Experimental Build v0.27

[Mike (+7 Software)]

The v0.27 experimental build is now out!

The main change is the addition of the new "Eradication" mode. The goal of this mode is to clear a bunker floor by floor of mutants and see how low you can get. The levels are procedurally generated and are different on each play through.

There are also a few other changes. Here's the full changelog:

v0.27.0.0 alpha

• Added new "Eradication" mode
  
• Changed: Campaign & Last Stand modes now start off with more daylight for the first wave, but the final wave gets darker and darker each day
  
• Changed: Escape mode now gets darker and has less working lights each floor
  
• Changed: Improved procedurally generated lighting for Escape mode
  
• Added procedurally generated pipes to Escape mode
  
• Changed: If a level is unlocked on a higher difficulty, then it is now also unlocked for all lower difficulties
  
• Added pipes into all other maps
  
• Changed: Pipes now collapse when an attached wall is destroyed, or they are blown up

It's a bit short notice, but I'll be hosting a session in about 40 minutes (at 8pm UTC+8) to playtest this new game mode a bit. If you can make it, feel free to join.

As always, please feel free to share your feedback and suggestions with me. It is always appreciated! The best ways of reaching me are here on the forums, Twitter, or Discord[discord.gg].

Cheers,
Mike

How to switch to the experimental build

1. In your Steam library, right-click on Final Days and select "Properties"
   
2. Once the properties window is open, go to the "Betas" tab
   
3. Select "experimental" from the drop-down list
   
4. Click "Close" and Steam should now download the update

To switch back to the normal build, follow the above steps and select "none" from the drop-down list instead.

[DCAxe]

Sounds an interesting game mode, look forward to trying it out :)

[Mike (+7 Software)]

Cool :) I plan to host another multiplayer session this weekend, so I'll try to get that sorted and post the details here and on Discord soon.

[Mike (+7 Software)]

Next experimental build v0.27.0.1 is now out! In this update, I've mainly worked on giving Final Days a bit more of an arcade feel. I hope you like the changes :)

I'll also be hosting a session of this new build in about 2 hours at 8pm UTC+8. As usual, all are welcome so feel free to join if you can make it!

v0.27.0.1 alpha

• Added: When a player dies, a light is temporarily shone on the spot they died so you can still see what happened in really dark areas
  
• [Steam] Added: Global leaderboards are now shown after the final score/rankings are displayed
  
• Added/improved visual & audio effects for scoreboards, bonuses, and game over
  
• Changed: New title screen effect and audio
  
• Changed: New background audio for training stage
  
• Added: "Checkpoint Reached" is now displayed whenever a checkpoint is reached
  
• Changed: Use different colours for different types of bonus messages
  
• Changed: Music now doesn't start until you spawn, and it stops at game over
  
• Fixed: If remaining players died in between stages, it did not register as game over
  
• Fixed blank tile in Hospital map

[Mike (+7 Software)]

I just released experimental build v0.27.0.2. There's no new changes though, this build only contains fixes. Thanks by the way to the players from Sunday's playtest session who helped me find some of these bugs!

I've still got a couple of things left that I want to try and squeeze into v0.27, so you can expect at least one more experimental build. But it's getting pretty close now to being ready to release to everyone on the main branch. I hope to get it out this week if all goes to plan!

v0.27.0.2 alpha

• Fixed rare XAudio2 related crash which could occur after exiting the game
  
• Fixed: Improved logic to avoid objects getting stuck in walls. Hopefully this stops the rare occassions where players could sometimes still get stuck in a wall.
  
• Fixed: If a player started dragging an object just as they died, it was possible for the player to respawn still holding that object
  
• Changed: Added extra logging to try and find a rare crash when loading maps
  
• Changed: Disabled map file compression (in the hopes this avoids a rare crash when loading maps)
  
• [Steam] Fixed: Uploading a score to the Steam leaderboards would sometimes never complete, so implemented a 5s timeout so that it at least doesn't block further scores from being uploaded
  
• [Steam] Changed: In a multiplayer game, wait a little before displaying global leaderboards to give other players scores a chance to upload

[Mike (+7 Software)]

Experimental build v0.27.0.3 is now out!

One major change is that I've rebalanced enemy numbers again. Now that v0.26 has been out for about a month now, I could see that the difficulty is still a bit too high for new players in particular. So I've changed Campaign, Last Stand, and Eradication modes to ramp up enemy numbers less in the earlier days/sections, and more later on. This makes the early game more forgiving to new players, and the late game more challenging for experienced players.

Oh yeah, and I also added the new "Eradicator" achievement for clearing the 50th floor in Eradication mode!

And I know this is really short notice, but I'll be hosting a playtest session of this new build in about half an hour (at 8pm UTC+8). So feel free to join if you can make it!

I'm really pushing to get v0.27 out to everyone on the main branch before the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. So if all goes well, this update should be going out very soon!

v0.27.0.3 alpha

• Changed Campaign, Last Stand, and Eradication modes to ramp up enemy numbers less in the earlier days/sections, and more later on. This makes the early game more forgiving to new players, and the late game more challenging for experienced players.
  
• Changed: Eradication mode now doesn't get pitch black until floor 50. The floor sizes now also increase more gradually and max out at floor 50.
  
• [Steam] Changed: Last Stand "survivor" achievements are now awarded at day 7 instead of 5 (because day 5 is easier now). But if you already got the achievement for day 5, then you get to keep it.
  
• Changed: Last Stand stage selection now shows a minimum of 7 days (instead of 14). More will automatically appear as you unlock further days.
  
• [Steam] Added "Eradicator" achievement for clearing the 50th floor in Eradication mode

[Mike (+7 Software)]

v0.27 has now been released on the main branch. Thread locked.