Hello. In this update we have character idle animations, custom super ability mode and a couple of new weapons and items. It also marks exactly 1 year in Steam early access!


You can now choose how the super ability works in the customize character screen. Similar to the attack mode this allows you to tweak the character more to your preferred playstyle or build type. Let me know how you find this and whether you'd like to see some more options for some of them.



It's been exactly 1 year since Horde Hunters launched in early access. The launch was admittedly a bit rocky with random game crashes and other issues. A lot has changed since then though and if I counted correctly there's been a total of 34 updates during this time. While some have been smaller hotfixes I'm proud of myself for keeping up a steady pace of updates and hope to keep it up for some time still.

Thanks to everyone who have played the game so far. As a reminder, one of the best ways to support the game is to take a moment to fill out a short Steam review, even if it's only a few words.

If you want to celebrate the 1 year anniversary properly go try the new festive weapon in the game!


General

• New character customization: Super ability mode
  
• New character idle animations
  
• New magic weapon: Fireworks - Celebration of gunpowder
  
• New melee weapon: Bowling Ball - Knock back enemies
  
• New item: Phaser - Projectiles go through non-destructible objects
  
• New item: Armor Piercer - Weapons inflict 50% of their damage through enemy shields
  
• Some of the character skins have been retouched. Thief has an additional skin
  
• Shield attack rate dropped from 1.5s to 2s
  
• Warrior's sword size upgrade dropped from 20% to 15% and poison upgrade from 2s to 1s
  
• Zoom level is "Closer" by default to new players

Bugs

• Shield 100% bonus "Health +1 on Kill" did not work
  
• Ability Damage power-up did not apply to Jester's Diversion ability

Hope this message finds you in good spirits! We've got some important news to share about Die by the Blade.

After a serious consideration, we mutually agreed to part ways with our publishing partner. It was a difficult decision for everyone to make but it is in the best interest of our game and its future.

We're very sorry for the extended wait for our game, and for the silence. We heard your shouts and concerns, but we were engaged in long and complicated negotiations to acquire the project back from our publishing partner and at the same time to secure an investor to finalize the game. It was frustrating to not be able to share the progress of the complicated situation with you – confidentiality and the idea of jinxing the success kept us on the down-low - but from now on, we can finally talk openly and we will share all with you until the launch!

The cool part? No more delays and full steam to the launch! We're dropping Die by the Blade on PC first on 16.05.2024 followed by XBOX and Playstation versions in October. We put all the efforts to meet your expectations and make Die by the Blade the great game we’ve promised and you supported!

We want to chat with you, hear your thoughts, and answer your questions. Hit us up on socials, forums, wherever you hang out. Your input is the most important to us.

Thanks for being the heartbeat of Die by the Blade. This journey's been wild, but we are in the finals now! Sharpen your swords and let's see how many will Die by the Blade this year!

The leaderboard will now remember it's state even when you close the game, so when you play again it will be right where you left it!
It will remember whether it was Open/Closed, what tab it was on Channels/Community, and what timeframe was selected All-time/This Month/Last Month.

We'd like to give y'all a heads up on what features we plan on implimenting to further improve upon Tavern Sim, as yes it is working, but it's a little clunky. So we're striving towards making it more intuitive.


To be implemented in the following days to come!

Feature Tweak #1
Can Special Moves have more concise descriptions?
We should remove all the flavor text and have just move descriptions to be very concise.

Feature Tweak #2
Sometimes when you click a special move it says "Choose a Hero"
Can we have a cancel button and Escape to undo this?

Feature Tweak #3
Also Go Beyond doesn't work

Feature Tweak #4
When you click to move a hero in Tavern Sim,
Please change the align the to the feet, so its easier to match the feet to the square

Feature Tweak #5
Grey out Hosting if you're at the kitchen
Grey out Dish if you're in the taproom
Basically Grey out a move if you can't use it.
We should also separate the Hosting and Dish within the Tavern Sim so its SUPER obvious what moves are (Hosting vs Dish)

Feature Tweak #6
Also in Character Selection, kindly add text:
"Hosting Moves can be used in the taproom on customers Directly"
"Dish Moves can be used in the kitchen, making a dish, which you then have to serve."

Feature Tweak #7
Add text in Character Selection:
Choose 4 skills a hero

Feature Tweak #8
Can we also be able to move dishes from one Kitchen Slot to another?
Like see Naomi just made Eldritch Dinner rolls at her place.
But we want to be able to have Glasses serve it cause Naomi is out of actions. Can we be able to mouse the eldritch dinner roll from Naomi's place to the spot next to her so someone else can serve?

Feature Tweak #9
Also we should also have some graphics/highlights that telegraph to the player that they can do this
Doing this should be for free (no Action cost)

Feature Tweak #10
ALSO we should display the Dish on the hero's sprite if they're holding the dish, Make the dish on their head (I think its funny that they "balance" the dish on their head uwu)

Feature Tweak #11
Below Customer Forcast, add the text:
"Choose Heroes who have Moves that match the Type of the Customer Forecast. Using Moves that Match will yield you double gold and double damage"

Feature Tweak #12
Also edit we need to be able to earn double gold from matches. And let's remove the Opposite Type Half Damage penalty. 🙂

Captains,

Two loot events will run from daily maintenance on February 16th until daily maintenance on February 19th:

• St. Kitts 5 modules are available in the Admiralty, they can be exchanged for Broad Pennants that occasionally drop from 5th rates and higher
  
• Broad pennant will drop from military NPC ships

TTK (Time To Kill) - Sustained focus fire should kill ships faster. HP of planking and structure slightly lowered for 1st rates, 2nd rates and 3rd rates.
Predictable Rigging and Mast damage. Chain shot from ANY caliber now delivers 1HP damage. This will result in easier understanding of mast and rigging shocks. HP of masts and sails adjusted accordingly.

DATA: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ismfxXECgWL3b1T8SuuLsqo4F6ZFhbvXQ3srN5hTOD0/edit#gid=0

The XP required to rank up has been lowered. We want players to get into large scale PvE , PvP, Patrols and Port battles faster.
Together with previous Assists XP increase - levelling up in a group now will also be much faster.

DATA:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ismfxXECgWL3b1T8SuuLsqo4F6ZFhbvXQ3srN5hTOD0/edit#gid=587806980

A player now has a 30-second invisibility period upon spawn from the combat. During this time, the player can look around and choose their direction of movement.
Movement and Invisibility: The moment the player starts moving, their invisibility is cancelled. Immediately after, a 15-second non-aggression timer is activated. During this period, the player cannot be attacked nor can the player initiate an attack on another player.

UI improvement for better clarity on level-based perks.


Spotlight image by komradkoshka from the April 2022 screenshot competition.

Special Thanks goes out to the Void Crew community (again!) for all their feedback and good vibes!

This Update brings a lot of fixes, quality of life additions, new content and community requests - Basically stuff across the board, and without doubt our biggest update to date!

Here’s a recap of what’s new:








Ectypes need all the help they can get to fight off the HOLLOW! The Ship System Upgrader was lacking upgrade steps for a handful of Ship Systems - these have now been added, allowing you to push the offensive power of your ship even higher. Upgrade steps were added for these system:

• Gravity Scoop Mk II and Mk III
  
• Recuser Beamcaster Mk II and Mk III
  
• Shuriken cannon Mk III
  
• Litany Minigun Mk III
  
• Orison Orison Mk II
  
• Energy Shuriken Gatlin Mk III
  
• B.R.A.I.N. turret now has 3 Marks

* The tech controlling the Gravity Scoop's attraction beam has also been updated to be more stable and reliable.




A recurring Community Request, this Update also introduces the Freedom Loadout for the Destroyer and Frigate, taking the place of the CQB II loadout. This new (experimental) option starts you off with a blank ship and a handful of Animus Crates!
Note: To unlock this loadout, you need at least one crew member at Ectype Rank 24* or higher. With the Ship System Upgrader addition, we're shifting from Tiered Loadouts to instead relying on acquiring the System Upgrader during Pilgrimages.

* Rank, Progression and Perks are being redesigned for an upcoming update 🙂




We've improved control on how we hand out rewards to Players - and how the rarity of the Loot Boxes is tied to the aggressiveness of the built-in duplicate protection. The standard Common Loot Box come with "pretty good" duplicate protection, but doesn't have improved chances to drop higher rarities. Higher rarity boxes will guarantee higher rarity loot and more aggressive duplicate protection. Seasonal Loot Boxes are so aggressively guarding against duplicates, that once you've collected all common items, they'll start handing out rares. This means that the Seasonal Boxes can be trusted to reward you all the items from their designated Reward Pool, as long as you keep collecting them. We call the "new" Loot Boxes Gifts of METEM, and are continuing to tweak the experience.

Gifts of METEM are earned and tallied during Pilgrimages, but must be opened from the new Rewards tab on the Personal Loadout Terminal. This means the End-of-Pilgrimage flow has been shortened significantly, but also allows us to do more interesting things with handing out Rewards in the future.

In addition to the new Rewards Tab, the Personal Loadout Terminal now also shows both Name as well as Rarity for items you've collected.

The Update also contains three new Armor Pieces, as well as a handful of Projections.



We've rewritten how the character interacts with the ship physics, uncapping their movement from the tick-rate of the physics engine. In simple terms, this should smooth out the camera movement. This is of course part of a larger overhaul, so expect more improvements to this in upcoming updates. Read more about the topic here.




Vestiges of a bygone age, the derelict wrecks of the Void abound with valuable secrets and stories untold. Lore scholars and inquisitive souls should be on the lookout for Data Terminals. These troves of ancient knowledge dispense special Data Shards stuffed with ship reports, combat logs, and other invaluable snippets of narrative intel. Bring the Shards back to the Astral Map for decryption and unlock new Codex Entries. Only then may we begin to glimpse the greater picture…

Simply put: Collectable story chapters found on Space Bases and Wrecks, each unlocking entries in the Codex about the Void Crew universe.




A new time limited enemy has been added: The Lovelorn Collector - this lovesick enemy is hoarding unique Data Shards, pilfered from METEM's devotees. Bring these special Data Shards back to the Astral Map, and you're rewarded a Devotional Gift of METEM!

Open your Devotional Gift of METEM in the Personal Loadout Terminal, and earn season-appropriate rewards, including a new special helmet, or even a set of heartfelt shoulder pads.

• Run: Toggle / Hold Option (expected to be relatively easy)
  
• Pinging Void Jump Markers
  
• “Hide Keybinds UI” toggle added to Settings
  
• Allow Target Locking of Neutral & Attackable Targets
  
• Ability to upgrade already activated Enhancements if you’ll make ‘em better
  
• EVA: Players stuck if EVA without Jetpack
  
• EVA: Hud to warn player, when going EVA without Jetpack
  
• EVA: Red blinking in player hud
  
• EVA: Hint - Make sure to put on Jetpack when EVA
  
• EVA: Warning sound (when trying to EVA without Jetpack)
  
• Loot probabilities/ reward system (see above)
  
• Toggle player name keybind (“N” - To toggle names)
  
• Streamline view-change keybind (Pilot and Gunners toggle view-point using “V”)
  
• Gravity scoop rework - Better scooping, coloring (when about to break), disconnecting beam based on distance.

• Hollow Sniper Elite added (fires 3 times in a row)
  
• Hollow Bomber Elite added (fires 2 sets of 4)
  
• Hollow Invulnerability Generator and Shield generator now show up in random compositions
  
• Normal and invulnerable Shield shader improved
  
• New enemy spawn group balanced
  
• Improved visibility of normal and invulnerability shields

• Veteran unlock moved from 9 to 8
  
• Expert unlock moved from 19 to 12
  
• Insane unlock moved from 29 to 19
  
• Benediction II moved to Rank 9
  
• Energy Shuriken Gatlin Mk II moved to Rank 23 (mk I & II unlocked at same time)
  
• New modules added to rank unlocks (excluding B.R.A.I.N. and Energy Gatlin Mark III)

• Void Jump signatures/markers can now be pinged
  
• Vivox - Improvements and stability
  
• Weapon barrel can now have overheating red-emissive barrels (primarily Benediction)
  
• Modules now showcase their rarity on the ground or part of the visuals (see Scoop/Brain etc)
  
• Gravity scoop reworked
  
• Mines will no longer target invulnerable enemies
  
• Tally screen updated (ported to new UI tech)
  
• New “Power Optimizer” mod for modules
  
• Alloys and biomass no longer reward XP

• Fixed the Proctorship Helmet being disconnected from the body
  
• A lot of fixes to Fabricator in multiplayer, should no longer get stuck in processing state
  
• Fixed the items from previous sessions appearing in space in new sessions, causing the game to break if interacted with
  
• Fixed the Thrusters getting activated by pressing shift to run outside of helm
  
• Fixed the weapons getting multiplied if upgraded/deconstructed while someone sits in them
  
• Fixed an issue where the players could get target locked by enemies while inside of buildings
  
• Fixed the buildboxes not moving with the ship after getting deconstructed – they should no longer end up in space
  
• Fixed an issue where player ship would get suddenly one shot during Ambush mission
  
• Fixed an issue where rejoining a session after disconnect would result in the player appearing as Banana Pants
  
• Fixed the self mute getting removed after applying settings or fixing defects
  
• Fixed the self pinging breaking when seated in helm
  
• Fixed the self pinging not showing the ping wheel
  
• Fixed the crosshair not being visible while using Litany Minigun
  
• Fixed the weapon mods effects not applying for players that join the session after the mods are inserted
  
• Fixed Gravity scoop: Won’t fling items far away from the ship
  
• Fixed Gravity scoop: Won’t attempt to pull items out of buildings
  
• Fixed Gravity scoop: When using two gravity scoops, they won’t try to scoop the same item
  
• Fixed Gravity scoop: The scooped items now follow the trajectory represented by their attraction curve
  
• Fixed the ship health showing 100% in tutorial
  
• Fixed the Charging Station enhancement giving the same results on different "Stronger enhancement" perk levels
  
• Fixed the "Stronger enhancement" perk not working with Life Support
  
• Fixed the default shoulders icon on personal terminal
  
• Fixed an issue with Kinetic Point Defense, where the Ammo Crate could be taken out of it, which would break the module functionality
  
• Fixed the “Attempt Repair” prompt getting stuck on screen after repairing a defect
  
• Fixed the B.R.A.I.N. auto turrets shooting at enemies that have already escaped the sector
  
• Fixed the B.R.A.I.N. auto turrets breaking after they destroy a component on an enemy that was not target locked
  
• Fixed the issue where only one type of rare Weapon Mod would appear as loot throughout the entire mission
  
• Fixed the available loot resetting when Host changes
  
• Fixed the weapon range display not updating if mods or perks are applied
  
• Fixed the Cold Field warning not displaying the speed debuff
  
• Fixed objective markers sometimes appearing as Unscanned Signatures
  
• Fixed the Galaxy Map getting stuck on screen if it’s exited too fast
  
• Fixed an issue where joining the session at the end of a Void Jump would result in getting stuck in the Void Jump animation
  
• Fixed the “Choose destination” objective not completing when Exit Sector is chosen
  
• Fixed the Prism getting duplicated if Host changes
  
• Fixed the Assembler enemies teleporting around for guest players
  
• Fixed an issue where throwing items could result in the player not being able to pick up any new items
  
• Fixed an issue where the guest player could get stuck while interacting with Fabricator during a Void Jump
  
• Fixed the Biomass port outline sometimes being misplaced for guest players
  
• Fixed the multiplayer HUD dropdowns being hard to interact with
  
• Fixed an issue where if multiple people in the party shared the same name, muting one of them would mute all that share the name
  
• Fixed an issue where two player could sit in the same chair if Host left
  
• Fixed the Reload Speed mods decreasing the reload speed instead of increasing it
  
• Fixed weapon mods visual issues when the weapons get powered on and off
  
• Fixed the Christmas projections appearing blurry when playing on Low graphic settings
  
• Fixed the Raid Bases not being attached correctly to the asteroids
  
• Miscellaneous art and collision fixes
  
• Miscellaneous audio fixes
  
• Fixed majority of UI issues when using languages other than English
  
• Fixed the objective names overlapping each other on the Galaxy Map
  
• Added a lot of missing localization - still work in progress

Another round of thanks goes to our community for their patience and feedback that allows us to keep making the game better! Jump on to our Discord and join the fun!

We are already now looking forward to the next update, and can only say we are VERY excited about the next steps. In not too long we’ll update our living Roadmap. We just wish we could share our plans, but that would cause an endless discussion of company perks…

Inquisitors,

We have just released a hotfix on Steam, Epic Games Store and PlayStation 5, that addresses some crashes, an issue when speaking with the cardinal in the catherdral and an issue that could cause the playerplayers to get stuck when interacting with a specific fast travel entrance. Microsoft Store and Xbox Series X|S will follow.

Please find the full changelog below.

• Fixed an issue which caused random crashes (especially on PlayStation 5).
  
• Fixed an issue which caused the title game to crash while visiting the library.
  
• Fixed an issue which caused crashes in the Unworld.

• Fixed an issue which prevented further dialogue options when speaking with the Cardinal in the cathedral.
  
• Fixed an issue which caused the player to get stuck when interacting with the Fast Travel entrance in the cathedral district.

• [German] Fixed the description of the achievement “‘Tis but dust, scamp”. (The old decription mentioned that you need to complete the sixth Unworld. In this case, it should have been the seventh Unworld.)

Level 3 sneak peek for all well dwellers to see!

We are working hard to deliver the third level of Unwell, which will be included in DEMO!

And first non hostile (?) NPC to get along with... or not.

Want to see these in better quality? Rush for our discord and visit Unwell channel! :)

https://discord.com/invite/6XPHKMP5JC

The Kickstarter campaign for Eden Genesis will be released in the upcoming weeks!

As we said in other posts, the game is in an advanced stage of development. The goal of this campaign is not to fund Eden Genesis but to be able to offer our community rewards and unique extra content that would not be possible otherwise.

We are talking about physical editions, collectables, and figures, but also aspects that will multiply the joy and the overall gaming experience, such as in-game dubbing, multiplayer features, extended content, and other surprises that we will reveal soon...

Stay tuned for further updates ⬇
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aeternumgamestudios/eden-genesis-a-cyberpunk-adventure

We heard your feedback and we're testing some of your ideas! Feedback is a gift, thank you.