Hey, everyone! It's Ryan, creator of Wicked Seed.
I've been heads down all month knocking out new content and making improvements to existing features.
Before I get into what I've been working on I want to give you an update on when I expect the game will be ready for release.
Thanks to playtest feedback and my own ambitions for the game growing, Wicked Seed has become much larger than I originally anticipated. I'm still confident that all newly added features adds a lot to my core vision of the game and I don't feel it's strayed in any way from what I first set out to make.
Earlier this year when I was finalizing the demo content I made the assumption it'd be ready for late autumn, but unfortunately that isn't the case anymore. I'm hesitant to give an exact expected release date, but I'm thinking it should be a few more months.
The release date will be announced in an upcoming trailer which will also reveal the new voice talent! Thank you for everyone's interest in the game and I will reveal more as soon as I am able.
With that being said though, I will still provide at least monthly updates on the status of the game, what I've been working on, etc... so let's get into what I've been doing in August!
Spoiler Warning
I'll be discussing new features and additions to the game, but nothing story related.
Please remember Wicked Seed is still in active development and any current or planned feature could be changed.
What I've Been Working On
Finalized the new area I started in July. It has a good mix of combat, exploration and puzzle solving. Even though I'm not setting out to make a survival horror game exactly, it definitely has that feel to it.
With this new map I also added a shooting range minigame. There are multiple rewards based on your score, including a costume.
Added a new mechanic for enemies called "Armor". Enemy armor can stack up to 5 times and will provide them with a large damage reduction and stagger immunity. Shooting has a chance to break their armor, as well as blocking and parrying their attacks. Typically enemies that have armor will be pretty squishy and easy to take down once the armor is broken.
Added two new weapons, a new assault rifle that focuses on tactical gameplay (boost to flanking and counter hits) and a handgun that provides additional stamina regen and is the only weapon to have 4 part slots.
Added the "Disassemble" feature at the work bench. This allows you to revert all scrap investment in a weapon and return its levels back to 0. The return rate is 100% as I want players to be able to freely experiment with the different weapons and builds without fear of switching something up mid-game only to find out they don't like it.
You can now set enemies on fire using certain weapon parts or consumables like the incendiary grenade. They will take damage over time and some enemies will be afraid of fire, instantly staggering them even if they simply see another enemy ablaze.
Added new combat feature called Brutal Counter. If you parry an enemy's attack that sends them to stagger, you will follow up with a fast brutal attack (that won't immediately end their stagger)
Slight changes to enemy stagger: Before most enemies lost all their defense, now they only lose about half, on average, but when they are attacked during stagger their will accumulate an ever increasing damage bonus (caps at 50%). When you brutal attack an enemy, that damage bonus will be doubled and brutal attack can now exceed the 9,999 damage cap.
Some areas will now have weather, which has an effect on combat. For example, rain will lower your maximum attack range and shots out of range have a chance to miss. Enemy fire resistance increases, but their frost resistance decreases.
Luck now has additional effects: It now plays a part in providing a chance to negate damage taken when hit. Additionally, when picking up scrap, there will now be a chance for the amount to double.
In addition to the automatic cutscene skip available in the options menu, if that is turned off, you can now manually skip cutscenes.
Added a "Depth of Field" toggle in the options menu. By default it will be turned off.
Made some changes to the status screen. I felt it was too cluttered before, with potentially unnecessary information.
However for those who want that in-depth look you can now quickly toggle back and forth between this simplified view and a new detailed view.
Added a new outdoor area (which is about 80% complete). It takes place along rocky coasts and cliffs.
I also added new areas and cutscenes that are story related so I won't share those here!
What's Coming Up Next
I need to finish the new outdoor area as that will finish the areas of the game that I want to showcase in Wicked Seed's release trailer. After finishing and polishing that area I'll begin storyboarding the trailer and reaching out to potential voice over artists. I'll also need to work on capturing footage for the trailer so work on the actual game might be split 50/50 between adding new content and marketing work going into September.
To finish off let's take a look at a new costume, Cheer! To all who made it this far, thanks for reading, and thank you for your continued support! Talk to you again soon.
