Various updates to gameplay, bug fixes, UI improvements

Were on to update 1.4. Thanks to all the players whove shared ideas (and told me about bugs). Keep the feedback coming!

Heres whats new and fun in the latest full version and free demo.

Look out above. Theres a new Flying Enemy.



Bam double bam! Get yourself a new weapon, the Hard Ways. Its an illegally modified Heavy Assault Weapon - less damage per shot but it fires two shots simultaneously. Can be randomly acquired from the Weapon Fence or unlocked permanently via reinvestment (full game only).



Plus some tweaks here and there to user experience and your ability to control how you play:

• Gameplay update to pre-populate enemies on levels
  
• UI update to move narration text below game screen
  
• Press space to fast-forward narration text
  
• Allow user to set music and sound effects volume
  
• Fixed defect where 'move left' key couldn't be set from in-game menu
  

The FREE DEMO is now available! Play the first few levels of the game - sneak n' shoot, explore edge levels, even engage in a boss fight!

Anyone who signs up for our mailing list (including demo users!) will receive an unlock code for the Ronin silenced assault rifle!



On to the details...

This update isnt all about the bigger, badder weapons. Im excited to share other stuff too, not just the elegant but lethal Laser Cannon and the punked out Street Sweeper. Not only the Heavy Assault Weapon, your basic noisy bullet hose. Theres more to this update than the Ronin Assault Rifle, now yours to unlock to up your stealth game. But its hard not to lead with the big guns.

(Especially when one of them has rockets.)



Truly, its not just about the weapons. The latest version of Contract Work also gives you new environments to explore and new objectives and structures for the game. Its more roguelike, with 20 continuous floors of sneaking and shooting. And theres more to discover on each level. Think hidden edge sectors where you can explore the black market.



Think vending machines with a variety ofeffects. The 'Blood Bank' which rewards pain with gain, the 'Ammo Market' to sell your ordinance to the highest bidder, or the 'Weapon Fence' who will gladly swap weapons for a couple bucks, no questions asked.



For the stealthy, now you can sneak up on robots and silently stun them. This non-lethal takedown will freeze a bot for a short period of time... but you will have to deal with it repowering later.



And the new boss. Look out for it. Its waiting to destroy you. (Let em try!)



Theres a bunch of new content stuff, too, like reworked graphics, animations and effects, a new city background, even new music. Better performance. And a whole load of squashed bugs. (Hopefully all the bugs, but if you notice anything, drop me a message so I can fix it.)

Thanks to everyone who shared feedback and ideas for the update! Couldnt have done it without you. And if you havent played yet just think of all that firepower.

If you havent read the Wikipedia entry on the Kowloon Walled City, youre in for a wild ride. From the mid-1940s to 1994, the Hong Kong settlement operated as a dense, ungoverned city that grew from an old military fort into a sprawling den of gangs, gambling and drugs.

Kowloons jumble of towers is a fascinating example of oppressive urbanization and unfettered criminality, and it served as an inspiration for me as I crafted the dystopian culture of Contract Work.


Kowloon Walled City from above in 1989. Photo credit: Ian Lambot
Photo credit for header image: Ken Ohyama

When I discovered Kowloon, the idea immediately seized me as a natural setting for a cyberpunk roguelike. I could picture how a lone freelancer might infiltrate the bowels of a city like Kowloon, fighting and sneaking their way through different levels, stealing data before escaping to a roof for extraction. With this idea in mind, I started linking previously unconnected levels into a single journey from the bottom to the top of a corporate tower. As I made these changes, Contract Work began to transform into a proper roguelike.

I imagined a huge tower created originally as a corporate server farm that, over time, had decayed and mutated into something stranger. The tower is created to be unique each time someone plays, but it always features different types of levels like a huge layer cake. Hidden between these corporate-controlled levels are areas to buy supplies off the black market or connect to the hardline to purchase upgrades--another inspiration from Kowloon.



The full version of Contract Work is coming soon. Want to get occasional updates and access to discounts, upgrades and inside tips? Sign up now!

• Defect causing all primary weapons to have double damage, now fixed
  
• Adjusted some weapon positioning
  
• Adjusted HE Mine Explosion graphic when on ground