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Announcement

Greenlit on Steam! Final demos are out!



Hey all! Thanks to those of you who helped get Second Death Greenlit on Steam. It was unreal to see the notice in my inbox that the game made it through the queue. It's not on the Steam Store yet because I'm waiting on Game Maker to fix their Mac export -- it's currently throwing up a warning on players' screens that the app is made by an unidentified developer (not true). Hopefully a final Mac version will be ready shortly.

Check the downloads section for the final demo releases! These demos include revamped graphics (see screenshot below), lots of new surprises, and full access to the first and second areas of the game. It's also quite a bit easier -- I've received some feedback that the game was too punishing, so this should be a better middle ground. Hope you like it!

Also: If you'd like to pick up the full game before it's out on Steam, it's available over on itch.io right now: https://ewagstaff.itch.io/second-death You can find iOS and Android versions there too!

Request

Second Death in Steam Greenlight queue!

Hi all,

I released Tiamat Sacrament on RMN ages ago. It's been years since I had something I felt deserved a big public release, but after three years of development, I think Second Death is ready. It's been an intense, sometimes frustrating learning process to pick up a new engine and make something from scratch. With 7 environments, procedurally generated areas and equipment, and a noir-style story mode, I'm really happy with what I've been able to create. And now it's in the Steam Greenlight queue.

If you have a moment, please head over to Steam to lend your support to Second Death. It will only take a moment, and it'll mean the world to me. I can't wait to show this game to you guys. Thanks for being such an amazing, supportive community.

-Drak

Announcement

Alpha version released! Woohoo!



^The trailer I'm gearing up to put on Greenlight, if you missed it the first time around.

I've been quiet for a long while during the home stretch of game development, but not for lack of work. The game is now fully playable from start to finish, with a story mode and arcade mode locked in. It felt great to see that final scene snap into place.

I've cut an alpha version of the game for limited testing on PC and Mac. If you're interested in being an alpha tester, let me know! I'm sure there's lots of balancing to do (I've already heard it's too hard) but I can guarantee that I was able to beat the game fair and square.

Thanks for following along with this game's dev process! Hope to have the final version out shortly. Also, check out the new itch.io page if you haven't seen it yet.

Request

Do these skills suck?

Hey RMN! I'm getting close to release, but I'd really like some feedback on the passive skills available to the player. You can choose one with each level up. I'm worried that some might be too complicated to understand or the benefit might be too small for the player to select them. I think they're balanced, but I would love your input.

In short, do any of these skills suck so bad you would never pick them?

Tier 1 is available from the start of the game -- all the tiers above require at least 5 points invested in the tiers below to open up.

Enforcer
Tier 1
  • Elbow Grease: Increases melee attack damage

  • Tough as Nails: Increases defense

  • Mixed Tactics: Freshly swapped weapons receive a 1-turn damage bonus

  • While They're Down: Enemies with broken arms or legs take extra damage


Tier 2
  • Focused Rage: Taking damage speeds up the next turn

  • Adrenaline Junkie: First use of adrenaline has no cost

  • Follow Through: After killing an enemy with a melee, next turn comes sooner


Tier 3
  • Shattering Blow: Attack that breaks a weapon receives massive damage bonus

  • Rend Armor: Melee attacks can tear apart armor

  • High Ground: Any attack that catches an enemy on a weakpoint adds knockback


Tier 4
  • Rampage: Successive melee attacks stack speed and may break limbs

  • Split the Sky: Any killing blow becomes explosive and hits all enemies on field


Gunman
Tier 1
  • Nimble Fingers: Increases range attack speed

  • Like a Butterfly: Increases evasion

  • Soft Spot: Increases critical damage

  • Headshot: Ranged critical hits have a chance to blind the enemy


Tier 2
  • Fleet of Foot: Increases weapon swap and skill speed

  • Gun Crazy: If able, counter attack with range weapon

  • Big Game Hunter: Killing an enemy with a range attack restores food points


Tier 3
  • Ricochet: Ranged attacks have a chance to hit two enemies

  • Hair Trigger: Deals extra damage to enemies who are closer to their turn

  • Quick Draw: Criticals are easier after swapping weapons


Tier 4
  • Bullseye: Unlocks a smaller critical zone that deals massive damage

  • Overclocked: Massive range attack empties ammo stock at stacking 15% damage penalty


Trickster
Tier 1
  • Reversal: Increases counter damage

  • Pester: Adds chance to cancel target's charging skill with a critical hit

  • Rope a Dope: Counter meter decays more slowly

  • Nick of Time: Rush makes turns come faster


Tier 2
  • Refined Technique: Skills are cheaper

  • From Behind: Counter damage bypasses armor

  • Silver Lining: Having a negative status effect increases AP gain


Tier 3
  • Tripped Up: Chance to break an enemy's legs as they pass by on turn bar

  • Once Again: Adds a extra melee or ranged strike if enemy is caught on a weakpoint

  • Feigned Pain: A successful counter negates some of the damage received in the same attack


Tier 4
  • Feint of Heart: Able to hit more feints before feint lock

  • Retribution: Adds a critical attempt during counter attacks


Leader
Tier 1
  • Friendly Face: Increases chance to find an ally and increases ally XP gain

  • Graceful Exit: Increases chance of escaping battle

  • Draw Fire: Draws enemy attention, slows hits if user is targeted

  • Well Dressed: Weapon and armor proficiencies level up more quickly


Tier 2
  • Intimidation: Nearby enemies on the field are slowed

  • Respect: If injured in battle, allies receive a damage boost for their next turn

  • Dirty Job: Skills that use SP or HP receive a damage boost


Tier 3
  • Eye For an Eye: If suffering from a status effect, attacks have a chance to inflict it and heal self

  • Lay Hands: Transfers allies' negative status effects to user

  • Last Straw: If an ally is killed in battle, damage and speed are massively increased for 5 turns


Tier 4
  • Not Yet: If killed in battle but allies are still alive, adds chance to self revive

  • Diligent Mentor: Allies acquire all the talents from the tree marked with a star


Survivor
Tier 1
  • Good as New: Sharpened weapons lose less durability

  • Scrounger: More likely to find ammo in crates

  • Poacher: Enemies have a chance to drop an extra item after battle

  • Handy Man: Building shelter and furniture costs less SP


Tier 2
  • Pack Rat: Increases carrying capacity

  • Rationer: Hunger increases more slowly

  • Craftsman: Making craftable and cookable items costs less SP


Tier 3
  • Free Shot: Attacks have a chance not to reduce durability or ammo

  • Appraiser: Crafted items have a higher rarity chance

  • Well-Rested: Increases the amount of health regained by sleeping


Tier 4
  • Cartographer: Undiscovered areas cost no SP to enter and hidden areas are visible on map

  • Taste For Blood: Adds a damage bonus in battle for a fuller hunger bar.

  • Material Needs: (Story mode only) Able to carry one extra possession to the next rung

Announcement

Liberty posts an awesome Let's Play of SD

Huge thanks to Liberty for running a Let's Play for Second Death. It's great to see the game through someone else's eyes, and I've already got several things I know I need to tweak after watching this.



Beyond making instructions to the player a bit more clear, I'm also planning to ease up the first few boss fights and make craftable items collectable with a single click instead of two clicks. Hope to release a new demo with the updates shortly.

Announcement

Full trailer! Also #craftmyweapon

I've been busy for the last month or so on the promotion side of things, with which I've had no prior experience whatsoever. However I do have some video editing skills, so with the help of a few friends, I was able to cut together a short promo video for the game. Check it out and let me know what you think!



I've been dabbling with automation tools at my day job which I've been able to use on a Twitter bot to promo the game. The game's loot system assigns random attributes to weapons that are crafted by the player, so I thought it might be cool to give Twitter users the same kind of experience. If you tweet at @SecondDeathGame and use the hashtag #craftmyweapon (all lowercase), the bot will roll you a random weapon from a huge number of options.

Here are two possible rolls:



Try it out with a pre-filled tweet! << Would really appreciate some additional testers for this bot.

Also, if you haven't checked out the new website yet, I'd love some feedback there too. I've got the video up there along with links to the game's Facebook and Twitter accounts. Hope to see you over there!

Request

Unique items: Good or bad?

Hey all, would really like your feedback on a question I've had since I started work on this game. Is it a worthwhile endeavor to include super-rare unique items?

If you haven't played Second Death, the loot system is akin to drops in the Borderlands series. A normal weapon can drop, with damage, speed, and weight stats, but rarer loot will drop with a special effect. Effects include the chance to inflict poison, knock enemies back, gain AP with every hit, etc. In Second Death, a weapon or armor can roll with up to 3 of these effects.

In Borderlands and other games of its kind, there are uniques -- hard-to-find weapons that don't have a random mix of effects, but rather have very special effects that you can't find in any other item. Potential uniques for Second Death could be a pistol that regenerates ammo, or armor that has a chance to slow time when hit.

But I've always been bothered by uniques in this way -- if you know there are awesome, extra special weapons to be found, I feel like it decreases the excitement in finding a decent, non-unique item. Also, I could take the time I spend coding unique effects (that a player is likely to never experience) and use it instead to broaden the pool of effects that players can find in non-unique weapons/armor.

So what do you think? Are uniques worth it, or not?

Announcement

Second Death beyond RMN (website and more)

The Second Death website launched yesterday and feels pretty official! It's got a seal and everything:



Check it out and let me know what you think.

Also, get the big updates by liking the Facebook page and smaller updates by following the Twitter account.

I should mention I am new to marketing and all of this feels pretty weird for me. But if you'd be kind enough to support my project through one of these channels, I'd really appreciate it!

Progress Report

Final demo released!



Hey RMN! This is my last release of the game before the final push to the full version. That said, I will update if any of you fine people uncover something game-breaking, but this release should be well-tested.

Please (please!) send me your thoughts on how it plays. Do the enemy targets move too fast? Do you feel lost with all of the constructable options? Is there anything I can explain better or improve upon? Let me know and your input will be wrapped into the final release.

Download here! Check the downloads section for a Mac-specific version.

Also, this version features a custom soundtrack composed for this game! Check out our composer's page here. He's awesome.

Announcement

Demo out soon! Also follow SD on Twitter

The final demo of Second Death should be out by Sept 19 at the latest! Handling a few finishing touches before I mint the version. This edition will take the player through the 3 of the 7 planned environments and tell a bit of the story along the way. Arcade mode from the first demo will still be available.

Lots of tweaks this time around. I've decided every shelter should already have a pot for planting seeds. Otherwise, finding seeds is less exciting. You'll see lots of new noir-style art from a very talented contributor and some graphic updates. Once this demo is out, I'll start on a marketing blitz, which will include actually using the Second Death Twitter account. Follow for updates!
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