Stagger & Strategy, Sharpening Our Action Combat Game

🧠 New Systems, New Smarts

We’ve been rebuilding core gameplay with a focus on clarity and depth.

That means not just adding new features but sharpening the ones that are already in place.

⚖️ Character Stat Balancing

We defined and tuned base stats for each playable family member's health, stamina, and damage to reflect their personality & playstyle. This gives each character a clearer role in your strategy.

💥 Stagger & Stun Mechanics

We added two new core combat stats:

• Stagger: Briefly interrupts an enemy’s action.

• Stun: Freezes them longer, giving you a clean window to react or punish.

These mechanics help differentiate attacks and give players more tactical control mid-fight.

⏸ Freeze Frame (Hit Stop) System

Impact now feels really impactful. Freeze frames, small pauses on hit, give attacks more weight and help players feel the rhythm of combat. We’re fine-tuning duration per character, per move, to maximize satisfaction.

🤖 Behavior Graph AI (Unity 6 Upgrade)

We’ve begun translating our enemy logic into Unity’s Behavior Graph, a visual node-based system that replaces hard-coded behavior trees. It allows us to:

• Build smarter, modular enemy decision-making

• Debug and adjust behaviors faster

• Scale up complexity (without losing our minds)

Combined with our recent upgrade to Unity 6, this sets the stage for richer encounters and smarter enemies.

🧵 Bram & Gory Ann: Combat Kits Finalized

We finalized the designs for the last two playable family members:

• Bram (The son): Wields a mechanical yoyo. His style is ranged, bouncy, and just a little chaotic.

• Gory Ann (The mother): Dual-wields oversized sewing needles. Think fast, precise, close-range pressure.

Their rigs are updated and ready for animation.

💻 Steam Deck Testing

Yes! It runs! The full build of our current demo now works on the Steam Deck, complete with:

• Procedural level generation

• Sound design and music

• Dialogue system

• Polished visuals and effects

• Hazards, enemies, and boss battles

This version still has bugs and rough edges, but it’s a big step toward performance flexibility and accessibility.

🧠 New Production Framework

After gathering feedback from PAX West, we paused new feature development to realign as a team. We built a more agile framework to guide upcoming sprints, defining:

• Implementation rules for new systems

• How we evaluate polish readiness

• The production flow for the remaining vertical slices

It took time, but it’s already paying off. We’re moving faster, with more clarity and less chaos.

🎓 Animation Mentorship: Riot Games x Stay Dead

A major highlight this month: a mentorship session with Brendan Russert, Lead Animator at Riot Games.

Brendan reviewed our animation passes and gave targeted feedback on:

• Expressiveness

• Weight and timing

• Combat clarity

We left that call with actionable insights and a boost of creative energy. Huge thanks to Brendan for the guidance!

💬 Wrapping It Up

Stay Dead is leveling up in both content and quality!

This isn’t just about flashy moves and undead chaos anymore (though we still love those). It’s about building an action combat game that feels tight, satisfying, and full of strange soul.

More characters. More smarts. More teeth.

Until next time, join the revolution and wishlist Stay Dead!

Stay Dead