Video Games
‘Project Zomboid’ to Receive Human NPCs Soon
Released way back in 2013 into Early Access on Steam, The Indie Stone’s Project Zomboid has developed into a fun open-world RPG that recently gained a huge boost thanks to a multiplayer patch. The devs aren’t done though. In fact, the latest update from the team promises big plans for the coming year and beyond.
In case you’ve never heard of the game, Project Zomboid touts itself as “the ultimate in zombie survival”. Play alone, or with others and you’ll have to survive by fighting, building, crafting, and more. The game features a “hardcore RPG skillset” with an ever-expanding map and various challenges for players to tackle.
In regards to the update, the developers are going to switch to a two-team release schedule. Going forward, in addition to one team improving MP, optimizing the server, increasing the player count, and “other MP-related tech”, there will be a second team devoted exclusively to bringing human NPCs into the game. According to The Indie Stone, “it’s very clear that human NPCs have long been the most requested feature” from fans. This is on top of the requested additions of hunting and pets, which will be taking a back seat to the NPCs at this point.
The team breaks it down like this: with Build 41 now out the door, the team will spend the next while polishing and bug-squashing. After that, in Build 42, advanced crafting will be introduced, along with the start of a revamp of the game mechanics. Build 43 will introduce the first version of NPCs, where the team will begin “moving bits into a new room, setting them up, plugging them in together, and making something cool out of them”. Once they’re satisfied, (“perhaps 2 or 3 builds until the first room is empty”), then the team will finally be able to get to pushing out NPC-related content.
The team has other things in mind, such as revamping the gun mechanics and PVP elements, but for now, the focus is on the NPCs. However, the team also says that if things aren’t ready, it’s “not in [their] DNA” to push it out of the door in an unfinished state. You can check out a “proof-of-concept” video below in regards to the NPCs in action.
Saber Interactive delve into the roots of the horrors you’ll face in Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival with the latest developer diary. Once again featuring Pinhead himself, Doug Bradley, along with members of the development team, the video focuses on the disturbing enemies and themes you’ll face on your journey in the game, and how the creation of this content affected the development team.
In addition, we’re given a bit more information on the story, which reveals that players won’t just be dealing with the Cenobites. They will, in fact, have to contend with two other key factions.
The first is the Scarlet Church, a cult led by a charismatic figure named Marlowe. The Church hopes to establish contact with the Cenobites and seeks to use the mysterious Genesis Configuration puzzle box to create a debauched paradise for themselves.
The other group is the Unworthy, once-human wretches who sought after the ultimate experiences of sensation but were denied by Leviathan, ruler of the otherworldly Labyrinth. These rejects of Hell, monsters who think and behave differently from the cultists of the Church, are drawn to the Genesis Configuration as a potential path to redemption.
Both the Scarlet Church and the Unworthy will offer completely different combat experiences, each with their own challenges to overcome. Luckily, you have at your disposal an arsenal of earthly weapons, as well as the power of the Genesis Configuration, which makes use of the game’s grisly dismemberment system. But beware – the Labyrinth has its own unsettling traps and challenges to survive.
Hellraiser: Revival launches October 8 for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series. Pre-orders are now open.