Dead State Post-funding Update #43: Early Access Update #2

The Steam Early Access build of Dead State has received a sizeable patch, and that’s prompted the team at DoubleBear to crank out another update to the game’s long-ago-funded Kickstarter campaign. Lots of stuff to check out, zombie survivalists:

We’ve added character creation, basic goals (experience system), two new locations, two new random encounters, combat bark functionality (note allies will eventually have unique barks, grabbing from generic list right now), an ambient sound system, and many bug fixes and combat balance additions (although combat is getting even more polish/balance soon.) This update introduces the rest of the functionality that forms the backbone of the entire game. From here on out, much of the work goes into improving on and building out the systems of the game rather than adding completely new functionality and screens.

Also, keep in mind that the updates only represent a small amount of the work in the game and that the majority of our work is going toward our progression playthroughs of the game. This includes maps, characters, events, weapons, enemies, neutral AI, and minor systems that are getting added or tweaked constantly these days. Crisis Events have turned out especially well they’re definitely feeling spot on to our original outline and navigating the subleader/shelter political layer is as unique a gameplay experience as we hoped it would be. If you were looking forward to putting a lot of hours in the final release of Dead State, you will not be disappointed. And as soon as the update goes out, we’ll go back to making more maps and implementing additional dialogues to make sure that the roads out of Splendid will take you to an ever-increasing amount of destinations. Think the Coyotes are a threat? Oh, just you wait.

As always, please feel free to contact us here, on Steam, on our boards, and let us know what you think or if you’re having any problems. Even if we can’t respond to everything, we do hear you and we’re taking notes. We’re firmly committed to giving you the best survival RPG experience you’ve had, so if you don’t hear from us, it’s probably because our screens are filled with editors, emails, text files, and team chat programs. Thanks for all your patience and continued support!

Here’s the official changelog:

‘¢ Character creation system added
‘¢ Goals system added
‘¢ Player and ally experience added
‘¢ Combat bark functionality added
‘¢ Ambient sound system added
‘¢ Three new maps added
‘¢ Inter-party dialogue no longer occurs when out on a scavenging mission
‘¢ Fixed morale bonus appearing twice on DRS
‘¢ Fixed issue where food found and fuel found bonuses were not applied correctly
‘¢ Fixed issue with DRS showing unnecessary/redundant information
‘¢ Fixed an issue where KO’ed characters did not turn if killed by the undead
‘¢ Fixed an issue with saving on dialogue triggers causing crash
‘¢ Fixed the (black screen) issue
‘¢ Fixed a harvesting-related exploit ‘¢ Saving during dialogue is now disabled
‘¢ Fixed an issue where splitting ammo stack between two characters caused one pile to be destroyed
‘¢ Trade screen fixed so initiating character is on left, character clicked is on right.
‘¢ Unique items now sort to the Unique tab correctly
‘¢ Fixed an issue where pressing Esc. while split stack GUI was up caused the inventory to fail to open upon returning to game
‘¢ Fixed an issue where pressing Esc. while character selector on trade screen was selected caused trade screen to fail to open upon returning to game
‘¢ Fixed an issue where random encounters persisted on the map after reloading while inside random encounter level
‘¢ Fixed an issue where saving and reloading in a random encounter level lost player position on the map
‘¢ Revamped loot creation and distribution system
‘¢ Two new levels and a new random encounter level added
‘¢ Fixed an issue where areas appeared over harvesting and fishing locations
‘¢ Fixed an issue where harvesting zones were marked as harvested in a reloaded game
‘¢ Fixed an issue where harvesting zones disappeared after exiting and reloading game
‘¢ Spawn rates and noise variables have been adjusted
‘¢ Capped noise that can be generated in a single square

Known Issues with Update

‘¢ Combat bark variety is limited right now and allies share same set of barks with enemies; may be expanded in a future update
‘¢ Portraits and models in the CCS are temporary placeholders using future ally assets.
‘¢ Crossbow model disappears after firing
‘¢ Perks are not active in this release, may be added in a future update