Progress Report x2 - Egg Counting

Hello everyone!

I'd like to start this off with a humble (and very late) Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!
I hope everyone's 2026 is kicking off strong.

With that being said, I'd like to address some things regarding Harbinger!

First off, yes, I am absolutely still working extremely hard on this new update!
I've gone to deem this new update the "Infestation Update"
This will usher in a new life into Harbinger - Legacy Edition that will revamp and alter its most glaring issues.

The first one, as I've mentioned before, is the launcher.
This new launcher made for Harbinger will have all available game content accessible through it. Meaning no more Steam launch options for accessing game modes.

The second, while it's small, actually brings a lot of immersion into the play : Death.
Originally, when you died, you'd get one scream and the camera would just move downwards.
Now, you can hear your character choking on their own blood, or hear the sounds of your brains saying goodbye to your skull! and I've introduced the death camera from Instant Action into the mix, so if you're shot, your camera will represent the direction your character falls.
If you get hit with melee, your character will fall normally.

For the third, the new death/Game Over screen has been implemented successfully.
It no longer runs off a timer, and will wait for Player Input, (ie : Reloading a save or returning to main menu)
(The Extraction and Infestation don't have Save reloading as there is no saving in these modes)

And fourth, but not last :
I've also completely reworked Infestation from the ground up! I had to redesign the spawning mechanics because it wasn't emulating multiplayer's Infestation anymore. Now its own separate mode and logic;
I also hosted a small poll and have found that players would like to unlock characters/maps through gameplay rather than having everything unlocked by default (I had a feeling, but it never hurts to ask)
So I'm working on implementing that now while I subsequently iron out any playability issues with the new mode.

Finally : The Single Dose Demo

Honestly? I'm not gonna lie to you. The demo? It kinda sucks.
Two unconnected story levels and 4 Multiplayer Maps? eehhhh....
So I've decided ; I'm going to rework the demo completely!

This demo will be a small, slightly connected story set in the Harbinger canon.
It will have lore that expands the world, and features some gameplay elements of the full game, while also being its own cohesive experience that doesn't just feel like some dingy advertisement for the full game.
But something you can play, soak in the world and atmosphere, and enjoy completely on its own even if you already own the full game.
This WILL be released after the Infestation update.
I'm working on both of these in tandem, but I do not want to say it will release at the same time and show up short.

I'd also like to add :
Single Dose Demo will receive its own page on Steam with this change, and if you really want to play the original demo I had released pre-Infestation, I'll do what I can to have it as a Beta opt-in option.

That's all for now, everyone!
I'll keep you all updated as I make more progress.
Currently, I'd love to say we are in the final stretch for the Infestation Update.
But that's like saying "The house is almost done, we just need to build the kitchen first."