Hello there!
First of all Laura and I want to thank everyone and especially all the supportive members in the forums that help us answering, offering help, sharing helpful tips and provide detailed bug reports that help me to find and fix issues quickly.
Also apologize for the time this update is taking, restoring the Save System was not an easy task and has been really stressful and time consuming. Testing everything related to the Save System is taking us way more time than we initially had in mind, since I'm the only programmer, 99% of the testing relies on Laura and we need to be very very very cautious to make sure not a single bit of data is lost or any softblock is created by accident.
Now that the manual has been restored 100% we have been able to bring back all the additional content and features that were tied to it.
So... when will the update be released?
We are still aiming for this month or early February, but I want to make sure everyone is up to date with all the progress we made with this post. Laura and I have been working non stop on this update and we are really happy to finally be able to show how the development goes and what kind of features, fixes and additional content it brings!
This update will include:
Essential Fixes:
- Manual Save System restored at 100%, now you can manually save from the Start to the End of The Game with Floppy Disk, no more Checkpoint system on the streets after the PUB.
(BE AWARE that ALL Checkpoints will be DELETED with this update, so make sure to have Manual Save data available in the PUB or the CITY HALL section).
- Audio and Brightness settings will be saved correctly and won't reset anymore.
- Reduced load times in several areas.
Quality of Life Improvements:
- Now you are able to target defensive items in the world with a key/button:
- Now you are able to re target the closest enemy.
- New Grab and Bite animations that allow a faster and fluid gameplay:
- Reworked enemy collisions, no more walking brick walls, this will avoid frustration caused by unfair enemy grabs or getting stuck between zombies making it now easier to avoid enemies.
- Reworked smaller enemies collision, now you can knife down those pesky worms and roaches.
- Storage box items will be sorted into weapons first, then items, it will also show the amount of ammo, quantity or durability of each weapon, making it easier to find what you are looking for:
- Now the cutscenes will show your current outfit:
- Cutscenes are finally Skippable (only a few of them are still needed to load/save data, but none of them are more than 6-8 secs long).
- The result screen will show number of Saves, Health Items used, Enemies Killed and Completion Time.
- Added the option to Kick with the middle mouse button.
- Smoother Thumbstick movement .
- Cloud Saves.
New mechanic:
- Now you can block Zombie grab attempts with a Melee Weapon (Except the Knife)
This "blocking" feature will be only available if you are aiming with a melee weapon, if you miss the swing or the zombie grabs you before you land a hit instead of losing HP, the weapon will take a %, if the weapon is under 15% or the player is not aiming it won't block any grab (This feature ONLY blocks zombie attacks).
In Hard/Survival Mode the weapon will take a massive % making the weapon able to "block" 1 or 2 attacks and reducing a lot the number of hits the weapon can deal.
New content:
- +50 New Achievements.
- Three New Difficulty modes: Beginner, Experienced, Survivor:
Beginner: Way more ammo, tons of health and unlimited saves. ( Making use of Echoes of The Living basic mechanics will make your run even easier)
Experienced: Standard balance, the one you have been playing since the release. ( Making use of Echoes of The Living basic mechanics are essential to survive)
Survivor: Less ammo and Stronger Enemies that deal CRITICAL damage. ( The knowledge of every single mechanic of Echoes of The Living is crucial)
"Also Survivor Mode brings a new challenge, the infection level will increase each time you get bitten or puked (not only when exposed to the fog as the other modes) and it won't decrease unless you use a mix of minced sapplings (Lore Accurate).
This makes enemies like the Fogger WAY more scary and dangerous since the player not only will need to keep track of their HP but also the Infection Level."
- New Tutorial/Training mode that allows the player to learn all the core and basic mechanics in the game before jumping into action!.
- 2 New Secret Endings.
- 2 New Secret Cutscenes.
- 2 New Outfits.
- 2 New Weapons.
- 4 New Melee Weapons, each one with its own strengths and weaknesses.
- Two new type of collectibles:
Hidden Cards: Collectible items that are "hidden" and won't glow.
Mini Snailgers: Collectible/Destructible items hidden in the world that have a unique glow color:
Bugs Fixes:
Big number of fixes that will be detailed on the patch release notes.
Steam Store:
Trading Cards, Badges and Points Shop Items like Emoticons and Backgrounds.
Oh my! What a list.
Once this update is released we can finally get back to work on Laurel's campaign while fixing any issues or bugs that players may find. Also we plan to release mini updates showing how the development of Laurel's Campaign goes, sharing pieces of media and posting cool features that are unique to Laurel's (Similar to the ones that are unique to Liam). Laurel’s Campaign will be available when leaving Early Access this year.
In the meantime let us know if you had any issues and we will reply back with a solution as fast as we can!.
Thank you so much for being part of the Development of Echoes Of The Living.
See you really soon!
Best regards, MoonGlint Studio (Alvaro and Laura)