Hey everyone!

I understand how not seeing a game update in months leads to the assumption that the project is dead, but rest assured this one is not!

The next update is going to include a boss fight that starts with the helicopter seen above, which leads to the player descending the stairs in the building below before confronting the pilot a final time. I have the map for the helicopter fight mostly completed, but here's where my ideas begin to diverge.

Part of the problem is that some of the ideas I had (and even started working on) would create changes that would simply be too drastic and fundamentally different to introduce so late in the game.

Here are the ideas I scrapped, and why they were scrapped:

Weapon Upgrades: I originally thought about upgrading the player's katana after defeating the helicopter, I started tinkering with upgrades to the katana and cyberpunch before it dawned on me that there was no use introducing such a mechanic when the player was over halfway through the campaign (60-75% of quests/missions would be completed by this point, depending on ending). I then considered implementing this system earlier in the game, but doing so would completely change pacing with any attack speed and katana dash speed increases, and all the weapons are high enough damage that increasing the amount would have no visible effect.

Leveling system: I thought about turning the game fully into an RPG, continuing to use Karma as experience and leveling up the player when they reach a certain amount, with the amount required to reach the next level increasing from each previous level (like XP in most RPGs). I didn't feel this would work because I want the player to lose karma in combat, and karma to affect the end game result (spoiler alert). I also don't want to have to fluff the game with pointless quests and force the player to grind to feel any sort of progression.

Here are the ideas I'll definitely be keeping:

One more weapon: I know what I said about late game introductions, but I've had this in mind as a final weapon for a while, and it's going to be so op!

Six Endings: Three ending scenarios, each with a positive and negative outcome.

New Game+ mode: One of the good endings will allow endless freeroam, and from endless freeroam there will be a portal to New Game+ mode, which retains player inventory but resets the storyline.

Here are the ideas I'm still debating:

I do want the player to have increased speed while "chasing" the helicopter pilot, but only until reaching the boss fight. I want it to feel like Unit 6617 is so determined to catch the pilot that adrenaline is making you faster. I haven't decided if attacks should be slightly faster, how much the base run speed should be increased, or how fast the katana dash should be and how long it should last.

I'm debating adding another stage with miniguns to the helicopter fight, but I'll admit that during testing the rocket launcher phase might be difficult enough on its own!

What I'm still waiting on:

What our current roadmap looks like:

Early Q3 2025: Beta launch, singleplayer campaign complete

2026: Multiplayer Mode Launch

Thanks for all your continued support, happy holidays, and we'll see you in 2025!