Hey all!

Here's some good and bad news.

So bad news first. A ways back my pc crashed and I had to get new hard drives and copy data over. Some things were messed up, but most things were okay. I've recently tried to open SCP: Blackout and... well it's corrupted. I had a fear this was the case, so I've been too nervous to try for almost a year now.

SCP: Blackout was my first game, so this was back before I had source control or backups. I don't think I could have gotten the game back to where I could update it any time soon, but I finally gave it a fearful try and I found I couldn't anyways. It's gone, sadly. SCP: Blackout is no more, only what's on Steam.

The hard drive with SCP: Blackout was corrupted, and the project files are gone.

So for the "good" news, I'm going to take it out of Early Access and just make the game free for you all. It's not easy or fun to know the game is done, I had always held out hope I could get back to it. But if it'd done, then I might as well let people enjoy what's there.

I'm in talks with Steam about the process for doing all this, so it might take a week, I'm not sure. But hey, if you've always wanted to play it and never could, you'll be able to soon!

SCP: Blackout will soon be permanently free, once talks withe Steam are done and they can switch it to free on their end.

SCP: Blackout was my first game and first passion project. I hit all of my goals with it 5 times over, remaking it all from scratch 5 times. It was a wild and fun ride. It might not have been the most profitable, but it taught me so many things and kickstarted my development career. Thanks guys, and sorry for the bad news.

As things move forward TheClassifiedX will be rebranding to our new styles and new games, so our discord has had some overhauls. I'm opening sections to help teach people some game dev, and making art for games. I hope if you liked my games in the past you'll stick around and will enjoy my games in the future.

Hey everyone,

It's been quite a while, so I figured I'd post an update so you guys, and future people who are considering buying the game know what's up. It's a long read, but if you're curious, it's all here.

Current Status of the Game
First off, the game isn't abandoned, but it IS still being shelved for a while. While I love the game, and I really want to finish it, and still plan to, I just can't justify spending another few hundred to a thousand hours (minimum) of my time to get it where I want when there is no increase in income. We are already struggling as is with me spending my freetime and weekends on freelance work and ventures for money. It sucks, but that's how the world works. I have some games and opportunities I've been working on the last year or two that may finally pay off within the next year, and if they do, you better believe I'll finish this game right away. I love this game, and want it done.

Clearing some Confusions on VR
So on another note, some of you have confusion on some things, like what the final game will look like, and some long term bugs like VR. Well, the VR is a simple fix technically, but not in reality. I was unlucky in my timing releasing the last update, when SteamVR itself posted an update that broke VR for tons of games. All I really need to do it update the software in the project, and then it will work. As of right now, it seems to work for like 70% of people. Some unlucky 30% of people don;t have it work, and I have no idea why it's like that for them. One person with a quest 2 can play, yet another person with a Quest 2 can't. We never figured out why those people who can't use VR can't.

But as for actually fixing it, that's harder. I was in the middle of reworking the entire game for the 5th time when I had to stop working on Blackout. So even if it's easy to fix Steam VR, several maps aren't created yet, so the game is literally unplayable until I make several new maps. The old ones are literally gone, so it's literally hundreds of hours minimum to even make it playable to a decent level. I used to have that time, and money to take days off work. I don't anymore, so it's having to wait until I have time and money. Again, some people seem to think it's easy to take days and days off work, unpaid, to make a game, but those people just don't have the experience or conceptualizations to understand the sheer amount of work it takes. But that's why I'm laying the cards out so everyone can know what's going on.

Info on "Story Mode"
The other confusion is about Story mode. That's not a thing anymore, not with the upcoming update and rework to the game. The Original Blackout with Story and Survival mode was going to be about 30 minutes of playtime. A 10 minute gamemode for survival, where you can freeroam the small map, and a short story, about 20 minutes. Obviously, it's not like that anymore. I reworked the game about 5 times, for free, because I had fun making the game and was using it to learn. Survival became a full story by itself, and takes like 4 hours to beat. So the next big rework I was making was going to finalize the merge, making Survival and Story the same thing. I was reworking the first half of the game, one or two map, into like 5 maps. I'm also going to rework Sublab 11 to a higher quality, and add a surface base with three endings. So when I do eventually have the money to take time to work on and finish Blackout, there will only be one mode.

People's Suggested "Fixes"
For those who complain about it, well, the game is about 20x as big as it was ever originally planned to be. For those who say I should just set up a patreon to get funded, well I tried that too, but it's basically a full time job by itself to market it and make it sustainable. I'd need several thousand a month just to be worthwhile to stop my dayjob, which we can't afford. It's a nice thought, but in reality, it's way harder. I know I keep hitting on it, but it all comes down to money, that's the reality of the world we live in, and that sucks. If you're young, make sure to use all that free time you have while you have it. Otherwise you've got to wait til you make enough money to take off where you can pay yourself. Also having kids really eat up your time. It's worth it, but man does it eat your free time.

So what do I plan to do about it?
Well, I have a few irons in the forge that I've been working on for a long time to help make some money. I have a pretty massive big funded game that I've worked on for nearly a year as my day job. It's really cool, and if you like horror, you may like it. It's an asymmetric multiplayer horror with a cool story mode as well. It's made from one of my old games called Outsiders. But that's all I can say until it's fully announced, which is coming soon. Hopefully it takes off, and I can afford to take some days off to work on things like Blackout. I also have another non horror game I'm working on where you clean up stuff, and the world changes around you. Kind of a light survival game, multiplayer with base building and upgrading and stuff. It's just satisfying. But that's slow due to lack of free time. But it's a way smaller and less complicated game than Blackout, so it's actually feasible to get to a playable state, and then maybe funded by a publisher. No publisher will fund Blackout due to the creative commons copyright stuff, so it's the best chance I have if Outsiders doesn't hit the mark. There are also some other opportunities I can follow next year, but they don't quite give as good a chance as these two options. So, that's where I'm at. Doing my best to get the money to take days off so I can make Blackout. I'm down to listen to ideas if you guys have any, though I may have already tried some. Or if any of you have like $100,000 to fund Blackout, I can work on it them. Though 100k is still a low amount, it might be doable.

In the end, the game is already so, so much more than it was ever meant to be, and I'm proud of how far it has come. But I'm also sorry it's stuck in the state it is and I'm unable to work on it. I know I will get back to it, it's just taking a while. If you want more information, feel free to talk to me on discord.

Hey all you crazy D-Class!

I know, I know, it's been a while. Those of you on the Discord may be up to speed, but for the rest, here you go.

Tl;DR at the bottom for you busy folks.

I got a bit busy with work so I could pay bills. Extra work and the baby left me with little time or energy to really get in to my own game dev projects since I do freelance game dev as a day job. So I was just kind of worn out for a good while. I ended up trying a small little 3 days project for fun, but it turned out to be pretty cool, so I worked on it more. I even assembled a small team to help me. Well now that little project is a full game, with planned release in October. I'll post more on that later though. But after this little horror game, Going The Distance, I'll be back on SCP: Blackout with full force, and with a team to help! I've learned so many skills from GTD and other projects, and I have so many cool ideas to add to Blackout now, including cinematics! So soon, there will be many new updates. The massive update is over halfway done, so it should be released not too long after.

Part of forming up a team is that I/we are now going to be using the Studio as branding, instead of the Site-50 logo. That way it is more uniform across all the games and mediums. So if you see this logo, it's just us. As part of the celebration for Going the Distance and return to Blackout, we got the OST for Blackout on Spotify, Itunes, Amazon Music, and pretty much everywhere else. It should release on September 25th, so you can then listen to all those crazy hits as much as you want. Pretty cool for me, because I actually listen to some of Jory's songs on repeat for inspiration while working. Here's a link to pre-save the album!
Album Pre-save for Spotify[distrokid.com]

Now for the new stuff. Going The Distance. This new game is a narrative driven horror launching game. Kind of a mouthful, but it's one of those games where you shoot something a distance, get money, buy upgrades, go further, etc etc. Except with one of my stories, and scary, and full of twists. I'm pretty excited for it, I think it's one of my best stories so far. I've purposefully left 99% of the scary stuff out of promotions, all for the twists behind the twists. I would love it if you wishlisted the game...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1657150/Going_the_Distance/?beta=0

As a final update for the future, I'll go over my plans for Blackout. I've said it a bunch of times in a bunch of places, so forgive me if I've already laid it out for you guys. Basically SCP: Blackout is about 30 times as big as I had ever planned for it to be, Story mode included. Survival mode was only ever supposed to be about 15 minutes long, to run around a tiny map. Now Survival mode is around 4-5 hours long by itself, and that's before this next update makes it even longer. So my plan is to focus on and finish out Survival mode 100% with all the new maps, polish mechanics, and endings. After that, I plan to split Survival and Story in to two games. Everyone who owns Blackout will get Story mode for free in their library of course. But doing this let's Survival get polished and completed and marked off the list for good, so the project can be much more manageable. We will then focus entirely on Story mode. Since they will be two games in the same site, you'll get to play as a researcher in all new locations. There will be some cool crossovers, but the game will play different with branching paths. Got some cool ideas and stories planned out, but it will be neat.

Alongside that, I'm hoping to split off VR somehow. Maybe as a free DLC. I would like VR to be it's own "game" so I can increase the desktop quality, while being able to optimize the VR side. Letting the game do both makes me kind of take the negatives from both. So if I can split it off, it would come with the game for free, but it would let me polish both sides and make them great. But that also comes with needing the game "100% completed", which is another reason I need survival to be it's own finished game.


Anyways, sorry for rambling. I've been busy while it's been quiet, but I haven't been idle. Here is the TL:DR

-I've been busy, but Blackout work should continue in full force in November.
-We are now using the studio logo for branding, looks nice.
-OST for Blackout Vol. 1 is coming out September 25th on all the music stores. Spotify pre-save link is above.
-New small awesome game Going The Distance is coming out in October, go wishlist it, it's my best work so far! (Until I bring these new skills back to Blackout)
-Laid out my plans for the future of Blackout Survival and Story.


Thanks guys and gals, and everyone who took the time to read it all. I love you. You don't have to say it back though, it's okay. I'll wait, until you're ready.

Hey all!

This is just a quick update to keep everyone interested in the loop. I had planned to release a massive Xmas update following the Halloween one, but I got a little burnt out after 2-3 months of non-stop work with all of my free time. My family was complaining, I was getting up early and sleeping late to squeeze in more time, and I was losing a ton of money taking days off work to work extra on Blackout for that Halloween update.

I thought I would be able to continue on and hit the Xmas update the same, but I just sort of fell out. Along with a bit of burn out, all this extra work and content doesn't actually bring in any extra sales or money, it's basically just for fun and for you guys. That being said, I realized I was waaay behind on bills, and then have had to spend the last months doing extra freelance work to catch up our bills. And compared to my old job as an electrician, doing freelance video game work all day actually makes me a bit more mentally tired to do my own personal video game work when I'm off sometimes.

But alas, I've finally been catching up on my energy and Jory and I have been diving back in to Blackout. Things are coming along well, though they make take a while. Since the entire first half of the game has been scrapped to be remade at the same higher quality as the rest of the game I can't actually release any updates until a basic level of gameplay is added back in. So as soon as the game is at least playable again, I intend to fix that VR issue that plagues some people, and then hopefully release a playable test version. After that I will go back and polish up and fill in the extras.


For those who like spoilers and details, here is the general game layout and plans.

1. Player starts in the prison, though the prison has been massively expanded in to it's own level with some subtle tutorial elements. This is mostly completed, just needs a little polish.

2. A new fancy Reception map to replace the lobby and act as a bit of a central hub for the semi open world game. This is completed.

3. An entire new Research Wing map, with it's own mini story to find and obtain the level 1 keycard, boss event included. This is where I currently am, and is almost completed. lots of polish to eventually add.

4. An entire new map for The Labs. This is where level 2 card will be, and will also have it's own SCP theme, mini story, and all that. Haven't started or planned all too much out.

5. A mostly new Maintenance map, with SCP-SEUK and others as the SCP theme, and it's own mini story to get through.

After that, there is only a bit more changes, but things flow in to the second half of the story where things got good. I do intend to rework Sublab 11 and give multiple endings, but I think I will do a different update for that so I can get the VR fixes out as soon as possible. All this stated is just the minimum I need to make the game playable again.

Happy Halloween Foundation personnel!

This update has been a long time coming, and boy is it big. And this is only Part 1, the next massive chunk comes in December (more on that later).

First off, I can give a summary for this update.

• A few new SCPs to play with.
  
• Bug fixes for almost everything reported (though there will be a heavier focus on VR for the Xmas update).
  
• 6 or 7 entire new locations.
  
• Around 3x or more new content for Survival Mode.
  
• Tons of updates and polish on different systems and mechanics in game, lots of QoL stuff.
  
• Lots of new story for the Survival mode. Things actually have purpose now, along with an antagonist.
  
• Added beta branches on Steam for some of the old important updates going back to launch, so you could go play some really old version of Blackout if you wanted to compare or see how much it has changed.

The Xmas Update (Coming soon)
I will post the change-log shortly, but first a run down on the future. This was only part 1. This update set up the framework for the final version of survival mode, so now we can focus on adding in all the final bits of polish, the secrets, the fun extra mechanics, and some other stuff. Though the first focus of the Xmas update will be entirely redoing the prison cells and Zone A from scratch, so the entire early game changes. Then we will redo Sublab-11 to bring it up to the same cinematic quality and intensity as the rest of the new game. And finally, we will be adding a few different endings to survival based on your difficulty.
The rest of the time will be adding in 10+ new SCPs, more lore, audio logs, system redesigns (like the file system), and whatever else is left. But enough of all that, let me just port the change-log. Keep in mind that around half of the details were left off the list, as they contain spoilers I don't want people to see.

And if you're still reading this far in, I really appreciate you. You're awesome. Sales might not be so great on a game like this, so all the support I've been getting from the community has really helped me keep at it. SCP: Blackout is sort of a passion project, and I dedicate all my free time to it, so it's honestly you guys who keep me going. All the comments, positive reviews, discord members, personal DMs, and even just taking the time to read stuff like this, it means more than you guys probably know. So thank you, I'm glad I was able to come back to keep this game going.

Change-log:
V 1.4 (past two months of work in free time)
-Updated the project from Unreal Engine 4.22 all the way to 4.25
-Cleaned, merged, and organized asset references for performance increase.
-Removed Easy Difficulty bar on Sublab-11
-Fixed the low amount of batteries spawning on easy.
-Removed leftover point light from archive.
-Added Post process effects to O-wing (for outline effect)
-Created a new system (again) to finally fix valves and switches from despawning/breaking.
-Removed point light left in D-Class Bathroom.
-Fixed Rings of Eden so they no longer point to valves or buttons already on.
-Fixed SCP-DEAT from breaking the game using old level loading system.
-Fixed the end of the credits from breaking the game using old level loading system.
-Fixed light bleeding in credits.
-Fixed holiday selection switches snapping without animation on desktop mode.
-Moved pumpkin that was clipped in to lockers in main menu for spooky mode.
-Fixed the Halloween secret door from staying open when turning off Halloween mode.
-Set up Halloween mode so the puzzles reset when turning Halloween mode of and on.
-Set up the holiday selector to save your option between games and rounds automatically.
-Rotated Sector decal on floor that was facing wrong way.
-Completely reworked turret AI, now much harder to glitch sneak by them.
-Increased text speed on computer consoles.
-Fixed a tiny bug where you could scan your card on desktop and spin to make it beep a second time lol.
-Reworked system where sometimes the flesh chamber or lab 103-b wouldn't be open if you opened it previously and left.
-Endless major texture optimizations for performance.
-Fixed level names shown on save/load screen
-Added snazzy new light IES profile look to the flashlight and other lights
-Fixed subtitles from continuing to play when entering new level.
-Fixed Dr. Harman saying lines sometimes after he already left.
-Fixed an issue where multiple keycards could spawn in the warehouse.
-Set the engine to play audio when minimized/not in focus.
-Fixed bug where sometimes the screen could stay blurry if you died to SCP-CESS.
-Overhauled back-end sound system, so now all sounds should be under SFX by default (and will be controlled by Master audio, no more random sounds that stay full volume)
-With the sound overhaul, Jack now longer mutes your game if you die or load levels while deafened.
-MAJOR overhaul to audio. Game now features reverb for different sized rooms, super immersive. Very Good. Yes. I like.
-New ambient reverb sound effects.
-Fixed SCP-PESK from being able to follow in to elevator
-Did a bunch of reworks/improvements for SCP-IEMP. Instead of playing an animation to fall when seen, it uses ragdoll physics to not clip through walls. Also did other animation improvements.
-Added a mechanic for SCP-IEMP so you no longer see despawn randomly. Much spook.
-Fixed a missing texture on a decal in Sublab-11 on dead guy.
-Updated SCP-PESK animations a bit.
-Updated SCP-REMM animations, fixing the loud super attack bug.
-Finally sound and fixed one of the biggest bugs that caused duplication and weird issues.
-Updated big SCP-TELR fade in/out issues, including most of the OoO face when flashed. Also other points in it's logic where it could just teleport without effects.
-Updated the crawling instance of TELR, including fade bugs and positioning.
-Updated "Giles" version of TELR, including fade bugs, and some AI and animation improvements.
-Added text fade in animation for level loading screens.
-Fixed some Halloween props clipping in to things.
-Updated the lighting for the game in general, looks cooler now.
-Updated Harman's staff bathroom line for the new look.
-Redesigned the transition between Zone A and Transit.
-Reworked cabinets to open both sides individually in desktop mode.
-Added cave scenery to the game to help show you are deep underground.
-Added SCP-TSCA documents
-Added SCP-SKET documents in (for story, not discoverable in survival)
-Added option to load a saved game on the death screen.
-Added sounds to the save/load game screen buttons.
-Fixed bug where valves turned on in transit and O-wing weren't being reported to valve control panel.
-Removed the delay/pop-in for things when loading levels or saves.
-Doubled the speed of the lift in Safe Storage
-Fixed blood at Harman's desk so it's not black anymore.
-Finally redesigned a working global system for the power going out across all levels, as well as SCP-TELR moving faster with it again, and other tied in systems like saving and loading.
-Set up system so non-critical lights and systems actually turn off when power is low (lobby lights, computers, tvs, etc)
-Fixed a bug where keycards could be left floating when changing levels.
-Fixed a bug with the Rings of Eden where they would stop spinning.
-Added zone names to loading screens
-Removed the subway map, as it was unused and just hurt performance.
-Redesigned a few other level transition areas.
-Added new Tram Hub level to move between SCP storage maps.
-Changed color of crates.
-Created a new EPO key Model/design.
-Modeled new/improved keycard.
-Make new signs for elevators and tram.
-Added Zero face Effect
-Added new Zero encounter 1
-Completed massive rework to Transit.
-Added color grading to Transit
-Added level signage to Transit
-Added color grading to O-Wing
-Added level signage to O-Wing
-Did total overhaul to the entire O-wing map.
-Fixed "Guard" name missing in VR subtitles
-Added new TELR MTF instances
-Added new event to Transit
-Added SCP event to Tram Hub
-Added new equipment cabinet
-Added Zero event in Archive
-Added Zero event in Tram Hub
-Modeled a better version of the Safe Storage Vaults
-Fixed UI pop in with level loading.
-Added new tram service tunnel level.
-Added story events to levels.
-Added new enemies.
-Got snazzy new alarm sounds for things.
-Updated bodies to show you already looted
-Fixed the bug where you could open level 0 doors without a card.
-Added SCP-REMM documents
-Added level save locations to new safe storage and tram tunnel
-Added document for SCP-PSIL.
-Added new fan art from Discord art contests.
-Redesigned most of the "old" safe storage in to Euclid storage.
-Added SCP-JERT
-Redesigned various cells for SCP-JERT, SCP-REMM, SCP-PESK, SCP-CESS, and others.
-Added SCP-KSOL
-Added SCP-DSEM
-Added SCP-GSWC
-Added SCP-OSMK
-Added SCP-PSTR
-Added SCP-TSOC
-Added Major story elements for archive caverns.
-Added SCP-TSTK
-Added SCP-YSPC
-Fixed bug where you could still have Rings of Eden or SCP-PSIL in main menu
-Added color LUT for Euclid Storage
-Fixed intro dialog going on after sound stopped
-Fixed room light clinking on when there is no power or light.
-Split Prison cells in to their own map in preparation of the full Zone A redesign.
-Fixed bug where pressing ESC while paused wouldn't close pause menu
-Added elevator call buttons for lifts.
-Updated SCP-CESS animation
-Blocked pausing the game during level loads (which could break the game)
-Made the warehouse generator and crane stuff get saved and loaded properly
-Fixed bug where SCP breach announcements could replay
-Split Zone A into to halves temporarily to help performance until the map redesign for the next update.
-Reduced the amount of times you can run in to SCP-ASBG (Jack)
-Added SCP-CEHM to O-wing
-Added SCP-TELR instance to O-wing
-Removed SteamVR Inputs for VR since an update broke VR. I'll look in to re-adding it with the VR re-works coming for the next update.
-Added function so if you save a game and your health is under 25%, it at least brings you up to 25%.
-Fixed delay for flashlight to show updated power when recharging battery
-Added radio symbol for when Harman talks over radio instead of PA system
-Added more Halloween Spooks and effects
-Added new documents
-Added stinger effect when TELR sees you
-Added more beta branches on Steam so you can go back and play old versions.

Hey all, with this update being so big, I just wanted to give you guys a quick rundown of some things you can expect! And this is just the end of Phase 1.

Firstly, the overall survival story is more than twice as long. We reworked it so there is an actual plot, and takes you to a bunch of new places with a whole new antagonist, more cinematic events, and even a boss fight.

If you are a streamer or youtuber with a good following, hit me up to talk about getting early access to the content maybe!

There are basically 5 or 6 new maps and locations. Two or three were essentially remade from scratch, and the rest are new. A few other levels and areas also had major revisions, but you'll still be able to recognize them.

There's some new SCPs. Nothing too major yet, most of the new SCPs and polish content will come with Phase 2, the Xmas Update. But there are some new things I think you'll like (hate).

Tons of visual polish. New designs, new lighting, new audio overhaul, new lots of things. Even I was impressed with all the stuff I learned doing full time freelance, and I brought all that new knowledge and experience and put it in Blackout.

Lots of bug fixes. Like seriously, months worth of reports got finally organized and I fixed almost all of it. I got crunched for time though, so there may be a few things that will be rolled in to the next update, but overall a ton of it is there.

Performance should be better, but it is hard for me to tell. I did a lot of optimization, but the Xmas update will fix a ton more, especially for VR.

All of this will get explained in more detail when the update comes out near Halloween, including the pages of changelog. Though if you were inclined, we do have a Patreon, and Patrons will get early access to play and stream the update before everyone else. Also, I do lots of posts on the Discord. (pls join the discord lol) Patreon Link[patreon.com] Discord[discord.gg]


So what's next?

Well I'm glad I asked. As mentioned, Phase 2 (the Xmas Update) will be all about polish, and what I missed for this one.

The story is all there for survival mode, but I will also be reworking the ending. Well, 3 endings actually depending on how you played and the difficulty.

The biggest thing I'm excited for is that I will be entirely scrapping the first/"main" map, Zone A. It is a performance nightmare, and the design is pretty terrible. I'm going to remake it in to a lobby and Research Wing, and it's going to be awesome. I'll also be splitting the prisoner cells in to it's own level, with more things to do.

There will be more SCPs, more Safe objects, new mechanics, new secret areas, more documents, new voice logs from guests, and a ton of QoL stuff.

I also plan to do all the VR focused stuff and redesigns for this update.

So that's it so far. Stay tuned, a bunch more info will come out with the big update. If you're still reading, even more thanks to you specifically and personally. Your're pretty cool.

The video below will explain just about everything, but plenty cool stuff to come pretty soon! Aside from all the events, giveaways, and weekly contests to get your work in to SCP: Blackout, we are also going to MASSIVELY rework the Patreon so there are actual rewards that are worthwhile. I even hired someone to maintain it so it stays relevant and awesome with cool rewards!

Also, as some of you may be aware, our Patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/user?u=14787740) has been pretty neglected for some time. Noticing this, we have decided to completely overhaul the page and system, and we would like your input on how it should turn out. I've even hired someone to work on managing this exclusively so it will stay maintained while I focus on adding new content! The first step is to design the theme, so below is a link to a poll where you can vote on the name set you would like to see us use. (A reward poll will come later, but we have TONS of cool ideas to reward you guys with!)

https://forms.gle/nGf8QsaFkYZdRd3T9

Reminder though, if you'd like to get your writing/art/stories in to SCP: Blackout, make sure you join the discord or Twitter to get updates on all the contests coming out each week!

Discord: https://discord.gg/GhefN58
Twitter: @TheClassifiedX

Attention Foundation Staff,

The channels have been quiet for a while. But no longer! Now I have updates on where I've been, what's going on now, and what to look forward to!

(TL;DR, gained lots of skill doing freelance work, and also massive update for Halloween, plus some other stuff)

I'm finally back to work on Blackout, and I even brought in a new(ish) developer, Jory Stultz! But wait (you might say), he's already been part of the game for a while? Yes, dear researcher, but mostly as a voice actor for a ton of characters and awesome writer. But while we've been away, he's been training and turned out to be pretty awesome at level design! So now he has access to the project to do some stuff to, so I'm finally not doing it all solo.

I also finally got ALLLLLL of the story documents, sticky notes, documents from in game, misc ideas, and sorted them out on a single program so it's tidy and easy to see. There.... may have been a few inconsistencies in the story, or lack of story there at all. We are fixing all of that. Now (for us) the overall story finally makes sense, and we're pruning off some oddball parts and filling in holes. Awe yeah, it's all coming together. The story was scrapped long ago once the game grew up way beyond what it was supposed to, but now we have a solid base to write on, and honestly, it's kind of writing itself. You can still expect the 16+ endings for Story mode, but now the survival side will also support it as a whole.

Speaking of the Survival Mode, I don't really like it. It was kind of thrown together (like most of the game), as it grew. But now with all the holes visible, it's all written out and finalized, so I have a set goal. You can expect the Survival mode to basically double, and a whole bunch of stories to actually make sense. Also, expect more cinematic experiences and you know, REAL game type stuff. It's pretty cool. Also like 4+ new maps, and 2+ total reworks, and a bunch of other map improvements. Also 3(ish) new actual+cinematic endings for survival, cause just getting a piece of paper for surviving blows. I'm hoping that we can get all this done by Halloween. If not, we should have most of it. The rest will come for Christmas.

As for me, where did I go? Well, with Covid-19, I was somewhat laid off. But I didn't actually know it. They just kept telling me work would come eventually, so I spent the first month or two making a new multiplayer game, Project Midgard. It's multiplayer, playable, and semi fun, but it's not done yet. I actually stopped on it for now because I needed money. So I finally faced my fear and started looking for freelance jobs. With Blackout, Outsiders (another game I made, it actually has really good reviews. It's part of the Dread X Collection), and Project Midgard, it turned out I had a fairly solid resume. So now I have a few clients where I get full time work, and do Blackout in my free time. If you, uh, want a game made, I have some really good references. I can do just about whatever you need, and my clients highly recommend me lol.

Speaking of all that, all these new projects have netted me a TON of experience. I have so much new knowledge on ways to improve Blackout in so many ways. I've already fixed half my bug list today alone, and some of those bugs have given me issues for over a year. Plus animation, lighting, performance, and improvements in a bunch of other areas.

Also I had a son. He's pretty cool, I like him. As of writing, he's a little over a month old. His name is Viridian. It's a pretty big deal to me, but people don't usually care for other people's baby stories, I never did (lol). It took a few weeks to get back to normal, but now I have a routine and can steadily work again like I used to. I wanted to settle down and get comfy in my routine for a good bit before I made this post, so here we are.

Also I learned how to model while I was gone, so you can get ready to see some improvements. Like those ugly, ugly EPO cards. And the save console, yuck.

It's been a while for Blackout, but a new update is out!

Along with a massive back end change to the loading menus, a bunch of fixes, some performance updates, and other the tutorial is finally done and out! Who knew tons of custom made UI movies and dozens of voice lines would take a while to get done?

The tutorial isn't super long, but there is a short story and two endings, along with two more collectibles to...collect. The tutorial currently is designed for desktop. VR will be coming, but we do have to redo a bunch of the videos and lines to fit, so....

Some of the changes:

• Tutorial mini-story!
  
• Bug fixes!
  
• Saving system, just find a console (one in each area), and you can save your progress. If you need to leave, or die, just reload!
  
• New animated level transition/loading system. Sounds small, but it was actually a massive amount of back end work, entirely redesigning the way the game loads and saves areas. So now there shouldn't be any game freezing/crashes when loading levels, along with other bug fixes. Plus the animated screen looks cool!
  
• You can now break mugs when you throw them, because PHYSICS!
  
• A bunch of other small stuff like bugs and QoL improvements I've forgotten!
  

Other big news!

I usually live stream development on Blackout and other games each week, so feel free to follow and watch and/or ask questions! https://www.twitch.tv/mahelyk

I took a week off my day job to make an entire new game! The DreadX Collection took 10 solo devs and gave them a week to each make a horror game. I used my week to make Outsiders. If you like horror games, and have $7, you can get 10 whole horror games! ($2 of each sale goes to charity also). But, if you are interested, I'll post some links under this.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1296510/Dread_X_Collection/