Hey everyone! wow, its been a while, huh? The last several years have been bonkers, but amid all the chaos, weve noticed a rise in DEADBOLT content, whether it be retrospectives, artworks, quality maps, more mentions of the game throughout Hopoo-related spaces, and everything in-between. Figured its time to jump on the belated bandwagon, and see what these years have had to offer. Dont be mistaken, though, this is purely a community highlight, there arent any plans or teasers for future DEADBOLT content from Hopoo Games themselves. Yet.
Keep that counter going, yall.

VIDEOS

There's been plenty of videos on DEADBOLT to keep the community going, from analyses to retrospectives and more!

Story

Among the most influential videos in the community is the extremely high-quality lore recap from Squatch Gaming. Paired with excellent narration, it retells the story of DEADBOLT in minute detail, making even the most savvy nerds like us a bit jealous: [previewyoutube=j3SkqMzmWEg;full][/previewyoutube]

Retrospectives

DEADBOLT is seemingly old enough to get retrospectives, as these standout videos showcase. One of these we especially appreciate, analysing the gameplay and the themes of the narrative, breaking the game down like a modern piece of art: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEB2fkDxqnw But hey, there's nothing wrong with a light-hearted tone either. Sometimes all that you need is a handful of memes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7uxOTX3mzA

Honourable Mentions

It's well-known that Chris' amazing music is responsible for the game's reputation. Though we haven't had any fan made original tracks (that we know of!), there exists at least one vocal cover that grabbed people's attention: [previewyoutube=1B34xHe0HTY;full][/previewyoutube] And hey, we wouldnt be a niche little community without at least one fan film. A pretty nifty live-action one, at that: https://youtu.be/EExPLWRtriU Heck, you know what, let me plug my own stuff too. Want to see some inhumanly fast gameplay? Quite literally, in fact, for this is a Tool Assisted Speedrun, completing the game in an impressive 19 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-MUQboGV-w

ARTWORKS

If your eyes hunger for something a bit more static, theres plenty of that too. By far one of the most significant surges in the art sphere was thanks to the Bloodrain contest, hosted on the Risk of Rain 2 Discord server. The prompt was "a Halloween poster", and allowed anything Hopoo-related, including DEADBOLT. Heres just some of the winning artworks: by Sigma ( Incorporeal #9197 ):
by pac1fying: tumblr twitter
by RonaBtheFifth#9684:
Theres also been a lot of other fan made art posted over the years on social media such as Tumblr and Reddit (r/deadbolt), as well as the #creative-db channel in our community Discord server (we also encourage you to check out the #creative-archive channel to see more like this!): by SupremePineapple:
by YoinkedByTheZoink:
by brainheadbot/Toni Mijatovi:
by touyaloid:

by lampthesadone:

And as a special highlight, here's a wonderful Reaper-ified Chris Christodoulou drawn by Bluerogue. She is the designer/illustrator for the CHASEVGM magazine about videogame music, where this artwork was featured. Here's a link to the magazine, feel free to give it a read! Page 14 features the handsome Chris, while page 15 features a great writeup on the Chris/Hopoo discography from RoR1 all the way to Survivors of The Void. Really though, we encourage you to read the whole thing, it's a real love letter to the medium.
And heck, we might as well count some stuff related to modding. Classic_Cheese18s contribution to the scene with his sprite work is particularly noteworthy, even if its not implemented into any existing mods just yet.

CUSTOM MAPS

But what about the videogame itself? I hear you ask. If speedruns and other self-imposed challenges dont take your fancy, people over on the Workshop to this day are making quality custom maps and even entire campaigns to keep the game replayable. Lets have a look at those released since the last Map Highlight. A worthwhile mention all of the screenshots that you're about to see were taken with DEADBOLT Community Patch (DCP). Though it's not actively maintained at the moment, it's a must-have mod for any fan of the game, boasting QoL improvements and fixes, extra weapons, and features like hiding the HUD. You can read our detailed overview of DCP here.

Operations

It would only be fair if we covered officepunks Operations here, since we covered the first in the series back in 2020. The campaign presents us with a long series of difficult levels in each chapter, challenging the players wits, knowledge of the game, and, at times, patience. There are a lot of stages in each level, and Id wager each will take about an hour of playtime. Its worth it, though.

Operation Cocaine Carnage

Cocaine Carnage might genuinely be one of the best sets of levels Ive ever played, despite its limiting nature. Armed with only a Silenced 9mm Pistol, Reaper must sneak his way through the docks that are way too crowded to tackle head-on. This is a sneaking mission, and Cocaine Carnage further facilitates this by utilising some of the games unused assets. Smoke detectors will sound an alarm if you exit out of a vent within their vicinity unless shot, and closets allow the player to hide from patrolling enemies. Keep a lookout for patrol patterns, blind spots, and those moments where someones head is turned.

Operation Branching Bridleway

If the stealth-only nature of the previous level was too much for you, Branching Bridleway is a much more traditional DEADBOLT map, as a level more focused on shooting. Still, theres plenty of interesting gameplay scenarios to go through.
Depending on which route you take throughout the level, the challenges that youll face change drastically. Left side will be a treat for those more predisposed to action. Relatively tight time limits on ash totems? Check. Huge levels with plenty of vents and possible routes? Check. A Sawn-Off only stage with nothing but Bouncers? Yeah, sure, why not. If you want a real challenge, though, the rightmost route has rundown zombie apartments, hordes of Patriarchs, and gruelling traps from the cunning Timur. I mean, just look at this:

Operation Refracted Reflection

Refracted Reflection puts a lot of effort into its aesthetics, and it absolutely pays off. Described as an alternative look at the final level of DEADBOLT, it is precisely that, and more. As were hunting down Ibzan, we close in on his location and get closer to the Portal.
huh, but if I interact with the portal, wont I
Oh.
OH. and you know what, Im not gonna spoil it any further. Find out more yourself! But rest assured, this is a great conclusion to a quality campaign.

Tahazzars maps

Tahazzar is a long-standing mapmaker, renowned for his unusual takes on gameplay scenarios and gameplay design, often going beyond the level editors limits. What youll find is a mix of puzzle and gameplay-centric levels, requiring the player to carefully think about their strategy. Although the rate of released levels has slowed down, theres still plenty that Tahazzar made in the recent years. Heres some of our particular recommendations (bonus points if you tackle them with just the .32 Revolver):

The Other Night

Contained within a single screen, this small level challenges the player to take out a club full of vampires with a limited arsenal. The rooms are full of enemies, the claustrophobic layout doesnt allow for much leniency when lining up shots, and the ammo is really scarce if youre only equipped with the standard revolver. Nevertheless, its a solid level overall, and very much manageable after a bit of trial and error.

Eve of New Light

Eve of New Light is more skewed towards the puzzle side of things. Youll need to take advantage of the cover of darkness to carefully navigate the level, avoiding enemies and sniper fire all the while.

Heavy-Underhanded

Do you like sledgehammers? Youd better, for this is a sledgehammer-only level. A lot of careful positioning, timing, and bravely running away is required to make the slow sledgehammer swings really pay off. What, youre expecting more? Get sledgin, Reaper.

The Hangout

The Hangout is frustratingly difficult, but the gimmick is too good to pass up. Far from the first of its kind, its the most recent example of a completely upside-down level. The threat of being shot or seen from an unexpected angle is higher than ever, and the positioning is likely to mess with your muscle memory. Just remember to aim for the head.

Down-Low

Last on our list, weve got Down-Low. See that ladder? You can climb it. In fact, you have to. Just dont get shot along the way. Solve various vent-based puzzles, explore hidden routes, pick up whatever weaponry you can find, and most importantly, dont give your life for the honour of reaching the top of this level.

Flatline

Those of you whove been around here for long may recognise both RPD_Survivor himself, and his campaign, Flatline. Some of the maps from the collection even made their way into MOTW/Map Highlight posts every now and then. Six years in the making, RPD is still diligently working away at it, especially with a recent spree of quality of life updates across all maps. Now, this post would be twice the length if we went into all the details on the changes or gave each individual level the coverage it deserves, so just take our word for it: it's a quality campaign, for those seeking a challenge, and especially for those seeking an involved storyline. In fact, it's part of the same continuity as Nintee's Last Stand series, which we covered around 2019. While Last Stand focuses on the same Reaper as in the campaign, Flatline takes place long after with a completely new one. That's right - this was secretly a recommendation for both collections all along! We're efficient like that.
The screenshots that you're looking at right now are from the latest entry in the series, "Two Sides of the Same Coin". Similarly to Operation Branching Bridleway, this map is split into two routes, each with its own (mostly stealth-centric) challenges.
Lastly, wed like to highlight the maps of a couple newcomers to the community.

The Underdogs

First up is The Underdogs by born handsome instead of rich (a sentiment I, of course, can fully relate to), a short 4-level campaign that stands out with its tight level layouts and challenging gameplay scenarios. Theres plenty of stealth and action to go around, and the moderate length prevents the whole experience from dragging out for too long.

Rise, Fall and Downtrodden

And you know what, were even going to cheat a little. Released just last month is Rise, Fall and Downtrodden by zgsanmts (or, well, thats what they go by on Discord). While fairly simplistic and light on the story, the mapper shows potential with what they can achieve with the level editor. Much like all the aforementioned maps, its a fairly well-designed set of challenges thatll test your skill and prowess both in stealth and in loud.
And thats as much as we can fit before this post gets ridiculously long. Even though a lot of time has passed since the release, its evident that a lot of people are still really passionate about this niche little videogame, and they deserve the spotlight. Of course, we couldnt possibly encompass everything. There must be plenty of stuff weve missed or neglected to mention. Search for/post about deadbolt on social media, subscribe to random custom maps on the Workshop, and see what gold you can uncover. Feel free to shill something youve made, in the comment section here or on our aforementioned Discord server the centralised place for any fan of the game. Were very much encouraging you to shill your works. Thanks for reading this blog post up until the end, and sharing the same enthusiasm for the game as us. Hope to see you again someday! deadbolt 2 when?

[ 2023-02-15 20:29:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! With another Map Highlight suddenly appearing on your Steam activity page, today were covering Operation Twin Towers by ! Spanning across a total of 12 stages, full of back-and-forths and downtime to break up the pacing, its one of the more memorable workshop levels Ive played yet.
We start off at the ground level of one of Stelas Towers, run by Amber & Evelyn. After a quick introduction which also mentions our primary target, Sir Stela, were immediately greeted with an overwhelmingly detailed environment and a foyer full of enemies. Well, that and a couple weapons lying by our car, which are sure to come in handy.
From there on, things quickly begin to derail - seems you aren't the only one who wants Sir Stela dead. As you ascend the tower, you're assaulted by a trio of demon snipers. Time your dodges well and you'll be able to reach a sniper rifle on the roof and get your own back. A veritable army of Dredged will cut off your exit point, however, and you'll be forced to hop across to the next building for a better chance at survival.
All of this results in a level with plenty of memorable gameplay moments contained within a total of just two playable areas that are so fun to play that you dont even notice or mind the repeated layouts. Wed be remiss not to mention that all of the care and effort put into this goes beyond just the pretty decor and balanced gameplay. Youve got to appreciate the little quality of life things, like the arrows pointing you to the elevator after clearing a stage, or details like Amber and Evelyn still acting as one anothers phylacteries, despite being offscreen - or even in a different stage entirely.


Expect this to be a hard map - we ourselves are seasoned DEADBOLT players, yet our playthroughs still lasted somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes. Play it now! In case you missed it, we made a huge post about all the recent developments in modding a couple months ago, which you can check out here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/394970/announcements/detail/2918854184878466122

[ 2020-12-03 14:42:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Now, back when I said that wed be posting on a more irregular basis, we didnt have this kind of time gap in mind but, oh well, what can ya do? As you could guess from the title, today were going to be digging into the world of DEADBOLT modding! From humble beginnings back in April 2020, its come a long way over the course of several months, and I believe nows the time to showcase whats been made. This is entirely community-driven, so all credits go to the contributors of this project. The main shoutout goes to Chris Bloomfield whos laid out the main framework to expand upon, but of course, other community members efforts (such as Nintees custom sprites and countless mod ideas in the #modding channel over on our Discord) are not to be forgotten.

DEADBOLT Editor Community Patch

Since custom levels are at the heart of community content, I feel its appropriate to start off with the new custom level editor - the DEADBOLT Editor Community Patch, or DECP. Coincidentally, it was the first piece of custom content Chris made before moving onto the game itself. The features DECP provides on its own are already incredibly useful. Several bugs have been squashed as one may expect, but Chris went above and beyond with features such as missing object support (you may recognise the lich arm and crossbow from previous Map Highlights), quality of life features (such as being able to optionally place Puff and his desk separately), extra UI elements, object scaling, easy-to-make custom thumbnails, a more in-depth and helpful GUI, and so... much... more! Its honestly overwhelming just how much broader the possibilities are now.
Best part is, most of whats listed above doesnt require any changes to the game itself! Whether it be a regular level or one made with DECP, all is playable within the vanilla version of the game without the need for DCP. Speaking of which...

DEADBOLT Community Patch

custom.json

First on the list is workshop integration! With DCP installed, there are several items on the workshop that allow you to download not just new maps, but also content like sprite replacement, which will allow you to bring a little bit of variety to your level [spoiler](only available for enemies at the time of writing)[/spoiler] or the ability to play as (almost) any enemy! Force a specific loadout? Sure. Give the player control of Bouncer or Ibzan? You bet! They dont have the luxury of using vents like the Reaper can, though. Check out these examples here: Be sure to read the descriptions for instructions on how to enable them. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2215574282 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2224115387 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2251042841 The custom.json configurator can be found here: https://deadbolt.codemuffin.com/config/customjson

Custom Objects

Ever looked at the console port of the game and wished you could use all those sweet exclusive weapons? Honestly, same. Fortunately for us, a few of them are now available! DCP includes stuff youd recognise from a few custom maps like the Lich Arm and Crossbow, but it also implements a recreation of the consoles crossbow (named the Compound Crossbow to differentiate from the original), complete with retrievable bolts!
There are even two original weapons based on unused sprites left in the files: the Burst Pistol and Sickle! The former, as you could gather from the name, is like a mini-Burst Rifle, while the Sickle is an insanely powerful, reusable throwable.
To those of you who want to dabble with the editor, DCP has several new objects to play around with. Wallpapers, lights, and water can now be tinted with 52 colour variations, allowing for a much larger range of aesthetic options.
If youre more interested in new gameplay features, check out the smoke detector and cable box. The smoke detector was somewhat functional in vanilla, sounding an alarm when you exit a nearby vent, but DCP shows you the radius while in the vents, so you wont get caught off guard by it. The cable box was entirely nonfunctional, crashing when interacted with. In DCP, it will activate whatever its child is when interacted with - a much simpler alternative than killing an offscreen enemy.

Configure to your souls content

DCP also allows for an astonishing degree of customisation. Seriously, theres so much stuff. Customisable or even completely removeable HUD, a debug mode with features like teleportation, infinite ammo and more, configurable character stats, custom laser sight and cursor colors, combat rolling, bullet deflection, an overhauled Load Custom menu and I feel like were just scratching the surface here! And, of course, each and every one of these (and many more) can be toggled at any time, creating countless possible combinations.


The provided images and gifs speak volumes more than we ever could, and experiencing all this for yourself will have an even greater impact. So why not do just that? Go onto the DCP and DECP web pages, read up on every single available feature, check out the guides, mess around with the level config and the ingame options - skys the limit here, really. And if you've got feedback to provide, feel free to drop into the #modding channel over on our Discord server. And you can bet that theres more content to come in the future.

Broadening The Horizons

Of course, these arent the only pieces of modding that are worth your attention. How about fan translations? Complete with custom fonts and fully translated sprites (main menu, writings on the walls, etc.), these two fanmade localisations for Korean and Russian languages are sure to open the game up to an even greater audience, in case language barriers previously prevented that. Korean Russian And with that, we bid you farewell. Happy hopooween!

[ 2020-10-09 21:57:26 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Boy, I missed saying that. Lots of things to recap, lots of maps to review! Alas, writers block strikes suddenly and without warning. So, lets make up for lost time! You may have noticed the title change thats right, these posts are no longer constrained by a weekly schedule! We believe posting on an irregular basis can help avoid future burnout and give us more time to pick truly noteworthy maps. Besides that, the premise stays the same giving the maps that stand out the proper credit and recognition! Lets get right to that, shall we? (oh, and you might want to stick around for something interesting at the end)
King Gooses Shakedown at the Docks can pride itself with being an inspiration for revival of this series. Theres something beautiful about its simplicity as a standard DEADBOLT level: apartment blocks, drugs to burn, and undead to reap. What made it stand out for me though, is that no space feels wasted. Youll be visiting every room at least once to deal with enemies or ash caches, and the vents, though admittedly a bit over expansive, provide a plethora of opportunities for infiltration and flanking. The variety also comes from the enemies - relatively close-ranged Sergeants and Succubi are accompanied by Grunts and Nightcrawlers with itchy trigger fingers, forcing you to constantly adapt to different situations and maybe look for better-suiting weapons. When the action stops, all sorts of viscera will end up decorating the walls of this building.
Oh, and theres also a really neat dock with a boat. How the heck did King Goose add open water without any dock tiles?
Theres beauty in simplicity, and simplicity is one thing this map does exceptionally well. Play it now! And since youve stuck around till this bit, I bet youll be interested in a bit of a community recap? Three months have passed, after all.

The major news is that weve got modding now! Its still at a relatively basic level, but theres already pretty cool stuff, like fixed crossbow sprites and barebones controller support! The real highlight is the modded level editor, featuring unused objects and more options than ever before. Theres even a particularly interesting level that comes to mind
For all modding purposes, check out the #modding channel in the community Discord server, with the pinned messages containing mods and other necessary resources!

[ 2020-07-03 01:08:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Figured I'd make a quick announcement to settle things down. The two weeks have come to an end, and we've got our winners! As previously stated, the winners of the mapping category are:

• "Small Time Hydra" by Classic_Cheese18
• "Decomposition" by Tabu
• "Welcome to the club buddy" by Kenshi

And the runners are:

• Sockpuppet with his 25 second run of Small Time Hydra
• Tabu with a 58 second run of Welcome to the club
• Alas, no winning place for Decomposition. Likely explained by the technical difficulties.

We'll be contacting the winners shortly to give them their hard earned prizes. Thanks to everyone who participated! We couldn't have done this without you :)

[ 2020-03-30 19:45:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! The mapping week has ended, and forth comes the speedrunning week! As per our plan, we've chosen three maps that best suit the event's theme, and the line-up is this: - "Small Time Hydra" by Classic_Cheese18 - "Decomposition" by Tabu - "Welcome to the club buddy" by Kenshi Let's have a quick overview:

Small Time Hydra

Small Time Hydra is easily one of the most impressive of the bunch. It fits the entirety of the camera space, and poses quite a variety of ways to be completed. With vents that cover the entire building and enemies that appear seemingly out of nowhere ("Hydra" is there for a reason), it's jam packed with elements that allow for all sorts of routes. Destroy the phylacteries, kill Stela and flee. Can you beat our record of 29 seconds? hoopter

Decomposition

Decomposition is mostly focused on finding your way around the level, almost feeling like an elaborate puzzle. Find your way to the 6 bottles that are scattered around the level, kill the bartender and exit via a level transition on the right. Mind the dancing crowds!

Welcome to the club buddy

Well, it sure is a title. Anyway, this level is more akin to the standard levels of DEADBOLT, with some zombies here and there, an environment full of decor and even some backup! Usage of vents and lighting is greatly advised, since there is almost no way to go anywhere without alerting your enemies. Kill Puff, destroy the totems, cheese the backup if you know how and, you guessed it, escape the premises. We'd like to clear up some things before we begin:

• The submission must be in a video format, as mentioned in the previous blogpost. If you're concerned about your strategy/route being "stolen", you can submit the run directly to @JAG or @Square_Rabbit on the Discord server instead of sending the video in #contest-submissions. Otherwise, the runs go into the aforementioned channel.
• Much like individual level runs, the runs in this event are RTA: timing starts when the player is spawned, and ends when the scoreboard pops up. For one, this means that you can die as many times as you'd like without quitting to menu again and again.
• All starting loadouts are allowed.
• The map creators are not allowed to speedrun their own maps, but they're free to have a go at the others' maps.
• One player can run any amount of maps, be it just one or even all three, if they have the endurance to do so.

If you still have further questions, we'll be happy to answer them! Otherwise, go and push yourself to your absolute limit. We will see you up ahead.

[ 2020-03-23 11:31:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! So, wow, four years of DEADBOLT. Its hard to believe that the game was released that long ago, despite the fact that a lot of stuff has happened. The 2017 workshop activity spike and all the crazy maps that came with it, the MotW revival, all the discussions and memes. Words cannot describe mine and hopoos gratitude for everyones support of the game over the years, and the efforts to keep the community as lively as possible. Of course, we cant celebrate the occasion with just a regular blogpost. This year, weve decided to combine the efforts of mapmakers with the efforts of another dedicated part of the community speedrunners! They strive to beat the game in the fastest time possible, learning everything about the mechanics and perfecting their routes, and we think its about time for custom maps to get the same treatment. Thats why weve decided to host

The DEADBOLT Speedmapping Event!

Heres how itll go down:

• During the first week, from March 16th to March 22nd, mapmakers will be tasked with doing what they do best. Story is irrelevant here instead focus on interesting gameplay and variety. The more alternate routes and methods to complete the level, the better, but dont forget about general fairness and enjoyability. After all, these levels will be played over and over again. It's best to submit your map to the dedicated Discord channel, but if you want to enter, all you need to do is include [SC] in the map's title. Well pick the three best maps (judged by us, of course) and go from there.
• The second week, from March 23rd to March 29th, is all about speedrunning. Players will have to find the fastest routes for the three selected maps. Anyone can participate, and you can run all three if you want to. Youll have to record your runs and submit them to the dedicated channel in the DEADBOLT Discord Server [link]. Your times will be judged from the scoreboard at the end of the level, so be sure to include that in the recording, too.
• In the end, therell be two categories of winners the three best maps, and the fastest run on each map. The winners will be awarded with a prize of their choosing either a DEADBOLT Steam Key to gift to a friend, or a DEADBOLT soundtrack code.

And thats about it! If you have any questions, you can always ask in the comments, or use the Discord server to contact the moderator. Once again, thanks for your support over the years, and we cant wait to see what kind of maps and strategies everyone can come up with!

[ 2020-03-14 19:41:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! The festive season has passed, decorations are coming down, and everyones getting back into their usual routines. And that includes us reviewing maps! And after experiencing the unusual, whacky nature of some of the modern DEADBOLT workshop maps, we thought wed go back to a more classic, vanilla-style map. And thats what were covering today Totem Blaze by PlausibleSoul!
Its quite simple in nature. Burning totems is nothing new to most reapers, but this map is heavily focused on stealth. Youre outmanned, outgunned, and confined to claustrophobic rooms that dont leave you much space, youll have to plan out your route and avoid all the enemies so that you can burn the totems without being killed.
Or, if youre feeling stubborn, you could try a full-on frontal assault of the base.
This map reminds me of how the official levels are structured, in a way. They tend to have a gimmick that uniquely define them, and this level really fits into that same design. Its a nice, chill puzzle level, and sometimes simplicity is all you ever need.
Play it now!

[ 2020-01-15 22:05:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Happy New Year! You may have noticed our absence over the last couple of months we took that break to recharge for new MotWs and deal with real life things. But enough about that! We decided to make the most of the New Year and organise something special just for the occasion a New Year Themed Mapping Collab! We figured itd be a nice opportunity to bring the community together and celebrate this time of year, and even if we didnt get all that many submissions, the love and dedication of the creators can be felt in each one of the ones well be reviewing today.

Reincarnation of a Community

First up on our list is Reincarnation of a Community, by PDF_Survivor_482 and Classic_Cheese18!
We consider it to be the best entry of the bunch its outstanding both in gameplay and level design, but the scripting and usage of triggers is what truly makes it.
choose a question with a smaller reapo
or get spooked. hard. Simply put, you are on a quest to assassinate all the other mapmakers in the community to ensure Cheeses place as the best mapper of all time. Youll be going through plenty of unique scenarios as you strive to elevate Cheese via process of elimination.
The dialogue is witty and adds some nice flair to the map, and the creators were even nice enough to present the player with two different routes towards completion one for reapers who are up for a challenge and one for reapers who are willing to endure many deaths and memorise every trick the levels have up their sleeves. Its got a little something for everyone.

Newbolt

Next up is Newbolt2020, the very first map that its author, Tabu, has created. For a first map its very ambitious: different routes, massive levels, impressive visual design, and a whole lot of cutscenes.
When boiled down to the basic premise, the different directions that the map can take you in are essentially all arenas where you fight off waves of enemies, as well as the usual style of DEADBOLT level and whatever dialogue Tabu has come up with.
Now, this one wont be for everyone, especially due to various flaws that differ in severity depending on your chosen route the waves usually consist of enemies being stacked upon one another, many portions can be something of a tedious grind, and some of the jokes are sure to fly over the heads of many, being influenced by Russian internet culture. Yet I just so happen to be exactly the kind of person willing to sit through something if it looks possible, and in a weird way it feels like it was worth it in the end. And even with said drawbacks, the visuals never fail to impress. I mean, just take a look at this:
So yeah, if being confined to small arenas and pushing your way through waves of enemies sounds like something you wouldnt mind spending your time on, then this ones for you. And if not, then hey, whatever Tabu comes up with next may be more your style.

New Year's Wine

And last, our final entry is New Years Wine by LittleHorn! This is a nice wind down from the crazier gameplay presented by the maps above. Its a short linear story about our Reapo helping the Candles out by getting some wine for the New Years celebration. Its pure, simple, charming, and heartwarming. And, of course, its got some cool fiddling with the trigger system if you look under the hood.
And there you have it. Three cool and kinda-New-Year-themed maps (theyve all got snow in them, thats good enough for me), with each offering something unique that delivers a great time. You can access the maps via this collection. Thanks to everyone involved for taking part in this small project. Heres to 2020!

Artworks

And before I forget, we've also got a couple of sweet artworks that cannot go unnoticed. The first one's by [url=https://twitter.com/Razakstan/status/1206644734514495488]@Razakstan
And here's a little something by Classic_Cheese18, one of the members of the collab.

[ 2020-01-02 18:18:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! It seems were on a streak of old-but-gold maps, and today in the spotlight is Hall of Mirrors from kilozombies Cassettes collection a story-heavy campaign that focuses on unique level design and psychological topics delving deep into Ibzans consciousness. Oh, and there's Timur as well.
Fittingly enough for the levels name, the first section is perfectly symmetrical, aside from the enemies being warped to different heights, which will make hitting the heads more difficult. The stage itself is pretty huge, with lots of small rooms, stairwells and interconnected vents that allow for quick navigation. The guns on the shelves are a neat touch, specifically because theyre pretty tricky to get.
After clearing the warped bar, you can explore a bit to find a familiar face, or acquire [spoiler]an Auto Grenade Launcher[/spoiler] if youre agile enough. When youre done, just jump down the basement pit as prompted.
Once you land youll find that the fall has stretched you out this time, which will make aiming rather confusing. Tip: [spoiler]trust nothing but the reticle[/spoiler]. At least everything else is back to normal now. This is where kilozombie gets the chance to flex his environment creation skills floating cubes and snow are all well and good for otherworldly areas, but this area goes above and beyond with its scattered rooms, tears in the background, and distorted atmosphere.
Once you rid the place of enemies undead, youll move to the story segment of the level by picking a safe and obtaining a cassette, a fragment of Ibzans shattered and distorted memory. Were not gonna delve deep into the story here, though, so instead Id like to bring your attention to this ridiculously large God of Life. Maybe this whole situation is just an obscure Evangelion reference.
All in all, its a memorable level, with added difficulty in figuring out just where to shoot the warped enemies, although it's somewhat short compared to some of the other stages in the collection. However, theyre designed just right to make the entire playthrough enjoyable. Play it now!

[ 2019-10-24 17:58:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Continuing our nostalgic quest through old-but-gold maps, today were covering Synthesis of the Soul by Tahazzar! Not to be confused with its remake, Synthesize the Soul, which we'll touch upon later. Tazz describes it as the first map hes publicly released, and its an unbelievably strong start. Although it doesnt feature any fancy scripting or gimmicks, it already shows Tazzs trademark love for hard and enormous levels.
Here, youre tasked with wiping out the patrons of a club, with a long bar area at the top, and various seating areas on the way up. Of course, any self-respecting bar of this size must have four bartenders, at least. Three are just for show, but the fourth is so good at his job that he can pour drinks while upside down. Now thats talent.
Of course, where theres bartenders theres phylacteries, scattered all around, with some being closer to their owners and others not so much. As such, the level quickly turns into a fun little adventure, mainly consisting of fighting your way to the bottles with what little weaponry you have at your disposal. Unlock vents, shoot bartenders to tell where their bottles are, and scavenge for ammo youll need plenty for this job.
Now, if youre having trouble with this level, whether due to its difficulty or its performance issues, thats where Synthesize the Soul comes in. Its a remake of the level intended to address the problems of the original, with a reduced enemy count and map size, meaning its much less taxing on both your skills as a player and on your PC.
The original I personally find more enjoyable, but the remake is more focused and performs better. If you want a challenge, play the original version, while if you just want a more laidback taste of Tazzs distinct mapmaking style, go for the remake. Play it now!

[ 2019-10-09 19:32:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy hopooween! If youve grown to like levels with branching narratives and paths, then todays your lucky day, because this week were highlighting the final level in SockPuppets Residue collection No Strings Attached! A teeth-clenching map that rewards those who go off the beaten path and look for secrets in more ways than one. You may think that reviewing the finale of a series out of nowhere is a bit odd, but weve actually covered a couple of maps from this series in the past, if you want to check those out.
Maps in the Residue series are heavily connected to one another, and this ones no exception. Right off the bat, youre presented with two paths depending on your actions in One Trick Puppet. Of course, youre also free to just try every possible outcome, like we did.
Depending on the path, the difficulty will vary greatly youll either get a series of relatively difficult stages or some completely unreasonable stuff, with the latter earning this map the reputation of being one of the worst cases of enemy spam.
With that said, the levels are never impossible Sock leaves plenty of ammunition and weaponry to be found, either lying on the ground or dropped from specific enemies. There are often plenty of vents that can get you almost anywhere, letting you flank or retreat as necessary. Not only that, but the harder parts of the level also prove to be the most interesting or visually appealing areas detailed nightclubs, invisible traps guarding a Lich Arm (thankfully with graffiti to show their positions) or even a hideout of zombie looters which also has a nice window that you can smash on your way through.
Being a SockPuppet map, secrets and mysteries are a given, but in this one he goes above and beyond, ranging from small easter eggs to fully fleshed-out endings full of oddities and interesting scenarios. The ways of getting them are rather unique too, as you arent just running off the sides of stages looking for hidden cutscenes. Be sure to take some time to think about where or what these secrets could be.
alright, theres, like, one joke-ish ending.
All in all, its a fine exhibit from the golden age of DEADBOLT mapping thats well worth your time, even if the difficulty of these maps can get a little over the top occasionally. Play it now! Oh, and if youre ever feeling like flexing your level design muscles on a smaller scale A member of our community, LittleHorn, is making a campaign of his own, and one of the cooler features is having a room contest thing, where you get to well, design a room! Contests, even. So, if you feel like youre up for the task, join here. The contest shown here is over, we're just showing it as an example of what to expect:
And while were at it, dont forget that we (the DEADBOLT community) have our own official Discord! The invite URL can be found in the Discussions section, but we'll link it here as well.

[ 2019-10-01 19:59:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Today were making up for the delay with a huge submission Downtown by Classic_Cheese18! Its a long set of levels, focused on getting the Reaper into all sorts of situations whilst cleansing the undead.
Right from the start, were introduced to a mechanic that were honestly surprised nobodys really used until now a level select screen! Its very useful for large, multistage maps as you wont need to repeat hard gameplay segments youve already completed just because you took a break. Neat! And you should prepare yourself for hard gameplay segments, because boy theres plenty of them.
As the title suggests, youll be making your way through interconnected areas that ramp up in difficulty as you progress, like huge warehouses, mini-skyscrapers and even a train section! Each of the eight levels is rightly packed with enemies and opportunities for taking them out, which is never an impossible task even with a standard revolver.
The maps in this level are also comparatively larger than Cheeses previous levels, but the quantity doesnt mean the quality suffers, as all the maps are super pretty, and they feel very polished and fun to play, with enough enemy variety to keep you on your toes. Yes, this includes Technicians, so watch your step.
All in all, these eight maps are sure to test and entertain you. Play it now!

[ 2019-08-26 21:24:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Continuing our quest to document all the forgotten relics of the workshop, today were highlighting Spooky Night by john_fungus1! This time were to infiltrate a set of buildings overrun by the Dredged, and the keyword here really is infiltrate above all else when wielding nothing but the Revolver, the surplus of Technicians and Sergeants will quickly stop you in your tracks if youre not careful.
Thanks to the combination of vents spread throughout the level, the plethora of enemies youre going to face, and the provided weaponry (especially once you steal a Sergeants sledgehammer), this rather small level quickly turns into a fun and memorable experience as you try to find ways around your limited pool of ammo (again, the sledge is the way to go here).
Theres also the scaffolding, which kind of reminds me of a crane, which means this is automatic MotW material. Its good to see that the author hasnt forgotten the most important part of any workshop map. Play it now! And don't blow yourselves up.

[ 2019-08-14 22:15:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Since activitys died down a little on the mapmaking front, weve decided to review a few older levels, and today in the spotlight is It Gets Worse by SockPuppet, who is going to teach you the art of dodging in an intense trial by fire. Be wary that this one is considerably harder than the maps we usually review.
The premise of the level is simple enough for every enemy that you kill, an extra sniper starts firing at you. Darkness is your best friend here, as stepping into the light will result in a chaotic and hilarious dance as you attempt to evade a whole squad of snipers gunning for you.
The experience isnt flawless, of course. For one, ammo management is as crucial as ever, especially if you start with the revolver, and keeping a cool head and a steady aim is difficult when you need to sidestep a bullet with each passing moment. But hey, a good challenge is exactly what drives the most proficient of reapers. Play it now!

[ 2019-08-05 18:55:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! This week were covering Directional Input by SockPuppet, a part of his Prisons & Lands series that aims to explore the boundaries of the editor. Its a bit of an older map, but its no worse off in terms of quality.
Puppet was one of the first, if not the first, to make use of branching narratives as a major element of a level, and this is one of the shining examples of the potential of the mechanic. It doesnt seem too complex at first, with only two endings (both labelled as bad) that both consist of playing a level and a slightly altered version of it.
That is, until
After finding an alternate path, youre left to explore all that the map has to offer. Follow clues given in bad endings, keep your objective in mind, experiment, and uncover all that the level has to offer.
And most importantly, don't die.
Play it now!

[ 2019-07-23 19:28:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey! So last weeks DNA may have been a pretty major release, but thats no reason to laze around, so were back to our regular schedule, with Baskerville by Tahazzar, whose name should be very familiar to you at this point. And before you ask, yes, hounds are definitely present in this level.
Baskerville is somewhat reminiscent of one of Tahazzars previously highlighted maps, Ghost Recon, as it follows a similar structure of playing around enemies rather than focusing on combat. This one is a lot more fun, though, as it has plenty of visual clues to enemy locations, an intuitive layout, and requires you to outsmart your foes rather than simply try to avoid them.
This time youre up against invisible [spoiler]read: super tiny[/spoiler] hellhounds, known here as poltergeists. Because of their [strike]small[/strike] incorporeal nature, you wont be able to shoot or melee them. Your only tools for getting past them are your noisy attention-grabbing revolver, conveniently easy-to-shoot-out lights and even more conveniently placed doors, which they cant open.
Overall, its a fun puzzle level with interesting mechanics. Its not every day a custom map introduces a new enemy type, after all! Play it now! and beware of the poltergeists more unusual behavior.

[ 2019-07-15 20:05:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! The time has come, and after all the cryptic teasing we finally present you Deadbolt is not Available in Your Country! Or DNA, if youd prefer. A one-man project by Alex Pine more than 9 months into the making, the magnum opus of our community, featuring wacky pop-culture references, community in-jokes and, rest assured, the spiciest of memes.
With 30+ handcrafted endings to explore, youre gonna find yourselves in all sorts of wacky situations, meeting different characters and getting into ridiculous levels of meta narrative, as well as maybe [spoiler](just maybe)[/spoiler] dying a lot. Though we believe that every single person who reads these is a master at DEADBOLT and needs not fret about anything.
It starts off fairly benign, with the player tasked to play Alex's latest level and review it. But as you give feedback, more and more choices unfold, until it starts getting out of hand and suddenly you're doing GoL-knows-what. Making friends with an army of household appliances? Solving the trolley problem? Ripping off a popular pixel indie game with moral choices in pursuit of the perfect level? Freezing to death in deep space? Blasting Hopoo Games through the window of a high-rise building? All that and more.
With the plethora of possibilities [spoiler](easter eggs notwithstanding, and oh boy there's plenty of them)[/spoiler] you can expect practically anything from DNA - it's up to you to experiment and uncover all of its hidden secrets. Even we haven't come close to finding everything at the time of writing, so we urge our readers to combine their powers and inspect every nook and cranny of this behemoth of a level - with a whopping amount of almost 150 .nc files in total, the combined file size of the level is more than 30MB! For reference, the combined filesize of Deadbolts entire campaign, including the hard mode variations, is just over 12MB. If that seems too much, feel free to join the DNA Discord server, where people will share the hidden details theyve discovered.
Its also something of a love letter to the workshop scene and even parts of the community outside of that. Nerds like us would recognize jabs at the edgy storylines, narratives with branching paths and we definitely cant forget memes like, well, hopoo's lifelong desire to destroy any and all memes, or the forever-haunting experience of feeling like a villain in this game. While some of these could be very minor, it shows the love and care that were put into creating this, and, alongside laughing and sitting with the widest grin the entire time, we could feel genuine heartfelt emotions while going through this exotic experience.
It feels like were running out of things to say, so lets just do a quick summary. This map is one heck of a complex project, providing a pretty rich experience, although with drawbacks like having to go through stuff all over again to see alternate routes, but the process is fairly short. It also had brilliant comedic moments that had us laughing at almost every dialogue scene, whether it be simple wit, or references to the stuff that the limited circle of us remembers.
We greatly anticipated this project and thoroughly enjoyed it while testing and writing this here MotW for it, and were sincerely hoping that youll have as much fun with it as we did. [strike]also hopoo pls play it lol[/strike]
And that concludes the 50th installment of Map of the Week! One heck of an anniversary for sure. Its kinda baffling to realize that weve reached this number over the course of, like, a year and a half now? And while there are always occasional ups and downs, we are happy to have been at your service all this time and will continue to, as we arent burnt out just yet. And as always, Play it now!

[ 2019-07-08 22:05:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello folks! Today in the spotlight is "Security Shamblers" by Roadman 1 (pvpbendy), which combines the titular zombies with one of the most feared, infamous, and challenging enemies in the game - zombie cameras!
When combined, they pose a serious threat - the hanging heads now act as shambler heads, meaning they can see and shoot you as well as screaming to alert the entire level if you get too close. If that's not enough, they've also got grenades attached to their heads, so don't shoot them from too close if you don't want to be caught in the blast! Thankfully, put together with a generously placed 10mm, killing the shamblers results in plenty of ammo being dropped, more than enough to deal with every enemy in the level.
While fun and challenging, one issue I have with this level are the abundance of indestructible lights. While it's understandable that they're there to make the shamblers more deadly - their vision wouldn't extend far past the standard zombie cam vision cone otherwise - but I still wish the solution wasn't to axe shooting out lights entirely.
Despite that, the map's still a great deal of fun. While the grenades may be traps meant for you, you can still use them against your enemies, made easier by the 10mm Pistol provided right at the start of the stage. In the end, Security Shamblers is a pretty decent map with a cool concept from a newcoming mapmaker thats a lot of fun. I can't wait to see more from them them them them them DNA DNA DNA DNAAAAAAAAAAA SeE yOu iN MotW #50

[ 2019-06-30 22:04:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey folks! Today were covering a fairly small level, but it makes up for this with the amount of time youll be spending on it: Glass Over by Tahazzar, a very familiar name at this point. Youve probably noticed a pattern by now while reading these or playing Tazzs map the main focus is centring a level around one specific idea, somewhat similar to the official campaign maps, and this one is no exception.
In the beginning were presented with an opportunity to choose our own loadout without having to use the car, a feature thats been present in a number of Tazzs recent levels. Its handy, because you certainly wont have the time to casually select a weapon when the next level starts. Choose your loadout wisely, as youll want to be prepared for whats coming next.
Its a chase level! With the Nightcrawlers breathing down his neck, the Reaper has to make his way out of this dangerous pursuit, all the while being outnumbered and outgunned. Thankfully, the lighting and cover placement seems to be fairly forgiving this time around, and the Nightcrawlers chasing you have a very limited firing range. Maidens, on the other hand, can shoot you from basically a mile away, so be wary of that.
Play it now!

[ 2019-06-25 19:30:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Welcome to the Workshop Map Highlight #47, Initiate. Your next assignment is Cold Embrace, a custom level created by Tahazzar. This level is built with a lot of verticality in mind, so be sure to practice your landings. As well as that, the level has a focus on a mysterious weapon of unknown origin.
The level disregards narrative and instead focuses on gameplay alone. Due to its vertical design, you should expect to be using both stairwells and ledges frequently to navigate, along with windows and even a ventilation system that will allow you to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.
Given the circumstances, you will have to exercise great caution and pick your targets carefully. Intel suggests that, while incredibly lethal, the aforementioned weapon has a limited ammo pool, and the majority of enemy operatives in the area will not drop their weapons when eliminated.
When taking the intel into account, the level indeed appears to be difficult, but the Moderator and his assistant found it enjoyable enough to be worthy of being covered here, as the level enforces practice in ammo management and strategic planning. Happy hunting.

[ 2019-06-10 22:50:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey folks! Now that the summer break has finally started, we... have been busy playing other games instead of writing these. Procrastination may have gotten the best of us this time, but well get back into the groove of writing these consistently soon enough, dont you worry.
Today were spotlighting Revival Herbs from LittleHorns Something Strange series. Its a rather short map, but its got a cool gimmick at the end, which was executed well enough to catch my attention and deserve a spot on the pedestal.
We start on a relatively simple map with few enemies, in search of some intel. The path is fairly linear, but this aims to be more of an introduction to the second part of the map than anything particularly challenging. Clear the building (and burn their ash while youre at it), pick open the safe, and be on your way.
As mentioned before, the map is petty short, with the second stage serving as the finale, but it delivers really well. Entering an eerily empty building, save for a couple skeletons, youre greeted with a boss fight! Think fast!
Youll be fighting a respawning General, along with occasional backup that just means therell be more bodies to revive as the fight goes on. Youre going to have to be quick to find where the General next appeared and dealing with him before he can get to any of the fallen enemies. Remember to keep a spare bullet or two, because you never know how close the Generals next spawn location will be. Teach the General that hes no match for you no matter how many times he comes back. Play it now!

[ 2019-06-06 17:40:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Kept you waiting, huh? Hey everyone, apologies for the sudden (and rather lengthy) pause in your MotW intake,[spoiler]which you would be aware of if you were in our Discord server (wink wink nudge nudge)[/spoiler], but anyhow, now were back on track and ready to go. Todays Map of the Week is High Profile Club by Loaf. As you can tell by the title, this is a high class event, so be sure to bring only your fanciest bullets when introducing yourself.
You should all know by now that Im a real sucker for large maps, and this one is certainly no exception. Its filled with all sorts of different areas, from vampire-infested bars to storage rooms packed with drugs, and all the while being beautifully decorated and intuitive to move around in.
As its a single-level map with barely any story to it, we'll unfortunately have to stop right here as there isnt a whole lot to say about this that wasn't said in every other MotW, and besides, we don't wanna spoil the experience too much, so just be sure to go try it for yourself. Were sure youll agree that it deserves this spotlight.
Play it now!

[ 2019-05-21 19:16:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Echo. New york. Tango. Ida. Thomas. Young. Echo. November. ThomaAAAaAaaAAAAA ...phew, glad I finally took care of that. Hello, everyone! RoR 2 may be taking the world by [strike]rain[/strike]storm right now (and we couldnt be happier for its success), but that doesnt mean were forgetting about our fellow Reapos. This weeks highlight is one of my personal favourites. Ive been conflicted about covering this in the past due to its length, but at last here it is: Hightower by LilLeto. Its a rather small map (so much that theres almost no horizontal camera movement whatsoever), but the small space is packed with enemies, opportunities for elimination, and rich scenery in return.
[spoiler]https://chrischristodoulou.bandcamp.com/yum[/spoiler] This level doesnt make it easy for you, either, with plenty of hiding skeletons, traps, and formidable foes like Patriarchs, Bartenders and Nightcrawlers. Oh, and theres also your target, Ibzan, located at the top of the tower.
Yep, after clearing out the small warehouse at the bottom of the map, weve got to climb a long ladder to reach the top of the building. Inside is a club/apartment, which is even less forgiving with the amount of enemies it packs into a small space. Still, no task is too difficult for a dedicated Reaper!
Overall, Hightower is a short but sweet experience, filled with interesting design choices and a lot of firefights. Play it now!

[ 2019-04-11 19:04:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Yo wadup As you may know, there's a downside to everything, and with DEADBOLT's success we sometimes have to suffer because of all the garbage we're sent to review. We were promised a free copy of RoR 2 and a pack of nachos for this though, so to hell with it.
This weeks Map of the Week is DNA by Alex Pine - a collection of levels with checkpoints in-between (no actual connection between levels is made) where users have to make choices [strike]in order to give up their privacy for data-hungry companies[/strike] to determine what variation of a level theyre gonna play, though I havent noticed any differences between routes. So far.
The first level starts us off at a zombie hideout with both Roland and Puff on site. For a random douche whom Ive never heard of, the level design is surprisingly nice, it aint too hard nor too easy, the decorations look pretty and the enemy placements fair. Also theres a crane which makes it an automatic MotW material. In fact, its the only reason Im covering this map in the first place. Free stuff aside, it wouldnt be worth it without one.
The second level has us clearing a few vampire buildings, Madam Stela included, and for once the doors are all the proper height unlike what usually happens. Not much to say other than that, alls fine and dandy here too. Some 4th wall breaking is cool every once in a while I guess.
Uh, anyway.
THe thirddd level has us clearing some skeleton hideOut? Theres an overwhelming amount of weaPonry on the lower floOr, which makes it a breeze. You gO through the thing, pick a safe and ggggGggGg
Oh, huh, thats kinda smart. After were done with that though, we can move on to
uh, hang on a second here...
0h WoW h4h this i ki1iIlnda creeeeEE
Hi au does anyone fel like a villain in this gam /*AZXC/-AQE&*(VCIAPQ!#++*(&&DINAIYC *click* Hey, look, I know how youre feeling. I wasnt sure about this whole thing from the start, and many of our men are still worried about cooperating with creatures we didnt know existed. Youre right to be creeped out, and youre right to be unsure. But this is our only option! What, you wanna wait and see as the reaper takes our men one by one? You wanna bet everything on a plan that might not work, that might make things worse? Theres nothing in this world for us. Everyones just cold. We all just want this to stop, and not just want, like really want, like every cell in our bodies is screaming for this to stop. This right here - this is our opportunity for something else. A whole new world. This might be what we need to make it warm again. To make it safe again. Look, were running out of time. Weve managed to communicate with the Candles, and it seems like the flames and Charon are in on it too, and theyll bring friends. Everyone, with the exception of the offering, is being brought together in hope of fixing everything. The endgame is approaching. Everyones slowly come to the realization that itll be fine, except you. Please, friend. Let us join together with the Entity. *click*

[ 2019-04-01 18:54:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

The forces of the planet roar to life. One sleepless night now, aint it? With Risk of Rain 2 getting released a few hours ago and this contest ordeal being held, it is finally time to reveal wholl be spending the next few hours playing Hopoos latest hit. Straight to business, Puddin788s The Big Idea is the winning submission! This is the part where we fall into the more standard MotW formula, but hey, we gotta justify our choice. To summarize, Puddins submission is a collection of trial-and-error-ish minigames with humorous remarks here and there and, even if the most frustrating, it is perhaps one of the better executed levels in terms of design and pacing, not to mention the obvious criteria minigames being something out of the ordinary.
Youll go through a mine-filled dropdown, a scavenger hunt and a trivia quiz, with questions of common knowledge and of concerning insight. I enjoyed it all the way through and was honestly surprised to see concepts like these arise in such a limited environment.

While were at it, lets do a quick rundown on the honorable mentions or, rather, the four remaining submissions, whore getting away with a soundtrack code.

Honorable Mentions

Tahazzar's "Lost in Translation" is a puzzle that revolves around respawning with a different weapon each time, allowing you to progress further and further even when dying. The level handles this concept well, and only didnt win because of its pacing - just as the most interesting part began, it was already over.
Classic_Cheese18's "In the Footsteps of a Reaper" is a heavily story-focused series of levels (six in total) with a bunch of different themes incorporated into it. Each of the gang-themed stages has you going up, down and inbetween two buildings and then lockpicking a safe. It is smart in terms of storytelling and shows that Classic_Cheese18 keeps improving in every aspect (decorations, overall ideas, just the levels being fun). It has some flaws like having too many enemies in a tight space and the fact that the keycard-based objective may get softlocked, but overall, it's so good it had me debating over whether to give this map the first place. Alas, while it does tell the story in a rather creative way, it's nothing super groundbreaking in terms of gameplay.
LittleHorn's "Creativity" (direct file download) Again, a very promising concept with execution that leaves a somewhat unfinished feel, as so much more could be done with the make your own level gimmick in terms of variety and scale. Props for originality though the approach was very clever and unique.
Taterazay's "High Dracula Nightclub" (direct file download) While the level itself is pretty neat and the general idea of making a level that's level design is sort of expanding upon the idea of Madam Stela's level is cool, there isnt actually much that breaks the boundaries or blows ones mind. The vent system is great though, and it's one of the small number of submissions, so the level gets to be highlighted.
Aand that's it! I know, five submissions isn't a lot, but hey, it's a small community. Thanks to everyone who participated and even to those who were planning to but didnt make it in time! It was like a breath of fresh air to see all the crazy stuff that youve managed to come up with. Winners will be contacted shortly about receiving the rewards.

[ 2019-03-29 17:48:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey folks! After giving it a bit of second thought and realising that we might've underestimated the hardships of real life, we've decided to prolong the contest until March 28th (same time, 12pm PST). If you haven't started working on a map yet, then now's the time, and if you have - you can now spend more time on polishing. Don't forget to submit your maps onto the Workshop with "DBMC" in the title/description or send .ncs into the #contest-submissions channel on the Discord server (preferably both!).

[ 2019-03-20 11:05:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today marks three years since DEADBOLTs release, and for a relatively unknown videogame, I'd say keeping its players for so long is a pretty good record. Last time we hosted a Q&A, and while that was interesting, it felt like we could have done something that involves the community more, so weve decided to up our game with

A mapping contest!

The difference between a regular MotW and this contest is that here youll get actual prizes as opposed to just a writeup about your map and a unique role in our Discord server

EVENT

The contests submission period will last from March 14th, at this very moment, until March 21st, 12am PST. (or 12:00 by the 24 hour system) Much like DEADBOLT was Hopoo's attempt at creating a very different experience to Risk of Rain, this contest is focused on creating a level that deviates from the usual standards of level design: turn the Reaper upside down, emphasize verticality in your design, create a devious puzzle go weird, go wild, and unleash your inner chaos to create something that truly stands out from DEADBOLTs usual gameplay style of shooting dudes in buildings. The rules are as follows:

• You are allowed to edit .nc files via text editors.
• If you own the GOG version or cannot use the Steam workshop for whatever reason, you can join the Discord server and submit your level in the dedicated channel titled #contest-submissions.
• If youre uploading to the Steam Workshop, be sure to put "DBMC (short for DEADBOLT Mapping Contest) either in the title or the description so that we could find your level among those that are not participating.
• You may submit only one workshop item into the final pool. Creating multiple maps (not a series in a .zip) is allowed, but as we said, only one submission actually participates in this.

If theres any confusion, be sure to contact JAG or Square_Rabbit on the Discord server to clear things up.

PRIZES

Im sure youre eager to hear why you should bother entering this contest, and you have good reason to, because the first place winner will receive a Risk of Rain 2 Steam Key! https://store.steampowered.com/app/632360/Risk_of_Rain_2/ We'd like to note that you'll only get the key on the release date, so you'll have to wait a bit after the contest ends. Weve also got 5 codes for the DEADBOLT Soundtrack, redeemable at https://chrischristodoulou.bandcamp.com/yum for runners-up. If youve reached the end here, youre probably eyeing that Steam Key, huh? Either that or you just really like reading our posts, in which case, thanks! Whatever it may be, you now know that youre one weird level away from nabbing a free game, so be sure to make us question your sanity with whatever you come up with. May the weirdest win!

[ 2019-03-14 15:43:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey there, folks! Todays map had the potential to be featured much earlier as a MotW, but sadly never got the chance, and was forgotten, abandoned by the cruel march of time until now, that is! This weeks Map of the Week is Through The Looking Glass by SockPuppet, though it doesnt seem to have much to do with Lewis Carrolls creations, despite the name.
This level may seem like its a remake of Vall when you first load it up, but its different enough that its more a reimagining than anything. Its much harder than Vall is, with fewer weapons and a wider enemy variety. Nothings stopping you from bringing your own guns from your car, though. All the while, a sniper is taking potshots at you, so you know the drill. Stay out of the light, time your movements to throw off their aim.
Going up the elevator, youll fight more enemies guarding a sniper rifle that you can use to retaliate against the marksman whos been harassing you the whole way up. Once you go back down, however, youll find you have the option of going over to the snipers nest in search of information, where youll encounter a large group of zombies interested in scavenging the place now that youve taken care of all the threats present inside.
Yes, the real meat of this map is choice. Keen-eyed players will notice the level transition to the right of the first stage, where you can go to the snipers nest early and take them out up close and personal. Shes lost track of you by the time you arrive there, thankfully, so youll only need to contend with the guards you were sniping in the other available route.
Having the choice between taking on the enemy from range or up close is pretty cool, and being able to visit the area after youve sniped it is an interesting concept. Plus, lazy reapers can just snipe the target and leave right after. Score! [spoiler]Oh, and also, I just have to mention my appreciation for the levels name. Through The Looking Glass, as in a sniper scope! SockPuppet should write a joke book or something.[/spoiler] Play it now!

[ 2019-03-04 21:36:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey, hows everyone doing? Were reviewing another old map this week, with the blast from the past To Hell and Back by Nintee a rather lengthy story-focused map thats a part of his Last Stand campaign.
The level has a lot of features that were popular at the time hiding secrets off-screen, decorating stairwells with background doors and, a feature unique to Nintees maps, ash piles that show you the respawn location of a recently deceased undead [spoiler](my favourite type of oxymoron).[/spoiler]
As mentioned previously, this level is pretty big, featuring long stretches of rooms in a fairly linear sequence. Theres plenty of weapons scattered about the place, along with plenty of enemies to empty said guns into. Be sure not to forget about your objective, though you have to burn all the ash caches spread throughout the level, and backtracking in search of one you missed isnt fun.


After you deal with that, you arrive in a large room thats suspiciously quiet
Wait, is that "The Parrot Is No More"? What could be going on there?

As for the rest of the level? Well, Id rather not spoil it for you its something much better experienced first-hand. Play it now!

[ 2019-02-19 20:32:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

"A moderator is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to!" - JAG Sorry for the delay with this one! Let's not delay this any further and get straight to business. As fun as long maps can be, sometimes we just have to take a break and enjoy something shorter and simpler like with todays Fish Out Of Water by RodigroW.
This level has us infiltrating a nightclub to assassinate a target a Patriarch who, ironically, is the least dangerous threat in the level, as its packed to the brim with all sorts of far deadlier enemies [strike]who can actually open doors.[/strike] The maps very close-quarters, so aiming for the heads as enemies run at you can be challenging.
You cant exactly just skip past everyone either theres a vent system you can take advantage of, but every exit is in clear sight of every enemy, meaning that using vents without taking undead out or distracting them is a huge risk. You have to think carefully about every move you make.
However, the only objective in the map is to kill the Patriarch, meaning if youre good enough you can eliminate him while leaving the other half of the club untouched. The levels a little linear, with two main routes that lead to the target, but its still a very engaging level that can provide a decent challenge without being a massive time loss if you die, like with bigger levels. Play it now!

[ 2019-02-15 21:42:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Today were exploring something a little bit experimental with Tahazzars Show Whos Boss, which aims to create a sort of pseudo boss rush.
The concept of a boss rush, which is essentially going through several bosses consecutively, is somewhat troublesome to imagine working well in DEADBOLTs environment making it a series of levels (especially if you just put a bunch of levels from the games main campaign in a row) could be dull and tedious and if you choose for it to be a single level, you can run into trouble of just having too many enemies in one spot, and powerful enemies at that. Tazz decided to go with the latter but, fortunately put all the bosses in one large building, sparing a lot of space between bosses and enabling for somewhat fair one-on-one encounters.
As you could tell by looking at previous MotWs, I like hard levels, maybe even too much. And while this one, contrary to what wed usually see from Tazz, doesnt have any flashy decorations, it sure as hell delivers on the difficulty and the fun factor, having us face our arch nemesis like Madam Stela with her phylacteries and endless shotgun ammo or Amber & Evelynn with their harvest babble and many alike. No Timur though, darn.
Sure, theres a lot of space between the bosses, but that space also happens to be filled with other undead. If youre not careful, you can quickly find yourself out cornered by hordes of dogs and vampires coming your way. As always, the best strategy is divide and conquer.
Its a nice, simple level that provides a fair challenge with thoughtful enemy placement and just the right amount of guns littered around. While Show Whos Boss isnt unique with its story or visuals or even anything gameplay-related to begin with, I can still commend it for just focusing on the level design and succeeding in that regard. And hey, at the end of the day its a really fun level. And what else do you really need but a fun, well designed level? Play it now!

[ 2019-02-04 22:46:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! As finals are approaching, [strike]and as this moderator is in fact a real existing person,[/strike] we occasionally need to delay the MotWs for their sake and outs but fret not, were still silently keeping watch for cool new maps to highlight (among other community-related tasks, of course) This weeks spotlight is on Search and Rescue, the third installment of Classic_Cheese18s Diner series. A great map packed with all kinds of undead (except for zombies no one likes the Kingz, I guess).
From the opening shot alone, one can get intimidated by the sheer number of powerful enemies that youll have to tackle with such limited weaponry, which upon closer inspection isnt too big a problem considering how you can flank and avoid large groups of enemies, keep to the darkness, [strike] and abuse stairwells[/strike]. With that, the map manages to keep the player on their toes and punish careless actions, yet doesnt feel like an insurmountable task, with occasional room for error that lets you retreat and rethink your strategies.
As for the level design, the maps fairly linear the vent network doesnt allow access to the top floor of the building, and the two halves are separated by a blocked pipe youll need to open to avoid being forced to use the elevator. The decoration is also very praiseworthy while not being all super flashy and picturesque, each room has a specific theme and has just the amount of details to tell you what you need to know.
Overall, a very impressive map which most certainly overshadows the previous two maps in the series. Its always a pleasure to get to review maps made by someone other than the-most-popular-mapmakers (you know the ones), even if this isnt the first time one of Cheeses levels have been featured here. Play it now!

[ 2019-01-27 21:32:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Welcome to the first MotW of 2019! New year, same old MotWs! Even down to whose levels were highlighting, as this weeks spotlight is on The December Mixup by Nintee a collection of levels that reimagine maps from DEADBOLTs main campaign.
Unlike the remakes weve covered in the past, however, this collection focuses on swapping around the details of maps without changing the layouts. The Dredged warehouse in Horror Show is now a vampire nightclub (appropriately named Horror Show but with Vampires), and Puffs building is now a Demon owned one, [spoiler]with a sniping section where you assassinate a Patriarch in Rolands building[/spoiler].
With eight levels in total, this campaign allows you to go through an alternate storyline, filled with familiar locations and familiar people, with slight differences in the specifics. What faction owns what, how enemies are laid out, what events take place in each level, all mixed with Nintees unique sense of design and, sometimes, humour.

As you could expect from a DEADBOLT campaign, the collections got a pretty grim tone and, as the game warns you each time you launch it, contains topics of death and suicide, touching upon them in the same manner as the original campaign. But were not all here for the story, many of us are just here to make undead heads explode, and this campaign sure as hell delivers on that.

Play it now!

[ 2019-01-14 20:08:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Long time no see! If you were thinking we left you behind and this community would fall into a silent obscurity, think again, because this time were bringing something bigger than a usual MotW instead of highlighting a map, what if we highlight the entire community? All of the efforts made to spice up the game experience and make DEADBOLT something unique, molding it into what it is today this New Years special is all about YOU, dear readers!
I know we just said wed be talking about more than maps, but we really need to start with whats earned the game the most of its longevity workshop support, and all of your custom maps that come along with it. And oh boy, is there a lot to talk about. Throughout this games 3 years of existence a major sense of community formed amongst the mapmakers exchanging feedback, experimenting with the editor, eventually taking part in other aspects of this neat little family. Over the time period many great maps and even campaigns, telling their own story (ranging from sequels and prequels to the campaign, to something entirely new), were released short and long, action and story focused, optimized and laggy and while what makes a great map can be quite subjective, weve decided to include some of our personal picks (hey, we never said this isnt biased), sorting maps by what they do best in order for everyone to find something that suits their preferences. And hey, if you don't like anything off this list, you can always search for over a thousand maps that there are.

Into the Reaper-verse

While DEADBOLT is usually all about breaking into buildings and wiping out everything that moves in it, you shouldnt forget that with the gritty and mysterious tone that the game sets, theres plenty of potential for a story. Perhaps a prequel, delving into characters backstory and giving an explanation for the events to follow? Maybe even an alternate universe or a sequel? Whatever it may be, these story-heavy campaigns are one hell of a ride. Included are Last Stand by Nintee and Cassettes by kilozombie a sequel and a prequel respectively.

Skeletal Brainiac

Tahazzars maps are, quite frankly, always a puzzle waiting to be solved, whether it be a cool twist on the games mechanics or simply figuring out how on Earth this thing even works, but for now we'll stop on Ghost Recon stands out by using a Y-Axis flip on every entity in the level and having two Reapers one being in some alternate dimension and ours being upside down dealing with not-so-harmless ghosts. Can you figure it out?

Fish in a Barrel

If youre the sort of folk who like when more than two enemies come at you simultaneously, we can recommend Sinner Dinner by Alex Pine a level from his Deadline campaign, filled with enemies to the brim. You are given plenty of options for moving around a level and are provided with a powerful arsenal obviously you wouldnt go on a horde with just a revolver. Despite that, it doesnt feel any easier, so get ready for a challenge.

Death from the Shadows

Some folks, like myself, like doing everything quietly without drawing any unnecessary attention. The levels presented here are (mostly) all about sticking to the shadows and avoiding enemies as much as possible rather than getting into a fight Bypass by the ever-so-memorable Tahazzar and the first chapter of the Prologue series by SwamDono. oh, huh, whats this? Using this special occasion, SockPuppet made a New Year-themed map! Cant miss out on that, so go and play it! As people delved further into the workings of the level editor, many of its secrets, bugs and unintended features were discovered. Some mindblowing and tricky, others not so much, but each handy in some way whether itd be adding unavailable-in-the-editor objects (or even cut ones) or making your cutscenes much more impressive and pretty for the curious ones, you can read it all over in these guides: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=761140674 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1103643027 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1483500137 And hey, dont even get me started on how much you can do by fiddling around with .nc files in a text editor.
While were on the topic of creativity, why not talk about artists? These folks also spend countless hours to create something on their computers, but rather than figuring out the mysteries of the level editor, theyre figuring out the mysteries of how the heck you draw skeletons or make the stuff in their heads become reality. Dont forget that you can always browse the Artworks tab in the Community Hub to find something of your personal liking! One of the first things that comes to mind is the tarot card collection that was released a few months ago. It was even spotted by hopoo himself and highlighted on his twitter! This card collection is a collaboration between twelve artists, each with their own unique and a bit twisted look on things.

Back when the game first launched, one of the more active artists were CrazyCKen and aemni with their super detailed artworks almost too good to be true.

Among the communitys artists are some of my friends who, perhaps unsurprisingly, also started out as mapmakers like Nintee. Nintees speciality is pixel art its so well done that hopoo even commended it at one point! He helped out a lot on a Nuclear Throne mod which was supposed to bring DEADBOLT into the games universe, but sadly that never worked out.

Onto the stuff less exciting but interesting nonetheless. Although the game only got a couple updates over the course of three years (literally a couple, actually) and doesnt feature any form of modding support (which has been requested since ror1), there have been times when Hopoo Games tried their best to do only the best for DEADBOLT. For one the games console release on PS4/Vita and Nintendo Switch, attracting a new playerbase and allowing us to smash undead skulls whenever and wherever we please. Another thing that shouldnt be forgotten about is the fact that hopoo bit the bullet and recruited a moderator a mostly silent observer, helping out on discussions, writing Map of the Week on a semi-regular basis, and currently writing this very New Year-special post. Bet this game would be dead without one. mw Heck, while Im at it, I might as well mention Square_Rabbit a MotW messiah (the posts wouldnt be so flashy without him redacting stuff, lads), has the most hours on DEADBOLT (to my knowledge) and probably the one whos done even more for the community than me. Oh, and he also has several WR speedruns, which is pretty cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NXUvvPUAd4 While weve moved away from the development topic anyway, its important to recall the games soundtrack its got a Soundcloud release for all to hear and download, a stem album to remix and research and even a physical release in form of vinyl records with cool design and other nick-nacks!
And we definitely shouldnt forget the Discord server thats been running for over a year now and which has everything you could wish for: emotes, memes, complete lack of any seriousness and quick access to discussing all aspects of the game and its community! Click here to join!

And huh, thats about it.

Although the community isnt all that big and active, Ive had an absolute blast moderating it for over a year at this point, helping people out in discussions, playing and reviewing peoples maps and just generally having a great time watching as this small community of ours prospers. Heres to another year, hopefully even crazier than the previous ones!
Artwork by Nintee

[ 2019-01-01 01:21:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Another blast from the past today! This time were highlighting a map from someone who flipped the perception of DEADBOLT level creation as we knew it kilozombie with his Cassettes campaign. This series also focuses on the past, retelling Ibzans descent from reaper to undead in the form of fragmented memories and scenarios. Ibzans past experiences and our Reapers own are smashed together in a chaotic mess (the good kind), with holes torn into floors, walls and ceilings. And reality itself, probably. Enemies can attack you from practically any angle here. There are also hidden cassettes in a few of the levels, providing some more backstory to those curious enough to look. Without further ado, throw out any preconceptions you have about the laws of physics and lets jump into the last map released in the campaign Devil.
As mentioned above, each map is a mishmash of rooms scattered all over the place, like several buildings were crushed together. As you can tell from the screenshots, this one is no exception. After a short discussion, we get to reapin and creepin across the entirety of this rather large and as such, rather stressful map, with elements from vampire clubs, zombie apartment complexes and dredged docks and warehouses on the other. Every faction is present, so be prepared for anything.
Making a plan is key the unconventional layout means you need to think about every move and pay attention to the surroundings more than ever, keeping an eye out for rips and tears in the walls. The large ventilation system allows for quick transportation through the level, allowing you to bypass some of the confusing layouts. As a bonus, there are several yellow shipping containers hiding weapons you can take advantage of. After going up, down, and all around the level, brushing with death and maybe checking out that eye-catching cassette tape, were prompted to head down to the bottom of the map to pick a safe.
In previous mission in the Cassettes series, picking safes allowed the Reaper and Ibzan to freely converse with one another. And yet, this time somethings off.
Yup, were not done yet. The world is burning, and filled with skeletons and Madam Stelas (yes, Stelas, plural). Wherever there was a regular phylactery in the last section, now lies one of Stelas phylacteries. And you need to destroy them all before any of the Stelas will stop reviving.
The layout is mostly the same as the first part, but this time its populated by Hellhounds, Grunts and Stelas, none of which drop any weapons on death. Ammo conservation is key here the objective is to kill all undead, so make those shots count. You might have to resort to punching enemies to death if youre careless. Thankfully, combat shotguns are littered rather generously through the map, and since Stela drops her shotgun when she dies for real, ammo becomes much more plentiful after you destroy all her bottles.
After thoroughly clearing the building, were finally able to reach a safe to pick, granting the Reaper and Ibzan a safe area to talk. The rest of the level purely focuses on narrative, and the both the characters and setting in Cassettes are very well told, giving more incentive to look for those hidden cassettes.
I remembered kilos campaign when looking for the next map to review, and oh golly it was such a joy to replay these levels again! While being the last in the series, its probably the least confusing of them overall and as such serves as a great introduction, letting you know what kind of surreal settings you should expect to explore in the other entries in the series.
Play it now!

[ 2018-11-21 07:30:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! In todays MotW, Id like to highlight a map from someone who was quite the active member of the community back in the day, regularly uploading maps of decent quality, along with finding loads of neat little tricks in the editor and whatnot. And while he seems to have mostly moved on from making custom maps, I think his maps have a place in history and deserve to be remembered. Today under the spotlight is Warehouse, a part of the Flatline campaign by RPD_Survivor_842 (youll recognise him as RPD_Hunter_482 if you played most of his maps on release).
Most of the levels in Flatline are pretty linear (bear in mind that linearity is something pretty hard to effectively pull off in a game like DEADBOLT, which is usually defined by choice) and this ones no exception. Your objectives a simple one, storm your way through a warehouse (you know, like the title says) filled with ash and undead. Burn the drugs, dispose of the inhabitants, and get out.
What I commend about this level in particular is its superb decoration, which is pleasant to look at with a nice variety in room themes without anything seeming out of place. This version of the map also lacks any enemies spawning out of nowhere to try and catch you off guard, an issue that it originally had but was thankfully patched out in an update a few months after its original release. Despite its linearity, there is some choice in how you take out some of the rooms, such as which side of the upper floor you attack first.
While being the second entry of the campaign, I think its a good place to introduce yourself to Flatline, as it leaves a good first impression. If youre planning on playing more levels in the campaign, be wary that they tend to have a lot of exposition in cutscenes, along with occasional difficulty spikes and hard-to-notice traps. Play it now! And if you want more Play the campaign now!

[ 2018-11-15 22:47:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! After a small break, were back in action with another MotW. Just in case you missed the last announcement: DEADBOLT is now available on the Nintendo Switch, meaning you can smash undead skulls on the go! Read the blogpost about the release here. Sorry for the wait with this one, but the delays actually been worth it this weeks highlighted map hadnt actually been released until after the usual time! This weeks Map of the Week is Limited Tinkering by ColdBolt.
In my opinion, it was a bit of a waste that traps were only used in one of DEADBOLTs levels (and Im certain hopoo feels the same way), so its always great seeing a map that focuses on them, though the sheer amount of criss-crossing wires in this level is astonishing. Playing on Low graphics setting is recommended. As you can probably tell from the screenshots and title, Limited Tinkering is a rehash of one of the original campaign levels, Timur the Tinkerer, in a similar vein to a few maps that have been covered here in the past. Of course, its deadlier than ever.
Im pretty surprised we dont get reimaginings of the original levels more often revisiting familiar locations with a new spin on them is always interesting, and this felt like a breath of fresh air. I can basically do the original Timur level without even thinking, so getting caught off guard by the new trap layout made me feel like I was playing it for the first time again! And oh golly, what fun it is! With traps plastered all over the place, this level turns into utter mayhem with endless trap triggering (mostly caused by enemies), corpses flying all over the place and... just things happening too rapidly to even have time to process. One has to wonder if it's even possible to complete.
Its not without issues, of course. The time limit made this a lot more stressful and felt unnecessary in a level where youre meant to think things through, and the performance is pretty abysmal because of all the wires, although this is more on the game than the level itself. Despite these shortcomings, its still a fun, challenging and refreshing experience. Perhaps even the most fun I've ever had completing a DEADBOLT level. Play it now!

[ 2018-11-07 19:39:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

The flames roar to life, as more potential Reapers arrive to the Place. Hey everyone! Not so long ago (a few hours, in fact) DEADBOLT got released on Nintendo Switch - a popular destination for many indie games, and for a very good reason! If you've ever felt like smashing zombie skulls on your way to studies or work, then now's your chance.
If you don't own a Switch or can't afford one - there's an alternative handheld version in the form of a PlayStation Vita release, which happened a while ago, but we didn't cover it here at the time. Whoops. Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uO-XL3T9Ug Play... er, I mean... Buy it now!

[ 2018-10-25 18:20:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Today marks the 33rd instalment of MotW, and theres a lot to talk about here. For instance, the fact that 3 is a super cool number.
First up, a mysterious countdown has shown up on the DEADBOLT Twitter. Over in out Discord server weve figured out what its probably counting down to, but feel free to speculate yourself or join the discussion with us. Next, you may remember a long time ago that hopoo highlighted a map by COMBO BREAKER named To root out evil in fact, it was the third one posted which was a good quality map and one of the first that tackled a large-scale level. In todays MotW, were finally returning to this series and highlighting its sequel Hit the clubs (To root out evil, part II).
The maps main mechanic of note are the demons they litter the level, and if you kill any of them a large group of reinforcements will be teleported in shortly after, ultimately stopping the player from engaging in simple run-and-gun tactics, and instead forcing a sneakier approach. This is further supported by the large amount of silent weapons, such as melees, throwables, and a silenced shotgun. A window that looks across the building into a meeting room, paired with a sniper rifle just waiting to be used, allows you to take care of the largest group of enemies with no risk to yourself.
Being unable to kill demons, youll have to take advantage of vents and distraction items to sneakily avoid any demons while taking care of keycard-carrying skeletons. After collecting all that you need, youre prompted to use the elevator to enter a somewhat less exciting part of the map.
A few killed demons later (thankfully they dont summon backup) youll rescue a bartender from being killed and will enter a dialogue segment with him. The rest of the map is entirely story-based, which was sadly never resolved since the series ended here. Youre given the option to kill the bartender or leave him be. Either way, pick the safe and grab the intel before taking your leave.
While the map isnt entirely focused on stealth in fact you can purposely kill the demons if you want an extra challenge I like that the author encouraged stealth over direct confrontation in an interesting way. Its well decorated, the enemies are fairly placed, and its overall just a fun map to play. Play it now!

[ 2018-10-24 06:59:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Like todays map, this MotW is short and straight to the point, with Classic_Cheese18s Business Wars in the spotlight. With all the crazy and complicated levels that the DEADBOLT community has been coming up with, its nice to relax with a simpler map from time to time, where the only things youre concerned with are you, your gun, and the undead you need to deal with.
The level consists of two buildings, a bar and a club, each populated with members of two gangs, the Dredged (along with some Demons) and the Thousand Year Royals respectively. Theyre competing businesses, and were here to solve that little issue. By reducing both sides into bloody messes, of course. Youre given plenty of entrance options, and the wide range of enemies ranging from minigun-toting demons, maniacal Technicians and a lot of pesky vampires will be sure to keep you on your toes.
The decoration is very nice, with both buildings in keeping with established aesthetics for both factions. Theres a lot of bottles, as is expected with the types of buildings these are, including some Phylacteries you need to smash. Imagine if all the bottles were breakable
Overall, a nice short and simple level thats nice to play after some of the larger, crazier ones like you get with SockPuppet or Tahazzar. With our palate cleansed, we may return to these larger maps later on, though. I guess youll just have to wait until the next MotW Play it now!

[ 2018-10-17 21:00:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Theres been a noticeable spike in mapmaking activity lately, with the majority of them being pretty good, which Im very pleased to see. With this amount of new maps flowing in, itll be quite the challenge to pick one to highlight among them all. Well cross that bridge next week, though. Keeping up his winning streak, Tahazzar comes at us with this weeks Map of the Week, Heads On Prices.
We start off at the docks with a Silenced 9mm Pistol, and as the limited ammunition and stage title Silent As A Candle would suggest, this ones all about stealth. You need to make your way to the end of the stage, using ammunition as sparingly as possible theres many more enemies than you have bullets. Sneaking past them and proceeding to the left will allow us to progress.
The next stage is the main meat of the level a long apartment complex packed to the brim with zombies. Your main task is to eliminate Shamblers who are carrying keycards, but theres a catch. The building is filled with dozens of Shambler heads, and only a few of them are actually linked to corresponding bodies. The right heads are indicated by some particular things around them, so keep an eye socket out. There are some spare silenced pistols hanging on the walls, whichll serve you well to avoid alerting every enemy in the house. Repaint the apartment bloody red, collect all the keycards, and youre free to finish the level.
What I liked about this level is something that I see surprisingly rarely for a game like DEADBOLT an emphasis on stealth. Not as an optional approach, but as the only real way of playing the level effectively, further supported by the dimmed lights and silenced weapons. Also, the fact that this level got away with packing more than three enemies into a single spot while still remaining perfectly playable deserves some praise. Play it now!

[ 2018-10-10 05:01:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! We hope you like puzzles, because this week’s Map of the Week is ‘Ghost Recon’ by Tahazzar, a puzzle map about figuring your way through crowds of enemies you can’t even see.
This one goes above and beyond the editor’s limitations and imperfections to bring you a very interesting level concept. Throughout the level are ash statues of vampires, which represent the positions of enemies in an unseen alternate dimension where your counterpart will be avoiding and killing them. If your double dies, you’ll fail the level. "Any desynchronization with you and your spirit double will have grave consequences", as the description says.
While some parts are very difficult to work your way through, particularly the huge maze-like room at the end of the level, it’s a very unique and interesting concept, and the level’s designed well enough to make it entertaining and lets action take a backseat in favour of figuring the puzzle out.
Overall, a level with very cool design and a near-flawless execution. Play it now! Oh, and I'd like to point out that this is indeed a 30th MotW so far. That's a considerable milestone! Thanks for still being in on the ride even after several years since release. Since we've got a really cool number, I have a reason to plug in our very cool deadbolt-themed semi-official discord server, with cool memes, emotes and other nifty stuff.

[ 2018-09-29 21:59:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Last MotW we reviewed a map that reminded us of DEADBOLT’s early days, but this time we’ve decided to actually go back there and review a pair of maps released all the way back in 2016. In today’s Map of the Week we’re highlighting the “Prologue” series by SwamDono. This unfortunately unfinished series takes place before the events on DEADBOLT, telling us exactly how our boy the Reaper started working for the Flames in the first place.
In the first map, “Prologue, Part 1: Become the Reaper”, we start off locked in a basement after having been killed by an Incubus. Awoken by the Flames, we are given the chance to get revenge on our killer. While DEADBOLT isn’t a linear game by nature, it’s pulled off brilliantly here by having a series of small rooms that you can quickly blast through on your path up and down the tall apartment block, which overall keeps the level interesting rather than getting tedious. Another thing I liked about the level’s design is how you can avoid killing anyone besides your target like a master assassin, if you want to give yourself an extra challenge. Of course, it’s a lot easier to just kill everyone so you won’t be chased halfway across the level as you traverse it.
Get past the enemies, kill your target, pat yourself on the back if you kill him with the shotgun trap. After the Incubus is dead, the Flames will offer us a job. Not having any real alternatives, we comply and make our way to the car, ending the level.
In the second level, “You’re mine now, child.”, we arrive at another apartment complex, consisting of a few buildings worth of undead. They’ve been making moves the Candles can’t keep track of, so it’s our job to deal with them.
This level is pretty linear, much like the first level, though there’s an optional extra path you can take to get your hands on a scythe. This time the level focuses more on width than height, and there’s a lot of nice decoration to admire as you traverse it – there’s more variety in the aesthetics of the buildings, from warehouses to clubs to apartment blocks, as well as having some scaffolding you can descend.
After going through several vents and killing seven targets spread across four buildings, we reach the final target – Roland. He’s patrolling on a dark rooftop, so you shouldn’t have any trouble dealing with him so long as you keep your distance.
After some exposition, you’ll have to backtrack through the level to get back to your car, though thankfully there’s a couple vents that’ll act as shortcuts on your way back down. Unfortunately, the creator of these maps seems to be long gone (they haven’t been online on steam for quite a while) meaning there won’t be any more maps released for this series in the future. Despite this, the two levels that were released still provide some excellent examples of good linear design, as well as just being generally fun levels. I’ve had a lot of fun replaying these maps, and I hope you’ll feel just the same. Play them now! (Part 1) (Part 2)

[ 2018-09-18 17:11:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! If you were playing DEADBOLT near its launch, you might recall the “HARDCORE” series of maps by Flatgub. These were edited versions of levels from the original campaign – adding a lot of enemies, making little changes to the layout, altering the appearance of the level, all while leaving it recognizable as a spinoff of the original. Well, it seems ColdBolt decided to carry on the legacy with his latest installment - “Technically Sound” – Structurally Sound turned up to eleven.
Right at the beginning, we’re greeted with an intimidating sight – tons of landmines, several traps, and the level’s bustling with everyone’s favourite enemies, Technicians. There are 16 of them total littered about the level, most of them hiding, so if you alert them you can be sure they’ll lay down a carpet of mines, making them this level’s greatest threat by far.
Luckily, there are several useful weapons in the level, like two Auto-Grenade Launchers, Sledgehammers and several shotguns that can be pilfered from the shotgun traps. As well as this, the ventilation system has been added to, allowing you to avoid traps and undead alike. Be sure to remember that mines and shotgun traps don’t discriminate, so you can quickly turn the Technicians’ greatest weapons against them.

Reap and tear until the level barely resembles its former self.

Play it now!

[ 2018-09-10 18:28:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! If you have noticed the lack of MotWs for the past few weeks, then fear not, we’re still kickin’ and ready to go after a month-long hiatus. Granted, MotWs may still be irregular in the future because of a complicated little thing called “real life”, but we’ll see how it goes. To make up for the lack of content, we’re reviewing a whole series rather than just one map. Of course, Series of the Week doesn’t flow well (nor does Series of the Month), so we’re sticking with MotM. Gotta keep things at least semi-consistent. So with all that said, today’s Map of the Month goes to “Deadline” by Alex Pine, which currently consists of 5 levels. With nice level design, cool puzzles, hidden secrets and a confusing plot, these levels are sure to give you a blast. The series takes place in an alternate timeline, diverging after Madam Stela’s death. Ibzan has an alternate plan in case the Meat Portal plot from the main game fails, which the Reaper stumbles upon by chance. Having been discovered, Ibzan diverts all his resources to Plan B, abandoning the plot you see in Deadbolt’s main campaign. The series starts off strong with the first level, “Into the Abyss”. It’s a complex structure that can itself be a puzzle to move around in. It’s got plenty of variety with room sizes, as well as smaller groups of enemies and a large vent network, allowing you to pick your fights and avoid situations where too many enemies have you in their sights.
There’s a few small environmental puzzles, too, like having to drop down to a vent to reach the inner parts of the complex, or unblocking a vent to reach another area. Plus, it’s got a crane, which I always appreciate in a level.
Overall, it’s a solid level and I would consider it the best in the series so far. If you’re going to play any of the levels in Deadline, make it this one. The next level is named “Sinner Dinner”. This level’s main feature is obvious from the very start – the restaurant contains a veritable army of Dredged, including an incredible number of Generals ready to revive their comrades. You’re definitely not going to be able to face this horde head-on.
Luckily, you’re readily provided with powerful weapons like Rifles and Headhunters, placed in dangerous spots that’ll only benefit you if you play your cards right. And if you happen to grab a sledgehammer off a Sergeant, you’ll be theoretically unstoppable. This level’s all about dividing them up and picking off the Generals before you deal with anything else.
If you can beat this, then you’re officially better at the game than I am. Good luck. Next comes “Those Who Have Burned”. This level’s a little shorter than the others, but it works well with what it offers. Once again we’re faced with a massive room full of enemies, but this time you’re hidden up in the rafters, picking them off with some Bolt-Action Rifles. There’s a couple of Technicians down there, whose mines can be abused to eliminate any groups of enemies standing too close to them. Oh, and there's also a small platforming section, with a reward for the curious ones.
One exposition dump later, we get to the real meat of the level. Every room is rigged to blow, and you need to find a way to diffuse the situation without getting blown to bits yourself. There are multiple ways to deal with each room, but I’ll leave that up to you. Be sure to set your graphics to Low if your computer lags during this part. It’ll do wonders, trust me.

[CAUTION, THE NEXT STAGE MAY CRASH FOR REASONS UNKNOWN]

The fourth level, “Styx and bones”, focuses on stealth over action. You have to eliminate a Dredged outpost in a construction site, but the area is littered with Technicians, who’ll start planting mines if alerted. Luckily, silent weapons like the Tactical SMG or Silenced 9mm Pistols are provided.
There’s an extensive pipe network that allows you to move without notice, but plenty of spotlights and windows mean you’ll have to make each step carefully if you don’t want the Technicians to start rigging the place to blow. Being a construction site, there are a lot of ladders between rooms and onto scaffolding. Plus, there’s a giant crane. Nice.
The latest level in the series, at the time of writing, is “The Devils in the Details”. This entry mostly deals with story exposition, though there is a gameplay segment consisting of a huge warehouse, filled with demons and dim red light.
Though there are a few powerful weapons littered about the building, this level mostly focuses on using dropped Burst Rifles. There are a lot of enemies to deal with, though not as many as in "Sinner Dinner" or the intro to "Those Who Have Burned". As always, a solid vent network provides plenty of opportunity for flanking. Overall, the levels in this series are all enjoyable, having interesting gameplay dynamics and a cool story to tell. The levels are all top-notch aesthetically – you can really tell just by looking at the environment where "Sinner Dinner" and "Styx and Bones" take place. The collection’s still under development, and we’re eager to see how the series progresses. Play them now!

[ 2018-09-03 19:06:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

The flames roar to life, and the sounds of the gramophone drift across the room... ːphonoː Hey everyone! A few months ago, Chris Christodoulou (the dude who made DEADBOLT’s soundtrack, if you weren’t aware) teased the DEADBOLT OST coming to vinyl and, before its release, pushed out an album containing all the stems to fiddle about with. Now that the vinyls have finally started being shipped, we feel it’s the perfect time to finally spread the word. Go here to buy the vinyls and soothe your soul next to the fireplace with Christodoulou’s killer tracks.
Alternatively, you can go here to buy the stem album. We’d advise that you read the disclaimer before posting any of your remixes or mashups online, though.
Stay tuned for more updates and MOTWs! Using the chance, I'd like to remind of our super cool DEADBOLT-themed Discord server, full of keen players ready to chat and help you with anything. Emotes, cool roles [strike]and banned memes[/strike] guaranteed! Join now!

[ 2018-07-22 20:46:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! It’s time for another Map of the Week, and this time we’re not highlighting a SockPuppet map! Crazy, I know. Don’t get me wrong, his maps are amazing, but it is really refreshing to have some variety in the map’s creators every once in a while. This week’s Map of the Week is “Postponed” by Square_Rabbit. Now, if you’re a godlike gamer with amazing skills such as myself, you may not notice what’s special about this map. It may seem like a fairly standard club-themed map. Interesting visuals and fair but challenging difficulty, if pretty linear, but still a pretty basic map in terms of design, right?

If you die, however, things play out a little… different.

What I liked about this level the most is perhaps the way that cutscenes were used for storytelling. I mean, of course cutscenes are commonly used to convey a story, but here Rabbit uses all of the neat little tricks and workarounds in the editor to the fullest advantage to make the level work. Heck, the entire level is built around a single trick that allows to bypass the restart-on-death mechanic. Still can't figure out how it was done.
It’s also a generally fun level that, despite its linearity and shortness, is fun to play through [strike]whilst sledging everyone into oblivion[/strike]. See if you can escape the nightclub without dying! Play it now!

[ 2018-07-10 20:33:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, to one of the more irregular digests on this gaming platform. For your long wait to be paid off, we decided to bring something big - “Controlled Freak” by the ever-so familiar SockPuppet. Once again he delivers a map with fantastic visuals, absurd storytelling, amazing innovations and difficulty cranked up to the max. The level is a direct continuation of “One Trick Puppet”, and as such, begins with you deciding what kind of events went down in that previous level. This opens up three routes in total, each unique from one another by the difficulty and design, and we’re gonna look at each one.

ROUTE ONE: TARGET DEAD, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

The main juice is contained in the very first stage, with you having to wipe out the building just to kill your target, for the only weapon that can kill him is unlocked by collecting all keycards. If you ask me, the Scythe might be your best pal on this one.
This route is particularly notable for how Puppet uses the editor to create interesting gameplay (and story) elements. In this particular route, there’s an immortal bartender who dies only after collecting all the keycards, as well as spawning "the only weapon that can kill him". Cool stuff, right? There's also a very cool cutscene which I’m not gonna spoil. Here’s a tip though.
It also has one of the better designed levels, with the rooms being just the right size, gorgeously decorated and having fair enemy placement. We also get to witness cool stuff that's disabled (not cut) in the main game, such as a sewered lich arm, which is a really cool (and somewhat overpowered) weapon and a flare which… doesn’t really do anything aside from emiting light.

ROUTE TWO: TARGET DEAD, CHALLENGE NOT ACCEPTED

If you ask me, this one is the hardest of them all: there are huge constructions filled to the brim with all sorts of undead on almost every corner, with you having not much weaponry & ammunition to use (unless, of course, you grab a pair of D+T out of your car).

To our advantage, however, is a large ventilation system, allowing us to effectively flank our enemies and take their guns. Use caution, kill the lights and conserve cool guns for the big guys. There’s also a flashbang on the third stage that, if used correctly, will give you a room full of dead bodies and shotguns in roughly ten seconds.

ROUTE THREE: TARGET ESCAPED

This one starts off rather bland - the first stage is rather linear and doesn’t feature any stunning design choices or unique visuals, and the level merely serves as one to tell a story rather than to entertain with gameplay. There are some vents and one trap but that’s about it.
The second stage, however, gets the level back on its feet. This stage is really where the meat of this route is. Multiple entrances, challenging but fair enemies, and an interesting design. A classic deadbolt level. There’s a lot of different ways to tackle this level, so see what best works for you! You’ll contend with backup on your way out, so don’t waste all of your ammo.
After this, the player talks to God in a pretty well made replica of the original safehouse and heads into the docks, where the story is ended on a cliffhanger. Boy, I wonder which route is the canon one?
Overall, I would say that I enjoyed myself playing this level, all three routes had something special and entertaining to them, and I would suggest you play them too. Might get you hooked into the story as well, who knows? Play it now!

[ 2018-07-03 22:43:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! So, we’ve skipped an awful lot and we apologise for that. In our defense, we’re just a couple of teens who happen to be passionate enough about the game to receive moderator rights to continue keeping this game active (yep, we’re not hopoo, sorry to disappoint). We’ve still got all the life problems like finals and all that taking most of our time, so we couldn’t bring ourselves to get to work on MotWs. Not during that period of time, at least. But now we’re back in action, hopefully with no breaks like this in the future. To make up for it, we decided to pick a series of maps rather than one level. This week’s… Series of the Week(?) Is “Warehouse” by Olyethan, which consists of 5 levels in total, so strap in ‘cause this is gonna be a long one. This time, the player’s goal is to shut down an ash warehouse. In order to do so, the player has to infiltrate and scout the area, deal with some obstacles along the way and, of course, burn the warehouse to the ground. Or, at least start a few fires. The chain reaction should finish the job. Our first objective is to infiltrate the warehouse itself – going straight in won’t do, so the Reaper decides to take the sneaky option, through the sewers. This stage is quite linear and pretty simple, so after reaching the opposite side of the tunnel you can go up an elevator and proceed towards the warehouse.

The second stage gets a little more interesting – we get to snoop around an apartment block, located close by to our primary target. Apparently, the warehouse is protected from both sides by gates set up at the apartment blocks, and a Maiden on the roof holds the only keycard for those gates, so we need to relieve her of that before we can proceed.
Out of things to commend here, I would pick the well-detailed interiors and the piping system’s layout, which opens up a small window for flanking the enemies or simply moving through the level quickly.
Just as we’re about to head for the gates, we’re fired upon by a sniper and forced to retreat in order to deal with them – this is where the third stage comes in.
There’s a nearby construction site with a good sightline on the sniper’s nest. It’s occupied by a large group of zombies, which you and a pair of candle snipers will need to deal with before you can eliminate the sniper. Once again, this level’s decoration is top-notch, with great half-built walls and a convincing construction crane.
With the sniper dealt with, we finally get to the warehouse. In order to shut it down, we have set fire to a few large piles of ash, which should spread to the rest of the drugs stored inside. Fight through a small building and a few doors, set the fires, and get out before it burns down with you still inside.
In the final portion of the level, the Reaper finds his car stolen, which he needs to get back to. I just had to include this part because of this sick-looking set of stairs.
Overall, it’s a great series of levels with incredibly detailed environments and fun gameplay in mind, even if the maps are mostly linear. I’ve had a lot of fun and honestly wanted to include it in a MotW at some point, but never quite got the chance until now. Play them now! Also, you may be wondering, “This series was uploaded ages ago, how come it’s showing up on Map of the Week now?” Well as it turns out, MotW wasn’t just a weekly contest for the best map, but was instead a spotlight on whatever maps Hopoo found interesting, regardless of release date. So, we’ve decided to go back to this older format, starting with the Warehouse series! This way, we’re less limited with our choices, and you don’t need to worry if your map was overshadowed [strike]by Sockpuppet[/strike] by another map. Now, you’re always in the running for MotW! See you next week, hopefully!

[ 2018-06-11 22:38:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Before I start with this week's MOTW, I would like to say that we officially broke the record - 20 maps released in a single week! That's astonishing! There were all kinds of maps - short and long, hard and easy, ones that took use of the editor's mechanics and simpler ones where you merely had to kill stuff. But alas, we can only show one at a time. It was hard to choose only one out of twenty, but here you have it. This week's Map of the Week is "Out Of Time" by Puddin788. The main feature of the map only appears for a few seconds at best - and that is abusing how the player entity in a certain state. I'd rather not spoil how it works, but it's pretty staightforward once you start the level.
The level itself is a nightclub infested with skeletons and freshly ashified vampires. With said vampires being dead, the level gives you a kickstart by offering powerful weapons, such as the Combat Shotgun and the 10mm. Don't get too spoiled, though, for the level isn't getting any easier with those (well, maybe a bit).
After dealing with pesky Sergeants, Technicians and Grunts you reach the top and lockpick a safe. There's also an Old World Rifle in the same room, and trust me, you'll need it. Once you lockpick the safe, you are greeted with grunts appearing out of thin air and backup consisting of Nightcrawlers and Generals coming straight at you.
Once you deal with those, you're free to go. And that concludes Out Of Time! Overall, it's a sweet level that focuses on gameplay, mainly with the game's neat unintended mechanic and a lot of strong enemies opposing you. Visually, it is also done fairly well and pleases the eye. Play it now! As a side note - the next MOTW will be a bit different, we're doing some minor changes aiming to manage MOTWs like hopoo originally intended. I won't delve into details, but I'll just say that this new format will be far less limiting.

[ 2018-05-20 18:37:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! This week’s Map of the Week is ‘Ashy Intent’ by Mr.Machina. It’s a pretty big but a relatively easy level populated with zombies and vampires. It has a style that really sent me back to the original campaign – it feels a lot like a Zombie Kingz map!
Oddly enough, despite the large amount of ash stored in the building, and the map title, we don’t actually have to burn any of the ash. Instead, the objective is to kill everyone in the building to retrieve some intel stored in a safe upstairs. It’s filled to the brim with convincing decorations and details that really bring it to life. It’s a short, sweet map that anyone can enjoy. Also, every map has a nice feature and this one's no exception. This time - a peculiar set of stairwells.
Play it now!

[ 2018-05-11 19:44:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Before we get started, I just want to say that I’m really happy to see new faces trying out the game after the coupons got sent out! This means more attention for our hard-working mapmakers and more activity in the community in general! Also yeah, this one’s kinda late, but we’re catching up, I promise! This week’s Map of the Week is “APartMeant for another map” by SockPuppet, a very familiar face at this point.
While the objective is just “kill all undead”, it has an outstanding concept that raises it above this week’s other maps – it takes away your ability to see all the rooms in the map. It achieves this by placing rooms outside of the camera’s range, to simulate entering rooms without seeing their interiors. The feeling of not knowing what’s to come, the fear of the unknown, is very rare in Deadbolt maps.
To see what’s inside a room, you need to enter it and react to whatever’s waiting for you, which may feel somewhat cheap, but this is balanced out by the level being on the shorter side, meaning you won’t lose vast amounts of progress should you die.
And as always, there’s backup, but any obstacle can be cleared with a large enough hammer. Play it now!

[ 2018-05-04 19:05:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! As some of you may have noticed, all owners of DEADBOLT have received a coupon discounting Risk of Rain, and vice versa. This is a great opportunity to try out Risk of Rain if you haven’t already, and if you own both games, you can gift them to a friend! It’s a little out of the blue, but who doesn’t appreciate discounts? Given the chance, I'd like to remind about our Discord server, with all the cool things like custom emotes and whatnot. Join us!

[ 2018-05-01 23:56:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! There weren’t quite so many maps this week, but we still had some good submissions. This week’s Map of the Week is “Touching The Moon” by Puddin788.
Nothing terribly complex here, it’s a short, sweet map. You, a warehouse and a bunch of skeletons to reap.
This map makes good use of vent blocks – the further you progress up the tower, the more routes are open to you.
With a wide array of weapons, this level won’t provide too much of a challenge, but enemy placements still require some quick thinking to beat, particularly if the Technician gets alerted or the Generals start reviving bodies.
It’s a polished level with no unfair moments and enough enemies to make it a fun, if not particularly challenging, romp through the building. That ladder is tantalisingly close, though. Just out of reach… I’ve tried everything. What secrets could the top of that construction tower hold?
Play it now!

[ 2018-04-29 21:02:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Yeah, we’re off schedule and there's no excuse for it. Sorry! This week’s Map of the Week is “Curtain Fall” by SockPuppet! You may notice he’s been naming a lot of his levels after various theatrical props. I wonder if it means anything?
We start off in front of a huge building, where we can choose to enter either through the front or the back. This is a stage that requires careful planning and ammo conservation. Ammunition is scarce, especially if you’re going in with just the revolver, and alerting the wrong enemies will also alert the very mine-happy technicians near the top of the building.
The objective of this stage is to assassinate four elite undead on the top floor of the building, before making your escape and avoiding the intimidating amount of backup they send after you.
The second stage of the map, "The Tower", may be short and somewhat easy, but it’s still the most exciting and memorable part of the level. I’d rather not spoil this exciting experience, but I will show you this screenshot to give you a general idea of what to expect.
The third and final stage of the level, "Storage", consists of a small building with a phylactery inside, referred to as a “heart”. You’re given weapons and a task – shoot the heart four times to destroy it. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, there’s a catch. With each time you hit the heart, a progressively more difficult wave of enemies spawns. It’s definitely rage-inducing. Believe it or not, but I actually ragequit at this point once!
And with that, the level ends. While not standing out visually, this level had very interesting ideas that served it well gameplay-wise. It keeps you on your toes and forces you to think before jumping into the fight. You can’t run and gun this time! …I mean, you technically can, but is it really worth the risk? Play it now!

[ 2018-04-23 21:01:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Not gonna lie, this week’s entries were pretty great and it was rather hard to choose between all of em. I’m liking this kind of activity, so keep it up! This week’s Map of the Week is ‘Compound’ by Fry.
The level starts you off at a small bar filled to the brim with skeletons, and you can tell just from the first stage alone that this isn’t gonna be an easy level. Fry makes the player go through the entire building by having a phylactery on the top floor tied to a bartender located at the bottom floor, forcing the player to use most of their ammo by the time they reach the top. Which is where backup comes in.
After making it out alive, the Reaper proceeds to the address found in the previous stage, arriving at a large and complex warehouse with a lot of different approaches to take, with the ludicrous amount of vents and stairwells providing many possible routes. You’ll contend with skeletons, a lot of demons, and even a few hellhounds. All of the enemies are absolutely lethal, and they don’t hesitate before pulling the trigger, so your best strategy would be to stay in the shadows and avoid direct combat as much as possible. After clearing the building along with even more backup, the player takes the elevator to the level’s final stage.
This ash factory is made up of uniform, blocky rooms and filled with trigger-happy skeletons. As with the last two sections, you kill everyone, burn all the ash (we’re here to put a stop to the factory, after all). After this you’ll have to fight your way back to the top of the facility to escape in the same elevator you came in by. What I liked the most about Compound was its difficulty. The stages are rather long and have enemies at almost every corner, so the level is certainly frustrating. However, this just makes it so much satisfying and rewarding when you finally do clear a stage, and, to be completely honest, this level gave me the most exciting “holy shit” moments that I’ve ever experienced in this game. Oh, and remember how I mentioned there being a lot of enemies in a small space?

Beautiful, isn't it? Play it now!

[ 2018-04-12 20:58:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! First thing’s first – yes, we did skip last week’s MotW. There were only two maps released, and only one of them was any good (made by SockPuppet, who’s already been awarded MotW several times)! I write these during my spare time, and it just didn’t seem worth it to write out something just for that. I hope you understand. Of course, if you’d rather we not skip future MotWs whenever possible, yell at us in the comments and we’ll look into it! Anyway, without further ado… This week’s Map of the Week is “A Theatre’s Props” by SockPuppet! Yeah, he won it anyway, who saw that coming?
This map deviates from the usual formula – for one, it’s not a standard “kill the undead inhabiting a building” design that’s so familiar at this point, but rather is more of a puzzle (you still kill undead though, otherwise it wouldn’t be a DEADBOLT level). Puppet uses all of his editor tricks and knowledge to make some rather creative puzzles, with elements such as invisible floating mines and an enemy that has to be shot from a specific spot to survive.

I found the stages to have a unique look that, while nothing particularly beautiful, caught my eye and remained memorable. As always, there are secrets hidden at the boundaries of the map. I wonder where they’ll lead… Oh, and I would really advise you to watch your step.
Overall, a short but unique puzzle level that’ll definitely take some time to solve. That’s where the fun is, of course. Play it now!

[ 2018-04-05 20:19:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! You may have thought we’d forgotten about MotW, but you’d be wrong! We’re just really good at procrastinating, that’s all. This week’s Map of the Week is “Long night” by Fry.
As the name implies, it’s a long level. Or rather, a long set of levels, each boasting a familiar aesthetic of their own – a zombie apartment, a vampire nightclub, a Dredged construction site (with a very nice looking crane), and a demon garage. I’m sure you’ve gathered what the theme is.

Another noteworthy feature of this level – an optional hard mode. Red lights, more enemies, and much more backup.
It may not be anything groundbreaking, but I found myself enjoying the level more than any of the other levels submitted this week. It was well balanced, and a good challenge – I don’t often find myself getting frustrated playing this game.
Each section is packed with enemies and a good amount of branching paths to take. Buckle in and find what strategy best works for you! Play it now!

[ 2018-03-22 20:35:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! First off, I would like to announce that on this particular day, March 14 2018, the game celebrates its 2 year anniversary. That's partially the reason we postponed the MOTW, hehe. To celebrate, I contacted hopoo and we decided to do a Q&A, where you can get answers to all of your DEADBOLT-related questions you've ever thought off. All the questions are to be sent onto hopoo's tumblr blog. They also post dev blogs and all that there, and occasionally answer questions outside of any Q&As, so be sure to follow them! You don't have to register and can send questions anonymously. http://hopooo.tumblr.com/

Now, with that out of the way...

There were a lot of really awesome maps to choose from, but there can be only one. This week's Map Of The Week is "A Special Night" by Atlasle. The map consist of two buildings, one is a large vampire building with an underground club and the other is a small zombie warehouse. In order to progress through the map, you first have to collect keycards from the enemies on the upper floors. You have to collect them, as those keycards unlock doors that otherwise would prevent you from leaving the building or even simply going from room to room.
Despite how outnumbered you are, there's a bit of fair breathing space due to the enemies mostly standing with their backs directed at you, making it easy to just walk past them or flank them. Collect the keycards and proceed to your next objective, which is burning all ash caches. Some of them are located inside the club, while others are located inside the warehouse. After doing all of that, you should be good to g... Oh, backup.
A lot of backup, actually. Won't spoil how many, but be prepared. After all is done, the only thing left to do is to talk to the candle (if you haven't done it prior to doing everything else) and leave the stage.
Being Atlasle's only second map, it surely shows that he has a lot of potential. The map is huge and full of misc details, packed with ememies yet rather fair. The only problem is perhaps the map's framerate, as even my rig struggled to run it smoothly, but it's not the mapmaker's fault.

Oh, and there's also a hidden room with doggos and cool weapons. Neat.

Play it now!

[ 2018-03-14 15:52:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! This week’s Map of the Week is “Middleman” by Fry.
This map is very competently made for a first level – there aren’t any technical flaws in sight. The level consists of a small building populated by vampires and skeletons. If you just walk through the front door you’ll find yourself very quickly flattened, but thankfully you’ll find there’s a whole host of viable entry points.
There are a few weapons scattered about, but with the exception of an Old World Rifle there’s nothing overtly powerful, and even then it’s not too easy to get to. The vents present in the level are placed well enough that moving through the level is a challenge, but you can still easily flank enemies once you’ve alerted them.
As a side note, I can't help but adore this crane part for no reason. It amuses me far more than it probably should.
Overall, a short and sweet level that wouldn’t be amiss amongst the levels from the main campaign. Get in, kill everything that moves, burn drugs, steal intel, and get out.
Play it now! And as a reminder, we have a Discord server! Memes probably guaranteed. https://discord.gg/3Z9YPnn

[ 2018-03-06 19:07:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Today’s Map of the Week is “Occupied” by RPD_Hunter_482. This map is part of the long running Flatline campaign, which has a history of quality maps – I actually thought these maps would be dominating MotW before I started it back up again. Anyway, onto the map. As is with the rest of the Flatline campaign, there are introductory cutscenes that move the story along. These won’t be covered here for the sake of entertainment and not wanting to spoil too much. Be warned that the cutscenes have some nasty words in them though.
You start off at the doorway of a large building, with a sniper out for your head. You need to collect keycards, and the only way is up, and the only staircase available is guarded by few, yet quite dangerous enemies. The first half on its own is linear and gets progressively harder the higher you climb.
The second half opens up a bit, allowing you to traverse between different parts of the building. Don't forget about the sniper though! I found myself darting left and right, up and down, in and out of vents as I picked off enemies one by one and grabbed weapons. Once you kill all the undead and grab their keycards, you’re free to head back down to where you started.

I liked this map’s complexity, and its difficulty felt nicely balanced, although a little unfair at times, like when a vent you’re required to use exits into a lit room when the sniper’s still on you. Still, I enjoyed this map a lot. Play it now!

[ 2018-02-27 22:01:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Sorry for being late with this week's MOTW as well as skipping the previous one. Life happened, you know? But now the coast’s clear and we’re ready to roll again! Consistently, at that. This week's map is "famine" by EPM.
This map stands out from all the other contenders by its volume and amount of enemies, as well as this classy blocky design, familiar within the levels from the Zombie Kingz campaign. Due to a large amount of enemies, you can't just storm in guns blazing (although, who knows, maybe you can) and instead you have to come up with a clever plan, flanking and taking enemies out one by one, while avoiding traps the building's riddled with. Granted, this level has a large amount of entry points to choose from.
The premise itself is rather simple - no flashy cutscenes or anything outside of a normal mapmaker's limits. It’s just you, a gun, and a building full of enemies to kill and drugs to burn. While not without flaws, I find the level to be promising for a first map, and very much look forward to EPM’s future work.
Play it now!

[ 2018-02-20 21:19:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey folks! Under the cover of darkness (unless you're from NA), here’s the next Map of the Week. It’s "An Appointment", by none other than SockPuppet!
This level is more of a standard fair than his other levels – no strange twists in reality, just good old fashioned building clearing.
Personally, I found that this level’s decoration and good balance of difficulty stood out from all the others. Even with just the revolver, it’s not too difficult, yet isn’t a pushover by any means, and there are just enough weapons scattered about that you won’t run out of unless you’re careless. There is one tricky part on the roof, but it's rather easy to figure out how to clear it.
As is tradition in SockPuppet’s levels, there are a few easter eggs hiding out of sight. While not too difficult to find, they’re still fun to search around for.
Though, I do wonder what’s up with that upside down 'W'...
Play it now! ...and just to remind anyone who missed it, we have a Discord server! Hop in for memes and game discussion! https://discord.gg/3Z9YPnn

[ 2018-02-05 21:20:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! This week’s Map of the Week is “Punch Club” by Nintee.
The first section of the map has you hunting down keycards to get access to a vent leading to the titular Punch Club, located somewhere underground. The level is filled with nice little details and overall looks great aesthetically. I particularly like the crane that’s moving the cargo container.
The level is pretty complex, filled with many pipes and stairways to flank enemies with. There are many different ways to clear the first stage, so feel free to experiment and find the best route!
Most importantly though, stay on your toes and don't let your guard down. If you’re feeling confident, there’s an optional challenge to complete the first section without using any weapons. Good luck with that! There's also an inaccessible Auto Grenade Launcher, placed simply to annoy you. ...or is it accessible after all?
The Club itself is more of a linear gauntlet, fighting your way through undead on your way to retrieve information on your target’s whereabouts. Don't forget to stay on your toes though.

While this level can be enjoyed in and of itself, it’s part of a larger campaign that tells its own story – the Last Stand collection. If you want to understand what’s going on, I’d advise that you play the rest of the levels. Even if you don’t care about the lore, you should still play them. The series has been running for a long time now and personally I enjoyed every single one of its levels! Play it now!

[ 2018-01-29 18:05:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! This week’s Map of the Week goes for the third time in a row to SockPuppet with his map “A Wise Use of Time”. In contrast with his last map, SockPuppet’s taken a simple mechanic, the timer, and used it to make a short but challenging map, where you have just 53 seconds to clear a building of enemies. Fortunately, there’s an 8 second headstart before the timer starts counting down, allowing the player to prepare before jumping in (literally).
There’s a large variety of enemies on this map – the building’s occupants feature all four factions, all out for your head. The short time you’ve got to complete the map means you need to strategize quickly and carefully – the timer’s constant march towards failure really builds up the pressure, and yet it’s long enough that the level isn’t impossible at all. Don’t let your guard down after you’ve beaten the clock, though. There’s backup. Lots of backup.
This map also features 3 easter eggs, including a spy who’ll be served right, a “cheaty” way through the map and a totem that'll stop the timer if you burn it. That's what they're supposed to do, right? Good luck finding them all!

Play it now! I’m also happy to announce that we now have a semi-official Discord server to gather deadbolt players in one place, moderated by yours truly & his buds. We’re planning on enhancing the server and will probably even allow memes at some point, so hop in! https://discord.gg/3Z9YPnn

[ 2018-01-22 16:03:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

The flames roar to life. This week we’ve seen a lot of great levels rolling in and I'm happy to see that, but there’s one that stands out the most among all of them. This week’s map is once again one by SockPuppet, who you’ll recognise from last week, but this new map is truly a cut above his last one. His new map is called "Rolling (to the) ‘Land’".
This map seems like a simple newbish map at first glance – there’s a huge wall of weapons at the top of the map, and only three enemies present. You grab your weapon of choice, kill the three of them, then proceed to the exit. Then you’re back where you started, except there’s one more zombie.
Gradually, the level gets more and more complex as you proceed further down the rabbit hole. It remains well-balanced, however. With the number of weapons you’re given, there’s an astounding amount of variety in the tactical decisions you can make – something that this game is all about.
Overall, the level takes a truly unique concept and works with it wonderfully – it’s unlike any other level I’ve seen before, perhaps the best one I’ve ever played. It blew my mind and will surely blow yours.

Can you get out of the loop?

Play it now!

[ 2018-01-15 18:53:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! There haven’t been quite so many maps as last week, but hey, we've just started, I'm sure there will be more in the long run. This week’s map of interest is SockPuppet’s remake of “Puff”! Much like the maps from the "Hardcore" series that have been previously highlighted, this map aims to amp up the challenge of one of the original campaign missions.
Despite not differentiating much from the original Puff level in terms of aesthetics, it’s certainly much more challenging than its official counterpart. Ammo conservation is key here. The map takes use of the Trigger system, which I've rarely seen in use in custom levels.
The most notable and challenging difference this map has is that there’s backup. Lots and lots of backup. Luckily, this map’s backup is divided into two waves, which either arrive separately or all at once depending on your actions, adding a unique element of strategy to the level. The level also offers a fair amount of vents and even windows at the top floor with a ladder below one of them, allowing for a lot of potential for flanking enemies and getting the drop on them. Experiment and find out the perfect strategy!
To get the map, just hit the Subscribe button on the map page - it will automatically be downloaded and will be playable in the "Load Custom" portion of the main menu. Play it now!

[ 2018-01-08 18:29:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! As the year comes to an end, we decided to kick off 2018 with a new and (hopefully) improved Map of the Week! Yes, it’s been a long time coming. This week’s map is Giraki’s "House of Kingz"! The map seems simple at the outset – a fairly small map, with only zombies to kill. However, as you play you’ll find that Shamblers will surprise you, as a given head isn’t necessarily linked to the body you think it is.
Personally I found the map had a similar vibe to some of the official Zombie Kingz levels, and it was fun to develop different strategies to beat it.
Be sure not to get caught out by the backup on the way out! Play it now! With the reintroduction of Map of the Week, we aim to usher in a new era for the DEADBOLT community. We’d like to ask you for feedback on this. Would you prefer to have multiple maps chosen each week, or just the one? Any community events you’d like to suggest? Post a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! And, of course, happy Christmas & New Year! Even the Reaper is taking his time off, so be sure to do that as well! (Artwork by Nintee)

[ 2017-12-31 18:32:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! After nearly 1.5 years of silence, I am proud to announce that the DEADBOLT community now has moderators. This means that Map Of The Week is coming back, as well as I and other fellow moderators will now help you out in discussions and give feedback on custom maps. ...Which is, to be honest, what we've been doing since the launch of the game, but it's official now! The next Map Of The Week is coming on Sunday, December 31st!

[ 2017-12-27 06:43:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today's Deal: Save 30% on DEADBOLT!*

Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!

*Offer ends Thursday at 10AM Pacific Time

[ 2016-08-09 17:00:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey there! As of 7/12/16 (today!) DEADBOLT is now available on Steam for Mac/Linux! The game in its entirety, along with its custom map and Steam Workshop support, is now all available on both Mac and Linux platforms. While it's on the store page, I wanted to highlight the one difference just so people are aware and aren't mislead. The Mac/Linux build of DEADBOLT does not come with the DEADBOLT Map Editor. The main function I use in GameMaker for loading and saving files, along with explorer navigation (get_open_filename and get_save_filename) are NOT supported outside of Windows, and there doesn't seem to be any similar function. I hope that makes sense, and that I didn't disappoint any excited fans. (If I did, please tweet at me at @the_hopoo or send an email to hopoo@hopoogames.com. I do read them, and it does make a difference, and if there's a big demand I'll give it another shot!) However, PLAYING custom maps will obviously still be supported on both Mac and Linux! You'll be able to play the awesome creations on the DEADBOLT Workshop, just like a Windows user. If there are any issues for either the Mac or Linux build, please post it on the official bug forums or send an email to deadbolt@hopoogames.com. We will fix the bugs as fast as possible! Happy hunting, Hopoo

[ 2016-07-12 17:47:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey guys! As hype of launch slows down, so does the Map of the Week's - but I'm still checkin' out your guys' and gals' custom maps! This week's creator is no stranger to the Map of the Week - flatgub does it again with another reimagining of DEADBOLT's original campaign map. This week's Map of the Week is Critical Altitude.
Similar to flatgub's last map, this one takes the existing DEADBOLT Map (this time, "New High" and turns the difficulty up to a billion. The objective is the same - destroy the ash caches - but new vampires and zombies will make that alot more difficult than the original map. Thankfully, some new vents have been added as well!
Recommendation: you'll generally upset the ENTIRE map once you get a portion into the stage, so keep track of your ammo count, shoot out all the lights, and remember to save bullets by meleeing. Silent options are good to get as far into the stage as you can! Also, with what seems to be a custom map tradition: there's backup. ːpoopterː To get the map, just hit the Subscribe button on the map page and restart Steam - it will automatically be downloaded and playable in the "Load Custom Maps" portion of the main menu. Play it now!

[ 2016-05-19 17:38:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

This week's Map of the Week is sorter's "The Shadow of Death." This map is a bit special to me because it is one of the few that use the trap system, which I spent like an entire week coding and building for essentially only one stage of use in the final game. It's nice to see it used, and it's a special love/hate relationship when I get tricked by my own game. Congrats!
It's also fun to play a trap stage that I haven't created myself - since I made Temur the Tinkerer, I knew all the tricks. It's fun for me personally to have that 1 second of "oh fuck" before the trap explodes in my face. I also have to admit that, after the slew of backup-style stages that I've played, it was kinda nice that after a very difficult stage I didn't have to play a very difficult backup round. I guess I'm a casual.
Warning: don't step on the mine when you exit the level. Also, it's generally polite to let the undead go through the doors first. Learn from my experience. To get the map, just hit the Subscribe button on the map page and restart Steam - it will automatically be downloaded and playable in the "Load Custom Maps" portion of the main menu. Play it now!

[ 2016-04-17 00:14:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

"A gamedev is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.” - Hopoo, Hopoo Games LLC Another map of the week! This one is an older one, and was one of the first ones I played. It's Bob Ross' "Cornered". The main theme of Cornered is that rather than going and infiltrating someone else's home, the enemies come to you in progressively more difficult waves. This one stuck to me because, unlike nearly every other DEADBOLT stage, the enemies get to choose the time of engagement, not you. The player doesn't have the luxury of waiting and planning - they're coming fast and now.
Many times during the map I'd think to myself "okay, yeah that's the end", and another wave came. And another. And probably another. As more and more came, I became progressively more and more scrappy with my weapons, and that was a lot of fun (outside of one vampire mysteriously appearing in one of the earlier waves - but we can let that slide!)
The map creator recommended that for the best experience to not shoot out the lights - and that's what I did. I also recommend that - and value the pistol's head shots. You'll need it. To get the map, just hit the Subscribe button on the map page and restart Steam - it will automatically be downloaded and playable in the "Load Custom Maps" portion of the main menu. Play it now!

[ 2016-04-09 21:32:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Happy April Fools! Despite the date, the next map is no joke. It's huge and large. This week's Map of the Week is С-С-COMBO BREAKER!'s "To Root Out Evil." This map is by far the biggest map I've seen - and those tend to be frustrating (and performance hogs!) - but combo breaker made it work wonderfully. There's also start and ending cutscenes!
Some parts of the map are creatively arranged, like the picture above with the zombie head and the dropoff indoors. Neat. It's also worth mentioning Combo Breaker's eye for game design. Specific portions of the map are clearly thought-out on how the player will want to approach it, with cute tricks involving lights, generators, and other interactables, along with "refueling" the player with new weaponry. Good job ːhoopterː
As an aside, I also just want to say its very humbling to play other people's maps. There's something surreal about playing your own game, but not recognizing it. I'm glad you guys are having fun, and you're all very talented. So uh, good job kicking ass. yeah. My time to clear was 7:46, good luck beating that kiddos. To get the map, just hit the Subscribe button on the map page and restart Steam - it will automatically be downloaded and playable in the "Load Custom Maps" portion of the main menu. Play it now!

[ 2016-04-01 19:00:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey guys! Another week, another map. This week's map is Flatgub's "Deceased Residence". As described, this map is hard. Very hard.
This map has a cute twist - Flatgub, instead of designing an entirely new level, took one of the campaign missions and made it his own. It's "Noisy Neighbours" with a twist. The map features a dark-red layout, with demons, skeletons, zombies, AND vampires, with many of them arriving as backup later on. Amber and Evelyn even join in on the fun. There's also sniper support, adding another element of strategy.
Tips from some one who beat it (which may be a rarity): save your sniper support ammo for the vampire backup, and try to shoot out the lights while saving enough bullets to kill the backup. Good luck, reaper! To get the map, just hit the Subscribe button on the map page and restart Steam - it will automatically be downloaded and playable in the "Load Custom Maps" portion of the main menu. Play it now!

[ 2016-03-25 22:35:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey guys! Thought I'd give this a shot - to celebrate our map makers, I'm gonna choose a map every week to highlight. I'll choose maps that I find to be particularly creative or well-designed, or that I just like for whatever reason. This week's Map of the Week is connor's "Is There Anybody Out There?" This map features two buildings - one with the familiar boss, Puff! "Is Anybody Out There" has enemies from all gangs involved, but are mostly filled with Zombie Kingz. The map is well-designed, with vents used for multiple entrances. I also like the creativity of some uses of the assets - brick walls were used as a backdrop outside, with balcony parts to give the illusion of a stone bridge. The camera room also uses candle holders and speakers creatively.
I particularly like the density of the doodads on the right-side building. While you elevate past them, they look like real homes - filled with chairs, flowers, a desk, and apparently a lot of microwaves.
To get the map, just hit the Subscribe button on the map page and restart Steam - it will automatically be downloaded and playable in the "Load Custom Maps" portion of the main menu. Play Now!

[ 2016-03-18 17:26:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey guys! Thought I'd give this a shot - to celebrate our map makers, I'm gonna choose a map every week to highlight. I'll choose maps that I find to be particularly creative or well-designed, or that I just like for whatever reason. This week's Map of the Week is connor's "Is There Anybody Out There?" This map features two buildings - one with the familiar boss, Puff! "Is Anybody Out There" has enemies from all gangs involved, but are mostly filled with Zombie Kingz. The map is well-designed, with vents used for multiple entrances. I also like the creativity of some uses of the assets - brick walls were used as a backdrop outside, with balcony parts to give the illusion of a stone bridge. The camera room also uses candle holders and speakers creatively.
I particularly like the density of the doodads on the right-side building. While you elevate past them, they look like real homes - filled with chairs, flowers, a desk, and apparently a lot of microwaves.
To get the map, just hit the Subscribe button on the map page and restart Steam - it will automatically be downloaded and playable in the "Load Custom Maps" portion of the main menu. Play Now!

[ 2016-03-18 17:25:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

DEADBOLT is Now Available on Steam!

DEADBOLT is an extremely challenging stealth-action hybrid that allows you to take control of the reaper to quell the recent undead uprising.

[ 2016-03-14 14:05:22 CET ] [ Original post ]