The Apocalypse News

[p][/p][p]Hello, survivors![/p][p][/p][p]We’ve reached an important milestone — The Apocalypse has surpassed 30,000 wishlists on Steam!
This isn’t just a number. It represents 30,000 votes of trust and anticipation. Your passion has lit a small but powerful spark of hope across this barren wasteland. My sincere thanks to every player for your support![/p][p][/p][p]Many of you have been asking about multiplayer progress, so here’s the key takeaway — no empty promises.[/p][p]
The core multiplayer architecture is now largely up and running. I’m currently focusing hard on synchronization optimization and critical details to ensure the experience is stable and smooth. Multiplayer testing plans are moving forward as scheduled, and I hope to invite you to the first technical multiplayer test as soon as possible.[/p][p][/p][p]If you haven’t added the game to your wishlist yet, now is the perfect time. Your support is the driving force behind The Apocalypse’s continued development.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The wasteland is long — thank you for surviving alongside me.[/p][p]
Feel free to share your expectations for multiplayer in the comments![/p][p][/p]

[p]The past year has been the one where The Apocalypse truly began to “exist.”[/p][p]From an initial concept, to a gradually taking-shape gameplay framework, to the launch of the Steam page and my first real conversations with players—I could clearly feel that this world was no longer just a project on my computer, but something more and more people were discovering and caring about.[/p][p]Here, I want to sincerely thank everyone who has followed, supported, and discussed The Apocalypse. Over the past year, I’ve received a huge amount of suggestions and feedback, and all of it has become the motivation that keeps me moving forward.[/p][p]Of course, this year has also been one of constant adjustment and pushing development ahead. Some ideas are still in the design phase, and some systems still need a lot of polishing. But one thing is certain: The Apocalypse will never sacrifice the experience it aims to deliver just to rush progress, nor will I brush off the issues that players truly care about.[/p][p]In the new year, I’ll continue to keep development transparent, share regular updates, and show you the latest progress as it happens. I hope that when you eventually step into the world of The Apocalypse, you’ll feel that this is a world built with care, thought through again and again, and shaped together with its players.[/p][p]In the year ahead, let’s keep moving forward together, and slowly make The Apocalypse into what it’s meant to be.[/p]

[p]Hello everyone, I’m the developer of The Apocalypse.[/p][p]
In survival sandbox games, death is never just a simple failure—it often defines the emotional tone of the entire experience. If the penalty is too light, death becomes something you can reset casually. If it’s too harsh, a single mistake can completely crush a player’s motivation.[/p][p][/p][p]While developing The Apocalypse, I’ve been constantly asking myself: how much should death really cost?[/p][p][/p][p]In many survival games, dying means losing all your gear and having to return to your death location to retrieve it. At the same time, death often becomes a kind of “fast travel”—intentional death to teleport back is something many players end up using. So at its core, the question of death penalties is really about this: what are players afraid of losing in this world?[/p][p][/p][p]If a single death means losing dozens of hours of progress, survival quickly turns into a burden rather than a source of fun. In multiplayer, this issue is amplified even further—when one player’s death affects the entire team, the psychological pressure can become overwhelming.[/p][p][/p][p]That’s why I believe death penalties should be understandable and bearable, not a total negation of the player’s effort. Death should communicate that the world is dangerous, while still giving players a chance to recover—not a reason to quit.[/p][p][/p][p]Of course, different players tolerate pressure very differently. Some enjoy the tension of high risk, while others prefer a slower, more forgiving survival pace. Because of that, I think allowing death penalty intensity to be a choice, defined by server rules or difficulty options rather than a single fixed standard, will give players much more freedom in how they experience the game.[/p][p][/p][p]So what kind of death penalty do you prefer in sandbox survival games?
Feel free to reply with a letter below, or share your thoughts directly in the comments:[/p][p][/p][p]A. Heavy penalty — Death causes major losses, such as losing most equipment or requiring a long recovery time.
B. Moderate penalty — Death causes meaningful losses (resources, durability, or time), but doesn’t completely reset progress.
C. Light penalty — Death mainly costs time, allowing players to quickly return to exploration and action.
D. Customizable — Death penalties should be defined by server rules or difficulty settings, with different servers offering different levels of severity.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks for taking part in the discussion!
And if you haven’t yet, please consider adding The Apocalypse to your wishlist—your support is what keeps me moving forward.[/p]

In this video, I’m showcasing the basic attack animations for more than twenty fully-implemented melee weapons! Axes, hammers, blades, staffs… you name it—we’ve got pretty much every type of weapon you can think of. Each weapon also has its own “personality,” with subtle differences in swing style and behavior.
https://youtu.be/MD8FDWLQgTo

Friendly reminder: this showcase only includes the base animations—no monsters getting chopped up yet! But don’t worry, I’ll be releasing full melee combat footage soon, including hit reactions and real battle scenarios. Stay tuned!

If you enjoy that heavy, punchy, close-combat apocalypse vibe, don’t forget to add The Apocalypse to your Steam wishlist!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3619580

Hello everyone, I am the indie developer of Apocalypse, Da Fei.

Today I want to report a milestone that makes me very excited: The PC multiplayer underlying architecture that I have been fully dedicated to developing is now basically complete!

https://youtu.be/_seX1MAyMMg

In this video, I will show you the current development progress, as well as the first demo of the multiplayer functions!

Currently, core basic functions like server creation and connection processes are running. In terms of self-built servers, the host can freely set the server name, password, whether to enable PVP mode, as well as multiple key survival rules—such as resource spawn speed, output multipliers, monster density, monster attack strength, and so on. You can tune the apocalypse to a "Hellish Nightmare" or a "Casual Retirement".

According to the current plan, player-hosted servers support up to 32 friends surviving and adventuring together! In addition, players can also download the standalone server to set up a dedicated server, which can accommodate more players playing in the same world.

However, I must honestly say that right now only the basic framework has been built. The true details, stability, game feel, and other content still require me to invest a lot of time to continue polishing. So it will still take a little time before I can send out multiplayer test invitations to everyone. I hope you understand!

But the good news is: The most core character synchronization system has already been preliminarily implemented!

In the current small test scene, you can already clearly see other players' actions, such as swinging an axe or using melee weapons to attack. This means that exploring the wasteland with friends and surviving side-by-side in the apocalypse is really getting close!

Next, I will continue to strengthen the melee system experience: for example, improving the fluidity of movements, enhancing the impact of every hit on monsters, optimizing impact sound effects, and improving monster hit feedback, etc.

Finally, allow me to seek a little sympathy—after all, I am making the game alone, my energy is really limited, and many systems can only be done one by one, so please bear with me!

Thank you very much for your continued attention and support! Remember to add Apocalypse to your Steam wishlist so you can stay updated on the latest progress. Looking forward to testing the multiplayer version with everyone soon!