Hey Friends & Fans

We got another fully stocked update to get those gaming fingers salivating (fingers salivate right?). If you haven't already noticed, we've been more active on social media lately. That's because Pixel Noir will finish it's development cycle within the 2nd quarter of 2022 (if not earlier)!
#HYPETRAIN Just to be clear, development will be complete, however there will be several other tasks that need to happen leading up to launch like porting, localization, compliance/QA testing, and just some general marketing planning. We also would like to remind everybody that we plan to address backer rewards closer to launch so that our team can stay focused on all the pre-launch work and bug crushing. In the meantime, if you have still have any questions or would like to switch platforms, feel free to DM us here or on any social media platform that we're on (Discord, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram) and we'll get you squared away!

Since The Last Update...

All of the ally and enemy skills are now in the game! We had a blast creating these and of course, they will continue to get polish treatments as time permits prior to launch.
This skill was a total *shocker*
Screenshake FTW!
Flamethrower packs a punch! We started implementation of party member combos a few weeks ago and we're looking to be finished with constructing these sometime this month!
Use combos to wreck your enemies in style!
Even a single change in your party lineup can change the attributes of the combo attack! For atmosphere, we added 3D sound effects to scenes and moving objects. You can really hear the city come to life as cars drive by, neon signs buzz, trash blows around, waves crash against the beach, and more! Check out a little preview. [previewyoutube=vQDX00KtGQg;full][/previewyoutube] We've overhauled our run-from-battle mechanic. Previously, as demo'd in the Early Access, you'd select run and the enemy just, sort of went "poof" and disappeared. Now, when you select run, a mini game will determine if you can run from a battle.
Escape depends on the levels of your party members in comparison to the enemies' level....and some quick finger work. We also added a battle arena that you can access later in the game! 14 rounds with one-time prizes for finishing each round, hosted by none other than Shovel Knight!
Thanks to our pals at Yacht Club Games! We're excited to see Shovel Knight make an appearance! We finished implementing and distributing all learnable party member skills AND collectable CRDTech cards throughout the various story events and game world. Keep an eye out, you can find skills and cards almost anywhere!
Gotta collect 'em all!
You can find skills just about anywhere- story events, case rewards, shops and of course your humble treasure box. Last but not least, we made a few UI updates. Skill level indicators and skill level descriptions are now in all the necessary menus.
Sometimes it's the little touches that matter most.

Alright, you're almost done, but what's left?

• This & That - Miscellaneous stuff mostly covered in the section above: Ally combos. Enemy level implementation. 3D audio. Mini-map environment mapping (making sure that mini-map is accurate). We're pretty close to being finished with this bucket of work!
• Bugs, bugs and more bugs - Yes, these still are popping up, but we are tracking less every week (We expect this to be a constant up until and after we release on steam.)
• Battle Difficulty Balancing - We just finished our 3rd pass of this most tedious task in testing!
• Polish - We are continuing to fine-tune audio, cinematics, dialogue, and flesh out extra features such as CRDTech encounters. This will be an ongoing task until we launch

Of course we'll be crunching through the holidays!

Closing Up The Update Bag

If you're excited about this project, join the SWDTech Games Discord server or follow us on any number of social platforms! We're going to be putting out more and more content and teasers up until the release, so keep an eye out! Be sure to check in on Leo's Pixel Noir development streams on Twitch Monday and Thursday nights to see the game's progression in real time! Also, don't forget to follow our official Roadmap / Twitter bot. Our next update will be out some time in January to recap the progress we made in 2021. Then the next official update after that will be out on March 24th! Until then have a safe & happy holiday season! //Team SWDTech