Skillshot City News

After working on Battle Royale all year, I've decided to update the other game modes. Conquest mode in particular got a complete rework and plays MUCH better now. It's such a big rework that I'll just explain how it works from scratch and ignore the old rules completely.

There are 5 control points, connected in a linear line. The scientists start at point A, and the rebels at point E. You must capture the points in order A-B-C-D-E, and the first team to control all 5 points wins. You capture a point in two ways, either by standing next to it for 30s, or by buying the Capturer chemical for $5000 and planting it on the center. Proximity capturing is the main approach, but saving up for a Capturer can be the winning move that gives your team the game.



If you own a control point you can buy from it, warp to it, and also pick up all the free cash which rains down upon it (at a rate of $1000 per minute). So far this all sounds like typical Conquest rules for a linear recapturing game mode. But here's where it gets interesting:

Whenever you capture a control point, BOTH TEAMS will go onto a 60s capturing cooldown. This means that for the next 60s neither team is able to capture a point. You can speed up this cooldown by getting kills (shaving 2s off the timer per kill). This cooldown mechanic effectively creates a race scenario where the match is split up into a series of 60s rounds. It works like this:



The scientists capture a control point, going from 3 vs 2 to 4 vs 1. Both teams are now on a 60s cooldown, and a race has begun to see which team can capture the next point. You get kills as fast as you can to advance the timer faster, and then prepare as best as you can for when the timer reaches 0s, so you can begin capturing instantly.

The winner of this race will capture their point, but more importantly DENY their enemy from capturing their point, as they are put onto a cooldown again. This create intense moments where you need to work with your team to capture points as quickly and efficiently as possible or else the other team will beat you. This race mechanic really adds a sense of rhythm to the game, with alternating moments of preparation and execution, and I hope you enjoy it!




The way cash is earned in the game has changed in a few ways. In non BR modes, the passive cash income has been replaced with looting, so it behaves similar to Battle Royale. Players also get 3x as much cash for killing enemies and the kill combo system has been expanded to allow for longer and bigger combos. Cash will also now fall from the sky into the buy zones (in BR) and control points (in Conquest). These are in little $100 silver coins and fall at a rate of $1000 per minute. This makes camping/defending a viable strategy as you can stay in the one place, protecting one of these key locations and still earn an income.



I have spent about 2 weeks fixing my old outdated OpenGL code to make the game run significantly smoother. If you have a slow PC then this here is probably going to be the single best improvement to the game I've ever released, because the difference is like night and day. Also, the falling from the sky in Battle Royale runs a lot smoother now too!

• Conquest has been completely reworked.
  
• 3x the amount of cash is awarded for killing enemies.
  
• Made huge performance improvements.
  
• Improved the graphics of bullets.
  
• The crosshair now indicates how much ammo you have left.
  
• New players start the game with access to more items.
  
• Light Shifting now improves the recharge time between shifts.
  
• Laser Focus has been replaced with a new skill called Adrenalin Rush which makes you move faster in combat.
  
• Flaregun now fires an explosive bullet.
  
• Increased the movement speed of all weapons in combat.
  
• Fixed a number of issues with the bots behaviour using shared chemicals.
  
• Allied chemicals now display at full size so it's easier to see their range.
  
• Non-BR game modes now give 5x as much cash in the form of loot, but have no passive income.
  
• Pressing 'E' on a bot will make him drop the flag in CTF
  
• Changed how the scoring works in nonBR modes. +1 per kill, +10 per capture, +2 for killing someone holding the flag.
  
• Significantly buffed the UZI's bullet and movement speed.
  
• Buffed the damage of the Photon Beam, Flamethrower, M3 and Barrett.
  
• Health and Mana kits now give +5 max hp instead of +25 temporary hp.
  
• The max hp is now capped at 150 instead of 200hp.
  
• Firing weapons will be disabled for 1.5s after using a warp field.
  
• Updated some translations.
  
• Fixed a bunch of bugs.
  

Geneshift is of course particpating in the Winter Sale with a thicc 40% discount. Now is the time. Your time - to shine. Also, I'll be away for the next 2 weeks for Xmas, but hit me up on Discord if you have any issues. Otherwise I hope you all have a fantastic Xmas and New Years.

I want to thank everyone who has bought, played or discussed the game in Discord. The game is in a MUCH better state now than it was a year ago and I have you all to thank for it.

Merry Xmas and a happy new year!
Cheers,
Ben.

Geneshift now has supply drops! They will randomly appear in the map with a 30s countdown timer. Everyone in the server is alerted to this and has 30s to get to the area and then fight to be the last man standing to claim the prize. The prize is that a bunch of new ultra-rare loot will drop, including permanent max hp/mana upgrades, a +30% Damage weapon, +10 kill coins and possibly an entire new skill unlocked for free! These supply drops give you an excellent incentive to play agrgressively, and provide interesting king of the hill style battles.




Zombies have been reworked in a big way this version and play a lot better. There is now stuff to actually DO as a zombie and you are much stronger as well. For starters zombie weapons now do 100% damage instead of 50%, which no longer punishes you and lets you continue playing as normal. Resurrections are much easier because of this, and easier still as there is no 20s countdown time anymore - you can resurrect as soon as you spawn. Furthermore, zombies can now keep their gun and max hp benefits when they spawn the next round. This, combined with supply drops gives you something really meangingful to fight over once dead - a chance to start with an extra high damage weapon or more max hp.




You might have noticed in the screenshots above that the camera angle has been tilted! After 10 years Geneshift has finally upgraded from a pure birds-eye shooter into an isometric shooter! Who knows, in another 10 years this might become and FPS! Eitherway, this new camera angle looks a lot nicer on the eyes, and helps you judge the height of boxes in the map as well. It makes for a far more immersive playing experience, especially combined with the other graphical upgrades.

For example, Geneshift now supports 4X MSAA antialiasing and looks a lot smoother because of it. It also has updated player models, where they hold the weapons properly instead of like blockmen. There is even a new "gore" setting in the options menu that can significantly increase the amount of blood that comes out of baddies when you make them go splat.




A number of skills have been buffed, and a few have been buffed in a very interesting way - team buffing. Certain skills, such as Self Repair, Ignition Orb, Xray-Vision and Frenzy will now benefit nearby allies when you cast them, allowing for some really interesting new squad tactics. Other cool tweaks are the new looting system, where if you run over the same type of gun you not only grab its ammo, but can now upgrade the damage of your current gun by +2%. This little boost can really add up and makes looting as a zombie extra fun.




Geneshift is on discount. You know how this works! If you want to support the game now would be a great time to pick it up. Also, to celebrate this new version I decided to create a cybertruck with a flamethrower attached to its forehead - enjoy!

The most requested feature since Geneshift joined Early Access, controller support is finally here! It's been tested with Xbox and Playstation controllers, but should work with other types too. It turned out signficantly better than I expected, and I'd love to hear your opinions on it. All the hotkeys are rebindable in the options menu, but here is the default layout:




Even more exciting is a whole bunch of improvements to how zombies work. For starters, zombies can now buy, loot and use weapons! You're no longer forced to repetitively use the zombie pests or claws. To prevent this being being overpowered, zombies will only deal 50% as much damage when using a normal weapon, and have reduced range too.

Zombies can drive cars too! They've also been buffed up to 50hp instead of 30hp, and their pests weapons has been turned into a mini-shotgun that is far more tactical to play with. Overall being a zombie is a lot more fun this version because there is so much more you can do. But wait.. there's more.


Another big change is that zombies can once again resurrect by killing a player, and get back into the game. However there is a twist, which is that you need to be alive for at least 30s before resurrections are possible. This is shown as a progress bar down the bottom of the screen. This change adds a sense of survival to being a zombie, where the ideal strategy is to no longer brute-force you way to try kill an enemy player, but instead to stealthily survive for 30s, loot up with weapons and health kits, and go for a quality kill instead. It makes resurrections harder to pull off, but so much sweeter when you do.




Another huge change is that chemicals can be shared with allies. This adds all sorts of teamwork in Squads mode. You can place a Warp field and have your ally warp through it. You and your buddy can place Sonar Cells to provide shared vision on all entrances to the final circle. You can sell weapons into Alchemic Acid and split the profits, and of course you can use your friend's sneakily placed Base Chemicals to rebuy ammo. The teamwork options are huge and chemicals in general should get a lot more exposure now that you only have to do half the work to set them up.

• Added full controller support.
  
• Zombies can now use weapons.
  
• Zombies can now use vehicles.
  
• Zombie pests reworked into a tactical shotgun that does 40hp damage per blast.
  
• Zombies now have 50 hp and mana instead of 30.
  
• Zombie claws and knife now do 50hp damage instead of 35.
  
• Active skills now cost 20/30/40/50 mana instead of 15/20/25/30.
  
• Mana regen rate is now +5 mana/s instead of +3 mana/s,
  
• Skill points now cost $2000 each instead of $3000.
  
• Translators can now edit translations in data/translations folder and test them in-game.
  
• Allies can now use eachothers chemicals.
  
• More HUD improvements, showing weapon stats and explaining how and skills trees work.
  
• Reorganised the unlocks grid to make all the chemicals much cheaper.
  
• Updated some translations.
  

Now that controller support is added Geneshift is really getting ready for another big marketing push. And this of course means more players! I'll update the trailer first, and then start contacting the press. Until then, have fun!

Geneshift now has a party system! Perfect for playing with friends in Battle Royale squads. You can now invite your friends on Steam to join your party, which allows you to chat with eachother while still in the menu and organise what game to play. You can also follow the party leader into a game, which makes it much easier for friends to play in the same server. The game will also ensure you're all put onto the same squad if possible. The max party size is 4, as this matches the max squad size in both Battle Royale and the coop campaign.




The music has received a much needed update, making it sound more badass. The old tunes were too slow for the fast-paced gameplay. Even better, the music will now dynamically change based on the action on screen! Whenever you take damage the music will gradually become more and more intense, fading in a powerful beat and drums based on the action on screen. This effect turned out way better than I expected and really gets the heart racing in times of action. It makes you focus and play at least 30% better than you would otherwise! And that is a Geneshift guarantee.




There are some significant changes to the rules of the Battle Royale this version, which place a far greater emphasis on survival. Geneshift has always been a cross between a Battle Royale and a deathmatch, with it's series of 2 minute back-to-back rounds. But the balance was too deathmatchy, and these new changes tap into that feeling of survival that other BR's capture so well.

The main change is removing the mechanic where zombie players could come back to life by killing a player. While a novel idea, it ultimately made surviving irrelevant as you could always come back after dying. Now, death is final, and if you die you'll stay as a zombie for the rest of the round. You can still loot of course, but you won't get a chance to come back and win that round.



This is especially important because you now get a massive +20 points for winning a round, compared to the previous +5 reward. This means that you NEED to win rounds if you wanna win the game, and to do that you need to survive. There are a few other small changes that further enhance this survival vibe, such as making each round last 3 minutes instead of 2, and awarding players bonus XP over time simply for staying alive. Overall, this survival focus makes the game feel significantly more immersive, makes vehicles and chemicals far more useful as ways to stay alive, and makes round wins far more satisfying (especially when combined with the intense, new dynamic music!)




Geneshift now has a brand new logo! You might have also noticed a new header image on Steam. The HUD has also been improved, as you can see the health and mana bars are now far easier to see. The official maps have also been turned to day-time instead of night time, which is prettier and makes it easier to see enemies and game objects.

• You can now invite Steam friends to join your party.
  
• Changed all the music in the game, and gave it dynamic intensity.
  
• New logo and new brighter new in-game graphics.
  
• Zombies can no longer resurrect by killing a living player.
  
• Rounds now last 3 minutes instead of 2.
  
• Winning a round now gives +20 points instead of +5.
  
• You get +10xp every 30s that you stay alive to reward survival.
  
• Tier 1 guns only do 75% as much damage as before.
  
• Bazooka does 400hp instead of 600hp damage, making cars far more viable.
  
• You can now choose your difficulty on the loading screen, and earn more XP for higher difficulties.
  
• Players now spawn with a USP in Battle Royale mode.
  
• Changed bot behaviour to play with a survival focus and try to avoid players.
  
• Holding TAB in-game now shows daily challenges under the minimap.
  
• Improved the health and mana bars in the HUD.
  
• Tweaked how the civilian wanted level increases, making it easier to reach level 3 then escape further attention.
  
• Guards no longer turn into zombies in the campaign.
  
• You no longer need to return souls in the campaign, simply killing zombies will do.
  
• The game no longer pauses when you open the buy menu in singleplayer PvP modes, as this is inconsistent with multiplayer.
  
• Made the "Top 3 in Match" daily challenge a permanent feature in the top slot, so every day you have a reason to win a game.
  
• Made some in-game graphics sync with the music, like your character will dance to it if you idle long enough.
  
• Fixed a bunch of bugs.
  
• Updated some translations.
  

Oooohh, a discount. And oh my... it's so big! If you haven't done so yet now is a great time to pick up the game. The next things I'll focus on are making a new trailer, updating all the translations and (trying!) to add controller support. No guarantees on the controller support as it might not work well, but we'll see. Anyway, enjoy the new version and have fun!

It's been 3 months since the last version, but this one is worth the wait. This version completely reworks Geneshift's progression system, changing how you level up, how you unlock things, how XP is earned and more. It introduces a new currency called "Kill Coins" which are used to unlock items, adds the concept of "personalised difficulty", and features a new daily challenges system. Best of all, the menu has got a total makeover and now looks gorgeous! Check out this before and after pic!




The new menu system not only looks better but is significantly easier to navigate. There's a big play button which will auto-join you into the ideal server, daily challenges shown on the left, and every other page has been polished up too. Up the top left we see your current level and XP displayed, along with any kill coins you've earned (more on that later). Specific pages of the menu have been reworked too, such as the challenges page.

The challenge page shown below not only looks swish with it's new hex layout, but changes how challenges are earned too. You can now complete any challenge adjacent to one you've already completed (in the picture below the pink are completed and the blue are able to be completed). This lets you slowly work your way down the challenge grid, and move diagonally from challenge to challenge. This is a big improvement over the previous design where if you got stuck on a challenge it would completely prevent you from claiming any challenges below it.




Speaking of challenges, the main menu now shows 3 new daily challenges. These new challenges are a great way to earn extra XP and kill coins (yes yes, more on that later..). After you complete a challenge it will reset with a new randomly chosen challenge at 0 UTC each day. Also everyone will get the same challenges, which I'm hoping will result in some ridiculous days where everyone is exclusively using sniper rifles to try complete the "Get 10 sniper kills" challenge. These challenges are a lot of fun as they always give you something new to aim for each day.


The XP system has been completely reworked. First of all, you can now go all the way up to level 100. Your level is shown above your head in-game and represents how much XP other players get for killing you. It's a great way to show off your progress and make others fear you, while also valuing the high XP bounty on your head. Every time you level up you will gain +15 kill coins which can be used to unlock items. The XP you earn each day is also used to compete in the daily leaderboards, and the 20 players who earn the most XP each day will receive additional kill coins.




One fun new way to earn extra XP is by playing on a harder difficulty level. This will result in facing more difficult but also higher level bots, and these higher level bots will award more XP whenever you kill them. The cool thing about this new difficulty mechanic is that it is personallised just to you, so you can choose to play on Insane difficulty, whie someone else in the server can play on Standard. This allows veteran players to have a challenge and farm bonus XP without forcing newbies to die to aimbots.


Kill Coins are the new main currency that you can earn. They are used to unlock items which gives you the main sense of progression in the game. Items used to be unlocked with XP but this was quite confusing, as normally players don't expect to "spend" XP and see it go down. So now instead, XP makes you level up, and when you do that you gain +15 kill coins. You also gain kill coins for completing daily challenges and regular challenges. You also get them by topping the daily XP leadboards.



Items are now arranged in a hexagonal grid, and like the challenges, you can only unlock an item that is adjacent to one you've already unlocked. Players can snake their way down the list, picking and choosing which items to get. This adds an element of strategy in the way you progress your account. Do you rush vertically down the list to reach the top-tier skills and weapons? Or do you unlock the significantly cheaper items up the top first?

The previous version also had the concept of "item discovery" which has now been removed from the game. You no longer need to randomly discover an item in the map before you can unlock it (which could sometimes take forever and was frustratingly random). Now you can unlock anything as long as you've reached it in the hexagonal grid and have earned enough kill coins.


There are plenty of other changes too. I'll list some of the highlights below:

• The game automatically logs you in when you open it.
  
• The menu background is now animated with dudes shooting at cars.
  
• Added 20 new challenges, and 30 new daily challenges.
  
• Victory points have been removed from the game.
  
• You no longer require a certain amount of victory points to play on harder difficulties.
  
• Challenges no longer require a certain amount of victory points to complete.
  
• Winning a round now awards +500/300/200 XP instead of victory points.
  
• Challenges no longer need to be "claimed". You get the reward as soon as you complete the challenge.
  
• Challenges that give you items will now actually unlock the item for you, rather than simply "discover" it (as discovery concept has been removed).
  
• Synergy points have been removed from the game, streamlining the skills system.
  
• You can now increase your player's starting skill level by unlocking "skill points" in the new hexagonal unlocks grid.
  
• Made a bunch of UI improvements in the HUD and menu.
  
• Demo players no longer earn 5x less XP than DLC players, instead they can only use 20% of the kill coins they earn (but get the other 80% if they upgrade).
  
• Fixed a bunch of Steam achievements.
  
• The singleplayer campaign can now be played on any difficulty you want. You don't have to finish standard before you can attempt Hardcore or Insane.
  
• Rescaled everyone's XP to try work with the new leveling system (which is now out of 100 instead of 20).
  
• A new supporters badge will show next to the name of players who have bought the full game. This shows in leaderboards and in-game chat.
  
• Cosmetic medallions now only adjust your shoulder pads, not the icon next to your name.
  
• Made it so you can still play the game even without logging in (incase the master server crashes). Your stats and progress can't be saved doing this.
  
• Reworked the options menu, getting rid of a bunch of old obsolute advanced options.
  
• Killing civilians and zombies now awards +1xp per kill.
  
• Added a new accounts page in the menu that shows cool stats like how many daily challenges you've completed, number of vehicles destroyed and weapon accuracy.
  
• Nerfed sprintstun and allowed phase shifts to regenerate even while taking damage.
  
• Made bots generally a bit easier.
  

Wow, Geneshift is on discount just as a new version is released! Brilliant business strategy batman! Yes, you can get the game for 40% off now if you choose. Or just play the free demo and tell your friends. As always feedback is welcome!

Have fun!