Welcome, Survivor!
Got your tickets ready?
The fourth map, which we'll add soon with the 0.9 Major Update, will make you question your love for trains.
The Train Station (working name, we're not sure if it'll stick, suggestions plz!) will provide a new twist to the formula. It is shaped like a horizontal rectangle that expands to the left and right from the central default spawn location. The map will offer a new moody environment, heavy metal tunes, brand new enemies, and train tracks intersecting all throughout the playable area.
Thankfully, it's not all doom and gloom. Trains can hurt Survivors and zombies alike. These ironclad killer machines appear when indicated, so you'll be able to refer to warnings at crossings, both to keep your Survivors far from danger, and to use trains to deal some serious damage to your opponents!
Speaking of dangerous situations, the new enemies are a pretty fun and diverse bunch of Horde offshoots. Get ready to be punched by a two-ton mutant, stomped by a chainsaw man, exploded by larva-mines, and blocked by hammer-wielding railway workers. If you're up for the challenge, the rewards will be worth it. Remember, each following area grants more Specialization Points and Cash drops, not to mention the satisfaction of overcoming the greater challenge!
Item slots limit your build? Want to disable it and have fun breaking the game?
We want the game to be stable and balanced in its default state, but we're also looking into ways to offer a more "for fun" game mode, since we're making ongoing improvements to the game's optimization. We're thinking of naming this game mode "Infinite Mode." It'd let you break through the ceilings with features like a much higher item limit or maybe even the possibility of equipping all of them at once (we'll have to see)!
A game mode like this would be optional, and it wouldn't be included in the leaderboards system. It would also have a nerfed meta-progression/achievement-related rewards tied to it. At the end of the day, we still want you to enjoy the game itself and everything it has to offer. This would let us keep improving Endless Mode to make it more of a "survival" experience (Endure Mode, anyone?), which gets much harder over time. Players would no longer be invincible for hours on end, and the leaderboards would cease to be all about who can keep their PC running the longest.
On a side note, you'll eventually be able to equip more items in all game modes, as we'll be expanding the maximum amount limit with the general skill tree expansion, which will be featured in version 1.0 at the latest. We'd love to hear your thoughts on our "Infinite" (optional) game mode idea!
Remember how we've promised the addition of optional challenges for hardcore players?
We're going to be reworking the achievements interfaces to make these possible, since we're planning to create different tabs for each type of in-game achievement. The plan is to keep most achievements as they are, but improve them with progress bars when they make sense (e.g. achievements with completion accumulated with multiple runs).
Any meta-progression achievements related to important unlocks, like game modes, levels, Survivor specialization ranks, and so on, are going to be moved over to a separate tab. This should make it easier to keep track of your main in-game progress and quickly check out what could be the next on your journey.
The third tab will be brand new and will feature special challenges you can complete for bragging rights. They range from hard to diabolically unfair, so be sure to remember, that these will be 100% optional and not for the faint of heart. These challenges won't unlock any Steam achievements, but they'll give you in-game points, a total of which could be displayed in your in-game profile for bragging rights.
Also, there's a slight chance that these points might be a way to unlock some cosmetic additions, but we'll have to wait and see!
As we get closer to the full release, we're working on adding support for all the languages you've requested (and that we can provide)!
As you know, while we're working on developing the game, we're constantly changing and updating the in-game text. Still, we're working on getting the translation systems ready (e.g. proper font implementation and character codes), and we're teaming up with our partners to make the translation process as painless as possible. Naturally, we can't promise to support 100% of the languages - we're a small indie team after all, and this would be a colossal task even for the AAA companies - but we'll try to support most of the ones you've requested!
Stay tuned for more! We predict that the support for new languages won't be ready for the release of version 0.9.0, but we'll try to release it as part of a standard update shortly after, either as the 0.9.1 or 0.9.2 game updates.
On the topic of small indie teams, we're growing yet again!
Diana, who helped us out during the Fury Unleashed development days, is coming back to join us full time. She's ready to face the Horde head on, but more importantly, she'll help us with the important marketing stuff, since she's awesome at that, and we're… sometimes not!
Hey Awesomes, I'm Diana!
I'm a gamer with a wide taste in genres, but I spend most of my time playing narrative-rich titles like Baldur’s Gate 3 or the latest Clair Obscure: Expedition 33. I also love weird, artsy stuff, niche or B-class horror, action games, or anything that makes me think, whether it's puzzles or existential dread. Cute cozy games? Also a YES.
I started my career a decade ago running a Facebook page for an MMORPG - very professional first entry on my resume. Now, I'm a seasoned marketer, making sure Awesome Games Studio's titles reach as many players as possible, while keeping the community entertained and nurtured.
Most of the time, you'll find me on our Discord, running quirky activities or plotting the next meme.
Oh, and she's got a cat, so that brings the Awesome Pets Squad up to 11. Thinking about it, Awesome Games Studio is currently made up of more animals than humans!
As stated in our FAQ at the beginning of Early Access, this moment was bound to happen sooner or later.
On July 24, the price of YAZS will rise from $10 to $15. Be sure to grab the game now at the old price and with a -30% discount running up until then!
This change will happen only once. There will be no price increases at full release or afterward. In fact, the game will at some point be cheaper than ever before, as we plan to continue offering sale discounts as we always do with our games. After all, we want everyone to be able to enjoy them!
As we draw ever closer to the game's full release, we would like to thank you for all your support so far. You are all awesome!
Thanks for sticking with us, both through the time and space, and this development post as well.
Please maintain proper hydration levels, as summers have been getting hotter lately. Also, don't hype up the upcoming update too much, as it could lead to a risk of losing too much water. I'll see you soon!
Stay awesome,
Kalafiorek @ Awesome Games Studio
