Devlog #17 – Smugglers Crate And A Troll

First of all:

Thank you.

The response to the demo has been incredible.

We've welcomed a lot of new players into the community, we've received a ton of feedback, and we've officially reached a Very Positive rating on Steam.

We're incredibly grateful for that.

And with Steam Next Fest right around the corner, we've spent the last week listening to all the feedback coming in.

This update is almost entirely built around the feedback we've received since the demo launched.

• A lot of balancing changes.

• A lot of bug fixes.

• A few new upgrades.

• A few new weapons.

And one very interesting new crate.

Let's dive in.

A Big Balance Pass

One thing that became very clear after releasing the demo was that some parts of the economy needed adjustment.

So we've done a fairly extensive balancing pass.

Crate Rarity Rework

One of the biggest changes is how crate rarities work.

Previously:

A crate rarity guaranteed at least one weapon of that rarity.

Now:

Crate rarity creates a strong bias toward that rarity instead.

Higher rarity crates:

• Have significantly higher chances of dropping higher rarity weapons

• Are heavily weighted toward their own rarity

• But no longer guarantee a specific rarity

We think this makes crate openings feel more exciting while still preserving the importance of higher rarity crates.

Crate Prices Now Scale With Progression

Another issue was that crate prices eventually stopped mattering.

Once players reached the late game, money became abundant and crate prices became largely irrelevant.

To address this:

Crates now:

• Start cheaper

• Scale with crate level

• Also scale with your current deadline progression

This makes crate decisions more meaningful throughout an entire run.

Introducing the Smuggler's Courier Case

Originally, the Smuggler's Courier Case was only meant to be a teaser for future content.

Not anymore.

We've actually added it to the demo.

The Smuggler's Courier Case:

• Has dramatically increased high-rarity chances

• Can drop every weapon type in the game

• Uses equal weapon type weighting

• Is extremely expensive

This makes it a powerful late-game option for players trying to keep up with the debt curve.

It's probably not the final version of this crate, but we felt it solved several late-game balance concerns that players raised after the demo launch. Steam post image

Debt Progression Changes

We've also revisited debt scaling.

Some players felt the debt curve ramped up too aggressively.

We've tried to smooth that progression while still maintaining a meaningful challenge.

Changes include:

• Increased starting money

• Smoother debt growth between tiers

• Better scaling throughout the mid-game

• Fast but smoother lategame progression

Our hope is that this feels more fair.

Making Low-Tier Weapons Matter

Another common piece of feedback was:

"Melee weapons are useless."

We agree.

So we've done several things to address that.

Weapon Values Compressed

The overall spread between the cheapest and most expensive weapons has been reduced.

There's still a difference.

Just not an enormous one.

Magazine Buffs

Some weapon-type magazines have received substantial buffs.

Katana '99 Magazine

• Increased from 2x to 5x melee value

Cold War Magazine

• Increased from 2x to 4x pistol value

These changes make melee and pistol-focused builds much more viable. Steam post image

New Upgrades

We've added four new upgrades.

Birdie of Perfect Imbalance

Every diamond you hold adds:

+0.5% chance for weapon crates to roll max rarity.

Perfect for diamond hoarders. Steam post image

Newton's Cradle

On the final deadline day:

Weapons sold outside contracts are worth 2x. Steam post image

Pocket Pager

Weapons sold outside contracts gain:

+3% value per consecutive sale.

Resets when opening a crate. Steam post image

Lucky Troll

After your fifth weapon sold each day:

Every weapon sold afterward pays +50%. Steam post image

Many of these upgrades are designed to create more build options around selling weapons outside of contracts. Something we felt was lacking.

New Weapons

We've added:

• G36 (Rare Assault Rifle) Steam post image

• Vz. 61 Scorpion (SMG) Steam post image

• Katana "Catana"

• Karambit Knife (Legendary Melee)

• SG550 (Epic Rifle)

These weapons don't yet have unique collection effects.

That simply came down to time.

However, they help fill important rarity gaps and improve contract generation.

Bug Fixes & Exploit Fixes

A lot of them.

Some highlights:

Negative Numbers Fixed

Several systems could overflow once values exceeded 2.1 billion.

This caused:

• Negative weapon values

• Negative upgrade values

• Negative reroll costs

Which also created a rather ridiculous exploit where rerolling the shop could actually give you money.

That's gone now.

Achievement Fixes

Fixed:

• The Grind

• Death Wish

• Odessa's Fortune

And several other achievement-related issues.

Contract Reroll Improvements

We've made contract rerolling cheaper.

Previously:

• Started at 2 diamonds

• Increased by 2

Now:

• Starts at 1 diamond

• Increases by 1

Giving players more flexibility.

UI Improvements

• Moved contract reroll button to prevent accidental clicks

• Fixed settings menu back buttons

• Added more upgrade descriptions

Balance Adjustments & Nerfs

A few things were overperforming.

Not naming names.

Okay, maybe naming names.

SPAS-12

Jackpot chance bonus now capped at 15%.

Wrench

Debt reduction now capped at 20%.

Hongbao

Multiplier now capped at 5x.

Roach King Soda

Price increased to 10 diamonds.

Performance Improvements

We've done another optimization pass.

The game should now run even better on lower-end hardware.

We've also heard positive reports from players running the game on Steam Deck.

It's not fully optimized for Steam Deck controls yet, but it is playable.

Looking Ahead

This patch is all about preparing for Steam Next Fest.

We're extremely curious to see how many new players discover DarkBazaar over the next week.

To everyone playing, reviewing and giving feedback, a huge thank you from the entire team!

We genuinely couldn't do this without you.

Now go try the patch.

And let us know what you think about the balancing.

See you in the Bazaar.