
You'll also notice that a broader choice of recipes is now accessible right from the start. Despite Angel not necessarily fitting the typical culinary profile, he does possess the know-how to whip up some basic meals, at the very least! 😉
[h2]Seperate Attribute Points & Changes To Level Up[/h2]
This was a major change that we felt was much needed and has also been mentioned by our players as well, so we decided to separate current skill points into attribute points and combat skill points. With each level up you'll now get 1 attribute point and 2 combat skill points to spend.
You'll also get ability points every 2 levels instead of 3. Max attribute levels are set to 12 and combat skill levels to 20. The formula that calculates the XP needed for next level ups has also been reworked to make it so that it actually gets more difficult to level up as you progress, but keeping just the right balance so it doesn't require too much grind.
[h2]Lost & Found[/h2]
Lost & Found is a new feature that we had to introduce to deal with some annoying issues that would result due to having no free inventory slots. You could always free up space in your inventory and return back to a specific cube to loot from anytime you wanted, but in case of quest rewards or combat rewards, items could get lost with no way of getting them back.
Lost & Found can be accessed at anytime now and it will auto save all the items that were rewarded, but couldn't be retrieved at that time.
So, you can now go ahead and fight as many zombies as you want with a full inventory, without the fear of missing out any valuable items!
[h2]Fixed Plus Randomized Loot[/h2]
Before Part II of The Rebirth update every lootable cube had fixed loot that we set up manually in order to make sure there was a good level of balance kept, but we always wanted to have some extra random loot too, so that not all playthroughs would be the same.
We came up with a solution that combines the best from the both worlds, fixed plus randomized loot. Each cube can now be created with a variable set to control the random loot amount, level, etc. So that there's always a chance to find something great without keeping things out of balance.
[h2]Important Changes[/h2]
There are some other major changes that we thought was necessary once again and we'll try to cover them all here.
[h3]Silhouettes At Camp[/h3]
Some of you have mentioned that it acted as some kind of spoiler that you could see silhouettes of locked survivors right from the start. We also agreed, but since it required a major code rewrite, we couldn't do it sooner.
[h3]Equipping Same Type of Weapons[/h3]
You could previously equip the same type of weapons for both primary and secondary options without suffering any penalties. This could result in an unintended and unfair edge even in the beginning stage of the game.
We decided to reduce the attack power by -65% for the secondary slot if the player is dual wielding and calculate the average of other stats such as accuracy.
[h3]Radar/Minimap Improvements[/h3]
Radar's been improved too - it can now show you if you're in a safe zone or not. If not, it will also display the total number of enemies in the scanning radius and the threat level (expected enemy levels) of the current area.
[h3]More Helpful Journal Tips[/h3]
We've added lots of new helpful journal tips and made sure to cover all aspects of gameplay mechanics. So, new players shouldn't be as confused anymore.
[h3]Enemy Sound Effects[/h3]
Finally, combat is no longer silent when it comes to enemy's turn. We've added fresh new sfx to fit each type of enemy.
[h3]Supply Burn Rate[/h3]
Supply burn rate will now increase with each new team member added.
[h3]Reworked Chained Enemies[/h3]
Chained enemies should now indicate more enemy waves and a tougher battle, they are also easier to spot with changed icons and now link to actual parent enemy.
[h2]Thank You![/h2]
Thank you again to all of you for your support, feedback, suggestions and patience! Make sure to read the changelog, and if you manage to come across a bug that's not listed here, please do report it to us! 😇
NOTE REGARDING THIS UPDATE: Because of some major changes, the update will erase older version save files automatically.Have fun! 🥳
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Discord for sneak peeks and share your feedback!
Please note that some of the listed changes might not affect the prologue version.v.0.7.5.9
ADDED:
- Added a new item: Fighter Gloves VX
- Added a new item: Monster Pipe
- Added a new item: Apocalypse Denim Jacket
- Added a new crafting recipe: Fighter Gloves VX
- Added a new crafting recipe: Monster Pipe
- Added a new crafting recipe: Bandage
- Added a new crafting recipe: Rusty Pipe
- Added a new crafting recipe: Apocalypse Denim Jacket
- Added a new crafting recipe: Lockpick Kit
- Added a new crafting recipe: Iron Bar
- Added a new crafting recipe: Copper Bar
- Added a new crafting recipe: Gold Bar
- Added a new crafting recipe: Silver Bar
- Added a new crafting recipe: Sniper Rifle Ammo
- Added a new crafting recipe: Rifle Ammo
- Added a new item: Improved Bandage
- Added a new item: Gunpowder
- Added a new enemy: Meat
- Added 13 new weapon modifications
- Added a new journal tip: Dismantling
- Added a new journal tip: Supplies
- Added a new enemy: Bandito
- Added a new enemy: Zan
- Added a new enemy: Crawler
- Added a new journal tip: Caravan
- You can now get different tier equipment, from common all the way up to legendary!
- Added a new enemy: Spitter
- Added 48 new caravan parts
- Added new sounds to Adrielle cutscene
- Added a new crafting recipe: Improved Bandage
- Added a new crafting recipe: Pistol Ammo
- Added a new crafting recipe: Shotgun Ammo
- Added a new crafting recipe: Emergency Repair Kit
- Added a new crafting recipe: Trap Disarming Kit
- Added more copper bars and gunpowder to loot
- Added a new journal tip: Enemy Intentions
- Added a new journal tip: Crafting
- Added new transition styles and reworked existing ones
- Added dismantle only bundle items that can be dismantled into many different items at once
- You can now hold CTRL to move whole stacks in inventory
- Added random item drops to location loot
- Added a new cooking recipe: Steamed Rice
- Added a new cooking recipe: French Fries
- Added a new cooking recipe: Mashed Potatoes
- Added a new cooking recipe: Black Tea
- Added a new cooking recipe: Coffee
- Added a new cooking recipe: Potato & Chicken Soup
- Added a new cooking recipe: Chicken Sandwich
- Added a new cooking recipe: Omelette Du Fromage
- Added a new cooking recipe: French Toast
- Added a new cooking recipe: P & J Sandwich
- Added a new cooking recipe: Grilled Corn
- Added a new cooking recipe: Beans In A Pot
- Added a new cooking recipe: Detox Cocktail
- Added a new cooking recipe: Fresh Orange Juice
- Inventory: hovering on different equipment will now also show compare panel
- Added new journal tip: Camp / Campfire
- Added new items: Crafting Extras Packages (only dropped as loot)
- Quest rewards will now open a separate quest rewards window where you can see them all at once
- New quest items will automatically be added to Lost & Found in case player doesn't have enough free inventory slots
- Added enemy sound effects in combat mode
- Added Lost & Found - Saving all the items that were awarded during quests but were somehow lost e.g. player didn't have enough free space in inventory and also saving last battle's rewards
- Added a new journal tip: Storage
FIXED / CHANGED:
- Fixed: Combat: Unarmed type weapons disappear during animations
- Enemies can now start combat with various buffs and increased block - resulting in more strategic combat encounters that deals with all attack deck builds
- Fixed: Healing items should round health
- Fixed: Pressing ESC during a cutscene causes crash
- Rebalanced combat rewards and reward xp
- Updated engine
- Fixed: New tips won't overlap anymore
- Improved minimap so that it also displays total number of enemies around and the area threat level
- Fixed: Footstep sounds still being played after entering a room
- Less random enemies will respawn now after clearing out zones
- Fixed: Auto-saving during game cutscenes
- Fixed: Supply drop icon showing during cutscenes
- Rebalanced workshops
- Rebalanced items in shops and market stalls
- Adjusted cards in training grounds
- Changed equipment loot rarity based on stats - randomized high stats only if it's higher tier
- Fixed: Some objects will stay in hover mode despite mouse no longer hovering it
- Inventory: Borders for different tier items are now colored accordingly
- Fixed: New game should only load first cutscenes
- Fixed: Camp: Manage Supplies: Item popup panel overlaps with other objects
- Supply burn rate increases with each new team member added
- Lockpick: Will now use kit even if you've successfully lockpicked
- Fixed: Dismantle input slots won't show tier borders and actual weapon stats
- Fixed: Character equipped items when dropped results in crash
- Fixed: Shop trade UI containers won't update tier borders
- Improved Hell Punch card animation
- Recreated all intention icons, mixed intention now shows attack and defense numbers separately
- Fixed: Random event bug causing to open loot window when it shouldn't (Event: "We Have a Rat Problem")
- Split current skill points into separate attribute points and combat skill points
- Reworked dismantle mechanics (will now pass time)
- Fixed: CRASH: Training Grounds saves data as indexes resulting in a crash (Will require a new game start otherwise old save files will cause a crash)
- Fixed: CRASH: _.CharTurn(103273, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
- Fixed: UI: On event hover: window height isn't calculated correctly
- Rebalanced attack and defense cards (percentage of ATK and DEF amount)
- Abilities are now gained every 2 levels instead of 3
- Changed current max. level lock to 10
- Fixed random short freezes
- Fixed: Combat reward items may end up being changed once looted (e.g. a hatchet with sockets loosing all it's sockets)
- Changed max attribute levels to 12, skill levels to 20
- Equipping same type of weapons will now lower the stats of the secondary weapon (35% less attack power, etc.)
- Locked survivor silhouettes will no longer show up at camp
- Reworked crafting (more recipes in shops, special recipes earned through quests, additional special crafting materials that are only dropped as loot)
- Reworked cooking (rebalanced recipes in shops, recipes found while exploring, more recipes available from start)
- Fixed: CRASH: Variable ._isAlive(102523, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
- Fixed: Zombie wolf actions get ignored only performing the attack move
- Reworked chained enemies (it should now indicate more enemy waves, easier to spot with changed sprites, now link to actual parent enemy)
- Adjusted enemy levels in different areas
- Rebalanced enemy XP level gain
- Rebalanced level up formula
- Decreased speed of enemies on world view
- Updated all exit / stairs cubes
- Fixed detection radius of enemies on world view
- Fixed: Character XP should now change back to 0 after a level up, rebalanced level ups
- Fixed: Camp available sound being too loud / annoying
- Other minor fixes and changes
