We’ve been working hard since February on refining many important programing issues, and a couple months adding a brand-new entity (which makes us very proud, she’s a charm). We fixed big backend things that are not so visible but are essential. We’re so back! We are nearing the final release of SO BELOW, and we hope to see some feedback on all the new stuff. Thank you so much for sticking around for so long and being in touch on our discord. We love to chat with you all over there.
Meet the Haag, our bleakest witch. She is prone to anger, loves darkness, and is already one of the hardest challenges of the HEXA Corporation.
Haags are complex demons, with many behaviors. When they are at ease, they will observe curiously, but if too many lights are shone upon her, she will become angry, change behavior, and will eventually turn to rage, what HEXA calls the “God mode”. No shade is safe from her in this state, so break your line of vision and run.
Information is power, and in order to defeat the Haag you must find and decode her words of power. Find the coded words in the environment and use the new codex page on your journal to figure out the rest.
As mentioned before, sometimes there’s a lot going on in the background, and that is the case for SO BELOW and its brand-new stats processor. With better tracking of events throughout the game, we have a bunch of new information to show the Hunters, as well as a better payment calculation.
All of this new information required a proper display. We implemented a new end-game screen, with a summary of the most relevant events of the run, and a brand-new medal system, with more than 30 different medals and achievements. Now, at the end of each run, hunters will know for real who in the team was the MVP, and who was just a burden.
A few months back we began experimenting with many entities at once, and the successful experiment was what we called the Shroud Invasion. This messed up challenge includes up to 10 shrouds in a single location at the same time, plus modifiers. This might sound like a simple enough task, but when together, Shrouds burn through crucifixes like matches.
We added informational maps of every location on the journal, they appear at the beginning of the hunt. It contains useful information and even some hidden secrets.
The headquarters have been overhauled, with new signaling, navigation paths, and even some easter eggs (added pet portraits, go love them). Also, we found some inconsistencies regarding the found objects in the museum, so we revisited all the texts and objects there. Also new Halloween decorations for you to calm down after a failed hunt. Get a pumpkin spice salty caramel macchiato latte, sit down, and unravel as you think about books and autumn leaves.
Deep improvement to the behavior of all the entities (Thanks Haag)
NEW shadow standing where player died, easier to find and revive with defibrillation (Thanks Haag)
Updated early access information and other disclaimers
Contract clarity and localization, better navigation, more random contracts
Refresh contracts, better clarity and localization
EMF fix, now highly functional
Spectral Scanner can now detect wall symbols (Thanks Haag)
Lure Machine Fixed, now easier to use
Added missing journal pages, all hand tools now have their own widget with operation instructions
Shadow casting from hand lamps refined, better game performance
Glowstick light highly improved, better functionality (Thanks Haag)
Fixed old sounds triggered by the old boss’ behavior
Fixed button binding for gaming mouses
Map fixes, mainly mortuary, navigation and elevator fixes
Thank you for your patience. We know we are slow devs, not by choice, but by sheer amount of work. This is not our day job, so we do as best we can. We are nearing the end friends, so be ready. Again, if you encounter bugs or weird situations, please let us know. We try to test for everything, but bugs are bugs, and they are a nasty pest to work on.