Hello everyone! ːsteamhappyː

We hope you’ve had pleasant holidays, however you chose to spend them. This year sure was a bumpy ride, but 2020 is nearing its end. Hopefully, 2021 will be much more agreeable and the situation improves worldwide.

We at the Perun Creative studio were not left unaffected by the global pandemic. Some members of our team had to self-isolate and governmental restrictions did not make the situation any easier. That has caused some delays in our plans and difficulties that needed to be overcome. However, despite all of that, it has been a very eventful year for Hobo: Tough Life.

In March, we made stealing from buildings a bit more interesting with the addition of interior locations for residential buildings and warehouses. The March update also introduced thugs into the game, which now make the streets of Praslav that much more dangerous. NPCs also started wearing weather appropriate clothes and put on more layers the colder it gets.

The Narrative Update in August was our biggest update to date. At the first glance, it did not add much; just some quests, items and a bunch of texts, right? Well, let us put things into perspective. Currently, there is:

7 factions
165 unique NPCs
186 narrative quests
657 unique items
488 pages of text (164 351 words)

That’s right, 488 pages! Hobo is basically an average Dickensian novel, down to the focus on the members of the lower classes of society. Our writers are actually crazy. Some people have questioned that amount of text in our game: “Is it really necessary?” It was always meant to be this way. Hobo was supposed to be primarily a narrative experience, survival game second. We’d like to think that we have succeeded in that and the game is full of small stories and personal dramas inspired by true events.

After the release of the Narrative update, we immediately started work on the 1.0 version of the game. That has resulted in the current limbo-like state for the game. The updated version we are currently working on is no longer compatible with the public version on Steam. That means that even the smallest fixes now have to wait for the 1.0 release in January (hopefully).

Following the Narrative update, we have also called upon the community to help us translate the game. We were humbled and honestly quite surprised by the response. It was heartwarming seeing the community come together to work on the translations for the game. We have learned much from that process as well, which will hopefully let us coordinate such efforts in the future more smoothly and clearly. Huge thanks to everyone who participated.

So, what’s next?

We are currently polishing the game and preparing it for the final release. We don't want to spoiler all the surprises that we've added (or improved) since the last update, but here is glimpse of things which you can look forward to!

New locations






Improved visuals - volumetric clouds


Improved visuals - new fire VFX


Improved visuals - reworked flashlight


Complete sound redesign, expanded soundtrack, new sound effects...


Achievements


New game mechanics like fast travel using public transport

Enhancing visuals and adding more effects overall for more immersion

Reworking character manager

Redesigning buffs

GUI polish

Crushing dozens of bugs and so much more!

2020 has been a rough year for multiple reasons, but we made the most out of it. However, none of that would have been possible without you! Big thanks to everybody who’s been supporting us along the way; players, fans, community translators, testers, streamers, youtubers, our friends and families. Thank you for all your support from the bottom of our hearts.

This has been going for long enough. We are sure you want to get going and get ready for the New Year’s celebrations. Go right ahead and remember, take it easy.. We’ll see you in 2021, folks! ːsteamhappyː

- Perun Creative

Join us in our today's lives stream! ːsteamhappyː

Our community manager will playthrough the game, while answering your questions regarding the game.

Join us in our today's lives stream! ːsteamhappyː

Our community manager will playthrough the game, while answering your questions regarding the game.

Hello, everyone! ːsteamhappyː

Many of you have been calling for non-English translations and some even offered help with the translation process. Originally, we wanted to first finalize the English translation of the game and then have that translated into various other languages. That process would take long and would not be done before the full release of the game next year. However, with your help, we can push the translations out much sooner!

We would like to start with Chinese, Russian, and German. Depending on the success and interest in community translations, we might even add more languages in the future. If you are both fluent in English and a native speaker of any of the mentioned languages, we would more than welcome your help with the translations!

We have decided to go with the community translations because that way we can get translations of the game out sooner. The translations in the final version will still go through professional proof-reading phase to ensure that players from all over the world can enjoy the game in their native language without being distracted by spelling mistakes and grammar errors, but this way rough translations of the game will be available sooner!

If you are interested in helping us translate the game, you can get more information following the links bellow:

This link takes you to our Discord:
https://discord.gg/jggTSsU

This link takes you to the Translations thread in Steam Discussions:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/632300/discussions/0/4158467629226627353/

After 5 loooong months, the narrative update is finally here! An update that delivers a massive amount of new content to the game.



For over a decade, no one has been able to bring the many factions of the homeless together. The throne of the Beggar King has been sitting empty for far too long. Who will earn enough respect and prove themselves worthy of uniting the homeless? Will you rise to the occasion?

Almost two hundred new quests with various interconnections and outcomes were added to the game. All this packed into a rich narrative environment full of NPCs and intrigues. These quests come with a large number of new items and activities that you can do in the game. All the locations and NPCs that we were slowly adding over the past updates are no longer hidden (or inactive). Since the last update, we have also added multiple new indoor and outdoor NPCs together with two new locations (sewers and the throne room).





As with any story content, it is hard to share information without actually spoiling the experience. Therefore we won't reveal any further details about the actual story. We are leaving that up to you 😉

(For the best experience we advise you to start a brand new game)

Elections are directly linked to the story and they are present throughout the whole game. There is now a dedicated category for that in the diary. There, you can see all the votes you have acquired and the remaining votes you need to get before the elections are held.



We have completely redesigned interactions with street NPCs. In the past, if you wanted to steal, beg, or trade with the NPC you had to go through randomized dialogues until one of those interactions popped up. This is no longer the case. After initiating a conversation with an NPC, all the desired options are immediately available. However, each option has a different probability of success (this is based on skills, perks, and difficulty of the NPC). The more you talk with the NPC the more it lets its guards down and success in stealing/begging/trading is more likely.



The minigame – a point of contention for many players. Getting rid of it entirely would be nearly impossible without a complete rework of how our game works. But we have redesigned it and optimized it for more player comfort. Not only it looks different, but it also feels different. There is now only a single green field that gets bigger as you improve your skills, and the arrow has a slight sway to its movements. Green is good, red is bad. Simple as that.



NPCs can now level up. Yes, all of you serial bullies better watch out. NPCs will not let themselves being bullied and beaten in fights without a response anymore. They will now get stronger and acquire weapons to better defend themselves if you push them too hard. That way they can pose a challenge even later in game.

• Added story intro
  
• Improved and redesigned outro
  
• Fixed relocation inside of buildings
  
• Fixed detection of Xbox one controller
  
• Fixed camera offset while in dig animation
  
• Added usable rest places in Fort and Prison
  
• Fixed issues with the health of NPCs after load
  
• Fixed missing vehicles colliders in the pit area
  
• Fixed incorrect coins rewards after finishing a season
  
• Fixed English translation of conversations with drunk NPCs
  
• Fixed chasers’ behavior while the player is dead or beaten
  
• Removed probability of drunk NPCs during the first day in the game
  
• Fixed item inclusion after taking them from bins in co-op
  
• Some NPCs can now give you discounts in their shops based on your relations with them
  
• NPC retreats after losing a fight with the player
  
• Fixed system of gaining smell from gear
  
• Repair place in Mall shelter relocated
  
• Updated visuals of indoor characters
  
• Various improvements in map indication
  
• Improved visuals of conversation GUI
  
• Improved notification of negative statuses
  
• Improved visuals of side notifications
  
• Improved camera handling on a gamepad
  
• Added new vehicles across the city
  
• Added new lockers across the city
  
• Fixed NPCs being angry endlessly
  
• Fixed multiple props glitches across the city
  
• Fixed missing notification after buying an item from an NPC
  
• Improved performance of indoor NPCs
  
• Fixed the issue of shops not refreshing their stock
  
• Drinking animation randomized

Have a great day and enjoy the update!
- Perun Creative

Hi everyone ːsteamhappyː

Hope you are doing great!

We have been working extremely hard on the next update aka "the narrative update". Even though the update is content wise ready, we have decided to postpone the release date from July to August in order to have more time on bug fixing and polishing.

The delay is caused by the complexity of the whole narrative content. We have added almost two hundred new quests with various interconnections and outcomes. All this packed in to rich narrative environment full of NPCs and intrigues.





Even though the update is labeled as narrative, the story won't be the only new thing in the game. Among other features we have completely redesigned interactions with street NPCs, but let's keep the details hidden until the actual update. It would not be a surprise then. 🤪

Have a great day!
- Perun Creative

We hope you are doing well during these difficult times. Nevertheless covid-19 won't stop us from delivering what we have promised, so here comes the update ːsteamhappyː

Indoor stealing via 2D GUI was transformed into 3D. This means that inside locations like residential buildings, warehouses... were replaced with 3D equivalents with residents, lockers etc.










In the previous version, combat was initiated only by the player (except situations when NPC was drunk). Players were thus safe wandering around the city. This is no longer the case. Around the city there are now thugs. Aggressive NPCs, who are triggered by your presence. If you refuse to give them what they want (money or some loot), they will beat you up.


We have added significant amount of new NPCs in to the game. This resulted in better variety among the characters in the crowd. Also thanks to the increased amount of models, NPCs are now dressed differently depending on the outside temperature.

Newly added male models


Newly added female models


Newly added story characters


Prison has underwent many changes. Equipment in the cell is no longer only decorable, but actually usable. Once you enter the prison, all your personal belongings are taken away. After you leave the cell your items are returned to you. Except the illegal ones (like weapons or drugs), which are confiscated and stashed in the police station.


We have added two new perks.

1. Smuggler - Reduces amount of contraband confiscated if you get arrested.
   
2. Alcoholic - You are more charismatic while inebriated.

Also each perk has now hand drawn picture in the description


We have added lots of new story related locations and NPCs. So far most of the NPCs are not intractable, but this is going to change with the upcoming narrative update.

• Added new bins and lockers around the map
  
• Added new inside location - post office
  
• Added vending machine synchronization
  
• Repaired issues with weapons trading
  
• Repaired issues with stealing using mouse
  
• Repaired inaccurate collider dimensions of other players, when they are inside building or dead
  
• Reworked save/load system of NPCs
  
• Removed outdated chinese translations
  
• Repaired broken state of NPCs (e.g. NPC permanently angry on the player for no reason)
  
• Fixed game crashing when exiting game while GUI is still active
  
• Fixed NPC behavior after combat
  
• Fixed crime detection by surrounding NPCs
  
• Fixed issues with selling equipped gear and weapons
  
• Willpower no longer needed for initiating stealing
  
• Fixed thread collisions in lockers synchronisation
  
• Fixed time issues after creating new game
  
• Fixed lost and found shop ("death shop")
  
• Fixed problems with ambient sounds after leaving inside location
  
• Fixed issues with bag equipment
  
• Fixed footsteps sounds in inside locations
  
• Fixed hints system while sleeping
  
• Stats maximum reduction after death decreased from 10 to 5
  
• Removed reduction of dryness after death
  
• Replaced interaction synchronization with more robust system
  
• Exit phrases of NPCs were moved from conversation to pop up messages
  
• Added system for re-positioning players and NPCs when they are outside combat area
  
• Added warning dialog for situations when steam connection failed
  
• Improved visualization of items with stock count over 999
  
• Repaired synchronization of bins content between players
  
• Smoother 2D images rendering (less pixelated pictures)
  
• Fixed issues with trade request icon
  
• Fixed rare error when triggering combat in coop
  
• Fixed possibility to set more hideout bonuses then actual maximum
  
• Fixed problems with hideout bonuses after death
  
• Repaired positioning of various props glitched inside near by buildings
  
• Reduced interaction distance
  
• System of weather calamities was reworked -> there is no longer weather calamity during first season, next two seasons are extremely hard and after these two there are no more weather extremes)
  
• Replaced legacy willpower icon in items description
  
• Fixed problems with health of inside NPCs
  
• Improved colliders in Zizkov area
  
• Improved overall game balancing
  
• Improved spawn distribution system of NPCs
  
• Improved garbage collection and memory managment
  
• Improved combat animations synchronization
  
• Improved depth of field
  
• Improved shadermaps
  
• Core code optimizations

Enjoy the new update! ːsteamhappyː
- Perun Creative

Today we are going to look at what to expect in 2020. So let's get started!



As you can see in the roadmap there will be 3 main updates. Small updates between them are probable, but not certain.

This update will primarily focus on new features. You can look forward for 3D indoor stealing (replacement for 2D indoor stealing), this means that inside locations like residential buildings, warehouses... will be replaced with 3D equivalents with residents, lockers etc.



In the current version, combat is initiated only by the player (except situations when NPC is drunk). This is going to change. Around the city there will be various aggressive NPCs. If you refuse to give them what they want (money or loot), they will beat you up.

There will be multiple changes regarding prison. Equipment in the cell won't be only decorable, but actually usable. Illegal items (like weapons or drugs) will be confiscated once the player enters prison.

But that's not all. There will be lots of various improvements, new NPCs, locations, tons of bug fixes and more. So stay tuned, because this update is almost here :)





Bare in mind that with this update the base price of the game will slightly increase.

Main focus of this update will be narrative. Story is a feature that we have been working on since the beginning. There have been many iterations and changes through out the development, but we are finally working towards completion.

With story the game will have finally a goal. You will have a purpose. Purpose to actually achieve something and not just survive as long as possible. We would love to share all the details, but... we don't want to spoil it. So please be patient. We will share more information once the update is bit closer for public release.





Yep, final version. You are reading this correctly. This means leaving early access and delivering highly polished product.

This will be the most challenging part of the development. Besides extensive bug fixing, optimization and polishing we will be working on things like tutorial, achievements, refactor of menu, full gamepad support... Simply on everything that has lower priority at the moment.

The final version will also address issues regarding translations. We know that Chinese translation is not the best at the moment, but this is simply due to fact that the game has lots of texts and for our small studio it is really hard to keep everything translated during early access. However for the final version each language will have high quality translation with proper QA. We are planning to have the full version of the game in Czech, English, Chinese, Russian and German.

Enough talking typing and back to working! Wish us luck :)
- Perun Creative

Hi everyone ːsteamhappyː

Christmas came early, because it's update time!!!

But first let me take a selfie. I mean, let's look first at Game Developers Session 2019. On this conference we were showing our game and the feedback was awesome! Since this session was mainly for game developers and press, we have received priceless advice and suggestions. which will help us make the game even better!





Enough about GDS. Here comes the juicy stuff!

With every update we are always trying to push the visuals even further without sacrificing performance. And as the old saying goes: Do or do not, there is no try! So we did.

Thanks to some performance optimization in volumetric lighting we were able to add this effect to most of the street lights, thus creating better atmosphere during night.



We have also added effect called distance depth of field. This effect makes further objects a bit blurred, which results in more smoother image.



Icons for statuses, buffs, shelter perks, categories, addictions and willpower have been completely redesigned.





We have added new story location.



It is finally here! Combat takes place in conversation mode. The system is turn-based. It depends on your weapon, strength, armor, health, oponent's health, etc.

Combat can currently happen in these situation:

1. Bullying other hobos (attempt to get their stuff).
   
2. Being caught by chasers and policemen (attempt to avoid prison).
   
3. Dealing with drunk NPCs. From time to time, hobos can now get drunk and some of them can get quite aggressive

Currently there is more than 25+ weapons. Each weapon has its own durability, critical chance and attack and defense bonus. Weapons can be crafted, bought or gained through quests.


List of newly added perks:

1. Adrenaline - In combat, you can use willpower to heal 10 HP.
   
2. Weapon master - Durabilty of your weapons is drained at a slower pace.
   
3. Masochist - Getting hurt makes you feel good. Receiving hit in combat restores your morale.
   
4. Scrapper - In combat, you can use willpower to hit your opponent twice in a row with no retaliation.
   
5. Weaponsmith - You can craft makeshift weapons.

Example of combat

• New outside and inside npcs
  
• New unique profile pictures for some inside characters
  
• Added healthbar of NPC to the conversation interface
  
• Fixed issues with selecting items in shops
  
• Fixed dislocated street lights near business area
  
• Fixed issues with texts after language was switched
  
• Fixed issues with idle animation during conversation
  
• Fixed possibility to crouch during conversation
  
• Fixed decals glitching around church area
  
• Fixed Drag&Drop in quick slots
  
• Fixed dislocated UVs on some buildings
  
• Fixed autosave error in lobby
  
• Fixed possibility to trade with players who are inside
  
• Increased number of default bandages from 1 to 5
  
• Improved texture resolution and mesh quality of pillars
  
• Cars replaced with higher quality alternatives
  
• Added new quests and services
  
• Added possibility to turn on double vSync
  
• Added notification for when a status is maxed out
  
• Added sound effect for fall damage
  
• Fixed disconnection of lockpicking sfx volume with global sfx volume
  
• Repaired missing props
  
• Reworked Drax surrounding
  
• Improved specularity of various materials
  
• Improved colliders in Zizkov
  
• Improved AI navigation
  
• Small code optimisations

Enjoy the new update and merry Christmas! ːsteamhappyː
- Perun Creative

Hi everyone!

It's update time ːsteamhappyː

We are currently focusing 100% on creating narrative part of the game. We have made huge progress in this area, but there is still lot to do. The story revolves around interaction with various factions (Guzzlers, Criminals, Baron, Junkies, Fort,...). Each faction has its own background story, unique characters and story line.

In the past few weeks we've been working on implementing those factions in the game. This means creating 3D models, adding new locations, writing quests etc. Small part of this is already available in this update. However new NPCs are not yet interactive, because their narrative content is not finished.

New location - Fort




New location - Guzzlers




Over 25 new characters. Others are already in the production.


Writers went crazy. 40+ new quests and that's far from all :D


We have news regarding combat, one good and one bad. Lets start with the less pleasant one. Due to a complexity and limited time we had to abandoned freeform combat system. We have worked on this for sooo loooong, however we were still far from completion and since our primary focus is story there was no time left for us to finish this feature in its original form. Nevertheless we came up with an alternative fighting system. Combat takes place in conversation mode. The system is turn-based. It depends on your weapon, strength, armor, health, oponent's health, etc. It isn't as great as freeform fighting, but on the other hand it opens possibilities to connect combat with dialogues e.g. options followed by threats, dealing with aggressive npcs etc. Also choosing this alternative approach means that combat will be in the game much sooner. This means weapons, new perks, fights with chasers, policemen, hobos and more in the next update ːsteamhappyː

Sneak peek of weapons


Combat (Alpha version!) #1



Combat (Alpha version!) #2

• Reduced CPU performance overhead of 3D characters
  
• Reworked system of 3D hobos (day/night behavior removed)
  
• Lots of small performance improvements in code
  
• Fixed issues with resetting animal's and hobo's data after changing worlds
  
• Fixed issues with missing hobos
  
• Improved hideout performance
  
• Added weapon slots in the inventory
  
• Improved conversation system (more robust and stable)
  
• Fixed possibility to start conversation while the player is beat up
  
• Improved reflections on multiple places
  
• Fixed light blending in prison
  
• Fixed world bounds around Zizkov
  
• Reworked response system of NPCs + new responses
  
• Reduced size of the fire barrel
  
• Improved fire barrel lighting
  
• Fixed incorrect position on map when inside
  
• Fixed issues of random talks with hobos
  
• Fixed possibility to buy already sold items for half the price
  
• Fixed issues with reduction of patience points in conversation
  
• Fixed problems with missing options after conversation minigame
  
• Fixed AI navigation under train station
  
• Lots of small game balancing improvements
  
• Added new services for Bear

Enjoy the new update! ːsteamhappyː

- Perun Creative