Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to another DIGGERGUN blog post! Today Im writing to give an update on the status of development, as well as whats to come in 2023! But first up I want to announce some news: Eagle-eyed fans might have noticed this already, but for those who havent: DIGGERGUN will be published by Grab The Games on Steam! Not only that but thanks to Grab The Games support, DIGGERGUN will be coming to PS4/5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch in various languages! This is massive news for the game and we couldnt be more excited to bring DIGGERGUN to a wider audience. Thanks to Grab The Games support, Ive been working on DIGGERGUN full-time. Recently I hit a major game development milestone by finishing the games Alpha build and I want to share some of the changes and new features that were introduced for the Alpha.
The focus for the Alpha build was on finishing up the remaining systems for DIGGERGUN, before adding more story content during the Beta. I also wanted to apply changes to some of the core elements of the gameplay loop. All of these adjustments are based on the feedback I received from the demo that was released in 2022. So thank you to everyone for playing it and giving me your thoughts! The biggest of these changes was to how players get paid. In the Pre-Alpha/Demo, players would get paid every Sunday. Now, you get paid at the end of the everyday. If you work through the night, then youll get paid the next time you go to sleep. Players still get taxed to the UK taxation rates, including the National Insurance tax, as well as have money taken from their paycheck for rent and bills. The main aim of this change was to get to the point of DIGGERGUNs key hook as quickly as possible (the payment and taxation system) as well as giving the player more immediate feedback on how theyre performing.
Talking about performance, another big change is that there is now a minimum amount of lithium the player has to collect and deposit every working day. This is clearly shown when depositing lithium at the entrance to the mines. If you dont deposit the minimum, then you wont get paid. Its that simple! The hope is that this change will make the gameplay less obtuse as well as ensure the player has clear, short-term goals.
Theres also an additional element to this system. The game now tracks how much lithium you deposit, whether its over, under, or the exact amount required. How you perform will affect your relationship with your Manager. As with all NPCs in the game, your bond with your manager will have a profound effect on the rest of your game for better or for worse. Those are two of the biggest changes that have been made to DIGGERGUN. Its my hope that they will address some key issues with the game, as well as enhance its pacing. But what about other gameplay additions? Well, here are just a few:

• Players can now earn a money bank, and a lithium bank from NPCs to store their resources,
• It rains from time to time in Town, find an umbrella to stop yourself from getting wet,
• Loans - you can take out a loan, but beware of the interest rates,
• More mine levels have been added to the mine randomiser,
• More enemies and objectives have been added,
• More environments to explore and interact with,
• Plants - if you want to water them youll need to find a watering can
• A new stat, Luck, has been added! Increasing it will increase how often lithium and other resources will spawn whilst in the mines,
• Players can sell their lithium to an ever-so-slightly dodgy buyer,
• More weapons have been added
• And much more!

Features:

• Day-and-night cycle with an energy system where your actions truly matter as the sim-system tracks your gameplay and punishes/rewards you for your choices,
  
• An atmospheric world with unique characters who run on their own schedules. Who you interact with, and who you don’t, can change the outcome of your story,
  
• An all-to-real sim where wages, food, rent, and much more are based on the current cost-of-living in the United Kingdom, with tax calculated to real-world rates,
  
• Randomly generated mines always keep you on your toes and increase in difficulty as you move through them.

• OS: 4-bit Ubuntu 14.04+
• Processor: 2 GHz dual-coreMemory: 2 MB RAM
• Memory: 2 MB RAM
• Graphics: Any AMD or nVidia graphics card with latest drivers
• Storage: 300 MB available space

• OS: Ubuntu 18.04
• Processor: Intel Core i5-2400. AMD A10-6800KMemory: 2 GB RAM
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460. AMD Radeon HD 5870
• Storage: 1 GB available spaceAdditional Notes: These are the minimum settings that are guaranteed to give you a smooth gameplay experience.