Zombies & Bullets News

Hello, this is Joel, the programmer at Muriki Studio! This is my first development news post for Zombies & Bullets, so I’ll try to create a structure for future updates: what we’ve changed in the demo, what we’re currently working on, and our plans for the future.

[h2]Update List[/h2]
We’re working on content for the full game, but that doesn’t mean the released demo won’t receive updates—quite the opposite. Below are the changes made to the Zombies & Bullets demo.

[h3]New Joystick Aiming Controls[/h3]
Previously, joystick aiming was just an adaptation of mouse aiming, which was far from ideal. With the new implementation, the joystick aiming now locks onto the enemy in the direction the right stick is pointing, making gameplay feel much more natural. There are certainly some fine-tuning adjustments to be made, but we’re quite happy with the current result.

[h3]Headmaster's Balance[/h3]
The game’s first boss, the Headmaster, wasn’t doing much damage and was dying too quickly. In this update, he deals more damage and has more health, but without turning into a bullet sponge (something we definitely want to avoid). Also, in his jump attack, he now shoots rocks instead of heads.

[h3]Collision and Navigation Fixes[/h3]
Some areas in the stages had blind spots where the player could pass through or stay out of enemy reach. Several fixes have been made to address these issues.

[h3]UI Fixes[/h3]
Due to updates in the game engine we use, some UI elements were displaying numbers in a less-than-ideal format (e.g., the number 1 appearing as 1.0). Several fixes were made to correct this.

[h2]What Are We Working On?[/h2]
We’re currently creating new stages, especially the mine area, which will follow the grove (the playable area in the demo). We’ll have new enemies with dynamite, underground diggers, and of course, a minecart minigame—it wouldn’t be a mine level without one.

We’ve already brainstormed several new weapons like a flamethrower, electric cannon, proximity mines, and more. These weapons will be collected in future stages, similar to how it works in the demo.

In addition, we’ve already completed most of the next stage (the sawmill), leaving us with just two of the five planned stages. At this pace, we expect to finish all the stages by August, which would give us time to balance and polish the game for the October Steam Next Fest, where we’ll participate with the demo. If all goes well, we’ll release the full game shortly afterward.

[h2]What’s Coming Next?[/h2]
We’re working on new content that won’t fit in a new demo update, but we do have other changes we plan to implement and make public even before the final release.

[h3]Rogue-lite Style Skill Progression[/h3]
We realized that the current upgrade system interrupts the game’s flow too abruptly, since players must pause the game and manually buy upgrades from a big list (if they even remember to do so). Also, balancing upgrade costs is a frustrating task, as orb amounts vary depending on game difficulty, and it’s hard to predict the player's expected upgrade level in later stages.

To make gameplay more dynamic and allow for more varied builds and challenges, we’ve decided to shift to a rogue-lite style progression. Collected orbs will allow players to level up, and each level gained will offer a choice of upgrades available at that point. This will require rebalancing the game, but it will also let us introduce new abilities (e.g., increased movement speed, more enemies that can be passed through when dodging, etc.) and better manage difficulty in later stages.

Just like now we have common abilities (upgradeable in the menu) and unique abilities (gained from bosses, for example), we’ll be able to offer common upgrades on level-up and unique ones via exploration or boss fights. The possibilities are exciting, and we’re eager to implement this new flow!

[h3]Two-Player Co-op Mode[/h3]
If one soldier can wreak havoc, two can conquer the world! Many players have said that Zombies & Bullets would be great with two players. While we’ll need to adapt level design and balance for this, the team is very excited about the idea of cooperative play. We plan to implement a local co-op mode that will also work via Steam Remote Play Together. And who knows—maybe we’ll explore full online play once everything’s working smoothly?

[h2]Conclusion[/h2]
That’s all for this development report! If you have suggestions for what you’d like to see in Zombies & Bullets (or if you want to report issues), don’t hesitate to follow us on social media, send us a message on Discord, or post in the Steam Discussions Forum. See you next time! ːsteamhappyː