EXOGEN LABS - SUBJECT ADVISORY
Testing facilities face advancement. Lethal mutations and testing equipment receive integration, and test subjects protest scrub juice flavour...
-- Exogen Trial Operations
Hello Test Subjects!
It’s been a little while since we last put out an update, but the team has been working hard in the labs, cooking up some important changes, features and content that will round out the experience of Killing Things With Your Friends.
Take a look below at what we’ve been building!
Art Reform
While we remain focused on crushing bugs and spinning up more content, we’re also excited to showcase some key art updates! Here is a look at how our designs are iterated upon during development, and how your feedback informs KTWYF.
Body Config
One of the scenes to receive a new art pass is the Body Config room in the Lobby. Before, it felt empty and featureless, but now it's been outfitted with some big spooky head sculptures and fancy new pods.
Check out this BEFORE and AFTER
Line-of-Sight Blockers
Pillars and statues help break up our arenas, giving both players and enemies a little breathing room to run away from their predators. Whether you're desperately dodging a Beetle's acid thrower, a Porcupine's quills, or hiding from your "friendly" fellow test subjects - positioning will be the key to surviving.
When things get chaotic, sometimes ducking behind a pillar is the best way to keep your head on your shoulders.
Decals
Our playtesters have spoken, and apparently, dying repeatedly can be quite confusing!
To help you keep your wits (and limbs) attached, we're designing new infographics and decals to point you in the right direction.
How do you think the challenges below might be solved, from their decals alone?
Items
Not only do we have new art for health packs, but we've also added three new items to assist you during the trials!
From left to right:
Health Pack
Scrub Juice
Limb Juice
Speed Enhance
A Health Pack and Speed Enhance might be obvious items, but what mysteries could Scrub Juice and Limb Juice hold? Do they taste like Scrubs or... limbs?
And what is The Cube?
There's only one way to find out.
The Squid Mutation
Up until recently, Squid limbs weren't much different from your boring ol' human parts, beyond some better damage, speed and jump height, with the tentacle’s greater reach and damage being their greatest benefit.
That all changes with our latest mechanic - Poison.
Squid limbs now inflict toxic damage, wounding the subject - probably you - over a short period of time. Poisoned mutants sport a lovely, holographic purple glow for the duration - making them the prettiest abomination in the lab.
The good news?
Dress for the occasion and you can stomach the hazard!
Squid legs protect you from poison - 50% for each leg - which means a player with Squid legs can survive in pools of poison, potentially saving them from a slow, agonizing death.
They could be the key to clutching high-stakes challenges where poison is as much a threat as the mutants, so don't ignore them in your trials - you may just need them!
New Challenge Rooms
We showed off a couple new challenges in an earlier development blog, so how about a few more?
We now have over 30 unique challenges, and even more ideas brewing, but we don’t want to spoil them all just yet. Do you think you can figure out what each challenge is, from an image alone?
Jumping Puzzle
The same puzzle that became the bane of players during our open playtest has been nerfed once again, to the delight of everyone except our designer, who glides through the challenge like it's nothing.
// OLD
Now, instead of a pit instant-death lasers, it’s filled with a pool of poison - which means it might not be the end if you get stuck, thanks to the new poison mechanics we covered earlier.
// NEW
Throw on some squid legs and maybe you’ll make it out alive...
Progression
In our last developent blog, we took a look into how you compete to earn gold, and in our Body Config update, explored what you’ll be spending it on.
We’ve now added another layer to the Body Config, where players will earn the ability to purchase upgrades by completing secondary challenges.
The challenges will require more testing and balancing to ensure the game keeps its pace and energy, but we’re confident that this will add a greater sense of progression and achievement when you unlock a new way to become the better specimen.
What's Next?
For now, we're getting deep into customisation and optimisation, and looking at more ways to keep the experience in Exogen Labs feeling fresh and blood-pumping - in more ways than one... let's just say it might not be so important to keep your head.
While we pulled out of June Next Fest to give ourselves some extra time to cook, we still have plenty of playtesting opportunities coming soon, so keep an eye out for those announcements!
If you're one of the playtest squad members in our official Discord, you already have access to most of the latest updates, and can dive in as soon as you're ready! If you're following along and haven't joined the Discord yet, come and say hello!
That's all for now - we'll have more to share soon.
Thank you for all your support!
Cheers,
– KTWYF Team