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Deadly Days: Roadtrip News

Playtest #3 starting today!

Hello,

today we're launching the public playtest round 3 for our upcoming game “Deadly Days: Roadtrip”. We would be delighted if you would take a look at it and give us your feedback.

If you have already been to the first rounds, you will certainly notice some changes. In addition to some exciting new items and objects on the map, you can now get a first look at two brand new game mechanics: Active Power-Ups and Meta Progress.

[h3]Active Power-Ups[/h3]
We created a new system for our power-ups (previous health pickup, vacuum, dynamite etc.). Before the change they automatically consumed. Now you can collect them and use them when needed by pressing the keys 1-4. An important strategic tool in the fight against the zombies.



There are also new items that exploit this new design space.

Small remark: QoL-wise we decided that the health power-up and level up power up instantly consume. If you have full health though then the health powerup will be slotted.

[h3]Meta progression[/h3]
Depending on how far you get in a run, you will now receive a valuable meta currency that you can use to improve your stats. This means you not only gain game experience over time, but can also improve your initial stats.



[h3]Tech Update[/h3]
Under the hood, we upgraded from Unreal Engine 5.4 to Unreal Engine 5.5 and re-integrated our entire sound design using FMOD. In the process, we have also integrated an extensive and varied soundtrack into the game, which adapts to the danger level. Take a look at the audio options, as these have also been refined in the process.

We have also been able to significantly improve performance in some areas.

If your hardware is a bit outdated, we recommend that you select the DirectX 11 version when starting the game. Feel free to compare both versions and write your experiences here in the comments, the discussion forums or on our Discord.

[h3]Inventory UX improvements[/h3]
Inventory management is a central component of the game. We have made some progress here. Take a look at the snapping of the items and the item affection visualization.



[h3]Other changes[/h3]
Added
  • New magnet item (increases loot range)
  • Craftable rocket launcher
  • New "utility belt" item which increases powerup slots
  • 2 new "active powerup" items which permanently give you an ability
  • New "energy drink" powerup (faster stamina regeneration)
  • New soundtrack incl. new boss fight music
Improved
  • Barrels explode on second hit now, not directly on first hit. They also blink for a short period before exploding
  • Player damage feedback now scaling with damage received
  • Tackle enemy more predictable now (arrow scales and rotates towards player and then locks in and gets red)
  • Reworked boss map visuals to fit farm theme
  • Boss map gates open and close automatically now (not physics based anymore)
  • Fuel automatically absorbed after beating boss and bus near to entrance now
  • More vehicle types on maps
  • Reworked character portraits
  • Reworked day end and win / loose screens
  • Manual shooting can also be triggered with CTRL key
Fixed
  • Some tiles on map not generated (black holes)
  • Many inventory related bugs
  • Airdrop and some loot crates spawned outside of player-reachable area
  • Some lakes did block bullets
  • Game starting way before loading screen ended
Balanced
  • Reduced base loot range (but you can buff it alot with magnet item and meta upgrades)
  • Reduced stamina regen rate (so you can't constantly dash cross the map)
  • Loot is distributed more evenly among lootspots (hopefully not completing fuel by just looting one car)
  • Generally more lootspots, especially in forest maps (e.g. tents)


We definitely forgot something in this list, but you'll see for yourself :)

Sign up on our storepage:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3026450/Deadly_Days_Roadtrip/

If you want a chance to win a key for the full version of Deadly Days: Roadtrip, use the feedback form and enter our new monthly giveaways. Thanks for all your valuable feedback so far! That is what we need!


[h3]About the game: [/h3]

Deadly Days: Roadtrip is an exciting action roguelite, that combines reverse bullet hell gameplay with strategic inventory management.

Start your road trip through the zombie apocalypse! Fight your way through, gain experience and collect items to assemble an epic inventory. Craft more effective weapons and find out what items you can combine to withstand the ever-increasing waves of zombies.

[h3]New trailer: [/h3]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]How to play:[/h3]



Feel free to join our Discord and chat about Deadly Days: Roadtrip: https://discord.gg/WZE8RUXhyu

Have fun playing the game.
Your Team Pixelsplit

Open Playtest #3 Starting Tomorrow

Dear survivors,
playtest #3 starts tomorrow evening with many new features, items and improvements.



Take the opportunity to register now and you will be notified automatically. Just scroll down a bit on our store page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3026450/Deadly_Days_Roadtrip/

The feedback from round 2 was super helpful and for the most part very positive. Thank you very much again for your participation.

If you are interested in the monthly giveaways, come to our discord!

About the game:


Deadly Days: Roadtrip is an exciting action roguelite, that combines reverse bullet hell gameplay with strategic inventory management.

Start your road trip through the zombie apocalypse! Fight your way through, gain experience and collect items to assemble an epic inventory. Craft more effective weapons and find out what items you can combine to withstand the ever-increasing waves of zombies.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

How to play:





We are looking forward to a lively participation,
Your Team Pixelsplit

Playtest round #2 finished - registration for round #3 open

Dear survivors,

As announced, our current playtest round has ended. Thank you for your participation and feedback!

[h2]Here are a few statistics for those interested:
[/h2]
  • Over 650 completed feedback forms.
  • 30,206,428 zombies killed (yes, almost 30 million)
  • 6,458,096,830 damage points added.
  • Lots of new members on our Discord server.


Here are some screenshots of our small but growing community on Discord:



[h2]What's the next step?
[/h2]Follow us on our Developer Profile page, add the game to your wishlist and join our Discord. Then you'll definitely find out when Playtest Round #3 starts. Probably already in December.

Thanks for your support, it's been a great pleasure to see your reactions to the game and we now have a lot of bugs to fix and ideas and suggestions for improvements to implement.

Give us a few weeks to implement all of this. We look forward to seeing you again.

Until then,
your team Pixelsplit

End of playtest #2 soon.

Dear survivors,

It was a great pleasure and honor to host the second playtest of Deadly Days: Roadtrip. There were several hotfixes in a very short time and several hundred completed feedback forms. Thank you!

As of this writing, 23,755,231 zombies have been killed and 4,951,330,675 damage has been done. If those aren't numbers to work with in the face of the zombie apocalypse. We are curious to see how these numbers will develop until Friday, November 8, 2024, when our playtest round #2 officially ends.




We will now be working diligently on the next iteration of the game for a few weeks and are delighted to be able to draw on your feedback.

Your ideas and suggestions, which you express on our Discord, will also flow into our ticket system.

[h2]When will we continue?
[/h2]
We don't want to give an exact date, but there will be a third playtest this year as planned.

[h2]How can you continue to support us?
[/h2]
Tell your friends about Deadly Days: Roadtrip, write your feedback in the Steam Discussion Forums or simply play a round of the classic Deadly Days.

On our Discord server we give away monthly keys for the full version of the game. Just keep an eye out for the #giveaway channel.

Team Pixelsplit



Playtest #2 Hotfix 0.4.5

Hello everyone,

we have just uploaded another small, but important, hotfix.

Important: If the game crashes for you, use the compatibility mode option (DirectX11) when starting the game..

[h3]Changes[/h3]
Improved:
  • Rendering performance (If you had to use the compatibility option before, feel free to try again with DirectX12 now)
  • Slightly reduced build size
Fixed:
  • Out of memory crashes when loading a map


Thanks to everyone for the feedback so far :)

Feel free to join our Discord and chat about Deadly Days: Roadtrip: https://discord.gg/WZE8RUXhyu

- Your team Pixelsplit