Update #71: LAUNCH WINDOW SECURED (beep boop)

We hope you've all been enjoying your Summer! We have some big news to share, so let's just jump right into it!



Pixel Noir will launch in Q2 of 2023 on Steam and Nintendo Switch! Additionally, the Early Access will be updated in Q4 of 2022!


Our publisher, Badland Publishing, will be putting out a press release about it next week, but we wanted to let you VIPs know first! Xbox and Playstation won't be too far behind the initial launch, but we are still sorting out the timing. News on kickstarter backer merch fulfillment will be coming in early 2023, so stay tuned for those deets!


Woooo!! Time to party like it's 65,000,000 BC!


Over the years, we've been on the long road of development through countless nights, weekends, and holidays to bring this RPG concept to life. We appreciate all those who have stuck with us through thick and thin!






We will be a part of a Steam event called Another Indie Game Showcase, which will be on September 12th, 2022, @ 3PM EST, hosted by our friends over at the Dual Screens podcast. If you haven't checked in on the game in a bit, we think you'll like what you see since battle mechanics, GUI -- nearly everything has evolved since the Early Access launched in 2019!

Dual Screens Presents: Another Indie Showcase on Steam & Youtube!

Okay, let's keep this party going and jump into some...



[h2]Bounty Hunting
[/h2]
We added a bounty hunting system which is accessible later in the game. You'll be tracking down and apprehending the biggest bottom-feeding scumbags that Pinnacle City has to offer. This feature gives you another way to take on new cases!

Little known fact: Slimey Saul got his name because he uses *way too much* hair product.


[h2]Phone Calls
[/h2]
Throughout the game, don't forget to return to the Detective's apartment to answer your phone! Private-eyes get weird phone calls with even stranger cases to take on.

Clearly, the Detective isn't really concerned with missing calls...


[h2]Buy A Drink!
[/h2]
Ever felt overwhelmed by all the cases you've taken on? Well, here's something small but fun: you can buy drinks at the various bars around the city!

But is the craft beer locally sourced from Pinnacle City??


[h2]Battle Positioning Optimization
[/h2]
In testing, we've noticed that getting into random battles throughout the city still resulted in awkward sprite positioning. Sometimes enemies would wander out of frame, and characters would turn in the wrong directions. We completely overhauled positioning battle encounters in the game, resulting in a much more optimized system that allows battles to play beautifully!

It might not look like much fun, but this was a massive win in terms of optimizing the game and reducing bugs related to battle positioning!


[h2]Other Improvements
[/h2]
In addition to finding and fixing MANY bugs, we also:

• Updated to the 2021.2.9 version of Unity, which helped decrease load times and drove several back-end benefits
  
• Updated colliders, interaction points, and car walk paths/speeds
  
• Added fast travel between the Docks, Boardwalk, & Royal Island
  
• Optimized the layered depth sprite sorting algorithm, putting an end to layering issues between sprites
  
• And made a
• ton* of AI, dialogue, and polish tweaks throughout the game
  

We've got a juicy sample from our brand new CRDTech theme! A couple of pieces of music will play throughout the CRDTech mini-game, but this tune will play during the actual match. "Risky Gamble" features the incomparable Tim Yarborough of the OneUps on guitar. We hope you enjoy it!



::shakes head:: jazz musicians, am I right?


And with that, we're officially wrapping up this update! If you're pumped about Pixel Noir, here are three steps you can take to make sure you're in the know:

1. Wishlist Pixel Noir on Steam!

2. Join our SWDTech Games Discord server for a constant stream of screenshots, granular development updates, sprint summaries, and chat with the development team!

3. Check in on development by dropping by Leo's Pixel Noir development streams on Twitch Tuesday and Friday nights. Also, remember you can follow our daily progress on our official Twitter bot.


Our next update will be on December 15th!

Catch you all on the flip side!

//Team SWDTech