Hi Adventurers,
We are delighted to share the news that Oblivion Override has recently been nominated for the "The Indieplay Award" finalist at the ongoing indiePlay 2023. Although our game may not have gained much influence so far, we are honored to receive this nomination and want to extend our gratitude to the support and feedback from our incredible community of players along the beta phase to the Early Access stage. We will continue to listen to your feedback and improve the EA content until its full release.
Development Progress
The 4th chapter, which has been the subject of numerous inquiries, is currently in active development. This chapter will introduce a mysterious organization lurking deep within the Dulce Base, featuring brand new scenes, a variety of enemies and formidable bosses. Detailed information regarding these exciting additions will be provided in our future development blogs. For now, we offer you a glimpse of early concept sketches.
In light of the tight schedule of EA development and our main efforts focused on making the 4th chapter, we reevaluated our current alert system and decided to update the Roadmap with [Higher Alert Levels and New Gameplay] instead of [Custom Alert].
In the upcoming mid-November update, we will raise the maximum alert level from 5 to 8 with a bunch of enhancements for mechas gradually unlocked, as well as adding the [Virus Mode] and other gameplay features, together with new discounts.
Higher Alert Levels and Related Adjustments
We have been aware of the concerns from players regarding certain debuff designs under high alert levels especially the 1-HP feature when passing security check being too challenging. Therefore, in the upcoming version, while introducing higher alert level, we have removed debuffs that caused mechas to start with 1-HP and that reduced their health regeneration under high alerts. Also, we have made optimizations to the combat configurations across all chapters, aiming to provide players with a more balanced difficulty design and introduce new gameplays at different alert levels.
For the current alert level 1, 2, and 4, we will add new challenges such as monster evolutions, randomized choices of boss fights, and the exclusion of HP potions dropping in combat rooms. At alert level 3, bosses will also undergo evolution, gaining new moves and upgraded appearances, requiring players to adapt their strategies and pacing during dynamic boss battles.
Under higher alerts, we will increase the number of elite monsters and apply random buffs to them. For instance, there may be intermittent shield waves that weaken player's attack DMG, or the ability for defeated enemies to summon cyber spirits to continue attacking.
At alert level 8, players will face restrictions on evolution: refreshing evolution will require additional Nanites, and the Evolution Panel will change from three choices to two choices, requiring players to plan their builds more carefully.
Mecha Upgrade
As one of the core systems in the game, we aim to further enhance the unique features of mechas and improve their abilities as the game's alert level increases to offer new combat experiences.
In the upcoming version, players will unlock the Medal [Mecha Upgrade] in the base's mecha room after passing alert level 5. This Medal allows for the upgrading of active skills, passive skills, or ultimates of each mecha. Upgrades not only include stats improvements, such as increasing the DMG and duration of Crimson's Ultimate skill [Laser Blaster], but also trigger new skill mechanics for each mecha.
Take the mecha [Vik] as an example. After reaching level 1 upgrade, Vik's [Forkbeard Smash] will throw an axe at enemies in the forward horizontal direction upon a successful charge. In the later stages, it can be further upgraded to an axe attack that searches for targets in all directions within a range and penetrates through them, dealing considerable DMG.
Thunderio, who excels in using electric balls, will gain higher mobility after the initial upgrade and can transform into a lightning bolt through dash, delivering an electric shock to enemies along the way. This allows Thunderio to become a nimble "speedster" roaming through crowds of enemies.
Lee's [Chain Knife] can be strengthened to become three Ice Knives to briefly freeze nearby targets upon hitting them after mecha upgrade. Furthermore, Lee's passive ability, [Floating Knives], will have a chance to bounce off and hit surrounding enemies again after one strike, causing secondary DMG. We hope this feature can further improve the experience of using dagger-type weapons.
Virus Mode
As a "Virus" that is not tolerated by the order of AI world, exploring the Dulce Base are bound to face life-threatening challenges. We do not want high alert levels to become a barrier that restricts players from experiencing the full game content. To help players who find the game a bit difficult, we plan to implement the [Virus Mode] setting in the base:
When activated, this mode will reduce the game difficulty by decreasing the DMG taken by mechas, reducing monster HP, and providing an additional 1 initial dash charge. Other settings remain unchanged. We hope that this mode can assist players who are newbies or stuck to one level to experience the later stage of the game.
In addition to the newly added gameplay mentioned above, the Dulce Base will feature randomly appearing enemies carrying Nanites. Mr. Xie's service station has also been refreshed with a new set of services: adding the drink vending machine in the store, expanding energy stations with more revival opportunities, dispatching Port the Search Dog to assist in exploring hidden areas and arranging for Artis to regularly collect recyclable waste in the base. These new elements aim to encourage players for more battles to accumulate their adventure supplies.
That’s all for today’s dev blog. Some content and design are still undergoing continuous adjustments. If you have any thoughts or feedback about the updates of Oblivion Override, feel free to join the official Discord server and our admins will help address the issues.
