Hello, Agents!
It’s been some weeks since we shared the new direction for Section 13, including the new title and demo. Since then, we’ve gotten some questions from players about the announcement and our plans for the game’s future.
In today’s post, we’d like to definitively address those.
How Can I Share Feedback?
Right now on the store page, you can access a free demo showcasing our vision for the game’s new direction. It’s taken us a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to put together in a short amount of time, and we hope that passion shows in the final game.
But game development is always an iterative process, and our studio is built on community engagement. We invite you to share your thoughts via our Demo Feedback Survey.
[Survey QR Code]
What Happens Next?
You may have noticed a few little patches have gone live for the demo since it launched. That’s because we’re still in the process of adding things to it.
That work – as well as collecting and reviewing your feedback – will continue over the next few weeks. Once the demo is sitting in a place we’re satisfied with, it will be merged into the live version of the main app (i.e. the thing that runs when you open Section 13 on Steam and click “Play”).
We’re aiming to make this change sometime in September or October, but it’s hard to nail down a firm date at this time, partially because it depends on players’ feedback.
How Will This Affect Save Files?
In the course of adjusting the game’s direction, we’ve made a ton of changes to gameplay at all levels – from Synaptic Enhancements, to Agent Upgrades, to how weapons are unlocked, and more.
Because of this, it’s unfortunately not possible for us to port over previous save data from Blackout Protocol, and for balancing and bug-prevention purposes, we’ve made the decision not to carry over demo save files either.
We understand this may frustrate some players, and we hope you’ll bear with us.
What’s Happening with Co-Op?
A great multiplayer co-op experience is one of the team’s core values on this project. We all love the multiplayer side of the game, we know players love it too, and we have no intention of doing away with it.
Here’s what co-op fans can expect, as clearly as possible:
- From now until the merge, you can continue playing co-op in Blackout Protocol to your heart’s content.
- When the live app switches over to Section 13, co-op will be initially disabled, temporarily, while we work to fine-tune multiplayer balancing on all the stuff we’ve changed to support a stronger single-player experience. But rest assured: we ARE working on it. (You can actually see some inactive UI relating to future multiplayer features in the demo right now .)
- At some point between the merge and the full release, multiplayer will be re-enabled. Section 13 WILL launch with fully functional online co-op. Period.
[Multiplayer features will be accessible in the Command Center via the phone booth.]
Are We Making the Game Easier?
As part of the game’s shift in direction, some players have noticed that the base difficulty level feels…different. Agents can now move faster, roll without cooldowns, they all have unique passives that boost specific stats, and ammo is now unlimited (outside of how many bullets are available in your current clip).
Some of this is to make the game less of a brick wall for new players. Mostly it’s just the result of changing from a slow tactical shooter with a lot of harsh restrictions on mobility, to a fast, action-oriented game that takes the shackles off and lets the player fight freely.
As with anything relating to difficulty, opinions vary widely. Some people think the balance is too easy now; others think it’s still too hard. Even within our own dev team, it’s a pretty even split.
For those who find the game difficult: we’re confident that with a few upgrades, weapon unlocks, and some patience, most average players will be able to meet the challenge and clear the game at least once or twice.
For veteran players who have beaten the old Blackout Protocol multiple times and want the game to come at them with everything it’s got: rest assured, you will have options.
[Cell Samples in the player’s inventory.]
We’re adding a new item to the game, Cell Samples. You’ll collect these by completing a full run of the game. The more you have, the higher you can set the difficulty level.
[An image of the mission loadout screen, with 3 collected Cell Samples.]
The difficulty will obviously affect basic stuff like enemy HP and damage, but it will also affect various other things we’re still experimenting with, like enemy stats, spawn numbers, types, which level variants the game puts you into, and so on.
We welcome your feedback on all of these things, and invite you to share your thoughts on the demo via the survey link above.
We hope this post has helped to clarify some of the questions players have had about our intentions with Section 13 and the future of the game. We’ll continue working hard to deliver the best experience we can, and keep you posted with updates as often as possible.
Thank you for your support.
Ocean Drive Studio