We’re excited to share the Secret Neighbor Halloween update is live! Check out the trailer below and let’s dive into all of the tricks and treats we’ve got to give out. Who knows, there might even be a king-size candy bar in there somewhere...

• New Class! It’s been really fun watching you all hypothesize and we wanted to give a shoutout to everyone who guessed correctly! Introducing: The Butcher Neighbor class!
  
  
  
  The Butcher’s skills include hunting down other players by following their footsteps, and then grabbing them with his grappling hook. He can also fake the key marker and ambush other players from dark corners, so watch out!
  
  
• New lighting - The days are getting shorter and darker, and Raven Brooks is no exception.
  New darker lighting can be utilized by the Neighbor for extra sneaky traps and grabs. You can also play hide and seek with the flashlights!
  
  
  
  
• Halloween decor galore - It wouldn’t be spooky season without plenty of Halloween decor and pumpkins to huck!
  
  
• Bug fixes & balance changes - as always, we keep tweaking the game based on your feedback. We can’t thank you enough for providing it! If you’re interested in specific small changes and numbers, please check out full patch notes below. And yes, Brave has been nerfed a little bit, and we’ll continue to monitor her pick- and winrates.
  
  
• And of course, no seasonal update is complete without new fun skins. If you don’t know what you want to be this year the SN crew has you covered. We’ve got lots of new Halloween skins so there’s plenty to choose from!
  
  
  
  
• Lastly, some of you may already know, but this is Secret Neighbor’s first birthday! We really appreciate you being with us this past year, we can’t mail you all birthday cake but we still wanted to do something special. Every day, starting from the 26th of October and till the 2nd of November, you will find a new free customization item in our store! So be sure to check back to grab your goodies!

v1.3.0.1

Butcher

Takes 25% less damage compared to other Neighbor Classes
The Butcher is slower than other Neighbor Classes
Has more stamina than other Neighbor Classes

Butcher's Skills

• Hook: The Neighbor throws a meat hook that pulls up kids and objects, and can interact with the environment
  
• Pathfinder: The Neighbor sees the traces that the children leave in the air and can track them by these tracks
  
• Fake Crow: Creates a fake crow that prevents children from looking for keys

Other Changes/Fixes

• Halloween decorations
  
• Added Level of Detail for items
  
• Added animation optimizations
  
• New animation for opening doors, bedside tables and bars; Added randomization fort he angles of rotation for the doors
  
• Added glue effect on legs
  
• Sounds improved, changed the sounds for footsteps, broken glass, impacts of objects
  
• Fixed a bug with playing background music
  
• Added new background music
  
• Added new materials to the Level Editor
  
• Improved animation for the Neighbor's bars
  
• Neighbor's bars are placed on 2 and 3 levels
  
• Changed the algorithm for spawning objects, now they spawn less and in more logical places
  
• Fixed key cards spawn; Several key cards will not be spawned in the same place now

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Balancing Changes
--------------------------
Kids

Scout

• Shotting rate slowed down on the animation
  
• Added a technical cooldown of 0.25s to reduce spam
  
• Added power shoot, when you aiming more than 0.6s. (POWER: 25 damage, 1.5s, 0.8 speed | DEFAULT: 5 damage, 0.3s, 0.6 speed)
  
• Increased speed up duration from 3s to 5s
  
• Removed increased base speed from combo hits
  
• Increased base speed from 4.5 to 4.65

[/i]
[/list]
Brave

• Progress of Counter Strike now resets when knocked
  
• Reduced base speed from 4.5 to 4.4

[/i]
[/list]
Bagger

• Reduced base speed from 4.5 to 4.35

Detective

• Increased base speed from 4.5 to 4.6

Leader

• Increased base speed from 4.5 to 4.55

Neighbor

Clown

• Increased base speed from 4.2 to 4.4
  
• Increased slow from smoke bomb to 0.5
  
• Reduced damage from smoke bomb
  
• Reduce volume of footsteps in Item form while running from 0.5 to 0.3

Scary Neighbor

• Rage is no longer stacked when a kid is knocked out of the Neighbor's hands
  
• Increased trap placing speed from 0.25 to 1.5
  
• Increased trap cooldown from 3 to 5 seconds
  
• Increased trap stun duration from 8 to 12 seconds

Thank you again from all of us for being part of our community. We hope you have lots of fun with this new update and remember, if you have to break into your creepy Neighbor’s house, do it in costume so you can make a clean getaway! (this advice is for in-game use only and is not to be applied IRL)

Happy Halloween!

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Hey everyone,

We've got some exciting news - Halloween Update is coming tomorrow, and its trailer is dropping today, at 12 PM (noon) PST! Check it out here:




30 minutes before that, we'll be going live with our Hello Halloween (or Helloween, if you will) Special Event. Watch it here:



Here's a quick recap on what to expect from this update:

• New Neighbor Class
  
• Darker, spookier lighting
  
• Lots of cosmetics to celebrate Halloween and Secret Neighbor's first birthday!

See you at the event!

Hey everyone!

To start off, we’d like to thank you all for being with us. Secret Neighbor is almost one year old, and if you’re counting all the alphas and betas - almost two years! We wouldn’t be here without you.

Communication with the players is one of the most important things for an online multiplayer game that is constantly evolving, and we want to take it to the next level. Our surveys, which are becoming more and more regular, is one of the ways to do that - they allow us to get to know you a bit better, learn what you enjoy and what you don’t like about Secret Neighbour.

This devlog is another way to build a stronger connection with our playerbase. We hope you will find it insightful and enjoy the transparency of learning a bit more about our development process, as well as get answers to some of your burning questions, such as “why do even minor updates weigh a ton” and “why sometimes there aren’t any updates for several months in a row”.

There is another reason we want to be more in sync with you - we don’t want you to just have a peek into the future of Secret Neighbor, we want you to have a hand in shaping it. Your feedback is very valuable to us, and by getting it even before we implement new content, we can make adjustments more easily.

Generally, we want to bring you these devlogs once every couple of months, in between major updates.

Alright, we’re done with this lengthy intro! Let’s jump into it:




Our next big update, to no-one's surprise, is Halloween-themed. It’s not just the scary decor and pumpkins - we’re significantly changing the game’s visual presentation. The game is getting a bit darker, and the reasoning behind it is two-fold:

1. Gameplay-wise, it would make a Neighbor’s life a bit easier, with his various traps and other shenanigans being harder to spot.
   
2. It’s spooky. And we’re making a reasonably spooky game!

Besides, we know that a lot of you preferred that SN beta look. We see you. We appreciate you. If you'd like to see how Secret Neighbor has been changing from the first alpha on Halloween 2018 to this upcoming update, check out the video version of this devlog:




Apart from all the festivities that you can expect on Halloween, we’re bringing another major addition to the game. Please welcome, a new Neighbor class!



While we’re not gonna show what it looks like or discuss its abilities, we do want to talk a bit about the design philosophy behind the new class. We wanted a player to have a choice of playstyles not only when it comes to playing as a kid, but also as a Neighbor. Right now, there are two Neighbor classes in the game, and each serves its purpose:

• Clown Neighbor is a more stealthy, sneaky class - it has a lot of utility, but isn’t very good in direct confrontations with the kids
  
• Scary Neighbor is an all-rounder - a balanced class with a mix of offensive abilities and utility

Naturally, this leaves some space for the third Neighbor class, a more tanky character who’s going to excel in open confrontations with the kids, but without being oppressive. What would that look like? Well, you’ll have to wait for the Halloween week to find out!



Level Editor

Like we mentioned a few times already, our long-term goal for the Level Editor is to make it into a tool that would not just allow our players to build their own maps, but entirely new game modes, inventing new ways to play the game. But we have to start by giving you more tools to build interesting maps within the current gameplay parameters first. Our first step in that direction - adding a system of levers for platforms and gates. Take a look at this work-in-progress prototype:




Xbox Porting

We have a dedicated team working hard on porting Secret Neighbor updates over to Xbox, and our goal is to have the two versions in sync. This means that in the future there will be an update to the Xbox version bringing all the content that is currently missing. As for the timing of this update - the date is still uncertain, but we will let you know as soon as things are set in stone.


New Map

Of course, we will continue designing new maps for you, keeping the rotation fresh. While we can’t show anything right now, we can tell you that it’s something Hello Neighbor players will be excited about.




Skins are pretty fun. Like clothes in real life, they allow you to show off your personality and creativity, while simultaneously flexing on other people. Unlike clothes in real life, the choice of in-game skins is a bit more limited, and sometimes you can’t find something that truly suits you and represents you. We’d like to know what you guys want to see in the skins rotation.

So, today we’re starting our Secret Neighbor Skin Contest!

The rules are simple:

• Submit a sketch of a skin on our Discord
  
• It can be in any form - digitally drawn, hand-drawn, a collage - as long as it’s not anything copyrighted
  
• Vote on other players’ submissions
  
• The top 10 voted entries will be crowned as the contest winners… and who knows, maybe they’ll end up being an inspiration for the future in-game skins?
  
• The winners get all a unique Contest Winner accessory!

Check out the full rules on our Discord




Thank you for making it till the end. We hope you enjoyed this devlog! There are so many other things we wanted to talk about, but it’s already a bit long as it is. We’ll be back soon with the second installment, and meanwhile, please let us know your thoughts. What would you like us to talk about next time?

Catch you later!

Peli & Hologryph team


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First of all, we want to thank everyone for your feedback and active participation in our surveys!
And today we're bringing an update that resolves several bugs.

Current game version is 1.2.2.0

• Fixed an issue where player models were displayed in gold, silver, or transparent
  
• Neighbor can no longer get stuck with the Mask object in his hands after using Disguise skill
  
• Neighbor can no longer be pinged via Emotes Wheel (via "Neighbor! emote) through a wall by the kids
  
• Fixed an issue where a Neighbor would drop a kid if the master-client was leaving the game at that moment
  
• Fixed items spawning issue where objects would sometimes disappear after several matches in a row
  
• Fixed customization settings of Retro Clown skin

Catch you later!


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Hey there!

While we're getting ready to share some more details of the next update, we wanted to sync with you once again on the current state of the game balance.

Balancing is an ongoing process, and your direct feedback is one of the best sources for us. This survey will take approximately 7-10 minutes to complete, and we'll appreciate it a ton.

Here's the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SNbalance0920






Catch you later!

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Hey everyone!

While the team is tirelessly working to bring you exciting new content and eliminate the rest of the remaining technical issues, here's an update to tide you over in the meantime.

Remember how Mr. Peterson was constructing something on the third map? We're pretty sure he's finished whatever he's been up to! If only there was a way for you to find out for sure...

Check out the trailer:



We've also got something for those of you who are into customizing your characters - new skins are here!

We're still in the early stages of Level Editor development, and in this update we've added some new elements to it. Stay tuned for future LE updates, where we will eventually turn it into a juggernaut of player-generated content, capable even of creating brand-new game modes!

One of our goals is to allow as many of our players as possible to enjoy Secret Neighbor in their native language, which is why in this update we've added a couple more: Polish and Portuguese. Let us know in the comments which language you want to be added to the game!

And finally, this update contains a lot of under the hood changes involving optimization and solving technical issues. This is an ongoing process, and we will keep working on making the game more accessible and a smoother experience overall. We know that for some players there's a persisting issue with the loading screens, and we're working on fixing it ASAP!

Here are the full patch notes:

• Changes to Map 3
  
• Fixed controller support
  
• New skins
  
• Improved performance
  
• Added new languages: Polish and Portuguese
  
• Fixed map previews on low textures resolution
  
• Level Editor improvements: added door_bricks and door_boards tiles, key cards with corresponding doors, monitors from the Neighbor's room; Roofs are now paintable
  
• Minor polishing and bugfixes

Current game version: v1.2.1.0
If you didn't get the update automatically, please restart your Steam client


Catch you later!

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Hello everyone!

The summer heat is on, and we at tinyBuild wanted to do something to brighten up your day. Today, Secret Neighbor is going on a weeklong sale at 30% off.

We’ve been doing lots of interesting things recently, and I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight some of the things we’re working on.

Specifically, on August 13 (that’s next week!) we are launching Kill It With Fire - a physics comedy game about exterminating spiders and burning down your house in the process. It’s a very lighthearted game the alphas of which have had 90%+ ratings on Steam.


The game is on Pre-Order that allows you to save 10%, or you can simply Wishlist it! We greatly appreciate it.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1179210/Kill_It_With_Fire/

Today is a big day for the Neighbor and the Kids. Before we get to all the details, check out this trailer:





Without further ado, let's get to all the new stuff.




Level Editor is now officially in the game! It allows you to design your own levels and upload them to the Steam Workshop.

Our community beta-testers have already submitted over 600 levels, but this is just the beginning! With other players all over the world voting for your creations, your levels have a chance to become a staple of the Secret Neighbor community!

We will continue to work on the Level Editor, improving it based on your feedback. Our short-term goal is to make the Editor as accessible and convenient as possible, but we're not stopping there.

Next step - Mod Editor, where content creators will be able to design their own mods: battle royale, hide and seek, interactive multiplayer puzzle, you name it. The only limit would be your imagination.




The Neighbor is up to no good once again! This is his biggest project yet. The Neighbor can now teleport around the map, so do be careful - he could be waiting around any corner!




It's finally summertime in Raven Brooks! Dress for the weather with the new summer skins!


Here are the full patch notes:

• Increased Neighbor's stamina by 100%
  
• Leader's blinding radius from the Team Work skill is increased from 6 to 10
  
• Leader's charging radius for the Team Work skill is increased from 6 to 10
  
• Inventor's rifle cost is reduced from 10 to 8 gears
  
• Reduced the number of keys needed to recharge Detective's Intuition skill from 4 to 3
  
• Scout's acceleration duration from the Evasive Maneuvers skill is increased from 2 to 3 seconds

Current game version: v1.2.0
If you didn't get the update automatically, please restart your Steam client.

Have fun with the Level Editor and the new map, and let us know what you think about the new content on our Discord!


Catch you later!

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Hey everyone!



One of our goals with Secret Neighbor is to deliver you an experience that is as fun and as fair as possible. Balancing the game is a huge part of that.

Today we're asking you to fill this 10-minute survey, which will help us make Secret Neighbor a better game and iron out some balancing kinks.

Here's the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SNbalance

Thank you so much, and stay tuned for future updates,

Catch you later!

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Hey everyone!

To celebrate our second annual ZEN weekend, we’re bringing a free weekend to Secret Neighbor! The game is available to everyone starting from now and up to the end of Sunday.

Secret Neighbor is best when you play it with your friends, so now is the best time to invite them!

Alongside with the free weekend, we’re bringing you a new patch - it’s mostly quality of life changes, along with some under the hood changes that will accommodate future level editor implementation. Speaking of…

A short update on the level editor - we have disassembled the game to make it more modular and enable the functionality of the level editor.

While it works in its disassembled form with individual pieces, gluing all of them back together and enabling Steam Workshop requires a bit more time and testing. Hopefully, we’ll be able to bring the editor to you next week. We’ll keep you updated!


Current version: v.1.1.1.3

Full list of changes:

• Added 2 radar-activating buttons per map. Map 1 - under the far staircase in the library and on the roof. Map 2 - in the partially fenced-off room and upstairs, in the workshop with the moving staircase. The buttons can be activated by anyone. Silhouettes will be visible to the person who activated the button and to the Neighbor.
  
• Added new Neighbor skins, obtainable with coins
  
• New sounds (Neighbor’s door, moving platforms, etc.)
  
• Emote wheel for Neighbor. There’s only one emote right now, but technically it’s still a wheel! More emotes are coming soon.
  
• Updated character icons and avatar backgrounds
  
• Now in Quick Game random map is selected by default
  
• We’ve decided to keep item collection in the game. Instead of easter eggs, there are now coins.
  
• We’ve changed the game’s architecture in order for it to support the level editor. Those changes are running deep, so it’s possible you’ll encounter new/old bugs. Please report them on the #bug-reports channel in our Discord.
  
• You can now mute players while loading! Finally!

Catch you later!