Demo Version v0.7.0 is Now Available!

Hi, this is Joel, the programmer from Muriki Studio! This is my second development news post about Zombies & Bullets, and I plan to post updates more frequently to keep you informed about what’s new. Since the last post, a lot has changed in the game’s demo and we didn’t report everything, so some smaller things might not be listed here.

Also, if you played the demo months ago, try playing it again because a lot of new content has been added — your experience will be very different!

Update List

Upgrade and Camp System

The old upgrade system used orbs collected as a sort of currency to buy upgrades in the pause menu. This made it difficult to balance the cost of upgrades and the number of orbs collected throughout the stages. Moreover, after watching many player playthroughs, we realized that upgrade purchases were often ignored, seen as more complex than they should be, or not impactful enough.

With that in mind, we’ve reimplemented the upgrade system in a way that fits into the game world, simplifies balancing, and provides a greater sense of progression.

Experience Level Progression

The collected orbs now act as experience points, and the player gains levels like in an RPG. When leveling up, the player earns a skill point that can be spent to acquire an upgrade.

Camps

Upgrades can now be acquired at camps, which are campfires found in almost every stage. When sitting at a campfire, the upgrade menu appears, allowing you to spend skill points to acquire new upgrades.

The upgrades available follow the same premise as in the previous version of the game — each has a maximum level that can be improved — but the difference is that every upgrade level always costs a single skill point.

New Upgrades

We also took the opportunity to add several new upgrades that can be acquired, including:

• Life Drain: melee strikes on enemies steal a bit of health

• Damage Reflection: when hit by melee attacks, enemies take part of the damage back

• Combo Time: the active combo lasts longer (more on this later)

• Point-blank Distance: increases the distance at which point-blank shots occur (more on this later)

• Quick Learner: increases the XP multiplier earned from enemies

• Hunter’s Luck: increases the chance for ammo and healing items to drop from defeated enemies

• Magnetism: increases the pickup range for XP and ammo (more on this later)

There are also new unique upgrades that can only be accessed through equipped backpacks, which we’ll cover next.

Backpacks with Unique Upgrades

Taking advantage of the new camp system and greater flexibility in the upgrade system, we decided to add a collectible backpack feature, with each backpack offering a unique upgrade to the player. In the demo, there are four available backpacks:

• Simple Sack: starter backpack, allows longer dodge distance

• Dream Backpack: gives a small chance for enemies to miss attacks

• Hunter’s Backpack: increases the chance for weapons to deal critical damage

• Camping Backpack: converts healing items into XP when at full health

Additional backpacks for stages beyond the demo are already in development, along with their respective upgrades (such as increased movement speed, dealing damage to enemies passed through during a dodge, etc.).

Combos

Killing multiple enemies within a short period of time triggers a combo. Combos multiply the XP earned from enemies, encouraging you to kill as many as possible in the shortest time for more upgrade opportunities.