Hello all!
We are happy to announce the release of the Beta of our next major update, titled Killsquad: CORE.
CORE brings deep changes to all internal game systems, making a huge impact on your Killsquad experience. Our vision throughout this year has been: which core systems make Killsquad fun, and which systems should be improved? We vowed to fix all of them in a single, mega-update. Welcome to CORE, we hope you like it.
Here is a summary of the main changes:
New Vector system
Before CORE, enemies levelled up: you levelled up, so did they. This felt like not-progression: why keep playing, if enemies level up with you and the ratio stays the same? This full system is gone. Now, enemies have a static vector, which represents their level. So yes, when you vector up, you rise above their vector. And crush them. And feel pleasure in doing so.
New enemies & enemy generations
Of course, if you out-level enemies, it means we need more of them, to keep the experience fresh. CORE brings new enemies across all the Veteran section of the game. Be ready to face new foes with new powerful battle tactics. Additionally, CORE brings Enemy Generations: to diversify your enemy encounters with the new vector system, we have created 30 new enemy variations: new behaviours, new color schemes, so there’s much more to hunt and destroy.
Elemental resistance
CORE introduces elemental damage and elemental resistance on all enemies, enemy attacks and weapons. So be ready to invest your hard earned cash on the right tool for the right contract. Don’t use a freeze gun on an ice monster, you fool! This also affects the gear system: now there’s specific gears that bring resistance to certain types of damage. So if Helldörren is frying you, gear up to counter that.
Dual weapons
With elemental resistance, picking the right weapon was more important than ever. That’s why you now have the possibility of carrying two weapons, with different damage profiles. Let’s call these the mob clearing and the boss buster weapon. Choose them wisely: both influence your vector and your chances of survival.
Gadget system
You guys wanted more character build options. And we agree. In Killsquad your character build is not static (for example a RPG-style skill tree): it’s dynamic, and it emanates from your currently equipped gear. That’s why we expanded on this system, introducing the Gadget system. Gadgets are consumable power-ups you can carry with you and unbalance the battle. Life pools. Poison areas. As you rank up, you get more gadget slots, up to 6. These allow for an unprecedented layer of customization, and mean life or death on the harder mission, especially Colosseum and Plague. More Gadgets are coming in future updates.
Shop & reward system
Of course if we give you dual weapons, gears with elemental resistances & gadgets we need a place to go shopping, right? Enter the new shop! And also, pay attention to the contract end screens, these have all been revamped and now do a much better job at getting you excited about the new equipment you just earned.
New campaign map
This one is self-explanatory. Yes, a campaign map. A lovely one indeed. Go check it out! And, while we are at it, new tutorials so all game systems are explained. Of course tutorials will make a difference if you’re a new player only. But they are massively important.
Checkpoints
You have been crossing a perilous land for 45 minutes. Only to reach the final boss who, as bosses do, kills you in one strike. Back to the start! So unfair. We have fixed that. The game now automatically saves progress at key moments, so you can restart from there. More fun. Less frustration.
New rendering
We have replaced all the lighting code. Expect dark nights. Red sunsets. Rainy days. The kind of atmosphere that would feel extremely romantic, if it wasn’t because a ten ton monster is crushing your guts. So yeah, do kill the monster. But enjoy the views along the way.
FAQ
Joining the Beta
To join the beta, Please join https://discord.com/invite/killsquad. You can find the steps in the #beta-instructions channel.
Save games
The Beta uses a branch of your save game. So you’ll start beta with your existing save game, but to avoid contamination once the Beta period expires, when we release the full version, the progress made during Beta won’t transfer to your main branch save game.
Backing up your save game
As with any Beta, there could be bugs. Please do back up your main branch save game following these instructions:
Backup everything that it’s inside the “SaveGames Folder, which can be located here:
Users\\%Username%\\AppData\\Local\\Killsquad\\Saved\\SaveGames
Inside Steam’s “userdata” folder, you can find a couple of numbered ones. In here, you have to find Killsquad’s folder (910490) and backup these folders.
Program Files (x86)\\Steam\\userdata
And at last, please backup the files inside steamapp’s SaveGames folder.
SteamLibrary\\steamapps\\common\\KillSquad\\Game\\Saved\\SaveGames
Beta period
We expect this Beta to be up for approximately two weeks. Then we will release the game with all the fixes we encounter during the Beta phase.
Streaming the Beta
You can stream the beta, but please do not do it to showcase bugs or broken systems: we are constantly working on Killsquad and of course Betas *do* have bugs. That’s precisely their purpose, to find and fix bugs.
Reporting bugs
The most efficient way is by joining our Discord community. Please do so here:
https://discord.com/invite/killsquad
You can report bugs on the #beta-bug-report channel. Please be specific describing the bug: the easier for us to trigger the bug, the faster we solve it.
Roadmap
CORE is not the end: CORE is the beginning. We needed these 6 months to fix many internal things. But now comes the fun part, which is expanding the game on top of these new systems. We are happy to announce our Roadmap update, which includes 3 more updates after CORE. Please see them in these two images. We will do a more detailed update on roadmaps soon, in a Gathering video. But we wanted to share this right away. So yes, Christmas will bring cosmetics and Talismans. Q1 next year will take us on a journey to Skua, the base of the Feds. And summer next year we will unleash our endgame features and, yes, finally release a fifth hero so the team building options expand.
We need your help!
We hope you enjoy CORE. If you do, let us reiterate the following: we are not any sort of huge corporation. We are just a Barcelona-based indie studio self-funding a game. We have said it a few times, and we’ll say it again: we won’t stop until the game is perfect. We’re now more than one year into Early Access. Wanted commitment? Here’s commitment.
Now, if you like our work, and would like to lend a hand, here’s what you can do:
Reviews!
Do you like Killsquad? Haven’t written a review? This is THE single most important thing you can do. Reviews do magic to the Steam algorithm. And, even better, if you wrote a negative review back in the day, and came back to the game and feel we’ve done a good job, do you know you can update your review? Reviews are the blood that keeps us alive!
Social media follow:
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/killsquad
Twitter: @Killsquadgame
And on the Steam forums
Streaming!
Yes, do stream Killsquad. Tell the world about it, on Twitch, on Youtube, anywhere. If you have a significant following, contact us at [email protected], and we’ll try to support you in any way we can.
And now, go play. The universe needs heroes. We need heroes. Heroes like you.