The snow has come to Raven Brooks! The Christmas Update brings a new map, a brand-new limited-time game mode, as well as a ton of other improvements to Secret Neighbor. Check out the trailer:



And now, let's unwrap the update's content!





The basement is open! Explore the Peterson house and creep through the basement of THE map from Hello Neighbor Act 1! But just because you’ve made it to the basement doesn’t mean the story is over. If you know what you’re looking for it may help to shed some light on The Neighbor, Nicky’s disappearance, and the bigger mystery of what is going on in Raven Brooks. But be careful that you don’t wind up with more questions than answers.




As promised in our developer diary, players can now mercilessly annihilate each other with snowballs in this new team deathmatch mode! Also, now would be a great time to let us know which other modes you'd like to see in the game.




Christmas in Secret Neighbor wouldn't be Christmas without winter decorations, activities, and new festive skins!

What are the activities, you ask? In this update, you can make snowballs in the regular mode as well! Use them to build snowmen or just throw them at your friends - or even enemies?


There are also some less flashy, but very important changes in this update. We've slightly updated the main menu, where you can now find links to our Discord for easier party-finding, as well as updated video guides. Not to mention the new LE mechanics and improved optimization! Optimizing the game is something we're constantly working on, and we really appreciate your feedback - please let us know if your performance changed after this update.

Here are the official patch notes:


Secret Neighbor v.1.3.4.0

• New featured map
  
• New limited-time game mode (Snowfight)
  
• Winter decorations
  
• Added the ability to build snowballs and throw them at other players
  
• Added the ability to build snowmen with snowballs
  
• New Christmas Skins
  
• Added new system of levers and platforms to the Level Editor
  
• Slightly updated the main menu
  
• A lot of optimization work

Hologryph and tinyBuild wish you fantastic holidays, and we'll talk to you really soon!


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Hey everyone!

We're back with some early presents! In our second installment of this devlog we'll tell you all (well, not all) about the upcoming update, as well as share our vision of Secret Neighbor's future - a future that we will shape together with you.

And if you prefer the video version, here it is:




New Map

If there’s one thing you can be certain of, it’s that every Christmas in Secret Neighbor will be special. And this one is no exception! In our first devlog we alluded to a new map, mentioning how Hello Neighbor players would appreciate it. It’s time to lift the veil of secrecy! Just a tiny bit.

As you might have guessed, the new map is based on the Neighbor’s house from Act 1 of Hello Neighbor. But it’s not merely a backdrop for the game of cat and mouse - if you know what you’re looking for, you might find some insights into Nicky’s disappearance...



Level Editor Updates

Teased in the first devlog, the Level Editor changes are coming with the Christmas update. Build more creative levels with the system of switches, controlling various fences, ladders, and other mechanisms. Let us know if you have any crazy level design ideas and we’ll do our best to provide you with the necessary tools in the future Level Editor updates!



Snowfight Mode

Apart from the new map, you can expect, of course, new Christmas skins and decorations, some fun activities... and a whole new limited-time mode! Snowfight is a quick team deathmatch mode where players can hone their aim and movement. This limited-time mode is the first of its kind, and we plan on bringing more elaborate game modes to rotation in the future.




Now, let’s talk a bit about the future of Secret Neighbor, beyond the Christmas update. the snowball mode is fun, and we’ll spice up things every now and then with other limited time modes, but what about real variety and longevity?

This is you come in. Have an insane idea for a game mode? Want to play a custom game of prop hunt with your friends? Have everyone play as Butcher Neighbors and hook each other into oblivion? We’ll provide the tools. In 2021 we’re transforming Level Editor into a full-blown Game Mode Editor to power your creativity. In the video version of this devlog you can check a couple of examples that we’ve put together for this devlog using an early version of the Editor.

We invite all of our talented modders and mapmakers to join the discussion - let us know here in the comments or on our Discord, which tools and capabilities you'd like to see in the Game Mode Editor to fully express yourselves.




Here it is!
Since the last balancing survey in September, we've introduced a number of balance tweaks, as well as a whole new Neighbor class. That means that it's time for another survey! It's pretty much the same as the previous one, with the addition of the Butcher questions. Answering the same questions might not be super fun, but we need to make them similar in order to analyze the data against the previous surveys, ensuring that we understand as best as possible how our playerbase feels about the balance.

And just to be sure, here's the survey link once again: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SNbalance1220


We can't thank you enough for all the feedback, both on the game itself and on everything surrounding it. As always, if you have any suggestions about the devlog format, the game itself or anything else Secret Neighbor-related, please let us know in the comments or shoot a message to on of our Community Managers on Discord.

Catch you later!

Peli & Hologryph team

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Hey everyone!

The Steam Awards have officially kicked off and it would be super awesome if you could drop a vote to nominate Secret Neighbor for the LABOR OF LOVE category!

Secret Neighbor is a product of constant collaboration between the developers and you, our community. Your feedback constantly pushes us to improve the game, and without you, it wouldn't be where it is today.

Thank you!

Thank you all for playing the Halloween Update this week. As many of you noticed, Butcher Neighbor had a grand entrance - so grand, in fact, that he broke Level Editor. How rude!

But not to worry, our developers have fixed it. Please check your custom maps to make sure everything is in order. lastly, we wanted to thank you folks for bringing all your amazing maps to Secret Neighbor community, and for all your feedback, which helps us improve Level Editor beta.

Here's the full list of changes:

Secret Neighbor v1.3.0.4-PS

Fixed:

• The ability to upload custom maps into the Steam Workshop
  
• The ability to delete local custom maps
  
• The ability to save custom maps in the editor with certain items present on said maps
  
• Custom map readiness check (checking a map for meeting all the gameplay requirements. Unfinished maps won't have the "Upload" button. You will need to re-save your existing custom maps (open them in the LE, save, exit)
  
• Custom map preview generation (removed image blur)
  
• Motion Blur functioning incorrectly in the Level Editor
  
• Lighting sources (fixed brightness, added missing switches)
  
• Doors textures and animations
  
• Placement orientation for several objects (door with the "1" keycard, blue metal chair, wooden arch, basketball)
  
• Gift carrying animation
  
• Paintings textures
  
• Ability to break window glass

And lastly, the Butcher Neighbor's cooldown for his hook has been increased from 7 to 10 seconds. We will continue monitoring his performance.


Catch you later!

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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

[/i]
[/list]

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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