You are currently viewing December 2020 – Developer Update

December 2020 – Developer Update

Hey Everyone!

No game update just yet but we thought it would be a great idea to bring everyone up to speed on what’s going on behind the scenes. As you guys know, Melzeebub and the moderators have been encouraging feedback and watching hours upon hours of gameplay. They’ve done an awesome job compiling together the feedback and we’ve been sorting through it and planning how we want to tackle the content beyond Zone 4.

Members who joined a month or so ago may recall us aiming to get the update out by the end of November, don’t worry – it’s still coming! The update unfortunately got pushed back a little bit internally for a variety of reasons but we think most people will be okay with it when you know why. The major reasons are:

1. Bug Fixes

Ever seen a sound guy figure out how to duplicate himself? You have now.

We’ve spent a lot of time going through and fixing various issues that people have reported. We’ve watched countless hours of “let’s plays” and stream highlights figuring out where people had issues, what could have potentially gone wrong and then trying to recreate the issues. As most of you should know by now, we are completely approachable, we don’t block our DMs and we chat directly with people when we can. You may have even been on the end of a “bug finding session” or two!

Unfortunately, sometimes bugs can be hard to track and we have often spent hours (or even days in some cases) trying to track down pesky game-affecting issues. For those who aren’t aware, the core team is actually very small and this impacts how quick we can get things done [Learn more about the team – Meet the Team].

2. Performance Optimizations.

The orange outline is what actually casts the shadows for the hedges.

While performance is usually something tackled later down the line, we noticed there are still some major performance issue. Particularly when streaming, we’ve seen a lot of stuttering frames and jumpy streams. It has been disheartening to see streamers desperately try to get the game running smooth for their viewers, all the while being unable to provide a solid solution. We’ve recently spent a good deal of time optimizing and fixing as much as we can. You should see both smoother streams and yet another performance boost coming in the next update.

3. Significant Internal Reworks.

It’s been on our minds for a while now and we’ve started making preparations for it; Custom matches with *randomised* mazes and a progression system. This will likely be next on the plate after Zone 4 as it brings replayability to the game and gives us some breathing space. This space will allow us to revisit Zone 3, work on more performance fixes, polishing and of course, tackle Zone 5. While these changes have caused quite a significant delay, we feel we have chosen the best route suited to bringing out new content over the coming year and beyond. We’ve had to make considerable changes to how we handle each areas behind the scenes. This also includes noticeable improvements to both performance and stability in matches.

Zone 4.

Testing our idea for "bone rooms"

Zone 4 is pretty big and while it has it’s “star of the zone”, it’s certainly not alone down there. Zone 2 has been a clear favourite so far and we wanted to really bring back the feeling of being confused, alone and terrified while also being hunted. We’ve been improving the zone and playing with new ideas all while working on new assets. This is taking time up as almost everything we do is in-house.

A WIP shot of a room in Zone 4

Despite the above, progress is good and we’re getting close to releasing all of the changes.

We hope the above has gone some way to explain the delay.

We’re working on it every day and we will try to keep you up to date more often!

Mountains of Bones during performance testing

One Final Question

Oddly enough, we’ve seen a few streamers now ask if we have merch available. While at first we didn’t really think it was too serious, we did indulge it with some mock-ups to see what everyone’s opinions were.. Check a few of them out below!

We’d love to know what you think of them on our discord; Is it something you’d be interested in? Do you think it’s a bad idea? Would you buy a Ghostie pillow for a friend? We’re completely leaving this to you guys so make sure to give us your opinion!

This Post Has 17 Comments

  1. Stefano

    i just can’t wait to play this out, keep going, one of the best games of 2k20 😉

  2. Keelia

    I am soooo excited to get to play more, beating the early access made me sad

  3. erika L Edwards

    You guys are the shit! The game is awesome! The one on one tech support is beyond next level. Can’t wait to see what you scare up next.

    1. Valko Studios

      Thanks Erika, it’s always great to hear our efforts are appreciated!

  4. Nick and Carter and Kaden

    Let’s goooo

  5. Amber

    Ein klasse Spiel. Bitte weiter so

  6. Aleks K.

    This game is amazing I cant wait for future updates

  7. H1vezZz

    This game is awesome !! We finished the game on stream without breating.Want to play more!

  8. Xie K.

    I love this game and I can’t wait for future zones to be ready! Also I love that ghostie pillow and I would totally have some of them.

  9. Kurac

    wau men veri gud game

  10. AJC

    Really enjoyed playing this with my wife and best man. Was funny hearing him wimpering in zone 2 when split up.

    We did first play through of it yesterday and did all three zones in a single sitting and really enjoyed it. Randomized puzzles and mazes would be awesome. I can largely remember the routes in zone 2 in terms of general direction and entry gate!

  11. C V

    Some friends and I loved our play through, can’t wait to see zone 4. And hearing that you’ve started working on ‘randomized’ mazes and a progression system makes me so happy. My friends and I will be running and screaming into each other’s headsets for many nights to come when that is done.

  12. Bloodraven93

    we need a update pls!!!

  13. DblBeanXtrSpice

    Got the game today with 3 other buddies, managed to finish all the zones in just under 2 hours, sadly the fun was cut short… so really looking forward to more zones and content!
    Some ideas for content I had that you may or may not already have in your guys plans.
    Different characters per player, kind of boring to see 4 of the same guy, Customization for these players (Clothing, Accessories), Definitely more Zones(Maps) so we can continue to play, Progression system where you unlock different perks or weapons maybe to defend yourself, potentially a crafting system! anyways great game to start with I think that the paths you guys can go are endless! goodluck and I wait to hear back!

  14. NeoRia

    would be nice to have a estimated date for the next update 🙂

  15. Kim

    How do I save game? I have to keep starting from the beginning and I really love the game. I’m having trouble adding you on discord as well.
    Can you please email me?

    1. Valko Studios

      Hey Kim,

      You can select the chapter you want to play from the “lobby settings” in the lobby. Hope that helps!

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