Z. Year One · published
Hello Kickstarter backers and Early Access players! Below you can find and discuss an exhaustive list of tweaks, changes, and additions from several months of intense development since the last update.
IMPORTANT: If you did NOT make a custom deck in a previous build, you may experience an issue where the decks won't be available to start matches with. To fix, check out this easy workaround:
http://steamcommunity.com/games/430930/announcements/detail/656800146513191735
A proper fix will be included in the next game update. ETA TBD.
Release Date: February 21st, 2017
We’re pretty confident and committed to hitting this date for a full release at this point so I’m changing the Store Page details.
To help us expedite final testing in preparation for launch, we’re resetting everyone’s XP to Level 1 but cranking the current XP rewards up by 1000%. That means you’ll level up every time you win a match. :)
Please help us by testing the following things:
You can report technical issues here (includes details on how to send screenshots and/or crash logs):
http://steamcommunity.com/app/430930/discussions/1/357287935553498409/
Note that there is no plan to do a second reset, so whatever level and however many booster packs you can earn are yours to keep going into the full release.
Which is good, because...
I say “removed” but you guys never saw this in a public build. The reason I’m bringing it up now is because of why it won’t be in the final game.
Charging for things like booster packs is usually tied to a living game experience that intends to go on forever (or at least until being unceremoniously canceled by the developer/publisher out of nowhere). That’s not what Z. is. We’ve stuffed as much as we could into the game (including all of the expansion content from the Kickstarters), but any notable additions would likely come in the form of a sequel of some sort. The full release is the whole game.
Likewise, the consumable, finite nature of variants makes charging for boosters a risky experiment. I'm not against it, per se, but I think the current approach is the right one for Z.’s first outing. To be clear, any time I have expendable income (that’s supposed to be for food) I spend it on loot boxes, booster packs, skins, XP multipliers, special Kickstarter tiers, etc., so I really wouldn’t hesitate to embrace that model under different circumstances.
Lastly, with the removal of the shop, the price of the game will stay at $19.99. I think that’s a solid asking price for what’s on offer, and going F2P immediately changes the perception and expectation players will have for the game. I’d rather directly appeal to this game’s admittedly niche target audience than bend to please the lowest common denominator.
However, this isn’t a one-sided conversation. Feel free to reach out in the forums or email me with your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you guys!
Without further ado, the changelog:
This isn’t so much a single new feature as it is an entire second game. While Standard difficulty and all of the Core cards amount to roughly what most other DCGs launch with (a few hundred cards), the Variant system instantly quadruples the card count and gives purpose to the Booster Pack system.
Added dozens of new Core cards (lots of Survivor Heroes and some new Equipment, including the Chainsaw, Suppressor/Silencer, and Rocket Launcher). Try them out!
Note: We’re working on some additional stuff for the backgrounds now, including unique ambience per Location, etc. Should be pretty cool!
There’s a few notable surprises and additions still in store for the full release version, including one of the things I’m most excited to show off. Stay tuned!
I’ll make a dedicated post about this later, but I’m looking to get the Rules for the game translated into as many languages as possible. I’ve seen a lot of non-English-speaking players trying to get into the game and I don’t want anyone to feel left out or discouraged, so if you are able to help translate the official How to Play guide into Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, or anything, really, please let me know.
You’ll be given a hefty bundle of booster packs and a permanent x3 XP bonus in-game as compensation.