Hi everyone,

Just a quick update for the people who've asked:

The demo is now updated to include Dead State: Reanimated content and fixes. Please check it out if you're on the fence about buying the game - it's the first seven days of gameplay, so you can actually carry your progress from the demo into the full game if you choose to buy it.

Enjoy!

​​​​We’ve spent a couple of months of solid development time making Dead State stronger, smarter, and faster, and we’re happy to say that the results are fantastic. We’ve brought new life - or is it unlife? - to every aspect of the game. This isn’t just Dead State anymore - this is Dead State: Reanimated! DS:R isn’t just an update - it’s our definitive enhanced edition with brand-new content, full of improvements and fixes requested by you, our community!

The Highlights

• Major overhaul of combat balance! Core combat systems have been thoroughly reworked to take advantage of all the data and feedback we’ve gathered over the months since Dead State’s original release. Ranged weapons, melee weapons, armor, special attacks, ally / PC healing, and more have been reworked and carefully tested to create an engaging and challenging combat experience. Even the core combat system has been tweaked so that AC is calculated before damage reduction; this change makes combat more consistent and more fair​.
  
• Smarter AI! Medic, Guard, Grenadier, Sniper, and more - New AI behaviors and schemas exist for human enemies, making them more interesting and more challenging to fight! Enemies will notice your presence more quickly and fully utilize all of their tactical options, thrown weapons, and special attacks.
  
• New PC Infection option on New Game menu! Create a new game with PC Infection checked and your character will be as susceptible to infection as your allies are. Carefully manage your antibiotics and change your combat strategies to ensure your own survival!
  
• Hardcore Mode!​​ In Hardcore mode combat becomes more dangerous, allies consume more resources and heal more slowly, and Morale is harder to keep up. Turn on Hardcore, Iron Man, and PC Infection for the ultimate challenge!
  
• Alarms! That’s right - we’ve added alarms to buildings in several areas. Red, blinking lights warn you that there’s an active alarm on a building. Use your Science skill to deactivate an alarm and prevent a looting distraction from becoming a noisy attraction!
  
• New areas and random encounters! Several new levels and random encounters have been added. Make sure to keep an eye out for the Chemical Plant, an area with a unique twist…
  
• New combat sounds and animations! We’ve added new special attack, reloading, and healing animations and sounds. Special attacks feel smoother and more impactful now!
  
• Stability improvements! We’ve rooted out every crash and progress blocking bug to make sure you have the smoothest possible experience. Several popularly requested usability improvements have been added, such as friendly fire confirmation, looting piled up bodies, and an option to toggle Live Shelter movement on and off.
  
• Pathfinding improvements! Both allies and the undead have received major pathfinding adjustments that will reduce lag some people have experienced as well as make movement more consistent and natural.

Impressive, right? And that doesn’t even cover the many smaller miscellaneous fixes and improvements we’ve made, which I’ll list below (or at least all the ones I can remember - there were just so many!)

​We can’t possibly thank our community enough for the thousands of feedback messages, balance suggestions, and b​​ug reports that have been indispensable in getting DS:R into the shape it’s in today. We couldn't have done this without your support, and from everybody on the team we want to give you a sincere Thank You.

We hope that you’ll agree that there’s never been a better time to visit Splendid, Texas.


Dead State: Reanimated - Full Changelog

• Implemented smart NPC AI.
  
• Updated undead group pathfinding.
  
• Updated ally following behavior.
  
• Added PC Infection option to New Game menu.
  
• Added Hardcore difficulty option to New Game menu.
  
• Updated weapon damage equation so that AC is deducted first, then damage reduction.
  
• Added new areas and random encounters.
  
• Adjusted Healing in the Shelter and created separate formulas for ally and PC healing.
  
• Fixed an issue with Gillian's fuel scavenging perk.
  
• Added building alarms.
  
• Added confirmation of friendly fire.
  
• Fixed some scripting issues with Craig/Karen storyline.
  
• Fixed issue with Summer Camp survivors incorrectly turning hostile.
  
• Fixed issues which occasionally caused the Military Faction to incorrectly turn hostile.
  
• Added map autosaves to Iron Man Mode.
  
• Added new travel mode selection icons on area map.
  
• Adjusted night travel/combat penalties.
  
• Fixed issues with the ally list order resetting on job board.
  
• Added new combat animations.
  
• Ensured morale bonuses for Greenhouse and Garden stacked properly.
  
• Fixed an error that allowed two-handed weapons and shields to be equipped together.
  
• Fixed blocking issues and strange door behavior in the Summer Camp.
  
• Updated Goals GUI screen.
  
• Updated Goals screen ally information to display all status icons.
  
• Allocated space on Goals screen for displaying maximum number of trait icons.
  
• Improved text display and fixed any text cut-off issues in Goals screen.
  
• Allocated space on Character screen for displaying maximum number of trait icons.
  
• Fixed case of Craig blocking player bedroom door.
  
• Changed sign name of Medieval Tines.
  
• Fixed rare crash related to weapon switching.
  
• Fixed the shield’s Fortify animation.
  
• Fixed an error with ending slides.
  
• Fixed issue with looting grouped bodies.
  
• Fixed a couple minor bugs with Live Shelter.
  
• Added option to toggle Live Shelter on and off.
  
• Added improved burst attack SFX.
  
• Improved the feel of silenced and burst attack weapons.
  
• Added movement animation for Davis.
  
• Fixed syntax error in Vic’s intro dialogue.
  
• Fixed rare map parameters crash in Shelter.
  
• Fixed rare soft lock that occurred with undead movement.
  
• Stopped neutral characters from investigating noises.
  
• Fixed issue with the Tattoo dialogue sequence.
  
• Fixed issue with the Memorial Park sequence.
  
• Fixed clipboard sometimes hiding long container name on loot containers.
  
• Fixed issue that occurred when reloading in a couple of the ending sequences.
  
• Fixed ending slide not appearing correctly in one of the ending sequences.
  
• Fixed issue with some special attacks firing more than once due to animation quirks.
  
• Fixed rare crash that occurred when AI pathed through a rolling gate.
  
• Expanded Walter’s Shelter dialogue.
  
• Fixed minor blocking, LoS, prop, and loot issues in several levels.
  
• Fixed issue preventing trading 9mm ammo at the Fuel Depot.
  
• Added perks for Ryan.
  
• Fixed issues with Sir Charleston’s quest.
  
• Fixed issues preventing rewards from being received from certain ally requests.
  
• Prevented dog allies from shouting “Hey, stop that!” when attacking a party member.
  
• Corrected typos and formatting errors in various dialogues.
  
• Added upgrade perks for Elaine reactive to her character path.
  
• Fixed a rare issue which could cause a dead ally to appear during a crisis event.
  
• Modified Darlene to start equipped with a bow, consistent with her dialogue.
  
• Added map descriptions missing from some areas.
  
• Adjusted party gathering transitions in the City area.
  
• Fixed an issue which could sometimes cause allies to incorrectly play their sleeping animations.
  
• Fixed a rare issue which sometimes caused enemy groups to spawn early.
  
• Added map screen thumbnails for all levels in the preview pane.
  
• Fixed setup issues preventing some enemies from effectively using their weapons.
  
• Corrected enemy inventory errors.

Hi everyone,

I know many of you are looking forward to the upcoming update, so I wanted to let you know how we're doing! We're tantalizingly close, but not quite there yet - we're wrapping up final testing and fixes and making sure that the huge number of new things in this build all play together nicely.

We're hoping to wrap things up in the next few days, if the fates favor us - just keep in mind, that time window is an estimate and if something urgent comes up, we may push the release out a bit more. We want that giant update to be the best giant update it can be!

Keep checking this space so you can be the first to know when the update goes live. In the meantime, I suggest you stock up on food and energy drinks, because you're going to want to start a brand new playthrough when you see the update - and you're not going to want to stop!

Woo, the update is finally here! As promised, this is a content-heavy patch with some popularly requested features. Let’s talk about the big highlights first, then we’ll get the rest of the details down below.

• Added Iron Man mode! A true test of survival! All saves are disabled except for a daily autosave and a resume point when you quit the game. Whatever happens, happened. No take-backs.
  • See our design notes below the changelog about separating Iron Man mode from difficulty settings and player infection.
• Added new undead type: crawlers! Seems some people got pretty messed up before they turned. These mangled dead dudes and ladies have a nasty Trip Attack, so keep one eye on the ground at all times.
  
• Added movement and activity to the Shelter! Everyone in the Shelter now moves around to different locations when assigned to work. If you forget where to look for someone, remember to check the Shelter summary screen with the ‘H’ hotkey or double-check the job board.
  
• Added custom portrait editor! You can now create your own unique portrait by selecting hair color, hair style, eye color, facial hair, tattoo, and more. We’ve also added a couple nifty features we felt were missing from the typical portrait creator: loading a previous portrait to work from, and undoing changes you’ve made.
  
• Added looting of KO’ed characters! Want to knock somebody down, steal their stuff, and leave them for the undead to finish off? Now you can!
  
• Changes to Parisa!:
  • Added new discussion topic options in Shelter
    
  • Added new dialogue
    
  • Added new character perk choice
    
  • See our design notes below the changelog about the changes to Parisa’s storyline.
• Changed noise-activated spawn behavior. Adjusted likelihood of spawning an undead at different noise levels, and undead spawns from noise become more likely over time.
  
• Balanced the distribution of items required for upgrades.
  
• Added five new levels. This was my mistake - I had a miscommunication with design team and accidentally gave you a spoiler for what's coming in the next update! Don't be confused when you don't find these, but know that you can look forward to them in the future :)
  
• Improved grenade and molotov code.
  
• Added Fortify skill on Riot Shield. Now you can end your turn early for a +10 AC boost to your defence.
  
• Fixed several combat AI related exploits. Enemies will now chase you around corners and through doors, and combat will no longer end if line of sight is broken temporarily.
  
• Improved undead mobbing behavior, added a mob bonus to undead grapple attack when in groups.
  
• Fixed human AI to make KO’ed enemies the lowest priority target for humans.
  
• Fixed an issue where humans-turned-undead did not drop weapons.
  
• Fixed an issue where Doug sometimes disappeared for a while before waking up.
  
• Fixed an issue with Shelter inventory ignoring maximum weight.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed characters to equip stacks of items from Shelter inventory.
  
• Fixed exploit to bring dead characters back to life in combat.
  
• Fixed an issue where Survival bonus was lost on area map when travelling from a map other than the shelter.
  
• Fixed a bug with Unity perk.
  
• Fixed cases of recruiting dead allies again.
  
• Fixed cases of being unable to attack neutral NPCs.
  
• Added appropriate SFX to car gates and roll-down doors.
  
• Fixed issue where Chemist perk cancelled Unity perk.
  
• Fixed some bugs related to Team Effort and Unity.
  
• Fixed issue where Pumped and Aimed status were not applied if the job carried over into the next day.
  
• Improved some maps.
  
• Adjusted nailgun stats.

So Iron Man Mode is here, yay! However, it’s different than what we originally had planned. We’ve decided to split up Iron Man, Hardcore difficulty, and Player Infection rather than have the latter two be grouped into Iron Man’. You can see all three of these options when you start a new game now, although Hardcore and Player Infection aren’t implemented yet and will be in a future update. The reason we decided to separate these into three options on a new game was that we wanted to allow players to choose their own experience. Hardcore and Player Infection require a ton more internal testing before we release them into the wild, thus why they’re not in the current patch. Furthermore, we are planning a pretty big balance pass and AI adjustments for a future Patch, so the way Hardcore difficulty works will be greatly influenced by those changes. In the meantime, we hope you’ll start up a new Iron Man mode and challenge your skills!

We added in a bit more resolution for Parisa's storyline - which was never intended to be an ending - plus some more zesty character development. If you'd like to know more about this particular aspect of the game, here's a link to where it lives on the forums (and beware, it contains SPOILERS!): Parisa's Storyline Design Notes[www.irontowerstudio.com]

Alright, that covers it - let us know how you like the update!

Hi everyone! We just wanted to check in with you and let you know what's happening behind the scenes at DoubleBear, since we know some of you are wondering.

We're making good progress on the content and fixes for Update #6. As previously mentioned, this one has brand new, somewhat complex features, so it's taking longer than the usual patch turnover time. Right now, we're done with about 75% of the new features, but we need to finish the remaining 25% and squish bugs that surfaced during testing, so there's still some work left to do.

Thanks for hanging in there while we get everything ready! We don't have an ETA yet, but we're *really* excited about what's coming up and we think it will be worth the wait :)

The title says it all, but we'll say it again because we're just so dang excited: not only have we released the Dead State Soundtrack on Steam, we've also added Dead State Trading Cards!

Let's start with the soundtrack. Anyone with Dead State in their game library can now buy the soundtrack as downloadable content and get their apocalyptic groove on. You can check it out here: Dead State Soundtrack. It's only $7.99 and it features all 26 of the tracks in Dead State, as composed, written, and performed by our amazing composer Leif Chappelle.

Also starting today, you can unlock Dead State Trading Cards and use them to forge Badges; every badge gives you the opportunity to receive unique Dead State emoticons and profile backgrounds. All you have to do is play the game to start unlocking new Trading cards, so you better get on that if you want to be one of the first people ever to unlock a Dead State badge on Steam!

Finally, a quick update for those who are wondering: we continue to work on the next game patch. This one will pack a lot more punch than our previous patches, so we're taking our time to make sure it's perfect before releasing it in the wild. Now that we've finished getting the Trading Cards and the Soundtrack on Steam, we'll have even more time and resources to put into the patch!

Alright, time to get to work, everybody - go get those Trading Cards! If you can't and you're stuck at work, may we suggest buying and downloading the OST to get into the undead-killing mood for later?

With love,
The DoubleBears

Hi everyone,

As promised, today we present to you a brand new public demo as well as a long-awaited update to Dead State’s full release!

For those who have been following Dead State but weren’t sure if they wanted to take the leap yet, you can now try out the game for free. The demo covers seven in-game days of playtime, and you can even carry your saves from the demo into the full game!

Here's a link to the demo page: Dead State Demo

Demo Features

• Recruit up to 15 other survivors to join your shelter
  
• Scavenge in 18 unique locations and stumble across a large variety of random encounters
  
• Cross paths with some of survivor factions, such as looters, survivalists, and a fearsome motorcycle gang called the Coyotes
  
• Locate new harvesting and fishing spots to help feed your growing shelter
  
• Get familiar with Dead State's deep tactical turn-based combat system
  
• Improve your shelter by assigning your allies to work on jobs, build upgrades, and make repairs

Changelog 1.0.0.195

• Added loading screen images and tips.
  
• Added Nothing Gold trait to allies unable to have a mood higher than Content.
  
• Added current in-game date, day number, and time to the Job Board.
  
• Added current in-game date to the Shelter overview screen.
  
• Added game day number on the Daily Results Screen.
  
• Added low morale warning dialogue.
  
• Adjusted dog attacks to cover diagonal spaces as well.
  
• Adjusted combat balance on some weapons.
  
• Tweaked some dialogue content.
  
• Adjusted triggering times for some dialogues.
  
• Changed item description text on several items for clarity.
  
• Improved job board ally list tooltips for certain task types.
  
• Fixed issue causing the car trunk to be accessible from horses.
  
• Fixed an issue preventing certain ally traits from creating additional daily items.
  
• Fixed an issue preventing the "Hacker" achievement from unlocking.
  
• Fixed issues with the To-Do list not correctly clearing completed location-related items.
  
• Fixed an issue causing unexpected morale losses if allies were killed during certain plot events.
  
• Fixed issue with allies re-appearing after death in some cases.
  
• Fixed an issue preventing certain morale and mood changing events from firing.

Hi everyone! We see you're eager to get an update on our status, and we're more than happy to provide.

Since we've been working concurrently on several things, it's taken us a little bit longer to finish any specific item - but the good news is that we'll be releasing both Patch #5 and the public demo next week!

The upcoming patch is more fix-focused than feature-focused, but you'll see a couple nice polish features in the mix as well. We'll give you the full rundown in next week's changelog, though :)

Hang in there, Patch #5 is coming soon!

The DoubleBear team returned from our break on Monday, and we've already jumped back into the thick of things. We have several irons in the fire right now, which are keeping our small team plenty busy:

- Working on our next update to the game!
- Creating a free demo
- Preparing for Kickstarter physical reward fulfillment
- Making all the art assets for eventual Trading Cards (a bigger task than you'd think, since that includes card images, backgrounds, emoticons, and more!)

We don't have an ETA on these just yet, but we wanted to check in with you guys and let you know we're back and working hard, as well as give you an idea what to look forward to in the future :)

We'll check in again when we have another progress update. Thanks, all!