Roadmap update
[h3]Hello again, bounty hunters, welcome to 2020!
[/h3]
Sorry we have been silent for some time: we have been really busy. After the New Year break, we took 2 weeks to discuss internally the future of Killsquad, so we could present it to our community. I am happy to say we're ready to share it today. But before we begin, a bit of context:
Killsquad is a self-funded game: there’s no publisher or secret corporation behind us: it’s just us, Novarama, a bunch of game veterans, doing what we feel is right to build a great game. We are lucky to be able to fund it via sales, so every euro or dollar we make goes back into improving the game. We're in Early Access, so the game is still growing. We don’t intend to get rich with this game: Killsquad was born and still is a passion project & a tool to learn about Steam & Unreal for us. As such, our design process is very reactive: instead of thinking "we are always right and we know it all", we read each and every negative review, and use those comments to drive our design process forward.
First, you guys complained about bugs. So we focused on fixing stability. Then, about not finding people to play. That's why we dropped 2 updates in a row to fix that. If you look at our negative reviews today, a lot of them admit the game is fun to play, but complain it feels repetitive and lacks progression. Which does make sense: as an Early Access game, we focused on the experience first, to then extend the size of the game. So, that's going to be our driving force for the first half of 2020: give you more variety, a richer game world and a deeper lore.
How are we gonna do this? As it’s a huge undertaking, we’ll split the process in 2 big updates: the first one will come during February, and it will revamp the Recruit experience. The second one will come around April, focusing on Veteran.
So, today, I’d like to show you all that’s coming to Recruit next month.
First of all, we are reducing the number of contracts, so we can devote more time to make each one unique. So, we will offer 12 (down from 20) contracts on Recruit. By having less contracts, we can have more carefully designed ones and a better overall experience.
Contracts on Recruit will be unlocked progressively, so you’re not overwhelmed by the whole game. To do so, we will use our Quest System, which you saw a glimpse of in our Christmas Event. Quests will give you goals to fulfill, and a way to slowly unfold the world of Killsquad. These quests will also serve as a tutorial of sorts, making sure game systems are presented properly.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Then, contracts will be story driven, have voice acting, and will deliver a unique experience. So, whether you play solo, or with a squad, expect a more polished “campaign”.
Of course, to fill these contracts we will need more baddies, so there’s more stuff to discover. You’ve seen some of them already on Twitter. We’re bringing two new semibosses to the game. The first one is Rex Guerrilla, a servant of Helldörren:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The second one is a fugitive from Biosystems Labs that you may encounter in your adventures on Wasteland7:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Needless to say, we’ll need artwork to make those contracts feel different. We’re working on a big number of set pieces, so our universe feels richer. No big reveal today, you’ll have to wait til the update to check it all out, but expect new locations, NPCs, and so on. Here's a glimpse of things to come:
Of course expect new gameplay constructs so there’s more stuff going on and more ways to have fun. Here’s some insider clips of random stuff we’re working on, from exploding barrels, to switches, to killing blades, shield areas, and many more.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
By the way, all this work won’t prevent us from working on other game areas that also need some loving and care. So, on this same update in February, you guys are getting a lobby chat, to make the social aspect better and make finding team mates even simpler.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
We’re now working to have all of this ready for the update. We hope we will continue to get your invaluable support. We’ll reveal the new Veteran section soon, which will bring a whole new planet & faction among a lot of other cool things. But we’ll talk about that when the time comes.
For now, all we can ask for is your patience and support. Great stuff is coming.
Novarama
[/h3]
Sorry we have been silent for some time: we have been really busy. After the New Year break, we took 2 weeks to discuss internally the future of Killsquad, so we could present it to our community. I am happy to say we're ready to share it today. But before we begin, a bit of context:
Killsquad is a self-funded game: there’s no publisher or secret corporation behind us: it’s just us, Novarama, a bunch of game veterans, doing what we feel is right to build a great game. We are lucky to be able to fund it via sales, so every euro or dollar we make goes back into improving the game. We're in Early Access, so the game is still growing. We don’t intend to get rich with this game: Killsquad was born and still is a passion project & a tool to learn about Steam & Unreal for us. As such, our design process is very reactive: instead of thinking "we are always right and we know it all", we read each and every negative review, and use those comments to drive our design process forward.
First, you guys complained about bugs. So we focused on fixing stability. Then, about not finding people to play. That's why we dropped 2 updates in a row to fix that. If you look at our negative reviews today, a lot of them admit the game is fun to play, but complain it feels repetitive and lacks progression. Which does make sense: as an Early Access game, we focused on the experience first, to then extend the size of the game. So, that's going to be our driving force for the first half of 2020: give you more variety, a richer game world and a deeper lore.
How are we gonna do this? As it’s a huge undertaking, we’ll split the process in 2 big updates: the first one will come during February, and it will revamp the Recruit experience. The second one will come around April, focusing on Veteran.
So, today, I’d like to show you all that’s coming to Recruit next month.
First of all, we are reducing the number of contracts, so we can devote more time to make each one unique. So, we will offer 12 (down from 20) contracts on Recruit. By having less contracts, we can have more carefully designed ones and a better overall experience.
Contracts on Recruit will be unlocked progressively, so you’re not overwhelmed by the whole game. To do so, we will use our Quest System, which you saw a glimpse of in our Christmas Event. Quests will give you goals to fulfill, and a way to slowly unfold the world of Killsquad. These quests will also serve as a tutorial of sorts, making sure game systems are presented properly.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Then, contracts will be story driven, have voice acting, and will deliver a unique experience. So, whether you play solo, or with a squad, expect a more polished “campaign”.
Of course, to fill these contracts we will need more baddies, so there’s more stuff to discover. You’ve seen some of them already on Twitter. We’re bringing two new semibosses to the game. The first one is Rex Guerrilla, a servant of Helldörren:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The second one is a fugitive from Biosystems Labs that you may encounter in your adventures on Wasteland7:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Needless to say, we’ll need artwork to make those contracts feel different. We’re working on a big number of set pieces, so our universe feels richer. No big reveal today, you’ll have to wait til the update to check it all out, but expect new locations, NPCs, and so on. Here's a glimpse of things to come:
Of course expect new gameplay constructs so there’s more stuff going on and more ways to have fun. Here’s some insider clips of random stuff we’re working on, from exploding barrels, to switches, to killing blades, shield areas, and many more.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
By the way, all this work won’t prevent us from working on other game areas that also need some loving and care. So, on this same update in February, you guys are getting a lobby chat, to make the social aspect better and make finding team mates even simpler.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
We’re now working to have all of this ready for the update. We hope we will continue to get your invaluable support. We’ll reveal the new Veteran section soon, which will bring a whole new planet & faction among a lot of other cool things. But we’ll talk about that when the time comes.
For now, all we can ask for is your patience and support. Great stuff is coming.
Novarama