Last year, Valve updated its regional pricing recommendations and conversion rates, which basically define per-country game pricing, based on a given USD original price tag. Nuclear Blaze will align on this new policy on March 28th. What this means exactly:

• The game price will slightly increase in most countries (of approximately one US dollar equivalent in your local currency).
• I will not be allowed to run any discount during the month following the change.

I sincerely hope that you will understand the change Learn more about the regional pricing change by reading the official Valve announcement.

What's next?

On a more positive note, Nuclear Blaze is coming to consoles on April 28th! This will include physical versions with super cool goodies, thanks to the amazing folks at Red Art Games. I'm now also working on a very exciting project code-named Tenjutsu that could be described as "Roguelite X Jackie Chan". The following GIF is from a quite old prototype, but I still wanted to share it with you. Expect some serious combat feel with lots of unique weapons and items:

Changes

This small update includes the following changes, based on your feedback:

• You can now customize your GamePad buttons from the Controls menu, like it's 2022. Please note that Gamepad button customization is only possible with an actual controller plugged in. Otherwise, you'll only see Keyboard controls there.
• Default gamepad controls were slightly changed: LB/RB are now used for Water Down/Up respectively, and RT is now an alias for the X button (ie. spray water)
• Fixed possible "soft-locks" in some levels (ie. being stuck in a death loop or in some weird spot)
• Various level design and balancing fixes
• Minor bug fixes

Linux, when?

I have made good progress on the dedicated Linux build, which was tested successfully on :

• Ubuntu (18.x, 19.x and 20.x)
• Manjaro 21.x

I hope to have it publicly available by next week. If you want to participate and test it on your own machine, please visit this forum thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1662480/discussions/0/3182362324979820623/ Thanks for your great support everyone!

A free content update? But why?

As a way to say thank you to the gaming community for its amazing support, here is a free major content update! I listened to all your feedback, and built this update with you in mind.

Alert level increased!

"Hold My Beer" is a complete rework of the whole campaign to extend the playable content. It's much more than just some "Hard difficulty mode". All levels were updated with new areas to explore! But be careful, as new threats will also get in your way: automated turrets, nasty acid pools...

A world of mystery

The Hold My Beer update adds tons of new secrets and hidden Easter eggs everywhere! Pay attention to details, check every walls and look for cats or other weird things. By the way, I implemented a new Level Selection screen to make your cats hunt a little bit easier ;) And for the most adventurous explorers out there, 2 new secret endings are to be unveiled.

Halligan Axe

This new tool will allow you to destroy doors in much faster way and to break barricade walls to reveal more secrets. Or traps. Well honestly, it's probably more traps than secrets.

Adjustable difficulty

Difficulty options were reworked to be more meaningful. Remember that it's not about making the game easier, it's about adjusting the challenge to your own gamer profile. And for me, it's just about making sure my family can still play the game, from my hardcore gamer cousin to my now 4yrs old boy.

Full 1.5 patch notes

New features

- "HOLD MY BEER" mode: this new game mode is unlocked by beating the game once. A full re-exploration of the game world, with many new hidden areas in all levels, new devastating threats and new tactical elements. Fire propagation will also be faster, forcing a more precise and tactical approach. - Added a new LEVEL SELECT screen when using CONTINUE from title screen. - Added the original jam version of Nuclear Blaze, made in 48 hours, for curious players out there ;)

Gameplay

- Reworked ALL levels to integrate tons of "HoldMyBeer mode" related gameplay variations. - Added an extra ending - Added Automated Defense Turrets in "HoldMyBeer" mode - Added Acid water pools because fire wasn't entertaining enough - Better control of the Dodging movement: if you press the opposite direction while dodging, this will brake a lot. I know you add tons of fun dodging into fire, sorry for fixing that. - It's now possible to Dodge (and cancel) while breaking a wooden door - Removed a few Wasps in Hive and Containment Chamber. They will still appear if you play in HoldMyBeer mode. - Removed the old difficulty option "Fast Fires" which was merged into the HoldMyBeer feature. - Balanced Wasps HP - Balanced Wasps attack charge speed - Added an Armor in the "Electric" level (only available in normal mode) - Seems like more cats lost their way inside Site 16. - If you leave a level with a cat, and the cat hasn't reached its exit yet, it will now magically exit, because that's what cats do. - Damage on enemies will be increased when using the "Powerful water" accessibility setting.

User interface and ergonomics

- The new level select screen shows levels with missed cats. - Added a "checkpoint reached" notification. - When you die, the fog of war is no longer reset and discovered area stay "revealed". - Added a new accessibility setting to adjust Fire Propagation Speed. - Added a new display setting to reduce or remove bright flashes and camera shakes. - Time will now slow down and fire will stop propagating while reading a document. - Added full PATCH NOTES to the title screen. - Added extra "combo" keyboard controls for accessibility purpose (meant to help players having difficulty holding multiple buttons at the same time, like Water + Up). On gamepad, these are bound to LT/RT. - Added a "Press twice to confirm" security when pressing the RESTART LEVEL key. - Removed the "Fire warning" setting (it's now always ON, as it's more of a quality-of-life feature than an actual difficulty option) - All levels now have a proper intro title (the one that appears in the bottom left corner). - Moved Credits, Patch notes and a new homepage link inside ABOUT menu. - Doors opened by cinematic events should no longer show up a "Button required" tip. - Added actual percentage value near Difficulty bar in Settings - Added "level" speed run timer - Fixed "computer turning on" sound. - Dodging in front of an ingame document will no longer show up the doc content. - Added missing 1920x1080 resolution to windowed resolutions list - Decreased infra-red triggers sound volume - Fixed position of setting descriptions in scrolling menus - Added a way to backtrack to the hidden cat in "Access" level - Dozens of level-design related minor fixes

Kid mode

- Added "Secret base" level - Added an explorable Fire Station in ending level (by popular request) - Fixed water auto-aiming bug - Fixed ladder climbing rare bug - Added "victory" jingle - Better fog rendering in Kid Mode

Technical stuff

- Fixed various game-controller related minor bugs - Fixed incorrect music volume after playing a "jingle" (eg. when unlocking a permanent upgrade) - Reworked the way "saved cats" counter is stored to avoid various bugs & issues. - Fixed "Dodge" tooltip appearing in the wrong place in level "Bad Omen" - Fixed "Fire extinguished" sound that sometimes went crazy when wiping out heavy fires. - Minor bug fixes - Various minor translations fixes

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack of Nuclear Blaze is now available on Steam! It has drums, electric guitar, epic moments, chiptune bleeps & bloops and I really love it. (I mean, you should totally buy it). Also, note that ALL revenues related to the game soundtrack will go straight to the musician, Pentadrangle. So it's also a great time to support a very talented artist https://store.steampowered.com/app/1791780/Nuclear_Blaze_Soundtrack/

"Hold my beer" update coming soon

This major (and free!) update will see the addition of the Hold My Beer mode. You unlock it by beating the game once and it will change pretty much everything. Hold My Beer isn't just some "game is harder" mode: it unlocks tons of new areas in all existing level, completely changing your strategical approach, taking advantage of new mechanics and even revealing crazy secrets. Some of these secrets might be related to cats.