Over the past few weeks, I noticed that nearly half of the reviews have been negative. To understand why, I went through each review one by one. As many of you pointed out, the "Weeping Angel" cycle towards the end of the game was frustratingly difficult for some players.
In response to this feedback, I have made the "grab the key from the bookshelf" task slightly easier.
Thank you all for your constructive reviews! If you encounter any bugs, feel free to reach out to me on X or via email.
Hey everyone! After the Steam Next Fest ending, we’ve been making steady progress, and today we’re excited to drop a new update filled with improvements and quality-of-life upgrades. Take a look at what’s new below!
Weapons & Combat
Heavy Sniper: Scope in is now faster.
Shotgun: Improved sound effect to be more satisfying.
Hook: Reduced the delay for enabling shooting after a hook finisher execution.
Hook: Players can now cancel the hook animation with a Jump or Dash for more fluid combat.
Player Movement
Dash: Players no longer lose speed after performing a dash - movement speed remains consistent with pre-dash velocity.
Mantle: Smoothed out mantling mechanics for better traversal.
Companions
Companions can no longer be set on fire, frozen, or poisoned.
Companions will no longer deal damage to the player.
Hitting a companion no longer triggers the crosshair hit indicator.
Mini-Boss
Reduced the number of weak mobs (Soldiers, Dragoneyes, etc.) spawned when the boss jumps to an island to 2.
Added a visual effect to clearly indicate when the Mini-Boss is immune.
Increased the boss’s island-jump cooldown by 5 seconds.
Enemies
Added new, shorter animations for when Destructible Elements are destroyed (Triclop and Hexopus).
Reduced the Triclop's shield durability.
- Fixed an issue where flying mobs sometimes spawned but didn’t move (still may sometimes happen but much less often).
- Fixed an issue where Wooden Exploders would march in a line like - now they spread out properly.
- Fixed an issue where Wooden Exploders would stand in place if the player was outside navigable space.
Items
Orbiter: Reduced its size and increased its distance from the player.
Critical Hit: Using the hook will no longer cancel the effect.
User Interface
Added markers for the enemies positions to the Mini Map.
Weapon Rarity: Replaced the “+” symbols with stars.
Added hook input icon to the tutorial.
Increased the on-screen hit effect and added a clearer damage sound to make taking damage more noticeable.
Added Travis S. to our Patreon supporters in Credits.
Settings
Removed the unused “Targeting Sensitivity” option.
Added FOV Scaling to the Mouse Settings menu.
Improved visual highlighting of the selected option in settings menu.
World
Slightly accelerated chest opening animations for faster looting.
First Room Tile Fix: Moved a tile in the first room that was annoyingly blocking a chest.
Boss Map Patch: Fixed a small hole in the landscape near the stones to the right of the tree by the boss area.
Patch #1.0.3
With all the excitement and work during Steam Next Fest, we didn’t have time to share the 1.0.3 update notes. Everything was happening so fast, haha. So, we’re including those changes below :D
New Features
Mini-Map: Added a mini-map to improve navigation around the map.
Gameplay
Usable Item Activation: Usable items can now be activated with Q and E keys.
Usable Item Swap Popup: Added a popup notification when swapping usable items with a full inventory.
Usable Item Cooldowns are now tied to individual items.
Removed base Uzi (without any +) from Containers loot.
Containers now respawn in more visible and accessible spots.
Bugfixes
Items from opened Containers can now be picked-up if you leave and re-enter a room.
Fixed an issue where collectible items would freeze or stick to walls and other objects upon collision.
Resolved a bug where spamming weapon pickup with a full inventory would disable shooting, weapon switching, etc.
Sniper Scope + Usable Item Bug: Fixed an issue where using a usable item (with animation) during sniper scope would make the weapon and hands disappear.
User Interface
Add to Wishlist: Now highlighted in green in the main menu.
Renamed stones in Main Gate location.
Thanks for being part of our community! Share your feedback, and we’ll keep working to make the game even better.
Welcome back to the development log of "Back of Beyond"! Today we'll dive into the game's turn system and follower card management.
In Mist Town, each round represents a day's work for the mayor (the player). You need to achieve faith goals in limited rounds, or the dark gods will punish the town. We aim for gameplay that's fast-paced and strategic, requiring players to balance between faith accumulation and resource management.
Turn System:
Each turn grants limited action points to activate buildings and use followers
At the end of a turn, new followers are drawn from the deck to fill empty spaces
Every five turns, a faith check occurs - you must reach specific faith values to survive
You can spend money to cut down trees and expand land, creating space for more followers and buildings
Follower cards are the core system of the game. Each follower has their own color and characteristics, providing different resources for the town. White followers are more common, red followers excel at generating faith, while blue followers bring in more money. As the game progresses, players can purchase more powerful followers through the shop, gradually strengthening their deck.
We've also designed a "replacement value" system, allowing players to replace unsuitable followers on the field a limited number of times. This adds more depth to gameplay, giving players more strategic considerations in deck cycling and position adjustment.
In the next development log, we'll share the design concepts and strategic uses of various buildings in the game! If you're interested in "Back of Beyond," please add the game to your wishlist:
Hello Haomai Ge, Seeing your letters is like seeing you in person. Long time no see, it seems like seeing you again. I really want to see you again. The plot expansion DLC is now available for sale Ladies and gentlemen, greetings have been sent to you. The brand new prop system and storyline have now been launched. You can enjoy a 10% discount on your first two weeks of purchase. Come back and take a look!
Hello Brother Haomai, Seeing your letters is like seeing you in person. Long time no see, it seems like seeing you again. I really want to see you again.
The plot expansion DLC is now available for sale
Ladies and gentlemen, greetings have been sent to you.
The brand new prop system and storyline have now been launched. You can enjoy a 10% discount on your first two weeks of purchase. Come back and take a look!