Hey everyone!
New patch is playtested at this very moment, and will be available shortly. Below you’ll get a taste of what you can expect in that. Also - we pulled the most popular Project Warlock II questions from Steam and Discord and answered those here.
Since we launched the Early Access version of Project Warlock II we’ve received a ton of feedback from you, released a number of patches and fixes, as well as revealed our roadmap until the end of the year. And there’s still a lot more to come!
Some of the areas of the game we’re working on are:
Totally redesigned saves system for clearer designation of all saved games, and limiting the number of manual saves and quicksaves
Introducing Single Stage mode for revisiting previously completed levels
Adding more pronounced audio and visual cues to enemy demons spawning in
That and a whole variety of balances, fixes and adjustments across the board that will be fully outlined in the upcoming patch update.
Each and every suggestion or a bit of feedback provided by you makes its way to our internal database and is reviewed case-by-case. When we said we want to shape the game according to your feedback, we meant it.
It’s not always possible to respond to all messages or comments and some of them might tackle topics that we’re already aware of and work on, so we’ve prepared this handy list of responses and updates about some of the most frequent topics.
1: There’s a lot of clutter on the screen - specifically cooldown reduction orbs, ammo, health, and armor, but also some environment elements sometimes make it hard to see what’s happening on the screen. Are you planning to address that?
ANSWER: In one of the upcoming patches (coming: soon) we’re reducing the number of dropped items. We’re also repositioning some of the trees as they have been reported to obscure enemies, who (being vicious demons from hell) predictably used that to their advantage.
2: Enemies are sometimes getting stuck in walls, trees, pillars, and other elements of the environment. What gives?
ANSWER: These issues are two-fold. One - after one of the redesigns of the levels, some of the enemies seemed to be stuck in walls with their spawners. Two - some of the doors and breakable passageways cause enemies to behave strangely. The placement issue has been resolved in the latest hotfix patch as well as the enemies getting stuck.
3: Why are some enemies shooting through the walls?
ANSWER: This was an issue with misplaced spawners of some monsters. It has now been resolved in the latest hotfix.
4: Enemies are getting stuck in the floor - mostly in E1M5.
ANSWER: This issue has been addressed in the latest patch, we’ve modified the size of the space with problematic floor material.
5: Sometimes the player character gets stuck on the stairs, slopes, and walls.
ANSWER: That was an issue with the Player controller and has now been resolved in the latest hotfix. Special thanks to those who attached images or videos of problematic spots in their feedback posts. You know who you are, and we know not all of you wear capes!
6: The enemies spawning behind the player after picking up every key/weapon/spell are a problem.
ANSWER: The upcoming patch has more pronounced visual and audio cues to make the monsters spawning in more noticeable as per the screen on top of this post. That same upcoming patch will also result in a do-over regarding the monster spawn placements. The aim is to eradicate those instances that feel unfair to the player by not giving ample time to react.
7: The levels are bigger than in the original Project Warlock, which makes them difficult to navigate through and it’s very easy to get lost and wander in circles.
ANSWER: We’re looking at the scope of the levels and making sure they are more accessible. One thing that emerged from the playtest and subsequent feedback is that we will be going for a division of the levels into smaller and more approachable areas. This is coming in the future.
8: Some of the secrets are too hard to find.
ANSWER: Well… yes and no. We believe that most of the secrets aren’t that problematic and are well-indicated, whether by a red target mark, a button, or a destructible wall. But we’ve heard a lot of voices. In the previous point, we’ve mentioned redesigning the levels. We believe it will help this issue as the levels will be smaller and secrets should become easier to find.
Also, the Single Stage Mode (coming in the next content patch) will allow players to jump between levels to find secrets they’ve missed.
9: Are more game modes coming to PW2?
ANSWER: Yes. Single Stage mode is now being extensively tested and will be a part of the next content patch. Stars of one of the future updates - the Mutators will also have a significant impact on the way you play the game.
10: The music in Project Warlock II feels repetitive and just not that good, whereas it was one of the best things in the original Project Warlock.
ANSWER: Jerry and Luke - the guys behind the first Project Warlock’s OST are hard at work on making sure that Project Warlock II’s soundtrack is as memorable - or waaaay more - as that of the first game. The issue with the tracks right now is that the concept for dynamic music that was originally in place had to be reconsidered. It just didn’t work that well and was changed. Currently, some of the tracks might need that extra ooomph, but that's because most of them are devoid of their more dynamic, combat parts. There will be new tracks, as we’re working on the PW2 soundtrack to hit the bar we’ve set with the original game. Adding the tracks as well as dividing the levels into smaller parts should reduce the feeling of repetitiveness.
11: The loading times in Project Warlock II seem excessively long, what’s going on?
ANSWER: We’ve got a two-part fix planned for this. First, in one of the upcoming patches, we’re improving the overall optimization of the levels. Secondly, the loading times will be shorter once we divide the levels. There’s also a topic of the overabundance of saves that also has an impact on this. Upcoming patch addresses that by limiting the number of manual and quicksaves and also by redesigning the save menu.
One important thing to note here, though. The upcoming patch will render all the saves up until that point useless. So if you want to finish up that playthrough with your current save - now's the right time.
12: Some of the weapons and their upgrades feel lackluster.
ANSWER: Weapon tuning is one of the major updates that the team has been working on for the past couple of months. It will require quite a bit of testing so we have no timeframe to give, but this will be happening very soon. If you'd like to give it a go - please apply for a playtesting role on our Discord to participate.
In the Weapon update basic weapons and both their upgrades and the way the system works will be revamped. For example, instead of upgrading the Rifle into the Heavy Rifle, you’ll be able to add an additional barrel, sight and ammo capacity. This will result in a chance to expand the capacities of a particular weapon more significantly than just with a short upgrade tree. As we said, it’s early in the works, so your feedback will help us shape it further!
13: The automap is hard to read, any plans to address that?
ANSWER: In the upcoming patch, we’ll adjust the minimap’s height colors. More specifically by removing Red and Green height differences, making uncovered terrain white and covered terrain dark gray. This will help you navigate through the levels and find areas you haven’t explored yet. We’ll continue to closely monitor your feedback to make sure we get it right.
14: When can we expect more levels?
ANSWER: New levels are coming in the second episode. We don’t have a specific time frame yet, but you can check out our roadmap for 2022 below.
Thanks for being here with us and look out for the incoming patch!