Community Suggested Improvements
Happy holidays Barricaders! I have been working on small update lately, this one includes a visual update for some of the lower fidelity guns. Some of the weapons that were created earlier in development had much lower definition as my 3D modeling skills were not as developed. So I have given those weapons a face lift to match so the weapon visuals generally match. Since it is the holidays, I have re-enabled the holiday content. You can find Christmas trees in each level and even the zombies have embraced the holiday spirit, sporting a Santa hat. The demo has also been updated to include this content too! See the change log below, and feel free to discuss on Discord! Cheers! -Sockhouse
Change Log
New Stuff
: Enabled holiday content. : New models and textures for the Pistol, Sniper, Assault Rifle, Shotgun.
Bug Fixes
: Upgrading the Pistol after completing the tutorial would crash the game. Join the Barricade official Discord
[ 2024-12-07 01:13:54 CET ] [ Original post ]
Community Suggested Improvements
Thank you all for participating in Next Fest, and your purchase of Barricade. It was great to see all the new faces in the community and receive your feedback. As expected players encountered some bugs that needed addressing, as well as some suggestions for balance improvements. The Demo has also been updated with these fixes / tweaks. See the change log below, and feel free to discuss on Discord! Cheers! -Sockhouse
Change Log
Balance
: Upgrading guns will replenish the ammo for that gun. : Increased prepare time from 60 seconds to 90 seconds. : Increased break times from 30/35/40/45 seconds to 45/50/55/60 seconds : Reduced Vendo-Machine weapon purchase time from 9 seconds to 3 seconds. : Increased nailing distance by 20%. : Increased Medispencer healing rate by 50%.
Bug Fixes
: Report Bug link was broken. : Double Barrel wouldn't be available to alt-fire directly after reloading. : Player was always sliding no slopes. : CTD in tutorial if a purchase failed. : Achievements no longer unlock in the tutorial (Unless they are intended to). : Money UI widget would display the wrong amount of particles when starting a new game. : Unable to click the report bug button on the victory and defeat menus. : Navmesh issues on August Apartments. : Vendo-Machine health bar displaying incorrect values when starting a new game. Join the Barricade official Discord
[ 2024-10-29 04:53:01 CET ] [ Original post ]
Release!
Barricade will be releasing on October 22nd, 2024. Development started on June 8th 2021, it's been over 3 years of development (on and off), and we are finally putting a nice big bow on the project and releasing it to the public. I will keep the post brief, but just wanted to give everyone who has played the game, wishlisted, and or provided feedback a big thank you. I really hope you will enjoy!
What Next?
I will still support Barricade as needed, and should it garner a large enough audience, I plan to release more content that I had to cut during development. I take pride in trying to create a smooth bug free experience for the players, so please report any bugs you find and I will try to address them as quickly as possible! Stay tuned for my next game, I promise this time it won't take 3 years to release Cheers! -Sockhouse
Want to contribute to development?
Join the Barricade official Discord
Change Log
New Stuff
: Weapon Maxxer. : New models and textures for upgraded weapons. : Tutorial level. : Achievements. : Improved round alert visuals and details. : Victory alert. : Total round count to the round UI widget.
Changes
: Removed the button from the Prop Generator. : Added some border margin to the HUD. : Weapons no longer start having an Alt-Fire mode. : Overhauled UI, adding polish to most widgets. : Players now experience smoother level transition. : Weapons can be upgraded infinite amount of times. : Changed the Vendo-Machine death animation. : Removed 'weak' props from spawning at the Prop Generator
Balance
: Tweaked prop counts for each map. : Reduced max rounds to 20. : Reduced prepare timer to 60 seconds. : Rebalanced all max prop healing values. : Reduced cost of props to $500. : Reduced cost of guns to $250. : Adjusted weapon max ammo counts. : Increased Hammergun Healing. : Reduced armored zombie spawn rates, and which rounds they spawn at. : Increased zombie rewards. : Increased health on some props.
Bug Fixes
: Missing geometry for August Apartments. : Play again had the wrong hover colours. : Environments retained their previous state on level load. : Open doors button broken in August Apartments. : Stats not resetting between playthroughs. : Geometry errors in Drainage Junction. : Barrel is too transparent when held. : Zombies killed by end of round mass kill were counting as kills.
[ 2024-10-01 06:30:59 CET ] [ Original post ]
Old Warehouse Level
This is the last level that will be available on release, the Old Warehouse offers a 2 entrance hold out room, that allows for multiple barricading possibilities. The hold out room is elevated and allows for long range engagements through the windows.
Double Barrel Shotgun
What is a zombie game without a double barrel shotgun? This punchy cannon shots in a very wide arc, primary fire allows for two trigger pulls before having to reload. The alternate fire mode shoots both barrels at once with extra pellets.
Armored Horkers, and Crawlers
The last of the armored variants have been added, similar to the armored Lanker, the armored Horker and Crawler both have a large health pool, and offer increased rewards.
Balance Tweaks
In preparation for the weapon upgrade machine to be introduced I decided to play with the average time to kill for each zombie. Most guns saw a decrease in damage, and zombies received some hit point increases. I was surprised at how good the game still felt after the 'nerfs' A lot of other balance changes have made this possible, and now player will have a good reason to upgrade their guns in order to buff their damage. Cheers! -Sockhouse
Want to contribute to development?
Join the Barricade official Discord
Change Log
New Stuff
: Armored Horker, and Crawler. : Double Barrel Shotgun. : Old Warehouse Level. : Rewards to armored zombies. : Ammo cost gets discounted on breaks by 50%.
Balance
: Reduced prop cost to $750. : Increased zombie HP. : Reduced weapon damage. : Increased the amount of zombies that target the player.
Bug Fixes
: Nail a prop achievement was not unlocking. : All Book Shelf props would have their colour changed when 1 was damaged. : Max zombies alive could surpass the spawn limit. : Game was not ending after round 30.
[ 2024-07-21 07:52:59 CET ] [ Original post ]
Revolver Pistol
The newest edition to your available arsenal. The revolver pistol is a slow, but powerful weapon with 6 round burst alternate fire mode on a short cool down.
Armored Lanker
The Lanker is the first to receive an armored variant. The armored zombies will serve as a tankier version of the regular variant. The plan is to add armored variants to the Crawlers and Horkers, these armored variants will spawn after round 10 and spawn more frequently as the rounds progress.
Reduced Round Count, and Other Changes
Last week I mentioned increasing the round limit to 100. I quickly realized that is bit extreme, and would mean a single session would last hours. I have decided to reduce the maximum rounds to 30, and as of now that would mean a single play through would take ~70 minutes if you never skipped a break. The round times still need to be balanced, but the goal would be to keep a session play time around 60-70 minutes.
Economy Changes
For a long time money has been very trivial to acquire, and players easily reach the maximum quickly. There has been some balance changes to the rewards and cost of guns, ammo, healing and props. Ideally players should have enough money for a new gun by round 3-4 depending on their skill, and once the weapon upgrade system is in place the average player should be able to buy an upgrade by round 10-11. Cheers! -Sockhouse
Want to contribute to development?
Join the Barricade official Discord
Change Log
New Stuff
: Revolver Pistol. : Armored Lanker. : Bookshelf Prop. : New alerts, and environmental effects to special rounds.
Changes
: Reworked respawn timers to decrease with the number of zombies currently dead. : Reduced final round to round 30.
Balance
: Lowered rewards for all zombies significantly. : Reduced the cost of guns, ammo, healing, and props. : Adjusted spawn tables, maximum zombies per wave, break times.
[ 2024-07-06 02:23:00 CET ] [ Original post ]
Zombie Spawning Tweaks
Since the start of the project deciding which zombie to spawn has been very simple. The game just selects 1 of the currently 4 zombie types and spawns it. This was great for the demo, but was fairly flat in terms of design and challenge. I had no way to control the difficulty curve of the game, or create special waves. For Beta 1.3, I have reworked the spawning system, allowing me to make waves more deterministic, by controlling which zombies can appear, and the percent chance they spawn. As a result I've been tweaking the waves to start simple, and introduce enemies slowly. I can even add waves that only spawn 1 enemy type as a 'challenge' or I can mix n' match zombie types to try and create waves that offer a different challenge.
Round Time Changes
For the demo, we had long rounds, and long breaks. For a very condensed demo, this was fine. But during my testing it became very apparent that if I wanted players to reach level 100, requiring them to play for 5.5 hours wasn't going to be acceptable. Essentially if I wanted to add more rounds, then each round would need to be shorter. Now breaks will start at 30 seconds per round, and increase every 10 rounds up to maximum of 60 seconds, and most round are under 90 seconds, with only special waves having a longer wave duration. Ideally the time required to beat the game in a sitting would be 1-2 hours, so this may result in fewer than 100 rounds. But that will be addressed later. Cheers! -Sockhouse
Want to contribute to development?
Join the Barricade official Discord
Change Log
New Stuff
: Achievements. : Zombies self destruct on wave over. : Semi-Deterministic zombie spawning.
Changes
: Reduced break times from 75 to 30 seconds. : Break times increase by 10 seconds per 10 rounds to a max of 60 seconds. : Reduce round times by 30-45 seconds. : Changed max zombie spawns per round. : Removed zombie respawn time on waves 10, 20, 30 ect.
Bug Fixes
: Ending a game and starting a 2nd one on the same map would soft lock the game.
[ 2024-06-29 08:30:19 CET ] [ Original post ]
The Burster
The Burster is a slow enemy that will explode on contact with props, or when it's toxic sac is shot. Releasing a cloud of harmful gas on death that damages everything in it's area of affect, and provides a smoke screen that is hard to see through. I thought we needed a little more variety to the enemies, something that would provide some utility to the zombies, and hopefully encourage a change in your barricading habits. Further testing is needed to get the balance just right, but hoping this enemy will be welcomed.
Repair Limits
One of the core problems with balance for a while has been prop repairing. While there has been several tweaks to address this, like increasing prop health, increasing repair rate, tweaking enemy damage ect. It always resulted in the mechanic feel over or under powered. I had toyed with the idea of limiting the amount of repairs each prop can take, but since the prop generator wasn't in the game it didn't make sense. Now each prop has it's own repair limit bar, listed slightly below the health bar. This still needs some tweaking to get the values feeling right,
Raised Round Limit
I'll keep this short and sweet, the round limit has been capped out at 100. Cheers! -Sockhouse
Want to contribute to development?
Join the Barricade official Discord
Change Log
New Stuff
: New zombie: Burster. : Repair limits to props. : Audio alerts near round end. : Async loading screen.
Changes
: Raised round limit to 100. : Zombies spawn until the end of the round. : Increased break duration from 75 seconds to 90 seconds.
[ 2024-06-19 06:54:55 CET ] [ Original post ]
DEMO UPDATED ON STEAM
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2849590
Content Complete Demo
Hey Barricaders, sorry for the delay with this update. Barricade was entered into FPS fest, and I didn't want to risk introducing new bugs during the festival. This weeks update contains some polish that has been missing for quite some time. Starting with death effects, up until now when the player or the Vendo-Machine died there was no effect or feedback, just a cut straight to the end screen. I've added some simple death effects to flesh out the experience when you are defeated. I have also added stats to the end game screens, this has been a long requested feature of the community. The stats screen will display stats for time played, rounds survived, kills, props destroyed, repairing done, and money spent. Lastly the Sniper Rifle has been made even better. It will now penetrate props and zombies, dealing less damage with each penetration. Still not convinced it's strong enough? Well I was able to beat the entire demo using only the Sniper Rifle! it's time to enter the final stretch of development. With the game releasing in October this year after next fest I need to wrap up the demo and finish the game. I feel the demo is content complete, and in it's current state can be left alone.
What does this mean?
Well, this means the end of regular updates to the demo. There will still be demo updates, but they will mostly be for bug fixes, balance tweaks, and perhaps some new content sprinkled in here and there.
Why am I stopping regular updates to the demo?
Well as much as I would love to continue to allow the public to play the most recent version of the game, and continue to get your valuable feedback, I also need to incentivize players to purchase the full game. Unfortunately that means I have to limit the amount of content available in the demo. The full version will have some tweaks to the main mechanics, unlimited rounds, more enemies, more guns, more props, and 3rd level.
I want to test new versions, will you offer closed betas?
I will most likely offer closed betas, if you want to stay notified of when I will run one join the Discord Cheers! -Sockhouse
Want to contribute to development?
If you want to see live development, or contribute suggestions, I invite you to watch me live on Twitch. OR Join the Barricade official Discord
Change Log
New Stuff
: Death effects. : Sniper Rifle penetrates props and zombies. : Endgame stats.
Bug Fixes
: Open Doors marker appears after opening the doors.
[ 2024-04-24 11:07:55 CET ] [ Original post ]
DEMO UPDATED ON STEAM
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2849590
BETA 1.0 & The Road to Release
Hey Barricaders, it's time we drop the Alpha tag, and move into Beta! With the introduction of the Prop Generator, more on that below, I feel all of the core mechanics are now in the game. While there are still some smaller additions left to come, the game is in a feature complete state. What does this mean for the future? Well, Barricade will be in the upcoming FPS Fest, after that, there may be a couple updates made to the demo before I finally consider the demo finished. After which it will no longer receive updates apart from bug fixes. This doesn't mean you will have to wait until release. Make sure to join the discord. I will be releasing private test builds for those who wish to be involved with the testing before release.
Prop Generator
This was a long standing feature that needed to be added. For a fee of $1500 the prop generator will create a random prop. This means that now there is less pressure to gather every prop on the map. Now it makes more sense to introduce other features like a limit to how much healing a prop can receive and a higher round limit. As always please let me know your thoughts and feed back so I can continue to improve the game! Cheers! -Sockhouse
Want to contribute to development?
If you want to see live development, or contribute suggestions, I invite you to watch me live on Twitch everyday. OR Join the Barricade official Discord
Change Log
New Stuff
: Prop Generator
Bug Fixes
: ROPE 1954 Crosshair position out of place when resizing screen.
[ 2024-04-07 02:41:59 CET ] [ Original post ]
DEMO UPDATED ON STEAM
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2849590
Sweeping Balance Changes
Hey Barricaders, it's time I listen to the feed back I've received from day one. The game has been too hard, and most of the weapons underwhelming. I forgot what made boom shooters fun, and the potential community suffered as they were met with unfamiliar mechanics in a punishing game. I have made sweeping balance changes, that ultimately make the minute to minute game play easier, and more enjoyable. The guns are now more viable, and the zombies less of a threat. I'm hoping this means new players will have an easier time learning the game. As for the veterans, I think you will appreciate the better weapons, and expect a challenge in the full release.
New Weapon: ROPE1954 SMG
A super fast firing smg, with a large ammo capacity. The weapon builds up heat while firing which can be released in a cone frying all zombies in its path, even through walls! Cheers! -Sockhouse
Want to contribute to development?
If you want to see live development, or contribute suggestions, I invite you to watch me live on Twitch everyday. OR Join the Barricade official Discord
Change Log
New Stuff
: ROPE1954 SMG. : New muzzle flash sprites.
Removed
: Weapon Wheel. : UI options.
Changes
: Removed movement slow when phasing.
Balance
: Increased kill rewards by ~20%. : Made all weapons more powerful. : Reduced zombie hitpoints. : Increased zombie kill rewards.
Bug Fixes
: Chance of CTD when a prop gets destroyed. : Shotgun bottom crosshair not animating. : Level Selector able to reselect an already select level, causing bugs. : Camera recoil was stacking. : Control hints showing at wrong time.
[ 2024-04-01 00:36:17 CET ] [ Original post ]
DEMO UPDATED ON STEAM
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2849590
New Level: August Apartments
Hey Barricaders, it was time we crawled out of the sewers and into the world above. Welcome to August Apartments, a whole new level that will have you holding out inside an apartment building. The level is untested at the moment, I'm counting on you to let me know what works well and what doesn't. Cheers! -Sockhouse
Want to contribute to development?
If you want to see live development, or contribute suggestions, I invite you to watch me live on Twitch everyday. OR Join the Barricade official Discord
Change Log
New Stuff
: New level: August Apartments. : Added more control hints.
Changes
: Prevented Pistol from being the first gun received from the Vendo-Machine. : Players can no longer receive rewards for repairing props they have damaged.
Balance
: Increased kill rewards by ~20%. : Increased Hammergun healing rate from 500 to 1000 ticks per minute. : Reduced Hammergun healing from 6 to 3 per tick.
Bug Fixes
: Chance of CTD when a prop gets destroyed.
[ 2024-03-18 00:03:20 CET ] [ Original post ]
DEMO UPDATED ON STEAM
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2849590
Not Much to See Here
Hey Barricaders, sorry I don't have much for you this week. I've been working on a new level, but wanted to get a small patch out. I'll check back next week hopefully with some new content! Cheers! -Sockhouse
Want to contribute to development?
If you want to see live development, or contribute suggestions, I invite you to watch me live on Twitch everyday. OR Join the Barricade official Discord
Change Log
Bug Fixes
: Play time stat on Game Over screens now resets between playthroughs. : Removed ability to pause the game before the player has spawned. This fixed a CTD error and other graphical issues. : Low Ammo indicator now should always display correctly.
[ 2024-03-09 19:45:48 CET ] [ Original post ]
DEMO UPDATED ON STEAM
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2849590
HUGE Quality of Life Improvements
Hey Barricaders, it's time I implemented some improvements to make your experience a lot smoother. My favorite additions are a nail indicator, which shows you when you can place a nail, and a low ammo indicator. Both of these really made my life easier while play testing, so I'm certain they will be well received. A lot of these ideas came from player feedback, I always enjoy listening to what the community has to say. If you want to contribute, make sure you join the Discord
Next Week
It's time I got to work on a second level, and we need more guns! So I will be doing a lot of modeling and texturing. The game is in a really good spot right now, and I really need the communities feedback on what can be improved / fixed next. Until then, I'll be busy adding new content to keep the game fresh and challenging. Cheers! -Sockhouse
Want to contribute to development?
If you want to see live development, or contribute suggestions, I invite you to watch me live on Twitch everyday. OR Join the Barricade official Discord
Change Log
New Stuff
: Club Sofa prop. : Random muzzle flash rotation. : Nail indicator. : Vendo-Machine health widget & alert. : Low ammo indicator. : Gun names to Vendo-Machine. : Message box to Main Menu. : Physical key binds. : Playtime stat to end screens.
Removed
: Old health widget for Vendo-Machine.
Changes
: Healing particles only emit if the prop is receiving healing. : Pistol alt fire to insta-kill enemies, has 3 charges. : Reduced wave time to a maximum of 2.5 minutes. : Reduced Pistol alt fire cost from 2 to 1. : Reduced Lanker reward from $120 to $80. : Reduced Crawler reward from $25 to $20. : Reduced Horker reward from $50 to $35. : Increased Crawler HP from 16 to 18. : Increased Pistol base damage from 12 to 16.
Bug Fixes
: Moving props while standing on them makes the player float. : FOV stays zoomed in when aiming with the Sniper Rifle and switching weapons quickly. : Zombies unable to path into new part of the Vendo-Machine room. : Music stopping when navigating to the Options Menu. : Nailing particles emitting twice and in the wrong direction. : Reduced zombie pathfinding calculations by ~50%. : Pushing yourself out of the map would hard-lock the game. : Pushing yourself through the walls in the Vendo-Machine room would soft-lock the game. : Ability to set duplicate keybinds.
[ 2024-03-03 19:39:36 CET ] [ Original post ]
DEMO UPDATED ON STEAM
You can get it here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2849590
First Regular Update!
Hey everyone, hope you have been enjoying the demo. For the first content update I had to focus on getting new players up to speed. The initial tutorial was... doggy doo doo, to put it lightly. I spent the week trying to cram a basic tutorial to the original map we have. Time will tell if we need tweaks, but hoping this helps out new players! I didn't forget about my veteran players though, this update brings some nice QoL changes and requests, as well as some fresh balance changes. Next week I need to work on something fun, there we will new content coming in some form of gun/enemy/ new map? ;) Cheers! -Sockhouse
Want to contribute to development?
If you want to see live development, or contribute suggestions, I invite you to watch me live on Twitch everyday at 6AM EST. OR Join the Barricade official discord: https://discord.com/invite/nSGScX9UPs
Change Log
New Stuff
: A proper tutorial. : Doors to Vendo-Machine room. : Resolution options. : Level select menu. : Option to disable tutorials. : Event markers. : Button to skip prepare rounds. : More decals.
Removed
: Tutorial button from main menu.
Changes
: Redesigned Vendo-Machine room. : Prepare round doesn't start until the doors are opened. : Make tutorial decal more visible. : Reduced spawner damage from 10 to 3 per tick. : Reduced Shotgun alt fire rate. : Increased Hammergun healing from 4 to 6 per tick. : Reduced Hammergun healing ticks from 600 to 500 per minute.
Bug Fixes
: Deleting entries in settings.cfg would cause CTD. : Going to options menu was resetting resolution. : Zombies could block spawners. : Horkers would get stuck trying to hit props they could detect, but have 0 chance of hitting.
[ 2024-02-26 01:34:00 CET ] [ Original post ]
[previewyoutube=ixUwh-9Gbqk;full][/previewyoutube]
DEMO RELEASED ON STEAM
You can get it here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2849590
Future Plans
The demo release is a major milestone for Barricade, this will allow me to get more eyeballs on the game and enter it into festivals. The Demo is essentially the alpha version of the game, and will receive FREE weekly to bi-weekly updates until the game goes gold.
Will the Demo Gate Content?
Yes, but only when we draw closer to release. The demo will not have as many maps, guns, enemies, props, and be limited to 10 rounds. However seeing as I want to test new content for launch, I may be cycling content out until we are in a 'silver' launch state.
Want to contribute to development?
If you want to see live development, or contribute suggestions, I invite you to watch me live on Twitch everyday at 6AM EST. OR Join the Barricade official discord: https://discord.com/invite/nSGScX9UPs
Change Log
New Stuff
: Button to end the prepare phase early. : Pressing 'escape' will navigate you back menus. : Pause menu actually pauses the game. : UI menu overhaul. : Secret puzzle to Drainage Junction level. : Loading screen. : Round start cinematic camera. : Health tooltip for Vendo-Machine. : Random pitch to death sounds. : Increased playable round to 10. : Hotkeys to switch weapons, defaulted to 1, 2, 3. : Weapon selection HUD widget. : Epilepsy warning. : Low health overlay and feedback. : New Marksman Rifle - JPedersen Rifle. : Mixed all SFX and music.
Removed
: Damage mode from Hammergun. : Developer cheat input to skip rounds.
Changes
: Removed 1 Crate from Drainage Junction level. : Removed zombie spawn cooldown on wave 10. : Prop health widget now displays at infinite distance when the Hammergun is equipped. : Zombies stop spawning 15 seconds before end of round. : Lowered muzzle flash brightness. : Increased Assault Rifle accuracy. : Reduced Shotgun damage from 20 to 15 per projectile. : Reduced Shotgun ammo capacity from 64 to 48. : Reduced Assault Rifle ammo capacity from 300 to 150. : Round timer widget changed to say 'prepare' only during the prepare round. : Increased break time from 30 to 75 seconds. : Rebalanced all prop health values. : Reduced Vendo-Machine health from 200 to 150. : Zombies now prioritize the player over props. : Lanker damage increased from 15 to 17. : Increased Horker spit range. : Hammergun can no longer be traded. : Increased Assault Rifle alt-fire cooldown from 10 to 20 seconds. : Reduced Sniper Rifle ammo capacity from 80 to 60. : Changed Vendo-Machine room layout. : Increased Assault Rifle damage from 25 to 30. : Increased spawner damage to 10 per tick. : Crawler health reduced from 20 to 16. : Increased Lanker health from 100 to 120. : Reduced base Pistol damage to 12. : Reduced Pistol alt-fire stack damage to 2-4-6-8-10. : Pistol alt-fire stack damage is now applied before the gun is shot. : Increased the amount of zombies that seek the Player vs Vendo-Machine from 30% to 50%.
Bug Fixes
: Fixed walls missing colliders in Drainage Junction level. : Fixed multiple sound issues with the Medispencer. : Hammergun firing sound stuck on loop. : Game window was forced into foreground. : Performance increases added to zombie AI, and shader compilations. : Crawlers first attack was always interrupted before completed. : Lankers could attack through windows. : Switching to walk mode mid air no longer slows the player. : Setting sliders only worked if dragged. : Being hit while crouched jerked the camera upwards. : Game crashes when Vendo-Machine or Player dies. : Prop rotation sensitivity stuck at 0. : Player wouldn't spawn when starting a 2nd game. : Horkers cause a crash when targeted prop dies. : Spit effect shader wouldn't reset on Player death. : Zombies no longer over spawn past the round maximum. : Hammergun breaking after phasing. : Lanker & Crawler attacking, but dealing no damage. : Zombies getting stuck on props in niche scenarios. : Certain audio not persisting on node death. : Hammergun & Assault Rfile HUD ammo count was set to 999.
[ 2024-02-21 22:30:40 CET ] [ Original post ]
[previewyoutube=wZdECXZQEnQ;full][/previewyoutube]
Want to contribute to development?
If you want to see live development, or contribute suggestions, I invite you to watch me live on Twitch everyday at 6AM EST.
My Comments
This was a HUGE update. We worked very hard this week to implement a lot of features that have really improved the game feel. Most of these improvements came from community feedback on Twitch, and Reddit. Over the next 2-3 weeks I will be switching gears to releasing a closed early access alpha build for the community to give me feed back. If you want to participate, join the discord: https://discord.gg/JxGJvqFxVB
Change Log
New Stuff
: Directional hit indicators. : Screen shake implementation. : Prop rotation sensitivity option. : Health changes colour when low. : Props emit sounds when colliding. : Reload indicator for Assault Rifle alt fire. : Animation to spit splash effects. : Walk mode for player. : Crouch mode for player. : Toggle crouch and walk options. : New particle effects for zombie spawners. : Slow effect from spit projectiles.
Changes
: Increased Horker projectile spread from 2.5 - 4. : Prop rotation speeds to be uniform. : Replace health UI icon. : Assault Rifle alt fire rate reduced from 60/m to 6/m : Lowered Medispencer healing rate from 15 to 10. : Reduced player jump height. : Increased Crate size.
Bug Fixes
: Reduced spit projectile collider size. : Lowered Crawler footstep sound threshold. : Grenade projectile shouldn't clip through walls or floors anymore. : Medispencer now interrupts use when the mouse leaves its bounds. : Zombies should be less likely to get stuck on props.
[ 2024-01-22 05:48:01 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update: ALPHA v1.072
[previewyoutube=4ynGEI5Dvgg;full][/previewyoutube]
Want to contribute to development?
If you want to see live development, or contribute suggestions, I invite you to watch me live on Twitch everyday at 6AM EST.
New Vending Machine: Medispencer
It only took 2 years, to allow the player to heal , the code was there, but we had nothing to execute it. Introducing the Medispencer: A simple vending machine that heals the player in exchange for points.
Change Log
New Stuff
: Medipencer, vending machine that heals the player. : Free prop rotation option.
Changes
: Improved interactable object prompt readability. : Audio option slider increments reduced from 0.1 to 0.01.
Bug Fixes
: Increased window collider thickness, props should now collide consistently. : Navmesh tweaks, improving some navigation issues. : Hammergun primary fire sound only playing the first time it was shot.
[ 2024-01-17 18:50:04 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update: ALPHA v1.071
New Zombie: Crawler
This little guy is small and weak, but forces vertical aiming, and changes the way players build barricades. Make sure you allow room so you can shoot them! They don't do much damage, but can become quite the nuisance if left unchecked as they chip away at the bottom props of your barricade.
PILE IN
For the longest time, zombies would not pile into the barricade as expected. I kept going back and forth between enabling and disabling collisions amongst the zombies to varying success. Then when I upgraded to Godot's 3.5 NavServer, I figured Navobstacles would be the solution. This was also a failure. Finally, after some research into the solution. I came across Minecraft, and how their enemies collide with one another. It turns out they use what's called soft collisions. See when multiple mobs share the same space they gently push off each other, in order to space out. This turned out to be the solution I needed. Now the zombies will fully fill in a barricade, or surround the Vendo-Machine. Not only does it look nice, but it makes defending that much harder!
Attack Detection, and Accuracy!
One of the biggest bugs to be fixed is the possibility for zombies to get caught on props that were sticking out around corners. When a zombie is in range of a prop, a line of sight would be drawn to the center of the prop in order to confirm the zombie has vision. This prevents them from attacking through walls, which we really don't want. But what happens if the center of a prop is behind a wall, but the rest of the prop is still visible? Well in this case the zombies wouldn't be able to get line of sight, and just get stuck trying to navigate to their next point. The solution was to add several look at points to each prop, so zombies will scan each point to find one they can draw line of sight to, voila! Problem solved. The next problem was with the Horker projectile accuracy. I spent two days on stream trying to implement some heavy physics math in order to get the projectiles to be mathematically accurate. In the end we got close, but the system still relied on adjusting the angle in a hackey way. So I spent one more day tweaking the angle based on the distance and direction to the target and now I'd say we are 95% accurate, which is good enough for me!
If you want to see more of the game as I work on it, I invite you to watch me live on Twitch everyday at 6AM EST.
Change Log
New Stuff
: Crawler zombie. : Soft body collisions to zombies. : More props and decorations to the Vendo-Machine room. : New particles for t he Horker drippings.
Changes
: Changed particles on the spit splash effect when the player is hit by Horker projectiles. : All props have had their physics handling values altered. : Zombies play sounds more frequently when hit. : Increased Horker projectile damage from 5 to 6.
Bug Fixes
: Zombies always face the direction they are attacking. : Zombies will expose themself more when attacking. : Removed collider from some lights. (Was getting in the way of barricading) : All objects should move at the same speed on all devices. : Zombies no longer get stuck on props sticking out around walls. : Zombies pathing through walls and props. : Stopping Hammer gun primary fire, and switching weapons on the same frame locks out all weapons. : Horkers were not damaging the Vendo-Machine. : Horkers would ignore the player, if the player re-entered and left their attack range quickly. : Large Crate wasn't emitting healing particles. : Props would stay frozen in the air when dropped while holding SHIFT. : Horker projectiles were unable to target props close to the ground. : Hammer Gun primary fire would continue to loop if it's stopped on the same from the looping sound was started.
[ 2024-01-10 03:20:45 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update: ALPHA v1.07
New Level
We were long overdue for a proper level, one that would be in the game for release. I took a lot of lessons learned with my old prototype level and came up with something well suited for this game. It's a sewer level, complete with all the grunge you could ask for.
There is now a properly designed area to barricade, it has 2 rooms, players can build a main and backup barricade. The main door has windows that allow you to shoot zombies as they pass by, or get those annoying Horkers that hide behind the wall and shoot your barricade from safety.
Graphics... Finally!
I promised I would show off how much the game has changed since the store page was made. I'm quite happy with the look. I think it hit the 90's aesthetic I was going for.
If you want to see more of the game as I work on it, I invite you to watch me work on it live on Twitch everyday at 6AM EST.
Balancing for a Demo
That's right, I'm gearing up to launch a demo soon, that meant actually adjusting lots of values to be balanced for proper game play and not development testing. I will keep you all posted on the demos release. Here's a gif of me defending my barricade!
Change Log
New Stuff
: New sewer level. : Footstep sounds to trash and rubble piles. : New stair and platform modular assets.
Changes
: Reduced large crate carry speed. : Reduce repair reward from to 1 point per hp. : Increased repair amount from 3 to 4. : Increased Hammergun max ammo from 5 to 10. : Pistol alt fire bonus damage now applies to primary fire. : Pistol bonus damage decay time increased from 1 to 1.5 seconds. : Reduce Vendo-Machine ammo price from 800 to 400. : Disabled Christmas content.
Bug Fixes
: Vendo-Machine UI prices now display the correct price. : Added footsteps that were missing from some assets. : Assault Rifle grenade launcher projectile has been made much smaller to prevent it exploding on near by objects. : Remade colliders and hitboxes for props, and modular assets. Improving collision & hit detection accuracy. : Fixed zombies pathing through props. : Fixed various zombie pathing issues. : Swapping guns when phasing will no longer be permanently disable.
[ 2024-01-03 03:24:59 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update: ALPHA v1.063
Plans for 2024
Before We dive into the changes, I wanted to talk about the future of Barricade. I feel the game is nearing a Beta stage. Most of the core features have been implemented, and I can focus on polishing and adding more content. I fully plan to release the game in 2024, and hoping to at least have a beta or demo available to play by the end of Q1 in 2024. Thank you everyone for wishlisting and sticking by the project. I hope these updates have been insightful and boosted confidence in this game coming to life. If you haven't already please wishlist the game, I will be updating you with screen shots and some videos soon. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone!
Christmas Content
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are feeling the holiday spirit, I know the zombies are. The Lanker and Horker are sporting a Santa hat, and there is also a new Christmas Tree prop you can use to Barricade with.
New Prop Features
Something I felt was missing from the props was a lack of weight when they are held. I added a feature to props that would slow the player down based on the weight of the prop. This not only helped solve a problem where the player could 'outrun' a prop while held causing it to be dropped. But it mainly makes the heavy props feel like they are heavy, and the same for light and small props. Another minor change to the props was changing their visibility when held, now when you are holding a prop you can see the mesh from both sides. Before this change if you went inside a prop you were holding it would not be visible.
Particle Effects and Other Polish
I have slowly been adding polish to the game over the last couple updates. Removing old place holder assets with custom made ones. There have been various improvements to the particles, and new additions. Other polish includes a new model and texture for nails, and finally adding some muzzle light for the Hammerguns primary fire.
Change Log
New Stuff
: Mesh culling enabled for both sides of the prop meshes. : Hammergun added to Vendo-Machine. : New model and textures for nails. : Props slow the players movement when held. : Mist particles added to the Vendo-Machine. : Muzzle light added to the Hammergun. : New sprites and particles for zombies taking damage. : New sprites and particles for Horker spit.
Bug Fixes
: Added a cool down to the Hammergun error sound, so it can no longer be spammed. : CTD when phasing through props. : Pausing while firing the Hammergun doesn't interrupt the shooting. : Bug that would cause the Hammergun firing sound to loop if the player stopped shooting at the right moment.
[ 2023-12-23 16:55:18 CET ] [ Original post ]
Update: ALPHA v1.062
AI Optimizations
As the year is coming to a close, development has continued with Barricade. This time I put some focus into optimizing and improving the AI, updating to Godot's 3.5 NavServer for path finding, and fixing bugs (while probably creating a load of new ones). All this was done in order to pave the path for new enemies to be added to the game. I knew the code the original AI was designed with wasn't going to hold up for release, and if I added more enemies it would have meant even more refactors later.
More Settings Options
When it comes to settings, you can never have too many. I've been on the lookout for more settings to add to the game and I'm open to suggestions. I've added a FOV slider, as an FPS player myself this should be a staple for any FPS game. I've also added a Disable UI option for players who want to take cinematic screenshots and videos. (Or for you masochists that may enjoy the game this way).
Change Log
New Stuff
: Upgrade to Godot NavServer for enemy path finding. : Added footstep sounds to the Lanker. : New animations for Lanker. : New attack sounds for Lanker. : FOV slider to display settings. : Disable UI option to display settings.
Changes
: Removed all props from the map for testing purposes (Oops, I plan on making a new level soon.) : Adjusted audio levels for Lanker and Horker.
Refactors
: Refactored all zombie scripts.
Bug Fixes
: Sniper alt fire mode works again. : Sniper will now get disabled on pause. : Zombies will properly detect the player and vendo-machine. (Sometimes they wouldn't attack when they should) : Horker spit will now persist after the Horker has died. : Pistol and Hammergun UI will now be hidden when the game is paused. : Pausing the game when the Hammergun isn't in your inventory no longer crashes the game.
[ 2023-12-19 17:44:11 CET ] [ Original post ]
BARRICADE Update: ALPHA v1.061 Behind the scenes development has been progressing nicely, and more updates will follow this one. Make sure to wishlist and follow us for updates. Change Log : Audio Overhaul Reworked all audio in the game, replacing placeholder sound effects with custom sound effects. Making various tweaks and fixes to the code base along the way. There is still some room for improvement, and some sound effects are waiting on refactors before implementation. Things are not mixed to perfection either, so any feedback on how loud (or quiet) sounds are is needed. : Set each sound source to the correct audio bus Although an uninteresting addition, this means that the volume sliders on the settings menu now do something, except for game alerts. (There are none yet ) Fix: Prop hurt sounds playing at world origin Props now play their hurt sounds at the correct location when hit by the player, and at the objects center when hit by a zombie. Fix: CTD when phasing through props Players can now phase through props again without crashing the game. YAY!
[ 2023-12-11 03:59:04 CET ] [ Original post ]
🕹️ Partial Controller Support
🎮 Full Controller Support
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BUILD, SHOOT, REPAIR, SURVIVE
- Build your barricade using any objects you can find. Everything you see can be used.
- Endless waves of zombies, how many will you survive?
- Powerful guns with alternate fire modes that provide a different way to destroy the horde.
- No gimmick gun play that is back to basics. No reloading, no aim down sights, just point and shoot 90's style.
- Different zombie types each with their own abilities and characteristics.
- Secrets to be unlocked that reward players who find them.
- Multiple levels each offering different building challenges.
- Single player means you can't blame your team for failure.
Watch development live on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/sockhousestudios
Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/nSGScX9UPs
- OS: Ubuntu
- Processor: Intel Core i5-8250UMemory: 12 GB RAM
- Memory: 12 GB RAM
- Graphics: Integrated Graphics
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- OS: Ubuntu
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 2700XMemory: 16 GB RAM
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660
- Storage: 1 GB available space
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