Dereliction Demo version 0.135 out now
This update adds quality of life improvements & ease of use
- The over world has been overhauled to help explain the mechanics of the game in an isolated & arguably safe environment
- The story has slowly started to be added and fleshed out
Greetings & Salutations everyone, this is SALT_, and theres been another weekly update to Dereliction.
I told myself it was done, the demo was ready and good. I was wrong, again. So, I've made even more improvements to the existing demo to hopefully have it all run better, smoother, and easier to complete!
Optimization & balancing:
The demo for Dereliction is pretty brutal, and that is by design. However, it is not supposed to be so difficult it should be frustrating or seem unbeatable. Now, a lot of this difficulty (unfortunately) was caused by me and errors, just issues where things were supposed to work in a certain way, and did not. Im sure at some point everyone who tried the earlier demos would get vanth, their little torchlight guide, lost or stuck somewhere. This would make everything just a little harder since it was just that much tougher to see anything.
As well, there are some rather unexplained mechanics in place that really needed polishing. For example there is wear and tear built into the weapon system. However, this is not explained or even reversible at earlier points. So, as a result the weapons would break and become useless, usually at some terrible moments for the player. This did not help in creating a demo that could be beaten. Easily or otherwise.
Finally, there is a lot of things that the player can do it the game. I was mostly focused on just getting the release released since I have little experience with putting everything public and having people able to play it for themselves. So any instructions to the game was limited, to put it lightly. However, slowly and with some amazing feedback (thanks to everyone who has played the game so far!) I was able to streamline a whole lot of the game, as well as provide proper instructions on how to, for example, swap weapons & grenades, when and where to use which ones, and be clear that everything that the player has been given is required.
You must use your map to scope out the path in front of you. You must earn and spend credits to increase your base stats. On a given run the player does not start out with enough oxygen tanks to explore a lot. And their starting map and light vision is baseline too small or low to successfully explore the level and find the crucial items they will need.
I feel that, without any hand holding, the player is more equipped for their task ahead. By the time even the first level is started, the player will know how to find key cards to open doors, lock and unlock doors for a tactical advantage, and a safe location to use the items weapons & tools that they have been given to help them on their journey. I hope that will be enough
Thank you all for reading and checking out our stuff! I really appreciate it and look forward to watching those who have streamed or posted videos on youtube. It has been a real treat and one that I have always wanted to see, since we avidly enjoy those who try out new games and share their experience online!
I will be working on the next update, as well as a steam storefront. I intend to have a more complete experience ready for Steam's nextfest in February, and so I am back to working really hard on every aspect of the game. Its tough but rewarding, so thank you again.
~SALT_
