Soul Stalker - conradical
Hi everyone! It's Wednesday again and so that means that it's time for another weekly update! Last week I asked you all what you wanted the next stretch goal to be (since we passed mod support), and I will be announcing it in this update! Before I do that though, let's go through the Alpha 1.3.0 patch notes. It doesn't include as much content as the previous updates, but that's because we're preparing for a huge drop that we couldn't wrap up in under a week.
Also, if you haven't already, make sure to back the game on Kickstarter - it's the best way to support it and help us make it the best it can be!
If you want to play the demo, click here, it's free on Steam! Anyways, here are the patch notes:
The new system that we're testing out works as follows:
1. Whenever you enter a shop, you can choose to get healed or upgrade an equipped weapon.
2. If you choose to upgrade a weapon, you get to choose which weapon you want to upgrade.
3. Once you choose the weapon you want to upgrade, you get to choose from a set of 3 modifiers to apply to it from a pool that depends on the class of the weapon (Melee, Projectile, Spawn).
And that's it! You may have noticed that the upgrade system is baked into the already-existing shop system, but we're open to making it completely separate. We've made tests such that there are "upgrade nodes" that appear on the map similarly to the "shop" node, and although the tests are making me lean towards making the system a part of the shop, I will roll out both systems to Early Early Access to get Kickstarter backers' opinions before making a definitive decision. Overall, the philosophy of the weapon upgrades is to make them less plentiful than trinkets, but they have a significantly stronger effect to offset the fact that they're only applied to 1 weapon.
If you haven't already, you can back the game on Kickstarter and get access to "Early Early Access" as soon as the campaign is over! You don't have to wait until the Early Access release further down the line, you can get involved right away and get access to the latest builds!
Now, this is the moment many of you have been waiting for - the next stretch goal. I'm happy to announce that it's... CHARACTER FUSION!!! That's right, if we reach this stretch goal (at $20,000 USD) we will implement this new mode that allows you to smash together the strengths and weaknesses of two characters. If you've played Brotato's Genetically Modified Overkill mod, it plays kind of like that. Let me give you some examples.
As you can see, the possibilities are endless! Not only do the core mechanics of the characters stack, so do their inherent stat strengths/weaknesses for maximum effect! If you want to support the game in getting this Character Fusion mode, make sure to back the game on Kickstarter and help it reach the $20,000 USD stretch goal - we are at about $13,400 USD as of writing this so I'm sure we can make it in the time we have left!
We're going to keep on adding/improving more stuff, so we really appreciate feedback under this post or in our Discord. Again, backing the Kickstarter campaign is the best way to support this project! We even have Switch keys left as add-ons!
That's it for now!
- Conrad, Lead Developer
Also, if you haven't already, make sure to back the game on Kickstarter - it's the best way to support it and help us make it the best it can be!
If you want to play the demo, click here, it's free on Steam! Anyways, here are the patch notes:
Alpha 1.3.0 Patch notes
- Added top down setting, which allows you to play the game from a more traditional birds-eye-view perspective like other games in the genre
- Made it such that the player no longer has infinite friction on obstacles
- Reduced friction on enemy colliders to make them less likely to get stuck on corners
- Fixed some sorting issues with the player and the enemies in some areas
Weapon Upgrade Rework
Pretty short patch notes, right? Well, let me show you what we have coming up - most of what we've worked on this week isn't what's included in this update. Firstly, we're working on a revamped weapon upgrade system. In the current demo (which you can play for free on Steam btw) you level up weapons by buying a duplicate of an already-equipped weapon when your inventory slots are full. This kind of works, but many of you have rightfully let us know that it feels a bit clunky and unintuitive. The new system that we're testing out works as follows:
1. Whenever you enter a shop, you can choose to get healed or upgrade an equipped weapon.
2. If you choose to upgrade a weapon, you get to choose which weapon you want to upgrade.
3. Once you choose the weapon you want to upgrade, you get to choose from a set of 3 modifiers to apply to it from a pool that depends on the class of the weapon (Melee, Projectile, Spawn).
And that's it! You may have noticed that the upgrade system is baked into the already-existing shop system, but we're open to making it completely separate. We've made tests such that there are "upgrade nodes" that appear on the map similarly to the "shop" node, and although the tests are making me lean towards making the system a part of the shop, I will roll out both systems to Early Early Access to get Kickstarter backers' opinions before making a definitive decision. Overall, the philosophy of the weapon upgrades is to make them less plentiful than trinkets, but they have a significantly stronger effect to offset the fact that they're only applied to 1 weapon.
If you haven't already, you can back the game on Kickstarter and get access to "Early Early Access" as soon as the campaign is over! You don't have to wait until the Early Access release further down the line, you can get involved right away and get access to the latest builds!
Next Stretch Goal
Now, this is the moment many of you have been waiting for - the next stretch goal. I'm happy to announce that it's... CHARACTER FUSION!!! That's right, if we reach this stretch goal (at $20,000 USD) we will implement this new mode that allows you to smash together the strengths and weaknesses of two characters. If you've played Brotato's Genetically Modified Overkill mod, it plays kind of like that. Let me give you some examples.
As you can see, the possibilities are endless! Not only do the core mechanics of the characters stack, so do their inherent stat strengths/weaknesses for maximum effect! If you want to support the game in getting this Character Fusion mode, make sure to back the game on Kickstarter and help it reach the $20,000 USD stretch goal - we are at about $13,400 USD as of writing this so I'm sure we can make it in the time we have left!
New Character
Before ending the update, I also wanted to leave you with a little taste of what you can expect of one of the new characters, we're well underway! Leave your guess in the comments as to what it's archetype will be!Closing Thoughts
That's it for this update! There wasn't as much content added into Alpha 1.3.0 like the other Alpha updates, but as you can see, it's because we're hard at work on stuff that can't really be done in less than a week. If you want to be a part of the Early Early Access program and want to play the game as it's developing before it's even out in Early Access, then make sure to back for the relevant tiers on Kickstarter! You can also play the free demo on Steam RIGHT NOW, so give that a try if you haven't already!We're going to keep on adding/improving more stuff, so we really appreciate feedback under this post or in our Discord. Again, backing the Kickstarter campaign is the best way to support this project! We even have Switch keys left as add-ons!
That's it for now!
- Conrad, Lead Developer
Share: 
