Project Venus

v0.2.4 Hi everyone, a new Project Venus v0.2.4 build is now out! This update brings new content, Android version, big stability improvements, map fixes, save/load behavior, and several gameplay usability improvements. New content - Story progression - A new story location to beat - New weapon with ammo-switching mechanic and a special effect for it's secondary ammunition. - A new main outfit for Act 2 which replaces previous two. - A new boss. - New zombie type with 11 variations. - Continuation of David in barn scene. - Continuation of gloryhole scene - you need to find it during the day, and then you can visit it during the nights. The scene has random chance of triggering two different variations: a) peek on David with someone b) meet someone peeking on David - An optional scene with Fred the trader during the story. - A start of romance route for one of the characters. It's just a start. The main action for his route will come in next update as it requires a specific system for it. Well, who knows - knows. - An optional random scene on second floor for Liam (middle bottom door) which has a chance to trigger after unlocking the Monastery. - New scene for Greg with 6 animations (the man in forest house of ACT 1). We strongly recommend to see it Most old scenes received an animated version. We will cover what's left in future too. - An introduction of the Monastery. Nothing to do here yet, but this location will come in use in next update with corresponding mechanics. Yes, it's about having an heir. - Now stamina will grow up the more you run around. - Melee damage will grow over time if use keep using it. - Now vegetables can be sold to Fred the trader. - Now you can extract seeds from vegetables to use them again (the recipe is given during the intro of ACT 2). Technical and Visual Improvements We made a huge number of technical, visual, and gameplay improvements to the project. Many parts of the game engine were modified, improved, or partially rewritten to support better lighting, smoother gameplay, improved saving/loading, better collision handling, more stable video playback, and better overall performance. A lot of these changes are not easy to describe in a simple changelog because they affect the way the game works internally rather than adding one specific visible feature. However, the result should be noticeable while playing: the game should feel more polished, more stable, and visually stronger than before. Besides, most visual additions are optional, so everyone can tune our game to their likings. This update is a major technical step forward for Project Venus. Main improvements include: Ambient occlusion and improved lighting for new map. Dynamic loot system. Zombies materials drop is based on player's inventory. For example, if you already have a certain amount of black powder, it's dropping chance will be halved. It's the same for most materials which drop from zombies. The only exclusion is a virus sample. It's chances remain the same no matter how many you have. Zombie sound system . Zombies now have different idle and chasing sounds. Difficulty system. You can now choose between different difficulties in Options menu. The difficulty also affect drop chances for loot. Additional visual effects, including blood splatters . Hitting zombies now cause the blood to splash around. Can be turned off in Options. Custom zombie speed settings. A default rpg maker has very limited speed presets for events. We developed our own system to set any movement speed for zombies we need. Smooth Slowdown system. This mechanism works dynamically. The more frame rate drops - the slower game runs, but it return it keeps high framerate. Can be turned off in Options. It is also possible to change slowdown strength. We recommend to set it on Medium for good PC's, and on High for lowkey machines. Real sight. A thing what we wanted a long time ago for immersion. Now there is a field of view in the game. What it does? Well, you don't have eyes on your back anymore. Can be turned off in options. Dynamic camera . When turned on, the camera will follow your cursor a bit, allowing you see farer. Dialogue font. You can change dialogue font in options menu now. Reworked game menu, both visually and technically. New title screen. Updated game options. Added fullscreen mode support. Added Smart Sharpness for fullscreen mode, with adjustable settings. Many small technical improvements and fixes . Significantly improved engine performance. Android version release. While it is still experimental, it should be fully playable on you Android device! No Joiplay needed! v.0.2.2 Content New loading screen - yes, we are fans of Alien. In the first town, a certain fat guy might pay you a visit in the attic if you decide to sleep there. Almost immediately after arriving at the church and receiving the first quest, Jillian can visit Sarah (the doctor) and see something. While sleeping in her room, David might visit Jillian to check on her. For the Survival mode, we've added an option to get a discount if you're willing to show your body to Crow. Added a story scene in the police station where Jillian meets the game's new boss - the Sheriff. Added a conceptually new boss. Before this, we only had Mr. X, but he was too primitive. Now that our technical capabilities have expanded, we decided to add a boss fight with the Sheriff in the police station. Be careful, he's quite resilient, has an ally, and uses various attacks. Technical Stuff implemented a plugin and added unique equip sounds for every item and weapon. Added a lighter. Well, it was already in the game—you get it by completing the events in the sewer—but now you can equip it to light up the area around your character. Grenades create a flash of light upon explosion. The fire from a Molotov cocktail now works like real fire—it illuminates the surrounding area! Have you ever seen an RPG Maker game that has this? I haven't. Bug fixes fixed a wall's layer at Malene's house, which was covering player Upcoming features: Gallery: Although it's technically complete, we will release it in the next update because we're not sure if it displays all the scenes correctly. There are quite a lot of them, and triggering each one to check the display is a very time-consuming task. Physics: The game will get the ability to move objects pixel by pixel, and you will no longer get stuck in zombies. We decided to implement physics a bit later because it's needed for an enemy that can perform a running attack. Brutal patch Since now all harsh content will be available only in Brutal patch. To access new ending for loosing a bossfight at police station, install Brutal patch. v0.2.1 Major Updates and New Features Act 2 has arrived: 10 new maps added (Act 2) Farm themed zombies added A new character - Fiona Abe and Sarah received new clothes for summer Farming crops. Right now it provides food, which will be usable in next updates. Optional events: Help david in the barn. If you are corrupted enough, he'll give you a reward. This scene is repeatable David might peek on you when you wake up if you have helped him in the barn Interacting with Liam near the windmill will start a side quest: Help Liam to fix the water pump Help Liam to apply some oil to windmill's blades You can notice a huge hole in the barn's wall if you'll take a walk alongside barn's right wall. This scene is a placeholder for future events. Interacting with sofa in the living room now skips time to evening. Right now this is a placeholder with a small dinner event for immersiveness. In future updates a night version of the farm will contain a lot more events. Combat, Visuals & Effects Camera core added (the camera now moves smoothly with a slight delay) Blood Particle Effects: Added blood particle effects when enemies take damage. This effect is displayed only for enemies marked with the blood effect in their note tags (for example, humans and "bloody" zombies). Pickup Animation: Introduced a new animation for the player character when picking up loot, making the action more immersive. Weapon Idle Animation: The character now remains in a holding weapon pose after using a weapon, until movement resumes. Dynamic Mouse Facing: The character and equipped weapon now dynamically turn to face the mouse cursor, providing more responsive controls. Weapons, Items & Status Effects Molotov Cocktail Improvements: Overhauled Molotov mechanics: creates a fire zone on impact with realistic burning effects. Burning State: Both the player and enemies can now catch fire when entering burning areas. The player can extinguish themselves by using a water bottle from the inventory. AI and Survival Mode Pathfinding system has been improved and optimized (the number of simultaneous enemies on the map has greatly increased. FPS on older PCs should improve during high-load moments). AI for allies has been significantly improved. Survival Mode: Fully implemented wave-based survival mode. The next wave does not start until the player visits the shop. Between waves, there is a prep phase for restocking and recovery. Dynamic Skill Progression: Player skills and stats now improve through use Running increases stamina. Using melee weapons increases strength stat, which adds damage Mini-Games for Training: Lock picking mini-game has been created Added mini-games for “barbell squats” and “push-ups” that allow players to train and boost stats faster. These are implemented as interactive events/QTEs. Interface and Miscellaneous Inventory and Hotbar Improvements Hotbars and inventory can now be temporarily disabled during cutscenes and important events. Weapon reload logic has been reworked (reloading is interrupted if the player starts shooting). RMB (right mouse button) logic has been revamped: now holding RMB causes continuous firing until the ammo runs out. M249 weapon has been enhanced (visual and sound effects). Movement while firing automatic weapons is now blocked. Spawner logic has been reworked. Added a load button in the ESC menu. Cheat menu for ammo has been created and added. Adrenaline duration doubled. Optimizations and Bugfixes Improved zombie pathfinding and overall AI performance, especially with large numbers of enemies. Multiple small fixes and improvements across the UI and item pickup system. Save becoming suddenly corrupted was fixed. Now it should be ok, but trying to edit the save file will still break it Shops working again Intro cutscene was skipped previously, now it is back Fixed an issue where elevators triggered a transition during the fight with Mr. X Moved one zombie in outskirts which was spawning right at the entrance of warehouse causing players to get stucked Bug with medkit prices at sewer traders has been fixed. Bullet trajectory logic has been reworked. Now bullet starts it's way from gun's barrel, not from MC's legs. This makes shooting a bit easier. Added a new "ABSonDamage" feature that plays a sound when damage is dealt. You can notice it while using a baseball bat. You hear a hit sound only when you actually hit a zombie. Fixed minor visual bugs. Loot generation logic on the map has been reworked. Loot system improved (sprite sizes reduced by 50%, dynamic ID pooling system added to prevent ID loss in loot objects). In Progress & Upcoming Expanded hearing system for enemies with new reactions to noise. Additional mini-games and skill training mechanics. More status effects New enemy types with unique behaviors Some zombies on map now have moaning sounds. It is experimental and will be expanded in future. Added a new item search mechanic. You'll face it while looking for wood and glasses for Fred. It's experimental and will appear in future in some places. v0.1.9 Changelog: Act 1 is finished (19 map pieces). You can now play through the shopping mall and escape the city. New throwable weapon - molotov. Slightly improved AI for friendly NPCs. They are still stupid, but we are working on it. Shooting mechanic was changed a bit. Weapons has much lesser projectiles now. It was done on purpose, because bullets were hitting various objects too often. Shotgun has less spreading. Zombie spawner was completely rewritten. Now it shouldn't cause performance drops. Heroes wear no capes. Zombie book was added. You will receive it during the plot at cinema's WC. Quest journal was added! Now every (if my memory serves) task in game has a quest log. I can't tell how huge this task was, but it is here. Bug at status window was fixed, now ass picture shouldn't disappear. Also vagina and ass statuses are working separately now. Fat zombie received increased health and a chance to blow up. Red zombie's regeneration is working properly now. Global fog effect. You'll first notice it on new maps. New global effects will appear more in future updates. This update brings story only. We are sorry if you'll find it small, but we had to finish this part of the game to move on to freeplay part. IMPORTANT: n ew maps can cause crashes during saving. You can resolve it by reopening the game. We are working on fix. v0.1.4.1 Changelog: Continuation of the story. Now you will be able to visit the police station (22 map pieces) Added second outfit which you will obtain at police station Introduced new NPC with two conversation scenes. You can talk to her and learn what her story is. She will appear later in story Added new type of zombie: hunter Added human enemies (12 variations) 3 new variations for generic zombies New main theme in the menu Added first melee weapon Added explosives: grenades and land mine. Molotov is in progress. Technical: added animated status effects. Now every single npc and PC are able to bleed, burn and get poisoned with visual effects Created spawner, which will be used later Added regeneration passive in skill tree Added stamina increase in skill tree Added max carrying weight in skill tree Increased shooting rate for all weapons Implemented AI teams. It allows us to use NPCs as friends. You will notice that when you arrive at police station for the first time. Later in the game there will be neutral NPC which will attack both PC and zombies All existing scenes are reworked for second outfit. They will change depending on which outfit do you use at the moment Cassie got additional scene with animation from 3 angles Forest man received a different scene if you wear the second outfit. He also received a new scene, which you can trigger if you corruption is high enough Added scene with the boy at the confession booth right after you get mission to infiltrate the police station Added hints for some lewd actions. Now you'll see how much corruption do you need Bug fixes: Fixed broken shops at the sewers Fixed limitless running option Fixed oldman's animations in the gun shop v0.1.3.1 - Added 3 missing scenes which were supposed to come with previous update but they were deleted due to incompleteness. 1 additional scenes for Cassie sequence. 1 additional scene for Greg(forest man) sequence, 1 additional scene for peeping on David with slutty girl(randomly appears near the pond after bringing barrel). - Reworked final battle street from the demo. Map received completely new visuals. Also previously zombies were spawning and that cased lots of lags. Now all zombies are there from the beginning. - Status menu received nude version of main heroine. - Updated game's core. Now you shouldn't have fps drops like before. - Reworked shooting. Now bullets don't have range limits, which means they will fly through the entire map. That should exclude "misses" while using pistols and shotguns. - Moving plugin was rewrited to reduce spontaneous zombie shaking. - Fixed minor bugs/missing icons. - Added loot at the sewers right before toxic zombies. v.0.1.3 Over 100 new renders - Main story progress - New Cassie scene after bathing at lake. - 1 bad end at main quest - One side quest from the priest - New locations: sewers, factory, second street, apartment building - Traders at the sewers - Hunting minigame - new type of zombies: toxic zombies, armored zombies. Technical changes/additions: - added leveling system. Now you will find virus samples, which can be spent on improving your stats. - Reworked eventing framework. Now most fps drops should be gone - added bleeding from zombie attacks - added poisoning from toxic zombies - added new usable items: antidote - prevents poisoning for 5 mins, water - removes poisoning, adrenaline - boosts stamina and it's regeneration - added hotkeys! Now you can drag and drop weapons and items to hotkeys and press them to change weapons/use consumables - Changed healing system. Now bandages and first aid kits remove bleeding. - Reworked reloading system. Now you can move during reloading. - temporarily changed zombie reaction to getting hit. They will jump away a bit. We will change this back to moving away once we fix our code in plugin. - IMPORTANT: fps drops are still there, because we are in process of removing them, but it takes a lot of time and reasons vary from time to time. If you encounter fps drop, then reload. There is a lot more minor technical stuff but I don't want to fill the changelog with meaningless text. You'll notice overall improvement, and probably some minor bugs. v0.1.2 The beginning of first chapter. Much more story this time New NPCs New locations +1 new outfit +1 new weapon New loot type Inventory categories overhaul Slightly different gameplay approach at first chapter v0.1 Initial release