Hunters Inc News

[p]🔗 USEFUL LINKS 🔗 DISCORD | NEWSLETTER | STEAM CREATOR[/p][p][/p][h3]Greetings Hunters![/h3][p]As you may have noticed, we recently updated the roadmap. The original road map was kind of a grab bag of different features and improvements, and after hearing your feedback on Discord, the forums and the reviews one thing became apparent. MORE CONTENT!

With that in mind we moved over to a quarterly update schedule that will allow us to bundle up lots of new stuff into bigger, more meaningful themed updates. The first of which - FROSTFANG PEAK - is available now!

We have crammed alot into this new update, so I would recommend giving the full patch notes a read, but the main additions are:[/p]

• [p]⛰️ NEW BIOME - Frostfang Peak! An icy tundra full of new hazards[/p]
• [p]🐢 NEW BOSS MONSTER - The Tetsugor! A thunder elemental giant turtle[/p]
• [p]🐺 NEW ENEMIES - The Vulf Pack - Including An elite variant the Dire Vulf![/p]
• [p]❄️ NEW HAZARD - Blizzard! Will freeze you over time when away from a heat source[/p]

[p]We have also added a bunch of quality of life improvements and bug fixes based on your input. Big thanks to everyone that took the time to share feedback and report bugs to us - it is extremely valuable and much appreciated!

Full patch notes can be found below, and as always, we look forward to hearing your thoughts on the game!
[/p][p][/p][h3]// NEW FEATURES //[/h3][p]New Biome - FROSTFANG PEAK[/p]

• [p]Snowy environment where players and enemies make tracks in the snow[/p]
• [p]New Crafting Materials for collection - Coal, Ancient Permafrost and Shivershrooms[/p]
• [p]New cliff modules to increase level verticality and platforming sections[/p]
• [p]Passive snow that causes cold meter to build[/p]
• [p]Blizzards that make cold level increase dramatically[/p]
• [p]Reduce cold buildup by sheltering from the blizzard[/p]
• [p]Freeze Fruit that explode causing players to get frozen[/p]
• [p]Bonfires present in world to protect from cold with heat AoE[/p]
• [p]Collectible Torches with finite fuel that reduce cold build up[/p]
• [p]Hot springs that protect from cold and give the players a health buff[/p]
• [p]Ice patches that cause players to slide around[/p]
• [p]Giant snowballs[/p]
• [p]T1 cold debuff that slows players[/p]
• [p]T2 cold debuff that reduces attack speed[/p]

[p]New Boss Monster - TETSUGOR[/p]

• [p]Can summon powerful electric projectiles that can be destroyed or deflected[/p]
• [p]Capable of burrowing into the ground and summoning a defensive force field that can only be removed when the thunder crystals are broken[/p]
• [p]Can summon powerful lightning strikes when in defensive mode[/p]
• [p]Able to spin attack to move around the arena[/p]
• [p]Can manipulate gravity to pull players into biting range![/p]
• [p]Has 2 weak spots. A major one beneath its breakable shell and a minor one in the form of a yellow horn on its head.[/p]
• [p]4 breakable crystal starhorns that it uses to conduct electricity[/p]
• [p]Choppable legs[/p]
• [p]Unique carves and loot for upgrades[/p]

[p]New Enemies - Vulf Pack[/p]

• [p]New enemy type with "Pack" behaviour[/p]
• [p]Will attempt to encircle players, and telegraph attack with a howl[/p]
• [p]Unique loot and drops[/p]
• [p]Includes Elite enemy Variant - the Dire Vulf[/p]

[p]Other[/p]

• [p]Levels can not contain Secret Stashes full of items and loot[/p]
• [p]Created Warmth Potion to protect from cold effects[/p]
• [p]Created Fortitude Potion that buffs max health[/p]
• [p]Added Variant of spider - the Arctic Spider[/p]
• [p]Added 2 new Porky hats![/p]
• [p]Added "SHOUT" emote - with moving orc mouths![/p]

[h3]
// IMPROVEMENTS //[/h3][p]PORKY[/p]

• [p]Added fail safe that will respawn Porky if he stays still too long (~15s)[/p]
• [p]Will now point to monster and scratch out an arrow on the ground if he cannot path to the monster directly[/p]
• [p]Reduced his collision size so he can squeeze through gaps more easily[/p]
• [p]Will now move when you run into him[/p]
• [p]Will stick closer to the player[/p]

[p]CLASSES[/p]

• [p]Shaman - Buff healing grenade duration from 15s - 20s and increase health gain from 3hp to 4hp per second[/p]
• [p]Berserker - Increase bounce height for springboard update[/p]
• [p]Updated Upgrade Trees to include new crafting materials[/p]
• [p]Tracker - Can now see monster tracks in hunter vision when they retreat[/p]
• [p]All class weapons now start at max ammo[/p]

[p]BOSS MONSTERS[/p]

• [p]Tuned Ursanox drop rates[/p]
• [p]Spider Queens now have 1 dismemberable leg with a weakspot[/p]
• [p]Mantara can no longer enter burning state if tail crystal is destroyed[/p]
• [p]Improved grab position on Razan tail so it is easier to pickup / carry[/p]
• [p]Mantara heat ability mitigates cold / freezing[/p]
• [p]Mantara can no longer be exploited by standing on its back in a certain spot[/p]
• [p]Ursanox can no longer stick its head in a wall[/p]
• [p]Boss Monster leg dismemberments now limited to 1[/p]

[p]UX / UI[/p]

• [p]Reduced the frequency of stuck input bug occurring for clients[/p]
• [p]Added a short delay on input after throwing barrel to reduce players hitting it on release[/p]
• [p]Can now unequip upgrades by clicking on them again[/p]
• [p]Made it easier to mount parts on gondola hooks[/p]
• [p]Increased interaction range, so it is easier to pick things up[/p]
• [p]Guildmaster Gobbo notifications for all new weather and cold events[/p]
• [p]Improved controller support for UI / Menu navigation[/p]
• [p]Hunter vision now highlights airship[/p]
• [p]Upgraded buff / debuff UI to show stack count[/p]
• [p]Guildmaster Gobbo will now inform the player when Boss Monster crosses predefined thresholds[/p]
• [p]First mission will default to difficulty 1[/p]
• [p]Added support for steam stats[/p]

[p]MAP[/p]

• [p]Minor improvements to landscape material and tiling[/p]
• [p]Improved world generation tech to control when / where modules spawn[/p]
• [p]Removed excessive cliffs in the maps, making them feel more open[/p]
• [p]Removed rock foliage collision in Savannah[/p]
• [p]Added tunnels to allow boss monsters to navigate vertical modules[/p]
• [p]Improved vine trap to account for updated player movement[/p]

[p]MISC[/p]

• [p]Added "Overflow" bone rewards for delivering more than 1 part to the airship[/p]
• [p]Loot pig no longer drops bones[/p]
• [p]New Armor patch item that increases defense[/p]
• [p]New Whetstone item that increases damage[/p]
• [p]Added new secondary mission objectives for new collectible resources[/p]
• [p]Added New Hunt Vulf Mission Type[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][h3]// BUG FIXES //[/h3]

• [p]Fixed - some missing localisation strings[/p]
• [p]Fixed - issue where Shaman guardian hand ability was getting blocked by enemies[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Ursanox and ice attacks occasionally being invisible due to low graphic settings[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Ursanox having Razan parts in loot table[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Razan being immune to direct acid damage from weapon upgrades[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where damage resistance could enter the negatives and heal enemies [/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where Spider Queen was invulnerable if they moved too far from shield spiders[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Players entering the void if joining session during gondola descent[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Lofty mutator causing massive stuttering / rubber banding on clients[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where hitting unstuck during DBNO would break interaction[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Misaligned module edges causing visible seams[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Desync issues present for clients[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where weather effects weren't visible for late joining clients[/p]
• [p]Fixed - issue where barrels would occasionally spawn in mid-air[/p]
• [p]Fixed - bug where status effect icons would stack and not dismiss when the expire[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Spring steel weapon upgrade[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where stamina bar was showing a buff effect when chilled[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bugs with randomiser that resulted in too few / many guaranteed items[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where damage flash would get stuck on if max health decreased[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Dead trees having stone sound effects[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where spiders would attack each other on spawn [/p]
• [p]Fixed - Crash to desktop for some players[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Render crash some players were experiencing[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug where end game music would stop abruptly / loop[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where revive interact prompt would be missing[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug where Stun and Explosive grenade were bouncing off boss monsters[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug where monsters could be dismembered while alive[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where toggle sprint would immediately toggle off for clients[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug where Tetsugor lighting strikes had unlimited range[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug where Porkys new hat was not reflected immediately when changed[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Item interactability failing to update[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug where "hooks are full" message would trigger prematurely[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where clients couldn't pick up a bone due to bugged stackability[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug where barrel bomb damage was not shown in world space[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug where Shaman tier 15 upgrade unlocked prematurely[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Double loot exploit from pulling arrows out of supply barrels[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Split Shot arrows can no longer be collected from the floor[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Exploit that let shortbow rapid fire when alternating between shout and fire[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where kills were reporting NA in after action report[/p][p]
  [/p]

[h2]BUG FIXES [/h2]

• [p]FIXED - Spiders attacking each other due to enemy teams not being set correctly[/p]
• [p]FIXED - The spider queen permanent invincibility issue[/p]
• [p]FIXED - Ursinox disappearing after slam attack on low graphics settings[/p]
• [p]FIXED - The monster parts getting stuck on your screen if you place more than 2 parts[/p]
• [p]FIXED - Corrosive upgrade not dealing regular damage[/p]
• [p]FIXED - Throw/Drop also does secondary attack[/p]
• [p]FIXED - Removed No Collision Wall[/p]
• [p]FIXED - Sprint during Scythe hit will lock the player[/p]
• [p]FIXED - Lofty causing stuttering for clients[/p]

[h3]Greetings Hunters![/h3][p] This is the first update since we officially entered early access a little over a week ago. We've had such an amazing response to the game, and at one point were sitting at "overwhelmingly positive" review on Steam![/p][p][/p][p]We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has played the game and given us feedback, especially those of you that are active here on the steam forums and over on our DISCORD CHANNEL which is now at nearly 400 members strong![/p][p]
By far, the single most common message we have received since early access is (to paraphrase) [/p][h3]"The core of the game is fun but there is not enough content!"[/h3][p]
That is a completely fair and valid criticism, and we kind of see it as a good problem to have. If people like the core and they want more, it means we can focus on just adding more cool stuff to the game! If players hate the core experience it doesn't matter how many levels, biomes, enemies, etc we add - it wont make the game fun.

This update is the first of many, and hopefully you enjoy all the new weapon upgrades and improvements we have added in the last week![/p][h3]
// NEW FEATURES //[/h3]

• [p]Added 52 new weapon upgrades; Each class now has a full upgrade path for their secondary weapons[/p]
• [p]Elemental & status effects now properly affect bosses, and some bosses now have immunities/weaknesses. More to come on this front![/p]

[p][/p][h3]// IMPROVEMENTS //[/h3][h3]Misc[/h3]

• [p]Added a much improved gamepad control scheme, and the "Help & Controls" screen now shows the controller layout if using gamepad,[/p]
• [p]Damage numbers now show up differently based on the damage type (physical vs elemental/poison, etc)[/p]
• [p]Barrel bombs now explode instantly if hit with fire damage (watch out!)[/p]
• [p]Ursinox head no longer awards Ursinox Femurs, and awards more Fangs instead[/p]

[h3]Spider Queen[/h3]

• [p]Spider queens no longer relocate[/p]
• [p]Fixed the spider queen being permanently unkillable after being hit with a barrel bomb, despite looking vulnerable[/p]
• [p]Guardian Spiders no longer protect the Spider Queen across infinite distances[/p]

[p][/p][h3]// BUG FIXES //[/h3][h3]P0 Ultra Critical [/h3]

• [p]Fixed "Alpha Playtester" Porky hat not being awarded to players[/p]
• [p]Fix Porky's default helmet not disappearing when previewing other hats[/p]

[h3]Major[/h3]

• [p]Fixed shaman's tier 15 upgrade "Ultraviolence Incantation" exploding the corpses of boss monster, causing loot to be lost,[/p]
• [p]Fixed Porky failing to track monsters on Spider Queen and Raptah Alpha hunts[/p]
• [p]Fixed bosses sometimes spawning underground if they spawned in the oasis area[/p]

[h3]Minor[/h3]

• [p]Fixed damage over time effects being able to deal critical hit damage[/p]
• [p]Fixed the "Return to airship" compass marker disappearing after 5 minutes[/p]
• [p]Fixed backpedal speed not being affected by buffs/debuffs to move speed[/p]
• [p]Fixed Razan's acid spit attack not working after its horn was broken[/p]
• [p]Fixed Shortbow Tier 5 upgrade conflicting with the Sword Tier 5 upgrade despite being on separate trees[/p]
• [p]Made certain harsh sound effects less loud (spider queen drone & acid burn)[/p]
• [p]The nest on the Spider Queen's back now explodes into pieces instead of disappearing[/p]

[p][/p][p]As always, if you'd like to chat with members of the dev team, we can be found on our DISCORD CHANNEL. If you'd like Hunters, Inc updates delivered directly to your inbox (along with exclusive access to playtesting secret new features!) sign up to out NEWSLETTER or FOLLOW US on Steam![/p]

[p][/p]

[h3]Greetings Hunters![/h3][p][/p][p]Early Access launch is nearly upon us and we wanted to take a bit of time to discuss:[/p]

• [p]How Steam Next Fest went[/p]
• [p]Addressing the most common problems with the game[/p]
• [p]What else we've been working on for Early Access![/p]

[p][/p][p]You might want to settle in because this is going to be quite a hefty update![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Steam Next Fest[/h3][p]For those of you that don't know, Steam Next Fest is a really important event for indies game developers. As we don't have a publisher or a huge marketing budget (or any budget for that matter!) the best way to get people excited about our game is to let them play it. Typically it is the single, most effective marketing beat for small indie devs.

So how did it go for Hunters, Inc. Short answer - it went REALLY WELL![/p][p][/p][p]Of over 2500 demos released during the event, we ranked #170. That the top 6 - 7%. In our category of Online Co-op FPS, we were ranked #6. Which we're especially proud of given the quality of the titles in this years event. [/p][p][/p][p]Event's like this are great because they help reinforce the fact that there are other people out there that want an Orc-y hunting FPS and more importantly, it shows us where we can improve.

Which leads onto ...[/p][p][/p][h3]The Most Common Demo Complaints (and how we fixed them).
[/h3][p]We gather up every review, steam forum post, discord comment and tweet and put them all into a monster spread sheet. As is often the case with parsing feedback, there are normally a handful of issues that dominate the feedback. In this case the clear leaders were:

PORKY TRACKING[/p][p]ENVIRONMENTAL SAMEY-NESS[/p][p]LIMITED AMMO[/p][p][/p][p]First off, the lovable tracking Boar Porky. He definitely has some issues and requires a bit of additional training. But the main issues we're that he could not follow the player very effectively and would not catch up to the players if they were far away.

To remedy this, we added:[/p]

• [p]The ability for Porky (and all small monsters) to be able to jump up and over cliffs [/p]
• [p]A burrow ability that allows porky to quickly catch up to the player if they get too far away[/p]
• [p]General AI and path finding improvements[/p]

[p]The result, is a much smarter, more effective Porky that will have you in the monsters lair in no time.[/p][p][/p][p]Next up was Environmental Samey-ness.
This came about due to a bit of a break through we had with level design. In an earlier update we raised up all the cliffs, to make it harder to escape enemies. Whilst that improved combat, it made the environments feel very repetitive as they had lost all height variation.

To fix this we:[/p]

• [p]Went back through every module, and added some height variation to the arenas[/p]
• [p]MORE IMPORTANTLY we did a review of every module and made them more visually interesting (and less brown!)[/p]
• [p]We also added a bunch of new modules and points of interest, to make the levels just generally more interesting.[/p]

[p]The last of the most common complaints was Ammo Scarcity. Every class has a ranged weapon, but we we're being a bit miserly with the ammo.

To fix this we created 2 new ammo nodes to the game. Breakable saplings and nodes which will award the player with arrows / spears and flame / bullets accordingly. These new resource nodes were then added to the mission generation logic and set to appear fairly frequently.[/p][p][/p][h3]Next Up - The Road To Early Access![/h3][p]
We haven't just been addressing those 3 main points. We've been hard at work making tonnes of improvements and additions to the game!
[/p][h3]// NEW FEATURES //[/h3]

• [p]Added 3 NEW MONSTERS![/p]
• [p]Added new environment modules and points of interest[/p]
• [p]A bunch of new collectible Ore types[/p]
• [p]Created new nav mesh for small monsters - Porky and enemies can now follow you up up cliffs![/p]
• [p]Ability for enemies (and porky) to jump across gaps[/p]
• [p]Added offline play functionality[/p]
• [p]Created unique crafting materials for new bosses[/p]
• [p]Created supporter cosmetic pack + bundle[/p]
• [p]Added a widget that pops up the first time you play with common settings and options[/p]
• [p]Created new ammo nodes and added them to world gen[/p]
• [p]Added the player customisation screen and interface[/p]
• [p]Created the full upgrade path for each classes primary weapon[/p]

[p][/p][h3]// IMPROVEMENTS //[/h3]

• [p]Updated and improved every environment module[/p]
• [p]Players will now respawn in the field instead of at the airship[/p]
• [p]Significant improvements to the Magmatic mutator[/p]
• [p]Added the ability to toggle crouch[/p]
• [p]Tuned the gravity to make the game feel less floaty (turns out Unreal defaults to 50% of earths gravity)[/p]
• [p]Prioritised Porky catching up to players, rather than fighting mobs[/p]
• [p]Filled collision under cliffs to remove little nav mesh pockets that were hiding behind walls[/p]
• [p]Tuned how close small creatures and Boss monsters could get to walls[/p]
• [p]Stamina and bomb bushes now added to spawer pool, so should be more evenly distributed[/p]
• [p]Tuned gysers due to changes in gravity[/p]
• [p]Improved the Session creation UI / UX by creating a nested widget[/p]
• [p]Setup new ping icons[/p]
• [p]Made it so players need to click through to progress initial message, so they are more likely to read our intro message XD[/p]
• [p]Added Guild Master Gobbo messages for completing secondary objectives[/p]
• [p]Increased the collision on all monsters[/p]
• [p]Loot drops now increase based on difficulty[/p]
• [p]Stopped boss monsters relocating only a short distance away[/p]

[p][/p][h3]// BUG FIXES //[/h3]

• [p]Stopped boss monsters heads clipping into walls when retreating[/p]
• [p]Fixed - some missing localisation[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Porky nave mesh issues[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Porky stretching vine traps[/p]
• [p]Fixed - issue where enemies were spawning and idling[/p]
• [p]Fixed - issue where getting hit would give you MOON GRAVITY[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issues where clients could not see other players cosmetics[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Razan not sprinting on retreat[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Missing collision on Razan[/p]
• [p]Fixed - issue where occasionally secondary objective text was missing for clients[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where Mantara was setting people on fire even though it was DEAD[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Ursanox icicles floating in midair[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where bosses would trigger massive dust cloud explosion on relocate[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where iron wasn't incrementing for clients[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug causing overgrown mutated enemies to breakdance :([/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug where ore labels were wrong rarity color[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Issue where Shaman skull would get stuck "on" causing you to walk slowly[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug where Mantara was warding 3 claws for each claw[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug where Ursanox wasn't shaking off riders[/p]
• [p]Fixed - Bug where Ursanox was awarding Razan Drops[/p]

[p][/p][p]If you've made it this far, thanks for your interest in our game and how we're trying to improve it with the help of community members like yourself.

We're really excited to launch the game into early access next week and can't wait for you to get your hands on the new features we've made!

As always, if you'd like to chat with members of the dev team, we can be found on our DISCORD CHANNEL.

If you'd like Hunters, Inc updates delivered directly to your inbox (along with exclusive access to playtesting secret new features!) sign up to out NEWSLETTER or FOLLOW US on Steam[/p][p][/p][p][/p]