Finally, after so many years, Jupiter Hell, our turn-based sci-fi roguelike, spiritual successor to "Doom, the Roguelike" is out on Steam Early Access!

Rip and tear zombies, demons, and heavy metal monstrosities with chainguns and chainsaws on randomized levels set all over Jupiter’s orbit. Buy, play and leave a review here! And most importantly, please help us spread the word! Share, send it to your friends, poke your favorite streamers, and share with your communities!

Thank you for being with us in this important hour! <3

It's the final countdown! This version changelog might be short, cause we don't want to destabilize the game before Early Access launch, however, two major changes have still made the cut.

First and foremost. There is a macOS version finally! It should be still considered experimental, as we didn't have the possibility to test it on a lot of devices (known significant issues happen on Intel Iris Pro 5200), and as yet not very well optimized, but it should be a reasonable start. Note that because we use MoltenVK and hence Metal, it will only work on macOS Mojave or newer operating systems. Also, we'll be rolling out a hotfix for bluish scanlines tomorrow.

Due to problems with app signing, for the time being macOS versions will be Steam only.

Second major change is an overhaul of lighting - not only we made stuff by default brighter (by changing default lights strength and HDR parameters), but we also brought light to levels that were poorly lit - most noticeable on BSP style levels with corridors.

Apart from that there are several bugfixes and a slight balance change to Io Gateway. Take note that the Reavers that spawn from that portal wont stop spawning until you enter it!

We are more or less in a feature freeze until Early Access release, not to mess stuff up. Some things that we still planned to squeeze in are almost ready, but will appear in the first update after EA, including a Black Site special level, a CRI branch for Io, energy weapons on Io and healing terminals. Stay tuned as Early Access is not the end, it's the beginning!

Full changelog follows:


Next versions will be Release Candidates for EA, only bugfixes, followed by feature-less 0.8.0. Once the game launches August 1st on Early Access, we'll return to regular programming.

P.S. Oh, and if you didn't see the Early Access launch trailer yet, enjoy ;):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY8hfy0GopQ

This is a quick release, as we have some features that we still want to push before Early Access, and we'll need to feature-freeze the release soon! Apart from that some major fixes have been added too!

Most notably we added the last big change before Early Access - Player Progression - later in development there will be more content that it will unlock, but now you can give us feedback on the current locks - they should automatically unlock if you've been collecting badges, otherwise some work might need to be done to get back all the Challenges and Ultraviolence. New badges have been added so the progress goes smoother. The currently locked stuff should be achieveable by a casual player - if it isn't, please tell!

If for any reason you want to start with a clean state, delete player.dat from the game folder.

First part of the Io upgrades is also go - Io is 6 levels deep, is also inhabitated by former CRI soldiers, there's a new special level (Io Warehouse) and a new transition level at Io 6 - Gateway.

There's one balance change - SMGs should be a bit more accurate.

Notable bugfixes include speeding up the loading significantly, reenabling volumetric lights, and several crash fixes.

We need these last versions before Early Access tested as much as possible and as soon as possible, so please help us out on this last stretch! <3


Next version will be out really soon (if bugfixes are needed), or around Monday (last changes before EA). Good luck!

This may be a point release, but boooy a lot of new stuff is here! The biggest code-wise (but hopefully barely noticable) is the fact that we merged into a new rendering architecture with Vulkan as the default API. We only started optimizations on it, so the benefits as yet are small, but will ultimately lead to both performance gains as well as new graphical goodness. It is IMPERATIVE however to at least briefly test this release on your machine before Friday! Pretty please <3.

If you have any issues running the game (that you didn't before), please contact us ASAP! (preferably on Discord, but forums are also ok). If the game doesn't run at all you can also try passing --gl via right-click properties on Steam, but do report the problem anyway.


I promised new stuff, so another big change is the long awaited voice acting for our JupiterGuy, by the irreplacable Mark Meer! We still didn't add all the interactions that we wanted, but a lot of it is already in. Be warned that our hero has a foul mouth! To those offended by this or streaming/youtubeing (or playing with children beside them), there's an option to tone down the profanity. You can also raise it, but it'll just remove some of the non-profane options. If you're not a big fan of VO, or want to hear less of it because you're playing the hundreth damn time you can also configure the frequency - from off or plot-only quips, to the full package. Tell us what you think!


For the hardcore players, we invite you to try a bit of the old ULTRAVIOLENCE! While it isn't the highest difficulty we want to add, it should keep you entertained in the meantime. While on the topic of difficulty - we did some rebalancing - there are more enemies overall, Easy is easier (accuracy nerf to enemies), Medium is a bit harder and Hard should be even harder.


Next, we added a new weapon class - SMGs. These automatic weapons have poor accuracy (especially at longer distances), but dish a lot of bullets. The benefit however is that they benefit from pistol only skills.


Also noteworthy, each class now has a Skilled trait that improves their class active and passive abilities. Our scout is slowly turning into an assassin?


Rounding up the big ones, two Steam features were added - Steam Cloud Saves, and Steam achievements - the latter however work only partially - you wont be able to browse them on Steam until the game is officially released.

Apart from that a huge chunk of smaller changes and bugfixes awaits, see the full changelog below!


Next version (0.7.3) will be out in little more than a week! This will be the last version with new features before the August 1st Early Access launch! If all goes well we'll add account progression and finally upgrade Io to a worthy moon!

It's that time again! While we still are in the progress of updating Io, there's a regular drop of new features for the game for your enjoyment!

Most notably we finally added weapon and armor modding to the game! You can apply a single mod to any non-advanced weapon, and pick the new Whizkid trait to increse the mod capacity by 2 per level. Technicians are smarter, and can apply a single mod to advanced weapon or armor! Currently available mods are Power (damage or protection), Accuracy and Bulk (magazine size or armor durability).

We also upgraded the UI - this is not a full overhaul that is planned post Early Access release, but you'll find it a bit nicer to see things that are important. Speaking of which you can now turn off the CRT effects if you don't like them.

We're in progress of adding a new general purpose level generator (inspired by the awesome roguelike Cogmind) - currently, you can encounter it only on Io, but once we polish up the kinks it will be more widespread.

To add more tactical depth we added CRI phase devices (smarter than DRL's, because they try to teleport you to a safe place), and repair kits (replacing armor-shards - basically a carryable version).

Finally, there's a new challenge, probably the hardest and weirdest one yet - Angel of Vampirism.

Apart from that a huge chunk of smaller changes and bugfixes awaits, see the full changelog below!


Next version (0.7.2) will be out in two weeks time, and hopefully will come with Vulkan and OSX support, and a significant drop of tactical gameplay enhancements. Hopefully we'll finally hear the Marine swear too ;).

Welcome to Io, Marines - there's a war raging! There's a lot of meat in this release so gear up and get ready (and restart Steam to force the update!)

We’ve added a whole new level, Io, placed between Europa and Beyond. On Io you'll encounter CRI - a "good" corporation who came to take out the trash. Unfortunately, that also includes you. Two new enemies from this faction can be encountered - CRI marines and CRI bots.

NOTE: Io and it's content is a work in progress - there's only one branch, no special levels, and no new weapons (yes, they're coming!). Our next update should address that so stay tuned!

We’ve also added a full-blown tutorial for new players or to refresh your memory. Technically it's mandatory, but if you really don't want to do it, set skip_tutorial to true in the options. We’ve also included is a more robust help system.

We’ve taken a look at the scoring system and revamped it so it’s easier to understand:


We’re pretty happy withe this as it makes a bit more sense, but let us know what you think!

Finally there's a lot more music added to Callisto by our Roland La Goy, and a general sound update for the enemies - turn those sliders up :P.

So that’s all for this release Marines.

Our next major version should be out in ~two weeks and will include further UI color improvements, additional Io content and more so stay tuned! As always, see below for a full changelog and we await your feedback.

Have fun with your new CRI friends on Io!

Took a bit longer than planned, but we're back with a fresh new BETA!

There are two big changes in this one - the first being active class skills! Each of the three classes has gotten an active skill that is available from the start, and is usable once per level. Marine aquires Adrenaline which can convert your pain factor into health, Scout has gotten Stealth, which is basically a short-term invisibility (broken by attacking though) and Technician has a Smoke Screen which works exactly like a smoke grenade thrown under your feet! To increase the availability of those (and other) skills with a cooldown, stimpacks now reset cooldowns (for the "once per level" ones you'll need a military stimpack though).

The second big change are Vaults! These are special rooms that appear on some levels (currently not on BSP or cave levels), that have locked doors. You need to find a terminal to unlock them and inside you'll find some more difficult enemies. You'll find a special box too though!

At the same time we rewrote from scratch the algorithm that picked monsters for the level. It should now have more consistent results (and a lot power for future changes).

Finally we added two challenges that incidentally allow to have a taste of later game content -- Carnage which is a rocket launcher only game and Confidence which throws you right into Europa.

We also implemented the Discord API - you'll have rich presence info when playing the game! (currently works only on Windows) Speaking of which, join our Discord if you haven't already :D
http://discord.gg/jupiterhell

There's also a bit of changes and fixes, see below for the full changelog!

We await for your feedback (especially on new changes)!

Restart Steam to force the update!


Next version (0.7.0) should be out at the end of the next week! We will wrap up the 0.6.x changes by adding the final planned moon and episode - Io! Stay tuned for a bigger announcement when that time comes!

It's that time again! Despite the fact that these two weeks were mostly working on systems for the bigger 0.7.0 release, we managed to push in some exciting changes!

The most noticeable one is obviously another favorite hellish roguelike feature returning - Challenge Modes! We're starting modestly with 3 classics making a comeback - Light Travel, Shotgunnery and Impatience, updated for Jupiter Hell. Next release we'll add a few more interesting ones though, so stay tuned! Each of the challenges is accompanied by 3 badges that you can earn - no ranks yet, but that's coming too (unfortunately we had to invalidate earned medals to implement it, that might happen from time to time before we go into EA). Don't mind the messy player data screens, we'll make them more beautiful later!

We also started doing upgrades on AI for the upcoming Io changes, you might notice some infighting happening -- based on the group of the given enemy.

We rewrote a bit of code around the cover mechanic - a side result is that cover modifier is lower (but much more consistent). To offset that, we made destructible cover more sturdy, and implemented a Hunker mechanic - if you wait behind cover you get a significant cover bonus - and if you pick the new Technician trait, that bonus actually stays until you move!

Apart from that we added a smoke mechanic - you can test it out with the new smoke grenades! Not a very damaging weapon, but useful to cover a tactical retreat!

We await for your feedback (especially on new changes)!

Restart Steam to force the update!

Full changelog follows!


Next version (0.6.2) will come in 2 weeks if all goes according to plan. Expect more Challenge work and active class skills that will make the classes differ a lot more than they are now, and allow for more tactical early game!

EDIT: A couple significant bugs have popped up, so we did a quick bugfix version! See below for what has been fixed:

It's finally that time again! Took a bit longer than usual because PAX and GDC took development time away -- and we really wanted some significant changes for 0.6.0.

The major gameplay change is making the weapon slots universal - we decided that separate sidearm/primary/heavy slots are needlessly complex not giving much to tactical gameplay. Now you can carry any weapon in any slots (e.g. three chainguns if you wish). A trait to increase the amount of slots is also available for Scouts and Technicians!

D**mRL players will recognize the next feature - Medals! They're extremely hard to get, you see them on your mortem, and you can see a list of them in player data (use left/right to switch pages). Speaking of which a lot of additional statistics got added, including real time measuring (hello speedrunners!).

All level generators from Callisto and Europa have been improved (including the branches), including also lootbox and turret (new rocket turrets yay!) placement for all - especially the BSP generator has been significanly improved and made more common.

Significant changes are in the weapon department too - revolvers and hunter rifles are now using new .44 ammo - both got a buff and made common. Additionally double shotguns and auto shotguns have been made common too -- all four weapons are carried by enemies now, and all four have their advanced variants available! Also, rocket launchers should now be much more viable as you'll encounter heavies carrying them...

Finally, a change that was really needed - when we added exalted enemies, we forgot one important thing - they should drop good loot! Now they do :P.

We await for your feedback (especially on new changes)!

Restart Steam to force the update!

Full changelog follows!


Our initial plan for 0.6.0 was to introduce Io this version, but we decided to postpone it to 0.7.0 instead. The reason is that Io introduces a new faction (CRI) which requires a rewrite in AI, and we'd rather to a nice complete content drop than something unfinished. Expect parts of the changes (AI) to appear already in 0.6.1 and Io to appear either in 0.6.2 or 0.7.0 :).


EDIT: a bug has been found, please redownload 0.6.0b!

We had one major bug that we needed to fix fast, and we added two small balance changes too - please redownload/restart steam to get the latest 0.6.0b version!

This release is a bit rushed, but we really wanted to push out these fixes before we'll leave for GDC and PAX (next release might take a month!).

The major features are the addition of a new enemy (drone), and adding telegraphed charge attacks for imps and ravagers! This feature is definitely WIP, and the visual indicatior might change. We also want it to deal more damage, but we first want to see how the attack changes the enemies difficulty - feedback for this feature needed!

In the changes department there's a minor addition of kills to the player data view, and the more significant addition of proximity doors to Europa. In particular one of the subtilesets of Europa will now always use them. We received positive feedback on proximity doors, so we wanted to make more use of them - if we went overboard, please do tell us!

Finally there are a couple fixes, most importantly the annoying key repeat after changing levels.

Check out below for the full changelog!

We await for your feedback (especially on new changes)!


Next update (0.6.0) will take some time to release - we will resume work on it after returning from PAX and GDC. However there's some content in the art department that has been piling up, so the release might still be very interesting :)