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[benexclaimed]

Congratulations on getting picked up by Devolver! The game's feeling better than ever and all the little bits of polish are really helping to make it feel like a finished product. Great work.

[terri]

Just pushed out a new update V015, because it seems I broke the Bank on the last one, and that couldn't stay broken! Its up on Steam and should be up on Humble soon.

Congratulations on getting picked up by Devolver! The game's feeling better than ever and all the little bits of polish are really helping to make it feel like a finished product. Great work.

Thanks man, yeah its weird how small things can make such a big difference. Nice that I'll really be able to focus on more of that stuff now.

[NinthPower]

wow awesome devolver news terri. Been following things for awhile. Keep rockin it.

[Paul]

Awesome work! I'll be picking this up this evening

[Xienen]

Woo! Got it on Steam now! Gonna be even more likely to jump in and play the updated versions now! 

[Paul]

This game is great! I keep booting it up for a quick run. UI looks great too

One thing I'd like to see is what killed me... Sometimes when I'm low on life I get killed by something and don't know what it is, so it would be a nice addition

[Xienen]

It was probably one of those damn snakes...every time! 

[terri]

Thanks guys, I've updated to V0.17
paul's suggestion has been added!

Full list of changes:

V0.17
- EGGS now no longer spawn enemies, but explode on proximity
- LEVEL 8 BOSS tweaked
- Many SOUND tweaks and changes
- FOV settings added
- Raised MOUSELOOK sensitivity
- Fixed bug where COIN MAGNETS would turn into GOLD SKULLS when stored
- RITUAL BLADE turns into KNIFE when stored
- ENEMY AI aggro tweaked
- POISON SERUM now only affects player once
- Change RELOADER description text
- Killed by stat added to GAME OVER screen
- Added 30% DISCOUNT level
- STATS and SETTINGS can be reset individually

[terri]

V0.19 update is live on Steam & Humble!

Changes:

V0.19
- Fixed ITEM PRICE bug
V0.18
- Added and tweaked many SOUNDs
- $10 added to global prices every 2 levels
- Individual MEDBAYs can now only HEAL 3 times
- HEALTH UP prices tweaked
- DISCOUNT + price not affected by discount
- Fixed multiple DIAMONDS bug
- Activating a HATCH will cancel FOCUS
- Tweaked FLYING TURRET collision
- GOLD & BLACK POTION CARRY MAX reduced
- LEVEL GENERATION expanded
- Using a RITUAL BLADE will yield less MONEY
- Fixed BOSS DOOR barrier bug
- Fixed WIN MUSIC playing if music is off bug
- Fixed KILLED BY stat on QUIT GAME
- Fixed DIAMOND CARRY MAX text
- VSYNC now can be set in the QUALITY settings
- MAX MUSIC VOLUME setting added
- ENEMY AI tweaks

[Space Hamlet]

This is a cool game! Reminds me in some ways of my other favorite FPS roguelike, Reciever. Really tight gamefeel on display here, and Doseone's sound design (the thing that drew me to the game initially) is the bomb.

I do have one major frustration - the way the item system is structured. The intention seems to be a Spelunky kind of feel, where I have to carefully manage the items I find as I progress, but because there's nothing in place to prevent me from backtracking all I want, the feeling of discovering is less "Oof, I wonder if I should trade for this" and more "Ugh, now I've gotta be responsible for this water bottle." Every time I clear a level I pick an item to keep and then spend several minutes walking around to sell the rest. The worst part is that the gorgeously hallucinatory levels become a real liability while I'm doing this - it's suddenly a huge issue that I can't tell one room from the next, and it becomes quite the navigation headache! I honestly feel like it has a seriously deleterious effect on the pacing.

Spelunky addressed this, of course, with the ghost, and with the way the level layouts prevented you from freely traveling backwards. I can think of a number of ways to solve it in this one. A Mario-like screen-scroll effect, where a deathwall slowly follows you through the level? Randomly respawning enemies to make the trip backwards more perilous? It might even work to just add a button I can use to sell items right from my person - I'm not sure the trip back to the bank to do this is worth preserving, although with the right pressure mechanic maybe it would be.

Sorry this is such a negative post! I only criticize because I care. To answer your earlier question, I don't think you should make the game any easier - the joy of a game like this comes from the brutal learning process.

[terri]

This is a cool game! Reminds me in some ways of my other favorite FPS roguelike, Reciever. Really tight gamefeel on display here, and Doseone's sound design (the thing that drew me to the game initially) is the bomb.

I do have one major frustration - the way the item system is structured. The intention seems to be a Spelunky kind of feel, where I have to carefully manage the items I find as I progress, but because there's nothing in place to prevent me from backtracking all I want, the feeling of discovering is less "Oof, I wonder if I should trade for this" and more "Ugh, now I've gotta be responsible for this water bottle." Every time I clear a level I pick an item to keep and then spend several minutes walking around to sell the rest. The worst part is that the gorgeously hallucinatory levels become a real liability while I'm doing this - it's suddenly a huge issue that I can't tell one room from the next, and it becomes quite the navigation headache! I honestly feel like it has a seriously deleterious effect on the pacing.

Spelunky addressed this, of course, with the ghost, and with the way the level layouts prevented you from freely traveling backwards. I can think of a number of ways to solve it in this one. A Mario-like screen-scroll effect, where a deathwall slowly follows you through the level? Randomly respawning enemies to make the trip backwards more perilous? It might even work to just add a button I can use to sell items right from my person - I'm not sure the trip back to the bank to do this is worth preserving, although with the right pressure mechanic maybe it would be.

Sorry this is such a negative post! I only criticize because I care. To answer your earlier question, I don't think you should make the game any easier - the joy of a game like this comes from the brutal learning process.

I agree if the game becomes about backtracking all the time it will get boring. At one point I had doors close behind the player but that made the difficulty too high. I think maybe I could revisit that idea, but give the player a bit more room, maybe he can go back to the last couple of rooms but no more than that.

Solid feedback, thanks!

[terri]

I pushed V0.20 last night and V0.21 today to fix a new bug. V0.21 is up on Steam and should be up on Humble later today.

I was at E3 with Devolver, it was great meeting devs and talking to press in person. Some links:
http://www.polygon.com/e3-2014/2014/6/12/5803898/heavy-bullets-trailer-steam-early-access
http://www.gamespot.com/videos/e3-2014-heavy-bullets-gamespot-stage-demo/2300-6419413/
http://www.pixeldynamo.com/features/2014/06/24/16279/picking-heavy-bullets/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter


Changelog:

V0.21
- Fixed INVERTED Y AXIS bug

V0.20
- Added new MUSIC
- Added GAMEPAD support
- Changed YOU DIED screen
- Open DOORS spawn lasers after PLAYER clears enough distance
- Tweaked WASPS AI
- BOMBS don't explode until thrown
- Tweaked BOMB throwing
- Max FOV set to 120
- Fixed PICKAXE rock break bug
- Raised starting MAGNETS to LVL1
- Tweaked LEVEL GENERATION
- EFFECTS blur tweaked, now calculated from screen height instead of width
- AA settings expanded with AA type options
- BLESSED GEM now has change to break after activated
- Standard FOV set to 90

[Xienen]

Hadn't played in a while, very nice improvements over the past couple months! The new enemies are great, if not annoying little pests, exactly as they should be! Keep it up, man!

[terri]

V0.22
- Added SAVE & QUIT option to LEVEL TRANSITION screen / RESUME to TITLE SCREEN
- Added LOG to PAUSE SCREEN
- Tweaked SOUNDS
- Added DISRUPTOR item
- Fixed SPIKED HELMET storage bug

Hadn't played in a while, very nice improvements over the past couple months! The new enemies are great, if not annoying little pests, exactly as they should be! Keep it up, man!

Awesome! thanks

[terri]

Just updated the Steam build to V1.00.
Will keep fixing bugs of course, but the game is now done!

To keep this devlog complete, here are the missing changelogs:
V1.00
- Added STEAM ACHIEVEMENTS & LEADERBOARDS
- Tweaked ENEMY AI & LEVEL GENERATION

V0.27
- Fixed GOLD SKULL bug where ENEMIES wouldn't die
- Fixed flipped DEAD END signs

V0.26
- Fixed bug where ITEM would get stuck

V0.25
- Added PORTUGUESE BR language support
- Fixed bug when taking damage after using END LEVEL HATCH
- Fixed bug where BLACK POTION was overriding POISON IMMUNITY
- Tweaked SETTINGS text alignment
- Removed blur from IMAGE EFFECTS
- Performance tweaks

V0.24
- Fixed SCOPE/BACKPACK FOV bug
- Performance tweaks
- INTRO TEXT tweaks

V0.23
- Added new PROPS, COLORS and LIGHT changes throughout the game.
- Added 4 ITEMS that spawn behind SECRET DOORS
- Replaced BLOODSUCKER enemy with LEECH TURRET
- Replaced INTRO and END GAME texts
- Tweaked enemy AI
- Added GLOBAL SOUND VOLUME options
- Moved INVERT Y AXIS and LOOK SENSITIVY to CONTROLS
- Tweaked GAMEPAD support
- Tweaked SOUNDS
- Can now find COINS instead of ORES when breaking ROCKS with the PICKAXE

[GrahamOfLegend]

Hah i love the idea behind this! The art is pretty dope too - I love how jarring it is. Keep rocking Terri!

[terri]

thanks graham, cheers!

[cvasquez]

Congrats on the release!!!

[Low_Chance]

Really cool visual style.

I noticed this game on Steam today, congratulations on your launch! I'll definitely be picking up a copy at some point in the near future.

[terri]

awesome, thanks!