Dev Log | Early Access July 20th, Wii U FAQ, Scorcher Boss, Aliens and Weapons!

Attention Jumpers!

It’s been a busy few weeks since the last update, and we have more good news to share with you! Here’s what you have to look forward to in this HUGE update:

  • Early Access Date Announced!
  • Scorcher Boss Preview
  • More Aliens Detected in the Hive!
  • Weapons Upgrade!
  • New Relics Located
  • PAX EAST Photos!
  • Kickstarter Spotlights!
  • Wii U FAQs answered

Early Access on Steam: July 20th.

We want to start this section by saying a deep and sincere thank you to all of our fans. You all have been amazing throughout Hive Jump’s development. THANK YOU!

Giving specific release dates is always difficult for game developers. What if you fail to meet those dates? What if you reach that date and the game just isn’t fun? These are real questions that haunt developers every time we sit down to plan our next few weeks or months of work. However, we’ve reached a point in our development where we’re confident enough to share our target month for Hive Jump to release on Steam as an Early Access game.

Hive Jump will be available on Steam Early Access July 20th, affectionately referred to as “JUMP DAY”.

Check out our “Coming Soon” Steam Page here http://store.steampowered.com/app/295670

We plan on having a closed-alpha testing period for our Alpha backers and PayPal Alpha Supporters leading up to the EA launch between July 1st – July 8th. We’ll have more details on this closed testing period as we approach those dates, including your Steam Keys!

Why Early Access?  The simple answer is that by launching as an Early Access title we will be able to make Hive Jump the best possible game it can be by getting our loyal fans involved sooner, rather than later! We’ll collect far more user feedback via Early Access players than we would be able to on our own, this is especially important for the online multiplayer aspects of the game. As an added bonus, we’ve included Daily and Weekly challenge modes! So get ready for some friendly competition as you return each week to post high scores, then stick around to see what’s changed in the game with each and every update.

What platforms will be available for Early Access? Initially Early Access will be PC platforms only, but we will be rolling out Mac and Linux versions shortly thereafter and testing the cross-platform multiplayer as part of the Early Access period. Thanks again to our Mac and Linux fans and we hope to jump with you all shortly after EA Launch!

Get some digital goodies! In celebration of the impending Early Access launch, we’ve posted some wallpapers, concept images, and other digital goodies on our website. Be sure to check it out here: http://hivejump.com/media/ , and while you’re at it, share Hive Jump’s steam page with your gamer friends who might not have heard about the game yet so they can add it to their Steam Wishlist! <3

Scorcher Boss Preview

Incoming transmission from the H.S.A…

The footage you’re about to see is highly classified. A reconnaissance jump team has identified a new elite Ordovician lifeform. The troopers are calling it “The Scorcher.”

Scorchers dwell in the hottest areas of the hive, and are summoned by the Hive Queen to lay fiery waste to enemies of the hive.

This flying bug bellows flame from its mouth, summons large blasts of plasma energy, dive bombs foes, and can even move through lava for short periods of time.

 

Bombardier Alien Detected in the Hive!

These large aliens are mostly stationary, and bombard their foes with explosive acid projectiles from a distance. They are strongly armored in front, but weak in the rear. These aliens often set up in difficult to reach areas and bombard foes from a distance.

 

Elite Drones Detected!

Drones crawl all over the hive floors, walls, and ceilings, doing various work for the hive (like transporting food, eggs, crytals, etc…) Drones don’t usually attack on sight, but if a threat is detected, drones will swarm together to defend the hive.

These elite drones will spew additional gasses that damage jumpers who pass near!

 

These elite drones will spew toasty flames that damage jumpers who pass near!

Floater Alien Detected in the Hive!

The Floater alien harvests minerals and converts them into plasma gas. They then transport this gas through the hive, making each one a dangerous floating bomb. Floaters move very slowly (or sometimes just float in place), and explode if shot or touched.

 

Weapons Upgrade – GAS CLOUD!

The Gas Cloud upgrade for the M4G-AR will allow jumpers to blast a cloud of poisonous gasses from their weapon which will do damage to alien foes over a period of time. This is an effective upgrade for dealing with major swarms of alien Buzzers!

Weapons Upgrade – GAS GRENADES!

Gas Grenades explode and release a cloud of poisonous gasses do damage to alien foes over a period of time. Use these to quickly dispatch herds of alien Drones!

New Relics located within the Hive…

Pheromone Sac – A fleshy sac filled with vestigial Ordovician pheromones. It is theorized that early in the species’ evolution, the Ordovicians used pheromones as a medium for communication and establishing social order. For example, the queen of a hive would issue orders instinctively via pheromones to all the workers and soldiers within the hive. However, our current understanding of the Ordovicians as a space-faring species capable of waging interstellar war proves that the species has evolved far beyond relying on pheromones as a communication agent. Regardless, the H.S.A. has found limited success in coating Jumper armor with these pheromones as a method for masking their threat level within a hive.

Arc Welder – A family heirloom belonging to a H.S.A. Engineer named Kirk. Arc welding, a popular technique for fusing metal in the 20th and 21st centuries, has been replaced with superior nano-assembly and reconstruction techniques. However, such advanced techniques are not available in the hostile and hectic environment of an alien hive. When this heirloom was discovered by a desperate band of Jumpers deep within an alien hive, it seemed as though fate had smiled upon them in their moment of need. The jumpers were able to perform emergency repairs to their transponder backpack and complete the mission.

Wii U FAQs Answered

What kind of Multiplayer will the Wii U version of the game support?  

The Wii U version of Hive Jump will be local co-op only. Online play for Wii U has been an interest for Hive Jump, but not something we could guarantee at the onset of our campaign, so we listed that as one of the first FAQs we posted during the campaign. We explored online MP for Wii U thoroughly and deeply over the last year. We’ve refactored our code several times to optimize and improve – to explore this feature. We looked at other titles and we talked to fellow devs about their own experiences with online play. We evaluated other tools to provide any efficiency we could uncover. In the end, we had to make a tough choice about a stark reality. Online MP for the Wii U was going to be beyond our capabilities for this release due to time and budget constraints on our team. We appreciate all of the support shown to us by Nintendo fans – and we apologize for not explaining our process when evaluating the feature much sooner. We are confident that the game will be an amazing single player and local co-op experience for our Wii U players!

Will Hive Jump have amiibo support, and what will that look like?

We’re aiming to support as many different amiibo as we can, but are focusing our efforts on creating some really fun integration based on amiibo whose games have been inspirations to Hive Jump specifically. Like many gamers, we’ve grown up playing classic Nintendo titles that now have great amiibo to go along with them, so our eyes and efforts lie with a select few inspirational amiibo for now. These amiibo will be used as a key to unlock special Wii U specific relic rooms within the hive. Upon unlocking a special amiibo challenge room, players will be faced with special challenges you can only find on Wii U.

Will the GamePad be used in a special way?

Hive Jump will feature a special mini-map on the Wii U GamePad which will give players another tool in their arsenal for navigating the treacherous hives. It will display the contours of the level, as well as the location of important areas or items to discover in the various hive levels.

Would you like to know more?

As always, please feel free to add questions or comments below! Your feedback is important to the team!

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter – and tell your friends about the game!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hivejump/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hivejump

Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/295670

By |2017-04-07T20:58:18+00:00June 2nd, 2016|Game Development, Hive Jump, Studio News|0 Comments

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