Outbreak - One Month Later...
Thanks to everyone who has supported Outbreak! We've had an amazing first month on Steam! During that month, the game has grown leaps and bounds based on community feedback in the form of free content, enhancements and fixes!
v1.14 just dropped which carried a ton of new content for both single and multiplayer gamers! Let's take a look!
Nora - The Seventh Survivor (Free)
Nora joins the cast of survivors as she helps them survive with improved barricades. Nora's barricades have quite a bit more resistance and she doesn't incur a penalty on repeatedly using them like other characters. Nora is also unique because she starts with an unloaded shotgun. Either bring some of your own ammo or scavenge it in the hospital, but at least you've got a weapon! Nora was a free addition included with the recent v1.14 update!
Single Player AI Partner (Free)
One of the most requested features from the community is AI teammates (like from a certain popular survival horror game from the early 2000s). We've heard you loud and clear and the recent v1.14 patch includes the first stab at providing an optional AI partner.
From the single-player lobby (where you would start a campaign or Onslaught game), you can toggle the presence of your AI pal. Each main character has a fixed partner they will spawn with.
Although your AI teammate doesn't have the full functionality of another player, they do have some tricks up their sleeve. They'll follow you around the level and assist with dealing with threats. AI partners have unlimited ammo but they deal greatly reduced damage and still need to reload. They can take a punch (or bite) though as they're pretty durable. They will also slowly heal over time.
In the future, we'll look for ways to improve the AI partner system, perhaps even allowing inventory access and other gameplay elements. For now though, this is a great start and provides a buddy when you need some backup in the single-player campaign!
Nightmares - Single-player Vignettes (Free)
Since Outbreak is a small indie game just starting out, it can sometimes be hard to find multiplayer games. As such, we're starting to bolster the amount of single-player content available to help the community as we continue to grow.
Nightmares is a unique single-player experience that diverges a bit from the standard Outbreak campaign. Nightmares trades in the endless hordes for a more classic survival horror experience. Although you won't be hunted endlessly, you will have to scrounge to find enough supplies to survive. Nightmares will also make use of the AI partner in some cases, and maybe a few guest appearances from other characters may pop up.
The first scenario, Captive, focuses on Quies escaping from a holding cell with Alendra and Stan. During her trek up to the surface hospital level, she'll encounter the mysterious Kass, who may either be a friend or enemy.
Please be sure to share your feedback on the first scenario. We're starting to break from a mold a tiny bit and we're interested to hear if folks are interested. More Nightmares scenarios will appear in the future in an episodic fashion.
New Onslaught Scenarios - Garage & Triage (Free)
Onslaught continues to expand with the addition of Garage and Triage. Garage takes place during the Outbreak scenario finale as you attempt to survive the hordes in the parking garage. Triage takes place in the Primary Triage section (and Lab seciton) of the Outbreak scenario. You'll face new threats and old foes in these arenas.
New Enemies - Nurse & Oversized Zombie (Free)
We've also added two new enemy types, the Nurse & the Oversized Zombie. You'll see them pop up randomly in the existing scenarios and they may take more of a focus in some upcoming Nightmares content!
These are just some of the new features and content provided for FREE in the latest version of Outbreak. In the last month, we've also added the following:
- Controls completely overhauled - modern tank, action and mouse look control schemes! (Select them in the Options menu!)
- Customizable mouse button controls!
- Support for consistency of controls across PS4, Xbox and other gamepads in the UI and in-game!
- Optional pausing when in menus (inventory, map, options, etc...) in single player!
- Flashlight and targeting laser customization!
- Character cosmetic customization!
- Controller vibration toggle!
- Major difficulty adjustments!
- Weapon buffs!
- Greatly improved default keyboard layout for WASD users!
- Separate manual aiming button!
- An awesome new title voice from the community!
- And many more bug fixes and minor enhancements!
Thank you for playing and supporting Outbreak! We're just getting started and we're looking forward to watching the community grow! Thank you! ːoutbreakzombieː