Early Access will be available soon. We are solving routine tasks, fixing the technical component and catching bugs. In the meantime, I'll tell you what the version of the game consists of at the start, the development roadmap in EA, and what the game will be like in the release.
There is still a lot of work to be done, and the Early Access release is, in fact, the transition to the public development stage of the game. So you will be able to follow the development process, evaluate the progress and, to some extent, influence the further development of the game. And the most important thing for us is that Pathogenesis: Overcome contains a lot of unusual mechanics and your personal opinion and feedback will help us to improve the game. I, in turn, will start keeping a regular devblogs and will post patch notes for each update. So here's the:
ROADMAP
What will be available at the start of Early Access:
LOCATION: One vast, picturesque location-sandbox "Raskolovo Village" with the size of more than 600x600 meters. There are more than a hundred unique buildings on the location. Each building can be entered, explored and looted. Many objects and caches available for exploration are scattered throughout the location.
LOCOMOTION: Indirect character control with the ability to move across rough terrain, overcome obstacles, climb hills and stairs, use cover. Quick dodges for greater character mobility.
STEALTH: Walking, crouching or crawling to minimize the attention of hostiles.
SLOWMO: Slow motion mode for assessing and controlling the situation. In slowmo mode, the creation of complex routes of movement is available.
WEAPON: Non-target shooting, an alternative aiming mode, a vast arsenal of modern weapons, ammunition with different types of bullets, realistic ballistics with ricochets and penetration, and many modules for weapon customization. Modules affect the behavior of weapons when firing.
MELEE: In case of shortage of ammo or extreme situations, the character can fight off opponents with kicks and inflict bleeding wounds with personal cold-steel weapons, perform techniques to get out of the grip of the infected.
LOOT: A large number of items: clothes, shoes, headdress, equipment, food, drink, medicines and accessories that can be found in a variety of places. Items of equipment and clothing have pockets and compartments for storing and carrying useful items.
SURVIVAL: Damage taken by the character inflicts wounds, bleeding, and worsens the condition of the character. Tourniquets, bandages, medicines are intended for treatment and recovery. Consuming food and drink restores the character's energy and water needs. Hunger and thirst affect stamina and well-being.
THREATS: Crowds of infected throughout most of the village. The infected are not zombies, but people with altered consciousness due to exposure to the pathogen. Infected are fast and hardy, have increased survivability and aggressiveness. Sight, hearing, and sense of smell enable the infected to locate and pursue prey.
PROGRESS: (Attention!) The start version has a nominal save system. In case of death, only the items in the character's inventory are saved with the respawn of the character at the starting point. Exiting the game will reset all progress and you will have to start from scratch.
All of the above is enough to form an initial idea of the game's unusual basic mechanics and gameplay features. Of course, all these systems will be expanded and improved during the development process. And, once again, your feedback and suggestions are important to us before we move on to global mission and RPG game systems.
What will be added while in Early Access:
- Сomplete save system.
- New weapon types: grenades, grenade launchers, rocket launchers, mines.
- Special equipment: night vision devices, thermal imagers, tactical lidars.
- Helmet customization: installation of flashlights, tactical devices on helmets.
- MOLLE equipment customization: the ability to change the configuration of the pouches on the platforms.
- Crafting system for simple items.
- More types of especially dangerous infected.
- NPC people, representatives of different factions: friendly, neutral and hostile, with their own AI system.
- Autonomous companion to the protagonist.
- Survival system expansion: the need for sleep, diseases, negative and positive effects.
- Quest and dialog systems.
- Storyline within a given location with dialog and quests.
- RPG system: skills, perks, character attributes and their influence on the actions performed.
What the release version of the game will be:
We plan to implement all game mechanics during our time in Early Access. Upon completion of the process, the early access version will be provided as a separate demo version of the game. The final version of the game will contain:
- A complete storyline with all accompanying main and secondary quests and characters.
- Global area map for moving between locations.
- Several locations of various types that will go through the story: wild forest areas, a small town, a military base, an industrial area, underground storage facilities.
- More content: equipment, clothes, weapons, modules, accessories.
We still have a lot of work to do, but we know for whom and why we are creating this game. And we know that we are moving in the right direction. Thank you, friends, for your support and interest.
