There will be more data and proper atribution here (original author, steam link, original post date, etc) real soon, I promise. This is just like a technical test to see if they're coming in ok at all.
Yet Another Zombie Survivors » Yet Another Development Update — November 2023
We’re happy that you’re enjoying the content update we’ve prepared by the end of October.
Here’s another devlog with juicy news from us and our friends. Enjoy the read!
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Help us by filling a quick survey!
We always want to hear the opinions of our players loud and clear and understand your feelings about the current state of the game. We would therefore like to invite you to take part in this important survey:
ㅤㅤ👉 https://forms.gle/M71fVXyUHXSCWVwYA
If you can, please take a quick look at the survey at the link above. It should only take a few minutes.
While we always take into account any feedback you give us (Steam forums, our Discord, feedback form, emails & social media comments), we would also like to invite you to fill out this short online survey, the content of which will be very important in shaping the future of Yet Another Zombie Survivors!
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ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤThank you for your participation!
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Demo Version has been updated!
The YAZS demo was in a strange place. Not only did it offer a rather ancient representation of the game, being around 4 months old, but it also offered no way of transferring your progress from it to the Early Access version.
Well, no more! We’re updating the demo to include the latest improvements and quality-of-life features, including now-standard features such as mouse movement, manual aim/shoot, indicator positions and FSR support. Gameplay-wise, the demo is largely the same as before, but with the added compatibility, you will now be able to transfer your training points, character progression and achievements to the full version!
Due to the amount of changes that have been made, this demo is not compatible with saves made in the previous, old version. This is unfortunate, but we decided it was better to update the demo than to keep the old, outdated saves that can’t be used in the full version. On the bright side, this demo update will allow us to compile future demo versions much more easily than before.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2265230/
If you decide to give the new demo a try, we hope you enjoy it!
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What are we working on currently?
In the interests of complete transparency, we’d like to share some thoughts on the current direction of development we’re aiming for. As always, please bear in mind that everything we write here is subject to change and much of it is just “on paper”.
Firstly, we need to do some work on the in-game stats and the code behind them. Some of the stats are calculated as flat values and can’t be changed with percentages (e.g. Armour, HP+). Others benefit when their number is reduced rather than increased (e.g. Cooldown, Weapon Reload), so they need to be reworked to provide a more streamlined experience. As well as tweaking the above, we’re also thinking about introducing two new stat types that have been requested by players, namely “Ability Range” and “Ability Duration”, which on paper should increase the number of build combinations and make it more fun to experiment with abilities.
Thirdly, there’s the issue of element/attack types, which I think most of us would agree would add a lot to the gameplay. While we already have Normal, Explosive, Fire, Electric, Ice & Antidote attack types, the game itself doesn’t see them as different from each other. We think it’s time to change that and introduce stats for each element, as well as the possibility for them to overlap, potentially creating a lot of fun synergies. While the synergy part is quite a big thing, and we believe it will take a few updates to fully implement, we have to start somewhere, and that’s what we plan to do with the upcoming 0.5 update.
One pretty big change we’re planning to test internally is the reworking of the level-up and item mechanics. Currently, each level-up offers weapon & ability upgrades, which can feel a bit repetitive, and the upgrade paths can get a bit old after a while (5 upgrades -> 5 evolved upgrades -> 3 yet another evolved upgrades). Players may also not get the weapon evolution they want, and roll the other available instead. There’s also no real place to get bonuses to different team stats outside of the item chest system. These are some of the reasons why we’re thinking of implementing the changes listed below:
- Minor level-ups which offer a selection of randomized stat bonuses to choose from (e.g. movement speed, cooldown reduction, dodge chance).
- Every other third level-up to be a major level-up (with additional visual effects), offering the classic new/upgrade option of Weapons and Abilities.
- Weapons and Abilities, to have 2/3 upgrade levels instead of 5, to compensate for the now rarer major level-up panels.
- Adding an additional evolution option for all current and future weapons, which would be an improved version of the first/second weapon in the evolution line (e.g. Super Shotgun for Tank).
- Evolution options to be a single level-up selection option, where you’re able to freely select which evolution you want to take (e.g. Laser / Blaster / WIP Tesla upgrade).
- Reworking item chests to offer just the advanced items, like the ones with special features, as basic “+5 bonuses” are now in the minor level-up panels.
- The experience curve will be adjusted to provide enough experience for the major level-ups to not feel too far between.
Ooh, that’s a lot of information to take in at once, but let us know what you think of these potential revisions we’re planning. There’s also the new Survivor we’d like to add in 0.5 while we’re working on the above, so the next update might take a little longer than usual, but we’ll do our best to make it fire! 🔥
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We’ve got a new team member!
Meet Wioletta, who has joined us in the Quality Assurance department!
She’s been a great help to us in the past. If you’ve been to any of the Poznań Game Arena (PGA) events in Poland, you might have seen her at our booth. Now she’s officially a member of the team, helping with bug reports, testing, finding and confirming the problems that have appeared or might appear in our titles. Here’s a word from her – make sure you give her a warm welcome:
I’m an avid gamer and a fan of all kind of games from Dark Souls to competetive Pokémon to Stardew Valley. I’m happy to join the Awesome Games Studio team as the dedicated QA.
I’ll be mostly helping with analyzing the issues you’re reporting to us, so please remember to send any bug reports with the feedback form inside the game (F8). Don’t forget your email address if you believe there’s something we might need to further contact you on.
If you need anything, you can reach me on our Discord at @agswioletta. Thank you!
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Bullet Heaven Fest (November 6th – 20th)
We’ll be taking part in a brand new Steam event, as for the first time in gaming history there will be an event dedicated to the emerging genre of reverse bullet hell/horde survival games, of which YAZS is a proud representative.
The event takes place from November 6th 10:AM PST to 20th 10:AM PST. You’ll be able to play tons of different games in the genre and acquire them at a discounted rate. This pairs nicely with yet another discount on our part, as well as an updated demo version that you can now check out if you’re still undecided, or tell your friends about!
And if you’re reading this as someone who just found out about Yet Another Zombie Survivors – welcome to the party! We’re doing our best to make a great game in close cooperation with our community, constantly adding/changing/improving things based on player feedback, so we hope you’ll join us on this adventure!
Feel free to check out the Bullet Heaven Fest event page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41046058/sale/BulletHeavenFest
Thank you for reading. Thank you even more for your continued support! We wouldn’t be where we are without your comments, feedback, suggestions, Steam reviews and all the things that you are doing to help us make this one of the best Bullet Heaven games ever!
We’ll continue to do our best, and while it sometimes (often) takes us longer than expected, we can guarantee that we’re doing our best to give you a crazy fun title to enjoy!
If you’d like to, be sure to hop on any of our social media profiles and/or our Discord server:
@AwesomeGamesStd
@AwesomeGamesStudio
@awesomegamesstudio
@awesomegamesstudio
https://discord.gg/m4JfXuS
Thank you, stay warm this season and have fun slaying the hordes!
ㅤStay awesome,
ㅤㅤAwesome Games Studio