We are delighted to deliver a demanding and satisfying game that will lead you to the door of a seemingly infinite Temple filled with monsters, traps, and riches to amass.

Catch a glimpse of the Temple’s threats in the new Early Access Launch Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpuGUyeO-KE
Early Access launches with a ton of content. The Jaguar section of the Temple complete with unique traps and game mechanics, 10+ regular Curses, 30+ rooms with their own variations, 9 fighting styles, 40+ relics to build synergies with, and much more to discover.

Our roadmap showcased at the top of the Steam page is jam-packed with more content, including new sections of the Temple, weapons, blessings, monsters, bosses, and much more – all developed with the help of the Steam Early Access community.

Curse of the Dead Gods is now available on Steam Early Access and will be released in the future on consoles.
For more information, visit https://curse-of-the-dead-gods.com

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1123770/Curse_of_the_Dead_Gods/



Curse of the Dead Gods is out in Early Access on Steam! We are so excited to finally share this game and we truly hope you'll enjoy it. Our goal is to keep the game updated quite regularly, thanks to your feedback and our Roadmap of the game (you can check it on our Steam page).

We also have a Discord server for our community! Join us to chat with other players and dev members: https://discord.gg/kKsJ3Rx

So, what does this Early Access has to offer?

• 3 Jaguar tiers, each with a distinct environmental and visual flair
  
• 4 Jaguar Game modes acting as difficulty levels and game modifiers

• 9 Weapon Fighting Styles
  
• 40+ Relics

• 10+ Curses
  
• 20+ Blessings available in the Underworld progression

• 6 Enemies, each with their Elite version
  
• 2 Champions
  
• 1 Final Boss

We've got a ton of content coming up in future updates! In the meantime, we hope you'll enjoy Curse of the Dead Gods!

To celebrate the launch of Curse of the Dead Gods on Steam Early Access on March 3rd, we are proud to present our Gameplay Overview Trailer.

https://youtu.be/TlixBMpv-R8

This trailer details the atmosphere, many dangers, and mechanics in the Temple, giving you a rundown of everything from lore to how best to fight your enemies, using traps to your advantage and facing the effects of terrible curses.



With fast-paced and tactical combat with satisfying executions, this Rogue-lite will plunge you into an ever-changing maze where your greed will be put to the test. Pierce the darkness with your trusty torch and defeat the false deities to amass gold, new weapons, and mighty relics. Whether you want more power or riches, you’ll always find meaningful choices to make here.



Curse of the Dead Gods is a modular game with a lot of replayability, perfectly suited for the quick and responsive updates of an Early Access model. We will already have a lot of content for you when the Early access launches, but we also plan to add content on a regular basis based on community feedback.

Curse of the Dead Gods releases March 3rd on Steam Early Access. The game will also be showcased at PAX East 2020 from February 27th to March 1st at the Focus Home Interactive booth (n°29017).
Join us on February 27 at 5 pm CET for an exclusive game presentation with the studio on our official Twitch channel.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1123770/Curse_of_the_Dead_Gods/

Welcome to our brand new devblog! We’re unveiling details about the making of Curse of the Dead Gods, the new roguelite by Passtech Games coming to Steam Early Access on March 3. Today, we’re excited to share more info about its unique art direction!

In order to get exclusive info, we met up with Passtech Games’ Art Director Valentin André-Terramors to discuss challenges and creative vision.



Our aim was always to find a recognizable aesthetic for Curse of The Dead Gods. Passtech Games is a small indie studio and we had to be crafty and ingenuous as a team to reach our goal. Everyone at Passtech is motivated and wants to create a unique looking video game.

I am fond of 2D aesthetics and everything with a hand-drawn feel, even when the product itself is a 3D game. This naturally led me to exploring this during Curse of The Dead Gods’ development.



Light and shadows are at the core of the experience in Curse of The Dead Gods and they were also one of the first concepts introduced at the beginning of the creative process. The image of a lone explorer, equipped only with his torch to navigate an ancient temple - this is what inspired the whole team both for game design and art direction.

Choosing to accentuate the shadows by giving them sharp edges was a big decision and big change for the art direction. From that point on, everything away from the light in-game was pitch-black and therefore full of mysteries, treasures and potential foes. Those big inked shadows gave a distinct dark art fantasy and comic book aesthetic to the game.



When Passtech Games started working on Curse of The Dead Gods, the temple was supposed to be a mysterious lost city where explorers, from various time periods, would succeed each other. The player would then meet fantastic mythological beasts linked to major civilizations. This initial idea was really interesting and opened a world of possibilities but also made everything more complicated for a unified Art Direction. Should the lost city be close to Egyptian architecture with some Angkor touches or should it look like a Greek Atlantis?

Adrien (Lead Designer), Sylvain (Lead Programmer and CEO of Passtech Games), and I talked and finally settled on depicting one architectural style and one civilization. At that point, the studio had already worked out the game mechanic that enables the player to sacrifice gold or blood. This seemed fitting for a South American culture (human sacrifice, El Dorado myth). Unlike other exploration games like Tomb Raider and Uncharted, the team’s goal was to create a dark fantasy universe and distance the game from realism.



The Mayan civilization is enigmatic and still not very well understood. Its mythology evolved over time, making it a perfect setting for a mysterious, forgotten temple.

Visually, a lost temple is a very interesting setting: we try to bring thousand-year-old architectural art to life through colors and gilding. The amount of ornaments and sculptures is perfect for a game where shadows and lights are so present. Mayan and Aztec civilizations open a range of possibilities regarding typical enemies and bosses.



PassTech Games was inspired by various works to render a unique aesthetic. During development the team used to call the game a “3D Darkest Dungeon”, itself inspired by comic artists such as Mike Mignola. The comic Long John Silver was one of my main references for its dark ambiance and a storytelling about a lost Maya temple.

We also got inspired by other materials such as The Lost City of Z (for its greedy explorers and their obsessions), Apocalypto (for its archeological reconstructions), the Road to El Dorado (for its amazing scenery).


screenshot from The Road to El Dorado (2000) by DreamWorks Pictures.

Video games also heavily contributed to our inspirations with Diablo 3, and Gauntlet (2014) for top-down classics or Hades as an unrivalled example of development and polish since its announcement.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild was also a great inspiration for cel shading and VFX effects. This type of cel shading makes the character’s movement more fluid and easier to spot. Both readability and movement are essential to a game with a top-down camera where the character is only taking up a small portion of the screen.

Curse of the Dead Gods launches in Early Access on Steam on March 3rd, 2020: https://curse-of-the-dead-gods.com
The game will also be showcased at PAX East 2020 from February 27th to March 1st at the Focus Home Interactive booth (n°29017)!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1123770/Curse_of_the_Dead_Gods/

We are pleased to announce that Curse of the Dead Gods, the demanding Rogue-Lite that dives you into the heart of a labyrinthine temple infested with monsters and deadly traps, releases in Early Access on Steam on March 3rd 2020!

Curse of the Dead Gods is a project close to our hearts, with many opportunities and possibilities for development. We would like to gather feedback and opinions from the community on the best route to take! Curse of the Dead Gods is a modular game with great replayability, and we believe that Early Access will make the most of it.

Get a first look at Curse of the Dead Gods’ challenging gameplay and unique setting in our Reveal Trailer:
https://youtu.be/57tvlAQ36hE
Guided by your lust for power and wealth, prepare to face terrible curses that will constantly alter your gameplay experience. Using the abilities of a vast arsenal of weapons and the powers of mighty relics, make your way through the shadows to confront the God of Death himself and break the cycle of resurrection.

Available for Early Access on March 3rd, Curse of the Dead Gods offers an adventure full of content, with a demanding learning curve, intense combat, dozens of weapons, relics, curses, traps, and much more to discover.



This Early Access release marks the launch of a roadmap of updates to come over the next few months. New Temples to explore, each with their own universe, unique traps and enemies. New game mechanics are also planned, with new weapons for your arsenal, new curses and relics. Also on the way are new game modes, along with many more features and improvements based on community feedback.



Curse of the Dead Gods launches in Early Access on Steam on March 3rd, 2020.

Come and meet us at PAX East 2020 from February 27th to March 1st at the Focus Home Interactive booth (n°29017)!

Curse of the Dead Gods is available for play in Alpha! This is the LAST WEEK we'll accept new Alpha Testers as we have reached our goal. Register now before it's too late!

To start playing, register for the Alpha: https://curse-of-the-dead-gods.com/first-explorer/
Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/qFrSrV4

• New enemy: Blood Priest
  + Heal other enemies. Can spawn enemies.
  Design notes: FX on the Blood Priest are WIP

Not on my watch!

• New Weapon: Evisceration Claws
  + Critical Hits to enemies with less than 50% Health remaining.

• Curse Removal
  + Choose the Curse you want to be relieved of.

• Random Enemies
  + Enemies are now more randomly chosen to create unexpected combinations and new fights. Note this is a first iteration, expect to meet (too) many Virgins.

• Settings
  + New “System” category in the Options menu: Lets you erase a save.

• New SFX all around!

• Shields
  + Reduced Parry Frames to 10 (from 12)
  + Increased Base Damage of all Shields by ~15%
  Design notes: The extended parry window for Shields was a bit too much exploitable, the bonus is reduced from +4 frames to +2 frames compared to other weapons. On the other hand, shields were a little low on damage considering they only deal single hits.

• Dark Fire Curse
  + Dark braziers now emit an aura that puts off fire and your torch.

Day. Night. Day. Night. Day...

• Stats cost
  + Statistic Buffs' Gold Cost for two statistics at once are now computed at the sum of the two multiplied by 1.5 (from 2).
  Design notes: Double Stats Gold Cost had a tendency to increase too quickly, making them less profitable even when players had enough Gold to spend.

• Timed Challenge Rooms
  + Initial Amount of Gold in the pot is now 2000 (from 1500). Time for emptying has been increased by 10 seconds for Tier 2 and 20 seconds for Tier 3.
  Design notes: Compared to the standard Gold Room, Treasure Rooms require completing a hard challenge to get full value from them. Increasing Gold Gain potential makes them more appealing to get a massive boost of Gold.

Evisceration Claws in action

• Fix for the rollback hammer: you’re no longer teleported at the starting room when using a heavy two-handed weapon.
  
• Fix for collision issues: you no longer go through walls or objects when dodging or using certain types of weapons (ie. claws)

Curse of the Dead Gods is available to play in Alpha! We're looking for new Alpha Testers, are you the one?

To start playing, register for the Alpha: https://curse-of-the-dead-gods.com/first-explorer/
Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/qFrSrV4

New features

• New Pistol: Always trigger Perfect Shots if charged enough.
  
• Small cinematics when killing a Champion or a Boss.
  
• New UI for Curses.

Balancing

• All Cursed Weapons have been rescaled to be less game-breaking.
  
• Some Effects and Affixes powers have been adjusted.
  
• Each point of Perception now gives +5% Gold instead of 4%.
  Design note: We need more Gold!
  
• Final Curse damage over time is now scaled on Maximum Health (-4 HP/sec/1000 HP)
  Design note: Final Curse should be a threat for any build, including those based on heavy Constitution. As all healing is now Constitution scaled, Final Curse should only be counter-able by pure healing instead of just having a big pool of HP.
  
• Breaking regular enemy attacks is now possible with pistols when using the Cross Hands attack instead of Perfect Shots. Perfect Shots still deal Critical Damage.
  Design Note: Easily Breaking enemies patterns' from too far has a tendency to stall the dynamic of combats. Additionally, Perfect Shots were a too fast way to break enemy attacks, while other weapons need anticipation to achieve it. Bows are left unchanged for now.
  
• Changed text of Sentient Shield to “25% chances to automatically trigger a Parry”.
  Design Note: Sentient Shield is designed around having the potential to save players in a flashy way. Previous text could be too much exploited due to its reliability.

Fixed bugs

• Opening map now puts the game in “Pause”.
  
• Tutorial texts don’t appear during cinematics anymore.
  
• Fix for the Relic replacement choice when paying with Blood.
  
• “Caps Lock” is now possible for binding on the Keyboard.
  
• Binding one key to multiple actions is not possible anymore.
  
• Fix for the “Set Default” button that triggered without clicking.

This document presents a new design iteration for the Permanent Progression of Curse of the Dead Gods.

Weapons

At the very start of the game, some Weapons are unlocked to create the initial pool players will find in the Temple (loot and Sanctuaries). All other Weapons are to be unlocked and purchased using Crystal Skulls to add them to the pool and get a chance to loot them or buy them at Sanctuaries.

Weapons are sorted by Fighting Styles. Unlocking a Fighting Style brings 3 different Weapons of that category to the Pool. After that, single upgrades add an additional weapon of that category to the pool.

Starting equipment (Not lootable nor purchasable, always equipped at first)

• Torch
  
• [Main, Sword] Machete
  
• [Off-Hand, Range] Old Pistol

Every additional Weapon to upgrade has a specific condition to be first unlocked.

Work in progress ideas:

• First Death (for Weapons we want to unlock right after players' first try)
  
• Arena Master (clear a Weapon’s Room without taking damage)
  
• Curse Master (be relieved of the Final Curse)
  
• Etc.

<God>’s Blessing (10 Levels):

• Unlock Conditions: Kill the <God> Boss
  
• Each Level slightly increases the probability to Loot Rare/Very Rare Weapons in the <God> Section

This is a mock-up, not the final version of the presentation of unlockable content.

Relics

As for Weapons, Relics are split between those unlocked at the start of the game, forming the initial pool of Relics to be found, and Locked Relics that will be added to the pool after upgrading.

Upgrades:

Similar to Weapons Upgrades, all Relics are listed, each locked ones have to be unlocked with one specific condition before it is available for upgrade.

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Thanks for reading and playing!

We hope you enjoy those new ideas and this series! Those features are not implemented in the game yet but should be a part of an upcoming update. If you have any feedback or question, drop a comment in the comment section below.

Next episode will dive into Secrets, stay tuned!

Register for the Alpha: https://curse-of-the-dead-gods.com/first-explorer/
Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/qFrSrV4
Get monthly newsletter about the development of Curse of the Dead Gods: http://www.eepurl.com/gBjLqr

Curse of the Dead Gods is available for play in Alpha! We're looking for new Alpha Testers, are you the one?

To start playing, register for the Alpha: https://curse-of-the-dead-gods.com/first-explorer/
Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/qFrSrV4

• Tutorial
  + A tutoquest has been added at the beginning of the game to help new players use some basic moves and combo.

• Loot 2.0.
  + New ways to find Gear: chests and enemies can now drop items you can collect on the fly.
  + Gear Levels: each item (Weapon or Relic) now has a Level, showing their basic level of power.
  + Weapons rework: Weapons will now carry Affixes, adding special properties. The Weapon pool has been redesigned with adjusted effects and with some new ones as well.
  + Relics rework: you can now carry up to 6 Relics at a time. Relics of a higher power can now increase one statistic additionally to their main effect. The Relics pool has been redesigned, with adjusted effects and also new ones.
  + Sanctuaries always offer Gear of a higher Power Level than those lootable by chests or enemies.

Loot <3

• Game Scaling
  + The game now level-ups each time a Champion or Boss is defeated
  + Enemies power, Traps damage, Gold Prices, and Loot level increase!

• Statistics
  + Statistics have been rescaled: 5 points in one statistic is now equivalent of 1 point in the last versions.
  + Blessing Sanctuaries now increase chosen stat(s) by +5.
  + Each point of Constitution increases Maximum Health by +50 (does not restore Health anymore, the current percentage of life is kept).
  + Each point of Dexterity increases all Weapons' damage by +1% (Value is directly integrated into the white damage number when you consult a Weapon in your inventory)
  + Each point of Perception increases Gold collected from any source by +4%.

• Healing
  + The majority of healing effects are now expressed as a percentage of Maximum Health rather than a fixed value, making them more powerful with increased Constitution.
  + New healing Relics have been added, as well as some healing Affixes for Weapons.

• Critics
  + Introduction of Critics, allowing weapons to deal an extra +50% damage under certain conditions.
  + Critical damage is displayed with a yellow number and a special FX playing around the screen.
  + By default, some Weapons now deal critical damage:
  Swords and Heavy Two-Handed Weapons deal critical damage on Combo Finisher.Claws deal critical damage on Charged Attack.
  Daggers deal critical damage when striking enemies in the back.
  Spears deal critical damage when striking enemies with the tip of the Weapon.
  Pistols and Bows deal critical damage on Perfect shots.
  Maces have no default way to deal critical damage.

• New UI
  + New Main Menu with links to Steam page, Discord server, and latest Patch note. It’s also prettier, isn’t it?
  + New Pause Menu with Inventory and Settings access.
  + New displays for Weapons, Relics, and Curses.
  + New Buying Menu for Sanctuaries.

Even Henry looks happy

• New Rooms
  + Two new exploration Rooms have been added in the Jaguar Section.

• New Curses
  + Dark Fire
  + Living Temple

• Art
  + New look for the Timer Challenge rooms + New mechanism to start the challenge.
  + Champions and Boss’ rooms have been decorated.
  + Blood Urns have been remodeled.
  + Timer and Champions/Boss Health bars have been redesigned.

Look at those cute paw prints

• Sound Design and Music
  + Some changes have been made in the Twins Champion and Jaguar Boss rooms.

• Final Curse
  + Damage over time has been reduced from 10 HP/sec to 5 HP/sec.

• Bows
  + Bows have been reworked to get a more unique feeling when using them:
  + When using a bow, Dodge turns into a Dash, with no actual dodging window but costing No Stamina.
  (Note that this modification is a prototype, and is subject to changes according to feedback).

They see me dashing...

• Crash when Parrying as been fixed.
  
• Contextual actions are quicker to trigger
  
• Now possible to cancel a Charged Attack with a Two-Handed Heavy Weapon with a parry or a dodge roll before it is released.

• Roll into walls and getting stuck out of the map.
  
• Projectiles that go through enemies and don’t hit them.
  
• When buying a Relic at a Sanctuary and switching with one in your Inventory, a non-selected Relic can be replaced with the newly purchased one. Double-check!
  
• Bonuses to Critics don’t apply correctly to Critical Hits done with the tip of Spears
  
• When removing the Final Curse, the effect of the Curse is still active in the current room. Get out of the room to cancel the Curse completely. RUN!

This document presents a new design iteration for the Permanent Progression of Curse of the Dead Gods.

To give players tools to unlock new items and boons during their journey, let us introduce a new currency: Crystal Skulls. Unlike Gold, Crystal Skulls are a currency that persists after death. Players can accumulate these one run after the other.

Where to find Crystal Skulls:

Crystal Skulls are to be found during core gameplay as a collectible.

+ Regular enemies have a small chance to drop one Crystal Skull when killed.
+ Elite enemies always drop one Crystal Skull when killed.
+ Champions & Boss always drop a large quantity of Crystal Skulls when defeated.
+ Extra Crystal Skulls may also be found in some chests or hidden places.

Underworld and cycle of Death:

+ Crystal Skulls are meant to be offered to the Dead Gods to permanently restore a portion of their power.
+ Whenever a player fails to finish the game (they die), they meet the Dead Gods in the Underworld, an ethereal place where they can offer Crystal Skulls to get persistent boons.
+ After offering Crystal Skulls and unlocking new elements, the character will be resurrected by the Dead Gods at the start of the Temple

Unlockable Conditions:

Every Unlockable in the game has conditions to be accessible for payment:

+ Starting Upgrades will unlock right after the first Death of the hero character
+ A majority of upgrades are hidden at the start, but their existence is known to the player. The game will tip the player with a more or less cryptic clue on how to unlock them.
+ Some Upgrades can be linked to others to form chains of unlockings, meaning players have to unlock one item first to be able to unlock the next one(s).

🡲 Once unlocked, the upgrade may be purchased by the player if he can afford it with enough Crystal Skulls. Bought upgrades are persistent for all next runs.

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We hope you enjoy those new ideas and this series! Those features are not implemented in the game yet but should be a part of an upcoming update. If you have any feedback or question, drop a comment in the comment section below.

Next episode will dive into Weapons & Relics upgrades, stay tuned!

Register for the Alpha: https://curse-of-the-dead-gods.com/first-explorer/
Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/qFrSrV4
Get monthly newsletter about the development of Curse of the Dead Gods: http://www.eepurl.com/gBjLqr

This document presents a new design iteration for the Permanent Progression of Curse of the Dead Gods.

Permanent Progression is a typical aspect of modern roguelite games: the game teases players to « try again » by offering some short, medium and long term milestones players can reach even in defeat.

Dos & Don'ts

What we DO want to achieve with the Permanent Progression system:

+ Deliver content in a more smoothly way: full content can be overwhelming for newcomers. In terms of Gear, every weapon or relic is not required for new players to enjoy their first runs. Teasing players to unlock new Gear in their next runs is a good way to stimulate their curiosity while introducing new concepts in a more digestible manner.

+ Tease players with Secrets: players would be more excited to play again if more things were to be discovered through the runs. Secrets can play an important part in the « play again » aspect, especially if they tease players during their runs (i.e. inaccessible chests or doors, etc.)

+ Speeding up experienced players’ runs: experienced players should be able to speed up their runs to avoid spending too much time in the early stages of the game, focusing on reaching higher and more difficult parts.

+ Handle long term replayability: long term Milestones and New Game+ mechanics must encourage players to try again, even after a failed run.


What we DON’T want to achieve with the Permanent Progression :

+ Holding content and fun stuff for try-harders: we have to make sure to have an exciting initial setup for first runs so they are the most enjoyable possible. The game must immediately be fun and attractive, therefore not asking hours of gameplay before revealing itself.

+ Increase power through grinding: we want to keep the game fair and balanced for every run, especially the early ones. Players must not get the feeling that grinding powerups through permanent progression is the way to reach further parts of the game.


------------

Thanks for reading and playing!

We hope you enjoy those new ideas and this series! Those features are not implemented in the game yet but should be a part of an upcoming update. If you have any feedback or question, drop a comment in the comment section below.

Next episode will dive into Crystal Skulls, stay tuned!

Register for the Alpha: https://curse-of-the-dead-gods.com/first-explorer/
Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/qFrSrV4
Get monthly newsletter about the development of Curse of the Dead Gods: http://www.eepurl.com/gBjLqr